It's Time to Thrive

 It's been awhile.  Make that it's been a very long time :-)

I could give you a slew of reasons and excuses for why I haven't been writing here but that would just be weak.  The two main reasons I haven't been by are (1) I've simply been busy with way too many other things and (2) emotionally, I just haven't felt up to it.

The latter reason is probably the strongest of the two.  I've often thought about returning here and resuming but when I do, I battle that old feeling and question of "Who really cares about what I have to say?"  My perspective is probably skewed and I'm just way too sensitive but I find it to often be a battle in myself in questioning the apathy in others.

Then a couple friends of mine basically said "Who cares?  You do.  And that's all that matters.  Keep writing.  Everyone has something to contribute to the world and a passion.  Don't be afraid to put your voice out there and to stand by your own beliefs."

This was brought even more home to me by the passing of Steve Jobs.  He's had some profound things to say that have always stood out to me.  Allow me to share a favorite of mine:

"Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

He also often borrowed a famous quote by Jack Kerouac that is something I read often to remind myself that my individuality is something to be celebrated and embraced, not feared or hidden.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

They are both right on :-)

How is everyone feeling about the OWS protests that have pretty much gone global?  Personally, I'm a fan.  I think a lot of people appear to be struggling with what this movement is all about because there seems to be as many issues brought up as there are people protesting.

For me, the core of what people are finally speaking up about is the corruption and greed going on in the financial sector of our country and our government.  For far too long, we've been complacent and have bent over while huge corporations have gotten far too powerful with far too much lobbying (money) spent on politicians to do the corporations' bidding.

That's my #1 view and opinion of OWS and I wholeheartedly support it.  I also  admire all these people who are out there day in and night out, no matter the weather and no matter how intimidating the police might be behaving in certain cities.  It's about time we have a revolution in this country.  It is my fervent hope that it will ignite much needed change.  After all, I believe it was Jefferson who said "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."  The time to be silent is over.

One of the things I'm going to be doing next week is changing banks.  For over 23 years I have been banking with Bank of America.  My reasons for having stayed this long have been stupidity and laziness.  BOA is a national bank and when I moved to the Midwest from California, it was simply easier to stay with the same bank.  Nowadays, it's gotten much easier to switch banks.

So after payday this next week, I'm withdrawing everything from my BOA and taking my business to a local credit union.   

If you are interested in learning more about bank corruption and what you can do to OWS yourself in your own small but significant way, please check out the Thrive Movement.

They offer a three step guide here to switch banks:  Move your money


And now a few words from our sponsors, the whales and dolphins.


One would think that given all the challenges that have been heaped upon the country of Japan in the last year, that killing dolphins and whales wouldn't be such a high priority any more.  Sadly, this is not to be.


Taiji, Japan continues to be a hotbed for dolphin killers.  


Japan has allocated over 20 million in Australian dollars to the upcoming whaling season in the Southern Ocean.  They are also currently trying to get approved for 30 million more to have a bodyguard ship escort them down there for the entire season and to "protect" them from the Sea Shepherd activists.   


Gee.  Maybe it's just me but wouldn't it be a more important to use that $50 million on the country's citizens who have suffered through the tsunami, earthquakes, and nuclear fallout from Fukushima?  I've got to be the planet's biggest idiot for thinking otherwise.  It baffles my mind to see that they care more about KILLING whales and dolphins than they do about taking care of their country.


Well, that'll do it for now.  This has been long enough for today :-)


If you are still around and still reading, I thank you and am deeply appreciative of your continuing interest and support!


Mahalo!