Gregory Paul Johnson – Personal Update 201102 | 1 February 2011 | Tuesday
Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page.
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Dear Friends,
Here’s my personal update for February 2011. I’m trying to get back to a schedule of posting my personal update at the beginning of the month rather than the end of the month. As you may know, from mid-December to mid-January, I was in India. I’ve posted photo albums from my visit on my Google Picasa page. The photo of me shown above was taken by Makur during our India trip.
This month’s life categories remain mostly unchanged except for the Activism category.
- Activism. With regard to activism, I continue to believe the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism and outreach. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years, so it’s the most effective way for me to have a positive impact.
- Small House Movement Documentary. This past month, I worked with an Asian broadcasting company producing a documentary about the Small House Movement. The documentary has a potential reach of about 40 million people.
- Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my technology consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful. I’m excited about WordPress.com and it’s potential for helping small business, non-profits, and individuals launch inexpensive attractive websites without a big learning curve or investment of time.
- Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is needed.
- Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
- Health. I’ve gained about 30 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. I currently track my fitness and meals on my LiveStrong.com holistic wellness tracking page, and I also maintain a nutritional supplements spreadsheet to monitor nutrient intake. For exercise, I’m using an elliptical system at home and I’m making an effort to use bicycling for transportation.
- Lifeways. My faith and religious practice is currently Adonaikido. Since the teachings, beliefs, and principles of Adonaikido are based upon various world religions, I’m expanding upon some of the Lifeways resource pages. As a result of my diversity of faith, many people still consider my beliefs and practices consistent with Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, and Buddhism.
- Relationships. Makur and I are doing well. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory
About the Personal Update
For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.