As human nature seems to gravitate towards negativity, shock, violence, up-to-the-second NEWS, we lose sight of some of the best qualities that makes life worthwhile.
I've just about given up my MINDFULNESS experience, more like an episode as my mind does not like or want to discipline its mind by staying completely focused on one topic.
I've had some things going on. For the first time in six years I've felt a need to carry the caveat: the opinion that I express are my own. If I share something on Twitter, it DOES not mean that I am endorsing the topic. It may simply mean that I thought it would be interesting or newsworthy. And all our newsworthy stories are rarely about heroism, philanthropy until Bill Gates and his CEO: Chief Excellence Optimist: Melinda Gates.
Maybe this whole stratosphere is loosing some of its glitter of hope? Some of the most nauseating and self-serving information seems to rise to the top. In this instance, it is not always the cream of the crop. I have a theory that if the cream rises to the top, then the Pinnacle point at the bottom. In this information model, all the best information filters downward.
Social Media really does mean #soME as in ME, ME and more ME. As in So being shortened for #Twitter convo So can me someone, something or So about ME. The truly unique become the Pinnacle. I'm going to really have to think about that ::.... who do I know from meeting online that meets the Pinnacle of SoME (something about something, shared by ME don't forget).
REGARDLESS, or as my love would say::... "irregardless" which has annoyed me from day one. Thankfully, the only time he says it is when we are in a group setting and he is trying to say "BUT" gracefully he says "irregardless" instead.
I'd like to say that articulation, diction and pronunciation have always been in the back of my mind. Since when? I can only think of this best friend I had when I was I'm going to say 12. The very tip of the cliff before you fall into adolescence before adulthood. That heightened awareness that you are stepping beyond childhood into never ever shoulda world of disappointment, defeat, failure, bullihood. That wide eyed innocence in the belief that dinosaurs still live and being a princess is automatic and expected.
Everyone has that very first moment in life when they say to themselves::.... "OK, this isn't going over according to my happiness meter". I'm sure it varies, but each person should have one of those. I know, now you know what and how MINDFULNESS evaporates. Be still thee mind. Chill out. Chillax - love that word ... a Hipster invention that could have come from the 80s Yuppies' mouths.
I had a conversation with a colleague and I shall call a supporter, or it really should be Supporter. I didn't realize it quite then what it was. I expressed sincere and deep appreciation for the Supporter's help. That was genuine. Yet it was today that I reflected upon how thoughtful, smart, receptive and objective this person was. They are the only ones who can be genuinely called a Supporter.
We eroded the workplace environment that promoted mentor programs. Or maybe its because I am removed from a corporate environment that offers mentorship programs and match ups. It was a distinguishable event when you knew that the company you worked for had your success well invested by them. But even then, I may have had a Mentor, a great manager cheerleader, and a big group of team players. I don't think I had a Supporter.
I went back to work for the company I'd left because the Supporter reached out to me to take me lunch. The only time we had ever had lunch alone. It was always a team celebration, client luncheon or nonprofit event. I'm glad at that moment, I realized what I wanted: A Supporter.
I'd done some nifty things, stuff that sounds good on a resume as the truth rings out, with one common word expressed by the past three interactions or feedback: one singular word: impressive.
It is what I had been craving. I know I mourn the loss of that Supporter, who encouraged me to step a bit beyond and take on a greater area of responsibility. Sometimes we're not always that sure of ourselves even if people's impression is of self-assurance. Ever watch a deer? Elegantly elongate their neck as it gently swerves back and forth gazing around to take in everything around it, the alertness that allows the deer to jump and be off so quickly. It would be great to have instincts like that.
Do others ever feel like they're in an environment that is sucking the breath out of them? Or that they perceive more toxicity than anything good? How horrible. It is a valiant fight against skepticism. It is by far easier to be negative and a skeptic than it is to be optimistic.
What DOES make it easier to be optimistic is when you have a Supporter. The good news, it can happen again and in varying degrees. Recognizing who and when it happens, is the secret to the Pinnacle of Discovery.
