time

TIMING: Presence, Relevance, and Trend

C2O Editor by Maceo Paisley, Conversation Pieces, Publisher's Note presence, time 0

“All things in due time.”, ” There is a time and a place for everything.”, “Time heels all wounds.”, each of these parables has roots in a phenomena that can be described simply as distance over speed. Time is nothing without motion and coincidence is the fulcrum of time itself. Whether two ships passing in the night or the hands of a clock there are special moments that signal great shifts to us in history. Every time we pass around the sun we celebrate. Our age is of great importance to us.

Each of these instances carry significance because we know they are fleeting. It is the ever shifting nature of time that informs our wishes and desires. As we move in and out of states of hunger and curiosity we find that time itself speeds up and slows down as we experience it. Our heart rate beats at faster and slower rates, this biological time keeper assists in our navigation of the world.

When we think of living in the present we must consider that we are obligated not only to the moment at hand but the ones to follow as well. Each of us makes predictions about what is to come in the seconds and minutes after the current one that passes. Our infatuation with the future causes us anxiety and fear, but also allows us to fantasize about what could be. Our plans would be fruitless without some attempt at foresight. This foresight comes from out keen ability to recognize patterns. These patterns, and cycles reveal trends.

Our weather comes in seasons, the seasons bring rain and sun, this allows us to have agriculture, and agriculture is one of the fundamental pillars of our society. It does us little good to behave as if it will rain tomorrow if our expectation is that it will not. We must operate with some sense of focus on what is most pertinent to our benefit. If we do not we run the risk of loosing out on opportunities that are time sensitive.

Both the hunter and the gather must bow to time. Whether it is managing patience to strike prey or knowing what fruit is in a period of ripeness. These windows of time govern nearly all elements of our lives and we will seek to peel away our own perspectives to peer into a space where some universal truths may lie. If we are lucky we may stumble upon wisdoms that are not bound by time at all.

Resource: Time, Energy, And Information

C2O Editor by Maceo Paisley, Publisher's Note connections, environment, human resource, natural resource management, time, time management 0

Every time someone makes an excuse about why they haven’t done this or that it tends to come down to a basic element of life. It is the primary needs that we have to fulfill be for we can ever hope to accomplish anything amazing. If we want to build a successful company we might need a great team. If we want to life a healthy lifestyle we need access to good foods. No matter what it is there is some essential component that makes it all work. These are the resources that all of us need, there are so many and yet there are a few that are prominent. I am very interested in these components, and how we view them as a culture, share, and acquire them.

The one we always think about is money, but we know that money alone can not solve our problems, especially if we don’t know how to spend it. So maybe money isn’t a primary resource, maybe it one of them is information. They say knowledge is power, and that certainly has held true for many. Even people with tons of money want to know what is coming next. So those insights, that knowledge can be more valuable to them than the money itself. So much so that we will pay a high premium for information even if we don’t know what it is. And yet once you have the information you need to be able to apply it and put it to action.

Assuming you have all the knowledge a brain can hold you still need the tools to put make it real. It is not only the same as the mind body connection in a person but this exists in a company or a computer or a machine. As true a metaphor as “knowledge is power” may be. Energy is literally power, the brightest mind can not create if it is tied to a body that lacks the capacity to move. Ideas need a way to interface and change the conceptual into actual and this is real work that must occur by use of machine, computer or our own bodies. Energy itself is abundant around us but it takes certain processes to harness it so access to energy is a concern for individual and organization everywhere.

Mortals of all sorts know can agree that time is perhaps the most important of all resources. It is the very driver of our own will to reproduce. The battle against time is as old as our cells themselves and we will need to look into our relationship to time and all resources this month.

I am particularly interested in understanding how each variety of resource is disseminated and handled based on our perceived value of it. For example we might need to look at our natural resources and he trouble we seem to have with managing them as a collective society. Why do we value money, over water, or clean air, or organic vegetation? Some of these questions can be answered through behavioral economics and others may be reliant on out religious views but it is necessary that we investigate. If we monitor the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ fluctuations everyday as part of national news, why are we not monitoring the overall health of our planet in the same way?

