A couple months ago, a couple friends of mine were talking about glass ceilings. I'm not quite sure why or what they were referring to, as the sounds of silent sleep invaded my mind at that time of night, but the phrase itself caught my attention.
It's an interesting feeling, thinking you can reach any height and yet when you try, the tips of your nails break, the joints in your fingers are no longer functioning from the pressure, and all of a sudden, your nose is splattered against a surface you didn't know was there.
It's like those window cleaning commercials; someone or something has to crash into the newly cleaned glass window. And then we all laugh at their stupidity.
Is it stupid to see the future in a positive light though? To know that what others see as unattainable, is, in fact, absolutely attainable?
Do we see the world as a box, or flat surface, as they did back in the day? The light at the end of the tunnel can only be seen through the transparent object in our way, or can we break through?
At that point, key factors in life kick in. Communication, perseverance, discernment... the list could go on and on.
Utilize those skills you have acquired throughout your life to shatter the glass ceiling and spread your wings. Because in the end, the glass ceiling is you. Your insecurities, your fears, your choices.
What's your next step?
6.29.2009
6.16.2009
And The Summer Begins
I've recently just started my summer participating in the University of California Center Sacramento program. To explain in a few short words, I attend "Journalism Boot camp" for two weeks (which basically means taking two graduate classes through Berkeley's School of Journalism)and then intern with a media organization for the remaining 10 weeks while attending seminars.
Now that all that background info is out of the way, I want to tell you avid readers (anyone out there?! out there...out there... - that's an echo)some interesting things that happened today.
First of all, an assemblyman came to talk to us (if I recall correctly he is the President of the Assembly, actually). He comes in, talks about how us students are in a unique position right now, because a lot of decisions being made in the capitol building across the street from us, are monumental to our futures.
This wasn't very interesting but what caught my attention was how he made the state government seem so stupid. Well, it is when you sit down and think about it, but he's a part of it too. And is now running for the empty seat in the 10th congressional district of California. That's basically the east bay for all you who live there and actually care about your lives.
Anyways, the man basically said that our governator is cutting the budget for education, but is all about education. He is cutting the budget for the whole green movement, but is for the preservation of our green earth. Huh?
Why cut the budget where it does not need to be cut? Raise taxes on other things!
Another interesting thing that happened was we were all assigned to write a profile about a classmate.
So my interviewer calls me today, and asks me the now-age-old question: "You know about how the journalism field is dying out, newspapers are closing their doors, but obviously you have hope. Why?"
My response to this is quite obvious. We only receive credible information through the press. That isn't to say they are always honest or forthright with information - bureaucracy is a pain in the rear - but who gets international information from a random stranger's blog?
Anyone who is at all educated knows that credible information is the most useful in any situation (why we can't use wikipedia in school essays). However, the format is likely to change.
Society has come to a point where information needs to be easily accessible. That phrase used to mean "let me go down the street and get a newspaper for a quarter." Now it means, let me look it up on my iPhone that has internet access that has information updates every 1.5 seconds." We want everything all at once, and we want it fast.
Usually, I'd tell people to just slow down, take a chill pill, have some patience...(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc) but with the communications industry, there's no time to rest. And eventually, those newspaper stands will be as rare as telephone booths, if not more so. Information will come through the television, radio, and internet, and that's all.
Environmentalists probably love this because our beloved trees will only be used for extremely long essays students have to write instead of millions of copies of newspapers that end up on the floor or in the trash/recylce cans - whichever's closest. But then again, we're cutting money from education so maybe there won't be any essays in the trash either.
Now that all that background info is out of the way, I want to tell you avid readers (anyone out there?! out there...out there... - that's an echo)some interesting things that happened today.
First of all, an assemblyman came to talk to us (if I recall correctly he is the President of the Assembly, actually). He comes in, talks about how us students are in a unique position right now, because a lot of decisions being made in the capitol building across the street from us, are monumental to our futures.
This wasn't very interesting but what caught my attention was how he made the state government seem so stupid. Well, it is when you sit down and think about it, but he's a part of it too. And is now running for the empty seat in the 10th congressional district of California. That's basically the east bay for all you who live there and actually care about your lives.
