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How could I possibly survive without knowing what was happening at that very moment?
How could I sustain my community if I wasn’t tweeting, posting, or commenting at least every few hours?
Resistance was futile – there was no choice but to actually be present in physical reality.
I noticed that the fields of rapeseed were actually quite beautiful, their movement in the wind inspiring thoughts about patterns, simulations, and swarms.
The sheep on the side of the road stopped their grazing when I stopped the vehicle to watch them. Or, actually, we just watched each other for a moment or two, perhaps equally curious.
The bathroom was a convenient shack within walking distance of my humble abode. It consisted of a wooden seat that led to a hole in the ground. I found myself feeling grateful for the roll of toilet paper that hung from a nail on the wall inside.
In the morning, instead of my typical routine of skimming through the headlines while mindlessly chugging coffee from the machine – the process of morning coffee was itself an activity. Boiling water in a kettle on a burner connected to a propane tank, pouring it into a french press, then drinking it strong and black was better than consuming the latest tech gossip.
After that, what to do besides walk the beach and think?
Feeling the sand between my toes and combing the landscape for treasure – little smoothed green & white beach glass or even small pieces of amber – occupied several hours each day.
I had plenty of time to think about digital footprints…. about what we are leaving behind here as we reveal ourselves, our identities, our passions, our Selves. We can be so honest, so transparent, so vulnerable, so real – if we want to be – in who we are and what drives us.
Juxtaposed against the seeming immortality of our virtual selves, preserved in a server somewhere, is the actual confronting reality of our mortality.
At the end of the day, despite our most valiant efforts to overcome all limitations – we do, in fact, die.
And I thought, I am not unlike this fish.
I want to do great things. I want to be remembered in some kind of positive light for having influenced transformative change. I want to transcend the limitations of this weak and fragile physical body and be part of something epic. It’s what I was intended for… isn’t it?
But I will end, like this fish, like we all do. And what feels so urgent and pressing every day in our lives, all these pressures and obligations and responsibilities – when we end, so do they.
And yet life goes on regardless of our involvement, without missing a beat.
So I am compelled to ask myself…. What really matters?
How do I contribute to this spectacle in a way that is meaningful and valuable, if such a thing even exists. How do I experience happiness and fulfillment in a world that has been designed to be bizarre and misdirected on so many levels. Is there a point in trying to change “the system” in favor of something more equitable to human life and self-expression and actualization?
I don’t believe there are answers – only choices we collectively make about the world we are creating.
As a visitor here on Spaceship Earth, I think my stay would be more pleasant if we decided to choose a new narrative, one that favored the pursuit of developing the best assets and attributes of what we are as a species.
I haven’t seen an indication that this sentiment is entering mainstream thought, though it thrives at the edges, as it has throughout human history. I’m optimistic that somehow the power of social media technologies to reveal “Truth” will pave the way for a new global society, but I don’t hold my breath.
I walk the beach pondering – What will we do next?
emergent by design 
such a delightful contemplation … someone much smarter than me once spoke of ‘our achievements’ and how, even if we make the greatest contribution – as great as the saints and sages we are so often moved to quote from – even this contribution will fade from memory after some thousands of years …
to live fully present to this moment, to step with awareness of who we are in the world, to do what we can, and to love fully … the greatest gift, it seems, is to simply be right here where we are
it doesn’t mean there isn’t more that arises to take action on, simply that we honour ourselves and each other when we take the time to listen to life in its dancing about us
thank you
thanks cameron
Remember this moment, take a piece of the Latvia experience with you and enjoy it daily. It is in those moments of contemplation, quiet and appreciation, that we are pleasantly returned the gift of inspiration and guidance.
I am 60 and recently wondered if I have done enough, given enough and become enough. In the end, we must realize that we all matter no matter what we have done and sometimes we will never realize the affect we have had on others and others lives.
Vanessa, you have become so much already. You are on a wonderful path. No need to worry, just take time to listen, you will be guided.
thanks janet for those kind words. really. i am becoming surrounded with opportunities, of sorts, but still wondering whether who i am or what i offer is appreciated as valuable. and i don’t just mean marketable, but actually valuable. making money is of course a lovely concept (and necessary for survival in our world), but impact is more important to me.
does what i do make any difference? does it influence thought? does it aid in a shift?
i have no doubt that the research i do and analysis i provide is worthwhile. but does it lead to action, or is it just read and filed away on a shelf?
i don’t know. it’s tricky.
