A Sour Economy...

Clearly this is no surprise to anyone. There is plenty to be said about this crazy horrible economy that we are wading through. There are the many theories of causes to discuss, each with a little truth but nobody really taking all of the blame. There are manipulating antics of the media that are driving me crazy… The mixed messages that we hear on a daily basis “It’s getting better, buy buy buy….” But do we only hear these things because they are trying to get a little more cash flow into the economy to bring truth to their claim… but then we hear more accurate reports that say, “It’s not over yet, save, save, save…” All around I know that what we are experiencing now is not normal. Everything is out of balance. It is far reaching and very real. We are each feeling it in different ways, some through the weight of depreciating home values, job losses, or retirement losses… It may be you, or a family member, neighbor or friend. People are silently suffering these additional stresses, trying to make ends meet, planning and preparing for the future. As I mentioned, there are a lot of avenues and perspectives and opinions to discuss about this wallowing economy and these are but a few. Something in particular that discourages me personally is the job market. As I have watched both friends and family and co-workers close to me look for jobs I have realized how desolate it really is out there. And if you don’t believe me then take a look for yourself! The entire job market has really been transformed… it’s dying. It is much deeper than the unemployment stats that you are seeing, and the mass layoffs you read about. People just aren’t hiring and at least one in five people are looking. And the few that are hiring, are taking their sweet time, increasing demands on experience, and lowering pay- just because they can! I have seen this happen too. Over 500 resumes for one position is not unusual, and that is without using any recruiters as used in years past, because who needs recruiters in this market? They are almost more desperate than those they are trying to place. Resumes and applications are flooding the internet. It’s overwhelming for everyone. Fewer jobs and more and more jobless each day.... I read this article in BusinessWeek last month which has made me even more discouraged for my peers in particular and the long term effects of this economy on my generation. I have been watching it happen. Recent graduates are struggling to land a job, and those with only a couple years of experience who are laid off or forced to start looking just can’t compete with those who have more experience. And those who are lucky enough to get an entry level job, are getting significantly underpaid which is a consequence that will linger into his/her career long term. Others are staying in their current jobs, underpaid, overworked and significantly undervalued without hopes of promotions or raises… just because they can’t find anything else and are desperate to keep paying the bills. Very capable people are being hindered from success and growth. Employers clearly have the upper hand right now, and too many of them know it and are starting to abuse it. But who can blame them, they have to watch their bottom line too. It really is a rotten job market and a sour economy. And nobody really knows where it will go from here, despite the many predictions. And it’s only a matter of a couple of years really… Just a few years ago recruiters were fighting for top talent and young graduates could expect a few competitive offers, young families were dashing out to buy their first homes and fulfill the American dream and kids were still writing to let Santa know that they would be in Hawaii for Christmas. This year, things are a little different. But I hope we can ask ourselves what we can learn and how we can grow from it all. Challenges in life are not always bad, but they are hard. It's a good time to learn how to cut back, budget and evaluate needs verses wants and think about the big picture stuff... But a world with fewer opportunities can certainly be a challenge, especially when it seems that you are suffering consequenses beyond your control. So you just hope that within these challenges, you can also find opportunity.

Beauty Sleep

I know that women often joke about needing their “beauty sleep” but I actually think it’s more than just a saying. There’s truth there. Something biologically wonderful happens when we sleep. It’s like a mini makeover each night that we take for granted. But you can really see the difference when you don’t get it. When I am sleep deprived my body starts falling apart. My skin gets flaky or oily without the much needed time to regenerate. I break out and I swear my stomach gets fatter and my appetite is all out of wack. My eyes are either puffy or sullen. Everything is red and sensitive and uneven. Lack of sleep breaks down my immune system and weird things happen like styes and cold sores and swollen lymph nodes or whatever else feels attacked by a weakened lack of white blood cells. When you are tired and sleep deprived it not only shows in your physique but in the energy that you radiate, or lack there of. Your brain is also dysfunctional and emotions can run amiss so it hurts your “inner beauty” too! Sleep deprivation seems to always be on the list of potential causes to any illness, always listed next to its good friend stress. I don’t really know how it works, but just like you and I can’t take care of our homes, clean and cook and make necessary repairs around the house until we are home from work. Our bodies are too busy working too, walking us through the day thinking and moving and talking. Then when we are finally still and fall into our sleep our bodies can take care of the cleaning and repairing ‘around the house.’ So there is something real behind “beauty sleep,” for both men and women alike. Children too need their sleep to grow. As we break down and use up our fuel each day, we must rebuild and recharge each night. It balances us out. Certainly a little beauty sleep never hurt anyone.

A little story...

