Beach Walks with Rox

Tell your self and your boss you want a vacation - it helps stave off heart attacks and is linked to direct health benefits! Americans work too much for our well-being. A link has been shown between less vacation and more heart attacks, not to mention lower productivity. Americans appear to be the worst offenders, while our hard-working German counterparts take an average of 35 vacation days a year! Here is Norm Brodsky's article from Inc that I mentioned also. It's a perfect opportunity for us to help each other get unplugged from the knee-jerk response of over-working.Hawaiian word: Ho 0 mahana: to rest; vacation

I've learned about a new type of fabric that in combination with the sun, actually provides a special light therapy for your skin.It's made by "SunSoul":http://www.sunsoul.com/ and you can see it with the hat I am wearing today. I love it when we can use low tech solutions that are self-managed instead of going into an office for a complex procedure : sun

Dealing with technology some days is just like people who explored the west centuries ago.

One of my favorite Hawaiian words is kuleana. I love the sound of it and I love the meaning of it. It basically means to take care of your "business." It seems so instinctual to blame others for our problems, but really, there is little hope in that! Much easier to pick up the pieces and to change ourselves than to wait around for others to make us happy. That's not to say you can't hold others accountable; indeed that's appropriate. I am talking about the knee-jerk blame response - let's unplug from that old one.Hawaiian word: Kuleana: responsibility, business

Lots of self-help books talk about leadership, but rarely do they talk about followers, or co-creators. There's honor and value in all of those roles - regardless of the big push to be all you can be, and be more, and get ahead, and take charge, etc. I think you get my drift. Just putting out a little Beach Walks philosophy, looking at the other side of the coin.Hawaiian word: Alaka i: leader H awi: contribute

Lots of self-help books talk about leadership, but rarely do they talk about followers, or co-creators. There's honor and value in all of those roles - regardless of the big push to be all you can be, and be more, and get ahead, and take charge, etc. I think you get my drift. Just putting out a little Beach Walks philosophy, looking at the other side of the coin.Hawaiian word: Alaka i: leader H awi: contribute

I am so excited - we can finally announce our very first Podcamp here in Hawaii, coming October 24-25, 2008. Shane and I have been wanting to do this for 3 years. Plus! We are going to have a WordCamp component too - it's the best of all worlds!Podcamp = unconference to learn about podcasting and new media and network with other indivudals and businesses who are using this tool to communicate. Wordcamp = unconference to learn about the amazing free blogging (and podcast platform) software, WordPress. We even have the founder, Matt Mullenweg coming to speak. Unconference = anyone can speak, the emphasis is on peer to peer communication and networking.Podcamp Hawaii web site Podcamp Hawaii on TwitterHawaiian word: Ho'omoana: to camp

Founder of Alltop.com Guy Kawasaki was in town and we had a wonderful impromptu meetup, organized by friends Neenz Faleafine and Ryan Ozawa. One of the striking things is how committed Guy is to delivering consistently high quality blog posts to his thousands of readers. Yet he shared with us some challenges he is facing, wanting genuine feedback from his readers. On the other hand, we had some not so good service on a recent trip. Instead of writing a pure rant, I took my time to write up a number of suggestions that I would love to see implemented to improve these types of situations in the future.Hawaiian word: Lawelawe: to serve

Do you ever give someone a compliment about something newish, and they come back with something like, "Oh, I guess that means you thought the way it used to be sucked." Or when I did the show on Get a Dog and a few men said, "Whoa, dogs are now better than men?" No dear people! I simply like to enjoy all sides, to appreciate change, without dredging up a comparison factor to the previous iteration. We are also deep into politics season in USA; lots of discussion about moving to or away from the center. Just remember, how you fight can affect things for a long time to come.Hawaiian word: O k ua p : you and I bothJoin us at The Reef for discussion, Reef Radio, and occasional live streaming.

There were mysterious rainbows coming into my kitchen a while back. I traced it, and it gave me a chance to find a jewel in the rough - literally, in my neighbors yard. She was sending me rainbows and I was sending her stink eye. How often do you think a change in action is preceeded by a shift in consciousness?Hawaiian word: linolino: radiant, sparklingJoin us at The Reef for discussion, Reef Radio, and occasional live streaming.

A new acquaintance of mine on Twitter, Cheryl Smith, is working on a running program and was looking for some Achilles Heel stretches, and I offered to show her some of my favorites on a Beach Walks episode. Knowing me as you do, I thought starting off a Monday with some s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g would be good for most all of us! The first two are simple with a bonus yoga stretch at the end.Hawaiian word: K ko o: stretch

Here's a great story. A Harvard researcher, Jill Bolte Taylor, had a stroke. It de-commissioned her left brain. As part of her recovery she stayed present in her process and observed life without an active left brain - the home to the logical and the inner critic in many ways. She found her bliss deep inside the exploration of her right brain. We have a new embed player for the Flash version on the site. Please give us your feedback on it. To embed this episode on your blog, click the movie and then choose the Share link in the lower bar.Hawaiian word: kau: right Hema: left

