Melancholy Holiday Immersion Begins

 (This piece written over two years ago; always revisits me when the holidays arrive. Thanks for baring with me. Get out and shop today.)
_______________________________________________________________
 Compulsive / Obsessive

I’ve been thinking about adding to my canine stable for some time. I lost my last girl several years back. It was a tragic day.

If grief were a tattoo, my Lady Bug, a German Short Hair sporting dog, would be in full color all over my body. She was my best friend in so many ways.

Time has passed rapidly, yet her presence continues to fog my desire to bring a new girl on board. I see and feel the joy that could be recaptured with a new friend in my life, yet I am still a bit reluctant.

I have so many interests. Continually I seek new knowledge, curious how things work and fit in to today’s lifestyle. I get on a subject or process and before I know it I have ten or fifteen books, periodicals and websites galore scattered through my daily life. I am usually not sure how this new knowledge will fit into the big picture.

A friend from the past once said that I knew more about things, people and places than anyone person should. He said that I possessed what he called useless knowledge. Well you know that I took that as a compliment. Not!

It may have been one of the most destructive things that have ever been said to me. He might as well hand me two puppies named Obsessive and Compulsive. It would have been just as clear to me if he had; after a while anyway. I would have discovered the connection on my own in due time.

I wouldn’t have taken it so personal for several days, at least not until the insult was discovered.

Thinking about acquiring a new puppy or two has me second guessing my intentions. Do I actually need and want a couple of new friends that require so great an amount of attention and care?

My inner story continues to play my obsessive and compulsive theme song. Maybe by adding some responsibilities outside of myself I can end my title of Mr. Obsessive Compulsive?

I can see my new friend and me hiking a rocky trail for hours and days at a time. Once she gets use to my hiking routine, it will be just a matter of time before we have constant conversations on a daily basis.

The stories we will tell will have some of the past, present and future automatically built in. I’ll never try to impress her but I will fall in love with her. As the years roll by I’ll expect her to join me on the trail. She’ll nudge me occasionally to hit the road. I’ll just grab my pack and head to the car. She’ll jump in and off we’ll go.

A man and his dog is a relationship about as obsessive and compulsive as it can get. One’s dog is a friend of genuine trust and care, to share where the day goes. Some days the only word shared between the two of us...is a smile. Yet we hear it loud and clear as if it were spoken with a shout.

Maybe my obsessions are on the way out? Could it be that my new friend will satisfy my compulsiveness on a different level?

She sits on my left in my mind today. My thoughts are about warm puppy breath, her velvety tummy skin and a little growl that speaks from gentle sleep. 
Since thoughts become things, I’ve been careful to pick this as one of my best. Puppies play at the foot of my chair and I am in wonder of it all.

A Slice of Life

How often does everything work perfectly?

You say, "Not very often!"

How about just for today we say every day from this one forward will be perfect?

You okay with that?

Great, OK!

Waiting for news of being funded is one of those time requiring patience of a higher magnitude. You want to go over every detail in your mind. Rereading the entire proposal in the skull cinema distorts the truth quite often.

It seems natural to question your own professionalism no matter what your line of expertise happens to be. The mind is a strange thing, just ask it anytime.

This is a simple blog. There will be one or two parts more later in the week.

I have completed the work necessary to have written a Winning Grant Proposal. If the readers at the funder's offices have followed everything to the letter has I did, it is a done deal, a basketball in the hoop, a bulls eye for funding; and everyone chimes in with a big AMEN!

So guess what? Even if by some small tiny margin the decision goes in the wrong direction, I know, I said I KNOW, I did the very best that I could do to get my client's non profit project funded for the coming year.

How sweet the juice of the lime will taste when the letter arrives in the mail. I see the cover letter in my mind's eye in my right hand. I feel the check fall out and land in the palm of my other. Have you ever seen a lime or the color of funding so green and juicy before?

It is always the best day, the perfect day when the fruit falls from the heavens you have worked so hard to be merely lucky. LUCK is Laboring Under Correct Knowledge.
 

