Roy’s Sunday Letter for September 18, 2022
- What are 1 or 3 parts of your once "normal world" do you believe you will not see or hear again? One for me would be new cars to open doors, test drive, with sales staff all around. A second might be "there is rain and water for all of us." Add your Commnet for next Sunday's post.
** Alain de Botton was "writer-in-residence at London's Heathrow Airport. One day she watched arriving passengers entering a main terminal and being greeted by waving friends & family. She wrote those knowing no family awaited still looked about with anticipation. Maybe, just maybe, someone will wave at me too. We all want to be recognized, to be welcomed, to be included in something broader than ourselves.
- Apple News reviewed "How To Do Nothing...Resisting In The Attention Economy." Readers were assigned to go outdoors, walk about, observe, write what they saw and heard. Most amazed "all of this" was happening in their indoor hours of playing games, watching TV, or searching social media. So, go outside, look around,even make a note, and then tell someone of your outdoor learning.
** On 9/11 public television broadcast "9/11 Kids." There were 16 Black/Latino kids in a Florida elementary school classroom attended by President Bush when he was informed about the twin towers. The show tracked the 16 kids 21 years later. What each achieved, gained, lost. Painful. Inspiring. At show end there was a reunion of the 16, with the classroom teacher also returning. This is why public television is vital, important.
- I am working through a 779 page library print book, "Digital Marketing For Dummies." Learning about "dropping content," the benefit and drawbacks of social media sites. The Sunday Letter is sent to those I know.... I am stretching to learn how to reach, touch, connect with those I do not know....yet.
** 1) In mid-career, tennis great John McEnroe hired manager & agent to replace the role of his father since day one. John told his father "I want you to be my dad, not my agent." HIs father stared at John. He had no idea, nor interest in focus on father/son relationship. 2) Smoke Signals, a 1998 release, is about the friendship of two Native American teens on Utah reservation. The fathers, missing or present a major part of both. The movie ends with one teen's placing father ashes in river with voice over, "Do we forgive our fathers for their rage, or for our not understanding their quiet. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving or blame them for staying." (and more, ShowTime On Demand).
- Dedication page in Between The Listening And The Telling: "To all the brave souls who have told me their stories, and all the brave souls who listened to mine." Mark Yaconelli writes of the sacred path of healing: Silence, Story, and Song.
A Last Observation: Our local Albertson's market has no self-check stations; our smaller Neighborhood WalMart has no live person check out stations. Both, no doubt, know their customers and market.
Roy, on page 77, only 700 more
Thoughtful writings this muggy Sunday morning. Thanks, Roy! Frank Long
Heraclitus reminds us that we never step in the same river twice. The river changes, we change. Every moment, every experience we have is its glorious self – as we ourselves are. ❤️❤️❤️
Reflective and diverse in content… thank you.
The things that no longer are here…hand churned ice cream freezers with rock salt, riding on my grandfather’s tractor, my grandmother’s canning her garden bounty for winter, a teacher’s ability to teach with intelligence and the integrity of her students as the focus and the American I knew that was maybe not real after all!
Early evening, chasing FireFlys, keeping one or two in a jar (& releasing)
Come east and you can drive my tractor all you wish. Of course, the implement attached may mean work.
Things no longer here: Politicians whose desire to serve far outpaced their desire to get ahead. When a million dollars was real money. When passion and persistence, TRY and dedication informed the young work force who were venturing into careers.
My favorite Story, at least this week, is the one about wearing a priest’s shirt to the prison.
X/O
Thanks for helping think in fresh ways
Experiences no longer here: Having one landline phone for a household, and waiting impatiently for a family member to finish their call so I could use the phone. Extra long phone cords. Busy signals. Digital Marketing: Roy, I think you’d like Twitter. Fits your style of short, succinct thoughts. All the best, AdlT
We need to return to being Americans first! As for Walmart & Albertsons, they will learn that the dollar is not the first priority of us shoppers!
John, always good to see and friend on walk by.
It would seem priorities “of shoppers” is very fragmented right. Dollar Tree and other similar stores have their customer base. No doubt Niemen’s in Clearfork the same. I will Attach a short writing I completed titled “Am I Old…Really?” Always good to have your comments and thoughts. More porch time needed. Roy