Once upon a time...
There was a little boy named Jimmy. Jimmy had always dreamed of going to Space Camp. He knew everything that a nine year old could know about space and imagined even more. Saturn was his favorite planet because of the awesome rings, and Pluto was his favorite "not planet" because he loved to tell grown up that they were wrong when they said it was the ninth planet. Because they went to school 20 years ago when scientists didn't know what they know today about dwarf planets and such.
Jimmy talked his grandma into buying him astronaut ice cream which was his favorite food. And all he wanted was to be an astronaut when he grew up and he knew that the first step to NASA would be Space Camp.
When Jimmy turned nine his parents said that if he worked hard and saved up all of his money, then he could go to space camp when he turned ten.
So Jimmy did just that. He did all of his chores around the house and in the yard each week. He even started pulling weeds for Mrs. Pemberly next door and feeding her cat when she was away. He spent even more time babysitting his little sisters and sometimes his crazy cousin Jane too.
It was a lot of work but he knew it would be worth it.
So the time came, and on his tenth birthday he opened the best birthday present ever. A ticket to space camp! It came with a book and a badge and everything! Jimmy opened the cover and read, "To Jimmy, You have worked hard and that will make you a great astronaut. I hope to see you in Space. Your friend, Buzz Aldrin."
All of his friends ooed and ahhed, "That's so cool" said TJ. "I wish I could go" said Max. "Awesome, I can't wait until my birthday" said Garrett. The day after the party Max came over to play. Max asked if he could see Jimmy's book about Space Camp and hold the ticket. "This is the coolest thing ever, you are going to become a real astronaut," said Max.
With only a week left to prepare, the next morning Jimmy woke up and went to read his book and get ready for camp. But it was gone! The book and the ticket were both missing!!!
"Mom did you move my book?" Jimmy asked everyone in the house and searched everywhere. But the book and the ticket for camp were nowhere to be found.
Jimmy cried. He cried like his baby sister and thought his hopes and dreams were lost.
"It's okay sweetheart, we'll find it or we can try and get you another one," said Jimmy's mother.
"But that was mine, with my name on it, the real thing signed by Buzz Aldrin himself."
One thing lead to another and Jimmy remembered that Max had held his book the day before. Then Jimmy got angry. "Max stole it. I know he did."
"Let's not jump to any assumptions now but I can call Max's mother in the morning and see if he might remember where he left it. Now get some rest."
Max didn't want to rest. He wanted to fester, and the more he thought the more angry he got. "I hate Max." Jimmy was restless and could not sleep, so he plotted his revenge until his tired eyes got the best of him.
"Mom, did you call Max's mom yet?" Max was shaking his mother and tapping her on the head with the phone. "Jimmy, don't be ridiculous, It's not appropriate to call people before 6am. Now you can go back to sleep or watch some cartoons if you can't sleep."
"Ugh" Jimmy pouted as he walked away, " You don't even care that my life is over and it's all Max's fault!"
"Now, don't assume dear- we don't know the whole story yet, it will all work out."
Jimmy turned on the TV and waited for his mother to wake up, all the while- getting more angry.
"Mom, can you call now?"
Ring ring... "You've reached the Andersons, we're not home right now, please leave us a message, beep-"
"I'm sorry Jimmy, but we will have to wait until later but let's keep looking for your book, it could still be here. Getting angry at Max won't get you any closer to space camp."
That afternoon, Jimmy went to play with TJ and Garrett, he was still so mad that he told them all about how Max stole his book and ticket and together they planned how to get even and steal Max's dog and never play with Max again.

When Jimmy got home his mother said, "I talked to Max's mother and Max did not take the book or ticket."

"I think he's lying and is too embarrassed to admit the truth," Jimmy shouted.

"Let's be reasonable, it could have been something else."

By this time Jimmy was consumed by the whole incident and taking it all out on Max. Jimmy thought his life was overm without that ticket he may never get to go to space camp and then he could not become an astronaut... so it had to be someone's fault.

Jimmy went to bed angry again.

The next day when Jimmy returned from swimming lessons his mother greeted him and said, "I have some good news for you!"

"Did Max bring my book back?"

"No dear, Max does not have anything to do with this, but I did find your book."
"Really? Where?"
"That afternoon that you and Max were playing was the same day that the cleaners came. They placed the book in the book case with the others and we didn't even know that it was here all along."

Jimmy could hardly believe it. He was stunned that he was wrong. All of that anger for nothing and Max didn't try to ruin his life.

"Jimmy, this is an important lesson to make sure that we don't assume things until we have all of the facts. That wasn't very nice to say all of those things about Max, was it?"

"But I really thought he did it..." Jimmy put his head down and could hardly enjoy having his book again because his mind now recounted all of the things he thought and said about his friend Max. "Do you think Max would ever come and play with me again?"

"I think so, let's see tomorrow. But tonight let's start packing your bags for Space Camp!"

(this is a first draft... anyone want to help edit & illustrate?)

Patience is not my virtue...

