no talent in me?
then let the world ignore me
darkness and alone

does my light not shine?
let nothing at all be mine
i will be alone

prison of my mind
sitting in bleak sands of time
sitting in nothing

Yet…

even in darkness
i remember light divine
purpose dwells within

i release myself
from that dark prison of mine
newness will begin

opening my eyes
one heart begins a new shine
and we all join in

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I consider prose to be a function of the left or logical reasoning part of the brain. I consider poetry to be a function of the right or creative part of the brain. Therefore, I’ve decided to interpret my experience of the 2nd show in poetry, a series of haiku to be precise.

—

The Fragile Army

Once again in line
Around another time for
Mental cabaret

Closer to the stage
All sing loud with Gustafer
“I am from the Sun”

Watch as Tim holds high
The Polyphonic Songbook
And we sing Christmas

After Christmas songs
“We Crawl” music video
Tim and Julie glad

Ribbon up again
Scissors cut expectantly
And the band explodes

Singing arm in arm
Light and smoke interplay to
Onstage violet haze

Tim calls all onstage
Pure delight in the limelight
Beyond harmony

— — —
Check out all of the photos from this event in the 7th Annual Holiday Extravaganza 1st Show album and 7th Annual Holiday Extravaganza 2nd Show. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

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Concert Day - Morning

On the day of the concert, I awoke later than I hoped because I had been invited to a fantastic dinner the night before. I got to bed a bit later than planned, and today was an important day. Today was the day of the 7th Annual Holiday Extravaganza featuring The Polyphonic Spree, and this year there would be 2 shows in a row, though I didn’t know it yet.

After I made a quick breakfast, I began exploring the area on a bike that had been lent to me during the trip. When amidst new surroundings, getting to know one’s area is very important. Thankfully, the Lakewood Theater was easy to find, and even though it was early afternoon, people were already lining up. Not wanting to miss any of the action, I biked back and got my camera and jacket. By the time I returned, the line had stretched partway around the block, but there was still plenty of time.

The Line
From talking to people in line, I soon realized that many had come from all over the country to be here. Some came from Georgia, Colorado, or even Florida to see the show. In fact, later that night I met someone all the way from Australia! I then found out that there were going to be 2 shows that night, and apparently the ticket I got online was for the first show. I was surprised, partly because Ticketmaster made no mention of a second show that night, but mostly because The Polyphonic Spree had never, in their entire history, done 2 shows in one night before. Because each show had 2 sets of songs, this would mean 4 sets total and over 4 hours of live music. Naturally, I was glad… until someone told me they might be sold out, but I held out hope.

The line continued to move, and soon the Lakewood Theater pillar towered over us. When we reached the stage area, the atmosphere was of charged anticipation. Hundreds of people were excited and the Christmas feeling abounded. Onstage the opening act, Gustafer Yellowgold, was already playing. Gustafer Yellowgold is an interesting act that features uplifting songs about life and is geared somewhat for children though many adults also enjoy the purity of the music. I encourage you to check them out for yourself at their website.

Joy to the World

Soon Gustafer handed the stage over to The Polyphonic Spree, and Tim, the leader of The Polyphonic Spree, invited all of the children onstage to sing with the band. Dozens of kids ranging in ages from 5 to 18 came up onstage, most wearing red and some even wearing Santa hats. The band began with ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ and followed it up with a very rockin’ rendition of ‘Little Drummer Boy’, and the kids enjoyed it very much. With Confetti and white balloons dancing in the air, the Christmas set ended with a jolly ‘Joy to the World’, and just as quickly as they had appeared, the band left the stage to prepare for the rock set that was to come.

A Red Heart

About 20 minutes later, we began to hear the sounds of intro music. Toward front of the stage, there was now a short, but very wide, red curtain set up obscuring the view of most of the instruments.

Suddenly scissors poked through the curtain from behind and slowly began cutting out some type of shape. After a few moments, the shape began to look like a heart, and the heart shape fell revealing Tim holding the scissors. As the music approached a fever pitch, Tim began cutting upwards until finally the curtain was cut in half and fell as music exploded into the room. The whole band was suddenly revealed as they burst into the opening lines of ‘Running Away’, the first song on their latest album.

