Scared vs Sacred

Turn “SCARED” into “SACRED” by putting “A”ppreciation before “C”riticism.

Juliana’s Smile – Skip Ewing feat. Béla Fleck & Dave Koz (Official Version)

The Death Of Local Television

By Amy Hitt:

We may not see it in our lifetime, but I think local television will eventually go away. It is currently on life-support thanks to a still living older generation that likes local news, or at least local weather, and syndicated programming, such as “Wheel of Fortune.” But I believe there will come a day when Pat and Vanna will wave good-bye…for good…or maybe, wave to you from a cable network game show channel instead.

If local television goes away, what about the local TV ad and our neighborhood used car salesman? Well, I would guess, the local ad is here to stay as long as network television “keeps going.” The affiliate station, once filled with the buzz of producers, directors, reporters, photographers and afternoon show guests, will be a combination of tech overlord and lonely salesperson…a table for two in the break room…both answering to some regional network GM. If they are not close to retirement age, local news directors and general managers may want to think about positioning themselves to become a regional network GM.

But what about those producers, directors, reporters and photographers? I’d say be thinking about packing your bags for a trip to cable. Pick an area that interests you…home improvement, travel, vampires. And, who even knows how long cable will last with all of us watching our favorite TV shows online. It may go to an online show opportunity only…no networks at all. You may want to find a strong show and work directly for it.

I do have one suggestion I’m fairly sure of though…if you are a local reporter with a good personality and technical skills…a passion for news and the current local area you’ve landed in…then there is hope. Become a local Anderson Cooper. Download a free content management software and start a Web site. Find the news that you believe matters, write articles, shoot pictures, use your home video camera to do interviews, record NPR quality MP3’s for iPod users…the list is endless. Advertise yourself and your site. Pass out business cards, tell your friends. Get a billboard, Gladys Glover!

If you’re passionate about local news but not a techie person, call on the help of your ten-year-old niece or nephew…they are WAY ahead of the game.

Just think of it, Scoop. There’s no one to answer to but you…no assignment desk, no news director, no news consultant. Wear your hair however you’d like. But remember, if the law comes breathing down your neck…there’s no one to blame but you, either…so brush up on your journalism books.

How do you make money, you ask? Sell advertising. Get a big local sponsor. Someone who believes in you. Put their name on everything you do…even your car. You may not get rich, but hopefully, you’ll have all you need to do what you love. What else can we really want anyway?

It’s a tough competitive world out there…and there might be only room for two or three independent local reporters…so get busy.

What about local weather? I have no idea. I knew a guy in Nashville who taught DYI weather classes. Education is always good. Otherwise, let’s hope we can add weather to the scene of the quiet and lonely local TV station. “Table for three…please.”

http://amyhitt.wordpress.com/

Are We Already Dead?

By Amy Hitt:

The construction world offers a lot of great new products for those building a home.  They’ve created bricks that aren’t bricks, stones that aren’t stones and certainly…wood that’s not wood.  I’m guessing most of it is made of plastic or fiberglass, and the whole point is that the affordable new products last longer with little to no upkeep.

And, if you are in the mood to have plastic surgery, science has got you covered there, too.  There are doctors who can make YOU last much, much longer.

But I ask myself, where does the Spirit lie in plastic stones? 

Plastic is a man-made substance.  God knows, I’ve lived in my share of plastic houses.  I can see the benefits…one being that they are air tight…the unwanted critters have to stay outside where unwanted critters belong.  But where does the Spirit lie…can Spirit adhere to non-organic substances?  Non-living substances?  Did you know real stones are alive?  They are alive because God made them.  I’m afraid the Spirit in a plastic house can only live in the God-made people inside it and the God-made dirt underneath it.

There’s only one way for man to make life…the old fashioned way.  The rest he has to steal from God.  Man-made life via stolen cells.

As we’ve learned from plastic, the stuff man makes completely by himself…never dies.  It never dies, because it was never alive to begin with.  Our last human breaths will probably be taken as we suffocate ourselves in the piles of undying trash we create each and every day.  Death by Styrofoam.

So now, not only do we have dumps full of plastic that lasts forever, we have subdivisions of plastic homes that promise never to crumble.  What is up with our Western need to last forever?  Especially, when I dare say, we all would find a crumbling European villa much more beautiful than the always to stay perfect zero-lot-line we live in.

Maybe “perfect” is the word we are looking for here.  Somewhere along the way, we associated perfection with the ability to last forever.  But perfection is truly the ability to follow God’s laws the way nature does.  Perfection is the birth of a leaf in Spring, and it’s death in the Fall.  What if all trees were plastic trees that never died?  Or lived?  We wouldn’t be able to breathe, that’s for sure.

