There have also been some rather extreme changes in my life in the last few days, mainly the birth of our twin girls, Caroline and Emerson. That process has occupied most of my mind space for previous seventy-two hours or so. It was a wild experience with lots of drama and ups and downs, and while it still isn’t really over yet, I have had a chance to do a little reflecting on how the Happiness Challenge has benefited me throughout the journey.

In the next few posts, I’ll run through each of the challenges–Meditation, Exercise, Gratitude, Kindness, and Positive Journaling–and catalog how they were manifested in the beginning of the twinpocalypse. And then I’ll probably have a Conclusion that talks about the overall experience of the 30 Day Happiness Challenge. I hoping to stick to my regular schedule, but I am not going to stress about that.

I’m going to change from an every day schedule to an every weekday schedule. I debated it for a while, wondering if changing at this point would mean I was no longer consistent, that maybe it would hurt my forward motion. Mostly I felt like not posting every day would be some kind of small failure. And I guess it is; it’s a failure to post every day. But I’m okay with that. I think it will be better for me and for the quality of the blog content.

I will also be adding the 30 Day Happiness Challenge to the blog. It is currently just on the Write Your Bliss Facebook page, but I would like to have the archive here as well. For one, I don’t like the formatting of a Facebook post. For two, I would like to have that content available for folks not on Facebook or who do not want to read the updates there. For three, I think it’s a better practice to have my content on my site, even if it also appears on Facebook. These will be in a different category space and won’t appear with the normal blog roll because I like to think of them as slightly different things.

So, in the spirit of that merging, here’s the 30 Day Happiness Challenge Day 13.

I don’t think Sundays are harder than Saturdays, but they aren’t any easier either. I’m not going to talk about sleeping in again because maybe it’s no longer sleeping in. Maybe it’s just the time I get up now (although I will need to get up earlier to make it to work on time). Instead, I’ll just tell you how the challenge went.

Meditation

I ignored my advice from yesterday and did the meditation lying next to Theo after putting him to bed. I managed to stay awake this time though. I think I’ll start increasing my meditation time every few days to see if that starts to have any noticeable effect on my day/outlook.

Exercise

I did the mowing and running around with Theo combo again today. Not at the same time though. Even though it doesn’t sound as intentional as going for a run or a walk or something, I planned on counting the mowing, so that makes it intentional. Also, I did the front and back yards, breaking a sweat (several sweats actually) and everything.

Kindness

I sent a short note to a friend telling her that I appreciate her art. It probably felt pretty out of the blue for her, so I think it fits squarely in the random act realm. I’ll be on the lookout for an opportunity for in-person kindness since I’ll be around more persons.

Gratitude

1. I’m grateful for slow mornings where I can hang out with my family and make a comfort food breakfast (sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits), where I can enjoy several cups of coffee without worrying too much about what needs to be accomplished during the day, where I can watch my son “read” a stack of books, reciting most of the words and making up the rest, where I can be amazed at how smart he is and how much he is like me and his mother but in a synergy sort of way that almost makes him too good.
2. I’m grateful for what sounds like dozens of frogs hanging out in our backyard and beyond, making the strangest sounds in an “isn’t nature interesting” sort of way.
3. I’m grateful that Theo loves to read (see above).

Something positive

We created a little nursery corner this weekend. As I mentioned, I got the crib set up yesterday. And today, we hung the various cute and crafty things that Melanie, her mom, and her friends have made for the babies. It is all adorable and personal and makes our room feel completely different. Also, it feels nice to do something with such a visual impact even when it isn’t necessarily a big deal.

So that’s a baker’s dozen. I almost want to say I’m almost halfway there. But I probably shouldn’t. That is living in tomorrow’s tomorrow. I should instead live in today. In the one where I get to go to sleep soon.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a new addition in several of the YouTube channels I watch. A mention of something called Patreon.

What is Patreon?

From what I have seen, Patreon is a new platform that connects consumers and producers. It allows independent creators to find funders for their work. Most of the YouTubers I’ve seen describe it as, “It’s like Kickstarter, but it’s not about projects.” Essentially, supporters (patrons) make donations (tips) to fund the ongoing creation of content from their favorite producers.