IMAGE: Pinnacle Rock
FROM WIKIPEDIA: http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Pinnacle_Rock
Pinnacle Rock is a location from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It is a rock formation consisting of spires and underwater caverns, located off Great Bay Coast. The path to Pinnacle Rock is marked by two rock spires that stick out from the surface. In order for Link to explore Pinnacle Rock, he must use the Zora Maskto breathe and maneuver in the water. Due to the curse that is plaguing Great Bay, the waters leading to Pinnacle Rock are murky. Should Link stray from the correct path, he will reemerge at the beginning of the route. Link can determine the correct path by acquiring the Seahorse from the Fisherman. When released in the waters near Pinnacle Rock, the Seahorse will guide Link to the cavern.
I think that overall, in general, and in sales ::.... persistence pays:
I'm going to have to go digging in my blog-mess ...... why didn't i label them better or could i create folders within folders like i can on many #MICROSOFT user-friendly clicks;
If that doesn't stink, then imagine me trying to create a website with GODADDY.com .... i swear this is the third time i've gone there and they are the worst user friendly, and full of glitches. How many times do we have to hear or read about something that we have to register the fact that somebody is doing a major MAJOR push on advertising spend: GODADDY.com.
Or, alternatively thinking::..... who is being BIG BROTHER and becoming so in tune with my habits: would that be GOOGLE or APPLE (i have a #MicroSoft PC, Apple iPAD, Apple iPhone6x64gb) where my every thought is surrounded by them, ready to pounce on my click to immediately float out the ads thought to be of interest to me. Then again, MicroSoft is getting pretty intuitive these days. I keep getting that steady circle next to the ever-loving "START" button on high alert::.... do i or don't i start being lazy? Yet, that could mean that i could be blogging at breakneck speed from so much knowledge, and data paraded in front of me.
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There's some nifty maneuvering going on out there with these content Kings like BUFFER, POCKET, PINTEREST who have partnered up with GOOGLE's Chrome (old habits die hard, i will be like tissue paper never succumbing to the pressure of calling itself a KLEENEX). Google can rename itself to fall under Alphabet as it is scrambling to the top of the heap for being a 'data' company. Just you watch. While everyone else starts turning around and looking across the floor, wondering how they could have lost the race even though they couldn't find the light at the end of the finish line.
I've shared before (and here I go looking again to insert otherwise my blogs would be shorter, quicker and not encumbered by fact checking or research (perhaps enter content captures like the every incredible IFTTT).
@ifttt knows how to jump hoops around data. Where Facebook and Google are faced off in the ring together, to win the "data champion of the world" platinum ring, Google leading because its grasp of the "obvious" still continues to astound everyone else. Remember on G+ [ googlePLUS GOOGLEplus Google+ google+ ] you don't "follow" people, you have them in your circles. How more ZEN can you get? It sure would resonate with the other big jump in the information world: MINDFULNESS. There, I've written a bit more about it while meanderingsABOUT blogging.
Write a book, film a documentary Michael Moore (it would be right up your alley to mock what is considered general belief to knock everyone's socks off with your seriously talented eye and creativity. The epitome of what I want to be like when I grow up: insightful, creative, honest and real. Except, right now, I am looking to create that by writing words.
I can only write words when I am aware of what is going on around me. Absorbing and gulping down an array of words, poems, quotes, quips clashing in conflict with the creative eye drawn to things of beauty. There is so much of that out there. Huh, I guess I can really take this "Mindfulness" and wrap my own head around it better.
Like a snake or octopus (that i've referred to myself affectionately a few times on INBETWEENERS that I've recently named: YUPPYdom ..... realizing, through writing, that as I sift through the years, totally opposite of what MINDFULNESS is all about ::.... staying in the PRESENT time, moment, second. That is a very very very hard thing to do.
As an assignment, try following along with me as I check it all out and just reiterate in my own words founded by my own presumptions, just interpreting what I see, hear, watch but mostly READ what is going on around me. NOW and put a HALT to thinking about tomorrow's appointments or yesterday's regret.