Share the juice and the taste of winning with your coworkers today. Celebrate always putting forth the best effort. There is never a losing moment unless you give up. Stay out of that club. Welcome to the Victory lap.

Cheers!

Obligation to Learn

Once again I am enthralled with Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist blog post today, 5 Reasons to stop trying to be happy.

Her logic boils down to either you can be interested in the world around you, constantly questioning it and its values or you can be happy. The two do not coexist nor mix with each other.

Interesting to me even more so because I finished reading an article, "What Would Jack Do?" in the December issue of FAST COMPANY. The article is about Willow Creek, a large Evangelical church leading through learning from the business world's best teachers.

One of the speakers at their Global Leadership Summit, Jim Collins, not to be confused with me, told an anecdote about a college professor who told Collins that "instead of spending so much time trying to being interesting, he should try being interested." in what he was talking about.

Today I am interested in so many different subjects I realize I will not live long enough to explore then all. My zealousness for happiness though never ceases. Maybe the reason I am so unsuccessful in following my dreams to fruition is I expect the two to intersect creating happiness and joy because at last I have succeeded in some endeavor that actually supports me financially. 

In my mind anything that supports my need for food, clothing and shelter
would instantly make me happy. I am very interested in finding out where the two ideas intersect and support the reason both can exist at the same time.
My days are filled with exciting ideas. I can hardly stay in my chair because of the possibilities of any number of projects materializing in my mind at any given time of day or night. I reach a certain number of ideas, overload kicks in, then I slide back into pitifully unhappy and uninteresting reality. Unable to finish any of the projects I selected for the day, most always because the big three, (food, clothing, shelter) require attention instead of me expending
valuable funds in the direction of feeding an idea or dream.

Since I am an undiscovered blogger, it seems to matter little what subject I attack here now or even later. I discovered a writing web site posting writing opportunities for those close to starvation. Such as, write 100 blog articles in 2 weeks and receive $1.50 for each one, after they have determined you are a not a plagiarizer. The person keeps your piddly piece of pay in an escrow account in case they actually decide to transfer it to you. The 21st century's version of slave labor has arrived.

Have you seen any of these writing sites?

I don't want to plug any of them for fear someone might actually agree to their terms for submissions, not that anyone might actually be reading this. There was indication that writers had actually signed on for past projects. They had received $30, $40 some as high as $50 for writing an entire week for
some foreign entity trying to appear as if they were a state side blogger.

Maybe writing a blog for a foreign readership has possibilities? I have a feeling I will be hanging sheet rock soon.

The one listing appealing to my own needs asked for someone to periodically post something positive to a blog site using a different moniker each time. You would be paid of course, another $1.50 to $5.00 depending upon your skill to attract other readers to the blog. You might not be paid if this backdoor SEO is not effective in drawing masses of new visitors through higher search engine rankings because of your comment writing effort.

I was once a restaurateur in the 90's in a very small town. I asked my employees to move their cars to the front of the building to make it look as if we were busy with customers. It made sense because who would want to patronize an empty restaurant? Who wants to be the first to take the risk of eating in an establishment apparently with no loyal clientele. Red flags go up everywhere especially if it is the dinner hour and the parking lot is empty.

Who wants to read a blog appearing to have no readers? No one, that's who. Brazen Careerist has over 57,000 readers. You think Penelope might have something valuable to say to her readers? You dang Skippy she does! Even if she doesn't the numbers are high enough to warrant her penning an off-beat article occasionally even if it alienates a portion of those big number of readers she has corralled. 

They will forgive her and come back to see what outrageousness she is into now. Those liking the off beat nature of her blog will tell others about it and Voila, new recruits show up even if she sent some running for the hills.

I write everyday, well almost everyday to keep my juices flowing. If only every few days a comment would come my way to validate my existence, my creative juices would flow like the River Jordan, at least for a few days more.
 
Happiness is only in love stories experienced for the first time. Today I will settle for being interesting.

Sailing into Thankfulness

A woman who treats me special has always been my goal.

There is a myriad of things I want to do. We know not what the next day may bring. I like to quote one of my favorite movies, DUNE, the one directed by David Lynch back in the 80's. It was pure corn but I still love it.

