Category Archives: Live for Today

April 25, 2010

Watching The World Pass By

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

I sat on a bench this afternoon in the park and watched the world pass me by. This is what I saw:

A father and son practicing lacrosse against the cement statue wall

A group of student huddled in a circle on the grass studying

A girl walking her dog or maybe the dog was walking her

Clouds moving quickly as the leaves blow in the wind

A bird and squirrel hunting for the same food

A group seeing who can throw a frisbee the furthest

A young couple watching and smiling as their daughter is experiencing the world for the first time

Two people pushing each other as they finish their jog

Someone alone under a tree with a good book

The sound of nothing in the park with the faintness of passing cars

What did you see today as you watched the world pass you by?

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in Community, Dream, Dreams, Environment, Family, Free, Freedom, Innocence, Lifestyle, Live for Today, Love, Mental Exercise, Mental Health, Personal Value

November 25, 2009

I Am Thankful….

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

Due to the timing of this segment, it may appear to be a personal spin on Thanksgiving, but the timing is the only similarity from my vantage point.  My personal feelings and my strong family foundation have taught me some very valuable lessons in life and ones I still question such as the success of the Ernest movies.

I digress…

This week I flew to New Jersey and unlike my typical introverted self, I was able to engage in a very nice conversation with a new member of the graduating class of life.  A fresh young lass with wide open eyes and a world in front of him.  It was nice to see ambition, ethics and a bit of shyness.  We all need some of those attributes in our lives.   Wow, I really used the word “lass”

Again I digress….

My father recently had a procedure that will require some therapy so I am playing in-house nurse for a few weeks.  Don’t get me wrong, I am in it for the free meals and the company but it is hard work.  He is making me clean the house, throw out my old books, drive him everywhere and worst of all, sit through episode after episode of Law and Order.

I value my time in my hometown, the house I grew up in and the bedroom I experienced my first life adventures.   The walls are the same tacky blue and the lampshade is covered with NFL team logos including “wait for it” the Houston Oilers…Now you can point out how old it is.   Fortunately the thick red, white and blue carpet has been replaced with wood panel tiles.   As I sit in a room I once thought was filled with spiders, built a lego wall to the ceiling, played nerf basketball with my brother, sorted baseball cards and studied long division, I reflect on the many things I am truly thankful for.   I have an amazing family, quirky but amazing, a strong foundation of friends, my health and a very positive attitude; even if my father is being a pain in the butt.  Then again we can all remember our parents telling us to be good because some day we will be taking care of them.  Karma has a funny way of showing itself.

Did I mention my inate ability to digress….

I try very hard not to watch the news or indulge in very much television or radio, but media is a powerful tool we cannot escape. We are surrounded by conflict, rage, war, death, greed, depression and poverty.   It is a time when there are so many unanswered questions yet we are void of answers.   A time where surrender is an option many have toyed with.  I see this as a time of re-birth; a fresh morning dew on a cool open field. We are all blessed with something more powerful than any known material item; life. The ability to breathe, love, laugh, cry, hug and feel has no value.   It is a priceless work of art that we have created and continue to create with each passing day.

I am thankful for the lives I have touched.
I am thankful for the voices that give me a sense of community and companionship.
I am thankful for the ability to be creative.
I am thankful for each day of life.

What about you???

Leave a comment | posted in Community, Home, Live for Today, Re-Birth, Thankful

October 17, 2009

What George Orwell was trying to tell us

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

Before Google Wave
Before GPS Tracking systems on cars and mobile phones
Before Big Brother
Before Dave Matthew’s Ants were marching
Before chat rooms
Before the Apple Hammer Thrower dawned the drones into a new world
Before Terry Gilliam’s vision of Brazil
Before Metropolis

George Orwell eloquently penned a story so reamed in horror and fear that it could only be dismissed as fanatical fiction. The joke may be on the 6.2 billion robots that inhabit the earth.

1984 was not a piece of literature but a warning. The industrial revolution that begin post Civil War was a newborn baby just opening its eyes to a world of possibility. Assembly lines enhanced our ability to mass produce and thus lead to a world of gluttony. Let’s not blame Mr. Ford or Mr Rockefeller. Eli Whitney is the forefather of the industrial revolution when he managed to develop a device that could mass produce cotton for textiles. Oh yes, the cotton gin. Back to the Industrial Revolution. There were initial limitations. We were confined to set hours due to darkness and limited means of communications Step in, stage right Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison who gave us the phone and light (Not without the assistance of Phineas Bogg and his trusting boy wonder Voyager). If you did not get the Voyagers reference I will not dock you points. Fast forward one hundred and forty years later past Teddy Roosevelt, the rise of the National Park System, Woodrow Wilson and the United Nations, more states, the Great Depression, Truman, the bomb, the rest of the Billy Joel song, Apple’s technological explosion, AIDS, Rent, virtual reality, WII and now….

