You know how sometimes you make an adamantine decision to do something, and, one day into the next, procrastination reigns, the next thing you know it’s like two and a half years after and it’s still not done? Ever get that? Of course, you can hardly help but wonder what happened to that rock hard resolution? What was sharp enough to poke a hole – sometimes not easily detected – into your iron-clad resolve? Whatever it was, it succeeded. And you wake up one day and kinda go, “Hmm. Whatever happened to my dream to do so and so?"
Well, this post isn’t about the lost dreams or the procrastination or the poked hole or the rusty resolution. Nope. This is about acknowledging and saluting you if you have ever had the courage to dream and then do it! This is about admiring your perseverance and your vim, vigour and vitality; your guts and gusto in going against the odds to get to your goal. And, believe me, sometimes it takes a lot of guts. And gusto! I know. I stepped out of my comfort zone again today. It wasn't an awful experience, but it did remind me that creativity requires strength.
We live in a cynical world and people can be brutal in their criticisms. They don’t have to know you (and even those who do, how well do they?) to try to crush every move you make. You would think they get paid to do it (some do, I guess); that they find a warped and twisted joy in doing it (some do, I guess). On top of that, they have a tool to effect that criticism loud and clear and for many to see (read: read). For, with all the social networking and mobile apps and what not, a venomous word is just a click away, most times from behind that previously-spoken-about wall of anonymity.
When one finds the courage to do according to his/her dream, being grounded, and having time-tried-and-tested support, is paramount. You gotta have the people you have known, and who have cared about you from Adam, in your corner. For, once you create something, here come the editors! They never…well, make that, they don’t (it would appear) have the guts to create something, perhaps fearing that there are others out there like themselves who can’t wait to tear ‘em down and rip ‘em to shreds. They opt not to be creators but editors. Not the constructive type, either. So, you create and put it out there and the response (read: backlash) from the small online world (each person is just a touch of a button away which makes it small) comes fast and furious. As you know, no matter what, you will never – as in never – be able to please everyone. I mean, come on, look at how many were displeased with Jesus. Jesus!
It takes guts to create. And, it takes guts to share it with someone as you risk ridicule or rejection. Be wise in your choices regarding with whom you share and make sure to make a paper trail. Be creative with wild abandon but apply common sense and wisdom in your transactions. As a well-meaning creative person with good intentions, you might not even be able to fathom how cruel some will get as they set out to ravish your new ideas, or even just “change it a little”, to call it their own.
Use up your God-given talent; He’s got your back. Be wise. Be fearless.
And, way to go! You dreamer, doer, creator and achiever you!
Claudia
http://www.cyopro.com/
www.twitter.com/cyopro
Showing posts with label editor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editor. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Friday, 8 April 2011
SMH
Today's edition of The Gleaner carries a story entitled: Day of Death. I read the story and found that the reporter, Daraine Luton, wrote with such vividness, while displaying sensitivity toward the remaining family members.
I imagine that anyone who's been privy to this story has come away believing that it is, in fact, something tragic and beyond sad. It is not possible to rehash here the kind and number of comments that have been made in other media. Nor, for that matter, do I want to. At the very least, it makes you stop and think.
I wrote a letter to the editor of The Gleaner late in the afternoon, in the hope that it will be published. The key messages? (1) be prepared for comments of all kinds when you make yourself present online and (2) let your family know that there is a way to delete your account (in this case, from Facebook), if you, or they, so wish to have that done after you die. (The shortcut to the deletion, which I hadn't mentioned in my letter, is simply to provide your password to someone you really trust. But, maybe not many people enjoy that luxury.)
My prayer is that God will give all the remaining family members - on both sides - the strength and peace that only He can give. I also pray that Ms. Joan will be blessed with a speedy and full recovery - the kind that defies all logic.
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro.com
I imagine that anyone who's been privy to this story has come away believing that it is, in fact, something tragic and beyond sad. It is not possible to rehash here the kind and number of comments that have been made in other media. Nor, for that matter, do I want to. At the very least, it makes you stop and think.
