Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Status Update for Social Media

I'm supposed to be a "Social Media" and Marketing person so it is important for me to see how well my various social media endeavors are progressing. 
  
As of July 10, 2013: 

Jos and Her Women's Business to Support Entrepreneurs

Facebook = 213 "Likes"
Meetup = 126 members 
Twitter = 24 Followers

4Charity
   
Twitter = 29 people following me 
Facebook = 2 people

My Personal Social Media Sites
 
Twitter: Following 23 people with 72 people following me
Facebook: 173 friends and I think 3 followers
Pinterest: Following 23 people and being followed by 155
Linked-In: 72 connections
Google +: Following 23 with 13 people following me

As of Today July 30, 2013:

Women's Business

Facebook = 235 "Likes"
Meetup = 145 members 
Twitter = 23 Followers  
4Charity
   
Twitter = 33 people following me 
Facebook = 2 people 

My Personal Social Media Sites
 
Twitter: Following 23 people with 68 people following me
Facebook: 177 friends and I think 3 followers
Pinterest: Following 21 people and being followed by 174
Linked-In: 84 connections
Google +: Following 23 with 13 people following me

Linked-In has been increasing lately and Pinterest continues to grow.  Facebook is slower and Twitter is hard for me to figure out these days. Some people who follow me are sarcastic and want dark humor and other ones are spiritual and want wisdom quotes/inspiration. The one group doesn't really like the posts of the other. They are not complimentary. Plus I mostly post whatever I feel like posting in the moment.

Facebook Posts and Spirituality

Facebook has gotten kind of spiritual today...

Within the past 2 hours:


A friend posted on her status: A choice to be spiritual instead of religious: "A spiritual point of view--meaning you believe that all of humankind is part of one fabric of life in spite of apparent separation. Therefore you think, feel, and act as if this is true. And so what you do to others, you are really doing to yourself, and as a result, kindness is one of your highest ideals. It's a living, breathing, reality for you in spite of any imperfections and failings."

I responded: As someone who does tend towards being spiritual over religious, I have also found value in the structure and guidance religion can foster. There should be a balance of both the soul and the stairway guiding it to its highest state.

I posted on my status: “People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.” -Carl R. Rogers

A friend responded: Even schitzophrenic murderers?

I responded: Jesus would argue that every man needs compassion -especially those who aren't compassionate. No one is born evil, people get corrupted by life. There is no one that God can't redeem.

Friend Re-responded:  I agree most dangerous people get corrupted by life but if one of them harmed you if i didnt get to him first would not have compassion for him. I think that goes for most family's who've had a loss like that.

I Re-responded: I don't think God put us here to judge and condemn one another. I think we should leave the ultimate judgements to Him and just focus on our own lives and the blessings we've been given.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Embarrassing

My mom totally just embarrassed me on Facebook. I went to my friend Jos' birthday party last weekend. she had it at a place called Lisa's Tea Treasures. Normally I don't like tea, but there's was actually pretty good. It was quaint.

I also got to see old friends from Toastmasters that knew Jos and I. One of them was a guy named Jim who I hadn't seen since earlier this year. Not to be around the bush or anything, but Jim is gay. So Jos took a picture of us sitting together and my mom asked, on a photo album Jos posted and tagged everybody who was there in, if Jim had his arm around me -aka if he was my boyfriend. Thanks mom.

What do you post for that? Saying, No he's gay in a picture he's tagged in might be kind of rude or blatant. I don't know. Either way I'm not responding. Jeez...

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Organizaing and Decluttering Advice

I don't know if I've posted this before, so I'm just going to post it now and delete it later if I come across it in an older post.

A woman came to Toastmasters a while back and gave a speech on how to keep your house organized and decluttered. She had some experience with hoarding and devised a plan to tackle the issue.

Step 1: Get Mentally Prepped 

The problem most people face when cleaning up a space is being overwhelmed by how much there is to clean. Just relax, take a breathe, and work one area at a time.

Step 2: Start in a Small Place

Work little by little so that you can see the progress being made in the short term and work towards making the lasting impact.

Step 3: Don't Keep Everything

Some times people keep things around -not because the items have sentimental value, but because they feel guilty about throwing them away or getting rid of them. "My grandmother gave this to me when i was 3 and I'm suppose to keep it even though I don't like it because I would be a horrible person to throw something like this away." Just because someone gives you something doesn't mean you have to keep it. Odds are they'll never check to see if you've kept it anyway. Get rid of things you don't need or want.

