Tag: Inspiration

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S3 E52 — Say What???

Creative insight or the “aha” experience is then triggered in the temporal lobe. Creative adaptation begins in “… ‘forward’ cerebellar models which are anticipatory/exploratory controls for movement and thought.” Say what???

Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “It takes much more energy to start things than it does to continue them. Make momentum work for you by simply continuing. Once you get in the swing, stay in it.” Virgo

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 52 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 27th day of May in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E51 — What Do Cult Followers Lack?; S3 E50 — Swinging with Systematic-Professionals, Sorta; S3 E49 — Stealing Your Sign Without Doing the Time

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E52 — What’s So Wrong with Conventional Wisdom Unless …; S2 E51 — Let’s Agree to Make Things Worse, Shall We?; S2 E50 — 5 Fundamental Uncertainties; S2 E49 — Navigating Waves of Disruption When You’ve Lost Your Bearings

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E52 – Missing Chapters and Paths Not Taken; S1 E51 – Brief, Broad, Fast, Wow and Delight; S1 E50 – The Bias Brothers or Just Plain Losers?; S1 E49 — Magnetize the Version You Imagine

Context

I can’t lie.

It’s all about momentum and energy.  I know it’s weird for some of my fans to pick up where I left off at the end of yesterday’s Critical Thinking section —while trying to make sense of eight more Conclusions.

What, then is Working Memory’s role in Creative Visualization?  

See?

And, what’s that got to do with this natural experiment?  I feel working memory is what I trigger while trying to interpret TauBits of Wisdom.  It’s how I roll as an Information Packaging, INTP.

My physical therapist and I agreed the world needs more critical thinking.  Even so, I asked her if she felt lucky over the last few days, because Steve Aoki’s Holiday Tau is the same as hers.  

Why? 

I told her and she paused, looked up at the ceiling and smiled. 

Did she hold astrological forecasts and critical thinking together in her working memory?

For me, I just kept my head down and plowed ahead back in the office.  One thing just led to another.

I still can’t lie, without letting my physical therapist in on the plot, I just followed what the forecast for the week had been:

“It’s been suggested that there are those who observe how things are and ask, ‘Why?’ and then those who dream and ask, ‘Why not?’ But these needn’t be, and usually aren’t, two different groups. The best thinkers, both diligent and imaginative, bounce between both questions, taking what they can from past conclusions as they move forward to build the new world.”

That’s me I thought, a diligent and imaginative thinker traveling through time bouncing back and forth and milking past conclusions to move forward. Meaning writing up one section at a time in the 1-year’s natural experiment report.

Convergent thinking usually follows my favorite, divergent thinking, ending with better decisions. I advocate following new knowledge generated from manipulating the old, but in a newer frame. 

It’s why I track new trends and business models making links and connections to flesh out this post-pandemic world.

I still can’t lie. 

I wanted to drill down, or is it drill up and in to ask what is my brain doing in creative sessions flipping and flopping between divergent and convergent processes pulling on my working memory.

Working memory involves two processes with different neuroanatomical (neural tissues in the nervous system) locations in the frontal (lying behind your forehead) and parietal lobes (at the upper back area in your skull).

In a two part process your brain retrieves what it thinks is relevant to what you want and then updates your attention to focus on it.

And, then it gets too complex for me.  

Both processes activate different areas and connections and locations in your brain.  

Your attention activates the folded grooves in your gray matter (caudal superior frontal sulcus) and in another area of your cortex (posterior parietal cortex) which plays an important role in planned movements, spatial reasoning, and attention.

Selecting what you want activates other dense sounding names — rostral superior frontal sulcus and posterior cingulate/precuneus.

How does it work in theory?  

I still can’t lie.

You have to add another brain piece to the puzzle — the cerebellum.  You’ve heard of it right? What about working memory and the cerebellum?

From Wikipedia:

“The brain’s frontal lobes and the cognitive functions of the cerebellum collaborate to produce creativity and innovation.” 

How?  

All processes of working memory (responsible for processing all thought) are adaptively modeled for increased efficiency by the cerebellum.

No lie: 

“The cerebellum (consisting of 100 billion neurons, which is more than the entirety of the rest of the brain) is also widely known to adaptively model all bodily movement for efficiency.” 

How?

“The cerebellum’s adaptive models of working memory processing are then fed back to especially frontal lobe working memory control processes where creative and innovative thoughts arise.”

Creative insight or the “aha” experience is then triggered in the temporal lobe. Creative adaptation begins in “… ‘forward’ cerebellar models which are anticipatory/exploratory controls for movement and thought.”

Got it? 

Good, then explain it back to me.

Unless I’ve got this all wrong, I believe there’s a strong connection between memory and imagination linked in the brain — how we understand our world view is a result of arranging perceptions into existing imagery by imagination.

And, experiences stored as long-term memory are easier to recall, because they’re ingrained deeper in the mind.

It’s like a 4-phase process beginning with image generation from memory, continues with maintenance, inspection and then transformation and places all kinds of demands on working memory.

Now, I can lie.  And steal.

Evidence

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5”  Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Your work is not always so straightforward, so you appreciate days like today when the small picture so obviously matches up to the big one. The mountain is climbed one upward step at a time.” Leo

Or, my limited mental facilities synch with what I perceive with a creative “aha!” insight.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “It takes much more energy to start things than it does to continue them. Make momentum work for you by simply continuing. Once you get in the swing, stay in it.” Virgo

Until I exhaust my self and then it’s time to turn to my heart, right Emma the Baroness?

“4”  Steve Aoki, 41: “There’s much you could be doing, but don’t stress over your choices. Just pick the one that most attracts you, and then stick with that and only that for a while. One choice is a portal through which the world opens up.” Sagittarius

Would that portal begin with working or retiring memory?

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “Some call it ‘doing nothing.’ To you, it’s doing what comes naturally without having to think of the needs and reactions of another person. To be alone and agenda-less just may be a basic human need.”  Capricorn

It’s the solitude-seeking introverted way of allowing working memory replenish its “battery”.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines jumps from 8203 to 8218 organically grown followers.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • “Why?: What Makes Us Curious,” by Mario Livio. “… socially shared myths, rituals, and symbolism were most likely the first sophisticated responses to nagging why and how questions and were therefore the fruits of curiosity. The chain reaction that resulted from the positive feedback between curiosity and language turned Homo sapiens into a powerful intellect, with self-awareness and an inner life.”

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trips

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S3 E48 — Is That an Ace Up Your Sleeve or Are You Just Glad to See Me?

We’d been meeting like this twice a week.  She told me to flip over while she began massaging the back of my knee.    

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Here comes the reshuffling of your deck of priorities, a process outside of your control, followed by the giddy anticipation as the cards are being dealt. What will you get? It matters but not as much as how you play what you get.” Aries

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 48 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 20th day of May in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E47 — Why’s and How’s of the Genius Art of Procrastination; S3 E46 — Twisting Meaning to Fit Is Still a Misdemeanor in My Book; S3 E45 — Tacit Heuristics Blinding Fast-Track Teams

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E48 — Tracking Millennials from One Resort to Another; S2 E47 — 27 Adventure Regions for Your Remote-Working Bucket List; S2 E46 — Whimsy Passion Project or Epic Novel of Adventure?; S2 E45 — Wildcard What Ifs and Doobie Bros Bias

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E48 — Holiday TauBit Trumps Funk; S1 E47 — Day 47 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E46 — Day 46 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E45 — Day 45 of My 1-Year Experiment

Context

In the end my physical therapist agreed. I’m guessing one of the missing cards, in addition to curiosity I wrote about last time for the “Conclusions” section, is the critical thinking card.

But first she asked, “So what are you going to do the rest of the day?”  

I told her work on my blog.  “Oh, what is it about?” 

I told her I steal people’s horoscopes mostly and am writing up a report covering one year.  “Why?” she wanted to know.  

She knew her sign, Sagittarius. I told her Steve Aoki (using celebrity Steves) always was better than mine, Scorpio.  She helped me pronounce his name, so obviously she knew who he was.

What I’m working on now, I told her,  is critical thinking, how in the ‘70s when I was in my first career there was a whole movement starting with the uncertainty principle that upended psychology at the time of Esalen in Big Sur by psychedelic pioneers.

It was a scene I left for another career, but I told her this passion project allows me to revisit it.

“Right there,” I said.  

It would be one more day before I’d get the results from the MRI and we guessed there might be some damage to my ligaments.  I felt not being able to keep up the strengthening and balance exercises set me back.

