Old timers around the campfire will often tell you that service is not what it used to be. Service, long ago, was the product of genuine care and concern for consumers as people. Sometimes, service meant giving away a product, or offering to spend extra time with a customer or person in needs. Other times, service meant trying new things to solve individual problems, and going out on a limb without a guarantee of reward. Either way, the general consensus around the campfire is: "Service ain't what it used to be."

Chances are good that you patronize places that make you feel good as a consumer, places that respect you as an individual, and they may even remember your name. These people and businesses thought about what you needed as a consumer and before you asked - knew what might be of service. They thought about you when you were around, and when you weren't. Good doctors have it, good lawyers have it - but what is the service mindset?

The service mindset is the result of internalizing three basic truths. Once inside, they become part of who you are - like language. These beliefs, like all beliefs, influence and inform everything you do. Looking around at the public servant professions, exempting politics of course, you can see your librarians, police officers, firefighters, social service people, and volunteers exemplifying the service mindset. What are the truths that lead to the service mindset?

Truth #1: You aren't alone in life AND no one else is either

Look around you. Life abounds. All creatures and plants share the same quality of being alive as you do. You share this same quality with every other living thing. People around you are alive, embroiled in the dramas of their own life. The quality of being alive puts us all "in the same boat" so to speak. Being alive means you aren't alone - every other living thing is experiencing life, just as you are - ups and downs, turns and shifts.

People often look for what makes us different rather than what makes us the same. Differences between people create uniqueness, but they also create isolation. Celebrate what is the same in you, as in everyone else. Being in service to other people, and other living things, requires an appreciation of sameness.

Truth #2: You need other people AND other people need you

If all living things have life in common, then they all have needs in common as well. Basic biological needs like food, safe environment, and resources exist across all domains of life. Even getting the basics often requires help. A baby, for example, does not start with the ability to feed itself. A baby comes with the ability to suck, and a mother comes with the ability to nurse. When the mother can not nurse, others make formula for the mother to buy to feed her child. Biological needs quickly expand into people and places you do not know, and may have never been. You need people that you don't even know to keep doing things that you don't know how to do. You need to keep doing what you do so that people you don't know can keep living.

Apart from the basic biological needs, skills and life lessons are also needed. They are hard to learn, and life is not a level playing field. Some of us can't read, are bad with money, or don't know how to be accountable. On the other hand, some of us have learned things that we can share with you. (No one was born a doctor, or with an understanding of how a checkbook works.) Other people need the things that you have learned.

Your family, friends, and even complete strangers can use what you have learned to thrive and make better lives for themselves and others. Others may need time, knowledge, or other resources to live and thrive. This need of ours to learn and grow is perpetual. You will forever be in need of knowledge, and forever providing what you know to others. The same holds true with time, love, energy, money and every other commodity upon which human life is reliant.

Truth #3: No one is "better" than you AND you are not "better" than anyone else

If all living things share life in common, and all living things have needs, then all needs are part of life. We all need. Because my need may be for discipline, and your need may be for money, or my need may be for safety, and yours for comfort does not make any one of those more important than any other. There is nothing inherent in the nature of ones needs that makes them greater or lesser. The nature of our neediness makes us all the same.

There is nothing inherent in people that make them greater or lesser. People are people, needs are needs. You grew and learned in a way that made you good at math or English, they grew in a way that made them good at social engineering, or solving problems. Everyone has a gift and everyone has a need. We are all the same - in that way - but each combination of gifts and needs is unique and special. Each unique individual has something that they can teach you, and you can teach them.

You may be smarter than someone else. That does not make you better than them. You may be stronger, or more emotionally capable, or more eloquent. These strengths are to be celebrated as a gift. They should not be used to demean or oppress others. Intellectual and emotional bullies are still bullies. Think of others like you would a child who hasn't learned much yet. Their behavior is a best guess, just like yours is in domains of your weakness. Use your strength to cultivate and grow others.

The application of these truths combined with a sense of accountability as discussed in the article on personal accountability demonstrate a service mindset. Going the "extra mile" is what this feels like to others, but when you have the service mindset and hold these truths as part of your reality, it won't feel particularly special at all. These truths compel action in ways that respect the connections between all of us, regardless of circumstance or situation.

Having the service mindset doesn't mean that you don't say no. Being exploited or abused is not part of the service mindset because it violates the third truth. No one is better than you. Saying no, while holding the service mindset and being accountable is done in a very special way. It is a "no" that people can walk away from and feel whole and understood. A customer is always right until being right hurts someone - including themselves.

