Words Are Cool!

They are.

Really cool.

I was doing my evening surfing, reading email, catching up on Facebook & Twitter when I had this thought: "How cool is it that human beings can communicate in such a detailed way?"

The next thought was even better. Because it was one of those "aha" moments when something you know you've known for a long time suddenly seems different and new (which totally sounds like a Barry Manilow song).

"Reading and writing are incredibly awesome things."

It's just crazy that one person can write something and someone else, who can't see them, can't hear them and may have never even met them, can read it. And then be moved to laughter. Or tears. Or anger. Or simply given something to think about.

But wait. It gets better. It can end there or it can stay alive.

When it ends there, the reader reads, thinks, cries, laughs and moves on. A one way street.

When it stays alive it produces the next level of awesomeness. When the reader has the means to turn the tables and respond to the original author, we have a Written Conversation. And it can still be taking place between two people who don't even know each other.

People decry the tentacle-like arms of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. But those sites allow us the freedom of having conversations in a way we never have before. For example, my mother, who has 7 kids, a slew of grand kids and several great-grand kids, uses social media to actively participate in conversations with people like my cousin's college-age son. A few years ago it would have taken a lot of serendipity for that to happen.

So here's to words. Cheers.

PS - I have not been drinking.

What will your kid's childhood narrative be?

Last night M said to me, "You know Mom, even though you get mad at me and yell sometimes and make me do things I don't like, like my homework some days, I really love you. And I like being your kid because we do stuff together and we talk".

This morning I woke up before her and while I laid in bed enjoying the calm-before-a-weekend-morning, I remembered what she said and that got me thinking about what her childhood narrative will be when she grows up. You know how when you meet someone and start the process of getting to know each other and you give the "in a nutshell" life story? Usually in that narrative are one or two lines that give a snapshot of how you remember your childhood.

Mine goes something like this: "I had a very interesting childhood. There were some things about it that weren't great and took me a long time to get over, but I also had some amazing experiences and have great stories to tell, so overall it wasn't bad".

I consider myself fortunate because I can end mine on a pretty good note. There are a lot of people in the world who can't end their childhood narrative on anything even close to a positive note.

My point it this:

Never lose sight of the impact you have on the future narrative of your child's life. It's not just the "big" events that shape their view; what you do and say day-to-day is all soaked in and will eventually be the basis of their childhood narrative.

If they ever make a movie...

---------Tom Dewey--------------Tom Selleck---------

What we're afraid off

It's funny sometimes what causes anxiety.

I had lunch with my Lil' Sis and MatStreet last week at Acropolis in Ybor City. As I was driving to the restaurant I was feeling pretty anxious. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was the prospect of parking that was causing it. Just about everywhere you go around here has a parking lot. You rarely have to park on the street.

I can get up and speak in front of large groups of people. I can use power tools and build things. I can tackle complex problems and find realistic and functional solutions. And I rarely experience any lack of confidence, anxiety, butterflies or self-doubt.

But tell me that I have to find a damn parking space and it throws me into a tizzy.