I asked her how she ended up working in this sports rehab office.  She told me it was the second of her rotations.  When she completed it they asked her to join them.

“How did you start your first career?” she asked, probably only half listening.  

“Let’s see when I moved here after my masters in clinical and experimental psychology I did the typical.  I sent out 100 resumes to places between Ocean Beach in San Diego to the northern part of Orange County.”

“Oh?”

The only real offer I told her came from Dr. Lichter who was starting up a clinic in Newport Center called the Behavior Modification Institute. “We offered biofeedback sessions as a way of reducing stress and making it easier for clients to find a meditative state.”

“BMI?” she said.

“Yeah, but in the mornings I’d work at a State Hospital and in the afternoons in Newport Beach trying to sell time in a white, egg-shaped biofeedback chair for producing those alpha waves.”

“Uh-Huh.” 

“Do you know who Sam Harris is?”  I asked after she focused more on my knee therapy.

She heard of the name.  I said he’d been interviewing neuroscientists on his podcast which allowed me to update my understanding of the brain … even psychedelics were now being used to treat addictions and help cancer patients.  

“Critical thinking,” she nodded. 

We agreed as I flipped over to my back on the black cushioned table was in short supply these days.  She never checked her horoscope except sometimes in magazines when she came across it. 

Though what I was doing was interesting and she said should check it out.

Evidence

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Here comes the reshuffling of your deck of priorities, a process outside of your control, followed by the giddy anticipation as the cards are being dealt. What will you get? It matters but not as much as how you play what you get.” Aries

She never checked her horoscope except sometimes in magazines when she came across it.  Though what I was doing was interesting and she said should check it out.

“4”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “Allowing yourself to get distracted will drain your precious energy unless those distractions are so quality they inspire you. You’ll know immediately. Unless you get hit by a “wow” factor, keep moving along.”  Taurus

I’m not sure if our brief conversation with my physical therapist worked on my knee after my accident, but I didn’t feel drained at all.  And, after my hour-long exercises topped off with icing my knee down I felt no pain — not even the dull ache or sharp jab under my knee cap.

“4”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “You’re carrying more than you know. It’s like your mind has pockets you haven’t checked in a while. Go through, gather up the useless and dated ideas, and then release them to the trash.” Virgo

Seriously, G&G I struggled with your Holiday Tau until I realized I’ve been finding out what no longer holds up against the latest brain research about consciousness and what I used to believe about functions housed in the right- and left-brain 

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines jumps from 8203 to 8218 organically grown followers.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life  

Long-Form

    • “Why?: What Makes Us Curious,” by Mario Livio. “… socially shared myths, rituals, and symbolism were most likely the first sophisticated responses to nagging why and how questions and were therefore the fruits of curiosity. The chain reaction that resulted from the positive feedback between curiosity and language turned Homo sapiens into a powerful intellect, with self-awareness and an inner life.”

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trips

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S4 E36 — Big Rigs, Skull Valley and Yarnell Hotshots

“Why are there so many trucks on the road?” Emma the Baroness asked rhetorically. And, then I glanced in my rearview mirror and spotted a white hatchback riding the right shoulder, “Like he was frustrated by the slow pace and wanted to cheat.”

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

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Knowledge ATMs 

A peak behind the scenes of self-publishing, crowdfunding, and working for yourself

Table of Contents

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s 36th Episode in Season 4 of  “Our Disruptively Resilient Year” on this 7th day of May in the spring of 2022.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines, according to my analytics, grew from 12817 this week to 12880 organically grown followers.
    • Orange County Beach Towns 220 viewers stopped by the week before.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Context

I felt much better after sleeping in on Saturday morning.  Jay made coffee and waited for us to emerge from their guest room. Elle exercised and stretched upstairs. 

While Jay and Elle claimed nobody was in a hurry to do something I could tell Jay itched to take us on a tour.

But, our conversations continued about how when we transitioned to the 10 freeway our CarPlay Apple Maps cautioned us that all lanes were block up ahead.  Emma the Baroness and I exchanged anxious glances not knowing what to do while Siri assured us we were still on the fastest route.

A few hours later we saw no sign of blocked lanes.  Sure the traffic flow slowed, but the lane blockage cleared as far as we could tell.

A couple of times Siri would announce a traffic slowdown and gave us an option to exit.  We declined.  “We followed your advice not to take alternative routes, Jay.”

Emma the Baroness and I took turns telling the story about the portion an hour or two west of Blythe and Quartzite while in the middle of nowhere and climbing two lanes our progress again slowed by back-to-back big rigs ever so slowly passing each other.

“Why are there so many trucks on the road?” Emma the Baroness asked rhetorically.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

And, then I glanced in my rearview mirror and spotted a white hatchback riding the right shoulder, “Like he was frustrated by the slow pace and wanted to cheat.”

“One CHP with siren and lights flashing from the opposite direction, drives down the median embankment to turn and speed in our direction,” I add.

They wanted to know if we ever found out what was going on.  Emma the Baroness told them we were dead stopped in traffic, a tanker had pulled over into the shoulder, but when all four CHP cars finally began waving everybody through we saw the white car catty-cornered with its hatchback open.

The last time we slowed behind a huge bulldozer as we headed downhill after we passed through Skull Valley and Kirkland following Jay’s texted directions as we approached Prescott.

Skull Valley, Arizona Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

   

Jay added, “You noticed the basecamp for firefighters on your way in, right?” He told us Elle had raised money to donate food for them, as they’re on high alert for fires in this part of the West — Prescott National Forest.

Image Credit: Apple Maps

“Yeah,” I said. And, we crested on a hill where a memorial honors those hotshot firefighters who lost their lives a few years ago when surrounded by flames and they couldn’t make their way out.  

Yarnell Hill Fire Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Emma the Baroness wanted to know why the haze seemed more than usual for the part of I-10 which cut through the Coachella Valley, even when we passed exits for Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta.

“Where are the fires?” she asked.  Here in California, in Arizona where we’re headed or is smoke blowing west from New Mexico we both wanted to know.

And with that, he said he had to check on their property which was closing escrow and invited me along while our wives talked about us and got ready for adventure.

His realtor who represented him and the buyer had tempted him to sell it when she told him how much he could get for it and, oh by the way, she had a buyer for it.  

The only sticking point that Jay felt the builder should fix and the new buyer should be responsible for was a flaw in the guest bathroom bathtub.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

“5”  Steve Smith, 30, Stevie Nicks, 72: “You’ll sort the puzzle, decipher the meaning of the code, or discover the intention. This ability to sense what’s really going on will serve you well and help a friend too.” Gemini

We concluded the three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed — during the “normal” pre-pandemic year compared to the pandemic year, and more recently to the paradoxically normal year. 

Season Four continues now within domestic and global chaos.

Previously in Season Four, The Disruptively Resilient Year

S4 E35 — Prescott Pitstop Knocks Me Off Balance; S4 E34 — Preconceived Notions Hit the Road for Prescott; S4 E33 — When Was The Last Time Honesty and Character Counted?

Related from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E36 — Placebo, Meaningful Coincidence or Just Feeling Lucky; S3 E35 — This Ain’t No Zemblanity; S3 E34 — Why You’re Susceptible to Subliminal Suggestions Like …; S3 E33 — Do Meaningful Coincidences Really Exist?

Related from Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E36 — Turning Lemons into Margaritas; S2 E35 — Was this Pandemic Year a 1-Off or New Way of Life?; S2 E34 — Why Is This Kicking Off the 4th Industrial Revolution?; S2 E33 — What Happens When Your Business Collapses?

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E36 — Day 36 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E35 — Day 35 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E34 — Day 34 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E33 — Day 33 of My 1-Year Experiment;

Evidence

Today’s Holiday Birthday: 

Though inspiration has been known to strike you, in the months ahead it occurs with a gentler and more constant touch. You’ll absorb the wisdom of great minds. Acting on the pulse of creativity, you’ll bring into form: events, teams, systems, presentations and more. Key relationships will bring sweetness and surprise to your days.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “It’s scary to go from what you know and love to what you don’t know and aren’t sure you’re going to like. But this is also the way to find out who you are, so it’s worth it.” Taurus 

I guess so.  Wait, I know so based on how many career transitions I negotiated in my life so far.  What’s that old marketing and startup saying, “Fake it until you make it?” I’m re-rating your TauBit, because it just dawned on me that I’m following the full cycle aspect of this roadtrip into a different website I administer.  How will that work out?

