Human Touch

On being personable in a detached world...

We are people starving for attention in a world of automated tellers, touchscreen ordering and voice response systems. Personal attention is a two way street. That person behind the counter who robotically rings up your purchase needs attention as much as you do. We are human and our spirit is what separates us from the animal kingdom.

It is astounding how many people are operating out of fear and anxiety. Those two emotions are reflected in our interactions with each other in urban areas and small cities. A lot of people act as if they don't care in this mixed up, muddied era of economic downturn, political divisiveness and social disruption. Actually they're just playing it safe. People have been trained to publicly be cool, calm and detached and mimic a phony customer service model that is based on whatever acronym some consultant came up with. Attempting to avoid offending anyone has made many defensive and cold towards others.

In my industry I work with people who suffer test anxiety since their credentialing and livelihood depends on a high stakes test. Experience has taught me that acknowledging it in some way from the beginning returns a heartfelt "thank you" afterwards. One way I do this is just prior to entering the test room I will tell someone to "take a deep breath, breathe in the good air, exhale the bad air and think success." There is nothing original in that statement but it gets a positive response in test takers ranging from burly firefighters to aggressive stock brokers to aloof doctors.

At the interchange of human interaction people seem to be dispassionate but underneath they are not. Inside may be a raging bull or a soft-hearted bear that fears what others might think or only wants to be recognized as a person. Take a moment to recognize someone's fear or anxiety by doing or saying something that acknowledges those emotions indirectly by being personable. My bet is that you will discover the most detached person will light up and respond.

Music Break: The Rolling Stones

Little Red Rooster...

Live TV 1965

http://youtu.be/iiFnleuNULQ

Double Dip Storms & Tornadoes

Economic Meltdown?

http://youtu.be/H8GHuyngLZM


Video response to "Mortgage Foreclosure Tsunami 2011" http://youtu.be/Ze9MyGB2tBc 

The Economy is Tanking Again

Don't let it sink you...

Quotable President Harry Truman said "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own." People can quibble all day what this economic era is called but it won't really have its own name until it's written past history. Recession, Depression, Disruption, take your pick, it's irrelevant in the here and now. What the average person really knows is for most people things aren't getting much better. For many it's taking a turn for the worse while some are pulling out of it and at least beginning to break even. Very few people are untouched although there are a some who doing well.

It is clear that generally for most people in Arizona the economy is not improving much, if at all. The optimistic projection of economists at the WP Carey School of Business of ASU is that it will be at least three years before we even begin to see a turnaround in our economy. Real people and businesses know better. We've been particularly hard hit by the real estate and mortgage foreclosure tsunami, with the first quarter results of this year being much more dismal than anticipated, both on the real estate sales and foreclosure fronts. Unemployment is technically just below the national average but that does not include people who have given up looking for work and the underemployed. Although there are jobs listed, they are too few for the number of people applying for them and most people are not qualified for these jobs and they don't pay very well. We have lost more quality jobs than we have gained in all jobs. Gas and food prices are going higher and people are running out of savings and credit while inflation for necessary items is increasing.

The danger seems to be systemic unemployment and that affects income which in turn affects business and tax revenue. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. The real danger to those who are long term unemployed or underemployed is not just losing skills but the effect it can have on the mind. This has been called a "man-cession" since unemployment has statistically hit men harder during this economic downturn unlike in the past. Since men still tend to identify themselves (and increasingly women) in terms of the work they do and associate it with their self-worth, the hazard of widespread psychological and subsequent social problems is pretty high. 

That is a trapdoor.

As difficult as it might seem with little money and limited resources it is critical to stay physically occupied and mentally challenged to avoid conjoining psychological depression with an economic one. I see this as a looming social problem for the country as a whole. That should serve as warning to anyone that it is a state of mind to avoid. Large numbers of people may fall into this trap but that doesn't mean you have to. The English idiom "where there's a will, there's a way" applies here. If we are determined not to fall into a trap and do something about our situation, then we can always find the means and approach to do it.

The challenge then is for people who do not want to become stagnant, depressed or lose skills to figure out how to rise above the crowd and do something constructive with the time involuntarily thrust into their hands. Every person is different therefore personal solutions are not the same. My belief is that anything you can do during this time period to occupy your body and mind will pay off in the long term. Anything you do from tutoring what you know to learning more about something you don't know will lead to possibilities. Standing still will not. The smart person will distinguish themselves from the masses that do nothing by becoming occupied with meaningful activities.

Eventually this economic downturn, whatever it is named, will end. When it does those that did nothing will continue to do nothing and those that did something will be doing something better than before. The new normal will become real normal and living will get much better. It always does, it is part of the human condition. The important thing to understand is this economic interim will become past history and when it does the future will become the present. You will be glad you prepared for down the line when it arrives, since you did not give up during this difficult time now, no matter what it ends up being called.

