The point of it all

So, okay...speaking of camps and all...a couple weeks back, my PiC and I had a very wee getaway ("working" weekendish) to wine country to discuss winecamp and, while we were there, we finally took the time do do something we had been thinking of for a while: having our own futureplanningcamp. Yeah, it's a long one, but illustrative of what we needed to do, which was think about what we are doing today in the context of our future.

We all seem to have things that pull us in a zillion different directions: work, family, friends, leisure, health, basics, home, volunteering, career paths, etc. etc. We put together our little life map, which ended up looking like this:

And started going down the list and mapping out each individual piece of this as we could. (the eventual goal is to actually assign time frames, hours spent, etc. on these things so we know what we can actually physically handle). Most was pretty straight forward: me, wanting to spend more time with Tad, getting his grades up, improve my health (workout and eat better), concentrate better at work, have time for various projects, etc. Chris, wanting to hunker down at work and get his projects completed on time, improve his health, have enough time to fit in for his various other projects, etc. But then we got to the 'Changing the World' part.

That was the big question: what the heck does that mean? How? Why?

So, we each got a piece of paper and wrote (yes, wrote with a pen and paper - no laptop) what that means for us. That one core value that motivates everything we do. And it looked something like this:

Chris: "Basically, so...ever since high school, I've wanted to take back control over my life from technology and corporations and anonymous things that don't understand me. So, part of this is to design the tools so that the individual has more of a say in their destiny."

WHY? "To restore more genuine satisfaction with one's life. To have more happiness generally. Ability to give and have less stress."

HOW? "By pushing the idea that the individual is powerful if s/he chooses to exercise that power. That operating at a community level is essential. Simplifying is empowering. Become the toolmakers and don't take anything for granted."

Tara: "Basically, for many years - probably before, but mostly enlightened by reading The Cluetrain Manifesto (how ironic) in 1999 - I've been strongly empassioned to fight for "the consumer". That faceless person whose attention, money and time is constantly stolen by corporations, marketers (ironic as well) and other parties, not interested in that individual's real needs, feelings or essence, but just in making a buck."

WHY? "Because I AM a marketer and I think it is necessary to sleep at night. But most of all, I'm that faceless consumer, too."

HOW? "Acting accordingly through my own marketing practices. Blogging, writing and generally educating others (clients, marketing professionals, conferences, my employer, etc.) on what it means to actually care. Building and pushing tools to empower individuals and give people choices."

So....what's my point? Well, no matter what people think about Web 2.0 (the term or the essence of it), I really believe that is why so many people are excited about this period of time. I'm breaking this post up into a couple of sections so that you'll actually read it (believe me, I don't hold it against you...I scan long articles, too):

• The Collective Unconscious is digitally iterated
  
  
• They are still ignoring the community, but they won't be able to for long
  
  
• Who and what will f&*k it up...if we let them
  
  
• Taking this beyond the geekosphere

...and I may just have a point somewhere in there...;)

technorati tags: collectiveunconscious, community, geek, tagging, web2.0, lifemapping