PFP: Day Two

In the moment
Check out the connection between these seemingly random thoughts by reading the description of the "Project Flow" Project below...

1) Came across while reading for class: "We are not seeking a science of people that only predicts behavior; if things are not good today, there is little use for a science that simply tells us that they will be the same tomorrow. Science should not assume that people are dead; nor should it help to choke them to death with categories that do not reveal the rich lives and struggles of all who appear left behind." (Gramsci 1971)

2) One of major drawbacks of modern architecture is the lack of fine wood trimming (We visited my daughter's art on display in the Waldron Arts Center, a wonderful place with no lack of stunning wood work).

3) Complimented a stranger on the quality of frosting job on the cake she made for her instructor's birthday (Unfortunately, it was the class after mine).

Stay sweet and have a great summer...

Day One: PFP Begins

And so it begins...
If this three-point bulleted list does not make any sense to you, please see the description of the "Project Flow" Project in yesterday's post...

1) There is a beautiful, but menacing, ancient tree outside the Union (Here's where having a digital camera would be helpful... special thanks to Heisheui's flickr stream for the beautiful shot)... its larger branches are literally skewered with hundreds of smaller branches sticking out at unusual angles, like the hide of a porcupine.

2) It takes much longer to acclimate when the weather changes hot-to-cold than vice-versa.

3) Today I walked with some colleagues across campus while on their way to lunch, taking me several blocks out of my normal route, all the while making a conscious effort to listen to their stories instead of offering up some of my own. Talking must be an automatic skill, whereas listening a finely-honed art.

Stay sweet and have a great summer...

The "Project Flow" Project

Medias Res
Ever since I read Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention (1997) last semester, I have been fascinated by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's notions of the creative individual and flow. The author frames creativity as a form of cultural evolution, an idea which also got me hooked on discussions involving cultural entropy, groupness, and meme transmission... I keep waiting for a break in assigned reading so I can finish the copy of Susan Blackmore's The Meme Machine I started over Christmas break.

If all of this is not striking a bell and you can't get past the fact that there is indeed a person out there with eleven consonants in his last name; never fear, it's only expository set-up for the awesome car crashes and explosions that are soon to follow (Cue the sun!). Late in the text, Csikszentmihalyi develops a system to promote "openess" (A sort of self-help guide for the creatively challenged), in which he urges actors daily to identify two items which they find surprising and to perform one action which the actor finds surprising (You know, that "I can't believe I just did /said that" type of thing). I've tried doing this since I read about it, and I've found it a truly interesting exercise... uncomfortable, yes, but truly interesting nonetheless. What I haven't done is the next two steps: Record and later reflect on these surprises. But where would I do that?... hmmm.

Therefore, I propose to take this endeavor public. Everyday for the next couple weeks I am going to post two items I find surprising and one action undertaken that surprises me. Warning: Sometimes it's pretty astounding what surprises me (This might not be for the faint of heart, pregnant women, or those with bad backs). One day I was surprised by the way the cardboard folds came together on the bottom of a box, and I surprised myself by calling the mechanic working on my brakes by his first name... repeatedly (Thank God for shirts with nametags on them). Eh, I didn't say this was earth-shattering. However, I do invite you to participate in three ways: 1) Comment on my "surprises"... It will be interesting to see how this discourse shapes my reflections, 2) Post your own "surprises," and/or 3) Comment on someone else's surprises.

Like I said: Short, sweet, and distracting. The Official "Project Flow" Project (How cool is that name... two projects, double the flow?) begins tomorrow.

Stay sweet and have a great summer...

We're not in Kansas anymore...

Heeeelllllo, Wembley... Is this thing on?
You know times have changed when your higher ups ask you start a blog as part of an assignment. So much for having to convince the high schools' web-sitters to make a special exception for the wacky art teacher and let blogger.com slip through the filters. I'm not sure at this point what the overall emphasis of the new blog will be, as the days of having an hour and a half to dissect the events of the day or to wander down transcendental tangents are long gone (Ah, the days of planning periods bumping up against the twenty minute lunches), but I am starting by writing about an idea I ran across while reading for a class... and thought, that would be a cool idea for a blog (at least for awhile). Short. Sweet. Eh, we can use a new distraction. For all my old Teachers' Lounge readers (all three of you) who happen to stumble into my college years musings, I assume you'll run across an occasional TPA or even a Choose Your Own Adventure Friday before too long. Welcome new readers and old... put down that last minute reading for tomorrow's class, rub those bloodshot eyes, and promise yourself you'll get up early tomorrow to wrap up those last couple sentences on the midterm paper. Step into the lounge.

As always, stay sweet and have a great summer...