Tag Archives: Hope

Top 11 Posts of 2011

Well, we’re almost to 2012 and recently I posted my top 11 photos of ’11, so I thought I would dig around in my stats and share with you the items that a plurality of you decided to visit over the year. They’re ranked by number of views.

11: (Dis)Engaging Google+ – I’ve written that I’m not a fan of Google+. Based on my experiences, my opinion hasn’t changed from August 11, 2011.

10: 10 Things (About me) – Interesting, this post, written around my birthday in 2010 garnered enough views this year to make my list. I find it funny that it’s number 10. :)

9: Oh, to be Popular. #199 – My 199th blog post here. A photo essay of my top Flickr photos. Be sure to check out #1 if you haven’t already.

8: Crossroads. Help Me, Pathfinder! – A great post about my future education and where I want to go from here. I say it was a great post because it offered me some good conversations with people about the state of education, what I should focus on as I continue forward and helped me figure out where I truly am in my head.

7: Good Customer Service: America’s Tire – I’m thrilled that a “Good Customer Service” story made the list. The adage goes, a happy customer will tell no one, while an unhappy customer will tell everyone. That’s not true in my case, I try to give equal time to good and bad customer service.

6: O.H. in the E.R. – On of my funnier (and sad) posts about an ill-fated trip to the ER last August. My pain is your joy. The things you hear in an ER waiting room are rather funny. If you take the time to listen.

Steps
(Photo Credit: Sea Turtle on Flickr)

5: Following the Pack (or not) – A post from last February where I offer my commentary on a “gorilla marketing tactic” on Twitter that was horribly spammy. I found it interesting that my desire to speak up was met with extreme hostility and mob mentality, which border-lined on bullying. I still stand by my opinions and observations. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb. Be bold.

4: The Lone Zebra, an Educational Opportunity – Written regarding a kerfuffle in the Real Estate Community about copyright and trade dress infringement. This gave me an opportunity to put into real life practice some things I had been learning in my Business Law class. It was a great case study.

3: Guest Post: Judgment Between The Lines – I’m so thrilled you liked, or viewed, this post. It was an important post. A guest post by my close friend Sarah Salter, she writes about something I think we all struggle with: Judgement and its many forms. An extremely timely, timeless and poignant post, worthy of read, whether it’s your first time or tenth.

2: Missing The Mark: Sears – Christmas Customer Service – Wow. This post, written just six days ago, outlined some poor customer service I received from a National big box store. Outlining the systemic issues from corporate culture, to employee detachment (An employee adds his comments to the post) it has become one of my most popular Customer Service Commentary posts.

Singapore Fireworks Celebrations '08 - Korean Fantasia 3
(Photo Credit: Synchroni on Flickr)

1: You’re Welcome?!? - A post from this summer, I volunteered at a women only half marathon this year, I was struck and moved that almost every single runner, no matter how fatigued or festive, took a moment to thank the volunteers, when all I really was doing was standing in the middle of the road. I’m very thankful and grateful that this is my number one viewed post. It makes me believe that you all enjoy a little bit of gratitude in our world and maybe we/I need to be sharing a little more of it.

I’m extremely proud of these posts and some of them I think are close to “my best.” I hope that this streak continues in 2012!

So Amazing …And So Sad

I admit it. I’ve been watching the X-factor. It’s not because I like reality shows. It’s not because I like singing competitions, but because of this young girl:

At the end of the video, when she got the four yeses, did you hear it? Did you hear what she told the judges when given such a huge opportunity? Did you see the grace she displayed?

“Thank you, I won’t let you down.”

Such spunk. Such grace. Such hope and life. Such Maturity. Such a story that I couldn’t help but to root for her.

Seeing someone, so young, with so much confidence, with such a fire within, a light that carries forth, it’s breath-taking, and it’s inspiring.

And what a voice. It’s amazing.

Tonight, she was in the bottom two by number of votes, still a model of grace and confidence, with tears in her eyes, she still had a smile on her face. She assured one of the judges, “Please don’t cry, I’m good with anything.”

And the judges deadlocked; so America sent her home.

I still think she’s amazing. I really hope this isn’t the end of the line for her. She has such promise

On A Wing

image

I’m not a confident flyer.*

I hold my breath as if it is going to help. I know the logic behind it, more likely to … car wreck etc… But, I can’t help it. There is something about flying that defies all logic. That the science of aerodynamics defies the laws of gravity. There are many things I think of to help me through.

I try to enjoy the beauty of that moment when we mortals leave the ground, to experience that momentary life from our Earthbound duties.

I enjoy the scenery when we punch through the clouds. When we shed the burden of the dark grey skies and reach for the sun.

I take solace in knowing that at this moment, i am ok. I am leaving fear behind. I may be holding my breath and closing my eyes, but my heart is still beating and I am going places.

Sometimes you have to swallow your fear, hold your breath, close your eyes, listen to your heart and leap forward into the clouds.

* This post written mid-flight from Portland to Santa Rosa, California

What My Blog Says About Me.

