Webby Clare

Thoughts and other writings by Clare Conroy

Look back into the future

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I find it fascinating to look back through old diaries, emails and notebooks. Sometime reading through my old stuff takes me back so clearly to the moment I wrote it, but with the benefit of knowing what happens next, so in a way it almost feels like I’m able to tell the future. Often I think we’re so focused on creating new things and wanting fresh content and thoughts that we forget to look back and enjoy (often with new insights) all the stuff that’s been created before.

This article about Barack Obama from the May 2004 edition of The New Yorker is great. It seems especially great when you know what happens next…

My favourite bit…

Jan Schakowsky told me about a recent visit she had made to the White House with a congressional delegation. On her way out, she said, President Bush noticed her “obama” button. “He jumped back, almost literally,” she said. “And I knew what he was thinking. So I reassured him it was Obama, with a ‘b.’ And I explained who he was. The President said, ‘Well, I don’t know him.’ So I just said, ‘You will.’”

One year on…

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As part of this new blogging thing that I’m attempting (see my previous post), I’ve been thinking about topics for posts. Stuff that I have an opinion about. Stuff that I know about. Stuff that doesn’t cause any potential conflict of interest or issues (real or perceived) in my professional life. And one of the things I’ve come up with is exercise and weight loss. I’m not quite sure about how much detail about my personal journey I’ll want to get in to, but I’m going to start with a little celebration….

Today is one year to the day since I started personal training with the lovely Rose Males at Pro-fit Health Club. Twelve months ago I was overweight. And terribly unfit. We did a short session (maybe only 30 minutes) and I was lying down on the ground feeling ill after about 5 minutes on the bike! I left shaking and feeling nauseous. It was tough. But I kept going back. Week after week. And I began to enjoy it. I began to ‘need’ it. Twelve months on I am 13kg lighter. 2 dress sizes smaller. And a whole heap fitter, healthier and happier. Seriously one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I feel so much stronger (physically, mentally, emotionally) and more capable. Things that were once too hard or too much effort are now entirely possible!

I’ve learned lots – about myself, about exercise, about health, about routine and balance – and I may share much of that here from time to time. I’m pretty good at beating myself up about all sorts of things. But on reflecting about where I was and where I’ve come with my health, I’m actually feeling pretty proud. So today I’m just going to give myself a little pat on the back, a celebratory glass of wine, and send a big heartfelt thank you to Rose!

Finding my voice

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So, this is my attempt at a first ‘real’ blog post… What do I mean by ‘real’? I mean content that is uniquely mine. My thoughts. My opinion. Rather than snippets of other people’s content that I collect and share…

I noticed how out of touch I was with my own opinion when I was putting together my application for the Centre for Sustainability Leadership‘s Fellowship Program (which was ultimately unsuccessful, but that’s another story…). As part of the application process I had to write a letter to the editor about a sustainability issue. I think of myself as reasonably well-informed about, and interested in, a range of sustainability topics, but I was really stuck. Stuck because I didn’t know what I thought, I didn’t know what my opinions were, I didn’t know what I was passionate about. As a public servant, I consistently write on behalf of others, communicating their views or intentions or decisions (and I like to think that I do this well). But, I felt quite shocked to realise that in perfecting my fluency in bureaucratese, I had neglected to nourish and develop my capacity to passionately articulate my own opinions. And this is something that I want to address!

I don’t think of myself as a good writer, or as particularly articulate or insightful, nor do I feel like an expert on anything in particular. I read a lot (books, blogs, articles etc) and consistently think that I could never come up with as good ideas, or sound as smart as the authors of the blogs I enjoy. I like the idea of having a blog. But it all seemed a bit too hard, and potentially embarrassing. And what would I write about? Nevertheless, inspired by this tweet, I have realised that if I want to become a good blogger, I may first need to start by being a terrible blogger. I’m certainly not going to get good at it simply by thinking about it!

I’m not doing this because I think that anyone will be particularly interested in what I write. Nor do I think I have any particular wisdom or knowledge that will educate or inspire readers. Rather, at least at this stage, this is purely an attempt at a little self-development exercise. Something that may help me find my voice. I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out…

My favourite TED talks

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Following today’s first TEDxCanberra brainstorm, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite TED talks. Still have lots of talks from TED2010 on my ‘to watch’ list….

What are your favourites?

The Road to Self-Renewal

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On the bus on the way to work yesterday I listened to a great Social Innovations Conversations podcast featuring Tom Tierney (“Pursuing Social Enterprise, Making a Difference“). In his speech, Tom recounts the strength and insight that he gained from conversations with John Gardner and quotes from ‘The Road to Self-Renewal’, a speech John Gardner delivered in 1993. I was inspired to track down a complete copy of the speech (which you can find here) and I think it’s definitely worth a read…

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.

15 Ways to Be More Productive

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This slideshow from Inc.com features some useful productivity tips from a number of company founders/CEOs.

I like Caterina Fake’s strategy for meetings:

There would be an agenda distributed before the meeting. Everybody would stand. At the beginning of the meeting, everyone would drink 16 ounces of water. We would discuss everything on the agenda, make all the decisions that needed to be made, and the meeting would be over when the first person had to go to the bathroom.

And Krissi Barr’s tips on focus:

If I think something is going to take me an hour, I give myself 40 minutes. By shrinking your mental deadlines, you work faster and with greater focus. I also schedule time every week on my calendar for quiet, concentrated PowerTime where I only work on my most important activities.

Not so sure about Jordan Zimmerman’s strategy though:

Also, cut down on sleep. Why would you sleep when it’s time to live? Sleeping isn’t living. You sleep when you die.

Trade School

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Trade School was delivered as a collaboration between OurGoods and GrandOpening where teachers offer their time, skills, experience and knowledge to classes of students who barter their own goods and services to attend.

For example, you could learn everything you wanted to know about composting in exchange for a pretty blouse or some homemade bread. Or you might bring along a small trinket to provide to the teacher of the WordPress course.

I love this idea! Something similar could be launched in a whole range of different spaces and places…. Will need to ponder if/how this could work in Canberra… Got any thoughts, then let me know….

And I’m also seriously inspired/excited by the whole GrandOpening shopfront idea which transforms on a regular basis and, as well as hosting Trade School and art exhibitions, has been everything from a single-table ping pong parlour to a wedding chapel to a drive-in theatre.