The Celestial Navigator, an alien transported in a big black box with the ability to see into the future, stated emphatically: "I see plans within plans...I was not here." He looked similar to a large living anus.

I too, see plans within plans. It reminds me of columnist, Sidney Harris, he was always discovering pieces of interesting information about a completely different subject, searching for information on a topic he was writing about for his daily column, STRICTLY PERSONAL for the Chicago Daily News. He would ultimately write about the discovery of whatever, instead of the original subject of the piece under investigation.

When it comes to being thankful there is no limit to the enormity of the subject. I am thankful for the heroes decorating the edges of my small world. My UPS guy, the man behind the counter at my local wine shop, the lady who tells me to have a nice day where I get my morning cup of java and she means it, the dude at the dumpsters (recycling center) who says what a beautiful day it is, all make my daily life a whole lot better. I am very thankful for their thoughtfulness. I actually detour to one of those places when I am having a not so great day.

FAST COMPANY has an article, Two Little Words, in their most recent issue that got me thinking about this subject. Saying "Thank You" even when not exactly called for, changes the quality of the air around us. Attitude has a way of painting the color of us all a brighter shade.There are many of these people in our lives deserving of our gratitude throughout the year, every day. Though each is forgotten with an encounter with the very next person you meet.

How true!

There is a woman in my life who always treats me special. I can enjoy wine and even whine about most anything when I am with her. She seems to see inside my soul. She is a soothing balm of electric loveliness to my heart and my very being. I am completely undeserving of her attentiveness. I am a better person because she is in my life. There is not enough room in this blog to write my love letter to her here today.When it comes to being thankful for the joys in my life, her face fills every position in my album.

Those people I mentioned a few moments ago, are important beyond even what they represent. Taking the time to be kind is a trait I should spend more time cultivating. These folks do it in such a way that it makes every day a little bit better.

I am thankful for those in my life that love me. I am thankful I have so many to love.

This time of year when some how it seems easier to express love and admiration for those around us is not lost on us as a people. At least this time of year it is more excepted to give a damn, expected to lead to kinder words and deeds to strengthen us as human beings. When we argue and disagree more than we love, it is time to declare the Christmas Season has arrived, if only to ask ourselves to look deeper into relationships as a goal for living.

I have become a fan of  "Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist". I love her originality and her way with words. She writes like someone sitting next to me when I need a friend for loving conversation. Her column is a constant heads up for the joy of thankfulness. Even when she seems to be whining about something, there is a thread of hope in her every brazen word. Her critics say it is mere acrobatics to attract readership numbers. With over 57,000 readers I see little reason for her to stir the quagmire to gain a larger fan base.  I am thankful for her dedication to her readers. Thanks Penelope!

My plans within plans are to see more of what I hide from my own eyes. I want to know why we care so much about what has so little importance to our growth as a species. Waves of huge emotional response are available to us all. We need only add a piece of the tsunami we preach, then tone it down to the soothing sounds of a Walden pond to attract the beauty and love of others.

This may be corn personified; but I have a positive sense for the future and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Music is Known by the Company it Keeps

I heard some Carlos Santana on Saturday. I was playing a friendly game of pool with some close friends. While I was preparing to shoot I said,” how many notes does it take for an individual to recognize the distinctive sound of Carlos Santana's guitar?”

Two out of the three said, “one or two notes and I know if it is Carlos wailing on his guitar.”

What quality of his musical mastery creates single notes on his guitar so instantly recognizable to his fans? Is it his precise phrasing between notes, bars or rifts? What ever it is, Carlos Santana's singular musical signature screams out loud whenever he plays his guitar, luxuriating in instant recognition.

Even more curious to me is Carlos being so recognizable inside a type of music, Latin influenced in this case. Even in itself is recognized as a genre of music from a certain part of the world standing for its own sake, before adding Carlos Santana to the mix. The rhythm and beat is such that I at least know it as the Latin sound minus the influence of Carlos Santana.

There is a Latin sound.

