Icicles and Power

This morning, I woke up to icicles hanging from the trees and feeling thankful to never have lost power in the night. I opened LinkedIn on my phone, and found a share from Dave Gray to Bill Keaggy’s Ted Talk in Vienna on Attention, Mindfulness, and Creativity.

He states, “we evolved attention to prevent us from ODing on information.”

In watching this talk, even just the first half, I recognize how important attention and intention are, and how I often fall into the same traps as most [privileged] people, streaming bad TV, doom scrolling, replacing one social network (Twitter) with another (LinkedIn) in terms of time spent wandering around other people’s content.

What am I doing? I’m not sure.

Why am I doing it? Because it’s easy, for one.

I want to create. I want to launch Drifter Life, create writing and t-shirts that inspire others and help mother earth and all her species. I want to share what I'm learning. I want a safe space for people to connect, consider their intentions, share their experiences, and plan adventures to explore different kinds of people and places.

I think I want to write. Whether it’s the inclusive design manifesto, my own stories that might resonate with others, or my journey to intention and advocacy, I do not know. But I do love this moment right here, just me, the keyboard, and some coffee, before the world wakes up, the phone rings, the emails pour in, and the “standard life” kicks in.

Why do we do the things we do each day? Most of it because it’s easy and it’s as designed for us, not by us. Intention and attention are so important in the battle against people and systems that seek to exploit us for their benefit.

It is a privilege to have this computer, this network connection, this time. We must remind ourselves this and set an intention to use it wisely.

I started this morning by hiding my TV remote behind a postcard that reads, “Justice First” and writing this.

Peace and love. ☮️❤️