I’m the type that can and will cry if think too hard <3

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein’s ‘Purpose Wines’ Are Fueling Social Justice

Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein is a deep thinker. This is fitting because as Oregon’s first Black female winery owner and winemaker, she has a lot to think about. Certainly, there are the daily challenges of running a business; but there are also the struggles people like her face in the industry, where historical lack of diversity has led to a lack of role models from similar backgrounds.

Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery launched in 2018 and opened its first tasting room in the small town of Astoria, Ore., the following year. The winery focuses on wine from the Willamette Valley, and each month, a portion of the sales is donated to different charitable causes.

Goldstein grew up splitting time between her home in the United States and her grandparents’ farm in Zimbabwe. Her grandfather brewed beer while her grandmother had a passion for drinking and sharing wine. She saw firsthand the way beer and wine opened up conversations and brought people together. It left a profound impression on her.

Although she went to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and graduated with a degree in filmmaking, there was never any doubt in her mind that, someday, she wanted to create something connected to wine. After all, she says, Francis Ford Coppola, another UCLA film school alum, had successfully pursued careers in both industries. If he could do it, she could, too.

This unwavering belief in herself is one of Goldstein’s defining characteristics. However, it is her belief in humanity that really sets her apart, both as a person and as a winery owner. She believes we can all do better, and will do better, for each other as well as the planet. This hopefulness and the sense of responsibility that comes with it shines through with Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery labels like Black Lives Matter Pinot Noir, marked by wisplike letters spelling “I can’t breathe” in the shape of a cross. The wine was inspired by the murder of George Floyd. Goldstein says she incorporated the cross on the label to reflect the fact that George Floyd was a human being who did not deserve to lose his life.

VinePair spoke with Goldstein to learn more about why she feels it’s important to combine wine with social justice, the challenges Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery has faced during the pandemic, and the groundbreaking role both wine and winemaker have in the Oregon wine scene.

1. You were living in California when you decided it was time to open Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery. How did you come to the conclusion that Oregon was the right home for it?

I was in California, so the logical place would have been California. I thought about Malibu but there’s so much traffic. L.A. went from being not as congested to, like, two hours to get anywhere. I also have some friends in the Napa area and there are great grapes there, but I’m in love with Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

I knew nothing about Oregon other than there are trees and nature. So, I just booked a flight one day and started exploring all the beauty here. I just felt so drawn to Oregon, and so drawn to this little town — Astoria is where “Goonies” was filmed, and the Oregon Film Museum is here. It’s an adorable town and it has so much character. I just felt, “OK, this is the place to do it.”

2. How does it feel to know that you’re the first Black female winery owner and winemaker in Oregon?

I did not know the history of Oregon before coming here. I did not know, in the past, when a Black person acquired property, first, they had to get signatures from the white people in something like an eight-block radius. Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman and all these women fought so hard to get us to the point where we’re now at the table, but we still have so far to go. We saw during the summer [of 2020] how divided our country is. We just need to suck it up and come together and figure this out.

Being Oregon’s first African-American or Black female winery owner and winemaker means I need to keep pushing to make sure we are welcomed at the table because we haven’t been for so long. I believe we can create a table that is inclusive of everybody; somewhere with more room for people like me. And I always think to myself, “If there’s any way I can help and inspire others like me, I am so grateful for that.”

3. How do you feel about the wine industry’s relationship with Black consumers?

I remember reading an article on VinePair, “Why Is the Wine Industry Ignoring Black Americans With $1.2 Trillion Buying Power?” And I just don’t know. Is it just an assumption that Black people don’t like wine? — which I think is not accurate, because there are a lot of Black people that like wine! — and it doesn’t make sense to me why we aren’t marketing to them more, because that is a large buying power. And I also think spending that $20 mark on a bottle of wine is something that Black people are willing to do. I think now people are starting to realize that.

4. You are a relatively new winery. You earned your wine-producing and bottling license in 2018 and opened your tasting room in Astoria soon afterward. How were you forced to adjust when the [Covid-19] pandemic hit?

We had to close our tasting room to the general public for now. We were originally down in a basement area, which wasn’t a good idea with Covid. We’re moving next door where we’ll be on the upper level, and we’ll be able to do outdoor tastings on the patio in the summer.

Another thing that shifted was focusing on drop shipments, because before [the pandemic] we made most of our sales out of the tasting room. We just had to adjust. You look around, and you’re just thinking to yourself, “Wow, this is really happening.”

5. You focus on “Purpose Wine.” What inspired you to entwine social justice and winemaking?

The Purpose Wine aspect has been a core value from the beginning, inspired by my grandmother and my grandfather in Zimbabwe. They were just so nurturing and caring. All they wanted to do was take care of everyone. My grandmother was passionate about being involved with anything that was happening in the village. She invited everybody over and whenever there was somebody that was in need of help, it was her mission to help them. This is where the Purpose Wine focus was born.

The whole idea of Purpose Wine is to continue uplifting organizations that might not get the attention that they need or deserve [by donating] a portion of all our proceeds each month. Organizations like Black Lives Matter or the Brian Grant Foundation, which does amazing work for those with Parkinson’s; another one is Airway Science For Kids, which helps underprivileged children and girls interested in aviation careers.

6. Are you still involved in filmmaking projects, too?

Yes, there’s a documentary about the Flint, Mich., water crisis which I’ve been working on for a few years. So many politicians went through there, and whether Democrat or Republican, said that they were going to do something — and nothing really ever happened. Clean water should be accessible to everyone.

And then there’s also going to be one [documentary] on the pandemic. In two months, five people I knew passed away. It’s shocking and heartbreaking and unbelievable how much Covid really changed our lives. Maybe this should bring people together and show us that we are one thread.

7. What’s next for Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery?

Summer is coming, and we’ll be moving to the place next door where we can serve wine on the patio. We’re also in the process of getting our brewery licenses and opening a brewery on the same block. We also have a gorgeous property in Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast we’re developing. It’s so beautiful. You look across and there’s just nothing but a beautiful view for you to take in while you sip your wine. There’s a giant rock of about 16 feet by 30 feet and we’re working on putting a table setting there so that people can soak it in with their wine.

So, the expansion to three locations. I’m shooting for the summer, but obviously, it’s up to the governor and when things can safely be open. But summer is the target goal.

8. Congrats on the brewery! How many Black-owned breweries are there in Oregon?

Just the other day, I realized there are no Black-owned breweries in Oregon. And there are a lot of breweries! So, we’re going to be Oregon’s first Black-owned brewery. It’s so important to knock that door down and say, OK, here we are. And from there we can keep pushing to include everybody.

9. What are your long-term goals?

One of the key lessons of being on this planet is that we have to take care of each other. We have to do better. I’m a big fan of Paul Newman and all the charity work he did through his food brand. I’d love to do something like that so I can continue to help people. Because at the end of the day, we cannot take it with us. The Egyptians tried it and it didn’t work.

The article Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein’s ‘Purpose Wines’ Are Fueling Social Justice appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/eunice-chiweshe-goldstein-winery/

Eunice Chiweshe Goldsteins Purpose Wines Are Fueling Social Justice

Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein is a deep thinker. This is fitting because as Oregon’s first Black female winery owner and winemaker, she has a lot to think about. Certainly, there are the daily challenges of running a business; but there are also the struggles people like her face in the industry, where historical lack of diversity has led to a lack of role models from similar backgrounds.

Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery launched in 2018 and opened its first tasting room in the small town of Astoria, Ore., the following year. The winery focuses on wine from the Willamette Valley, and each month, a portion of the sales is donated to different charitable causes.

Goldstein grew up splitting time between her home in the United States and her grandparents’ farm in Zimbabwe. Her grandfather brewed beer while her grandmother had a passion for drinking and sharing wine. She saw firsthand the way beer and wine opened up conversations and brought people together. It left a profound impression on her.

Although she went to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and graduated with a degree in filmmaking, there was never any doubt in her mind that, someday, she wanted to create something connected to wine. After all, she says, Francis Ford Coppola, another UCLA film school alum, had successfully pursued careers in both industries. If he could do it, she could, too.

This unwavering belief in herself is one of Goldstein’s defining characteristics. However, it is her belief in humanity that really sets her apart, both as a person and as a winery owner. She believes we can all do better, and will do better, for each other as well as the planet. This hopefulness and the sense of responsibility that comes with it shines through with Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery labels like Black Lives Matter Pinot Noir, marked by wisplike letters spelling “I can’t breathe” in the shape of a cross. The wine was inspired by the murder of George Floyd. Goldstein says she incorporated the cross on the label to reflect the fact that George Floyd was a human being who did not deserve to lose his life.

VinePair spoke with Goldstein to learn more about why she feels it’s important to combine wine with social justice, the challenges Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery has faced during the pandemic, and the groundbreaking role both wine and winemaker have in the Oregon wine scene.

1. You were living in California when you decided it was time to open Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery. How did you come to the conclusion that Oregon was the right home for it?

I was in California, so the logical place would have been California. I thought about Malibu but there’s so much traffic. L.A. went from being not as congested to, like, two hours to get anywhere. I also have some friends in the Napa area and there are great grapes there, but I’m in love with Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

I knew nothing about Oregon other than there are trees and nature. So, I just booked a flight one day and started exploring all the beauty here. I just felt so drawn to Oregon, and so drawn to this little town — Astoria is where “Goonies” was filmed, and the Oregon Film Museum is here. It’s an adorable town and it has so much character. I just felt, “OK, this is the place to do it.”

2. How does it feel to know that you’re the first Black female winery owner and winemaker in Oregon?

I did not know the history of Oregon before coming here. I did not know, in the past, when a Black person acquired property, first, they had to get signatures from the white people in something like an eight-block radius. Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman and all these women fought so hard to get us to the point where we’re now at the table, but we still have so far to go. We saw during the summer [of 2020] how divided our country is. We just need to suck it up and come together and figure this out.

Being Oregon’s first African-American or Black female winery owner and winemaker means I need to keep pushing to make sure we are welcomed at the table because we haven’t been for so long. I believe we can create a table that is inclusive of everybody; somewhere with more room for people like me. And I always think to myself, “If there’s any way I can help and inspire others like me, I am so grateful for that.”

3. How do you feel about the wine industry’s relationship with Black consumers?

I remember reading an article on VinePair, “Why Is the Wine Industry Ignoring Black Americans With $1.2 Trillion Buying Power?” And I just don’t know. Is it just an assumption that Black people don’t like wine? — which I think is not accurate, because there are a lot of Black people that like wine! — and it doesn’t make sense to me why we aren’t marketing to them more, because that is a large buying power. And I also think spending that $20 mark on a bottle of wine is something that Black people are willing to do. I think now people are starting to realize that.

4. You are a relatively new winery. You earned your wine-producing and bottling license in 2018 and opened your tasting room in Astoria soon afterward. How were you forced to adjust when the [Covid-19] pandemic hit?

We had to close our tasting room to the general public for now. We were originally down in a basement area, which wasn’t a good idea with Covid. We’re moving next door where we’ll be on the upper level, and we’ll be able to do outdoor tastings on the patio in the summer.

Another thing that shifted was focusing on drop shipments, because before [the pandemic] we made most of our sales out of the tasting room. We just had to adjust. You look around, and you’re just thinking to yourself, “Wow, this is really happening.”

5. You focus on “Purpose Wine.” What inspired you to entwine social justice and winemaking?

The Purpose Wine aspect has been a core value from the beginning, inspired by my grandmother and my grandfather in Zimbabwe. They were just so nurturing and caring. All they wanted to do was take care of everyone. My grandmother was passionate about being involved with anything that was happening in the village. She invited everybody over and whenever there was somebody that was in need of help, it was her mission to help them. This is where the Purpose Wine focus was born.

The whole idea of Purpose Wine is to continue uplifting organizations that might not get the attention that they need or deserve [by donating] a portion of all our proceeds each month. Organizations like Black Lives Matter or the Brian Grant Foundation, which does amazing work for those with Parkinson’s; another one is Airway Science For Kids, which helps underprivileged children and girls interested in aviation careers.

6. Are you still involved in filmmaking projects, too?

Yes, there’s a documentary about the Flint, Mich., water crisis which I’ve been working on for a few years. So many politicians went through there, and whether Democrat or Republican, said that they were going to do something — and nothing really ever happened. Clean water should be accessible to everyone.

And then there’s also going to be one [documentary] on the pandemic. In two months, five people I knew passed away. It’s shocking and heartbreaking and unbelievable how much Covid really changed our lives. Maybe this should bring people together and show us that we are one thread.

7. What’s next for Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein Winery?

Summer is coming, and we’ll be moving to the place next door where we can serve wine on the patio. We’re also in the process of getting our brewery licenses and opening a brewery on the same block. We also have a gorgeous property in Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast we’re developing. It’s so beautiful. You look across and there’s just nothing but a beautiful view for you to take in while you sip your wine. There’s a giant rock of about 16 feet by 30 feet and we’re working on putting a table setting there so that people can soak it in with their wine.

So, the expansion to three locations. I’m shooting for the summer, but obviously, it’s up to the governor and when things can safely be open. But summer is the target goal.

8. Congrats on the brewery! How many Black-owned breweries are there in Oregon?

Just the other day, I realized there are no Black-owned breweries in Oregon. And there are a lot of breweries! So, we’re going to be Oregon’s first Black-owned brewery. It’s so important to knock that door down and say, OK, here we are. And from there we can keep pushing to include everybody.

