The Importance of Making Things

“My father was a very good craftsman. He made furniture, he made silverware and he had an incredible gift in terms of how you can make something yourself.”
— Jonny Ive

I work with a man who, for a hobby, builds skateboards.  He sees himself as a craftsman.  My neighbor plays the piano, making beautiful music that can be heard several houses away.  She sees herself as a musician.  My mom makes DVD's for people who retire or celebrate anniversaries.  She sees herself as a curator.

Making stuff- it's pretty important when you think about it. Some of us make things that are made of wood and some of it is digital.

Even the Catholic Church talks about making things (i.e. work) and the ability to create: "Work  is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work mannot  only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves  fulfilment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes "more a  human being.”  (On Human Work)

“There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you.”
— Winston Churchill

Work-as-making is good.  It makes us good and if we do good work, it makes the world good.  

My son Thomas and I watched a show on TV tonight about making treehouses.  We talked about how nice it would be to make a tree house if (and when) we purchased a bigger plot of land.  We were drawn to the concept of making something that we could enjoy.  We imagined making something awesome and then sharing it with others.

It got me thinking- what can you make on a daily basis in the event that a treehouse is out of the question?  Here's a short list:

  • You can make dinner for your family
  • You can make a phone call to someone 
  • You can make your bed
  • You can make your workspace cleaner
  • You can make your email inbox lean and mean

And then I got to thinking, "What am I making right now, at this point in my life?"  Here goes:

  • I'm making a blog each week that I absolutely love.
  • I'm making a doctoral dissertation on iPads in education.  70 pages in and still going strong.
  • I'm making eye contact each day with my kids and my wife, connecting with them and listening with all of my senses.
  • I'm making my driveway clear and clean as more and more snow appears during winter.
  • I'm making a difference in my neighborhood as I shovel Mrs. Luby's driveway since she cannot shovel at her age.

What about you?  What are you making right now and what difference does it make?

 

That One Little Thing You Can Do in the Middle of Winter

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It's mid winter as I'm writing this.  The days are long, the darkness begins and ends our workdays.  People get sick and cranky.  If you live in the Northeast like I do, it's an especially "blue" time of year.  

So what can you do about it?  

Rather than think of a "whole life makeover" or something to that effect, let's aim smaller. It's not that I'm against big life stuff but most of us shut down when we are faced with an infomercial about fitness or success.  We want it, to be sure, but we aren't sure how to get there.  My own motivation in the winter goes way down and the temptation to be lazy goes way up.   

I'm haunted though by David Whyte's famous quote, "The antidote to burnout isn't more rest but wholeheartedness".  It's actually become a bit of a mantra for me for 2015. 

How does Whyte's perspective apply to me, to you, to anyone, in the heart of winter? 

First, it's a reminder that God wants our faithfulness, often to ordinary and small things.  Perfection is good (that's a bit of an oxymoron) but faithfulness may be better.  

Faithfulness shows up when you want to rest and your child needs you.  

Faithfulness shows up with you are inclined to ignore someone else and you are nudged to help them.  

Faithfulness appears when you go the extra mile when a half mile would have been sufficient. 

Whyte's quote is also about little things that just might make a difference in the heart of winter.  Here's what you can do to push back on winter's pull: do something small today that is good, renewing and life giving. Enjoy something good.  Savor something of value.  Engage in something different.  Break away from monotony and enter into something that truly matters.   

Your one little thing might be a different way to work.  Or, it might be a word of encouragement to someone in need.  Finally, it might be a long overdue nap in the middle of the day.  Find your one little thing today and I think you'll be surprised at how powerful it can be.  Often, little things teach us about faithfulness and wholeheartedness.  Save the "whole life makeover" for another time... instead go for one little thing at a time. 

What's the one little thing you can do today to push back on winter? 

 

How to be Wholehearted

There is no shortage of advice for achieving "more" in the new year.  Brian Tracy has his "4 tips" while Mike Hyatt has his "5 days" program to supposedly the best year ever.  

I've got one bit of advice and I'm preaching to myself on this one: be wholehearted.

No fitness goals.  No spiritual aspirations.  No financial resolutions.  Just to be where I am, that is to say, to be wholehearted.  Don't get me wrong, I'll be listing some very simple strategies for the various areas of my life, from money to time to muscles.  

But where my heart is- that's what I'm really concerned with.

“The antidote to exhaustion is not rest but wholeheartedness. ”
— David Whyte

This past weekend was stellar.  At one point, sitting with my 8 year old in the corner of the living room, I looked up to find her reading me a story, my 14 year old wrapping a gift in the middle of the room and my 11 year old playing Minecraft on a laptop.  I had to pinch myself in gratitude for the amazing and many gifts in my everyday life. Who am I that I "get" to be a dad, a husband, a school leader, a Christian?  

I was wholehearted (or, "all there") for at least a few moments.  They felt like many more.

Why is wholeheartedness so difficult to achieve?  Here are my guesses:

  • Our plates are overly full
  • Our time is often scarce
  • We're tired
  • Our margin is thin
  • We have smartphones
  • We get bored too easily
  • Culture preaches "busyness" above singlemindedness
  • Work promotes multitasking

But here's the thing with each of these: they may slow us down but they can be managed such that wholeheartedness is practiced almost daily.  

