After five hours posting the previous post on the Next Edge, I got no replies and I was ready preparing a filure summary. But then a few people responded, and people actually to the time to read the post. Gasp! Splutter! Cough! One person was considering offering their time free, and another wrote a post offering his services completely free and invited anyone to call on him. Marvellous. I did mention in the ensuing comments that it was all about timing, how people turn this into a positive cycle.
Meanwhile, on other posts, people were talking about collaboration, about offering help, and even today a spew of posts are to do with gift-giving, and people quoting Gibran, about the greatest gift being yourself. The contrast is incredibly palpable. Those who talk, and those who do. It is amazing. Of course, these people who talk are doing, it is just that they are doing somewhere else.
A few days later, it has died, as far as I know. The influence lingers, a few posts pop up, and I have been mentioned positively, which is nice, and some small forms of collaboration being offered. But the experiment has died. It didn't help that when Suresh was asked about his long-term objectives, he responded that he was busy in the real world and needed to attend to things and he'd be back. We shall see. If you remember, it was Suresh who took it to the plate, who was the original person to offer 4 hours of his time, albeit on the condition that another's project aligned to his long-term goals. As far as I am concerned, as Curtis also implicitly suggests, our long-term goals are the same. What differs are our strategies. And clearly, all this talk of gifts and alignment and flocking, is harder to manifest than it looks. Even I haven't taken up Curtis' offer of his help. It runs contrary to our sense of independence, and it also demands that we define as carefully as we can the kind of help we need.
It's been interesting. It is not the end, but... it has faded away somewhat. It didn't catch, let's say, we didn't flock. Ho well.
I've had some further ideas about Harding, though they are more closely related to zero and one and their significance in maths, so I shall put that on the XQ blog.
The other day I swam from the rock, to the neighbouring pier, then across the bay, the same bay of Santa Cruz that the competition was held. The total is distance covered was just over 4km, and my time was one hour and a half. This isn't bad, considering the stops I made. The 4km competition is held in a week.
Today I was going to conduct the swim to Santa Cruz from Machico, 10km return. I took the day off yesterday. Trouble was, I had a slight twinge in my shoulder, so I decided to return at 1.5km, and I was glad because it was against the waves. The strange thing is, once you get a rhythm going against the waves, your attention is taken up, or the whole body is used in a more energetic way, that it feels better, and I end up putting more into the pull, and yet I don't tire. So the last km back to Machico felt good, so good that when I came out and found that the 3km has been done in the hour, I decided to go for another km. No twinge. What's that about? It is as if going against the waves brings out the best me. I felt really good at the end of it, not tired at all. Could do it all again.
Perhaps I missed an opportunity? Perhaps I should have just pushed on? But then again, it wasn't that sunny. And I'd rather do the long journey when it is super-pleasant. Fair-weather swimmer, me. Would be nice to have a partner, I'm sure I'd do it then
2 responses:
Disappointing response. I know you always want to do things like right now, and I find i'm trying to slow you down. I've no doubt you're right in your perception about the dying of this initiative, but it does bring to my mind something about our relationship to time. In my world, things happen, but it usually takes a bit of time to build the alliances, get the resources, clarify expectations then make it happen. I know time is an idea which you've played with a lot... Any illuminations you can spread here?
my experience is that these things happen contguously... or they don't :) it will happennsometime, but not around this space-time... i have not taken the slow strategic approach, my peers who have are in much better positions, eg you with family and career, or those who are more on the edge... they have the network, and they are wise enough to connect with other networks... nope, to be alone, with no credentials at my age is too much, for mainstream, and for the established alternative currents... ho hum
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