I hope this week’s edition finds you in good spirits.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and a special thanks for all the feedback.
Hope you enjoy.
1) QOTW
"Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Freedom is a road seldom travelled by the multitude."
Frederick Douglass
2) Story – What if…
I am at Somerset House sitting in the courtyard waiting for Chrunk...
It’s another glorious summer day and I’m really taking to my newfound status as a man of leisure. I’m scribbling in my notebook, drawing mindmaps and preparing personal training sessions for clients, mentally rehearsing what I’ll be doing and saying.
Children are running through the 55 water fountains shouting and screaming gleefully, at first I’m wishing they weren’t quite so loud but then I notice the joy in their voices and contrast it with the sour faces of the three tourists to my left and it becomes a bit more bearable.
I look up to see one of the kids blitz through four fountains in quick succession, another stops the water with his hand at waist-height, yet another puts his right foot over the hole trapping the flow of water. He stands there smiling mischievously blocking the spray while all the other fountains shoot 20ft up into the air. Five seconds pass…ten seconds. Much like our intrepid four year old I’m wondering what will happen, the image of a small child hurtling skywards flashes into my mind. Thankfully, Somerset House clearly took such a possibility into consideration in their fountain design.
I carry on writing planning but I notice this blocking the fountain thing is a recurring theme for the Little People.
It’s like they’re all thinking: "What would happen if I do this…?"
Twenty minutes later a 30-something woman with long brown curly hair slowly walks up to the fountains barefoot. She’s watching the children with a wistful look as though she wants to run through one of the fountains too. She gets very close but then hesitates.
I’m tempted to shout: "Do it!" She walks around the outside instead, a foot or two away from the sprays of water. Five minutes later another woman in her 20’s walks in-between two of the rows of fountains smiling but being careful not to get too close to them.
I much prefer being an adult to being a child and I’m not for one second suggesting we should all be running through water fountains in our pants, but I can’t help thinking how easy it is to lose that spirit of play and experimentation along the way. We learn rules, we learn fear, we learn to seek approval, we learn conformity.
I've realised that the way I act or respond in most situations is virtually automatic based on past "programming".
But aren't the people that have the most impact, the pioneers that inspire us and lead us in new directions the ones with that same spirit of play and experimentation? The ones that look at a situation and instead of doing what is expected or what has already been done, say:
"What would happen if...?"
DISCLAIMER: The TWW accepts NO responsibility for any potential shenanigans resulting from you asking yourself this question at any point in time!
However if asking this question does lead to any interesting new ideas or happenings please let me know and perhaps I'll share next week.
That question has definitely made my life more interesting in the past week. I successfully bartered in a shop (the stuff was overpriced), diversified my training programmes by nicking bits from hsing-i and capoeira and started conversations with several bemused strangers. It's been fun.
3) 7 New Inventions
"Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes…the ones who see things differently – they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things…they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Steve Jobs
1. Sprayable Energy’s Spray-on Caffeine - an alternative to coffee and energy drinks, sprayed directly on to the skin and absorbed over several hours for a steady stream of energy.
2. Lifespan Measuring Wristwatch - tracks endothelial cells which are considered a key indicator of health. Wow.
3. Smokers Hat - the battery powered smoker's hat sucks up the cigarette smoke, filters it, deodorizes it, ionizes it and spritzes a fresh scent near the exhaust fan before it spits it back out. There are even a couple of built-in cigarette pack holders and a nifty visor that is appropriately tinted smoky (US patent 1989).
4. Argus Glasses – Allow the Blind to "see" - using electrodes, a digital signal processor and a video camera. Light is translated into electrical patterns which are beamed wirelessly to a receiver in the electrodes in the eye. Users do not see in the usual way but are able to see black and white edges and contrast points.
5.Anti-Pervert Hairy Stockings – Stockings. With hair on them.
6. Kite Patch Hides Humans from Mosquitoes – the KP a disposable square of 1.5 inches on each side, it emits non-toxic compounds which disrupt mosquitoes ability to track humans through exhaled carbon dioxide.
7. Pram / Scooter Hybrid.
8. Shower Mic Sponge - a shower sponge shaped like a microphone.
4) Comedy
Russell Brand @ David Lynch Foundation Gala:
5) Song
Shad - Fam Jam:
Have a good week.
Dx
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