Hello Friends and Enemies

Take no offense at the title, it just sounded good.

How many people out there reading this deal with issues of depression, low self-esteem, negativity, self-doubt and a myriad of other nuances that make living life just that much more difficult? We all seem to play these negative tapes inside our heads that tell us things we simply don't want to hear (or want to believe). That's instinct. That's what (insert your age here) years on this planet, living the lives we've lead, has brought us to. This is simply our lot in life.

But we have a tool in our arsenal that we never think to use against this barrage of negativity: PERSONAL Service Announcements. For years we heard PUBLIC Service Announcements tell us very helpful things such as don't start forest fires, and can't touch those wires. And we listened because they had a certain tone about them that made us feel like they were really telling us because they cared. Even if it sounded completely cheesey. We knew it started because someone somewhere wanted to help us. Personal Service Announcements come from that part of you that also wants to help. That part that knows you are worth protecting from bad things. That's why this PSA is also a NEGATIVITY SCREENER. Next time you feel a barrage of negativity coming on (or discover you are in the middle of it), try repeating this PSA (to yourself or out loud, whatever your pleasure):

I'm sorry, the person you're trying to depress is not accepting negativity at this time. Please check your attitude and try again. This has been a personal service announcement from your Cerebral Cortex: Better Living through Higher Reasoning.

Try it some time.

Or how about this one:

Only YOU can prevent negativity.

A pre-Labor Day Poem

The Day of the Knights of Labour
a modern allegory (1894 - 1997)


the weekend the Princess died
the Queen abdicated
her throne to the King
who reluctantly took it

with a reclusive King
and an absent Queen
the Kingdom fell
into turmoil

the Queen returned
from her travels
to find her castle overthrown
and the King dispossessed

without her power
or her throne
the Queen becomes a peasant
in the Court of the King

a lady in waiting
pretending one day
she will be recognized
as the Queen she is

a Lifetime passes
before she realizes she lives
in a Democracy and votes
herself free after four years

ltv

One of a few I wrote yesterday

Ca-Caw
Ca-Caw
the crow boasts
all day long
while feasting
on the rotting flesh
of the understated
those that waited for Spring
or the wrong time
to cross away
from their homes
to explore new lands

Today I crow
about myself
my strengths
my abilities
I do not feed
my pride
on the decomposition
of others
It has its own
Life Source
somewhere finally
reaching inside of me.

ltv