I wrote a letter to the editor of The Gleaner late in the afternoon, in the hope that it will be published. The key messages? (1) be prepared for comments of all kinds when you make yourself present online and (2) let your family know that there is a way to delete your account (in this case, from Facebook), if you, or they, so wish to have that done after you die. (The shortcut to the deletion, which I hadn't mentioned in my letter, is simply to provide your password to someone you really trust. But, maybe not many people enjoy that luxury.)
My prayer is that God will give all the remaining family members - on both sides - the strength and peace that only He can give. I also pray that Ms. Joan will be blessed with a speedy and full recovery - the kind that defies all logic.
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro.com
Sunday, 9 May 2010
This Means War!
Yesterday had me at a very enlightening all-day governance seminar. Got in pooped and totally missed the 8th. Hmm.
Wrote a letter to the Editor of one of Jamaica's newspapers on Friday. Haven't seen it in their publication yet. Well, here it is:
"We are drowning, drowning, drowning in our own blood! We are choking on it; slipping and sliding in it; washing it off our streets and houses and the writing is on the wall in it. When I think of Jamaica, I see red. I’m not even getting into blaming. I’m just looking at where we are and we are in a sad state.
Neither the Minister, nor the Prime Minister, has a clue about how to solve this problem – not one single solitary clue! You can tell from their silence and from their baffled countenances and by how much they are MIA. We have new committees and plans being created to address the problem, even before former committees and plans have a chance to come out from under the dust and chi chi.
It has reached a stage now where the news is not really news. It’s just a matter of who and where. Every time we think it can’t get any worse, the next newscast proves us wrong. We are sick and tired of it and sick and tired of being sick and tired of it man! What is this round-the-clock killing machine that seems to be impenetrable and unstoppable? And while it has its tentacles all over the island, stabbing our people and shooting our people and strangling our people to death, the rest of us are left wondering who is in charge? Who is in charge, Mr. Editor? And what in God’s name are they waiting on to do something?!
Here’s a suggestion. It may smack of simplicity, and may even be repetitive but, just in case the government is sleeping, please nudge them awake to the fact that WE ARE AT WAR! Where else but in a war-torn country do we have so many hundreds of murders in such a short time? People are being shot and stabbed and slashed to death - the real count must now be close to 700 – and the army hasn’t yet been called out? What if we were under attack from another country and our country’s murder toll stood at 600? A so we woulda jus siddung an watch we fellow Jamaicans a drop like flies and nuh call out the army? Mr. Minister and Prime Minister and whosoever else is in charge? We are at war!!! 600 in four months? This means war!!!
There are those who have the power to do something but they are not doing what needs to be done. No one wants to bell the cat. What is this? We are praying for God to intervene, but did He not give us wisdom and ability? We must do our part. “Trust in God but lock your car.” Remember that declaration that the Prime Minister made in Parliament in the first week of March this year? “If I have to pay a political price for it I will.” He was talking about something else but wouldn’t it be wonderful if he and the other ministers held that resolve for all aspects of their jobs? Especially for this aspect of the job?
Part of the government’s duty is to protect its citizens, is it not? For crying out loud, isn’t it for situations like this that our soldiers have been trained? It is the situation necessitates it; the difference might be that no overseas travel is required. PM? Minister? What, exactly, are you waiting for? I just don’t get it. Do you have a target murder toll in mind? Each person is one too many and sometimes it’s four or five at a time.
Some might say it’s a knee-jerk reaction. I say it’s bound to be a more effective move than placing more police officers and an additional police post or two in certain areas. Let the gunmen and other criminals see and know that we mean business. Get the army marksmen/women on the roofs; get the soldiers out into the nitty gritty of the communities all over the country (for the criminals might want to run to another area when things get hot in one location). They are not Bin Laden. This must help to weed out at least some of them. I don’t know what the intricacies of this plan would be but, I am pretty convinced that it would make the law abiding citizens of the country feel safer; feel as if somebody gives a hoot. Mr. Editor? I submit that we have been invaded by another country! It’s a ‘parallel country’ of criminals who are under their own governance and whose ‘insecurity forces’ are bent on securing their own rotten interests by the use of advanced weaponry and by terrorizing our country. It’s time we call out our security forces before the murder toll exceeds an already-unbearable number. Worst case, even if it is a knee-jerk, at least it’s something while the government works on a longer-term strategy.
