Magpie Tales-Common Good

Lost my job
Hedging my money
My kids have to eat
Tax someone else
National deficit
Socialism
The end
The start
Rich versus poor
Voices from
The left
And
The right
Zero sum game
Unless someone blinks
Let's just focus
On the future
Our children
Our earth
Reach out
Honor the past
Make it happen
Now

C.M. Jackson 2011


This is a Magpie Tale  and so much more...

Monday Morning Wake Up Call---From sea to shining sea

Happy 4th to all--let's remember and honor our men and women fighting abroad for our freedom and independence.

Count your blessings!

A Room with a View-Los Angeles Part II

Museum and libraries have always provided me with a sense of peace and hope---Peace because they are so quiet, it lets my overactive mind slow down, just look and absorb. Hope because once my mind slows down and absorbs, I am in awe of the possibilities that exist in this world.


So in November 2010, I found myself in Los Angeles on a business trip and truly a stranger in a new land. Thankfully, a dear friend was there to guide me though the wilderness and bring me to a place that I could feel at home. The Getty is perhaps the best way to comprehend all that is Los Angeles, impossible, improbable, large but approachable and just perfect in its imperfection.

A Sputnik Moment

President Obama, in his State of the Union Speech, spoke about a sputnik moment --our generation's time to rise to the challenge in an ever changing and competitive world. The call to innovate and educate while not new, was needed. There was a concern from the pundits as to whether everyone would 'get' the reference to sputnik. Hello--there's google and yes,'young people' will look it up if they don't understand the reference.

I also found the opening moments inspiring "each of us is a part of something greater - something more consequential than party or political preference."

It is up to all of us, regardless of age and politics, to do something to institute change, peacefully, thinking of Gabrielle Giffords and in memory of Christina Taylor Green.

Let's each of us do what ever we can to acknowledge the joy Congresswoman Giffords feels in working for her constituents and Christina's excitement in meeting Giffords so that their efforts are not in vain.

Thank You

The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where the stand in times of challenge and controversy.- Martin Luther King Jr.

Magpie Tales-Lessons learned

Crashing into brick walls
Develops character
Loving and losing
Opens the heart for true love
Missed opportunities
Awaken the mind to possibilities
Failures
Drive the potential for future success
Doors closing
Signal a new beginning
Fear, sadness and doubt
Are just moments in a life
Filled with blessings
Count them

C.M. Jackson 2010

Inspiration and more may be found at Magpie Tales.

Flash 55-Esperanza

33 men lost

In

Darkness

Their families
And
The world
Watching
Wondering
Praying
Found
Rising up
Like a phoenix
Evidence
Of the good
That is possible
When
We work
As one
Heart
As one
Love
As one
Mind
Sharing
Knowledge
Solving
Problems
Ignoring
Embracing
Differences
Crossing
Borders
Families
Reunited
Anything’s
Possible
When
There is
Hope

C.M. Jackson 2010
 
It's Friday and you know what to do--say it in 55 words and go see the g-man! Happy Weekend to all!

Flash 55-High Noon

Hey cowboy
We knew you when
Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Were your friends
We held your hand
When you were alone
No one could understand
Told you could fly
We are your home
It wasn’t a lie
Now you are far away
And it hurts
You have a choice
Lose the spurs
Use your voice

Flash! It is Friday. If you can tell a story in 55 words, you need to go tell it to the g-man.

Flash 55-Sparklers

Sparklers crackling

Children race barefoot

Into the approaching night

Until the man in the moon winks

Fireworks blast off

Showers of color light the sky

They stand silent

The thud echoing in their ears

Joy and fear in their eyes

The glory of what is possible

Innocence and belief

Our future

Reflected in their faces

If you can tell a story in 55 words--go see the man, the g-man! Happy 4th of July to all!

Monday Morning Wake Up Call--It's a New Day

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant.

A dear friend of mine sent this to me this weekend. It is from 2007, so I apologize if you have seen it, but I felt it was relevant given all of the discourse regarding the future of our country. Here's the thing, if one 20 year old thought this, then I am willing to wager there's a few more, along with some thirty, forty, fifty and yes, even some 60 or more year olds thinking, concerned, but thinking about the direction we are headed and the possibilities for the future. When I began this blog a year or so ago, I did it with the resolve it was outside of my work and that will not change. However, when I received this video, I listened to the 20 year old voice and realized some things about how I approach my work and most importantly, the people I connect with in my work day now. Everyone has been impacted by the economic crisis. What I realized is this recession in some way has been a blessing --I have more time to connect and listen. We all are just trying to find a way to pay our bills, put a roof over our heads, feed our families, put our kids through college and protect our retirement --A reminder ...the future awaits and it is bright if we choose to see it as so and work together, regardless of generation...each generation can add to the vision so long as there is a dialogue... now get busy and make it happen!

