Idea Bridges

As I sharpened my pruning shears and stretched out my tree trimmer, I began to think about the symbolism behind my actions as I worked on the Japanese Ornamental Maple in our courtyard.

Every year, I grab my tools, stretching, straining, trying to keep the tree from taking over in the little courtyard leading to our front door. Every year, it’s a battle between the Redbud tree and the Ornamental Maple. Each one seems to stake out its claim for the right to cover the walk with low-hanging foliage. It’s that kind of foliage that when it touches your head, you immediately wonder if that was a spider that just dropped down for a visit!

After some well-chosen cuts and tweaks, I walked out to the street-side curb  and took a look. The symmetry was perfect. No low-hanging branches, covered with leaves, plus additional light from the sun for the courtyard flowers.

I wondered how much time one should spend in thinking about the symmetry of one’s life. There is so much to one’s self that one simply cannot see. Actions, habits, and patterns become ingrained, almost second nature to us, and we engage them without thinking. How do they impact our productivity, creativity, and the general quality of our relationships?

If we’re over-weight, out-of-shape, and generally out of condition, we find a personal trainer and a program that promises fitness and health. When we are transitioning in life, if the resources are available, we may engage the services of a life coach.

What if the resources for such luxuries simply do not exist? Are there any options for the rest of us? Clearly, there are.

• Take time everyday for personal reflection. Yes, we’re all very busy, and connected 24/7. This is even more reason why we need time to reflect on who we are, what we are doing, why we doing it, and what or who we are becoming.
• Check the integrity of the information you’re using. It is a current that flows into your being, bearing either propitious resources, or worse, the flotsam and jetsam of life.
• Momentarily, detach your self from yourself. No, that’s not a play on words; simply being able to step back and watch and listen to yourself brings enormous rewards. Are you communicating the way you want to communicate? Are you listening? Are you playing a select number of scripts, adapting them to every scenario?

Trimming and pruning can have amazing effects. It’s not just for trees, you know!

Many employees logon to their computers when they arrive each morning and check their email. Typically, in the array of emails awaiting their perusal, are requests for immediate response.

We typically weigh these five elements against an array of factors:

• Who is making the request of my time and effort, and do they deserve or warrant it?
• What level of importance would I ascribe to this project or demand?
• Is this request from a peer or a superior?
• Is there a payoff; a value-added element that will accrue to me?
• Are there any repercussions that might ensue if I respond when I am ready to this request?

Stamp this on a memo or embed it in an email, and for some people, it’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. The red ink arouses awareness of aggression…this is a demand or a threat. But to others it is like receiving a “past-due” notice from the bank.

Many of us of a ‘certain age’ will remember seeing the phrase hanging in offices or shops that read: DO IT NOW. For those of us challenged by the need to establish priorities, the desire to do this may be present, but the knowledge to perform the task may not be present.

Setting priorities can become a lifestyle that affords plenty of payoffs for those who are willing to step up to this challenge. The five questions posed earlier can be a starting point for anyone interested in increasing productivity.

• First, know the source or person making the request, and move on to #2.
• Second, place an estimate of the value or worth of the project. Consider both it’s source and merit (if possible).
• Third, estimate the corresponding worth or value of your time, and whether you are capable of completing or even responding.
• Fourth, estimate the potential for reward, or at least a “quid-pro-quo.” This can be tricky; personal reward is measured differently. Focus on the “return-on-your-investment” involved in completing this task.
• Fifth, be sure you know and understand the consequences for avoiding, delaying, or ignoring the request, and are ready to accept them.

In today’s workplace environment, you will never have a clear desk or an empty in-box. You can, however, tame the beast by taking control of your time and managing to a sensible, informed set of priorities.

When I began college, I bought a portable typewriter on which I dutifully cranked out theme papers, term papers, research paper and many other items. My typewriter was very important to me as it allowed me to produce reasonably good looking papers that for their time, were very acceptable. There were no cords, no networks, and it worked wherever I could find a flat surface on which to place it.

