Tribute Poster by 12Frames

Here is a great tribute to Neil Armstrong:

Let’s lay awake at night, dreaming up great things, things that could only be dreams now, and let’s build them. It need not be related to space; it could be related to an important advancement with renewable energy, or even with something as comparably small as re-creating education for this new century. But it must be something truly new, groundbreaking and meaningful, something that leaves you with the sheer joy of childhood excitement. Something that will make us better as a people. Let’s dream it, and let’s build it.

So what do you dream about? What will you build? But not just build, what legacy will you leave?

I am absolutely convinced that all have the potential to build things that will shake the world… but only a few choose and believe that.

I dont know what I will build. I dont know what legacy I will leave. But for now, I will just allow a solid character to settle in my heart.

The legacy will follow!

I read an article that reflected on Neil Armstrong’s life just now. The article’s title read: In Just “One Small Step” Armstrong Became An Icon.

Im not quite convinced that this is completely true… We remember Neil for the “one small step” but he became an icon because he lived a life of character which lead him to such a point in life. What people dont know about him is that he was also a modest and humble person. His life would have turned out differently if he wasn’t…

I guess it’s just a different perspective, but people dont become icons because of one small step. People become icons because of the lives they lived. Because of their character. Nelson Mandela is an icon because he is a man of character. That lead to the end of Apartheid. Steve Jobs is an icon because he lived a life of vision and character. And so we can continue with all icons…

Is Adolf Hitler an icon? No, I dont think so. He was also busy doing some groundbreaking stuff. He was busy creating a super race… but without character.

Weak character always disqualify people to become icons.

People become icons because they live life with character. And then there are moments that makes them famous. Neil was famous for being the first person to walk on the moon, but he is an icon because he walked on the moon with character.

I want to be a man of character first. That will define whether I’ll become an icon when certain breakthrough moments happen.

My hope is that you will also be a man or woman of character before the breakthrough moments happen…

I recently got introduced to the Slow Web Movement via a guy called Jack Cheng. In short, the slow web movement is a movement that enables people to live a slower life through more considerate and more innovative strategies when products are designed and developed for the web.

It’s about Timely VS Real Time information. It’s about Rhythm VS Random Information. It’s about Knowledge instead of Information. It’s about slowing down the web.

Now, lately I have been working on some concept designs for a mobile app called MOVD.ME. The app will allow people to archive and share the wisdom they have acquired through life. I realized that wisdom isn’t cheap and neither can it be forced or pushed into a digital world and then expect that it will have the same initial impact as a cool Youtube video or gossipy Facebook status update. It wont. It’s just not sensational enough.

Wisdom takes time to settle in. It takes time to make an impact and change lives. For that reason the real power of wisdom in a digital world is locked up not in real time updates, but in Timely pieces of content. This inspired me to adjust the strategy of the app towards a Slow App rather than a Real Time app. I sensed that people needed this more than another real time wisdom sharing app. Or social network for that matter…

But I was also greatly inspired by this quote on the Slow App Movement website:

Read more →

I havent blogged a lot lately. I was going to write that it is because I was a bit preoccupied, but I realized I would be lying. I wasn’t preoccupied.

I just wasn’t very inspired to write. Perhaps because I’m going through a season where I need to figure out whether what I say, do and write carries any value. Especially when it comes to digital stuff. Facebook. Twitter. Blogging.

It feels like the only real value that I add is when I connect with people physically. Face to face. Connecting digitally feels artificial. It’s almost like giving a spoiled kid a choice between candy and veggies… His never satisfying appetite for candy, chocolate and chips fills him for now, but in 2 hour’s time he’s hungry again.

That’s what it feels like at the moment. It feels like my words/wisdom has become cheap. They feel artificial.

Is it true? I dont know. I’m still figuring out whether we haven’t just become spoiled kids with candy coated phrases, digitally colored photo’s, and lines of e-ink.

I’m figuring out whether our inability to manage the digital world hasn’t spoiled us to the extent that we hardly get any substantial food any more. Food that really change us. Not just candy that gives us the illusion of change.

What’s the value of a solid and substantial face to face conversation?