On a related note, my sister threw a dash of reality on the matter the other day when she said that even if the government says yes to Capital Punishment, who are they going to execute? The police not catching the criminals! They commit these crimes in broad daylight sometimes and, after the weeping and wailing and officials appearing on the scene to offer condolences – nothing! How many times do we hear of the criminals being caught, much less brought to justice? How many?
Maybe it’s just me but I am beginning to get the sense that when crimes like the recent Glendevon or Backlands killings happen, and the police (as sadly expected) don’t get any information from the community, that is where it stops. It’s as if the police throw their hands up and chalk it up to the community being tight-lipped. Where does it go from there? What happens in terms of investigation and follow-through? Is that really where it ends? Do they close that file and then just wait on the call to the next crime scene?
It is constantly repeated, people are afraid of informing the police. But, like someone said the other day, withholding information doesn’t guarantee anything. It is no insurance against the criminals coming for you. They’re just not coming for you today. So, we the people need to start talking to trustworthy police (that’s another issue altogether) and the police definitely need to start following through. Government, army, police, communities – this is not a one-sided thing, but the leaders need to show up and lead.
Let’s not kid ourselves, we are at war!"
###
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro
Wrote a letter to the Editor of one of Jamaica's newspapers on Friday. Haven't seen it in their publication yet. Well, here it is:
"We are drowning, drowning, drowning in our own blood! We are choking on it; slipping and sliding in it; washing it off our streets and houses and the writing is on the wall in it. When I think of Jamaica, I see red. I’m not even getting into blaming. I’m just looking at where we are and we are in a sad state.
Neither the Minister, nor the Prime Minister, has a clue about how to solve this problem – not one single solitary clue! You can tell from their silence and from their baffled countenances and by how much they are MIA. We have new committees and plans being created to address the problem, even before former committees and plans have a chance to come out from under the dust and chi chi.
It has reached a stage now where the news is not really news. It’s just a matter of who and where. Every time we think it can’t get any worse, the next newscast proves us wrong. We are sick and tired of it and sick and tired of being sick and tired of it man! What is this round-the-clock killing machine that seems to be impenetrable and unstoppable? And while it has its tentacles all over the island, stabbing our people and shooting our people and strangling our people to death, the rest of us are left wondering who is in charge? Who is in charge, Mr. Editor? And what in God’s name are they waiting on to do something?!
Here’s a suggestion. It may smack of simplicity, and may even be repetitive but, just in case the government is sleeping, please nudge them awake to the fact that WE ARE AT WAR! Where else but in a war-torn country do we have so many hundreds of murders in such a short time? People are being shot and stabbed and slashed to death - the real count must now be close to 700 – and the army hasn’t yet been called out? What if we were under attack from another country and our country’s murder toll stood at 600? A so we woulda jus siddung an watch we fellow Jamaicans a drop like flies and nuh call out the army? Mr. Minister and Prime Minister and whosoever else is in charge? We are at war!!! 600 in four months? This means war!!!
There are those who have the power to do something but they are not doing what needs to be done. No one wants to bell the cat. What is this? We are praying for God to intervene, but did He not give us wisdom and ability? We must do our part. “Trust in God but lock your car.” Remember that declaration that the Prime Minister made in Parliament in the first week of March this year? “If I have to pay a political price for it I will.” He was talking about something else but wouldn’t it be wonderful if he and the other ministers held that resolve for all aspects of their jobs? Especially for this aspect of the job?
Part of the government’s duty is to protect its citizens, is it not? For crying out loud, isn’t it for situations like this that our soldiers have been trained? It is the situation necessitates it; the difference might be that no overseas travel is required. PM? Minister? What, exactly, are you waiting for? I just don’t get it. Do you have a target murder toll in mind? Each person is one too many and sometimes it’s four or five at a time.
