Done yesterday (20090820)

[mdlbear]

0820 Th
  * up 7:10; W=193.4; drugs, nose; coffee
  * Marty will come ~9am
  * Fly up
      Depart   	Aug 20 	Thu 	Nonstop 	SJC-SEA 	3419
 	Depart San Jose (SJC) at 10:50 AM
        Arrive in Seattle (SEA) at 1:00 PM
      Return   	Aug 24 	Mon 	Nonstop 	SEA-SJC 	1745
 	Depart Seattle (SEA) at 7:30 PM
        Arrive in San Jose (SJC) at 9:35 PM
  ~ car at Hertz: E4760111621  -> call Callie's cell; their car's fixed
  & Major insight: M-S_B is mostly about mindfulness
    (reading Full Catastrophe Living on the plane)
  & Callie: "homecoming ritual" - might there be a transition ritual for
    starting to do software or music?
  @ http://www.scribus.net/ Scribus looks like a major win for DTP
    from http://lwn.net/Articles/347651/
  & Music, hugs with Naomi
  & Forgot the cheese!!  Also Cthulhu and Richard
    ! embarassed.  Probably the hardest thing to ship.

A good day: an uninteresting flight, a good insight, good conversations, and music. Can't ask for much more than that. Kat's guitar, a Little Martin, was easy to carry thanks to a backpack rig, but occupies a bit more space in the overhead bin on a 737.

The main thing I forgot to pack was the six blocks of Kraft mozzerella we'd bought for Naomi. Grump -- that's going to be hard to ship up.

The aha! of the day came from realizing that being a Middle-Sized Bear probably has a lot to do with mindfulness - it's a matter of expanding centered awareness and stillness to include the other person. Cool!

On the way back from the airport with Callie I mentioned the difficulty I have in making the transition from random routine to concentrated work and finding time for geekery at home. She told me about homecoming rituals -- the things you do when you get home to leave the work day behind. Perhaps I could devise something similar that could get me into the hacker headspace. Well worth thinking about.

Spent some time with Naomi in the evening alternating song-swapping with being in Middle-Sized Bear mode. I win.

It looks as though Sunday will be my day to visit the Wolfling.

Comments

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

If you don't find something that naturally gets you into that kind of headspace, pick something that is comfortable with that kind of headspace (and that you won't mind always creating that headspace) and always do it before starting your work. Initially, the more mindful you are, as you do it, that this is a signal to start work, the better. After a while, your brain will develop it into a habit. Stare through the kaliedoscope for a few seconds (or longer, if your thoughts are jumbled and you have the time), set your coffeecup or other drink of choice by the computer, and the back of your brain will say --oh, hey, the Bear wants to program now. Wake up, programming subroutines!--

If the ritual is short enough, you can do it after interruptions too.

[mdlbear]

Yeah; that's exactly the kind of thing. Thanks especially for the hint on how to go about training myself.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

The brain is good at making habits. It's why, when practicing a song, if I make the same mistake several times in a row, I quickly move on to something else. I don't want the mistake to be what I'm practicing!!!

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

Could you ask Callie to please do a LJ post on homecoming rituals? Interestingly enough Patrick and I were discussing this same subject over an early dinner on Saturday. He is having a very difficult time separating himself from work right now because it has become busy and intrusive. Working from home further blurs the boundaries. With him the biggest issue right now is to try to keep his home life and work life separate. He needs to turn off the work completely when he isn't doing it and he is finding it almost impossible. I gave him some examples of what I used to do when I was an assisted living manager and on call 24/7 365, but I don't think any of my compensatory strategies resonated with him. Callie might have one or two ideas that might be useful, and you might have several. You and Patrick have very similar mental wiring and Callie is good at thinking outside of the box.

[mdlbear]

I can try; she's been pretty heavily loaded recently, and hasn't been posting much.