Last week Barack Obama launched a new web site Fight the Smears to be able to respond to false attacks and politically-motivated slurs. It reminds of FactCheck.org which is a non-partisan site run by the Annenberg Foundation. In the old days, someone could start a rumor or make a claim and it was very difficult to combat it. Once it made it onto the airways, where media and communication was in the hands of a very few, one bad story could make or break a person.Not anymore. Bloggers and journalists alike can put forth their own view of the "facts" and more than ever we can choose whom to believe and support. I like that.We have a new embed player for the Flash version on the site. Please give us your feedback on it. To embed this episode on your blog, click the movie and then choose the Share link in the lower bar.Hawaiian word: P wale: vulnerable

A new social web application I've been playing with called Plurk has a feature called karma points. You earn points by inviting people to join, posting messages, etc. In other words, you earn good karma by promoting their service. I find it irritating, and waqs discussing this with David Beaudoin, and such was the inspiration for this episode. I find karma to be a concept that mis-places blame where none is due, induces guilt when consciousness is more useful, and confuses genuine feedback aka cause and effect from any given situation with shoulds and should nots. What do you think about karma?Otherwise, Plurk has some nice features, including a graphical timeline and threaded conversations. We have a new embed player for the Flash version on the site. Please give us your feedback on it. To embed this episode on your blog, click the movie and then choose the Share link in the lower bar.Travel Notes! We are going to be in South Carolina next week. Please email us if you are in the area!Hawaiian word: Kumu: cause Hopena: effect

Recently a mom in NYC (writer Lenore Skenazy) allowed her nine-year-old son to take a subway ride by himself. She approached this situation with a lot of consciousness and planning. She makes a great case for her actions and I agree with her. Risk can be managed so much more consciously than most of us do.Read Lenore Skenazy's original article in the New York Sun. Watch a video from the Today Show with Lenore and her son Izzy We have a new embed player for the Flash version on the site. Please give us your feedback on it. To embed this episode on your blog, click the movie and then choose the Share link in the lower bar.Travel Notes! We are going to be in South Carolina next week. Please email us if you are in the area!Hawaiian word: H a ano: to take a great riskJoin us at The Reef for discussion, Reef Radio, and occasional live streaming.

It's a Monday update on my learning to manage all of my To Do's. After a few weeks, I have some very stale items still on the board. Some of them are understandably longer term items, like house remodel tasks. I am working on moving them out of the way, so their place on the board makes sense. But then there are other personal items that I am just plain avoiding! The board is really helping me see how I favor client work over all else in my life. I also realize how much discipline it takes to do the list items first and foremost.Hawaiian word: A o ikaika: disciplineJoin us at The Reef for discussion, Reef Radio, and occasional live streaming.

A week ago we talked about using a white board to organize the to do list, then make a sub-list of what to do, just for today.(Beach Walk 646) Today I fll in a few more details, and yes, as Kekoa mentioned, the work of David Allen and GTD (Getting Things Done) are part of the inspiration. Shane also gave me a Nokia N95 so I will be able to start live-streaming video! Follow me on Twitter to get notifications so you can join in.Vacation Notice: We have a lot of maintenance work to do on the site, so we are on hiatus this week. Please enjoy some of our 650 previous episodes!Hawaiian word: Ho omakakoho: prioritize

Earlier this week (Beach Walk 647) I was talking about balancing transparency and privacy. We tend to want it in differing amounts depending on the situation and whether we are giving or receiving. The episode stirred a lot of comments, so I thought I would carry on more as it relates to personal relationships. And invariably the topic of codependency comes up!Hawaiian word: K oko a: independent

I read a review of a new book, Kluge - The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind that describes a lot of our brain function and memory processes as actually quite improvised, and contextual, not particularly logical or repeatable. That is a contrast to the methodical approach of computers, yet one that suits us being able to take action on the fly. As life becomes less and less predictable, being able to improvise is a more appealing skill IMO. FYI, kluge is a computer term for banding things together in unpredictable ways.Hawaiian word: Haku wale: improvise reef.beachwalks.tv

I am reading a friend's new book, Personality Not Included by Rohit Bhagarva. He works for Ogilvy, a large advertising and PR company, and when it comes to new media, he gets it. I met him at the Vloggercon conference two years ago. I realized this morning that all this talk I do on Beach Walks about being our oddball, unique selves, applies to companies too. Small companies and large companies alike think they have to play by last century's rule book (be boring; don't offend) - but that's not true!Hawaiian word: K lana o ke kanaka: personality, statusJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

Transparency in communication and relationships and business and politics is one of those things that is marching forward very quickly in the 21st century. Most people I know are big fans of it in general. I am too, yet I still realize that privacy has its place. And that in general I want other people to be more transparent while I reserve a desire to want to be private. (Witness the deliberations regarding MI and FL Democratic delegates this past weekend.) That sense of double-standard I find helpful in getting off my case, or someone else's. It takes courage to be see-through in thoughts and deeds. Together, we can help each other grow stronger.Hawaiian word: Aniani: transparent, clear Pilikino: privacyJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

