Your get away with anything day: for Moms

Mothers Day Fun

Moms, it's your day:  you officially get to look however you want (facials beware) say, share or post whatever you feel like without recourse from kids who get all bent out of shape because they absolutely forbid you to post or say anything that could draw attention to them or embarrass them.

A free pass
You have a forgiveness card that expires by midnight today.  For starters, I am going to begin with a rant.  Logging on I see Google's image for the day and I stare in horror :: how can a Mother's Day image have dad's tassled shoes? Horror.

Google gasp
How could they?  I mean seriously.  Any respectful, fashionista mother is a clothes horse and shoe-a-holic.  What a big booboo that is beyond kissing better. Yes, we've come a long way from being Betty Crockers in the kitchen.  We're a force to be reckoned with if you dare threaten her family and be beneath respectful to her and her kin.  

Google could have at the very least posted a pair of flip flops.  If they had gone out of their way, they would have found a pair of tasteful sandals that would make any lovely lady of motherhood drool over.  

Official "guilt free shopping day"
Ohhhh, one in every color day!  I hope mothers uniting at least finish reading this commentary before rushing out to do embrace their guilt-free shopping day.

Mom's Brag Book
Ok, Moms, grab that brag book and start posting those photos of your kids, brag about their accomplishments and let er rip!  Today is your day to get away with anything day.  What the world calls "Mothers Day" is your day to be who you want to be, do what you wanna do and say what you wanna say!

Have your say ::
I'm darn proud of my kids, just like each and every one of us.  Some days they challenge me while others they give me bursting pride that I could be responsible for creating such wonderful human beings.  Amazing how some of that nagging and guidance pays off.

My son inspires me every day
I was robbed of a normal celebration when he was born.  The nurses and doctors scattered and fussed over the minute he was born.  Imagine having your newborn with needle marks in his head because they wanted to figure out what was going on.  He was born with a rare genetic diagnosis that even specialists couldn't quite predict what life he would have unfold.
A hole in his heart, physically unique footprint, along with a number of other concerns.

Imagine bursting onto the motherhood front and you had to ramp up your protectiveness ten fold, when he was starting sniffles meant you were heading for the emergency department, having heart surgery at 13 months old.

Paul Brandt
Kyle taught me that the cup is always half full.  You should never dwell on what ifs and feel joy at all the what as.   During one of those emergency trips to the Children's Hospital in Calgary, he was treated to the rare care of a male nurse of all things.

What was even more miraculous was this nurse had just won a singing talent contest in Nashville, Tennessee.  Paul has gone on to be the greatest Canadian country artist of all time and  to this day (think Juno, think megastar).   Paul gave a gift to a scared young mother, his spirit and humor.  I remember him sharing things about himself that I share with fondness.  One revelation being that he was actually born named:   Paul Rennée Belobersycky on July 21, 1972 (age 43).

Paul is lending his celebrity to help victims of the Fort McMurray wild fires, retweeting stories, offering other support.  Have a listen to this song that epitomizing the evacuation of this northern oil city:

Today, Kyle is known for his eternal optimism.  People, peers, teachers all exclaim: "I love Kyle" whenever his name comes up.  

Genetics aside reKNOWN 
One would think that a kid with those kinds of challenges, experienced bullying, had life saving surgery, and limitations physically galore, disrespected by employer with only $12.25 an hour after 8 years of service.  

Genius reSOUNDing
Kyle has found the voice for the #Mellennial generation.  He has the knack for seeing something and sharing it because it hit his coolness radar.  

Queer
Mostly oddly are unique and queer:  in a way that only the 80s gurus know that queer meant cool at that time in our lives.  So strange to discover that a word my generation resonated by would be exhumed to mean something so discriminatory and offensive a word :: eh?

I digressed again ::
I get sidetracked by an insight that is so profound I digress.  Let the mind sing and churn out only the "bestofeverything" :: #bestofeverything ::

Appreciation ::
It so easy to fall in love with Kyle :: the love that is universally channeled by motherhood :: sisterhood :: friendship :: cousin :: brother :: when Kyle gets something or anything, he has the magnetic gift of appreciation.  