I was watching Maja Angelou the other day. Her grandmother told her, “you know what is right sister. Just do right.”
Venessa you know there are no guarantees. But, as I said it is important to be quiet and listen. The answers are within us. You were reminded in Latvia to take the time to listen, this is an important part of the equation and I do believe you understand that, or you wouldn’t have written such a telling and beautiful blog.
As long as what we do, doesn’t come from the ego, but from a place of meaning, purpose and inspiration, we are on track.
I do believe that you are going to and are currently making a huge impact on others. That’s just who you are Vanessa, believe it.
Implicit in your questions is the notion that for who you are, ideas are not enough, a notion you make explicit when you say: “impact is more important to me.”
If you want to have impact, you will not stay comfortable being a creator of ideas when those ideas don’t lead to action. At times, when you look around and see certain ideas that resonate deeply not getting the traction they deserve, the lack of action or the slow pace of progress will bother you.
You will want to carry those ideas across the door between ideas and action, the threshold which separates researchers from entrepreneurs. With the help of those you choose to surround yourself with, you can cross that threshold.
It is clear from your progress towards this goal already that you have it in you to help bring important ideas to fruition. You will find a jump into the entrepreneurial fray to be very helpful towards that end.
without a doubt who you are (and what you offer) is valuable.
and, appreciated.
thank you, dear!
Beautiful essay… and yes, it really is about choices! And how the landscape within which they are made shapes them.
As your piece so well chronicles… the landscape shapes the spirit… which shapes the goals… and that shapes the choices that we make whether as individuals or as members of larger groups.
ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has drastically altered our ‘attention economies’… This is an inevitable phase. But how things go from here very much depends on how WE design this new landscape… which unlike others was not merely there to be found… but is a product of our own decisions.
As for the BIG question… the existential dilema (the “what’s it all for” question…). For me that’s not a religious question… but a Schrodinger’s Cat question. We shape the universe with our decisions… and at the end of things… if we make enough good decisions… we’ll get the box open and the cat will be Okay.
In our lives we attempt to answer for ourselves the same question the universe had to answer at its birth… “to be, or not to be?”
Nice, sweet, spacious; thanks for going and sharing…being a drop in the ocean, as it is
This kind of ‘pondering’ leads into everything and nothing and seems for me to be where philosophy just has to get artful and do a little emotional imprinting, singing songs with notions for notes. I appreciate your melody, slight restive summer nocturne 😉
How to contribute…towards fulfillment…indeed; although I’m quickly indignant with whatever in me asks that, it’s almost a sabotage. The ‘what we are leaving behind’ and ‘what drives us’ stuff is a very odd reflex I feel more and more, spiraling nowhere if you’re really analytical and persistent. In the habit of that persistent analysis is the eggregious diminution of any alternative appendages of experience for grounding. What of who and where we just arrise to be? I want to redact the last six words you have written above.
Plenty more eloquent or penetrating treatises and truths to defer towards, but always a good exercise to improvise and test resonance. I’m on tenuous ground myself with such musings and modulations, slipping back to self-satisfied verb-muck too quickly. But from a quiet window seat web node in reach of much the-same-but-different moment to moment morphing and maturing regard for this absurd gorgeous world completely both awry and all right….I put my full faith and credit in Twitter, inc. which is maybe also to say the real songs of birds and swarm of dragonflys that were ‘in my stream’ as i walked enraptured yesterday. No ends, no edges, no breath NOt new; and no recusal from briefly being brilliantly blemished.
nice closing alliteration. 😉
the ‘what drives us’ is different for everyone, no? at the moment, it’s feeling like the purpose of evolution is to evolve… so we just grow if we want to and that is the purpose. in the process, perhaps passing that example on to those around us, inspiring similar action.
I think my reaction above has to do with the flavor of words like purpose which invoke thoughts of the form “self; world; framework of participation”–or, how am I failing/succeeding to live up to predominant expectations/values. Several problematic levels of abstraction there. If it’s a naturally arising motive and motion, something that just wells up unbidden in unique expression from the full sub/super-conscious configuration of what IS (and who you ARE, including inaccessibly complex layers of experience, intention, constellation, perception)…such as evolution or emergence, I don’t think you can call that purpose.
