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Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Apathy, the Mother of All Crime
November 15, 2012
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fledgling hawk at the condo village
We know there is fraud and corruption all around us. We are aware that we pay these highly disputed tax dollars to government employees less than interested in serving the public. We know laws are broken all the time because there is not even a tiny itsy bitsy effort to enforce them. I am not sure why we have so many (but that is another subject) if they are all just recorded somewhere in case lawyers need to use them. The public believes that somehow having cops is having law enforcement, but this highly simplistic notion is every criminal’s best friend. People allow bold and disgusting crime to happen before their very eyes without trying to stop it just because apathy is so strong that they are basically controlled by it. There is no expectation that our surroundings can be kept crime free, but rather a new normal of home security and paranoid, anti social collection of weaponry. Full disclosure, I live in Arizona, so I am speaking about my own ‘hood.
I live in a condo village that looks like a fake Taos Pueblo in central Tucson. There are only 30 homes, a pool, a jacuzzi and a small guest parking area. For the last 10 years the HOA board has had the same two members every year. They return to office, even though they are not even known to most residents or owners by keeping completely out of touch. They meet without any interaction with the other homeowners, send a paper newsletter with vague and meaningless report of the meeting in the mail, and continue to survive in this isolated way because they discovered apathy. When one of them celebrated the death of her father by stealing $50 from our dues money and making a donation to a hospice in her father’s name, I called to inform her stealing dues money is both disgusting and illegal. She hung up on me. I learned by asking for neighbors to help get them out of office that the most important element of life for them is denial and ignorance about what is happening in the real estate market and in their surroundings. I reported the theft of the $50 to the attorney general of AZ who responded that they did not handle such cases. I inquired at the city council office to locate the office that could handle this crime. The real estate department no longer helps HOAs with crime infested boards, and the fire department is now in some way attached, but there is no resolution other than to get the homeowners to get the stolen money returned. The homeowners’ prime goal was continued apathy, so that was not workable.
They continued in office and started running a charity scam in our public areas. They solicit food, money , and any kind of junk to their keep the homeless outside campaign. They do not believe in supporting the existing shelters and non profits that serve the homeless community. They believe in trashing the environment of their neighborhood, and some other neighborhood with a public park, in order to feed the homeless outside like animals. They think they are entitled to run a charity scam blocking our driveways and driving down the price of our real estate value because they know that apathy will protect them. They have run this operation for years in broad daylight begging on the internet for donations. I have reported the crime to the IRS, AZ revenue, the County Health Dept, the Ward 3 council office, and of course the TPD. None of these entities cares if we have a charity scam operating in our neighborhood. Neither do the owners of the homes that have lost more than half of their value while these board members made this special jurisdiction for themselves in our public areas. The neighborhood watch cop tells a story of neighbors watching a house be cleared out by thieves, but never report it because nobody knows their neighbors. Here, the homeowners sat silently inside their own homes while their very own property value and quality of life was willfully destroyed and decided that it must be fate. I own a lot across the street from the HOA property with a rising value, while these home values have sunk like rocks. Foreclosure has come and stayed.
I do not believe in competing unfairly with legitimate non profits that need all the help they can get today. It is easy to pitch in, volunteer, or donate to many worthy and wholesome programs that assist the homeless, rather than demean them ( and possibly give them food poisoning) in a public park. I would think that most people would be grossed out by this, but strangers drive through and donate junk without thinking, “What am I doing in a residential condo village blocking the fire lane to do my charity work ?” But then, those people are just dropping off a few old socks they no longer want. The homeowners have been willing to loose their socks just to stay apathetic.
