Manifesto Notes: A Life of Excellence?

What does it mean to live a life of excellence? Does it mean I live the best that I can? What happens when I don't live my best? What happens when I fall off that wagon? Does that then mean I can no longer claim excellence? How do mistakes and learning fit into a life of excellence? Does every human being set their own bar height as to what is excellence for them? Maybe the bar of excellence for one person is different than for someone else? How do I know if I have set the bar at the right height for me? Have I set my sights too high or too low? How does one deal with the judgements of others who's vision of excellence is different? Do they have the right to judge my vision of excellence in my own life? Do I have the right to judge theirs? Or is it more of a responsibility? Have I really achieved excellence if no one recognizes it? How do I deal with my own judgement of other people's vision of excellence? What if I can't even recogize my own excellence?  Does the acknowlegement of excellence by myself or by others change how it manifests? Does shining a light on it change it? Is excellence an internal thing, an external thing or both? To what end would I want to even embark on such a journey? What's the goal? Is it a goal or is it more of a journey? Or a point on a continuum? A set of habits? Can one's vision of excellence change over time? Does it appear differently depending on current circumstances?  What is the actual definition of excellence? Does one need to reach excellence in all aspects of life in order to claim it or can one achieve excellence in only some areas while other areas remain subpar? What is the opposite of excellence? Why strive for excellence anyway? What if the pursuit of excellence diminishes ones enjoyment of their life? Have I really accomplished anything if a constant pursuit of excellence leads to feelings of failure, anxiety, fear, pressure, insecurity, lack of confidence, paralysis? What happens when one's psyche gives in to those feelings of failure and gives up on the pursuit completely? What does a life without excellence look like? What does excellence feel like? Who among us has successfully lived an excellent life? Presumably excellence and perfection are not the same but in what ways are they different? In what ways are they the same? What if I did manage to achieve excellence, what then?

How does one actually go about answering these questions?

And what does all this have to do with dog hair?

Tis the season for Christmas parties.  And to be perfectly honest, I am not a fan.  Small talk, remembering people’s names, laughing politely at jokes that are not funny, standing around looking like I have no friends … all super uncomfortable and I’ve been known to bail out on an invitation simply because I don’t want to do it.

There are some kinds of parties that I’ve come to grips with:  drinks with the team after volleyball, usually fun.  Visiting my Sweetie’s family, a nice time.  I even enjoy my own family gatherings now more than I did in my younger days.  If I see a familiar face or two, I can manage.  When I have a specific reason for being there, I can work with that too.  But work related, smoozy, networking deals … NOPE.  Not.my.thing.

Today there was a work-related lunch invitation that I was kind of obligated to attend but I REALLY did not want to go.  

I haven’t been with this company for very long but no one else from our office was available so I was flying solo.

It was for a project where my involvement is recent and peripheral.

Most of the other attendees are men.

My other projects have deadlines and tasks that need my attention today.

The whole thing was just awkward.  And in true cowardly fashion, I bailed.  Not proud of myself. 

One of these days I shall have to explore the reasons why I find this to be such an insurmountable challenge. I’ll need to hurry though, there is another company party this coming Friday.

Tower Tour: Passive House scaled up

In light of my recent transition back into the field of Architecture, I am resurrecting my 'Tower Tour' series that I started when I lived and worked in Dubai.

While I did not work on these projects, I have become more and more interested in energy efficiency, sustainability and building practices which lead me to click on this CBC article:

Passive House Highrises

Passive House Canada

During my time as a building inspector, the latest Alberta Building Code came into effect with some new energy efficiency requirements. As an inspector, I didn't really have the time nor the tools to fully explore this and I relied heavily on consultants.  I am embarrassingly uninformed about the Passive House but I had heard of it a number of years ago and I believe that, while not directly 'Code-related', the end goal of both are probably similar.

On a personal note, I am almost out of propane at the acreage and the last time I had it filled, it was unexpectedly expensive! Ridiculously so. The price of propane had more than doubled since the fill before and I spent several months chipping away at that invoice and groveling on the phone every month when the propane company called about my overdue balance.  I hate overdue balances and I hate groveling.

I have been casting around for a new project, something to get excited about, something that is "bucket list worthy."  Here's where the world's largest scrap-book of unrealized dreams comes in: Pinterest.  I've gotten into a bad habit of mindless binge surfing, however, in one of these totally unproductive Pinterest episodes, I stumbled across a cute little house design that checks off quite a few of the acreage dream-house boxes (more on that in a future post ... and more on the pointless binge surfing.)

So circling back to the Passive House: I started casually working on plans for an energy efficient, affordable acreage dream house.  Casually.  Very casually.  An energy-efficient one that does not require propane.

Where does the time go?!

Oh dear!  Has it really been 2+ years since I last posted???  I have probably lost my subscribers ... all three of them :-(

None the less, the fun continues and I still remember my password so more riveting blog posts are in the works ... stay tuned!!!

Cheers xx