“5”  Steve Smith, 30, Stevie Nicks, 72: “You’ll sort the puzzle, decipher the meaning of the code, or discover the intention. This ability to sense what’s really going on will serve you well and help a friend too.” Gemini

Is this all about the sheer number of “Patriot” flags flying in Arizona and specifically in Jay and Elle’s neighborhood including at their home?

“4”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61; Stephen King, 72: “To the outsider watching you mingle, it looks like you’re having a good time, but inwardly it feels like work. Rightly so. Building relationships is the essential labor of success.” Virgo

Negotiating these encounters make me seem like and ENTP — the emphasis on extrovert.  But, the shear energy depletion I feel at the end of engagement clearly signals I’m a card-carrying introvert, INTP.

“4”  Steve Nash, 45: “You’ll get carried away with a project and you may forget about various responsibilities and healthful necessities. But your complete involvement is warranted — you’re about to make a breakthrough.” Aquarius

 Did I pick this TauBit because it was true, or because it is just wishful thinking like many others over four seasons?

“5”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “While understanding what everyone stands to gain or lose from a situation may be key to achieving your goals, you mostly study people for the fun of it.” Pisces

Yup, that’s me.  I’m a quick read of intentions and motivations and incentives before leading the way forward.  And, yes it is shear fun!

Long-Form

    • “Here, Right Matters: An American Story” by Alexander Vindman. “We’d long been confused by the president’s policy of accommodation and appeasement of Russia, the United States’ most pressing major adversary. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, seizing the Crimean Peninsula, attacking its industrial heartland, the Donbass, from the capital, Kyiv. By 2019, little had changed, Russian military and security forces and their proxy separatists continued to occupy the Donbass. The biggest change was to Ukraine’s importance as a bulwark against Russian aggression weeks earlier, the White House had abruptly put a hold on nearly four hundred million dollars.” 
    • David Enrich begins his book with a suicide in “Deutsche Bank Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction” and then meticulously details the bank’s Russian money laundering operations. Deutsche’s Russian business surged after revenues had fallen 50% due to the 2008 financial crisis. Putin’s Russia, poured in to Deutsche from deals it did with VTB Bank, linked to the Kremlin’s intelligence apparatus. Deutsche positioned itself as a crucial cog in “The Laundromat” by doing what couldn’t be done — processing cross-border transactions for banks that were too small  and didn’t have offices outside their home countries.
    • “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy” by Jamie Raskin recalls one tragedy no parent should endure — the suicide of his son — and then a second tragedy at almost the same time — the insurrection on January 6th 2021, that terrified he and his congressional peers who were tasked by the Constitution to routinely oversee the orderly transfer of power from one former president to the duly elected new President. 
    • “A Warning” by Anonymous (Miles Taylor) written prior to the January 6th Insurrection as an insider’s account documenting how frequently the former President’s behavior and rage without any “guard rails” showed just how far he would go to win the next election at any cost while spinning lies and misinformation on top of each other.  
    • “Peril” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa provides anecdotes, stories and inside reporting documenting the controversial last days of Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as the presidential transition and early presidency of Joe Biden. 
    • “Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Nationalist Uprising,” by Joshua Green tracks the money behind the scenes leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the growing influence of Steve Bannon’s network of extreme nationalists.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

 

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S3 E41 — What’s Up with Telluride or Humboldt County or Bodega Bay?

I’ve lost my way.  It’s nothing to become alarmed about.  It happens everyday around this time.  Unlike an early onset of dementia I usually can find my bearings around 5:45 am with my Apple News ritual.

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “Projects have a beginning, middle and an end, though that is not the best order of approach. Begin with the end in mind. If you don’t have an end in mind yet, assist someone who does and you’ll learn a lot.” Libra

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 41 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 7th day of May in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E40 — How Stealing Your Sign Led Me to a Nobel Prize; S3 E39 — Ready for Your Big Leap Forward?; S3 E38 — Sliding on a Super Slippery Slope to 2nd or 3rd Cousins

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E41 — A Pandemic End to Real Estate and Consulting?; S2 E40 — The Profound Impact of the Pandemic on Nouns; S2 E39 — The Best Tau for the Pandemic Year, Don’t You Agree?; S2 E38 — What Should You Do If You Stumble Across Loaded Information?

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E41 — The Dream Was Over, Long Live the Dream; S1 E40 — Nothing to See Here, Keep Moving On; S1 E39 — What’s Up with Facebook?; S1 E38 — Day 38 of My 1-Year Experiment

Context

I’ve been feeling the pull of returning later in the day to Apple News for a destination-specific summary of headlines that sometimes go back a couple of years. 

Especially for those that have very little news like Telluride or Humboldt County or Bodega Bay. 

For instance “Stay at Keystone Resort in Colorado for only $109 per night” in “Travel and Leisure” 3 yrs ago. Every time I open “Keystone Resort” this is the lead story at the top of other scrollable photos and headlines and almost always prompts me to return later. 

But, it’s a ritual, which I wrote about as a section in my natural experiment report’s “Conclusion.”

When I finish those eight iPhone screenfuls I’m still effortlessly following my bliss remaining in Daniel Kahneman’s, System 1 as described “Thinking Fast and Slow”.  Click on a place like Keystone, quickly scan photos, headlines and dates until I recognize the last one I captured and move on in under 5 seconds, tops.

There’s more.

From the same source, Travel and Leisure, “Save 40% on Stays at the Santa Ynez Inn in Santa Barbara” — 3 years ago.  

But my favorite from NBC News is, “Bear freed from SUV in Tahoe, California, as family looks on” — 1 year ago.  The video screen shot shows the bear like he’s a member of the family looking in through the rear window as if he forgot to grab his backpack.

And, there’s the second story, but from 2 years ago written by the SFGate that churns my stomach before breakfast,  “4th of July revelers pile Tahoe beaches with thousands of pounds of trash.” 

My report write up currently in the Conclusions chapter is where I feel adrift.  So last night I began to re-read it and edit it from the beginning forward until 8:35 pm.  I left off in the section, “Two Fortune Cookies and Dove Dark Chocolate.”

My renewed interest actually started with two fortune cookies from our local Panda Express at the end of mall across the street from the high school, shared with Emma the Baroness, the Scorpio love of my life, and after dinner by the chance discovery that our favorite dark chocolate wrappers hid B-side quotes of encouragement.

I wanted inspiration and motivation and found a little hiding under the red wrappers:

“Life happens between an inhale and an exhale!” Brianna Z., Nevada

“Be the sculptor of your dreams.” – Joanne C., California

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” – Jetta L. Massachusetts

“Don’t stop until you’re proud.” Lauren N., Colorado

But, my next ritual on mornings like this, Friday, in addition to selecting the Holiday Tau for the day which confirms my biases, is reading the comics, or as my day called them, the funny pages.

From today’s “Pearls Before Swine” by Stephan Pastis — who should request a time out from the sidelines for a ruling about his first name — is he or isn’t he a Steve? 

In the first panel with yellow background Rat and Pig stand barely shoulder height behind a brown table with two plates on it. 

Pig says, “Hey look we got fortune cookies.”  

Rat says, “Mine says next year brings you great success.” 

Pig says, “How nice.” 

But, Rat can’t help himself and complains, “Yeah, but they’re all too general and bland like that.  I’d prefer some specificity.”

Read yours.”You will get run over by a 1989 Accord. 

To which Pig says, “Specificity is overrated.”

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

And, so are birthdays.  If Kahneman verifies that bliss equates to “System 1” I’d specifically consider changing my birthday to today’s.  But, too much effort and paperwork would be involved — clearly “System 2” stuff which goes against the sentiment, right?  

Today’s Holiday Birthday: 

In a way, following your bliss is the most responsible thing you can do. For one thing, it pays. Lucky financial moves will be the result of a stellar perspective, which comes from delving deeply into your delights. You’ll work with your emotions to create circumstances that ultimately benefit many, a skill that rubs off on others.

Our Patron Saint’s Carbon Beach house made the real estate news yesterday in Malibu, California.  Of course, the celebrity pedigree headline wasn’t really needed in this super heated, pre-bubble-licious market.  But his Holiday Tau reminds me of my approach for sizing up one of my coaching clients to zero in on how I could best help.

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “When you’re talking to someone you’re trying to understand where they are coming from. You can picture their life outside the interaction with greater accuracy because of the excellent questions you ask.” Aries

Wait, what?  Was I reading your mind?  Or at least pre-reading your Holiday Tau last night after 8 pm?  Or am I reverse engineering your TauBit of Wisdom?  Who cares, I make the rules and I’m stealing it.