Triberr is Toastmasters for Bloggers
November 14, 2012
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The blog sharing, syndicating, and supporting system known as Triberr is the blogging parralell to Toastmasters for public speaking. i was invited to a tribe about a year ago with my not so regularly published Tumblr blog. I met cool people, read their blogs regularly and tweeted them to my mini following. We do bond as a tribe, and some are founded around specific areas of interest. The personality of each tribe is vastly different as are the styles of each chief. Everyone is a chief if the initiative is taken to grow and lead a tribe of one’s own. I enjoyed my first tribal experience, and noticed that the tribe existed even after our chief quit blogging and abandoned the tribe entirely. This indicated the power of the structure, the system, the potential of place we do all of this syndication…Triberr. The obvious limitations of being in a tribe with no cheif, and having only one person in my own tribe,(who really had not fully registered or blogged) lead me to a fabulous decision. I made up my mind to meet my only tribal member in New York City for the first TribeupNYC event to check the vibe in person. I am pleased with my decision to go for all kinds of reasons, including the fact that I enjoyed lower Manhattan in a pre Sandy state of bliss and perfection. There was no sign of impending doom.
I had risen before dawn for many years to attend Toastmasters meetings at a hospital to fine tune my public speaking skills. Our diverse and dedicated group proved to me how many different reasons there can be for wanting to speak in public. I already was a total ham, and won every week the extemporaneous table topic event. I covered my office with blue ribbons from table talk. Conspicuously absent from the ribbon display were ribbons for prepared speeches. I maybe got one 3rd place…or none. This is easily explained by my fellow Toastmasters’ diligent hard work. Like ants they attended conferences and competitions, put hours of prep into the speeches done in the meetings. I was the grasshopper who did little homework because the table topic ribbons looked good enough to me, and I knew I would win another one every week. Resting on my improvisational laurels yet again, I learned a lot. I thought the critique and evaluations skills were of the utmost importance. The supportive structure resembles the blogging tribe in the simplicity of the mission. Both Toastmasters and Triberr are designed to improve by practice and critique.
Triberr is a modern-day literary soiree with bloggers tribing up to read and share each others’ work. It has the same individuality that each Toastmasters chapter offers, and many participants are in more than one tribe, just like active Toastmasters who speak daily at different meetings. It has the same few stalwarts who keep it going, and the same number of flakes who come and go without much impact. Toastmasters is modestly priced, as is Triberr Prime, the paid version of the system. I am working my way up to Priming it. I have grown my own tribe since the conference on the equinox, and been invited to join some others. I love the way it exposes us to each other and to an unknown set of others based on our own cultivation of a news stream. There is no doubt in my mind that this power is working well for me, and even has the potential of moving me out of the table topic section of the creative world. I do really appreciate the thorough work and preparation dedicated to the blogs I am reading from my tribe mates. Perhaps I will try it.
In the meantime, I have dedicated my Tumblr blog to a new tribe I formed around the Three Book Diet cult I have joined as a superfan of the ever brilliant Brother Brogan. The ability to have a book club about an intense interaction with the material rather than a cursory and meaningless consumption of words is something brand new. It is the opposite of the high volume book club…..no review and abandon…not this year..we will live our books, live our yoga, live our true Epicurean literary lives. I do remember that at the end of Trust Agents there was mention of using what you have just read rather than hurrying away to more reading. Chris and Julian are teachers, not so much authors, even though they have written these great books. Business Design is the new community management. By styling his own business as interactive with ease it is my opinion that Chris has figuratively reopened the ancient Greek schools of philosophy that required direct transmission from the master. Socrates did not believe in the written word, thought it would ruin education. I am sure he would freak right out if he saw PowerPoint. I think that Triberr and the book dieting cult can combine very nicely. Ironically diet books that tell you how to eat are always best sellers, but nobody I have seen has chosen a diet book for the book diet.
How to Become a Super Model
November 13, 2012
— 1 Comment
Find the essence of who you are meant to be through refinement and distillation.
Mollie Lu and the still
Keep your options open.
Mollie Lu
Enjoy the ride.
Jumps for Joy
Take some calculated risks.
Letting Go
Remember to thank the fam.
Max, Mollie, and Ben
State that you are one, and firmly maintain it.
