“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and [acacia] wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the [high priest’s] ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary [tabernacle]; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:1-8 The Great Jehovah, under the direction of His Father, created all things – the heavens above, the earth, and all things in and on the earth. In order for Him to dwell with Israel here on Earth, He asked the Israelites to create something back. A gift to the Lord. An habitation for His presence. Creation to express gratitude for THE Creation. And He asked it to be done with a willing heart. There wasn’t a tax or a levy. Individuals and…
Category: Create
You can’t hate, dislike, or shame yourself into change. I heard a version of this quote on a podcast yesterday, and tweaked it a bit to add clarity for myself. Writing helps me clarify my thoughts, so here it is: On a spectrum, hate, dislike, and shame are all the same emotions, but with varying degrees. It may be human nature to feel shame. It may be human nature to dislike aspects of ourselves (usually physical). It may even be human nature to sometimes hate ourselves, or to hate something about ourselves. None of those will bring about the change we want. They’re actually counterproductive. Wallowing in those feelings causes the opposite effect from what we want. You want to change something. I want to change something … Then we have to love ourselves first — flaws and all. [Article 0013 of Samuel Said]
We Need a Cause The shepherd has always worked harder than the hireling … unless the hireling somehow felt a sense of ownership. But a paycheck doesn’t create a sense of ownership. Getting inspired by a cause is more powerful at changing behavior than being paid a lot of money. Two modern comparisons: Working a coding job vs. volunteering time to work on open source projects Working a construction job vs. working on a Habitat for Humanity crew Why do people freely contribute their time to what they’re passionate about but then feel apathy at work, where they’re being paid to be engaged? * Because a cause is powerful — much more powerful than money. Internal inspiration is better than carrots and sticks. What’s your cause? If you don’t know yet, how do you find it? (* According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace, through the end of 2020, only 15 percent of employees are engaged in the workplace. This means that the majority of workforce around the world are either viewing their workplace negatively or only doing the bare minimum to make it through the day, with little to no emotional attachment.) [Article 0011 of Samuel Said]
I’ve just discovered the 2016 hit business book, Deep Work, by Cal Newport. I’ve been busy reading fiction to support my writing habit, so I don’t stay current on new and trending business books the way I used to early in my accounting and finance career. However, I’m two chapters into Deep Work and can tell this is a game-changing book for writers and other creatives. I’m excited to keep reading and more lessons. At issue in the first two chapters is our interruption culture, technology, and the Internet. Instant Messaging is convenient, but so disruptive. So is email, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, FOMO, and the pressure to be always-on and always tethered to some type of device so the office can reach you. Chapters 1 and 2 are enough to have made me start noticing and documenting how I use my smartphone. Self-examination is always scary and I’m not liking the results. That said, I did find four ways, my smartphone can help me do more deep work: It will help me finish the book. I took an 11-hour drive this week for my day job (dj) and have an 11-hour drive home at the end of this week.…