Figmentations

Self expression isn’t always easy.  Maybe that’s why I admire those who openly exhibit an apparently unshakable confidence to be themselves. 

It’s easy not to realize that behind outwardly confident people there are probably many encounters with ignorant people than most people are even aware. 

It seems that in life, it’s almost impossible to escape criticism entirely.  The schoolyard “Sticks and Stones” saying and the online advice of “Don’t feed the trolls” is only a small part of the story. Read more »

There is nothing new about the age-old debates around Free Speech and Free will.

Here is another example in the news recently:

Tobacco companies are challenging the federal government’s power (via the FDA) to regulate tobacco product advertising. 

The tobacco companies claim this violates their right to free speech, that the government doesn’t have the right to force them to display imagery which persuades the public not to purchase their product, which they point out is a lawful product.

The Court’s reply was that the tobacco industry’s imagery “seeks to distract potential users from the fact that tobacco products are lethal and addictive.” Read more »

I don’t have too many major regrets in life; at least not yet.   

In the past, I believe that I did what I knew best at the time.  Not that I wouldn’t go back and do some things differently.  But, since I didn’t know then what I do know now, I feel I wouldn’t have known to make other choices to get other outcomes at that time…if that makes sense?

At some motivational-type of events, activities like fire-eating or fire-walking are life changing experiences for some people.  Those experiences are actually designed to be just that.  Read more »

We all have bad days at work.  When we do, it is not uncommon to entertain the thought of:  “do I stay, or do I go?” 

Recently I came across strong arguments to support either option. 

From “don’t quit your job…never be without an income stream”, to “appreciate what you have until you have a plan to go after something better,” to the enticing:  “Oh, go for it, don’t live a life with regrets.”   Read more »

As I work towards developing a more consistent writing habit, I absolutely agree with the reigning advice which is to always have a few ideas ”in the works” to keep the development process flowing and to avoid writer’s block, e.g., always have a couple of articles started; topics/keywords mapped out;  titles/ideas scheduled; thought-starters handy, etc.

According to plan, I had a couple blog posts in the works, in draft, which I thought were ready to simply clean up and post.

As I was re-reading one of those posts, to make sure I was making a valid supported point, etc., etc.,  I realized I was violating one of the key points of advice I was trying to make in that post.  Read more »

Commitment is important to being successful.  Recently I found myself contemplating whether commitment was easy or difficult? 

At first I thought that when someone knows their life purpose, commitment to it would just cleanly, easily be there.  The simple part about commitment is that it is relatively easy to see if it is present or if it isn’t. 

Yet, as I believe about most things, I feel there is probably a range or scale of stages between the two extremes.  

So, commitment, too, would have components, elements, and dynamics. Read more »

Probably not unlike many people, I have also wanted to start my own business, and be my own boss, for quite a while now. 

If you are like me, and you don’t have your arms comfortably wrapped around that fully-backed blockbuster idea yet, you can probably relate to the hardest part of starting a business which for me has been defining what it is I want to “be” (i.e.,  what problem I can solve for people with my service or product).

Along the way, here’s what I’ve learned out about the importance of defining myself/yourself: Read more »

I have heard that one way to know if you are truly living your heart’s desire is to feel that you would die (or have no other reason to go on) if you couldn’t do it . While that may be a bit dramatic, it might still be worthwhile to consider the following question:  “What would you do (or be) if you could no longer do what you’ve always wanted to do?” 

For example, we’ve seen this in the news:  Politicians involved in a scandal or libeled to the point where they are forced to leave office; musicians or artists who lose their ability to create or perform at the levels they once were capable of in the past; etc.  Regardless of whether or not those life-altering events are self-inflicted or not, we must move on.  Read more »

I don’t always believe in Passion.  It teases. For me, it seems to come and go, kind of what I imagine a Bi-Polar or a Manic-Depressive condition to be like. 

It’s easy to be all gung-ho when you are starting something new.  There are no expectations yet. You can only envision things going well.  And, like a budding romance, you can be so blinded by the love that you don’t see flaws that are easily evident to outsiders. Dreams are a tease, too. Read more »

Dear Blog,

I want you to know that I’ve missed you so.  I know you won’t write yourself, so I’m glad to be back to try and breathe some life back into you once again. 

There’s a whole lot of life out there, so we can’t keep letting it slip by without us.  Let’s capture those thoughts and feelings that we uniquely experience and put them down in black and white once and for all.

I hope there are no hard feelings between us.  I want you to know that I didn’t plan on leaving you alone for so long.  Life just got in the way.  Or, I must admit, I let live get in the way.  It was a mistake of me to let you slip off of my priority list.  My relationship with you truly is important to me.

I’m surprised how quickly time has passed though.  I didn’t expect to be away from you at all, and definitely not for this long. Read more »