Monday Morning Wake Call--Carry On

" May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground Carry on Carry on, carry on. "

Here's to a great week...focused on the present, the future and what is possible. Carry on!

Monday Morning Wake Up Call-Opportunity

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted-One moment- Would you capture it or just let it  slip? Eminem

What is your dream?

Have a great week!

Cloudy with a chance of happiness

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?"
— Mary Oliver   I've been traveling to Chicago every year for eight years for business and this was the first year, really, that I experienced why it is known as the "Windy City". Rain and just disagreeable weather made walking about miserable. What is it about rain and wind that makes one think? Perhaps it is the survival instinct or maybe it is just that there is nothing to pull the focus from where one is. So I began to think, walking and talking to myself in between meetings and dinners with business associates. The last few years have been rough business wise but on the other side of the coin I have been blessed in ways that are not tangible. I haven't been able to be here as much as I would like because of personal and professional responsibilities. During this time, I have come to realize that I cannot make everyone happy nor fix what is broken or please everyone. It was a long winter and a walk in in the windy city confirmed that I must stay the course with new responsibilities that will make it difficult to be here on a daily basis. That being said, I think the circumstances will force me to value this place as a sanctuary. This place is not about work, but about creativity and moving towards the life I have always dreamed of. So I ask your patience and understanding if I do not always participate in this amazing conversation, knowing all the while that I am stealing moments to read your work and aspire to your greatness.

Flash 55-A New Day

A new reality
Nothing to do with
The economy
More about my
Psychology
Work for the man
Anything’s possible
But make a plan
Find a way
Dream
Amidst the day to day
Scheme
Take time to play
Let go of the past
For this much I know
Time moves fast
So many places to go

C.M. Jackson 2010

According to a recent study, the recession ended in June 2009....if you can say it 55 words--you know what to do, go talk to the g-man. Happy Friday and here's to the next upturn !

Meaning

Books are amazing in their ability to educate and transport. A truly gratifying experience is when I return to the same book and gain a different meaning or gift from that time spent re-turning the pages. I can't predict when I will pick up a book I've read, because there are so many to be read.

I am uncertain as to why I chose to pick up Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning again. Perhaps, it was because I knew I would not have time for anything but work and needed some inspiration to remind me of my higher pursuits, that being time for writing and creativity or maybe, it was that I am a time in my life where I am thinking about where I am I going? Not certain,but I am better for having pulled it off the shelf.

Mr. Frankl was neurologist, a psychologist and a survivor of the Holocaust. When I first read Mr. Frankl's book I was 19 and it was part of a literature course syllabus. My focus at that time was his survival of the Holocaust and his ability to overcome the loss of his parents, his wife and their unborn child. At 19, the thought of losing everything and everyone was incomprehensible. When he wrote this book, he was trying to regain the life and book he had lost before the camps. Frankl was in four. With his writing, he was very concerned about mentioning the Holocaust and his experiences, not wanting it to be about his singular experience but rather all who had survived. Frankl, however, realized without this discussion he could not make clear his ultimate belief about man's ability to find meaning in life's existence.

So, now some thirty years later, I understand it is about the why. Frankl believed and counseled people about the why we survive and how. It is because we have a goal, a hope and therefore, can survive anything once we recognize that one thing. It could be as simple as a flower in a meadow, work that is important, family,an interest in art or music.

At a particularly dark time in my life, I told a dear friend who questioned my state, "I would find happiness anywhere." Meaning whatever life sent me I somehow found a way to see a flower in the meadow or the kindness in another soul's heart. I have and never will let negativity grab hold of me. I shake and fight it off, keeping my eye on the wonder of life, whether it be Mr. Jackson, my family, my friends, Max or just a flower in the field.

Perhaps, I didn't miss Frankl's point after all. My hope going forward is the ability to connect and create with an understanding of the past and an eye on the future.

Theme Thursday--Late

"There is an immeasurable distance between late and too late."



Og Mandino
 

Jump into that fountain and feel the sun on your face. Walk into the room fashionably late and meet someone who changes your world. Work hard for many years and take time to teach someone who will in turn teach you. It is all possible when one chooses to see the possibilities.

Walking the walk, talking the talk

The best way out is always through.


Robert Frost

Times are rough for everyone right now. I acknowledge this as I review my past year and start to work on my next two years' business plan.  I sigh, I shout and wonder which direction to go. I am certain that I am not alone all the while angry at this new environment. I am lucky in that I have work that engages and pays me well. Yet, I know something is different and if I do not recognize the difference and therefore, change my approach, success is not guaranteed. The range of emotions that go along with this understanding are not fun nor exhilarating but rather annoying and terrifying. It is not unlike hiking in those lovely wooden shoes--painful, I am certain.
 
So I focus on what brings me joy--Mr. Jackson, Max, my family as I lace up my hiking boots. I fill my pack with snacks,camera, water and start walking. I know as I begin the trail is unknown which is somehow energizing as I walk, the late autumn leaves clinging to the trees. As I take the first hill, I do not question my ability or curse the elevation, I just move forward--it isn't easy and at times, I feel like turning back, but I keep moving forward knowing the answer lies ahead.

One Voice

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.


Margaret Mead





I believe in sychronicity---in reading my favorite blogs I noticed that a conversation regarding dreams was developing, one about the dreams we have while sleeping or realizing a dream as witnessed by Susan Boyle's amazing performance.





Susan Boyle--Read each blogger's thoughts as well as hear Susan's gift:


http://www.themetaphoricalmagpie.com/2009/04/this-woman-is-living-her-dream.html


http://rebeccarites.blogspot.com/2009/04/introducing-susan-boyle_15.html





Dreams and their ability to educate, reveal or just make you think:





http://thegoldpuppy.blogspot.com/2009/04/bloggers-in-dreams.html





http://www.themetaphoricalmagpie.com/2009/04/oddball-dreams.html



So after reading, listening --I look forward to my nightly dialogues during sleep as well as admit to crying each time I hear Susan sing. The possibilities that exist if we just put our selves in the moment and just act on our dreams--amazing.