How's your brain?

I attended a workshop several weeks ago that addressed the profile of our brains. Not just American brains, but ALL brains. The workshop was sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Sheild Foundation and featured Harold Suire with Emergenetics International, Inc. It was probably one of the best workshops I have attended in quite some time.

According to their hand out, 'Emergenetics provides a window into the way you think and behave.' What I found astonishing was that the work these professionals have done is world wide and that all brains and brain preferences are pretty universal.  

Understanding the brain and understanding my brain was of great interest to me. As a self proclaimed liberal living in conservative community, I've been confused at times as to why I think the way that I do and why others think the way that they do. It's been extremely difficult at times because  I must admit, I do feel like a freak. And the political climate and name calling doesn't help.  So, what is it about me that make me, me....?

Understanding my brain has helped me to understand myself and my relationship with others. While I shouldn't try to simplify this ....I will.  We have four thinking attributes that we are born with. Here is how they defined the different brain preferences:

Analytical thinking is rational, inquiring, and clear. The Analytical part of the brain wants to see data and research. People with a preference for Analytical thought are considered logical, cogent, and objective. They can appreciate the scientific method, and they learn by mental analysis.

Structural thinking is detailed, practical, and methodical.  The Structural part of the brain follows rules and is cautious of new ideas.  People with a preference for Structural thought are considered disciplined, organized, and tradtional.  They like guidelines, and they learn by doing.

Social thinking is relational, collaborative, empathic, and supportive. The Social part of the brain is team-oriented and socially aware. People with a preference for Social Thought are considered connectors and are sensitive to feelings and ideas of others. They are intuitive people, and they learn from others.

Conceptual thinking is imaginative, unconventional, and visionary.  The Conceptual part of the brain likes change and is easily bored. People with a preference for Conceptual thought are considered inventive, original, and innovative. They are intuitive about ideas, and they learn by experimenting.

When you have a preference for a particular Thinking Attribute, that means it plays a prominent role in your thinking processes. 92% of the population has more than one thinking preference.

My brain profile based on my answers to an extensive survey conducted by Emergentics showed me at 80% conceptual; 43% Social; 28% Analytical and 18% Structural.  What it also revealed was that only 12% of the population share my social/conceptual combination. And because my thinking is intuitive, I run the risk of being percieved as "out there," and I may feel out of step with other people in my community or organization. 

I also learned that my preference for Social thinking allows me to see the human side of events and ideas and people who do not share my perference for social thinking may underestimate my intelligence or believe I am too emotional. I also learned that I probably have a vision that extends far into the future, and I expect others to share my enthusiasm for the overall concept or goal.

So, what I also learned from this workshop is that I was born this way and while my thinking may be different from others, there is no "right" or "wrong"....I am unique and I am wonderful the way I am. What I have also come to understand is that we all need each other.  We are all unique and wonderful in our own way and we need to appreciate each other more and stop the name calling and the pigeon holing.  I may be a liberal and you may be a conservative....and that's okay....together we can make a great country greater! or in this case, a great community greater!!!

If you want to learn more about his brain thing, there is a book available on Amazon. Google Emergenetics and check it out. 

Going Union

I was twenty one years old and living in Leesville when I had my first experience with labor unions.  I was working for an extremely successful and profitable cable company.  I worked in the local origination department which was a branch of the company that produced programming for their local station. It was a new market and a new venture.  There were three of us in the department.  The department head, myself and another young man.  I was in charge of writing news stories,  running the camera and anything else that the department head didn’t want to do. The other guy was in charge of selling the programs to local sponsors.

I loved the job. It was creative and challenging.  I had been married for about three years at this time and my relationship with my husband was anything but harmonious.  And this job was very demanding of my time.  It wasn’t a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday job. It was when they needed me, where they needed me, doing what they needed me to do.  And I was told that I had no choice and that I would lose my job if I didn't comply.  I had little say in that which didn’t help matters at home.

This job while the schedule was flexible, the pay wasn’t. I was not allowed to punch a time clock. Instead our department head would turn in our hours for the week on a time sheet he created.  While I worked more than 60 hours a week most weeks, the time sheet that was turned in only reflected a 40 hour week.  I wasn’t considered salaried.  I was only 21 and naive to say the least. I never questioned it. I just believed that the company would do the right thing. 

After working there for nearly a year, I began to question their system when I was denied some time off. I thought that all of the overtime that I had put in could be easily exchanged for some much needed sick leave.  I had tonsillitis and was confined to my home for a week.  I didn’t get paid for that week and it was that action that made me question the integrity of my employer.

