My Talk To
The Adventure Design Group
I gave my talk! It was great to have such a great turn out, and I really appreciate all of the support and encouragement! Thank you all who made it out!
Curious what I said, here is a link to the slide deck. I’m not sure how much sense it will make without the voiceover, but if you want me to explain anything, let me know!
Oh and I kept on mentioning that there was going to be a surprise! What was it? Well, talking about experiential art, I felt like we needed to actually do something.
So, working with the Rare Birds crew, my favorite samba band and several other collaborators, we put on a parade!
You can find the video from Jerome Joseph Gentes here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmKneXYgHXu/
I also wanted to especially thank the collaborators who I invited up on stage to talk about working on our projects. I’m proud of the things we have done together, and I’m really glad we got to share the state together. As I said, the work we do is a stone soup, and without you, it would never have happened!
Again, thanks all!
How I Solve for Lower Stress
Stress=(Value*Responsibility)-Control
If you are already stressed out, and algebra is one of the things that causes you stress, I’d stop reading now 😊.
You can define “stress” as “responsibility without control”. I think you could also factor in how important the things you are dealing with are. To make it an equation, you could state it like this:
Stress = (Importance * Responsibility) - Control
In looking at the equation, you can extrapolate the more important something this and the more responsibility you have, the higher the potential for stress. And, the more control you have, the lower your stress.
If you start playing with the equation, you can figure out how much stress something is, and then figure out how to “solve” for lower stress:
– Lower the importance: Is this really a problem, or is this an annoyance? I see the difference as a problem MUST be dealt with, and an annoyance is something you don’t have to deal with. For example, a problem is your car radiator blew up. An annoyance is the car wash you like is closed. Before I started making this differentiation, I looked at everything as a problem and could get worked up over small things. Now, it’s amazing how quickly things become manageable when I apply that lens.
– Lower Your Level of Responsibility: Can you share the load? Can you put some other things down for the moment? Can you make those with more control with you take the responsibility? And, can you step away from the responsibility, even if it is just for some time?
– Take on More Control: Can you set a deadline? Can you set up boundaries? Can you get more vocal? Can you set up goals? Can you set up guidelines? Can you do the task yourself rather than having someone else do it? In the short term, doing these things will likely increase the stress in the short term. Changing systems usually does. But, over time, I’ve found it generally reduces stress for me.
I’ve found looking at stressful situations through this lens to be helpful. How about you? What are your thoughts on approach to stress?
And, when all else fails, there is looking at comfy animal pictures:
