It's that time of the year again. Black Friday is past and now we move forward to the rest of the hectic shopping and Holiday season. I'm opting out this year. I've done enough of that for several life times, and I have learned that, in the end, the most important gifts in life do not come in fancy packages. It might be different if we had small children, but it's just me and Hubby. We've agreed to just enjoy the meaning of the holiday, rather than the hype. Not that there is anything wrong with the hype, really. The garland, the decorations, the merriment, they are all good things. If they help to enhance the enjoyment of the season, and they do not become a burden, then they are very good things.
All the same, these are tough times for many people around the world. It seems, to Hubby and I, that we need to go back to basics. We have chosen to keep it simple. When you have your health, and your loved ones around, then everything and anything over and above that is a blessing, a gift and a miracle.
This was a dark year for me, in far too many ways. I might go into why at some future date when the sting is less pronounced, when I can be open about it, but it really doesn't matter. Suffice it to say, whatever my story is, it is no different from many stories of many good people around the world. No matter how bad it has been, I am humbled and eternally grateful to know that we were spared a far worse fate. My heart goes out daily to fine people around the world, who have not been as fortunate.
I've always loved the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." For those of you who have read my previous posts, and who know about my Frank Capra adoration, this will come as no surprise. It has always held special meaning, but this year, it means the world.
I share this excerpt with you as my gift of Joy for the Holidays and for the year to come. Let's make it a good season, and let's make it a better year for everyone in 2010.
Please enjoy!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Giving Thanks Spreads - Me: Smiling!
So, why? Why not? That is my only answer. That is my only reason. As I watch the Tweet flow, it makes my stomach tingle and my inner light glow. That is it. And there ain't nothing small about that.
People are positive if they are allowed to be. My influence for this is Frank Kapra, who affected my development heavily, and programmed my brain for hope. Others too, but I want to keep this post short and sweet (for a change). Great smart people who simply believed that the world might be a dirty nasty place at times, but we could clean it up, if we just picked up the broom.
So, if you like this line of thinking and you realize that you are better off when others are better off, then #givethanks. Spread the Tweet. Spread the Love. Spread the Good.
Remember, it's all I want for Christmas, so basically my sock will be full the minute the Trend Hits the Top and Stays there! Momentum is a powerful thing. Push Gratitude, for a Change.
By the way, yes, I am a hopefull idealist. (And I ain't changin!)
Oh and if this doesn't make sense, you need to see the original post..The Power of Gratitude..in this blog.
People are positive if they are allowed to be. My influence for this is Frank Kapra, who affected my development heavily, and programmed my brain for hope. Others too, but I want to keep this post short and sweet (for a change). Great smart people who simply believed that the world might be a dirty nasty place at times, but we could clean it up, if we just picked up the broom.
So, if you like this line of thinking and you realize that you are better off when others are better off, then #givethanks. Spread the Tweet. Spread the Love. Spread the Good.
Remember, it's all I want for Christmas, so basically my sock will be full the minute the Trend Hits the Top and Stays there! Momentum is a powerful thing. Push Gratitude, for a Change.
By the way, yes, I am a hopefull idealist. (And I ain't changin!)
Oh and if this doesn't make sense, you need to see the original post..The Power of Gratitude..in this blog.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
History: Why it matters.
If On the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, you can remember that in order to reach such repetitive set of figures, the people arranging the end to 'the War to End all Wars' allowed thousands more men to die in battle on those last hours, those last minutes, until the three elevens finally aligned; remember that, from when the Peace was committed to paper, to when the clock was allowed to free the thousands of souls mired in the mud of the trenches, the numbers rising to heaven had escalated beyond all reason without a reason, then you understand the futility of allowing for repetition.
Arbitrary as the deaths on the battlefields that night and that morning were, they pale by comparison to the deaths of WWI as a whole. Arbitrary as the deaths were for the entirety of WWI, they pale by comparison to the many who have died since, in the many wars, declared and undeclared, which we have fought against each other long after the hardest peace ever achieved was so repetitively achieved.
If we can know these things, and still believe that we should focus on any learning before learning History, then all the repetition in the world will do us no good.
If we are no more than software code stuck in an endless bloody loop of repeating numbers, then existence is futile.
History is Humanity for better or worse. We are born from it. We are married to it. As Humans, we must learn from it. Ignoring History negates our very Humanity.
It is good to know a great many things. It is good to learn a great many things.
To be great, we need learn only one thing: History. We must learn not to be so damned repetitious.
Arbitrary as the deaths on the battlefields that night and that morning were, they pale by comparison to the deaths of WWI as a whole. Arbitrary as the deaths were for the entirety of WWI, they pale by comparison to the many who have died since, in the many wars, declared and undeclared, which we have fought against each other long after the hardest peace ever achieved was so repetitively achieved.
If we can know these things, and still believe that we should focus on any learning before learning History, then all the repetition in the world will do us no good.
If we are no more than software code stuck in an endless bloody loop of repeating numbers, then existence is futile.
History is Humanity for better or worse. We are born from it. We are married to it. As Humans, we must learn from it. Ignoring History negates our very Humanity.
It is good to know a great many things. It is good to learn a great many things.
To be great, we need learn only one thing: History. We must learn not to be so damned repetitious.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Power of Gratitude
I owe everything good I have ever had in life, and everything positive that has ever happened to me, to one simple thing: gratitude. In fact, I can say honestly that gratitude has saved my life.
Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I first arrived to the United States on Thanksgiving, and that was the first time I ever saw a group of people gather together just to be grateful for what they had.
I'm not blind to the story behind the story of Thanksgiving. I'm not blind to what happened in the Americas to the Native American People, but that has never detracted from the importance of the holiday, for me, because the message behind Thanksgiving is so pure, so true, that it defies any cynicism, at least in my view.
I've had some hard moments in my life, just as everyone else has, but the number one habit of endurance, which I fell into early in life and have carried throughout, is to focus especially on being grateful for what I do have, even as the world appears to be collapsing around me, falling apart, or coming undone.
This is the challenge our Western Culture faces. We have been uniquely privileged, uniquely gifted. In many ways, we have become uniquely complacent. As we watch our markets collapse, our traditions challenged by those who would see them undone, our beliefs twisted by those who would exploit or destroy us, it is far too easy to grow bitter. During times like these, it is far too easy to be angry, too easy to be resentful and defensive, too easy to pity ourselves.
Except if we stop for a moment and reason. If we consider the facts, we are still further ahead and better off than many perfectly wonderful and decent human beings, who were simply not born onto as much opportunity and comfort as we take for granted.
I don't wish to be preachy. I only wish to share an insight that has helped me to focus on facts whenever I have felt particularly slighted or hurt by the whims of chance or the actions of corrupt individuals.
Taking a moment, to see how much worse things could be, and how much worse they really are for people who deserve far better, has made me always realize that I have no business in this life except to be grateful for every single little thing going my way.
That has been liberating. When dark days have come, of course I have wept, of course I have raged, of course I have felt pain, but recovery was always no more than one Thank You away.
So, during the month of Remembrance, during the month of Thanksgiving, let us all be thankful for so many who have done so much to give us what we take for granted. Let us stop taking it for granted and give earnest thanks.
Whenever I think of gratitude, of Thanksgiving, I always hear the Shaker song of Elder Joseph Bracket, first put to music by Mary Hazzard, and made unforgettable by Aaron Copeland:
'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Help me keep this thought on the trends in Twitter. If you, like me, believe that many people thinking as one, sharing one powerful positive thought can change the world for the better, then join me in flooding the Trends with #givethanks. Let's help remind each other, and the world, that we have always far more for which to be grateful than any other culture in the history of humanity.
Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I first arrived to the United States on Thanksgiving, and that was the first time I ever saw a group of people gather together just to be grateful for what they had.
I'm not blind to the story behind the story of Thanksgiving. I'm not blind to what happened in the Americas to the Native American People, but that has never detracted from the importance of the holiday, for me, because the message behind Thanksgiving is so pure, so true, that it defies any cynicism, at least in my view.
I've had some hard moments in my life, just as everyone else has, but the number one habit of endurance, which I fell into early in life and have carried throughout, is to focus especially on being grateful for what I do have, even as the world appears to be collapsing around me, falling apart, or coming undone.
This is the challenge our Western Culture faces. We have been uniquely privileged, uniquely gifted. In many ways, we have become uniquely complacent. As we watch our markets collapse, our traditions challenged by those who would see them undone, our beliefs twisted by those who would exploit or destroy us, it is far too easy to grow bitter. During times like these, it is far too easy to be angry, too easy to be resentful and defensive, too easy to pity ourselves.
Except if we stop for a moment and reason. If we consider the facts, we are still further ahead and better off than many perfectly wonderful and decent human beings, who were simply not born onto as much opportunity and comfort as we take for granted.
I don't wish to be preachy. I only wish to share an insight that has helped me to focus on facts whenever I have felt particularly slighted or hurt by the whims of chance or the actions of corrupt individuals.
Taking a moment, to see how much worse things could be, and how much worse they really are for people who deserve far better, has made me always realize that I have no business in this life except to be grateful for every single little thing going my way.
That has been liberating. When dark days have come, of course I have wept, of course I have raged, of course I have felt pain, but recovery was always no more than one Thank You away.
So, during the month of Remembrance, during the month of Thanksgiving, let us all be thankful for so many who have done so much to give us what we take for granted. Let us stop taking it for granted and give earnest thanks.
Whenever I think of gratitude, of Thanksgiving, I always hear the Shaker song of Elder Joseph Bracket, first put to music by Mary Hazzard, and made unforgettable by Aaron Copeland:
'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Help me keep this thought on the trends in Twitter. If you, like me, believe that many people thinking as one, sharing one powerful positive thought can change the world for the better, then join me in flooding the Trends with #givethanks. Let's help remind each other, and the world, that we have always far more for which to be grateful than any other culture in the history of humanity.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Meaning of Life
In my never ending quest to find the meaning of life I've sought the wisdom of the greatest philosophers humanity has produced. I will post what I've found here occasionally, in case the insights I find can serve you in your own quest for meaning. One of the greats has provided me with a way to find meaning in life that is sublimely simple. I thought I'd share it with you here.
"The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution - this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths."
-Groucho Marx
All I can say to that is: Yep.
"The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution - this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths."
-Groucho Marx
All I can say to that is: Yep.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Balloon Boy and the Red Balloon
It caught my eye by accident this morning while working on something completely different. Balloon Boy. I had no idea what this was all about, busy with everyday things, but an image in my mind, an association from childhood made me click the link.
The association was something I have cherished for years, the memory of the time we saw The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse on the clicking projector of Mrs. W's 5th grade class. Movie time was a treat, a chance to stop working on revisions, readings tests, and note-taking; a chance to sit back and have the full theater experience (minus the popcorn) in class.
By the time the film ran out and the loose tail was flap-flapping on the projector wheel, I was in love. The boy with the Red Balloon had topped the movie about the boy at the donut shop (I don't think I'm the last person alive who remembers that other classic too) .
For those unfamiliar with this 1956 film classic it is the story of a young boy who has a beautiful red balloon that either irritates or incites envy in others. This balloon represents his innocence his untainted soul. Because he is so fond of it, he protects the balloon and takes it everywhere including school, which gets him into trouble. Ultimately the jealousy that the balloon provokes incites a gang of bullies to destroy it, and the little boy is left defeated and saddened by the base meanness of life, but is finally saved by a gigantic cluster of balloons that appear miraculously and help him float far away from all the evil ugly things of this world.
What I found when I clicked the link on Yahoo! had nothing on the surface to do with this old recollection of mine, but as I read on I discovered that it had everything to do with the sad little boy with the red balloon.
Heene may deny that he had anything to do with his son's false disappearance on the weather balloon that floated out and sent everyone chasing after his six year old son, and certainly an investigation has only begun, but the court of public opinion seems far more interested in the six-year old's own testimony, and I think rightfully so.
His parents may be just very poor parents; any father who says 'Maybe I just yell to much' like it's something he's going to consider but not necessarily abandon is clearly more interested in his own feelings than on the impact his expressions have on his children. But what on Earth compels these people to take the boy on the Media Circuit so he can be exploited? If it was all a big misunderstanding, you give the boy a hug, tell him you're glad he's OK, and get back to an ordinary life. You do not book interviews on Larry King, and the Today Show.
No wonder the poor boy is throwing up. I want to as well.
What Balloon Boy needs is a bunch of us other balloons coming to his rescue. But what do we do? If we remove him from the custody of his parents, construing these actions as child abuse, we will be turning the child over to the questionably named government child protective services, where they may be exposed to greater neglect and greater abuse.
We need to protect children from exploitation, and we need a new method by which to do it. But one simple step might be to make Reality Shows involving minors illegal. I have more on this point on my blog Persistence of Perception.
We need to give importance to protecting innocence. Red Balloons are valuable things. The longer we each hold on to them, the better society we become. If in 2009 you can't get older than six today before your own father blows your Red Balloon to smitherenes, then I fear for 2029.
The association was something I have cherished for years, the memory of the time we saw The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse on the clicking projector of Mrs. W's 5th grade class. Movie time was a treat, a chance to stop working on revisions, readings tests, and note-taking; a chance to sit back and have the full theater experience (minus the popcorn) in class.
By the time the film ran out and the loose tail was flap-flapping on the projector wheel, I was in love. The boy with the Red Balloon had topped the movie about the boy at the donut shop (I don't think I'm the last person alive who remembers that other classic too) .
