going offline

Three Powerful Lessons I Learned When I Got Offline - a very good article about how to have a properly balanced life when it comes to online access. this is surely also something that can be applied at the workplace; how often don't we waste time by checking this and that without really needing to?

could slow typing be good?

I am wondering if it could be beneficial to be a slow typer - otherwise there might be the risk of typing faster than the thought can be formulated, which can either cause total nonsense to come out, or, in the worst case, a not-so-well-thought-out statement. obviously there needs to be a balance as being too slow might cause you to lose your train of thought. is there perhaps an optimal words per minute to thought ratio? that would be interesting to investigate...

I love this shot

it's just gorgeous:

(taken by Carmen B)

overnight success

from things we forget

I have wakened...

I have awakened in Thy shelter, O my God,
and it becometh him that seeketh that shelter
to abide within the Sanctuary of Thy Protection
and the Stronghold of Thy defense.
Illumine my inner being, O my Lord,
with the splendors of the Dayspring of Thy Revelation,
even as Thou didst illumine my outer being
with the morning light of Thy favor.
- Bahá'u'lláh

do smartphones reduce productivity?

the idea behind smartphones is to give people access to more data at their fingertips and allow them to do more things while on the road. but it seems that all they do is to... play angry birds?

there's great potential in the concept of having so much data and applications available, being able to write on the go, check news, mail, etc. but we get caught in the simple things that grab our attention.

I wonder if there's been any research on whether smartphones actually increase or decrease productivity, especially if they have free data...

me, me, me, me version 2012

it's time for my annual wiki-borna check! let's see if anything has changed this year :)
same as last year:

Borna, a town in Saxony, Germany

A part of Bahretal in the Sächsische Schweiz district, Saxony, Germany

Borna disease, an infectious neurological syndrome caused by the Borna virus

The Rabha name of Borna snakehead - an extremely rare species of snakehead

updated:

Borna of Croatia, a Medieval Slavic Prince of Dalmatia. This one has been updated to refer to Croatian given names, as there is also a Borna Rendulić, a Croatian hockey player.

removed:

A Persian word meaning "young." Can also be used as a name. The Persian diction is "بر نا"

new:

Borna language in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - which apparently might just be a misspelling of the language Boma

Borna language in Ethiopia - which goes by the names Shinasha or Boro

getting away from the mundane

I recently had a conversation with some of my friends about how couples tend to slowly get into a level of conversation that is very mundane, away from the elevated and uplifting that characterize the beginning of the relationship when everything is new and you want to find out as much as possible, discuss different points of view and see what the other's plans and goals in life are.

why is that so? maybe because in the beginning, there's so much investigation to do, so many questions to ask and different points of view to figure out. once the excitement has worn off, it's easier to get into the lull of "what do we need tonight?", "who should do the shopping?", etc. and then we just continue on our day...

but then this quote comes to mind:

Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk.
- Bahá'u'lláh

I'm not saying that the mundane conversations are unseemly, they're even downright necessary - consultation and communication about even the simplest things is key to a successful relationship. it's more the danger of getting stuck in these types of conversations, and not exploring new arenas of thought that is the worry. if the union in marriage is the foundation for a healthy society, shouldn't the couple be more open to new information?

so how can couples manage to get themselves out of the everyday and mundane? if we are to be able maintain a high quality level of conversation for an extended period of time, we need to expose ourselves to new activities and thoughts, ideas and conversations from other people - becoming outward-oriented in our thought and reach, spending time with those that may not have the same points of view as we do, just to get some new insights into life.

another way is to read. a lot. read different books, from various authors and sources, and then talk to people about them. share ideas and thoughts, reflections and learnings. it is a very good way of getting out of old thoughts and habits, ways and manners.

here is another insight from farnam street on what happens as we get older:

As the years go by we view our familiar surroundings with less and less freshness of perception. We no longer look with a wakeful, perceiving eye at the faces of people we see everyday, nor at any other features of our everyday world.

we have to be open to new impressions, and like a child be willing to constantly learn new things. so what if we don't figure things out at the first attempt or fail? let's try again!

service and invention

I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent...
- Thomas Edison

why do we circumambulate?

oftentimes before going to pray at the Shrines, we circumambulate in silence and reverence, before going inside. recently, I've had the conversation with some friends asking why this is the case - why do we circumambulate? what is its significance?

according to wikipedia: Circumambulation is the act of moving around a sacred object. reading the following quote might give a nudge in the right direction:

The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact counterpart of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven. (Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 9)

so what would be the spiritual equivalent of circumambulation? maybe it could have to do with the fact that when we circumambulate in the physical world, our center of attention is the Shrine and the Manifestation of God, and a reminder that we should try to do the same in the spiritual world:

The state of prayer is the best of conditions, for man is then associating with God. (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 201)

so in the same way that our physical bodies center around the physical remains of the Manifestation of God when we circumambulate, we should try to have our soul and thoughts constantly centered on the Manifestation, His life and teachings.

how to do that is another subject altogether...