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Charles Gupton

Charles Gupton

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Charles Gupton

Learning to Become a Player

“We strive to always be productive, and if the activity doesn’t teach us a skill, make us money, or get on the boss’s good side, then we feel we should not be doing it. Sometimes the sheer demands of daily living seem to rob us of the ability to play.”  ~ Stuart Brown, “Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul”

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You may find it easy to play. For much of my life I’ve found it hard to carve out the time. I’ve always placed work before leisure. But after too many years of neglecting time to play, I’ve begun to return to the vitality and joy that play brings into my life.

I am, by natural tendency, an idealist and perfectionist. I strive to have greater impact by making everything I’m working on as close to perfect as it can possibly be. I don’t think of myself as being a life-of-the-party kind of guy because I prefer intentionally deep, thoughtful conversation to small talk and playing games.

I’ve come to this awareness not by my own observations but from countless comments and observations from people around me. Few of them were compliments.

I grew up with a “get-your-work-done-before-you-play” mindset, ingrained into me by my parents. As a result, I’ve been able to carve out reasonable career success by applying a “seldom-let-up” work ethic. It’s something I once took great pride in.

As I was nearing my 40s, I began to let up on my work-drive a bit, and devoted increasingly more attention to service. I was involved in a big-brother type program, we trained for and served as foster parents for a while, and I served on a couple of boards. I was also taking more time for play activities – mountain and tandem bike riding, playing league softball, racquetball at the “Y.” We were active in a dinner club and hosted friends over for meals in our home. And in 1999, we bought our farm, thinking of it as a hobby-farm get-away with possible long-term plans to move there.

Then our finances started to spiral.

After 9/11 and the sale of the stock photo agency that represented our work, we lost about 80 percent of our income. And during the process of selling our home in Raleigh, to make our hasty transition to the in-dire-need-for-renovation farm house, the pipes in our Raleigh house froze, burst, and flooded both floors. Twice.

My fears kicked in. Hard.

As we were finally rebuilding our financial foundation to a place of stability, the economic recession of 2008-10 kicked in and undermined our business growth. As we again were establishing a footing to take business in a new direction, we became embroiled in a family estate law suit and a health scare that, combined, nearly wiped us out.

I snapped back into the “never-let-up” work mindset, and have been grinding hard again for years without relenting. Until this past year or so.

Over the last several years, I’ve been trekking up to NY state – and this year Linda and I drove to Colorado – to participate in a summer camp for adults. It has become one of the most transformative experiences of my life, and has brought growth on levels that I could not have imagined before. The depth of insight and breadth of the conversation with folks in this community have changed and encouraged me in ways that I can’t fully describe.

I was sitting on the porch outside of a talent show going on at camp last year, talking with my friend, Emily Felt, when she asked me, “So what do you do for fun?” 

The question stumped me. I don’t do things for fun. I pursue everything I do based on personal growth. I equate fun with frivolity, and growth with significance. I enjoy activities that contribute to my growth because I value significance.

But I’ve allowed myself to sit with the question and the discomfort that it brought. Over time, I’ve broadened the question I’m asking myself to: “Why are you not enjoying your life more?”

The answer? I have a strong deficit of play in my life. I’ve realized that my fear of financial unraveling that stems from events in our lives over the past 20 years, along with the current political and cultural climate that we live in, have kept my traumatized mind focused on surviving rather than thriving.

And play is the antidote to fear.

There is now a solid body of research that shows that fear has a destructive effect on our minds. When we are traumatized by fear, our brains create neural pathways that reinforce our fear. Over time, those pathways become neural superhighways. With the good intent to protect us, our brains actually make us more unproductively fearful.

The time and attention we invest in play helps by creating and reinforcing new neural pathways that move our attention and energy in the direction of creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving.

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“Life without play is a grinding, mechanical existence organized around doing the things necessary for survival. Play is the stick that stirs the drink. It is the basis of all art, games, books, sports, movies, fashion, fun, and wonder – in short, the basis of what we think of as civilization. Play is the vital essence of life. It is what makes life lively.”  ~ Stuart Brown, “Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul”

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I’ve allowed the circumstances of the past 20 years to have a grinding effect on my heart and soul. My response to each event was to work harder and longer so that I could once again gain some control before the next wave hit.

What I’ve realized is that the ONLY thing within my control is my mindset. And my mindset is a result of what I focus on every day. When I make time for play in my life, I nurture my soul. But I also create the pathway for a more productive and enjoyable state of mind. And I believe that will lead me to having the quality of impact for others that I doubt I’ll ever reach by simply working harder.

