At 22, I was on the front cover of Canadian Business magazine. The story of how I landed there is awesome and I am grateful to the magazine. (And that's another post.) The 30th anniversary of the issue passed uneventfully last summer. Looking back, if I had advice for that quietly arrogant, know-it-all, I would say the following:
(1) Advice is typically meant to be given, not taken, therefore always be cautious when giving advice. (Similarly, don'#IFIWERE22t coach anyone who doesn't wish to be coached.) Regardless, perhaps you can find some direction in the insights below, #IFIWERE22.
The #applewatch went on sale at 3:00 PM in Hong Kong a few Fridays ago. I purchased it at 3:01 PM. The device arrived on 24 April, just as Apple promised. The set-up process was divine and super-fast. I felt as though I was entering The Matrix when asked to pair the device with my iPhone, using a swirling universe of blue dots… the prettiest QR code in the history of technology. Somewhere during this process, applewatch asked me if it would live on my left wrist or right wrist. I am right handed but wear my watch on my right wrist.
Watch this sequence of videos from the Volvo Ocean Race currently taking place deep in the southern ocean and hear simple Leadership In Action. The six racing yachts are roughly 5 - 6 days from Auckland on Leg 5 of the race, charging into the loneliest and most dangerous, remote waters on the planet. Thousands of miles from land and closer to icebergs, these crews are in very stressful circumstances. Plus, the weather is insane and cold. To continue reading click here...
Sticking with the wave theme from my last post, I've been following the Volvo Ocean Race. Leg 5 is underway, and the six boats headed out from New Zealand a few days ago for the most dangerous part of the entire race. This is the most exciting part of the race to watch, too, and has me all introspective. The video above (snatched from the 2008/2009 race) will give you a sense of the speeds and force the boats and crews endure in the coming weeks.
But as these six #VolvoOceanRace yachts charge into the loneliest and most dangerous, remote ocean on the planet, each will deploy a drifter buoy on behalf of #NOAA (U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The buoys will help scientists understand how the southern ocean contributes to global weather, warming and environmental trends. Read more about this valuable partnership and project at this link.
Meanwhile, yesterday was the union Church AGM and I opened the meeting in prayer. I recall years ago when I regularly did the offertory prayer I used to post them on my blog. I decided to do the same for yesterday's prayer. Enjoy.
Opening Prayer for Union Church Annual General Meeting
Let us collect ourselves, sit up straight, breath deep. Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Be still and please bow yours heads in prayer.
Lord, Jesus Christ, come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. I pray Acts 1:8 upon our evening: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Breathe in the Holy Spirit.
I lift up before the congregation, a reminder that Union Church was founded on two principles on 27 July, 1849. First, is our duty to confess Jesus Christ and to do what we can to win men to the faith in the Gospel. To that end, I pray upon those here this evening, 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” Let us take a moment to hand over to the Lord Jesus any burdens, hurt, distress, guilt, sin, sorrow. Jesus is with us, he is as close as the breath in your lungs. Let everything go. Place it in the hands of our Lord and receive the Father’s love in its place. I pray that as the Lord examines us this evening that our hearts, motives and words will be pleasing to Him and filled with the Fruits of the Spirit. Let us continue to pray.
The second principle is “our duty not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but be a union…” By the blood of Jesus I pray the words spoken in 1849… “We differ in small matters, we agree in great realities…. Believing that we have been individually received by Christ, we joyfully receive one another, and pray that our doing so may be to the Glory of God” this evening.
Let us pray for the wisdom and protection of all Union Church families and friends, but especially the existing leaders, new leaders stepping into positions tonight and for leaders stepping down from positions tonight. I pray Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” I pray further upon the leaders, Isaiah 54:17 “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”
Let us take a special moment for those leaders stepping down, and pray thanks and give praise for their service. I pray Matthew 25:23, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” On behalf of everyone at Union Church I stand prayerfully in the gap before Jesus and give thanks for you. Do you know the love of The Father, the Love that He has over you? Do you know the Joy of The Father… the Joy that He has over you? I invite everyone, as we enter in our Annual General Meeting, to enter into the Joy of Our Heavenly Father.
