sha towers

Ran across a phrase this weekend that spoke to me and that summed up nicely what running has meant for me lately. It was in an editorial by David Willey, Editor-in-Chief of Runner’s World magazine:

” . . . [I] felt my senses shift from desk-bound and stressed out to alert and alive.”

i’ve been listening to the audio edition of Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, by Jane McGonigal and it’s full of fascinating ideas. Just mentioned in the book is an example of an augmented reality game (that is, a game that influences real life, rather than existing in a virtual realm) called Chore Wars. If you’re intrigued by the idea that it’s even possible to make chores fun or enjoyable or engaging, you should check this out.

Ran across this quote this weekend that has a universally applicable message:

“Part of her initial task on arrival was to understand the history and community that she was becoming a part of.”

Over and over again in life I see so many people that fail to embrace this listening, observing, learning spirit. They rush in and take charge, looking to make a name for themselves, having no regard for the history and culture of a community. If each of us sought to understand first, to listen first, we would all be wiser and the world would be a better place.

This quote comes from: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon – a fabulous must read for any Dowton Abbey fans!

revisiting Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

Daniel Pink’s The Flip Manifesto: 16 Counterintuitive Ideas about Motivation, Innovation, and Leadership –which you can get just for signing up for Dan’s newsletter (and you should!)

Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization

Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

Brian Matthew’s Think Like a Startup: A white paper to inspire library entrepreneurialism

this quote from Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains , is particularly annoying to me:

“for some people, the very idea of reading a book has come to seem old-fashioned, maybe even a little silly – like sewing your own shirts or butchering your own meat. ‘i don’t read books,’ says Joe O’Shea, a former president of the student body at Florida State University and a 2008 recipient of a Rhodes scholarship. ‘I go to google and I can absorb relevant information quickly.’”

what is irks and saddens me about this is the complete shortsightedness, thorough lack of understanding about why we read. we don’t read merely for data gathering. we read for learning, for pleasure, for experiences, for encountering thought and art and beauty.