Appreciation is something you can mimic enough that you start to feeling it from deep inside.  Emerging a guru who's spell you fell under :: Kyle, @flamesboy4eva get sidetracked by an insight that is so profound I digress.  Let the mind sing and churn out only the "bestofeverything" :: #bestofeverything ::

A strong conscience 
If there is anything that shows the story behind the story is one person who will emerge:: +Kyle S who has this seemingly giant perception radar on what is horribly unfortunate yet all too apparent in our society:  #corruption :: if there is any drum to bang on, Kyle has the uncanny knack for exposing it.  He took the guidance of a mother's continued nagging, repeating and repeating:  do not complain about your government if you're not prepared to do your civic and democratic right to vote.  Fond memory I recall is a discussion amongst my children on a warm summer's day ::

I would always begin with a celebratory atmosphere based merely on a whim :: hardly a birthday or annual event to create such excitement :: where I would set up the table on the patio, put up the Umbrella, in anticipation of the mere pleasure of having company.

Keeping them curious
Politics was something I started talking with my kids early about.  It is funny looking back at how each of them have convictions or causes that resonate within each of them :: feminism, corruption, mental health :: began at those early spirited gatherings.  I wouldn't have known of any secret motherhood ingredient I was giving my children :: keeping them curious.

Regardless of whether they could vote being that it was a good decade away, they were encouraged to have a voice on what is wrong with this world?  The earliest memory of Chantal was the detail I went through with gut-wrenching honesty, the list of items retrieved and inventoried on a list that was to go back to school the next day :: my very first, and maybe the first environmentalists of the #Millennial generation. 

Charitable causes the norm
Imagine my pure pleasure and surprise that should give her a pass for having a home that cared about its planet.  That is because coffee grounds, vegetables, fruit rinds, peelings, soup, meat, gravy, moldy bread, sour milk, burt something, failed recipe, were always put garburator  to work.   The cans were rinsed in a Rubbermade bucket (long before the engenius inventor of a blue recycle bin, talk about explosive idea for this generation to the next).  I am definitely sure that it was before plastics were recycled except milk 2 litres recycling at bottle depots.  That was before grade schools asked for donations of buckets for crafts and pop caps for charitable causes were even considered BTW (twitter-ese for 140 characters or less).


A louder voice
These open ended hearty discussions were encouraged and embraced.  Looking back now, I see how it could boost Kyle's confidence that his opinion mattered and was his purest gift ::  if there is a cause that is because of corruption, you will not hear a louder voice.

Good stock
Kyle is at the front of the line recognizing the attributes he inherited from his parents :: from me he says my outgoing friendliness and optimism :: times at least a dozen.  From his father, a work ethic, financial responsibility, and commitment.  And just this Mother's Day Kyle is confidently sharing the gifts he received from his stepfather named "Rob".  He said it was his sarcastic, dry humor.  That, and the fact that they both seem to like the same games and are gamers together. 

Talk about wisdom
If you are having trouble communicating with your Millennial sons, and the admitted desire to want to reach out and connect, you should try the ingredient that Rob and Kyle have discovered :: you can't go merely through the motions however.  You have to dedicate yourself like you have never before to find a way you will enjoy gaming with a world to uncover. 

It is a secret world
Where escapism meets participation via gaming.  A social (perhaps hidden) personality who had more to give and share by unmasking imagination and team work.  Where the testosterone is checked at the door.  Where men could safely become men and male examples rise to the top.  


To be continued ...... (daughters beware)

Discover your super POWERS

::: ___________________________________________ :::

"Some days are summersaults

 while others need headstands"

                                  Jeannette Marshall

                                     Author of Meanderings

                                    SocialMEdia @optioneerJM

::: ___________________________________________ :::

I swear every time I'm asked to put up a BIO, I get more creative :::   

knowledgeJunkie +visualCurator+socialmediaEnthusiast+greatGal http://meanderingsabout.blogspot.ca/

http://www.pinterest.com/optioneerjm/

@optioneerJM #bestofeverything  #smilingwords 

::: ___________________________________________ :::

Have a little listen while you read or stop and have a watch 

these guys R fantastic #Canada 

PLEASE show em sum love :: 

discovered by U here on socialMEdia 

@New Swears 

::: ___________________________________________ :::

The more succinct you are the more you dig in to gain insight into who you really are :::  you are subconsciously creating your super POWERS.

