Author: MAÔ

Wandering around, exploring the Divine, figuring life out. No guarantees, no promises. Just day by day, an inner and outer journey.

Authenticity

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

“One must know what one wants to be,” the eighteenth-century French mathematician Émilie du Châtelet wrote in weighing the nature of genius. (From Brain Pickings).

Lots of smart people have spoken or written about being true to yourself. Why is that? What is so important about being your authentic self?

There are two elements to this. The first is: an authentic person is doing that thing which she was put here to do. The feeling of absolute joy that comes from being authentic is contagious, and that’s why authentic people are viewed as charismatic, agreeable, and engaging.

“Everyone has a purpose. And, according to Oprah Winfrey, ‘Your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you are meant to be, and begin to honor your calling in the best way possible.'” (Oprah’s new book, The Path Made Clear).

The other element is the concern of authenticity preventing some from showing up. As Seth Godin puts it in his interview on the Tim Ferriss show, “Which means, and this is someplace I’ve gotten in trouble before, authenticity is totally overrated, totally. That I don’t want an authentic surgeon who says, ‘I don’t really feel like doing knee surgery today.’ I want a professional who shows up whatever they feel like, right?“

While I view that as a valid point, and I greatly admire Seth Godin and all the work he’s done (I’ve read a number of his books, some multiple times), I believe that this example is more about a lazy authenticity, rather than it being authentic.

The surgeon in Godin’s example is (hopefully) being authentic in being a surgeon. That’s what fuels his life. If he come in and says he doesn’t feel like doing knee surgery today, then it’s not in line with his authentic self. Or, he didn’t want to be a knee surgeon to begin with.

Authenticity, in my view, is something that will give us energy.

Now I do believe that we may find ourselves aligned to our authenticity, while not fully being authentic. That’s why you see so many Generation X and Y switching careers, rather than staying in one for their whole life. (One of the reasons.) Because they are searching for authenticity. But in the job you’re doing – the one you’ve agreed to do for the time being – you still need to show up. To do your best.

Monday, Monday, Monday

by MAÔ, posted in Work

New job starting this morning. It’s important to remember, heading into a new job, that while you may know a lot about the industry or even the company, you may not know everything about what’s specifically going to occur. Go in with an open mind, be prepared to learn, and do your best.

Walt Disney Universe?

by MAÔ, posted in Film

With Disney’s acquisition of Fox, the Mouse has become the entertainment leader (if it wasn’t already) across multiple channels – theatrics, film, television, broadcast, merchandise, and (of course) theme parks.

Blue Sky, 20th Century Fox, FX, National Geographic, and Fox Searchlight are just some of the assets being brought into the Disney brand. What this will mean for the future of cinema is nothing but conjecture.

However, I’m reminded of the argument that arose with the massive popularity of Disney Theatrics (Disney’s Lion King musical I believe was the first incident) – the Disneyfication of Broadway, where spectacle was more important than theatre.

I’d say that Broadway has always been about spectacle, and it’s not mutually exclusive of theatre. But, we’ll see what happens over the next couple of years.

Thespians

by MAÔ, posted in Theatre

Down here helping in the Florida State Thespians Conference – an annual competition and collection of workshops for Florida High School students participating in the field of theatre, musical theatre, stage design, playwriting, directing, etc.

When I was a high school student, I attended the State Conference twice. It may have been one of the deciding factors in my career path heading towards Arts Administration. I’m always happy to be a contributor, and to hopefully provide some guidance to who may be the future leaders in the entertainment industry.

Trying to try

by MAÔ, posted in Begin Again

Making a commitment (again) to more consistent posting. For this, I’m batching. A set time slot for my writing, most of the week’s blog posts, in an hour or two time slot.

We’re given 168 hours each week to do the work. Assuming 56 hours (ideally) is spent in sleep, 40 hours in a 9-5 (or some iteration thereof), that leaves 72 hours a week for growth, health, restoration, and/or housework.

Devoting several hours each week to one growth activity, doing it at one time to maximize impact, is the batch.

Days gone by

by MAÔ, posted in Work

Lots of changes over the past four weeks – job change, new ventures began, and plans coalescing.

I’ve been guilty of misusing my personal resources, and I’ve forgiven myself for that.

When the bulk of your decision making power is spent before you’ve started the real work, you’re wasting your potential. Minimize, reduce, and evaluate your value-adding activities.

The problem with applications

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

I’ve filled out a lot of applications. Online mostly, though still some on paper. The online revolution and conversion was ushered in between the times that I was looking for work. In 2003 I fell into my first after high school job, which I don’t even recall if I filled out an application for. It was an office manager for a nonprofit, and until the office space we had was lost, I thought it was going okay. I learned a lot about business skills in that one-man shop, though maybe not enough.

After that, I started what could have been my first career I suppose you could say. Had I not resigned to pursue professional acting, maybe I’d still be there. It was a service organization affiliated with NASCAR, and while I have many problems with the way some of that went down, I can remember fondly my times at the track.

I think from there I learned that work should be fun. Could be fun, at the very least. I was a highly effective worker, and given increasing responsibility during my time there. (In five years, I received two promotions and was asked to handle several increasing complicated aspects of the job – mostly related to computer systems or point-of-sales.) And I had fun, mostly. When the crowds started slowing to the races, then concern gripped the corporatists – cut budgets, watch the bottom dollar, churn out the returns. 

But we’re not robots. Not cogs that, if tightened, can produce two more widgets. (This theme has been coming up recently – the production of widgets.)