One of the things that stresses me out is all the tasks I collect - business, personal, household, long-range, short-range, recurring and not. Shane, aka Secret Cameraman, recently taught me a method, that so far, I am really liking. I am starting off simple - using a white board and some strategy. If I master this, I will move to the software version. It focuses on collecting everything, but then each day starting fresh with just the things "for today." It supports that "Be here now" philosophy I love so much, and makes mole hills out of mountains. The psychological benefits are delightful. Hawaiian word: K kulu: organize, set upJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

think I may be on one end of this spectrum, but I sometimes have a teeny let down when I stick my head in goggles under the water. What we see published in magazines and in underwater films is amazing scenery. In reality, it usually does not look that perfect-pretty. Water absorbs a lot of light, so unless you are diving with a light or at high noon in clear, shallow water, you will not see the same colors with your eyes that a camera with light can. So today we are going underwater on an average day, with no special effects, to give you the expected view, if not the perfected view. I still love it anyway, and I hope it helps set your expectations to a more reasonable comfort zone too. Hawaiian word: Kohu oia i o: realisticJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

I like this concept of "marking the territory" - not like a dog, but as students of consciousness. It is so easy to get caught up in the robotic rush of repetition, day in and day out. I read in Fortune a few months ago about how AmEx has dramatically restructured its CEO pay for Kenneth Chenault. In brief, he gets a relatively low base pay, and then stock options (not restricted stock) if he meets performance criteria over an unusually long 6-year period. It's worth noting that those options are worthwhile only if the stock price is preserved; there is no guaranteed price on them. I hope other companies will begin to pull back the reins on the exorbitant CEO pay packages that have become too common.Hawaiian word: Kumu ho olalelale: incentiveJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

Given that things are never black and white, I still like having little tricks that can help me 80-90% of the time. In today's case, it is remembering that one of the main causes of crankiness is just plain being tired. I find it so easy to get attached to the crankiness, thinking that some things are the problem, when I might just be due for a decent night's sleep! In fact, just by remembering that point all by itself, I can relax and not let the little things "get to me" regardless of my sleep deficit.Hawaiian word: M luhiluhi: tired Maha: restJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

We originally filmed this episode for Memorial Day in 2006. But it clearly stands out as a timeless message, and represents the true magic of Beach Walks. It is all completely unscripted, no shot list, we just showed up and worked as fast as we could before the sun set. Sometimes, you know the universe is on your side. This is one of our favorite and most powerful episodes, though you won't be finding us at the beach.Today's show was filmed at the Hawaii Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. 50,000 leis were donated, and over 100 young Boy Scouts (thanks for the correction Mark) placed a lei and a flag on each gravestone. I was quite stirred to be in the presence of death while smelling the sweet scent of plumeria lei. Though most of those buried here are from modern wars, this "punchbowl" of an ancient volcano was the site of Hawaiian ali i burials and human sacrifice of those who violated the kapu or taboos.Hawaiian word: P owaina: hill of sacrifice Kaua: war Kapu: taboo Maluhia: peaceJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

We all met Cubworld back in Episode 465" and Episode 466, and more recently, heard his amazing song, Wise Words, on Episode 632 - Island Adventure. He is the second person to qualify on Sellaband which is a social network site for emerging musicians. Born in Tonga, Cubworld has resisted his musical urges in favor of fine art for many years, but the song keeps coming back to him, and it's easy for us to see why. Watch and listen as he talks about being an independent musician and plays for us too.If you are local, you can go to his concert this Friday night at BYU Auditorium in La ie.Cubworld Cubworld on MySpace Cubworld on SellabandHawaiian word: Na auao: wise lelo: word

I read what was a tabloid review of comments Oprah allegedly made to Jennifer Aniston. "Get a dog and stop thinking about getting a man." Well, Lexi and I would like to vouch for the tremendous canine companionship benefits, but even more so, being able to take one's mind off of a non-problem ("getting a man") is a quite thing we can all practice!Hawaiian word: lio: dogJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

Every year the local shop, Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks, hosts a beach clean up. If you fill a bag with collected trash, they'll give you a coupon for two hours of free kayak rental. We did this episode originally in 2006, and I still really like it, despite the somewhat discouraging reason for being at the beach. OTOH, we have some great music from JRoQ, and I love Shane's editing too.Buy JRoQ's CD at Bare Feet Shop Visit JRoQ on MySpaceHawaiian word: Opala: trashJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio

ust about every weekend I have this dilemma at lease one of the two mornings: get up early and do a bunch of things I want to do or stay in bed, read and "do nothing." Both are very appealing, and I find myself going through all sorts of contortions trying to decide, then trying to be comfortable with my decision. It dawned on me that this pressure associated with choice, often drives a range of forced rationalizing and attempted formulas, when in reality. it just doesn't matter. No reasons required. Just be here now.Please welcome and check out our show sponsor, Primo Water. Primo Water is a new, environmentally-friendly water bottled in a natural plastic made from plants, a renewable resource grown on American soil. Meet us on The Reef to discuss this cool new technology.Hawaiian word: Koho: choice, to choose Koho mua: first choiceJoin us at The Reef and Listen to Reef Radio