I’ll not likely ever be known as the life of the party. But I do want to have increasingly more “party” in my life.

What about you? How are you incorporating healthy time for play and creation in your life? How can I be an encouragement to you in your play?

~ Charles

Where Are You Saying “I Won’t?”

We often use the words “I can’t” when we really mean “I won’t.”

We are afraid of the vulnerability of doing something that leaves us open to failure or criticism. By pushing beyond what we feel comfortable with, it feels as if we can’t.

There are, of course, things we can’t do.

But when I tell myself “I can’t forgive” or “I can’t meditate” or “I can’t take on a project as large as that one,” what I’m really saying is: “Because I’m afraid, I won’t make the focused effort to do the difficult work of trying.”

By acknowledging that I’m really adopting the mindset of “I won’t,” I can slowly confront – and eventually embrace – the mindsets that are limiting me. Only then can I move into the headspace to acknowledge “I will push into the discomfort of…” and see where that step of courage leads me.

What are some areas in which you “can” but “won’t?”

~ Charles

Some belated post-Valentine’s Day thoughts on love…

As we were leaving Uruguay, on the way to the airport, I sprained my ankle. Although it was sore, the swelling was minimal and I walked on it through all the airport mazes required to get home, where I promptly slipped on a wet root walking our woodland trail at home and severely twisted it again. The next morning, it had swollen greatly and could bear no weight. I’ve been on crutches, a walker, and the last several days, in an orthopedic boot (Yay!). As a result, Linda has been waiting on, nursing, and encouraging me throughout with no apparent flagging of her spirit. She’s even volunteered to drive me to the ‘Y’ to swim as well as to play music in a jam session last week.

When I read many of the sweet Valentine sentiments and think about the way love is portrayed in most media, I seldom see the sacrifices portrayed that people make that aren’t so lovely. A couple come to mind.

• A friend of ours recently shattered her ankle in a fall, but throughout her recovery, she still takes care of her husband who is bed ridden since having a stroke several years ago. In addition, she cares for her live-in sister who has severe dementia and is unable to contribute to any household demands. Our friend serves with a boundless love that exceeds my comprehension.

• Another friend texted me with the news that her husband had shattered his hip in a fall. Although she works full-time, she is bearing most of the burden for his care as well. Although she, too, is worn down and discouraged, she serves with deep love.

• I know several parents who work in jobs that keep them apart, either in shifts or in different locations, but are doing work that allows their family to maintain stability for their children. There are also many families who choose to live without many comforts or luxuries so that one parent can stay home to provide care or stability.

All of these, and many more, are acts of love that don’t get celebrated in the boxes-of-chocolates/cards-and-flowers/go-out-to-dinner photos in social media posts and other media.

I don’t consider myself a very patient patient. I’d rather serve than be served (which is likely more of an issue with my pride than actually being a humble servant). But having to be helped with going to the bathroom, having meals brought to me, and sitting while I watch my normal responsibilities done for me has heightened my appreciation for the un-glamourous, grind-it-out tasks that deep love asks of us.

I want to thank Linda for her heartfelt, cavernous love.

But I also want to acknowledge every one of you who are living out YOUR deep love in the seemingly small, un-noticed, grind-it-out moments of commitment. At some point, whether in an official capacity or not, you said “I do.” And meant it. The way you live your life may not translate as being romantic, but is a declaration of profound love that can never be fully appreciated by anyone who is not receiving it from your heart.

Thank you!

~ Charles

Stepping Into Discomfort to Find Deeper Purpose

I posted very little over the seven weeks while Linda and I were traveling in Uruguay and Argentina. Because we were based outside of Montevideo, our internet connection was inconsistent and weaker than we’d been told it would be. Posting photos and videos proved to be quite a challenge. But that also helped us stay focused on our objectives.

We set out on the trip with one very specific goal – to shake ourselves out of the routine of our lives to help us create a framework and next steps for where we’re headed.

Even though we had a strong sense of some changes that needed to take place in our lives, when we mentioned to a few people that we were going to be out of the country for an extended period, we both found it difficult to explain exactly why we were going and what we were planning to do.

With all of the focus on the need for play and re-creation that I see in my social media feeds, it was difficult for me to acknowledge that my reasons for travel have little to do with having fun or getting rest – and almost everything to do with self-development and personal growth. 

Our relatively abrupt trip to Uruguay was set in motion by the opportunity to do a house-sit near the capital city of Montevideo. We had decided some months back to use housesitting as a means of visiting several countries in South America. When the house-sit opportunity in Uruguay appeared in our email box, we had to move quickly to put multiple pieces in place to make it happen. There was very little time to brush off our very dusty Spanish lessons, so we set out with better intentions to use our skills than abilities to do so.