We Sound Amazed

What transpired thereafter can scarcely be put into words as I, along with the crowd, were swept up in a whirlwind of excitement and melodic ecstasy. It was a truly incredible performance: a cello was played upside down and still sounded amazing, the band was completely energized, and the climax of the show was incredible and ineffable as usual. Afterward there were even free vegan cookies made by fans of the band. These devoted fans of the band, known as Spreebs, are quite an amazing bunch. Some of them make cookies for the Holiday Extravaganza every year and many helped decorate the theater earlier that day.

I emerged from the polyphonic sound with my head buzzing with energy. As may have become obvious by now, being present at a Polyphonic Spree show is not an experience that can be adequately described with words.

Night had already fallen, and I remembered that when I had first entered the theater, a fan told me there were still tickets available for the second show. I considered whether I wanted to do it all again. What was I thinking? I realized I definitely wanted to give it another go, and got back in line. I’m so glad I did, because the second show had new surprises in store.

— — —
Check out all of the photos from this event in the 7th Annual Holiday Extravaganza 1st Show album and 7th Annual Holiday Extravaganza 2nd Show. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

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Six years ago, I created a 3D scene in which a crescent-shaped island sat in a calm blue sea. I came across the crescent shape somewhat by accident as I was playing around with Bryce’s modeling tool. The island shape felt intuitively correct for me, and I soon discovered that any alterations I attempted only seemed to reduce the attractiveness of the island’s shape. I named this scene Crescent Island and have been using it as a desktop wallpaper off and on for six years.

Two years later, I began experimenting with the idea of a nighttime version of Crescent Island, but I never achieved a scene that felt intuitively correct for me. Then, a few days ago I came across some of the original Bryce 3D scene files for some of my earlier wallpapers. The file called “Crescent Night” seemed to be calling out to me to finish the task I had started, and then shelved, four years before. But this time things felt different, and I decided to delve in again.

Fresh Perspective

Back then, I had been experimenting with placing orbs into the side of the island, but the lighting was not placed in an aesthetic way and gave the orbs an unattractive shadow. Since 4 years had passed since I had looked at this project, these glaring errors jumped out at me at once, and I began reinterpreting my old intention – creating a night scene in a more realistic light. In a way, this is an extreme version of what I talked about in How to Renew Your Perspective in 5 Steps, but usually 4 years is not required to gain a fresh perspective on a scene such as this. Although I do wonder if the wallpaper wasn’t being looked over far far in the back of my mind for the past 4 years and my mind was simply waiting for the opportunity to unleash these new ideas.

Unexpected Surprise

Once I had correctly lit the scene, Bryce produced an unexpected surprise. A pleasant reflection of the island was created in the water, and the overall texture of the water was even more vivid than the original scene I had created 6 years before. Positioning the stars in the sky in a pleasing way was the trickiest part of creating Crescent Nightfall, but after literally dozens of tries the effort was worth it. Then later, I discovered that the stars reflection on the water looked more like dust on the screen than stars reflecting in an ocean and found a way to smooth out this effect in Photoshop. Following that, I had to invent a way to create a fullscreen version without creating a moon that looked like it was on a diet. All of these situations reminded me of one of the Great Truths I’ve discovered about art:

Persistence distinguishes a highly creative person from a person with just another good idea. Without persistence, how can we achieve our highest potential?

Persistence paid off and after 9.5 hours of render time and still more hours spent refining in Photoshop, I present: Crescent Nightfall. Checkout the widescreen and fullscreen sizes.

Why have 7 orbs been built into the island? Who built them? What is their purpose? I’ll leave those answers up to you. Enjoy!

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Downtown Station

The downtown train station didn’t consist of much more than a track, an elevated platform, and some ticket machines. Soon after I arrived, a train stopped heading the opposite direction. And since no advertising space is ignored in the 21st century, the entire train was covered in one huge advertisement for broadband internet. However, this actually may have made the train look better than normal because the ad sported some flashy flames on a green background, making it the most eye-catching form of public transportation I would ride during the entire adventure. Soon my own train arrived, and I didn’t miss the opportunity to shoot some video of the quick trip to the Minneapolis International Airport.

To the Gates We Go

Just twenty minutes later, I was standing underground in the airport station. After heading up two long escalators, I found myself in a smaller room with tram doors on both sides. Apparently the only way to get to the airport gates from here was to take a small tram. I soon discovered that the small tram had no driver and was completely automated. I entered, somewhat apprehensively, into the seatless steel box that was to take me a few hundred meters north to the airport gates.