Around the same time that I began to feel a little taken for granted, I was visited by a ‘union man.’  He invited me to lunch along with some other executives who had become aware of my situation along with some of the other employees.  It seems their practice of not awarding overtime pay to anyone took in the line crew whose weekly hours exceeded a forty hour week, too.  These labor guys talked to me about heading up an effort to bring a union in.  I didn’t have much experience with unions but I did think that the company should have been more responsible to their employees and held accountable. I agreed to it and went about talking to the other employees about holding an election.  All was going well and it looked like the union was going to pass. 

Before the day of the election, I was approached by the general manager and asked to have dinner with him and a few other executives.  I was told by the union guys that the exes of the company were not allowed to speak to me about the election or try to persuade me to change my vote.  Well, our dinner was all about changing my vote.  They told me that I would lose my job with them and that they would see to it that no one in town would hire me.  They lied to me and told me that all of the employees were going to vote against the union and that I had created havoc and discord amongst the workers and they could not protect me.   It frightened me to say the least.  And there was no peace at home or a shoulder to lean on.  The threats from my husband were  just as real.  I felt alone and abandoned.

I proceeded with the plan to unionize because I thought it was the right thing to do. The elections were held and the employees voted overwhelmingly to unionize.  The cable management changed. A new manager arrived on the scene at the same time that I had decided to leave the company.  They asked me stay and offered me a raise. I declined.  In the weeks to follow, I realized how I had been deceived by the company.  I had come to understand how this all could have been avoided if they had just done the right thing by everyone. If they had just given a fair wage for a fair days work.  Instead they used and abused their employees and deprived them of time and money.  The company was investigated and was ordered to pay for those overtime hours to all of their employees.  Because there were no ‘real’ time sheets, the court estimated the lost wages.  It was far less than was expected but the real change came when the company was ordered to put in a time clock and new policies were set to protect the worker.  

I know that there is a lot of talk against unions these days.  But I must say that I’m not so sure that I agree with that.  I believe that the management of this company was corrupt and abusive. And they took advantage of me and many others.  Other than quitting, what else is there?  Who is out there to protect the worker?  I’m sure people will argue that the unions went  too far…asked for too much and as a result, companies relocated oversees or shut down.   And that may be true.  I think power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely…no matter which side it’s on. 

So what’s the right answer?  Depends on what side you’re on.

Global warming. Fact or Fiction?

I guess it depends on who you ask or what your political affiliation is. Or at least that's what I've come to recognize.  I made a general statement one day about global warming only to have an acquaintance of mine jump down my throat and slam me for suggesting that global warming might be factual.  Of course, I immediately shut my mouth once I realized I had hit a nerve coupled with the  the fact that I wasn't in the mood for an argument. Discussion, yes.    I have often wondered since then what it was that made that person so insistent that global warming was a myth. What did they know that I didn't know?  or What did I know that they didn't know?

Here's what I know personally.  First of all, it's hard for me to imagine that our consumption of fossil fuels hasn't affected our atmosphere. It's hard to think that our massive consumption of our natural resources and our lack of concern for our environment hasn't taken a tole on our ecosystem.

Our earth sheltered home has been the biggest indicator of change for me.  We saw little change in the first thirty years in the interior temperature of our home which is cooled and warmed by the soil around us. But recently, we've seen it change considerably. And that has been the biggest red flag for me.  And the little creek that always ran water in front of our house and was fed by a natural spring at the top of our hill, is now dry and has been dry for the second summer. And some could argue that it's just a cyclical thing and weather patterns change...and so on and so forth. And I can agree with that, too. 

So, while we could argue the point, I decided to do some fact finding. I have copied what I found and I hope that if you are taking the time to read this blog, you'll take more time to read this.....
But beware....it's pretty disturbing and you might find yourself in a position to want to try to do something about it.   But also beware that the political climate is also changing and there are many people who don't want you to know and don't want you to care.....because it affects more than the climate. It affects the bottom line of some major corporations.

The bottom line for me is that I think we need to take better care of our planet.  We can't just simply be comsumers of them and believe there are no consequences.


(Copied from the National Geographic website)
Is It Happening?
Yes. Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.
• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.
• The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.
• Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.
• Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.
• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.
• An upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, heat waves, and strong tropical storms, is also attributed in part to climate change by some experts.
Are Humans Causing It?
• "Very likely," the IPCC said in a February 2007 report.
The report, based on the work of some 2,500 scientists in more than 130 countries, concluded that humans have caused all or most of the current planetary warming. Human-caused global warming is often called anthropogenic climate change.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth's surface. (See an interactive feature on how global warming works.)

