Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

As Christmas Eve arrives and the New Year approaches, I take pause to be thankful for the year that came and the one about to arrive.

I am thankful for my friends. I enjoy your companionship.  Thank you for the support and celebrations. In return, I will be there for you when you ask. I will be there to say congratulations. Here's to future coffees and chats.

I am thankful for my family. I am blessed to have you all in my world. I rely on you all to carry on. You are my hope and my vision. You are the reason I get up in the morning.  You ask and I shall deliver. I promise love unconditionally.

I am thankful for life. I have been given second chances. I have been forgiven. And I have been loved for whom I am. I promise to return the same. I give thanks to God and he world at large.

Thanks

Systems

As part of my new active daily routine, I have been devising activities, alternatives to exercise, that I can do even when the weather is poor.  Currently, in Calgary, we have just had a snow storm, so I though I would try my "plus 15" activity out.

The essence of the activity, I decided, would be to energize myself and take pictures from every plus 15 crossing.  I screen captured an online map and plotted a rough course to see how far I could get, seen in the picture below.  The red diamond indicates where I started and the blue indicates where I finished.

Apparently, the plus 15 system is over 16 km in length being the "world's largest pedestrian skywalk system" (calgaryplus15.com)  and opened in 1970.  As a system, it connects businesses, retails shops,  restaurants and professional offices in the downtown core.  It provides shelter for pedestrians and a venue for buskers. Although it is a winding route, you can cross streets without having to wait for lights or traffic and the C-Train, free downtown, has stops nearby.  At the same time, you pass a throng of people moving to and from work.  And certainly, you can see spectacular views of the downtown core.

As I took the ctrain back, I felt successful because I had navigated the furthest distance across downtown on the plus 15 that I have been able to do to date.

I have posted my map and the pictures I took with my iPhone, should you are in the Calgary area and want to retrace my steps in plus 15 scavenger hunt.  Should you make your own route, be sure to take pictures, post in a blog and send me a link.  If you permit, I will share the link with others on this blog.  If not, I will try to retrace your route myself as part of my active daily routine.  I hope to design all my activities to be social.


As I was walking and taking the pictures, I started to think about systems. The plus 15 system was designed with a specific purpose in mind.  Like any system, the plus 15 has expanded, shrunk, changed parts and been re-established.  Like any healthy system, it has been used for a long time and by many people with different motivations and contexts.  As far as systems go, the plus 15 must be deemed successful, even beyond its original transportation and connectivity goals.

I started reflecting on my activity system, one activity for every meal.  My requirements that my activity be engaging and social to be fulfilling.  This routine is a system, especially as it has become habitual and as more people join me.  The rewards of the activity extend beyond their original purpose.  I am energized and I have reconnected with friends.

Lastly, as I returned to my place of work, I began ruminating about the nature of my work: curriculum development.  Naturally, with the planning, the project management and templates, I design and support systems, that I share with others and hope to be long lasting and have effects beyond their original intention.

This last realization is an important one for me, as I often receive feedback that systems inhibit creativity.  In my walk, in my active daily routine, in my work, I know the opposite to be true.  Systems give us a place to start.  A framework and a foundation from which we can create more and together.  Certainly, systems need to be revised, occasionally parked, and often renewed to foster creativity, much like the plus 15.

I will keep this in mind as I move forward in whatever context and be sure to share.  Leave comments or share posts on systems and creativity, even if you don't agree.

Personal Investment

View from Banff Centre

It is very easy to trap oneself, to put oneself in a dark corner.  You try hard at work and at home.  You do all the things you were told you should do.  You try very hard to please others.  In fact, you avoid conflict, especially when you can see the harm and not the good. 

And it becomes a spiral.  You stop telling people about your day or discuss the things that matter.  You do not let anyone know your dreams for fear that they will tell you that you are ridiculous and that you should be doing more practical things.  You stop doing the things you love.  You do not go outdoors.  You do not read good books or work on that story.  You don't call your friends.  You accumulate debts and exclude yourself from events.  You spend a lot of time sleeping and eating, because you are tired. 

And this goes on.  Not for a day, but perhaps months or even years.

Eventually, you see yourself as one big disappointment: to your spouse, your kids, your friends and your colleagues.   You thought you were capable but now you feel easily replaced or even invisible.  You have reached your own personal pit of shame.

You will make attempts to climb out.  You accomplish some task you were afraid to start.  You have a laugh with your spouse.  You meet an old friend.  Your child asks to come with you on an errand.  You feel that you have reappeared, if at least partially.

Then, you get knocked down.  Someone says something negative.  You are dismissed or ignored by someone important.  You break another promise, because you have too many, and you end up apologizing again.  Some trigger is pulled and you fall.  And you start sliding back further into that pit of shame.

Stop it.  

Find some contingencies to have around, especially when you know the trigger is about to be pulled, when things will become rough.  Find a friend to talk to regularly.  The conversation does not and should not be about you. Just be present and be activated.  Pick up an activity that makes you feel confident and competent.  Make it part of your day.  Write about your thoughts so you can collect them and have them with you when you are in those danger place.  Have statements, such as "I will not leave" and "I will not get angry when we talk about money" and "I will be positive today."  Give small gifts daily to important people in life without any expectation.  Come up with your own contingencies.

And invest in yourself.  Make a small exercise plan.  Plan a diet with no fast or fried food. Stop eating out.  Ensure you get plenty of deep sleep.  Eliminate the stress by not taking on so many activities for your work, family or yourself.  Take moments to just breathe in.  Go to beautiful places and enjoy.  Hangout with brilliant and caring people and just listen. 

You can be better, for yourself and others.  But you need to be standing up straight first.