I believe many would agree that that is true. A certain rhythm has us moving to the beat, even before we recognize a particular piece of music we may actually know by name, by Carlos or even an other musician. The music is distinctively south of the border, Latino influenced, Hispanic in nature, music moving in a certain beat or cadence where we know what type of music we are hearing at the moment it begins playing.

Where did that recognizable beat, rhythm or type of music originate? If it was in Latin America somewhere, what particular area of those countries can lay claim to fame of playing it for the first time. To me, Latin American influenced music is so distinctive; I can not imagine it coming from anywhere else. Though it does, it has and it will continue to do so. Can we agree that the roots of this particular sound and style of music originated in a part of the world where the romance languages are spoken now and in the past? I am speaking of Spanish in this instance. I believe French is considered a romance language as well but would Carlos Santana's music ever be mistaken for being French in nature? I think not.

As a particular type of music or sound that comes from it gains popularity, then I say it is easy to see where the influence comes from no matter what part of the world decides to continue the style adding nuances of an artist's own creativity. Though a new musical piece is produced, the style that influenced it remains to be Latin American in style.

Just for fun, say this style of music began in Guatemala. Is it possible that in nearby San Salvador there is someone else picking out the notes on a guitar sounding strikingly similar to the chords and notes emanating from the guitar in Guatemala? Is this section of the world blessed with this about to be created sound connected in someway with an invisible array of collected consciousness? With each interpretation of a new rhythm style or method of producing unique sound somehow felt in the ethereal stuff that holds us all together?

Tough to put this in an easy to understand concept isn't it?

Why didn't music with a Latin beat originate in Russia? Why didn't Polka music originate in Mexico? Why is London known for the birth of the Mersey beat in the 60’s? What exactly is the Memphis sound? Why is Philadelphia known for beach music?

I don't know! Do you?

Tossing these ideas around with three or four friends we came up with one common denominator that quite possibly connects the music to the location of any musical genre's birth. The types of instruments would have a great influence on the design of the music. Whatever materials were available at the onset of the music's so-called birth determined how the music would be played and how it would sound.

Maybe that floats for musical design or discovery from a long time ago. What about today's modern niche music? Since we're mostly discussing Latin music in a modern vein, I suppose that is somewhat true as well, though the electric guitar has been around over 50 years now. We have watched and heard the era of Rock and Roll morph into a hundred different sub pockets of stylistic sound.

So is Latin music a sub-niche of rock and roll? Well I personally don't think so, though to others it may be. There is a monotheistic sense of singular sound from the output of Carlos Santana's guitar. He took an instrument that has been through thousands of incantations and created a sound of his own. He is an original wrapper, no pun intended.

So if ancestrally music is, was and will be influenced by the musical instruments available at any given time, well I have talked myself out of agreeing with this hypothesis. If we took our study seriously, journeyed historically hundreds of years into the past, well then maybe there is a thread running through it that might convince me there is a base of substance to support it.

What makes more sense to me, then just the instruments is substituting the word tools for instruments. Now we can add the sound of the human voice, toss in an attitude, reflect current mores, add the depth of awareness of space in time and finally add musical experience with a sprinkle of acute awareness of what seems to work into the overall mix.

This is a fairly long diatribe to attempt to reconcile and correlate these same ideas with what works and doesn't work when adjusting and/or fine tuning the guts of applying for a foundational grant.

What the heck is he talking about?

I may be way off base here. I can say from even limited experience that what worked in the nearby past does not necessarily work yesterday and certainly not today in the world of writing grants for funders seeking a home for their dollars.

Do your own personal roots contribute to a substantial difference in how you state your case? When looking for support for your nonprofit, do you apply for grants only matching the thread running through your successes? Do you let significant dollar funders slip through your fingers because they aren't who you are used to approaching? What tools do you now possess in your grant writing arsenal that is just laying there gathering dust? What new ideas are hiding in that same box of tools waiting to be expressed in a completely different way?

Only readers around my age will know who Kiki Dee is/was in the musical world. Along with Elton John she expressed. “I got the music in me!”

