10Q: Reflect. React. Renew.

I’m begining to have a backlog of posts I keep meaning to write. The problem is by the time I get home, I’m tired of writing on the computer and don’t feel like blogging. Instead, I watch youtube videos until it’s prime time TV hour(s). Speaking of which, I’ve been watching so much cable reality shows (a la, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”), it’s kind of weird to watch sit-coms again.

Um, anyway, since I haven’t written in a while, I thought I’d share something I got in my email today. A year ago I did this thing called 10Q, where you answer 10 questions over the course of 10 days, and have it sent to you a year later.

Read the full blog post here

A few years ago I started answering 10 questions about myself and the world every September.  The following year, those answers pop up in my inbox.  I love this project (10Q) and it’s made me realize that 1) I know myself pretty well and 2) Many of my feelings and beliefs about the world are consistent year after year, but some things do change.  It’s cool to see. Like last year I said one of my goals was to live healthier and “cleaner” one step at a time, and I’ve definitely taken steps to clean up my diet and lifestyle.

Read the full blog posting here

For young and old, Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is a time of reflection. Beyond the shofar-making and other standard pre-holiday events, this year, a number of synagogues and other institutions have mixed in some non-traditional programming.

Organizers attribute the explosion of innovative events in part to the generosity of this year’s Jewish calendar, which put Rosh Hashanah nearly a month after Labor Day and the start of the new school year.

Read the full article here

A teen’s spiritual perspective

The alarm sounded, and I quickly jumped out of bed. Six in the morning had snuck up on me faster than I had anticipated, and suddenly I was thrown into the chaos of teachers, textbooks, schedules and everything else encompassed in the first day of school. I sat in homeroom that first day, my heart and head aching, as I dreamed of hiking in Israel and praying in a synagogue in Bulgaria as I had done during my long summer days. I tuned in to my principal, who was discussing over the intercom all the opportunities this new school year could bring, giving me much cause to think.

I began to think of what the New Year meant, for me and for everyone around me.

Read the full article here

A few years back, at REBOOT summit, I found myself thinking a lot about the art of reflection and the importance of conserving memories; my grandma had recently died and I was taken with the fact that she had left virtually no written record of her internal life. A hundred thousand bowls of chicken soup over the years but not a single journal or letter.

Chatting with New Yorker editor, Ben Greenman, and Reboot’s own Amelia Klein, we wondered, what if we could create an online time-capsule type Q&A experiment where people could ponder their world, both internal and external, and have their answers kept in a private vault for posterity. And what if we then repeated the experience the next year and the next so you could get to visit with older versions of yourself?

Read Nicola Behrman’s full blog post here

Being a congregational rabbi for thirty years I had that old familiar feeling that comes every fall. Hmmm… what should I talk about this year? You would think that after thirty years it would get easier but it doesn’t. I still sit in front of a blank piece of paper (or computer screen) and wonder how I can best use my three magic wishes. Wishes? Well, I wish to give three great sermons that will send everyone out of the synagogue better than they were when they came in. Yes, better in every way — better people, better Jews, better inhabitants of this tiny planet. (Is that too much to ask for?) Once I opened the “10Q” email I knew it could help all of us fulfill our wishes.

Read the full article here

These are all deep and reflective type questions which can help you think about your life and its significance. They are questions that require you to take a step back from your day to day activities in order to take the necessary time to answer them.

Read the full article here.

Remember way back when, when we kept written diaries of our daily thoughts, not to mention adolescent crushes and weight-loss progress?

Well apparently that sort of reflection has been lost in today’s fast-paced society, which is why something called Reboot 10Q sounds so interesting.

Click here to read the full article