How to travel light (and why!)

January 18, 2015 by Molly Leave a Comment

One of my favorite things I’ve found since moving to Chicago is that I get to see a lot of my friends as they travel through. My proximity to O’Hare gives me an ideal opportunity to connect with them as they pause through their journeys. Just yesterday, I had a chance to have lunch with a great guy who had reduced his belongings for his trip to fit into one good sized rucksack.

We talked a lot about Leo Babuta’s zenhabits blog and his focus on minimalism, and we also talked about how much more liberating travel is when all you have to worry about is one satchel.

Lugging your possessions through lobbies, airport terminals and along sidewalks gives you ample time to contemplate the usefulness and true value of what you are carrying. Two Georges help me illustrate my point: If you’ve ever watched George Carlin’s comedy routine on “Stuff,”Â or watched George Clooney in the film, Up in the Air and his “backpack analogy,” then you’ll understand where I’m coming from with this post.

On a very personal note, I filed for divorce about five and a half years ago and have spent the time since literally giving away most of my stuff. A five bedroom house. Gone. Most of the stuff that furnished it. Gone. Thousands of dollars of blankets, decor, candlesticks, …stuff. Gone. Donated to Goodwill.

When I moved to Chicago, I either gave away or sold anything that wouldn’t fit into a U-Haul panel van and made my journey here. Things were an obstacle.

Clearing my life of extraneous clutter and stuff helped, but this post is also about why we accumulate things in the first place and how that compulsion to do so keeps us from our independence. I am not a monk and I’m not suggesting that you become one; rather, I would encourage you to take a look around your house. Take a quick inventory of the things you purchased either for status or because it was something that society said that you needed to own in order to “qualify” for the role you wish to represent.

What things do you really LOVE? What things express your individuality or add joy to your life? What things reflect your true values? How many of them are duplicates? How would streamlining your life help you achieve more?

“Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.”Â – Henry David Thoreau

When we take a moment to cull our possessions to the essential, authentic items that combine elements of utility and beauty, you will find that you need fewer of them. You will be packing lighter, so to speak, and anyway, you can’t take nothin’ with you but your soul (to paraphrase John Lennon). When you have fewer dust catchers, you have more time to devote to other things: your studies, your vocation, a hobby…other people. You’ll have more time to evolve into the person you would like to become, perhaps.

One of the best books about the exchange of energy for stuff I’ve read is Your Money or Your Life. For me, it distilled my focus into realizing what truly was important to me and gave me a guideline to achieve my goals. (NOTE: I do not benefit financially from this link. It’s simply a recommendation).

Stuff is wonderful; stuff is beautiful and having the right stuff when you need it is priceless. Understanding our relationship to Stuff is essential to claiming our independence, however. What owns whom? What has been your experience?

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive)

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What I learned from Walter Payton

August 4, 2013 by Molly Leave a Comment

I grew up in the 1980s, when cable television was pretty much in its infancy and was All The Rage. I watched the first MTV video and can still remember when VH1 and MTV played videos. Another staple in my household that arrived through the cable airwaves? Chicago sports on WGN, which meant Cubs baseball in the summer and Bears football in the fall.

If you have any awareness of professional football in the 80s, you will be familiar with one of the NFL’s greatest running backs of all time, and arguably one of the most talented men to ever grace astroturf. I am, of course, referring to Number 34: Walter “Sweetness”Â Payton.

If ever an athlete could be said to embody poetry in motion, this is the guy. He was simply moving art. Don’t believe me? Watch this. I’ll wait.

Some of the takeaways I get from his life and career can be summed up as follows:

Adapt. Being nimble and agile keeps you in the game and keeps you moving the ball downfield. Learn how to convert your energies and redirect when you must in order to fulfill your over-arching goal.
Integrate your actions with that of your team. Understand that holes in the offense do not appear from thin air. Your opportunities may oftentimes occur due to the diligence and teamwork of others. Thank them and do not take them for granted. Work together.
Build your endurance. This is a derivation of “adaptability,”Â but in my mind, it is a contributing and supporting factor and therefore warrants its own line item. Walter’s ability to think on the fly and move the way he did to seize opportunities was predicated on the fact that he invested in his health: mentally, spiritually and physically. He had perfected his Shell to the point that it could be a Conduit for something we seldom witness.
Love what you do. Look at his smile! Holy cats, this man lived in joy and celebrated what he brought to the game. As I’ve said in previous posts, love is the ballast that anchors achievement in any field. When you love what you do, excellence is a natural outgrowth.

These are four *very* brief lessons from a man whose life inspired and touched many.

Apart from his sports career, his legacy also includes both investing in neglected, abused and underprivileged children and an awareness of organ donation, which arose from his battle with the rare autoimmune liver disease known as primary sclerosing cholangitis. Learn more about his compassion in action that lives on through the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation and the University of Illinois Walter Payton Liver Center.

Do you have any stories to share? Was (is) there a time when you pushed through the “defense” to reach your goal? How do these lessons apply in your own life? career?

