Although it’s not my favorite song (even by Eric Clapton), it has the ability to transport me to a time when I had fewer responsibilities and cares. I remember Tom Cruise in a t-shirt that just said “Vince” and swinging a pool cue like it was some kind of weapon. I’ve never seen the movie “The Color of Money” but the video paints a decent picture and adds a good visual to the song. Clapton latches onto the duality that shows up often in this world. The way that you use it is crucial. We have choices and need to see them.

Although I didn’t originally intend to write about 9/11, it seems to fit. There is obviously a lot of distance between that tragedy and the aftermath of war and sorrow. All of the students that I teach now weren’t even alive when it happened. So how does one look at an event that was reality but is now history? Did we use that moment in time correctly? I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of unity after that tragedy and now the divisiveness in our country seems to be the tragedy. People gave literal blood, sweat and tears. Now we seem to barely give a damn!

I’ve always been conflicted about 9/11 because although it was definitively a tragedy that I wish never happened, it brought my ex-wife and I together (not directly but circumstantially). Now I even have mixed emotions about that. But as the song says, it’s in the way that you use it. Tools can be used as weapons and vice versa. Our darkest hours can become the light that brightens the world but only if we use it correctly. We cannot wallow or whine and we must not forget. Yet we need to find the right mixture of remembrance with progress. If we are always living in the past then the wounds never heal and we cut ourselves with a weapon that could be a tool of hope.

So as you go through your day, many things will be thrown at you. Compliments, insults, opportunities, setbacks and like everything else, “it’s in the way that you use it! It comes and it goes. It’s in the way that you use it. Boy don’t you know! And if you lie you will lose it. Feelings will show. So don’t you ever abuse it. Don’t let it go!”

This is your shot! Don’t be afraid to take it!

Pete

For years as a language teacher, I’ve been telling students that “language is an agreement.” People need to agree on meaning in order to communicate. This was hammered home to me recently by a video that I saw from actor, Clayton Farris. His “Millenial Breakup” skit was almost unintelligible to me. I had to look up several phrases and I’m still not sure that I have it right. More than likely it’s a similar frustration that high school students feel reading Shakespeare! The words that are chosen seem like they are part of a code that doesn’t enhance but rather detracts from meaning. It’s a generational divide that breeds misunderstanding.

The problem is not that we have different words or sayings. It’s that we either don’t want to understand the message or the communicator doesn’t care to be understood. We need to agree to listen and agree to speak to be understood. Unfortunately, in today’s world, people don’t seem overly interested in agreeing enough to understand. It’s an uncomfortable situation. People talking so much that they cannot hear anything.

So hear this! We’re in this together. ‘Tis the east and the future is the sun! We are low-key screwed if we can’t see that we are but on the world’s stage playing the roles of Karens, Stans and Basics. To be or not be an a-hole! That is the question! Whether it is nobler to get your likes for saying nothing of substance or swim in a sea of vulnerability!

Agree to say something that someone else can hear. Something of substance. Maybe you won’t even need to use words but say it anyway. Then listen! It feels like we’ve been shouting for so long we’ve forgotten how to say.

Pete

“I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.”

― Lloyd Dobler “Say Anything”

This does not need to exist and it didn’t at one point! More than likely a person at a cream cheese factory was sipping their pumpkin spice latte and voila! Pumpkin spiced cream cheese! For someone out there, pumpkin spice cream cheese is their idea of heaven. Personally, I’ll pass! It’s not an act of genius. But it represents the opportunity that we all have, simple synthesis! Putting two old ideas together in order to create something new. We’re all capable of this type of thinking but often get bogged down in what is rather than what could be.

People don’t want to be stuck! The ability imagine a different future than the present that exists is difficult for most. It takes imagination and optimism! Those are traits of children and can lead to disappointment. So it’s better to trudge through a familiar swamp than look for higher ground. The gamble is just too much. Plain cream cheese will do!

Only you can make the choice to combine yourself with something new. That synthesis will require you to see something different in your mind’s eye. It doesn’t have to be pumpkin spice cream cheese. That doesn’t sound appetizing to me but neither does a future that matches a present that you don’t like.

Mix it up!

Pete

The weather has been volatile over the past few years. This is not a discourse on climate change. However, as individuals, we have our experience of “normal” and it just seems that more storms have been forceful and sudden. They seem to pass quickly but leave more destruction.

It’s a reasonable thing to hope for. Not wanting the storm to last. The unpleasant circumstances make life just a bit more difficult. So brevity is desirable but nothing that we can control. All we can do is adjust to the storm that is thrown at us and hope that the deluge is feeding some other aspect of life. It’s easy to forget that storms nourish the world. That balance is necessary. Too many sunny days leads to a drought! So don’t lament the storm, just be as prepared as you can.

The life that you hope for is probably storm-less but that is both unrealistic and possibly unhealthy. Human beings need challenge much like the Earth needs the storms. So prepare for the storm and dare I say enjoy the portions of it that you can. At bare minimum, it will probably help you grow. It’s better for you to outlast the storm than hope that it won’t last. You’re resilience is a key to your success, not your desire for an easy path.

Thunder!

Pete

Some people make a much bigger deal out of it than others. Special outfits, makeup, a winning smile and other accoutrements could come out of the woodwork on picture day. Regardless of how seriously one takes it, there is the potential for a time capsule type moment: a representation of who you were that year. The problem is that it’s so pre-scripted that at best it represents a sanitized and sterile version of you. The truest form could probably have been photoed on your couch some random Tuesday. So why the charade?

The dance between who we are and who we want the world to see is a constant one. Sometimes it is maladaptive because the posturing is overblown. The picture isn’t you at all. People can still recognize you but it’s not the true you.

Choose a you that fits! There’s no reason to overdo it! You’re great but can always move forward. Picture day isn’t about the facade. It’s putting on your best face! So when you look back, you can remember who you were and love it!

Lights! Camera! Action!

Pete

Often it is not the biggest boulder that causes the avalanche. A small pebble dislodged from the right spot can cause an unstoppable force to be unleashed. That’s my hope for this post! It definitely isn’t going to be the best I’ve ever created but what it represents is the tiniest amount of inertia.. forward motion… momentum. By doing this small act, I’ve started something! Not in a Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson type of way with a great beat that keeps things going! Just limp, crawl or inch forward like the half destroyed Terminator as he chases Sarah Connor. It’s not pretty but it’s effective.

So whatever you have on your horizon, momentum matters. Do what you can to keep it alive, even when you don’t want to. The marching band is not going to come out to play for you but if you string enough of these together, they might want to.

Go get ’em!

Pete