So...What's Next?!?

My responses to today's CNN stories

There are two stories on CNN today that I have some opinions about.

Regarding Judge Sotomayor.

First off - I love that Rush still has such a loud voice and a large stage. He is simply the epitome of the radical, backwards thinking of his followers; citizens and politicians alike. He has enough drugs in his system to say things that others wouldn't for fear of backlash, but at the same time a few still do crawl out from under their rocks to support his idiot-ology.

Alright - as far as Judge Sotomayor, I believe she is qualified based on her achievements not based on her gender or race. I think the real reverse discrimination that is happening is that people have the ability to question whether she has climbed her career ladder with the help of her minority status or because of her qualifications. The reality is there are a lot of minorities trying to climb career ladders - it is not an open field just because you are a minority. To think otherwise is to think that there are only a few minorities striving for success right now and that is just not true in any way. It is very likely that she did get a favor or two in her career because of her minority status, but that is nothing compared with the many various obstacles that she overcame based on her skills, intelligence, personality and drive.

What I do not like is that people can suggest that she is not qualified and that she has only reached her status because she is a minority and I wonder if this is not a good argument that it is time to end affirmitive action? I pose this question not as a suggestion but as a question that I feel needs more serious discussion.

The other question that was asked tonight is related to "what is our children's future?" This question comes from the news story that GM is going into bankruptcy. The media is painting this as the doom and gloom for our children's future.

First I will quote from my favorite poem

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You especially cannot know your children's future if you even begin to think that the auto industry assembly line has ANY relation to their future. Our economy is changing, fast! The world is changing even faster and those who have their head in the sand of the good ol' days can not even begin to see how bright our children are today and how bright their future is.

Jobs that exist today will NOT be here tomorrow for many reasons. That is why we have to prepare our children to be smart, creative, independent thinkers who are also global citizens and who would NEVER question whether a latino woman was being nominated for the supreme court because of her minority status. To raise our children to be prepared for the future that awaits them, we need to raise them where the words "minority status" are no longer part of their vocabulary.

What OUR Responsibility is Now

I watched bits and pieces of an interview of Bill Clinton yesterday. He seems very optimistic about the economic recovery. All polls are giving Obama positive reviews already.

I am seeing some programs in place where banks are freezing foreclosures and re-writing loans. That is a really smart decision. Why foreclose, put more houses on the market, houses that will not be taken care of and will begin to lose value rapidly and will put more people on the streets? It is not a good thing for anyone anywhere. Making it so that people can stay in their homes and stay committed to their financial responsibility is the right thing to do. 

As far as the auto industry bail-out - I am torn on this one. The auto market needs a dramatic change or this bail-out, if they get it, will be like putting a band aide on a severed limb. First the union. Now my dad was a big union man, Communications Workers of America. I saw first hand the good, bad, and ugly of the union. The one thing I saw yesterday was the UAW was talking about that their responsibility was to help the auto industry by making certain concessions. I applaud that. But they should also make a few demands. Demands for more training, more innovation, more efficiency. The demand to be positioned as a leader in the world again. I think for those of us who love watching turn arounds, this is going to be very fun to watch. So many books will be written about this...

But what about those of us in sales? This is the time to pull together, work together and keep hitting the pavement. So, who is in sales? Every single person who still has a job and every single person looking for a job. My husband is a project architect/designer. Fortunately his office is hanging in there pretty well, but a firm he interviewed with several years ago recently laid off 80 people. His industry is shaking. My husband is looking for more jobs to bring into his firm - he is not a sales person, but he knows his job depends on the firm having work. Leaders need to be focused on getting their teams to work together across departments.

Also, the world of business has been more and more about strategic partnerships, this is a good time to work closer and tighter with potential partners pulling ideas, strategies and resources together.

I am personally focusing on a few key partnerships and finding ways to work as a team as often as possible.

Things have been tough for a lot of people. For some things may just be starting to turn south or be getting tougher. For a few that are still sailing, they need to still strengthen their positions. This is no time for "poor mes" and "ho hums" this is a time to look for opportunities that may have been hidden when things were going well, a time to get innovative, a time to strengthen our work ethic, and a time to find out, again, what we each are capable of.