Acting ‘on purpose’ has a rigid manufactured quality. What if we use web and other culture-carriers to reveal the affective patterns demonstrated by all those aggregate results within common themes of motivation? Map out the web we personally and communally are weaving, so that at least we can reference and trimtab the existential realities. Wouldn’t you be close to some worthy insight just by taking the list of sites, keywords, memes and modalities in the righthand column of your blog here, and somehow crunching those down (factored by some subjective and/or objective rankings–you could inject all kinds of hard data, but this is more thought-experiment-ey) to a few weighty terms and relationships? I’d even go so far as to suggest drawing that distilled collection out on paper and swinging a pendulum around (in whatever physical/metaphorical manner gets to a visceral response).
I really want to do some upscaled social mapping and feedback like that of emergent activities in these related fields that we’re finding pretty consistent global affinity and identification with. Based on ‘real’ results, which I would argue (Raf too I bet!) is actually contained in the stories we exchange about living it. My hunch is that we could agreeably cluster things pretty quickly around the hub components of what/why/how. The resulting meme-map could be an excellent semantic tool, as well as an empowering reflector/illuminator for both personal and collective identity (as above, I see this as the essence of ‘purpose’ but reified in motion). Keep in mind the crucial rating/value/currency (social feedback) element that is a steering/projection mechanism for meta-agility…
Anyways, here’s my early attempt to factor commonalities from the stories I want to connect further into (and also trying to hold the generic view from what I sense in larger Emergent field…): https://cacoo.com/diagrams/0JBtZevhQg233EBL <–has three pages tabbed in upper left
It's quite a puzzle, but I think we're closing in on this level of consensus in the crazy-beautiful globe-mind. My premise is that any story of progress we can all (minus standard deviants~) agree is 'tangible good for the whole' will have a what-why-how that maps to this taxonomy (plus a range of other more granular detail of course). Next step is to refine the terminology into elegant omni-cultural iconography…but I perhaps digress to corroborate my own present sense of purpose 🙂
ah, i like it.
we talked a lot about mapping narratives during the junto days last year. i know i’ll be looking back to it soon. are you following @wildcat2030, @notthisbody, @technoshaman and @openworld?
wildcat did the friendships in hyperconnectivity map http://www.mindmeister.com/10527460/fh-friendship-in-hyperconnectivity
notthisbody told me about the zoacodes project (visualizing network ethics and intentions of interaction, very cool) – http://www.nervepool.net/codkey.html
it’s an ongoing conversation about how to better map emerging infocologies…. read through some articles in the polytopia project on spacecollective – http://spacecollective.org/projects/Polytopia/
i understand what you’re saying about ‘purpose’…. perhaps what i was meaning by that was, what is my essence/aura that often gets lost/hidden/subjugated by logic or distraction, how do i keep the wellspring open for authenticity and creative power to flow through, how do i continue to be a channel to manifest that energy that seems to be the driving force within everything… and what is my responsibility to impact others with this state of being?
Thank you! a delight to share the inquiry. So hyper-faceted…
It sounds a little like some phase-changing in the works with you, from prognosticator to practitioner? Building up the design side of the ID? ‘Responsibility’ may be kinda Puritan there, but yes an urge toward certain community capacities and vocation and constancy and regard. And here’s what else: society has yowza hunger pangs for these mechanics and magicks to be (re)integrated at large, you must feel the reciprocal of that–woozy mix of compassion, anxiety, detachment and aspiration; well Swing! Jump! Climb! Gesticulate! you’ve got a strong net here. Time for wonderworks all around. Well made, to share and last.
I’ve heard it said better, but our great aptitudes and ‘higher calling’ generally feel like all hot hell busting truantly through and showing up for good–hold on to y’self gentle; and be as humbly ‘real’ as art allows {o
It’s a totally refreshing and authentic exploration you kindly, lucently, share
Great Pictures and so nice! I miss that spot!
wow.
the model kids have developed over the last 2 years to redefine school, is called detox. your post explains it beautifully, without you even knowing it. love that. how confirming.
be. notice the unlikely, dream boldly, connect to people, do what matters most.
narrative on video: http://awakeningindispensablepeople.tumblr.com/
love the images. love this:
I think my stay would be more pleasant if we decided to choose a new narrative, one that favored the pursuit of developing the best assets and attributes of what we are as a species.