9. What are your long-term goals?

One of the key lessons of being on this planet is that we have to take care of each other. We have to do better. I’m a big fan of Paul Newman and all the charity work he did through his food brand. I’d love to do something like that so I can continue to help people. Because at the end of the day, we cannot take it with us. The Egyptians tried it and it didn’t work.

The article Eunice Chiweshe Goldstein’s ‘Purpose Wines’ Are Fueling Social Justice appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/eunice-chiweshe-goldstein-winery/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/eunice-chiweshe-goldsteins-purpose-wines-are-fueling-social-justice

The 20 Inspirational Quotes That Changed My Life http://www.lucasrobak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/accomplish-1136863_1280.jpg

20 Inspirational Quotes That Changed My Life

It’s nearly impossible to go through life and not hear many inspirational quotes to help you accomplish something!

The only thing about being told all the various inspirational quotes throughout the days of your life, is that very few people actually take the time to contemplate how these “brilliant strokes of genius” apply to your current life.

When hearing a quote, in my experience, most people comment how great it is but then continue on as if that quote actually doesn’t apply to anything relating to them. Their thoughts, behaviors, and results don’t change.

This is the exact reason why I published the Master Your Life Using Transformational Quotes Workbook Series, to help you apply these quotes to the context of your daily life!

Inspirational quotes are the best mentors you’ll ever have! They withstood the test of time to guide future generations. Whether they were first said hundreds or even thousands of years ago, they are still great tips to guide your thoughts and actions.

Before you continue reading, come up with a list of your own inspirational quotes that had a positive impact on your life. Don’t let my list below influence your decision. There’s an endless supply of quotes and I’m only giving you a tiny amount. What did you come up with?

Some Inspirational Quotes That Changed My Life

What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. – Napoleon Hill

Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right! – Henry Ford

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere. – Albert Einstein

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. – Oprah Winfrey

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. – Nikola Tesla

Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time. – Bob Proctor

Success shuns the man who lacks ideas. – Dr. David J. Schwartz

People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you’ve figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence. – Jack Canfield

Every problem is a gift – without problems we would not grow. – Tony Robbins

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. – Dr. Stephen R. Covey

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. – Aristotle

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Be careful the environment you choose, for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them. – W. Clement Stone

I do not fix problems. I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves. – Louise L. Hay

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t. – Thomas A. Edison

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

Don’t let ideas escape. Write them down. – Dr. David J. Schwartz

The path to success is to take massive, determined action. – Tony Robbins

Comment Below

What inspirational quotes had a positive impact on your life?

The One Minute Authorpreneur

The One Minute Authorpreneur: The Quickest Way to Achieve Any Dream educates you how to very write, publish, launch, and leverage a book to attract into your life whatever it is you desire. Once you become an author, the entire world instantly views you as an authority figure, an expert in your subject matter.

This book lays out for you the systematical, step-by-step, sequential process to maximizing a book to catapult your entire world. Use it to attract clients, speaking engagements, high paying consulting contracts, the media’s attention, and much more.

Learn more about The One Minute Authorpreneur Series

I AM: Children’s Book for Positive Thinkers

I AM: Children’s Book for Positive Thinkers is for children of all ages, baby-adult. It gets you and your children thinking more positively about themselves and the world around them.

By the time a child reaches seven years old, the perception about themselves is already set. Before they will reach the age of eighteen, they will have been told negative limiting beliefs about themselves over 17,000 times.

Learn more about I AM: Children’s Book for Positive Thinkers

I Am, I Do, I Have: Big Thinking for Positively Successful Children

I Am, I Do, I Have: Big Thinking for Positively Successful Children uses ones thoughts to live create and live a phenomenal life. Since our thoughts are the beginning of everything we create in our life, you’ll repeat positive affirmations about who you believe yourself to be. By having a certain mentality, the physical actions we take are within line of how our conscious mind chose to train our subconscious. And once our actions become habitual, we produce real world results which we live in.

Learn more about I AM, I DO, I HAVE: Big Thinking for Positively Successful Children

Master Your Life Using Transformational Quotes Workbook Series

Master Your Life using Transformational Quotes Workbook Series takes you from where you are to where you want to go. Clearing out your foggy mind, you will get clear with what direction you know your life should go.

Within each book, you will come away with different take-a-ways no matter where you are in life. The quotes we say and hear are for a reason. Stop letting quotes pass you by and start  reflecting on them and how they apply to you.

Learn more about the Master Your Life Using Transformational Quotes Workbook Series

Read More Articles

Jan 15 2018

0

The 20 Inspirational Quotes That Changed My Life

Lucas J. Robak

quotes , success quotes

…

Read More

Jan 14 2018

0

Napoleon Hill Year of Growing Rich Positive Action Plan – Week 2

Lucas J. Robak

Character , Napoleon Hill

…

Read More

Jan 13 2018

0

You Can Achieve Confidence Easily & Effortlessly

Lucas J. Robak

confidence

…

Read More

Jan 12 2018

0

The 8th Habit by Dr. Stephen Covey

Lucas J. Robak

8th Habit , Dr. Stephen Covey

…

Read More

Jan 11 2018

0

Mastering the Art of Morning Routines

Lucas J. Robak

habits , routine

…

Read More

Jan 10 2018

0

The Best Reason to Publish a Book

Lucas J. Robak

authormybiz , authorpreneur

…

Read More

Lucas J. Robak Professional Affiliations

Authorpreneur Academy will train and guide you to use a published book as your best marketing asset. From before you even start writing, to well beyond thriving, we have exactly what you need every step of the way to leverage the global perception of ‘Authors’ to your advantage.

Learn more about Authorpreneur Academy or you can Apply to Become an Authorpreneur Now

The Wellness Fair unites certified health & wellness professionals with enthusiasts who desire natural living. Develop personal relationships while improving your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being by attending local events and consuming the educational online materials.

Learn more about The Wellness Fair

Follow Me on Social Media

Anything I can do, you can do better – Lucas J. Robak

Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy

http://www.lucasrobak.com/20-inspirational-quotes-changed-life

Why We Make Bad Decisions

Here is some stuff I am reading and thinking about this weekend…

Book I’m Reading – What I Learned Losing A Million Dollars The backdrop of this book is the true story of a trader called Jim Paul. His career in stock market started with a string of unusual successes that vaulted him from a dirt-poor country boy to jet-setting-millionaire. However, after 15 years of uninterrupted success, all of Jim’s wealth was wiped out in a matter of few weeks when he lost $1.6 million in a speculative trade. This devastating failure led him to intense self-reflection and discovery of some unusual insights about success and failure.

Jim’s Aha! moment arrived when it finally occurred to him that studying losses, losing and how not to lose was more important than studying how to make money. He writes in the book –

Why was I trying to learn the secret to making money when it could be done in so many different ways? I knew something about how to make money; I had made a million dollars in the market. But I didn’t know anything about how not to lose. The pros could all make money in contradictory ways because they all knew how to control their losses. While one person’s method was making money, another person with an opposite approach would be losing — if the second person was in the market. And that’s just it; the second person wouldn’t be in the market. He’d be on the sidelines with a nominal loss. The pros consider it their primary responsibility not to lose money.

The moral, of course, is that just as there is more than one way to deal blackjack, there is more than one way to make money in the markets. Obviously, there is no secret way to make money because the pros have done it using very different, and often contradictory, approaches. Learning how not to lose money is more important than learning how to make money. Unfortunately, the pros didn’t explain how to go about acquiring this skill. So I decided to study loss in general, and my losses in particular, to see if I could determine the root causes of losing money in the markets.

This book begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle. It then describes the circumstances leading up to his $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it ― primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, all losses come from the same few sources. Overall, his cautionary tale includes strategies for avoiding losses tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing.

Idea I’m Thinking – Why We Make Bad Decisions Short answer – We have design flaws. We are fairly sure we are way above average, and we are also sure we see everything perfectly.

Long answer – Ray Dalio wrote in his book Principles –

The two biggest barriers to good decision making are your ego and your blind spots. Together, they make it difficult for you to objectively see what is true about you and your circumstances and to make the best possible decisions by getting the most out of others. If you can understand how the machine that is the human brain works, you can understand why these barriers exist and how to adjust your behavior to make yourself happier, more effective, and better at interacting with others.

The first bad habit is believing you are always correct. That’s ego. We don’t like to look at our mistakes and weaknesses. To avoid this pitfall, Dalio suggests viewing criticism as helpful feedback instead of as an attack.

“The blind-spot barrier is when a person believes he or she can see everything,” he explains. And that mentality is a mistake: “It is a simple fact no one alone can see a complete picture of reality,” he adds.

Now, we all, even the best decisions makers, have blind spots. We can’t see ideas and perspectives because we would never have considered them. And these are a product of our unique strengths. Like, some people are big-picture thinkers, some are more detail-oriented. Some are creative, while others are more organised. Some are strong at observing reality, while some can imagine possibilities way better. Some always follow rules and routines, while some are naturally spontaneous. Blind spots occur when we see the world and ideas the unique way we are, without trying to consider a wide range of perspectives.

So, what’s the solution to overcome these two barriers to good decision making?

Being open-minded is the answer. As Dalio suggests –

…open-mindedness is motivated by the genuine worry that you might not be seeing your choices optimally. It is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and different possibilities without letting your ego or your blind spots get in your way. It requires you to replace your attachment to always being right with the joy of learning what’s true.

…open-mindedness doesn’t mean going along with what you don’t believe in; it means considering the reasoning of others instead of illogically holding onto your own point of view.

Thoughts I’m Meditating On

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, right here, right now, in this single, solitary, monumental moment in your life, is to decide, without apology, to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome.

~ Joyce DiDonato

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”

~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Video I’m Watching – Jim Carrey’s 2014 Commencement Address

Jim Carrey: Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head and when the door opens in real life, just walk through it. Don’t worry if you miss your cue because there’s always doors opening. They keep opening.

And when I say, “life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you,” I really don’t know if that’s true. I’m just making a conscious choice to perceive challenges as something beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way. You’ll come up with your own style, that’s part of the fun.

Oh, and why not take a chance on faith as well? Take a chance on faith — not religion, but faith. Not hope, but faith. I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar. Hope walks through the fire. Faith leaps over it.

You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world and after you walk through those doors today, you will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.

Articles I’m Reading

The Pandemic Isn’t a Black Swan but a Portent of a More Fragile Global System (New Yorker)

It’s Time to Build (Marc Andreessen)

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice (Kevin Kelly)

Are We Too Busy to Enjoy Life? (Ness Labs)

All the Things We Have to Mourn Now (The Atlantic)

The First Modern Pandemic (Bill Gates)

When You Have No Idea What Happens Next (Morgan Housel)

Finding Meaning In Our Suffering (Daily Stoic)

There Was No One Like Irrfan Khan (The Atlantic)

A Question for You Look at each stock in your portfolio and ask, “If I did not own this stock already, would I be buying it now?”

If the answer is ‘No,’ ask, “Why am I even owning it?”

Stay safe. Stay happy. Be at peace.

With respect, — Vishal

The post Why We Make Bad Decisions appeared first on Safal Niveshak.

Why We Make Bad Decisions published first on https://mbploans.tumblr.com/

Article from WSJ: The Secret to Asking Better Questions

Most bosses think they have all the answers. But the best bosses know what to ask to encourage fresh thinking. Here are six ways to build that skill.

L.J. DAVIDS

By Hal Gregersen

May 9, 2019 

It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different outcome.

Well, the same can be said of questions: Keep asking the same kind of question, and it is insane to think you are going to get a different kind of answer.

If you want a dramatically better answer, the key is to ask a better question.

In that one simple statement I have found a career’s worth of research, teaching and advisory work. No one raises an objection when they hear it—who could argue with the value of brilliant reframings? But at the same time, that statement alone is rarely enough. Most people want to be handed the five paradigm-smashing questions to ask.

Unfortunately, that isn’t possible. But what is possible is creating the conditions where the right questions are more likely to bubble up. To that end, here are some clear, concrete, measurable steps that any boss—or anyone, for that matter—can take to come up with those paradigm-smashing questions we all seek.

1. Understand what kinds of questions spark creative thinking.

There are lots of questions you can ask. But only the best really knock down barriers to creative thinking and channel energy down new, more productive pathways. A question that does has five traits. It reframes the problem. It intrigues the imagination. It invites others’ thinking. It opens up space for different answers. And it’s nonaggressive—not posed to embarrass, humiliate or assert power over the other party.

One CEO I know is aware that his position can get in the way of getting honest information that will challenge his view of things. Instead of coming at his managers with something like, “Competitor X beat us to the punch with that move—how did we let that happen?” he gets more useful input with questions like, “What are you wrestling with and how can I help?” He asks customers and supply-chain partners: “If you were in my shoes, what would you be doing differently than what you see us doing today?”

Think about how these questions change the whole equation. People don’t start off defensive. The problem isn’t already tightly framed. The questions are open-ended, and the answers can be imaginative—rather than telling the boss what he wants to hear.

If you want to turn this first point into a trackable activity, how about this: Start noting in a daily diary how many questions you’ve asked that meet the five criteria.

2. Create the habit of asking questions.

Many bosses simply aren’t used to asking questions; they’re used to giving answers. So in the early stages of building your questioning capacity, it’s helpful to start by copying other people’s questions. It’s the equivalent of practicing your scales. Once you’ve got the scales down, you can start to improvise.