The triplets were born eleven years ago today at 10:41 AM (Jasper), 10:43 AM (Sela) and 10:44 AM (Carys). You all know the story and if you don't, here is the summary: 14 weeks premature, 3+ months in the NICU at QMH hospital, all three had brain bleeds (in fact Sela had the worst brain hemorrhage) along with a whole host of other issues. Thank the Lord that eleven years later you would never know. In fact, they're old enough that today Carys counted off their births. As re-counted by Carys just before dinner, at 10:41 AM Carys thought to herself, "Jasper was just born." At 10:43 AM, "Sela was just born." At 10:44 AM, "I was just born and now I am eleven years old!" Yes you are, Carys.
We had a small birthday dinner tonight, along with a wonderful cake made by Liza that won top marks for presentation. Allegedly Sebastian helped with the decorating. Afterwards the triplets opened a small pile of gifts - lately we've been reducing expectations that each birthday or Christmas doesn't always come with a big expensive present. Simple things seemed to please: a new football and drumsticks for Jasper. Blue-tooth headphones and desk lamps for the girls. Of course there was the Groupon helicopter ride for Jasper a few weeks ago and in mid-March a "One Direction" concert for the girls, but all in all, relatively low key. The girls enjoyed a Birthday Tram Party a few weeks ago. Jasper, in addition to the helicopter ride, had a movie night with some friends. In a few weeks we'll complete the birthday celebrations when Maureen (Tess' mom) with a fancy family dinner. Truly this year the triplets have subscribed to the Extended Birthday Theory including a spontaneous birthday cake at a friend's BBQ this past weekend.
The whole thing just amazes me. Each breakfast I sit and marvel at chatty Carys and how far she has traveled since eleven years ago tonight. It was about this time eleven years ago to the minute I started to set-up the web site. That night I consumed a block of cheese and a significant portion of a bottle of white wine, if not all. (I've since given up wine and other like beverages, and should give up cheese for this year's season of Lent.) Tess was in the hospital receiving minimal morphine after a c-section. Before I went to bed I prayed. The silence from God was so loud, I heard nothing. Many have heard me share how I heard an expectant nothing late that night, but I knew that God was listening. Years later I am starting to hear the sound in the silence as if the storm settled to the slow and peaceful chorus of rolling waves at night.
I then find years later what is considered to be the oldest sailors' hymn based on Psalm 107:23-30 from several hundred years ago:
When by the dreadful tempest borne High on the broken wave, They know Thou art not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save.
The storm is laid, the winds retire, Obedient to Thy will; The sea that roars at Thy command, At Thy command is still.
Happy 11th Birthday to Carys, Sela and Jasper!
No matter how hard the storm, stop to smell the roses and listen to the sound of the waves.
Today, 6 September, marks an 18th anniversary for Tess and I: September 6th is the day we first met and chatted on the Internet. At the time it was with #apmcp's online First Class Client (which amazingly is still in existence: the virtualizaton-based firm must have had a major winfall when virtual was re-branded "The Cloud.") Tess was in her first year in the Vancouver-based apmcp program and I was already in Hong Kong having finished the apmcp the previous year. At first we used the apmcp First Class Client chat program and then we moved to Hotmail Messenger. The first few months was catching up on normal nonsense (what was the latest thing happening on Melrose Place, unavailable in Hong Kong at the time) and I helped direct Tess with research for her program's major paper. You can get more background on our Internet romance here.
Even though First Class Client is still around, the ampcp (Asia Pacific Management Co-Op Program, co-modelled after one of Thunderbird's programs in the USA) offered by Capilano University (at the time Capilano College) is long gone. It had a good run of 20+ years but then met it's end. The apmcp alumni still runs strong with various small or large reunions taking place all over the world as alums keep track of one another's travel. But time moves on, and while the alumni persist the apmcp that gave birth to the global alumni network was eventually end-of-lifed.
