Getting moving again after some downtime.

Since retiring from a ‘day job’ career in November I’ve had more time to reflect on the path I’m walking. And one of the first things I decided was to take some time and turn the burner down to a low simmer on some of the actions I’ve have in mind. I felt the need to give myself time to unwind and decompress a bit from a workday world. Spend more time with family and friends and enjoy a bit of a vacation. So I did and took time to decompress and also had a great family vacay to Colorado over the holidays. I enjoyed a couple of months letting stuff simmer in the background. And have also started trimming back my engagement with some other things that don’t currently hold quite as much interest for me. It’s all about balance.

Low simmer is not turning off the burner (I don’t think I could ever turn it completely off!). So I’ve continued to progress things in the physical world by initiating activities that will turn my dreams into realities. I’ve now moved back into gently turning up the burner to raise the pace in getting things moving. The time feels right and in my down time I’ve been able to further refine the direction. Let me explain.

The core aspect of serving others and helping them realize their dreams remains. But how to do that most effectively? For me this is not messing with the ‘cursed how’s’ but instead it is taking steps to begin. I know that even though I may plan a path for something to occur the actuality of what happens may be different and it will change as I engage with others and we each share in shaping understanding and perspectives. Although planned for, I am unattached to a particular ‘how’ and willing to adjust those, yet remain steadfast in the underlying intention and end goals which I described in my post “Where the path is leading…“.

Fleshing this out more, here is where my head is currently at:

  • design a network of relationships and resources that support the nurturing of the individual dreams of those in the network
  • make that network available and begin the work to help bring dreams to fruition. Start with a few and expand
  • promote a heart-centered consciousness approach across all aspects of the network
  • trust in the synergistic effects as individual nodes in the network share what they’ve created with others which will result in more connections and new ideas. The whole will create value greater for all than the sum of the parts. These have been core tenets for me from the start. And earlier today I was lead to a recent video interview of one of those forward thinkers I follow who expressed these same elements as being fundamental to the new world we are moving towards. Chris Larcombe (aka Larky) is the lead technologist (and cosmic thinker!) at the S7 Foundation. I found the entire interview quite engaging and especially liked Chris’s perspective on how we’ll be working in  web 2.0 which begins at about the 36:40 mark for about 10+ minutes.
  • unique nodes in the network (e.g., those striving for realization of their individual dreams) will need unique support to help them. One person does not have the capacity or resources to do that effectively with an entire network as it limits the ability of the network to grow and help many. So the network design needs to consider this aspect. I’m thinking I may personally work with a handful of people and help them realize what they are pursuing. And the pay-it forward (or is that play-it forward?) aspect is for those people to then do the same with others they are connected to.
  • many of the elements of what will be needed in this network already exist or they are in the process of being created by others. The creative challenge is in finding the right pieces and fitting them into a large quilt of success that helps the individual nodes. This is an aspect I particularly enjoy
  • Some of these individual elements I’m inclined towards and am exploring the use of include:
  • Holochain – my feeling is that this will become an underlying basis for a “web 2.0” and a key aspect is the shift from a centralized to a decentralized and distributed application world. It will also supercede the ‘blockchain’ as it has features that address some fo the fundamental design weaknesses in blockchain. There is much going on in this space and a visit to holo.host is good place to start exploring if you want to learn more. As I delved into this I was surprised by the number of people around the world actively working to bring this to fruition. Work has been ongoing for 10 years and while it still has a low profile in terms of public awareness I trust this is moving into a phase where it will grow much more quickly.
  • Growing Systems of Success – GSS provides a methodology for use in growing  a network of people and resources towards a goal. Based on the work of a group of UK-led Ph.D’s to model successful approaches. Included is a description of the core elements needed (the 6 C’s) as well as the various roles in a network (Orchestrator, Influencer, Participant). I feel this is a good model to utilize as a starting point. Also very much worth a visit to the related site ADDIT Together to learn more. Just this week I was lead to this site through and interview with the GSS Orchestrator Dasaratha Rama by one of the bright stars I follow (Tammy Lea-Meyers). And via that connection (nodes and networks at work!) I found connections to some online tools that I believe will be quite helpful as resources for those working to manifest their dreams. These include:
  • Thortspace – a simple, graphically rich mind mapping tool. Easy to use for collaborative brainstorming on ideas and direction.
  • AirTable –  an online human-friendly database tool that integrates well with many applications. Good for organizing things and being able to share them on the web. I’m just starting into exploring it but it looks quite promising.
  • Plectica – another easy, simple to use online tool for organizing information and ideas. Fits well as tool that can help in utilizing the GSS model.

Note that Thortspace, Airtable, and Plectica all have free versions available for personal use. They also follow a model typical in the space now of offering a free version as well as a paid Pro/Premium version that opens up some additional capabilities. But the free versions are quite rich in themselves and can help someone map an initial path to realizing their dreams and then morph that path as new information and relationships show up. I believe the world is full of beautiful ideas and a significant challenge we face is in how to turn the dream into reality. As a result the dream-to-manifestation ratio is quite low. These tools can help, but only if guided by one who holds the dream. Many, many dreams are just that and people struggle with manifesting them. My dream is to create this network of relationships and resources that can help more of these dreams manifest in reality and bring happiness to those involved.

So my attention is turning to using some of these tools and collaborating with others on creating this network to nurture dreams into reality. And 2018 is shaping up to be a year rich in travel for me as well as I visit new places and meet new people. I’m designing this phase of my life so that I can work from where I happen to be and keep things moving.

Ain’t life grand?!?!