Wit reigns supremely with rising stars  who surround themselves with the #positivevibe crowd and #smilingwords to represent the #bestofeverything.  

Why not battle with humor? ( humour in #Canadianeze ) instead of heartbreak, pain, violence abuse or whatever is bothering you on any given day.  

::: ___________________________________________ :::

Not that you're a victim or any sort of whiner or ranter ::: remove yourself and stay far away of the negative force you can get sucked in so easily on this #socialMEdia sensation.

Be a source to be reckoned with as in a creative force that circulates only among the IN crowd who are inspirational, humanitarian, motivational, super POWERs.

::: ___________________________________________ :::

Be the voice of many ::: the poor, the hungry, the bullied, the ill, elderly and the sick ::: never forgotten :::  the unlikely who would be paid much attention to on this new 

MEdiumDOM 

of me, myself, I buy.  Because I can, I want it, not necessarily need.  

Create a chain of unified voice who are synonymous with optimism, gratitude and honesty.  Who stifle the mentally unstable, negative, violent, bullies or terrorISMisms.

Show there is a unified voice to form a consortium of only the #bestofeverything best of anything circulated by #smiling words :::  

Where only the most peaceful, loving, humanitarians become citizens of a community.

This is pure magic ::: and I'm Canadian .... eh?

::: ___________________________________________ :::

The community is bigger than a country, continent, religion, culture, or company. 

Creating a culture that does not rely merely on one thing.  But a collaboration among many.

Dedicated to serving their fellow woman, man, child, and living things.

Reach your super powers hidden under-neath the surface ::: ready to be discovered and revealed to yourself along with others.

::: ___________________________________________ :::

::: ___________________________________________ :::

Please share if you were inspired and want to help others be the #bestofeverything by communicating #smilingwords
::: ___________________________________________ :::

The one that got away ....

I was having this conversation with my sister the other day.  Heaven help me if I even remember what our train of thought may have been... do you have a sister that you really relate to even though your worlds may seem so far apart?  

                 STOP and have a listen, or play while you read on through 

My sister is as opposite of me as the world could even imagine:

• she was born in the autumn and I in the Spring
• we saw our growing up differently: she full of pain; me full of belief
• while I can come across gregarious she could come across as calm and reasoning
• our relationships, kids, friends are friends of each other too - they find it easier to like the other
• you enjoy shopping together and would never imagine skydiving - although one would have if she thought about it while the other wouldn't have dared (me).
• you both reach for the same things even if our home, our taste, would seemingly be different

Sidetracked again.  Apologies ... then what the heck do you expect of me by now?   It appears as though I have writing AHSD.  Thank goodness not in real life:  I can be excruciatingly organized and detailed while consciously trying not to be so the opposite is perceived.

This is what the conversation was about: the one that got away.  How bizarre eh?

Two sisters of 18 months apart in their fifties having an absurd reminiscence.  Opposite memories, no doubt.  She talked and I listened for a change.  Yeh, not a regular occurrence by any means.

My conscious memory a week later pops this into my head as I'm driving home.  I know I listened carefully.  I am really trying to be a better listener, which is not a natural state.  

She talked about this boy that she really liked when she had run away from home.  As much as she seemed like a radical from candy-coated pink 15-year-old eyes, I seem more like a rebel now that I've hit my 50s.

The memory went on in the manner that this sort does:  what would have or could have happened if she had not broken his heart and stayed with him.  

Astonishing!  The responsible, loving, caring mother, daughter, sister or aunt, was actually rewinding life to check back and check in to what she thought she'd be doing once she hit her 50s.  

STOP and have a listen, or play while you read on through 

So many wondrous movies are about going back in time, less about heading into the future.  It must be a creative dream, to take a situation and from the current state, to what had happened, and how things may have gone differently.  I now realize that the surprise in store for the reader or viewer, is will the hero or heroine return to the current state much differently or very much the same with differences.

That is such  a creative morsel of temptation.  Take a situation or moment in your life, and fast rewind and slowly play forward.  Taking the audience on a ride that even you may not predict.  Will you return differently or much the same with differences ...