日本語, English, and Modern Air Travel

The first thing I noticed about the airport were the signs. Along with English, everything was also written in Japanese. I wondered if this airport received enough Japanese-speaking visitors to feel the need for Japanese signs, something rather strange for the United States midwest. However I later found out that the airport serviced nonstop flights to Tokyo, so I suppose the signage is justified.

I continued through the usual rigamarole that is modern air travel: removing shoes, emptying my pockets, answering ironic questions about my identity, etc. Because I wasn’t checking any luggage and carrying all of my possessions onto the plane, I got to send every last one of my questionable possessions through the scanning machines. I even got to place all of my personal hygiene products into a zip lock bag, which still strikes me as absurd.

Secure Business

When I finally arrived at the secure zone (i.e. place where the airport allows businesses to sell overpriced coffee and useless trinkets), I noticed a few amusing developments. Firstly, I didn’t realize that shoe shining was still popular, but apparently it’s popular enough because an entire space had been reserved for just this task. I, however, was happy with the state of my shoes and secretly suspected that they would disintegrate if shining was attempted.

But it gets better.

Beside the shoe shining booth was a lottery outlet or what I like to call: Minnesota State Lottery’s last attempt to take your money. I wondered if any of them actually thought they would ever win since there’s a better chance they would get struck by lightning. Who knows, lightning might be more fun anyway.

An Accessory to Shopping

Nearby was something that probably shouldn’t exist. In front of me was what I can only describe as an iPod vending machine. Yes, one could slide their card through and purchase an iPod or an iPod accessory from this completely automated kiosk. At this point I realized that in some sad way, airport mini-malls are an exaggerated reflection of current American culture. I also wondered who would want to spend time filling up an iPod with music at an airport or how many people even could.

Someday You’ll Find It

Having had my fill of people-watching, I continued down to what I dubbed “The Rainbow Connection” concourse. I even arrived at the gate in time to see my plane land. When I went to sit down onboard the plane, I soon realized that I had received the worst seat possible. Thankfully I soon realized one seat was completely vacant, and I wouldn’t have to sit in the no-legroom section after all. A big thanks to the flight attendant whose name I can’t remember who was so nice and pointed out that I could sit in that far better spot!

Landing Never Comes Soon Enough

There then followed the usual excitement of takeoff, the breathlessness of the wheels leaving the ground, and the subsequent boredom of being trapped in a metal tube with a hundred or so other poor souls for over an hour. I tried to pass the time by reading, but time always seems to slow down in that small space of the cabin.

When I landed in Dallas, I wondered what Texans called this season, because I wasn’t surrounded by winter anymore: there was GREEN.

— — —
Check out all of the photos from this event in the Minneapolis Library & Train album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

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On 2007 Dec 15, I awoke to a clear bright morning. For breakfast, I made myself some oatmeal and added some sliced bananas. Today I would be catching my flight to Dallas and had to be wise with my time.

Travelling light was of great value to me that day because once I left my friend’s apartment, I had to haul everything I had wherever I went — there would be no time to return.

Wandering is Good

I caught a bus into downtown, near the train station. When I arrived, I discovered that I was well ahead of schedule, and did what I normally do when I’m in the middle of a large, vibrant city with time on my hands: I wandered. Wandering is a valuable tool in the traveller’s arsenal because it allows spontaneity to enter into the trip and always produces surprises. I didn’t have to wander too far to find something of interest. Just a couple blocks north, I discovered the Minneapolis Public Library. It’s architecture was incredibly ambitious, wielding a huge angular roof overhanging the entrance.

After taking this opportunity to photograph a few other interesting pieces of architecture within view, I made my way inside the towering library. Inside, I was greeted with the sight of a long, tall hall spanning the library’s 4 levels, complete with two glass elevators. Before I did anything else, I walked to the opposite end of the expansive hall to get a photo from the other direction: this architecture seemed begging to be photographed.

Robot Shelves

Passing the entrance to the library’s colorful children’s area, I walked up to the front desk and asked for a map. Through talking with the librarian, I learned about strange moving shelves designed to save space. I had been to large libraries before, but had never seen this. He showed me a room filled with moving book shelves that were controlled by 3 buttons on the front of each shelf. Apparently they had been doing this for some time, and I wondered if libraries would be completely robotic someday.

