The Three Days We All Meet

Working at Boathouse

One of my favorite things about working at Boathouse is the offsites we have every few months. Our latest one was another successful triad of absolute inspiration and growth. I’m always looking forward to our keynote speakers. I purposely refrain from searching them or reading their descriptions in our program so I don’t have any preconceived notions. 

Lizzie

When Lizzie Velasquez was first mentioned during our offsite schedule meeting, I didn’t have a curious inclination. Our creative director, who was very excited about bringing her on, introduced her as a bully activist. I remember imagining how cheerless the hour was going to be. We’ve had enough gloomy days this summer, I thought. Let’s just have fun. I realized later how driven our brains are by superficiality.

I was able to hold myself from sobbing as I listened to Lizzie’s story, but I couldn’t hold the silent tears from streaming down my face. (I shall let those suppressed wails out some day). Her sweet voice; her infectious personality; her luminous spirit brought a certain hallowed energy to the room. It was literally healing. I wished we could see beyond our illusory earthly cloaks. What if what we saw when we looked at somebody was their true essence? What if physical form didn’t exist or didn’t matter? I guess this would make us dead residents of heaven. Therefore, here’s a better speculative thought, what if we loved and valued one another for the simple fact that we are all human?  

Oh, how shallow we are, how detached from spirit we are, and how much of an after-life enthusiast I’ve become. Have you ever watched interviews of NDEs or Near Death Experiencers? You may be thinking what does this have to do with Lizzie. NDEs all report the same thing; that nothing matters once we’ve traveled to the next world -except how we treated and loved one another. This is what Lizzie is all about. She's here to remind us to show love and be kind, to ourselves, and to the world.

To those who called Lizzie the ugliest woman in the world and wrote horrible things about her, thank you. Thank you for pushing her to be a beacon of light, and a voice of hope and inspiration to the rest of us. It is beyond heartening to listen to this precious and delicate being tell us how to find our truths. It wasn’t a somber hour; it was a point in time when a seed of light was planted in every single one of us that night. I will start with that one little fish first, Lizzie.

The most striking aspect about Lizzie’s story, and what everyone should take note of, is her upbringing and support system. She is the greatest proof of how crucial to an individual’s success are the parents and the grandparents and the aunts and the uncles and the cousins and the neighbors. It didn’t take much to come up with the term, but I shall call it the supernova family! We need to go back to living in large houses with all of our family members. We need to go back to having breakfasts, lunches, and dinners together. We need to go back to marrying the family -not just the individual. Lizzie’s confidence and amazing personality are a result of the emotional nourishment she received when growing up in such a loving and cultivating environment. I hope that all children of the world get to be woven in a similar fabric during their development.

The Key to My Heart

My second favorite thing about these offsites is the nice dinners. I have to highlight here the Liberty Hotel’s hors d’oeuvres -especially the shrimp cocktail. When I picked up the little square cup, I immediately realized that I never dipped the shrimp in cocktail sauce. I was a little disappointed as I couldn’t enjoy it without its red complement. I turned to the waiter who had long been gone only to notice this little red thing sticking out of the shrimp. Could it be the cocktail sauce I so longed for to complete this perfect bite? Indeed, it was. The shrimp was pierced with a pipette that one squeezes as they insert the crustacean into the mouth. Genius. I do have one suggestion, however; as a cocktail sauce lover, the pipettes need to be completely filled or maybe a little bigger, chef Daniel?

Fiery Gladys

I always feel fulfilled when we engage in some type of volunteering work. This time we went to La Colaborativa in Chelsea MA, a Latin-led organization helping those in need and advocating for the underserved. We were greeted by the executive director, Gladys Vega, who couldn’t have worn a better color to match her spirited personality. The orange-sweater wearing woman activist flickered like a flame ignited by the wind, aka the Holy Spirit. She enthusiastically gave us a tour of the newly built state-of-the art Survival Center, where struggling folks receive an array of assistive aid such as; healthcare check-ups; English classes; citizenship preparation; diet training in a cutting-edge kitchen and much more.

We then lined up next to different types of produce, grains, protein, and dairy products to begin distributing. What a humbling experience this was. Watching fellow Bhers (Boathouse employees) who are high-up in the chain breaking down boxes and transporting them to the trash bin made me love who I work with and for even more. Additionally, I was very intrigued by the people who were receiving the amazing food assistance. Most of them collected with a smile of gratitude, some couldn’t make eye contact, and a couple of people were very picky and requested more or better items. Seeing the amount of food available and its quality made me realize how blessed we are in America. I also felt a little better about the whopping tax amount taken out of my paycheck every other week.

What’s Coming

On to Augmented Reality. Long story short, I will not buy those glasses. Okay, let me explain. Have you watched any of the Black Mirror episodes? Our future may have been captured in some of those sci-fi scenes.

When I was looking up Louis Rosenberg for this blog, I found his work to be fascinating. Rosenberg has been making outstanding contributions to the fields of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. I’m especially impressed with his work in the implementation of AR and AI in educational settings and the healthcare sector. However, when he presented to us the future of marketing through his talk and short film “Privacy Lost,” I found myself feeling a strange anger. Don’t shoot the messenger they say, but I couldn’t help associating this innovator with our ominous future. The deviousness that may come with mixed reality if regulations are not enacted is disturbing. Rosenberg spoke of AR glasses which Apple and Google have been working on releasing to the public. He explained that it’s only a matter of time before we all become addicted to them -exactly how we became addicted to our smart phones.

As the eccentric who turns off her cell phone before she goes to bed and leaves it in the living room, doesn’t wake up with an alarm, and literally feels pain if the phone is on her body, I refused to succumb to the idea of wearing glasses to perform simple everyday tasks. We’re constantly bombarded by different radiofrequencies and magnetic fields that are enmeshed in our spaces. What will a device so close to our brains do? Not to mention the retardation a human will descend to by relying on such technology. I don’t need glasses to tell me that my partner is upset by my comment. I need emotional intelligence to decipher physical and energetic cues.

I recognize that my views on this matter are narrowed, even individualistic. My EQ has been one of my highest strengths. Perhaps I’m feeling threatened by the possibility that such innate ability will be replicated or replaced by a device. Perhaps I’m sensing that these tech intermediaries will only give the devil an easier access to us. Take AI’s hallucinations for example, no one understands this phenomenon. I speculate that all of this has to do with the unseen world. Of course, you’d have to presume that dark matter is evidence of this invisible world us Abraham followers profess to believe in. Religious hogwash I can hear you think. You may be right, but have you any other explanation? I dream of a day when spirituality and science converge so we can all feel better about our convictions. Maybe they are about to, and what we’re actually doing through AI, is building a concrete connection between the supernatural and the natural worlds. This may be the unveiling of the veil. Whether it’s a good idea or not remains to be seen.

My Bosses

This opinion piece wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the third day of our offsite, when the CEO, the CFO, and the presidents give us the latest about the company. I have never worked for such humble, kind, and simply amazing people before. I’m always touched by their meekness and feel grateful to be part of such a wonderful culture. It makes all the difference to give most of your hours to people you respect and look up to. I wish everyone the ability and the courage to choose quality over dollar quantity. It truly is the secret to being happy at work.