Here’s the official promotional video.

And here are a few questions I found myself asking about this new trend. Note: it is entirely possible that this isn’t actually all that new, that I just happened to notice it and it’s been happening for a while now. The company was founded in 2013, but I don’t know when it started to become more prevalent. And, as NBC taught me, “If it’s new to you….”

Doesn’t Kickstarter already have this covered?

The comparison is appropriate. Patreon is clearly borrowing some of what makes Kickstarter work, like goodies for supporting at a certain level. And they share the basic ideal of crowdfunding: people supporting the work they love.

The move away from the project model is an important distinction, though. For creators who are just producing quality content on a regular basis, they don’t have to construct some sort of faux project in order to get support. And it minimizes some of the risk of the “all or nothing” aspect to Kickstarter. There are some benefits to motivating creators and patrons to make sure a project gets funded, but there is also something nice about the idea that people can say, “I like what you’re doing. Enough that I will give a little money to make sure it keeps happening.” It’s not a binary proposition where the project works or it doesn’t. It allows for creators to continue doing what they do, and it allows consumers to have a little voice, a little more engagement, which should ultimately result in better content.

One interesting twist is that one of the options is to have patrons pay per unit (podcast, video, etc.) produced. If you don’t publish anything that month, they won’t be charged. That feels like a great motivator for getting consistent content out for your audience. Could it mean that you produce less than ideal work for the sake of numbers? Sure, but that will end up costing you when people unsubscribe. Also, patrons can set monthly limits so they aren’t surprised when you launch your 30 podcasts in 30 days challenge.

Aren’t these YouTubers and bloggers already making millions?

You can find plenty of these stories. Kids making themselves (their parents?) rich just by opening toys; the highest paid YouTuber is a mystery woman who opens eggs with surprises inside; All the Mr. Biebers out there.

Side note: I was going to link to articles about these stories, but they are, for the most part, the kind of site/story I don’t care to endorse/promote. Google will oblige if you’re interested.

Double side note: if you Google “box opening Youtube” instead of “unboxing Youtube” you might find yourself looking at baby reborn videos. Feel free to tell me what that is all about. I accidentally spent too much time being mystified by the whole thing when I was supposed to be writing this. Maybe I’ll come back to it at some point.

Some of these folks are making obscene (to me) amounts of money from their seemingly unreal numbers (millions of subscribers, billions of video views), but what about the people you actually want to watch? Most of them are having a tough run. Not because they aren’t producing quality, and not because they aren’t building an engaged audience. They are just finding it difficult to consistently deliver the kinds of numbers that YouTube rewards. They are being drown out by a cacophony of click bait, gimmicks, and lowest denominator content. (My opinion, of course.)

Not that long ago, I saw some creators combating this by adding sponsors to their videos, along the lines of “This video brought to you by….” It’s also a common path for podcasts. When this is done right, when the sponsor is well matched with the content, it’s really more of an added value than an intrusion. For example, a podcast targeted to entrepreneurs that has FreshBooks as a sponsor. When it isn’t well matched, then it’s just a commercial. Even then, I find these to less grating than a typical TV or radio ad.

Can’t I just continue to get quality content for free, without being bombarded with ads? Isn’t that the promise of the Internet?

No.

Let me explain. For one, the Internet didn’t really come with a promise. It is what it is, and it’s our responsibility to craft it into the place we want it to be. One way to do that is by sharing the content we enjoy. Another is by financially supporting work that provides value to you. That’s where the “valuable” part comes in.

As we move away from traditional media, it’s going to be a struggle for passionate, motivated, talented, hard working artists to be heard above all the noise. One way to help them keep it up until they can reach some sort of critical mass is through money. Sometimes we give money by clicking on the ads supporting a creator. Other times, we listen through the messages of their sponsors without totally abandoning their content.

But I really like the idea that we can give the creators money directly. (Ok, almost directly if you’re going through Patreon, but I’m sure most people would be happy to take your donation in the form of a check, PayPal, or bitcoin.) It takes us to the public radio and PBS model, but it is even more targeted. You can support a specific show instead of an entire network. And it isn’t in the non-profit space.