Anyways, the man basically said that our governator is cutting the budget for education, but is all about education. He is cutting the budget for the whole green movement, but is for the preservation of our green earth. Huh?
Why cut the budget where it does not need to be cut? Raise taxes on other things!
Another interesting thing that happened was we were all assigned to write a profile about a classmate.
So my interviewer calls me today, and asks me the now-age-old question: "You know about how the journalism field is dying out, newspapers are closing their doors, but obviously you have hope. Why?"
My response to this is quite obvious. We only receive credible information through the press. That isn't to say they are always honest or forthright with information - bureaucracy is a pain in the rear - but who gets international information from a random stranger's blog?
Anyone who is at all educated knows that credible information is the most useful in any situation (why we can't use wikipedia in school essays). However, the format is likely to change.
Society has come to a point where information needs to be easily accessible. That phrase used to mean "let me go down the street and get a newspaper for a quarter." Now it means, let me look it up on my iPhone that has internet access that has information updates every 1.5 seconds." We want everything all at once, and we want it fast.
Usually, I'd tell people to just slow down, take a chill pill, have some patience...(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc) but with the communications industry, there's no time to rest. And eventually, those newspaper stands will be as rare as telephone booths, if not more so. Information will come through the television, radio, and internet, and that's all.
Environmentalists probably love this because our beloved trees will only be used for extremely long essays students have to write instead of millions of copies of newspapers that end up on the floor or in the trash/recylce cans - whichever's closest. But then again, we're cutting money from education so maybe there won't be any essays in the trash either.
6.07.2009
In Love and War
"Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals."
In the recent weeks, I've seen a lot of nonsense, and I use the word nonsense in place of a number of bad words that I'm trying to refrain from saying. Children verbally attacking their father publicly, adults sticking their noses so high in the air that they can't see their own footsteps trampling over their children, and family members showing no care to each other.
What does it all come down to? Those noses need to come down, the children need to listen to their father, and the family members should take a couple Sunday school lessons on what love actually is.
First of all, your father, hands down, knows better than you do. He sees everything from a point of view that is much wiser and much wider than your viewpoint. In addition to that, he loves you beyond belief and more than himself, and therefore should be trusted to do according to YOUR best interests.
At some point in your life, you become old enough to have your own opinion and state that opinion, to get the benefit of your father's wisdom as you make larger decisions in life. However, when this decision affects his house, his family, his children, you are no longer the one making the decision - he is. You can state your input and he will listen and try to accommodate, but it is the true test of a loving child, to simply obey and move on.
If you're still reading this, an organized venting of mine, I want you to physically look up - stick your nose in the air and see what happens when you look forward... can you see anything clearly? I don't know about you, but my eyes cross, and not only do I look ridiculous, but everything I'm seeing is over exaggerated. There's two television sets when in reality, there's only one lonely set chilling on the stand.
Pride is not something to laugh at. You only see yourself and what you want, being stubborn in your own way without pausing to see that the world does not and will not revolve around you. You're also hurting other people in the process. No matter how many times we deny it, there are others around us and our actions affect them. Being stubborn or, in my opinion, intentionally blind, leads to a lot of chaos.
The quote above really seems to fit with the situation though. If people didn't feel so insecure about themselves, they wouldn't push their agenda on others, creating an atmosphere of tension and hostility.
When I am in charge of some sort of activity at work, and the next year someone else becomes in charge of it due to management choices, and that person needs help, I am going to help them because I know how to do it. That's the nice, humble way of dealing with the situation, even if I don't especially like it.
The prideful and stupid way of dealing with it is by attempting to sabotage the activity by not helping that person. What you don't realize by sticking your nose in the air, is that life goes on without you. The world still turns, the clock still ticks, and you're left standing alone at the end of the day with nothing to show for it.
"If everyone cared, and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day, when no body died."
I love this song (If Everyone Cared by Nickelback)because it really shows how things would be different if people stopped focusing on themselves all the time. Yes, people might not die, although it is possible, but maybe you've killed their spirit. Do you want to be responsible for someone's death?
And what's another term that refers to how much we care? LOVE!!! "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own..." (1 Cor. 13: 4-5) This verse from the Bible is so well known, and yet, no one seems to really know it.
If we just loved each other, above ourselves -just sacrificed our egos once in a while, none of these things would happen. And now I leave you with another quote to ponder:
"As soon as sacrifice becomes a duty and necessity to mankind, I see no limit to
the horizon which opens before him."
In the recent weeks, I've seen a lot of nonsense, and I use the word nonsense in place of a number of bad words that I'm trying to refrain from saying. Children verbally attacking their father publicly, adults sticking their noses so high in the air that they can't see their own footsteps trampling over their children, and family members showing no care to each other.
What does it all come down to? Those noses need to come down, the children need to listen to their father, and the family members should take a couple Sunday school lessons on what love actually is.
First of all, your father, hands down, knows better than you do. He sees everything from a point of view that is much wiser and much wider than your viewpoint. In addition to that, he loves you beyond belief and more than himself, and therefore should be trusted to do according to YOUR best interests.
At some point in your life, you become old enough to have your own opinion and state that opinion, to get the benefit of your father's wisdom as you make larger decisions in life. However, when this decision affects his house, his family, his children, you are no longer the one making the decision - he is. You can state your input and he will listen and try to accommodate, but it is the true test of a loving child, to simply obey and move on.
If you're still reading this, an organized venting of mine, I want you to physically look up - stick your nose in the air and see what happens when you look forward... can you see anything clearly? I don't know about you, but my eyes cross, and not only do I look ridiculous, but everything I'm seeing is over exaggerated. There's two television sets when in reality, there's only one lonely set chilling on the stand.
Pride is not something to laugh at. You only see yourself and what you want, being stubborn in your own way without pausing to see that the world does not and will not revolve around you. You're also hurting other people in the process. No matter how many times we deny it, there are others around us and our actions affect them. Being stubborn or, in my opinion, intentionally blind, leads to a lot of chaos.
The quote above really seems to fit with the situation though. If people didn't feel so insecure about themselves, they wouldn't push their agenda on others, creating an atmosphere of tension and hostility.
When I am in charge of some sort of activity at work, and the next year someone else becomes in charge of it due to management choices, and that person needs help, I am going to help them because I know how to do it. That's the nice, humble way of dealing with the situation, even if I don't especially like it.
The prideful and stupid way of dealing with it is by attempting to sabotage the activity by not helping that person. What you don't realize by sticking your nose in the air, is that life goes on without you. The world still turns, the clock still ticks, and you're left standing alone at the end of the day with nothing to show for it.
"If everyone cared, and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day, when no body died."
I love this song (If Everyone Cared by Nickelback)because it really shows how things would be different if people stopped focusing on themselves all the time. Yes, people might not die, although it is possible, but maybe you've killed their spirit. Do you want to be responsible for someone's death?
And what's another term that refers to how much we care? LOVE!!! "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own..." (1 Cor. 13: 4-5) This verse from the Bible is so well known, and yet, no one seems to really know it.
If we just loved each other, above ourselves -just sacrificed our egos once in a while, none of these things would happen. And now I leave you with another quote to ponder:
"As soon as sacrifice becomes a duty and necessity to mankind, I see no limit to
the horizon which opens before him."
6.03.2009
Soundbite of Old
Recurring patterns
kaleidoscope in reverse
cross-continental journeys
lost trinkets of gold
Songs of days
a broken record in play
long trips at night
story after story told
Photographs falling
an open hand with wonder
hours of memories
fast-forward and fold
An art gallery filled with paintings
a junk yard of color
brush her hair right through
cut it, its sold
Sign the release form
find a companion for the time
interstate highways
blend in with the mold
kaleidoscope in reverse
cross-continental journeys
lost trinkets of gold
Songs of days
a broken record in play
long trips at night
story after story told
Photographs falling
an open hand with wonder
hours of memories
fast-forward and fold
An art gallery filled with paintings
a junk yard of color
brush her hair right through
cut it, its sold
Sign the release form
find a companion for the time
interstate highways
blend in with the mold
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