Your very own Annual Meeting
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Lichtenbergian Society secretary, noted author and historian W. Jeff Bishop.
One of the Lichtenbergian Society’s Great Rituals is the Annual Meeting (coming up in about a month). The centerpiece of this meeting is the dual ritual of our Proposed Efforts.
First, the Secretary reads to each of us what we said we wanted to work on this past year, and we have to respond to each item: yes, we got it done; or no, cras melior est. After we have a moment of silence (and a toast) over those successes/failures, we then state our Proposed Efforts for the coming year.
Since Lichtenbergianism is predicated on not accomplishing all the tasks, you will understand that it is a matter of some shame if you are found to be overly successful. (We instituted Censure as part of the Ritual for such cases. It can sting.)
The main result of this ritual is two-fold:
It permits us to celebrate failure, which in turn permits us to fail.
It makes us thoughtful as we decide what we’re actually going to work on during the year, since we will have to account for our activity at the end of the year.
So today I’m giving you a handy, easy tool to replicate those benefits even if you don’t have an AUDIENCE of “those people right here” with whom you gather round a fire at the Winter Solstice.
Head over to futureme.org and sign up. Now write yourself an email, to be delivered same time next year, setting out your Proposed Efforts. Click send. (Do not forget to keep a copy of these Efforts somewhere handy!)
Now write yourself a couple of reminder emails. Not a lot, maybe one or two, just enough to remind you that on such-and-such a date, you’re going to have to account for yourself.
Suitable beverages for the required toasts are your responsibility.
