Category: Uncategorized

About me: personal identity or who am I

Fairly familiar to many perception of one’s self

It does not really matter who am I, what I have achieved or aim to achieve, what I own or whom I know. What does matter is what I have to offer and that is of the immense value and infinite importance. I have a story to tell that changed my life and, if it is given a chance, hopefully, can change yours too.

This is who am I. I am the voice of the one shouting in the dessert. I erupt for a short moment to disappear in the void hoping to be heard. I cry out about the solution to the crave for a meaningful life, about the possibility to belong to something big and live the life truly fulfilling life that transcends the mere routine of existence.

The stories we tell about ourselves, about others, about our surroundings shape our perception of reality, the way we live life, the way we meet its challenges and opportunities, the height and depth of our dreams, goals and eventually the end at which we dare to look or not. The story I have is the story about infinity and the infinite. It is the story we all aim to hear and, moreover, the story we want to be a part of. It is the story of the Kingdom.

I am interested in abundant living, the type of life that is meaningful, purposeful, exciting, engaging. The life that overflows with energy, transformation, motion, flow – the life worth living. The live that leaves a mark (not holds a mask). Since the mission of attaining such life is far beyond my individual abilities, I am interested in other people, who are actively engaging with life, yet as I was, feels a need in a vision that transcends own individualistic/egoistic triggers, a vision worth living and even dying for. If you are full of energy to bring about the change in your surroundings in your family, at work, in your town or country, but do not yet see how to do that, get in touch with me. I have a vision to offer.

The Culture of Rush and Slow thinking

Slow down! This is going to be a long post, but it is worth you time. If you are in a rush, go down to the last paragraph.

In a world of a constant rush, who is doing the slow thinking for you?

THESIS
It’s not just your imagination. The pace of life is accelerating in spite of all of the conveniences that we are exposed to, such as airplanes and fast trains, quick cars, productive computers, smart phones, smart houses, Internet with its instant availability, dishwashers, laundry machines, mixers, smart and functional food processors, robotized lawn mowers and abundance of other tools that are supposed to free up the time. The same is the situation at work, where work processes, production schedules and pressure to commit to rapid decision-making require an immediate action. This trend is nurtured in the public culture with its rapid-fire news cycles and next-day delivery to “speed-watching” videos and the relentless pressure to be more productive, we are all caught in a current of increasing speed. While often exhausting, this trend is not arbitrary. However, a solid question retains its validity whether we recognize the rush or not: towards what are we all rushing… towards what and, most importantly, what for?

The rush culture is built by the environment around us. It builds on an interesting connection to the processes of our individual, internal thinking with an outcome which is not pretty. The persistent rush is the logical outcome of a powerful convergence of technological, economic, and social forces affecting our fast and slow thinking (processes described by Daniel Kahneman) in a way that makes sense, while making no sense. Such duality is absurd, but it seems that humanity as a kind and its individual agents somewhere along the way gave up and embraced all of the absurdities to be able to discern any and more importantly do something about it. Please, follow me and I will show you what I noticed in a minute or so.
For simplicity, let’s consider these three reasons why our world is systematically speeding up – the technological, economic, and social forces. I am sure, these dimensions are not exhaustive, but sufficient to see the pattern and patterns is what matters, when one tries to see a bigger picture.

Technology is the primary driver of acceleration, creating and then catering to an expectation of immediacy. It establishes the feedback loop of instant gratification. Do you remember the clicking sound of the modem on your Windows 95 PC dialing the network provider and how long it took to load a webpage or download a favorite song? We’ve moved from dial-up internet to 5G. A delay of a few seconds in loading a webpage or video is now considered unacceptable. This eradication of technological waiting has rewired our patience, making us expect the same instantaneous response from other facets of life. Now, couple that with social media and news feeds powered by algorithms that prioritize engagement. Content that is new, shocking, or controversial gets pushed to the top, creating a relentless, 24/7 news cycle. The race for clicks and views incentivizes a faster churn of information, leaving little time for reflection. On top of that, the wide spread of productivity software, communication platforms, and automation tools, which are designed to help us do more in less time, did not produce more free time for its users. In fact, we end up in the “productivity paradox”: instead of creating more leisure time, we simply fill the saved time with more tasks, raising the baseline expectation for output ending up in a ferocious rat race chasing the undefined “better life”.

Continue reading “The Culture of Rush and Slow thinking”

Mouth of God – reflection on Bible quote from Jeremiah 15:19-21

Here is a beautiful quote from the Bible addressed to prophet Jeremiah 15:19-21 (KJV).

Therefore thus saith the LORD:

If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

It is in a nature of a human to pretend to be more than one truly is, to attribute to our personal experience or achievements some supernatural value. Especially vividly this can be observed among church people, academia and business leaders. Many claim to be “the voice the God”, posses some truth or have some revelation, a message, an idea, when all they have got – just shadows. This passage reveals what it means to be “the mouth of God”, to have the knowledge, to be voice of/for truth. What one needs to do is pretty simple – “take forth the precious from the vile”.

