You are here: Home / Archives for energy

Miracle? All of it.

March 29, 2016 by 13 Comments

HongBo-Drawing

Fashionable descriptions of the inevitable triumph of machine intelligence (over man) contain many critical biases and assumptions that could derail them from turning into reality. […]

Our brains use energy at a rate of about 20 watts. If you wanted to upload yourself intact into a machine using current computing technology, you’d need a power supply roughly the same as that generated by the Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric plant in China, the biggest in the world. To take our species, all 7.3 billion living minds, to machine form would require an energy flow of at least 140,000 petawatts. That’s about 800 times the total solar power hitting the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Clearly human transcendence might be a way off.

~ Caleb Scharf, Where Do Minds Belong

Find more at Steve Layman’s Blog: A Power Shortage. (Thank you Steve)

Notes:

  • Related Posts: Miracle? All of it.
  • Drawing: HongBo 洪波 (Chinese, Shanghai, China) – Untitled, 2011 – Drawings: Pastels. Source: Thank you Your Eyes Blaze Out
  • Inspired by Albert Einstein’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lift it. Lift it way up.

November 10, 2015 by 14 Comments

jellyfish-blue

My mood suddenly lifted.
The day was crisp and bright,
the atmosphere quivering with life,
like the translucent strands of a rare aquatic species
with long, flowing tentacles,
lappets flowing vertically from a jellyfish’s bell.
Would that human energy could materialize in such a way.
I imagine such strands waving horizontally
from the edges of my black coat.

~ Patti Smith, M Train

Notes:

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Lit, Photography, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lightly child, lightly.

September 3, 2015 by 18 Comments

Woman-light-fatigue

Then you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has a motion. It glides over you without shape or form, exactly like water. Its color is silver. And silence has a sound you hear only after hours of wading inside it. The sound is soft, like flute notes rising up, like the words of glass speaking. Then there comes a point when you must shatter the blindness of its words, the blindness of its light.

— Anne Spollen, The Shape of Water 

Notes:

  • Photo: Self portrait by Melania Brescia – “Fade and then Return” (via Mennyfox55)
  • Quote: Fables of Reconstruction
  • Prior “Lightly child, lightly” Posts? Connect here.
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”
Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Photography, Poetry, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s been a long day

August 26, 2015 by 18 Comments

fumerolle_Johanne-cullen-woman-tired

I see and inhabit beauty in a blink.
But it doesn’t change me within.
It doesn’t release the iron jaws of worry,
the buzzing hurry,
the dull certainty that I am, we are,
the world is spiraling down.
Where are you in this?
How can I access the energy
that used to hold me aloft?

~ Dani Kopoulos

Notes:

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Poetry, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

And the answer is?

June 3, 2014 by 21 Comments

portrait-man-stress
Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath in Why You Hate Work:

The way we’re working isn’t working. Even if you’re lucky enough to have a job, you’re probably not very excited to get to the office in the morning, you don’t feel much appreciated while you’re there, you find it difficult to get your most important work accomplished, amid all the distractions, and you don’t believe that what you’re doing makes much of a difference anyway. By the time you get home, you’re pretty much running on empty, and yet still answering emails until you fall asleep…

…Demand for our time is increasingly exceeding our capacity — draining us of the energy we need to bring our skill and talent fully to life. Increased competitiveness and a leaner, post-recession work force add to the pressures. The rise of digital technology is perhaps the biggest influence, exposing us to an unprecedented flood of information and requests that we feel compelled to read and respond to at all hours of the day and night…

Find the rest of the story (and the solution to the problem) here: Why You Hate Work

Notes:

 

Filed Under: Business, Grow, Life, Photography, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cloud Cult

June 1, 2014 by 12 Comments

Cloud Cult was formed in Duluth, MN in 1995 by Craig Minowa while pursuing a degree in Environmental Science, shining shoes and driving an ice cream truck. The band’s early work earned Cloud Cult several offers from record labels, but all were rejected in favor of self-publishing. In 1997, Minowa formed Earthology Records on his organic farm, powered by geothermal energy and built partially from reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. This nonprofit label uses only recycled materials and donates all profits to environmental charities. The band also tours in a biodiesel van. The band’s merchandise is 100% postconsumer recycled or made of certified organic materials. Cloud Cult has planted several thousand trees to absorb the band’s CO2 output. They also donate heavily to projects that build wind turbines as revenue generators on Native American Reservations.