Long story short, when it was time to go, I knew it was time to go. The exact phrasing of my last meeting with my boss and my boss’s boss (Office Space anyone?) went like this:

My Boss: “It’s either you quit your outside activities and commit to this, or you should go somewhere else.”

Me: “I have my two weeks notice ready. Let me grab it for you.”

Now my outside activities were my first volunteer endeavors with community theatre, and I had requested a day off a week after the Daytona 500 to be involved with a professional production of an opera. Whether or not either of us were right or wrong is just a lot of conjecture, but we both did what we did. 

I go by my gut a lot. Every job I’ve known it was time to leave, I went ahead and did it. Sometimes without a safety net. Thankfully, I’ve managed to land on my feet. (This time is a little harder, as I’m more keenly aware of the level of debt I’m carrying from my student loans.)

So when I go out and look for those jobs, and I come to a website where I am filling out over and over again the same information. Name. Number. Address. Work history. Education. Etc., etc.

Exactly why we have resumes. And, truth be told, nearly all of my jobs have come through people I knew, or people who knew those people. Not online applications. So what then is the point there? 

When they ask you in their application (posted online, and responded to in the same way by every applicant) “what about this company makes you want to work here?” – the most likely honest answer is “if hired, you’ll give me a paycheck.”

Company culture isn’t bought into in an online application. And good companies will have trouble matching good applicants in that way. 

Companies – if you want good workers (and to retain them), be different. Don’t be another online application for a hopeful paycheck.

Applicants – if you want to work for a good company (and do well), be different. Bring your talents to someone who will take those talents, and let you use them. Let you fail. And then help back up.

The lives we live

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

I wonder how many of us shape the life that we truly want. The sheer presence of choices in how we do our daily lives – jobs, housing, spouse or SO, children, etc. – a simpler time (maybe one or two-hundred years ago) was simpler to navigate.

Choice. I know I’ve written about choice before. But, it’s true that our brain can only handle a finite number of actual decisions per day. Higher weight decisions cost more of our choice capital than choosing between coffee and tea. But the more we can automate or days, the more capital we have to make the weightier decisions.

It’s not just work either. It’s health. It’s finances. It’s relationships.

I started watching the Marie Kondo series on Netflix. I had read the book some time ago, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’m not sure if it was pre or post-shake up in my life. Surprisingly, that altered more than just my decision-making abilities. I digress.

The couple in the first episode have one minor relationship issues. Bickering. Picking at faults perceived in the other. The capital for choice is being used stressing about house, and poor decisions are made when addressing each other.

Limiting the mess, the clutter – freeing capital – allows more data to be processed from a framework of less stress. Less stress in itself frees capital, because the mind isn’t fighting the basic fight or flight choice impulse and hormone secretions. Freeing the mind from material restraints opens up your true potential.

It’s for this. Reason the Buddha taught that desire leads to suffering. Material possessions are as a rock in a bottle floating in the sea. After so many rocks, the bottle can no longer remain afloat. It is imperative that we mindfully cultivate our possessions, and use the choice capital we have in the most productive outputs possible.

Sitting in stillness

by MAÔ, posted in Meditation

I fail at meditation more often than I succeed. I do idle well. But doing nothing. That takes some practice.

For many months my meditation practice was an early morning activity. I would generally write my morning pages, then sit and focus on my breathing. Five minutes. Six. Ten. I think I made it to fifteen minutes daily.

The more outside concerns I let creep in to my day, the more difficult it was to focus on meditation. I began missing days. Both of breath work and stillness, as well as my morning pages. The past several months have been completely inconsistent – as evidenced by the frequency of my blog posts.

The outside world isn’t outside. It’s the world, and we are a part of it. It is the lotus blossom, and our job is to hold it in our hands. Each of us.

I’m reminded of a Saturday morning cartoon I used to watch: Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?” (now reimagined on Netflix).

Young detective Zack is sitting with a zen monk who is making tea. (This is from a memory of probably 20+ years ago, so it may be hazy). The monk is taking his time preparing tea, and Zack is being anxious. The monk tells Zack to meditate. He says there isn’t time. And the monk responds, “That is why you need it.”

Refinancing

by MAÔ, posted in Income

Looking at my 2019 finances, I’m a bit less optimistic than I was mere weeks ago. One reason is that my healthcare deductible is increasing. Significantly. Like, from $60 to $350.

I set a goal in 2018 to discover what was wrong with me. Whether or not I actually had rheumatoid arthritis. All signs pointed to yes. I’m still off medication, which I’m thrilled about. Really, it’s been like two years.

When I was first put on medication I could barely walk. I used a cane to hobble around, and the time it took me to get out of bed was roughly an episode of The Price is Right. I hurt, and I was slow, and before the diagnosis, I thought I was dying.

The medication let me move comfortably again, but it had its own corresponding health issues. Fatigue (occasionally severe fatigue); responses to food that I used to enjoy – now they made me sick; lethargy; increased aggression for the first few months; and liver problems. They pinballed me through all different kinds of medication, trying to find the right cocktail.

So, not needing it and showing little signs of the initial RA diagnosis, I was certain that I had been misdiagnosed. But my bloodwork last year showed elevated inflammation levels conducive with RA, along with other markers. Long story short, better for me to keep my medical insurance.

Now, that’s one expense that increased dramatically. My work is mostly on a contract basis, so that expense comes out of pocket.

How does someone living in this day and age, balancing student loan debt, the rising costs of healthcare, and basic living expenses, make it? How does one become not only stable, but successful.

My first step is a budget. And with that cornerstone, I am hopeful that the bricks will fit securely.