Step 4: Kitchen Accumulation

Often times people have more items in the kitchen then they need. People inherit a lot of their dishes and accumulate a large quantity of pots, pans, and silverware. Get rid of it! If you really need more stuff, you can always buy more later down the line.

Step 5: The Dreaded Closet

Get rid of stuff you do not wear. Closets usually break down into 3 categories:
1) Clothes you actually wear
2) Formal or Sentimental clothes you rarely wear
3) Clothes you don't wear period but they look nice on the hanger

Get rid of the 3rd Category and keep Category 2 to a minimum.

Birth Stones for Zodiac

Birthstones are determined by Month more than Zodiac sign. 

January = Garnet
February = Amethyst
March = Aquamarine + Bloodstone
April = Diamond
May = Emerald
June = Pearl + Moonstone
July = Ruby
August = Peridot
September = Sapphire
October = Opal
November = Topaz + Citrine
December = Tanzanite + Turquoise

January -Garnet
From the Latin word "granatum" meaning "seed" because of its resemblance to the pomegranate seed. It represents friendship, loyalty, and trust.

February -Amethyst
Amethyst, like other quartz crystals, has often been associated with psychic abilities and is said to help the wearer gain clarity and spiritual focus.

March -Aquamarine + Bloodstone
Obviously this stone has to do with water, from it's clear blue color to its "aqua" name derivation. It has been associated with allowing for safe voyages and safeguarding sailors. It is also meant to keep the wearer calm and level-headed.The bloodstone is associated with being brave and wise.

April -Diamond
Diamonds have often been associated with healing properties -believed to take in toxins and impurities from the wearer. It is also associated with purity and innocence over vanity.

May -Emerald
This stone has often been associated with renewal, rebirth, luck, and youth.

June -Pearl + Moonstone
Pearl -the only stone that comes naturally from a living organism and needs no polish. Represents natural beauty and the sea. Moonstones are often associated with their ability to change or alter in appearance.

July = Ruby
The Ruby is associated with love, wisdom, and wealth.They are also said to awaken the senses and bring a greater sense of awareness to the wearer.

August = Peridot
Peridot is associated with healing properties and is said to ward off nightmares. They are also said to bring the wearer great power and influence. These stones are formed deep within the earth and are often brought to surface by volcanoes.

September = Sapphire
This stone has been associated with protecting the wearer from harm as well as bringing heavenly blessings.
 
October = Opal
Opals are radiant, vibrantly colored stones that represent "a changing in colors" or versatility and diversity.

November = Topaz + Citrine
These stones are associated with healing and bringing wellness, warmth, and energy to the wearer.

December = Tanzanite + Turquoise
This stone is associated with protecting the traveler from harm and keeping their taste for adventure fresh.

For the Zodiac (Depending on which month you were born):
 
Capricorn/Aquarius = Garnet
Aquarius/Pisces = Amethyst 
Pisces/Aries = Aquamarine + Bloodstone
Aries/Taurus = Diamond
Taurus/Gemini = Emerald
Gemini/Cancer = Pearl + Moonstone
Cancer/Leo = Ruby
Leo/Virgo = Peridot + Sapphire
Virgo/Libra = Sapphire +Opal
Libra/Scorpio = Topaz + Citrine
Scorpio/Sagittarius = Tanzanite + Turquoise
Sagittarius/Capricorn = Tanzanite + Turquoise 
granatum
granatum

Religion and God

A thought occurred to me this morning: Why is there an Old Testament and a New Testament? Isn't there really just ONE Testament -and it's the testament of God?

It seems like the beginning of the Bible, and man's history, was one of a Father becoming a new parent watching his children run around coloring on walls, misbehaving, stumbling, and getting into trouble. Then later, when His kids were old enough, He gave them some basic rules to follow. The 10 Commandments and subsequent "laws" were the moment in human history when man was told to eat his vegetables and do his homework. No explanation was given as to why he couldn't eat cookies from the cookie jar, man was just asked to follow the rules. 

Then came man's time for independence and young adulthood. At last God had a heart-to-heart conversation with His children letting them know why He wanted them to follow certain rules -also acknowledging they would learn this lesson on their own in their own lives in time. They were finally old enough to be told the whole story and have life explained to them fully so they could then carry on in their lives and walk down whatever path they then consciously chose for themselves. 