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.
• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.
• Some experts point out that natural cycles in Earth's orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today's changes have taken place over the past hundred years or less.
• Other recent research has suggested that the effects of variations in the sun's output are "negligible" as a factor in warming, but other, more complicated solar mechanisms could possibly play a role.
What's Going to Happen?
A follow-up report by the IPCC released in April 2007 warned that global warming could lead to large-scale food and water shortages and have catastrophic effects on wildlife.
• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, the IPCC's February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.
• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.
• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.
• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.
• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.
• The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.
• At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.
What is Climategate?
In late November 2009, hackers unearthed hundreds of emails at the U.K.'s University of East Anglia that exposed private conversations among top-level British and U.S. climate scientists discussing whether certain data should be released to the public.
The email exchanges also refer to statistical tricks used to illustrate climate change? trends, and call climate skeptics idiots, according to the New York Times.
One such trick was used to create the well-known hockey-stick graph, which shows a sharp uptick in temperature increases during the 20th century. Former U.S vice president Al Gore relied heavily on the graph as evidence of human-caused climate change in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
The data used for this graph come from two sources: thermostat readings and tree-ring samples.
While thermostat readings have consistently shown a temperature rise over the past hundred years, tree-ring samples show temperature increases stalling around 1960.
On the hockey-stick graph, thermostat-only data is grafted onto data that incorporates both thermostat and tree-ring readings, essentially presenting a seamless picture of two different data sets, the hacked emails revealed.
But scientists argue that dropping the tree-ring data was no secret and has been written about in the scientific literature for years.
Climate change skeptics have heralded the emails as an attempt to fool the public, according to the Times.
Yet climate scientists maintain that these controversial points are small blips that are inevitable in scientific research, and that the evidence for human-induced climate change is much broader and still widely accepted.

Harvesting Memories.

So, how does your garden grow? …or do you even have one? If you do, you will appreciate this post. If you don’t, then I must encourage you to start a garden. …floral or vegetable, doesn't matter.  They are both so rewarding.   Digging in the dirt is the most spiritually satisfying activity I've found that I can do on my own time and in my own way.

My dad had a garden when we were growing up. I remember very vividly sitting out under one of the big oaks in our back yard and having to shell purple hull peas.  My fingers were purple all summer long.  I couldn’t seem to get that purple stain off of my fingers.  It wasn’t anything that I loved doing but it was one of those chores that my Mom had us do if we wanted to go fishing or swimming.  She was always good about canning all the veggies my dad could produce in his garden.  We had canned tomatoes in the winter for our soups and she would make the best creamed corn. 

The best part of summer when I was growing up was the fresh meals that came out of the garden.  I can remember watching the tomatoes ripen on the vine and when they started to turn, I would watch for the special one and when it looked like it was ready to pick, I would take the salt shaker out to the garden and sit down between the rows and eat it right off the vine. It was soooooo good! I can almost taste it now.  Kids these days have no idea what a real tomato tastes like. 

Today I went to the opening of the Farmers Market at the Farm. It was kind of early for any veggies but they managed to get hooked up with some area growers who are serious about growing for the public…thank goodness.  Bob Evans of Cotton Valley is one of our growers and he managed to have the biggest and prettiest heads of cabbage today.  Freshly dug red potatoes and freshly picked broccoli were for sale today at the market and I was so proud to get there early enough to get some. I got home with my bounty, put on some music, turned our old oscillating fan on and began to dance while cleaning my veggies. It brought back such great memories.

I also brought home some new plants that I bought from Molly. She’s a local horticulturalist who has managed to get her children excited about the earth and gardening and their family was out at the market selling plants, eggs and handmade flowers out of recycled tin cans.  I had to buy one of almost everything, of course.

So, today was a great day and I can’t wait to plant my new plants, eat my new potatoes while patiently waiting for the tomatoes to start making.  Fresh vegetables are a rare treat these days especially those that are grown by the hands of backyard gardeners who learned the art of gardening from their parents and grandparents.   We need more gardeners and more farmers.   Consider being one or at least supporting the ones that live in your community.  Go gardening! Go green! …or Go buy!

The Perfect Day!

It was the laughter that caught my attention.  While working in the "Painting for a Cause" tent, I could see the colorful quilts blowing in the breeze by the side of Zenobia’s old home place.  And on the front lawn, Janell and members of the Pleasant Valley Church were frying chicken for festival goers.  And on the front porch, a couple of teachers from Bossier were enjoying their chicken while watching the traffic go by.  It was the smell of fried chicken, the sound of the laughter and the buzzing of the cooks that made my heart swell and I could feel the grin on my face take over.

