Have you ever Googled your own name? How did you feel about the results?
Submitted by elen.
Wow, its been a long time since I took the time to settle back into this community and write to you all. I came this way to do just that and decided to check out the Question of The Day. They funny thing is that I actually do this often but mostly because I own a online travel agency and do allot of advertising and such online. But that isn't the only reason, I also write 4 other for 4 other blogs and contribute to blogging networks whenever I have the chanc too.
I like seeing the results that come up because it shows me what is working for me and what isn't. It also shows me who is linking to my blogs.
Unless you are a comic book fan or perhaps even a fanatic you probably don't recognize the name Wesly Dobbs. If you are a comic book fan you might recognize Wesly Dobbs as the 'original Sandman' created in 1939. The Sandman has been a prominent figure in comics, books, and even music for many many years. All of them make reference to a person being influenced by or put into a dream like state when they are in contact with this figure--this Sandman.
All of the accounts, while varied have one quality that holds true in each: Sleep.
What does it mean to sleep?
We all sleep. In fact we all NEED sleep but I'm referring to a different brand of being asleep. The Sleeper I'm referring to is someone who drifts through the days of their life in an almost comatose state. The person who is asleep in this respect doesn't experience life. They believe that life is random and when the things they want from life aren't given to them, they are crushed. As a result they are often distanced from the world and in general they aren't very happy.
How to identify the Sleeper
The best way to find the symptoms of the Sleeper is to ask a series of questions. There are many questions that can bring the Sleeper out into the open, more than I can share in one sitting so here are some questions to begin.
Do they lack enthusiasm and/or passion? Passion and enthusiasm are often the product of experiences that we enjoy or knowing enough about ourselves to know what makes us passionate.
Are they an energy drain? Negative people draw the life out of other people rather than living life.
Do they have planned goals and dreams that they aim for? Are they actively doing what it takes to realize them? To participate in life one has to be aware of what they want and go after those things.
Has the person in question developed an introspective way of viewing themselves and their world view? Knowing your heart and listening to its voice is paramount to anyones efforts in realizing their potential.
Are they adverse to change? Change is a rocky road and avoiding it can cause anyone to become complacent.
How about confidence? Do they believe in themselves or do they have low self esteem? Low cofidence can often cause people to withdraw.
Answering yes to one or some of these questions doesn't mean you have a Sleeper on your hands but if you are answering in the affirmative to most of them chances are you do.
If you do, however, the best remedy is lots of love, support and guidance when asked for it. Most of all support them.
What was (or is) your favorite subject in school?
I haven't been in school for years but I always looked forward to spending time in my Art classes. Strangely enough I didn't really get along with any of the teachers that I had for those classes, especially in college but I always had a knack for free hand drawing and some other artistic endeavors.
I have done a couple paintings but unless it was watercolor, I was horrible at it.
I still look back on those classes with a fondness. Especially my High School independent study classes. The only reason that I didn't get along with my teachers is because my work was always viewed to be my own. I always felt that a teacher was there to teach you the technique but never to try and force you to employ it in the manner that they percieve it to be. After all, art is expression and my art is MY expression.
What do you usually do on Sunday?
Most Sundays I drive to a little town of about 300 residents, where my parents live, and spend time with them and other members of the family. The ritual since I moved out quite a few years ago has been that I go to church with them in the morning and have dinner with them afterwords.
I really enjoy this as it allows me time to see everyone that is dear to me but don't get to see since I live about 30+ miles from most of them. It will be at these gatherings that I will start to talk to them about my recent decision to create a family tree and delve into the past.
After spending much of the day with them I'll often spend the evenings and into the early morning with friends. Lately we've been having allot of bonefires which is allot of fun and relaxing.
Its the one day I have that I can just relax and do the things that I consider fun so they are usually packed.
During the months of November and December of last year I was going through a few changes in my life. Some of them good and some were bad. The bad ones weren't by any means a negative change. I would say that it had more to do with the fact that the changes were forced on me and where difficult to handle so the result was that I was thrown of center.
Amongst all of the difficulties I was facing, the fact that I wasn't happy with my job was really starting to weigh-in on me. We're talking freight train heavy.
One of the guys that I work with closely, Lonny Larson (he owns a golf business ... visit his website), had gotten involved in a Network Marketing company called XELR8. I didn't get involved right myself but after talking to a few of the guys that I work with (who did) I decided to take the plunge myself.
So here I am 8 months later ... the only one still working the business.
Emailed Aly today asking a few questions and she suggested that we get together to talk about it rather than talking through email. I agree so I'll be emailing her shortly to set up a time to meet in the next day or so.
She also mentioned that I should either purchase or download a free version of a family tree database. So I've been looking at a couple and I think I've decided on the Family Tree Maker 2006. And its easily affordable too.
The journey begins. :)
I few months ago I ran into alyson, an old time friend from past online adventures. She's a sweetheart and after not seeing her for about almost 6 years I ran into her on a MOO. I'll save you from the details of what a MOO is and suffice to say that its a Textually oriented environment where people can log in and be social with other people all over the internet.
That was a few months ago now. She's been heavily interested in her family history and has been doing allot of digging into her family past. She told me stories of some of her ancestors and it got me thinking about my own family. From that time I've wanted to start looking into my families past but haven't had the time. Working 2 jobs and considering the work of writing a book has kept me ... focused on other things.
Nonetheless, I still have a desire to construct a family history and find out just what treasures and secrets are buried in the past.
I've decided that this will be one of the main functions for this blog. Largely because of the 'community' feel of Vox. This will allow me to include family and friends in my findings and they will easily be able to discover and add relevance where they can as well.
I'm very excited about this and to begin I'll be speaking with my grandparents, aunts and parents about people and stories that they recall. From there I will begin to delve into the past.
Yeah, this is my test run of Vox. I wanted to see what it was about and knowing that I have a growing circle of friends that are curious of blogging I wanted to see if its worth the recommendation. I have to say that after just 20 minutes of tinkering (from signing up, designing my blog a bit, to typing this post) I'm ready to rock and roll.
I'll certainly recommend it to them. Especially with the fact that everything you need is integrated into Vox. All you'll need for photos, video and the like.
Now for some updates
Yesterday I got an invitation in the mail from Rosa Say to participate in a project for the month of September. It's a writing project, in which all of those involved will write on the subject of learning. I've already got half a dozen ideas for things that I could write about so I'll have to pick one!
She just sent me an email saying that the day that my article will be posted on September 12. This will be fun and I'm excited to be participating in the writing forum.
Also, I spoke with Tom today. We'll will be really going after things with XELR8 in the coming months.Tim