You could do worse than to follow the questions asked by management thinker Peter Drucker, who liked to jump-start strategic thinking by asking: “What changes have recently happened that don’t fit ‘what everyone knows’ ”?

Another example: A leader in a consumer packaged-goods company constantly asks: “What more can we do to delight the customer at the point of purchase? And what more to delight them at the point of consumption?”

Again, think about what that does. Sure, the CEO could constantly repeat that the company wants to satisfy consumers. But by asking this question, it builds the habit of thinking in questions. And that, in turn, leads to daily inquiry about matters large and small, and an organization that keeps pushing its competitive advantages forward.

3. Fuel that habit by making yourself generate new questions.

Don’t stop with that generic question set, no matter how well you think it covers the bases. It will become just another activity rut reinforcing today’s assumptions if you and others become too familiar with it. Your goal is to generate new and better questions, not to cap your questioning career at the level of playing flawless scales.

Instead, every day, note something in your environment that is intriguing and possibly a signal of change in the air. Then, restrain yourself from issuing a comment on it—or if it’s your habit, a tweet—and instead take a moment to articulate the questions it raises.

Then share the most compelling of those questions with someone else. Engage with it for a minute. To some extent, this is doing “reps,” exercising your questioning muscles so they’ll be strong enough when the occasion demands. But it’s also more than that, because chances are it will actually be one of these many, seemingly small, questions that yields your next big breakthrough.

Let me offer a well-known example. Blake Mycoskie was in Argentina when by his account he noticed a lot of children running around barefoot. He didn’t need to ask why they didn’t have shoes—obviously they were poor—but here’s the question it brought him to: Is there a sustainable way to provide children with shoes without having to rely on donations? And thus he launched the social enterprise Toms, with its famous “one-for-one” business model.

4. Respond with the power of the pause.

When someone comes to you with a problem, don’t immediately respond with an answer. This is harder than it sounds, because you have probably internalized a sense long ago that you’re the boss because you’re decisive and have good judgment—in other words, you have the best answers.

Instead, make it your habit to respond with a question—ideally one that reframes the problem, but at least one that draws out more of your colleague’s thoughts on the matter. I’m not talking about the cop-out rejoinder of, “Well, what do YOU think we should do?” Help the person think through how the decision should be made, with questions like: “What are we optimizing for?” “What’s the most important thing we have to achieve with whatever direction we take?” Or: “What makes this decision so hard? What problem felt like this in the past?”

The payoff here comes in two forms. You’re teaching the colleague the value of pausing to get the question right before rushing to the answer. And nine times out of 10, you’re going to wind up with a better answer than the one you would have blurted out with less deliberation.

5. Brainstorm for questions.

This is an idea that is so simple, and involves an exercise so fast, that it constantly surprises me how effective it is. Whenever you or your team is at an impasse, or there is a sense that some insight is eluding you regarding a problem or opportunity, just stop and spend four minutes generating nothing but questions about it. Don’t spend a second answering the questions, or explaining why you posed a certain one. As in brainstorming, go for high volume and do no editing in progress. See if you can generate at least 15-20.

Eighty percent of the time, I find, the exercise yields some new angle of attack on the problem, and it virtually always re-energizes people to go at it with renewed gusto.

Here’s an example from an innovation team in a consumer-goods company. Struggling to come up with a new concept to test, we tried one of those question bursts. It started with, “What if we launched a response to [a competitor’s product] and did it better?” But soon enough it arrived at, “Are we stuck on assuming a certain price range? What if a customer was willing to give us 10 times that—what could we deliver that would be that valuable to them?” Bingo—the team zeroed in on that question as having real juice in it, and started generating more exciting ideas.

6. Reward your questioners.

Finally, keep track of how you respond when someone in the room asks a question that challenges how you’ve been approaching a problem or feels like it threatens to derail a solution train already leaving the station.

I remember hearing from executives at one company that the boss always surprised his top team by being willing to hear out even the craziest ideas. When others in the room were shaking their heads and hastening to move along, he would be the one to say, “Wait, say more…” to find the part of that flight of fantasy that could work.

If there’s one constant theme here, it’s the idea that bosses should reconceive what their primary job is. They aren’t there to come up with today’s best answers, or even just to get their teams to come up with them. Their job is to build their organization’s capacity for constant innovation.

Their enterprise’s future—and their own career trajectory—depends on their resolve to ask better questions.

Artist Problem #1

Keeping track of and managing time.

Okay, maybe that’s not the number 1 issue for every artist, but it’s certainly one that’s up there for me. And honestly, who doesn’t struggle with this in some way? But there’s no magic solution to it, so where do we start?

Let’s start here: you’ve got to find something that works for you. I’ve tried so many things that I quit after a short time because it just didn’t fit into my flow of work. Now, I don’t mean that if it doesn’t immediately click, then just give up. It’s said 30 days to form a habit. But I’ve also realized the importance of finding something that fits me. 

For this topic, I’m going to go through the things I use and tell you what they are, how they work, and how I use them.

Scheduling: 

Firstly, I use Google Calendar. Obviously, it’s a calendar and in this instance, I probably don’t need to explain how you use it, but a few reasons I like to use this calendar particularly is that it syncs between my phone and my computer (and sends reminder to both), and because it makes it easy to get the overarching view of the month as well as a close up look at the day.

Now, I use it to keep track of birthdays, things that fall outside of my normal schedule, and recurring stuff like my Bible study (or to keep track of when I don’t have it, more so, or when it’s not at the usual time). It’s not just for art, but by keep track of the other areas of my life, I can better keep track of my time doing art. For example, if I know I’m busy all weekend, I probably shouldn’t plan anything additional Monday-Friday because if I don’t have enough time to finish things, I know I certainly won’t over the weekend. Other things I do to make it work for me is coloring coding events. Church stuff is purple, art stuff is blue, birthdays are green, appointments are red, etc. Since I’m a visual thinker, my stuff has to be visually organized and colors allow me to look at things and at a glance know what’s what.

Trello is the other tool I use for scheduling. It’s designed to let you keep track of tasks for a variety of big/complicated projects. You can create “boards,” in each board you can create “cards” (essentially lists), and each item can be modified via comments you can leave on them, color labels you can add, and checklists. 

I probably don’t use Trello quite the way it’s actually designed to be used. Mainly I use one board (though I have a second one where I dump notes about art ideas) where I have 1 card for each day, 1 card to serve as a misc to-do-list for things that just need to be done eventually, 1 card for things that have to happen this week but not necessarily on a particular day, and 1 card for overarching tasks (each item on this card has a checklist, so long term goals can be checked off one task at a time, completed over weeks or months as necessary). 

Why I really love Trello is that I can color code, create sublists for items, and easily drag items from one list to another as needed. As I go through a day, I’ll complete, say, my daily art practice/sketching. I’ll have written it as “ART: Practice” and when I finish it, added a blue label, signaling that it’s done. Misc tasks are labeled pink when finished, orange is for chores when finished, and green for self-care, etc. This allows me to see at a glance how my day is getting used and by adding the color labels, I can see my items being “checked off.” The To Do list cards (as opposed to the Monday through Sunday ones) also allow me to sort things and keep a running list of stuff without having everything I ever need to get done on one big To Do list for the day. 

Because I’m very visual, long chaotic lists can leave me overwhelmed, but if I don’t write everything down, I forget things. Having my lists broken up makes them seem more manageable, and checklists and color labels allow me to see that I’m getting things done. 

(And yellow is reserved for “God time,” aka my personal Bible study, as opposed to my group Bible study, for those who might wonder.) If I’m having a particularly bad day, I can add in tasks to encourage me to feel like I’m getting things done (which helps me actually start getting things done). Like maybe I’m having a hard time focusings, but I did finally message that one friend back and I also finally got dressed. I’ll add those to my list and color label them. Feeling like you’re getting something done is really important when you’re overwhelmed or struggling with motivation. The trick is to move into actually getting things done. 

Another trick, which I haven’t stuck to using, but might work for you, is rating your tasks. You can actually see it on the item “To promote my art.” You add plus signs to rate how important a task is (+ meaning unimportant & +++++ being VERY important) and you add divider symbols for how hard a task is (| is easy and ||||| is hard). This way you can 

A good alternative to how I use Trello+Google Calendar is something called bullet journaling. You can look up how to do it with a simple Google search and all you need is a pen and a journal. I highly recommend it if something like what I do might work for you, but you’d rather have it all in one place and do it analog-style (though maybe an online equivalent exists?).

Goals: 

Obviously, I use Trello a bit for goals, as I have that “Overarching Tasks” list where vaguer things like “Promote my art” are divided into more practical (but still too big to be considered a single step) sub-headings, like “complete my new website.” 

This is where MS Word comes in (or really anything you can write out lists of goals on). I’m pretty sure you all know how Word works so I won’t explain, but I will give you a screenshot of some of my goals.

(Sorry, I’m too lazy to resize them)

This is just a sample of the whole list, but keeping track of big goals and then making do-able or “bite size” tasks for each goal is really important. It makes what is overwhelming seem possible and gives you a way to know what step to take next. If you know what you need to do next without having to try to remember what you’ve done and what you’ve yet to do, then you’re gonna save yourself a lot of time.

Time Tracking:

Everyone’s favorite section! Literal keeping track of time! (Or am I the only one excited here?) Anywho, Snaptimer is a simple free downloadable count-down timer. I use it for when I want to take breaks, which usually are on the computer. I’ll set it for however long I want and it goes off when I’m done. Plus it can be set to remain “on top” so you can see it counting down or it can be set to have a pop-up when it reaches zero, so it can alert you that your time is up both audibly and visually. Some nice little bonuses are that you can change the color, size, and font of the numbers and that you can customize the timer sound too (mine was a teapot whistle for a while).

RescueTime is a tracking timer. By that, I mean that it tracks how long I spend on what sites and in what programs (because I’ve downloaded it to my browser, phone, and to my desktop). Then if it can figure out what type of site it is (such as it knows that Facebook is social media and social media is distracting, generally), it categorizes it from Very Productive to Very Distracting (with Neutral in the middle for things it can’t categorize or that can’t be considered to be mostly productive or mostly unproductive). With this, I can get a snapshot of how productive my online time has been. It also lets you change the status of a site (like I’ve used Craigslist for job hunting in the past, but at first Rescuetime listed it as Distracting because it thought it was a shopping website and thus that I was shopping, so I changed it to Very Productive), it lets you delete time (for things like if you left Facebook open while you were away from your technology doing something productive), and finally it lets you set goals, like spending less than 4 hours a day on “Unproductive” things.

This is what the main part of the RescueTime dashboard looks like. I’ve only logged 2 hours and 23 minutes, but of that, only 40% has been productive (Note that the 40% ignores what is neutral - In this case, most of the neutral section is Youtube, which normally I use to listen to music, so it’s not a distraction but something that helps me work. Some days though, it’s just a distraction, like today.). 

Lastly, for this section is possibly my favorite tool: Toggl. It’s a count-up timer that is just set up so nicely. You can use the online page, the desktop app, or the phone app and they all sync up to each other. Mostly, I use the desktop app, as I spend a lot of time on or near my computer. Toggl allows you to time a task, assign that task a project (which can be color coded - seeing a theme yet?), and add tags to the task. The tags and the projects allow you to go on the website and look at charts of how you’re time is divided up and they’ll email you weekly a breakdown of your time. 

Here’s a glimpse at the Toggle Dashboard (Ugh, this last week has not been the best week for me, due to a few things that came up. This also doesn’t include the time I was at my job.). It’s really good for someone who needs visual aids and flexible structure. Here’s a quick breakdown of how I track things for art: admin work (this I use purple for and it includes tasks like working on making my website, designing and buying business cards, learning about HTML to do some edits to my site, etc.), practice work (This is a light blue and includes Sketch dailies, figure drawing, etc), misc small projects (these arecurrently a radder purple and can be anything that’s just a one-off image that will be more work than a sketch, but less than a multi-image or large project that takes a lot of planning; a task in this category might be labeled by what I think I’ll name the piece or simply a short description), and big projects (these will vary in label color depending on the project and can be anything like my Fairyland project which took months and was multiple images; a task in this group might be named by the title of the chapter I’m illustrating, for example). 

Accountability:

Finally, the last thing I’m going to list is Discord. 

Discord is a chat/messaging system designed largely to be used by gamers, but I use it, along with a group of friends, as the home to a critique group. Because Discord allows you to not only message people individually or in small groups, but also to set up servers that can permanently house large groups and then allows you to break those servers down into channels, it makes a nice set up for a crit group. We have a channel for us to post goals and make reminders, a channel for serious critique, a channel for sketches and things we may only want some light crit on or that we don’t care for crit at all, a channel for sharing art that inspires us, and a general channel for anything else. These people can pester me if I haven’t posted in a while and give me advice and encouragement to keep going. 

Really, this can be done on numerous other platforms or with in-person meetings, but because many of my friends aren’t super close, transporting art can be a pain, and Discord has a nice multi-channel set up, I recommend it if you want to try something like I’ve discussed.

Don’t discount being held accountable by friends and family that aren’t artists too, though. Sometimes those people will be the best at holding you to things you need to get done!

Final Notes:

Find what works for you! Experiment. When something doesn’t to seem to pan out, take note of what worked and what didn’t. It’ll help you move towards something that works best for you. 

