My yoga teacher first recommended Soren Gordhamer’s book after busting me trying to check my iPhone mid-practice. “Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Secrets for the Creative and Constantly Connected” was a much-needed read upon feeling less effective (but more stressed) while working day and night in the information economy in SF. The tome is a worthwhile resource whether read while commuting, on a tablet, or even while paying attention with its recommendations for the Internet obsessed, including:
“When we focus on that we are connected, the technologies become more important than their function. We think, Wow. Look how many people I can communicate with. Look how often I can read my e-mail and text messages. This is impressive…however, it is meaningless since the impact of these actions depend on the what this is present during them.”
Gordhamer just launched the Wisdom 2.0 Conference, a three-day summit whose speakers included a Zen priest, the CTO of Twitter, and neuroscientists for discussions about modern day mindfulness around technology. (I was one of the only people on a laptop during the panels, but Twitter and Facebook updates about the programming still abounded throughout.) As might be expected, the author and conference host is a man on the go but graciously offered a few thoughts on our hyperconnectivity and why it needn’t always own our time.
SF: You weren’t always tuned into our culture’s tech-assisted overactivity. What made you take a step back and realize how we might be hurting ourselves?
SG: I started to feel the sense of angst and rush that seemed to be directing more of my life, and I knew this was something I did not want to continue. more
As part of the Women 2.0 In Conversation series, VidSF and I sat down with Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO of the book publishing company Blurb, for her thoughts on naming a company with international aims and launching a digital offering days before the release of the iPad. Gittins discussed approaching VCs about physical publishing when it wasn’t front of mind, expanding Blurb’s service worldwide and still making time to see the work its’ community creates.
The Wisdom 2.0 Conference that started today at the Computer History Museum is a rare opportunity to hear sequential mentions of “psycho-sensory emotions” and “Twitter fail,” and I think it’s long overdue. Not to fear–I won’t get too yoga teacher trainee on you but find a lot of genuine value in dialogue about mindfulness in the way we interact with technology and one another.
Should you also be interested in talks about real-time meditation and advice for the over-stimulated, a trip to Mountain View on Saturday or Sunday could be most worthwhile. Soren Gordhamer, the author of the book Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Teachings for the Creative and Constantly Connected, is hosting the conference to congregate people as diverse as “technology leaders, Zen teachers, neuroscientists, and academics to explore how we can live with deeper meaning and wisdom in our technology-rich age.”
While attention deficit is nothing new, Roshi Joan Halifax, a Zen priest, end of life caregiver and social network fan (it’s true) spoke about the challenge of knowing how to best divide and dedicate her consciousness. She discussed trying to bring the same rigor that enables her 5:30 AM daily meditation practice to being selective in how she spends her time connecting online. Halifax said she does a few gut checks, asking how the tools serve and whether they allow her to be better in touch with the suffering of the world. Consider it technology-enabled compassion.
After writing recently about a McSweeney’s publication, The Believer, and their comedic advice antics, I couldn’t resist featuring the 34th issue of their Quarterly Concern. What I like about the mail-based volumes, beyond intriguing packaging and highlighting the work of good writers, is their “roughly quarterly schedule” for publishing–sound similar to a weblog that posts approximately daily? The editors do a better job of describing the contents, which include the following, than I dare to try:
Issue 34 features new stories of shipwrecks and kidnappings and bad vacations by (among others) Anthony Doerr, Daniel Handler, and T. C. Boyle, new letters about wine and Hawaii from John Hodgman and Sarah Vowell, twenty-one dead-on self-portraits drawn by the likes of Michael Martone, Michel Gondry, and Sarah Silverman, and, beyond all this, in a standalone volume, Nick McDonell’s stunning exploration of the latest iteration of the war in Iraq—a ground-level account from within the 1st Cavalry Division.
Should you be more intrigued by the opportunity to listen live, writers Daniel Handler and Nick McDonell will be giving readings tonight at Books Inc. and Thursday at Book Passage at the Ferry Building. This is all before McSweeney’s celebration of the illustrated mystery “Clock Without a Face” on Capp Street on Saturday. Sounds like coffee consumption is up at their Valencia Street headquarters of late.
Print and two-dimensional designers Andrew Schapiro and Brad Mead’s Designer’s Notebook will be released today from SF publisher Chronicle Books complete with in-book rulers, a picas/points converter and tracing paper. But before you think this is just a souped up Moleskine, typography anatomy charts and InDesign shortcuts helped the soft cover book become the first project in the publisher’s six-month Design Fellows program to be available to the public.