When typing papers, there was a trick to setting up the margins. You had to familiarize yourself with the process involved in inserting indentations, justifying columns, etc. And of course, there was the matter of typo’s. Too much white-out and you had a mess.

Thinking about margins got me to thinking about typewriters, and the very precise way in which one could establish them. Today, I click on “format” and set every margin, indentation, hanging line, etc., at the stroke of a key. In fact, I rarely give it a second thought.

From my perspective, it seems that one of the things many people need is increased margins; the margins of their lives have been invaded by all manner of time, energy, and resource-consuming elements. If their lives were sheets of paper shoved into a printer or a typewriter, the result would be a jumbled mess of incoherent style and format.

Setting margins is an intentional thing. If you don’t know what you’re going to do tomorrow, there is probably no way for you to know whether your life has sufficient margins. If one thing after another simply crowds into the finite space of your day, there is a good possibility you need to establish the margins within which you allow the demands of busy-ness and activity.

Here are some ideas:

• Create lists — To-do lists or using the “tasks” feature on your tablet or computer can help. Often a simple 3×5 card can align responsibilities with accompanying resources so that you control the time and create much needed margins.
• Establish priorities — Gordon MacDonald wrote the book, “Ordering Your Private World.” Even if you’ve never heard of the book, just consider the title as an invitation to establish priority over the demands that challenge your resources.
• Work from your strengths — When we know what we’re to do, and we’ve established their priorities, a good practice is to align tasks with your key strengths, and work from there. There are some things at which we are very good, and our skills are capable of producing results in a reasonable amount of time.
• End well — Obviously, we all put off doing the chores we do not like. Here’s a suggestion: never let that list accumulate. Tackle it as soon as you can. You’ll feel better about finishing that task, and you can reward yourself for a job well done.

Of course there are many other ways to create margins in your life. The person without margins is not only harried and hurried, but depleting valuable reserves that contribute to personal satisfaction and happiness.

Good luck to you in following some simple steps to reintroduce margins back into your life!

I read a fascinating article by a person who simply gave up e-mail. Obviously a ‘power-user,’ this individual was dealing with 200-300 e-mails per day. He calculated the time that he was spending, then categorized that block of time by relevance and priority. He discovered that much of the time he was spending responding to, answering, forwarding, or sending e-mails was a manifesto on irrelevance.

In one fell swoop, he simply gave up e-mailing. He set his vacation responder to reply with a message describing his decision. The upshot of his decision was a registered improvement in his efficiency and a lowered level of stress.

I got out my Mont Blanc Meisterstuck, No. 146 fountain pen and spent some time cleaning and refilling it. I found a lined-page journal notebook, and reignited an old practice that I had abandoned: handwritten journaling. This morning as I was recording some elements of the anticipated day, I noticed that in order for my handwriting to have any legibility, I must slow down.

I write in cursive! (This is a subject with which I will deal in a future post.) The slower, rhythmic movement of the fountain pen allows me to see the connection between the graphic expression of my thoughts in handwriting, and their significance to me as I entertain them. Even such pedestrian notations as schedules, ‘to-do’s, and instructions take on a different meaning when viewed in ink.

While thinking about the social traditions and conventions that are rapidly disappearing from life, picking up the fountain pen for me was another step in restoring something that is genuinely being lost in this age of automation. Making calls to offices is typically met by automated answering devices with their awkward array of messages, choices, and runarounds.

I believe there is a connection between the elements (mechanics) of communication, and that if and when they are weakened by even the virtuous time-saving technologies, the impact of those communications is diluted. I can’t give up e-mail, at least for now, and I do not intend to sell my Mac or surrender my Smartphone.

I am, however, going to practice my penmanship (in cursive!) and introduce a higher, more reflective tone that I hope will season and enrich all the other communications venues I employ.

Have a great day!