Monday Morning Wake Up Call- Remember..Yes We Can!

Now more than ever we need to put aside our differences and work together---cross the room and grab a hand--yes, we can...

Perspective

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.
Ryunosuke Satoro

Presidents' Day

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.


"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

"No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass."

George Washington
 

Let's remember, give thanks for their efforts and continue their good work.

A Dream

How has Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.inspired me? Two words-courage and vision.

For more information and inspiration go here.

One World

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.  Margaret Mead




Tonight I watched 60 Minutes and listened as Byron Pitts interviewed volunteer doctors regarding the conditions under which they are working. The term used, "Civil War medicine", terrified me. With limited supplies including rubbing alcohol to sterilize instruments and no electricity, the doctors have had to resort to the use of hand saws to remove limbs of those injured. As Dr. Paul Farmer a volunteer doctor walked Byron Pitts to the location where bodies were being disposed of because of concern for public health, he noted while horrifying, it was necessary for people to see for themselves the horror and therefore, understand the need to assist in any way possible.
I chose the YouTube video above because like the 60 Minutes interview, it not only shows the faces of the people devastated by this earthquake but also gives one a sense of their strength, their joy and their belief in what is possible.

I have used Margaret Mead's quote a number of times here. Given what my fellow bloggers have written, I am convinced she was absolutely right about the power of a group people to make change. Distinct viewpoints all engaging their readers in thought and the need for action.  Read on:

Keeping it in Perspective

Help!

In Honor of Molly Hightower   (see sidebar)

From Texas to Turkey to Haiti

Happy Sabbath

Call to Action?

Maybe February...

Prayers for the People of Haiti

Conscious Friday: Yele Haiti

For My People

Bloggers Unite for Haiti

Relief Work in Haiti

One more take from 60 Minutes...A US soldier sent on her first deployment witnessed her parents homeland for the first time. She took solace in the fact that she could speak to the people and they could understand that help was on  its way. Their response was that they were proud of her and that she was doing a good job.

Theme Thursday-Surface

is it below
or above
hard to tell

when the wall seems
too tall
to scale

the waves crashing
noise
thinking
nowhere to turn
listen
a chime sings
with the wind
feel
the rock
climb

aspens whispering

sunrise awakens
swim to shore
sand and salt
cleanses

heart beats
new beginnings
await

A New Year...One Word...Realize

On this day of your life, dear friend, I believe God wants you to know...
...that you are valued more than you know, by more people than you think.
It might be good to get in touch today with your true worth.
It is much higher than you often give it credit for being --
and now is a perfect time to know, and to gently assert, that fact.
This is not about arrogance and it is not about over confidence.
It is about a simple, dignified Knowing.
You will not have to think but a second to understand precisely why you received this message today.
--Neale Donald Walsch

I treasure this time of year. I take time to hear the voice that cannot be heard above the noise of have tos, shoulds,did nots and failures, perceived or actual.

Many years ago, a dear friend of mine told me that no matter who you are--mother, father, sister,brother, wife or husband,  one must always have a place in their being that is exclusive and sacred to the individual ...this to me is "a simple,dignified Knowing." 

My resolution for this year is to take that knowing and act upon it.

To realize
I must
be conscious
of a plan
understand
goals
think
of process
do
what makes me happy
envision
tomorrow
fancy
the impossible
achieve
my due
acknowledge
blessings
live

A Wish for the New Year

For many 2009 was a tough year. Here's hoping that 2010 brings a new outlook and possibilities. Peace, health and happiness to all. Cheers!!

The Festival of Lights

May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind. ~Author Unknown

Ripples in the stream

The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt. Author unknown
Courtesy Sylvia and June Saville

This quote and the blog it comes from crystallizes why I come back here to write, to read the thoughts and view the work of so many gifted and creative people.  It is an on-going conversation of what matters to each of us and a forum in which we can share and experience alternative perspectives and ideas. It is a haven, a sanctuary and a platform from which all of is possible. Pretty cool.