Anticipatory Calendar

My wife was beginning the process of taking down the Christmas tree.  Like every other year recently, no one wanted to help.  Me included.

I had other pressing issues to take care of for my business and was irritated that my wife was getting so frustrated and snappy.  Why can't she just do it?  What's the big deal?  I finally relented and decided to take the ornaments off the top of the tree, since those are the hardest to reach anyway.  As I removed the ornaments, I was flooded with memories of when the children were little, vacations we've been on and workplace colleagues from years ago.  It made me feel incredibly grateful and thankful to be in that moment.  At the same time my wife was trying to sort through the ornaments and get rid of the ones without meaning.  I agreed with her sentiment even though I am not predisposed to throw things away.  My oldest calls us ornament-hoarders.

As I weighted the relative sentimental and aesthetic value of each ornament, I realized that I alone should not be judge and jury or ornaments.  It should be a discussion and joint decision.  Any one family member would have veto power over any one ornament.  Eventually, our children will have their own Christmas trees and we will send ornaments with them.  Why not identify their first round draft picks now?  I imagined sharing the memories of when they were little, the vacations we've been on and the friends from long ago.

I realized the importance of tradition. And sharing. And family. And togetherness.

I did not make my children help right then but instead visualized how it could be next year.  I played it out in my mind and could see the time we were having; remembering, laughing, bonding and making memories by remembering memories.

But how do in increase the likelihood of this coming to pass?  How can I take charge of my desires and thoughts and ideas for what c(sh)ould be?  I need to create a mechanism to capture-prepare-attract the future I desire.

Anticipatory Calendar (n.)  Written as a remembrance of future recurring and cyclical events.  A way to plan-ticipate the future.

Anticipatory Entry 12/28/19
"Our family was together again for one of our favorite rituals.  Taking down the tree, sorting ornaments and remembering where they came from.  Of course, everyone has laid claim to their favorites when moving out.  The ornament boxes and storage gets ever better and easier each year.  We clean up the attic a bit each time, repair Christmas lights and admire the great (and documented) outside decorations. It is so nice to appreciate each other and share during this time of year.  I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity."

Future Cities

My son is working on a project with his friends.  They are building a "future city" with a design emphasis on waste.  This is part of the 8th grade G&T curriculum in Keyport Public Schools.  When he told me this and asked me if I had any thoughts about it, I put together a concept and a few questions for them.

Welcome to "Para mee seeus", the city designed after a paramecium.

Cities are layers of multiple systems that have characteristics similar with other systems.  What if we modeled a city after an organ-ism not an actual human city?  What systems could we model?  What goals could we achieve? 

Some questions for exploration:
How do resources flow in (food, raw materials) and out (waste, byproducts)?
What about external threats?  What are defenses like (de fences)?
Governance?
Place in the larger context?  What contributions are made to the whole, to other cities? 

We'll see if they pick up the concept.  Regardless, my next post will begin to explore the parallels and possibilities for organ-izing a city.