San Harris’ podcasts act like gravity pulling me back into that original career. He made me curious again about how the brain works, what the current neuroscience tells us and what it can’t and who is the “I” when “I” write this or that? And, who can resist those calls he records with Ricky Gervais?
“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”
Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 7 in Season 3 of “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 7th day of March 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 in Season Three, The Paradoxically Normal Year
S3 E6 — ; S3 E5 — Another Year Another Baby, Could Have Been Stevie like Stevie Nicks, but Noooooo!; S3 E4 — What a Fool Believes She Sees; S3 E3 — A Pivot, a Miracle or Something Paradoxically Normal?; S3 E2 — Preview of the New Post Pandemic Season
Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year
S2 E7 — Smart Moves and Shifting Opportunities; S2 E6 — No We Don’t Share Your Precious Little Frickin’ Data; S2 E5 —Second Season Sneak Preview: My Pandemic Year’s Natural Experiment; S2 E4 — Sneak Preview: Day 4 of My Pandemic Year’s Natural Experiment; S2 E3 — Day 3 of My Pandemic Year Experiment; S2 E2 — New Season Preview: Rippling Effects, Implications and Consequences We Didn’t See Coming
Related from Season One, The Normal Year
S1 E7 — Day 7 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E6 — Day 6 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E5 — Day 5 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E4 — Day 4 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E3 — Day 3 of My 1-Year Experiment; S1 E2 — Day 2 of My 1-Year Experiment
“5” Steve Zahn, 51: “Who you are in any given moment is ever only part of who you are. Celebrate or forgive yourself as necessary, though without giving too much weight to any single expression of you. We are all works in progress.” Scorpio
Evidence
Can you say I tried to tidy up a bit? Just a TauBit?
Yes. In my mind I’d been juggling chapter starts and stops for three different and yet interrelated publications. Last week I bit the bullet and began “Volume Two Manuscript,” “Volume Three Manuscript,” “Tau of Steves Manuscripts”.
Early in the morning when I shopped for the Holiday Tau I found this introduction as a nice theme for my day and what I’ve been musing about. Here’s today’s intro I feel sums up my intentions and expectations:
“Expectations are often met, which is why we have them in the first place. (T)hey are also often not met. Watch out for negative expectations based in fear of hurt or loss. Hidden in the subconscious dark, those expectations are dangerously powerful. Illuminated, they might be downright silly.”
Silly.
I expect that applies to how I feel about The Tau of Steves — My One Year Experiment. But I recalled how I once followed John Lilly’s 8-step program when I transformed myself from a psychologist career trajectory to a career as an internal consultant, organizational learning, knowledge creation and innovation advisor.
Subconscious.
The recent San Harris podcasts have been acting like gravity pulling me back into that original career. He made me curious again about how the brain works, what the current neuroscience tells us and what it can’t and who is the “I” when “I” write this or that? And, who can resist those calls he records with Ricky Gervais?
Reality.
I feel less silly about tracking horoscopes as a natural experiment when I recall Lilly’s method for suspending any preconceived notions, going into new experiences with an open mind, recording what impressions and perceptions and feelings you encounter, and then later compare them to the consensual reality.
How should I go about conducting this experiment? Following his methodology, it’s all about the analytics as social media experts say.
I believe it opens the way for me to keep a straight face for launching my 1-year experiment.
“5” Steve Zahn, 51: “Who you are in any given moment is ever only part of who you are. Celebrate or forgive yourself as necessary, though without giving too much weight to any single expression of you. We are all works in progress.” Scorpio
Random ones that make me want change my sign.
Maybe even more than today’s legitimate TauBit of Wisdom for Zahn, Winkler, Emma the Baroness and me, is Howey’s Holiday Tau. His triggered a little memory to bubble up reminding me of a solution to silliness and fear of foolishness in John Lilly’s steps. Thanks, Steve.