In the year 2002, shortly after the unexpected death of his two year old son Kaidin, Minowa wrote over a hundred songs to deal with the loss. They Live on the Sun was finished in 2003 and went to #1 on college radio station charts across the country. Since that album, Cloud Cult’s music has been strongly inspired by the loss of Kaidin and the “big picture” issues of life:  “who are we, why are we here, where did we come from, where do we go”. Minowa seems in constant pursuit of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Find this song on iTunes on the album “Light Chasers.”  Find their official website here: Cloudcult.com

 

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Driving. With my alcohol.

April 3, 2014 by 22 Comments

breathe-steam-portrait

4:40 am.
I’m rumbling down I-95.
Dave Matthews is blaring through the speakers. And has been joining me on the morning ride all week.

You’ve been off. Haven’t found your rhythm. It’s back. You’re burning it from both ends.  The adrenaline – – it’s pumpin’.

I look down at the gas gauge. And then to the estimate of the mileage remaining. Annoyed at the interruption. Need to stop. Better stop. I pull over to the Mobile station.

I’m listening to the clicks on the pump.  And find myself drifting off.  There’s mist coming from my nose, rising up, and then disappearing into the darkness. I breathe in deeply. Exhale through the nose. And watch the show again. Magic. A Miracle. My morning moment of meditation.  And like the wisp of air, Pessoa’s disquiet rushes to fill the stillness.

You’re more comfortable moving. You find peace in motion.  Yet, you know it ain’t peace.

It’s hanging on my bulletin board in the office: “business is the art of getting people to where they need to be faster than they would get there without you.”  A Hugh McLeod illustration.  A Big red hand with index finger pointing up – #1.  There it is. Your strength. Your core competence. The transference of your disquiet to others.  Pushing the pace.  Injecting your adrenaline. More. Better. FASTER.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Inspire, Lit, Photography, Poetry Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You really believe that? Good Lord, why?

February 12, 2014 by 26 Comments

painting,art,woman,red

This much is irrefutable: How you direct your gaze, where you place your energy and your conviction, how you tune your perception and with what integrity and attitude you offer yourself to the world means, well, everything. Why can’t this basic truth be broadened out to humanity as a whole?…

Maybe that’s a little much. Maybe it’s better to test it all out yourself, every day, on micro scale, to feel into what you really believe, what you know to be true at core level, versus what you’ve been fed, and by whom, and for what spurious purpose…

Who the hell told you you’re broken? Who told you you’re an addict, a loser, a Type-A, a manic depressive? Who said you’re too weak to quit smoking, to start exercising, to eat better, to find love or to quit being an overbearing jerk with zero redeeming qualities? Who told you humanity must operate a certain way? Who told you you’re full of trauma and rage? Who dared tell you you’re not already God? You really believe that? Good lord, why?

~ Mark Morford, Believe this and live forever

Painting by Malcolm T. Liepke via Hungarian Soul.

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We doing this?

January 30, 2014 by 4 Comments

Focus, important,efficiency,productive,

More insight here: 99U.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nap Time!

September 4, 2013 by 34 Comments

napping,sleeping,chart

  • 34% of adults in the U.S. say they take a nap on a typical day.
  • A person who dreams during a short nap is likely sleep deprived.
  • As we age there is a tendency to take and be satisfied with shorter naps.
  • Ideal nap time: 1pm – 4pm.  Napping later in the day can interfere with falling asleep at night.
  • A 10-20 minute nap packs the most punch. You can feel groggy after 20-30 minute naps. A 60 minute nap may do more harm than good.
  • To avoid a deep sleep, it’s best to sleep slightly upright

Read more @ wsj.com: The Perfect Nap: Sleeping is a Mix of Art and Science

Filed Under: Grow, Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Midday Fatigue? Read on.

