Talking Story

Starting new conversations in the workplace!

  • Rosa’s Books
  • ManagingWithAloha.com
  • RosaSay.com

PÅ«‘olo Mea Maika‘i: Playlists

May 15, 2010 by Rosa Say

PÅ«‘olo mea maika‘i is ‘a bundle of good things’ you return home with.
Things you feel are gifts.
Noun or verb? Depends on your kaona… you can decide :-)
Add this post to our hau‘oli‘oli listing of  weekend diversions…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the things I am totally embracing in this 2010 Change it up! world of ours, is an end to my previous habits of conspicuous consumption. The timing is pleasing, and just right for me.

I no longer have any desire to read Martha Stewart’s “Good Things” which used to be my favorite part of her Living magazine, or skim through Oprah’s O Lists. I cancelled both magazine subscriptions a while back, and I’m not missing them.

I embrace all the economic reasons of currently in-vogue frugality, and fresh realizations that there are better things to do with one’s money, like giving to causes nobler than self-indulgence. There’s also an aging self-indulgence: Hubby and I are now empty nesters, with glorious permission from both of our baby birds to “oh please mom, do throw away anything I’ve left behind.” Those sweet tweets are no longer falling on deaf ears as we seek to purge and unclutter, freeing ourselves from all the stuff we’d once thought made a house a home (and did, during another time, if we kindly forgive ourselves for past lapses in better judgement). We make new lists: Places we want to see, vacations we want to take, dinner parties we can have in the house instead of on lawn chairs in the carport… most things on our list no longer have to do with collecting or buying things. They’re about experiences to have before time runs out or we simply get too old and tired.

Dealing with physical consumerism has been very easy. However what I still struggle with, is bundling my mea maika‘i of treasured knowledge and digital information.

I still want to read most of it,
wading through to filter it.
I still want to collect the good bits,
keep them indexed and archived for best-possible retrieval,
and then savor them at opportune times.

Yet one (just 1)
good (and only good)
trusted system
of how to do so eludes me.
It’s driving me crazy.

Two of my favorite Tumblrs got me thinking about this again this past Thursday. Frank Chimero started it when he posted Text Playlist:

…one made of the best writing on the web I come across. I take this list and revisit and reread it every 4 to 8 weeks. You could almost consider it a playlist of text: it’s very select (I artificially limit it to 10-15 articles), I typically read them all in one sitting, and the order and pacing is very purposeful. Most revolve around what it’s like to be making things in 2010, and a lot of the people that I respect the most have pieces in it. It’s almost a pep talk in text form. I visit it when I’m down, when I’m lazy, when I’m feeling the inertia take over.

Take a look at his playlist: 10 articles are listed, all very good for your mental gymnastics this weekend.

A bit later in the day, Liz Danzico followed suit with this story:

In a bricked basement in Savannah earlier this year, I found myself trading playlists with a woman I’d never met. She, writing a somewhat academic second edition of a book that wasn’t hers the first time around, was experiencing some sort of block. Have you read the “Clackity Noise,” I asked?

It was then I realized that I had a writing playlist.

I explained to her that whenever I’m feeling uninspired, I reread a handful of things that remind me, ground me, reframe and reposition me, sometimes frighten me frankly, back into or out of where I was. I have websites of this sort. Posters. Trees. Scraps of letters. But these, these were the most threadbare. Does she not have that? She did not. I presented her with the playlist.

Take a look at her playlist too. 10 more articles are listed. Between the two you will feel quite a palena ‘ole abundance [MWA Key 9], I promise you.

For now I am resisting the oh-so-strong urge to come up with a playlist of my own for you, for these two are enough, and I want to share without overwhelm so you can savor too.

Don’t skim or scan: Read slowly and deeply. It’s the weekend, so take your time. Don’t miss the dessert of paragraphs from Liz when you get to the end of her playlist.

Within my own May weekend I am likely to read both playlists through again for myself. Slowly, and with warming sips of gently brewed green tea. I’m going to resist the urge to write and think more on this digital archiving I am still pulled toward figuring out.

Photo Credits: Empty nest by Rocketships-Jellyfish on Flickr
The dessert was one I had while on a trip to see my baby birds :)

Purchase Managing with Aloha at Amazon.com in hardcover, or in the Kindle Store.

Search Talking Story your way

RSS Current Articles at Managing with Aloha:

  • Do it—Experiment!
  • Hō‘imi to Curate Your Life’s Experience
  • Kaʻana i kāu aloha: Share your Aloha
  • Managing Basics: The Good Receiver
  • What do executives do, anyway? They do values.
  • Managing Basics: On Finishing Well
  • Wellness—the kind that actually works

Search Talking Story by Category

Talking Story Article Archives

  • July 2016 (1)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • March 2012 (6)
  • February 2012 (6)
  • January 2012 (10)
  • December 2011 (1)
  • November 2011 (4)
  • October 2011 (17)
  • September 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (2)
  • June 2011 (2)
  • May 2011 (4)
  • April 2011 (12)
  • March 2011 (16)
  • February 2011 (16)
  • January 2011 (23)
  • December 2010 (4)
  • November 2010 (1)
  • October 2010 (1)
  • September 2010 (4)
  • August 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (4)
  • June 2010 (13)
  • May 2010 (17)
  • April 2010 (18)
  • March 2010 (13)
  • February 2010 (18)
  • January 2010 (16)
  • December 2009 (12)
  • November 2009 (15)
  • October 2009 (20)
  • September 2009 (20)
  • August 2009 (17)
  • July 2009 (16)
  • June 2009 (13)
  • May 2009 (3)
  • April 2009 (19)
  • March 2009 (18)
  • February 2009 (21)
  • January 2009 (26)
  • December 2008 (31)
  • November 2008 (19)
  • October 2008 (8)
  • September 2008 (11)
  • August 2008 (11)
  • July 2008 (10)
  • June 2008 (16)
  • May 2008 (1)
  • March 2008 (17)
  • February 2008 (24)
  • January 2008 (13)
  • December 2007 (10)
  • November 2007 (6)
  • July 2007 (27)
  • June 2007 (23)
  • May 2007 (13)
  • April 2007 (19)
  • March 2007 (17)
  • February 2007 (14)
  • January 2007 (15)
  • December 2006 (14)
  • November 2006 (16)
  • October 2006 (13)
  • September 2006 (29)
  • August 2006 (14)
  • July 2006 (19)
  • June 2006 (19)
  • May 2006 (12)
  • April 2006 (11)
  • March 2006 (14)
  • February 2006 (14)
  • January 2006 (7)
  • December 2005 (15)
  • November 2005 (27)
  • October 2005 (22)
  • September 2005 (38)
  • August 2005 (31)
  • July 2005 (34)
  • June 2005 (32)
  • May 2005 (27)
  • April 2005 (28)
  • March 2005 (36)
  • February 2005 (33)
  • January 2005 (35)
  • December 2004 (13)
  • November 2004 (24)
  • October 2004 (22)
  • September 2004 (28)
  • August 2004 (8)

Copyright © 2021 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in