Halloween on the Flip Side (revised)

A Kid and Parent's Halloween Point of View

Kid: 

It's creepy things that lurk and hide.

It's scary movies where things die.

 Parent: 

Halloween is month long fun?

Not for me, but for my son.

Kid:

It's witches, goblins, ghosts and ghouls.

It's dressing up and going to school.

Parent:

It's choosing costumes months ahead

Changing minds, "I want this instead."

Kid:

It's corny mazes and the pumpkin patch.

It's creaky doors with a latch.

Parent:
They pick their pumpkins, 20 per?

I hand my cash right to her.

Carving's fun...to watch, you see,

All the work is done by me.

Kid:

Haunted houses, fear is fun.

Haunted forest where you must run.

Parent:

I thought that i-- had outgrown

Haunted houses that creak and moan. 

They make me go out of fear

They think it safe if I am near.

Kid:

Parties made for dressing up.

Grab a costume to put on pup.

Parent:

It's all the parties that I will drive,

I used to go to four or five.

I went out and had MY fun

Drop them off and now I'm done. 

Kid:

House to house we use our feet.

For Trick or Treating can't be beat.

And then... we eat and eat and eat and eat.

Parent:

House-- to-- house--we-- use-- our-- feet.

Trick or treating up the street.

All the candy to rot their teeth

It's the dentist, we bequeath.

I say all this, I do complain.

But I love it all just the same.

Shake up Your Perspective

We've all been on one side or another of a particular point of view or belief. Depending on how the opposing side was presented, we either listen politely or put up our defenses.  Someone who is passionate (not always educated) about their views, sometimes lack in listening skills which puts others on the defense, When on the defense, people tend to turn off their listening skills (the la-la-la approach) as well.

We tend to get into a win or lose state of mind. We want to win. We don't want to lose the argument or debate we are in.  We often don't care if we actually know what we are talking about instead of listening and possibly learning from each other.

In politics we see this. "Come on over to my side and I will give you this and promise you that." From our experiences, we know that they don't usually produce the results they promise. It doesn't matter what side you are on, Republican, Democrat or in between, we have learned to close ourselves off to those who we feel have cheated us and lied to us. The problem ultimately being that we don't listen to each other anymore. We are choosing sides instead of seeing what's good on both sides and working together.

This goes for religions and cultures and lifestyles. What happens if you cross the line or open yourself up to another point of view just to understand a  little better? Nothing happens to you. If anything happens, it is probably something good. Listening doesn't mean you have to become.

If you listen to what a Democrat or what a Republican believes is true, it doesn't mean you have to change your beliefs...unless you decide to.

If you learn more about another religion or culture, it doesn't mean you have to believe in it or do what they do.,,,,unless you decide to.

If you see someone else's point of view no matter what the situation is, it doesn't mean you have to adopt that point of view...unless you decide to.

Seeing another point of view can be a win/win if you are open to it. Listening a little more, being more open and possibly learning something new can open up your world to having more love and compassion for others. It may even help us to join together to fight a bigger cause rather than divide us.

Everyone interprets the world the way they need to to understand it and live in it.

Most of the time, it isn't the way you might do it, but guess what? The way you are doing it might not be the way they would do it either.



The video below has Artist Raghava KK demos his new children's book for iPad with a fun feature: when you shake it, the story -- and your perspective -- changes. In this charming short talk, he invites all of us to  shake up our perspective a little bit.

Here is another link with his story: http://www.ted.com/talks/raghava_kk_five_lives_of_an_artist.html

How 'Bout Them Apples?

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

Every shoe has tongue,

Click here to see whose shoes these are.

They all have a sole.

Every shoe has a heart

And a story to be told.

No matter what they look like

Whether old or new,

They are all quite different

Every single shoe.

Take the time to learn

What they have to say.

A whole different person.

Will be revealed today.

He's a man who changed the world
He has left his mark.
He's being compared to great inventors 
Who brought us out of dark.

He born in San Francisco and was adopted by the Armenian family of Paul and Clara of Mountain View, California.  His birth parents were Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian Muslum immigrant to the U.S. and  Joanne Schieble,  an American graduate student of German ancestry who went on to become a speech language pathologist.

He enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester, he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.

He then traveled to India to visit the Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend in search of spiritual enlightenment. He came back a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing. During this time, he experimented with psychedelics, calling his LSD experiences "one of the two or three most important things [he had] done in [his] life". He later said that people around him who did not share his countercultural roots could not fully relate to his thinking.

He returned to his previous job at Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout. 


He later founded NeXT Computer in 1985 with $7 million.

He also co-founded a large well known company today but was fired for his erratic and temperamental managing skills.

In 1986, he bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's.The first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. The company would produce the box-office hits A Bug's Life (1998),Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each received theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature, an award introduced in 2001.


He later went back to the company he co-founded years before and is now recognized as one of the greatest innovators since Thomas Edison. 


To learn more, visit Wixipedia: http://twe.ly/_Wrb

Need Washing?

I have been busy with my life sometimes worrying about things too much. Today is one of those days of balancing many things at one time and finding some things frustrating. In the midst of my frustration and worry, a friend sent me this in an email. Just what I needed at that moment. Cry baby that I am, I bawled.  Please read it. It may change your day (your life).

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.

It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there, under the awning, just inside the door of the Wal- Mart.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day.

I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in, 'Mom let's run through the rain,'

she said.

'What?' Mom asked.

'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.

This young child waited a minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain.'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said.

'No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

'This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?'

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ' If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything! ' '

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain.. We all stood silently. No one left. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith..

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing,' Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They got soaked.

They were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did.

I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them.

If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other --

and don't forget to run in the rain!

In honor of my family and friends who are fighting battles I hope to never know.