Pep Talk for the Job Hunter

Overheard at Starbucks. A noisy customer on his cell phone:

Hey, you lazy bum, don’t use summer as an excuse to stop looking for a job. Companies hire people all year round… Yeah they they hire during depressions too. So, get off your ass and get on the phone.

Oh, you’re afraid of the phone, are ya? Well, I’ll give you something to be afraid of. Livin’ on the street. How’s that? ….

OK, look, it’s been scientifically proven that you’ve got to get 50 rejections to get a hire. So we’re going to play a game and you’re going to love it. Are you ready?

We know that sooner or later you’re going to get a job. I don’t know. Some kind of job. So let’s pretend that every rejection is bringing you closer to that job.

Do you see the magic? Rejection seems to be pushing you away when really it’s bringing you closer.

They can punch you right in the face but they can’t stop you. You are unstoppable. Doesn’t that set your on blood fire? Don’t you just want to go out there and pounce all over everybody? “Look at me! I’m coming! You can fight all you want, but you can’t hide.”

Do you hear what I’m telling you? They can throw everything at you and you can still move forward. I didn’t make it up. It’s science. You make the calls, you get the job. You can’t fight that logic because if you fight it, you’re fighting reality. And you know what? You ought to start playing along with reality for a change. It’ll treat you a lot nicer.

You can’t resist reality. But reality isn’t as resistant as you think. Now that’s heavy. I mean a guru from India could say something like that and you’d be swooning all over it. But you don’t have to go to India because you’re hearing it right here — on Jerry Jerry what show is this?

Reference: Karla Porter
Link
Technorati Tags: perseverance, Job Hunting, Career

Is Advertising Really Pure Evil?

When it comes down to the bare bones of the issue, or is it the beating heart, whatever… the main thing is… they want you to buy more stuff. This is a pretty simple concept and it has been said before, blah, blah, blah. The power play comes in at the juncture where what they’re selling coincides with what you need. The thing which tips the power in the advertisers favour is when they convince you that you need something you don’t. This gets more complicated when you take into account wants versus needs.

Further complicating things is context. The context today is we’ve moved far away from worrying about needs. We WANT STUFF. Lots of Stuff. Shiny, pastel-coloured, Curvy Stuff which will make us happy and able to satisfy our every sense and then do it all again. We also want it all NOW. Instantly. None of this patience shit and waiting for things which are ‘worthwhile’… I know what’s worthwhile because I feel it now and I want it right fucking now.

I don’t believe Advertisers have any sway, not really, in terms of ‘Making us buy more stuff’. They are merely the temptation… WE make the choice. It is within us… the choice of wanting stuff we don’t need and also to want it right now. So is advertising pure evil? No. Advertising is just showing us what is within us… in the end WE choose. I would say that advertising is only evil if that is what we see within ourselves. You don’t have to buy the product and even if you do… do you need it right now?

Advertising is just stimulus and we can either react automatically to whatever whims and desires move us or be a little bit more AWARE of what’s happening around us and choose to RESPOND to stimulus in our own best interest.

Advertising is only really effective because we all only operate on auto-pilot, we set ourselves up with bad habits of wanting things we don’t need and things we want right now. So when it finally flashes before our eyes and ears we simply react. And, if we are all operating on auto-pilot, that makes us less human because the real thing which makes us human is our ability to choose.

You can’t blame the stimulus… advertising is not the enemy… you are.

Yeah Baby! Social Media is the New PUNK ROCK!

I’ve always seen Punk as a philosophy rather than a once off bunch of noisy kids with spiked hair and bad attitudes. It was about standing up to the establishment, breaking the rules, going against the norm.  They are the ultimate modern form of talking straight back with their own interpretation of how to talk back in the first place.  Hence, the below video, is a bit misplaced with comparing punk rock only to social media… it’s bigger than that.  The philosophy, I believe, transcends all media because it addresses the underlying intentions behind WHY we communicate.

So if you question the norms, don’t agree with them and voice your opinions with any media whatsoever… you are a PUNK.  Word… Enjoy the video :)

Technorati Tags: Punk, Punk Rock, Music, Philosophy, Social Media

Stealing Second Base

“Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” – Frederick Wilcox

This is an aspect of all initiatives to move forward. You can’t get ahead if you’re still stuck where you are. You can’t expect anything different or better if you keep doing what you’re doing. First step of the change is to recognise where you are and make significant changes, either the environment you find yourself in, or the people that surround you, the habits you have, the things you keep on doing. Recognise it and change it.

It’s not easy and it is a challenge. That’s the point. If you’re comfortable, that’s when you should be worried. That’s when you get hit out of the blue with the unexpected. If you don’t wake up yourself to the reality that things keep changing and you need to change with them, Life will Smack you upside your head and then you’ll be forced to change, which is even harder then if you chose the path yourself.

Ready? Go.

Technorati Tags: Life, Philosophy, Stealing Second Base

Where Does Passion Come From?

“Every decision you make – every decision – is not a decision about what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do.”
- Neale Donald Walsch

I was just wondering… What makes people move and act towards their goals and aspirations?what drives their motivation to do the things they love?  What makes them love what they’re doing?  And by that I don’t mean their jobs, I mean the things which make them smile and where they lose track of time and place and just… be. 