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “Projects have a beginning, middle and an end, though that is not the best order of approach. Begin with the end in mind. If you don’t have an end in mind yet, assist someone who does and you’ll learn a lot.” Libra

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of digital magazines jumps from 8003 to 8088 organically grown followers

Foresight

 Quality-of-Life  

Long-Form

    • “Future Shock” by Alvin Toffler, a classic I feel which still holds up. As the pace of change quickens we experience self-doubt, anxiety and fear.  We become tense and tire easily, until we are overwhelmed, face-to-face with a crisis situation. Without a clear grasp of relevant reality or beginning with clearly defined values and priorities, we feel a deepening sense of confusion and uncertainty. Our intellectual bewilderment leads to disorientation at the level of personal values. Decision stress results from acceleration, novelty and diversity conflicts. Acceleration pressures us to make quick decisions. Novelty increases the difficulty and length of time while diversity intensifies the anxiety with an increase in the number of options and the amount of information needed to process.  The result is a slower reaction time.
    • Daniel Kahneman’s, “Thinking Fast and Slow”describes two different ways the brain forms thoughts: “System 1” which is meant as a fictional shorthand — not as a brain system or structure: Fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious. “System 2”: Slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, conscious. I’m learning a lot about my energy levels first described from within an introversion frame now, from within differences between System 1 and the harder working, energy depletion System 2.  Self-control, for instance is hard and takes a lot of energy to accomplish.  When I write the concentration requires effort until I can find the “flow.” Implications for True Belief — it’s easy to stay in System 1 vs. critical thinking — System 2.  Set some marketing and working on the business goals — System 2 and then ignore them by following the lateral thinking and associative thinking  which Leo da V invites me to do — System 1.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trips

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S2 E70 — Persistent Failure

I failed so many times at start-ups that I could pick apart most of their plans and presentations almost instantaneously.  But, that didn’t mean I wasn’t a sucker for ideas I felt would be sure hits.  Even after I left the SBA program I continued to meet and mentor some of my entrepreneurs.

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “Stay aware, head on a swivel, as you make your way to the crossroads. Transitions are always a little more dangerous. The intersections of life hold potential for much good and bad fortune.” Libra

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 70 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 26th day of June in the summer of 2020.

 

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E69 — How Can You Tell Who’s an Engineer at a Party?; S2 E68 — Take More Breakthrough Showers;  S2 E67 — Here’s What I Didn’t Know That Will Help You

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E70 — Lingering Fear My Cover Was Blown; S1 E69 — Anniversary Trip of a Lifetime Deep in the Heart of Tuscany; S1 E68 — Overcompensating for Disappointing Results?; S1 E67 — Don’t Misunderstand Me

Context

This is the continuing story of how I learned important lessons from the school of hard knocks. And it’s an introduction to my second volume of books I described in the previous episode. I had already changed careers and switched industries by following the future brought to us by technology companies.

Key Executive Advisor

He asked me if I’d be interested in becoming their Key Executive Advisor.  I learned I’d be heading up the region’s outplacement services for C-suite executives paid for by their former companies.

Clearly this was a major stretch for me.  Fake it until you make it, right?

Rose colored glasses again?  You bet.  I immediately envisioned a 360 degree opportunity.

Here’s how I sized up what I could do: 

        1. Advise executives by surfacing their unique value propositions, circulate creative briefs describing them, pitch  their 90-day plans during the round of interviews and hit the ground running after the negotiations. 
        2. Once hired, then have them assess the organization’s current team they’ve inherited against the new direction — with our organizational consulting services. 
        3. Have them define the missing talent necessary to execute their plan, engage us to outplace executives and managers that who no longer fit. 
        4. Recruit from us executives they’ve likely already met and sized up, that matched their new talent requirements.    

Rinse and repeat.

Easy for me to see, but I had nobody local to pitch it too.  

The headquarters was on the East Coast where those kinds of decisions were considered, approved, but more probably rejected and denied. 

Their motto I came to believe was stick to your knitting and hit your numbers within your own functional silos. 

So I washed my hands of the whole proposition and dug in to accelerate my learning about how to deal with executives.  Up until then, like sales, not a strength of mine. 

My suite of offices were completely different than space devoted to the majority employees from lower paying companies, cubicles with workstations and a generic phone.  

It mirrored the “mahogany row” they were ejected from — with an executive assistant just for them, with offices offering privacy with doors that closed.  We were selling a normalized service.  Come spend the same hours as you would working, but this time devote them to your job search. 

I delivered individual and group facilitated services at offices throughout the Southern California Region from San Diego to Woodland Hills, Pasadena and West LA.  

It dawned on me that for executives, who you knew and who knew you,  made the most difference for people at this level, so I created an online community for information and insight sharing which became a source for trusted referrals.

Just as I was hitting my stride the parent company had been acquired and after about 18 months began consolidating services, cutting back on rental overhead and getting rid of us six figure advisors in favor of those high volume cubicle contracts at lower rates.

Shocked into Venture Guidance for SBA

Usually I see these things coming.  

Not this time, though.  

Maybe because between advisory sessions, group work and regional office visitations I had been experimenting with writing my first blog, The Journal of 2020 Foresight.  

Having been outplaced again, I worked out of a rival’s outplacement office ironically resurrecting my consulting practice  while I spent half my time coaching wannabe entrepreneurs who sought angel funding helping them on their presentation, in much the same way it’s done on shark tank.  

I’d meet each person with a great idea, hear them out, conduct a preliminary intake against the criteria for receiving our free services provided by a budget from The Small Business Association.  

Instead of qualifying for a business loan at a vetted SBA bank affiliate that they’d have to pay back, we were there to vet their idea against evolving criteria provided to us by Tech Coast Angels — a group of entrepreneurs and former executives who agreed to pledge $50,000 each as seed or A-series funding.  

In a deck of 10 slides, after being coached by us individually, the wannabes had to stand and deliver to a group of us roleplaying the sharks and throwing at them curve balls challenging their assumptions.

I failed so many times at start-ups that I could pick apart most of their plans and presentations almost instantaneously.  But, that didn’t mean I wasn’t a sucker for ideas I felt would be sure hits. 

Even after I left the SBA program I continued to meet and mentor some of my entrepreneurs who failed to dazzle the Angels.

Defense Contractor to Disease Prevention Start Up

One of my former client reached out to be because he left the disk-drive company that built the corporate headquarters and experienced “Edifice Complex” curse.  He needed my help with his San Diego defense contractor client that struggled with a spin off.  

They tried to commercialize electron-beam sterilization of fruits and vegetables and hamburger meat to extend their shelf life — which definitely represented thinking out of the box, Jack-in-the-Box.  

Doctors had invested after a round of salmonella outbreak.  He had another client which was reinventing itself trying to both innovate and control their product development process. 

Too Many Product Innovations

I learned that the talent cultures that inhabit defense contractors are in no way the talent cultures that you need to commercialize a startup.  

And, instead of doing what I loved to do, facilitate more innovative ideas from all corners of an enterprise, too many ideas can be a bad thing.  

Especially if you don’t have a process in place to kill projects that go nowhere to free up resources — budget and talent — for higher probability minimum viable projects.

It was this last client who was located in the research park of the local university that required me to drive on campus for product meetings.  

One late Friday morning, after a Starbucks meeting near the John Wayne Airport,  I decided to take the afternoon off.  So I drove towards the heart of the campus, parked my silver gray 4 Runner in the town center and began aimlessly wandering. 

I strolled past outdoor restaurant tables filled with undergraduates and professors who like me were just enjoying another spring day in Southern California when a voice rang out, “Steve, is that you?” 

Synchronicity or Serendipity?

That simple question startled me and jerked me back from my daydreams to reality. I turned around, couldn’t zero in on the voice’s location and began believing I imagined it.

But haven’t I emphasized that particular moment when you realize all your hard work meets the probability that someone you’ve just met will recommend you for a position or client who has a need, but hasn’t yet crystalized the requirements until you walk in with a pitch? 

Yup, but for my ex-C-Suite clients I advised in the Key Executive program

But, this time it was for me.  

Another colleague wanted an update.  And, eventually asked if I wanted to work with her at the University in the Business School advising the Executive and Healthcare Executive students.  I aced the interviews with the team.

The Director approved a long-term retainer for conducting advisory services and for teaching seminars customized to Executive MBA students needs.  Basically, he wanted someone to create the program from the ground up.

The opportunity lasted for a decade which I view as a field test or a laboratory for the content in these second volume books.

