If you had dominion over every hour of your life – as I pretty much do at this point – what would you do?
- spend more time in your heart space and less in your head, believing that life will be abundantly joyful if you are more loving and less judgmental; or
- actively use your mind to master something new because you believe the old adage, “use it or lose it”?
13 (Living The Brain)
Can you do both? Or does an active mind oppose an open heart and vice versa? Well, I think I’m going to find out, because right now I am definitely trying to do both. Tapping into the emotional dimensions of me is an interesting pursuit, something I have never tried much before. Like many of my male contemporaries, I spent the last 45 years scratching and clawing my way up the corporate ladder, leaving my compassionate heart in the closet and relying solely on my brain power to get ahead.
Now that I’m off the ladder, my interest in the qualities of my heart has surfaced, but my left brain still craves intellectual stimulus. Is this a predicament or an opportunity?
Honestly, everything on the Internet fascinates me (well, except maybe learning html programming). For two reasons: I do like the mental stimulus, but maybe even more, I love the social engagement that the Internet provides. And to do the social engagement well demands that one acquire certain skills. You don’t just buy a website off the shelf at Safeway; to build it yourself requires some technical dexterity. Same for a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter account, LinkedIn, et al. But then what is life, if not a constant stretch to embrace the ever-changing “new”.
I know social networking in cyberspace is not for everybody, but if you’re as gregarious as I am, this new way of being connected to others is totally satisfying. And I know of at least 400 million people who agree with me, because they’re all on Facebook, too — 50% of them log on daily. Only 30% of all Facebookers live in the U.S., so there are still 180 million Americans yet to “drink the Kool Aid”. Come on, folks, what are you waiting for?
As I move around the social networking groups in Silicon Valley, I am amazed at how many more women are in attendance at these meetings than men. In checking Facebook statistics, I learned that there are more women using Facebook than men, so maybe women are taking their natural propensity to relate to other women from face-to-face to the virtual world. Not a big surprise, but there could be some big surprises in store for the masculine gender if this trend continues. I’m thinking perhaps a major paradigm shift from a patriarchal world to a matriarchal dominated world. Frankly, at this point, I’m ready to let them have it. Men have made a mess of things!!!
Which leads me to a scary conclusion: men are still from Mars and women are still from Venus. But now women have invaded Mars, as well. Okay, guys, anyone know the way to Venus?