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What can I do to support friends?

Posted: - Modified: | connecting

An analogy: I remember reading that in the job market, good talent is hard to find. The people who are amazing are often already working for companies that make an effort to keep them happy. If something makes them dissatisfied, they have networks of people who have been trying to recruit them for years. So, when the opportunity to connect with, help out, or hire an amazing person comes up, you should take advantage of it.

I think good people might be like that too. I suspect there are way more good people than are on my radar, like the way that someone may not be a good fit for what you'e looking for but amazing for something else. Still, there are people whom I find it easy to resonate with. They rarely need help, so it's good to be able to help them when they need it.

There are some things I need to keep in mind. Supporting people shouldn't get in the way of my self-care or equanimity, or interfere with more important relationships. (No sense setting yourself on fire to keep someone else warm, as some communities on Reddit say.) I can help, but I may need to remind myself that I can't take responsibility for other people's problems. At best, I can help them with scaffolding to make it easier for them to develop their own solutions. And it can't be always an outgoing flow, getting people past the negative stuff; I should see a future where they're on their feet, exploring things that inspire and engage me. They shouldn't become dependent on me, and I shouldn't become accustomed to being needed or encourage that. So, if I can help while keeping healthy boundaries, I think we can make this work.

Based on past experience, the dangers and tripwires I should watch out for include:

  • Supporting people to the point of feeling like it's a duty or that I'm getting drained
  • Letting detrimental behaviours slide (for example: research says venting turns out to be bad for you, and I don't like listening to it anyway)
  • Dealing with potential transference
  • Figuring out what's needed: non-judgmental support versus feedback

But if I take responsibility for managing my self-care and I work out good communication protocols, it might work out.

2015-03-28a Looking closely at helping friends -- index card #support #friendship

2015-03-28a Looking closely at helping friends – index card #support #friendship

I might even be able to use the Ben Franklin Effect in an unusual way. By helping people, I may grow to appreciate them more.

It's good for me too. It means being able to respond to the pull of shared humanity, helping people past rough patches so that they can move on and learn more. Besides, my Evil Plans could benefit from strong bonds with good people, not that people are instrumental or that those evil plans are well-formed or anything. And it's good to see people triumph.

So, what can I do to help people who are going through difficult times?

2015-03-20e Supporting friends in crises -- index card #support #friendship

2015-03-20e Supporting friends in crises – index card #support #friendship

  • Help them with basic needs: People often neglect their need for good food, rest, and social interaction. I can cook more and drop off frozen meals, or they can visit me and we can make a relaxing afternoon of it (especially if I can drag them out for a walk in the park too).
  • Give them hugs: Because people don't get enough hugs, and brain chemistry can be a powerful thing.
  • Listen to them and play back what I hear: Lots of people aren't as used to untangling thoughts on paper or on their computer, so it can help for them to talk through what's on their mind. If I take notes, that makes it easier for them to reflect on things later.
  • Share reflections, experiences: Because sometimes it helps to hear about other approaches and considerations.
  • Sit with people or check in with them as they solve their own stuff: Good for people who know what they need to do, but who might appreciate an extra boost in motivation, enthusiasm, and progress-tracking.

2015-03-20f Sharing alternatives -- index card #support

2015-03-20f Sharing alternatives – index card #support

Hmm. I've given reflections and alternatives a lot of thought, so it may sometimes be helpful to share these processes, tools, and generative questions with other people in case they want them. Not solutions, but ways to come up with your own solutions. That might be handy.

2015-03-20g Dig your well before you're thirsty -- index card #support #relationships

2015-03-20g Dig your well before you're thirsty – index card #support #relationships

Assuming most of my friends have gotten to where they are now with some form of self-care, and they're geeky enough to take on the challenge of figuring out what they need and experimenting to find out what works well, I could probably just ask people what they need in terms of support, offering suggestions to get the ball rolling. It would be even better to get something like that in place before bigger challenges arise. (Me, I like hugs and sunshine, but I don't like being pressed for details. I prefer to choose what to discuss and whom to discuss it with, and I tend to write instead of talk.)

A good way this could play out might be:

  • Help people take care of the basics so that they have a clear head for taking on their challenges
    • Cook extra and pack, then visit or receive guests
  • Establish protocol for calling attention to odd things in a non-judgmental way
  • Support the mindset that this is temporary, local, and impersonal; support self-compassionate approaches
  • Celebrate progress
  • Help people get back to the point of energy and joy

Do I have a kind approach for dealing with situations that need more from me than I can give? It's a responsibility I should consider before offering support, because it could turn into an additional rejection. There have been situations when people wanted support but I wasn't in the right place to give it, or the resonance wasn't there.

