Okay, try this - say to yourself, "I am never going to be able to get out of this hole that I am currently in. I will die with the debt and the job I am living with right now. I will never be any better off and I will never have the life that I want to have."
How do you feel? If you get pissed off and feel like telling me to sit on a boarding pike and spin, then I applaud your emotion, shake your hand, and you can get back to raising your black flag. If you say, "What debts?" and "I LOVE my job", then let me get out of your way!
But, if there was even the tiniest feeling of relief . . . a feeling that you agree with the statement and that you deserve what you've gotten . . . don't feel alone! You are among millions who suffer from the two greatest fears in the American psyche. Spiders and scorpions? Snakes and slugs? Heights and the resulting fall? Public speaking and being seen naked?
Nope; the two greatest fears in America are the fear of failing and succeeding.
People are afraid of change. "Why should I do anything different when I have no idea what the results of doing them differently may be?" Instead, we become content in our misery and don't do anything to make our lives better. It's safer, more comfortable. Like those pair of blue jean shorts that are falling apart but we continue to wear them anyway. Your ass is showing but at least they fit.
A side note - I believe that this has to change if we are going to get out of the hole that the Nation is in today. The entrepeneurial spirit has to come alive again. A couple of brothers need to raise some capital and create a mode of transportation that electifies the country. Three or four guys need to put together $60,000 and build a car that runs on compressed air and can be built for under $5,000. People need to start figuring out a way that lines their pockets with cash that doesn't require the fleecing of their fellow man. Okay, let me get off my soap box; well, let me get back on the other one!
So, I challenge you - do something different today. Eat at a different restaurant. Try a different route home. Say "hello" to someone you don't ordinarily talk to - like that attractive girl who lives in your building. I'm not asking you to get up the nerve to ask her out . . . just say "hello" to her and smile. Do something different, something new. Not something dangerous or risky. Just something that you wouldn't otherwise do. Here's one, and the people at a couple of the fast food places on TV will love me for it, for the next week eat lunch every day for $5 or less. You can pay on a bill with the money you save. Or you can buy groceries for next week and bring your lunch to work and eat for under $3!!
Stop being afraid to change. Take baby steps. You do NOT need to quit your job and go open a hair salon. Instead, do your friends' hair on the weekends for them. You don't need a slon - just some scissors, a comb, and some styling gel. You don't need to quit your job and open up a construction company. Get some jobs that you can finish in a weekend (like building a deck for your next door neighbor) and do it. There's nothing to be afraid of . . .
Friday, July 10, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
2009 Begins With a Cannon's Roar!
2009 . . . this is the year!
A few nights ago, on January 8, 2009, the crew of the Adventure appeared at a Poet's Corner open mike event at the Barnes and Noble Booksellers at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, Texas. We were welcomed with open arms by the fabulous folks that have been putting on this event for nine years. The good fortune that has favored Blackbead's Treasure Chest continued when that night's featured poet was forced to cancel and yours truly was asked to take her place. I was able to read several of the pieces from Blackbead Books' Raising the Black Flags: Original Poetry By and About Pirates.
And then, after the poetry reading event, our piratical luck continued when DFWReporting, a local Internet news site, interviewed us about the book, our business, and the spirit of the pirate that drives us as we raise our black flag! Keep checking back for information on where you can go to see the interview!
And keep your flag flying high and your hopes and dreams alive!
Please go check out http://dfwreporting.com! They treated us very nicely and stayed as late as necessary in order to get the story. They are good people!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
"Raising the black flag."
What does it mean? What would you think I meant if I told you that I was "raising the black flag?" Some people would say it has something to do with anarchism. Others will tell you that the black flag was a symbol for Israeli soldiers when they wanted to declare that they had received an order that they believed was immoral. Others will say that it is a Muslim symbol or that the black flag is a protest symbol of general pedigree.
