Time to Reflect: Step 138

When I woke up this morning I realized there were a number of thoughts and ideas that were bubbling in my synapses, and so I rushed over to the keyboard and typed down a list of ideas. They include a thriving economy, full employment, dependable government, trustworthy politicians, clean energy, quality universal healthcare, excellent education, community-minded corporations, reliable reporting, thoughtful commentary, natural resources, personal freedom, sports heroes, safety, beauty, humor, justice and peace. Now, close your eyes and repeat them in reverse order. Just kidding.

When asked for a timeline to launch my business I immediately thought of the fourth of July. What better time to declare oneself a vital part of the American fabric than on the birthday of our nation. Like the brilliant author James Baldwin I believe, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” However criticism need not point to obvious blemishes but rather to spark dialogue aimed at the aforementioned ideas.

As noted last week I have had to apply a vast amount of lubricant to some rather rusty technical skills. Most of this lubricant has come in the form of reading repeatedly through instructions, guides and tutorials. Then, after making several attempts to apply what appears to be a simple procedure regain my composure and patiently try again.

One of the things I will need to determine in the next few hours is how many categories will be discussed in the new blog and over what period of time will this discussion take place. In other words, how thin can I spread myself and still meet the standards followers and participants expect.

Another factor essential for the long-term survival of this blog, and the evolution it is currently undergoing, is marketing. Three weeks ago I surveyed friends and family to determine what blog categories they were most interested in and what social media they used to share these interests with others. News and politics received the greatest support with business, humor and entertainment following close behind.

Facebook was the social media most often used by a better than two to one margin over second place YouTube. In searching further I found respondents to the survey did not necessarily post videos on YouTube, and may only go there as viewers. As a result, Twitter and LinkedIn, which were next in the survey results, may prove better marketing tools. So, look for me there in the days and weeks to come.

Finally, while my life story will continue for at least one more week here at Every Step of the Way it is time to draw to a close my weekend reflections and commentary. It is my sincere hope all of you will follow me, and join me for discussions, as I launch my new blog, the name of which along with a link I will share tomorrow in From Where I Stand.

Time to Reflect: Step 117

Once again it is time to reflect upon the world in which we live and see if something profound might appear in the course of the next few paragraphs. As I sit down to write I have just returned from attending the Bat Mitzvah of the rabbi’s eldest daughter. Well not just, I did change clothes, make the bed with clean sheets, and fold and put away laundry, but that’s another story. At any rate it was a joyous event, or in more Jewish terms it was a beautiful simcha.

Naturally, it reminded me of my daughter’s own coming of age. At the time of Heather’s Bat Mitzvah we had not heard of Rabbi Milhander who was busy with congregants in Camarillo. It came at a time of transition because I had decided to leave education after 25 years and work as a real estate agent. As far as I know everyone viewed this move with a great deal of skepticism if not cynicism. Time of course would prove them right, but my return to education would prove even more disastrous, but that too is another story.

For Heather’s Bat Mitzvah we brought together numerous friends from our brief two years in California with cousins from New Jersey, Arizona and Wisconsin. Even M flew in from Milwaukee and stayed with his youngest brother who was living in Long Beach at the time. Dad was there, and even though he wasn’t feeling that well, he got to dance with his granddaughter on her special day.

Two and a half years later and four months after Dad died, the new rabbi who was still commuting from Camarillo celebrated his wife’s and my birthday by conducting the service and joining the party for Courtney’s Bat Mitzvah. Cousins from New Jersey and Arizona but none from Wisconsin, no M, and me in yet another new position for only the previous five months, we still found ways to honor Courtney’s Hebrew name, Simcha Baruch, which means blessed celebration.

So, while I struggle to make sense of my life in a world filled with transitions, and my financial situation does not allow me to celebrate my silver wedding anniversary a month from today in Italy, a trip I promised Debbie when I proposed, there is a glimmer of hope burning on the new frontier.

At this moment in history as I mark, rather than celebrate, the two year anniversary of the end of my full time employment, it is the opportunity to create a whole new world that has me excited. As I entered the sanctuary this morning, a friend asked me what I was doing these days. When I told him I was blogging he wanted to know what that was. I smiled for I knew for the first time this was a good thing.

After four months of working daily to develop new and interesting material for this blog but never knowing how to describe it to someone who doesn’t regularly use blogs I finally realized that its novelty may be its best feature as I begin to market it to friends and others with similar interests. In fact, I told this friend he could help me define what it is. So, when I finish this I’ll be sending him a link to the blog so he can help me figure out what it is I do.

What do you think? Help me by writing out what you think this blog is about in the comment section.

Time to Reflect: Step 110

Over the course of the past week I have been able to take a look at where I am from the perspective of two coasts. While on the east coast in the dynamic city of New York I sat in the Avery Fisher concert hall and listened and watched as my daughter Heather went through the hooding ceremony. Her brother-in-law, Matthew, himself a lawyer the past three years, had the honor and privilege of placing the hood over her and conferring the title of attorney upon her. My vantage point sitting some twenty-five rows back from the stage with my wife, two daughters and mother made the moment no less spectacular.

A day earlier my son-in-law the aforementioned Matthew, his lovely wife Beth my eldest, and I walked through the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art. From the impressionism of Monet and Van Gogh to the cubism of Picasso and minimalism of Mondrian the beauty and vitality of these artists captivated and enthralled me. In the words of the equally brilliant painter, Henri Matisse, “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

After a wonderful celebratory dinner at Carmine’s a delightful family-style Italian restaurant on the upper west side we wandered through part of Central Park Sunday evening and wandered even further on Monday. Our flight home on Tuesday was arduous with delays and gate changes, but despite the thorns the rose of Southern California was in full bloom upon our arrival on the west coast.

Aware of my inability to complete the necessary components of my business plan for my meeting on Wednesday I rescheduled for early next week. Before Courtney returned to Arizona to start her summer class and Heather buried her head in books studying for the bar exam in her corner bedroom, I decided it was best to spend one final night with my daughters. We watched critics review summer movies while we dined on spinach ravioli I heated up. Then, the two sisters went to see the latest edition of the once popular television series despite what the critics said. Naturally, they were able to find the flowers the stuffed shirts couldn’t.

In order for me to be successful as a blogger it is important to complete a sufficient amount of research and figure out what attracts and maintains an audience in the blogosphere. One concept of which I am keenly aware is the idea that readers of blogs like to be engaged in a conversation. Most often the reader responding to the blogger with a comment and the blogger responding to the response does this. When there is a hot topic like the current oil spill in the gulf the sense of immediacy and desire to respond seems high. My challenge is to make the tale I tell although taken from my past so engaging it is like a seed planted in the present that compels readers to comment into the future and start putting petals on the flower with their responses.