At no point during this time did "Judaism" exist. It was just God and God's people. At no point during this time did "Christianity" exist. It was always God and God's people. He always knew who they were and they were always connected to Him. 

Time is never that linear. It never ends or begins. You can't stop or pinpoint moments in time and say there was a "Before" and an "After". There is just reality. It all just exists. 

As for religion now, most people feel lost and confused. I keep hearing this phrase from people, "Love is my religion". Meaning they sort of believe in God but do not want to pigeon-hole themselves under the umbrella of one religious institution over another. Spirituality, faith in the soul, is then a safe respite most people resign themselves to. 

Unfortunately they then miss the lessons and insights God gave to His people. They wander more blindly -being led only by their souls, which can be fluidly intuitive and easily misguided. Follow Truth, because Love and God are truths. Love -depending on which kind you follow -can lead you astray if God and Truth are not involved. 

The soul is like a person wandering alone in unfamiliar woodlands. Without God, you will not be guided out and will spend your life trying to find your way but never fully reaching it.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Facilitating a Meeting

This is a problem I've run into in the past, and sense I will run into again in the near future. 

How do you properly facilitate (1) a Leadership Meeting and (2) a Group/General Meeting. 

When you are a part of a group or are leading a group, usually you aren't doing it alone. Even if you're the CEO of a company, you'll still have a group of people in high-up positions along side you contributing to  ideas/goals and how to best implement them. Therefore there are 2 kinds of meetings to facilitate: Internal Planning Meetings Among Fellow Leaders and Meetings held to address general members or an audience of participants.

So here are some good general tips I came up with to help manage these 2 types of meetings:

(1) Internal Planning Meetings Among Fellow Leaders

-Create an Agenda that leaves room for notes and action items 
-Have a bell or ringing-noise-making device on hand so that when people inevitably go off topic you can get their attention refocused on the original topic
-If people want to continue pursuing the off-topic subject, set aside time for a separate meeting to address the new subject raised
-Make sure each person is clear on their role/what they have to contribute
-Make sure people are clear on why they are there and why they should participate
-Pair people up into groups of 2 so that they can co-headline projects and keep each other accountable 
-Make sure the time/agenda allows for conversation and room for discussion 
-Make sure there is a general note taker as well as individuals noting the information that directly relates to them 
-Make sure no one leaves the room with knowing what Action Items they are responsible for, when those items are due, and when the next meeting is

(2) Large Group/General Meeting held to address general members or an audience of participants

-Create a less-stringent Agenda that focuses on highlighting the main points of the meeting
-Keep your points brief and direct
-Make your intentions for the meeting clear and easy-to-follow
-Explain why members should be there and should be participating 
-Try to find a way to get members to interact directly during the meeting
-Have a bell or ringing-noise-making device on hand so that when people inevitably go off topic you can get their attention refocused on the original topic
-Make sure no one leaves the room without knowing what Action Items are requested of them, how and when they are to implement them, and when the next meeting or event is

Things Learned at Toastmasters Today

Things to do each day:

1) Compliment yourself/your appearance in the mirror as if you were talking to a friend with low self-esteem. AKA -be encouraging and don't barade yourself with criticism.

2) Embrace each day as if you were just born and the day before you did not exist.

3) Find one thing from your past that you felt was awesome/fun.amazing.

4) Find one thing from this week that you think was awesome/fun/amazing.

5) Be vibrant, bold, uninhibited, and passionate.

6) You look great outside if you feel great inside.

Advice on Love:

1) It goes together like a horse than carriage, in that sometimes you are the one carrying the load and dragging the relationship ahead and sometimes you're the one holding back being the "load" that gets carried.

2) Is love a choice or a feeling? Either way it can be hard and painful.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Left Brain v. Right Brain

Just for the record, as far as brain hemispheres go...

L =Logic

R = Art 


Shuhari

Someone at Toastmasters gave a speech explaining the meaning of "Shuhari".

Shuhari is used in Martial Arts. 

Shu = Foundation to Build On/ Practicing/ The Beginning 

Ha = Applying Foundation/ Passionately Engaging/ Discipline 

Ri = Becoming Master/ Be a Teacher/ Inspire Others 

Together it means learning and then mastering a new skill/art.

Where Are Women in Business?

As a graphic designer it is often my job to create images tailored to the needs of clients and/or potential customers. Often when creating logos or flyer images I'll look at the ideals and concepts that are being aimed for and try to find reference images that help guide me to then establish those logos and images. 