Venessa,
Lovely post . My thoughts are similar to Janet’s. Enjoy the moment and cherish it and if you can, repeat it. It is in moments like these one starts on the path of self-discovery and realize that life is not a fast-paced competitive race.
You have already made huge improvements in understanding your inner self – to me that itself is an accomplishment as many pass through this world without realizing it’s importance. Knowing oneself – and I mean really understanding who you are – makes it easier to take positions and decisions in life and which will lead to real happiness & satisfaction along with creating a desirable impact.
When all is said and done, I believe that we will be judged not by what we have done but by the impact of that work on others.
Best,
Ned
yes, you’ve been along for the ride since this blog started, haven’t you. 😉
re: ‘makes it easier to take positions and decisions in life and which will lead to real happiness & satisfaction along with creating a desirable impact’ ….
we could have a long long discussion about this statement. i hope one day we will. sure, as i grow more into myself and become more grounded in who that is/becomes, i have a guiding compass. but how do i know i am creating a desirable impact and happiness and not confusion or pain? i can’t control how others interpret or perceive.
once i started being ‘real’, and not using intermediary symbols through which to communicate with others, it leads to direct confrontation with another person’s self. it seems people are surprised by this behavior. and then you’re directly experiencing another, and it raises questions about what it means to be human, what’s ‘acceptable,’ what relationship means, what love means, what intimacy means.
not sure if this makes sense to you, but i’ll try to describe it in the future. perhaps write a short story or some kind of metaphor… difficult to express exactly….
Beautiful post Vanessa. Really beautiful. (I was also very impressed by the “awakening”videos that Monika shared in her comment)
For meself I have been asking the WHY question a lot.
I did not invent the concept of Why; I just discovered it and it influenced me in designing my story. It is a naturally occurring phenomenon that exists deep in the human brain and influences the behavior of every one of us. It is what drives our behavior and is where our inspiration comes from. The discovery happened by accident, not because I was looking to fill some market segment, but because I needed to feel inspired again. I had lost that feeling and wanted it back.
Today I continue to work hard to focus my career around my Why, which is both to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, as well as to not worry about what I would do or where it would take me. This was the opposite of what most of us are raised to think from hearing: “Figure out what you want to do and focus on that.” I still don’t know what I want to do, but I know Why I do the things I do. It is this open-minded approach that has opened so many doors for me.
I believe designing your story around this Why-thing means staying in awe of what you’re a part of. It’s staying aware of what you and your company are contributing to every day and, more importantly, working to ensure that there is indeed some contribution to the outside world that you are helping to build. This has nothing to do with working for a non-profit organization or developing some green technology. It’s about selling products that make the people that use them feel happy. It’s about making products that make people’s lives a little easier. It’s about doing something that matters to someone else and contributes to them feeling fulfilled when they go home from work at the end of the day. I believe we all should design our story around this!
Dear Vanessa,
What beautiful images. You feel so naturally attuned to Earth. Thank you.
Perhaps we can choose to see, to remember, that our world, universe, life itself are already complete and perfect at every level. Forgetting how that can be, as we do, we think we can conquer, control, improve nature and we attempt to recreate the world from our flawed and arrogant view. Is that how we got to a “bizarre, misdirected” world?
I think the power of social connectedness now is inspiring – especially when harnessed by optimistic, thoughtful people who are opening to the potential of expressing the full beauty of who they really are. I do believe that will “pave the way for a new global society”.
It was, I think the 80s when I stopped holding my breath for a new, peaceful world and accepted that change would take time. Now, here, I believe we are seeing it unfold before our eyes.
This generation – your generation – seems to be expanding what has always been the edge of consciousness, influencing more individuals and groups to embrace the true values of what it is to be human. I see no reason our increasing social connectedness won’t keep that momentum going.
In the process I feel we are awakening to the “Truth” of a deeper connection we have to each other, to nature, to who we really are. Your inspirational post feels like you are already choosing to “transcend the limitations of the physical” and in that way already an influence for “transformative change”.