The idea is comparable, though, especially for the artists who aren’t trying to make it rich with their work. They are just trying to keep doing something they love for a living. I can absolutely get behind that idea. And when we are watching/reading/listening to that something, why shouldn’t we be willing to contribute a little to the cause. It’s a wonderful form of generosity.

And we shouldn’t forget the old adage, “You get what you pay for.” While we have become accustomed to all you can consume free content on the Internet, it is good to remember that most of it isn’t free. There is some cost involved, whether the ubiquitous presence of ads, or the pressure of offers, or the annoyance of pop ups demanding something from us (an email, a survey, etc.). If we continue to devalue content, to expect everything to be free (or cheap), we are ultimately going lose the quality that we really want for a quantity that isn’t actually satisfying. Here’s an article/editorial I read recently that expresses this idea pretty well–Final Word: Garbage.

So all the ads and sponsors are going away?

I don’t think so. Not for a while. For something like video, YouTube is still the platform to be on. And to continue spreading content as widely as possible, creators are going to have to play by YouTube’s rules, which will probably mean having an ad in front of the video. It will be interesting to see how that changes. Personally, I don’t think the folks buying that ad space are getting much for their money, certainly not the way I watch/skip through YouTube ads. But I feel the same about television commercials, and those things have been around forever. I think there will always be a place for sponsors too.

This is different than ads. They can provide value for the sponsor, for the creators, and for the audience, especially when the content creators make an effort to match their audience with potential sponsors.

What we will see in the short term is creators able to keep at it, producing the content their audiences enjoy. And if they can do that without worrying about how to pay the rent or feed their families, my guess is they will produce even better content. I certainly feel like that would be the case for me.

What do you think? Do you like the Patreon model? Would you contribute directly to the podcasters/bloggers/vloggers/writers you follow? Why or why not?

I recently wrote about how slow can be a good thing, about how learning the fundamentals can pay dividends in the future, about how I am often not good at taking it slow. I even mentioned typing in that post, but I didn’t really change my attitude much. I still keep trying to type my Qwerty speed when using the Dvorak layout. And I think one of the main reasons is that I know I have to report a typing test here. And I hate the idea that I won’t show improvement. That feels like a failure to me.

Of course, I should recognize that I haven’t put as much time in the Dvorak layout recently. I should also recognize that at different moments in the last weeks, I have felt quite comfortable typing in the new system. But the typing test mostly reflects my most current practice, and that hasn’t been all that great.

So, I’m going to focus less on the typing test. I realize this is a little weird because it is the best measure of the whole experiment. But I feel like it has become too big of a yardstick for me, so I’m taking it away for now. In addition to not posting one, I’m going to try my best to not even take one. Also, I’ll probably go three or four weeks before another report since I won’t have as much to say about it.

The experiment lives on, though. I will try to use Dvorak more in my everyday typing, and do a little more typing practice with it.

And in case you really want to know, the test clocked me at 22 wpm. Although, earlier in the week, I got one at 34 wpm. Maybe that variance is another reason to de-emphasize it.

During one evening’s wine drinking, about to start on bottle number two, I hit pause on whatever mindless Bravo show I was watching and decided to watch inspiring Ted Talks – might as well watch others win at life.  After a few, I started to feel mildly optimistic, but not enough to put the glass and the pepperoni pizza down.  But then I saw Shawn Achor’s piece on happiness.  Commence mind blowing and pizza dropping.  The path to happiness distilled into five daily tasks.

Here’s that presentation. It’s entertaining and informative. And about twelve minutes.

The daily tasks Hyde mentions are:

1. Meditate
2. Identify 3 new things you’re grateful for
3. One random act of kindness
4. Journal about one good thing that happened
5. Exercise

And instead of just letting that info blow by him, like so many TED Talks do, Hyde decided to turn it into a 30 Day Challenge. He set some rules and ventured forth, stepped into the arena.

I appreciate that.  And I appreciate the theory behind Shawn Achor’s daily tasks. Fortunately, I’m currently not struggling with depression, and I consider myself in a pretty decent place emotionally. But there’s always room for improvement.

