{"id":19461,"date":"2018-07-21T10:34:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T14:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=19461"},"modified":"2018-07-22T08:13:08","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T12:13:08","slug":"5-friday-faves-solitude-a-culture-wall-like-a-mother-serena-williams-our-children-and-food-a-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=19461","title":{"rendered":"5 Friday Faves – Solitude, a Culture Wall, Like a Mother – Serena Williams, Our Children, and Food With a Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Check this week as done. For us around here, it’s been a week of great highs punctuated by distinct lows. How amazing that we can pray through and lean in to God and each other for the lows…and celebrate the highs, in quiet and in company. Life is good and real.<\/p>\n

1) Solitude –<\/strong> Writer, philosopher Zat<\/a> Rana<\/a> caught my eye with his article The Most Important Skill Nobody Taught You<\/em><\/a>. Turns out his view of that most important untaught skill is solitude. That ability to just enjoy being alone. Sitting or walking alone. Lost in your own thoughts. Except for a self-portrait for a photography class, you won’t see many signs in my life that solitude is something that comes easy.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”<\/strong> –<\/em> Blaise Pascal<\/a><\/p>\n

The Most Important Skill Nobody Taught You<\/em><\/a> – Zat Rana<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Pascal, we fear the silence of existence, we dread boredom and instead choose aimless distraction, and we can\u2019t help but run from the problems of our emotions into the false comforts of the mind.<\/em><\/p>\n

The issue at the root, essentially, is that we never learn the art of solitude. – <\/em>Zat Rana<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[My husband who often sits by himself at dawn and dusk to recharge. For him, solitude is something that has come naturally.]<\/p>\n

Rana talks about how technology has connected us in a myriad of ways but the connectedness is more virtual than real. – “We now live in a world where we\u2019re connected to everything except ourselves.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Our aversion to solitude is really an aversion to boredom…we dread the nothingness of nothing. We can\u2019t imagine just being <\/em>rather than doing. <\/em>And therefore, we look for entertainment, we seek company, and if those fail, we chase even higher highs. We ignore the fact that never facing this nothingness is the same as never facing ourselves. And never facing ourselves is why we feel lonely and anxious in spite of being so intimately connected to everything else around us<\/strong>.” – Zat Rana<\/a><\/p>\n

Everything I Have Learned in 500 Words<\/em> – Zat Rana<\/a><\/p>\n

2) A Culture Wall – <\/strong>Benjamin Hardy<\/a> is a writer, organizational psychologist dude. I am reading his book Willpower Doesn’t Work: Discovering the Keys to Success<\/em><\/a>. This week he posted about having a culture wall<\/a>, and it totally engaged this visual learner. Designed by Gaping Void<\/a>, this is an art-as-inspiration tool for the workplace.\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Benjamin Hardy, Medium<\/a>; Gaping Void<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking at Benjamin Hardy’s culture wall got me thinking of the truths that keep me going at work and at home. Coming up with those sayings or mantras, as a team, or family, would be an excellent exercise…and then making the art happen would flow naturally out of that. It doesn’t have to be 20 pictures, like Hardy’s. Even one is a good start.<\/p>\n

[Sidebar – Guitarist, YouTuber Nathan Mills<\/a>, at Beyond the Guitar<\/a>, in his videos, often features a “nerd shrine” with striking wall art. I wonder what a culture wall would look like in his studio.]<\/p>\n

These 20 Pictures Will Teach You More Than Reading 100 Books<\/em><\/a> – Benjamin Hardy<\/a><\/p>\n

3) Like a Mother – Serena Williams <\/strong>– American tennis champion Serena Williams<\/a> made it to the Wimbledon<\/a> final this year. She didn’t win but she played #LikeaMother.\u00a0 The expression “like a mother” brings all sorts of images to mind…and makes for marketing genius… Two examples are a Lysol commercial<\/a> and one by Gatorade<\/a>, the latter featuring Serena Williams.<\/p>\n

Here’s to Serena Williams…including a couple of interviews where she and husband investor Alexis Ohanian<\/a> describe how they met.<\/p>\n