Many people have found that wholeheartedness is found by doing (or not doing) the following:

  1. Unplugging from technology periodically.
  2. Owning fewer things.
  3. Giving things away (time, stuff, money, service).
  4. Being prayerful and especially at the beginning of the day.
  5. Being part of a faith community that worships weekly.
  6. Reading.  Anything all the way through.
  7. Playing sports.
  8. Creating art.
  9. Allowing for downtime.
  10. Enjoying nature.
  11. Cooking and eating mindfully.
  12. And in general, slowing down.

That's it.  Simple when you think of it- none of the 12 actions above cost much.  Better yet, you can practice at least a few of them within the next 24 hours.  

While most people think of wholeheartedness as a passive state of doing very little, just look at the action verbs found within each of the 12 suggestions: slowing, cooking, eating, enjoying, creating, and so on.  Pretty active when you think of it.  This is the paradox of being wholehearted: by being fully present, we can do so many things that lead to a fuller life.

I'm going to try it out and I hope that you will too.  It's ok to set some goals for the new year but don't forget that being fully present to those things and people around you is also a noble aspiration.

So here's to being wholehearted in 2015 and beyond!

*photo courtesy of fdp

A Simple Technique for Gift Giving and Receiving

What do you do when you have enough stuff?  Or, how about more than enough stuff?

In this post, I'll share one ultra-simple countermeasure for a gentle push back on the holiday press for more stuff.

If you're wondering if there is an ideal time to buy something for Christmas or any other holiday, turns out you can actually pinpoint the best day to do so.  Or, if you're a parent looking for the absolute best day to find a toy, turns out that December 16 is historically that day.  Who knew?

The catch is this- what if you don't want those new purchases to clutter up your home?  

Now is a great time of year, Advent- a season of waiting and anticipation, focusing on what really matters.  I find that the "stuff" of the season can add up and eventually produce unwanted clutter.  Joshua Becker suggests a different way, that of minimalism, “the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”  

Easier said than done.

Many of us will bring home more stuff in the days leading up to Christmas.  Boxes, bags and gifty sorts of things.  It's all good until it isn't.  My son just handed me an elaborate list of things that he'd like for Christmas including the price range of each item on Amazon.com.  Not that I was any different as a kid but it challenged me to stop, pause and try to provide a glimmer of education.  "You know that Advent is really about our relationship with God, right?  It's not about the stuff when you think about it."  I think I was convincing but did the message really stick?  

It did until the next Walmart commercial came on in the middle of the Patriots game.

I suggest one super simple technique and it's one that I use with my own kids (lists or not).  They may not like it but it does work in terms of helping them understand the value of material goods.  When you get something new, give something old away.  

That's it.  Get something, give something.  

You can do this by re-gifting something but be careful on that front.  Or, you can simply donate it to charity where someone else can really put it to good use.  Giving things away is good for you, says Seth Godin, 

"Gifts have to be truly given, not given in anticipation of a repayment. True gifts are part of being in a community and part of being an artist.  Plus, giving a gift feels good." (Click here to read what else he has to say about gifting)

Whether you're reading this in December or at any other time of the year, the get something/give something technique works every time.  It helps you to stay focused on the more important things in life like the act of giving rather than the gift itself.  It enables you to detach from stuff one item at a time.

What will you give away this December?

Imagine a Different Kind of December

We've survived Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday is here. Are you ready for the hustle and bustle of December?

In our home, we have three birthdays in December so by the time we hit Christmas, it's a bit of a relief.  We feel as if we've "made it" and survived a very full season.  Throw in youth basketball and we're toast.

No matter what's on your plate in December, you'll want to do one simple thing in order to counter the seasonal stress:

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO SLOW DOWN.

You don't have to max out your credit cards.  You don't have to attend every holiday party.  You don't have to stress over gifts and malls and Amazon.com.  You don't have to do anything really.  
Be brave, be bold and enter into Christmas with a clear mind and a peaceful heart.

Those are, after all, two of the greatest blessings of Christmas.  A different kind of December is possible but it won't create itself.  You'll have to be the one to step up and do something differently in terms of your gift giving, time management and overall approach to Christmas.

Less is More: Why Fewer Words are Best

In a recent newsletter (click here if you aren't yet a subscriber, just sayin'), I spoke about the value of being brief.  In emails, voicemails, even in conversations.

This was born out of several meetings last week in which everyone, and I mean everyone, felt the need to publish every idea.  The result- hours of added meeting time when we could have been with our families and friends.  

So here's the scoop- 

My conclusion: there is more noise than ever and it's made us all very, very chatty.  This of course is sucked into the vortex of "online living" and less towards those we see in person.  (Unless of course you're in one of my meetings last week!)

Speaking digitally, the data points to an emerging need to:

  • Get to the point.
  • Be brief.
  • Let folks do their work.

What can you do to use fewer words and still get your message across?

Photo courtesy of fdp