So, even though it has been a while since Hyde first issued his challenge to himself, I’ve decided to follow suit. I’m going to use his rules as well, which I think he’ll appreciate. As he says, “I love a plan. Especially when someone else does the planning.  And especially-especially when it doesn’t take money or years.”

So, here’s the setup, almost entirely cribbed from Hyde:

1. For the next 30 days, I will do each of those 5 tasks everyday.
2. I will write about it every day.
3. I will not judge the project as working or not working until the end of 30 days at which I will decide whether or not to continue or look for a new way.
4. I will not give up.

In case you’re wondering, there probably will not be stick figures, but you should enjoy Hyde’s if you get a chance. Also, I won’t be devoting the blog to the challenge. Instead, I’ll be posting my updates to the Write Your Bliss Facebook Page. If you haven’t checked it out yet, that’s okay. There’s nothing really there yet, but there will be. You can follow the link above, or the fancy icon at the top of the page. I’d be happy to have you “like” and share the page, but only if you feel like it has some sort of value.

I’d also be happy to join me in the challenge if you like. Make it your own. Do as many tasks as you find manageable. I think it will be a fun and educational ride, and I look forward to taking it with you.

Make Something

I created a new About Page, which I hope you’ll check out. It gives a little more information concerning the purpose of this blog and what I hope to see it become. I also made some other updates to the design of the site.

Learn Something

I learned that all of our mugs, glasses, and cups don’t fit into their designated cabinet when they’re all clean. I learned that more of our van seats are removable and adjustable than I originally thought. I learned that patients in medical dramas are nine times more likely to die than patients in real hospitals. They’re also more likely to be white, have a mental health issue, and an usual condition instead of something like heart disease or cancer.

Karate Chop Something

Garrh. Failed again. I did pretend baby punch Melanie’s stomach a few times this week, but doesn’t feel like a move to success. Maybe all this garrhing means I should be pursuing some sort of pirate moves to success.

Try Something New

I threw out a bunch of cups and mugs. They were mostly ones with missing lids or cracked exteriors, but I have a hard time getting rid of even stuff I know is junk. I’m hoping to learn a little from the minimalist movement. I often feel weighed down by things, and I don’t like carrying around that baggage: physical, emotional, and mental.

Be Nice to Someone

I didn’t yell at any people who work at doctor’s offices or insurance companies, and I talked to quite a few. That might not sound like being nice to someone exactly, but it was certainly nicer than I felt like being at the time. It is so frustrating trying to navigate the maelstrom that feels designed to confuse and derail. Anyway, most of that seems to be settled, at least until we start receiving unexpected bills, which I never count out at this point.

It was an okay week again. Again, a fast one. Countdown to twins seems to be picking up pace as we try to get more prepared for their arrival.

The Big Announcement

I’ve had fun trying to live my life according to the Johnny Karate Moves to Success, but I think this experiment has reached its end. Not that I won’t continue trying to do the moves, I just won’t be so deliberate about it, and I won’t be reporting back on the blog. Instead, I will be pursuing a new experiment. I believe this one can even be classified as a challenge. I will provide more detail tomorrow, so be sure to come back. This is what’s known as a cliffhanger in the biz. Hold tight.

I guess I have been feeling a little more comfortable with the Dvorak layout, so maybe I was expecting a better showing. It’s like when you’ve started eating better or getting more exercise, and you’re feeling good, but then you step on the scale and nothing has changed.

Much like with the health situation, it would probably help for me to remember that the weigh-in isn’t always the most important benchmark. To celebrate that idea, I wrote this entire post in the Dvorak layout. It didn’t feel great, but it didn’t make me want to scratch my eyes out.

Make Something

This one is actually pretty easy. My dad has been throwing around the idea of building Theo a sandbox for a few weeks now. He decided that the baby shower would be the perfect day for it because: A) Theo would have something to feel special about even though most of the presents, and the attention, weren’t for him; B) My dad cares only a small amount about the typical activities involved in a shower; C) He would be at our house. He was thoughtful enough to run all this by me and Melanie, and we agreed that it would be fine.

