365 Days of Writing for 31 Minutes

Day 1 – June 3, 2009

My mind and my feet spun along easily and automatically. The zone I was in surrounded me completely. I sensed time only in the periphery of movement and ideas. Ideas floated into thought like bubbles surfacing in seltzer. Two prevailed on the surface of my memory throughout the two-hour ride. The one demanded discipline and commitment. Would it last?

Yesterday a friend emailed a short article to me about committing a short time each day to work on a big project. I’ve had a long-term goal to do some writing, but not being a writer, I seem to put of “official” writing into some future time. The article quoted T.S. Elliot, “When forced to work within a strict framework the imagination is taxed to its upmost–-and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl.”

So, I’m setting a goal, a commitment to write for 31 minutes every day for one year, 365 days! I hope the discipline improves my writing and my life. I chose 31 minutes because it is small and arbitrary, just like the article suggests.

Presentation Zen

I broke the rules for making a good presentation last Sunday. I had way too many slides, although they were all pictures, and I tried to communicate too much information about my recent trip to Africa. Presentation Zen principles of restraint, simplicity and naturalness did not move people to the front of their chairs. No one leaned into my presentation. I want to do better next time. I need to remind myself of the principles for making powerful presentations: restraint, simplicity, and naturalness. In Brain Rules for Presenters Garr Reynolds combines John Medina's Brain Rules with a lively frog to present the key concepts. Death by Powerpoint is just like it sounds. A slow, boring death by slide after slide of a bunch of bulleted lists is avoidable with proper design and delivery. Finally, a short powerful example of the key ideas for making a memorable presentation.

Some Interesting But Radical Ideas

Since I've been back there's been little opportunity to fully incorporate a time for reflection back into my schedule. However, over the last few days, I've found some interesting resources covering a broad base of topics around the theme of reform. I simply offer them here with limited comment.

Parker Palmer was recently interviewed by Bill Moyer. Click Here to hear him talk about American illusions and injustices.

Thomas Frey's (Executive Director and Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute - Website) article on the Future of Education. Click Here to learn about his view on the change that will begin within two years toward an education system unleashed by the advent of a standardized rapid courseware-builder and a single point global distribution system. In the article he explains eight trends that are driving changes in education. This is not a modest proposal.

Finally, an interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor on the impending demise of evangelical Christianity. Click Here to read Michael Spencer's article (Michael started Internet Monk right after the November 2000 elections. Internet Monk is consistently rated in the top twenty Christian blogs in the world. It was recently voted the number 12 blog read by Christian leaders.)

Back to the Routine

I have been back from Africa for one week. As hot as I was in the Sudan, now I'm freezing in Bellevue. Wind, rain, hail and snow have become a part of the routine. I'm pleased to report I picked up the "Red Rocket" last Friday. When I took it in for routine maintenance just before leaving for Africa, the mechanics noticed a crack in the frame near the seat post. The timing was perfect since the fix required melting the seat post out of the frame, repairing the tubing, and repainting the entire frame. Now I have a new bike. I'm excited to get out to ride, but the weather is not cooperating at all. For now it is indoor spinning for me.

Please check back here for regular updates on what I'm learning. I've also included blogs from past adventures as well as from Stephen, a missionary from Nigeria, whom I met in Yabus.

Check Out the Africa Blog

For the months of February and March I'm switching over to a blog about my trip to Africa. I'm leaving February 12th and will return March 9th. Please check it out at timkrellafrica.blogspot.com.

. . . man is the only wild animal - Chesterton

The romantic, unpredictable nature of humans sets them apart from all other animals. All other species are predictable. Every day animals of all kinds eat, sleep and fight for survival as certainly as the sun rises.

Even the most organized critters do not celebrate their brief histories on earth. Have you ever seen little ant statues celebrating ant heroes or portraits of the most beautiful queen bees hanging in hives? At best these organized communities of insects are forever given to gathering food. All the while humans are given to that work for as limited time as possible so they can give themselves to wild amusement and pleasure. Have you ever seen an ant on vacation?

Our passions and their unpredictable nature make it possible for our love and our anger to be hot enough to set us apart from other, more tame, species. In the deepest recesses of our soul we cannot cast aside our wildest dreams nor our darkest nightmares. There, by God's grace, we see ourselves unmasked as we really are and discover, with God's help, how to move from darkness to light.

Home Again

The events of the past five days made me realize how much I need home. In one sense, I went home to Latah. But, I realize now looking back how homeless I was over this past week. I do not feel at home in that place of my upbringing any longer.

Nouwen writes, "Probably no word better summarizes the suffering in our time than the word 'homeless'. It reveals one of our deepest and most painful conditions, the condition of not having a place where we feel safe, cared for, protected, and loved." - In My Own Words, p. 62

My sense of belonging has slowly shifted from Latah to Bellevue. My longing to be home grew stronger the more I was unable to get there. It took me forty hours, nearly two full days, to travel across the state - a journey that usually takes one-tenth that time. The routines that keep my heart and mind close to God disappeared in my preoccupation to get home. I did not understand it at the time, but my urge to get home and the growing adventure of getting there overwhelmed my attention toward God.

"Yet strain does not seem to do good [in attending to God]. At this moment I feel something, 'let go' inside, and lo, God is here! It is a heart melting 'hereness,' a lovely whispering of father to child, and the reason I did not have it before was because I failed to let go." - Laubach. Letters of a Modern Mystic, p. 26

I realize now the need to "let go" during the past few days. I should have put away my computer and turned my attention from the sensational storm toward disciplined reflection on God. But, now I'm home sipping coffee at Tullys and writing in my journal. My heart and mind lean towards God in this morning ritual, and I know I belong here.

"When we say: 'I wish I were home' we express a longing for that intimate place that offers us a sense of belonging.” Nouwan, p.62