Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- Emma Lazarus
For more Wordless Wednesday visit HQ here and here .
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and, yes, in case you were wondering, my daughter took this photo on our recent trip to NYC.
When I first read an outrageous headline screaming something like “Miley Cyrus Bare in Vanity Fair” I felt shocked and disappointed. I wondered whether she was about to topple off her teen-pop-star-queen throne despite the fact that she seemed so centered (due in large part to her strong family support system).
I mean, would I want my daughter to pose like that at fifteen? Of course not. But that’s not the point. It’s incomparable. Apples to oranges. Cyrus is huge. Mega gargantuan. Tickets for her concerts sold out in minutes. She’s a pop megastar. She travels in a different universe.
Besides, Cyrus admitted her mistake, quickly apologized and expressed regret about the controversial photo. Okay, fine. Let’s just forgive the girl and move on.
But…then I spoke with my kids about Miley’s photo.
Last year around Mother’s Day, I heard someone say that mothers are closest to their children when they’re in the womb. From the moment they’re born we’re slowly letting them go. I agree. When they’re babies they need our help; but year by year they grow more independent. By the time they get to school, it’s best to let them do their own thing and learn what they’re there to learn. Even if those lessons are painful. Or when we know they may fail.
School projects come to mind as a great example. I know so many parents who just don’t want to let go of their kids. They want to help. So they start out just observing, then they help a little, then a little more then a little more and before you know it, they’ve done a majority of the work. I think that’s unfortunate.
My daughter and I were in the middle of New York City on Saturday and got caught up in this frenzy. I felt compelled to photograph some of the many people taking pictures. Can you guess what they were trying to capture with their cameras?
I remember a few years back when my son hated going to the grocery store. He used to get really cranky and made it known that he would’ve preferred to be anywhere else. But I made it clear that we had to get food and we had to do it at that allotted time. I explained to him, "Look, it is what it is. We’re here at the store and we have to be here at the store. You can suffer through it and whine, moan, complain and wish you were anywhere else but here, or you can choose to make it a fun experience. I guarantee that if you choose that first option, this experience will feel like it’s taking three hours and you’ll dislike nearly every moment. However, if you choose the second option, I’ll bet we can find a way to make it fun. How about if you help me find some of the items on the shelves and put them in the cart. You can even toss a few things into it. What do you say?" He chose the second option and when we came out of that store, he was beaming. We had a great time.
Now I use that experience as a touchstone when we are in other situations that are not particularly fun for him. Or even when he has a challenging school project — I remind him that it’s his choice to either go through the experience filled with dread or to find a way to make it through (or maybe even make it fun), then come out the other side and look forward to the moment when he can do something that he wants to do.
His first grade teacher used to say, "Do your have -tos before your want -tos."
Sometimes … many times … we have to do things that we’d rather not do. But, the more we accept the present moment, face it (better yet, enjoy it) — no matter how much it scares us or how much discomfort it brings us — the better off we’ll be.
No matter which decade of my life I’m in (or nearing), I always want to take time out to play. When I play a great game with the kids, play tennis, work out, shoot hoops, or just walk the dog, I feel better physically and am usually in a better mood. My tolerance level rises and, overall, I’m better able to handle challenges that come my way.
I’m just beginning to get my hands around Twitter. This video helped me get a better understanding of why people would want to use it.
It’s not just full of “I’m going to cook dinner now” or “Off to get some milk.” It’s a great way to quickly share a great link without having to write a full blog post or to share your thoughts about anything from last night’s game (did you watch Kansas win?!) to the latest political news. Heck, just this morning I watched a YouTube video called Google Campfire (caution: it’s a bit dry). I’ve always heard that Google is an amazing place to work and this video gave me just a little taste of the special nature of that company.
Bottom line? The little blips of content (always under 140 characters per message) that make up Twitter give you insight into people and content that you probably wouldn’t discover by just surfing the web, reading your RSS feeds or Alltop , or even just chatting with your real time friends.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. On Twitter, you can find me here .
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UPDATE: For another perspective (and more information), read my blogger friend, Jeremy’s post (from Discovering Dad and Thoughts on Quotes ) comparing and contrasting his Twittering with his daughter’s texting. His use of Twitter (and posting about it) gave me the nudge I needed to try it.
Okay, and then, in the interest of fairness, there’s also this .
Do you subscribe to your favorite websites? Do you know that some people believe that subscriptions in readers may be things of the past? One of the stars of the web, Guy Kawasaki , has come up with a compelling way to more efficiently scan the top headlines from the top blogs, categorized by topic. It’s another of his many innovative websites and it’s called Alltop . What’s up with the name? Well, in Kawasaki’s words, Alltop compiles all the top stories from around the web in about 50 of the most sought after categories (e.g., moms, dads, politics).
You’ll easily stay current and know what everyone’s talking about in whatever topics you find most interesting or relevant to your life.
The home page looks refreshingly clean, with eight main topic headings (work , living , people , interests , culture , geekery , good , and news ). So the site is great for experienced surfers as well as casual novices.
As of today, you can see the Alltop badge over there on the right because I’m honored to find this humble blog among the many mom blogs . Visit Alltop . Browse through the many categories and I’d be surprised if you’re not hooked with that first click.
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UPDATE (4.11.08): For more info about Alltop from the top of Alltop , read Jarrett Martineau’s interview with Guy Kawasaki here .