We’ve had a goal for a few years to put in place several new initiatives – all of them involving or supporting more travel – and had decided that 2019 was to be the launch year. One of our desires is to invest several months each year living outside of the US as a means of stretching ourselves, learning about the daily lives of other cultures, and gaining some more objective insights about the current political and cultural environment within the US. 

In most of our previous international trips, the travel was geared to shooting photographs for specific projects and our days were entirely driven by working on those assignments. There was little down time or thinking time in the mix.

The guiding intention of this trip, however, was mostly focused on honing our ability to do more deep thinking and writing work in an unfamiliar environment. 

Because of my ADD-type tendencies, doing deep focus work outside of my routine structures is a real struggle. I call the practice of maintaining my focus, “Caging the Squirrels.”

My propensity is towards doing something, anything – shooting photos, splitting firewood, cutting grass, cleaning my desk, reading a book, posting on FB – other than facing a blank page and staying with it through the ‘suck’ of writing. And since we were taking on the maintenance work for a house during the summer months in South America, we had a lot of chores to work on and potentially call out to me when I was struggling with focus.

In addition to working to establish our thinking/writing routines within a house-sitting environment – within another culture – we also pushed ourselves to film several interviews to build on a couple of ongoing projects. 

I was also able to facilitate a Mastermind group call via Zoom in spite of having some serious internet connectivity issues. I ended up spending far more time and emotional energy negotiating for a place with a good internet connection to host the meeting than I could have anticipated. But that too was part of our discovery process.

By the end we were physically exhausted but came home mentally and emotionally charged up from exceeding our hopes and expectations of what we thought would be possible. Every day we found ourselves dissecting the stories we live in every day, ones that we often don’t question because of the routine of our daily lives. Breaking routines can open cracks in our stories.

It’s critical to examine the narratives we live in, because the stories we tell ourselves create the reality that we live out.

The last few years we’ve found ourselves settling into some stories that were limiting our opportunities and our capacity to create and deliver more impactful work. This trip has launched a new chapter in our story.

In his book, “The Big Leap,” Gay Hendricks lays out four zones in which the work activities we engage in are performed – incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius.

Most of our work gets done within our zone of competence. It’s what we do every day with very little taxing of our minds. As the name implies, our zone of excellence challenges us to up our game to do the work that sets us apart from others because we do that particular work so very well. But resting in our groove of “excellence” can also become a rut, because it’s a place that allows us to get comfortable as well. 

Stepping into our potential zone of genius makes most of us feel queasy. It’s the zone that causes us to push the boundaries of our abilities way past what we believed we’re capable of achieving. It’s the place that friends and family members often question us for considering. But it’s the work that you are, through your life experience and abilities, uniquely qualified to do.

An enormous question that we needed to answer for ourselves on this trip was: “Are we willing to step into our zone of genius in the work that is before us, or are we going to settle for what we’ve established as the work we’re known for consistently delivering?”

This adventure pushed us forward towards some answers. More to come….

Maintaining Focus Through Community

People need a sense of connection and belonging as much, if not more, than we possibly ever have. Yet, it seems that most of what we engage in each day is driving us further apart.

I had a series of phone calls this week to touch base with each of the participants in a Mastermind group I’m currently facilitating. Our conversations around important matters of life and getting work done in the process of so many distractions and obstacles were incredibly encouraging to me because we dove straight into weighty issues.

One of the matters that surfaced several times was the struggle of doing important but often tedious work in seeming isolation. Many have the sense – fed by their social media diet – that everyone else is cruising along in their work without constant speed bumps and huge potholes in their journey.

But everyone who is doing important work has their daily obstacles. We just can’t see them.

Often, just knowing you’re not alone in the struggle can make a huge difference in having the energy to go back into your personal odyssey and do the hard, focused work you need to do.

Getting out of your head and getting connected in healthy ways – outside of social media – can have a huge impact on your health as well as work. Feeling isolated causes your body to increase tissue inflammation and suppresses your body’s autoimmune response to disease, impacting your health in worse ways than being an alcoholic, a smoker, or obese.

Unfortunately, the news cycles and social media feeds around us are designed to feed anxiety. They create such constant noise that removing ourselves from it for the quiet we need to be productive can seem even more isolating. But ironically, it is the quiet and distancing ourselves from the distractions that returns us to a sense of connection – with ourselves and others.

Having found that social media can drain my energy and wound my hope, I’ve taken FB off my phone and am intentionally increasing the number of personal interactions with people who are hopeful and encouraging.

How are you moving yourself into a place of more optimism and productivity?

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