Sorry, sidebar (URCH, SCREECHhhhhh) Why is it that we only "dwell" in the past. Or we "recall" the mishaps, segmented down to seconds of instant swayed reaction which would have better ramifications. That's a screenplay idea isn't it? Well, that's an area I haven't tried. LOL, I haven't even got near to writing a book. In the back of my mind, I'm writing it. I started organizing it by blogs of different topics that interest me: commentary | publishing | life+love+lifestyle (including beauty and fashion, underscored by admitting I stumble around on POLYVORE ::... to design and test my DIVA worthiness.
In sales, as in life, you have to have a level of persistence. Think of it as being graceful ballerina compared to INDY race. You just don't have time for a bucket list ::.... or do you? Why not? Something that could be further investigated and written about on YUPPYdom with Word Press.
I promised a comparison between Google's Blogspot and Word Press and I've been dragging my fingers. I guess the jury isn't in yet. My knuckles and main readership derived and arrived by creating this blog, with Google, when my instincts told me to write about how sacred Google would become. Heroic of "only in Game of Thrones" masterful proportions.
It isn't fair either on user-friendliness because I was fumbling around when I first created this Blog back in 2010 (yes, soooooooo or sewwwwwwwwwwww many years ago). To being more comfortable and confident in searching for something and which partnership is supporting others the most.
Under that note, I have to say that I started out supporting SocialFave out of admiration and respect for +Philippe since we connected on Linked In when I was a brand-spanking-newbie on social media. Linked In is where I dipped my toes in. As I answer people's question in person all the time: do I really need to be on Twitter? Geez whiz kidz YEsBIZ ::... defining it as a way of casting your personalized net across the universe and seeing what stays in that web you are pulling ashore. I like how Twitter enables me to reach deeper and deeper inside of myself to experiment, discover new information channels, build better awareness for the NOW (still massively, almost impossible, tough).
As what often happens in any clique or popularity group, a few start to get bored and maybe even roll their eyes at each other before slowly creeping out of the room before anyone notices. Many of the YUPPY folks of my youth were amassed under the umbrella of LINKED IN, with the Millennials pushing us from behind, the genX totally crushed in between. A few went exploring new and intriguing ways to communicate and amass even more information, across every mile possible (even space if you paid attention to the Canadian Astronaut who was teaching science to kids from space, as the Space Commander).
By then, I'd carefully placed my basket of goodies: knowledge, experience, character, fashionista style, gregarious personality in with Google, while I left to explore places like Twitter and much later on Facebook and glimmer from Pinterest. There were no user manuals. Which seems ridiculously odd for the YUPPY ~hood who were in the thick of the 80s when Bible/Quaran-thick manuals were dumped on us from everywhere! You couldn't buy anything without being indebted to all the plastic, books, booklets and encyclopedias came with it. Enter my era of the 90s. The persistent patience presented an opportunity to be interested in something, be savvy about it, and then sell it.
Yes, I have been lucky. Or, does success fall upon those at the right place and right time? Busted, I know. That is NOT a MINDFUL thought. Then again, like space explorers now or sea travelers back then, pushing all us to move beyond our own squared, boxed in thinking. So narrow in views that peace is less of an option. As long as two opposing parties believe that they have the ONLY answer, we will struggle to move beyond so much turmoil around us today. Then again, lucky if you were born when I was. I am more familiar with sifting through hype and reality, think about the short shelf of the disco era? If it were up to the Yuppy generation, it would be right up there as a sub-culture of rock and roll.
Gratitude
Right now, I am mindful and thankful for +SocialFave and the team. What a great tool for customizing one's Twitter relationship. More like an extension for the Twitter devotee than a tool. A great example of perseverance, persistence by the founder. I'm too polite to ask whether it has paid off yet. I'm going to guess not, because I want to sprinkle back that business savvy gained from sales hiccups. The pay off is ultimately the longest wait. As my dad would always ask me, sidetracking me quickly and surprisingly or more nurturing and understanding: "What is the pay off?". Great idea to keep that question close at hand, to assist with the struggle of not dwelling on the past or hurry to quickly towards the future. A nice way to say, hey, I like it NOW.