Tough it out! You need to remember why you love art. You need to think about what you’re trying to achieve. Something I read once that helped me was, “The next time you feel like giving up on a project, do this instead: close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine how great you’ll feel when you finish the project. Because our subconscious minds are often unable to tell the difference between real and imagined, visualizing the final result can help us stay focused on completing it.”

Have accountability! Be that your best friend who loves your art, your mom who doesn’t get it, your art teacher you’re really close to, or your classmate in art college, there’s someone who can help you. Better yet, have that person find something you can hold them to so that it’s mutually beneficial.

ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE FREE! (Well, except for Word, I suppose, but that or an equivalent comes with pretty much every computer) Some of them have paid premium options, but honestly, I think that they work fine without the premium stuff. 

So good luck and I hope maybe something I’ve discussed will be of help to you~

An Unforgettable Sweetness. Thoughts on Mary Oliver.

Stepping out into the world, into the grass, onto the path, was always a kind of relief. I was not escaping anything. I was returning to the arena of delight.

In her book of selected essays, Upstream (2016), Mary Oliver turns her attention to the everyday wonders of the natural world. Whether observing a spider in her web, looking for great-horned owls, recounting the rescue of an injured seagull, paying homage to writers who have influenced her, or reflecting on the nature of creative work, Oliver’s bright prose is conscientious and joyful. This is a person who believes names are important, that to name is to acknowledge, to move a step closer to knowing. ‘Attention is the beginning of devotion’, she says. It is this calm attentiveness that strikes me most. In her prose and poetry, Oliver shows us the world. Her descriptions of the things she sees are never dry, but neither are they laden with manufactured import or narrative. The things themselves are enough.

The poet draws on her surroundings in her writings. She readily admits that the universe ‘does not give its delicate landscapes or its thunderous displays of power, and perhaps perception, too, for our sakes or our improvement’. Nature is not there purely to serve us. We mustn’t forget that all beings have a life purpose of their own. The universe is, however, ‘full of radiant suggestion’ and if we live with awareness we may be offered many metaphors by which to guide our lives.

Upstream is a quietly illuminating book. This is transcendental writing firmly rooted in the soil, utilising the writer’s powers of perception and a meditative attention to the present moment. Transcendence, then, is not about being somewhere else, but about being right here. The message: if humans can transcend their materialism, their all-encompassing distractions, there is much beauty to be encountered and sustenance to be had.

In her essay on creativity, ‘Power and Time’, Oliver asserts: “The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time’. I feel this in me, a restless creativity, a second pulse that goes haywire if I don’t give it the space and freedom it demands. But to what end? I often wonder. Why am I doing this? Does the world need more art, more writing? Am I even at all talented? What if I’m no good? This voice is my ‘intimate interrupter’ – the distraction present even in moments of solitude and focus. This voice is critical and destructive. It offers nothing. It exhorts me to cease everything, to cease working, sometimes even to cease living.

The world’s working artists ‘are not trying to help the world go around, but forward’. This is something to remember when I question the utility of my making. Mary likens creative work to a spiritual practice in which discipline, seclusion and concentration are essential. It requires a loyalty to one’s inner vision ‘as complete as the loyalty of water to the force of gravity’. Where did the idea come from that to value my creativity, to prioritise it, is to be egotistical, irrational, immature, selfish, entitled. When my whole being cries out to make and to be, to observe and to write, how can I deny myself this? Why should I? In so many forms I’ve received this message that I should do something useful, find a real occupation. But then I question what is meant by ‘useful’ and ‘real’ and I find these concepts so neatly aligned with destructive economic values. Would anyone have a problem with me being an artist if I were generating lots of money?

But what about these other, more equitable currencies: our perceptive and emotional capabilities? Our capacity for kindness? Who will nurture these, encourage communion with land and sea and sky, with birds and insects and flowers? It is a radical and purely rational stance to assert that what we have been given by the earth is enough. That our souls need no material acquisition. In such a view we are liberated.

I delight in Oliver’s use of language, have noted countless musical phrases, unusual and sparkling assemblages: ‘pewter water’, ‘the pond’s black oils’, ‘the rising, unopposable sea’, ‘nature’s dark throat’, ‘my wild body’.

I am sitting at my pleasingly large desk at my pleasingly large window looking out at a Finnish morning in early stages of awakening. I envy Mary her mornings. Witnessing dawn is a rare occasion for me. Today I am awake for the arrival of the light and I relish it. Pine and birch, birdsong, snowflakes coming down – the tiny freezing ones. I have with me as my aids a big mug of coffee, a miscellaneous assortment of pens and ink cartridges, a packet of ibuprofen and a hot water bottle. I am ill, but not too ill to sit here and write. I am grateful for this. I want always to be ready. I write daily and much of what I write is not worth the paper it’s written on but I view it as essential approach work. Like an athlete I must train regularly as ‘so quickly, without a moment’s warning, does the miraculous swerve and point to us, demanding that we be its willing servant’. I will aim to get (and keep) myself in shape for when the ideas arrive.

I went on an ayahuasca retreat a couple of years ago. Over the course of three nightly ceremonies I had many experiences and insights. In one of my visions, tall and magnificent beasts with massive eyes turned to face me. One by one, over and over, the beings lifted their arms and pointed at me. I was surrounded by a forest of indescribable flora and fauna, all with hands, all pointing at me. We see you. We acknowledge you. You are wanted. You are loved. You belong here. The sensation of being deeply loved and needed moved me to tears. This memory, although faded and gappy, has never left me. I call on it in times of darkness, to remind myself that I have a place in this vast web of existence. I know this in theory but find it hard to feel it sometimes. I get so disconnected. So lost in myself. When I walk in the woods I like to touch the trees. To hold them. I feel supported by the ground beneath my feet, the frozen ice. I breathe our common air. Maybe all I can offer the world are my tiny poems, my small pictures, my readiness to serve when called, with humility and trust and hope.

Mary Oliver speaks of our inherited wealth, the ‘immeasurable fund of thoughts and ideas, from writers and thinkers long gone into the ground’. She writes reverently of Emerson, Poe and Whitman and considers ‘the responsibility to live thoughtfully and intelligently’ a part of our cultural inheritance.

I think of Mary’s exquisite work and hold this responsibility in my mind. Whether it’s our shared fondness for Cape Cod landscapes, or the way in which nothing is too small for her heart and pen to seize for poetry, I feel a connection with her. She calls on me to keep looking, to write as well as I am able and, wherever I can, to enjoy whirling in the ‘beauty and strangeness’ of the world.

How Britain's oldest universities are trying to protect humanity from risky A.I.

University of Oxford Oli Scarff/Getty Images Oxford and Cambridge, the oldest universities in Britain and two of the oldest in the world, are keeping a watchful eye on the buzzy field of artificial intelligence (AI), which has been hailed as a technology that will bring about a new industrial revolution and change the world as we know it. Over the last few years, each of the centuries-old institutions have pumped millions of pounds into researching the possible risks associated with machines of the future. Clever algorithms can already outperform humans at certain tasks. For example, they can beat the best human players in the world at incredibly complex games like chess and Go, and they're able to spot cancerous tumors in a mammogram far quicker than a human clinician can. Machines can also tell the difference between a cat and a dog, or determine a random person's identity just by looking at a photo of their face. They can also translate languages, drive cars, and keep your home at the right temperature. But generally speaking, they're still nowhere near as smart as the average 7-year-old. The main issue is that AI can't multitask. For example, a game-playing AI can't yet paint a picture. In other words, AI today is very "narrow" in its intelligence. However, computer scientists at the the likes of Google and Facebook are aiming to make AI more "general" in the years ahead, and that's got some big thinkers deeply concerned. Meet Professor Bostrom Nick Bostrom, a 47-year-old Swedish born philosopher and polymath, founded the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at the University of Oxford in 2005 to assess how dangerous AI and other potential threats might be to the human species. In the main foyer of the institute, complex equations beyond most people's comprehension are scribbled on whiteboards next to words like "AI safety" and "AI governance." Pensive students from other departments pop in and out as they go about daily routines. It's rare to get an interview with Bostrom, a transhumanist who believes that we can and should augment our bodies with technology to help eliminate ageing as a cause of death. "I'm quite protective about research and thinking time so I'm kind of semi-allergic to scheduling too many meetings," he says. Tall, skinny and clean shaven, Bostrom has riled some AI researchers with his openness to entertain the idea that one day in the not so distant future, machines will be the top dog on Earth. He doesn't go as far as to say when that day will be, but he thinks that it's potentially close enough for us to be worrying about it. Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom is a polymath and the author of "Superintelligence." The Future of Humanity Institute If and when machines possess human-level artificial general intelligence, Bostrom thinks they could quickly go on to make themselves even smarter and become superintelligent. At this point, it's anyone's guess what happens next. The optimist says the superintelligent machines will free up humans from work and allow them to live in some sort of utopia where there's an abundance of everything they could ever desire. The pessimist says they'll decide humans are no longer necessary and wipe them all out. Billionare Elon Musk, who has a complex relationship with AI researchers, recommended Bostrom's book "Superintelligence" on Twitter. Bostrom's institute has been backed with roughly $20 million since its inception. Around $14 million of that coming from the Open Philanthropy Project, a San Francisco-headquartered research and grant-making foundation. The rest of the money has come from the likes of Musk and the European Research Council. Located in an unassuming building down a winding road off Oxford's main shopping street, the institute is full of mathematicians, computer scientists, physicians, neuroscientists, philosophers, engineers and political scientists. Eccentric thinkers from all over the world come here to have conversations over cups of tea about what might lie ahead. "A lot of people have some kind of polymath and they are often interested in more than one field," says Bostrom. The FHI team has scaled from four people to about 60 people over the years. "In a year, or a year and a half, we will be approaching 100 (people)," says Bostrom. The culture at the institute is a blend of academia, start-up and NGO, according to Bostrom, who says it results in an "interesting creative space of possibilities" where there is "a sense of mission and urgency." The dangers of A.I. If AI somehow became much more powerful, there are three main ways in which it could end up causing harm, according to Bostrom. They are: AI could do something bad to humans. Humans could do something bad to each other using AI. Humans could do bad things to AI (in this scenario, AI would have some sort of moral status). "Each of these categories is a plausible place where things could go wrong," says Bostrom. With regards to machines turning against humans, Bostrom says that if AI becomes really powerful then "there's a potential risk from the AI itself that it does something different than anybody intended that could then be detrimental." In terms of humans doing bad things to other humans with AI, there's already a precedent there as humans have used other technological discoveries for the purpose of war or oppression. Just look at the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example. Figuring out how to reduce the risk of this happening with AI is worthwhile, Bostrom says, adding that it's easier said than done. I think there is now less need to emphasize primarily the downsides of AI. Nick Bostrom Asked if he is more or less worried about the arrival of superintelligent machines than he was when his book was published in 2014, Bostrom says the timelines have contracted. "I think progress has been faster than expected over the last six years with the whole deep learning revolution and everything," he says. When Bostrom wrote the book, there weren't many people in the world seriously researching the potential dangers of AI. "Now there is this thriving small, but thriving field of AI safety work with a number of groups," he says. While there's potential for things to go wrong, Bostrom says it's important to remember that there are exciting upsides to AI and he doesn't want to be viewed as the person predicting the end of the world. "I think there is now less need to emphasize primarily the downsides of AI," he says, stressing that his views on AI are complex and multifaceted. Applying careful thinking to massive questions Bostrom says the aim of FHI is "to apply careful thinking to big picture questions for humanity." The institute is not just looking at the next year or the next 10 years, it's looking at everything in perpetuity. "AI has been an interest since the beginning and for me, I mean, all the way back to the 90s," says Bostrom. "It is a big focus, you could say obsession almost." The rise of technology is one of several plausible ways that could cause the "human condition" to change in Bostrom's view. AI is one of those technologies but there are groups at the FHI looking at biosecurity (viruses etc), molecular nanotechnology, surveillance tech, genetics, and biotech (human enhancement). A scene from 'Ex Machina.' Source: Universal Pictures | YouTube When it comes to AI, the FHI has two groups; one does technical work on the AI alignment problem and the other looks at governance issues that will arise as machine intelligence becomes increasingly powerful. The AI alignment group is developing algorithms and trying to figure out how to ensure complex intelligent systems behave as we intend them to behave. That involves aligning them with "human preferences," says Bostrom. Existential risks Roughly 66 miles away at the University of Cambridge, academics are also looking at threats to human existence, albeit through a slightly different lens. Researchers at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) are assessing biological weapons, pandemics, and, of course, AI. We are dedicated to the study and mitigation of risks that could lead to human extinction or civilization collapse. Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) "One of the most active areas of activities has been on AI," said CSER co-founder Lord Martin Rees from his sizable quarters at Trinity College in an earlier interview. Rees, a renowned cosmologist and astrophysicist who was the president of the prestigious Royal Society from 2005 to 2010, is retired so his CSER role is voluntary, but he remains highly involved. It's important that any algorithm deciding the fate of human beings can be explained to human beings, according to Rees. "If you are put in prison or deprived of your credit by some algorithm then you are entitled to have an explanation so you can understand. Of course, that's the problem at the moment because the remarkable thing about these algorithms like AlphaGo (Google DeepMind's Go-playing algorithm) is that the creators of the program don't understand how it actually operates. This is a genuine dilemma and they're aware of this." The idea for CSER was conceived in the summer of 2011 during a conversation in the back of a Copenhagen cab between Cambridge academic Huw Price and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, whose donations account for 7-8% of the center's overall funding and equate to hundreds of thousands of pounds. "I shared a taxi with a man who thought his chance of dying in an artificial intelligence-related accident was as high as that of heart disease or cancer," Price wrote of his taxi ride with Tallinn. "I'd never met anyone who regarded it as such a pressing cause for concern — let alone anyone with their feet so firmly on the ground in the software business." University of Cambridge Geography Photos/UIG via Getty Images CSER is studying how AI could be used in warfare, as well as analyzing some of the longer term concerns that people like Bostrom have written about. It is also looking at how AI can turbocharge climate science and agricultural food supply chains. "We try to look at both the positives and negatives of the technology because our real aim is making the world more secure," says Seán ÓhÉigeartaigh, executive director at CSER and a former colleague of Bostrom's. ÓhÉigeartaigh, who holds a PhD in genomics from Trinity College Dublin, says CSER currently has three joint projects on the go with FHI. External advisors include Bostrom and Musk, as well as other AI experts like Stuart Russell and DeepMind's Murray Shanahan. The late Stephen Hawking was also an advisor when he was alive. The future of intelligence The Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence (FOI) was opened at Cambridge in 2016 and today it sits in the same building as CSER, a stone's throw from the punting boats on the River Cam. The building isn't the only thing the centers share — staff overlap too and there's a lot of research that spans both departments. Backed with over £10 million from the grant-making Leverhulme Foundation, the center is designed to support "innovative blue skies thinking," according to ÓhÉigeartaigh, its co-developer. Was there really a need for another one of these research centers? ÓhÉigeartaigh thinks so. "It was becoming clear that there would be, as well as the technical opportunities and challenges, legal topics to explore, economic topics, social science topics," he says. "How do we make sure that artificial intelligence benefits everyone in a global society? You look at issues like who's involved in the development process? Who is consulted? How does the governance work? How do we make sure that marginalized communities have a voice?" The aim of FOI is to get computer scientists and machine-learning experts working hand in hand with people from policy, social science, risk and governance, ethics, culture, critical theory and so on. As a result, the center should be able to take a broad view of the range of opportunities and challenges that AI poses to societies. "By bringing together people who think about these things from different angles, we're able to figure out what might be properly plausible scenarios that are worth trying to mitigate against," said ÓhÉigeartaigh. The post How Britain's oldest universities are trying to protect humanity from risky A.I. appeared first on Global Asset Management Seoul Korea .