  • I can fade out, which appears to be the common way to handle this
  • I can explain what I understand, which could lead to additional conflict/load/challenge but could also lead to clarification and change
  • I can discuss this protocol, which has some of the negative impact from the second approach but allows people to control how much they want to know

Hmm. I haven't really tried the second or third approach before. They feel more truthful to me, although it will take some learning in order to do them well.

But if my goal is to be able to sustainably develop strong connections with good people who may (as all people do!) go through both tough and awesome times in their life, and since I will also go through both tough and awesome times in my life, I think that having this kind of communication about communication might be interesting.

At the end of the day, to have people you can trust implicitly, whom you know so well and are so used to thinking with that you can look at situations in your lives with many people's eyes, and yet whom you can count on to not injure or sacrifice themselves because of something they think you think you want – who will push back if needed and find a better way, and who expect the same of you – I think that might be wonderful.

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com

Learning from people

Posted: - Modified: | connecting, learning

I have a friend who's focusing on learning how to ask better questions. Actually, he realized his goal is probably to ask more questions in the first place, since even simple questions ("Where did you come from?") can lead to interesting stories.

It got me curious about getting better at learning from people. I think this will help me learn about the stuff that I can't find in books because:

I think getting better at asking questions and learning from people involves figuring out:

So that gives me specific things to focus on in terms of learning from others and trying things out myself.

I've been thinking about two aspects of learning from people: working with mentors/coaches/trainers, and having casual conversations with other people.

2015-01-24 Imagining awesomeness at learning from people -- index card #learning #people

Mentors/coaches/trainers

I've been lucky to have many mentors (both formal and informal) who helped me learn how to navigate organizations, find opportunities, build skills, and so on. But I haven't been as deliberate about learning as I could have been. I periodically consider finding a coach for my writing or coding, but haven't taken the leap.

I've heard from people who weren't sure if therapy was working out for them; they couldn't evaluate their progress. I think I'm hesitant for similar reasons. I'm uncertain about choosing candidates, asking useful questions, evaluating the results, and balancing the value and the opportunity cost.

This is precisely the sort of situation for which an opportunity fund is useful, because it pushes me to Just Try Things Out. I'm slowly warming up to that idea, hence all the blog posts thinking out loud.

Here are some areas I'm considering:

For example, an editing experiment might help me develop a better mental model of an editor, forcing me to search for more specific vocubulary (down with "stuff"!), testing to see if something I've written makes sense, and checking for gaps.

2015-01-24 How can I learn from observation feedback -- index card #learning #people

In addition to directly asking for specific help, I might learn a lot from general observation. A friend suggested Atul Gawande's Better for its approach to learning: a surgeon inviting other surgeons to observe him and give feedback, even though this technique was mostly used by people with less experience. It makes sense to do that even when you're more experienced, and it's probably even more useful because people can swap tips or explain things they unconsciously do.

Other people

2015-01-24 Mixed feelings about learning from people -- index card #learning #people

I noticed that I have a strong bias towards online conversations instead of offline ones. Sure, online conversations might be lower-bandwidth or not as nuanced. But blog posts and comments expand the conversations to include other people, and it's easier to follow up on threads of ideas. I think this preference is among the reasons why, compared to several years ago, I now spend much less time going to parties or meetups. Instead, I focus on writing and connecting online.

But I get plenty of writing time already, so maybe I should mix more offline conversations into my life. This would follow the principle that I shouldn't always do what's fun and easy. It makes sense to develop skills and routines in other areas as well. For example, I can imagine getting better at cultivating acquaintances through shared activities like cooking at Hacklab and hosting board game afternoons. I can test and refine several quick stories for small talk, which frees me up to focus on learning more about the other person through questions. It's like the way foreign language learners can boost their feeling of fluency by anticipating common questions ("Where are you from?" "What do you do?") and practising answers to those.

I think that getting better at asking questions and learning from people starts mostly from getting to know people as individuals. What makes them different? What's interesting about their lives? There's always something to find. The next step after that is to gradually build the acquaintance or the friendship through things like lunches or get-togethers. It makes sense to open my world so that I can come across good people. I enjoy their company, I grow in helping out, and I learn from the conversations with them and the mental models of them.