As mentioned above at times the resource we need it people, and we need to look at how connections are made, and how our interests align. What communities are formed around these resources, not only the tribes that may live a long a stretch of river, but also the local economy that may be supported by the relocation of a major corporation. Along with these communal interactions we need to look at the individuals ones as well. We all have friends but how do we manage the time we spend with them when we acquire new friends or begin a serious romantic relationship. The notion of time management can’t just be for busy entrepreneurs, it is something we must all understand.

We’ll talk this month with people who are “resourceful”. A feature with a vintage shopper who has created a business out of reclaiming our used clothing. We will feature an entrepreneur who has taken it upon her self to recycle electronic waste and give jobs to the formerly incarcerated. And we will also speak to a CEO who has created an online platform that serves as a digital network to fund and distribute films. Each of these people are incredible in their own right and we will ask them how their perception each of their resources influences their dealings in business and in life.

Thanks for coming along, and spending some of your precious time with us.

Enjoi,

Maceo

Maya Angelou: Phenomenal Woman

C2O Editor Citizens i know why the caged bird sings, maya angelou, maya angelou death, oprah, super soul sunday, time 0

When the greatest minds in history are read from whatever list they are on one name will ring in such a precious tone that it may be confused with music. Maya is a name found the world over with many different means but to those that have know of Maya Angelou it means only one thing. Phenomenal. Born Margueritte Ann Johnson, she is was author and language artist who has achieved nearly every measure of professional success but told Time last year that she still had more to do. “I want to write so that the the reader in Des Moines, Iowa, Kowloon, China, in Cape Town, South Africa, in Ireland, in Boston, can say ‘That’s is truth.I wasn’t there, I wasn’t a six foot black girl but that’s the truth. That’s human.”

In hearing her perspective on her work, and language her motivations become clear. Dr. Angelou had not prioritized fame or achievement but connection. On Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday program she says that the word she turns to for comfort is “Love. … It may be the thing that keeps the stars in the firmament… It is something beyond explanations.” It is as if be virtue of habit she speaks in poetry. Her words slip gracefully from her lips in interview and readings alike. Maya spoke in plain language, but with profound feeling, passion, and insight.

This desire from connection perhaps, come from her humble childhood in Stamps, Arkansas as depicted in her first of seven autobiographies, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. It is only by grace of her indomitable spirit that she become a Pulitzer prize nominee, acclaimed dancer, musician, and holder of several awards and honorary doctorates. Her life is a testament to what one can do when applying all their gives to the world.

Angelou was not much for withholding, her career spanned over 50 years. She performed in off-broadway shows, sang and recorded music while she travelled, and learned the language of every place she visited. There was nothing she could not do, and certainly nothing she could not do with Christ on her side. Faith was a big part of her persona, and image. In the 60s she was named Northern Coordinator for the Souther Christian Leadership Conference. She was a student of Unity Church in Kansas City, Missouri and was forever in awe of the wonder’s of the world as creations of God. She maintained a constant reverence for her creator and has been quoted as saying “While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creation.”

There have truly been no limits to her impact. In the 60s she worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X as a civil rights activist. In the 70s she wrote songs for Roberta Flack and became close friends with Oprah Winfrey. Still continuing to speak out about racial and gender issues her voice and work became known as definitive works in civil rights. In 1982 Dr. Angelou became a professor of American Studies at Wake-Forest University. And in 1993 she recited the now famous “On The Pulse Of The Morning” poem at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She later won a Grammy for the recording of that piece. Her political activity included support for Hilary Clinton and President Barack Obama. Angelou was the first poet to speak at a presidential inauguration since Robert Frost and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ceremony.

Maya Angelou is one of those figures that must be herald with the brightest of humanity. And yet, it could be imagined that she would hoist herself no higher than any other. Her grace and work will live forever and continues to inspire young generations of writers with ambitions of following in her footsteps.

Rest in peace.

Maya Angelou

April 4th, 1928 ~ May 28th, 2014