For those unfamiliar with this 1956 film classic it is the story of a young boy who has a beautiful red balloon that either irritates or incites envy in others. This balloon represents his innocence his untainted soul. Because he is so fond of it, he protects the balloon and takes it everywhere including school, which gets him into trouble. Ultimately the jealousy that the balloon provokes incites a gang of bullies to destroy it, and the little boy is left defeated and saddened by the base meanness of life, but is finally saved by a gigantic cluster of balloons that appear miraculously and help him float far away from all the evil ugly things of this world.
What I found when I clicked the link on Yahoo! had nothing on the surface to do with this old recollection of mine, but as I read on I discovered that it had everything to do with the sad little boy with the red balloon.
Heene may deny that he had anything to do with his son's false disappearance on the weather balloon that floated out and sent everyone chasing after his six year old son, and certainly an investigation has only begun, but the court of public opinion seems far more interested in the six-year old's own testimony, and I think rightfully so.
His parents may be just very poor parents; any father who says 'Maybe I just yell to much' like it's something he's going to consider but not necessarily abandon is clearly more interested in his own feelings than on the impact his expressions have on his children. But what on Earth compels these people to take the boy on the Media Circuit so he can be exploited? If it was all a big misunderstanding, you give the boy a hug, tell him you're glad he's OK, and get back to an ordinary life. You do not book interviews on Larry King, and the Today Show.
No wonder the poor boy is throwing up. I want to as well.
What Balloon Boy needs is a bunch of us other balloons coming to his rescue. But what do we do? If we remove him from the custody of his parents, construing these actions as child abuse, we will be turning the child over to the questionably named government child protective services, where they may be exposed to greater neglect and greater abuse.
We need to protect children from exploitation, and we need a new method by which to do it. But one simple step might be to make Reality Shows involving minors illegal. I have more on this point on my blog Persistence of Perception.
We need to give importance to protecting innocence. Red Balloons are valuable things. The longer we each hold on to them, the better society we become. If in 2009 you can't get older than six today before your own father blows your Red Balloon to smitherenes, then I fear for 2029.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Welcome the Russet and Gold
It is a beautiful autumn's day and I will be out taking it all in between today and Tuesday of next week. We are blessed that we are both self employed, so we can set our own times to do things, or to not do them. We awoke to find nature making the decision for us today. It said, "Hey, you, get yourself off that chair can come out here to play!" Once we took a little ride to run some errands, we discovered that it was probably going to be one of the best weekends of autumn for us and we decided to make it a long beautiful one enjoying the best of what nature has to offer this time of year.
Drives through the country to commune with the beauty of the simple are core to our joy and peace of mind. That doesn't mean I am not working. In fact, thanks to the nice crisp breeze my mind is racing and my imagination is on fire. The next short story to be posted on this Blog is coming along well and will be up over the next few days. In the meantime, if you are cooped up in an office, we recommend making a plan to spend the weekend picking apples, drinking cider, and finding your pumpkin for Halloween. Or just do whatever you find most enjoyable outside while the days of sunlight remain. Soon it will be winter and we will be suffering from chronic cabin fever.
For those living in the tropics this is not so much of a concern, of course, and for those on the southern hemisphere it is just starting to heat up. You're all making plans for the beach probably. We are Northern Hemisphere denizens and we plan to make the most the blue skies and the sunlight while the getting is good. Long winter nights are coming and you can bet I will be catching up with writing during the long dark nights to come.
Whatever you do, and wherever you are, enjoy it. Get outside and look at the wonders of nature. Once you take in the fresh air, and get away from the computer screen everything seems much better, and problems seem to disolve in the breeze.
Drives through the country to commune with the beauty of the simple are core to our joy and peace of mind. That doesn't mean I am not working. In fact, thanks to the nice crisp breeze my mind is racing and my imagination is on fire. The next short story to be posted on this Blog is coming along well and will be up over the next few days. In the meantime, if you are cooped up in an office, we recommend making a plan to spend the weekend picking apples, drinking cider, and finding your pumpkin for Halloween. Or just do whatever you find most enjoyable outside while the days of sunlight remain. Soon it will be winter and we will be suffering from chronic cabin fever.
For those living in the tropics this is not so much of a concern, of course, and for those on the southern hemisphere it is just starting to heat up. You're all making plans for the beach probably. We are Northern Hemisphere denizens and we plan to make the most the blue skies and the sunlight while the getting is good. Long winter nights are coming and you can bet I will be catching up with writing during the long dark nights to come.
Whatever you do, and wherever you are, enjoy it. Get outside and look at the wonders of nature. Once you take in the fresh air, and get away from the computer screen everything seems much better, and problems seem to disolve in the breeze.
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