As the Graphic Designer/Marketing Director for Promote Her Business I've been asked to create women-focused images and logos for various events and even the business itself. The PHB logo for example was inspired/derived from the Symbol for "Female" and a Cell Tower representing "Promoting" and "Getting the Word Out".

Reference Images used:


Image Created:


Recently I've been asked to create logos for events and networking mixers that focus on several key aspects of women in business. I was given 5 words to help inspire these logos and also knew to keep the images consistent with the color scheme and PHB logo itself. Unfortunately when I went to look up reference images as I have done before, I found it challenging to find pictures that included women in them or involved them at all. The 5 words I was trying to find concepts/ideas for were:

Business, Success, Leadership, Collaboration, and Networking 

When I went to iStock, Shutterstock, and Google Images to find some reference pictures under these 5 different words and related concepts, 90% of them depicted Men in Business Suites, but few if any showed women. This is a problem I've run into before. It seems strange to me that women comprise such a large percentage of the work force and consumer market and yet are so underrepresented in business materials. 

About a year ago, out of curiosity, I actually decided to look up the word "Beauty" on several image sites (iStock, Shutterstock, Google Images, and Deviantart). I honestly wondered what it would be like for an alien to come down from outer space, land on this planet, and then try to find out about our culture solely from the internet and what he would find out about us based on the images that came up. Here is what I found and typed after doing my research: 

"My first stop was at Shutterstock. This is a place where people buy photos to implement in graphic design-related advertisements. I typed in the word “Beauty” to see what would come up. 90% of the first page consisted of women. I wrote down the first impressions of what I saw: women, flower, woman holding flower, hair, skin, nude women, makeup, clothes, floral vector designs, women at the spa, facials, women posing. Then I went to page 2: women, 1 waterfall, 1 overly colorfied landscape, and women… It was 95% women.
I then decided to go to iStock, which is similar just to see how these two sites interpreted the same word: Beauty. Page 1: 1 sky pic, 1 little girl in a meadow, flowers, women, “family”, 1 peacock feather. It was about 70% women. Then I went to page 2: women, women, women… literally All different photographs of women.
 
Then it was time to venture over to Deviantart.com –a place where young and professional artists post all media of art including photography, paintings, drawing, digital imagery… Page 1: Rainbow colors, abstract photography with varied colors, henna tattoo, flowers, 1 beauty shot, a drawing of a decaying skeleton woman, a nude woman, a bubble, plants. Page 2: women, Beauty and the Beast, Pamela Anderson charicature, abstract rainbow pictures, fantasy drawings with young women being maidens, a digital image of a woman with her head on a bust. Page 3: 4 Beauty and the Beast's, 1 girl’s smile, Pamela Anderson again, 1 nude woman
 
Then I went to Google Images and typed in Beauty. 100% ALL WOMEN –mostly beauty shots and glam shots, some makeup. 
I take these 4 sites to represent 3 different demographics: 1 the Advertising World, 2. The Artist’s/Individual Girl’s Views, 3. Our Society’s Commonly Held Views. 
Shutterstock and iStock seem to focus mostly on promotional marketing with Beauty products. Glam shots of hair, close up on lips, spa treatments, makeup, skin… all can easily be seen in magazine ads and so on for different women’s beauty products. 
Deviantart.com seems to have some level of resistance to the concept of women’s beauty. There were some glam shots as well, but no “makeup” shots or photos that could be used to market one product in particular. A lot of the pictures had to do with the classic movie Beauty and the Beast. Some of the pictures really raged against women being associated with beauty –like the skeleton woman, the woman whose head and bust were on a statue bust like a pedestal, and one picture I saw of a flower coming out of a page drawing of a flower entitled “Inner Beauty Coming Out”. These pictures seem to be more introspective and all the pictures of overtly busty women were drawn in a mocking way to trash that kind of “ideal” for a woman’s figure. 
Google showed the images most commonly posted/associated with the word beauty. Some could have easily been marketed for women’s products and some were just shots of beautiful faces –in some ways making women’s beauty seem as if too could be a marketable product." 
My friend recently posted on a Facebook that a recent study shows "By the age of 13, 53 percent of girls say they are unhappy with their bodies." I guess we can see why. Society, whether subconsciously or intentionally, seems to place the responsibility of being beautiful on women more than being successful in other areas of life -especially in business. It's sad that women hold so much potential to be great at anything they choose to pursue in life, but the only real value they are ever really noted for is whether they are physically attractive or not. 