And so, all of this makes me wonder, did we invent plastic, because we are afraid to die?  And if we are afraid to die, doesn’t that mean we’ve completely disconnected with our Creator?  Doesn’t that mean we’ve disconnected from life altogether?  Doesn’t that mean, like the plastic we worship, we are already dead?

Thank God for the heirloom/organic movement!  And the Slow Food movement!  And the family farmers!  Thank God for sheep and wool and organic fibers!  The things that are full of life.  Thank God for canvass and color and the inspiration that breathes life into our bodies.  Spirit is life.  And when we die, Spirit leaves.  That is why a plastic-worshipping forty-year-old can be less alive than an organically wrinkled ninety-year-old fisherman.  Which is more perfect?

Call back your Spirit!  Call back your breath!  Call back your life!  I tell myself today.

http://www.amyhitt.com/

For the truth about plastic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic

The Future of Sales, I mean, Sails…

By Amy Hitt:

I’ve never been good at sales. Maybe, because I don’t believe in it. I mean, I believe in money…we all need money. And, I believe in creating things…I’ve spent my whole life doing that. Unfortunately, it hasn’t made me much money, which brings me back to not being very good at sales. The…not believing in sales part just goes back to a lifetime of absorbing over-the-top commercials and print ads.

Perhaps, it should be called, “sails,” instead. Our creation is the boat, and we must lift a sail into the wind to move the boat forward. The sail just needs to be solid and strong…no holes. And sometimes, like during a rough economy…the wind doesn’t blow and we remain still. It’s in that stillness we ponder why we want to move in the first place and where we want to move to, which is the whole point of sails and sales.

I’m not psychic, but as I look into the future there are a few things that seem certain to me. I believe the bulk of big business we be run on sponsorship…like it always has been…but the companies who can afford to sponsor will dwindle. No worries for the top wireless companies or the top laptop companies. No worries for the top shipping companies. No worries for most of the makers of alcohol and perhaps green car makers…we will all have to find a way to use less gas…and liability car insurance will remain out of sheer necessity.

Social networking companies are strong but really need no sales…we do that for them. And, that is truly the key to commerce. Find a product or service that is so relevant…it sells itself.

But that’s big business. What about little business? I’d say it’s the same model only smaller…local.

To get sponsors you must have eyeballs…dedicated eyeballs and lots of them. And that is where passion and relationship come in. No longer are there going to be empty dollars poured into projects on a whim by bloated companies…like big record companies. No more gluttonous radio tours. The days of the divas are probably gone in music…and may go in film and sports, who knows?

So, with a strong sail and some wind…your boat will move along to its destination. But what is a sail? And what is the wind?

A sail, I’d say, is your brand promise. The wind is the public that catches the sail, your promise, and speaks of it to others…viral marketing.

I still hear words like “angle” and “I need to see the customer’s body language,” but these are truly outdated modes of selling…much less sailing…sailing is hard…you must know the ropes…there is no manipulating the wind…anymore…there never really was…the public was just used to being bullied into things they never wanted in the first place. Hence, our enormous debt and the death of the credit card.

But the days of the bully are done. We are all flat…the playing field is leveled.

So, back to the drawing board I go to erase my outdated thinking…authenticity marketing is here…dare I become that intimate with others and myself? I’m afraid I have to…and so do you. Truth shall set us free.

http://www.amyhitt.com/

 

What gets you out of bed in the morning…

“Faith knows no difference in the industry. Faith knows no difference in a man’s past. Faith knows no difference in how you share your art. Faith is simply what gets you out of bed in the morning and leads you to the well. No matter who you are, no matter what you do, the question is: ‘Are you willing to let faith do what faith does, regardless?’ – Nathan Lee

http://www.nathanleemusic.com

 

The Great Escape…

Some escape because of what they’ve done to others and are in deep denial about themselves. Others escape because of what’s been done to them and are in deep denial about the people around them.

The Beanstalk…

By Amy Hitt:

Shellie Warren (http://twitter.com/shellierwarren) says when random words come to you there’s usually a spiritual message attached.  For me, today’s word was “beanstalk.”

“Jack and the Beanstalk” is a bit of a gruesome tale about a little boy whose mother told him to go sell their last possession, a cow.  But instead of selling the cow for money, he’s talked into some magic beans.  His angry mother throws the beans out the window.  The next morning there’s a giant beanstalk, which Jack climbs to find a giant’s home.  First time there, Jack steals some gold coins, second time, a goose who lays golden eggs…and the giants wife helps him escape both times.  The third and last time there, he tries to steal a tattling golden harp.  The harp alerts the giant who chases Jack down the beanstalk.  A quick thinking Jack chops the beanstalk down causing the giant to fall to his death.  Ouch!