I pulled into the parking lot of the Home Depot where I had gone to purchase some home repair items. As I stopped the car, I sat there, taking off my sunglasses and preparing to exit the car. I parked in a spot where there no vehicles on either side, thinking that I was securing my car from any unwanted dings and scratches.

Well, so much for that thought: 

I was extremely thankful that it was only my door. The other driver came into the parking space on a dead run and with the front end of their car over the yellow parking lane dividers, crunching my door, leaving a gaping hole in their front of their vehicle.

It reminded me that this is the way too many people live…on a dead run…zooming from one place to another, cramming, jamming more things than a schedule will permit in their already frenzied lives.

Every morning I drive through a school zone where the speed limit drops from 45mph to 35mph. Every morning, I witness drivers passing me in the zone, applying make-up, talking on their cell phones, or otherwise distracted. It’s epidemic in our world. To resist it is to challenging.

Here’s hoping that the next car that pulls into the spot beside you, is driven by someone alert, at a sensible speed, and who has allowed just a few more minutes to accomplish their tasks for the day.

But, it’s just metal!

David Felter

Recently I’ve begun pursuing my long-time interest in things traditional. I’ve always appreciated traditions. I suppose that is because traditions were important to me as a youth growing up. I was nurtured on the stories of family lines representing my heritage. My grandmother was a Sinclair…her Scottish ancestors arrived here in 1715 after being on the wrong side of the Jacobite Rebellion in Great Britain. My great grandmother was a Harrison…her English ancestors were give 2,000 acres by the King of England in Talbot County Maryland in 1654. My grandfather was a Crockett…his Celtic ancestors arrived in Virginia in 1686.

Traditions, patriotism, and love for this country were deeply rooted in the stories that gave me place in my childhood. Hearing grownups around the Thanksgiving table rehearse the tragedy when British troops in the War of 1812 invaded their farm, occupying it and literally running them off their land, as though it was last year steeped me in tradition and story.

I believe tradition is always under fire. Youth seeks their own expressions, unwilling to be drawn into the influence or control of traditions inherited from their elders. And the members of institutions like schools, universities, churches, and government see tradition as a malleable essence, to be configured in ways beneficial to their “progressive” thinking.

At the same time, there is something comforting about tradition that serves a beneficial purpose in the way society is organized and maintained. Clearly, traditions can become stuffy, irrelevant, and without meaning. It is always up to those of us of a certain age, to retrieve the significance, that distilled essence that is like the hidden DNA of a culture that provides foundational direction and meaning.

As I watched my granddaughter march across the stage of her high school’s awards ceremony, I was struck by several things. First, the administration of the school clearly does not understand the value of tradition. I am talking about the value-added essence of tradition that could have helped with this important passage in the lives of their students. The lazy speech patterns, the failure to have properly organized the event so that it flowed smoothly, and the obvious casualness of teachers and administrators, combined to erode the potential significance the event could have had to the students.

I was struck by the number of students, however, that wanted to express, even if they could not clearly communicate it, a sense of propriety, dignity, and yes, tradition. Young men dressed in suits, white shirts, and ties, were greeted by teachers who were clearly dressed in stark contrast to these young people. I also noted evidence for correlation between the appearance of the student and the performance she or he exhibited during the high school experience.

I think this generation, faced with offspring that puzzle them because of their immersion in post-modernity, has surrendered the flag! When parents try to look like their children; when teachers, clearly older than their students, ape them in their attire and expressions of bored cynicism, the light in the beacon pointing the way toward excellence, achievement, motivation, and contribution to the greater good, has been dimmed if not extinguished.

So, what do you think?

David Felter

Yes, folks, that’s right…I just said, “Snow in May!” At least that is what the weather prognosticators are predicting for tonight and tomorrow morning here in the greater Kansas City area.