What do I mean?  My sister  ... was doing that in a sense.  She was wondering if she had stayed with that very nice boy, not broken his heart, and stayed together.  She wasn't evaluating it, nor was she suggesting that she was disatisfied with how things turned out.

 It was a simple, honest meandering .... My sister  was highlighting what we go through when we hit or 40s and 50s.  We really aren't all that different than we were in our teens.  The ride we'd be on at the time would result in whether we are currently on the ride of our lives, or too conservative.  Or, some of us would recall that maybe they could have been a little bit braver or self-confident at our teens.  Others of us blossom as life and the years make us milder, more content.  While others of us become restless and want to step out.

What would your comfort zone and would you have done things differently then and end up different somehow? 

I am torn between staying the same or being more carefree.  How does one's homelife be the same and yet be reacted far apart?  

I couldn't have imagined things getting any worse so I would madly try to be an over-achiever.  Perhaps some experts would say that was because I was a fighter and did whatever it would take to have a life that would erase anything.  My sister may say that she was acting it out.  

Deal with it now is what most would applaud.  Get it out of your system so you can grow up and get on with life.  In a measured, grounded, spiritual way.  

If you bottle it up you may never know when it will sprout. Maybe that is what they mean by mid-life crisis?  When it hits or skips over anyone, would be a multi-zillion market.  

Many marketers, services or products  are divided into two groups:

ONE:  Going through mid-life crisis.

TWO:  Not.

Are you meandering about the one who got away?  Examine whether you think things would have turned out differently, or would have it made a difference.

Create a balance between the two:  Don't pine for what may have been.  Instead, create the life now that would be a different you .... or the same you with a little change.

Now this is how I really feel:

 

Footprints in the soil

I was first given the gift of the poem "Footprints in the sand" when I left a company with many friends, advocates and supporters about 15 years ago.  It was the image from the same poem.  Not long after, this poem was chosen by my mother-in-law for the keepsake for a man whom she had been married to for 40 plus years as her farewell gift of love:

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking
along the beach with the Lord
Many scenes from my life flashed 
across the sky.  In each scene I
noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of
footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed in low
periods of my life, when I was suffering
from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could
only see one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord: "You promised me
Lord that if I followed you, you would
walk with me always.  But I noticed that
in my most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints
in the sand.  Why, when I needed you most
have you not been there for me? 
The Lord replied: The years you have only
seen one set of footprints, my child,
is when I have carried you."

How lucky and amazing it is that one's farewell in unique circumstances and miles apart were given as a gift, as a send off to someone beloved or held dear.

I was thinking,  how lucky one is when there is someone who wants to follow in their own unique path, with the imprint of your wisdom imparted to them.  Really, footprints in the soil.

The soil, because of the wisdom can become deeply rooted in the receiver's philosophy to bloom at times of despair, discouragement and perhaps depression.  We dig deep to find the wisdom of those before us to provide inspiration when we are grasping at something that we are unaware, yet desperately seeking. 

How lucky one is to have someone who seeks your advice and an ear to listen as they sort out their feelings, their goals and struggling for a path or confirmation we are on the right one.  We all wonder.  We all seek guidance.

As we grasp for understanding for what unsettles us, we are seeking that one person who can understand our restlessness.  Fortunate are those who find that person, whether it is a parent, a friend, a sibling, a mentor, spiritual guider or willing advisor.

When we realize that there is someone reaching out to grasp your hand to guide you upon  self reflection and seeking understanding.  Some people don't have that gift to receive.  Others, don't appreciate that they have that gift to give.

Recognize that you have had agony, frustration and strongly desire to extend that guidance.  When it is before you, take it.  Similarly, don't disregard the kind words of encouragement or discredit the accolades that person extends to you.  Remember you are not in the best frame of mind or self-belief.  They may not be bias by love, but objective in understanding.  You just may need those words of encouragement when you find yourself at the bottom of the valley with a mountain of optimism before you that you cannot climb on your own.

Help others plant themselves in the soil of your wisdom.  Don't force upon them your passion for wanting them to avoid the same pitfalls you have found yourself in.  That exuberance may alienate the opportunity for them to absorb your wish for them to avoid the same pain you have experienced.  They have to be willing and accepting of your inspiration.  They will not accept any words of encouragement until they are willing to embrace them.  You may need to repeat those words more than once until they can see it for themselves.

