I went to the Salvation Army the other night, both for donation and shopping. It was a refreshing experience around the holidays. It was illuminating seeing all the clothes and stuff that had been donated. There was a lot of stuff to be sure. It helped me remember and put in place all the excess of our society. People today get what they need not what they want. I know it doesn't always seem like that all the time, but the fact of the matter is that our society is very affluent and is excessive even at the Salvation Army. It was quite nice to see the efforts of folks trying to better themselves and the facilitation of goodwill without a single "Merry Christmas" or item of the commercial blitz that begets the normal holiday culture of which we are all immersed. Christmas in Antarctica helped me see the overload we are subjected to in our normal lives.
Busy and Busier
It has been busy and somewhat stressful. I am reflecting on the comparatively relative low stress of traveling alone in Southern Africa last year at about this time. I mean in Africa, I only had to worry about getting in car accidents (maybe running someone over), missing flights, getting robbed or attacked. All of these possibilities in a very unfamiliar land. Now interestingly, I seem to have more stress -- over what? It is probably a very good example of good stress versus bad stress. Good stress comes from calculated self-directed challenge. Bad stress comes from captivity and what we feel we "should" be doing. "Should" indicates there are external forces we are beholden to --without our own devices or agency. In April, I am speaking at CIDM Convex in San Jose CA. https://convex.infomanagementcenter.com/ . I also learned I am speaking at LavaCon in October https://www.lavacon.org/ . There were 150 speakers considered and only 40 selected. It will be my first t...
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