For those who have high expectations of Obama, please remember he said, yes WE can -- an emphasis on the we.

Conspiracy Theories and Focused Energy

About a week ago my oldest brother called me to tell me about a 2 hour movie that was on the Internet about many different conspiracies. It's a funny relationship I have with my brother. We rarely talk, which is unfortunate, but when we get on the same page about a political or religious topic we end up talking forever. I am still soaking this video in before I call him about it.

Apparently this video has been around for a couple of years. Nothing in it was a shock to me or anything new to me. The url is http://zeitgeistmovie.com/.

The first thing that comes to mind is - wow I just watched a two hour movie online. Bandwidth is HERE!

Beyond that it talks about the conspiracy theories around Judeo-Christian religions with the purpose of convincing people to return to their pagan roots or at least to a renewed understanding of where some of this might have all began. As someone who questions everything and always have I have already gone down the path of religious conspiracies and how different faiths are similar and how the concept of creative commons already existed when it comes to how we created many of our mythologies. The battle among different faiths has always been incredibly silly to me - because the differences are so small and random. I do not mean to belittle other people's passion, I just don't understand the intense emotions around it all.

The video personally loses me when it suggests that there was no such person as Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus Christ (or whatever his birth name was) did exist the same as Moses, Sidhartha, and many, many other spiritual leaders. When I studied Buddhism in college what struck me was how pure Sidhartha's message was and how it became warped and corrupted as the message spread. Basically marketing lies and exaggerates and does whatever it needs to do to sell, not just in the world of business but in the world of spirituality as well. I think the same is true with Jesus. He was a great spiritual leader, one of many who have walked this earth but the stories that were told to spread his teachings were exaggerated and mis-represented of his actual teachings. Just don't argue with me on that point unless you want to justify the useless killings, tortures, wars, and more that have happened in his name.

The video goes on to talk about conspiracies in our government starting with 9/11. Alright that I can buy into, not because of the overwhelming evidence that is everywhere, but mostly because of my gut. I trust my gut more than anything. It rarely let's me down. On 9/12 I woke up, turned to my husband and said, "Bush let this happen." It was all so clear to me. Everything from that moment forward confirmed what was in my gut.

There are several other conspiracies in the movie, all that play well to the book 1984, possibly the scariest book I have ever read.

But I do not fear the future. I have listen to this video a number of times since last week and I ask myself why this information does not scare me.

Here's the thing. I am not oblivious to the fact that we are all being watched. Google is my friend in technology, but I do not trust them. I do not know how many people realize this, but Google's initiative for personalized search requires that they track your search history. The way they do that is by getting you to sign up for their various services and once you are logged in they start tracking. No one tells you this is going on. As soon as I learned about it I went in and found that option to suspend them from tracking my search history or web activity. Now, I put everything out there. I mean everything. I just signed up for a really cool service at Jott.com where if I use it to the fullest extent every moment of my life can be tracked. I am ok with that. But I suspended my Google search history just to see how it would affect my search results.

When I was watching the movie I would google certain topics as they came up. When they began to discuss the North American Union, I went to my search toolbar and typed in "North Am" and immediately Google suggested North American Union. Why? Of all the things I could have been searching, why did Google suggest that? I could have been typing anything in there. Google is not supposed to be tracking my search behavior and web history....but apparently they are.

I turned to the only person I know who is completely plugged in, Tim Moenk. He gave me an answer I could live with, that it was a video loaded in Google Video so it was responding like a Google adwords. That worked until later when I typed in "North Am" North American Union was suggested again. Eeeerrrrrie.

Alright, so here is the thing. Many people might react to this by saying they are not going to put their personal information out there. Some of my friends have made a more radical choice. They put it all out there so there is nothing left to hide. Nothing that can be held against them. I think that is pretty cool.

Now to the focused energy aspect. I still question why I do not get scared, freaked out, or whatever about these conspiracies. Here is what I think. My mom would watch something like this video or other bits of information that claim our rights are being taken and we will be slaves to the rich and powerful, believe it and take that attitude that there is nothing we can do about it. I look at it and say, "yeah - go ahead and try!"