More thoughts

2015-01-25 Learning from people -- index card #learning #people

Thinking about this, I realized that I'm not bad at learning from people. I'm pretty good at learning from books, blogs, and online conversations, which is why I rely on those so much. But there are some aspects of learning from people that I can improve, and I can play around with those without cutting too much into the time I spend learning in other ways.

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com

Let’s have a virtual Emacs conference in August – help me make it happen!

Posted: - Modified: | conference, connecting, emacs

Why August? It's an arbitrary target, although it tickles my brain to think about celebrating my 32nd birthday with awesome people sharing awesome ideas. (Incidentally, I'll also reach the point of having been using Emacs for about half my life – doubly neat!)

Anyway. I think it would be great to have some kind of knowledge-swapping thing. Since I'm not particularly keen on travelling, not everyone can make it out to Canada, and it's hard to make awesome in-person conference recordings anyway, maybe a virtual conference would be a great bet. I'm willing to spend what I would have paid for airfare on things like organization, speaker honoraria, and other good things.

I enjoyed the Emacs Conference in 2013, and I think we should figure out how to have these kinds of get-togethers more often. Emacs Chats and Emacs Hangouts are tiny steps in that direction, and I'd appreciate help in making this and many other community-ish things even better. =)

2015-02-02 Imagining an Emacs conference -- index card #emacs #conference #plans #organizing-people

So here's what I imagine a virtual Emacs conference might be like. People volunteer, and somehow we organize a schedule of fascinating talks. This could be a full day, or maybe we'd spread it out over a couple of half-days (maybe even scheduled for different timezones so that everyone has something they can interact with life). We use Google Hangout on Air or a similar platform that can stream and automatically record. There's the speaker with slides and screensharing, and there's a moderator who can pick up questions from IRC and Google Hangout in order to ask them out loud. We might even be able to pull off panel discussions. Afterwards, there's a playlist and a webpage with all the videos/MP3s/OGGs, and people can share their notes/discussions/follow-ups.

All this is immensely doable with the technology we have today. For free, even. Anyway, the technology should be okay.

What about topics? Here's what I'm particularly curious about:

And people can suggest other topics, too. =) Maybe we can even figure out some kind of unconference setup: people suggesting topics they can share, quickly voting on what they're interested in, and breaking up into separate "rooms" to share/discuss.

2015-02-02 Making a virtual Emacs conference happen -- index card #emacs #organizing-people #conference #planning #questions

An Emacs conference would be awesome. Here are my (pitiful) excuses for why I haven't figured out how to organize one yet, and things I want to figure out (especially with people's help):

Of course, if someone wants to organize an in-person one, that's cool too. Especially in Toronto. That would be awesome. =) (Although I might be able to get to New York or similar places too…)

My evil plans for a conference like this include:

What could help the Emacs community learn even faster?

2015-02-01 Accelerating the Emacs community -- index card #accelerating #emacs

How can we get more people sharing their configs, or learning from other people's configs? How can we make it easier for people to share through blog posts, videos, animated GIFs, and presentations? How can we create spaces for people to connect, either with virtual meetups or in person? How can we swap interesting ideas, workflows, and mental habits? How can we improve our skills? How can we keep the conversation going?

Mm. Figuring out how to do virtual conferences might be a good start. Also, I've got this idea noodling around in my head on having some kind of an intermediate/advanced Org Mode workshop: something that covers clocking workflows, table calculations, literate programming, data analysis, publishing. Figuring out how to do virtual workshops would be awesome too.

Okay. First things first. Some kind of date and some kind of time, and some kind of help sorting out a schedule. August 8 and/or August 15, maybe? If librarians can hold an online conference through Google Hangouts, we should be able to figure this out too. (Librarians are super-cool!) If you have lots of experience in organizing virtual conferences or you have ideas for how to make this less intimidating for a non-organizer-y introvert, I'd love to hear from you in the comments or at sacha@sachachua.com. Let's make this happen!

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com

Sometimes – often – I don't feel like making conversation

Posted: - Modified: | connecting

My default state is quiet. I rarely listen to music while I work, unless I need to make it easier to ignore background conversations. I often find one-on-one conversations awkward. I like group conversations because other people can tell stories or ask questions, and I can dip into or out of the conversation when I want. So Hacklab tends to work for me, since there are occasionally good group conversations there, and people are friends with each other.

2014-10-06 Sometimes - often - I don't feel like making conversation

2014-10-06 Sometimes – often – I don't feel like making conversation

I started to write a blog post about preparing for winter, something along the lines of being less social because of the activation costs of having to put on coats and take the subway instead of the bike. But I started looking at the numbers from my time tracking (counting both business-related and social non-family connecting time), and I've actually been less social in summer. I suppose it makes sense – meetups go on hiatus, people have other plans, and I'm off enjoying quiet time gardening or biking.