Mollie Lu Looks at You
Lifeboats on the Ship of Dreams
November 12, 2012
— 2 Comments
stormy seas and lifeboat
There are 4 lifeboats on the ship that sails through the darkness of dreams. Instinctively you decide to trust one of them in panic, in fear, in the dark. Dawn reveals the name and the nature of the little craft you chose as your vehicle to take you to a safe shore. The secure/happy boat contains anchor, oars, personal floatation devices, and provisions. It has been named Providence. The insecure/unhappy boat has no anchor, oars or provisions. The personal floatation devices are inadequate and the hull has a hole in it. The name painted on this lifeboat is Fate. The other two boats are ready for the happy /insecure and lastly for the secure/ unhappy. The happy/insecure boat has a mainsail, a jib, provisions that include rum, personal floatation devices, but no rudder, anchor or oars. This little lifeboat bears the name Hope. The secure but unhappy boat has provisions and an anchor, nothing else. It has been named Greed. If you find yourself in stormy seas, which lifeboat will you choose, and where will you sail with it? Have you been lead to believe that you must choose between security and happiness? Can you adjust your definitions of happiness and security to fit into your dream voyage when you are in both stormy and calm seas?
Claim Your Acronym
November 12, 2012
To enhance communication of any kind it is necessary to address a specific audience, even if it is digital. In the book Impact Equation I have been presented with a concept that I have been living for the last few years. Brother Brogan proposes that for an idea to evolve and be refined the qualities that cause audience to be interested in your message must be considered. He mentions that presenting in public with instant feedback from direct observation is entirely different from the digital world of presentation. This is the understatement of the decade as well as the theme of my study and effort for the last 3 or 4 years. I have always taught in person to groups and individuals. If I say so myself I have done this so much that I do instinctively know how to teach and drive a message home to people I can see and hear. However, my in person methodology involves much humor and stealth to distract and weave fairy tales of deep lessons. With real live people it is easy to stop when you are bombing, change course, redirect. It is digitally difficult, since we are communicating blindly with no visual of our intended audience. We now have no idea why or how anyone pays us attention, but need to fill in that blank in some cohesive way.
To plant a memorable seed in the digital arena that is both considered and spread by evangelists, there must be an easy way to evangelize. This is exactly the point at which I, as the charismatic in person snake oil saleswoman, completely failed to execute my core beliefs to what I know to be a very large audience wanting to feel good and feel healthy at the same time. I always look to the ancestors for deeper meaning. My parents were extreme acronym adopters in the 1950’s. The created codes such as SUS ( sit up straight) and COP (chin over plate) to give me orders in public and at home about how to enjoy dining with them. Like many other of my parents’ futuristic practices, virtually nobody else I knew did such a thing. My giant aversion to all acronyms can be directly traced to eating with my parents. This does not serve me at all and can not hurt the feelings of my dead parents. OMG, is it ever time to stop boycotting the acronym.
Starting from scratch, one would have acro’ed in initially before going out and getting and international trademark, if one had been aware. Since I was in the less than aware group, and only recently liberated to appreciate the beauty and power of the acronym, I must start where I am. Floatli is my trademark and my invention for water exercise. It is for those who like to feel good while moving, and appreciate the fact that they can move. Today I step into this century and happily debut the Floatli acronym:
- First
- Love
- Own
- Ass
- Totally
- Like
- It is
This means that taking care of your own body for the most pleasurable healthy outcome will involve radical acceptance of what is. The sensual pleasure of water as an exercise medium is empowering. It can be a haven for injured athletes, a playground, and a social bonding agent. If your first ( and maybe only) consideration is the flawed appearance of your bathing suit look, the good feelings stop before they begin. I am an evangelist for loving your own ass, because if you don’t nobody else will.
British Bible Belt
November 11, 2012
— 8 Comments
William and Lucinda Jane
My great grandfather, William Ellison Taylor, was a farmer and a preacher in the Church of Christ in Texas after the Civil War. He had beautiful handwriting which I have in the form of his Confederate pension application. He was shot in the knee at Second Manassas, but still had to get back to Selma, Alabama. He survived to marry Lucinda Jane Armer, who ironically is a descendant of the Plantagenets. They moved to Texas along with Lucinda’s parents after the war.