When approaching funders’ requests for proposals, entering the mix of fund seekers, having your heart filled with music from the get-go is a pretty good place to start. Passion allows your audience to buy from you. They sure don’t like to be sold a bill of goods. Passion moves through an audience silently yet smoothly and effectively captures the crowd with a tune only you can play. Your distinctive sound overwhelms their resistance. The till opens and pours willingly into the needs and wants your non profit requires, growing and prospering.

You think there is no music inside of the foundation universe? Try a different tune; fill it with passion for your goal. I think you will be amazed at the response when you play the right notes. When the heart strings of any organization runs parallel to where a foundation wants to go, you will be playing beautiful music together.

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”  Practice, practice, practice!

 

 

Fear, for the Heck of It

The first time I stood in front of an audience my mind drifted to the physical act of hanging sheet rock on some stranger's walls. If you have never had the privilege of carrying 25 pound sheets of chalk glued together with stiff paper you have not lived life to the fullest.

The 4' x 12' sheets take two workers to lift and place into position. Once positioned a sheet is nailed to the 2" x 4"s behind them. This goes on for hours and hours, the carrying, the nailing until it is time for the pinnacle of pleasure, mudding and taping the seams and nail marks. This is done by mixing a mud like substance, using a trowel, wearing clothes you never want to wear again and walking around on stilts to reach the upper heights plastering the gooey concoction. Upon completion, if it ever comes, someone will paint the entire surface and all your hard work disappears for ever.

For me the art or function of hanging sheet rock is the worst possible thing I can imagine to do when I would rather not participate in the process at all.

Speaking in front of an audience is much more pleasurable than hanging glorious sheet rock. Today's survey says, "an individual would rather commit suicide than speak in front of a group of people."Seems a bit rash, don't you think?

Yet the first time I stood in front of an audience preparing to speak to my freshman English class at Oklahoma City University, my thoughts drifted to hanging sheet rock. It did not occur to me to commit suicide, though it would not have been a bad idea, I merely had not thought of it.

Somehow I made it through my entire 15 minute speech without collapsing on the podium or choking on my own fluids. My knees physically knocked against each other almost the entire duration of my speech. It wasn't until one of the listening audience laughed at one of my comments or gasped at the horror of the subject of my speech that my knee knockers subsided with their harmonious tune.

The topic of my speech was spelunking. Exploring the innards of caves was a topic I knew something about. It wasn't until feedback hit my ears that I was able to calm down and enjoy the actual delivery of my words. Probably a bit of exaggeration as far as enjoyment goes, my speech was reaching a conclusion and I knew my time was short in front of this group of jackals. When I finally finished,  prepared to tuck my tail under and hide in the back of the room, the unexpected happened. A member of the audience raised her hand to ask a question about the topic of my speech.

I was hooked for ever! I had stirred an interest in the subject of my talk and someone wanted more information. How cool was that?

Today I beg groups, civic organizations, fraternal clubs, political allies and any fund raising committee to allow me to speak in front of their membership for absolutely any reason that will give me a bully pulpit. Quite a reversal from my earlier days, don't you think?

Sometimes I look for speaker nets to learn new tips and tricks to apply to my own speaking prowess. As a rule, though not always I encounter the awful specter of FEAR being repeated throughout a direct marketing piece seemingly interested in helping me cope with the unteachable beast. I still get butterflies before I speak to a group of peers or unknowns, though I am no longer petrified at the thought.

In grant writing the same words seem to be prevalent. The idea of “Fear” follows any line of extroverted optimism seeking financial or other type of approval through speech or written application. Simply speaking, fear has no place in your role as a Grant Seeker.

The nature of being a fundraiser asks you to step out in front of every kind of audience you encounter. Naturally, fear rears his ugly head trying to get your attention. Focusing on the issues whether speaking to a group of would be grant funders or to an audience expressing interest for your cause is a reason for concern, not fear.

I am an Auctioneer. I take charge of my audience of interested bidders the moment I open my mouth. I have come to realize over the years, that the bidders are the ones with fear in their hearts. They are afraid of two things, both are fearful. They fear they will lose the deal of the century and at the same time they fear they will win the deal with too high of a bid. Fear of having over paid for the item kicks in, now they will appear silly to the rest of the bidding crowd.