No Athena To Be Found

I decided to ride one of the glass elevators up to the second floor, which was disappointingly very similar to the first floor, except on this floor there was a dignified wooden arch over a glass door, which was locked. Beside the arch, it read “The Minneapolis Athenaeum”. I had never even heard of an athenaeum, so it’s possible you haven’t either. An athenaeum is a specialized library used for literary or scientific study, and it sometimes requires special membership, such as this one did. I peered through the glass and saw nothing especially photo-worthy.

When I arrived at the north side of the library I was greeted with a spectacular view of… a slightly snow covered parking lot. In the distance was a clock tower; and through the magic of a 10x optical zoom lens I was able to snap a decent shot of the clock tower, which, according to my own clock, was actually 3 minutes slow.

Unfireplace

I continued wandering the vast library, and found what I’d like to call an “unfireplace”. An unfireplace is something that looks like a fireplace, but where there should be fire or at the very least wood, there are only rocks. Above the unfireplace was what I can only describe as a wreath of 12 small violins. Yet time was running short, and I had to catch a train soon. I headed back down on a glass elevator, swung the glass door open, and my feet hit the street once more.

It was time to take a train ride.

How has wandering helped you lately?

— — —
Check out all of the photos from this event in the Minneapolis Library & Train album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

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A golden statue of exquisite detail held its fingers in a peculiar way, and behind her a cold winter landscape shone through large windows. This particular statue was in the image of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. A bodhisattva is a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others. Created during the Sung Dynasty, the statue was nearly 1000 years old, and it seemed to contain a hidden meaning that was lost by being in a western museum.

Where was I to see such a statue? I was standing inside a truly vast fine arts museum: the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I had walked here through a cold wind and past tired neighborhoods. This museum ranked one of the top locations to see while in Minneapolis so I was grateful to be within walking distance. When I opened the museum’s large glass doors, a blanket of warm air surrounded me, and after grabbing a small map, I began to surround myself with things of the past.

The Sunburst

The Sunburst caught my eye first. Being a huge, yellow, blown-glass structure hanging from the ceiling, the Sunburst created by Dale Chihuly in 1999 seemed to infuse creativity into the very space that surrounded it. Later I was surprised to find out that it weighed approximately 3,000 pounds — over 1,300 kilograms, and after exploring the area around the Guan Yin statue, I headed over to the Sunburst again. Now that I was on the second floor, I could photograph it more closely.

The Vast Museum

Satisfied, I continued wandering through the museum. As I wandered, the museum seemed to go on forever and I began to realize how vast it truly was. Later, I learned that the campus stretches across 8 acres of land and features an encyclopedic collection of approximately 80,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world history. In one afternoon, one can only scratch the surface on a place so vast.

Not far from the glass sculpture, I entered a Garden Room where a Chinese rock garden stood with huge, perforated limestone rocks from the Chiang-nan region of China. A sign inside the room explained that these towering T’ai-hu stones represent The Great Mountains of the Universe. The entire room seemed to radiate serenity and peace, and the stones felt ageless. The museum had even fashioned a kind of stone doorway into the Garden.

Ancient Artifacts

Continuing on, I found some truly ancient works of art, including a statue of Doryphoros, the Spear Bearer. This was the finest of the four surviving Roman copies of the original bronze statue by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos. Standing next to Doryphoros, one can almost feel how ancient it is, communicating its age of over 2000 years. If only it still had its left arm…

Probably the oldest object I saw that day was the Egyptian False Door which was over 4000 years old. In Egyptian culture, a false door was the portal through which the ka, the immortal spirit of the deceased, could pass through to partake of offerings left by priests. This false door came from the cemetery area west of the great pyramid of Ghiza near Cairo.

According to the sign next to it, the inscriptions on the false door commemorate Lector Priest Iry-en Akhet, and list ritual prayers to the gods Osiris and Anubis to facilitate his voyage to the afterlife. Apparently repetition was important in Egyptian culture because Iry’s name is repeated countless times to ensure the survival of his ka in the world beyond. While looking at the photo of the door, it’s interesting to remember that, along with most Egyptian sculpture, the door was once painted in brilliant colors.

Inexplicable Art

Around this time, I discovered more and more abstract and inexplicable art. I continued wandering from room to room, and the rooms connected in strange ways. Many rooms had more than two entrances and the entire museum seemed to flow through itself, which may explain why 3 minutes later, I found myself looking at dark, abstract sculptures by internationally renowned Japanese sculpture Hayashi Yasuo – forms that seem to ooze around one’s mind.

Then, from a distance, possibly 3 rooms away, I saw a orange neon light. When I arrived, I realized that I was looking at quite a unique piece of art, a strange shadow figure with an orange light behind it. This untitled piece by Ernest Whiteman was created out of black steel and a single neon light. The contrast between the black steel and orange neon glow was a powerful effect and seemed to deeply want my attention.

Nearby, I spotted another unorthodox piece called Dancing Shards by Ta-coumba Aiken and Peter Jadoonath, who incidentally have some fascinatingly futuristic names. This piece, made of wood, ceramic, and iron reminded me of sea-faring nations who had their ships dashed against the rocks. Certainly thought-provoking piece.

The next piece was so large that I had to stand back rather far to photograph the entire piece. Yet it contained small details that were playful and expressionistic, as well; so I photographed the near and the far, slowly getting a wider and wider perspective until the entire painted cloth was visible in a single photo. This piece was created from 4 strips of pained cloth and seemed to relate the idea of creativity and balance, as it clearly borrowed from yin-yang symbolism. Of course, this piece will mean different things to different people, as all art does.

Just a minute later, I found myself in a room dedicated to bronze sculptures created by Peter Voulkos, who is considered the most influential ceramic artist of the 20th Century. The collection of bronze sculptures felt older than 40 years, and seemed to have an African and Mayan artistic influence. Being in a room full of bronze sculptures felt awkward for some reason, and I was glad to leave them behind.

Time to Go

I glanced at the clock and realized that I only had 9 minutes left before the museum closed. I continued onward, knowing that every minute counted. I quickly admired Lepine and Coteau’s Astronomical Mantel Timepiece — when suddenly it was time for the museum to close, and I had to figuratively return to my own time. I was thankful to have been able to come here, and looked forward to exploring the museum again. Perhaps I would return in 5 days when I returned to Minneapolis.

I exited through the museum’s side door and looked around. I was now in a small courtyard surrounded by buildings on three sides. I walked ahead to a building with a large circle embossed on the front of it. I surmised that this must be the Target building. By now it was beginning to get dark, and as I began heading back, I noticed ravens flying in the distance.

Tomorrow held more in store.

— — —
Check out all of the photos from this event in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

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I dedicate this poem to all travelling souls, and therefore all people on this planet, for in this life there is no place that man can permanently rest his head.

— — — — — — —

Come with me to the unseen,
A place where you have never been.
Where stars collide and birds rush by,
Where brave men fight for things and die,
Where women cry and children lie,
Where pain persists and all ask, “why!”

Experience these and so much more,
In such a place beyond this shore.
Into deep lands of ocean rock,
Behold a land where myst’ries flock,
And things will open if you knock,
All but a part of destined shock.

~

Be not afraid, young seeking mind,
For if you look, you’ll surely find,
Beyond that path, oft cruel, unkind,
Lies Shangri-La beyond mankind.
A life that many see maligned,
Through western lenses, so refined.

What path to choose, oh seeking soul?
What consider you to be your goal?
What in your heart do you define,
As truth so rare and so divine?
Is truth a feeling you design?
Or something more that others find?

~

Consider your life, oh restless soul,
Consider just what can make you whole.
Remember, truth springs beyond time,
Pouring from places, defined sublime,
Where angels weep for the men who lie,
Where helpers comfort women who cry –

Where guides are sent to those who die,
Where answers follow all the whys,
Where learning opens every eye,
Where stars are born and grow and shine –

I’ll meet you there,
I’ll take you there,
I’ll love you there,
Beyond our sky.

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When traveling, surroundings change constantly and can provide a constant combination of stress and inspiration. Since this magnifies any organizational problems you might have, it’s especially helpful to keep your life organized while on the move.

Optimizing the surroundings in your home and workspace is even more powerful because these environments can be refined and improved upon over time. Through smart arrangement of your surroundings you can:

1. Feel as if your living space is bigger (with the same amount of stuff)
2. Be more productive and at ease while working
3. Be more efficient in using and cleaning your equipment

Spring Cleaning

Around this time of year many people in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth practice the ageold tradition of spring cleaning. This practice probably dates back to the Persian new year which falls on the first day of Spring, but I didn’t want to wait so long. Around early January, I decided to completely reevaluate my workspace, and I’m so grateful that I did.

Commanding Position

Having read Steve Pavlina’s singular work “Creating a Productive Workspace”, I understood the importance of creating a commanding position for myself. If you’re not familiar, the concept is from feng shui and it basically states that being supported from behind and open in the front creates a feeling of security. In the back of your mind, if you think someone could approach you from behind at any time, you’re less at ease and therefore less productive — even if you have a locking door. (It’s a psychological and reptilian brain type-thing.) The primary strength of having a commanding position is knowing that no one can approach you from behind — you always know where to direct your attention: forward. Many executives arrange their offices in commanding position because of this.

At first thought, it may seem awkward to face the door, but don’t knock it till you try it. Like many powerful life hacks, having commanding position is something that should be experienced to be truly appreciated and evaluated. Simply reading about it isn’t nearly enough. If you actually try a commanding position, you won’t ever want to go back to the way it used to be.

Inspire your Workspace in 7 Steps

Before the beginning of this year, my workspace felt as if it was literally sucking energy from me. I had been feeling it for a while, like a stuffiness that wouldn’t dissipate. The layout was cramped and not efficient at all, but I didn’t realize how inefficient it really was until later. So, I decided to reorganize my environment to create a more peaceful, relaxing, and productive workspace. As I typically like to start from a clean slate, I decided to approach the room from a completely new perspective by starting from scratch. Here are the steps I took as I literally ripped apart my home office piece by piece:

1. Imagine the Ideal Outcome. (including commanding position)
   • It can be helpful to quickly sketch out a plan for the room
2. Prepare and Disassemble room.
   • Unplug all electrical cables
   • Clear any desks
   • Move any chairs to another room
   • The more you move out of the room, the easier it is to visualize a new arrangement
3. Clear an area and Place your first object
4. Observe room and Visualize intuitive placing for your next object.
5. Place your next object in the most natural place.
   • Don’t just pay attention to what it looks like.
   • Pay attention to what it feels like.
   • Most of feng shui boils down to this.
6. Repeat steps 4-5, until the remainder of your furniture is replaced.
   • Always give yourself the option to decide to throw something out
7. Reassemble and Reconstitute Room.
   • Bring any chairs back in
   • Test to see how functional they are in the new setup
   • Rewire room (which results in cleaner cable arrangement in the process)
   • Hope to God your network cables still reach. (Mine did. Yay!)

5 Tips for Computer Ergonomics

If you have a computer in your workspace (and I know you do), you should also know it’s very important for your long term health to have an ergonomic computer setup. Below I’ve compiled a short list of things to keep in mind to use your computer in healthy way:

1. Position your screen slightly below eye level.
2. Adjust your chair height so that your forearms and wrists are about desktop height when your elbows are at 90 degrees.
3. Use a footrest if your feet dangle.
4. Make sure your body, monitor, and keyboard form a straight line. (so you don’t have to turn your head to read your screen)
5. For the least stress on the eyes, place your monitor 45 to 60 cm (18 to 24 inches) away from your eyes, or farther if there’s room. (If necessary, enlarge your screen text size to compensate.)

(More information is available at Macworld Magazine.)

4 Tips for Workspace Lighting

Lighting your workspace properly is also critical; and unfortunately, many articles on workspace organization do not mention this. Here are some tips to keep in mind while lighting a room:

1. Shield your screen from direct sunlight!
   • Direct sunlight damages all kinds of equipment, including a screen
2. Avoid overhead light & light behind your screen
   • These are an eye strains and thus hurt productivity
   • Use lamps to either side of you instead
3. Avoid brightness extremes!
   • Working with a bright screen in a dark room strains the eyes. If you’re working in darkness, try dimming the brightness of your screen, which will be comfortable for a short while.
4. Try some task lights which generate quality light and reduce glare.

(More information at Sam’s article on Henawi.)

