Quite simply, I’m writing more because I’m reading, watching, and listening more. I write when I feel I have an idea worth sharing. Those ideas largely come from somewhere outside my head, from a book, an article, a video, or conversation. They then bounce around inside my head, collide with each other, and turn into something new. For the first four months of this year, though, I wasn’t exposing myself to those idea sources nearly enough.

And that has changed.

“Our capacity to tolerate error depends on our capacity to tolerate emotion.”
—Irna Gadd

I came across this quote in Kathryn Schulz’s excellent Being Wrong, a study of what it is like to discover we no longer believe things that we used to be believe. (“I used to believe that meeting was at 8 AM. I now believe it was at 6 AM. I also believe I wasn’t there.”) There’s at least three ideas directly from that book that I want to write about, but this one is somewhat tangential and also the most troublesome.

At first glance, I thought, “That makes sense. It’s hard to tolerate unpleasant emotions.” But as I thought about it, I realized that it’s not just the unpleasant ones that I’ve seen myself and others shy away from: it’s the intense ones.

When was the last time you let yourself be estatically happy? Feel unalloyed joy?

• Building my first fighting kit and authorizing as an armored combat fighter in the SCA (as well as becoming a herald).
• Getting back into running by slowly up-ing my weekly mileage and doing yoga everyday to prevent the kinds of injuries that have plagued me before, then catching a cold and losing almost a month of workout time.
• Retiring my Dying Kingdoms character in epic fashion and rolling in a new one.
• Spending almost every weekend since the beginning of the year with Gwen, either at a DK or SCA event, or skiing.
• Handing off my Scrum Master responsibilities at work to the person who I had (secretly) trained to be my replacement.

When I write it like that, it sounds like so little, and yet, it’s been all-consuming. It’s also been a ton of fun, though I do like that I’m coming up for a brief bit of air.

More (hopefully) to come.

Yoga continues to be excellent for me; I’m glad I started, and I’m committed to making it part of my routine. The other development of the week was that we restarted SCA Fighter Practice after nearly a month off, due to the holidays. It’s good to spend a few hours a week having to pay close attention to my body and getting very immediate feedback when I do something incorrectly.

Friends and Family

Gwen’s folks were unfortunately unable to make it out for New Year’s, so we ended up going down to see the Rose Parade with our friends Emma and Matt instead. They, like me, grew up in the Midwest, so the notion of wanting to sit outside to watch a parade on January First was exciting. (We also learned that Emma has strong opinions regarding marching bands, specifically: More Sousa and less gold lamé.) It did mean we called it a night early on New Year’s Eve, but I was fine with that.

Create

Kind of a slow week in this category. I’ve decided that I want to generalize my knitting-related activities into “making”: doing something that produces some tangible output, be that knitting, weaving, cooking, or — what I’m doing right now — coloring in a coloring book.

Absorb

Currently Reading: Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

Things I’ve Read:

• OK Cupid: An Exploration Into Just How Low Some Guys Will Go
• Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale Labels
• To Stand or To Sit at Work: An Auto-Analytics Experiment
• The Future of You
• The Process Myth
• the majority of images
• Seven habits and routines that will help you become a more effective unclutterer
• Seven routines and guidelines to live as an unclutterer — no super powers necessary
• Best Nature Photos of 2012
• Facilities Management behind the Olympics
• The End of Economists’ Imperialism

This Week’s Soundtrack: Theatre Is Evil, Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra

Professional

Sort of spinning my wheels here, trying to figure out what I want to do next.

The Weekend

An improv show tonight, a party down in LA tomorrow, and starting some armorcrafting on Sunday.

You?

Body & Mind

I got a slow start on it, but I finished strong on the 30 Days of Yoga (For People Who Are Too Busy To Do Yoga) program. I’d noticed in November that a lot of my running problems were related to a lack of lower-body flexibility, my massage therapist had commented on the amount of tension I was carrying in my right hamstring and calf (which was certainly contributing to my turf toe), and my friend Judd had forwarded me this article about yoga poses for runners, so I thought it might be good to try a few things. I can feel how much it’s helped my legs and back, so one of my challenges for January is to keep up the routine until it becomes a real habit.