We are becoming victims of our own self created genius. Has innovation made our daily lives easier or sucked away the emotion and spirituality that once completed our very being?

We know we are being watched and we have accepted that. Our obsessions, our addictions, our fascinations are all being captured and stored by the very beings that we have chosen to protect us from violations of the principles of freedom.

Quite a conundrum we have gotten ourselves into.
Can we reverse the curse that is controlling our lives? Do we accept it? Or perhaps there is a compromise.

I can suggest a few ways to blend your lives to create a fine mix of virtual and actual reality:

1) Roll around in some leaves
2) Make a snowman
3) Buy a plane ticket without planning anything and just go
4) Lay on a beach at night and just watch the stars twinkle
5) Hug someone and tell them you love them
6) Hide your blackberry or IPhone for one full weekend
7) Fly a kite/Jump out of a phone/Parasail – Anything that involves wind and defying gravity
8 ) Coach a youth sports team
9) Foster a dog
10) Close your eyes and take a deep breathe!

The rest is up to you.

6 comments | posted in Actual Reality, Innovation, Live for Today, Virtual Reality

October 16, 2009

Everything I learned, I learned from the Gilmore Girls

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

“In the event of an internship in Washington DC, I have three resumes. One if I work for a Republican, one if I work for a Democrat and one for Joe Lieberman” – Paris Geller

Behind the witty banter, the emotional rollercoaster rides, the insightful relationships, the social class struggles, small town charm and big city egos and generational family ties, lies a series that provides a life enhancing experience.

Ling plays drums while eight months pregnant with twins.
An acoustic version of “My Heart will Go On” is played at a dog funeral
The series ends with Rory getting an job with an online journalism magazine to follow Barrack Obama on the campaign trail two years before he was even on the presidential radar to the White House
Carol King lends her vocals to the backdrop of the New England setting
Luke runs the diner we all wish we could sit down and relax in every morning
Logan is proud to be a trust fund child
The Gilmore Girls celebrated Christmas in January with mistletoe on a moving fan
Logan and the Fishman brought vaudeville alive with a single phone call
Woody Allen got compared to Carrottop

All this in four episodes. Think what happened in the first six seasons and the final 6 episodes.

Perhaps one of the greatest shows in modern times, The Gilmore Girls makes you want to be closer to your own family, have a deeper respect for your friends, appreciate your hometown and most of all see the good that is still left in the world.

Share a smile, let out a good cry and see what you have been missing.

Leave a comment | posted in Gilmore Girls, Lifestyle, Live for Today, music

October 15, 2009

A Pool of Endless Possibility

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

As I sit in a dark corner soaking in the soothing sounds of an acoustic jam competition at a house gone coffeeshop, I am taken by the traditional southern fans, deeply rhythmic sounds, engaged audience and feeling of euphoric relaxation as I play down a long day.

With unshaven faces, flannel shirts and only a guitar and a voice to call home, these disciples of Dylan and Kerouac leave their hearts on a sleeve, not for the money or fame the music may bring but for the ability to connect and touch others as only a song can do.

As we reflect on the memories that burn deep in our hearts each day of our lives, it is those individual moments that are made so permanent by the soundtracks that complete the film of our lives. That first dance, the first break-up, the first child, the reunion, those brief moments of greatness or just that quiet night by the fireplace. These are the simple reflections of individual retreat that leave the most lasting impression of who we are and who we will become.

Do these musicians have fears? More than most of us, but that fear only fuels the ability to dare to be great and more importantly to dare to fail. Every moment has a conclusion and every conclusion a new beginning.

What is the fine line between success in business and success in life. Do they co-exist together or live separately with the potential of journeys coming together forming that rare eclipse of pure nirvana.

Don’t lose yourself in reality. Understand we have responsibility and guidelines but then again as a child the world had no boundaries. We were a pool of creativity with endless possibilities.

Why lose that!!!

Leave a comment | posted in Dream, Lifestyle, Live for Today, music

October 9, 2009

Caution before reading

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

I got a call this evening from a friend to find out that one of her close friends died two weeks ago from a drug overdose and his body was found last night. I spoke to her for quite a while this evening as I walked the beach and admired the majesty of a bright pink sky setting into darkness as the warm waves crashed on my feet. My evening continued with a reflection of the moment I stared at my mother’s cold lifeless body and thought of what her final moment was like and how all the collected emotions must feel like right before passing on.