"If you are not prepared
to step out of the BOX
~don't complain that
you're squared in."
~ Jeannette Marshall
No, the quote wasn't the main purpose of writing this blog. I am always fiddling around in PAINT ..... or I'm looking for something, like you do when you have a recipe in front of you, looking to see if you have all the ingredients you want to place in your writing. Or, something just pops out and I think, that is a quote: I should go look for an image to use to create the environment to host the quote. Then, I store them for rePOSTing later on other social media sites like Twitter or Facebook or Google. I'm not a celebrity so they won't be famous or anything. If they catch on and are used more than once, I'm humbled. I plant them on Pinterest too. Pinterest being my virtual storage of sorts. A collection of "stuff".
The experiment I was on to was trying something different to see what happens. It is as a result from not finding a source for checking in with my followers: on Facebook. I had over 500 views of my blog today, which is a nice jump, thank YOU! I like to see if I can understand what people may like, what posts they're reading and what they're sharing, liking, reTweeting and from where? The numbers showed me against a surge from #Brazil .... thank you BRAZIL!! I'm trying to figure out where this surge originated from or by whom.
HINT HINT: Facebook or someone out there should create a follower algorithm based service that tells you who clicks, likes, comments, shares your content: in other words: who are your supporters. (Only someone famous can call them "fans").
I think this does source back to my former talent in sales: I like to hunt. I became more strategic as time progressed, depending upon what I was selling or to whom I was selling to. That was something that was learning in the strategic sales arena, consultative selling, or selling to executives. You really can't peddle your wares to important audiences if you don't get who they are, what they may be interested in or looking for. Writing a blog or blending in on social media is kinda like that. Your following will tend to gravitate towards things that matter most to you. In my case, they would be:
- social media CONTENT to share that others enjoy
- CURATING beautiful images, art, photography
- WRITING, blogging, growing audience
- networking, MEETING others with similar interests
- eventually PAID for what I am learning or writing
When reading the numbers, I look at the posts that have all of a sudden gained momentum, or others seemed to enjoy more. That is suppose to be my guide on what more to write about.
I scale social media sites as a Queen does her empire (ooo, yeah, that's a quote to describe me that I will have to remember to fall back on and create an image to go along with it for sharing).
I started to go through doing clean up. Since Facebook gives Google its money's worth by sometimes leading in driving viewers (and hopefully readers, rarely subscribers sadly). I've talked about it before. Sometimes it shocks me when people I would have just assumed would follow my Facebook Page haven't.
Let's just say the ones I'm more shocked by are the ones I faithfully share their stuff. It is like a nudge aside. My stuff isn't important enough. Or, they may assume that if I post it on my Facebook stream, I would also on my optioneerJM page. But I don't. I don't want people to think I'm spamming.
Which reminds me of my few blocks on Twitter: the guy never said anything to me, just tweeted at me with his own blog. Grrrrrr, he doesn't get it: if you want people to notice you on social media: share their stuff. If you want to really connect, comment. Geesh.
Well, to begin my experiment, I am going to carve back a bit. In time for American Thanksgiving. I want to give thanks to those that support me all the time and don't just acknowledge me when I'm doing the same for them.
Klout indicates that your influence rises as your ratio of following to followers ratio widens to a hearty gap. We shall see. I'll let you know if the opposite happens or a few people scaled back on will notice. The reason is a positive one: I want to be more focused on helping those that support me.
I'm selling my words here. I'm not making any money. At least yet. I trudge on firmly in the belief that eventually it will mean something and even pay off.
I loved this cartoon shared by a connection on Linked In (name withheld because "she" is a PhD and unlikely keen on having her name shared .... if she did, I'd know her on Twitter, G+ and Facebook .... right?