The place and time Lucinda and William lived was an echo of the dramas of their ancestors who had Bible issues of biblical proportion back in their homeland of England. Lucinda’s family was playing music in the court of Henry VIII when he killed some wives and made himself the head of the new Church of England. Other members of her family were Plantagenets, being royal.
King of France Louis IX (1215 – 1270)
is your 21st great grandfather
Son of King of France
Son of Philip The
Daughter of Charles
Daughter of Jeanne
Son of Philippa
Daughter of John of Gaunt – Duke of
Daughter of Joan
Son of Duchess of York Lady Cecily
Son of Henry
Son of Henry
Son of John
Son of Francis Gabriell
Daughter of John
Son of Elizabeth
Son of Richard
Son of George
Son of George
Daughter of David
Daughter of Minerva Truly
Daughter of Sarah E
Mary Tudor disrupted the reign of the Plantagenets and made martyrs of William E Taylor’s ancestors. The big problem was the way everyone felt about the Bible and who should read it. William Taylor may have been named for his 8th great grand uncle, William Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for translating and publishing the Bible in English. His niece Margaret was married to Rev. Rowland Taylor, also burned at the stake for his religious convictions. The British Bible belt was worse that just burning crosses…..they actually burned the people they found to be heretical.
William Tyndale (1507 – )
his 8th great grand uncle
Father of William
Daughter of John
Son of Margaret
Son of Thomas
Son of Thomas
Son of Col James
Son of John
Son of John
Son of John
Son of John Nimrod
Son of John Samuel
Certainly William and Lucinda lived the Bible belt philosophy. I went to the Church of Christ a couple of times with my cousins when I was visiting in Houston as a kid. It was very foreign to my church experience, being fully stripped of all remnants of fancy dressing. No pipe organ, no choir, no stained glass, very austere, and they went there twice on Sunday and again on Wednesdays. I did not relate to the whole thing. I grew up in Pittsburgh in a post industrial country club culture with cocktails. I never understood the cousins and all that Bible stuff because my parents did not do it. I think I am starting to know why they still had that in the Taylor family. Once somebody dies for something, the least the family can do is go along with the belief for a few generations.
Library in the Sky and the 3BD
November 10, 2012
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Library St Gallen
When I recently visited a friend in New York who uses the internet, but not social media, I explained to her why I am a fan of both. I told her that I always liked physically hanging out in libraries, and now there is no need to go anywhere to do so. During the 3 years that I have done research on my family tree ancestry.com has constantly improved, providing a never-ending adventure into history with more data than anyone can handle. I am in tribes with many fun food bloggers who replace my cookbook habit with exciting new ideas. It is easier to find a zillion recipes by Google than it is to hunt in a physical library. The first of November I began a library fast that will last for a year. At first I freaked out and felt very attached to the liberal use of my public library as a primary need in my life. After a while I heard my own words come back to me as I encouraged my friend to experiment …”Now the library is all around us.”
The three book diet is the most ingenious of diets proposed by Chris Brogan to all within the sound of his voice ( digital power sphere). Such a clever little minx, he released a book and at the same time started a group dedicated to reading no more that three books all year. The idea is to saturate oneself and reflect on the content of the books rather than speed read and move to the next conquest. I already own all the books I have chosen, Chris’ Impact Equation having been zapped into the Kindle on the iPad the day it was released. I also have How to think Like Leonardo da Vinci on the ibooks in the iPad. The Sacred Contracts book came in the form of an audio CD, but I have since bought the hardback because it is useful for reference all the time. On my long drive next week I will listen to the Sacred Contract book again, just to be immersed. I think I shall also buy the Impact and Leonardo books on audio. I believe that hearing things is a different form of learning than reading, and hits the mind in a different way each time. I used to listen to the same Deepak Chopra book every time I worked out on the Pilates reformer. I have portions memorized to the point that they will never leave my brain. The audio version of Impact Equation will be out in a few weeks, and I will buy it to back up the written one.