Some might say it’s a knee-jerk reaction. I say it’s bound to be a more effective move than placing more police officers and an additional police post or two in certain areas. Let the gunmen and other criminals see and know that we mean business. Get the army marksmen/women on the roofs; get the soldiers out into the nitty gritty of the communities all over the country (for the criminals might want to run to another area when things get hot in one location). They are not Bin Laden. This must help to weed out at least some of them. I don’t know what the intricacies of this plan would be but, I am pretty convinced that it would make the law abiding citizens of the country feel safer; feel as if somebody gives a hoot. Mr. Editor? I submit that we have been invaded by another country! It’s a ‘parallel country’ of criminals who are under their own governance and whose ‘insecurity forces’ are bent on securing their own rotten interests by the use of advanced weaponry and by terrorizing our country. It’s time we call out our security forces before the murder toll exceeds an already-unbearable number. Worst case, even if it is a knee-jerk, at least it’s something while the government works on a longer-term strategy.
On a related note, my sister threw a dash of reality on the matter the other day when she said that even if the government says yes to Capital Punishment, who are they going to execute? The police not catching the criminals! They commit these crimes in broad daylight sometimes and, after the weeping and wailing and officials appearing on the scene to offer condolences – nothing! How many times do we hear of the criminals being caught, much less brought to justice? How many?
Maybe it’s just me but I am beginning to get the sense that when crimes like the recent Glendevon or Backlands killings happen, and the police (as sadly expected) don’t get any information from the community, that is where it stops. It’s as if the police throw their hands up and chalk it up to the community being tight-lipped. Where does it go from there? What happens in terms of investigation and follow-through? Is that really where it ends? Do they close that file and then just wait on the call to the next crime scene?
It is constantly repeated, people are afraid of informing the police. But, like someone said the other day, withholding information doesn’t guarantee anything. It is no insurance against the criminals coming for you. They’re just not coming for you today. So, we the people need to start talking to trustworthy police (that’s another issue altogether) and the police definitely need to start following through. Government, army, police, communities – this is not a one-sided thing, but the leaders need to show up and lead.
Let’s not kid ourselves, we are at war!"
###
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro
Thursday, 18 March 2010
I have wings! (Cee Dubya)
A former co-worker gave me a postcard shortly before we part ways in 2004. On the cover is a cartoon depiction of a girl in a swing, reaching up, hair blowing in the wind. The caption reads: "She always knew she could fly..." On the inside: "...the question remained, "How high?""
Love that.
(Of course, I still have the card.)
I remembered all this the other day after we'd had quite an exciting Saturday morning - March 13, 2010. My little sis telephoned me and greeted me with stteo: "Congratulations! Your letter to the Editor is the Letter of the Day!!!" Well! I could hardly utter a coherent sentence. I had to tap each key, rather slowly, to type the URL. When I finally got to it, there it was: My letter - a thing of beauty.
We went over it again and then some. We analyzed why the Editor had made the "corrections"/amendments he had; why he had omitted a section of a paragraph as well as the very last line ("Maybe he is trying to protect you," she offered). I called Mommy and asked her to get a copy of The Gleaner with my letter of the day in it. She did. And they - she and Daddy - read it again.
My other sisters offered their congrats and support, too. Yes. It was, truly, one of the best days of my life.
For, you see, as I reminded my lil sis, it was encouraging to me as a suffocating writer. She has a sense of how daunted I feel under the weight of knowing that I am a writer but not writing what I should. It's like I mention in the title and sub-title of another blog: The Vital Air: When you're suffocating, all you can think about is breathing.
I am yet to write my book(s). I don't want to go to my grave with it (them) inside me.
I am yet to write the book with Daddy - worse yet.
So, it's been kinda like that. (See very first entry in this blog.) And then, one day, someone thought that what I had written was worth publishing - and worth the distinction, to boot!
My prayer was short: Oh God, thank you for my wings!
Below is a copy of my letter to the Editor of the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner. I used the email associated with my pen name, Cee Dubya.
Sidney Bristow was right. "There's no drug like adrenaline!"
