Dead River Falls* Block collage* Finding your purpose questions (Pink)*

Four images from Dead River Falls

Dead River Falls*

A 5-10 minute drive from U of Northern Michigan's campus brings you a winding, rising road that passes by a reservoir and dense forest.  The road turn to gravel and you arrive at a water power plant, still in operation.  Two minutes walking from the industrial parking lot up a steep rocky path that follows a cut of power lines, a quick dip off the road, and you arrive at the first of several falls.  Five? Seven?  A couple throwing up billowing mist.  Also water rushing over rocks and cutting through craggy areas noisily.  The trail includes scrambling sections, a couple that made Jennie want to turn back.  It was a well-used trail: we saw young couples, groups of teenagers, familes with little kids, oldsters with their grandkids. We met a couple of girls/young women campers who helped me realize that the hike was done with her AllTrails map.  I used the app later at Hungarian Falls.  I was surprised by how "western US" the trail seemed.  There were different types of terrain - as you can see in the photo, some steep places with scrambling needed on rocks or roots.  The top right photo is supposed to show a peaceful hemlocky forest.  The bottom left some color and beautiful with a churning water background.  

Block Collage* 

From Rob Walker, quoting a noticing game from the web, and his response:

"When traveling, [this is] the intentional process of (1) walking around the one specific block where my hotel [or training session] is located, (2) taking photos of anything that catches my attention on/from that single block and (3) creating a photo collage. I started this initiative to ensure I got out and saw something beyond just the airport, hotel and training room when traveling for work."

To me, it made sense to take my mini-walk almost immediately after checking in, to ground myself and hopefully put any travel tension behind me. Also, I did more than one block (is that cheating?) — I walked around for 30 minutes or so, lingering over certain signs, details, and even a plaque or two.

Finding your purpose Questions (dan pink)*

Daniel Pink - how to find your life’s purpose?  Video

1. What made me weird and joyful as a kid? (how’did you play? What did you do for fun?)

2. When do I lose track of time? 

3. What do people thank me for? (purpose is venn diagram - what you love and what you contribute) ask people: what’s my superpower -- what do you think I’m particularly good at? How will I make my mark on the world?j

4. What’s my sentence?  (a great person is a sentence) What do you want people to say about you?  He helped kids read and to believe in themselves.  She comforted patients in their toughest momentsHe wrote books that helped people understand world… it’s OK if it changes.

5. Where can I make my biggest contribution? This starts with others - what do people, teams, community need from you?  Long term intention that is important to yourself and contributes beyond yourself.

6. What would I do if I didn’t have to make money?  What would you do with the rest ofyour life? Bakery? Travel?  You can start weaving these into your life.  Uncover intrinsic motivation.

7. What would my 90-year-old self regret… what you didn’t do (not being bolder… not traveling, not starting business, not speaking when it matters, not taking the shot)  Make an actual list.  On the flipside, what would you be PROUD of.