August 31, 2013 by 25 Comments

exercise,fitness,workout,fatigue,tired,gym,run,walk,

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cherub

August 21, 2013 by 26 Comments

costa rica

His name tag said Antonio.  He wore creaseless khaki shorts.  An olive green polo shirt.  Spotless white shoes.  The hotel staff uniform.  And, I’m guessing he was in his early 30’s.

Cherub.  That’s the word that immediately came to mind.  I looked it up after returning home from vacation.  “A chubby, healthy-looking child with wings.  A cherub is a type of spiritual being usually associated with the presence of God.”  A message to me?  A message from “Above” to the Believer of Convenience?

From late morning until late afternoon, he’d walk the beach with a wooden tray offering complimentary plastic shot glasses of mango smoothies, cappuccino ice cream coffee shots and strawberry shakes.  Every few hours, he would offer to clean your sunglasses – – and would do so with such care you would think he was holding a caterpillar.

He offered a perma-smile.  The man radiated Light. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

6:53 am. And inspired.

January 30, 2013 by 27 Comments

Canola Field Shaun Lowe

Here’s my picks for the inspiring posts of the week.

Thank you Canadian Art Junkie for sharing the photo above in her post Shaun Lowe: Canola, Sunshine & The Sea.  See her post for more wonderful photographs of eastern Canada.

Steve Gutzler with his post titled 7 Keys to Building Irresistible Energy:“I’ll be honest, one of my favorite compliments is when people take note of my energy and passion. But having such energy has been a life struggle of mine. When I was a young man in my early 20′s, I was diagnosed with a blood disorder. For over three years I woke up every day with a low grade temperature and lacking energy. I’d drag through my days. My attitude was good but my immune system was ravaged…Well, fast forward to today. I’m healthy with no hint of fatigue. I train 4-5 days a week and I eat like an athlete. I strive to get seven hours of sleep and I’m working most days by 5 AM. What I like most about where I am at is how grateful I am for what I have. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, not perfect but I’m sure grateful for what I have!”…Read entire post for Steve’s 7 Keys to Building Energy at this link.

Maybe It’s Just Me who describes herself  and her blog as “The life of a middle aged hippie on Maui, eating raw and vegan and staying healthy. I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain in fall 2012 with my husband and son“…do we need more inspiration than this?!!  Her beautiful post shares her sensations as she returns home to the various places she’s lived.  The post is titled:  As We Relive Our Lives In What We Tell You and this excerpt is returning home to Maui: …there is no better feeling than coming home to a place that I love.  I went up onto the roof deck today to look at the clouds, the palm trees, and the volcano rising above, and again later on, to watch a glorious sunset over the ocean.  I was content to just sit and feel the warmth of the island air on my skin.  Skin that desperately cries out for sunshine and humidity, and that whispers “mahalo” every time I return home to Maui.”  Read her entire post at this link.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Energy and Fluidity

September 15, 2012 by 24 Comments

“I hand drew every frame of this using Microns and composited them onto brown paper.” (HE HAND DREW “EVERY” FRAME…)

“The goal was to capture the energy and fluidity that goes into the sport of basketball.”  (And boy, did he accomplish this beautifully…)

This time slot on on Saturdays is customarily reserved for running shoe company ads, bangin’ music and related clips for work-out inspiration.  Not this time.  In a minute and a half, Eric Funk inspires us to move with his art.

MicMac Lane from Eric Funk on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was in I-95 traffic snarl yesterday. Did this. It worked. (For 8 minutes)

September 6, 2012 by 30 Comments

“We spend great energy in mental processes wishing things were different than they are. Wishing the traffic jam didn’t exist. Wishing the boss were a little nicer, wishing our children would take our advice, wishing, wishing, wishing. Acceptance is a key to a happier life. If we can just try to accept what is, and that wanting otherwise is often wasted energy, we will be happier. We would be better able to experience the moment more fully with this state of mind.”

 

Image Source: vicforprez via teachingliteracy.  Quote Source: Pyschology Today. “Every moment in our lives has the potential to be (and generally is) a completely unique experience. Absorb every bit of the moment. Treasure it by completely experiencing it. Congratulations, you are Zen.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Like the air you breathe…

April 27, 2012 by 9 Comments

Related Posts: The Process of Pivoting

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Lead, Life, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
%d bloggers like this: