A Drop of Inspiration

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Buy products that give more than materials.

Buy products and use services that give more than materials.

I’m writing this post using Dragon Dictate voice to text software. My arms are irritated from too much use on the computer, guitar, piano…so I decided to invest in a speech to text program. It really is amazing to be able to speak and see the text appear before your eyes on your personal computer.

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about a voice to text program when a picture of a Hall’s wrapper is placed at the beginning of this blog post.

Sometimes things don’t seem to work out as planned. We experience a few days where it can feel like something is out to get us. This doesn’t necessarily involve serious things, or things that we will overcome in a short amount of time, but we all experience a few days where things seem to stack on one another.

These cycles can last for an extended duration of time depending upon external factors like physical health, financial tension, among other things. Our perception of the movement of things, whether they be physical or theoretical, depends upon our mental framework. This framework, either positive or negative in nature, creates a self perpetuating feedback loop that can determine or alter our future.

When we allow a negative framework to overrun our perception of reality, a few things tend to happen.

  • We forget about what we are seeking.
  • We forget about what we have accomplished.
  • We lose sight of what could be determined as our insight.

In speaking with my older brother Jeff (who works primarily with elderly patients in need of physical therapy), he says that the outlook of the individual will often determine the success of their treatment.

Like many people across the nation, I had a cough so I purchased some cough drops.  I happened to purchase Hall’s cough drops.

I grabbed a cough drop, opened it up, and recognized the messaging on the wrapper. It spoke to me.  It spoke to me not only because of the positive messages on the wrapper, but also because it made me realize that the best purchase we can make is a purchase that can inspire us to create and move forward.

Instilling positivity in oneself and those around you may be one of the most important things we can contribute. I hope this ‘drop of inspiration’ can inspire you through times of uncertainty.

- Greg

P.S. – I spoke (wrote) this a few weeks ago, I’m happy to say my arms feel better and I’m not longer experiencing a cold!

I love photography

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We look at things all day.

We gain a better understanding of another person’s perspective through photography.

We have an endless amount of social photography tools to share our perspective: instagram, facebook, among several others.

It is an exciting time to explore and share our perspectives. Below you’ll find a photo I took a few days ago of Downtown, San Diego. This shot was taken from Point Loma.

The movement of vehicles at night is fascinating.

The movement of vehicles at night is fascinating. The paths of light remind me of the veins in our bodies.

In the photo above, the objective is to demonstrate the transfer of energy within a city. Light is a great way to capture energy.

This photo represents the ‘electric veins’ constructed by the movement of people at night. I like to think of cities as living beings. Downtown sits in the distance, the ‘heart’ of this social being…driven by energy and economy.

What do you see at night?

- Greg

 

Hi, my name is Greg

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Greg Half BeardAs you can see above, I cut my hair and beard.

The past year and a half provided a social experience that proved to be unbelievably insightful, surprising, and humbling. This social experience I speak of is not just about the places I traveled, but also the impact of having a big beard and long hair.

The questions and comments cover a full spectrum:

  • “So how long have you been growing that beard?”
  • “Why are you growing that beard?”
  • “Woah. Dude. Sweet beard!”
  • “That is gross, why are you letting yourself go?”
  • “Jesus!”
  • “Chewbacca!”
  • “When are you going to cut it?”

Not only were there plenty of comments every day, but plenty of looks as well. Some places were more intense than others (ie. India vs Ocean Beach), but nonetheless it was a constant flow of commentary, staring, and curiosity.

My plan was no plan. There was no set date as a goal. There was no mission to accomplish. I immersed myself in the flow of things. My beard became a physical representation of my thought process. A superficial story to those I passed by.

I began to focus on the importance of ‘doing something by doing nothing’. This became a theme in many discussions instigated by my beard. This was not to promote laziness. It is really about promoting the need for many people in this society to accept that taking time to sit and relax can be the ultimate (and necessary) catalyst for creating something great.

The effect of doing ‘nothing’ by not shaving really surprised me. Conversations came to me. People gave me insight as I met them. Some opened up, others closed off. Regardless, every interaction provided a learning experience about people. It was like my beard was working for me.

