Dixie’s Road Trip

weekends need to be longer

I am working on a website update, editing and deleting video and trying to catch up up on my own creative work. The weekends are just not long enough these days.

Here’s one of many:

The opposite may also be true…

I like TED (ideas worth spreading). Here is an interesting 2 minutes:

Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?

I found an old friend

When I gave the forgiveness I said I’d never give
I found an old friend.
All the locks and chains fell away.
And my heart began to breathe again.

Once, when we were still children we said forever.
Then life happened and we fell apart.
Who knew darlin’ that one day what was lost could be found.
The world sings, bells ring and every beautiful thing laughs out loud.

When I gave the forgiveness I said I’d never give
I found an old friend.
All the locks and chains fell away
And my heart began to breathe again.

Now when I look at your faded blue eyes
All I want is to reach past your body, reach right to your soul.
I want to find a way to kiss you in that old rocking chair
And write a new story there.

When I gave the forgiveness I said I’d never give
I found an old friend.
All the locks and chains fell away
And my heart began to breathe again.

The power of prayer

this is a question that has been on my mind lately…

If you are a working for a nonprofit and are soliciting donations, what is the appropriate professional response to a person who says “I am going to pray about this a let you know tomorrow”?

Another question i have is if they do not call, should you even follow up? Is there anything you should/could do that trumps God’s answer to his/her prayer?

I wonder if it is just a another way to say no without saying no. ouch.

If it’s genuine, then I am also not sure I am comfortable with the implication that if you decide not to give after prayer that you might be saying God doesn’t like the organization that I am working so hard to grow.

How do you handle this in your organization?

2010, the year of the muse?

I’ve been trying to put a finger on why I haven’t been creating much lately. I have finally decided that I have simply lost my muse. Maybe I just put on a shelf and I forgot where I left it like I do so often with my keys or my drinking glass. Maybe I’ve drowned it in so much TV and internet that it’s sunk to the bottom of the abyss and my feeble attempts to touch the murky bottom are just that weak. Maybe it walked away from me because I wasn’t shiny and new and unconditional anymore. Maybe it because I starting taking money for it and it’s no longer free…

the question is, do I search for the old muse and try to figure out what it was and where I left it? Or, do I seek out a new muse? Both take work to find and work when you find it. The old is familiar but you keep the baggage. The new lets you start fresh but you start from zero and have to build from scratch. I guess an obvious third option is just to sit back and hope one appears. Oh, and then I thought a fourth might be that it’s not lost and I am still creating. I am just doing a piss poor job of recording it.

I write alot in my head these days and see pictures of moments everywhere. Unfortunately, I am not capturing it. Too bad there’s not a record button on the side of my head or a camera in my eyeball to freeze the moment before I remember to raise the camera only to catch the moment after. Even 140 characters is too much to scratch out these days. I suspect I should start with being more intentional about the time I commit to my creative efforts. It would be nice if it was that simple. I was writing about being intentional earlier in the year. Maybe I was just foreshadowing this moment in my own life.

So, my resolution for 2010 is to be more intentional … about everything.

Music Video

Video from the Balcony Club in Dallas, TX

Emy Taylor singing Tie Me To An Angel (emytaylor.com) :

Halloween Camping

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW THE FULL GALLERY

Protected: open

the sad state of free speech

I read Joan Walsh at Salon.com. In a recent article she was discussing what had happened when a controversial talk radio host made a bid to become part owner of an NFL team with some other investors.

In the article she wrote about the sad state of free speech in this country in that individuals think the right to free speech also guarantees he or she will face no consequences for that speech. I agree wholeheartedly. If you live an die by your mouth like a “Rush” it seems you are likely to wear the badge of free speech like talisman as if it will shield you. It brings to mind the idea of consequence and responsibility. Personal responsibility and the understanding that actions have consequences seems so lacking in many individuals in today’s society. I hesitate to attribute it to a generation since the ability to accept and just as important take responsibility is more like a personality flaw than a result of your age.

When I was reading Joan’s blog, it also reminded me of an interview I saw with George W. following the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, controversial statements. He said something pretty true of the situation that should be a lesson to all especially his fellow republicans like Rush. Forgive my recalls not what it used to be but what I heard him say in that interview was that sure, every American has the right to free speech, but you can’t whine about the consequences and if a bunch of people want to bulldoze your cd’s because you said something not nice about the president, that’s how the cookie crumbles. And, don’t you know that Rush was one of many on the “crush the Dixie Chicks” bandwagon then. Branding them heretics and traitors while out if the same mouth now offering gems like “I hope Obama fails” and as Joan provided, “bend over, grab the ankles” for Obama because he’s black. Disgusting.

So, Rush, if the NFL doesn’t want to align itself with you that’s just a consequence of your mouth and not some global liberal conspiracy. Man up you wimp. Speak your mind all you want. Just stop your whining and accept responsibility.

Stay tuned…next post, I’ll be writing about the tension between “Live and Let Live” and “Leave No Trace” after camping for a few days in Terlingua.

the romance factor

When I was young, if someone had told me as I approached 40 years old that I would be starting over from scratch in my personal relationship, I’d have laughed them away believing at the time that by now I would have built something of substance. Believing that what I made would be solid and true and unwavering. Believing. Over time, as I grew older and experienced more of life and love, my view changed but I don’t think I ever doubted that my life would be much more settled and committed by now.

But, here I am, staring down the barrel of 40, back in what is essentially a kiddie pool that sometimes feels more like swimming the English Channel.

With distance from the end of my relationship, I find myself in a very different place than before I entered it. What I entered into some six plus years ago was safe and comfortable but I lacked the sufficient heart strings to hold any of it together. One set of strings rarely is strong enough to hold the weight of two. However, it’s hold allowed me precious time to heal and repair and to remember just what is important about life. For that I will be forever grateful.

With the caution of 40 but the optimism of 20, I am having my own little renaissance. Dating, being happy, saying yes when I used to say no, not being afraid to make mistakes, learning new life lessons and being free with my emotions is incredibly rewarding. And, it ups the romance factor considerably. Instead of rare moments almost every day holds something special and unique. It’s exhausting and a juggling act but worth every serenaded walk in a downtown square and bubble bath and even the bumps and bruises along the way.

Dare to be happy. the romance and adventure are totally worth it…