And this just seems to fit the government-touted idea of global warming. After all, anything that our government announces is bound to be accurate, correct? If we’re in a drought, blame global warming. If record cold temps occur, blame global warming. If it’s wet, blame global warming. And not just global warming, everything humankind does to bring good to our lives, must be taxed, regulated, or outlawed because it might contribute to global warming.

For over 3 decades, I’ve enjoyed the hobby of amateur radio. I’ve modified radios, transceivers, and phone patches so I could connect missionaries to their families and friends state-side before the ubiquitous presence of the Internet. A part of this hobby has been the study of atmospheric phenomena that impacts the transmission of radio signals through space. Indeed, some radio amateurs frequently consult propagation charts in order to estimate their possibilities of making long-distance connections (DX) with other amateur radio operations (Hams).

If you turned on your receiver and there was a super-abundance of static crashes, you knew “band conditions” or the state of the radio frequency spectrum was showing signs of space radiation. Such interference would make connecting low-power signals with distant stations that much more difficult.

We also studied sun-spot cycles. These predictable cycles reflect enormous radiation and energy releases from our Sun. As they travel through space, their impact on planet earth went far beyond simply interrupting high frequency radio transmissions. In fact, many of us have become quite convinced that these naturally-occurring phenomena have a significant impact on climate. With increased activity, the climate on planet earth would express measurable change.

So, here we are, on the hinges of the changing seasons, and when we ought to be shedding winter wardrobes, we’re searching for sweatshirts and jackets. Global warming, friends, is a natural part of the nature’s inexorable cycles. We can shrink the size of our cars, pile on chemical-laden batteries and pretend we driving “green,” but nature will still have her say.

Al Gore, the EPA, and all the other “watchdogs” notwithstanding, climate change is normal. We’re always at the mercies of nature’s cycles. The claim of man-made global warming is just one more way intrusive government seeks to regulate our lives. Be informed. Make up your own mind. The truth will set you free.

So what do you think?

Dave Felter

In the middle of much tragedy and their subsequent news reports, there are some rather bleak reminders of the wood-rot that exists in the fibre of American culture.

Here are just several examples from the present news cycle:

• The parents of the alleged Boston Marathon bombing were given much face-time and air time in the public media. Their rants were noted, chronicled, and verified by on-site reporters in their faraway home towns. Worse yet, their tirades against this country that gave them freedom and the chance to make the most of abundant opportunities, were treated as though they possessed some kind of value or worth. Really?
• The NBA player who came out with the notice that he is “black and gay,” was treated with the same gravitas as the Boston Marathon bombing…it occupied center-stage of last night’s CBS news. Scott Pelley even went so far as to ask, “Is this (referring the coming out notification) a ‘Jackie Robinson’ moment for American sports?”
• This morning, Ashleigh Bamfield on CNN posed the question of whether the older brother of the bombing suspects might have suffered a brain injury due to his boxing career.

Friends, this is madness! Here we are dealing with a civil war in Syria, economies teetering on the brink, an earthquake in China, devastation in a small Texas town, and a million other problems, and we devote the first key moments of our “news” shows to a basketball player who declares that he plays for the other side. Wow!

I get it…the President calls the basketball player and congratulates him. Hmmmmm….I didn’t get a call when my bride and I celebrated 50 years of marriage. But then again, we’re not part of the radicalization that is occurring right here at home via the minions of popular culture that purvey this crap via the news and entertainment industry.

I hate it when pundits proclaim bad news just to get readers, viewers, or listeners. So here is what we can do:

• Monitor the crap that is coming into your home via your TV, Web surfing, movie rentals, and music.
• Take a stand for decency and object when you hear and see ridiculous positions touted as worthy of our appellation.
• Unplug your kids for specific time periods when they can experience an interruption in the spiritual termites that are bent on chewing up the moral fibre of your home and your family-life teachings.

We’re losing our country, one cultural experience at a time. When opinion trumps truth, the wise will ignore opinion.

That’s it for now.

Dave Felter