Legal Weed Resources

Check out... https://legalweed.gq/420/conversations-in-cannabis-ardin-writer-comedian-content-producer/

Conversations In Cannabis: Ardin, writer, comedian & content producer

 Marketing takes on many forms today, and all relate to good storytelling. One of the great benefits of a working in cannabis are the creative innovators applying their skills to the category at all levels that I’ve met along the way. Coming from an agency myself, it was fascinating to meet a comedian in cannabis who came to the category by way of advertising and stand-up who’s developing his own approach to content.

Ardin, as he’s known, made his way from San Francisco to Hollywood to develop his own content ideas to work with brands and innovators to sidestep the advertising challenges that cannabis faces today. In 2016, he walked away from a  10-year career in marketing and today, he is a professional comedian, actor, and writer. He’s created his own monthly podcast, Coffee and Cannabis that focuses on the industry and is developing scripts and content for long-form shows. He’s written a series of 52 radio plays for a segment called, “High Time Story Time” (on Amazon) and has a popular late night show, The Night Space, on Mutiny Radio (http://mutinyradio.fm)

He tells me, “I’m the stoner comedian…I call myself the motivated pothead. I’m never not working on something. I’m an outside the box thinker who’s just trying to help brands be the best they can be.” We sat down to chat about marketing, brands and audiences, and the state of the market in Los Angeles. 

So we were talking about marketing cannabis, how its an evolving practice that often feels like its changing on a daily and weekly basis.

Yes, which to me means that brand identity is paramount and understanding your customer is extremely important;

  I agree–it’s one of the mantras I re-iterate with brands, it begins with “who you are” and “what you do” and explaining what makes you “better, different or unique.”

 When I was in San Francisco I was doing standup at Urban Farm, I would talk with all the vendors about their headaches–the biggest was differentiation from other brands, and “how do I get the right kind of clientele around my brand.”

 I recently looked up advertising recommendations for Cannabis and the only ones of note were the Canadian government recommendations since they just legalized. There are some state regulations, but it’s also a lot of heresay about what MIGHT be working and we’re doing it and seeing what works.

States are making it up as they go along, but larger companies like Facebook and Google are mixed on allowing brands to advertise, with lots of horror stories.

 It’s all yet to be determined, which is why I focus on content ideas differently to get around the ever-changing rules and regulations surrounding advertising.

 I’m looking to serve the brand to give them an identity and a piece of content that resonates with their market, in a fun way.

  It seems like California and emerging markets are all struggling with different aspects of growth, the states and municipalities are all laying out rules and regulations that are often confusing to businesses and leave the consumer in limbo but driven by price alone not value or craft.

 Pricing, Brand Recognition and Distribution—there’s a war right now. The market is looking to get more distribution, but there is a race to the bottom for the cheapest ounce. As bigger brands get out there they’re pushing out the smaller brands. Consumers are still looking for quality but most are still finding what they want based upon price, and don’t realize that there are other options in the market. 

What I’m trying to attempt is something different—to make a big impact in a big way, on a proven concept but it’s still a dicey play. Creating content and investing in the content, not just a talking head, but coming up with fun show concepts, narrative stories for television as branded content and putting it thru no traditional places like weed-tube, youtube. But also understand you can be a genuine player, this is a true player not just talk the talk or walk the walk.

I’m proposing making TV type media for brands the existing audience but finding new audiences.

  Your gameshow, Dabs for Dollars in some ways reminds me of the way cigarette companies would sponsor shows in the 40’s and 50’s.

My approach is to start with one thing that I know. We’re talking “longer format” 6-15 min for a game show, 20 min for scripted content. A games show is a collection of 30 sec highlights, that’s over a span of half hour on TV with shorter segments for social media, etc.

I’m taking ten steps ahead, for the future. Everyone’s playing for the right now is playing catch up with nothing. There’s no proof that what’s happening now moves the mark. People are falling out of the sky, the market will mature and we need some better way to present ourselves.

Down the road–I’m preparing brands now for when the needle swings, so they’re being the thought leader in the space and everyone is catching up with them. To try things first, be three steps ahead, but also what can we do with this right now. Investing in good content is good content, you can chop it up and put it out now and test what works.

  It’s a learning concept; in the meantime if you’re putting out entertaining content, you’re getting feedback, and can change direction and listen to your audience, see what resonates and do what audience suggests. You look new and innovative.

It’s definitely one way, one story to tell to the right consumer–people are coming into the market at all levels, it makes sense to try out lots of content ideas. I’m saying–Let’s make the investment now.

We’ve discussed that  it’s the wildest out there, what challenges ahead do you see in the next  six months in California?

It’s going to be interesting to keep up with,

A–we have a new governor, and we don’t know any new regulations that will come down for growing/distribution, testing, etc–be on the look-out for new regs.

B–West.Hollywood has campus lounges, so those started Jan 1st and will be interesting how it plays out, for the ability to have a place to go, network and consume cannabis. It’s also another place for people to do market research too so that’s interesting.

  ABOUT: Ardin is a Los Angeles based stand-up comedian and writer. He is a performer, spokesperson, brand ambassador, motivational speaker, writer, and all-around funny guy. His work can be seen on his site ardincomedy.com

  _________________

About Glenn Johnson 

I am a Marketing, Branding and Communications Consultant w/ experience in high-touch luxury consumer marketing in the travel/hospitality, wine/spirits, fashion/beauty/grooming and Cannabis categories. My talents include Branding & Brand development, Business Building, Strategy and Brand Storytelling. I excel in working with Founders, startups, and small brands.

  Marketing / Matters

A Cannabis Column with a Marketing & Branding point of view, including Q & A articles, “Conversations in Cannabis,” with industry innovators across the spectrum of start-ups, founders and brands doing business in the Cannabis category.

 I can be contacted at glenn.johnson(at)gmail.com

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-johnson-8018944/

When I finally puked on the fourth night, I felt an odd sense of pride.

Inside the loud, stuffy ceremony room, people were laughing, crying, chanting, gyrating, and, yes, vomiting, around me. When my time finally comes, I think: Just aim for the bucket and keep your ass above your head like the shaman told you.

I try to wipe my face but can’t grab the tissue paper because it melts every time I reach for it. Nearby, a man starts to scream. I can’t make out what he’s saying on account of the shaman singing beautiful Colombian songs in the other room.

I finish vomiting and start crying and laughing and smiling all at once. Something has been lifted in this “purge,” something dark and deep I was carrying around for years. Relief washes over me, and I slowly make my way back to my mattress on the floor.

For four consecutive nights, a group of 78 of us here at a retreat center in Costa Rica have been drinking a foul-tasting, molasses-like tea containing ayahuasca, a plant concoction that contains the natural hallucinogen known as DMT.

We’re part of a wave of Westerners seeking out ayahuasca as a tool for psychological healing, personal growth, or expanding consciousness.

I flew to Costa Rica hoping to explode my ego. And I was not prepared for what happened. Ayahuasca turned my life upside down, dissolving the wall between my self and the world. I also stared into what I can only describe as the world’s most honest mirror. It was a Clockwork Orange-like horror show, and it was impossible to look away. But I saw what I needed to see when I was ready to see it.

Ayahuasca exposes the gap between who you think you are and who you actually are. In my case, the gap was immense, and the pain of seeing it for the first time was practically unbearable.

Ayahuasca remains a fringe psychological medicine, but it’s slowly working its way into the mainstream. Until fairly recently, you had to travel to South America if you wanted to experiment with the plant, but now ayahuasca ceremonies are popping up in the United States and Europe.

Indigenous people in countries like Colombia and Peru have been brewing the concoction for thousands of years, mostly for religious or spiritual purposes. It’s considered a medicine, a way to heal internal wounds and reconnect with nature.

It wasn’t until 1908 that Western scientists acknowledged its existence; British botanist Richard Spruce was the first to study it and write about the “purging” it invokes. He was mainly interested in classifying the vines and leaves that made up the magic brew, and in understanding its role in Amazonian culture.

Ayahuasca emerged again in the early 1960s with the counterculture movement. Beat writers like William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac all described their experiences with ayahuasca, most famously in Burroughs’s book The Yage Letters. Scientist-hippies like Terence McKenna and Timothy Leary then went to South America to research and experience the drug firsthand. All of this helped bring ayahuasca into Western culture, but it was never truly popularized.

Today, the tea is having a bit of a moment.

Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Sting, and Chelsea Handler have spoken about their experiences with it. “I had all these beautiful images of my childhood and me and my sister laughing on a kayak, and all these beautiful things with me and my sister,” Handler told the New York Post after her first ayahuasca trip. “It was very much about opening my mind to loving my sister, and not being so hard on her.”

Handler’s experience appears to be common. The scientific evidence on ayahuasca is limited, but it is known to activate repressed memories in ways that allow people to come to a new understanding of their past. In some cases, it helps people work through memories of traumatic events, which is why neuroscientists are beginning to study ayahuasca as a treatment for depression and PTSD. (There are physical and psychological risks to taking it as well — it can interfere with medication and exacerbate existing psychiatric conditions.)

My interest in ayahuasca was specific: I wanted to cut through the illusion of selfhood. Psychedelics have a way of tearing down our emotional barriers. You feel plugged into something bigger than yourself, and — for a moment, at least — the sensation of separation melts away.

Buddhists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers have all made persuasive arguments that there is nothing like a “fixed self,” no thinker behind our thoughts, no doer behind our deeds. There is only consciousness and immediate experience; everything else is the result of the mind projecting into the past or the future.

But this is a difficult truth to grasp in everyday life. Because you’re conscious, because it’s like something to be you, it’s very easy to believe that a wall exists between your mind and the world. If you’re experiencing something, then there must be a “you” doing the experiencing. But the “you” in this case is just an abstraction; it’s in your mind, not out there in the world.

One way to escape this trap, I hope, is to get the hell out of my head

I spent about five years as a philosophy graduate student and another few as a teacher. I understood these arguments in intellectual terms but not in experiential terms. I’ve tried meditating, and I’m terrible at it. My mind is a parade of discordant thoughts, and as a result, I’m rarely present — in conversations, during meditation, in daily life.

One way to escape this trap, I hope, is to get the hell out of my head.

There are many ways to reach the truth of non-selfhood. Think of it as a mountain peak, with meditators and certain spiritual traditions ascending different sides. Psychedelic drugs offer a kind of shortcut; you get a glimpse of this higher truth without all those years of serious, disciplined practice.

That shortcut is what I was after.

The approach at this retreat center, called Rythmia, is all-encompassing. During the day they pamper you with all the luxuries of a wellness retreat — massages, volcanic mud baths, organic food, yoga classes, colonic cleanses. Then at night, you drink ayahuasca and put yourself through emotional and physical hell.

One of the first things I was told is that I had to enter the ayahuasca ceremony with a clear goal or question in mind: What do you want to learn about yourself?

The trained facilitators who led the ceremonies recommend that you begin with a simple request: Show me who I’ve become.

The question implies that at some point you lost yourself, that when you were a child, your soul was pure, open, uncorrupted by culture. As you enter society, you lose that childlike love for the world. You start to judge yourself by external standards. You compare yourself to friends, neighbors, and peers. You develop an ego, an identity, and your well-being becomes bound up with these constructs.

