Dream State

What does the lack of sleep actually do to a person?

Does it afford greater creativity, or the oft chance to gain any greater experiences that may have not been experienced in a dream?

I rather think that within the pursuit of sleeplessness the mind doth wander into places that it just might not have found through the normal channels of an otherwise focused endeavor.

This is not to say that I do not sleep. It is just that sometimes I sleep less than the ordinary person, but since when have I been the one to subscribe to the ordinary?

As William Shakespeare wrote oh so many years ago “to sleep par chance to dream!” Because without those dreams, where does the understanding of reality come from?

The world of reality today has within it so many things that would otherwise constitute a bad dream. We need some good dreams to mold our reality back into a life that was one time called the “American Dream!”

A model has passed

Growing up an getting older never has quite the dramatic impact until you experience the passing of your parents. And, the most dramatic passing is that of your mother. With this you feel that your connection has been severed, not unlike the actual umbilical cord that connected your life to the life of your mother. Through this physical connection you grew up knowing that Mom was a powerful force. She was one to fiercely protect you; however, at the same time, one that you wanted to mind due to having observed that same fierce intensity. But, you learn how not to stir this ire from within Mom, and you feel the wonderful love that this bond with Mom has to offer. Because, you are a part of her! She sets an example for you to see and for you to follow (because we all heard at one point or another "do as I say not as I do", but it really is those actions that lay the foundations for your actions)and she means well in her actions toward you for you are her child.

This week I found out that the Mother of a close friend of mine had died on Monday the 5th of January 2009. And I shared in the pain of this passing, because like the model to shape my behavior that my mother was, Emily Dorsey Ford was also a model whose example was always set to be observed and train children. As if I had been one of her own brood, Emily was a bright shining example of life worth living, and how to grasp that feeling of good from the world around you by always cultivating a sense of wonder. Explore and expand and take a rose hips vitamin C were words and actions that Emily would expound. The effect that Emily had will be multiplied not just through her presence in her immediate family, but outward to the extended family that she guided and cared for because she loved all of those that were befriended to her children as her own, and you never felt unloved in her presence.

I felt the passing of my Father in March of 2005 and the passing of my Mother in June of 2006, and this is like the passing of another Mother to me. Painful, but the pain will become only a gentle angst in future days knowing that within me I have the influence of a second Mother from whom I will share the love I give and the examples I set for the next generation based on having known Emily.

Emily rest in peace knowing that the family you raised knew your love, learned how to love others, and are loved by the ones who know them and knew you in this life.

The vacation is now over - 2009 is a Go!

The end of the year has been a good time for me to take up the slack in my vacation time. Typically with the holiday's falling where they fall in the last two weeks of the year, a minimum amount of vacation days equals a maximum amount of leave from work. This was definitely the cast this year.
Luck was in my favor as I changed jobs last year and as part of the new job negotiations (thankfully I was in a position to make a deal) I received 15 days of vacation; although, joining the new job in the second quarter versus the first prorated the 15 to 11 days but this is not the point.
I was able to take the last two weeks of the year off, clear my head of anything work related (regardless of the job stress occurs) and get a handle on the plan for the new year.
This is a part of the new year, and the mind and the body are in the moment and moving. This is a Saturday, at 8:30 in the morning, and I am up and active. Such are the actions of my new future; in that, to really take control and get anything done, you have to have TIME. It cannot be manufactured, saved, bottled, or otherwise stored for use later. You have to manage the time you have! Then you have to use that time to Get Things Done (no so much a plug for David Allen, but he does have a point)! And this is my way of moving in that direction. As I stated in an earlier post, I am not the one to make any "New Year Resolutions", since these are the first items to get lost in the time that becomes any new year - Just ask your self, "What if I really had lost all the weight I resolved to lose over the years?" - Well then your Body Mass Index would be at or better than the calculated figure (and that is usually a real shocker for most people, usually due to the fact that it is a illogical thought to think that one could have gotten so far off the mark and that they really had THAT MUCH weight to lose). Off track again; regardless, using the time to make accomplishments ans get things done is just a part of the new habits that I am making and not just by setting anything done in a resolution, but by just doing them. From here on until the list, one by one, just get done!

2009 - The New Year Attitude

Reset, revived, ready to move forward and take on all new comers! This is the way I am starting out the new year. Change can only come when I make the effort, and not from resolutions that get shed like the pounds of the past that have crept up and get resolved to remove, but real change, like not consuming all the crap that turned into those pounds. Change to do better, to be a better example of how to be better and then to lead the pack forward with this zeal!
Ranting, raving, you betcha. But without a conscious flow of new ideas and the desire to go and follow a few possibly to fail, only to learn from the mistake, how does anyone ever expect to make accomplishments? Not everything works out, take note of the economy right now. But, change is rough and many the person, myself included, will take the first opportunity to procrastinate versus making the change. Although, with this new year the opportunity to change is right now, and like that Asian philosophy about the 1000 mile journey, you have to start with the first step. Key emphasis, on the you (or the me) have to make that step, and then keep on stepping. The direction may not always be correct, and the terrain may be arduous, but direction may be corrected (thank you GPS), and the terrain may be scaled in order to find the journey that leads to the new goals and dreams that become the new you or that new life or even just that new attitude.