New across my desk: Entrepreneurs can change the world

I love the message in this video. If you are doing something about your yearning, this is you. It is me, too.

Yes, it is an advert but it gave me far more than it took.

As always, your comments are very welcome.

P

It had its Feng-Shui with me!

To me, Feng Shui was a tooth-rubbingly New Age lifestyle badge until I caressed, picked up and swung about the twin towers last week. Now I have an appreciation for the possibilities of architecture to imbue people with a sense of great power. When you cut out the mumbo-jumbo mystical talk, the key to empowerment is the skill of appreciation.



I thank Peter and the Petronas Twin Towers for their part in my breakthrough.

What I love about the Twin towers is, standing a little back, I admire the serrated profile and faceted, reflective surfaces. The towers have weight to them; I can imagine hefting them with a firm, open grip, as the cornices tantalisingly bring points of pain-pleasure into the thin, sensitive flesh of my burning hot palm. (To get the feeling for yourself, squeeze a Lego brick tightly in one hand) A Tower, in my hands, is like a mighty steel and crystal sceptre, reminding me I have the capability to use massive force; devastating when wielded, inspiring when held aloft.

As I type, my fingers and palm mounds are prickling with sweat and fire; flesh-memories of the power at my disposal. I am fidgety with anticipation like a separated lover. My heart quickens and whispers from "that knowing place" that I am a god of powerful love and destruction. If I choose.

So Feng Shui did this to me? Well, in a way, yes. The Twin Towers, as my friend Peter the Skyscraper builder was telling me, was designed, according to Feng Shui principles, in order to optimise wealth and luck. He told me how Feng Shui is the art of concentrating, channeling and storing Chi (Life Force, Ki, Prana, True Love - prevalent in Asiatic medicine and martial arts), through the careful attention to form, colour and positioning. By design, a Feng Shui creation is designed to inspire a sense of connection to something beyond our physical presence.


So, KAZAM! There it strikes me. As a form, the external structure of this twin edifice is an object, which brings a sense of strength and aliveness down my arms, extending down, beyond the physical extremity of my finger tips, to a place where I can exert optimal leverage or piercing accuracy at the flick of a thought. This sensation is the kinesthetic expression of my vibrant power as a human being. And it is just like the feeling I had in my dojo days as an AiKiDo student, when my unbendable arms could deftly throw my partner (know as "Uke") without actually connecting physically. So, yes, my Chi was in "flow mode" - Feng Shui worked.

And it has nothing to do with Feng Shui. The design principles just created a shorthand way for me to more easily get present in the moment, stop micro analyzing and stop micro worrying, thus releasing my inner courage and daring, and my sense of infinite power. The possibility is there, in every moment of our day, Feng Shui or not.

So try this experiment: Look over there (yes, over there) - to where there is an object or a building that is tantalizingly tactile. With your imagination, reach out an arm, enclose the building with your hand and give it a good, tight squeeze. Feel the juiciness. Now notice any feeling that connects your physical body to the place where the object stands; see if you can imagine a shape or thread that connects the two. Notice where it is anchored in you and where it passes through.


That, my friends, is the expression of your power in this moment. See how far away you can get the feeling to travel. Notice the sensations in your body.

Feng Shui cleverly enabled a building to attract my appreciative attention and bring me alive.

What if I were to start just appreciating, regardless of design or intent on the part of a third party? This thrill would be available to me whenever and how much ever I want and I could feel like a master of possibility.

Which leads me to my final question - What is stopping me from wanting that the whole time?

Phil

Reflecting on Chats in KL

It is a few days after my last Let's Chat; day 3 in Kuala Lumpur (held on 4 June), Sarah's on school vacation and I find some moments to write about some of my reflections.

With 49 days (about 100 hours, about 250 chats, with about 250 individuals) in Calgary and 3 days (7 hours, about 44 individuals, 27 chats) in Kuala Lumpur, there are some patterns I perceive; worth a mention:

The most contentious one, I expect, is this one: How come, in Canada, on the three occasions when the public park-space was "invaded" by commercial or solicitous messaging, the number of people passing by, meeting me with eye contact, saying a quick "hello" or "how's it going?", dropped to zero, while the number sitting down to chat was unaffected? (1 set of marketing canvassers, 1 set of charity event signer-uppers, 1 big plumbers billboard). I make up the story that there is a section of the population who are "borderline connectors", who would stop and connect if circumstances were better (i.e. they will not make the time, but will do so if the time and place are right). However, demands for attention, especially demands which feel like they take more than they offer, send these people into a defensiveness, which could be likened to a form of tunnel vision; they become tightly-focused on their immediate objective and lose all peripheral awareness.

I read an article in Adbusters a year or two ago that cited data, showing that the average urban dweller is exposed to 5000(?) commercial messages per day. What is the impact of 5000 demands for my attention on my social awareness, even on my social intelligence? Stupification? What then satisfies my deep human need to feel connected or a sense of belonging? I make up that we have allowed ourselves to become subverted into a proxy experience of community, through the manipulated channel of advertising, rather than through our direct experience of the community that surrounds us. So, what should our responsibility be?

Back to the research: The big difference between the two cities is in the demographic I'm meeting, and only in terms of gender. In Calgary the "audience" was split 50/50 men and women, of all ages between 20-90, from day 1. So far. in Kuala Lumpur, all but three approaches have been by men. I can understand this because women do not approach strange men here and need a formal introduction. When women did approach me I was in the shade of a big Mall; maybe that was more familiar, safer territory than a street corner?

The second difference has been in the duration of chats. In Canada the average chat was about 10-15 minutes, whereas here it has been 5-10 minutes. I will need to gather more experience before I can say for certain, however I am making up a story that this is to do with the level of comfort of the "invitee". The temperature and sun exposure might be a factor, being far warmer and sunnier here than at the park in Calgary. Also, it might have something to do with the fact that in, in Calgary, when seated, my 6'3"" height was not apparent. Here I haven't found a good sitting location, am forced to stand and the height difference between me and the average Malaysian is a lot greater. I imagine that a big chap like me could appear threatening. On the other hand a friend said, "I don't know, a big, Caucasian male like you will get a lot of attention here". Time will tell.

I suspect that (and I make this up; this will be hard to verify, doing this by myself), the number of potential chatters, or the "potential chatter density" is the same in both regions. I have had a higher chat frequency, with a shorter duration, in Malaysia than in Canada, but potential chatters will tend to shy away from interrupting an existing chat (again I make that up). This will be interseting to verify, factoring in the environment (such as heat and sun, as said before) .

Sorry; right now I have to play with Sarah in the pool. I will build on this article later. Good bye for now - Phil

Let's Chat in Kuala Lumpur - Day 2 Interview

It was a very beautiful, clear-skied day and, although I was moved from the feet of the Twin Towers by security guards within three minutes, I managed to find a high-traffic spot.

This youTube video was shot by my new Let's Chat friend, Patsy Koay, as I was enjoying some shade and a can of 100 Plus, after the event.

There's some interesting stuff happening with some of the connections I am making here. I have no idea where it is leading but I do know the idea is having an entertaining and inspiring impact in the public space.

Have a beautiful day!
phil