The joy of joy

I enjoy joy. Embracing the thrill of living in all of its colors feels delightful. When joy is the default condition of the day, it’s a banner day.

Willow, our home’s golden retriever companion, is a remarkable example of how to live a joyful life. At 2 years old, she seeks out joy with the curiosity of a child and the wisdom of the joyous.

When I follow her lead, I achieve an unmatchably warm and peaceful contentment. Therefore, any time I am in her sphere of influence, I make sure I throw her ball or her orange disk, rub her belly, hug her with all my strength, or whatever else the moment requires.

This late winter and early spring in Wisconsin have been short on moments of joy. An 18-inch snowfall on the third day of spring will put a damper on almost any mood, and the ghastly political puppet theater now in progress is so tiring that I will mention it here only to make my point.

But Willow has no such shortage. She pranced across the snowdrifts like a miniature whitetail deer, she plays hide-and-seek with the blue ball and whines impatiently when I haven’t found it yet, she is oblivious to the puppet theater, and she comes to me frequently with a look that seems to say, “Relax. Life is joyful. Just live it.”

And so I choose to raise my head and lift my spirits. They say when you have no control over externals, you still have a choice over your internal reaction. The choices are to laugh or to cry; I choose to laugh. The choices are grumbling through my work or pausing frequently to play with Willow; I choose the puppy. The choices are to sink into the mud or embrace the joy of the soaring eagle; I choose the sky.

I enjoy joy. And for my own mental health, as often as I remember, I choose joy.

'There is no try'

"Do or do not. There is no 'try.'" — Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

This little essay from Seth Godin is for everyone who has ever allowed themselves to say, “Oh, I could never do that ...”

I will never be able to dunk a basketball.

This is beyond discussion.

Imagine, though, a co-worker who says, "I'll never be able to use a knife and fork. No, I have to use my hands."

Or a colleague who says, "I can't possibly learn Chinese. I'm not smart enough."

The plain and simple truth is that pretty much anyone — including you! — can accomplish pretty much anything he/she sets her mind to, assuming you are willing to put in the time needed to do it right.

Says Godin: “I have no intention of apologizing for believing in people, for insisting that we all use this moment and these assets to create some art and improve the world around us.”

This is a message that needs to be shouted, far and wide.

What can you do today to improve the world? Don’t even think about saying, “I can never ...”

Spare me The Cloud

I’m not conceiving the advantage of life without a hard drive.

The Cloud seems to be the next stage in the evolution of digital life. Instead of keeping your data in your computer, the cloud hangs onto your software and everything that now is stored on your drive.

I guess the beauty is that if your computer crashes, all your “stuff” survives out there on the cloud. But if I crash and I lose my stuff, shame on me for not backing it all up. What if the cloud crashes? Can’t happen, they say. Yeah, but what if the cloud crashes? Remember a little unsinkable boat called the Titanic?

Yes, I’m a Luddite. I like the feel of a book in my hands, a specific and unique book, not a download onto an electronic pad. I like storing music on vinyl records where it can be mechanically reproduced, not as digital bits that can be scrambled. I like handling cash, and I feel a little cheated when my money all transferred via computer and plastic before I can actually see and feel it. And if I’m going to save my stuff as digital bits, I’d like to have physical possession of those bits, thank you.

Boo, Cloud. I don’t care if you allow me to watch the premiere of "Celebrity Probation" while I’m stuck at the airport. It’s just not the same as holding your stuff in your hands.

Charge ahead and write your own self-help book

Not long ago my old friend Wally Conger made a suggestion to his readers ... or rather he passed along a suggestion from one of his heroes, Scott Alexander: Write a motivational book for yourself based on what life has taught you so far.

“Write down these stories and the lessons you have learned from them. Record your past feelings of desperation and how you picked yourself up. Put together a chapter on where you are heading. Think about all that you have done, the people you have touched, how your faith in God has been tried and tested, the times you cried, the times you laughed and all the love that you have won and lost. You are the sum total of all the experiences that you have had - good, bad and disgusting. It’s all you. It's all good. ...

“I officially declare you a motivational author - WRITE!!! Keep charging and you will keep adding material for future books. Never let an adventure go to waste.”

Wally asked: “Got a motivational book inside of YOU? I bet you do. And maybe someday you’ll be willing to share it with the rest of us.”

That was the day I started writing Scream of Consciousness. Like Refuse to be Afraid, it’s a short collection of essays, so short the audiobook will fit on a single CD. It’s about being alive moment by moment and letting your every expression be a joyful scream of consciousness.

