Road Trippin

Mr. Oz, lil doggy Ozy and I are road tripping to our new home this week.  We are taking a big step and moving to Seattle, WA.  Good-bye harsh Minnesota winters and hello drizzly and cloudy temperate climes.  The whole moving thing has been one interesting ride thus far and I'm sure it will only get more interesting as the days and weeks ahead.  But, as some of you can attest to given your personal proximity to me over the course of this past year . . . it was time for a change.  Life's far too short to live in "we should's" and "what if's."  Best to drink up life like water shooting out of a garden hose on full blast.  There have been several events in the recent months that have caused me to pause, take stock of my own happiness and reflect more deeply on who it is I am and who it is I want to be.  All of this soul searching has led me to a new path of exploration, personal growth and a strong desire to break out of my comfort zone.  While it will likely be challenging, I think it will also be liberating.  I think this quote/story from Wayne Dyer does a nice job of summing up some of my thoughts on the topic:

The Bushman in the Kalahari Desert talk about two "hungers."
There is the Great Hunger and there is the Little Hunger.
The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; but the Great Hunger,
the greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning...
There's ultimately only one thing that makes human beings deeply and profoundly bitter,
and that is to have thrust upon them a life without meaning...
There is nothing wrong in searching for happiness...
But of far more comfort to the soul...is something greater than happiness
or unhappiness, and that is meaning. Because meaning transfigures all...
Once what you are doing has for you meaning, it is irrelevant whether you're happy
or unhappy. You are content—you are not alone in your Spirit—you belong.

— Sir Laurens van der Post from Hasten Slowly, a film by Mickey Lemle

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Wayne-Dyer-on-Ambition-with-Meaning#ixzz1TH9qSgJL

So, with that . . . off we go!  

The last few weeks have been crazy.  I left my job of 5+ years with a really awesome company and wonderful colleagues and friends.  I accepted a new job with another cool company working on a fun brand in a category that I absolutely love.  Mr. Oz and I got our home ready to put on the market, we took a house hunting trip and are in the midst of packing up for our journey to the Pacific Northwest.  Whew.  

As this blog is all about documenting My Bests, I guess I feel compelled to say that Minneapolis is certainly a big ole Best for me.  It is just a wonderful city filled with a relaxed and progressive vibe, great art, tasty food, beautiful scenery, hard-working and down to earth people and, well, I just love it.  It's tough to leave, but am hopeful that I will find another BEST in Seattle and can then lay claim to living in not one, but two, amazing cities.  Oh how I will miss this place.  Of course, I will continue my blogging adventures from my new locale and will include my new-found favorites and, if need be, my not so favorites.  

One really neat aspect of taking a long road trip is compiling the tunes and various audio books we plan to listen to on the 22 hour ride out.  Mr. Oz and I have sifted through many options for the perfect road trippin entertainment.  Here is what we have so far:

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan -- some fantasy yummy with mystical creatures thrown in for good measure

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell  -- Oh Sarah, you zany historian you.  

Unconditional Confidence: Instructions for Meeting Any Experience with Trust and Courage by Pema Chodron -- Pema is a Buddhist teacher who specializes in expanding consciousness through meditation and positive thought.  Seems perfect. 

Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson -- this is a sci-fi book that has been on my must read list for some time now but haven't gotten to it. 

I think we have plenty if you throw in a few podcasts here and there, but am open to other suggestions you might have.  Any others I should consider? 

Linchpin

I've been reading the book Linchpin by Seth Godin and find myself highlighting a lot of the passages.  So many pearls of wisdom . . . Seth writes a lot about the importance of being remarkable.  Work, he proclaims, should be the employee's "art."  It is about moving beyond mediocrity and investing more emotion.  It is about going well beyond just showing up and, instead, making waves.  Very inspiring stuff.  Here are just a few of the passages I've made not of so far:

"The cause of the suffering is the desire of organizations to turn employees into replaceable cogs in a vast machine.  The easier people are to replace, the less they need to be paid.  And so far, workers have been complicit in this commoditization.  This is your opportunity.  The indispensable employee brings humanity and connection and art to her organization.  She is the key player, the one who's difficult to live without, the person you can build something around."

"Consumers are not loyal to cheap commodities.  They crave the unique, the remarkable, and the human.  Sure, you can always succeed for a while with the cheapest, but you earn your place in the market with humanity and leadership.  It's certainly possible for a shopper to buy food more cheaply than they sell it at Trader Joe's.  But Trader's keeps growing, because the combination of engaged employees, cutting edge products and fun brings people back.  Even people trying to save a buck.  The cheap strategy doesn't scale very well, so the only way to succeed is to add value by amplifying the network and giving workers a platform, not by forcing them to pretend to be machines.  The fickle nature of price-shopping consumers is bad news for many companies, the companies that tried to be the cheap at all costs, because now they must figure out how to make a profit from expensive, unique disobedient employees.  Those are the only two choices.  Win by being more ordinary, more standard and cheaper.  Or win by being faster, more remarkable and more human."

I like the idea of our own humanity pushing us to deeper connection not only with those around us, but also with our own sense of purpose in our professional lives.  Thank you Seth.