Good things often come out of low environments. Take for instance the fruits or flowers. They grow beautifully because someone applied fertilizers, used some doo-doo, poured water and covered with soil. A diamond comes from the “dirty” environment of coal mines. Some brilliant people also come from low environments. Yet, being able to see beyond the immediate appearance, being able to discern the value, “the precious from the vile” and moreover to convey it to others, is therefore indeed a supernatural ability that makes someone more than he existentially is. He becomes the mouth of truth, vision, wisdom – the mouth of God.

I am a voice crying in the wilderness

I am a voice crying in the wilderness. I am here and I am shouting into the void.

Source: https://pichold.ru/priroda/krasivaya-priroda-pustyni50-foto.html

“A voice crying in the wilderness,” in the language of the church, signifies a futile appeal, an expression of despair with no hope of a response. Who would cry out in the wilderness? I, on the contrary, know that today many people live in a wilderness: loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, and a thirst for life that overflows with meaning, fullness, emotions, energy, and a result that will remain even when you have finished your journey—in a word, life in abundance.

Many great figures were in such a wilderness before they began their great service. Remember Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth. I am not a great one, but I too have been in such a wilderness. I know firsthand what it’s like to search day after day for a sip of life, just as a wanderer searches for a sip of water, for shade and rest. But I also know that only by passing through the wilderness can one begin something great.

I decorated my own wilderness with various backdrops, filled it with noise: parties, entertainment, experiences, discussions on profoud topics, traveling, friends, career—noise that would distract me from the thought of emptiness. But Continue reading “I am a voice crying in the wilderness”

Я – глас вопиющего в пустыне.

Source: https://pichold.ru/priroda/krasivaya-priroda-pustyni50-foto.html

Я – глас вопиющего в пустыне. Я тут и я кричу в пустоту.

“Глас вопиющего в пустыне” в церковном языке означает напрасный призыв, выражение отчаяния, без надежды на отклик. Кто будет кричать в пустыне?! Какой здравомыслящий пойдет на такое? Я же, напротив, знаю, что сегодня многие живут в пустыне: одиночество, бессмысленность, пустота и жажда по жизни, которая наполняет и переполняет смыслом, полнотой, эмоциями, энергией и результатом, который останется даже, когда ты закончишь свою дорогу – одним словом, жизнью с избытком.

Многие великие были в такой пустыне прежде, чем начать свое великое служение. Вспомните, Моисея, Илию, Иоанна Крестителя, Иисуса Назарянина. Я – не великий, но и сам был в такой пустыне. Я не понаслышке знаю каково это изо дня в день искать глотка жизни, как странник ищет глотка воды, тенька и покоя. Но я также знаю, что только пройдя пустыню можно начать что-то великое.

Свою пустыню я украшал разными декорациями, заполнял шумом: вечеринки, развлечения, впечатления, дискуссии на громкие темы, поездки, друзья, карьера, – шумом, который отвлекал бы меня от мысли о пустоте. Когда же шум затихал и друзья расходились, я оставался один на один с теми же вопросами от которых так сильно бежал: ну, и что? Зачем это все? Зачем ты? Чтобы что? И какой бы суррогат я не предлагал моему внутреннему голосу вопиющему в пустыне в отмашку на эти вопросы – ничего не помогало.

Я жадно искал смысла, который мог бы объяснить то, зачем “это-все” и какое мое место в истории, как жить осмысленно, что делать, чтоб сгорая согреть. Многие звучные и пафосные ответы философии, религии и науки я пропускал через себя, чтоб найти отражение внутри и удовлетворить жажду, но все впустую раз за разом вскрывая все большую пропасть требующую заполнения. 26 лет прошло с тех пор, как я начал задаваться вопросами смысла жизни пока однажды не услышал о том, что преобразовало мою жизнь. Там в пустыне я нашел путеводную звезду, следуя которой я вышел из пустыни. Это мечта, миф, сон, перспектива, но это также и самая реальная реальность, которая помогла мне найти самое разумное объяснение и ответы на те большие вопросы, которые мучали меня с самого моего первого осознанного поиска в ранней юности.

Если ты в пустыне, я ищу тебя. Тебе не нужно там оставаться. У меня есть добрая новость – выход есть. Я приглашаю пойти со мной. Я расскажу, что я выучил в моей пустыне, что помогло мне найти смысл, видение, цели, желание и энергию. Мой жизненный путь отличается от твоего и может быть не все подойдет тебе, но я хочу дать тебе перспективу, показать тебе вопросы и направить в сторону ответов. Когда у тебя есть карта, компас, ориентиры, ты можешь проложить свой путь. Выходи из пустыни. Мы нуждаемся в тебе, в твоих талантах, в твоем опыте и твоем жизненном тепле.
Присоединяйся к дискуссии. Давай строить окружающий нас мир общими усилиями.

Old school marketing by Kemppi

This is truly the essence of Finnish marketing. Took this photo in a testing lab, while working at Kemppi. Engineers are the gem of the company. They are the people who make “the miracle of welding” happen and they are the greatest mythologists/marketers.

The message says:

“There are no bad welders – some just have better machines. Kemppi”

Classic!