Do I really want to see what I’ve become? I’m pretty sure I won’t like the answer.

There’s nothing new about these ideas, but they strike me as true all the same. So I decide to focus on self-discovery.

It’s now 5:15 pm, and the first ceremony starts in 15 minutes. I’m terrified. “Do I really want to see what I’ve become?” I keep asking. I’m pretty sure I won’t like the answer — almost no one does, it seems.

The doors open, and all 78 of us here for this week-long session pour into the ceremony room, called the “flight deck.” The room is big, divided into three sections, and there are two bathrooms on each side. It’s dimly lit, and mattresses are lined up on the floor against the walls. The beds are only a few inches apart. At the foot of each mattress is a roll of toilet paper and a blue or red bucket.

I pounce on the first mattress I see; it’s near the door and just a few feet from the bathroom. I feel safe here. To my right is Chad, a photographer from Ontario who looks as nervous as I am but somehow seems more prepared for this. To my left is a giant window that opens to a view of the courtyard.

The stuff is nasty, like a cup of motor oil diluted with a splash of water

There’s a nervous collective energy. Almost everyone here is doing ayahuasca for the first time, and we’re all scared shitless. They announce the first call to drink, and I make my way to the front of the line. One by one, we take our cups, silently reflect on the intention for the evening, and then drink.

It’s my turn to drink. The stuff is nasty, like a cup of motor oil diluted with a splash of water. I throw it back like a shot of cheap bourbon.

We’re instructed to sit up and lean against the wall after the first cup. The tea takes at least 30 minutes to work its way through the body. I sit quietly for 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and then I lie down on my mattress and wait.

Nothing happens. I feel a little dizzy but nothing overwhelming. I go outside, walk around a bit, feel my feet in the grass. Then they announce a call for the second drink. I remember the mantra here: “Drink, don’t think.” If you can hear the call, if you can move your body, you drink. So I awkwardly drag myself out of bed and head to the front for a second cup.

About 30 minutes pass, and I start to feel … strange. I can see colors, shapes, and shifting shadows on the wall. I’m nervous that something is about to happen, so I go outside and gather myself. I settle in one of the hammocks and stare at the stars.

Suddenly the stars start to spin in a clockwise direction. Then a little faster. Then, for reasons that escape me, I start yelling at the moon, saying over and over again, “Is there anyone up there? Is each other all we have?” (Don’t ask me why I did this.)

So it goes, for what feels like an hour or two. I keep hurling those two questions at the heavens but get no answers, no insights, just silence and spinning.

I walk back inside and collapse in my bed. For the rest of the night, I see sporadic visions of geometric figures, a few flashes of light, but that’s about it. Then one of the assistants starts to ring a gentle bell.

It’s 2 am, and it’s time to close the ceremony.

The next day I realize why I had no great revelations on the first night. I couldn’t let go. I thought I was prepared for the trip, but anxiety got the better of me. As soon as I thought something — anything — was about to happen, I tried to think myself out of the experience.

Tonight will be different. I’m going to stay in the moment, stay with my breath, and see what happens.

The facilitator is Brad, a kind, aggressively tanned guy from Indianapolis who was trained in ayahuasca by a tribe in Peru. The facilitators play an important role each night, even though there isn’t much one-on-one interaction. They set the tone, guide the ceremony, explain where the medicine came from and how it works, and they assist the people who need it throughout the night.

Brad tells us to let go and give in. “Don’t fight the medicine,” he says. “Just listen.”

It’s cooler tonight, but there’s a warm breeze rolling through the room. Most of the people around me are scribbling last-minute notes in their journals; others are sitting stoically waiting for the first call.

I take my first drink around 7:30 pm, though I can’t know for sure because phones and electronics are shut down as soon as you enter the flight deck. My intention is the same as it was the first night: Show me who I’ve become.

I can tell quickly that this will be different. It’s 30 or 40 minutes after the first drink, and already my senses are overwhelmed. Every time I open my eyes, the space around me starts to fold, kind of like what Einstein describes in his theory of relativity. But it also looks like a tightly woven spider web, and when I move my hand it starts to bend.

Before I know it, they make the call for a second drink. “Don’t think, drink,” I keep telling myself. So I stumble to the front and drink another cup. Then things get weird.

All of a sudden, Andrea has 40 or 50 yellow snakes gushing out of her mouth and into mine

I roll onto my right side and see Andrea, a woman from Toronto, struggling to vomit. Brad, the facilitator, had said the Peruvian and Columbian tribes that use ayahuasca see purging — vomiting, diarrhea, crying, laughing, and yawning — as a vital part of the healing the drug brings. When you purge, you’re expelling all the nastiness — the stress, the anxieties, the fears, the regrets, the hatred, the self-loathing.

All of a sudden, Andrea has 40 or 50 yellow snakes gushing out of her mouth and into mine. And then I’m immediately racked with the worst nausea I’ve ever experienced. First I curl up in the fetal position and then I spring onto all fours and try to puke. But I can’t get it out. I stay on my knees for another five or 10 minutes waiting for something to happen. Nothing.

Then I lie back down, roll onto my left shoulder, and am flooded with a resounding message for the rest of the night: It’s not about you! Andrea’s pain and suffering — the snakes — had passed into me, and that was the whole point.

For the rest of the night, maybe another three hours or so, I lie there thinking about how selfish I often am, and about the symbolism of the snakes. The feeling was so powerful that I started to cry. (Side note: People cry a lot on ayahuasca.)

The next day, Andrea tells me that she never managed to purge but that her nausea suddenly disappeared, after which she drifted into a peaceful half-sleep. I don’t know if that occurred around the time I saw those snakes, but the thought of it kept me up that night.

I’m not bothered by the thought of taking on her pain; it’s the whole wild scene — the snakes, the nausea, the visions. I can’t explain any of it, and yet it was the most authentic experience of my life.

I’m halfway through this thing, and so far it’s not at all what I expected. I still haven’t had to confront my past in the way I anticipated I would.

The third ceremony is led by two women. The facilitator is Abby, a young, quietly authoritative woman from Cincinnati who’s assisted by Kat from Montana. Both trained in Peru.

Abby begins by telling us that tonight is about the feminine spirit. “It’s a celebration of creation,” she says, “of birth and renewal.” The idea is calming.

I strike up a conversation with the guy next to me. His name is Brad and he’s another Canadian, a publisher from Toronto. This is his second trip to Rythmia, and he tells me that he plans to sell his business after this. “My whole identity is tied up in that,” he says, and “I don’t want that anymore.”

Before I can respond, there’s the first call to drink. The brew is thicker tonight, and it tastes like wax and vinegar. It hits hard and fast. I am hallucinating within 20 or 30 minutes.

I see myself floating in my mother’s womb, suspended in fluids and flesh. And then I see her life — it’s not quite like a movie; it’s more like a series of flashing visions that are just clear enough to resonate. I see her pain, her confusion. I see how hard it was for her to have me at 20 years old, and how little I’d thought about that.

I see her and my father, in a college apartment, wondering what the hell they’re going to do next. I realize how fucking terrified I would have been in that spot at that age. A wave of compassion washes over me; whatever resentments I was holding on to drop away.

Then the call for a second drink comes. I drink, walk outside, and then go right back to bed.

The scene shifts and I’m floating in what I assume is a kind of primordial soup. I think I’m a vibrating particle now, and string theory suddenly makes sense in a way I can’t explain.

Abby starts to sing songs called icaros, which are performed in ayahuasca ceremonies throughout the Amazon. I sink deeper into a trance. My mind is speeding, and my body is frozen stiff. But a calm takes over me, and I start to smile and laugh.

I start to see every moment of our relationship in which she reached out to me and I missed it

I roll back onto my right side, and suddenly I see my wife’s face. I relive the first time we made love. We’re in college near a lake on campus. I can see our bikes behind us, the water in front of us, the blanket beneath us, and the grass all around us. I can smell the air. I relive this moment, understanding finally what made it so special.

There was no ego. I wasn’t an isolated “I,” a separate person with a separate consciousness. The feeling, I imagine, isn’t much different from what advanced meditators experience when their sense of self disappears. You simply have no awareness of anything but your body and the moment.

But then the vision turns dark.

I start to see every moment of our relationship in which she reached out to me and I missed it. I see her asking me to go to a meditation class, and I decline. I see her pause to ask me to connect at the peak of a mountain after a long hike in Boulder, Colorado, and I shrug it off. I see her ask me to go dancing at a show near our apartment, and I watch myself mindlessly decline.

I see myself stuck in my own head, my own thoughts, my own impulses. And I see the disappointment on her face. I see her see me miss an opportunity to reconnect.

Then I relive all those moments again, and this time I see myself do or say what I should have done or said. And I see the joy on her face. I see it so clearly that it hurts. I see how much time I wasted, how much love I withheld.

I’m crying again, this time even louder, and the smile on my face is so big that my jaw hurt the next day. And I think about how I’m going to look at my wife when I get back home, and how she’ll know I’m seeing her — really seeing her — for the first time all over again.

Then the bells start to ring, and it’s time to close the ceremony.

I knew the fourth night would be rough when I saw the ayahuasca brew (each night it’s a slightly different recipe from a different tribe or region or tradition). It was so thick and oily that you couldn’t drink it. Instead, you had to force it down like paste.

The shaman, an Israeli man named Mitra, tells us that it was a 5,000-year-old recipe taken from one of the oldest Amazonian tribes in Colombia, where Mitra was trained. He’s tall, with a shaved head and an assured demeanor. He looks like he could demystify the cosmos and dunk a basketball at the same time.

I see how much time I wasted, how much love I withheld

This final ceremony is longer than the rest. Normally, we gather around 5:30 pm and finish by 1 or 2 am. This time we meet around 7:30 pm and don’t finish until sunrise the next day.

Mitra hands me my first cup, and I fall back to my mattress. I think it’s maybe half an hour before I slip into what I can only describe as the most vivid lucid dream.

I watch my entire life unfold as though it were projected on a movie screen. But it wasn’t my whole life; it was every lie, every counterfeit pose, every missed opportunity to say or do something true, every false act and ingratiating gesture, every pathetic attempt to be seen in a certain light.

The highlight reel is way longer than I imagined.

I see myself as a child groveling for attention from the “popular kids.” I see my 12-year-old self throwing a tantrum in the mall because my dad wouldn’t buy me the Nautica shirt that all those popular kids were wearing. I see myself in high school pretending to be something I was not, and I see all the doubts piling up inside me. I see all the times I self-censored purely out of fear of judgment.

I see myself building my identity based on what I thought would impress other people. On it went — one trivial act after another building up an edifice of falsehood.

I should note how unpleasant it is to see yourself from outside yourself. Most of us aren’t honest with ourselves about who we are and why we do what we do. To see it so clearly for the first time is painful.

The movie rages on into college and adult life, with my self-consciousness expanding. I see myself not looking into the eyes of the person I’m talking to because I’m playing out all the ways they might be judging me. I see myself pretending like my hair wasn’t thinning years ago and all the times I tried to hide it. And every time, the reason for posing was the same: I cared too much about what other people thought.

The experience made me aware of how often we all do this. We do it at home, at work, at the grocery store, at the gym. Most interactions are either transactional or performative. No one wants to make eye contact, and most of the time people freak out if you really try. We’re too self-conscious to listen. We’re thinking about what we’ll say next or how we’re being perceived.

All the posturing destroys any chance for a genuine connection.

The movie ends, and I’m exhausted. The meaning of the previous two nights is clearer now. I needed to feel small and connected before I could appreciate the absurdity of self-involvement. I had to relive those fleeting moments of union to see what made them so transcendent. And I had to go straight through my shame and regret to get beyond it.

When the ceremony finally ended, I sat up in my bed and starting scribbling notes to myself. Before I could finish, Mitra walked up to me and asked how I was doing. I tried to explain what happened, but I couldn’t.

He just kneeled, put his hand on my head, and said, “Happy birthday.”

I leave the retreat center around 11 am on Saturday to board a shuttle to the airport. With me are three people from my group.

One of them is Alex, a garrulous guy from London. I think he’s in his mid-30s, though I don’t really recall. He’s got this dazed look on this face, like he just saw God. His eyes are on fire with excitement, and he’s already planning his next visit.

“When are you coming back?” he asks me. “I don’t know,” I say. He doesn’t quite believe me. Everyone, he assumes, is coming back, either here or to some other place like this. I’m still processing what happened; the thought of the next “trip” hasn’t even occurred to me yet.

In four nights, I feel like I let go of a lifetime’s worth of anger and bitterness

We reach the airport, say our goodbyes, and then part ways. I’m standing in line waiting to go through customs, and I’m surprised at how relaxed I am. The line is long and slow, and everyone around me is annoyed. But I’m moving along, passport in hand, smiling for no particular reason.

Typically, I am one inconvenience removed from rage. Today is different, though. When a loud man rolls his heavy suitcase over my open toe, I shrug it off. Brief encounters with strangers like that are pleasant; the awkwardness is gone.

I’m not in my head, and so things aren’t happening to me; they’re just happening. It’s probably too much to say that my ego was gone — I don’t think it works like that. But seeing myself from a different perspective offered a chance to reassert control over it.

People say that a single ayahuasca trip is like a decade of therapy packed into a night. That’s probably an overstatement, but it’s not altogether wrong. In four nights, I feel like I let go of a lifetime’s worth of anger and bitterness.