I proposed a curriculum to the Director for him to review, “Why would anyone choose to come back to school for an executive MBA (and spend over $100,000 over two years) when you’ve got all they’d ever need in this curriculum?” he asked.  

We should probably keep this our own little secret, since the University is paying both of us he went on to say.

But enough about me. For today, haha.

Evidence

“4”  Steve Zahn, 51: “As the bees get nectar, they accidentally spread pollen. Do they know they are the reason the flowers bloom? Like the bees, you will unknowingly cause beauty just by doing what comes naturally.” Scorpio

So, we’re talking about an organic eco-system that’s interdependent, right?  So if for some reason bees die off then the flowers and vegetables don’t bloom and seeds don’t fall and — is this what we’ll be leaving for our grandchildren?

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Of all the things you could wish for, an easy route won’t be one of them. It wouldn’t be wrong so much as just off-brand. You welcome the opportunity to get stronger and smarter through challenging work.”  Aries 

Haha, off-brand.  That’s a good one.  But I have to say I bore easily if my work hasn’t been complicated, complex or on the edge where the new knowledge you create and circulate, I check out.  But, every damn time? 

“3”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “You’re not afraid to answer the call of duty and, in fact, the best things you’ve experienced have happened because you both answered and went above and beyond such a call.”  Taurus

Really?  Not today.  So far, anyway.  I answered my call to duty years ago as an Army veteran, but I’m loathe to remember anything good that came out of it.

.“3”  Steve Howey, 42: “Let no one, not even you, offer a limiting idea of what you’re capable of. You don’t know what you can accomplish until you accomplish it. Your tenacity knows no bounds.” Cancer

Hopefully you find this inspirational, uplifting and relevant for you today.  It’s not for me.  But, then it’s not my “official” Holiday Tau either.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61; Stephen King, 72: “You have paid your dues and done your time. You showed up how they wanted, so you know what that’s like. Now, you’re inclined to do it your own way, to show up how you see fit. It works.” Virgo

It dawned on me that making a living as an artist probably won’t age well when I’m old and gray.  So with family responsibilities I chose to write on the side — to exercise my creativity on things I wanted to do in smaller time slots — at night, before work and at lunch.  Now with work out of the way, I am truly indeed seeing how it fits and works doing it my own way.

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “Stay aware, head on a swivel, as you make your way to the crossroads. Transitions are always a little more dangerous. The intersections of life hold potential for much good and bad fortune.” Libra

Here’s the added caveat during a pandemic — who knows how long this transition to locked down mode will last and how desperate we may all become for a normal life once more, when none may available on the other side.

“3”  Steve Harvey, 62: “You’ve already done the ‘dance like no one is watching’ thing and now you’re into the refinement of movement assumed by consummate professionals. Because if all goes well, someone will be watching.”  Capricorn

Over these initial chapters I’d conclude I became good at interviewing, because I assumed the view of an outside consultant.  And war stories they cared about flowed naturally from my lips.  But once the deal was signed or the offer extended I danced like everybody was watching as I faked it until I made it.

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “The thing you didn’t think you had time for will now be taking up many hours of your day. But if it weren’t good for your personal development, you wouldn’t feel so compelled to manage it.”  Aquarius

Isn’t there such a sigh of relief when you finally land a new job, discover how the internal weather blows, and master those obstacles thrown your way in the normal course of your assignments?  Yup.  It’s the same feeling I felt tempted to follow allowing my networking and marketing activities slip slide away.  Hey, I just landed a long-term retainer!  And then out of blue the flow you began coasting on dries up.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 3911 to 4073.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S2 E57 — Science and Medicine or Politically-Motivated Misinformation?

The Good Company embraces their corporate responsibility by focusing on their long-term enlightened self-interest with investments in their employees and in the communities where they live and work.

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You know the sensation you get when you look back on old photos and realize that a lot of your concerns back then were needless? Be happy now. Cast worry aside. Trust time. It will handle so much for you.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 57 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 4th day of June in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E56 — What Iffing; S2 E55 — Dreaming of 30 Tempting Getaways; S2 E54 — 90 Days to Future-Proof Your Career Trajectory and Lifetime Investments 

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E57 — 12 Hidden Secrets and Stolen Wisdom – Month Two; S1 E56 — It’s Frickin’ Summer and So Are You; S1 E55 — All Roads Lead to the Future; S1 E54 — A Version That’s a TauBit Grander

Context

How will our pandemic lives play out?  Back to our continuing my series drawing upon the report from Deloitte and Salesforce’s “The world remade by COVID-19 Scenarios for resilient leaders | 3-5 years.” 

We’re at step four. Assemble the alternatives for each force into internally consistent stories.

Previously we revealed the summary of “The Passing Storm” for which the scenario story tellers assume governments communicate the severity of the pandemic and gets us citizens to take the crisis seriously and go along with the quarantine program.  

The good news in this scenario is that the virus’s spread is contained.  

    • No second wave materializes. 
    • Immunization works leading to prevention.  
    • The economy, while taking a hit initially rebounds near the end of 2020 and builds once we consumers feel more confident sometime after July 2021.

Today, before visiting each of the four alternatives in greater detail, we profile Scenario Two.

“Good Company”

The COVID-19 pandemic persists past initial projections, placing a growing burden on governments around the world that struggle to handle the crisis alone. 

A surge of public-private sector partnerships emerges as companies step up as part of the global solution. 

New “pop-up ecosystems” arise as companies across industries partner to respond to critical needs and drive much-needed innovation. 

Social media companies, platform companies, and tech giants gain new prestige. 

Ultimately, companies shift further toward “stakeholder capitalism,” with a more empathetic stance on to how they can best serve their customers, shareholders, and employees to rebuild after the crisis.

In another positive alternative, we’ll witness the initiative taken by those companies to supply healthcare expertise especially with software and tools.  

The Good Company embraces their corporate responsibility by focusing on their long-term enlightened self-interest with investments in their employees and in the communities where they live and work. 

Best estimate for the economic cycles? 

Recovery begins near the end of the year in 2021, but slows during the first 6 months of 2022, before accelerating in the second half.

Evidence

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You know the sensation you get when you look back on old photos and realize that a lot of your concerns back then were needless? Be happy now. Cast worry aside. Trust time. It will handle so much for you.” Scorpio

So, you’re saying they same holds true for Emma the Baroness and me in, say 2022 or 2024?  I can verify I have experienced the sensations even more recently looking back on old photos in-between searching for missing jigsaw pieces and binge watching Netflix.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday:  

“This year turns up your vitality; lifestyle changes and exciting projects figure in. People you admire find their way into your world. You already have what others need, and you’ll find the niche that allows you to feel a deep sense of contribution and belonging, not to mention the chance to get exactly what you want.

So, clearly this ain’t my birthday, but if it is yours please feel free to soak up the optimism.  And, let’s celebrate you by fervently wishing that key elements of “The Passing Storm” and “The Good Company” influence our futures together.

“4”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “You’ll revel in your freedom. Being left alone to live as you like without being nagged, judged or subjected to the whims of authority is the perk of adulthood you cherish.” Leo

Haha.  Welcome relief for an introvert. Solitude.  Ah yes.  Even more so now with no one to see and nowhere to go. 

“4”  Steve Kerr, 54: “You become like the people around you and this is why you’re pretty choosy about whom you allow to the inner circle, or, for that matter, any concentric circle of which you are the center.” Libra

It’s pretty easy for Emma the Baroness and me.  Are you a believer in science and medicine or politically-motivated misinformation?

“3”  Steve Aoki, 41: “Your cosmic gift of the day is a clear demarcation on the point of diminishing returns. This prevents you from unnecessary work and frees you to focus on what matters most to you.” Sagittarius

I picked this TauBit maybe out of wishful thinking more than anything else — I mean, c’mon, my cosmic gift?  Most excellent.

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “Judges get paid to judge. Why should those who aren’t judges do this for free? You refuse to concern yourself with matters that do not directly concern you. It takes less energy to live and let live.” Capricorn 

Yeah, sure.  But I see it in even more simple terms — introverts need to budget their energy.  We take longer to recharge.  Which, in turn, takes away from more imaginative work and creativity.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 3188 to 3698.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S3 E30 — Steal These TauBits, Please. It’s Only Fair!

No jealousy allowed.  Yesterday I confessed to swiping all the Holiday Tau I wanted. Why? I was only receiving  17%  of the total available Tau on any given day. So I was envious of the other 83%. 

