What have we become?

 “If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

 ― Paulo Coelho

In my life, technology has rapidly advanced. It befuddles my children to think that I was alive before the Internet existed. While our lives today revolve around the web, I remember a simpler time, before the Internet, before hash tags and social media. I remember actually getting together with friends and visiting rather than hasty snap chats and a time when you kept your opinion  to yourself, unless it was something that truly needed to be said. While the web has improved our lives in many ways, sometimes I feel as though, we as a society have become jaded, cynical and just not very nice anymore. The ever ending stream of information seems to have changed who we are and perhaps not for the better.

I'm cable free. I wasn't always, but after 9/11, I just couldn't take television anymore. It was a traumatic day for our entire country, but over and over and over, the images were played and the news would play a horrifying musical piece to announce more bad news or to rehash the same story. I quit. I was never much of a TV person to begin with, although I enjoy some shows, I couldn't stand the constant advertising and consumerism being shoved down my throat every five minutes. I still, however kept my Internet. I prefer the Internet. I can pick and choose for the most part what I want to read or see, no commercials (if you ignore the ads) and no breaking news stories flashing across my screen interrupting my world. And for the record, YouTube, YES, I will always choose to "Skip this ad" .
That doesn't mean I don't come across things now and then that disturb me, outrage me or make me cry. I still read the news, but skip over the things that are not relevant to my life and skip the arguments and ignorant comments in the remarks section. I don't use Facebook personally. I do maintain a business page, only because everyone has Facebook, but I can't see their feeds or posts and I like it that way. It bothers me that our country is in such upheaval and we, the people can't seem to agree on anything. Gun control, welfare, abortion. Democrat vs. Republican. And it's all nonsense. We are human, we will disagree, but too many people are wrongly influenced by what they see or hear without even knowing what they are talking about and everyone has an opinion they want heard. It seems on the Internet, even the most outlandish opinions are thrown out there without hesitation and what really scares me is others see it and then believe it as well. We have become a nation of hateful and judgemental people. I sheepishly admit, I too, judge far too often. I don't consider myself a brilliant scholar but I do know right from wrong and I was raised with conservative values. I don't want to judge people, but I see moral decay everywhere I turn. Trust me, I'm no angel. I've done my share of sinning and I don't hold a penny between my knees while I sit in a Baptist church every Sunday morning. I was raised however, to not take anything you didn't earn, to respect my elders and to always do the right thing. I personally think what someone does to their body, in their home, their relationship, etc. should not be regulated and under the scrutiny of the government.

If it doesn't affect me, my family or my community personally,  it is none of my damn business. 

 “We judge others instantly by their clothes, their cars, their appearance, their race, their education, their social status. The list is endless. What gets me is that most people decide who another person is before they have even spoken to them. What's even worse is that these same people decide who someone else is, and don't even know who they are themselves.” ― Ashly Lorenzana


Don't like gay marriage?
Don't marry the same sex.
Don't like guns?
Then don't own one.
Don't like tattoos?
Don't get one.
Think your religion is best?
Pray to your God silently. 
Want to see change in the world?
DO SOMETHING 
Yes. I know the media has caused massive PTSD in our society with theatrical media stories, pointing finger and screaming conspiracy. We need to believe the facts not the dramatizations. Educate yourself. We live in a world of constant information and anyone with a bit of intelligence should be able to investigate and draw a logical conclusion from all the information available. Change begins with a small step in the right direction. We can't change every wrong in the world, we don't live in Utopia.
Shit happens.
People get killed, houses burn, cars get in accidents, but to expect the government to run around and put a band aid on the whole world with ineffective laws is not only futile, but a waste of time and tax payer money. Bad things will still happen and it doesn't matter if our government is primarily Democrat or Republican, things are still going to happen. We scream people are not compassionate but yet hysteria breaks out over cuts to social welfare programs. I remember a time when a disability was the inability to live and function independently. We now hand government checks to anyone who complains enough. Welfare abuse is down due to welfare reform but now we have horrific abuse in a social security disability programs. We continue to elect corrupt politicians and don't complain or remove them from office for frivolous spending. We continue to buy from corporations who have cut jobs and manipulated the system for financial gain.  We continue to lead a life of debt by falling into the trap of consumerism, believing what we own gives us some kind of status quo. We continue to bank and give our money to banks who have thrown our neighbors into the streets and let homes rot away to be condemned. Housing bubble or Big Business land grab? We have created half the messes we have in this country  ourselves and expect an inept government to fix it? Have we gone completely mad?  We throw names and petition for more laws to protect us from everything, but how is that working? We fight each other over everything and judge one another on our age, gender, sexual orientation, familial status, nationality, abilities, finances.. the list goes on and on.. We are so pitted against one another and the only way to fix it, is to come to a mutual agreement on the basic principles of what is right and wrong and work from there. Why is that so difficult? Opinions are great, but since when did the world have to live by the opinions of another? We can't even begin to agree to disagree and that worries me for any hope for the future.