What will we do next? Whatever that is, please keep sharing your very beautiful realisations – they are helping to light the way forward.
Amen.
Now that we can see a billion years of evolution, and a zillion miles into the skies, we can finally dwell less on human vantage points. Our desires are built on crude foundations of placing humanity at the center of purpose, devoid of the truth that we are simply transferring energy in complex ways beyond our understanding. This complexity is not a uniquely human attribute, it’s just a physical phenomenon, and a property of this universe. When we as a species liberate ourselves from shackles of self-aggrandization we will be free to examine what’s actually happening around us. If you seek to contribute to a brighter future, then you can just do it. Your actions will be your existence, spread out across eternity.
Being remembered by humanity in the narrow construct of our present civilization would be a different goal, one that could easily be devoid of the kind of cosmic merit or purpose of positive transformative change, as these sorts of changes live FOREVER in events yet to occur. In other words, I don’t think you can have an impact while equating what’s happening now to what will happen in human brains at some point in the future, even though on the surface, and in our minds, it feels like “it’s all so real”. You can observe what’s happening now, and do something good, and the cosmic matrix of events that make up the universe will ping pong the light of your thoughts and efforts forever. Hell is real, and it happens in a future where nothing you ever did really mattered.
I’m not sure what next to do. But I am sure that we’ll generate better answers to that question by taking the time to step back and deeply reflect as you have done, Venessa. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the images.
Wonderful.
Great photos and great comment …
and of course a great idea to cold-turkey for a while on those on-line activities. It used to be a pause from work on computer monitors. Now it’s a pause from being constantly connected. Very worthwhile…
Venessa,
Love the post, including the pictures…almost made me feel like I was there myself! I have had very similar thoughts. I don’t know the answers, but I try to remember to ask myself, “What would LOVE do in this situation?” I have discovered that good things happen when I take that approach. Thanks for all that you do – your perspectives on social media and personal identity are extremely valuable, because you are looking at things from the perspective of humanity rather than corporate self-interest. Enjoy Latvia!
Your articles are for when it aobsultely, positively, needs to be understood overnight.
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful post Vanessa. I’m glad you’re feeling reinvigorated by “the simplicity of just Being”. We human-beings often forget how to Be in this busy, busy world (which means we’ve also lost part of our humanity). The great comments that people have added to this post show you obviously struck a chord!
“In stillness the world is restored.” ~Lao Tzu
“One’s action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be mere rushing on.” ~D.H. Lawrence
Venessa, It is important for you to ask these questions, to have self-doubt, to ponder whether anything you are doing actually “matters”. I believe this is how we improve as individuals. It allows us to both evaluate the impact of our work and clarify our principles. No one can develop without going through this process.
The way to thrive despite a habit of self-criticism is through knowing your principles with certainty. Ask yourself: “If I had unlimited powers, what would my obligation be to the world?” Once you’ve mastered your principles, the self-criticism no longer weighs you down, but liberates. Your life becomes a mission and the self-criticism becomes the process of innovation. With the security of knowing your principles, you can rest assured that your intent is always the right one. Since perfect information is impossible, it is very unlikely for our actions to correlate perfectly with the hypothetical objectively correct action. However, we continue to learn; and as we do so we re-evaluate and consequently move a little closer to the objectively correct action (it’s an iterative process).
Hope this helps.
-Christian-
http://thelifestylearchitect.net
Mu. Very nice photos.
Congratulations Venessa,
I have been following you (twitter..) for a while now, and I must say that it was a fantastic choice and gift to do so. Most of your posts and work in general makes you wonder at the same time that gives you more meaning to continue trying to share ideas, thoughts and “changes” to our ever evolving society.
With regards to the “online detox” it is very true that we sometimes in our hyper connected lives, we do forget about the real beauty of life, which tend to be just when we do realise about how simple and happy life can be when we do enjoy the simplicity of things like walking down in a quiet and gorgeous place like the one you have just been..
I particularly like your final quote ” I’m optimistic that somehow the power of social media technologies to reveal “Truth” will pave the way for a new global society, but I don’t hold my breath.
I walk the beach pondering – What will we do next?”