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “While many scan the conversation for arguing points to dig into, you have better luck listening up for possible common interests. Bonus: Trying to see another person’s point of view is just good practice.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s Episode 30 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 17th day of April in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E29 — Why 83.3% of the Time I Swiped Your Tau; S3 E28 — Why I Stole Your Daily Horoscope for a Year; S3 E27 — What the World Needs Now Before It’s Too Late; S3 E26 — Following Alice Down the Rabbit Hole

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E30 — It’s Crazy. Why does Amazon Prime Work, but Netflix Doesn’t?; S2 E29 — Three Months That Changed the World; S2 E28 — Hosting Norwegian Zooms While Trump Eliminated the Virus in April; S2 E27 — Why I Have to Keep Leo da V on a Leash and So Should You

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E30 — Day 30 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E29 — Day 29 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E28 — Day 28 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E27 — Day 27 of My 1-Year Experiment 

Context

But, today I’m adding more to the Findings Section of the 1-year Natural Experiment’s Report.  These TauBits of Wisdom describe me well.  I can legitimately claim them (as can Emma the Baroness).

Scorpios (Oct. 24 – Nov. 21) Steve Zahn, Henry Winkler

Best Fit For Me

Work Organizations and Cultures

“Your research will lead you to concepts, next steps and, most importantly, people who can help you take them.”

Why did I pick it? 

If I’m true to myself (INTP / Idea Packager) and work on all of the Volume Two, Three, and Tau manuscripts at the same time,  I feel what I write about is truthful and useful and original.  And, by publishing to Patreon I can write freely and link to something else I wrote on my website and in my blogs. For instance I can work in the story about constant commoditization, how artistic work drives audiences to social media in a siren server kind of way.  And if that, then it means artists receive pennies on the dollar in royalties while the platforms thrive and grow in value.

“Knowing about new possibilities gives you more choices.  You could attain the perfect coach or mentor or, at the very least, find the book you need.”

Why did I pick it?  

Here’s what I’ve learned.  Listening to almost everyone else’s advice works for extroverts based on how their brains are wired — as I learned from “The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive in an Extrovert World.” To just pick one passion project at a time, focus on it and complete it works for them.  But,  as an introverted INTP life story writer and idea packager,  my strength is associative or lateral thinking.  I know it is also my weakness in the extreme, so the best I can do is treat my passion projects as category buckets and fill them each a little as I go.

Legacy and Wisdom

“For you, intuition isn’t a part-time thing. It’s always engaged. Today it will be a significant driver for you.”

Why did I pick it? 

It suggests how our brains work.  How we navigate through life weighing facts, yet making the actual decision based on the best intuition and logic.  Passing that TauBit of Wisdom on to others who are like me may find it valuable too.

“Vitality follows those on the edge of the known.  Anyone doing what they know they can do is playing it too safe to feel successful.”

Why did I pick it? 

I’ve lived by the mantra in my career, “Anticipate, Innovate, Iterate and Excel” which leads to my theory about companies and organizations that practice it as a core competency — Paradoxy-Morons.  And, why I’m attracted to an organizations at the Reinvention stage of growth driven by Chief Reinvention Officers (CROs). You’ll notice  I began adding topics to the bottom of each day in the 1-year experiment that add to the amount of time to compose the day, but offer glimpses into broader possibilities: Tau, Trends (What’s Next), Short-Form (Where), Long-Form (notes from books), Progress and Procrastination, Speaking Volumes (1,2,3) and Banking and ATMs (Analytics)

Practical Projects

“Your story is more interesting than you think and spaced with valuable information and inspiration.  How and when you share it will be important.”

Why did I pick it? 

At first, I felt embarrassed by describing the horoscope angle, to this project, but nearing  the last 30-days I feel I’ve got some sound underpinnings in psychology and  neuroscience identifying parts, pathways and functions of the brain responsible to a large degree for reason and creativity. And if this, then that propels me into what the Volume Three’s Manuscript can become, or to an entirely other manuscript can become.

“It seems like good ideas are being snatched up all around you. Actually, they were snatched up long ago and are just getting reworked. Seek anticipated inspiration.”

Why did I pick it? 

This time frame over a year is unique enough that it might attract a following, but it allows me to link to something already written in a pre-COVID world just as it is ending.  How will fortunes and forecasts change over the next year? Tying people, places, things, ideas, information and trends together in new and original ways can begin to answer the questions with new ideas. The real work of an idea packager is anticipating new and novel ideas partially hidden in patterns driven by trends or forecasts.

Evidence

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “While many scan the conversation for arguing points to dig into, you have better luck listening up for possible common interests. Bonus: Trying to see another person’s point of view is just good practice.” Scorpio

Today, should I pick it? 

Emma the Baroness and I are hosting longtime friends who traveled with us to Italy, but have moved twice, returned to California, but have returned to sell their house while pulling up stakes for good to live in Arizona. We disagree on their choice of watching Fox News and the perceived unfairness of business closings located next door to each other, enjoyed the other 99% of the evening catching up. 

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Hi Steve. It’s easy for me to agree with your Holiday Tau today and I’ll include it in my bucket for Legacy (Volume Three Manuscript).

“5”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “There is no how-to manual for what you are trying to accomplish today. The most important thing is that you know what you’d like your desired outcome to be. Send that star to the high heaven to guide the journey.” Pisces

Thanks, Harv.  I feel your TauBit of wisdom echos the first description of me listed under Practical Projects.

“5”  Steve Harvey, 62: “There’s so much you know that people will want to learn from you, but this is going to happen over a long period of time. You’re wise to be a little mysterious and give out one nugget of wisdom at a time.” Capricorn

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of digital magazines jumps from 7930 to 7981 organically grown followers

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge” by E.O. Wilson, an entomologist who studied colonies of ants for their insights.  But didn’t stop there, according to The Wall Street Journal, “A dazzling journey across the sciences and humanities in search of deep laws to unite them.” 
    • “True Believers,” the novel by Kurt Andersen (which seems to precede Fantasyland)? I like how he goes back and forth from now to the ‘60s in which the main character is writing a memoir, but needs “Okays” from her friends who had been hiding a secret for 40+ years that could ruin their careers?  Like, what’s my equivalent
    • “Disappearing Through the Skylight” by O.B. Hardison, Jr. which proceeded “Consilience” by a decade.  Hardison’s been described as a polymathic renaissance man who wrote, “… Nature has slipped, perhaps finally beyond our field of vision.”  What does it mean for “… science, history, art and architecture, music, language, ultimately, for humanity”? This one provides missing chunks of understanding where we came from and where we’re going.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

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S3 E28 — Why I Stole Your Daily Horoscope for a Year

According to Harry Bosch in Michael Connelly’s detective series, it’s a cardinal sin to turn away from momentum.  Momentum drives me to writing the 1-year experiment report by picking up where I left off.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Of course, you want to focus on what’s important, but today brings some confusion as to what fits the category. Hint: It’s small, emotional in nature and couldn’t happen on any other day.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 28 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 15th day of April in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E27 — What the World Needs Now Before It’s Too Late; S3 E26 — Following Alice Down the Rabbit Hole; S3 E25— Art Lives Upon Discussion, Upon Experiment, Upon Curiosity …

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E28 — Hosting Norwegian Zooms While Trump Eliminated the Virus in April; S2 E27 — Why I Have to Keep Leo da V on a Leash and So Should You; S2 E26 — Rethinking the N-Word; S2 E25— Are You an Innie or Outie Thinker?

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E28 — Day 28 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E27 — Day 27 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E26 — Day 26  of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E25— Day 25 of My 1-Year Experiment

Context

Last time I shared the pitch for bringing more Steves into the world! Heck, we’re an endangered species if you follow the numbers. 

Stymied at first to name any famous Steves, Google results provided 120 and with a little sleight of hand I listed them according to their horoscopes.

Today I’m outlining sections of the report:

Introduction 

Defining terms — What does Tau mean; Life as an art form in a natural experiment;

The chain of events leading to the 1-year natural experiment including creating and maintaining 6 WordPress websites, a blog taking a peak behind the scenes of self-publishing, crowdfunding, and working for yourself;  

Which points to Patreon, a crowdfunding platform; and 

The inspiration behind turning to Holiday Mathis Scorpio sayings starting on 2/24/19;

Methodology 

Conducted 1-Year Experiment — 2/24/19 to 3/29/20;

On Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays

Tau of 19 Famous Steves 

          • Steve Harvey, 62 (December 22 – January 20) Capricorn
          • Steve Nash, 45 (January 21 — February 19) Aquarius
          • Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011) (February 20 — March 20) Pisces
          • Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980) (March 21 – April 20) Aries
          • Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56 (April 21 – May 21) Taurus (Addition part way through)
          • Steve Smith, 30; Stevie Nicks, 72  (May 22 – June 21) Gemini (Added part way through)
          • Steve Howey, 42 (June 22 – July 22) Cancers 
          • Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69  (July 23 – August 22) Leo
          • Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61; Stephen King, 72 (August 23 – September 23) Virgo (Added part way through)
          • Steve Kerr, 54 (September 24 – October 23) Libra
          • Steve Zahn, 51 (October 24 – November 22) Scorpio
          • Steve Aoki, 41 (November 23 – December 21) Sagittarius

Initial plan for coding the Holiday Tau into categories to compare and analyze TauBits of Wisdom.