I know that millions of people around the world have beards. Having a beard is not something new…but for some reason when you have an ‘intense beard’ it sometimes feels like people have never seen one before. It can make you feel like an outcast. It can cause anxiety. It can empower you as an individual. It can provide a unique perspective on people. It can allow you to uncover elements of society you may not see without looking differently.

For me, it further pushed me to always do what I want to do. To leverage from the fact that I can create my own reality, pursue my own interests, and create my own unique perspective about what is important in life.

So here is to all of you out there doing what you want to do regardless of criticism, social norms, and other attempts to diminish one’s true interests. It is a path worth pursuing and one that will give you more than you could ever imagine.

I decided to trim my beard and hair as I’ve just launched a company here in San Diego along with my Co-founder Derrick. Take a look at txtRacer.com and sign up to compete for deals you deserve here in San Diego.

Thank you for all of your support!

- Greg

 

 

 

Take Time to Forget About Time

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We all do it.

We get caught up in time.

Where we need to be. When we need to be there.

We live our lives around this framework that organizes our lives. TIME.

It is about efficiency.

Society is much like a well-oiled motor. All cylinders need to fire at a specific moment in order to generate a powerful force. In society, individuals need to abide by a framework to work together in a complex, yet cohesive society.

This is all well and good until we reach a point of personal combustion. Just like a well-oiled motor can combust or break from overuse, we can as well.

Time is powerful. Time is life…and as many say, ‘time is money’.

But what is life without time? Well, you could say, ‘that doesn’t exist, time occurs whether you are conscious of it or not’.

Pursue moments where time doesn’t matter.

Photo: Scott Randall. Ocean Beach, CA. http://scottseyephotos.wordpress.com

Life with time is time. Life without time is life.

Let Birds Be Birds

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The mergence of technology and nature. A thought of what could become, and what should always remain sacred. Photo taken in Ocean Beach, CA.

A few days ago while walking and talking with my friend Nick I suddenly heard a loud swooooshhhh as something passed by. I looked up, and to my surprise, a hawk appeared in the sky.

We walked over to take a look as it was perched on the fence of the baseball field.

I looked at the hawk and was amazed at it’s ability to turn it’s head more than 180 degrees. It was a big bird and was constantly checking it’s surroundings.

As I watched the hawk look intensely at everything around it, I wondered…what does a hawk see? I thought of the common phrase…’hawk-eyed vision’.

What if we could have embedded technology in hawks to see what they see? What if we could video stream their vision to get a hawk’s view of the world? What if we used the actual hawk as a means of surveillance?

As these thoughts came to my mind, Nick and I continued to admire the hawk for several minutes. I discussed with him the possibility of embedding technology in the hawk to see what it sees. I was excited about the idea. I thought to myself…maybe this is where the future will go?

A few minutes passed, and we continued to look at the big bird perched above us. I decided that I wanted to capture a picture of the hawk with the technology I had in my hand…my iPhone.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, turned on the camera function, and was just about to snap a photo until suddenly the hawk disappeared.

The hawk had impeccable timing in regards to the conversation.

Maybe the hawk told me that birds should be birds, and that technology-hawk-birds is taking technology a little too far.

I can never be sure, but it was convincing.

 

 

Let Your Thoughts Be Your Greatest Catch

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No fish will ever outweigh an epiphany. The fish will die, but the epiphany will live with you forever. Of course, the fish could be the very thing that caused the epiphany, and there needs to be a great deal of respect for that physical stimuli (and in this case, fish).

Over the past month I’ve battled symptoms similar of carpal tunnel syndrome, highly limiting my ability to work on my computer, play guitar/piano, and surf. These are all things that I love to do.

These symptoms will surely pass overtime, and I am confident that I will be back to a fully functional self soon. In the meantime, I’ve been able to deeply appreciate conversations, walks, and thought.

As an able bodied person, we pass through physical experiences on a millisecond time scale without consciously appreciating what we have. Whether it be our ability to turn our steering wheel in our car, paddle an extra stroke to catch a wave, or simply share our thoughts on a blog, it is easy to forget the physical subtle actions throughout our day that make our day, our day.

This experience has forced me to focus on those subtleties.

The physical stimulus is my inability to perform seemingly trivial activities, and the result is a great deal of respect for those who have physical limitations that live with them for a lifetime.

