To be is the answer!

Having said that, there is a quote that has often inspired me:

Near the end of life, it's not what we have done that we regret, but that which we have not done.

.

Only one life to love!

A job that I took up - a mere act of chance - demanded indirectly that I get involved in career counselling. Actually, it was a role that I got myself into as I counselled myself and felt basically distraught at the side of humanity that revealed itself to me during the many interviews I took and trainings I gave.

In two words: sad people.

I decided to travel a little back up the value chain and educate. There, too, I met sad people. Which was a bit shocking since I thought disillusionment only comes with job searches or unhappy careers.

There is a solution. It's very simple, yet cunningly elusive. It's called, "Do what you love."

Problem is, in the process of growing up, many of us have forgotten precisely that: what do we love?

I taught Entrepreneurship in a class last year. In one of the session where I brought up the subject of love - myself trying to understand my own love those days - I had an astounding experience. The students didn't remember what they loved as a child. A few gave a very forced out opinion. They loved music and friends. But mostly, they were all quiet. It was shocking. Why, at least, one must know what one loves?

My habit is to always examine myself in the light of advice that I (have to) give others. It's actually a rather painful experience sometimes when someone asks me a question, and I realize, before giving them an advice, that I myeslf am in need of that advice. Now I do generally give the advice and lately, I have picked up the habit of maintaining silence at the question for as long as I don't find a personal answer. That can stretch for months, and perhaps will explain to some the "absences." Back I come to the topic...

I finally got some advice for myself in the last one year. I can't yet say I can truly define myself in terms of what I love or who I am (the endless exploration!) - but I know what really dawned on me is something that misses the most practical and open-eyed of us. The following quote is from Tickle.com - which has a fairly neat battery of career-related (and love-related!) tests. It sums up one critical idea that can drive us to find meaning and love in life.

Are you delaying reality?
Many people take temporary or unsatisfying jobs to make money before pursuing their dream job. This is a reasonable strategy. But have you ever met people who are in the same job five or ten years down the road, even though it isn't what they really want to do? The challenge is that pursuing your dreams may require a sacrifice in lifestyle, time, or money. Unfortunately, too many people get used to a certain lifestyle and aren't willing to make the necessary changes. As a result it can be difficult to give up what a person is accustomed to, even if it's not ultimately fulfilling. It can also be tempting to some people to hold on to a dream and not pursue it in order to avoid failing. Remind yourself: There are no dress rehearsals in life. Everyday you don't work towards pursuing your goals is another day you're delaying the fulfillment of your dreams. Go for what you really want today; you don't want to look back on your life with regret.

.

What is creativity?

What is creativity?

Idealog has a definition:

Creativity is making something new from two old things.

I endorse that we do not create something out of nothing. Another closer definition of creativity – my personal belief – is:

Creativity is seeing the connection between things, and putting those connections together in novel and useful ways.

I have made this definition up as an extraction of various thoughts. Leonardo da Vinci had a name for seeing the connection between things: connessione.

Notice the word “useful” in my definition. A creation is not creative if it's irrelevant, doesn't solve a problem or create an opportunity, or serve a purpose - whatever that purpose may be.

E-mail: nextbyramla AT gmail.com

"Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust"

Tom Peters quotes the obvious from The Speed of Trust – a book by Stephen M. R. Covey, son of the legendary Stephen Covey who wrote 7 Habits of the Highly Effective People. The quote is:

"Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust."
Stephen M. R. Covey

Anna Farmery broods:

I find Nothing is as fast as the speed of MIStrust!.....trust builds over time and I have never equated it with speed. Branding being a product or Brand You, depends on building trust over time. Now Mistrust can be instant and can spread like wild fire! It is a great quote but in what context?

Tom Peters laments that it is a “good point.”

Since I love finding context for truths, I don’t think I will give up on this one. Here is what I think solves the conundrum:

There is a (philosophical) context for "nothing is as fast as the speed of trust."

As I see it, there are 2 kinds of activities in the world: create something, or idle. Those who create something are the ones with a purpose. Those who idle have to follow the law: "there is no such thing as a vaccum." Over time, they also get a purpose: which is to take down or destroy or waste things. This is what is known as the "negative mindset" - the reactive mindset - the reactive group of people.

So we end up with basically two broad classes of people: the purpose-driven, action-oriented people, and those who do everything else. There are then two "worlds:" the reative, positive world where good, beneficial, interesting things are being created. And the other world, which is busy with everything else, often the sum of their activities being (self-)destructive.

In the first world, "nothing is as fast as the speed of trust." Because mistrust or lack of trust means that the creative process in that world is slowing down and time is being spent on getting things right rather than getting things done.

In the second world, things depend on whatever is influencing that world at any given time. Generally, mistrust would pervade. Mistrust can travel faster than the speed of light - but it is serving any purpose?

So what do you think? Does trust emerge a winner?

Internet: true human government, and how!

When I asserted that the Internet is the global government of, by and for the people, I added:

To The Internet we listen, to The Internet we ask our questions, to The Internet we turn for convergence in our human divergence. (un-typo version)

Reader Temporal has a question:
     
You’re sure? Internet is only the medium…it is neither the message nor the messenger. What thrives here is the open and accessible communication between far-flung human beings.

My answer:

Exactly. What is government but a facilitator of the activities of humankind... a servant that administrates the complex function? That is why we say, "like people, like government." By itself, the government is nothing.

Whatever the book definition of the government may be, pragmatically, every government acts as if it is an exogenous agent. Governments are not representing the people – rather they are forming the minds of the people.

The Internet is truly the government of the people, by the people, for the people. It does not exist to rule. It does not exist to create absurd laws. It is a collaborative space. It is inclusive, responsive, self-organizing, and evolving. It is a powerful source towards which the modern human is turning to share and to listen.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, everyone is invited. Those who manage or control collaborative spaces – say collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia – are people from all over the world themselves The Wikipeda administrators chosen by the people on a set of criteria of the people for the benefit of the people.

In fact, never before in the history of humankind has the democratic, the human-centric definition of government been seen in practice. Internet is not just any people’s government; Internet is the first truly human government.



NEXT> by Ramla is now shifting to a new home: nextbyramla.WORDPRESS.com. Keep hopping between the two, until I figure out Wordpress. If you post comments here, don’t worry, they’ll go over to their new home automatically.

New home: nextbyramla.wordpress.com

NEXT> By Ramla is going to a new home: nextbyramla.wordpress.com. For a while, we’ll hop between both the homes – until everything is shifted out with the people.

So now. We can have tags, read more-ability, RSS feeds, geeky hotness, and very good looks. I’ve chosen a theme that reflects my love for green, humanity, and reality.

Lots of WordPress goodies! What else?

Internet: government of the people!

If “government” means the “act of exercising authority,” then I must report that I believe my official government may not be my official government.

Wikipedia has this definition:

“A government (from the Greek Κυβερνήτης kubernites - steersman, governor, pilot, or rudder) is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government. In its broadest sense, "govern" means the power to administrate, whether over an area of land, a set group of people, or an association.”

If this is really what government is – a body of influence, whose rules and laws I form, obey and own – my government is The Internet.

To The Internet we listen, to The Internet we ask our question, to The Internet we turn for converge in our human divergence. The Internet is the government of the commons, which has leveled social and class and racial and other barriers like no other power in the history of humankind.

I think for the first time in history, humans across the globe have created a government that is truly a government of the people, by the people, for the people.