Steady Note: The Human Moment
In a world of constant distraction, stillness is an act of resistance.
The sauna at my gym has been down for weeks, waiting on a backordered part. I was relieved this week to find it back in working order. After some weight training, I deposited everything in the locker, showered off, grabbed my towel, and settled in.
I don’t know if there is official sauna etiquette. But most of the time, those who are in the room are quiet in their own thoughts. I look forward to just sitting there, taking in the warmth, letting my mind go quiet for a few minutes. Sometimes it wanders to a project or a conversation. But the heat has a way of slowing things down.
So I was surprised to see someone walk in and immediately start scrolling through videos on their phone.
At first, I didn’t think anything of it. Just odd. But sitting there watching it, something settled on me. Even in a place designed for the body to recover, we can still be tethered to the electric grid. We have become a culture addicted to distraction. The human moment was lost.
Neil Postman warned us about this in Amusing Ourselves to Death. He focused on how a culture captivated by entertainment ultimately loses its capacity for critical thought. I think it goes further than that. A culture captivated by the constant flow of distraction loses its capacity to be human. And in a world now accelerated by artificial intelligence, that loss is happening faster than most of us realize.
As Memorial Day weekend begins here in the US, I am looking for those human moments. Putting the phone down. Sitting with my grandchildren without a screen between us. Being present for the conversation that is actually happening rather than the one I could be having somewhere else online.
The warmth of the sauna reminded me what it feels like to just be still. I want more of that.
If we want to be our best, we need to mindfully adapt to the changing churn around us and remain human.
Steady.
Don
A Few Things Worth Sharing — What stayed with me this week.
The case for slowing down your decisions — The CEO Magazine
The leaders who endure are rarely the ones moving fastest. They are the ones who know when to accelerate and when to pause. This piece on the “hurry up slowly” mindset is one of the more practical things I have read on pace and judgment in a long time.
https://www.theceomagazine.com/business/management-leadership/strategic-decision-making/
Wise leadership pays off — The Conversation
Wisdom in leadership is not about knowing everything. It is about remaining open to learning from everyone, including the people below you, admitting when you are wrong, and guarding against the arrogance of assuming you have it figured out. Worth a slow read.
https://theconversation.com/wise-leadership-pays-off-heres-how-to-apply-it-in-the-workplace-282900
One song worth your time before the weekend:
After The War — Timothy P. Irvin with Jim Salestrom
I was introduced to this song years ago, living in Dallas, and it has never left me. In 1994, Timothy P. Irvin and Jim Salestrom performed it live at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington with President Clinton and Colin Powell in the audience. It is moving then. It is moving now. A fitting way to begin Memorial Day weekend.
Despite the grainy video, the music and meaning of the words are worth the time.