“The education of attention would be an education par excellence.” –William James

“The education of attention would be an education par excellence.” –William James

This week:

In an age of constant information and infinite distractions, how can we pay more attention to our … attention?
What do we pay attention to?
If one definition of altruism is “self-handicapping” then the first story exemplifies the best in humanity, but also tempers it through the societal lens/bias towards migrants all over the world.
The second story revisits “handicaps” and invites us to rethink our limits and possibilities
The set of Ted talks might take a bit more time, but they will “buy” you a lot more quality time right back in your time starved life
The purpose of Memorial Day reminds us to notice and support members of our Armed Services, whatever your political persuasion

Now more than ever, it’s time to set up daily practices to help us get some soul space back!
Focus. Notice. Re-engage.

Paris ‘Spider-Man’ Saves Young Boy. Cue Debate on Migrants:

Do we have intrinsic value as humans or is our value based on contribution to society and should this be a determinant in migrant policy and inclusion decisions?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/world/europe/paris-migrant-hero-spiderman.html

Here is the vid if you haven’t seen it yet…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2fGxefFBh4

 

I Want to be the First Wheelchair User in Space:
In his own words, Eddie is “unapologetically brilliant, black, queer and disabled”.
He recently graduated from Oxford, the first African with a disability to do so…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p066pss2

More inspirational outlooks where that came from:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ydg2t

 

Attention Please
In an age of constant information and infinite distractions, how can we pay more attention to our … attention?
TED speakers explore the battle for our awareness during the digital age.

• How our attention is packaged and sold as a commodity
• Has constant stimulation replaced boredom?
• Can we pay better attention to our attention?
• What is the cost of infinite distractions?
• How can we repair the mistakes of the digital era?

https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

 

The Purpose of Memorial Day with Brandon P:

Memorial Day Weekend May 25-28, 2018
Letter from the Editor: The Purpose of Memorial Day

The purpose of Memorial Day Weekend is to honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.  Regardless of your politics or knowledge of the veracity of America’s foreign policy, the legitimacy of our leadership, the impact of our military or how the American government treats its veterans, those who served in the Armed Forces, served a purpose AND STILL DO!  They developed themselves as warriors and public servants, many laid down their lives, and all suffered immense physical and psychological hardship to protect America and our ideals abroad.

This weekend I invite you to transcend any judgments you have, reach out to the active duty military and the veterans in your family and community and thank them.  Buy them a beer, comp their meals, share with them what their service means to you and make an offering from the heart, from your purpose, e.g., I donate my time to help them transition out of the military through free purpose workshops for the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, and offer scholarships for active duty and veterans to do my purpose courses.

Enjoy these Memorial Day Weekend reads: “Threads of a New American Identity”, “Are You Impact-Driven or Purpose-Driven” and “Purpose Rips Through Academia” and join us for LIVE and online events to deepen your connection to your purpose.

In service,
Brandon Peele
Editor in Chief, The Purpose Times

 

LEAD STORY: Purpose Rips Through Academia

I had an amazing experience on Tuesday leading 25 Undergraduate and Graduate Stanford students through my work and a powerful purpose exercise. This place is a hot bed of purpose, with Dustin DiPerna, Aneel Chima, Mikey Siegel’s courses on finding purpose and designing for human flourishing, Bill Damon’s Youth Purpose Project, Patrick Cook-Deegan’s Project Wayfinder, Jennifer Aacker’s Purposeful Business Work at the Graduate School of Business.

I also met a staffer running purpose courses for Stanford employees, and a MS Ed student developing purpose/ tribe/ initiation/ mindfulness curriculum for junior high school students.

While Stanford isn’t the only place where the research is happening (http://scienceofpurpose.org), and where this work is taking flight, e.g., Laurie Santos’ work at Yale, Tal Ben-Shahar’s work at Harvard, Martin Seligman’s work at UPenn, Bill Johnson ‘s work at UNC – Greensboro, Ben Nelson’s work at Minerva University, my courses at Cal Berkeley, Aftab Omer’s work at Meridian University and Jonathan Gustin and Susan Mashkes’s work at JFK University, Stanford seems to be ground zero for purpose in academia. This is not surprising given their long standing orientation towards purpose and wholeness of their students (students double major in a science and a liberal art discipline).

Such an amazing experience! So excited for all that is to come!

Thanks this week go to self-handicapping souls that are paying attention everywhere!
Please pay it forward purposefully!
Love,
Neville

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“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
– Mahatma Gandhi