The timing worked out so that almost all of the actual construction happened after most guests had left. Also, my dad had already completed the bulk of the prep work; he came with boards measured, cut, routed, and sanded. So, to be fair, I wasn’t involved in a good portion of the making. To be even more fair, I didn’t actually help that much with the assembly either. My brother-in-law had previously agreed to help, so he and my dad laid it out and screwed it together.

I will take credit for the placement, the octagon shape, and the size, which should be just about perfect on all accounts for Theo and friends. I will also take credit for shoveling about five hundred pounds of sand.

My redemption, however, comes in the making of the “bench” for the sandbox. After the assembly was finished and the sand was added, we decided to use an extra board to create a handy bench seat on one side. While I didn’t do the cutting in this case either, I did complete most of the routing and sanding and assembly.

Aside from needing a little more sand, I think the project looks pretty damn good.

Learn Something

A yard of sand is literally a ton of sand. Yes, this is the correct usage of literally; a yard of sand weighs two thousand pounds . It is also happens to be (figuratively) a lot of sand. Really, I should say that a half-yard of sand is a lot of sand because that’s how much my dad brought in his small pickup. Really, I should say that it’s a lot of sand when you’re shoveling it but not that much when you spread it out in a sandbox with an area of almost sixty square feet. We still need another half-yard or so to fill the sandbox out (in?).

If you buy “play sand” by the bag at a big box home improvement store, it will cost you a little over $3.50 per 50 pound bag ($70 for a half-ton). If you buy masonry sand from a landscaping or builder supplier, a half-ton will cost you about $11. It’s the kind of sand you find in creek beds, and it’s great for sandboxes. When moist, it can be used to build castles, mountains, and caves. And when you’re finished playing, it just brushes off without leaving your hands and clothes soiled. We even found a few rocks in our batch, and they were smooth and shiny, worn down from their time at the bottom of what I imagine was a pleasant stream in some tranquil woodscape.

Karate Chop Something

Yes, I karate-chopped the sand.

Try Something New

I had never built a sandbox before. I’m not certain, but I also don’t think I had used a router before (although I’m a little suspicious of that). I had never before added such a prominent feature to our backyard. Our only real customization at this point is that we have added some potted plants and a few bird feeders, allowed the deck to deteriorate, and not filled in all of Rory’s holes. In addition to the toys scattered haphazardly around the yard, the sandbox really solidifies the space as Theo’s.

Be Nice to Someone

While it is clear that “someones” were nice to me in this situation–they were giving their time and energy to build this sandbox–I also feel like I was being a little generous in allowing the construction to take place. That might sound odd, I guess. “I’ll allow you to do something nice for me.” But, accepting help is not just a selfish act. It is nice to let someone do something nice for you, especially in this case.

My dad is a builder. Even without his background as a carpenter, he would still be drawn to creating something with his hands. And he enjoys the process and result of putting his skills to use for someone else. Multiply that by the grandchild factor. And then multiply that by the building with your son and son-in-law factor. It’s like calculating the volume of a cylinder (sandbox): radius squared, times pi, times height. It’s a volume of generosity.

Also, it was pretty nice for Theo. He can hardly stand how much he loves playing outside, digging and moving dirt.

I guess I tricked you (and myself) there. I was planning on a shower-themed review, and instead, I went even more specific with a sandbox theme. Writing is funny sometimes. I hope you had and have a great week.

As the screen capture indicates, I increased my typing in Dvorak speed to around 16-17 wpm over the last week. And this was through 15-30 minutes a day of intentional practice. I found a new site that I will recommend for typing practice of all kinds. I can’t really find a name other than the url, which is keybr.com. The site description suggests you can “Learn typing at the speed of thought!” I don’t know about that, but it does do a nice job of starting you out with typing lessons that focus on the most commonly used letters–which is great for learning how to type on a Dvorak layout–and keeps track of the letters you’re having trouble with to incorporate them more regularly. You can even change the layout graphic to help when you get stumped. I expect that my typing test speed will improve even more than fifty percent over the next week if I can manage to start practicing more letters. There are settings you can change if you don’t want to follow what it gives you exactly.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is that I took a little trip to doubt city on the experiment this week. Mostly, this was because I started reading about someone else’s attempt to learn Dvorak and how they thought it was a waste of time. It made me second-guess myself and run down the rabbit hole of research for a little while. And this was generally unhelpful research, just looking at a lot of opinions. It was a bummer and reminded me of all the other times I thought of some strange scheme to improve whatever. Those were all largely failures.