As a physical barrier is created, there is a momentum of thought that can be derived from that very physical barrier. In my pursuit of understanding the relationship between physical action and the legacy that follows by way of epiphanies, I wonder how we can create epiphanies without any physical action at all.

Many people refer to this as meditation.

Let your thoughts,
be your greatest catch.

 

 

Meet Clark, feel good.

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Meet Clark, feel good.

He feels good. He smiles. He lives well.

Clark represents positivity. He sees smiles as a universal hand shake.

A simple hello an opportunity to give thanks for sharing the same sidewalk.

He meets the person, not the country. He’s your friend.

The Art of Coincidence

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Coincidence vs. Destiny. Our unconscious mind and our intuition. A Prosthetic Leg and a Drag Queen.

Some things seem to happen for a seemingly inexplicable reason. We go through life wondering how we met that person, traveled to that place, and ran into someone we know in an unusual setting. There are many tools today that try and help us make sense of our social world (facebook, twitter, etc etc), but there are still many things that seem to be brilliantly inexplicable.

I am personally fascinated by the concepts of coincidence and causality. I often wonder where our experience of ‘reality’ begins.

Could a conversation lead the unconscious brain to an event or place without our conscious understanding of why we ended up at that event or place?

Last week, I (along with my brother Scott and my Mom) experienced something that was very exciting to me.

We went running along the beach (our normal route) and took a break where we have taken breaks before. It was a busy summer beach day. Sun shining, people everywhere.

My mom takes a seat on one of the benches. My brother and I stand as we catch our breath from the run. My mom starts speaking to a friendly elderly man and as that occurs another elderly man in a wheelchair begins to speak to my brother and I.

The man in the wheelchair goes on to share why he’s wearing a ‘Shamu’ (killer whale) stuffed animal on his left leg that had been amputated (he is a veteran). He shares a story of a time he went to SeaWorld and staff told him to remove the ‘Shamu’ from his leg (it covered his ‘stump’ as he described it by placing the ‘Shamu’ mouth over it).

He shared stories about interesting entertainment venues in San Diego. He talked about how one time he went to a wild bar where they were throwing a jello wrestling party and a women’s roller derby team was participating in the event. One of the teammates was a 6’6″ roller derby girl who threw him in the jello (“stump and all” as he put it) and wrestled around.

He then shared his stories of unusual circuses he had been to here in San Diego. He asked us if we’d been to Lips. We told him we hadn’t. He said it’s a great place for great entertainment. He told us there are great Drag Queens that are excellent performers. He said he liked going there because they were accepting of everyone, no matter how you looked.

He talked about how once he had a prosthetic leg, but now uses his wheelchair exclusively. He also told us that he might get a new prosthetic leg.

We enjoyed our conversation and continued our run back to our destination. Upon reaching our destination (30mins later and 2 miles from original conversation), we decided to grab something to eat. We choose Subway.

As we’re making our way walking to Subway my mom stops and points at a drawing on an electrical box on the side of the road. “Hey, look at this.” She calls us over and we take a look.

To my complete shock, the drawing is of a man with a prosthetic leg speaking to what looks like a Drag Queen (original drawing below).


The colored version of the original drawing is a remake that I created. I redrew the original drawing, added color, and changed the message. I then placed the remixed version I created and placed it where the original had been. Hopefully the original artist will continue a dialog.

I think the important message to share is how important it is to accept everyone regardless of how they look and you will end up with great stories and an interesting life.

Gutenberg’s Printing Press

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Johannes Gutenberg invented the Gutenberg printing press, a device that would ultimately lead to the vast dissemination of written works around Europe and the rest of the world. Many people credit Gutenberg’s invention to be one of the primary catalysts for what came to be known as the Renaissance.

Below are photos of a replica I created over 10 years ago with my stepdad (thank you Richard!). Today, we are living in an age where the Internet is influencing education and overall societal structures in a way much like that of Gutenberg’s printing press. Gutenberg’s Wikipedia page.

Replica of Gutenberg’s Printing Press.

Wood replica of Gutenberg’s Printing Press.

Take the time to listen to this TED talk by DON TAPSCOTT about open Internet and what can be learned from nature.