I’m sorry… I feel like griping and then I will feel guilty after doing so and set myself straight again to count my blessings. But I can’t wait anymore. I feel like I am sitting on a ticking time bomb. I have been sitting on it for way too long and all of that ticking is making me crazy. It is not a deadly bomb, in fact there may very well be a party inside but I don’t know. I almost don’t even care what’s inside anymore, I am ready. Bring on the explosion! Endless ticking is the worst alternative. The challenge for me is not knowing when the explosion will be and when the ticking will stop. Please stop. Please let me move forward with my life. I can’t do anything about it, I just have to wait. And if I knew where all of the pieces would land then perhaps I could plan and prepare while I am waiting… but I can’t because I don’t. There have even been a few times when the ticking gets faster so I think it’s about to go… and then it slows again back to a steady “tick, tick, tick…” I am anxiously, anxiously awaiting answers… antsy as can be. I have heard that “patience is a virtue.” But it is certainly no virtue of mine. I should work on that but I’m not sure how. It’s like getting in a line and not knowing how long the wait is because you can’t see the beginning and you don’t actually know what you are waiting for anyway…Who would do that? Crazy people- that’s who. That must be why I am going crazy. Too many unknown factors are making me idle- I like to work, to progress and move forward- but everything is on pause. I know, I know- when the bomb finally booms I will be so busy and so exhausted running around that I will wish for a pause… but maybe not, I am much better in motion! I know all of this talk of waiting is vague- but you get the idea and I imagine you have felt it to some degree too- and you know how unsettling it can be. Of coarse I am still far from “rock bottom” in life, but my sanity has taken a beating. A rollercoaster ride of excitement and possibilities followed by disappointments and let downs but worst of all… more waiting. Tick, tick tick…and more ticking.

In Remembrance

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

I don’t think that we remember enough the sacrifices made by those who have gone before us. Those who fought for our freedom and those who made great sacrifices for our lives to be what they are today. War is real and present and has been since the beginning. It causes heartbreak and sorrow that most of us will never fully understand. It is too casually overlooked as a news headline. Too many have lost their lives, so many have lost their loved ones and others have survived the battles but lost their innocence and happiness. I have walked and wept over the trenches of the Great War where my own great grandfather fought in France. I have visited the beaches of Normandy and the ships at Pearl Harbor. I can’t imagine the more recent tragedies experienced in Vietnam, Korea and now in the Middle East. It was fascinating to learn more this week as the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was celebrated. Such strange things can come out of war and politics. It is important to remember, to remember the lives and history that has shaped and continues to shape our world today. I have only mentioned a few of the wars in the past hundred years but smaller ones have been and are being fought around the world. Needless to say those larger and longer wars have altered the history of mankind throughout the centuries. So today, let us remember…

To each his own bubble

I was talking with my friend from India the other day and in response to my inquiry of why he left India to go to college in Illinois of all places he responded, “I kind of grew up in a bubble there and wanted to get out and have a different experience.” This struck me as very interesting and gave me an instant paradigm shift. From my perspective, Illinois or anywhere in the Midwest would seem to be “in a bubble,” while anywhere in India would seem exotic and rich in culture. But of course this was coming from my limited perspective and bubble of my own. What I see within my bubble is uncharted territory for others, and vise versa. So I started thinking about bubbles. It’s an interesting analogy that people use because if you were to picture yourself literally inside of a bubble, not only would you be limited from seeing beyond the barrier, sheltered from the world around, but I imagine that the rounded edge would distort your perspectives and reflect everything around back to center on you. This would indeed offer a very limited perspective. How interesting to think that all over the world people are stuck inside of their own bubbles, some by choice and others by circumstance. A bubble can be anywhere. It limits you from expanding into the world outside. You can live in a bubble in Africa or London just as easily as the in the Great Plains of Kansas. A bubble reflects you and your world rather than allowing you to see others and the lives that they live. I’m sure there are many bubbles within bubbles, a little one around you, one around your family, another one around your community, your state/country and so forth… The more that we allow other people/things/experiences to penetrate and “burst our bubbles” the more perspectives we can gain on the world at large. Even then, perhaps the world is one big bubble of its own?

Why oh why does that squeaky wheel get greased?

I have heard it a million times, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It’s not because there is really something wrong with the squeaky wheel or that the other wheels don’t need grease too… it’s really just that all that squeaking gets annoying so that wheel gets greased just to “shut it up.” Same thing goes for people I guess, the people who demand, ask or impose more frequently get what they want because it’s annoying and everyone else wants it to stop and “shut them up.” But strangely enough, squeaky wheels usually keep on squeaking even after the grease. In fact, sometimes they become squeakier and the cycle continues. It’s sad when the other silent wheels dutifully perform without a peep but are neglected and unrewarded. If you apply the principles of survival of the fittest… it’s a strange debate- will the one that demands more survive because they get more, or will the others survive because they have learned how to survive on their own or without excess? It’s difficult to say because in the natural world the latter would certainly be best. But in this very complex modern human world, there is good reason to believe that the former might prevail because they can prey on the soft hearted who can’t say no or they can manipulate others rights to feel discouraged not to give in or take advantage of those who have other things to worry about and will do anything to stop the squeaking. Doesn’t anyone realize that the squeaky wheel is not the majority but just because the squeaking can get so loud and annoying the other wheels are forgotten? The others are too sensible to know that there is no point in squeaking too, that would just cause headaches for everyone. Clearly I am not a fan of these lines of justice being so blurred, frankly- it’s just not fair. But I guess I’ve heard that one before too… “Life isn’t fair...” is it?