G.A.S.P. to B.R.E.A.T.H.E.

As I was trying to explain the intended approach of this BREATHE newsletter, fueled by my vision of inspiring others to connect the dots, so that together we drive and share common causes, I found myself committing another dad joke. This is not an apology, as I just plain love messing around with words and playing with notions. So brace yourselves… again:

To BREATHE in Life, we all need to GASP for Knowledge.

Ok, wait, let me explain. This particular newsletter is part of the Mission I gave myself to execute on my personal Vision, and is named BREATHE, because in our personal and professional lives, we all need to:

Become. Realize. Explore. Appreciate. Transcend. Help. Engage.

The way I seek to execute this Mission is by sharing information that I collect and combine in easy to apprehend and short ways. In other words, I engage in the following 4-step process:

• Gather all sorts of information from the most diverse and unrelated sources, reading, podcasting, listening, and conversing, but always with a curious, unjudgemental, and open mind. I find it fascinating what you hear and see if you fully and completely open your ears and your eyes. Leaving out any preconceptions and prejudice, seeking to put yourself into someone else’s shoes to understand where they are coming from and why they might believe something I might even disagree with.
• Assemble the information, quotes, opinions, and data I gathered, together with any insights it might have sparked. This is not about some random mixing and combining of elements into some fancy storytelling thing. It is about extracting the essence of each element, understanding underlying concepts and how they might tie into each other, always remaining open to improbable combinations and crazy associations, provided they can serve the process.
• Simplify what has occasionally become a complex magma of convoluted thought and argumentation chain into something more digestible that actually makes some sort of sense and with a necessary coherence, even when some connections seem unexpected. For instance, in “Autopsy of Purpose”, I had fun combining purpose, biology, physics, and… Taylor Swift, always trusting the process while seeking to keep making sense.
• Propagate the result through both my newsletters, BREATHE (short and light) and Sharechitect (longer and deeper), but not only. On any occasion given, I will share and seek to gather feedback or insights when I meet and get to exchange with people. No need to tell you that my family has protectively established a “neutral zone” at home, where I am supposed to refrain myself. And before blaming them, just wait until you had to suffer an entire evening or, worse, a weekend with me when I am on a tear to BREATHE and GASP.

And did you notice what just happened? This is the magic of storytelling! Turning a stupid dad joke into something that looks and feels like some apparently serious point and argument to make. As the twin brother, science wizards and presenters of one of my favorite French TV shows when I was a kid, used to conclude each of their “Temps X” episodes: “Just always remember that nothing is impossible.”

All this exposé led me towards some appearance of a made-up existential question, but certainly not futile: do we BREATHE to live, or do we live to BREATHE? Well, given the above, my answer will be short and simple but loud and clear. Both!!

As we live our lives getting exposed to topics and encounters with people, let’s be proactive and switch to exploring topics and understanding people. What do you think? Wouldn’t that be a good start towards GASPing for more mutual understanding, less confrontation, hence mutual insights, and ultimately true freedom?

I believe this is a virtuous circle for circular progress. That was, for instance, my purpose in my latest Sharechitect newsletter, where I vent about “A Story of Storytelling”, seeking to give people a view behind the scenes of my craft. Or when I give a conference about culture, purpose, and leadership.

And you, how do you GASP and BREATHE?

Whatever your take on all this, remember to BREATHE! Because we all need to…

Become. Realize. Explore. Appreciate. Transcend. Help. Engage.

Thanks, and as always, let me know how I can help,

Pascal