Remembering Yesterday, silence and valuing the differences

Yesterday was September 11. For the first time it didn't seem like there was much made about the day. It has been seven years. To me it seems like it was last year or at least no more than a couple of years. That day stands out in my mind as one of the most memorable in my lifetime. And the days following when three of us, my boss and another friend/employee, tried to make our way back to Colorado from Washington, DC/Richmond. It was an adventure - planes, almost trains, cabs, and automobiles. We traveled in silence in our mini-van much of the time, turning off the radio. We missed most of the early TV coverage. We had a mission to get home to our loved one's. We drove all night. Stopping on the roadside in the mountains of Virginia at midnight when the massive accident shut down the highway. We walked along the side of the road in silence just to pass the time.

After making it home, I was struck by the silence there too. No planes in the sky, no shouting on TV, everyone looking out for one another. Peaceful in the face of horrible devastation.

Now, this year's anniversary is in the middle of an election. People barely stopped the bickering, shouting and mud slinging to honor the dead. Can't we be civil to each other and value and respect our differences. That's what has made our country so great. We are so diverse and that's what creates so much opportunity - differences create new ideas, our differences help us solve problems. Why can't we see these differences as good and return to a world in which we respect ourselves and each other.

I think we need a movement to re-institute civility in our civil society.

Aggravated

I just went to the specialty meat market to get some steaks. I always ask them to cut my filets because I like the smaller than they come pre-cut. Its way to much meat for a person to eat an 8 oz filet. So I asked the guy for 2 - 6 oz and 3-4 oz. filets. So as far as my math goes that's 24 oz. which makes 1.5 pounds. He hands me the package and I go up to pay and look down and its 2.1 pounds. So that's about $13 more than what I asked for. Its aggravating. Then I end up looking like a complainer or a cheapo if I take them back and ask for what I asked for in the first place.

In reflecting on it on the way home, I think they must train them all to measure heavy. When I ask for my sliced turkey - half pound, its always over "just a little". Is it a conspiracy? Or am I just to exacting?

Baxter Black reminding us

My cousin sent me this today. Its a good reminder of the sacrifices that have been made for us so that we can sit on our porch and soak in the sunset.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0rQzUVQjd8

Quieting the Mind

It is so much easier to write little snippets here than it is to work on my book. I find every distraction in the world to stop me from making progress. Actually, that's the problem with the world today. There are SO many distractions - constant media bombardment, options for entertainment, cell phones, handheld email devices. We are always ON and available. It makes it extremely difficult to quiet the mind.

I have been trying to quiet my mind by mediating 30 minutes each morning and evening. I am not doing so well. In the past week I think I have been able to do for about 15 minutes at most and usually just once a day. I am in a constant state of frenzy. Even when I sit down and try to quiet my mind. A million little thoughts run across my tele-prompter. I try to make them go away and it just leads me down another thought path.

I think that's why blogging is so popular these days, it makes a place to store all of the random thoughts from the tele-prompter. Be still my mind.

Going to school again

I signed up for an online writing class. The course is in writing short stories - literary fiction. I am waiting for my first response from the teacher and wondering how that is going to feel. I just recently started writing again. It has been 20 some odd years. I hope I can handle the criticism. Its funny how comfortable you can get with the way you are. Feedback or what is perceived as criticism can be tough. When you are one of the top executives in a company people stop giving you "feedback". You start thinking you don't need to change anything. Which is a lie you tell yourself. So i am looking for the feedback with an open mind. I should get some feedback tomorrow.

I am also thinking about going back to school to study something different than business/accounting. Feeling the need to grow and learn something new. Its hard to break away from what I have been doing for the past 20 or so years. It seems like going to school would provide more discipline around moving on to something new. After all, if I spend the money for the classes then I will feel compelled to do the work and follow through instead of just thinking about it or talking about it.