I still have a handful of chapters to complete and some polishing to do, but I’m close enough that I wanted to give a shout-out to Scott and Wally for the inspiration.

And hey - if you haven’t found the inspirational book that really speaks to YOU yet, maybe it’s because you need to write it yourself! What are you waiting for?



(And for more from Wally and Scott, check this out.)

Three tenets to a true revolution

The three tenets of a peaceful life:

1. Love your neighbor as yourself.

2. Interact with love, not force, not violence.

3. Give more than you receive.

For three years, on and off, I have been writing a story about freedom and revolution, built around a character who has developed the name Raymond Douglas Kaliber. The three tenets are the essentials of his philosophy.

Based on Sirius IV – and therefore a very loose sequel to my first novel, The Imaginary Bomb – the tale follows a revolt against the tyrants who have attempted to rule from Earth, some 8.6 light years away. But as a wise and ancient songwriter said, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” A government established through violent overthrow of a repressive regime can only be repressive itself, as violence begets violence.

It was an Imaginary Revolution. My story tells how Kaliber created a new kind of commonwealth, based in his tenets of a peaceful life.

I can’t wait to share it. I see so much of Sirius IV every day in the headlines, and I wish I could see Ray Kaliber out there working already.

Who benefits from your fear?

The fear is ratcheting up again. Again I’m reminded of the scene in the movie V for Vendetta when the mad tyrant Adam Sutler demands that the citizenry be reminded “why - they - need - us!!!”

I turn on the news this morning and the U.S. is leading a coalition to make war against Libya. The fallout continues from the Japan earthquake - literally, as crews continue to work to avert catastrophe at a crippled nuclear power plant. In my home state of Wisconsin and elsewhere, a battle is brewing between the private sector and public employees, with either side claiming the other is motivated by greed. Like the bar patron in V for Vendetta, one is tempted to wonder aloud, “Do you believe that shit?”

The other option is to be afraid. Fear kills reason. Fear leads to irrational decisions. When fear wells up in your throat, the only rational thing to do is to force it back down. Refuse to be afraid.

Then consider: Who benefits when you are afraid? In the story, the tyrant Sutler clearly felt he had the upper hand when ordinary citizens were cowed. A fearful citizenry is more easily led. The forces of tyranny can advance their attack on freedom more easily against people who don’t want to be afraid anymore. They have a tougher row to hoe against people who simply refuse to be afraid, people who see through the ruse and preserve their freedom.

As H.L. Mencken famously said, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Don’t let them alarm you. If you are afraid to speak out, speak anyway. Refuse to be afraid.

The aim side of ready-fire-aim

A lot of good business folks have recommended the idea of approaching a project with the philosophy "Ready-Fire-Aim!" That is, get it ready, but don't necessarily waste too much time "aiming" the project, tinkering until all your ducks are in a row. With the flexibility of Internet technology these days, that tweaking can be done on the fly.

So what you've seen this week is a tweak on the fly. (My, that sounds a little risque, doesn't it?) After further due diligence I've reversed my earlier thoughts and decided Refuse to be Afraid is indeed the title that my first non-fiction book will wear for posterity.

What happened? Well, a couple of things that a good entrepreneur or author wannabe should consider before pulling the proverbial trigger.

Pink squirrels, fear and the freedom to dream

This is important now: Don’t think about pink squirrels for the next 30 seconds. Ready? Go!

You have a pretty clear image of a pink squirrel in your mind now, don’t you?

And that, simply put, is why I'm going to put out a revised edition of my book Refuse to be Afraid with a new name: Free to Dream.

Respect your instincts

One day when I was 16 years old, I got curious about the cigarettes that a friend had begun smoking out of habit. I asked if I could try one. “Sure,” he said, handing one over, helping me light it and giving a quick demonstration of how to inhale.

My lungs rebelled immediately, and by the time I was halfway through my head ached and my stomach was turning. I extinguished the cigarette and never considered tobacco again.

When I first got out of college, I vowed never to buy anything on debt except a house and perhaps a car. It struck me that if I bought something on credit, a $100 purchase would end up costing me $120 or $180 or more depending on the interest rate and how long I took to pay it off. But I found myself unable (or unwilling?) to establish a substantial savings account. After a year or so, I bought a new stereo system on an 18-month plan.

That felt so painless that I took out a credit card, for “big” items only, of course.

The Sacred and the Lore of Attraction

My commute material last week included the audiobook of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I had a few concerns about the book, which were partially addressed in the book There is More to the Secret by Ed Gungor, which I read over the weekend.