Throughout history people have continuously gained more and more independence. Just the other night I was telling my boys some stories about my dad, who was very active in his union, and they asked what a union was. I started my explanation with the stories of how working conditions were when we had the fires in the factory that killed women and children, the fact that children worked, and the book Slaughter House Rules. I talked about how the Unions were not the most honorable institutions, but it took some drastic means to get to the outcome and that Union rights were actually where my dad and I differed in opinion, because I believed by the 80's unions were harmful.

So where does that leave me today? With hope. As I mentioned in the post about the Civil Rights exhibit, I am so proud of what people have been able to overcome. We have groups of people in this world who are small in comparison to those who were trying to dominate them or in some cases eliminate them, who have overcome the lies and the torture and abuse. I can not believe any effort to rule people could ever be accomplished. Especially today in a world where we are able to gather and collaborate unlike any time in history. There may be theories out there, some may be true, that there are groups wanting to use this technology against us. Well....let them try. I will not focus my energy on who is tracking what is in my life, I am focused on what good I can bring with what I do in my life.

On that note, I have been immersed in research related to social change, civil engagement, and so forth. The information I have found only continues to give me hope that we continue to build a better future every day. That is where we need to continue to focus our energy. Anything else that tries to scare us or control us should be ignored, because it simply can not and will not get in the way of the human spirit that has come this far.

Activism vs Attachment

This morning I visited the Atlanta Soto Zen Meditation Center for the second time. This time I bypassed the newcomers class and went straight in to sit in zazen. I had a lot of questions on my heart and my mind needed to be quiet so that I could find some answers.

The first answer I discovered comes from the realization that there is something I have been lacking my whole life, which is order/structure. On my first visit to the Zen Center during Q&A I questioned the need for rituals. A question which led into a 30 minute dialog about the need to know what to expect, a need to be able to immediately get into the right mindset based and the imprint you have from basic rituals. I was assured that the rituals were not in place as a means to tell a person how to be, but to establish an order within the community and to set expectations for yourself. Today I realized I need more order/structure in my life and perhaps that means creating a few personal rituals for myself.

The second thing that came to mind was leadership. Specifically I found my personal understanding of leadership. I believe we each are leaders in some way, the difference is how many people and which people are following you. Each action we take we become an example, we show a way of being. We do not need to consciously state "I am a leader" in order to lead, we simply live a life that others find worthy of following.

That led me into my third answer which was to live in the present moment. I tend to think too much. I dwell on the past or I try to predict the future. This morning I really began to understand that there is only now, this moment. In regards to the past, I no longer have a choice, it's done and over with. In regards to the future I have no choice, there are too many variables at play, but at this exact moment I have unlimited choices of what to do, what to say, what to think and how to feel. The actions of the present moment lead us to the next moment where we get to make new choices again and again.

After meditation we have a discussion topic with Q&A. The topic today was related to political activism, specifically around the environmental changes. Buddhism stresses the idea of non-attachment, but the question is how can we be active, make a difference, and also embrace the idea of non-attachment?

Although that was not the exact question I walked in with it was very much related. How do you make a difference and still embrace non-attachment? Where is the balance?

I was the first person to be called on and I shared my answer of Leadership, Order, and Living in the Present. Other answers that came from the group also touched me and provided insights for my own personal questions.

One of my questions is "where does thought come from?" That is a question I often struggle with, as my thoughts often dictate my actions and every action causes a re-action, but where are these thoughts coming from? When I sit in mediation what voices am I quieting and what insights am I supposed to pay attention to? One girl in the group who recently decided to go to Africa to help out mentioned how her choice was based on sitting in mediation to clear the way so that she can hear where the flow of the Universe needed to take her next. That makes a lot of sense to me.  I understood today that thoughts can be just noises, echos of other people's words and sentiments, but what I am searching for when I go into mediation is that voice that comes from inside that is packaged with the right feelings but is also void of a sense of self.