–

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My ROI – SOBCon 09

May 7, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

The theme for SOBCon last weekend in Chicago was the Return on Investment (ROI) of Relationships. As we learned from KD Paine’s presentation there are many ways to measure ROI, and in a successful business model that is the goal – to measure output in relation to input. It’s a difficult issue because, first, there has to be a clear definition of relationship and then what does the return actually mean? Are we dealing with dollar and cents as our measure or are we calculating visits to a website as our return? The answer to the question is situation specific and, having said that, I can really only talk about my ROI as it pertains to my weekend in Chicago.

I must admit I was very nervous about going to the conference. Although I have made lots of great connections online I am new to this and attending a “biz school” for bloggers was a little daunting. My take aways:

– Meeting people face-to-face strengthened relationships and took them to a new level of trust and support. And oh how we laughed!
-I learned things about the business of blogging: how to make money, practical skills, new techniques, and of many new services out there.
– I learned that having a lot of connections, investing in relationships with many different people from many different backgrounds and areas of interest’s leads to an incredible arsenal of resources. Putting these people in a room together created energy you could actually feel and almost see.
– I made connections, which will lead to future projects that may provide
employment.
– Days later I learned that the best take away was the feeling of being revitalized and knowing of all the support available in the SOB community.
– I learned that the conversation generated by the presenters, as with Brian Clark’s presentation, was even more valuable than the presentation itself.

I measured my ROI and am extremely happy with my return. The most valuable item? Definitely conversation. In the end isn’t that what we’re all trying to create? A conversation around our post, service, blog, product, idea, or self? ?

from: Kathryn Jennex aka northernchick

The Old Neighborhood Bars and Blogs

July 22, 2007 by Liz 13 Comments

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods and neighborhood bars. Every neighborhood has a name. Every neighborhood bar is like Cheers. People go there because the folks inside, especially the bartender, knows their name. Names are important. They’re the first words we know about ourselves and each other.

When I think of my favorite neighborhood bar, I can’t separate it from the folks who are always there. Over time the people grow and change. Some days all one bartender can talk about is his camera. Other days all he can think of is sports. That’s who he is. That’s part of what makes him interesting.

We have personal jokes. He knows some of what I like. I can tune in. I can have my beverage and hardly talk to him at all. There was a time when he was not a happy guy. He’s a friend. You ride it out. Everyone has phases. . . .

It’s a well-known fact that I think of my blog as my father thought of his saloon. But in one way it can’t be the same. Saloons don’t have RSS feeds.

What difference does that make?

When I change focus for a while — you might do it too, or you might not, but we know I always will — readers can decide the new direction is not their “beverage of choice.” That’s cool. That’s only right. I do the same thing — with the blogs I read, not with the people in my life.

In life when my friends shift gears, I often come back to see what they’re doing later. Most often what I find is that we have plenty in common still. Yet when a blog has changed direction, it’s felt more permanent. I hardly ever go back. I’m rethinking that today.

Over the next week or two, I’m going to check in on blogs I used to read. It will be like visiting the old neighborhood bar to see who’s still there. I’m looking forward to it.

I think I might find some nice surprises. What do you think? What’s your experience? Do you ever go back to the old neighborhood?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! Liz understands how people think.

300 Naked Women Feared Lost [Branding The Onion]

April 2, 2006 by Liz Leave a Comment

Sunday Afternoon Reading

Chicago.

If you get to know Chicago, you’ll understand why I like it so–despite the winters. It’s the American midwest work ethic, the reason Chicago is called the City of Big Shoulders, the City that Works. It’s the people and the midwest sense of humor.

It was Sunday. I stopped by a neighborhood bar, picked up a free newspaper from the stack by the door. I ordered a glass of wine and asked for a hamburger with pickle, onion, ketchup, and mustard. Then I scan the headlines.

Immediately I saw 300 Naked Women Feared Lost . . . . I was reading the – America’s Finest News Source. A great friend to have along with a glass of wine and a hamburger on a Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

I know that you can find this free paper in other cities–it’s even online–but it’s in every neighborhood bar, bookstore, and coffee shop in downtown Chicago. We think of it as our own. Maybe it’s an onion-connection thing. Historians say the word, Chicago, means stinking onion.

The Onion is not only America’s Finest New’s Source . . . per their trademark. According to their media kit, they are also hailed by the New Yorker as “The Funniest Publication in the United States.” “A Message from The Corporate Office” attributed to “the esteemed Captain of Commerce” promises that

. . . Every one of our readers is firmly ensconced within the plum 18-49 demographic . . . we went so far as to lobby the halls of Congress . . . to make reading The Onion mandatory for this group . . . Thankfully the law passed in 1997, forever ensuring that our readers are highly paid easily persuadable young folk with money to burn. . . .

Now there’s brand-centered promotion that knows its goal and communicates its big idea–crisp, clear, sweet. It’s what I call Frosted Mini-Wheats promotion. It satisfies my adult sophisticated sense of humor and my kid-like sense of fun at the same time.

If you’re not familiar with this news source, it’s a perfect thing to try this day after April Fool’s Day, when we’ve just changed the clocks to lose an hour of sleep.

And about those naked women . . . check the story. It ran July 18, 2001. I still remember it. I still think it’s funny.

Now that’s a brand that lives up to its promise.

–ME “Liz” Strauss