And I thought I was doing it the right way?

As I read the Four Hour Work week by Tim Ferris I was inspired to write the following.

Tim Ferris introduced me to Dreamlining. Before I knew Dreamlining, I knew goal setting. Essentially, in goal setting, I would set a goal and try to achieve it. For instance, I would like to start a design collaborative. There, that's a goal. Great! But, what am I missing? Well, for one thing, how? or where? or what will it take to accomplish?

That's where dreamlining comes into play. I think of those little toy puzzles that you have to slide the pieces in a specific arrangement to see the total image. Goal setting reminds me of the puzzle before you arrange the pieces into their correct place. You know what the outcome is supposed to look like, but it's all discombobulated. Dreamlining, to me, is the imaged arranged correctly. You know where the pieces go so that you can witness the outcome and ultimately what to do next.

Here's what my goal looks like when I dreamline...

Goal: To start a design collaborative.
- Start experimenting on a regular basis with collaboration.
- Take on freelance work that requires me working with others who have different gifts than I.
- Design/Strategize I AM WALL, a campaign for Palestinians, not Palestine.
- Partner with many individuals to create a Mural on backside of W&S.
- Meet Architects, Accountants, Writers, IDs, GDs, exterior Ds, Landscape Ds, etc.. and become extremely good at keeping up with them.
- Collaborate with a writer to write even more compelling blog entries
- Ask people of all disciplines to write about themselves on my blog so that we can understand each other better.
- Ask more questions at work and involve myself in ways not expected.
- Write to CEO's of major collaboratives and ask them specific questions.
- Read more books like the Four Work Week and Tribes by Seth Godin.
- Draw up a business plan and share it for constructive criticism. Never hide anything, always share.
- Tell Everyone I know my goal.

Other goals...

Goal: Partner With Bill Strickland (Founder of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in PGH)
- Write consistently to Mr. Strickland and ask specific questions.
- Share with Mr. Stickland my ambition to help him accomplish his goal of starting 100 centers in the US and 100 around the world.
- Share with Mr. Strickland my dream of rebuilding a hour in Manchester with the hope that young people could live there and work with the guild and Bidwell center.
- Learn more about Manchester by talking to my grandparents who lived there.
- Print a Map of Manchester and Hand it on my wall.
- Start working in similar neighboorhoods to Manchester, here in Chattanooga.
- Think about living in a bigger city before moving home to Pittsburgh.
- Research
- Sacrifice spending and begin to save money.
- Move back home to Pittsburgh, PA and live in Manchester.
- Tell Everyone I know my goal.

Goal: Travel Back to Niger to start a Taureg Cultural Archive
- Start Design Collaborative
- Partner with Bill Strickland
- Find funding to support travelers, equipment & other costs. ($100,000+)
- Learn to speak French
- Live France for a year
- Join a French Club in Chattanooga
- Utilize Free Podcasts
- Listen to french audio tapes on the way home from work.
- Completely understand the Taureg.
- Read books
- Set up a google alert
- Meet Tauregs in the US
- Tell Everyone I know my goal.


These are just a few of my goals, dreamlined. Now everyday I can work toward my goals. They're no longer in the far off distance. And they're interconnected.

I think Dreamlining could work for You, Me & Everyone In Between.

The Color Purple.

I was visiting friends in Huntsville, Alabama this past weekend. As a part of my visit I campaigned for a friend of mine named Wayne Parker, who is a republican. If you've read previous entries, you know who I voted for. You might wonder, why I was campaigning for a conservative? Simple, I like Wayne.

In Huntsville, I heard a tremendous amount of bashing towards Senator Obama. I didn't argue with them, but I did have similar thoughts stored up towards Senator McCain. Instead, I started asking myself questions. Why do we have such separate opinions? How can we work together? Does it matter who's President?

As I drove north towards Chattanooga I had some time to contemplate these questions. I've lived in both the North and the South, and I've spent time abroad. I've learned how similar we actually are. What is it that separates us? As thoughts raced through my mind, I was reminded of an eastern parables.

"A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said, ‘It is like a pillar.’ This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, ‘The elephant is like a husking basket.’ This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently. In the same way, he who has seen (America) in a particular way limits (America) to that alone and thinks that (America) is nothing else."

Conclusion:

The reality is, each of us holds a different, unique & special part of the elephant. The elephant ceases to be an elephant if any part of the elephant is eliminated. May we all recognize at this monumental slice of American and World history, that we each hold a part of the beautiful, creative, determined, mindful, steward, neighbor, and servant, that is America. Unfortunately, we are not blind and we have no excuse.

You, Me and Everyone In Between must learn it's not about the party represented by red or by blue or even green. It's about what happens when those parties combine.

For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.