2014-10-15 20_25_51-Microsoft Excel - Book2

So maybe this fall and winter will be more social after all. Maybe I'll make it out to Hacklab once or twice a week, and maybe I'll start checking out meetups again. It's good to practice connecting with people in person — although it's certainly quite tempting to stay home, too. I have the sneaky suspicion that these online conversations might even be more worthwhile and longer-lasting. Still, there's time to experiment with things, so why not?

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com

Sharing cooking adventures

Posted: - Modified: | connecting, cooking

I told W- about the Ethiopian cabbage dish that Eric and I made at Tuesday's open house at Hacklab, to go with the injera that we bought from a store a few doors down from Hacklab. We had decided to go with cooking Ethiopian food because it was a cool day (so, a warm meal), we hadn't cooked anything Ethiopian before, and Eric had mentioned the injera previously; so we looked online for vegan Ethiopian recipes and picked a simple one to start with. A typical Ethiopian meal includes several kinds of stews served on top of the flatbread, but we figured it was fine to start with just one recipe and let people decide how they want to eat it. It worked out pretty well, although there were a few moments when we weren't quite sure how to fit all that shredded cabbage in. (Eric picked the biggest head of cabbage, I think!) $16 of groceries fed lots of people, and there were still leftovers by the time I left.

W- asked, “How come you're not as experimental when cooking at home?” Come to think of it, I tend to test recipes at Hacklab before trying them at home: gazpacho, Thai curry, Japanese curry… Cooking at Hacklab is fun because other people help (getting that second chef's knife for Hacklab was totally worth it!) and the meals disappear pretty quickly.

But we're even better set up to experiment at home. Proper chopping boards, all the pots and pans I need, no worries about extra ingredients or leftovers, and backup plans in case things go wrong… Slightly pickier eaters, but if I mess up, I can always pack it in the freezer for later, or even toss it out if I really have to. (I tend to have more tolerance for cooking than I should, although even I have had to give up on some attempts before. Ah well!)

W- is much more experienced at cooking than I am, so I'm catching up by exploring different recipes. Cooking has become a hobby for me – something I enjoy for its own sake, even if I'm still working on getting better at it. It's even more fun when you're cooking with someone, since you can laugh at stuff and swap stories. Sometimes W- and I cook together, although I guess lately I've been trying to do most of the household prep so that he can focus on work. Choosing the recipe is part of the fun, and making something often results in funny stories even if there are hiccups along the way (especially if there are!). Maybe we'll just make a habit of trying one new recipe a week. Between that and Hacklab, I'll be learning tons of recipes, yay!

Mmm… What do I want to try? Different kinds of pasta, for J-. Curries of the world! Salads for summer, both cold and warm! Mmm…

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On Aristotle and talking to people about troubles

Posted: - Modified: | connecting

After reflecting on how I'd like to respond to people who want to talk about their challenges and how I want to discuss mine, I've been thinking a little bit more about the approaches that I favour and why.

Despite my faith in friends and availability of support groups or forums for pretty much any situation one can find yourself in, I tend to work through things independently. Sometimes I talk to W-. Even then, it's often retrospective: “I worked through this-and-this dilemma. This is the decision I've come to because of these reasons, but I'd love to hear your thoughts in case I missed something.” I'd rather talk to people about the good stuff.

When it comes to other people talking to me about stuff they're going through, I assume they're smart and have tried things, so I ask questions about the obstacles they've run into. I like focusing on getting over barriers because this is one thing that other people can actually help with. You might get stuck on something because you don't know where to start, don't have the skills or experience for it, or because it intimidates you. Other people might be able to map out an easier way for you, directly help you (hooray for comparative advantage), or share how it's really not that scary if you focus on doing X, Y, and Z.

While reading D.P. Chase's translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, I came across this passage on what to share with your friends when you're going through challenges:

But [friends'] presence has probably a mixed effect: I mean, not only is the very seeing friends pleasant, especially to one in misfortune, and actual help towards lessening the grief is afforded (the natural tendency of a friend, if he is gifted with tact, being to comfort by look and word, because he is well acquainted with the sufferer's temper and disposition and therefore knows what things give him pleasure and pain), but also the perceiving a friend to be grieved at his misfortunes causes the sufferer pain, because every one avoids being cause of pain to his friends. And for this reason they who are of a manly nature are cautious not to implicate their friends in their pain; and unless a man is exceedingly callous to the pain of others he cannot bear the pain which is thus caused to his friends: in short, he does not admit men to wail with him, not being given to wail at all: women, it is true, and men who resemble women, like to have others to groan with them, and love such as friends and sympathisers. But it is plain that it is our duty in all things to imitate the highest character.