A tremendous amount of thought and deep soul sharing with my nameless audience. Yet through all this outpouring I may even walk away with a point.

We often throw around the terms “community”, “team”, “networks”, “relationships”, “unions” and “partnerships”. In our everyday interactions both in a social and work setting they have their place but also share a very true commitment to the importance and value of life.

We all need a sense of value and acceptance in our lives. Whether it is positive or negative, daily reinforcement of our worth provides meaning to each and every day we breath on this earth.
It is that meaning that shapes how others view us and more importantly how we view ourselves.

We need others. I value my alone time. It warrants me the time to think and reflect but I know that my community speaks volumes even if they do not speak at all as long as I have the knowledge they are there for me.

It is family, colleagues, partners, relationships, stranger interaction and even solicitors.
It is that collective community that influences our behaviors and thoughts, provides an avenue for communications, lets us feel comfortable to cry and laugh and is that voice of reason when we need it.

We will continue to live in a virtual world and human interaction will take a back seat. It won’t of course vanish from existence but we need to continue to remind ourselves how critical these human relationships are in our lives.

We need them them for our own sanity so that we can survive this insane world.

1 comment | posted in Community, Lifestyle, Live for Today

October 7, 2009

Sailing into the Sunset

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

Thank you Ms. Cell Phone, Cigarette Smoking, Daydreaming, IPod Changing, Sandwich eating, Insuranceless driver that puts my life in danger seventeen times a day and before I even have my first cup of coffee.

Don’t you wish you there were bumper stickers that long. Is that were true these folks would be reading them while doing all those other things.

In a year where celebrity deaths are a daily part of our routine we should reflect on some of the true idealistic figures in our lives. Life is a celebration and in death should continue that celebration with memories and gratitude. Let this be a celebration of the life of two pioneers who without them we would not have the quality of life we have today: Ellie Greenwich and Stanley Kaplan.

In a moment of reflection we need to remember the Brooklyn born singer/songwriter who donned us with the classic “Chapel of Love” and “Be My Baby” and Mr Kaplan who prepared millions of aspiring youth to better prepare for the SAT and ACT Pre-college examinations.

As you enter a hall of Kaplan College Prep Studies and later play Chapel of Love as you gleem into the eyes of your beautiful spouse remember the lives of the two people that helped makes your life full of happiness and success.

To Ellie and Stanley…Cheers

Leave a comment | posted in Lifestyle, Live for Today

October 5, 2009

The Times They Are A’ Changin’

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

I wish I can say the post will be as profound as a Dylan song but behold I cannot promise that but I can promise this: The words you are about to read will keep you as engaged as an episode of “Are you smarter than a fifth grader”.

Before I go on I want to remind my listener that there are early production talks about a Fraggle Rock movie yet no discussion of a Smurfs movie or Breakfast Club remake…. How Hollywood has lost its edge but we are to expect at least three more Harry Potter movies and seven more Rocky movies.

I am beta testing the new Firefox 3.0. I feel honored that this has been bestowed. That my opinions and feedback will shape the official corporate lauch of this search engine. I takes me back to the last time I was a beta tester…..(fade back in time music)…..

I was ten and tested cereal.
Two plane brown boxes showed up at our doorstep. One with a sugary crunchy morning snack and the other a rich chocolatey box of yumminess.

My answers…Yes my answers determined if General Mills, Kelloggs, Special K or what ever brand would market these cereals.

Do you realize the magnitude of responsibility I had at age ten. I makes you wonder how that one chance meeting with beta testing has shaped my entire life.

Leave a comment | posted in Live for Today

October 3, 2009

All Gone to Look for America

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces. She said the man in the gaverty suit was a spy. I said be careful his bowtie is really a camera….Pass me a cigarette I think there’s one in my raincoat. We smoked the last one an hour ago.

Where are the days of journeys to the most remote and quaint places in this fine country.

The smiling country faces, the simple life. We get caught up in our lives that we forget how to live.

Amy and I found it. In a few short hours we took a photo journey through Americana. Deep in the woods, a old deserted estate, a cute couple of older women behind the country and some boiled peanuts.

We drive everyday and forget to open our eyes to what is beyond the roads.

Take a journey every day.
Even if it is just for a moment

Leave a comment | posted in Live for Today

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