I have met a few other participants on the twitter feed #3bd, the most interesting of whom is actually a librarian. I picture her in the middle of it all, and sticking to her diet. I may plan to go to the library in St Gallen, or some other fabulous old library at the end of my restriction year. I once went to see the one in St Gall, but found it closed for restoration when I visited. Who knows what kind of rebound this may cause. It looks like I am collecting my own little library by owning every format of my three books to start. This will be an interesting voyage. I can see the merits.
But the greatest of these is charity.
November 9, 2012
— 2 Comments
Charity
We are asked to give in many ways. It is important today to regognize one of the meanings of the word charity. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, according to Paul. This charity is the virtue of charity, not at all the same as the generosity and giving of gifts. This charity is the one that thinks of all other people charitably, or with kindness. We have been on a rampage of enemy creation around here. The enemy is not a group of people you don’t know, or another nation you can not even locate on a map, as you may believe. The enemy is your very own inability to be patient and kind, and think of all strangers charitably.
It is an internal rather than an external practice. Your tax exempt giving does not exempt you from generating kindness and compassion for strangers. Your participation in public service does not give you a pass when it comes to being patient and loving. Your bright and shiny holiday lights do not prove that you are in some positive spirit, but only a willingness to electrically decorate. Loving kindness is a state that can only be shared. This year as you budget your end of the year donations, find willingness in your practice to think kindly of others you have never met. Do your part to keep the nation from hurdling off the charitable cliff. I am not asking you to do the difficult job of thinking kindly of people you know and think are incredible jerks. Start with something easy, like political parties, Europeans, the Congress of the United States,or other groups of perceived enemies about which you honestly know nothing. Just love them up and start to bring the concept closer to home as you get stronger in your ability to be patient and kind.
The Essence of Beauty is Truth
November 8, 2012
I will have one pass to make an impact on a group of 13 year old young ladies soon. I have given so much thought to this presentation that I wondered if the end result might be a big fat flop. My theory of how to reach them has changed along the way, and drastically recently. I have received guidance with some first hand information on the realities of being teen today. I chat on twitter with Emme, Super Model, who is all of that and an advocate for healthy body image and healthy living. She covers subjects from make-up technique and selection to healthy living. I was lucky to win the prize on #Emmetalks after a wonderful chat with Marci Warhaft-Nadler who wrote the book The Body Image Survival Guide for Parents. Her book arrived in the mail just in time to both shock and inspire me.
Both Emme and Marci are parents who strive to model a healthy lifestyle that includes appreciating and nurturing one’s own body. They understand the culture of bullying and shame that is prevailing. They know that boys suffer from body image issues that are compounded by the fact that they believe those issues are strictly for girls. They suffer the shame of being ashamed in what they think is an unnatural manner. Both the mom of our featured teen young lady and I are veteran spa culture fitness instructors. We have witnessed the crazed disconnect that can and does happen between adults and the image they hold of their own appearance and its importance. In the book I learned that things have gone from bad to worse with parents now imposing very unhealthy thoughts about adequacy and appearance, even recommending plastic surgery to very young kids. Although learning how hard the kids have it today was very rough on me, I am very pleased to know that the dignity and well being of children is supported in this book with practical suggestions for parents. These concrete suggestions are very much needed for kids to be guided to healthy love, care and respect for the body they have for this lifetime.
When in doubt, scarf dance. That is my teaching creed and I am sticking to it for this lesson. The group of six girls have all known each other for years, growing up on the beach. In fact, I clearly recall monitoring a play group at the beach back when they all ate sand and toddled. I plan to bring back the carefree days of playgroup one last time with a lavish prom dress scarf dancing on the beach extravaganza. We have a professional photographer lined up to record this. I am not sure how each of these young ladies feels about her image, but I am collecting cold hard proof of the artfulness and beauty that results from purposely sharing joy. Pictures do speak louder than words. I look forward to this shoot with 6 supermodels on the beach.
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