More frustratingly, it is hard to find representations of women in any role other than being beautiful. From a marketing stand point it is ridiculous that more images of women in the business field cannot be found. I hope in time this changes, and maybe it starts with us. If you can't find images of women being successful in business -then create them yourself. If you can't find women succeeding in business around you -then help women in business achieve success, including yourself.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Overcoming Fears in a Dream

Last night i had a dream I was back in college. I signed up for a class and opted-out of another one. I was curious and decided to sit in for the first day of the class I had opted-out of, hearing the class was challenging and the teacher was rough. 

As I sat in my seat and looked around I noticed that a lot of the other students were kids from my old high school. I was starting to reconsider joining the class at that point when the teacher, Chef Ramsey, walked in. 

He stood at the front of the class and started calling on kids to answer 2-3 questions like, "What is it that you think you have that's worth sharing?" and "What's your biggest fear?" They were strait forward, intimidating questions meant to see who was bold and brave in the classroom. I hid behind another student praying to God he didn't pick on me. 

I got lucky. After 5 students answering his questions he passed out a piece of paper for each student. The started writing the main question posed on the sheet of paper up on the chalk board so everyone could see it. I started to fill out the basic info (name/date) when I got the sheet. I glanced down at the main question and realized it was a wordy math problem. Why do math problems have so many words?...

But at the top of the page, next to name and date, 2 questions were asked. "What do you think you have that's worth offering (immaterial)?" and "What are you most afraid of?" In the Fear box the words "Public Speaking" had already been filled out since the majority of people have the fear. I debated whether to leave the default response as was and claim Public Speaking as my fear. 

Then I thought, NO. I'm president of Toastmasters now. I can't claim this as my fear, what kind of example would that set? I don't like public speaking and I get nervous and mess up sometimes, but I've had years of work overcoming my basic fear of public speaking and have conquered it.

But then I wondered what I should out down as my fear. I don't know why Great White sharks didn't occur to me -or having Chef Ramsey as a teacher- but I was suddenly overwhelmed by the thought of being on the edge of a platform 25 stories in the air above a tiny city below. So I put "Heights". 

For the question about sharing worth, I was stuck again with pondering. Only this time it was because I thought I had too many different things I could out and couldn't decide on which one. The dream was kind of a humble affirmation that my sense of self worth has become far greater than it used to be and I'm definitely in a better place in my life than I have been in the past.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Dealing with Difficult People/Situations as a Woman

We've been going through ISO training here at my company and learning how to be internal auditors. The woman who has been training us has been an auditor for over 20 years and a consultant for about 10 years. Marie's a 60 year old brunette who was born in New York. She has a raspy, soft voice but can speak pretty boldly when she wants to. Very calm and well organized.

She shared several stories with us about her experiences being a business woman, including the following:

In the 1980s she got hired as a manger of a warehouse for a high-tech company. The other applicant considered for the position was actually a man from the warehouse who didn't end up getting the job because he spoke broken English with a Spanish accent and was hard to understand. So right away, Marie knew it was going to be an uphill battle trying to get everyone to like her being in a leadership position among these workers.

The first day she went to work there she brought some donuts and walked through the warehouse only to find all along the walls were posted pictures of naked women from pin-up magazines and porn. Imagine a professional business woman standing there in a business suite beside a wall of women sprawled out bearing it all. 

She had an opening meeting with the men in the warehouse and told them that she wanted the pictures (which had been there for years without question) to be taken down. They did nothing. The pictures remained. So Marie went to her manager and told him about the problem and that is was not acceptable to allow those sort of images to be displayed. The manager then had a "gentleman's meeting" and afterward they discontentedly took down the images.

Marie said that while she worked there, a man named Frank would often give her problems. She was often asked to work with Frank since most of the other women who worked there avoided him. He was usually in a sour mood and acted very angrily towards those around him. Once, Marie was in his office asking a few routine questions when he got angry and came at her with his hand raised. Unafraid, Marie asked him, "Frank, what are you doing? Are you really that upset over these questions? Why are you acting this way? You could lose your job over this -is that what you want?" Frank then paused and asked for 20 minutes to himself. Maries said ok and came back 20 minutes later. 