Another answer today came in the form of questioning the difference between attachment and addiction. I know what it is like to live with a person with an addiction, but I still have not figured out what I can do about it. Perhaps I have been attached to thinking there is something I can do about other people's addictions. But there isn't. I am learning to understand addiction more and more. Today the person who brought it up mentioned that an addict does not even realize what they are doing. That is true, and yet I found myself getting in the face of addicts to show them what they are doing, not backing down, not letting go without regard of how the addict may in turn want to hurt me. I remember getting a bloody lip from my father once, but I kept on him. As this person in the group continued to explain his answer, he said the difference is when you're attached you know what you are doing and you continue to do it because you expect a certain outcome. Indeed. You are indeed hoping for a positive outcome.

So the question returned to activism vs attachment and the answers returned to taking care of yourself first, leading the way, and living in the present moment.  Stay active with positive thoughts and pure intentions, but do not cling to any specific outcome.

Sleep, Politics, and a Long Awaited Dinner

That title pretty much describes my day. I slept a lot today - and I feel better now. I should be back to normal by tomorrow night for the kick off of SoCon08. Most of the family is better now. My oldest son, who did not get the flu - just a bad cough - still has the cough...perhaps a 24 hour bug was not so bad. My youngest was full of energy today - I slept.

I did check emails periodically throughout the day and at one point was informed of a bill that is causing some concern.

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 9 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to forgery and fraudulent practices, so as to provide definitions; to provide that “it shall be illegal for the owner or operator of a social networking website to allow a minor using a protected computer to create or maintain a profile web page on a social networking website without the permission of the minor's parent or guardian and without providing such parent or guardian access to such profile web page; to provide for penalties; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.”

I was asked for my opinion and involvement. I have to think about this for a bit - though it seems time is of the essence, they are going to try to push the bill through tomorrow. One letter to the senator was shared with me which made the valid point that there are more sexual predators in our neighborhoods percentage wise than on MySpace and that our children are more at risk going to the mall than having a profile on MySpace. I completely agree with that. I have had this "debate" often regarding me just posting information about my children online and having their pictures on my Flickr account.

I personally grew up in a "rough" part of Miami - shopped at the Sears that Adam Walsh was abducted from, personally knew another kid who was abducted and had one personal scary incident myself. So I guess I should be the first paranoid mom in line. But - I teach my kids how to be safe and smart and I choose to live life without unnecessary fear.

So what do I think about this Bill?  I personally do not think I have a lot of "passion" around it because I guess I do not see the long term consequences yet of such a Bill, but I do think it is unnecessary. Parents, such as me, who monitor their children's Internet activities will do so with or without such a bill. Parents who don't, and have children who want to create a profile, will have children who do what we have all done as a child, and forge their parent's consent. So I am not seeing what this bill is solving. So I have to think about this more and would love to know the opinions of others.

Later tonight, I did feel decent enough to get out for dinner. A long awaited dinner with Josh Hallett in that twice I have canceled plans on him when he was up here, and we have crossed each other's paths so many times but never just sat down and got to know each other. He gave me a lot of insight on what he does and some great advice for my own small company.  The one bit of advice I have heard a lot is that I need to get out to more conferences around the country - I need to put that in this year's plan - I know.

Well back to sleep so that I can have a productive and fun filled weekend this week. But I leave you with a quote -

While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about. ~Angela Schwindt

The Battle Continues

It is 12:44 am right now - About 5 hours ago I took my drug of choice....Nyquil. As I slowly faded away I realized I did not write a post for the day - my new strategy was to write a post every night before going to bed.

The Nyquil wore off - - the chills set in. So I showered, took more  Nyquil and found myself restless.

I thought I would fulfill my nightly quota of a blog post before the drugs kicked in.

I DO NOT HAVE THE FLU ! but I am sick.... Yes - perhaps and a bit stubborn.

My  youngest son came home with a fever on Monday and woke up sick yesterday. When I went to give him medicine he also insisted he was not sick.  That is just a twisted since of humor God has that people are  provided with children that have similar personalities as their parents. I personally find it challenging to get upset with their inappropriate behavior or stubborness when I know they are just doing what comes naturally.

