Want proof that anything is possible in our crazy, mixed-up, media-saturated world? Three kids from Oregon got together in November and created a comic rap video, "I Smell Roses, I Love My Ducks," pasted it on youtube, and a month later it has over a half million hits. They call themselves Supwitchugirl. Coach Chip Kelly loved it and blared it over the loudspeakers at the indoor practice facility. Dan Patrick had them on his radio show. Nike signed them to a licensing agreement, and now they've made over a hundred thousand dollars selling tee shirts. They've spawned a host of lame imitators and ignited a small controversy, all before the age of 22. The creative landscape is changing, my friends. Anyone with an idea and some original energy can reach the world.
If that isn't enough to get you excited, the Ducks are going to the Rose Bowl for the second time in 50 years. They're playing The Ohio State University in The Granddaddy of Them All on New Years Day. God it feels good to say that. The Ducks are in the Rose Bowl. I watched the Comcast rebroadcast and the internet highlights three times each just to make sure. That's why we love sports. Miracles happen every day, moments of courage or tenacity or resilience that remind us that anything is possible.
In many areas of our lives many of us come to this Christmas Day in need of some kind of miracle, some breath of new hope. I've always thought that the most tender and poignant part of the Christmas story is that when the angel came to say "Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" he came to a lowly group of shepherds abiding in the fields, guys in need of a shower and a shave, lonely and cold and largely unloved in the world.
Wherever you are this Christmas, hold on to the promise and the joy. A football game doesn't matter all that much, not by itself, but I choose to think of it as a symbol of the power of believing and bonding together. I smell Roses. I Love My Ducks.
Friday, December 25, 2009
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins
"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy
This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.
photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com
Good morning!
An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance
Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.
Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.
Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.
1 comment:
Dad-
Yea blog!!! I can't believe you are making me cheer for the quack quacks. I still hate them but the home team must win. I hope that you had a good Christmas and that you keep the blog going again. It'd be an awesome Christmas present and you wouldn't want to upset your bestest daughter right? Love you.
Me
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