…
and yes.. you are very right but at the same time the most important thing is to be happy and in peace with yourself, whether it is sharing your passion, ideas and commitment to the world or by simply being able to be happy in a non connected world where you can just be happy on your own.
We all have a mission or a task to do I believe but it does not mean that this has to be always the same one, as this new world we are creating is full of changes and adventures…
In the meantime, I would like to congratulate once again for your great contribution to the world and encourage you not only to continue doing so, but to live fully and true to yourself.
And before I close this comment, I would like to know your view on this:
“We do spend too many hours trying to connect our ideas, etc. to the world (via twitter…), which in many ways it is great as sometimes you do get the feedback or meaning to continue doing so.. but my question is: Shouldn´t we focus on what the Maslow Pyramid says, which is to first cover your needs to live (earn money, get food…) before we jump to the step where we also want to get recognition, love…?
It is great to be connected and earn your life doing so, but we must accept that not everyone has the gift/luck or chance to do so, and therefore they have to focus on trying to earn their lives by “saying no” to the long hours of the not always productive social media task..”
Many many congratulations for your contribution to the society as your dedication, reflexions and work are very inspiring. Without a doubt, and regardless of the likes or dislikes of most of your work and projects, you are a gift to human kind!! 🙂
thank you for the kind words.
in response to your comment –
i don’t really see life like a pyramid, which implies directionality and something being of higher importance than something else. for me it’s more like a mobius strip, all feeding into itself, surging, expanding, collapsing, infinitely.
to your next point, why should getting food and giving/receiving love be mutually exclusive? i am trying to make a living just like everyone else, trying to build something sustainable, and am receiving some recognition of that by others through the comments they put on this blog, or by sharing the ideas i put here, or building upon them, or inviting me to share my thoughts with them or collaborate in some way. and i’m trying to do it all in concert, as best as i can.
and to the last part… trying to earn a living by building a social media presence first is not an easy thing at all. i joined twitter and started this blog as part of my research for my master’s degree… i never did it with an intention that this was somehow going to be a way to earn a living. and it’s not…. no one pays me to blog. i put this stuff out there because i want to and because it helps me learn when i have to put what i’m thinking into words and write it down. and instead of just having a diary where that’s as far as it goes, others can give me feedback and input, as you have, and it helps me grow and gives me more perspectives on how to look at things.
so….. this is more of a collective learning environment to me than a “not always productive social media task.” i enjoy learning and sharing ideas, so have never really thought of it as a task. i think it makes us all better people to build knowledge and wisdom together.
Thank you Venessa for your reply.
I like your point about the mobius strip as I had never really thought that way… and it is indeed a very valid one.
As you well said, we do write mainly for learning and sharing ideas, and this post, and your work in general have proved to be very inspirational.
Once again, congratulations for all your work. I am sure your experience and great work can be seen as a great example of how to monetize social media presence, at least to continue learning, which it is very important for me and a key to carry on competing in this very competitive world.
It would be great to know what are the main topics you talk about or would like to be involved in, as if you want, I could propose yourself to be an speaker in an event that a top company in my country call organizes every year..
Many thanks
excellent post! got it in my twitter account from @Latvian Institue 🙂 being a Latvian lady that is not needed in Latvia (long story) I did feel not only how you feel but also what was “in the air” at the coast 🙂
suggestion if I may – not only enjoy the moment but this is a perfect time to do what I am doing right now (and what is quite sutpid) a list of all the possible ways to go (both private, and professional) and for each point in the list separate page with “+” and “-” 🙂
when I started to do this after my arrival in Tunisia (on holidays and letting my husband to take care of business) I was at 20 professional options, now 28 already 🙂 and onl 5 pages with pluses and minuses. this might sound as a very simplistic exercise but to me personally it turned out to be very relaxing and also like a remedy against summer depression 🙂
with greetings in Latvian “paldies un uz saredzēšanos” Signe Martišūne-Schwagrowski-Buyse (first and only Latvian science attache in Brussels 2004-2010)
This is really awesome! The beach piece “After that, what to do besides walk the beach and think?” reminded me that every day this week I have arrived at the office / coworking space with sand on my shoes, from a slow beachwalk on the way to the tram. It’s great to have that strong connection to the natural environment.
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