It has taken me all day to find the lessons in this story.  Doubting God would condone thievery, even from someone who wants to grind your bones into bread, I opted out of the  possible “disobey your mother…get a goose who lays golden eggs” moral.  Maybe you can help me, but I only landed on these options:

1. When you angrily throw somebody’s magic beans out the window, you may be sending them on a dangerous but fulfilling adventure.

2. When you help a thief escape your husband’s wrath, it might just make you a widow.

3. If everything you own is covered with gold, someone’s going to try to steal things from you.

4. If you’ve already gone out on a limb with magic beans, you might as well have the courage to climb the beanstalk.

I’m going to pick number four!  I think God used this morning’s random word to remind me…it’s all about the climb…

“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus

(Alexander/Mabe)

I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreaming but
There’s a voice inside my head sayin’
You’ll never reach it
Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking but I
Got to keep trying
Got to keep my head held high

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I’m gonna to have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes they knock me down but
No I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m going to remember most
Just got to keep going
And I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on, cause

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna to have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

Keep on moving
Keep climbing
Keep the faith
It’s all about
The climb
Keep the faith
Keep your faith

(www.songlyrics.com)

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“…the cause of most wars, environmental problems and economic crises…”

In the book, Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements, author and counselor Stephen Arroyo suggests that the breakdown of Western culture has been caused by a dissociation between the body and mind. Arroyo says except for a few exceptions, such as artists and mystics, most people have divided their intellect from their feelings and intuition. He believes this to be the cause of most wars, environmental problems and economic crises.

How does this work? Well, maybe you have the desire to quit your stable job, move your family across country and start a completely different life. Instead, you stay where you are and become bitter. Your bitterness causes anger…your anger causes destruction. It is personal destruction that leads to impersonal wars, environmental problems and economic crises.

I believe if logic impedes feeling, it causes energetic blockages. If feeling impedes logic, it causes energetic hemorrhages. More on that later.

I have watched examples of people who have done the daring deed of picking up and moving across country and their lives have been blessed by following of their intuition. Imagine the amount of faith it takes to do this.

I, on the other hand, have also picked up and moved across country and things didn’t work out as well for me. Today, I realize that while, faith IS an action…it is also tied closely to belief.

Matthew 9:20-22… “Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed from that moment.”

I think when moving I thought…”if I can just force myself to ‘act’ like I have faith…it will work!”  Thinking the act of faith was enough. Wrong. The courage to dive off the cliff is no guarantee that a net will appear, as some say. Your jump MUST be coupled with a strong belief that a net will appear…or else you may fall flat on your face.

But where does this strong belief come from?

Belief can come from experience: “Last time I jumped, a net appeared. Therefore, it will appear again.” This is really “knowing.” And it’s the strongest form of belief.

Belief can come from instruction: If someone or something you trust wholeheartedly tells you a net will appear…your belief in the other person or things (like the Bible) may be strong enough to cause it to happen.

Belief can come from prayer: If you have a strong prayer life, and you believe God will answer your prayers, your prayer may cause a net to appear.

Belief can come from intuition: If you have tapped into your intuition, and your inner voice has told you a net will appear…and you have experienced several “net” synchronicities…your belief in your intuition and synchronicity may be strong enough to cause a net to appear.

Belief can come from a healthy love of self: If you feel good about yourself as a child of God, if you are NOT filled with guilt and shame, then you may believe in yourself and feel worthy enough for a net to appear.

I personally believe that you need the last four to create the first one. If you have rid yourself of guilt and shame, sincerely prayed and learned to follow your intuition…along with studying authentic instruction of some sort…ALL may lead you to the desired experience…thereby creating knowing.

I am a tester…and this is not always a pleasant thing to be. But, I desire “knowing” to that extent. Logic is the tool that limits us, gives us steps and structure. Too much logic leads to overwhelming fear…which impedes progress and causes blockages in your life and energy system. Logic will keep you stuck in your seat.

Feeling is what drives us passionately to change and experience and live life. If taken to extremes, it may lead you into reckless, dangerous behavior. It may cause hemorrhages, so to speak, that deplete your energy system and your bank account.

Logic coupled with feeling gives us balance…the use of both our left brain and our right brain, our male and our female…causing us to create…even giving us a touch of genius! And, the daring to explore under the guidance of a plan…a controlled burn.

If the forest doesn’t periodically burn the underbrush naturally with small fires caused by the sun (and sometimes firemen)…the underbrush grows and grows…and then when lit by nature or man it causes destructive fires that burn miles and miles of wilderness.

Today, consider what controlled fire might need to be started in your life. Consider steps you can take to build your belief and active faith. Consider how you might bring balance to the amounts of your logic and feeling.

Today, let’s pray for peace, a clean world and prosperity for all.

Narrow…

I know that “narrow” is the way, but narrow isn’t always difficult…it can just mean one person at a time.