Friends & Family

My parents were with us for Christmas, and we visited some of our friends and their family down in Newbury Park yesterday. Unfortunately, events have conspired against Gwen’s folks, so they won’t be able to make it out here for New Year’s. We’ve got backup plans, however, which we are putting into action.

Create

This week has primarily been about tying up loose ends on current projects and thinking about possible future ones, rather than doing any heavy lifting creatively. My parents did enjoy the scarf I’d spent the last two months on and the hat that I’d knitted on my trip to and from Wisconsin, so that was good. With Gwen’s help I should have some pictures up soon.

Absorb

I mentioned I had a backlog, right?

Things I’ve Read:

• The Gävle goat
• Twelve Letters That Didn’t Make The Alphabet
• The Year in Music
• …wherein Peter posts his notes from the mask workshop
• Try Meditation to Strengthen Your Resilience
• The Humpty Dance (1920’s Jazz Cover)
  
• A knuckleball has minimal spin, causing unpredictable motion
• Letters to Santa Written By Shakespeare Characters
• Miss Denmark, she is dressed as a mermaid because we couldn’t secure the rights from LEGO
• Man Walks All Day to Create Massive Snow Patterns (Part 2)
• How I Instagram
• Web Discussions: Flat by Design
• A World of Schoolgirls
• Big Beer, A Moral Market, and Innovation
• The Most Efficient Die Early
• Finding the Job of Your Life
• The Top Five Career Regrets
• Why You’re Talking Past Each Other, and How to Stop
• The One Thing Your Team Wants You to Stop Doing
• Never Lie About Who You Really Are
• Consider Not Setting Goals in 2013
• Rocks, Pebbles, Sand
• Steinbeck’s advice on getting started
  
• Quote of the month: Steinbeck on writing

This Week’s Soundtrack: Best of Bootie 2012, Various Artists

Professional

I’m within spitting distance of finishing Agile Testing. I also started to take a look at classes and conferences I might like to attend in 2013. Other than that, I’ve been trying not to think about work.

The Weekend

Two shows at the VIC, a big effort at putting the house back in order, and maybe even a run on Sunday.

You?

Body and Mind

How can I tell that I’m getting somewhere with my mindfulness work? Because when I got stuck in the Denver airport for an indefinite period of time and had to wait in the customer service line for two hours to find out what my options and fate were, I handled it with equanimity, rather than melting down like the woman behind me. That calmness also helped me work though the possibilities open to me and allowed me to realize a not-terrible solution.

Friends and Family

My folks arrived here yesterday and will be with us through next Thursday. I actually got to drive up the coast with them, because the solution to the “the flight to Santa Barbara has been canceled” problem was to fly to Orange County — where they had been visiting the Nixon library — and have them pick me up.

Create

On my trip to Wisconsin last week, I spent most of my airplane and airport time knitting. Now I’m in search of something to do next that will use up more of the yarn in my stash. I did manage to get out that episode of The Paulcast that I promised last week, and I suspect I’ll do a few more before the end of the year. Last night I actually cooked dinner for the first time in far too long, and it was really, really good.

Absorb

Hardly anything this week. I suspect a backlog will appear next Friday.

This Week’s Soundtrack: Sun Midnight Sun, Sara Watkins

Professional

I had a very valuable week with the whole team together in Wisconsin this week, in no small part because the half-life of trust is six weeks, and it’s been more than two years since I’ve been face-to-face with some of my teammates. We got some good work done, and just as importantly, we did that work together.

The Weekend

Improv show Saturday night, catching up on some reading, and doing a whole lot of nothing.

You?

Body and Mind

I’ve had a recurring case of extensor tendinitis, which is not my favorite thing in the world, but given all of the other health problems I don’t have, I’ll take it. I’ve not been able to run, so I’ve made up for it by making sure my Fitbit ticks over to 10000 steps every day. That’s given me a lot of time to think, which I’ve been trying to make good use of.