          1. W —Wisdom for “If you could go back in time and warn your younger self, what warning would you issue?” 
          2. N —The name (why a mother would choose Steve for a baby to grow into; choose Steve for horoscope intuition) — prime-the-pump kind of Steve-only and Friends of Steves putting in their two cents; 
          3. Y —1-year experiment — Anything, especially for intuitors and actual magical thinking (Norway vacation should extend the 1-year time frame)
          4. S — Something silly inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s “Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life” but she chose the alphabet for categorizing small moments — This could be 52 weekly sayings for a year.

In the first 30 day I didn’t really know what the patterns would be until the Holiday Tau showed me. 

Changes As the Year Unfolded

          • Time frame lengthened to make up for two vacations in July and September of 2019. 
          • I needed to sort quickly through 12 sets of Steves first by eliminating about 50% in the daily selection process and second through scoring on a scale of low (1) to high (5)
          • For more in depth tracking and comparisons I switched to a representative sample of four horoscopes.  
          • Settled on changing the categories to practical projects, work, wisdom and legacy and relationships and intimacy. 
          • My monthly reviews eliminate all scored Holiday Taus except for those ranked “5”
          • Those, were segregated from horoscope and from a Steve, to be used as a standalone TauBit of Wisdom.

Findings

Four Representative Samples: (Grand Total 421)

“For Steve Zahn, Emma the Baroness and Me”

TauBits of Wisdom by Category (Totals 139)

          • Practical Projects: 36
          • Work: 24
          • Legacy: 38
          • Inner Dreams and Intimacies: 41

“For Steve Carell, Steve Martin, and Steve Wozniak”

TauBits of Wisdom by Category (Totals 103)

          • Practical Projects: 28
          • Work: 24
          • Legacy: 20
          • Inner Dreams and Intimacies: 29

“For Steve McQueen”

TauBits of Wisdom by Category (Totals 117)

          • Practical Projects: 36
          • Work: 24
          • Legacy: 38
          • Inner Dreams and Intimacies: 41

“For Steve Jobs”

 TauBits of Wisdom by Category (Totals 62)

          • Practical Projects: 20
          • Work: 9
          • Legacy: 20
          • Inner Dreams and Intimacies: 13

Evidence

But, what about today?

So, the beat goes on with today’s crop of Holiday Tau. Zahnny does your TauBit of Wisdom fit so well today because of selection or confirmation bias?  Either way, I like it a lot.

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Of course, you want to focus on what’s important, but today brings some confusion as to what fits the category. Hint: It’s small, emotional in nature and couldn’t happen on any other day.” Scorpio

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Is today your birthday?  Y’all know it’s not mine, right? But 10 weeks is 10 weeks, so let’s check back as well as in May and August!

Today’s Holiday Birthday: 

Here come the exciting influences! There are definite emotional benefits from the changes over the next 10 weeks, and you’ll find your mood on a steady rise. Because of this, you’ll attract different situations in May than you do in August. You will leverage one resource for another more brilliantly suited to your needs.

Steve, I’m feeling the rhythm in your Holiday Tau, especially “passages of life” which is the theme for my “Volume Three Manuscript” and illuminates my “back door” approach to composing it from this 1-year experiment (and maybe the next?!)

“5” Steve Aoki, 41: “It is normal to, at times, feel uncomfortable, displaced or lost in the unfamiliar. These feelings accompany the passages of life you will one day be most proud of.” Sagittarius

Oh, I have no problem ignoring the opinion of others, like I’m sure you don’t either Steve.  But, I’m not feeling yours today, so I’m going to ignore it.

“3”  Steve Harvey, 62: “It is so hard for you to take a compliment, and yet it is so easy for you to believe someone’s unwanted critique. In general, this is a good day to ignore the opinions of others.”  Capricorn

What are you now, a mind reader, as well as an NBA Coach?  I’m grabbing your TauBit of Wisdom with two hands and an strapping in for the ride!

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “An intriguing future is taking form in your imagination. This is just one of many possibilities, so why are you already putting limits on it? Practice unbound visualization and watch your reality free up.” Aquarius

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of digital magazines jumps from 7930 to 7981 organically grown followers

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge” by E.O. Wilson, an entomologist who studied colonies of ants for their insights.  But didn’t stop there, according to The Wall Street Journal, “A dazzling journey across the sciences and humanities in search of deep laws to unite them.” 
    • “True Believers,” the novel by Kurt Andersen (which seems to precede Fantasyland)? I like how he goes back and forth from now to the ‘60s in which the main character is writing a memoir, but needs “Okays” from her friends who had been hiding a secret for 40+ years that could ruin their careers?  Like, what’s my equivalent
    • “Disappearing Through the Skylight” by O.B. Hardison, Jr. which proceeded “Consilience” by a decade.  Hardison’s been described as a polymathic renaissance man who wrote, “… Nature has slipped, perhaps finally beyond our field of vision.”  What does it mean for “… science, history, art and architecture, music, language, ultimately, for humanity”? This one provides missing chunks of understanding where we came from and where we’re going.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

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S2 E52 — What’s So Wrong with Conventional Wisdom Unless …

… We’re in for a period of applying intelligence, indulging curiosity, playing around with different perspectives and taking part in extraordinary discussions that could only happen at this historic moment.

Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Creativity can only be accessed in the present. To obsess about the future or ruminate about the past isn’t creative. Those behaviors can be useful, but a very small dose goes a long way.”  Leo

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 52 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Experiment” on this 24th day of May in the spring of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E51 — Let’s Agree to Make Things Worse, Shall We?; S2 E50 — 5 Fundamental Uncertainties; S2 E49 — Navigating Waves of Disruption When You’ve Lost Your Bearings

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E52 — Missing Chapters and Paths Not Taken; S1 E51 — Brief, Broad, Fast, Wow and Delight; S1 E50 —The Bias Brothers or Just Plain Losers?; S1 E49 — Magnetize the Version You Imagine

Context

Can you predict the future?  Hell, no!  Does that stop anyone from trying, well not everyone, right?  In very uncertain times like these what we need I believe is scenario thinking instead. With it we can creatively prepare for and clarify potential risks when we choose a path forward.

And, that my friends is why I’m continuing my series drawing upon the report from Deloitte and Salesforce’s “The world remade by COVID-19 Scenarios for resilient leaders | 3-5 years.”

Why am I a big fan of scenarios — other than they are just so much fun to flesh out? 

“Scenarios are stories about what the future may be like, created through a structured process  to stretch thinking, challenge conventional wisdom, and drive better decisions today. They are not predictions about what will happen. They are hypotheses about what could happen, designed to open our eyes to new opportunities or hidden risks.” 

Here’s what they and we are after — trying to get our heads around what kinds of changes can we expect as we invest our livelihoods and embrace our social isolation sacrifices through a novel global uncertainty.

The good folks at Deloitte and Salesforce encourage us to challenge our assumptions.  

… imagine how the things you were sure would happen could now be on a different course. Avoid the temptation to conclude that the crisis will accelerate the changes you already expected or believed were inevitable. 

Here’s an 8-step process of strategic exploration I normally follow. We’re now on step 4.

    1. State the specific decision to be made —to answer the question we’ve all been asking ourselves, what will have changed as a result of what’s happening to us right now.
    2. Identify the major environmental forces impacting the decision —the team identified 19 uncertainties and 5 critical uncertainties with two dimensions along which 2 critical uncertainties will drive the overall impact.
    3. Develop four plausible and qualitatively different possibilities for each force — 1.  The Passing Storm, 2. Good Company, 3. Sunrise in the East and 4. Lone Wolves.
    4. Assemble the alternatives for each force into internally consistent stories

Here’s how Deloitte and Salesforce summarized 5 critical forces playing out in each of 4 scenarios to assemble those forces into internally consistent stories. 

