Staying connected during Covid-19

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Staying Connected

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. I recently found the app Houseparty and found it a fun way to connect with friends during this time. Almost like a FaceTime or Skype but with fun games to play when you have a little free time.
 
Saturday evening I had a bonfire with family. There is nothing like a good fire, something very primitive about it. Even though some of us are unable to work, it was another chance to awake the senses and listen to the fire cracking in the woods and other sounds of nature along with a bit of music in the background. It really did make me appreciate the simple things I was so fortunate to have. Family, health and in that instant a happiness that money or material things couldn’t bring. Others are less fortunate at this time and my heart goes out to those who have been affected. I found this article when considering this blog and could relate to it. I am sure many of you reading this will also. I know of many friends and families having camp fires of late:
 
Ancient campfires led to the rise of storytelling

​By Michael Balter Sep. 22, 2014, 3:00 PM


Sometime about 400,000 years ago, humans learned to fully control fire. This breakthrough radically changed our diets, because we could now cook food, but did it transform our culture as well? A study of evening campfire conversations by the Ju/’hoan people of Namibia and Botswana (pictured above) suggests that by extending the day, fire allowed people to unleash their imaginations and tell stories, rather than merely focus on mundane topics. Back in the 1970s, University of Utah anthropologist Polly Wiessner, well known for her work on the social networks of the Ju/’hoan Bushmen (also known as the !Kung), took detailed notes on 174 of their day and nighttime conversations. At that time, the Ju/’hoan still lived as hunter-gatherers, although that is no longer the case today; they now live in villages and have taken up farming. Wiessner returned in 1998, 2005, and 2013 to discuss these old conversations with the Bushmen and get help with translating them. As she reports online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, whereas daytime talk was focused almost entirely on economic issues, land rights, and complaints about other people, 81% of the firelight conversation was devoted to telling stories, including tales about people from other Ju/’hoan communities. Wiessner suggests that campfires allowed human ancestors to expand their minds in a similar way and also solidified social networks. “Stories told by firelight put listeners on the same emotional wavelength,” she writes in the paper, and “elicited understanding, trust, and sympathy.” Wiessner adds that fire still serves that purpose today: “The power of the flame is reproduced in our homes through fireplaces and candles.”

In relation to the above, I have been watching Outlander on Netflix of an evening. I highly recommend it. Although a fictional series, it takes you back to a time where people had very little in terms of possessions but had to fight for survival and adapt during war/times of adversity. Perhaps not a family series but good viewing for adults running out of good shows to watch.

I hope you too can enjoy a fire sometime soon with the warmth, stories and elation it brings.   

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​Last Weekend

So what came of that productive last weekend you might be wondering? After a slow start to the quarantine, my connection with friends and family was the kick up the backside I needed! A good friend was starting his leadership program. We both have a mutual friend/mentor so was happy to see his progress and will look forward to collaborating. My brother in law was looking at a side gig and my youngest brother back home in Devon, England was kickstarting his new venture. It was him who suggested I needed to think outside the box during this down time. He was right!
 
I am usually full of great (or useless) ideas and tend to be a little (or a lot) impulsive from time to time. I was going down the rather boring and lackluster path towards becoming mediocre and just another unmotivated, lifeless soul!
 
Without further a do, I got cracking and happened to google “top businesses to run from home” or something of that ilk. One site directed me to a list of 100+ possibilities ranging from baking and online consulting to website design and wait for it.....writing erotic fiction! I stopped and considered a couple of options until discovering an online t shirt sales company. This was ok but I wanted more. I wanted a meaning behind this venture, I wanted to give people more than just a T shirt. I love to help people and so I began to brainstorm.

Summit Up!
 
The message that popped into my mind was Summit Up! (a saying perhaps similar to man up or squad up but more inclusive). Summit Up! (buzz words/phrase) will have an uplifting presence to those in its company. It will inspire people to simply attempt to reach their summit through thick and thin. Summit Up! will help youth and adults overcome adversity, smash down the walls that society constructs to negate our goals and dreams, help others build attainable goals/targets and promote self confidence.
 
Summit Up! IS the new message about town. It will help you refocus and aid many youth and adults in creating a bright and prosperous future!

The SUM of your Mindset, Intent and Tenacity = UP!
 
Website progress is ongoing and more pages are being added weekly. Check out the about section and read the mission to understand more:
 
http://www.summituplive.com/about.html
 
Finally, with a deadline of May 1st, I encourage you to view and share an opportunity for the youth. This can be found at the following link:
 
http://www.summituplive.com/summit-up-youth-initiative.html
 
Until next week, Summit Up! You’ve got this.

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​"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

Charles Dickens

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