I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
I personally think this is no different than Hollywood dwarf’s making a living capitalizing on their physical uniqueness. I think sometimes we get a bit over zealous with the politically correctness in this country. Is it better for people to make an honest living using their strength (physical appearance differences) and catering to peoples natural curiosity, or is it better to pretend there is nothing wrong with them putting them into a situation where they can’t physically do the same things most people can, limiting their ability to support themselves?
I’d be the first in line to see a bearded lady, Siamese twins, a man with two penis’s and a girl with 8 legs. I would.
Now..I do have a history of being incredibly lucky when it comes to finding lost things..but ..Ok. I went to the park today and lost my house key ..again. Only this time I realized it before I got home. So..being the optimist I am..and being related to “reach in a muddy river and pull out a bike pedal” Wayne I headed back to look for it. I start retracing my steps and a lady says..”are you looking for this?” and shows me a ratty ball. “no. my hou….” and she says..”oh, this?” and reaches down by her foot and pulls up my key. Oh yes.
But then..she says..
“I found another key exactly like this a few months ago..I still have it at home.”
We are all joined to each other by invisible strings. Not just the people we know and love. Even strangers who live in different lands. We kid ourselves that events occur in isolation. We think our thoughts don’t change anyone’s mood - and that our actions will change nobody else’s life than our own. But though we can pull some strings more easily than others - and though we may try to stop our own strings from being pulled - we are connected.
I used to call this the undercurrent of consciousness..I think it’s true. Not just on an emotional level..but on a intellectual level, and maybe even some sort of unseen physical level..once you get into investigating synapsis and neurons and other things that are tough for me to understand. Not as unrelated as this might seem..but I just saw Avatar..which seems to weave a lot of American Indian and Eastern Indian beliefs, fantasy aesthetics and left wing politics into some strange concoction of 3-D multi-million dollar imax’ness. I didn’t think I was going to like it much..but I feel for the 3-d hook..and I dug it. Interesting..and visually compelling. It’s still your standard Hollywood shallow throw all the expensive effects in and no one will notice the bad script or cheesy lines or over acting kinda piece..but still. Go see. In the theater. With the glasses on an imax screen..don’t gyp yourself. (and watch this trailer in the HD version..yum)
Yeah. You few that have deligently kept on checking for new content..thank you. You have been quite patient. My world got a little hectic for awhile. Both physically, mentally, emotionally. The end of last year really wrapped up in a way that made me question my track. Or lack of track. Or being off track track. 2009 was not my best year. In fact, it could really be called my worst year. A year filled with highs and lows that were previously unimaginable. I questioned everything. I stripped everything down to the bone and tried some new stuff. A lot of stuff that wasn’t right. Some that was. Some that was, but wasn’t the right time. 2010 is off to a great start though. I’ve spent the last 6 weeks really working my ass off 16, 18 hour days for days and days at a time. And it feels great. I feel good. Tired. But super stoked about the future.
Posts might be a bit further between, but hopefully they will be worth it.
“Guangzhou Supports You!” is a new crowdsourced, hyper-local online photography activity in Guangzhou, China. The original premise of the activity was to recruit Guangzhou residents who support Chen Yang, a popular outspoken Guangzhou CCTV news anchor who was not afraid to say what was on his mind even if on live Chinese television – he swiftly lost his job. However, the activity has since evolved into a collective community-wide expression of love and affection toward the city. “Guangzhou Supports You!” is getting attention and praise from just about everyone in China, but especially from Chinese netizens who are very actively supporting it on their blogs, in discussion forums, and on local social networking sites.
“Guangzhou Supports You!” works like this: the organizers supply a “Guangzhou Supports You!” graphic (at right) via download from the official website. This graphic is the centerpiece of the entire activity. Participants simply need to choose their favorite place in Guangzhou – any corner, alley, place, space, etc. will do – take a photo with the graphic appearing somewhere in the resulting photograph, and then upload the photograph to the “Guangzhou Supports You!” website where it’s aggregated with other participants’ submissions and shared with everyone.
So…it’s been all work and no play around here..or at least all stress and no inspiration. That might be closer to it. If any one is still reading this…post me a note. Might re-evaluate this spot..change it up to something different. Open to suggestions.
