March 24, 2008

life lessons from Mr. Jobs

file under: thoughts about things

my friend Rita pointed me to a video of Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech. she and i had been talking about being older than 40, and potentially having the ability to reflect back on our lives and come up with a few things we had learned. we were also talking about mindfulness. she thought Mr. Jobs was worth listening to...i couldn't agree more.

you should watch the speech...don't allow my synopsis to stop you. it's 15 minutes of your life, which is a small investment to watch one of the great innovators and entrepreneurs of our times. it doesn't matter if you like Apple or even care about the whole tech industry, because the things he shares are pretty universal.

in his mind, it all came down to three things:

• you can't connect the dots looking forward, only backwards. as a result, follow your heart or intuition, even when it leads you off the well-worn path.
• you've got to find what you love, in life and in work, and you'll know it when you find it. do not settle for less.
• your time is limited...don't waste it living someone else's life. have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

one anecdote that i found powerful was something he did every day. he'd wake up in the morning, look himself in the mirror, and ask, "if this was the last day of your life, would you really want to be doing what you're going to do today?" if he answered no too many times in a row, he realized it was time for change. this mindfulness, the ability to step out of the river that can often push us downstream in life, is key.

deceptively simple messages. on the surface, they may seem naively idealistic, but are they? really? follow your heart, realizing that you've got limited time. one chance. no do-overs. this is your one-and-only life. make it count.

thanks, Steve (and Rita).

Posted: 03.24.08 at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

February 10, 2008

new ways of storytelling

file under: thoughts about things
tags: blog , flickr , microblog , social media

i haven't been writing too much here lately. part of that is due to the usual lame excuse (lack of time), but it also has to do with a few competing blog channels: flickr, twitter and, to a lesser extent, facebook.

Continue reading "new ways of storytelling"

Posted: 02.10.08 at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 26, 2008

chinese food, five at a time

file under: travel
tags: china , food

rather than post all of my food photos from China at once, i decided to take a more piecemeal approach (har). i'll be uploading five pics a day to my flickr stream. they'll be in chronological order, starting with Beijing, moving through Shanghai, Huangshan, Shexian, Nanxiang, and then ending in Shanghai (yes, we went there twice).

in summary, i'd have to say that during the 12 days we were in China, i probably ate better, and more continuously, than i have at any other point in my life. each meal (most of which were orchestrated by my father-in law Eric) was an adventure, filled with surprises and delights at every mouthful. from banquets in imperial palaces, to hot pot at a college student hangout, it was all amazing...this culinary journey was just as much a part of our adventure as the places we visited.

Posted: 01.26.08 at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 21, 2008

China 2007 :: She Xian

file under: travel