The Human side of Humanity

Good day readers!  I am a big fan of music and of the very short list or regrets in life is the fact that I never stayed with the guitar or bass that I used to play.  As a writer I have written many songs but have no music to partner with the lyrics.  Once the tune that was rolling around in my head dissolves I'm left with the lyrics.  Anyone that writes knows what the words mean to them- but to someone else it may not make any sense.  The often celebrated and as frequently pilloried band Yes has some great music and ridiculous lyrics...and they are going into the Hall of Fame. Where's this thought train going Answerman? I will get there, I promise.  I went to legendary local musician G.Love and Special Sauce's show last night, great musicians and lyricists.  He/They are not "big-time" but still great and have stood the test of time.  Anyway, as I was going through my day yesterday there was music in the background.  I don't know about a...

I had said that I would get back to this topic later...and the sooner the better.  In my last piece I presented what coaching, teaching and mentoring means or has meant to me.  The greater part of the coaching brethren are participating for the common good.  We are leading the way for youth, young men and young women to learn a sport, develop skills both social and athletic and provide a positive role model. Many organizations and governing bodies have put processes in place to prevent an insidious invasion of our youth by predators and parasites.  Those who use the opportunity to coach as a way to gain access to our  children.  There are also those in academia who defy the trust that they have gained and exploit their positions to prey upon the teenagers that they are charged with educating. This is all truly horrifying.  The most horrific is Sara Packer who misused her position as an adoption case supervisor to adopt and then plan and carry out t...

Good day my friendly blog readers!  I hope that everyone has continued to find some new energy to keep your worlds turning.  The recent end to the college football season has made me think a lot about coaches, teachers and mentors.  To many, including myself the three are synonymous.  I have always taken great pride in coaching, mostly youth sports, but also lead some adult league teams. There is a huge responsibility that comes with being a coach.  The same can be said for anyone that decides to teach-whether academically or as a professional mentor or counselor. Some embrace the responsibility, some ignore it, and it is with great disdain there are others who take the responsibility twist it, use it as an opportunity to prey upon our youth with stolen trust.  The trust of parents and youth alike.  We must be vigilant and expose them, crush them and drive them out at every turn.  They are parasites.  I will go into that as part of a separa...

There has been a well shared adage that a smile uses a fraction of the muscles needed to frown and therefore takes less effort.  To smile and share the postivity is thus, much easier than to share the misery of discontent.  Are we all always going to be smiling, happy people?  No, very simply, by human nature, we react to extrinsic messages then the reaction is shared and communicated through our expresssions and body language.  I do it, you do it, it's normal in our shared human reality.  Can we make a concious effort to smile more freely?  Yes, yes we can. Those that know me well are aware that I enjoy quotes and especially those that have a direct message.  I came across this one which is uncredited; "Smile at everyone you meet.  You don't know what they are going through.  They may need that smile and treasure it." The mere simplicity of the message is amazing but the potential impact is huge.  My followers know that my altruis...

Good day readers!  I had promised that the new content would be different - please don't fear that this will concentrate only on the shortcomings of humanity from my first blog piece.  The exploration, discussion if you're so willing to accept that term, will have a positive vibe and message. So with that being said I want to dive into one of my favorite topics; friendship. If you're all as lucky as me then you woke today thinking that you have the best friends in the world.  There are days when we don't always feel like the sun is warming our life and clouds may fill our thoughts.  If you have a great circle of friends it can take a simple text or call to change that right away.  Stop and think.... now isn't that great that we have a "life-switch" to flip to change things?  I'm the Answerman so "Yes.  Yes it is great!" Friends make the world a better place.  In addition, as an adult the realization that your family can represent one of the...

Good day my dear blog readers and followers.  As promised I have ventured into new subject matter because I feel so compelled to bring additional notice to the lack of humanity in human behavior.  There is some risk that at times this will devolve into a personal rant, however, my hope is that it will shine a light on social behaviors and human interactions- behaviors that will allow us all to change the world in a more positive way. The subject matter will vary and is more serious, so don't let the initial volley scare you away if you had enjoyed the humorous tilt of e-dating and the new realtity.  This will be different but will still have humor, just not as much initially as the new year has opened with news that is neither joyful but must be  addressed in our ether and electronic driven world .   Yes, world, but I will open with something more local to Questionopolis. I truly believe that we all have a social responsibility to make the world a better pl...