********
The Editor, Sir:
When we appoint certain people to be "entrusted with the responsibility to lead the State's anti-corruption, law-enforcement and prosecutorial institutions" (a quote borrowed from another paper), what are the measures that we put in place to ensure that they are up to the mark, and keep up to the mark, in every way, as they carry out their duties?
Apart from periodic reports - which can say anything you want them to - what do we do to make sure that in every nook and cranny, things are being done in acceptable ways? Sure there are audits, but, again, don't you wonder sometimes how some things get 'overlooked'?
As so many have said, repeatedly, Jamaica has sunk into a rather horrific abyss. The taxpayers would welcome suitable persons in whom to repose their trust. However, when we appoint someone in Jamaica to a position of almost unrestrained power - doesn't matter who it is - we have to remember that that person is human. He or she, like anyone else, has to deal with personal demons. There may be psychological or emotional shortcomings which, as we know, are not usually indicated on a résumé or highlighted during an interview or even have been demonstrated in a 'less powerful' job. Being in a position where he or she doesn't have to answer to anyone, per se, is a pretty powerful one. As Lord Acton said in a letter to Bishop Mandel Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
Hope is not a method
Does this mean that we leave these positions of almost unlimited power unfilled because each man/woman has his/her set of weaknesses? Do we throw our hands up, appoint someone who seems to fit the bill, and then hope for the best? Again, hope is not a method.
It's a different take on the whole thing, but, I submit that while we look around for these positions of power to be filled, for the best woman or man to be "entrusted with the responsibility to lead the State's anti-corruption, law-enforcement and prosecutorial institutions", we also institute some kind of mandatory psychological (and other relevant) evaluation to assure ourselves that the incumbent remains fit for the job - in every way! No set date, either. Between a year and 18 months, with no more notice than a day or two, the evaluation is done and the taxpayers get to hear the final result. No. This is not to evaluate them to determine sainthood. But, certainly, however it is crafted, it should help to determine whether power is going to the head, and possibly leading to some 'can't touch dis!' behaviour.
Real transparency
Consider the yet-to-be created Independent Commission of Investigations to be led by a commissioner - pretty powerful position. Generally, those are regarded as 'what I say, goes' positions. But, every public position is answerable to someone and, ultimately, the country's taxpayers. A palatable pronouncement is one thing. Behind the closed doors of the organisation, what is taking place and how? Intrusive? Lack of trust? Perhaps, but, we're talking about real, real transparency. Nothing to hinder the work, just enough to keep us assured.
So, it's not just about who is watching the watchman. Deeper still, are we keeping track of whether he or she is embracing delusions of grandeur under the weight of the powerful position? Who questions him/her? Do media even bother? Listen, danger ahead when people in powerful positions become 'media darlings'. The media only become conduits of messages and clearly lose objectivity as they are essentially dictated to, as they dare not carry out 'investigative journalism' which might topple the status quo. And if the media do get wind that something has gone awry, again, do they bother, or do they just leave it be, because everything else seems to be working and 'no better nuh deh a John shop'?
Things like reports and audits do not necessarily capture, for example, the hell of a milieu to which employees are sometimes subjected, as they endure the psychological and emotional onslaughts borne out of the psychological and mental delusions from occupying an 'almighty' position.
I am, etc.,
VERY CONCERNED
********
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro
Love that.
(Of course, I still have the card.)
I remembered all this the other day after we'd had quite an exciting Saturday morning - March 13, 2010. My little sis telephoned me and greeted me with stteo: "Congratulations! Your letter to the Editor is the Letter of the Day!!!" Well! I could hardly utter a coherent sentence. I had to tap each key, rather slowly, to type the URL. When I finally got to it, there it was: My letter - a thing of beauty.
We went over it again and then some. We analyzed why the Editor had made the "corrections"/amendments he had; why he had omitted a section of a paragraph as well as the very last line ("Maybe he is trying to protect you," she offered). I called Mommy and asked her to get a copy of The Gleaner with my letter of the day in it. She did. And they - she and Daddy - read it again.
My other sisters offered their congrats and support, too. Yes. It was, truly, one of the best days of my life.