After polling designers across specialties (including architects, industrial designers, web designers, and environmental designers) in developing the book, Schapiro said, “We were determined to keep the book as functional as possible while always staying true to our original concept—that this tool will remind professional and novice designers what is essential in their process.”
He describes the reference section as not being meant to teach designers “but rather [to] serve as a reminder of measurements and standards—information that can transform ideas into viable designs. Simply put, we want to be better designers.”
While the cover promises contributions from Judd Apatow, Zach Galifianakis and Sarah Silverman, the new collection You’re a Horrible Person, but I Like You: The Believer Book of Advicealso includes the work of notable local writer Daniel Handler.The Lemony Snicket author joined Eugene Mirman and other comedians who participated in the project for a helluva book reading at the JCCSF this week as part of Litquake’s programming. I’ve long enjoyed both the literary fest and The Believer magazine’s column with advice that is simultaneously mis-directed and hilarious; the book resulted from the contributions provided when original question answerer Amy Sedaris became too busy for monthly advising. And, while the crew assembled includes laughter-makers Aziz Ansari and Janeane Garofolo (whose Atlas Shrugged observations in the book are not to be missed), the original antithesis to Emily Post deserves recognition for her work on the “Sedaratives” column:
Dear Amy: I’ve been single for about a year now, after a long-term relationship fizzled. All of a sudden, I’m starting to get those co-dependency urges again. Should I suppress these unwanted feelings without the use of pills or alcohol?
On a day of yoga teacher training that involves the start of a vegan cooking experiment of indeterminate length, I feel compelled to call out the work of SF surfer and spiritualist Jaimal Yogis (whose mother–I assume–frequently tells him, as mine does, that “I don’t really understand what you’re doing but I guess you’re busy”). The author of the acclaimed book Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Seathat is currently being shot as a film, Yogis was recently named the “New Face of San Francisco Media” in a Commonwealth Club competition that solicited votes for broke-ass author Stuart Schuffman and former Ignite Bay Area speaker and SF Weekly writer Alexia Tsotsis, among others. The former’s social justice reporting for San Francisco Magazine and reflections on Zen Buddhism as it relates to water sports helped win him the honor, and he provided the following reflections.
SF: Do you consider yourself a writer, spiritualist or surfer first? And at what point did you recognize the overlap between the three?
JL: They’re all sort of part of the same program for me so I wouldn’t say one is at the top. I define the spiritual path as any that leads to real freedom and contentment, and writing and surfing have both been tools for me in that search, just like meditation has, just like art, travel, relationships, etc. I see everyone as on that path – whether they use the term “spiritual” or not – and everyone has their own tools and rituals they use along the way.
Writing and surfing have been great tools for me probably because of the family I grew up in – mom, big reader; dad, a surfer – but I try to keep myself from identifying too much with any one of them as a hard label that defines me. I’m just a human with interests, and those interests have formed some quirky personality I call Jaimal Yogis, a story, but that story isn’t all that I am.
Chalk it up to wanderlust or missing the English brand planners I used to work with, but I wanted to share two videos out of the UK that are creating conversation around business sustainability and the future of publishing (the two having quite a bit of crossover). The first, from consumer resource Brandkarma, is an introduction to their community aimed at changing brands for the better through user feedback on company ethics. The questions it poses have global implications but are presented in an imaginative way–and I appreciate that they’ve taken a nod from Jimmyjane’s white gloved approach to demonstrating toy usage.
The second is DK publishing’s hypothetical take on the fate of content creation as told through the words of an anonymous (or imaganed) teenager. You’ll want to see the dichotomy of concern for the actions of Lady Gaga vs. Gandhi yourself; as many a teen girl might tell you, there’s enough attention–and desire for media about–both. Thanks to Mashable for turning me onto this one.
This is one o’ those nights when everything you might want to do over the course of a week falls within the same three hour period. SF Ballet’s limited run of “The Little Mermaid” inconveniently conflicts (for we slaves to iCal, at least) with the international celebration of Twestival at Horizon Lounge and the SF for Acumen Fund fundraiser at SNOB wine bar in Nob Hill. Woe are we.