The Result: A Completely New Experience

Through this process I ended up throwing out some things I once thought I needed, and I was also able to assemble my desk into its complete L shape for first time. I expected the outcome of this product to change how my workspace felt to me, but the full magnitude of the change was surprising. I had no idea I could get more walking room and more desk space at same time. Being in a commanding position also contributes greatly to my peace of mind and seems to give me more energy. By reevaluating the arrangement of my workspace, taking into account a commanding position, ergonomics, and lighting, my workspace feels inestimably more empowering to work in now. And it only took me one afternoon.

You can do it!

I encourage you consider the possibility that you’re only using perhaps 10% of that space’s productive potential. Unless you experience it yourself, it’s hard to describe the feeling of relief one gets when being in a supportive and productive workspace. It’s inspiring and definitely improves the ease in which I am able to create quality content. Don’t deprive yourself of this feeling of relief and empowerment.

Why not at least draw up some plans on a napkin right now?

Post-publishing note: Thanks to The Carnival of Improving Life for including this article in their carnival.

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

~ Marcel Proust

The first time I heard this quote, it was spoken by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen at the end of one his podcasts. From the moment I heard Proust’s words, my view on travel changed forever. Proust, being one of the great 20th century French writers, understood that perception affects personal experience just as much as one’s location.

Applies to Travel

Applying this idea to the Art of Travel: as one travels from place to place, learning along the way, one is profoundly and permanently changed through new people, landscapes, and experiences. However, one soon realizes that the landscapes one finds oneself in directly reflect the traveller’s inner state. Travel becomes a magnificent mirror to the self that allows one to examine areas of one’s life and see gaps in one’s knowledge that perhaps were not apparent before. In this way, travel provides people with an opportunity to grow their sense of perception and become more aware of the true state of themselves and others.

Because this quote has continually showed up in my reality, I’ve created a small poster of it, and added it to the Byteful Gallery’s InspirationEverywhere album. There you’ll find many Inspirational & Motivational quote posters. You can print these out in places you will see them for a confidence boost every day. They can also be used as a desktop wallpaper.

Feel free to place Proust’s quote somewhere in your life to remind you to seek not just new landscapes but new eyes, as well.

Post-publishing note: Thanks to the Carnival of Quotes for including this article in their carnival.

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Roadblocks are Lessons

Let’s get to the point: Lately I’ve been battling with roadblocks to my own creativity. Creativity in general and this site in specific. It seems that whenever I want to sit down and finish writing the upcoming article about creating inspiring surroundings, I am somehow thrown off course. Of course, the slightly more hectic pattern of my life has served to put up plenty of roadblocks. In many ways, my life is in the midst of many subtle transitions, and it may take a while to calm down a bit. Well, perhaps “calm down” isn’t entirely correct. “Establish a new pattern” is actually quite more correct. (And yes “quite more” is now a grammatical construction. I invented it, and I can do that because English is colloquial.) Of course, this parallels the art of travelling, as well. When travelling, one inevitably encounters roadblocks and is sometimes thrown off course, but these challenges only serve as lessons to make us better people.

I asked myself: How does a person, seeking to benefit mankind in the best way possible through the use of his/her talents and unique abilities, best deal with roadblocks in one’s life? Should one feel guilty that they have roadblocks in the first place? Or are roadblocks simply a reflection of one not having completely mastered oneself yet?

Is there a larger pattern?

Over time, I’ve learned that the best way to deal with roadblocks is to SLOW DOWN and deal with each little life area one bit at a time — identifying the things that ought to be changed, the things that sap creative energy (i.e. ‘motivation’), and the things that fuel creative energy. For instance: clutter, arguments, and any kind of dissonance drains my motivation; but music with a positive vibe fuels my creativity. Of course, this is all common sense. The interesting part about this is that there may be a larger pattern here. Many creators on the net have seemed to slow down a bit recently, and taken pause. Perhaps this is anticipation for spring (in the Northern Hemisphere), perhaps it’s due to the SXSW conference… or perhaps it’s something more.

This time I’d like you, dear reader, to chime in on my rather unedited thoughts. Have you noticed any worldwide transitions lately? What do you do when roadblocks manifest in your own life? In the end, what could roadblocks teach us about our own perspective?

Now I must sleep to fight off a virus. I can’t wait to share with you what I have coming up next, but I’m going to take my time so it’s as good as it deserves to be. Thank you.

Post-Publishing note: A thank you to Lexi of the Carnival of Creative Growth and Pinkblocks blog for including this article in their carnivals.

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