Having the service mindset costs nothing! Cultivating a personal understanding of the truths above will influence your actions. It will not to change them completely, but it will influence them to be more considerate, more charitable, and more understanding. Consideration, charity, and understanding, are all free. They cost nothing, and they mean everything in times of need - and we all need sometimes.

By applying these truths in your daily you begin cultivating the service mindset. In thinking about the truths above, think about someone who nurtured you and helped you grow. Imagine life without them. Imagine what life would be like if none of these truths were true? If we were kicked out of the house as infants, if no one helped pick us up when we fell down, if no one shared the secrets and gifts of knowledge with you that you now know. The service mindset is a great part of what makes this world and society happen. Be a part of it. Serve yourself and serve others.

Many definitions of personal accountability have been proposed over the years. One of the most compelling definitions comes from a website regarding alternatives to domestic aggression (http://csswashtenaw.org/ada/resources/Accountability.html). They define accountability as actions toward or involving others that reflect the integrity of the person you want to be. This definition engenders what it is to be accountable: accountability is an expression of integrity.

Chances are you have had a mentor or hero figure that you looked up to at one point in your life. What was a defining characteristic? Heroes are not chosen for their hairstyle, or their material possessions. We believe in heroes because they act in times we can't, don't or won't. They do the things we can't do, and yet, they represent a potential in each of our lives. How did they get to be heroes? What separates a hero and a regular person? A hero takes accountability for themselves and others, and learns and grows along the way.

There are many  excuses and rationalizations that prevent accountability. These excuses can easily be seen for what they are upon reflection. Excuses for not being accountable are rationalizations. Here are some things you may hear around the next water-cooler break:

That's not my job:

People will often tell you what their job is and isn't the moment you ask for some help. For some people, it seems, their job is such a thin wafer of accountability that you wonder what they do and why they are still around. What if it wasn't anyone's job? Who would do it? Your hero would, you betchya! Your hero wouldn't think twice about it.

That issue is too big / hot / political:

People will often say that an obstacle is too big or too difficult. Apart from the millions of examples of big things getting done by a single person, this response suggests that "I don't want to be accountable for trying and failing." Your hero failed once, or several times, and learned everything you love about them from it.

I don't know how to:

Surely if you don't know how to do something then you can't be accountable for doing it. Sadly this is wrong. This excuse doesn't work with taxes and the government, it surely shouldn't work in the workplace. Internally when you say I don't know how to, you might be saying, "I don't know enough to do it best, and if it's not best it's not enough so don't try." You didn't know how to walk, but you learned. Your hero wasn't born a hero. They learned along the way.

S/He made the mess, s/he should clean it up:

You may be right, but being right doesn't release you from accountability. Accountability does not stop with you and your actions. Issues and adversities arise that are caused by all sorts of things. Be it a person, place, thing, or event, blaming the event and not facing it is running from accountability. It may not be fair, but it is reality. Your hero doesn't run from reality, they face it directly or indirectly and triumph.

The decision to be accountable must be backed up with energy. It is not sufficient to say that you are being accountable you need to act in accordance with real ownership of a problem. Tenacity is what accountability looks like to outsiders. People who are accountable look tenacious and determined. If you are not tenacious about the resolution of your problem or the achievement of your goal, then you are not truly being accountable.

Accountability also means knowing when to leave a challenge, or move on, and how to do so. Preparing your successor in a job, or closing the loop in a relationship are ways to demonstrate your accountability and respect towards a problem or challenge that is outside of your current ability. Certainly, don't leave a situation worse than you found it if you can avoid it, and don't leave after the first try. Every time you try something you are learning ways to do it better.

When you think about the times you were and weren't accountable in your personal and professional life, which were more rewarding? Which do you wish you did more of?

Your heroes represent the best in you, and in many ways represent the integrity you have when you aren't afraid of what will happen. Being accountable is what makes actions your own; it is an expression of your personality, and your integrity. You can be accountable at any time, even if you choose to remove yourself from a situation. Accountability is the first and toughest decision when situations and challenges arise.  Next time you are faced with a problem what will your answer be? 

Hey all!

I found a site that's great for developing objective knowledge. It's a website that links to lots of open source courses from various types of colleges, websites, and media companies. http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections. It seems like a great way to add fuel to the fire on your quest for learning!

In love,
Wiseman

"In a future time, children will work together to build a giant CYBORG" ~ They Might Be Giants

We are each a neuron in the consciousness of the universe, when we are not performing our true purpose, we revert to animal states of consciousness. We are slow-fucking our way into the 90% of brain cells that serve no purpose save making the remaining 10% look good.

When you are aligned to your true identity, your purpose as a neuron becomes completely transparent, and you begin to appreciate such function. As one neuron in the brain simultaneously is the most critical and unimportant: so are you. This is the way of all wisdom - appreciation.