I watched a really great movie last year. It’s called The Adjustment Bureau. It had a very profound finishing line:

…freewill is a gift that you’ll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that’s the Chairman’s real plan. That maybe one day, we won’t write the plan, you will.

Is free will really free will if the Chairman is involved? How can it be free if someone is involved? I thought about it for about 1 week and then stopped thinking about it for 8 months until I stumbled upon it just now again and decided to do some FREE writing in my journal about it… I realized that the more I thought about it the less it made sense. So here’s where my pen’s ink lead me…

Yes. Free will is a gift. A God given one. And perhaps also one where God wants to be involved in. Perhaps that’s the key to understanding the gift: God wants to be involved in it.

Why? Because it is one of those gifts that if we are left alone with it, initially, without some training and intervention from the giver,  it will destroy us. He knows that without some proper guidance, we wont be able to enjoy the gift. He knows that we have the tendency to mess things up, complicate things and miss the purpose of the gift.

The gift was never about us. The gift was not for our glory, but God’s glory. His glory through us. And, thats why we struggle so much with the idea of free will. Because we miss this vital part, it self destruct on us and other people. Our actions through free will normally has the tendency to destroy other people’s lives. And that’s why God needs to intervene at times. That’s how much he loves His people [and that's why He needed to intervene with the plan of salvation...]

The more we realize that the gift is not for our glory, our careers, our relationships or our money, the more we will be liberated. If we realize what to do with it, our actions will become less destructive and God will have to intervene less. That is what truly liberates us.

Free will is a gift that God has given us for His splendor to be displayed. That’s what gives it real power.

It is not the gift or idea of free will that gives us liberty in life to do whatever we want to, but knowing why it has been given to us in the first place.

Think about it…

Steyn Viljoen

Eighty-Four-Thousand-Four-Hundred Seconds. 84 400s. That’s all you have per day. Make it count…

We have heard this over and over again. So many times before. But somehow we still struggle with it.

Without being too hard on myself, I asked myself this question. Do I make my life count with the 84 400s I have available every day? And, also, what this even mean…

Knowing what this mean will perhaps become a measuring stick to whether I make my life count or not.

So I thought about this… A lot. And I came up with quite a few definitions. Definitions like “we need to discover what has been entrusted to us and use it to live beyond ourselves” and a few other ones…

But then I realized a more important question is whether I truly believe that my life should count. And also why it should count.

You see, once I can get to these answers, my life will count. Without trying to make it count.

It will just happen.

So why should my life count?

Because it is not about my. My life should count so that my children can benefit from it. My wife. My family. My friends.

Realizing that my life should count for the sake of other people and not my own sake, will make my life count automatically…

So… Make your life count. But first, discover why it should count…

Steyn Viljoen

I made this statement on Facebook the other day:

If we truly believe that God owns everything, then perhaps we shouldn’t struggle with racism anymore. We own nothing. Not the whites. Not the blacks. Nor any political party…

As expected, I had a few seriously deep responses to it… It made me think about a few things. Will a statement like this change anything about the stance of race and culture within South Africa? Does it even carry any value?

The answer is, no.

Not the statement, but the fruit of the seed that was sown.

Jesus challenged the Roman Kingdom with the Kingdom of God. He challenged racism. Just in another way. He challenged the pharisees and their laws. Ultimately He said that no one has anything. All are equal. The woman caught in adultery. The thieves. The widows. The orphans. All have access to the fullness of God. Wether they understood it or not, is irrelevant. But those who understood it, are those who wanted to understand it.

His disciples understood it because they wanted to. The adulterated woman understood it and so did the tax collectors.

They wanted to.

So… if we truly believe that God owns everything, then perhaps we shouldn’t struggle with racism anymore. We own nothing. Not the whites. Not the blacks. Nor any political party…

Those who understand it are those who want to.

Now, is this easy? It’s suppose to be. But 6000 years of sin has made it really difficult to belief that it is better for God to own everything…

In Michelle’ words [translated]: “We can only aim to set an example of love one day at a time, one person at a time.” [Thanx Michelle!]

Yes. An example of living as if we own nothing. That is powerful stuff. Not easy. But life changing. Racism changing stuff…

So, I hope with my life in anyway…

Steyn Viljoen