    1. Social cohesion rises with a heightened appreciation for interpersonal and familial relationships (Passing Storm); is maintained as society shifts to become more “purpose-driven” (Good Company); shifts to an increased emphasis on the “good of the whole” (Sunrise in the East); and falls, as xenophobia and suspicion of others become the norm (Lone Wolves).
    2. Technology advances stay on course as previous holdouts move online (Passing Storm); take center stage with large companies driving solutions in areas such as health tech and biotech (Good Company); are accelerated as more data-sharing allows for advances in AI and other advanced tech capabilities (Sunrise in the East); and are divergent among different markets, with a focus on advances in surveillance and control measures (Lone Wolves)
    3. Worldwide economies enter an extended recession with increased income inequality (Passing Storm); are disrupted with a growing concentration of power among large companies (Good Company); shrink due to the prolonged nature of the virus (Sunrise in the East); and are left in turmoil as global supply chains are disrupted (Lone Wolves)
    4. Focus on climate change is renewed as global collaboration provides hope for progress (Passing Storm); is mixed with some sustainability-minded companies investing in renewable energy (Good Company); is deemphasized as economic recovery is prioritized (Sunrise in the East); and declines as countries shift toward energy independence (Lone Wolves)
    5. Governments around the world gain trust and international organizations such as WHO grow in relevance (Passing Storm); partner with large corporations, who step up as part of the solution (Good Company); look to the east for guidance, as Asian countries effectively manage the virus (Sunrise in the East); and adopt isolationism as they attempt to contain the virus within (Lone Wolves)

Evidence

“4”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Because you have big plans, you can’t afford to wait for inspiration. You’ll simply show up and work whether you feel motivated or not. Inspiration will kick in eventually.” Scorpio

So I feel this almost every day.  Waiting for inspiration only means staring at a blank screen for far too long.  Two activities usually work for me.  The first I start the morning with, even before the first cup — scrolling through all the Apple News feeds I search to curate the days stories @Knowlabs. 

Something triggers an inspiration or a loose (at 5:30 am) connection for one of my passion projects.  The other is this habit on Thursdays through Fridays of curating TauBits of Wisdom because it stretches me to twist it somehow into what I want to say.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday:  

“A lucrative wave of business occurs as your interests meld with the common interest and you provide a valuable service. Years of experience suddenly add up to well-deserved mastery. Smooth will be the road of relationships and smoother still will be your approach to getting into and out of them as the case may be.”

I can only wish for two reasons.  I’m not seeing it and because this ain’t my birthday.  If it’s your’s Happy Birthday and enjoy your well-deserved mastery and smooth relationships.

“5”  Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Creativity can only be accessed in the present. To obsess about the future or ruminate about the past isn’t creative. Those behaviors can be useful, but a very small dose goes a long way.”  Leo

Amen brother Steves.  Rumination and obsession lead to a road of ruin — or at least blocked creativity.  Switch gears and close your favorite screen. 

“3”  Steve Kerr, 54: “No one is entirely to blame for the situation they are in, but everyone is entirely responsible for their own situation. You’ll get the help you need and give the help that is needed in the name of improvement.” Libra

I almost passed on selecting Steve’s, until I realized we individually didn’t start the fire of COVID-19 burning out of control, but we can get vaccinated when it’s an option and we can wear our masks.

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “You’ll have an excellent sense of where to focus, and it only gets better as the day progresses. At the end of the day, you’ll feel like you spent your energy on all the right things.”  Capricorn

I know it’s really tough to know where to focus right now.  I only hope presenting this Deloitte and Salesforce report will make things a little easier and that makes me feel I’ve spent today’s energy on the right things, then.

“5” Steve Nash, 45: “You will become aware of something you have been, until now, only unconsciously aware of. This is big. “Ah-ha” moments don’t come with fireworks. Nonetheless, they change everything.”  Aquarius

When I’m not, my other trick is to ask, “What would Leo da V do?” to give me permission to procrastinate like a Renaissance Master and free associate like a dog on a walk who abruptly takes off with the first sniff of squirrel no matter what the destination was supposed to be.

The Holiday Forecast for the Week Ahead:  

“… suggests we (shouldn’t) be quick to land on conclusions, definitions or labels. It’s not the moment to listen to uneducated opinions or even educated ones. Messes could very well become successes and vice versa, and it’s too soon to tell how the chips will fall. Time will tell, and anyone who tries to preempt time’s decree will later have to content with their own bad taste while eating their words. … we’re in for a period of applying intelligence, indulging curiosity, playing around with different perspectives and taking part in extraordinary discussions that could only happen at this historic moment. Set out to have fun, or better yet to be the fun. Above all, don’t take yourself too seriously, as that would only ruin the magic. The lighter a heart is, the higher it can fly.”

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines grew from 2663 to 2839.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

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S2 E46 — Whimsy Passion Project or Epic Novel of Adventure?

What were you doing this time last year?  Do you remember? I discovered nuggets from a little over a year ago — Tau Bits — which unlock mysterious inspirations.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Creativity will be abundant.  You’ll tap into it as you choose because you know the route.  A relaxed state is good but not necessary.”Aries

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 46 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Experiment” on this 15th day of May in the spring of 2020. 

 Season 1 and 2 are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E45 — Wildcard What Ifs and Doobie Bros Bias; S2 E44 — Celebrating Emma the Baroness Tribal Quarantine Style; S2 E43 — See What You’ve Been Missing …

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E46 — Day 46 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E45 — Day 45 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E44 — Google Me Some Chopped Liver; S1 E43 — Desperation on Such a Summer’s Day

Context

Experimentation. 

Living life as an art form in a natural experiment, yeah that’s  the name of the game.  But given the unfolding events and how unexpectedly huge the challenge is, will this turn into a real epic novel of a venture instead of a just whimsy passion project?  

More importantly, what’s this about the warning for expectations not met?  

And is this supposed to be some kind of warning — a snapback to a reminder that my target audience is just 3—5% of the US population who are introverts just like me?

4/19/19 Scorpio: “This is the moment for playing around, which is different that standing sill. Experimentation will show you the way.”

4/14/19 Scorpios: “What you thought would be a quick project is turning into a real epic novel of a venture. Still, this is doable.”

4/11/19 Scorpio: “Even if the project doesn’t work out as expected or the outcome is less than you were going for, the journey that brings people together is always worthwhile.”

4/7/19 Scorpio: “What you’re doing and how you’re thinking aren’t for everyone. You’ll win people by losing people.”

Evidence

“3”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Many make the mistake of assuming they are already so fascinating, talented, worthy, etc., that they don’t need to make an effort.  Set yourself apart by thinking ahead and doing more.” Scorpio

Nah, my mother always told me I was talented and worthy and just a late bloomer.  Mother knows best, y’all! 

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday:  

“You’ll commit to a process and be transformed by it — not all at once but in small ways throughout the year.  You’ll be paid to do something you would have done for free anyway — wondrous! You’ll get out from under an obligation in August.  You’ll bring loads of attention to the change you want to make in the world.”

Okay, then let’s check back in 90 days, eh?

“5”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Creativity will be abundant.  You’ll tap into it as you choose because you know the route.  A relaxed state is good but not necessary.”Aries

Road trip!  Oh, wait.  I live in a pretty relaxed state and prefer that to one filled with confusion, fear, uncertainty and doubt — FUD.

“5”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “Commit to getting a job done, and follow your instincts.  Those two actions will carry you to solutions and new highs of inspiration.”  Taurus

Instincts are good, except mine don’t necessarily lead to getting a job completed.  But I drive new inspirational highs.

“4”  Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “You’ll be creatively inspired by tried-and-true methods.  Follow the impulse to build on tradition and carry it into the future.”  Leo

I’m hoping what you mean is to follow my nose (where my intuition lies) and continue this burden of citing evidence in some sort of evolving format like this.

“5”  Steve Aoki, 41: “Relationships are collaborative, creative efforts.  Whom you get into a relationship with makes a huge difference.”  Sagittarius

Who else than my partner and love of my life, Emma the Baroness?

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “Your feelings often tip you off to things you can’t rationally explain but can also lie with abandon.  Question them as you would any other non evidentiary opinion.” Capricorn

Is this a convoluted way of saying feelings feel and liars lie and just follow the money trail while turning up data and witnesses?

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines grew from 2300 to 2663.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Just picked up “Bob Dylan In America” by Sean Wilentz.  Maybe because of the subliminal messaging like the times are a changing and the answer is blowing in the wind, but I kinda like Sean’s fanboy becomes music critic becomes historian surrounding Dylan’s life and times. 
    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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