So if you're sad, it can help to have company in your sadness, but that might cause your friends to feel sad as well. Be strong, if you can.

It would seem, therefore, that we ought to call in friends readily on occasion of good fortune, because it is noble to be ready to do good to others: but on occasion of bad fortune, we should do so with reluctance; for we should as little as possible make others share in our ills; on which principle goes the saying, “I am unfortunate, let that suffice.” The most proper occasion for calling them in is when with small trouble or annoyance to themselves they can be of very great use to the person who needs them.

That's probably going to be my approach to getting by with a little help from my friends: to figure out, perhaps, if there are small things people can do that could have a big impact, and to focus on those instead of on commiseration. As for when people approach me, or when I notice friends in difficult situations, I will try to keep this in mind:

But, on the contrary, it is fitting perhaps to go to one's friends in their misfortunes unasked and with alacrity (because kindness is the friend's office and specially towards those who are in need and who do not demand it as a right, this being more creditable and more pleasant to both); and on occasion of their good fortune to go readily, if we can forward it in any way (because men need their friends for this likewise), but to be backward in sharing it, any great eagerness to receive advantage not being creditable.

… to see the opportunity to be kind, where kindness might be cooking a good meal, giving a person a hug, or helping out in ways that take advantage of our different skills and experiences.

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com

Hacklab open houses and connecting through cooking

Posted: - Modified: | connecting

I joined Hacklab (a small makerspace here in Toronto) early in 2013. I thought of it mostly as a way to meet people who are working on interesting projects, hang out, and learn together. It's been working out well, and I'm gradually getting into helping the community more.

Hacklab hosts an open house every Tuesday evening. It's a good opportunity for prospective members to check out the place and chat with people about their projects. We usually put together a vegan dinner donated by the person cooking it so that it's free for the members and guests (although sometimes people pitch in for groceries). There's no fixed schedule; people just volunteer to cook whenever they want. When I'm there, I often volunteer. I treat it as a vegan cooking lesson / soup kitchen / party. Sure, I'm teaching myself, but it's still an excuse to try new recipes. I think the people there are worth supporting, and cooking is a much more efficient use of money than having people go out to dinner. Besides, other people often help with preparing the ingredients, and we can chat while doing so.

Here are some easy dishes that we can make with ingredients from nearby grocery stories:

I think I'll make recipe cards with serving numbers and cost estimates. That will probably make it easier to come up with dinners on the fly, and it might encourage other people to cook too.

We've been slowly improving the Hacklab kitchen. The addition of pots, a rice cooker, and lots of cutlery helped a lot. (It was difficult to cook and serve before those things!) Last week, I replaced the rather ineffective and hadn't-been-washed-in-ages kitchen towels with two sets I'd made from some fabric we had at home. I'll add the towels to our weekly laundry cycle, so things actually get washed. Storage is still an issue. The fridge is used mostly for drinks, so we try to not have any left-over ingredients or servings.

I'm not currently working on super-geeky projects that involve other members or the equipment that's there. (It would be interesting to do more with the laser cutter, 3D printers, or the new mill!) But cooking gives me a way to help other people, so that's something.

I think I like this approach of taking responsibility for making Hacklab a little bit better for people. You get as much out of a community as you put in, and these little domestic touches can help make a place feel more like home. (I'm going to keep nudging people to put their dishes in the dishwasher, though! ;) )

So why does this feel easy compared to, say, having people over for a party or potluck at home? The kitchen at home is better-equipped, and both groceries and left-overs are easier to deal with. Maybe it's because I can decide whether or not to go to Hacklab on the day itself. I can leave whenever I want, too. There are usually lots of people at Hacklab and they're good at keeping themselves occupied or talking to each other, so I don't have to worry about any awkward moments or entertaining just one person. There are lots of things going on in the area, so people can always step out for a different meal or take a breather in case there aren't any seats or in case things are overwhelming. Hmm, maybe if I invite people to catch up at these open houses instead of waiting until I work up to having parties at home… Not everyone all at once, maybe one or two invitations at a time. Hacklab's a bit loud, but we could always go for a walk if needed. That might work. Who knows? They might meet interesting people there too.

View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com