But to most people in the Western Hemisphere, black flags are the trademarks of pirates. Each pirate flew his or her own "jolly roger" with symbols of their own making emblazoned on them. To "raise the black flag" was another way of saying that someone was choosing to "turn pirate." It meant the speaker was declaring their intent to a "gentleman (or woman) of fortune"; to join the "sweet trade"; to "go on the account". This is the symbolic meaning this phrase will have here, in this discussion group.
I won't keep you in suspense for long but what we're going to talk about here relates to a line from a very popular pirate movie of recent vintage. One of the central characters is talking about a ship that is important to the plot and to the particular pirate character in question. He says something to the effect that the ship isn't the keel and the sails; that's what a ship needs not what it is. What is a ship, really? It's freedom.
That's what this blog is going to be about - raising your own black flag in a quest for freedom. Read the following and we'll talk more about it next time.
Raising the Black Flag
Golden flames, purple and pink:
The colors of the sunset
Blend and flow among the clouds
As we take in our lines
And slip away from the dock.
And the crew counts the dolphins
As we escape down the channel to the sea.
Home falls away behind us
As we close with the perils
Of a life spent in the sweet trade:
Bad food, worse water, eels in the rigging,
French muskets, Spanish cannon, Dutch rope,
Dying of thirst becalmed in the doldrums
Or drowning when the ship comes apart in a gale.
We measure these dangers against
Phantom coins in untaken treasure chests
Spent on red wine nights in exotic ports
With companions paid to make us feel like gods.
They do their jobs well.
And when we sail we have the wind in our hair
And the horizon to scan for prizes.
A pirate’s life is most likely short,
A pirate’s death is most likely sharp.
But we are not slaves to any wage
And we call no man “sire” or “squire.”
In the end, it’s not the gold that sets our sails;
‘Tis freedom and the fair expectation of a better life
That raises our black flags.
Stephen Sanders
©2008
Originally published in Raising Black Flags: Original Poetry By and About Pirates, ISBN 978-0615255354, Blackbead Books, 2008. This book is available from most major online retailers.
Are you ready to raise your own black flag?
But to most people in the Western Hemisphere, black flags are the trademarks of pirates. Each pirate flew his or her own "jolly roger" with symbols of their own making emblazoned on them. To "raise the black flag" was another way of saying that someone was choosing to "turn pirate." It meant the speaker was declaring their intent to a "gentleman (or woman) of fortune"; to join the "sweet trade"; to "go on the account". This is the symbolic meaning this phrase will have here, in this discussion group.
I won't keep you in suspense for long but what we're going to talk about here relates to a line from a very popular pirate movie of recent vintage. One of the central characters is talking about a ship that is important to the plot and to the particular pirate character in question. He says something to the effect that the ship isn't the keel and the sails; that's what a ship needs not what it is. What is a ship, really? It's freedom.
That's what this blog is going to be about - raising your own black flag in a quest for freedom. Read the following and we'll talk more about it next time.
Raising the Black Flag
Golden flames, purple and pink:
The colors of the sunset
Blend and flow among the clouds
As we take in our lines
And slip away from the dock.
And the crew counts the dolphins
As we escape down the channel to the sea.
Home falls away behind us
As we close with the perils
Of a life spent in the sweet trade:
Bad food, worse water, eels in the rigging,
French muskets, Spanish cannon, Dutch rope,
Dying of thirst becalmed in the doldrums
Or drowning when the ship comes apart in a gale.
We measure these dangers against
Phantom coins in untaken treasure chests
Spent on red wine nights in exotic ports
With companions paid to make us feel like gods.
They do their jobs well.
And when we sail we have the wind in our hair
And the horizon to scan for prizes.
A pirate’s life is most likely short,
A pirate’s death is most likely sharp.
But we are not slaves to any wage
And we call no man “sire” or “squire.”
In the end, it’s not the gold that sets our sails;
‘Tis freedom and the fair expectation of a better life
That raises our black flags.
Stephen Sanders
©2008
Originally published in Raising Black Flags: Original Poetry By and About Pirates, ISBN 978-0615255354, Blackbead Books, 2008. This book is available from most major online retailers.
Are you ready to raise your own black flag?
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