Frustrating as that may seem, the want to clear the soil so that optimism may bloom, patience may be needed.  Hold on dearly to their need to reach out as a small bud would in soil.  You can nurture that need and wet their appetite to your desire to help them bloom.  Reach their fullest potential.  

You cannot force them to see.  No matter how hard you try.  No matter how much you want to help them avoid the pain that you have had.  They will only accept the advice when they are open to it.

Don't take it as disappointment or a sign that your experience isn't worth listening to.  Understand that it will sprout and bloom on its own accord and in its own time.   Sometimes it is delayed, sometimes immediate.  You nor them can bend it to your will.  It happens at the right time.

Yes, you see the flower that is before your eyes. It may be that the flower does not see itself as such because it is merely a sprout and cannot see the beauty that is unfolding.

Patience is wisdom.  Understanding is enlightenment.  When they both meet, wonders can happen.

Neither can embrace it or help it to be without understanding the other's role in footprints in the soil.

Be thankful that you have someone seeking your guidance.  Appreciate that you have someone whom you can reveal your deepest desire for them to reach their maximum potential.  Together, you can uncover what may be hidden in a seed.  Ready to bloom.  Likely to flourish.

"Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.  To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
                                                                                        ~Buddha

Best lessons you've never heard as quotes

Emma Stone

"Whatever you may look like,

marry a man your own age

~ as your beauty fades,

so will his eyesight."

~Phyllis Diller

Angelie Jollie

"You may be gorgeous
at thirty, charming at forty,
and irresistible for the rest
of your life."

~ Coco Chanel

Heidi Klum as Jessica Rabbit, Halloween 2015

"I'm not bad.

I'm just drawn 

that way."

~Jessica Rabbit

Jennifer Aniston

"When you think you're not
happy with your life,
always think that 
someone is happy simply 
because you exist."

~Lei Lockhear

Demi Moore, 2015

"I prefer to be a

beautiful woman

of my age than

try desperately

to look 30."

~Demi Moore

Joan Crawford

"I never go outside unless

I look like Joan Crawford

the movie star. If you want

to see the girl next door,

go next door."

~Joan Crawford

Taylor Swift

"If you're trying too hard

to be the girl next door,

you're not going to be."

~Taylor Swift

blogHER

[the face behind the blogHER]

Social media IS all about YOU!

A question was posed on Jeannette  Facebook (yes people interact and ask questions of their most trusted advisors privately without all the hoopla on Twitter) on which network have respondents'  found to be the best to launch their social media presence?   Initially, I was going to reply with Twitter but then realized that my LINKED IN profile says the most about who I am with links to my Blog,  philosophy OptioneerJM  interests (Pinterest), philosophy (Blog) and (Blog) out of  all the networks.  However, I stopped myself to expand to state that I would credit Twitter  for launching my#socialmedia personality to the stratosphere (compared to the others) ... honorable mention: without "working it) G+ #Google where I gained 5000#Followers compared to working it on #Twitter .  

I have also uncovered an interesting tidbit.  InstraGRAM has it's own stars, as Guy Kowasaki launched giHUGE on Google Plus.   Goolge is appearing to be a sleeper platform.  Surprisingly so since about three years ago I predicted that anything connected with Google was going to rapidly expand, really, I attest to its overall power over anything on the internet.

Bill Gates must really be shuddering and Steve Jobs, rolling in the clouds (the white ones), with Mr.  Pakard, and Mr. Hewitt smiling fondly on a company that used their core values as a foundling to a superstar of anything technology -- internet, networks, cloud, search, blogs, SEO, content, mobility, games, Playstore.  Non would disagree that Google allowed its team to study its competitors in the space they wanted to dominate:  YOUR ATTENTION.

Thus the title of this blog:  social media IS all about YOU!

Father, brother, uncle, grandfather, coach, teacher, banker, employer, boss, clergy, mentor

Where else can you be you?  

Seriously, you have to behave at church, pay attention in school, exert in extra-curricular activities, mind your manners with parents, siblings, relatives, friends sometimes, employer, boss, clergyman, partner, spouse, mentor, grandparents, and the clerk at the grocery store!  Ah-hem (deep breath).... I'm exhausted and I didn't finish ... study, pay attention to your education or else your boss or your banker won't pay much attention to you while your friends, coach, family, mentor find other things to do because you lost their attention!