Lets be honest. I don’t put a whole lot of thought into my blog. I don’t have an editorial strategy of what I’m going to post. I do, however, put a lot of “me” into this space. The sub-theme, “Heaping Scoops Of My Brain,” isn’t just clever witticism, This space is really all about what I’m thinking at the moment.

Clouds from a plane

I don’t have a tag cloud enabled on my blog for a reason. I don’t think it adds anything to your experience here. However, I was going through some of the features on the back-end of wp.com and I found it has a tag cloud of your commonly used tags and such. These are mine. As I approach the end of the year, and my 200th(!!) blog post, I was going to do some reflection to what I’ve learned in my time here. Prepare yourself. :)

I have never thought of myself as a motivator or as inspirational. I have always just thought myself as a storyteller, someone you can relate to and someone you’d like to call a friend.

Again, thanks for sticking around with me. I hope it gets better from here. (If you want to see the posts which are related to the above tags. Click on them, it should take you there.) Going through them, I learned a lot about my writing style and how it’s changed since I began this thing.

Crossroads. Help Me, Pathfinder!

I’m at a crossroad with my education. I am getting close to graduating with my Associates of Business Administration degree. (YAY!) However, I am also looking at what the future holds for me.

crossroads at night
(Used via Creative Commons, thank you dsmoljanovic!)

I am a storyteller, not as in, “the fish was this big” stories, but more so, “this is why you want to partner with us” stories. I also believe in great customer service; sales helps the bottom line grow but customer service is the key to retaining those customers. As I look at my career and what the future holds for me, I have come to the realization that I need to be working towards something greater when dealing with my education.

As you may have read in previous posts, I find it very sad that experience is not enough in this world, and that very few things that I have learned in the community college environment have been new applications to me in business. I’m certain there are things I will learn in the future that will help me in my career, but I’m having a hard time finding new things to learn, when I’ve been working for more than a decade.

3/52 Un trabajo duro / A hard work
(Used under creative commons, thank you bibigeek!)

Now that I’ve rambled on a bit, this is where I have to ask you, dear readers, for some help. As I near the end of my Associates program, I have to decide to go down one of three pathways:

1: Be done with education; take my Associates degree and run.
2: Spend more time in Community College and seek another specialized Associates Degree.
3: Pursue a Bachelors degree.

The first option is simple. Pack up my knapsack and run.

The second option is a little more difficult. I would have to do some serious soul searching to decide which program I would want to complete.
The Urn Burns (All Souls Procession)
Used under creative commons, thank you cobalt123!)

The third option is much like the second option, although I have narrowed it down to four disciplines: Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or Journalism.
Storytelling at West Lothian libraries
(Used under creative commons, thank you Scottish Libraries!)

The reasons for one of the above four degrees are simple:

I want to tell your story.

I want to communicate with your consumers.

I want to make the consumer experience better.

Looking forward into my crystal ball, I note that I have to have a degree or pedigree, to do so. So what direction do I take?

My grandmother has always told me, “when in doubt, punt,” so I am. Any advice/observations you may have would be greatly appreciated.

National Coming Out Day?

It’s once again National Coming Out Day. I meet this day with trepidation every year because I think that many people feel pressured to come out and do so fairly publicly.

Coming Out?

Coming out is a very personal decision. It’s not one that should be taken lightly, it’s ok to be who you are but it’s also something that you should ensure that you’re well equipped to handle, it’s not something you should go through alone. Sometimes, Coming out may just mean saying it to yourself, acknowledging it to your friends or maybe it doesn’t. Either way, having the proper support network is essential.

Having said that, some people are probably experiencing a great deal of strife as they are considering whether the should or shouldn’t come out. There’s been many statements/videos, from the President all the way down to my little dog and pony blog telling you, that if you’re having a rough time right now, it does get better - life does make you stronger, but sometimes it hits a couple of rough patches. Be wary of those.

There is a greater purpose to this day, something that should reach beyond any one group of individuals, it should reach deep inside each one of us.

o is for open
(Used under creative commons; thank you Michael W. May!)

This extends past a single day dedicated to coming out of the closet. It can mean a lot of things, “coming out” has been monopolized; however, in life we all have things that we may not feel strong enough to express publicly, that’s ok. You don’t have to, you should never feel pressured to do so, in the end, the only person you have to answer to is the one you see in the mirror everyday.

mirror ball
(Used under creative commons; Thank you Lovestruck!)

So today, and every day, be there for someone, even if it’s just saying hello. You never know what turmoil is just below the surface. You never know who needs to see that smile. You never know who would benefit from any of those things. You never know who will benefit from hearing, “You’re not alone, I’m here with you. Let’s walk together.” Maybe we all need to hear that.

It’s easy to make a difference and easy to change the course of someone’s day.

There is no harm in trying.

Roadkill… A Hierarchy

The other day I was out running along my normal route when a couple things happened to me that I really wanted to share. These things only reminded me that there is a food chain to everything.