Now, thanks to the evolution of technology, Messenger will also meet its end. I remember when Hotmail e-mail first launched in 1996, shortly followed by Hotmail Messenger. The chat tool name changed not long after being purchased by Microsoft in 1997. Messenger chat was widely used by many for years but finally other forms of technology left it on the dusty tech shelves. I learned about Messenger's demise this past week and thought it ironic we were only a few days away from September 6th. So Happy 18th Chat Anniversary, Tess, we have come a long, adventurous and joyful way since Melrose Place.
Welcome to the Year of the Horse. I am not one to typically set New Year Resolutions. This year, however, I have a Year of the Horse resolution. A couple of weeks ago I asked Tess if we should just reduce our clutter by buying kids the Kindle Paperwhite, which is currently on special on Groupon in Hong Kong. In doing so we could eliminate the ever accumulating number of books that cycle through our flat.
Tess replied with, "Our problem with the clutter is not books... the problem is paper."
That hit home and stung a little bit because I am the source of a lot of paper clutter: ever accumulating and constantly collecting clutter.
A few days later a friend and I were speaking. Having just left his company, he is starting a new business. His goal is to start a business with no paper by using the latest available technologies. I asked him what he was using to keep track of all of his notes and paper. When he replied Evernote I rolled my eyes. I have tried Evernote twice in the last three years and never really liked it that much. But times change, applications advance, technologies improve and he convinced me to try it again. This also started a conversation about The Productivity Curve: a topic that you will read much about in the coming posts. (Visual from this web site.)
After my friend and I parted ways I spent a few minutes online looking at articles entitled, for example, "the top 10 ways to use Evernote" etc etc. I felt a strange tingling in my body as if God was blessing me with afterburners I had not felt in a while. Over the next 24 hours I did a lot of research into Evernote and many other applications and tools including IFTTT if this then that. I also looked into the latest advances in voice recognition technology. The last time I looked at voice recognition technology, its success and price point had not yet reached the tipping point to make it worthwhile as a regular tool. But this week I discovered that was no longer the case. On Friday afternoon, using my iPhone5, in the space of 15 minutes, I responded to 20 emails using voice recognition technology.
I hesitate to use military metaphors. But boys will be boys and guys will be guys - we tend to be wired in that direction. For example when they were younger, if we didn't buy Sebastian and Jasper toy guns, they would just pick up a stick and turn it into an M-16 anyway. Much of the perfection of voice recognition technology has actually been pioneered in the military space. As I continued my own search for the best uses of Evernote and voice recognition technology, I felt as if I was in a jet fighter arcing my way up into the sky faster and faster. (Not that I have ever done that, of course, I have only imagined it or experienced a weak visual simulation in an IMAX theatre!)
In any application, perhaps Evernote, I am looking for more than just a To Do list: I'm looking for the creation of value. As Sebastian and I ran an errand this morning, I was deliberating on a dilemma that one of my favourite applications was operating in isolation. I cannot even remember the application, but I remember the insight... tag and clip to Evernote, post to Typepad, sync to Dropbox: if this then that.
In conclusion, this week I bit the bullet and bought a mini iPad as I saw a glimpse of the potential productivity in the future. I could hear my Blackberry weeping as it crept closer and closer to life support. My new years resolution for the Year of the Horse is to make a hard hard turn into The New Productivity Curve: to have a tremendous increase in horse power. To go from 4 cylinders to 12 cylinders... not just to break the sound barrier but to break the Productivity Barrier, the outside envelope of which I probably don't even know exists. It's just out there waiting to be broken and RescueTime can help me track it, too.
And to start the process this entire blog post has been written using voice recognition technology, on my new mini iPad, in Evernote.