Finished stretching ... then there is your coach riding you on your sport, job, career, book, audio, video endurance.  Can you stay relevant to your close circle of friends for the long run between relationships, getting married, having kids, setting up house, shopping, financial future, expertise, interests, or other activities?  


Who can you show your photos to?

Be truthful and brutally honest, nobody wants to sit through your narrative on your vacation, travels, business trip, conference, school, wedding, birth, kids activity, sport, scores, sayings do they?  How about you try sharing some photos with your blathering, shouting out, retweeting, shares, posts, profile, bio?  Why would they settle in while you pass them photos of your graduation, party, BBQ, reunion, gathering, holiday, trips, flowers,  food, fantasies when they tend to be serious about fitness, facts, favorites, family, focus.


Do people tune out when you philosophize?

Where did you get your certification, degree or Ph.D in recommending anything as important?  Do you get to write and be featured in a magazine, newspaper, radio broadcast, television commercial, event, musical talents?  Well, most of the people I know any way.  Don't feel bad.  You are part of the norm.  Which makes me wonder where do all the exceptional, inspirational, motivational, celebrity, famous, super stars hang out all together?  You thinking like me, not very many chill together.



Where can you test your theories?

So you know a thing or two is saved for self-proclaimed experts.  Most of us know about a lot of different things which circle around interests:  reading, writing, the environment, oceanography, meteorology, photography, and the king of it all:  technology.  Don't forget about art, beauty, fashion, fitness, food.  Think about it:  you wake up in the morning, and what you do makes you a participant of any number of those items.   You maybe even stretching your brain to understand about all of them.  Under technology you are using a computer, a laptop, a tablet, a cell phone, a telephone, a mobile phone, a smart phone with your fingertips so that must mean you are technology whiz too!

Fighting the pack is photography.  Some are photographers, others videographers.  But before we bow and face defeat ... we stand up to say we know just about anything about photography because we all have identification, passports, passes, reports, files, government with hands on experience ourselves so we can be a photographer of fame then.

We cook, eat, shop for groceries, nourish, exercise, shop, dress, apply makeup, learn all in the same day which makes us knowledgeable about just about everything.


Where can you learn?

Certainly, I get it.  We all went to kindergarten, elementary, junior high, middle school, high school, college, university, conference, the internet, books, libraries to assemble our knowledge.  Never all at the same time.


How do you share your love?

Personally, I like flowers, chocolates, getting it on, hugs and kisses.  Do you know that about me?  What makes you so special that you know that you have a spot in my heart? If you're lucky you will get a smile, a note, a card, a joke, an email, a bouquet of flowers, basket of fruit, my time, my attention, my loyalty, my effort, my response, and share likely except the chocolate perhaps.

#BlueAngels, #Airplanes, #SeaFair, #Planes #Seattle

Where DO you go?

Social media is elementary my dear people.  You can do all those things, be all those people, be true to who you are, reject what is offensive, ignore what is irrelevant, find out what is going on, who has it going on, where you can go:  travel, holiday, parks, oceans, seas, islands, countries, cities, experience, challenge, react to, rise up to, reach out to, reep rewards from?  Social media my dear friends.  

#Minions #minion #banana #character #joke #quote

Who do you CONNECT with?

Besides the obvious that fall into your physical circle of influence, you can expand your influence, your circle, your friendships, your crushes, your adventures, mind, knowledge, specialty.  You use social media to do that.  Who ever said "the world was our oyster" was brilliant and a futurist who sensed that the world would end up be by what we do with those skills, experience, wisdom so that others may benefit, like, discover, recover, inspire, motivate, learn.  You sound a poem?  Very likely you have wrote one or read one, where can you do both?  Social media:  you can talk, read, act, smile, frown, inform, share, post, put forward.


Unconvinced still?

That's okay.  There are still quite a number of you out there.  You get your news from the radio, television, computer, school, company information.  But what if you could assemble that all at the same time and share it with others who may connect, share similar interests, goals, achievements, dreams on the same level as you? 


 Social media is where it's at.

Time to get with it if you want to be cool, connected, informed, known.