Anyway - a couple nights ago I claimed to be 'invincible' and posted this picture of Wonder Woman...yeah - forgot that she deflects bullets with her wrists. What if she is shot at with a shot gun where the bullets spray in various directions? Then what Wonder Woman? Are you wrists fast enough to keep you from harm?

That is what these viruses are and there is definitely more than one and they are being spayed at us all like a shot gun blast. But I have yet to be defeated - I have Nyquil on my side....and it is just now starting to kick it...so - good night.

This House Has Been Quarantined

Didn't ANYONE get their flu shots this year?

I didn't - we never do. I have issues with shots and drugs. Nothing that I could defend with any credibility, just issues.

I only have gotten the flu once - 4 or 5 years ago. My husband and I both caught it on Christmas Eve, the one Christmas my mom and step father came up to visit. They caught it from us. They have not returned during flu season since then...

My husband has been suffering from the flu since yesterday. My oldest son is now complaining of a sore throat. That is actually kinda funny for me because his voice has changed but not really deep yet - but today it is deep and I just giggle at his suffering.

Anyway I have been playing nurse all day today in addition to working and playing mom.

I have had two meetings canceled this week because the people I was meeting have the flu...I mean wow!

I just sneezed - like 2 minutes ago - but I am going with the standard thought process that I am invincible.

That thought process kept me from getting the chicken pox while caring for my oldest when he had them (I have never had them), from getting strep the multiple times I have nursed my husband when he had strep (have you ever noticed singers get strep more than others?) and all the other bugs I should have caught the various times of playing mom, which I will not go into graphic detail - being a mom can get gross.

For all others, this house is under quarantine - for me  - I just shield off all danger....

"Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted." - Denis Waitley

Everything I know about Social Media I learned from watching my son play XBox Live

Alright - a few people such as Tim Moenk, Amber Rhea, Grayson Daughters, Josh Hallet, Jim Stroud, Rusty Tanton, Chris Boese, and many more might take a little offense to that title. The reality is most of what I know I learned from very smart, brave forward thinking people.. :)

However, I developed some profound (if I do say so myself) insights from watching my son play XBox Live.

Today I had a wonderful meeting with Les Ottolenghi who is setting up an amazing program schedule for the TAG Enterprise 2.0 society - but I digress.

I was telling him my theory that XBox Live and all the other ways our kids are connected will end wars in the next decade or two. Our children will not want to battle the friends that they have known and grown up with online. They will accept, understand, and appreciate the differences that our generation and generations past have killed over.

He agreed on the fighting aspect but felt the new wars will be fought over available resources. I thought that made since... humans will have to go through stages in the evolutionary process. The majority have stopped enslaving and torturing other humans (unfortunately I am aware that this still happens in many many places - but we are at least appalled by it and it is not
accepted globally like it once was) - next we will stop killing each other over our differences. However that does not mean we will be ready to play nice. We will probably just move into parallel play - which means we will have evolved into toddlers. Eventually we might be able to share.

Later tonight I got to hang out with some friends and again I made the comment that everything I have learned from social media I learned from watching my son play XBox Live. The point I was making then was that people of celebrity status, whose careers benefit by connecting with their fans, but who also get so overwhelmed that they have to escape - can utilize social media to gain their humanity back, connect with fans while playing. I connected those dots when my son informed me that Jack Black plays Halo. I began to wonder if my son ever got to play with Jack Black and did not know it. Then I thought what wonderful PR that was if he did play and everyone knew it was him...

Speaking of celebrities, I can not get Heath Ledger out of my mind today. I first saw him in 10 Things I Hate About You - one of my favorite movies - and then in Knight's Tale - another favorite. He is/was damn good looking, but so what - so are many who died young. So why does he keep coming to mind today...I guess he just did not "seem the type" to be found dead.

Finally - I think since I have a fresh start with this blog, I am going to end each post with a quote as opposed to a random quote randomly.

Many people can appreciate the fact that I can appreciate this quote...so this is for you (you know who you are :))

Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill