I think I know something about the human race that most have not figured out.
We do not do well with space.

I’m not talking about the outerspace.
I’m not talking about hardrive space.

I’m talking about our own personal space. The space of our time.

Humans do not do well when we have tons of open space.

How do I know this?
Because I use to have all the space one could ask for.

About five months ago I was a free-lance web designer who was single, lived alone, and had no responsibilities. I didn’t have a boss, I didn’t have any time commitments, and I didn’t have a set routine. I had the space to do whatever I wanted.

I say about five months ago because that all changed when I decided to take a full-time job. Suddenly my space decreased to the size of my studio apartment. I had very little.

That one shift, from free-lance to full-time, taught me the idea that we do not do well with space.

Think back to the last time you were free to do whatever you wanted to do for a minumum of two hours. What did you do with that time? If you are like me, all the plans of accomplishment that you thought would happen within those hours didn’t happen.
In fact you probably at one point said “where did the time go?”

This idea of more time is often the myth that most people buy into. If only I had more time to do blank. If I just had a couple more hours in the day I could get blank done. The idea of more space is often the very thing that subtracts from doing anything at all.

When I lost my space of freedom everything changed.
I had to get more creative, more focused, more intentional, and more dedicated to the things I wanted to create in my space of time.
This shrinking of space that took place in my life caused me to “cut the fat” of my work and start producing the meat of what I wanted to accomplish all along.

So you say you are busy, that you do not have any time, well I guess you are one of the lucky ones that now has the ability to do your best work in the little space that you have.

Charles Dickens said “There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish; The thing is to do as much as you can in the time that you have”

Like most humans we all struggle with the space of time, but only you can control what you fill your space with. The opportunity to work on this space could be the very thing that allows you to accomplish more then you could ever imagine. It all comes down to how you choose to see your space of time.

This post was inspired by the Luminous Project. Luminous is an event in Nashville for creatives on May 9-11, 2012. To find out more, check out luminousproject.com. You can use the promo code ‘luminousLOVE’ to get 30% off the ticket price.

All this language about shipping can be confusing, at least to me. Maybe more overwhelming then confusing, shipping seems to be grandiose idea of making great stuff. When really it is a decision to just do the work. You ever wonder what are some things you could ship? (in a non FEDEX or UPS way)

You could decide to ship…

• A blog post every day.
• 800 words on paper every day.
• One new creative idea.
• 25 minutes reading a book.
• 30 minutes on the treadmill.
• One conversation with an old friend.
• A home cooked meal.
• 25 pushups.
• A hand written letter.
• A difficult conversation.
• Make a cup of tea.
• Start a new diet.
• Email your favorite author or blogger for an interview.
• 15 minutes of meditating in silence.
• A scavenger hunt around your city.
• A photo a day. (A PSD a day)
• One less refresh of twitter or a facebook.

Often the temptation of shipping is to focus on the biggest scale rather then focusing on the everyday. Think about the last time you shipped something that weighed over ten or twenty pounds. That probably cost you more then you wanted to pay. Why? Because of the weight, UPS or FedEx had to treat what you were shipping differently. It had its own special delivery. Just like shipping something that is big cost you more then you want to spend, shipping a big project will cost you as well.

Focus on shipping every day and before you know it the amount you can ship will get bigger.

What would you add to the list?

*kyle

Nothing. The simple answer is this absurdity does not happen. Why? Because we know that firemen put out fires. They do not make traffic stops, get in gun fights or eat donuts. Instead they focus on keeping people safe from fire.

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What happens when every day people start to write? An oddity occurs. The oddity of personal passion and public pursuit. The desire to share something but also the desire to be known for sharing something. It can quickly shift from personal to public. The oddity occurs when we start to downplay personal passion and focus on public pursuit.

Part of the problem with living in the information age is that we can watch videos, read books, and even see traffic stops in action, but it doesn’t make us a cop. We just become pretenders with no real authority.

The draw to take shortcuts to notoriety never works. It is an imitation that will quickly be found out. It requires starting every day and realizing that it is a slow burn, your motives start to shift and the pressure starts to cease.

Seth Godin was asked recently about this post and it’s origin. His answer was that it took him 20 hours to finish the post. What seemed to be something that he sat down one morning and scribbled out a list post of ideas to gain traffic in reality took him 20 hours total of writing, editing, and refining.

Julien Smith was asked about this post and said that it took him weeks to write and edit. Even to the point of stressing over which italics to use on certain words. What was a post that certain led to a lot of change for a lot of people was something meticulously crafted for weeks. Not something he wrote before he went to bed the night before.

Sometimes things are not always as they seem. 

The reason firefighters focus on putting out fires and not arresting people is because they do not have the time to focus on both. They have the task of knowing everything they can about fires and how to prevent them. You have the task of being faithful to your craft, letting it breathe, and being true to your calling. Realizing that just because it seems that the people you admire seem to put out great content overnight but really work hours to refine their craft is one of the first steps in this process.

