What I find quite amazing and amusing is the vocabulary used to describe certain elements of our society. If a poor person drinks too much, he is called a drunk. Everyone else is an alcoholic. We know what men and women who fool around are called, but today, the word seems to be "rehab."
It seems to me that an alcoholic will drink whatever is available, even rubbing alcohol. I'm sure that a person with the current popular addiction, would engage with any woman available and not just a "type"--tattooed, or otherwise. When all of these women look alike, it makes me wonder about the so called "addiction."
Is "addiction" just another excuse for these "sexaholics"? A rose by any other name is still a rose. In this case, a thorn by any other name is still a thorn.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
"Load All the Coconuts"
Tonight I was watching one of my favorite shows (although this is only my second season). I always wondered why The Amazing Race won so many awards and now I know why.
My sister got me involved in an Amazing Race adventure with some of her friends so I really make sure that I don't miss any shows.
Tonight the teams had several tasks to perform, as they do every week. One of the tasks was to load coconuts onto a cart which was then pulled by an ox. Some of the teams were almost as "pronunciation challenged" as the oxen probably were. Seychelles was pronounced Say kil lees by some of them. Another said anonymous when he meant unanimous. Yikes, glad I didn't have any of them in my class.
Three of the teams loaded the coconuts into the carts but when they arrived at the fruit guy, he told him that they "didn't load all of the coconuts." He had to repeat it several times. One team was so frustrated that the guy wanted to give up. They all went back and found out that they had each left out one coconut.
It occurred to me that this is another metaphor for life. Sometimes we are so busy trying to "load a coconut" that we leave an important one behind. One that we can't
move forward without having loaded it.
What coconut have you left behind?
My sister got me involved in an Amazing Race adventure with some of her friends so I really make sure that I don't miss any shows.
Tonight the teams had several tasks to perform, as they do every week. One of the tasks was to load coconuts onto a cart which was then pulled by an ox. Some of the teams were almost as "pronunciation challenged" as the oxen probably were. Seychelles was pronounced Say kil lees by some of them. Another said anonymous when he meant unanimous. Yikes, glad I didn't have any of them in my class.
Three of the teams loaded the coconuts into the carts but when they arrived at the fruit guy, he told him that they "didn't load all of the coconuts." He had to repeat it several times. One team was so frustrated that the guy wanted to give up. They all went back and found out that they had each left out one coconut.
It occurred to me that this is another metaphor for life. Sometimes we are so busy trying to "load a coconut" that we leave an important one behind. One that we can't
move forward without having loaded it.
What coconut have you left behind?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
"GOBAMA"
I am just so excited about the passage of the health care reform bill. This is a very amazing time in the history of this country. In the first year of his presidency, this President whose name begins with "O" has already changed the landscape of this country.
My question is "What has happened to political civility? The other party (other than my party) has been acting like complete thugs. I have never seen such sore losers. If I were a real member of the other party, I would be thoroughly disgusted because these "fringe folks" have taken over. Who are their leaders?--The lady from Alaska? The talk show hosts? The former gun toting Vice President?
I know that the President will be fine. I am not worried at all because this is all a part of the great design by the master architect!
GOBAMA (this title is not original, one of my FSFs (former student friends) created it!
My question is "What has happened to political civility? The other party (other than my party) has been acting like complete thugs. I have never seen such sore losers. If I were a real member of the other party, I would be thoroughly disgusted because these "fringe folks" have taken over. Who are their leaders?--The lady from Alaska? The talk show hosts? The former gun toting Vice President?
I know that the President will be fine. I am not worried at all because this is all a part of the great design by the master architect!
GOBAMA (this title is not original, one of my FSFs (former student friends) created it!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
"Giving Yourself Away"
I went to a memorial service this past Saturday for a young (45)former student. There was standing room only a testament to the wonderful life she lived. Although she was a cancer survivor for many, many years, you never saw her without a smile. Her life was one of selflessness.
I was very impressed by the minister's theme. He said that just as she did, we should live our lives by "giving ourselves away." Many people live this way every day--I know a lot of them. When we give ourselves away, we cannot do it because we expect something in return. We should do it because we know that it is what really matters.
"Giving ourselves away" may mean different things to different people, but to me, it means living selflessly, sharing ourselves with others in every way. It means being a friend; knowing how to treat friends; helping those who need it; sharing knowledge and wisdom; doing meaningful work; celebrating diversity; living according to our principles, religious and otherwise;
Interestingly enough, as we "give ourselves away" we must also know how to receive and appreciate the gifts that others give us! The more we live, the more we recognize the importance of this concept.
As my friend said at my "freetirement" celebration--what really matters in life is the "dash" and not when we came and left. Our dashes should certainly represent the "gift of US" that we willingly and joyfully gave away.
I was very impressed by the minister's theme. He said that just as she did, we should live our lives by "giving ourselves away." Many people live this way every day--I know a lot of them. When we give ourselves away, we cannot do it because we expect something in return. We should do it because we know that it is what really matters.
"Giving ourselves away" may mean different things to different people, but to me, it means living selflessly, sharing ourselves with others in every way. It means being a friend; knowing how to treat friends; helping those who need it; sharing knowledge and wisdom; doing meaningful work; celebrating diversity; living according to our principles, religious and otherwise;
Interestingly enough, as we "give ourselves away" we must also know how to receive and appreciate the gifts that others give us! The more we live, the more we recognize the importance of this concept.
As my friend said at my "freetirement" celebration--what really matters in life is the "dash" and not when we came and left. Our dashes should certainly represent the "gift of US" that we willingly and joyfully gave away.
Friday, March 12, 2010
BERMS, "Inside and Outside"
Today we visited the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. It was ab out a fifteen minute drive from Portland. We were met there by one of my young friends who works there in a very interesting position.
