China, TheZenofLight, word searches

lessons over 365 days

I hope you will log in Monday, 19th June between 5 and 6.30 pm Eastern for our next Timely Topic webinar, as Arminda and Roy Kamphausen will discuss Life in the Attaché Lane. We will hear about the particular challenges for our officers and their families in China and overseas in general. How do they prepare for these assignments? Do you have any language or cultural work to help you? Do tune in as we will certainly open for your questions to add on to their comments. I will add the webinar login at the bottom of today’s column.

I also contacted one of my favourite attachés, COL Rob Timm, who spent so much time tracking Vlad the Impaler’s military. We are talking about a session for Rob and COL Ted Donnelly, both retired but still heavily engaged, to discuss more specifics on Russia’s military activities and trends. Both Rob and Ted served extensively in the former Soviet sphere and were valued colleagues at the National War College. Stay tuned!

I am still interested in hearing what you want to hear about so drop me a line. The whole point of ActionsCreateConsequences is to spur dialogue rather than single person thoughts.

In that vein, I reflect on the 366th day since I had the spectacular retirement ceremony arranged by Col Mike Prosser, USMC, and officiated by Vice Admiral Tom Kilcline. I walked into that ceremony quite uncertain (I won’t go so far as to say fearful) what I would do without the work anchor I embarked on 45 years earlier.

I had loved teaching. It was the only thing I ever felt I was good at because I was comfortable putting myself in someone else’s shoes. I had known since my early 20s that I had lived an incredible life to that point (Colombia twice, Thailand, several places in the US) so sharing how fabulous (and not so fabulous) the world was seemed the best job anyone could have. National security education was a subset of that. I really had mixed feelings about whether I was ever going to find anything else as satisfying.

I do not miss the DC commute nor getting up at 3.30 am. Annapolis is magical but DC traffic sucks. For all the people who don’t like the nation’s capital, please take pity on those who confront the traffic daily as it’s horrible.

I still get up before 5 as I just want to see the world. During the longer summer days, that time with Spa Creek’s sunrise is magical; even in the long winter’s nights, i value the time for crossword puzzles (which impatience had always preventing me from enjoying) and word searches. Coffee tastes so good at that hour. Catching up with the world in the wee hours remains a vital portion of the my life; it appears after a year that isn’t going to change. I make shortbread every couple of weeks for our afternoon tea. That is one of the most rewarding rituals a couple who love spending time together can have.

I am loving my time on the Board of Directors with the National Bureau of Asian Research, such as classy organisation. Yes, Roy Kamphausen is their leader. He amazed me by inviting me to join the Board but it turns our I have already learned so much in the 9+ months that I have been involved. If you are interested in Asia, check our https://www.nbr.org

I am also committed to the National War College Alumni Association. Such incredible people who serve our nation and other countries around the world.

I learned in the past 365 days that there is indeed so much satisfying in our world. I still get the opportunity to read about China, East Asia, U.S. security priorities, and a raft of other things; occasionally people even ask me still to lecture on it which I still find so interesting. It’s not that my thoughts are so great but it’s hearing what the rest of the world sees occurring. This is precisely why I leapt on the substack.com bandwagon on a whim in early November. I want to expand my learning even at this point.

I learned over the past year that writing to express one’s analyses, something I really never enjoyed previously, goes a whole lot better when one takes the time to refine one’s expression. I have always been in such a hurry to do everything that I too often was just a crappy editor of my own work. Over the eight months I have been writing daily, I more clearly explain things most days than I did when I was rushing rushing rushing. I am sure I still move too quickly but I give myself license to slow down much more. I never gave myself time to appreciate that.

Thank you each and everyone for subscribing to this newsletter. It means so much and it spurs me to create something useful for you every single days.

I also have learned it’s really ok to try things that won’t be perfect or even near perfect. I embrace not only the substack option (thank you, Joe Collins, for inspiring me) to bring you what I hope is a new look at how our choices (personal or much more global) affect the world. I eagerly look forward to feedback from people every single morning and all day long.