“5” Steve Howey, 42: “Instead of offering suggestions, be a model. Ideas, advice and semantics can always be debated, but a living, thriving example is a hard thing to argue with.” Cancer
As I researched how it’s okay to be introverted, the one major weakness we all share is feeling pressure to accept a social engagement we really, really don’t want to attend which will only drain our energy and is expected of us, so we don’t want to disappoint. An introverted psychologist, Marti Olsen Laney, wrote about McQueen’s Holiday Tau in “The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive in an Extrovert World.”
“5” Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “There’s a way of saying no without disappointing anyone. Figure out what you’re willing to do and then emphasize that point as you get out of what you’re not willing to do.” Aries
The Tau for Smith and Nicks mirror meditative flows I’ve encountered leading to release of anxious thoughts. Another? Just write them down and accept emerging solutions as you compose.
“5” Steve Smith, 30, Stevie Nicks, 72: “To struggle against unwanted thoughts and emotions can sometimes exacerbate them. Other approaches to try include: leaning into them getting to the bottom of them or simply allowing for them.” Gemini
Should I or shouldn’t I? My friend the social scientist frustrated with his friends who just don’t wear masks — the so-called Neanderthals, who by the way went extinct when they couldn’t or wouldn’t adapt to climate change (but that’s another story) offered to help like CM&W’s Holiday Tau suggests.
“5” Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Your success will depend on your choice of partner. Seek a troubleshooter with a different skillset from your own. Positive results come from anticipating the negative.” Leo
So, I guess it comes down self-respect vs. stealing Kerr’s Holiday Tau. You’re right I wouldn’t dream of stealing his victory, but I’ll take his assist, since I can’t really use his 3-point shooting ability back in the day.
“3” Steve Kerr, 54: “To struggle with and overcome adversity is the cornerstone of self-respect. That victory is a prize you wouldn’t dream of stealing, nor would you want it stolen from you. There’s a fine line between assistance and robbery.” Libra
Okay, to me this seems like a sentiment that went out of fashion over the last four years of loyalty tests and zero-sum games. Me, me, me. I take it all and you get nothing and if you turn on me, I’ll hit back twice as hard. To move past the feelings I’ll have to combine Nash’s TauBit with Smith and Nicks’
“4” Steve Nash, 45: “Life is not a competition to be won at the expense of others, though many seem to think so. Avoid them. You can wish them well as you move past, seeking interactions more nuanced, inclusive and evolved.” Aquarius
Thank you Jobs. Yes, I’ve veered, but I’m practicing one little bit at a time to start and then add an iteration on top of that to course correct my neglected publishing nightmare of a pipeline.
“5” Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “Perhaps you’ve veered from the aims you made at the start of the month, but your goals are still doable. A course correction now will fix it. Have an honest and practical talk with yourself.” Pisces
What’s Going On …
Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll
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- @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines jumps from 7397 to 7455 this week organically grown followers
Foresight
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- I Think I’m Having A COVID Mid-Life Crisis
- Column: Biden stimulus plan is a big bet on economic theory – Los Angeles Times
- Pastors fight QAnon, conspiracy theories in churches – Los Angeles Times
- COVID-19 relief bill: Who gets a check and when? – Los Angeles Times
- Your brain exaggerates memories to remember them better | Live Science
Quality-of-Life
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- Highway 1 collapse a reminder of fragility of California coast – Los Angeles Times
- JSerra, a private Catholic high school in south Orange County, went ‘bold’ in returning to school – Los Angeles Times
- Californians aren’t leaving the state en masse — but they are leaving San Francisco, study says – Los Angeles Times
- Op-Ed: Is the dream of owning a home losing its appeal? – Los Angeles Times
- The deadly avalanche that came to define a community in Lake Tahoe
Long-Form
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- “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History” by Kurt Andersen Both of us, Emma the Baroness and I, have been processing the acquittal of our ex-President — not really being surprised by the “Big Lie” promoting followers in the Senate, but more disappointed after seeing new video documentation of the insurrection and detailed evidence time lines. I return to Kurt Andersen’s book “Fantasyland” to help me through the process of filtering the unfolding events.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate
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