People and Community

Simple Memorials

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Memorials may be simple; memories may not. Both are important.

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of 9-11. One of the many thoughts that crossed my mind was the reality that most people under the age of 25 were not alive and will not have a firsthand memory of that day.

We can debate whether that’s good or bad. The best answer is, “Both.”

Those under 25 depend on the memorials and monuments we who were alive have created.

I did not know until yesterday about the memorials at Boston’s Logan Airport. One of the more subtle ones is the US flags that fly above Gates B32 and C19. These are the gates that the two aircraft departed from that fateful morning.

According to a recent Boston Globe article, when Logan’s official memorial was dedicated in 2008, then-Massport Chairman John Quelch shed further light on the flags’ origins.

“Both memorials appeared spontaneously, raised by airport and airline employees without fanfare or ceremony,” he said. “These two memorials are one and the same. And there is no grander memorial. That memorial is the flag of the United States of America.”

If there’s ever a second edition of my book, Memorials, Monuments, and Memories, there might well be an added chapter. The grandest memorials are the simplest.

You don’t have to be under 25 to appreciate some facts and memories. Here are a few to get you started.

  • The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is by itself a memorial that proves “We will never forget.
  • The World Will Never Forget 9/11 is exactly what it sounds like, an entire blog dedicated to keeping the memory of that day alive, from the Memorial Plaza to the stories behind it.
  • Ephemeral New York has spent years documenting the small, personal memorials tucked into corners of the city, the ones you’d walk past without noticing unless someone pointed them out.
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Personal Growth, Simple Living

You’re Not Busy, Are You?

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I haven’t counted, but I’ve heard a lot of people whining lately about how busy they are. Perhaps I’ve done my fair share of claiming busyness, although I try not to, partly because of a bias I developed a few years ago when I was asked by a client to teach “time management.” Since I believe prescription without diagnosis is malpractice in medicine, management, and education, I looked at what was going on in his organization.

I concluded that time management wasn’t the issue. Priority management was the issue. The corporate culture had developed an unintended value that appearing overworked and stressed was important. I joked that most employees seemed too busy to do any meaningful work.

There’s an old joke about the company president who issued the memorandum that “We will keep having meetings until we figure out why nothing is getting done.” Talk about confusing activity with accomplishment!

I suppose it’s always been true, but lately it seems like being busy is some sort of badge of honor. The busier you are, the bigger and shinier badge you get to wear. I think it’s contagious. I know it’s competitive.

If you’re a social media buff, see how many timeline posts you can find claiming, “Well, I don’t have much to do…”

Contrast that with those who are compelled to report their entire day’s schedule. It has a humorous aspect. “Gee, I’m so busy I barely had time to find these cute cat/puppy pictures to share.”

I’m sorry to say, I’m not impressed by busyness, particularly when it becomes a reason (excuse) for failure to do something others are depending on. I know several people who will spend a lot of time explaining how busy they are, how much they have to do, and how sorry they are they haven’t gotten to… I bite my tongue so I don’t observe out loud; they could have crossed a few things off the list in the time they spent telling me their story.

If your goal is staying busy, that’s not a difficult achievement. But it doesn’t necessarily equate to meaningful accomplishment. Doing nothing can be an accomplishment, too.

I had the good fortune to attend a few lectures by Ned Hermann back in the late ’80s. Ned was a true pioneer in the field of creative thinking and reasoning. He was also a great storyteller. In one of his lectures, he was explaining “theta” — those low-frequency brain waves associated with the early stages of sleep and the process of dreaming. They are also associated with enhanced creativity. He shared that he was sitting in his recliner, pushed back and relaxed, consciously entering a theta-like state. When his wife called to him to take out the trash, he replied, “Can’t now… I’m working.”

I don’t think it would have been any less true if he’d said, “Can’t now… I’m busy.” What might appear as “doing nothing” may have great value. It really is about value.

Busy is about being engaged–it’s not about being overworked and overwhelmed. Busy is not a bad thing when it means the busy person is anxious to contribute and is seeking action.

The question we may need to ask ourselves occasionally is whether or not we are busy (engaged) with things that are truly important. How we decide importance may be a different topic for a different day. For now, let’s agree being busy for the sake of being busy isn’t effective or efficient. When we think we’re too busy to do certain things, we’re really saying those things aren’t important. Or at least they aren’t important enough to make time and find the energy for, along with the other
stuff.

It sounds rude, but I’ve found myself wishing people would be more honest and offer the explanation, “That’s not something I’m willing to make important right now.” Being honest might be as important as being busy.

You’re not busy, are you?

I don’t care how busy I am – I will always make time for what’s most important to me.

Kevin Hart

Personal Growth, Simple Living

Quick Quip #26-06

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I have a mug that reads “Oh boy! This calls for a spreadsheet!” I recently did a “brain dump” about homeschooling that included some preliminary analysis that begs for a spreadsheet. (Hint: how much time in public schools is spent in actual learning?) I shared it with a friend and follower, Mary Meyer. She replied, “My goodness – you are really thinking about stuff these days,” adding that she believes thinking is fun for the brain.

Crossword puzzles are an example of brain fun, but almost anything that promotes thinking qualifies!

Are you allowing your brain to have enough fun?

Quick Quips are a developing feature of the Walter Writes Blog, which explores simplicity in a complicated world.

Personal Growth, Simple Living

Quick Quip #26-05

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“I’d dare to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more river. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, bit I’d have fewer imaginary ones… If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.”

Nadine Stair1

What does your list look like?

Quick Quips are a developing feature of the Walter Writes Blog, which explores simplicity in a complicated world.

  1. From the anthology “If I had my life to live over,” edited by Sandra Haldeman Martz, published by Papier-Mache Press, Watsonville CA, 1992. ↩︎

Exploring simplicity in a complicated world