I also am now an obsessive observer of light. My brother gave me a camera six years ago; it’s become my appendage much of the time. Someone, a photographer and woodworker, said on Twitter last week that ‘I find in most cases the difference between amateur and professional is what someone writes on a business card. Just enjoy what you have the ability to do. A thousand opinions should not be more valuable than your own!’ This was absolutely liberating to me. Obvious but liberating.

Several people encouraged me to sell the light I capture pretty much daily for others to enjoy. Just today I actually sold (someone is paying me money for my photographs? Seriously?) ten cards with my photographs which I hope will bring the recipient the Zen of Light I so deeply enjoy.

I actually spent hours going back and forth by text with someone who reads this column about what I should name a micro-business to market my photographs. I realised that TheZenofLight really emphasised what the light brings me—the colours, the shadows, the reality that each of us may see a sunrise somewhat differently every single day even if it’s precisely the same composition we see.

I am not sure this micro-business will thrive, though I certainly hope so. There are zillions of other great photographers who have been at this a long time and probably are considerably more nuanced than I am but I am no longer afraid to try. The investment in time to compose, recompose, reexamine the light, use a different lens and/or aperature, and do it all again tomorrow is worth it as I have time and I am truly enjoying it. If you are interested, the site https://thezenoflight.pic-time.com will continue to feature my work for the foreseeable future.

The most important thing I learned over this 365 days is that life truly is experiences, memories, and the associated relationships. You all probably knew that already but I absolutely verified it. I reconnected with a high school friend who lives on the West Coast; we met for brunch in New York a year ago in July when it turned out we were actually there simultaneously. I cannot describe how fantastic it was to hear her laugh or to have her call in to the Timely Topics. I mean, what joy!

I see the centrality of traveling while we can as I know we won’t be able to do it forever. Yes, the experience is more frustrating than it used to be but I likely am more frustrating as well so I just anticipate the good, tossing out the bad if I can.

That swing we recently did through Minnesota and Missouri still brings a warm, fuzzy feeling whether because I saw folks I used to see daily at the War College or because I saw people from the beginning of my professional career. It was phenomenal meeting a grandson who evidences how our lives have evolved. Just the opportunity to see people in person over leisurely visits is so much more important than I ever realised as foolish as that sounds. I have learned, in other words.

It’s not all been joyful as we lost family and friends, reminding us that we don’t always control our destinies no matter how hard we fight. This has led to cherishing phone calls, visits, meals, and walks much more deliberately with the knowledge that life is too brief. I also am trying so hard to extend thanks to those who make a difference in my life, small or large. It wasn’t accidental that I spent time with my daughter after surgery.

I worry so much about the tensions and problems I see accumulating in our world. As you see from my columns, I fear for democracy’s survival, for the planet’s deteriorating conditions, for the health of several people near and dear to me. But, one of the most important lessons of the last 365 days is that I really can only do what I can do; I can’t run anyone else’s life nor do I want to any longer. When I taught or was in academic administration, that was my job. It’s now most definitely not my job. Turns out that ActionsCreateConsequences really does apply all around.

We spent amazing time with Scottish friends last year, only to see this year’s projected visit wrecked by the on-going labour turmoil of the Unnited Kingdom. That was joy mixed with frustration but it reminded us that we could return home while others confront even worse problems than our many political divisions. I resent yet understand the political and social upheavals but fear we are further rather than closer from solutions around the world.

There is a meme I saw several years ago (I circulated it) that hovered in my mind before last June: the average retirement age is 67 while the average life expectancy is 78 so you retire to enjoy the retirement fruits of your labour for 11 years. The implication is remember that time will race by so don’t wait too long. FIN

Cynthia Watson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Life in the Attache Lane with Mindy & Roy Kamphausen

Time: Jun 19, 2023 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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