At the time of this writing, I’ve been home three weeks. The ecstasy I felt in the days immediately after the trip has worn off as I’ve slipped back into my regular life. A tension has emerged that I still don’t quite understand.

I’m happier and less irritable than I was when I left. The tedium of everyday life feels less oppressive. Part of the reason is that I’m less anxious, less solipsistic. I really do find it easier to see what’s in front of me.

But there’s something gnawing at me. I want to go back to Costa Rica, and not for the reasons you might expect. Forget about the ayahuasca, forget about the tropical vistas, forget about all that. This experience was possible because a group of people came together with a shared intention. That creates an emotional intensity that’s hard to find elsewhere. Every person looks right at you, and you look right back.

But real life isn’t like that. I ride the Metro to work every day, and lately I’ve tried talking to random people. It’s a lot harder than you think.

Do you pay a price for taking this kind of shortcut?

A man sat across from me the other day wearing a Tulane hat (from the university in New Orleans). I used to live in the area, so I looked at him until he looked back, assuming I’d strike up a conversation. But once we locked eyes, I could sense his agitation and we both turned our heads. Nothing weird or hostile — just clumsy.

I’ve spent years making an heroic effort to avoid awkward exchanges, so I get it. But I’m honestly worried that in a few weeks or months, I’ll be that guy again. And in retrospect, this whole journey will feel like a brief holiday of awareness.

I asked my wife the other day if I seem different to her after the trip. She said that she always felt like she had to force me to offer my attention, especially in those quiet, simple moments, and that now I give it freely. I do find it easier to listen since I returned, and it’s amazing what a difference that can make.

I keep thinking about this idea that a night of ayahuasca is like a decade of therapy. Do you pay a price for taking this kind of shortcut? Are the effects short-lived? Maybe.

I know it’s hard to be in the world without being of the world. And the world is a lonely place full of lonely people. You can’t change that, but you can change your orientation to it. In my case, psychedelics made that a little easier.

And what of the self and the ego? I believed these things to be illusions before I took ayahuasca, and now I’m certain that they are. But what does that actually mean in day-to-day life? Not as much as it should. The ego might be a fiction or a construct or whatever you want to call it, but the sensation of it is near impossible to shake.

Even after taking what is arguably the most powerful ego-dissolving medicine on the planet, I still live in a world that reinforces the story of me all the time. There’s no easy way around all that.

I don’t know what life will be like in six months or a year, but I think ayahuasca was the greatest thing that has happened to my marriage. It wasn’t about becoming a better person; it was about appreciating the role my wife — and other relationships — play in my life. I had to escape my head to see that.

Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’d say ayahuasca is the best and worst thing I’ve ever done. I spent a week staring down all my bullshit and all my insecurities, and it was totally liberating. But it was also terrifying and not something I want — or need — to see again.

A question worth asking: If you looked into the world’s most honest mirror, what would you see?

Editor: Eliza Barclay Photos: Kainaz Amaria Photo illustrations: Javier Zarracina Copy editor: Tim Ryan Williams

Original Source -> The brutal mirror: what the psychedelic drug ayahuasca showed me about my life

via The Conservative Brief

Week One Thursday

Video: WHAT ARE IDEAS AND WHO GETS TO HAVE THEM?

 “We’re all nomads in the land of ideas.”

 Mike Rugnetta spends the last three episodes of Idea Channel reflecting on what they tried to do over the past five years – kind of like the final season of Mythbusters reflecting on favorite myths of theirs or when sitcoms look back at memories from past episodes. These aren’t explanations of how every episode was made, but more of a broad view of what Idea Channel was about and why it was important to Rugnetta & co.

 This episode specifically focuses on ideas. Rugnetta reminds us that all subjects of mental activity are ideas, implying concepts and concrete things alike are ideas in terms of how our brain functions and thinks of them.

Idea Channel has focused on unexpected and complex ideas, specifically.  This happens when you combine something familiar with something unexpected or unfamiliar: Rugnetta uses an example of “skateboarding is a type of ballet” -  it’s a kind of paradox or juxtaposition, making it more complex than the more straightforward ideas of home, a tree, what’s for lunch, etc. These complex ideas take those normal ideas a step further, combining elements from big, old ideas; concepts like love, being, popularity, evil, liberty; and experience-based things like world events, personal experience, media, entertainment, the mundane, the familiar, etc. Rugnetta calls it a “theoretical framework.”

Idea Channel focuses on these complex ideas because of their natural inclination to encourage conversation. Rugnetta realizes the challenges with this – many people don’t feel welcome to theorize, believing it’s not something everyone (us “commoners” and regular people) are able to do.  He suggests that the act of taking these old concepts and making them new and less precious, less stern, etc. makes them more accessible. Rugnetta stresses the importance of taking ideas and making them your own, but through discussion – exploring and testing together in conversation as opposed to trying to build and perfect on your own. Collaboration, Rugnetta believes, leads to greater ideas.

 I’m inclined to agree with what Rugnetta is arguing – we see it daily in our design work. A good designer recognizes the importance of critique. Considering others’ opinions, perspective, and input allow us to forge stronger work. We are limited to our own experience, so the collaboration of ideas with other bolsters our own thinking, while also challenging us to decide if we believe our own ideas. It’s kind of like nights spent around the kitchen table with friends or new acquaintances: you share ideas and learn and challenge each other’s beliefs; those times spent around the kitchen table are vital for all the reasons Rugnetta brings up.

    Video: A DEFENSE OF OVERTHINKING IN POP CULTURE

 “Popular culture is an abstract location where values are secured and challenged.”

 In this video, Rugnetta discusses pop culture, its significance, and why he feels it’s important to ‘overthink’ it. This summary may feel a bit redundant because the video felt redundant. It was a bit of a doozy. I’ll also summarize in bullet points to help keep it a little more concise (and, well, I just function better doing it this way rather than how I tried to do it for the first response). (UPDATE: Now that I’ve pasted this into Tumblr, the bullets & sub bullets are all messed up. I apologize for the mess.)

 ·      Rugnetta starts by stating popular culture is “important material for intellectual investment” and stresses the importance of overthinking.

·      He often receives four arguments against overthinking and why it’s ‘bad’:

o   Argument 1: Movies are ‘just movies,’ video games are ‘just video games,’ etc.

§  All you need to gain from these media comes from their surface level content

o   Argument 2: Going beyond surface level content to find deeper meaning is opinion masked as fact.

o   Argument 3: Uncovering ideas and concepts is reading too far into these things – their creators never intended for them to be dissected and if you’re finding your own meaning in it that’s bad.

o   Argument 4: Why bother?

·      Rugnetta explains Idea Channel is an exercise in challenging /ignoring these arguments. He believes:

o   Nothing is just itself.

o   Meaning & significance are deeply personal to audience/viewer – this is what makes something useful.

o   Meaning in media that is unexpected or unintended is still ‘part of the work’ because it is a result of experiencing the work. (My agreeing opinion: if a creator doesn’t want someone to take their own meaning away from the work, then the creator probably should rethink doing any type of work that could be misconceived. Meaning, the people that create the type of work Rugnetta is talking about are most likely okay with people forming their own ideas of what it’s about…)

o   Media is a useful, powerful tool in deepening one’s experience of the world.

·      Why do we do what we do:

o   Things that contain theory cause people to think deeply about their surroundings & experiences.

§  Films are philosophical exercises.

§  Video games are executable thought experiments.

o   There is a stigma that only certain thoughtful works “DO philosophy,” meaning something has to be pretty well established or ‘high class’ to be considered philosophical.

§  Rugnetta argues all media is capable of doing at least some amount of potential philosophical work. I.e. there is potential for meaning to be found in anything and everything, depending on one’s own perspective.

·      The main place for this is pop culture:

o   Popular culture: working definition: media and goods which are available to the masses.

§  Media is any material of communication to be consumed by other people

§  Books, texts, gifs

§  Goods, products, makeup, chargers, fidget spinners

§  The masses are, well, the people.

o   Pop culture is not what’s made FOR the masses but what’s available TO them.

§  Pop culture has to do with accessibility more than popularity in many cases (the opera example)

o   High (smart & artful)/ low distinction is hard to identify how it fits in with pop culture

o   Set of things, media and goods, but also abstract location – contradictory things mix before being available to masses (Don’t quite understand this part)

·      Why its worth overthinking:

o   Pop culture is pretty much the only place where vastly different outlooks come together to interact and have shared experiences.

o   It can make personal stories available to masses (spreads awareness, connects people, etc.)

  Off the bat I disagree with Rugnetta calling this ‘overthinking.’ My definition of overthinking is bad: overthinking is when I go down the rabbit hole of every possible outcome of my life after graduation, when I spend hours dwelling on something someone said, or when I second- and third- and quadruple-guess my choices in design, et al. What I believe Rugnetta means by ‘overthinking’ is simply thinking deeply. By this definition, I agree with the majority of what he’s saying. I don’t really know how to articulate why, because he pretty much argued his point to death. I don’t necessarily disagree with anything, I just maybe don’t fully understand tiny parts of it. Something about abstract location and contradictory things mixing before being available to the masses – do they HAVE to mix? Is he just mentioning the idea thing like in the previous video? I don’t believe things have to mix before being available.. some things just exist and by simply existing are enough for people to latch on to. Maybe? I’ll think on that…..

  Video: THINKING WITH OTHERS

 “It matters what stories tell stories. It matters what ideas we think other ideas with.”

 Idea Channel’s last scripted video talks about people and thinking. It basically meshes many concepts from the previous two videos and adds to them.

 ·      Idea Channel has always been about people and for people:

o   Comment responses

§  Viewers get a say in the show itself.

·      They challenge or agree with his points & his views.

o   People, not media or tech, have agency. PEOPLE make actions, not objects.

o   How fans respond to pop culture and its impact on audiences

·      Why people:

o   “Critical empathy”

§  Overthinking = critical thinking. (Oh NOW he calls it critical thinking.)

o   Rugnetta used to think of critical thinking as vague and attempting to be objective (pretentious) But it’s actally:

§  “Interwoven modes” of thinking

§  Quantity, space, change

§  What humans should do to be good

§  Different disciplines

o   What IS critical thinking?

§  People & thinking

§  Self-guided, self-disciplined thinking

§  Intellectual integrity, empathy, etc.

§  Avoid thinking simplistically about complicated issues

§  Complexities

§  Thoughts about things

§  Thoughts about thoughts (This reminds me of hearing people say that the human brain is the only brain smart enough to study itself – those mean this both medically and philosophically, I think.)

o   “Critical thinking requires you to be aware of yourself.” (My thoughts: you can’t look at the world without seeing yourself in it and it in yourself)

o   What this means for Idea Channel:

§  Difficult selfless thoughts about many things, which then inform the self

§  Inspect, dissect, examine & grow

§  The show changed, shifted & grew because of the thinking done here and because of the conversations here (viewers)

o   We learn more from each other than alone (ties back to the Idea thing)

o   Many people put emotion in contrast to thought but emotion is thought

o   “Intellectual virtue” – still not sure what this means

·      Back to critical empathy:

o   It’s the “process of establishing informed and affective connections with other humans.” – Look, I’m a fairly deep thinker but some of this stuff is just way over my head. Also, he talks fast. I’ve rewatched many parts many times and some of it is still lost on me.

§  “Profound civic implications” (Again, hard to follow.)

o   How does your identity connect and not connect with someone else’s?

o   “Good thinking emanates from doubt” – the “doubting game” synonymous with critical thinking but adding to it – the Believing Game. Is this not entirely contradictory to doubting?

§  Be welcoming to every idea we encounter

§  “The doubting game is the rhetoric of propositions, while the believing game is the rhetoric of experience.” Hmmm.

o   Idea Channel uses the Believing Game by choosing to believe what people were saying to them. Is this just in the instance of temporarily entertaining the idea to see if there is validity to it?

o   “Think with one another” – It helps you lean and grow

o   Think about each other

o   Believe each other (Again, this is temporary, right? Because believing people right off the bat seems like quite the opposite of thinking critically.)

o   Pop culture is so much more than just stories – it helps us see and think about the world, where values are secured or challenged, etc.

o   Pop culture isn’t yours but it is available to you. – He’s mentioned this a few times between a couple videos and I still don’t understand it. I mean I think I do but I don’t understand why he says it. It seems redundant to say this because I don’t think people necessarily had a contrarian viewpoint, and it seem fairly obvious.

o   Think with and about these things, and one another. – Good way to end.

 I like that the essence of this video is about relating to people and that people matter. I feel like the first two videos were agreeable but not necessarily as impactful as this one because this really makes the case for why the other two are important.

My idea for a Valentine’s Day post was to collect different interpretations on what love is from a variety of viewpoints. I wanted to show the fact that love isn’t just for those ‘in love’. I’ve asked friends, family and fellow bloggers the question:

“What does the word ‘love’ mean to you?”

