Coworking Meetup 4/2

Our topic was 'Learning' and Jason, Kelly, Raeann, Deborah, Clark, Stefan and Christine were attending. Share how you learn best and what you learnt last or what you want to learn next!

Jason shared he took a somewhat pricey online class to get a certification. The knowledge he learnt was needed to figure out a concrete problem his start up faced. 

Despite the fact that a lot of online learning efforts fail, required attendance to receive a certificate, required forum participation as well as a high price tag seem to make it easier to stick with the online course. Accountability is sometimes needed to make you finish a course, especially if it's free.

The Office Junction will look into the opportunity to host online classes with a combination of in-person discussion groups to help online learners to succeed with their online classes. Stay tuned for more details or let us know what kind of classes you would like to see, so we can get started.

Kelly just started taking Ukulele lessons with a private teacher. Her goal is to be able to play for upcoming campfire nights. She struggles with practicing between her lessons, but benefits from her teacher guiding her through the learning process.

Focusing on one thing til it's done and blending out all distractions while staying in the moment is something everyone seems to need help with.

Raeann took part in 'Gifts of Imperfection' an online course work from Brene Brown featured by Oprah.

Deborah also took an Oprah online class, but one in cooperation with Deepak to learn about meditation in 21 days. She was motivated to learn as she always hated meditation and wanted to give it a try.

Clark learned how to meditate from a lama in Tacoma and practices it during his endurance running legs, e. g. from Utah to Colorado while putting one foot after the next. He also told us about running monks. And how you can struggle to leave everything behind that engages you and how there is no 'right and wrong' in meditation. 

Stefan also shared his inspiration about meditation and we discussed how it's hard for us Westerners to understand it's not a competition and it's not about getting anywhere or getting where others already went. It's about creating your own path and space. Stefan and Jason both shared they fall asleep by the attempt to quiet their minds.

Somehow we ended up talking about cow tipping and hippo tipping. And a 'bloat' of hippos and a 'murder' of crows and a funny comic series about Star Wars where they actually have a real father-son-relationship. Kelly enlightened us in which order you should introduce your kids to Star Wars (4, 5, 6, ignore 1, 2, 3 as long as possible).

Raeann suggested free meditation sessions at Spira (next to Zatz Bagels in the Admiral junction) or just find a nice beautiful spot in the nature (on Beach Drive).

We talked about how 'context' is extremely important for a successful learning experience. Doing something regularly helps getting better. Having a teacher or coach guide you through the 'uncomfortable' part of failing during the learning process and how it helps you wade through it. It also helps to be in an positive environment. Also how learning happens while following someone experienced around to learning on the job. And how valuable the first 3 months are in a new job, keeping mind and eyes open, learning, being able to be critical, observant and inspired. 

For group learning experiences it's important to align everyone's goals to the learning mission, using the group dynamic for collaboration and problem solving, while utilizing different backgrounds (like specialists & generalists).

Books that were suggested 'Zen & Motorcycle', 'Where ever you go, there you are', and the website headspace, meditation for modern living.

Stefan looks for help and expertise with commercial real estate development. Anyone?
Deborah invited all interested women to her 'Women In Transition' group on April 12th from 10 to 12 pm at the Office Junction.
Raeann from Rosita Designs has a girls-only jewelry trunk show. Please contact her directly if you want to come shop great pieces for a good cause.
Clark informed us about West Seattle Runners 4th Anniversary going on Friday to Sunday this weekend. Great offers like 20 % off, bra fitting and shoe fitting.

And we finished at 1.20 pm by giggling a bit about 'The Good Wife' guide from the 1955.