Now, safety hawks would tell me that running with full headphones is probably not a good idea, I do it anyways. The music isn’t super loud so I would hear horns and sirens over the top of them, but I need a little something extra to help get me though the rougher points of my run. The other day, as I was running through my own path, on a sidewalk, I was scared almost right out of my shoes.
Bike in motion
(used under creative commons, thank you myplacedk!)
From behind, this bicyclist, having seemingly lost full control of his faculties came barreling right next to me, almost catching my right side, no lights, no warning, just him, flying down the street at 6 A.M. Startled but undaunted I carried on.

Towards the end of my run, there is a neighborhood I run through, no sidewalks, a couple hills, lots of trees. It’s really quite peaceful, though it’s pretty dark, and I love its serenity as I am really summoning the last bits of my energy to finally make it home and as it is just barely entering the dawn hour, it’s truly the darkest part of my run. In that last stretch of my run, I tend to go to autopilot, tapping into my music, not really focusing my eyes, just running, listening to my body and talking myself through each step. …And then under my foot I felt a crunch… and not just a stepping on a twig crunch, but something strange, so I stopped and looked back. Upon further examination, I realized that I had just stepped on a squirrel, who, by some other means had been recently made into flapjack.

Squirrel
(Used under creative commons, thank you, Californian Em!)

Uncontrollably, I started laughing, I couldn’t help myself, I don’t know if it was that I had realized that I had done so, or just that I didn’t know what else to do, but as I stood there for a second laughing, I realized that you have to open your eyes, even when life is hard, even when you’re willing yourself to go on, because there are always going to be those who you are larger and who seem to be gunning for you, and there will always be moments when you unintentionally step on someone. The real test is what you do in that moment, if you let it detour you, you miss out on finishing that goal or completing that task.

Be undeterred, be willing to laugh, be willing to shake off the momentary brushes with disaster. Be swift and just, carry on.

Not 10,000 – Just One.

Leagues, that is.

Have you ever been around something so intense that you almost feel that you are out of your elements, a friendship so great that it’s intensity becomes addictive. A moment where you just look around and wonder, how did this happen to me. And realize with gratitude that it is?

sunrise
(Photo used under creative commons, via Sean MacEntee)

I’ve had a couple of moments lately where I feel extremely fortunate to be involved in them, as if I’ve finally done something right to indicate the the universe that I deserve, or at the very least, can handle the moment.

This year has been such a roller-coaster of good and bad. I’ve had some rough patches, but I’ve also had some fantastic moments where, for a second, I’ve had to look around, catch my breath, and wonder, how did I get here? You could probably make some trite statement like: “Good things happen to good people.” Does that mean that when the bad was happening, that I was a bad person? I don’t buy that.

At the moment I’ve been feeling very fortunate and full of gratitude, so I just wanted to say thanks, in one of the many ways I know how.

Everybody Loves Presence

I was thinking. There are so many times when I’ve had insomnia, have been up late, or just plain was paying attention where I’ve noted that friends of mine post things automatically. I like to comment on those things, and then I wait…. and wait… and wait… and wait…

and wait…

Then, hours later, I get a response. It might be something simple as a “thanks for the ReTweet” (if on Twitter) or “liking” the comment (if on Facebook,) and I’ve completely forgotten what it was I commented on.

Empty Room
(Used under creative commons, thanks Let Ideas Compete!)

I’m fairly active on Social Media, I spend a great deal of time watching my feeds & lists. So I may be hyper-attentive, true. But, let’s consider my Twitter profile for a moment –

I swing for the fences with all my might. I tweet constantly, I over share without expectation. 100% me; my thoughts, no automation.

There are two things you’ll note from the beginning: I swing for the fences; sometimes I strike out, sometimes I connect. Secondly, It’s all me, whenever I post, if you comment, I respond. There’s no machine tweeting for me. I am the machine.

What are your tweets/posts saying about you, to your audience?

People like talking to people. If you’re generating action with your posts, you should probably be there to see it. Right?

Remembering the beginnings

Something I have noticed far too much is that when we become great we stop doing the things that lead to our greatness. We spend so much time actually telling the world how great we are, or how we became great, but we never sustain those things which got us there. We abandon ourselves.

This is perplexing to me. Why is it that we abandon our roots for the pastures of a greener nature? How can you talk the talk if you no longer walk the walk?

Empty
(Used under creative commons, thank you Christina Welsh!)

Life is full of great challenges, great triumphs and some pretty great tragedies. We often have great stories to tell. We want to share those moments with everyone; how we got through them, how we used our immense capacity for the powers of good, or the serious powers of evil.

Regardless of the eventual outcome of the forever spinning chapters of our life, why is it that we abandon every trail that we’ve blazed through, We are constantly looking backwards while spending so much effort telling calling out our greatness, leaving the trail empty, the pathway unfulfilled.

Maybe that’s the reward in itself, but to me, all that greatness is that you used to be someone/something not that you continue to be something.