 “How would your life be different if you stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day you look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Time to kick failure in the balls

I seem to be an expert in "what doesn't work". Anyone else feeling that? I could come up with a million excuses of why life just seems to hand me lemons all the time, who wants to read that? Lordy knows there are plenty of manically depressed teens writing about it every day. But, I'm an adult or supposed to be one at least. My son likes to joke with me that I've been passed down some kind of Irish curse, which my response is always is "Curses are meant to be broken".
I've been many things in life, worn many hats but few are what I would equate to success. As a mother to three kids who I raised entirely by myself, yes, I can say I was successful. Perfect, no, not by any means and made plenty of mistakes, but they survived, as did I and now as adults, our relationship has changed, but stronger than ever.College was a bust. I pursued a degree in law enforcement for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to help people back when I was still green behind the ears and helping people is for social workers, which after some experience in the field, I decided that was definitely NOT what I wanted to do.
In business, if success is to be measured by popularity, I could say, yes, I've been fairly successful. If it is to be measured monetarily, then.. I still haven't found what works. Through my life I have worked as a factory worker, advertising executive, clam digger, administrative assistant, nurses aide, concierge, housekeeper.. the list goes on. At one point I even filleted farm raised salmon for a living. I've never been too proud to take any job, which I suppose sets me apart from others and perhaps in hindsight, it was a mistake. I never went back to school after a lay off because my biggest concern was finding the next available job that would pay the bills. I have never thought any job was beneath me or didn't pay enough to make it "worth my while". Granted, many days I had to drag myself out of bed and hide my tears as I faced another day of back breaking labor or dealing with people who were rude, unkind and just plain mean to people they considered "the help". But going to work everyday and knowing I made an honest effort to make a living seemed like the right thing to do, what I was taught to do by my father growing up. I was never handed anything and never expected to be. All too often I found decent paying jobs out of reach and interviewing is not my strong point. I don't mind working hard, never have, but with the economy the way it is, nepotism is rampant in the work place, making it even harder to find opportunity or the chance to advance once you accept a position.

 I've never been much for schmoozing and although I give 110% at every job, I don't socialize around the water cooler, play golf or go for drinks after work. Perhaps that is my biggest downfall. Outstanding career opportunities are limited for introverts like me. I'm smart enough to know I'll never get rich working for someone else anyhow, I'm just making them rich. So what am I doing?? I'm over 40 and working in a ridiculous job, that by all means appears to be " a good job" but really, I spend more of my paycheck repairing my car that is required for the job and I don't get reimbursed for that. It does have it's perks, I work mostly alone and without someone breathing down my neck which I like, but for what? To continue to struggle financially? To be unable to tuck away any kind of savings or retirement money? I already assumed, like my father, I would probably work to the day I died, but I had hoped to do it out of choice, not necessity.  It is time to make some changes.

“No one is going to hand me success. I must go out & get it myself. That’s why I’m here. To dominate. To conquer. Both the world, and myself.” 

I'm writing and writing and writing. It is the one thing other than photography I am truly passionate about. Both are challenging. Both are hard work. But, I truly believe that I can be a success with my writing, I need to stop complaining, stop trying to sell and market my books and just write. Fortunately, technology has not yet come up with affordable equipment that can turn anyone with a couple hundred dollars to spare into a "writer". Of course, I'm going to pitch my books here, but more so, I'm making a commitment to myself to start writing every single day. I was a little lost with blogging. I admit it. I felt like I had to write about one subject or genre, but where did I get the idea there was rules for writing? There are no rules. If you, the readers like what you read, you'll come back. You'll want more. Maybe this blog won't interest you, maybe the next 30 blogs I write won't, but one day, you'll see something and go.. hmmm.. this looks interesting and perhaps you will tell a friend or share it online and it is then and only then that I may find my success as a writer. 
Perhaps I can start you off with a little selection of what I already have available on Kindle through Amazon,
you can order any of these titles directly from me on Amazon by clicking -->>HERE!