Friends and Family

This is the time of year when everyone throws a party, so we’re making the rounds. We’re also gearing up for two back-to-back parental holiday visits.

Create

I’m within spitting distance of finishing a big knitting project. Watching the tape of our Instant Karma show from last Saturday made me realize that I’ve leveled up as an improviser. And if I’m good, I’ll have a new episode of The Paulcast out tomorrow about an adventure we took on Wednesday. Not bad for a week that started out with me harboring doubts about my creative identity.

Absorb

Things I’ve read:

• The Good Old Hockey Game
• Welcome to Belinda’s Private Equity Immersion Daycare
• Casablanca, or, The Clichés Are Having a Ball
• The Eccentric Principles
• How to run (or design) a game of Dark Sun
• The Neuroanatomy of Freestyle Rap
• Embrace the Remix
• John Cleese on Creativity
• Testing Has No Value
  
• What’s Your Fault Feedback Ratio
• The Guru’s Guide to Creating Thought Leadership
• To Have The Most Impact, Ask The Right Questions
• Build Your Reputation The Rachael Ray Way
• Be An Information DJ
• A Simple Way To Increase Your Joy
• Stables and Volatiles
• Politics and the English Language

This Week’s Soundtrack: Ok Computer, Radiohead

Professional

We finished our book club discussion of Agile Testing at work this week; now I need to finish taking notes on it.

The Weekend

Cleaning the house in preparation for the aforementioned visitors, then flying to Wisconsin for a few days for work.

You?

Body and Mind

I’m getting back on track with running again, because regular exercise clearly is a keystone habit for me. So many more things go right when I’m active. I’ve realized that what I need to do is slowly ramp up to 4-5 runs and 12-15 miles a week, and then just leave it there for a few months, so as to build good habits. As much as I want to have run a marathon, I can’t rush into it. My cardio and endurance aren’t the issues; those come on-line pretty quickly. What I need to do is build my muscles, ligiments, and tendons and improve their resilience and resistance to injury.

Friends and Family

I’ve been a little asocial this week, although this weekend ought to help with that. We’re also in the planning stages of the Grand Parental Visitations for this holiday season.

Creating

Knitting, improv, LARPing, and the SCA are my creative outlets right now. They’re all going pretty well. I’ve been teaching some improv as well as performing, and that’s always useful for seeing how far I’ve come as well what I need to work on next.

Absorbing

I’ve been soaking up a ton of articles, videos, slides, etc., in the last week or so. Here are what I think are the most interesting pieces.

Videos I’ve watched:

• How to use a paper towel
• A story about knots and surgeons
• Smart failure for a fast changing world

Business articles:

• Teaching Smart People How To Learn
• Innovators, Are You Applying the Wrong Lessons From Manufacturing?
  
• Ten Reasons People Resist Change
• Understanding Fear of Process Improvement
• Stop Using Story Points
• Why I Hired A Girl on Craigslist to Slap Me in the Face — And How It Quadrupled My Productivity
  
• Scott Berkun’s Slides from FailCon 2012
• Henrik Kniberg’s Slides on Agile @ Home

Election-related articles:

• Obama and the Policy Approach
• Probabilistic Illiteracy
• Post-Election Notes for the GOP (Not That They’ve Asked For Them)

Other stuff:

• Hark, A Vagrant’s Halloween Quiz and 1066 Quiz
• Liz Hickok, Jello Scupltor
• Canadian Sorry
• Sh*t Improv Trainers Say
• Uncovering the Secrets of Barley

This Week’s Soundtrack:

• All The Roadrunning, Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
• Real Live Roadrunning, Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris

Professional

In addition to all that reading above, I’ve been working through Agile Testing with a couple of people at work. We’re getting down to the wire with our project at work, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we’re going to work differently on the next one.

The Weekend

Tomorrow is the first SCA event Gwen and I will be attending. She’s ensured that we’ll look awesome. Sunday is the last Houses of the Blooded game for the year, which should be all kinds of fun.

You?