How do you respond when your favorite site/commenting system/email provider experiences downtime?

I usually hit up downforeveryoneorjustme.com and then get embroiled in conversations about how crappy the product is / their tech support is or any other mindless chatter that takes me away from thinking that there are people who worked really hard to provide me with a service that I am normally so fond of.

My judging mind comes into play so often whenever there’s downtime and I’d love to be able to see the failwhale as a symbol to practice mindfulness. Maybe if he was sitting crosslegged on a lotus leaf?

Feel free to get involved with the Mindful list. Visit the site, add your comment or write a post on your blog sharing your experience.

So this time around, Gwen hits a bullseye with a post titled “3 Stories of Mindfulness: What we give our attention to is who we become” which introduces her latest project. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my participation online as I’m doing quite a bit of soul searching around what I’m doing in my life, the footprint I’m leaving behind and the desire to find my life’s passion. All the hokey, mid-life crisis stuff that I thought I’d escape because I had my life all figured out has caught up with me at last.

Gwen’s post hit me because I’m a Buddhist. For so long I’ve kept a public dual identity: the one of the digital, tech-savvy, girl geek organizing, community managing, project managing, strategy-gal and that of the practicing Buddhist. They co-existed in the sense that Buddhism has been ingrained in me for so long and is how I conduct my life – but only until recently have I grown comfortable with linking the two. I feel like I’ve cut off my twin for so long and only now am I seeing that I need to give her a big hug and embrace the big old Buddhist Girl Geek and cultivate a 9-5 that helps me recognize my specific goals to live a positive life- both personally and professionally.

Hangin' with my posse

When I see how Gwen has wholeheartedly and brazenly been able to sync her practice with her livelihood, it gives me so much hope. The Mindfulist project came at a perfect time for me. We Buddhists call it ‘auspicious coincidence’.

The purpose of The Mindfulist is to cultivate awareness. To put yourself in the present moment and break away from getting caught up in all of the bla-bla that usually takes us away from who we really are. It could be negative self-talk. It could be gossip. It could be just losing touch with what’s really important in our lives.

Daily a prompt will be posted on the website in which you’ll be asked to meditate on. Meditate is a loose term in that you shouldn’t be scared that you’ll need to don a white robe and chant for 90 minutes. You can go as simple as just taking a time out to notice what is going on in your mind and body, or you can get some great meditation instruction from this video from Patrick, the Chief Mischief Maker at The Mindfulist.

If you are interested in joining in, please visit The Mindfulist Here you’ll be able to find out more information about how to get involved.

Design print by newbeautiful on etsy.com

I’ve been giving some thought to how we connect with each other in the online space and after a recent offline exchange saw how easy it is to be a digital citizen who puts on the airs of knowledge in the space by being one of those folks who perpetually retweets the findings, thoughts and beliefs of other people but in person, demonstrates that they rely on the thoughts of others to prop up their identity.

I’m not trying to be a downer here. I’m not looking to call anyone out. I’m just hoping to spark a discussion or gather some thoughts from others who may have experienced this too.

The thinking behind this post might get back to my previous post on Identity Camp and how we self promote and connect online. It also might go back to my participation in communities during my “formative years” and how fearful I was of being stuck with the tag of ‘poser’. It was the ultimate diss for a skaterat to hear that word.

Authenticity is the currency of the web. It’s how we share, connect and express ourselves. Take a look at your digital presence and evaluate where you’re at.

Do you have a website? Is it listed in your Twitter bio? Do you still track analytics on your personal site or has this gone by the wayside?

Are you commenting on other people’s blogs? Are you as active as you once were or are you now spending all your time with the blue bird of Twitter?

Are you still blogging and displaying thought leadership or are you spending your time MilliVanilli-ing it up and retweeting everything that sounds remotely interesting as a link? (-50 points if you don’t bother to open the link before retweeting it and folks see that it’s obvious you didn’t read it in the first place).

One of my favourite bloggers is Gwen Bell. Sure her tweets are engaging, but it’s her blog that really gives me food for thought. Much more than 140 characters could ever lead me to. Same is true with Julian Smith and Chris Brogan. What these folks are doing is contributing to the ecosystem and bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table.

Sharing is caring.

Walk the Talk Show: Titans of Tech Forum from Alex King & Mito Media on Vimeo.

The ever-fab Gwen Bell recently was on the Titans of Tech Forum as part of Elephant Journal’s “Walk the Talk Show”. This engaging clip demonstrates the power of bringing 2 communities together to work for good and positivity. It also features an interesting bit of commentary by Jeffrey Kalmikoff , artner / chief creative officer at Threadless speaking to what his company is doing to become more eco-friendly, Micah Baldwin, serial startup-er and founder of Lijit and investor/intrepreneur Brad Feld also loaned their voices expressing how they see the tech community and eco communities being able to collaborate.

Mention of passion came up during this talk as was the need for inclusiveness and encouragement. This talk wayyy inspired me. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Isabelle Lopez gave a phenomenal talk at the most recent PodCamp Montreal event on “The Self, The Identity and the Internet” which evolved into a group discussion on how comfortable (or uncomfortable) we are with our identity and existence on the internet. Her blog is certainly worth following for her take on social media and society.

Zen Habits keeps me grounded. (that could have developed into a haiku but I stopped it early).

Josyan MacGregor is my new partner in crime in presenting the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners and has a blog focused around marketing and new media written by a girl with a heart of gold. Check her out.

BoingBoing... Sigh. I love this site so much that I gave my fiance a BoingBoing hoodie from GamaGo as his engagement present.

Gwen Bell is my homegirl. I found out about her through the Buddhist Geek circles and she’s since inspired me through her awesome posts and her energy which seems to just project right thorough the computer!

Tara Hunt is just one of the most insightful gals out there and a true hero. It is also awesome that she is a recent pugowner (I’ve been with my little feller for 7 years and he rocks)

I’ll continue to post about blogs that I find special, endearing or otherwise remarkable.