We’ve all heard the stories of the model elite who might have only gulped a Pepsi and a carrot in between shoots for days at a time, but what we don’t hear about is the work life balance, or lack there of for those working behind the runway.
But now there’s another form of engagement to muddle through this “chaos career economy:” meeting with like-minded souls in a collective evolutionary leap of faith. No freakin agenda – just a deep conscious plunge into the void to experience what emerges. That’s what a bunch of us did recently.
If you’re a Sensory Overload Tracker (a formal expertise) like myself, the cover of the Sunday Times elicited a big, “Ha, I knew it would come to this!” In Matt Richtel’s article, In Web World of 24/7 Stress Writers Blog Till They Drop he chronicles the exhausting journey of “the blogger” and shares some disturbing news about the recent passing of several bloggers. He also lists the common physical ailments associated with those who make a career of blogging 24/7. So much for worklife balance.
Taken with the monsterous sales signs in a local shoe store window this week, I slipped into a parking spot fully aware that I had a conference call in fifteen minutes. With my black berry in hand, I figured I could check out the agenda that was sent to me and call into the meeting – while trying on a fabulous pair of black heels that I’ve had my eye on. I was partically correct.
The persona of the presidential hopefuls was recently analyzed by The Slate’s, Emily Yoffe. She applied the principles of personality assessment (the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), based on theories of psychiatrist Carl Jung; to Clinton, Obama, and McCain. Yoffe’s article is insightful, a fun read, and well researched. All this presidential who-ha talk left me thinking about the rest of us little people. How do you show up in public, at work, in your career or in business?
"It’s the dose that makes the poison," said Timothy Ferriss in Sunday’s New York Times article Too Much Information? Ignore it, about the pros and cons of e-mail and black berry use. The image of bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, donned a half-page on the front cover of the SundayStyles section (not an easy task) [...]
Ed Mills from Evolving times started a meme that asks, what would you do with an extra 36 hours each week? Pricilla Palmer from Personal Development tagged me on this and I’ve given it a lot of thought. Especially in the wake of all the writing I’ve done recently on conquering sensory overload in a 24/7 world.
For me, it’s less about a list than a way of being. I would take 24-hours of it and use it for complete silence. No news, no music, no cell phone, no Black Berry. It’s from that space of peace that I truly believe we can all attain limitless knowledge and peace. But it’s not something that comes overnight. We need lots of 24-hour periods to cultivate that stillness and creatively percolate. And the intention set during such a period is a crucial part of the process.
When you’re that still for a long period of time it feels as if there is no time. It’s stretched to another level of consciousness and becomes limitless. Have you ever noticed that time seems to fly when you’re at an exciting movie, taking a long day at the beach, or spending time with good friends?