The tweeting-for-good festival coincides with hundreds of global charity events today to raise funds for Concern Worldwide, “a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization” that helps people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives. More than a quarter of a million dollars have been contributed at this point, and the touchpoints outside the events include an iPhone app, music downloads through Twestival.FM, an eBay auction, and (obviously) V-neck tees.
In reading Jacqueline Novogratz’s autobiography “The Blue Sweater” about the work with African social entrepreneurs that led her to create the venture philathropy-focused Acumen Fund, I’m sad to miss a local discussion of the fund’s Indian and Pakistani agricultural investments tonight. Nob Hill’s “Sonoma, Napa Or Beyond” (SNOB) wine bar will play host to a dialogue with Tarim Wasim, the founder of the Association for the Development of Pakistan, about his approach to selecting and funding sustainable non-profits (including medical goods suppliers and school construction).
In celebrating San Francisco designer Victoria Smith (Ms. SFGirlByBay) and her endeavor to encourage dialogue about personal inspiration, I’m taking today mention the organizations, projects, and ideas by women I admire and am motivated by, SF or otherwise.
The Blog It Forward project, which includes 300 design aficionados discussing their inspiration, is a kind of chain letter in the best way. No middle school students have their feelings hurt, and bloggers partaking in the project link to one another’s work. Ohioan Pretty Shiny Things shared her visual inspiration before me, and today I’ll be followed by the vintage-minded The Sunday Times Market, which I’ve become quickly enamored with while I should have been typing and linking away on this.
In having spent the better part of this week in the Texas state capital for South by Southwest Interactive, interactive whiz kids (and migas) are especially front of mind. I feel fortunate to be learning from especially visionary women designers, communicators and founders, and following Heather Gold’s recent live taping of her podcast episode about acknowledging the effort in making things, I tip my bicycle cap to these inspiring individuals, including:
Alison Covarrubias and Claire Fontana, whose educational Hatch Network design is admirable /// Jen Bekman for demonstrating the potential for art community growth with 20×200 /// Han Pham for her Youth Women Social Entrepreneurs collaboration /// Jamie Panzarella, for giving y’all Ladywood in the next few days /// Miki Johnson, for her visual and thought-provoking liveBooks photo blog contributions /// Tiffany Shlain for sharing her early “Connected” documentary work /// Rebecca Bortman, who I’d love to have perform at a future Ignite Bay Area event with her SF-born band My First Earthquake, for art directing another successful Disposable Film Fest /// Janetti Chon and Stacey Foreman for announcing a great speaker lineup for this summer’s Conversational Marketing Summit /// Lindsay Ronga for bringing the Cork’d wine community to vino drinkers everywhere /// Cara Jones for introducing journalist consortium Storytellers for Good locally this week //// Maria Ly, for bringing activity tracking platform Skimble to SXSW to lots of acclaim when she wasn’t allowing us to tape her climbing at Mission Cliffs time and again /// Kristy Graves and Amy Benziger for helping open the HUB community space in SF in the upcoming weeks /// Sharon Vosmek’s leadership in the Astia network’s expansion to India /// Kennedy School alum Elana Berkowitz’s contribution to the FCC’s broadband plan, which goes before Congress shortly /// High school pal-turned-producer extraordinaire Leah D’Emilio for helping Rocketboom’s programming expand /// Femgineer Poornima Vijayashanker and Liz Wilsie for rigorous prep of their new software for sole proprietors /// Caitlin Bristol, for expanding Ecofabulous’ style and sustainability video offerings while kicking leukemia butt on her bike /// Shauna Causey for leading by @Voluntweetup example /// Gayla Trail, for whom positive “Grow Great Grub” book reviews are well-deserved /// Danae Ringelmann, whose good acquisition news about the IndieGoGo funding platform is well worth celebrating this week /// Project H founder Emily Pilloton for getting the Design Revolution Road Show to kids and adults nationwide /// Rebecca Orlov for exapnding Blog Out Loud live events to Northern and Southern California /// and, of course, Victoria Smith for starting this undertaking and launching her vintage Etsy shop last week.
This is just a sample of the women who inspire your work, and I’d like to open this up to mentions of yours. Have at it!
When we focus on that we are connected, the technologies become more important than their function. We think, Wow. Look how many people I can communicate with. Look how often I can read my e-mail and text messages. This is impressive…however, it is meaningless since the impact of these actions depend on the what this is present during them.”