Self organizing systems are fractals and the smallest pieces are identical to the biggest pieces. Reduction to the absurd only points out the relative absurdity of everything - since no one piece of the system is disconnected. This is the way of all structures - they are perpetually interconnected.

The biggest problems arise with misleading self concepts. Who and what you were and who and what you will be are both false pretexts. Your memories are reforged daily, your future is redesigned moment by moment. To be disappointed in the present is to attach too much to your past or your future and cease appreciation for the now. This is the way of the ego - all real and potential worlds are created by me.

In the absence of self identity - we return to object identity. We superimpose elements of the self onto objects in the material world. Our psychological shadow projects itself in the perceived behavior of others. Our insatiable hunger for more is the battle cry of consumerist culture. My body is the whole of my identity. Abandoning such object fixation frees energy to spend on worthwhile endeavors. Energy spent otherwise creates a type of magnetic bottle that prevents movement and growth. This is the way of energy conservation - you spend all of your energy one way or the other, keeping you moving or keeping you fixated.

All progress towards wisdom is the unlearning of the behaviors that keep you from it. The simplest things are the hardest to explain, and the complex things are often simplest. The proof of this can be found by trying to define simple words like truth, or god. Fission is easy to explain, hope is not.

The Pastor and the Little Boy

a parable.

A vicar charged with ministering to a small village in the south side Kent county. He had successfully made parishioners out of the entire village. One day, a new family moved into the village, and true to his charge, the vicar visited the family to offer assistance and ministry.

The father and mother of the family conferred and struck a bargain that they offered to the pastor. If the pastor could convince their son to regularly attend services, they would happily go to church and tithe their income. The boy had been blind, deaf, and mute since birth. The pastor happily agreed to return every Saturday with the hope of convincing the boy to come to church the following Sunday.

The first Saturday, the boy was outside sitting in a tree that he had managed to climb, basking with the sun on his face. The pastor arrived and began a lecture on the virtue of a good life, hoping that the boy would be able to hear the words of the divine. The little boy could not hear, and did not go.

The second Saturday, the little boy was outside sitting in a shallow pool, splashing in the water. The pastor arrived and began showing him pictures and illustrations of the working of the divine, hoping that the boy could see the pictures of the divine. The little boy could not see, and did not go. 

The third Saturday, the little boy was outside rhythmically drumming his fingers on a bucket. The pastor arrived and gave the boy a beaded necklace, hoping that the touch of the divine would inspire the boy to come to church. The little boy did not find the necklace interesting, and did not go.

The fourth Saturday, the little boy was resting comfortably on a pile of hay in the shade.

The pastor arrived and put the end of a piece of string in the boys hand and left. The boy stood up and followed the string. The string lead him to the church. The pastor helped to show him where he could feel the vibration of the bells, where he could splash in the fountain, and where he could sit comfortably feeling the heat of the sun on his face through the windows.

The boy and his parents went to church every Sunday after that.

After their second visit to the church, the stunned parents asked the pastor how he compelled the child to come to church, to which the pastor replied: "I had to tell him why he should come to church using language he understood, rather than the language that I like to use."

Ok folks,

I've been working on several different crafts and skills. I plan on revitalizing my blog here and sharing the love! Keep your eyes peeled.

Warmest Regards,
Wiseman.

Hey,

Thought I'd inform whomever wanted to know  - I am working on a SF novel, among other things and have published chapter one over at everything2.com. It's called Hill's 4th Harmony.  Here is a link  - let me know what you think.

Warmest Regards,
Wiseman

I am inscensed by the slow sexual flagellate - her chestnut ponytail
It conducts the beating of my heart in erratic time signatures
they make me hemmorage faster
I did not know how subtle and tender we are

I, mesmerized
Her allure - I am reborn second by second in her
and in her, I die
It is in her that I chase my bliss - hoping never to catch her.

Dreams across my waking eyes
Violin bow strung with her hair plays on bare heart strings
I am blissful in our entanglement

Is it ego to see yourself and dimensions of you in everything?

I use everything I see as a mirror to learn more about who and what I am. Laughing at the me in other people helps me learn to laugh at the ME that is me. I am in a room with only my reflection rebroadcast in myriad costume. It is every emotion all of the time, each with a direct fiber optic cable to my heart. When it hurts, I've got something new to learn. I learn, moment by moment, and constantly re-craft a future. This is the art of my life.

I am the surrender to my Self.
I am its petulant almost happening.
I am the last remains of the ego.
I am he fateful falling inward.
I am the shudder that stirs me from my awakening.

Almost there.