“Choose a job that you like and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
- Confucius
Does the above phrase surprise you? Most of you might find it quite easy to think of a job you love as play rather than work. Most anyone who has ever had a job he hated will tell you that the Chinese scholar hit his own proverbial bull’s-eye (and yes, the pun is very much intended) with this statement. But the current world economy may have some folks saying, “1′ll take any job I can get,” and never looking back in regret once. Confucius’ wisdom rings nonetheless true for many who are out of work.
All the more, you may consider that you may apply your unique skills to a field that you haven’t ever previously in your life. That job as interior decorator, or a proofreader for a magazine that you had always thought of while sitting on your back porch on those cool Saturdays in mid April. Are you great with kids? You might try babysitting for the little freckled kid three houses down. Do you love to cook? Skip the takeout and try having a reasonably-priced bake sale and having your neighbors join you. In lay terms, make sure to know thyself!
Harajuku refers to the area around Tokyo’s Harajuku Station, one station north of Shibuya on the Yamanote Line. It is the center of Japan’s most extreme teenage cultures and fashion styles, but also offers shopping for grown-ups and some historic sights.
The focal point of Harajuku’s teenage culture is Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) and its side streets, which are lined by many trendy shops, fashion boutiques, used clothes stores, crepe stands and fast food outlets geared towards the fashion and trend conscious teens.
In order to experience the teenage culture at its most extreme, visit Harajuku on a Sunday, when many young people gather around Harajuku Station and engage in cosplay (”costume play”), dressed up in crazy costumes to resemble anime characters, punk musicians, etc.
For several Christian denominations and Roman Catholics especially, this past Wednesday marked the start of the season of Lent. Lent is traditionally a time of fasting, prayer and repentance of all sins, sorrows and misdeeds in the previous year or simply a time for the individual to begin a kind of self renewal usualyl to mark a brand new start with their creator and within themselves prior to Easter Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. The 40 day period is symbolic of Jesus’ 40 days and nights spent fasting and praying in the desert after being baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John the Baptist in order that he be spiritually ready to begin his ministry. During this time, observers may choose one specific thing with which to go without, or they may use the time to pray more or do whatever they feel they must do to effectively renew their devotion to goodness in the Lord.
In light of this tradition, I thought I might compel you, my loyal readers, to practice a bit of fasting yourselves. As some of you may not or may not be of a particular Lent-observing faith or culture, I’ll simply suggest that you take forty days to practice unselfish kindness to yourself and others. If you believe in God, summit to that believe more heartily and fervently if you’ve been slacking. Or, make a specific promise to give up an activity that may be unnecessary for something that may be more productive such as watching less TV and reading more or volunteering at a community center instead of playing online poker. If you don’t believe in such faith, let your best morality shine through. ask yourlself what you can do to make your world a little kinder. If you’re agnostic, take the time to ask God a few questions. You’ll never know if answers will come if you never ask for them (and this does work in my experience). Of course, these are just my suggestions. The rest is in your hands.
May all of those celebrating have a truly blessed season in Christ, and to those who choose alternatives, may you treat other and be treated with great kindness in the name of that which has created you!
According to a February 24 report from Florida’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper, Facebook now has limited its users’ friend lists to a meager 5000 friends, acquaintances, groupies and possible stalkers. Do you agree with this decision? How do you you use your networks? Friendships, business connections and those now standard, sporadic surveys can all be a part of the online befriending (or “friending”) experience. But is the limit justified? Surely a person cannot possibly know 5000 people intimately? Can they? Regardless of how a Facebooker might feel about it, his or her networking options may now be stifled a bit. Drop a line, leave a comment and join the debate.
Wax with your friends.
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President Barack Obama’s address to congress last nigh spoke of the sober reality of the economic crisis in America. He spoke of and to steady rising unemployment, failed banks, irresponsible spending, equally irresponsible lending, and of course, of how the American people are hurting in daily costs of higher education, food expenses, insurance premiums and dwindling school budgets. Still he also spoke of hope - of the tenacity and resilience of the American people. He urged the government to work smarter, cut programs that are ineffective and bolster those that do work; and he called parents to give their children a head start in being better citizens by instilling educational values, work ethic, putting away the video games when necessary, turning off the TV on occasion. All these things were said with a visibly valiant optimism despite a tough and trying reality.
Now take a trip back to 1933 America. The unemployment rate is at a maddening and staggering 25 percent! Social welfare is not yet in place and the modern world of urban expansion has not yet been realized.
Below is Franklin Roosevelt’s now-famous “Nothing to Fear” speech from his March 4, 1933 inauguration in which FDR evokes a different but similar sense of hope for a better America with what would become his New Deal policy.
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Uploaded by YouTube member TheCobaltAgent
Wax with hope.
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