The Nike campus is situated on many many acres of immaculately groomed grounds. It in barely visible from the outside and is only recognizable by a red swoosh at the main entrance. I think I only saw one other swoosh on the entire campus. Each building is named after a Nike star from Jerry Rice to Bo Jackson. Of course there is a Tiger building and a Michael Jordan building. Most of the buildings are huge and beautiful, but very understated. There is a gym, two soccer fields, an olympic style swimming pool, several dining areas, a child care center and all of the creature comforts necessary to keep a creative work force happy. It is as fine an example of a culture built around a brand as I have ever seen. It seems that anything a worker needs in right there.
The interesting thing is that I almost felt like an outsider. My friend reminded me that once you enter the campus you are "Inside the berm" and that is the Nike berm. Everything within the berm is all Nike. "Inside the berm" requires devotion to Nike during the time you are there--anything not related to Nike is "outside the berm."
It was a fascinating day. I now understand why I am disconnected from my former work--I am now "Outside the Berm." Life outside the berm is as important (if not more) as life inside the berm. We need to always know when we are "in" and when we are out.
We were guests in the Nike Employeees store where shoes are 40% off and everything else is 50% off. That, along with no sales tax, makes for a hefty discount. (Of course, we bought stuff for our grands).Upon entering the store you must show your picture ID (our names had already been submitted) and then you are given a guest pass.One of the rules for entering the store (My friend emailed them to me) is that you are not allowed to wear any competitor's brand. I thought that was odd when I first saw the rule. After being "Inside the Berm," I had a very clear understanding of why that rule is important to Nike. When you are "Inside," you must be totally inside!
How many berms do you have?
The Nike campus is situated on many many acres of immaculately groomed grounds. It in barely visible from the outside and is only recognizable by a red swoosh at the main entrance. I think I only saw one other swoosh on the entire campus. Each building is named after a Nike star from Jerry Rice to Bo Jackson. Of course there is a Tiger building and a Michael Jordan building. Most of the buildings are huge and beautiful, but very understated. There is a gym, two soccer fields, an olympic style swimming pool, several dining areas, a child care center and all of the creature comforts necessary to keep a creative work force happy. It is as fine an example of a culture built around a brand as I have ever seen. It seems that anything a worker needs in right there.
The interesting thing is that I almost felt like an outsider. My friend reminded me that once you enter the campus you are "Inside the berm" and that is the Nike berm. Everything within the berm is all Nike. "Inside the berm" requires devotion to Nike during the time you are there--anything not related to Nike is "outside the berm."
It was a fascinating day. I now understand why I am disconnected from my former work--I am now "Outside the Berm." Life outside the berm is as important (if not more) as life inside the berm. We need to always know when we are "in" and when we are out.
We were guests in the Nike Employeees store where shoes are 40% off and everything else is 50% off. That, along with no sales tax, makes for a hefty discount. (Of course, we bought stuff for our grands).Upon entering the store you must show your picture ID (our names had already been submitted) and then you are given a guest pass.One of the rules for entering the store (My friend emailed them to me) is that you are not allowed to wear any competitor's brand. I thought that was odd when I first saw the rule. After being "Inside the Berm," I had a very clear understanding of why that rule is important to Nike. When you are "Inside," you must be totally inside!
How many berms do you have?
Friday, March 5, 2010
"Petals Down"
As some of you know, one of my present joys is my Japanese brush painting class. It is called Sumi-E. I am terrible at it, but I am still getting in touch with my artistic side so I don't mind. Many of the people in the class have been there for years. Our teacher told us that you can't even consider yourself advanced until you've been doing it for at least ten years. That gives me great hope.
The teacher beings the class by having us read orally one of the zen principles or something nature related. It is very quieting and "zen-like." It's almost yoga-like. Then the teacher demonstrates what we will paint. We all gather around him and watch his magnificent brush strokes. We then go to our desks and begin our painting.
As we are working, he calls up each student and paints what we are working on. He said it's his gift to us for taking the class. It's my favorite part of the class because I feel like I'm watching a master. He makes it seem so easy.
Each of us has a book with rice paper and that is what he uses. I am so happy that I can use the name block I bought in Hong Kong. It is my name in Chinese characters and I use it to stamp my book.
Today we painted a landscape and next week we will paint cherry blossoms. He demonstrated cherry blossoms because he said the landscape is easy (ha). One of the paintings he showed us had petals falling . When they fell into water (or snow, as my friend pointed out), they can change the color of the element. If a lot of petals fall down, then the color change is more pronounced.
It made me think of the petals that fall down from our lives. These petals can intensely affect the things around us! Be aware of your "falling petals." Make sure that the colors your petals leave are vibrant and positive!
The teacher beings the class by having us read orally one of the zen principles or something nature related. It is very quieting and "zen-like." It's almost yoga-like. Then the teacher demonstrates what we will paint. We all gather around him and watch his magnificent brush strokes. We then go to our desks and begin our painting.
As we are working, he calls up each student and paints what we are working on. He said it's his gift to us for taking the class. It's my favorite part of the class because I feel like I'm watching a master. He makes it seem so easy.
Each of us has a book with rice paper and that is what he uses. I am so happy that I can use the name block I bought in Hong Kong. It is my name in Chinese characters and I use it to stamp my book.
Today we painted a landscape and next week we will paint cherry blossoms. He demonstrated cherry blossoms because he said the landscape is easy (ha). One of the paintings he showed us had petals falling . When they fell into water (or snow, as my friend pointed out), they can change the color of the element. If a lot of petals fall down, then the color change is more pronounced.
It made me think of the petals that fall down from our lives. These petals can intensely affect the things around us! Be aware of your "falling petals." Make sure that the colors your petals leave are vibrant and positive!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)