Are we revolving around or depending on?

Iʻm a fan of technology but curious about the effects of our race becoming overteched.

Is technology inspiration over distraction? Creation over degradation?
Could it ever be possible to reclaim the idea of a "friend"?

Will we ever again appreciate the present while carrying the world-wide in our pocket?

Maybe weʻre advancing maybe weʻre digressing thatʻs not for me to day so long as weʻre redeeming along the way.

Maybe thatʻs why weʻre so drawn to places like Hawaii or Highway 46. Or why weʻre motivated on a Saturday morning to dig dirt and tend grass in our own backyards. Because thereʻs something more to the greens and browns, thereʻs something poetic and ethereal. The idea that weʻve been given something beautiful. That itʻs a gift to care for and to share. And to develop. And to give. So a robot can fight aliens. So a boy can play.

Information and entertainment are queued up and available at a momentʻs notice, relational connectivity surpassing our capacity to actually relate, the lightʻs always on. The present is missing. Boredom is dead.

Not everyone will care. Is there a reason to revert to present living? To take a chance with boredom once again?

Try this thought.

Think about when a childʻs removed from his/her toys and media outlets. What happens? Magic ensues. Well first maybe thereʻs a second or two of boredom but then thereʻs magic.

Boredomʻs actually a great creation catalyst.

Spaces are filled with swords and castles, floors become lava, stairs are mountains, doorways train stations. Characters? Just say the word itʻs done.
Iʻm Anakin. Now Iʻm Han. Now Iʻm Indiana Jones. Youʻre Chewbacca.

Given any time and space a child can create change.

Removing interference allows life to be what it is right then and there.

Consider your next free moments. Where do you want them to take you? Where are you going? Who do you want to be? Are you spending time watching and reading everyone elseʻs story and neglecting your own? Have some faith that there are plans written just for you and that maybe theyʻre waiting just on the other side of off.

Now Iʻm Obi-Wan, heʻs the best.

People are rapid information assessors. Not always correct. But rapid. Our brain is constantly passing judgment on information and determining value. Discerning whatʻs worth giving more attention to, more time. We do the same thing with people. Is that right? No, but we do it. And people do it to us.

So, here are the nine ways an audience will respond to online content.

How do you think people respond to the content you put out to the world or in other words, the way youʻre living your life? (note:all of humanity is of the utmost and equal value. this post is speaking to the value of our practices as they relate to the world around us. not the value of the person)

1. Spam: If your content does not provide a reasonable ROII (return-on-investment for an interaction) for the reader or is self-serving or simply useless, the reader will mark it as spam. Posting something that may be assessed, as “spam” is the fastest way to losing credibility.
2. Skip: The reader makes an assessment that he or she won’t lose much by reading it. In this case, the reader has not written you off yet but if you consistently create content that is worth “skipping,” the reader might write you off.
3. Scan: The reader thinks there are only a few parts that are of relevance and wants to get right to the core of the content and skip the rest.
4. Stop: The reader is touched by the article and stops to think about the article, it’s relevance and what it means to him or her personally and professionally.
5. Save: The content is so good that the reader might want to re-visit this multiple times.
6. Shift: The article is transformational. The reader is so deeply affected (in a positive way) by the article that it shifts some of their values and beliefs. In other words, this piece of writing will transform the reader and make him or her grow.
7. Send: The content is not only useful to the reader but also to one or more people in the reader’s network. The reader simply emails the article or a link to it to people that he or she cares.
8. Spread: The reader finds the article fascinating enough to spread it to anyone and everyone via a blog, twitter or the social networks that he or she belongs.
9. Subscribe: This is the ultimate expression of engagement and a vote of confidence that you will continue to provide great content. When the reader wants to continue listening to your thoughts, he or she will subscribe.

About the Author of the 9: Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. Rajesh maintains a blog at Life Beyond Code. You can also find him on Twitter at @UpbeatNow.

1. Day in and day out Starbucks and their employees are clear of the mission.
2. The mission incarnates daily whether or not the surrounding culture finds it trendy or is even aware of it.
3. Name, position and mission are all on the same card. (as if those things are interrelated...)
4. The mission is clearly supported by practical principles.
5. The mission is bold and progressive.
6. The mission experiences evolution and change.

(http://www.starbucks.com/mission/)

Most of us won't just drift into purpose, we have to pursue it. Without clarity of mission both personally and communally we're making a decsion to allow decsions to be made for us. Going with the proverbial flow. Life's too short to just drift.

Do you live by a mission statement? One that you'd put on the back of a card?

What about communally? Do you share a mission with your "tribe"?

As I released the cup and took a few steps away I thought to myself, "Iʻm still kind of thirsty." The sun was shining in its mid-day SoCal sort of way and another grande ice water sounded rather delicious. But now my cup was in the public trashcan. Enter a quick mini debate in my head and I resolved to turn back to the can and retrieve my cup rather than use another one only for it to eventually meet the same fate as the first.

As I turned and approached the green canister sitting smugly on the curb, a car pulled into the space directly in front of the receptacle and offered a challenge to my mission of retrieval. The woman driving the car looked at me curiously through the windshield of her black BMW and I stood frozen in a moment of indecision trying to find my cup with my eyes.

She didnʻt see me toss my cup in. What will she think if I reach in and pull one out?

I went for it. The cup was a way down requiring quite a bit of lean and stretch. I think the woman was closer than the cup. She was not amused.

It was an interesting exchange of life and an experience for me as I was looked at through the lens of a better than. I was ʻthat personʻ who fishes out of the waste of others. And now I stood in front of her in line en route to a refill for as someone who didnʻt buy anything in the first place.

I actually didnʻt mind.

It kind of felt like she did.