Voyage of discovery

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust,

Seneca: hankering after more

"It is not the man who has too little who is poor but the one who hankers after more." Seneca

Hamlet's Blackberry Notes

"To lead happy, productive lives in a connected world, we need to master the art of disconnecting." p. 6

talking about Plato's Phaedrus "In a busy world, path to depth & fulfillment begins with distance.

"It is not the man who has too little who is poor but the one who hankers after more." Seneca

Unnecessary interruptions & recovery time take 28% of the avg worksday. p. 60

***Like Seneca's idea of finding one new idea to fully consider per day: After running over a lot of different thoughts, pick out one to be digested thoroughly that day. This is what I do myself; out of the many bits I have been reading I lay hold of one.">>considering how to do this myself...what would be a good practice for doing this...a daily entry?

Also talks around this point of the "finding flow" concept. >>I would also add the practice of "bracketing" to be able to block out distractions and focus...some of this is a matter of discipline & priority I'd say.

***My thoughts about how I pursue depth & balance

• Start the day with poetry or other reflective reading (from a book!)
• Keep Brendan company while he eats breakfast--don't be behind the screen unless there is a major pressing deadline!
• Exercise goals:5 times/week target; 4 minimum. (no screens!) Walking outside regularly is one of most important practices of disconnecting.
• Re-commit to our Sunday offline day.
• Increase book reading/decrease web reading (especially random post dinner web surfing w/o goals). (possibly increase newspaper subscription?)
• More times when email & Twitter are off for focused tasks
• Weekly blogging for work; more frequent personal blogging (i.e. more in depth writing as opposed to thinking Twitter is covering my idea sharing). More in depth consideration of ideas/ issues.
• Build in more book reading time during day while Brendan is up for role modeling.

Communication tools/technically boring

Communication tools don't get socially interesting until they get technically boring. Clay Shirky

what are we busy about?

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Thoreau #quotes

draft week in review

Wow, there was a lot happening in the social capital world this week! Granted, our mission has us interested in a wide range of subject areas; but this week seemed particularly chock-full of relevant stories and studies. So I'm got to start early on my resolution to blog more regularly, and recap the top stories I came across this week.

Walkable Cities & Social Capital A recent University of New Hampshire study found that more walkable cities have higher social capital--this article recaps the study nicely. I suppose it's no big surprise that walking around one's neighborhood would build social capital--greeting familiar faces and maybe even stopping to chat. However, it's always nice to have our guesses confirmed with data! Those of us in the Boston area can thus take heart that placing high on the list of most walkable cities--it's good for our social capital and our health!

Census Trends & Resources An interesting NY Times article "Census Data Shows Immigrants Making a Path to the Suburbs"

survey on US views on diversity & more

US gets a "C" for addressing racial prejudice in this survey full of interesting info http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/usa-networks-new-united-or-divided-poll-shows-americans-believe-racial-ethnic-political-divisions-are-worse-than-just-a-year-ago-111547664.html @ansinanser #socialcapAC

Also has data on bullying

tips from Eric Andersen

Thanks for asking, @socialcap my profile at @oneforty has the list of Twitter tools I use and I've rated: http://j.mp/gaSc0r

@socialcap I've used @tweetbackup to archive tweets - and twapperkeeper for specific hashtag streams

Gotta make things happen

Main character in Richard Russo's That Old Cape Magic

"Part of the reason he'd so passive at his daughter's wedding was his profound sense that something was supposed to happen there; all he had to do was be patient and recognize the moment when it arrived. Today, though, he knew better. The only things things that are supposed to happen are the things you made happen."