"What is the problem?" she asked Frank. He looked at her and said, "I don't like women working. They have no right to tell me what to do." Mare said very calmly, "Thanks for being honest with me. But the fact is we have to work together and you hitting me is only going to get you fired. Let's just work together quickly and get this over with." After that Frank complied, though he was still unpleasant towards her and other women in general. 

Marie said that by the end of her days working there, she had encouraged the man who originally applied for her job to go to speech therapy so when she left he was the one who stood to inherit her position. She said that the other men in the warehouse had grown to respect her and enjoyed having her around. She went around winning the men over individually instead of trying to get along with them as a group. By having individual work relationships with them she was able to make a place for herself in the company and get along with the men she worked with. 

Later Marie shared another story about similar issues she ran into in Japan. She had spent weeks working on a business plan that would go over various trainings that covered different areas of business practice and department organization. When she finally arrived in Japan and stood in the board room with the 7 executives in charge of facilitating these trainings, they surprised her with an update: We want to change the entire plan. They didn't like the concept of a woman training men in business on business so they figured they would create their own plan and ignore the one she had created. 

Marie had different plans. In a  very calm, professional tone she told them, "Well if you do not let me train you and the employees here on these things we all agreed to then I will have to leave here and report that this branch of the company has Failed the trainings that were agreed upon." She then grabbed her things and headed to the door. The men quickly changed their minds and told her they needed a couple minutes to discuss things. They then went outside and talked for about 10 minutes. When they came back in they agreed to her terms and allowed her to teach them.

It was amazing to hear these stories and see how resilient she had been and how dedicated she was to getting the job done in as pleasant a way as she could despite the disagreeable nature of the men she occasionally had to work with.

She never really took things personally. She just took the hit, remained composed, and moved forward with her initial intentions. She also gave great advice on how to deal with difficult people:

1) Acknowledge the Behavior they are making and let them know what they are doing and how they are being perceived. 

2) Do NOT disrespect them or insult their integrity and competency. 

3) Ask the person, "What can we do to resolve the issue?"

4) Reassure the person that you understand why they are upset/having issues and ask them what they would like to have happen. 

5) Affirm, acknowledge, and validate their feelings while still remaining firm on your position/objectives. 

6) Be calm, rational, and patient. There's no rush and no need to argue back. 

7) Aim for the Head: When they start becoming overwhelmed by their emotions, ask them rational questions to think about to bring them back to their common senses.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Life Now

So as I did in the past I'm going to write myself a heads-up about what's been going on in my life and where I'm at currently.

1) Jos and Her Women's Business to Support Entrepreneurs
Well this thing has come a long way. It was initially intended to be a 2 day event to launch a women-mentoring-women in business program. Now we're having twice monthly mixers/networking get togethers that usually involve 10-30 people. We're also reconsidering the Mentoring Program. Current thoughts include the possibility of:

-Making a program encompassing 6 main ways women can promote their business. Women would work their way through this program completing projects under each of the 6 headings and then after achieving 3 heading completions then mentor/assist new members who were just starting off the program. Then when a woman completed the 6 basic categories of promoting, she could move on to more in-depth projects.
-Making a school-like program similar to the description above, only more like online courses.
-Adjusting the mentoring program or turning it into a Buddy/Accountability program
Either way, still LOTS of work going on. I meet with Jos about 3 times a week.
Our group currently has 213 "Likes" on Facebook, 126 members on Meetup, and 24 Followers on Twitter. Not bad considering we've only been around 1 year -and actually not officially until about January.

2) Being President of Toastmasters
I'm sucking at this job so far to be honest. I was out of town a couple meetings and taking over the podium at 7am is not as easy as it looks. I plan on helping the new V.P. of Education (who's inheriting that role from me) understand the position and master it so I can focus fully on presidential goals.

My plans as president this year are to:
-Refine our Mentoring Program (which is pretty pathetic right now)
-Get the other officers familiar with their roles and the roles of fellow officers
-Create a "buddy system" so their can be more internal support in the club
-Make sure everyone is on Track with their manuals so we can be a President's Distinguished Club

3) My Actual Job
Really need to start refocusing on my day job. My side projects have been dragging my focus away. Too many pots in the kiln -or however the saying goes. I tried breathing new ideas into the company a year ago and nobody really listened so I just kind of slumped into doing what was expected of me. Coasting along. Then are new Marketing Manager was hired: wide-eyed and bushy tailed, full of new ideas. And he has energy and plans and wants me to contribute more. And it's hard for me to click that switch back on. I have to start getting back into the grove of things and really taking ownership of my job position again.

