Leading from the Middle

Caption. Tree on my solo, Mt. Baldy Trek.

Smart people tell us that we are too much “on the grid”; that our “hand helds” never release us for “downtime”, those moments of lassitude when we can reflect and ponder*.
Instead, it appears, we must be entertained through any spare moment. We bow our heads in prayer to the silicone god. Look around you? How many people are now saying grace over their smart phones? Biblically, there’s “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills”. In the home office, lift your eyes from the computer screen and wonder.
Of course, technology helps us do some things better, but too much of anything can get to be less than wonderful.
Some suggest the over-teched pull a Walden Pond. Actually, Mr. Thoreau was hardly alone at the Pond and he had regular dinners out with the neighbors, but you get the idea:
Go off by yourself and de-tech.
Then, what? Like a dieter who loses 50 lbs only to put on another 50 lbs post-diet?
My favorite suggestion (and personal practice) for a cure is taking solitary walks, daily. Lots of people praise and practice those walks. Famous people walked regularly.
Rousseau said, “I can only meditate when walking.”
PG Wodehouse took long walks around Remsenburg where he lived for twenty years at the tip of Long Island. On those saunters, he’d figure out the intricate and elaborate ways for Jeeves to extract Bertie Wooster from his latest mess. He knew the power of walking and observing and letting his mind wander into solutions.
Einstein walked regularly.
Darwin took an hour’s walk every day; he’d learned how to walk silently when on scientific explorations, so often startled wildlife on those daily expeditions south of London.
Darwin also, it is claimed, worked in 90 minutes segments for a total of 4.5 hours per day. Does that qualify him as a “slacker”?
Will taking long walks make you famous? some might ask. That kind of illogic reminds me of early library use studies that showed the more books one checked out the higher one's GPA (grade point average). So, if you want to improve your GPA, check out more books. Right!
It seems the internet has too much to do with our inability to be alone, to be lonely in a deliberate way.
Why does that matter?
Well, because when we are mooning at the screens in our lives, or responding to beeps and buzzes, we are distracted. We are “driven to distraction.”
We need quiet time, we need restful time. Many of us probably could do with time away from the maddening crowd. Studies suggest, too much madness in our lives – traffic, noise, crowding - results in spells of “rumination” or self-criticism and depression. Walk in sunny fields, lower the rumination index substantially.

Caption: Not ruminating. My snow sculpture on Mt. Baldy in California.

*Last year, a Google incubator released “Uptime”, a group video messaging app that lets you watch and share videos with your friends in your downtime! Just what you and I need when we are on a solo in the wilds.


Cover: "Fables for Leaders" Pre-print, 203pp. 2017.
N.B. My next book, Fables for Leaders, Ezis Press, comes out in September 2017 as an e-book ($9.99) and a soft cover print-on-demand book, ($25.99). The print book will feature original illustrations by the renowned Béatrice Coron.

© Copyright John Lubans 2017

 

Your comment: Name: Website: E-mail: Remember Me