Intro
- At a point where technology can enhance the human experience – maybe not cyborg or cybernetic, but building a digital bodymind
- More connectivity creates more information to digest and tap into
- More access means more signal and more noise
- Many people are using the Internet to vent or as a leak for their thoughts. Thirty years ago, people would watch TV and just let it drain, lash out, etc….
- Venting/leaking is healthy, but not the best thing to do in the digital public.
- Consider that our digital bodyminds are growing from a child-state to a more adult-like state.
- We need to transition as people into a more developed personality online that integrates fully with our physical and mental selves
Step 1: Have a conversation With Yourself
- How do you want to use technology to enhance the human experience?
- Do you want to present yourself online?
- How do you want to present yourself online?
- What technologies are available that will allow you to do this?
- How technologically savvy are you? Do you want to be more techno-experienced?
- What do you want to put out there?
- How accessible do you want to be?
Step 2: Determine Your Best, Wisest Use of Technology
- Increasing access to the Internet/cloud one of the biggest technologies to develop so far in our existence
- Community building (e.g. friend/social network) and layering access is likely the next big evolution in technology
- Applications are being developed to enhance your experience, especially in the mobile marketplace
- In general, there’s no need to be bleeding edge in terms of sites to use, but keep an eyeball on the developing software and hardware constantly available.
- In general, apply the minimalism framework to your use of technology – less is better, so you can concentrate on who you really are
Step 3: Reduce Inputs from the Cloud
- Facebook is like a 500-million person open-air market
- Lots of low-value communications (ego- and ethno-centric based)
- Low priority, high volume conversations
- Number of notifications generated is staggering
- Little to no moderation or security built-in, though this may eventually change
- Very open access – anyone can contact you or see what you are presenting by default
- Action item: Consider how you use Facebook and reduce what you place visibly and with friends. Consider using FB as a one-way info flow or remove it entirely
- E-mail is no longer an open gate.
- Most e-mail is not actionable – use Pareto to determine what is
- Your social networks should be used to keep you up to date on information, insight and deals
- Make sure to cultivate and contribute to your social network, offline or online
- Action item: Consciously reduce the availability of your e-mail address to people and corporations
- Action item: Consider religiously unsubscribing to information – RSS feeds, newsletters, daily deal sites, etc….
- Improve the signal-to-noise ratio of information intake
- Mechanism #1: Improve signal (quality)
- Mechanism #2: Reduce noise
- Best to do both, but like cutting expenses, reducing noise is easier and faster initially
- Action items: Less RSS feeds to read
- Action items: Minimize social media following
- Action items: set filters for spam, social media, etc… when needed
- Improving signal takes time and research, but allow your networks (both online and offline) to help out
- Improving signal is not equivalent to acquiring MORE signal – minimalism is still a good framework to use
Step 4: Build Your Own Presence and Digital Bodymind
- Not necessarily the “how” in terms of implementation and tools, but what content is produced and how to use technology itself
- It’s not as important to have a publicly viewable digital persona – it might not be your cup of tea – but it IS important to at least understand how to use the technology available to you (e.g. cell phone usage)
- Most Important Action Item: Have the Conversation with self and write the plan down! It’s best to have a public self in alignment with your other bodyminds
- Write and/or draw (pen/paper preferred) what this will look like, but do not get caught up in specifics initially
- Cost is virtually zero monetarily; the cost is time
- Best to start writing and experimenting in private, especially for new tools and to develop worldviews
- Use 750 Words or site not publicly viewable to vent, leak, deflate, consider multiple muses, etc….
- Consider going through “The Artists’ Way” 12-week program as a mechanism of release/healing if the content you are generating doesn’t fit the communities you identify with or doesn’t contribute to the global conversation
- Your use of tools/sites will depend on your technical level – ex. Posterous is good for people who don’t want to deal with a full site like WordPress
- Layer access like you do in the physical world – for example, do you give your e-mail/cell number to everyone? Do you want to have the world know what you’re thinking 24/7?
- Consider a social media policy (like I have one, transparent)
- Action item: Remove previous/other bodyminds that no longer serve you – they might be archived, but it will present a consistent look to most people. Can describe like Ken Wilber in evolution (e.g. “self 1.0, 2.0,” etc…)
Step 5: Find the Balance In Connectivity
- It’s easy to get lost in the stream of the cloud
- Pour initial effort into building the presence, do maintenance as it evolves
- Spend some time on contribution and community – they will help you out, just like friends and family do in the physical world
- Make sure to do things outside of the stream – this helps you integrate and bring more to your digital and other bodyminds
- Being too fractured (multiple and/or wildly different bodyminds) will catch up to you eventually
- It’s OK to make mistakes in building the digital bodymind; think of it as evolution and not static
- Connect to the stream only when you want to
Conclusion
TBD
References and Resources
TODO
Consciously explain the difference between online digital bodymind presence and using technology – might not be clear in the outline but can be very useful.