Last June on the last day of Union Church Youth Group, we had all the youth write messages of affirmation to each other. Each sheet had a collection of Youth Group pictures from activities throughout the year. The rules of the exercise: the messages had to be complimentary and anonymous. Kids sat in a circle on the floor and passed the sheets around while we played some upbeat music in the background. At the end of the evening they each received their sheet and were able to take it home. There were a few kids who had already left for the summer holidays. The Youth wrote messages for them, too, which were subsequently mailed to the kids. Recently I found Sebastian's while I was clearing out a drawer. I think I will show it to him as an affirmation. Maybe it will pick up his mood a bit.
This past weekend we registered Sebastian for Camp Kivu, a two-week Christian camp that our friends rave about and will be attending at the same time as Sebastian. There will be a growing contingent from Union Church attending for the last two weeks of July.
What Tess wrote is all correct. The events of last term were striking: there was a line of demarcation mid-term when Sebastian's world burst and the dam holding him together gave way. I sometimes wonder "to what degree?" Looking down from way above one would draw the same conclusions as Tess. Metaphorically I would say that Sebastian is changing lanes. Perhaps changing highways might be a better way to describe it. I imagine he is uncertain of the highway ahead. Maybe he sees congestion or a mishap. Maybe he's throttling down, not sure what lays in the glimmer of the sun, spray of the rain beyond, or even the road falling beneath him from the collapsing dam.
Ahead there is an off ramp. He's changing lanes to take that ramp and venture off in a different direction. He'll find himself in unknown territory. Maybe lost for a while. Possibly moving slower. Or he might even go faster. He'll hit potholes, spin out and crash, stop and curse. But in the end, his trust will be without borders. He'll go deeper than his feet could ever wonder. His faith will be made stronger. He's on a road less travelled and I know it won't be easy. Why? First, Sebastian probably doesn't even know he's changing roads and second, I've been on that road.
My close friends in Toronto often joke that I was born in a jacket and tie. My dam burst very young - much younger than Sebastian. At school I was pretty much a nobody. At least it looked that way from my side of the world. That changed a bit in junior high when KP and I hooked up. She had cachet. I rode that wave for about a year. Meanwhile, being skinny made me an easy target until I took Judo lessons and one day knocked out the hallway ceiling tiles after shoulder flipping TP who tried to dump my books. The predators backed away. I'm clear they weren't bullies. The teachers were a bit conflicted on who should get the detention. In the end none were issued.
High school wasn't much better. The school was repeatedly winning football championships and had US students venturing north in hopes they'd pick up American college scholarships through our school. I was a mouse compared to these guys. I'll never forget RF who, after perfectly catching the ball at the opening kick-off of a championship game, ran the entire length of the football field to score a touchdown. The crowd went wild and like the Road Runner we all swore he left flames in his tracks. The sobering truth hit me when I learned his thigh, pure muscle, had a circumference of 28 inches against my 23 inch waist.
The following year, Grade 12, God issued me my own after-burners. I discovered I was fast, and if I trained my mind and body, really fast. Somewhere in there I ran a casually timed 4:04 mile and a mentor tried to point me toward a more competitive arena. I declined and while I still ran lots of running races and did okay, my world was best described by a lifelong friend, David Brightling, who half sarcastically said, "Charles suffered the legacy of the lonely long distance runner."
Through all those years I had few school friends. Either the friendships weren't formed en masse or people pulled away in boredom of me. In the psychological world that made me an introvert. Outside of school I loved boats and sailing. In the sailing world I was more of a somebody. I took that off ramp, striking even further afield after starting my own marine business when I was sixteen. That lasted fourteen years. None of my school friends had any idea. The ensuing years, paralleled by university, forged some good friendships that I still have today. But the shadow of the other half of the equation - the half where friends didn't exist - was always hard to solve for. I was never good at that math and loneliness typically followed the = sign. There were good times and bad times, but isn't that the case with all of us? Any doctor will tell you a flatline is bad. (At left, from left: Tim, Stephen [oldest friend from four years old and claims I was born in a tie], me, Anne, Fred and Tess at a mini reunion in July 2013, Toronto. David Brightling was out of town and unable to attend.)
Sebastian is also not good at this version of math and he is definitely taking a road less travelled. It looks very familiar. I can see the map unfolding. What does Sebastian have going for him?
