More about Ipod bliss
Yesterday I had a few more thoughts about the iPod-induced state of bliss that I described earlier. I was listening to music in my car while driving to work (I got a Monster iCar tuner, which seems to work quite well with my iPod) when I realized that I was really enjoying my morning commute.
Add music and each present moment becomes just a little more worth living. You know how it is. We so often go restlessly through our lives either impatiently living in the future (as when we are late for work and we curse the red traffic-light; or when we rehearse hundreds of times the next meeting with your boss) or regretfully living in the past (as when we get angry again at our parents for something they did 25 years ago; or we regret something we did or didn’t do when we were 20 or that morning). But at times, we find ourselves completely captured by the present, this here and now. We stop caring about what happened yesterday and what will happen tomorrow; we lose interest in the incessant conversation we have with ourselves. We free ourselves from the rigidity of remembering the past and imagining the future and we start to experience the presence, in all its unpredictable flow.
It suddenly hit me how in my ipod world everything looks new and more interesting. Grocery shopping is usually a dreadful task, but with music getting a produce plastic bag at Whole food seems so fascinating, if I take the time to notice the light shining through and the slight resistance of the perforated plastic; the radiant green of the green beens; the expressions of the people around me.
It seems that all moments of happiness are moments in which I feel that the present moment is more interesting than what happened a moment before and what is not here yet. I stop moving back and forth in time and I get a taste of a here and now zen moment. I am not arguing with myself, obsessing about what happened yesterday, and worrying about what will happen tomorrow. I am just curious, open, and happy.
I suspect that this happens in all moments of bliss. We are present, we are here with all our being, and we enjoy being here more than in any other place or time. I wish I could feel that way more often. My buddhist friends promise that meditation practice teaches us how to reach this state all of the times, like having a device that we can always take with us, does not require batteries or chargers or wires, and makes interesting even the least pleasant situations. A perpetual iPod bliss state. Now, if I were not so lazy…
A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
Registration for Blogher 2006 is officially open!
The second Blogher Conference on and for women bloggers will be held in San Jose on July 28-29. If you are interested and don’t mind traveling to the West Coast in July consider registering for Blogher. I didn’t go last year and I am still regretting it (but I am going this year: I registered today).
If you want to learn more, check out the schedule for day one that was posted a few days ago and check back the Blogher site in the next few days for updates. The incomparable and inimitable Jory, Lisa, and Elisa are working on a brand new Blogher site that will launch next Monday.
And if you decide to go, drop me a note.
Technology-aided moments of happiness (iPod bliss)
Happiness comes in many different flavors and varieties. Moments of happiness can catch us at home, at work, in the street, or by unexpected encounters with beauty. We can be captured by happiness when we are in a crowd, during a relaxed evening with a few friends, in a moment of connection with one person, or when we are alone.
Happiness can be high-energy and exciting or relaxing and contemplative. You have probably heard about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of Flow, the addictive feeling created by the perfect balance of fluent skill, the right level of challenge, and focused concentration. A “flow-like” state though can also arise from more contemplative deep perceptual experiences.
In my twenties, I remember one day of almost suicidal desperation during one of my many abandonment-by-boyfriend emergencies. That afternoon, I picked up my pieces and went to one of these artsy theaters that show old and indie movies. They were showing An american in Paris. I went by myself, and for those 113 minutes I felt happy. Really, truly, completely happy. Since then, I have always had a very soft spot for musicals, the music of George Gershwin, and how Gene Kelly smiles when he dances.
When I lived in Pisa–trapped inside my late teens angst during a time of extreme political unrest–I used to find my own flow-like state in a cafe in Piazza Garibaldi, looking at people walking outside from the large glass windows, while the jukebox played ’70s and early ’80s music. I still love looking at people in cafes while music is playing.
Music is a big part of my sudden moments of perfect happiness. Happiness comes often when I listen to the iPod Scott bought me for my birthday. I may be driving to work, eating by myself in the cafeteria, writing away on my ibook, or even grocery shopping. There is something magic in making the entire world around us musical, without interruption, not knowing what will play next, but knowing we can trust it.
[It's probably true of everybody's music library, but I have a quite eclectic collection of music on my iPod: from Christina Aguillera to Patti Smith, from Tibetan monk chants to Eminem, from Max Bruch to The Clash, Yo-Yo Ma, Gilberto Gil, and Cold Play. So until I decide to organize my playlists, I literally don't know what to expect next.]
Buddhism teaches how to train the mind to reach a state of bliss and equanimity free of constraints. Unfortunately, it takes a long time, perhaps many lives, to get there. In the meanwhile, I’ll take the perfect if ephemeral moments of happiness that I get from listening to my iPod. Perhaps technology can’t make us happy, but at times it gets darn close.
News that made me happy today
Martin Luther King Jr. was born 11 days after my father, on January 15, 1929. They both would be 77 years old today. Had I had it my way, MLK would have lived a long life. Short of that, I am happy we celebrate his life every year in January and most of the country stops and reflects on Dr. King’s dream. 
Michelle Bachelet, "a socialist doctor and single mother", is the first woman to be elected president of Chile. She received 53% of the votes. 
In Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected president of an African country, was sworn in today. Both president Bachelet and president Johnson-Sirleaf are talking about reconciliation and are asking their people to come together to rebuild their countries, overcoming divisions and conflicts. Keep the good news coming. Our hopes are high for this brand new 2006.
Persuasion, the Sheryl Crow paradox, and Antonella’s yogurt rule
I am reading The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg (have you noticed how I always talk about books before I finish reading them? And BTW, thanks to Jared Spool and Kyle Pero for the book suggestion). By “consulting” Weinberg means “how to convince others that you can help them and how to be successful in helping them”. The book is quite entertaining and has some good insights on the art of persuasion and self-promotion.
I have a couple of ideas on how to address consulting challenges, too. Weinberg has a kick for breakfast food analogies (e.g., the law of raspberry jam, the orange juice test, and so on), so I came up with my very own Antonella’s Yogurt Rule. Before I introduce the Yogurt Rule, though, let’s step back for a moment and discuss the Sheryl Crow paradox. Read more »
Google Earth
I learned from Derek at PenMachine that Google finally released the Mac version of Google Earth, so I downloaded it and played with it for a while last night.
OMG! I visited Katy in California (I could even see her old red car parked outside the garage), the Google Campus in Mountain View, looked at my house (of course), went to see my sister and my mom in Rome, visited Barcelona, Spain, the Republican Palace in Bagdad and the Red Square in Moscow. I spent hours traveling the world.
Earth looks so small, so beautiful, and so one. You can hold the world on the palm of your hand and look at it in wonder. At the same time, there is something unsettling in these beautiful images. There are no people on Google Earth.
Where the resolution is higher–for example, the Google Campus–you can see cars, and even tables and chairs. But no people. It feels like the post-nuclear San Francisco portrayed in On the Beach.
So, Google Earth made me feel existential and strongly environmentalist. Please, let’s keep Earth alive. Let’s keep it full of people, animals, and plants. Let’s take good care of her and us.
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