I’m still trying to figure out what really drives me. I know I like a whole lot of things, but essentially I think I love knowledge and particularly useful knowledge, not trivia or useless knowledge which won’t benefit anyone.  That’s one thing that keeps me going, striving for more and better things.

My question is… where does that come from?  Is it genetic? Do we learn it from our parents, relatives and friends as we’re growing up?  Is it inherent or learned?  Do we just try everythign we can when we’re little in order to stumble across that one thing which makes our hearts sing and suddenly we’re wondering what we were doing with our lives when we could’ve been doing… THIS.

Technorati Tags: Passion, Motivation, Where

Music: Independent vs. Commercial

The whole Independent vs. Commercial culture in music is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades. That’s why the same people that listened to Bob Dylan would listen to Immortal Technique, The Roots, Mos Def, Pink Floyd. Truth generally doesn’t command a large audience and that is essentially what the independent artists sell, except a few who are just wannabe commercial sell-outs.

What exactly is a commercial sell-out? Pandering to the masses need to instantly gratify all of their natural urges with reckless abandon… Sex, Drugs, Money and a general culture and mind-set of Celebrity-worship and getting-it-at-all-costs or get-rich-or-die-trying (sound familiar?). The independents, even though some may have record deals, they are not as wide-spread as others for one simple reason… they sell something not so popular, the Truth.

: Pink Floyd, Immortal Technique, Mos Def, The Roots, Independent, Commercial

Happy Birthday Madiba!

I had posted a full thought piece at Instablogs entitled
A Lesson on Madiba’s 90th Birthday

In summary…

Mandela was a great man but he was also an ordinary man, by his own admission, who found himself in extraordinary circumstances. His values shown throughout his life and his struggle against apartheid. We too face situations which are extraordinary and show us for what we truly are. So let’s strive to be the best human beings we can be and strive for the greatest ideals so that when we are faced with a situation, our truth will shine.

: Mandela, 90th Birthday, Philosophy, Lesson, Life

Dissecting Consumer Culture: The “American Dream” Documentary

Adrants points us to a new documentary currently being by filmmaker Joel Christian McEwan called American Dream which will examine America’s obsession with instant-gratification and material possessions as well as the corporate force which feeds and profits from that obsession. Featuring Danny Glover, Ed Begley Jr., Jean Kilbourne, Howard Zinn and many others, American Dream will try to make sense America’s consumer culture, it’s causes and its effects.

What is interesting is that the filmmakers have approached Adrants in order to secure material for the film. Adrants are looking for:

-Funny, ridiculous advertisements
-Lewd, suggestive ads/commercials
-Ads/Commercials that make you want to buy something
-Ads/Commercials that you dislike and want to see removed

So for anyone with a few ideas or examples… head over to Adrants and help the guys out. You can mail your submissions to americandream@adrants.com

: Adrants, American Dream, Documentary, Joel Christian McEwan

So Who is this Madiba Chap? eh?

What can I say… the man is an inspiration to millions, but what I’d like to highlight about his life is a fact which he mentioned himself…”I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” He was just a man… just like any one of us, but what made him great was his purpose and his dedication which he stuck by and fought for till he achieved it. That’s what catapulted him out of the ordinary, doing the things which others shied away from or were to fearful to carry out.

In the face of death, detention and exile he persisted. We all need to learn from his lesson that the greatest obstacle can be overcome by simple, truthful ideals.

Happy 90th Birthday! I’ll catch the Hyde Park dedication concert on TV tonight.
: Madiba, 90th Birthday, Hyde Park, Lesson

Thoughts on Youth Day…

It seems unreal how far South Africa has come since the beginning of the fall of apartheid, that infamous day, June 16th, 1976. This day always serves to make me realise how important it is for us, as human beings and as South Africans, to remember our vibrant past with all its struggle and adversity as well as our progression and success. We cannot allow the same oppression to exist anywhere, let alone our own country.

The xenophobic attacks were a shameful reminder of how close can come to reverting to the worst of ourselves. The thin line between Love and Hate. I understand there were many factors around these attacks but the fact remains, we had intolerance and discrimination vividly emblazoned on the screen around the world. How far a cry is it from the days when we seen the pictures of Hector Pietersen being carried away dead during the June 16th, 1976 uprising… and not forgetting the sacrifice of other youth across the world, Mohammed Al Dura in Palestine being shot while his father tried to protect him; or Victor Hugo Daza in Cochabamba, Bolivia who was killed by the military in protests against Bechtel trying to privatise Bolivia’s sources of water.


We need to also be aware of oppression around the world and either fight against it physically or by some action or at least to speak out against it. We owe it to ourselves as human beings and South Africans to do this at least. China’s oppression of Tibet and support of oppressive regimes in Africa, the conflict in Sudan, The oppression of the Palestinian people on a daily basis, the Middle East, etc. We can not sit back and idly nod as we read about these things in news papers and through our RSS feeds. We need to do something, say something.

We are all too aware of chaos theory and how little things affect greater outcomes and events. We could be that little change.

Let’s hope for a greater world… and one in which we have played our part.

Peace.

Link: The Front Line

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