The responses I have received are raw, honest, poetic at times and, perhaps most importantly, diverse. I wanted to share with you today, on Valentine’s Day, many people’s different viewpoints on the definition of love. What love means to each of these individuals may differ in wording, but beneath it all, we are all motivated by the love for the people who touch our hearts daily. I have decided to name this little collection ‘The Valentine’s Project’

I will now share with you some beautiful, varied perspectives on love…

This dictionary definition style entry was submitted by my lovely friend Maddie. <3 I love the simplicity of the message, that love is all encompassing and also the fact that it is strong. To me, the thought of love being anything but strong is something I can’t fathom. The strongest people I know are full of love. I also like the fact that she has used the word ‘like’ to suggest that love has to be motivated by knowing something or perhaps someone well for a period of time, to the extent of liking them and letting the relationship grow from there. That to me elegantly highlights the difference between lust and love. <3

The wonderful Kate from All the Trinkets (please visit her blog! I’m obsessed :p ) has got to be one of the nicest bloggers that I have ever had the good fortune of conversing with! <3 I’ve got to say, every single time I read this, it hits me. Hard. I think that acknowledging the differences between yourself and others, and accepting that fact is such an important message. Also, talking about prejudice. We all have prejudged people at some point, whether verbally or choosing to keep that in our heads. We need to learn to love others regardless of whether we ‘get’ them or not. We cannot truly understand and get into the minds of anyone but ourselves, so we must love, nurture and respect others.

We should even be loving our enemies because that is how we turn enemies into friends. How we iron out the issues that can manifest themselves through selfishness. How many times have you said a snarky, unloving comment towards someone to get even? Did it feel good? How long did that ‘good’ feeling last? Usually, it isn’t very long, and that is because words hurt, so we should speak of love rather than bitterness and hatred. As Kate says in this post, (a must-read) you don’t even need to understand people and their situations to show compassion. All you require is respect for others. So very well said, Kate. <3

This poignant quote was written by one of my good friends, Briony. <3 I think that ‘passion’ is such a good word to associate with love because it suggests that love is wild and uncontrollable, which it is. Love isn’t a switch we can just flick on and off; we feel deeply for those we love – be they friends, family or lovers – and that emotion is something we can’t just get rid of. I believe that this is why we experience heartbreak, (in all of its forms) because we care so deeply and invest ourselves in something that doesn’t end up turning out the way we want it to.

Also, the use of the word ‘entity’ – that love is living and breathing, that it grows and blossoms with us. The last four words to me, however, are the most important: “something special to you.” Love is something I don’t think we should have to justify to others – just because it doesn’t mean something to someone else, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t love it. In fact, you should love it more because it is something all the more special and exclusive to you. <3

“What does love mean to me? Love means zero in tennis. Mike Love is one of the Beach Boys. But seriously, love means alienation and rejection. Love is something so powerful that millions of songs and books and movies and the like are about it, but it all means nothing to me because it is not in my realm of experiences. I have experienced all of the heartache and pain and rejection that comes with relationships, but very little of the good times. And the way people make a big deal of Valentine’s Day just shows everything that is wrong with society’s warped view of love… if you really love someone, you should treat them like they are special every day. And even if I’ve never experienced that kind of love, that shouldn’t stop me from doing all I can to love others, in the platonic sense.”

This was submitted by Highway Pi. This blogger is a particularly good read if you are a deep thinker about the things that matter in life. At first, this humoured me, particularly with the first three lines, but then it got me thinking. We should show love towards people every single day, not just on one given day. As nice as it is to have a day dedicated to love, and as lovely as it may be to celebrate, especially for those in relationships, it is kind of twisted that we think any one day in the calendar should be THE day to treat those we care about with love. As with many of these ‘social’ holidays, the focus of many companies is not to care for the consumer, but is on commercialisation and cashing in on the fact that people are making grand gestures of love around the world on this particular day, February 14th. Focussing just purely loving people is And loving people platonically I believe is the best thing we can do in a world full of secularity and isolation.

This statement was written by another friend, who decided to remain anonymous. <3 Given the words, I was inspired to make some handwritten word art and do a little drawing of the rollercoaster of love. What hits me most is the fact that love is referred to as being a ‘rollercoaster’ and an ’emotional minefield’. Seeking love and acceptance can sometimes lead us to do things like guarding our flaws against people we care about so that they can grow to love us or carry on doing so. We do it in the name of love, and the ironic thing is that if people truly loved us then they would accept us, open arms, flaws and all. It’s difficult not to lose control when we are surrounded by love sometimes, but at least our actions are motivated by our hearts. <3

This gorgeous artwork and the accompanying statement were sent to me by the deeply inspirational Grace of Following Him Beside Still Waters! The quote that she references has got to be one of my favourite biblical quotes, ever. Grace, the strength of your faith is incredible, and the influence it has on everything you write and do is truly admirable. To me, you are evidence of the impact of God’s love. And who better to talk about in your statement than God himself! I agree that the sacrifice that was made on the cross is the ultimate act of love. This helps to establish the point that love is selfless. St Paul says in his famous verses about love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, often used at weddings as a reading). And the most real, purest love is not an action made by personal gains or motivations, it is about care for the other person. I recently read a beautiful poem about the love of God on Grace’s blog, which was titled He Paid My Ransom. Please do click on that link, read the poetry and follow Grace’s blog – she is simply marvellous!

Another one of my friends wrote this. The key word in this one is ‘affection.’ Affection means a gentle feeling of great likeness. St Paul says that love is gentle, and I would completely agree. Also, within the word ‘affection,’ you see ‘affect’. Love can affect all of our emotions and how we act. It can be uncontrollable at times, but generally, motivation by love is a good thing that will affect others positively.

A simplistic statement embedded within the message of this post, this was the answer given to me by The Nostalgia Diaries. In a post about “Love is…” including the famous “Love is…” comic, it details this very important message. Please read the post, it’s beautiful.

And finally…

Me. I wanted to share with you some of my musings about love.

“Love is like a balloon – it holds no true shape or form, expanding and accommodating space in each and every heart you touch. When you lose someone you love, you feel an ache – a deflation in your chest. You’re gasping for more air, for someone to reinflate the balloon, to refill your heart with the love that is missing. But whatever happens, the heart will never be quite the same again – it is shaped by the flaws and scars that the consequences of love leave us with.

Love is the missing puzzle piece in all of us – we long to fill the space with self-love, motherly, fatherly, brotherly, sisterly love. The love of God. The love of a best friend. The best friend who becomes a lover, or the lover who becomes a best friend. In whatever form it comes, we’re looking for it, and craving it in some way. Or maybe we’ve found it already. Maybe we’ve found it in romances, taking chances, first dates and wedding dances. Perhaps in late night conversations with the one person who ‘gets’ you, or even just a smile from a stranger. It’s everywhere we go – love surrounds us, and love is us.

Love is so much more than a feeling; it is a living, breathing being that we require to live and thrive. To grow in so much more than height. To wear and carry so much more than clothing as you walk along the path of life. To love is to live. Love is just as much admitting that you are wrong, exposing your vulnerabilities, as it is perfect summer nights and showerings of kisses.

Love is infinite.” 

Why I decided to do this

I have been so inspired by the idea of finding love ever since I was young. I didn’t realise then that love came in so many different forms – friendship, family, romantic, faith, hobbies. Love has been surrounding me for so long and I’m so glad that I finally opened my eyes to see it. <3

Having read the story of St Valentine, I realised that it was odd how Valentine’s Day has typically been used as a day to celebrate romantic love. For those of you haven’t heard the story, St Valentine was a priest who resorted to marrying couples in secret when it was against the law to practise Christianity. Whilst he was helping couples in their romantic lives, what he did was more admirable. His love for the church meant that he became martyred for marrying these people. He risked his life to join these two people to one another, within the church. That is what love is, and therefore Valentine’s day should be one day, of many, where we show every type of love.

By collecting all of these opinions and statements on love and presenting them here, I hope I have been able to show you that love is everywhere. That it is infinite and holds no bounds – you can’t be right or wrong about love in any way. It cannot be wholly defined.  Love is the reason why so many people helped me in my plea for statements in this project. Love is in the eyes of the reader who has had the heart to read this.

Remember, that love is in and is every single one of you reading this. Love is every person who contributed to this post to share what love meant to them. You are surrounded by the greatest gift, manifested in so many shapes and forms.

And so, I leave you with a famous quote on the subject of love by the Ancient Greek Philosopher Plato:

“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.”

xoxo

Hannah

PS. Here’s a quick shoutout to Randomly Maggie! Her most recent post, 3 Last Minute GALentine’s Day DIYs, is awesome! Go check out her blog :)

  A Valentine's Day Project collecting different viewpoints on what 'love' means. My idea for a Valentine's Day post was to collect different interpretations on what love is from a variety of viewpoints.

Why We Make Bad Decisions

Here is some stuff I am reading and thinking about this weekend…

Book I’m Reading – What I Learned Losing A Million Dollars The backdrop of this book is the true story of a trader called Jim Paul. His career in stock market started with a string of unusual successes that vaulted him from a dirt-poor country boy to jet-setting-millionaire. However, after 15 years of uninterrupted success, all of Jim’s wealth was wiped out in a matter of few weeks when he lost $1.6 million in a speculative trade. This devastating failure led him to intense self-reflection and discovery of some unusual insights about success and failure.

Jim’s Aha! moment arrived when it finally occurred to him that studying losses, losing and how not to lose was more important than studying how to make money. He writes in the book –

Why was I trying to learn the secret to making money when it could be done in so many different ways? I knew something about how to make money; I had made a million dollars in the market. But I didn’t know anything about how not to lose. The pros could all make money in contradictory ways because they all knew how to control their losses. While one person’s method was making money, another person with an opposite approach would be losing — if the second person was in the market. And that’s just it; the second person wouldn’t be in the market. He’d be on the sidelines with a nominal loss. The pros consider it their primary responsibility not to lose money.

The moral, of course, is that just as there is more than one way to deal blackjack, there is more than one way to make money in the markets. Obviously, there is no secret way to make money because the pros have done it using very different, and often contradictory, approaches. Learning how not to lose money is more important than learning how to make money. Unfortunately, the pros didn’t explain how to go about acquiring this skill. So I decided to study loss in general, and my losses in particular, to see if I could determine the root causes of losing money in the markets.

This book begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle. It then describes the circumstances leading up to his $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it ― primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, all losses come from the same few sources. Overall, his cautionary tale includes strategies for avoiding losses tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing.

Idea I’m Thinking – Why We Make Bad Decisions Short answer – We have design flaws. We are fairly sure we are way above average, and we are also sure we see everything perfectly.

Long answer – Ray Dalio wrote in his book Principles –

The two biggest barriers to good decision making are your ego and your blind spots. Together, they make it difficult for you to objectively see what is true about you and your circumstances and to make the best possible decisions by getting the most out of others. If you can understand how the machine that is the human brain works, you can understand why these barriers exist and how to adjust your behavior to make yourself happier, more effective, and better at interacting with others.

The first bad habit is believing you are always correct. That’s ego. We don’t like to look at our mistakes and weaknesses. To avoid this pitfall, Dalio suggests viewing criticism as helpful feedback instead of as an attack.

“The blind-spot barrier is when a person believes he or she can see everything,” he explains. And that mentality is a mistake: “It is a simple fact no one alone can see a complete picture of reality,” he adds.

Now, we all, even the best decisions makers, have blind spots. We can’t see ideas and perspectives because we would never have considered them. And these are a product of our unique strengths. Like, some people are big-picture thinkers, some are more detail-oriented. Some are creative, while others are more organised. Some are strong at observing reality, while some can imagine possibilities way better. Some always follow rules and routines, while some are naturally spontaneous. Blind spots occur when we see the world and ideas the unique way we are, without trying to consider a wide range of perspectives.

So, what’s the solution to overcome these two barriers to good decision making?

Being open-minded is the answer. As Dalio suggests –

…open-mindedness is motivated by the genuine worry that you might not be seeing your choices optimally. It is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and different possibilities without letting your ego or your blind spots get in your way. It requires you to replace your attachment to always being right with the joy of learning what’s true.

…open-mindedness doesn’t mean going along with what you don’t believe in; it means considering the reasoning of others instead of illogically holding onto your own point of view.

Thoughts I’m Meditating On

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, right here, right now, in this single, solitary, monumental moment in your life, is to decide, without apology, to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome.

~ Joyce DiDonato

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”

~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Video I’m Watching – Jim Carrey’s 2014 Commencement Address

Jim Carrey: Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head and when the door opens in real life, just walk through it. Don’t worry if you miss your cue because there’s always doors opening. They keep opening.

And when I say, “life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you,” I really don’t know if that’s true. I’m just making a conscious choice to perceive challenges as something beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way. You’ll come up with your own style, that’s part of the fun.

Oh, and why not take a chance on faith as well? Take a chance on faith — not religion, but faith. Not hope, but faith. I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar. Hope walks through the fire. Faith leaps over it.

You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world and after you walk through those doors today, you will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.

Articles I’m Reading

The Pandemic Isn’t a Black Swan but a Portent of a More Fragile Global System (New Yorker)

It’s Time to Build (Marc Andreessen)

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice (Kevin Kelly)

Are We Too Busy to Enjoy Life? (Ness Labs)

All the Things We Have to Mourn Now (The Atlantic)

The First Modern Pandemic (Bill Gates)

When You Have No Idea What Happens Next (Morgan Housel)

Finding Meaning In Our Suffering (Daily Stoic)

There Was No One Like Irrfan Khan (The Atlantic)

A Question for You Look at each stock in your portfolio and ask, “If I did not own this stock already, would I be buying it now?”

If the answer is ‘No,’ ask, “Why am I even owning it?”

Stay safe. Stay happy. Be at peace.

With respect, — Vishal

The post Why We Make Bad Decisions appeared first on Safal Niveshak.

Why We Make Bad Decisions published first on https://mbploans.tumblr.com/