Arizona Landscape

Branching out...

Moving Forward

Is the only real option...

Some days the best thing to do is put one foot in front of the other and keep going. They may be slow steps and it's alright to pause for rest but stopping is not a good choice. You risk never getting going again and that is the beginning of the end of progress. Progress is the engine that keeps us moving, idling gives us a brief respite but stopping is the end of the road.

Sometimes it feels as if every inch of progress is dearly bought but the price of losing ground makes the cost of even advancing slowly worth it in the long haul. It is difficult to maintain perspective in times when it seems life is a chore or you own an empty feeling for some unknown reason. At those times know that you are not alone in feeling that way, even though it is difficult to imagine when you're on that clock.

These thoughts may seem like bromides but those concepts have kept many people going and overcoming sluggish times for centuries. It doesn't matter how they're phrased, the principles are the same. Everyone experiences a range of emotions and it is natural to at times not feel so great about life. It's at those times you test your mettle and grow even stronger.

Surround yourself with people who respect who and what you are now and not what you may have been. Mutual help is as American a value as self reliance and the very act of talking to someone who understands in itself helps you to keep going forward. Find someone who understands you as well as you understand them and value that relationship and person.

The act of moving forward in itself leads to momentum of motion, accelerating the sense of going nowhere to going somewhere.

Arizona Landscape

Luxury Car Art on Heat Reflecting Glass Building...

Music Break: Vince Gill and Alison Krauss

High Lonesome Sound...

Live Grand Ole Opry with Union Station

http://youtu.be/5J-iG5cweus

bin Laden Really is Dead

This is not a topic I intended to write about...

Somehow I feel I must write about this topic although it is really not where I want to go, especially lately, with this blog. I am officially burned out on economics, politics and social problems since they appear to be flat lined at best or getting worse. At this point I think my time, especially creatively, is better spent staying positive and motivating others to rise above and keep going no matter the odds.

However, I cannot ignore the issue of Osama bin Laden's death, the rise of conspiracy theories and the need for people to see pictures, as well as the emotions it is evoking in those directly affected by the events of 9-11-2001. I believe that Osama bin Laden is dead because I have more trust in the US military, their intelligence and capabilities and the CIA (a scary proposition to some I realize) than I do President Obama. I have every good reason to believe our military for reasons, not to be coy, that (even to prove my point) I cannot share. I believe they did carry out the mission, assassinated bin Laden and buried him at sea, in Davey Jone's Locker. The guy who tweeted it inadvertently, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), corroborates it to a believable degree and I don't think the US Government or anyone can make people like him up.

What the conspiracy stories and theories are really telling us is about the incompetence of President Obama and his staff, the incapacity to make a sound decision, stick to it, keep a story straight and be honest with the American people. The sheer inability of Obama and his "people" to be consistent indicates their ineptitude but we knew that already. There is no point in reviewing all of the inconsistencies throughout his entire term, he's proven that over and over again, so why should this be any different?

I wouldn't mind seeing blood and guts pictures of Osama bin Laden myself as awful as that sounds. If a reader knew how much 9-11 disrupted my life personally in a very big way then they would understand. Something better in my nature tells me otherwise though.

There is one thing I don't think a lot of the American and European people have thought about. We have been on the verge of a Third World War for almost a year now, if not since 9-11-2001. The killing of bin Laden is probably the equivalent of the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Worse, this war unlike any previous wars has no real geographic boundaries making it a brand new game of combat. It is a war between Islamic extremist terrorists in a host of countries, who as nation-states may not necessarily be at war with the western world. It is also occurring after the "Arab Spring" of uprisings against oppressive regimes that in many respects refuted his terrorist machinations and making for a difficult summer in the Arab and Persian Muslim world.

Obama probably ought to have released some clear evidence of his death but it would only make things worse now. Doing so would probably inflame some terrorists but by their nature they are already agitated fanatics. We already know from this raid that al Qaeda was planning to attack the US rail network. This event has also already broadened a war on three fronts, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan and is likely to plunge the world into deeper global conflict. It's already begun; we're being shielded from it by our government and media, which is worse than releasing photos of a dead man. If there is a conspiracy, that is likely the real one.

My hope, as awful as this is to consider, is that we will not be solving our unemployment problem by working in munitions factories. We need to beware of "foreign entanglements" and engage in a policy of non-interventionism; otherwise we will truly find ourselves involved in a Third World War. More importantly, we must counter conspiracy theorists, despite the inept handling of bin Laden's assassination by the Obama administration. Now, more than ever we need to individually remain focused on maintaining ourselves in a healthy frame of mind, through self-reliance, mutual help and optimism, about our abilities to rise above any difficulties we are encountering. Our time is better spent improving our minds and well-being than focusing on spooks and conspiracies to overcome the barriers we are facing economically and socially in this country.

Arizona Landscape

Bronzed Sun Face...