Eventually, I stopped thinking about whether or not it would be worth it. I remembered that it was a fun experiment and that I’ve already learned some stuff about myself. It might still be a failure, of course, but I at least feel better about the ride.

Mostly, I’ve been using the Learn Dvorak keyboard training, which you can check out here. I like that you can choose to map your Qwerty keyboard to Dvorak without having to change anything else. It also has “lessons” where you can run through the Dvorak home keys and then add others by typing actual words. I have played around with it throughout the day, I would say averaging about 30 minutes a day. I first thought I would stick with a specific lesson until I “mastered” it, but I realized that would put me in a tough spot when it came time for my first typing test. So, I’ve gone through each of them a few times. The progress is slow so far, but here are a couple points I’ve picked up.

The Dvorak keyboard layout does make a lot more sense.

This is pretty obvious when you see how many words you can make from the basic home keys, the ones that don’t require you to ever move your fingers. Here’s a random selection: hose, tuna, aunt, snoot, teen, shots. Compared to the Qwerty, (adds, Alaska, dads, lass, flask), the obvious difference is the vowels. With Dvorak, you get them all except “i”, which is still on the home row. In Qwerty, you get “a”. Yup, just one vowel. According to the references I’ve looked at, the possible English words on the Qwerty home row, including moving the index finger for “g” and “h” tops out at under 200. And it includes many that only a Scrabble lover could appreciate. (But you do get the semi-colon!) As for how well these advantages play out, I think I’ll get a better sense of it as I go along.

Fun fact: one of the serendipitous combinations I got when moving to the full Dvorak keyboard was “joshing egoist”, which you can take however you wish.

Switching keyboard layouts is simple, but it isn’t easy.

Typing, for me at this point, falls into the category of “things you do every day, without thinking.” I suppose I knew that before, but trying a new layout really throws that in your face. It felt similar to learning a new language to me, or maybe it reminded me what it was like to learn how to type at the very beginning. Although, even that doesn’t quite compare because when I learned for the first time, I didn’t have a reference point. It made me think about what it must be like for someone who has had a significant injury and is forced to relearn how to walk or write. I still don’t think I could imagine how excruciating that must be, but I think the keyboard layout switch gives me a little insight. I’m sure one of the major differences is that there are no major consequences with this experiment, so that relieves much of the stress and frustration. It is certainly a good exercise in patience, though.

The early part of the learning curve can be fun and maybe addictive.

It is pretty easy to see small victories when practicing. It feels good to correctly remember where a letter is without having to “cheat” or take forever thinking about it. And the practice itself doesn’t require a lot of thinking, just concentration. It can be a bit of a break, like playing a game. However, just like with playing games, it is easy to turn to it to avoid “real” work. I found myself thinking, more than once, “Eh, I don’t want to think about X right now. I could just do some typing instead.” And it can actually be more dangerous than a typical game because I feel like I am being productive in learning this new skill. I have to be conscious of what is truly important and what is more of a side project. Sometimes that introspection can be difficult. Using typing practice as a form of procrastination is something I’ll have to watch for.

I’m not ready to make the switch to Dvorak.

If I went completely cold turkey, I would probably be much further along in my Dvorak skills, but I can’t really imagine how much slower all of my work would have gone. It would be hours and hours I think. For now, I will stick with the slower transition. I am considering switching over to Dvorak for the occasional email, etc. when I have time instead of just doing the separate practice. In part, because I’ve found that it is a different situation when you are trying to compose in your mind and remember where letters are at the same time.

So, that’s where I stand right now. Let me know if you have any questions or if you’re playing along at home. Thanks for reading.