For, you see, as I reminded my lil sis, it was encouraging to me as a suffocating writer. She has a sense of how daunted I feel under the weight of knowing that I am a writer but not writing what I should. It's like I mention in the title and sub-title of another blog: The Vital Air: When you're suffocating, all you can think about is breathing.
I am yet to write my book(s). I don't want to go to my grave with it (them) inside me.
I am yet to write the book with Daddy - worse yet.
So, it's been kinda like that. (See very first entry in this blog.) And then, one day, someone thought that what I had written was worth publishing - and worth the distinction, to boot!
My prayer was short: Oh God, thank you for my wings!
Below is a copy of my letter to the Editor of the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner. I used the email associated with my pen name, Cee Dubya.
Sidney Bristow was right. "There's no drug like adrenaline!"
********
The Editor, Sir:
When we appoint certain people to be "entrusted with the responsibility to lead the State's anti-corruption, law-enforcement and prosecutorial institutions" (a quote borrowed from another paper), what are the measures that we put in place to ensure that they are up to the mark, and keep up to the mark, in every way, as they carry out their duties?
Apart from periodic reports - which can say anything you want them to - what do we do to make sure that in every nook and cranny, things are being done in acceptable ways? Sure there are audits, but, again, don't you wonder sometimes how some things get 'overlooked'?
As so many have said, repeatedly, Jamaica has sunk into a rather horrific abyss. The taxpayers would welcome suitable persons in whom to repose their trust. However, when we appoint someone in Jamaica to a position of almost unrestrained power - doesn't matter who it is - we have to remember that that person is human. He or she, like anyone else, has to deal with personal demons. There may be psychological or emotional shortcomings which, as we know, are not usually indicated on a résumé or highlighted during an interview or even have been demonstrated in a 'less powerful' job. Being in a position where he or she doesn't have to answer to anyone, per se, is a pretty powerful one. As Lord Acton said in a letter to Bishop Mandel Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
Hope is not a method
Does this mean that we leave these positions of almost unlimited power unfilled because each man/woman has his/her set of weaknesses? Do we throw our hands up, appoint someone who seems to fit the bill, and then hope for the best? Again, hope is not a method.
It's a different take on the whole thing, but, I submit that while we look around for these positions of power to be filled, for the best woman or man to be "entrusted with the responsibility to lead the State's anti-corruption, law-enforcement and prosecutorial institutions", we also institute some kind of mandatory psychological (and other relevant) evaluation to assure ourselves that the incumbent remains fit for the job - in every way! No set date, either. Between a year and 18 months, with no more notice than a day or two, the evaluation is done and the taxpayers get to hear the final result. No. This is not to evaluate them to determine sainthood. But, certainly, however it is crafted, it should help to determine whether power is going to the head, and possibly leading to some 'can't touch dis!' behaviour.
Real transparency
Consider the yet-to-be created Independent Commission of Investigations to be led by a commissioner - pretty powerful position. Generally, those are regarded as 'what I say, goes' positions. But, every public position is answerable to someone and, ultimately, the country's taxpayers. A palatable pronouncement is one thing. Behind the closed doors of the organisation, what is taking place and how? Intrusive? Lack of trust? Perhaps, but, we're talking about real, real transparency. Nothing to hinder the work, just enough to keep us assured.
So, it's not just about who is watching the watchman. Deeper still, are we keeping track of whether he or she is embracing delusions of grandeur under the weight of the powerful position? Who questions him/her? Do media even bother? Listen, danger ahead when people in powerful positions become 'media darlings'. The media only become conduits of messages and clearly lose objectivity as they are essentially dictated to, as they dare not carry out 'investigative journalism' which might topple the status quo. And if the media do get wind that something has gone awry, again, do they bother, or do they just leave it be, because everything else seems to be working and 'no better nuh deh a John shop'?
Things like reports and audits do not necessarily capture, for example, the hell of a milieu to which employees are sometimes subjected, as they endure the psychological and emotional onslaughts borne out of the psychological and mental delusions from occupying an 'almighty' position.
I am, etc.,
VERY CONCERNED
********
Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro
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