Sebastian is fast and if he puts his mind to it, could be very fast.
Sebastian is creative with a fearless, vivid imagination. No horror story seems to phase him.
Sebastian loves technology and wants to learn lots about computers, making movies etc.
Sebastian loves God and is a powerful intercessor.
Given an enticing book, he is an excellent reader but easily bored.
Sebastian has a funny sense of humour evolving.
Sebastian is extraordinarily kind. Sure, we all have our grumpy days (me more often than others) but most of the time Sebastian cares deeply that others are okay and looked after.
What I know matters now is the investment of time to help Sebastian sort and understand his experiences. Chances are Sebastian won't understand the road less travelled and he needs GPS to guide the way. The messages coming in are pretty confusing at the moment and the emotions bubbling up, hard to keep in check. Sebastian doesn't have the armour of resilience. We've identified part of the source, which I'll share more about at another time. For now the map needs to unfold until we see the path we're on.
Sebastian also reads our blogs. Hi Seb, I love you and am really proud of you and all you're becoming. I used an Aston Martin above because if you're on a road not taken, I know you'd want to be in that car!
Wow, I thought sitting on a long haul plane made me stop and think. I had no idea what sitting on the overnight train from Beijing to Harbin would do to me. Our trip is about ten hours long. We left just past 9 pm. I'm with the three boys (Sebastian, Jasper and their friend Adam) in one of the cabins. The boys fell asleep while we listened to Mantovani Christmas Music. I managed to sleep for 1.5 hours and am now awake, listening to Coldplay's Viva La Viva album while the dark China night races past me. I haven't really listened to Coldplay or U2 since I travelled regularly on business in 2009.
We are heading north... really north. We're mostly passing through what I can only guess is countryside. Everything is dark with distant lights of occasional houses and buildings. Every few minutes or so we'll pass something brightly lit during which I'll be granted a four to five second movie of a cement factory or dimly lit building of some sort. The older buildings look as one would expect of rural China. On the roads there are rare moments of trucks lighting up country roads for the seconds that we pass by. Not all the buildings are old - some are super modern, sprawling industrial complexes providing odd contrast and representing the the train of progress pushing forward in China. Sprinkled on top of this window picture show will be the odd oncoming train racing past, providing a few seconds of Blade Runner style lighting.
Another contrast will be an old, dark bridge spanning across the top of the train tracks and a few seconds later a new modern bridge ablaze with lights. All in still of night while the skies are dark and clear. Above is a buffet of stars.
We're coming from a few days in Beijing. Tess wrote the following in an email:
"We learned today the kids aren't ready to be interested in culture. If they had their druthers they would have skateboarded through Tiannamen Square in 30 seconds flat and they were so uninterested in the Forbidden Palace that we stopped in the courtyard and left without paying admission. Their highlight was seeing if they could throw rocks into the moat surrounding the Forbidden City which would permeate the ice. We are trying to tell them that in a few days they will be sick and tired of ice. But right now they are thrilled. We did see a great Acrobatic Ahow that kept all the kids enthralled and the adults, too! We are staying at the Red Door at Mutianyu next to The Great Wall. Loving heated floors. The kids are loving the space and freedom. This is a great home, perfect for the 11 of us. Tomorrow we hike up the wall and 'toboggan down' but we will sleep in first. Then into Beijing, check in at 7pm for the 9pm train. And then the real cold..."
While at the station waiting for the train we sat with some strangers who found us curious beings... the kids with blond hair etc. Several of the kids, especially Sela, managed to practise their Chinese. There have been numerous times the last few days when the kids' knowledge of Mandarin has cleared up some potential misunderstandings, particularly with drivers. At the train station, with some assistance from Google Translate to fill in a few missing words, Sela did quite well to strike up some conversations.
Charles Caldwell DotCom Internet Writing A collection of articles written in Hong Kong during the Dot Com era. At the time IandI Asia was alive and kicking. We regularly met in the Furama Hotel, now long gone.
