POLITICIANS, MEDIA AND HOLLYWOOD

Is anyone else getting sick and tired of being told how to think, dress, vote, work, eat, play and generally live our lives? The whole world seems to be about nothing other than entertainment these days and that includes newscasts, political leaders and important issues on the health and well-being of our planet.

I, for one, am tired of pretty boy/ bad boy politicians telling us what is right and wrong and then doing the opposite themselves. Where is the policy, where is the vision – there isn’t any! They get elected on looks. They get elected on making outrageous and truth defying statements about their competition. And – they are not held accountable by the electorate and certainly not by the media.

I am really tired of the media giving us opinion instead of facts and letting us form our own opinions. I am old (and grumpy) enough to remember when news on radio, TV and in the papers was there to inform, not convince us. There was a code that insisted on presenting information in a fair, unbiased and objective fashion – now it is just so much entertainment fluff. What was she wearing, how was her hair, look at his skin tone, he is so photogenic – or not. Is anyone else tired and fed up with this crap?

Celebrities – OMG!!! How in God’s green earth do celebrities have the license to comment on anything that will gather them a few more eyeballs without any subject knowledge whatsoever? If I want to know how to dress-up and put on makeup while playing make believe, I will contact a Hollywood celebrity for advice. They are being given huge platforms for expressing opinion based on what – their connection with politicians and media. The herd instinct in Hollywood is rampant with misinformation, conjecture and political correctness and, “please do not confuse me with the facts.”

Integrity seems to be a word long lost in the realms of politics, media and Hollywood. Do we not realize that they insult our intelligence by listening to their diatribes on issues that contain very little fact and mostly social media savvy sound bites? We the people, we the electorate, we the consumer have a responsibility to look beyond this claptrap and find solid facts and information and then make voting and purchasing decisions based on our own opinions, not those of some polished, well coiffed talking-head on TV.

We need to look beyond the obvious and easy in order to find the truth – apparently no one else is doing it for us.  Let’s take back our power over own lives. Let’s accept the responsibility of doing what’s right rather than what we are told. Stop letting other people do our thinking for us. Yes, I am afraid that we are the ones that have allowed the unholy trinity of politicians, media and Hollywood to lead our decision making – STOP! THINK! ACT!

It is long past time to open our eyes to the manipulation foisted upon us by the terrible triumvirate and recreate a world with less pixie dust and more truth. It will require us to think for ourselves, be more cynical about what we see, hear and read, consider the sources and follow our own intuition and research about what is true or false.

Thank you – I feel much better now. Let’s hope that my mood brightens in the week to come.

NEW YEAR’S TASK

So a New Year dawns and it seems that there are many things from 2016 that have not been completed yet. January 2, 2017 and I finally feel like cleaning up my office and setting some new intentions for the year and in so doing, I have run across a few things that I have found interesting.

SOME QUOTES TO THINK ABOUT:

Everyone has an answer but what’s the question?

When we let go of doing and embrace being, we open a direct channel to inspiration.

A “writer” is a technical expert and an “author” is a creative force.

Put your mouth where your money is.

Why take one step in the direction of our dreams when we can become what we dream of right now?

Inspiration is that deep part of ourselves that emerges when we give ourselves permission to live our dreams.

Good intentions are not a substitute for good actions.

Change your mind – change your reality.

SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Is losing weight a negative intention?

What the hell is a “GIF” and a “meme?”

Do process and organization stifle creativity?

Is it possible to make someone else happy if you are not happy yourself?

How do I define “retirement?”

Why are some people so incredibly and constantly generous while others have no concept of generosity?

I have partial answers to some of these questions while others remain a mystery.

ONE OF MY DUMBER MOMENTS:

I could not, for the life of me, figure out the GPS system in our new vehicle – the least intuitive process I have ever encountered. I had hands-on advice from 3 of my favourite people who, me included, had lots of experience with GPS – all to no avail.

ONE OF MY SMARTER MOMENTS:

I threw 3 of my favourite people out of the vehicle in a small BC town on the Trans Canada Highway while I read the instruction manual (again) and figured out how to program the GPS. Sheesh – instruction manuals – who knew?

Well, I’ve cleaned up, thrown out and actually used some of the sticky notes that have been hanging around my desk and yes, there are still more. I’ve begun my New Year’s intentions by starting a Word document with them. I’m prepared for work tomorrow and complained about the additional snow and cold temperatures (OK, Christmas has come and gone – bring on the beach).

AN INTENTION OR TWO:

Write and think more about what it means to be a Baby Boomer

Put into print my Legacy Bio series – title to be confirmed.

Spend more time contemplating my navel – OK, so I need to lose (there’s that negative word) a few pounds in order to see it.

And yes, that’s navel not novel.

Laugh more

Write more

Listen more

Connect more

To each and everyone of you, I wish good health, joy and many new adventures for the year 2017.

CREATING A LEGACY BIO part 20

If you could be reborn as absolutely anyone, any historical figure, any famous personality, any one at all, who would it be?

What is it about that person that you want to be known for?

Alright, let’s suppose you are reading this from the hereafter. You have the opportunity to revisit this little corner of the universe and say anything you want to anyone you want.

Who do you want to say something to?

Why do you want to say it to them?

What is it that you want to say?

Can you distill your personal life philosophy or essence down to 3 sentences – try it here.

FINALLY:

We all have various things that we are grateful for in our lives. Name 10 things that you are most grateful for:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Today, there are many many ways to physically or digitally create a personal memoir and we will discuss a few ideas and some cautions.

You could simply print off the templates found here and using a pen, fill in the blanks as best you can and maybe add a few pieces of paper where necessary to expand some areas. Messy, not very professional and hard to read would be the words that first come to mind with this approach.

You might take a different step and create a Word document on your computer, retype the questions presented in the templates and enter your answers, creating additional space where necessary. This would allow you to import other documents, photos, drawings and anything else that adds to your story. You could save the document on your computer and additionally, save it on the cloud.

You might be more comfortable creating a video and using the templates as a guideline to speak your answers and also add photos, song downloads and other videos. You could make it as involved or simple as you like. There is lots of software available through Microsoft, Google and many others to help you create this work. Once again, save it onto a memory stick, your hard drive or the cloud.

There are lots of book creation websites available where you could create one copy or a hundred copies, as you see fit. They have the capability of adding photos, etc. and are a “hard copy” of your Legacy Bio to share as you see fit.

You might prefer to create a scrapbook that incorporates your answers to the template questions along with hard copies of photos, documents, awards, newspaper clippings and so much more. This would entail a lot more work than simply “filling in the blanks” but it would be an incredible treasure for your family.

You could keep it very simple by using a 3 ring binder to capture your Word document and any additional information you care to add and put it in a cardboard file box along with any other mementos you wish to share for future generations.

Here’s the important caution: remember 8 tracks, vinyl records, home movie cameras, MySpace, daisy wheel printers, and the Jetsons? None of us has any idea what the communications landscape will look like 50 years from now. Consequently, I would strongly recommend that whatever you decide to do, make a hard copy of what you want to share. Writings have survived for thousands of years on everything from cave walls to dead sea scrolls. Even though language is a constantly evolving art form, it will always be able to be understood. Cloud saving, memory sticks and the like may not be usable a generation from now. After all, how would you play your original Elvis 45’s today? “Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog” indeed.