Good Values

Author: Andie

  • Motion: ON (on doing stuff)

    Sometimes I need a reminder (or more), to denounce stillness and set myself into motion. I’m writing it down so I can figure out what I think and process it through.

    The last few months have been a constant rumination of finding a why – feeling that I need a purpose and that with it clarity will come. Well, I haven’t. My why is that I want the things that I bring in the world to bring joy to others too. A smile, a giggle, a sigh (yeah, even that feels good, try it out), an inspiration or just a simple memory (to remain with ’em).

    And I want to never stop learning. Some will think it’s just the nature of life, but I refuse to let my belief system petrify. I like sleep, but I don’t enjoy being asleep all the time.

    Yet, I have no idea how or what I can do to realize that mission. So, I ended up thinking I can find a purpose for which I can have an instant feedback loop – fun.

    I don’t need permission to have fun

    When doing things for fun, waking up in the morning, choosing what to do with my day, engaging with others, solving stuff, planning stuff, it all gets unlocked in a myriad of ways.

    Here’s why:

    • I’m not trying to impress anyone (other than myself), I’m just in search of joy. But things that are choose to do are not necessarily easy, because cheap dopamine is not the same as joy (just as comfort / survival mode isn’t either)
    • I’m not judging others – for being normal, for being less capable than them seem, for being better than me. I can let go of envy, judgement and ego. Don’t need to rain on your parade to feel better. I recognize we’re all creators/builders and that creativity is so fragile that has to be nurtured and celebrated (glitter, bruises, warts and all).
    • It doesn’t have to make sense if I find it cool enough, I can do anything for fun only. What’s better, this gives way to hypercuriosity – when I flow and explore. I stop gatekeeping fun for the fear of messing up, or the fear of not being perfect, knowledgeable, good enough etc.
    • It doesn’t have to be perfect (it already is) if it’s fun. Being messy (and chaotic), is a blessing because it gives way to creativity. Mess is good – it’s not worth it to trade my creativity for tidiness. It’s much harder to jump to creating if there’s nothing ‘in the way’ to catch my eye. Intend to place purposeful inspiration all around.
    • It can even be bad on purpose. Embracing silliness it’s a sure recipe to having fun and juggling levity in every day. When realising absurdity is great, bad is not actually bad anymore.
    • A friend of mine said this is very bad advice, but I stand against his appreciation. I believe we should let things die (even ourselves for a bit if we hope to truly change, the old has to die so we don’t relapse). But this, I believe, will ring true only to creators – one very valuable thing when creating is the ability to destroy what you are creating. Make space for more, for better, for someone else to gift you their perspective, make space for feedback. Nothing feels more freely than letting go, as fear of breaking what’s good (or good enough) locks oneself out of exploration.
    • People are less competent than they seem (and that’s fine). Impostor syndrome is widespread and people only want to show you their better side. If I remember to not judge, I can find the value anyone has to offer.
    • There’s always someone better than me (and that’s also good). To be able to never stop learning, I prefer it this way, because it means there’s always someone to learn from.

    Time to go find the cringe, and have fun.

  • Decision records

    When you’re in a ‘quick sand’ landscape, is a decision record still a useful tool?

    Do past decisions hold any ground for future opportunities? How do we learn in the face of uncertainty? How do we make decisions on what is important (so we can focus)?

    This is an exploration in multiple parts. So far, I have cooked part I:

  • Decision records – Uncertainty

    First, I want to tackle the idea of uncertainty and the context it creates. I believe it can be self-imposed or outer-induced. The direction and what drives each, also informs how we respond to it.

    Take self-imposed uncertainty – we want to try something new, we want to challenge ourselves, we want to give ourselves the chance to be ambitious, we want to discover ourselves. It implies taking risks, but because it’s a choice we make we feel in control of the situation. For how long?

    Taking the leap to do so requires some amount of curiosity. What other ingredients are in the mix? Are they catalysing or do the have the potential to become a burden of process?

    Outer-induced uncertainty on the other hand has different ways of showing up. Sometimes it’s straight in our face, presenting with no other choices than to respond. Sometimes it’s subtle and may even disguise as inner turmoil. And sometimes… it turns up to us and poses a dare – we feel like we have a choice, to take the dare or resist it altogether.

    Because we’re not the ones to choose it, we might feel an increased sense of powerlessness in front of it. But it goes on the side of different approaches and it’s the most likely case where mindset shines and is an essential tool for how we respond to it.

    But wanting to be certain kills curiosity. And how can we learn without curiosity?