Focus on your fire and do the work.

Monday’s are always bittersweet. For most they hang on the shoulders as a burden. The weekend is over, time to go back to work and time to face all the challenges that come with Monday.

More conflict.
More drama.
More uncertainty.
More denial.
More bitterness.
More depression.
More doubt.
Monday does not always present itself in the greatest way.

But what if Monday represented a whole lot more?

Opportunity.
Opportunity to grow.
Opportunity to learn.
Opportunity to develop relationships.
Opportunity to seize the day.

Monday does represent more. Monday starts another chance to grab opportunity.
It comes down to which opportunities you will take.

If you looked at my internet history from yesterday you would wonder why I spent so much time on urbanoutfitters.com and forever21.com women’s sections. Trust me, I was wondering the same thing. But the reason my internet history seems odd was that I was putting the finishing touches up on gifts for my sisters. I am one of millions of Americans who does all their christmas shopping online. And with the final purchase of that leather jacket for my sister, Christmas 2011 shopping was done.

As you can image, when you are searching the internet for deals and gifts, you have some time to think. Whether it be what you want to eat for dinner, why your hands are always so cold, or how many cups of coffee you have had today, sometimes your mind wonders. This particular time of searching for Christmas gifts my mind wondered to what this Christmas would be like…

Opening presents
Eating a big breakfast
Fire crackling in the fireplace
Coffee
NBA basketball
Eating Christmas ham
All the things that I love

But as I thought more about the true spirit of Christmas I could not help but see it captured in Christmas eve tradition of eating chinese food after attending Christmas eve service with my family. Or waking up early on Christmas day to check what is under the tree. Or spending the entire day with just your family, no schedule, no agenda, just family. My mind continued to go to what mattered the most, celebrating with those you love.

So as I searched the women’s section online trying to find that last minute deal for my sisters, I could not help but think about another Christmas where I get to spend it with family.

Do you have any Christmas day traditions?

This post is a part of a series “the 12 blogs of Christmas” from World Vision.
Check out the other post here

*kyle

I think we could all list out thousands of reasons why we love twitter.
I live where I live because of twitter.
I have the job I have because of twitter.
I have the friends I have because of twitter.
I date the girl I date because of twitter

You get the point.

But there is one side of twitter that we see everyday but don’t necessarily like to talk about. It is the side that allows us to see into others lives.

You might be wondering, isn’t that the point of twitter? Yes, it is, but to a certain limit. You see, 5 years ago I did not call up 80 of my closest friends and tell them that I got a new job. I didn’t call everyone in motorola razor address book and tell them who I was hanging out. My network was not at my fingertips. The only thing I could control was myself.

That changes things. It changes things because now a days you can be anyone you want through social media. You can give people access to your life, create a persona, or put the best you forward. Before, you couldn’t control what others saw. You had to have dignity, honor, respect and integrity. That wasn’t earned through a ReTweet and it wasn’t earned through having blog readers. It was simple earned by your actions.

Twitter is great, but when it turns into a broadcasting tool for yourself it turns bad.

I LOVE soccer…I mean LOVE it. The loss Sunday was tough for the USA Woman’s team. But it got me thinking about Hope Solo, anyone remember this comment she made in 2007?

“It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that,” she said. “There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it’s not 2004 anymore. … It’s 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can’t live by big names. You can’t live in the past. It doesn’t matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that’s what I think.”

That’s Hope Solo RIPPING her coach about not putting her in, and saying she could of saved the goals…. well fast forward to 2011…. she didn’t. (Think of how less she would be embarrassed if she went to the coach in private?) Now she might be right, and the coach might be wrong. I know that I have said STUPID things in the past. In fact what I’m about to talk about, I have learned from experience myself and I tink this can really apply to 20 somethings as well.

1. What you say could be right, but HOW you say it and WHEN say can make it 100% WRONG.

-Yes what Hope said could be 100% right, but how she said it and WHEN she said it makes it 100% wrong. This is something I have learned, I use to be a HOT head…. I mean HOOOOOTTTT head. But God has taught me that even though what I said might be right, I was wrong because I was doing it in angry at the time. Think about the HOW and WHEN.

2. Learn the art of “shutting your mouth”.

-It’s hard but this will save you from things you will regret in the future. I have words I wish I could’ve had back. When in doubt, THINK, and take some time before opening your mouth.

3. Dealing with people is a ART, and takes TIME.

-Dealing with people in the right way takes TIME to learn, and time = age. One has to grow in wisdom before knowing the right way to deal with people. Also learning from people who are good with people is very helpful. Study these people and learn!

4. Talk in Private.

-After you have had time to cool down, and get some wisdom. Bring up whats bothering you! Go to the person, don’t be a wimp! But do it in private!

Hope these simple tips will help you have less regret and gain in wisdom…. I’m learning right with you!