4) 4Charity
Well... it's still young. The website's been fully functional for about 2 weeks now. Currently have 29 people following me on Twitter and 2 people on Facebook. It'll grow. I want to come up with more ideas for the website to make it more interesting/transparent/interactive, but I have other things to think about right now. I'll let it stew on its own and come back to it later. It's a great resource to have around in general.

5)My Social Media Sites
Holy craps.
Twitter: Currently following 23 people with 72 people following me
Facebook: 173 friends and I think 3 followers
Pinterest: Currently following 23 people and being followed by 155
Linked-In: 72 connections
Google +: Currnetly following 23 with 13 people following me

I'm a Pintrest Princess is all that means...

6)Nadine
Started working with a life/business/soul coach named Nadine. She's either a Leo/Aries or a Gemini/Aquarius. She's very energetic/motivating. We're focusing on getting me out of my head and into the world a little more. Need to start being more active and going outside and taking more risks and getting involved in-person.

It feels like up until this point I was taking in lessons/wisdom/truth on a regular basis. Now it feels like I've heard everything and rarely get any new piece of insight. I think it's time for me to give wheat I've learned and share my life with the world. So Nadine is making me work on exercises that will gradually help me towards that goal.

In other news:
-Alex and I are friends again. We don't hangout much (or talk on blogs) but things are going well.
-I've been day dreaming a lot and my day dreams have kind of gotten boring/redundant
-Up until now I've felt kind of "lacking" spiritually. I've had a frown for 3 weeks now. Waiting for that to go away and rejoin the land of the living

Posts of Yore

I've been creating yet another website on Weebly. Finished my Art website. Then I finished my 4Charity website. Now I'm working on my Spiritual Website -which is a greater undertaking then the other 2.

I started by showing the evolution of my soul by listing all the posts I made on my first blog from 2006-2010. I didn't blog as much back then. But when I did it seemed to mostly record family issues and thoughts about myself, society, and occasionally religion. It made me realize: If I hadn't written these down I would have completely forgotten these thoughts and memories. I also realized how deep I was at only 18. I really had a good sense of self back then -a lot more than I thought I did.

I also realized a lot of things happened to me in life when I was younger that I haven't recorded. But maybe it's better that I didn't so I can speak objectively now and sound less like an idiot. I can't believe how caught up I use to be in family drama. Such as waste. And there were HUGE gaps of time where months would pass without writing because I thought I had nothing of value to add. Such a shame.

It seemed like 2009/2010 was a turning point though. I can read it in the text. I was stupid though in a lot of my posts that mostly recorded day-to-day things or nothing at all (especially over the summer when I was being lazy). I decided it's best for me to record my progress in life. The revelations and the epiphanies. I usually soak up knowledge like a sponge, but I've forgotten how important it is to write it down and share it with others.

Spiritual truths are like God -because He is one. You get used to nobody talking, nobody sharing, nobody mentioning, nobody discussing. You hear about work to be done, obligations to fill, upcoming plans, schedules, dates, data, entries, facts, notices... But no one really talks about the soul. So you keep it to yourself -figuring nobody else is interested.

But I have so much I intend to write and share. I just need to get organized and do it. Luckily the website I'm working on gives me a good platform to lay it all out on...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The American

"The American" by Angie Aparo is a song off of his album The American -one of my all time favorite albums. The album was released in 2001 but the song "The American" is still just as relevant and telling today as it was back then.

Sonny took a train
Mary took a boat
Somewhere it’s gonna be better
Everybody needs a little hope
Ten thousand souls
Waiting on a bus and it never rolled
So it goes...

No one’s leaving California
Pacific transit overload
Gold dust dreamers never warn ya
And my guitar strums
I am the American

I got a walking stick
And an old sock hat
I’ve got dirty hands
And I’ve got a dream to match
I’ve got a pocket full
Of government issue cures for poverty

No one’s leaving California
Pacific transit overload
All my friends live on the corner
And my guitar strums
I am the American

Under the streetlight, down by the water
Don’t worry baby, it’s nothing you ever knew
(if it) makes you feel better, throw down a quarter
Don’t worry baby, it won’t stick to your shoes

No one’s leaving California
Pacific transit overload
Gold dust dreamers never warn ya
And my guitar strums
Yeah my guitar strums
I am the American