When standing in front of a audience, about to give your speech, the audience assumes you are an expert in your field. When approaching foundations, large or small these groups assume, until you give them a reason to believe otherwise, you are an expert in telling your organisation's story. They expect, not from fear, you as a grant writer will tell a truthful story following the potential funder's guidelines to the letter.

If you veer from the path they request, fear should pop up in your mind's eye immediately. The fear will come from knowing you have not performed your duties to the best of your ability. Your fear can be avoided completely or stopped in its path by reverting to the correct path the funder requests of you.

I choose to be a fearless grant seeker. With every leap I take into the non profit arena I learn a little bit more about myself and my audience.

I know my limitations!

That last statement is not true. I don't know my limitations. I don't even know if I have any because I am willing to pitch my hat in the ring and see where the smoke settles. If I have done the best I can possibly do then I am content to move on to the next project.

Living without fear is one of the greatest joys of life. Considering the things one can be fearful about, writing a proposal for a possible grant funder is very small potatoes in the larger scheme of things.

So let's walk up to the plate, swing as accurately as we can and bring everyone on base home for the winning run.

Never let em see you sweat!

Fund Raising: Ebay Auction Style

Veering off in different directions for the benefit of your client often portrays you as a momentary hero. Ride the wave as long as you can.

As a grant writer being on top of any financial need for your non-profit especially recognizing ones unforeseen by the casual bystander makes her worth her weight in gold. A grant writer's experience says to always expect the unexpected. When things go wrong the possibility of the occurrence has already been figured into the financial equation. Remember the rule of thumb, “Murphy was an optimist.”

A small shortfall can occur in almost any nonprofit's budget. Any number of unexpected expenses can upset finances during the budgetary year. Whatever program or project the organization you represent is funding always expect the unexpected and you will be ahead of the game. With experience many signals are telegraphed and recognized well ahead of any approaching catastrophe.

That last statement is probably just BS. As much as each of us would like to walk on water for our clients, we too are able to miss the hand-raising of slow motion, short term problems. Sometime there is not enough money to pay for unexpected expenses. This is especially true for smaller nonprofits unable to tap into some huge ready and waiting pool of emergency funding.

This suggestion is so simple, so easily accessible, so easily started that I hesitate to even mention it; but I will anyway. Sign your nonprofit up for charitable status at Ebay. That is all there is to it. Ebay.com is and has been the most popular auction style site on the net for many years now.

I have personally used Ebay's services to sell hundreds of items over several years. How much money did I earn? Well I did not actually earn any money, so to speak. What I did was get rid of items I no longer needed and put them into the hands of those who wanted them. Any money I realized after the auctions was always a plus. Everybody gets their cut from the sale of the items. Still after all is said and done, money went into my account that otherwise I would not have. Your charitable nonprofit will benefit from the entire percentage of the value of the donation with no risk involved.

If your charitable organization is not set up with ebay for donations, it is an easy and painless operation. Once setup your fund raising arm should notify your entire donating list of your organization's participation in the program. Short term financial needs could be satisfied quickly. Utilizing your membership's list of donors, leave no one out for notification. Send out press releases, post handbills, notify forums, facebook, twitter, even your Aunt Jane about the Ebay participation. Spread the word as rapidly as possible.

When an ebayer puts an item up for bid or sale, there is a section where a choice may be made to donate to a participating charity. In the A listings alone there were 1468 organizations set up for donations the week of November 1^st. 10% of anything sold will be deposited into the nonprofits account. This is an easy process to establish hopefully inciting a tremendous amount of activity in a short period of time.

Go to Ebay.com. If you are responsible for the funding of your organization simply sign up in moments. Get on the horn and notify everyone in your group to spread the word. You may find you have tapped into an excellent financial resource for almost no cost to your nonprofit.

So get ready to dispose of everything in your over flowing garage. You will have fun doing it and be helping your organization now and into the future with very little effort. As a grant writer you may even be a hero for a moment. After all, time loves a hero!

Translation: Go Ebay!