It was our 18^th arts festival and the 12^th one to be held on our four acre Farm.  The crowd size was perfect. …any more and the experience would have been different for everyone.  People were busy painting on the outdoor mural, kids were under the tents making faces out of clay and the music coming from the big talent tent reminded you that it was all about the kids.  

Having chaired the festival every year since its inception, there was something different about this year.  Every little detail had been addressed. From the thoughtful placement of the colorful quilts to the whimsical tin flowers scattered around the yard…the entire place was a piece of art.  It was my dream festival.  Everything that had played out in my head was played out in real life…for the first time.  There were no regrets, no complaints, no last minute worries, no forgotten tasks.  The board members and the volunteers who had dedicated their time and talent were now seeing the fruits of their labor, too.  My only hope was that they were experiencing what I was experiencing….pure satisfaction. Pure joy.  The perfect day! 

We created a beautiful scene with real elements and real people on April 28^th and it was truly a masterpiece!

Color in my World

I love diversity and I love experiencing the culture of other groups and other communities. I guess that's why I spent nearly two decades trying to bring those experiences to children each spring during our Spring Arts Festival. As an Army brat, perhaps it was my early exposure to diversity that led me to want to try to expose my own child and my own community to this beautiful world of color.

Looking back on it, I am still astonished at the resistence our festival committee experienced when trying to bring people from other cultures and traditions to Minden.  I remember the year we brought the Houma Nation  to Minden to celebrate Native Americans.  We had gotten word that one of the churches in town was planning to boycott the festival. We were going to honor the tribe's arrival with a community totem pole with colorful blocks created by area school children that included special messages. We took the news in stride and decided that we would make this a teachable moment not only for the children but for adults as well.  I guess it worked. There was no boycott after all.

And I remember the year that we decided to celebrate China. With the olympics to be held that same year, we thought it would be a great idea to honor their country.  We invited the Shreveport Chinese Society to share their art and culture with us.  They brought beautiful pieces of original Chinese art to the Farm for all to enjoy.  I think the most impressive event was when one of our Chinese guests created special calligraphy hangings for festival goers.  It was one of the brightest and most colorful festivals we had ever had.  We ordered original Chinese costumes from China for many of the children to wear for our mini parade.  We had created painted banners bearing special words in Chinese for the children to carry during the parade. We had a young Chinese exchange student sing a Chinese song on stage that brought the crowd to tears.  It was a moment when you didn't have to know what the words were to understand the significance and the meaning.

The controversy this time didn't come from our community. It came from the Chinese Society.  We shared with them the many photographs we had taken of their visit in Minden. And among the photos was one of a young girl holding one of the banners that read  "Liberty" in Chinese. We had taken the suggestion of these painted banners from a page out of a boy scout manual. Unfortunately, our guests thought that we were involved in a conspiracy to disgrace them in their homeland.  We did manage to meet with them and reassure them that everything we did was honorable and certainly not meant to harm them in any way. We were very apologetic. We did manage to smooth things over with them, thank goodness.

We have in our backyard another culture that deserves our respect and attention. And that is of our African American neighbors. My own life experiences have colored my world with such wonderful memories. From Arley James to Mr. Moore to the Thornton sisters, their friendships have given me such joy.  And during this Black History Month celebration I honor their memories and their friendships. And I hope that we can continue to keep our minds and hearts open to experiencing and understanding the cultures and traditions of others even our own.

With all the turmoil and unrest on our planet today, I think its going to take more sensitivity, respect and understanding to get us through these tough times. Our cultures and traditions may be different. Our skin may be different. Our religions and politics may be different.  But we are all still part of the same race....the human race!

There is color in my world, I hope there is color in yours!

Leading by Example

Over a decade ago I noticed a significant rise in violence among the boys at The Children’s Center.  There was more name calling and their aggressive actions were affecting the harmony we had all come to enjoy at The Children’s Center.  Without knowing the direct cause, I attempted to examine what social issues we might have been experiencing that were different than any other time in my fifteen years of care giving.

I sought the advice of professional counselors to see if they too had experienced the same thing. I examined every aspect of the Center from our policies to our supervision.  I was very careful in those days to monitor their Nintendo games and anything they watched on television.  We forbid anything that was violent down to the smallest details including not allowing toy guns at the Center and not allowing the children to make toy guns out of Lego’s (which they often did and hid them under the Lego table.)

The one thing that marked this period in time was the beginning of the Iraq War.  I’m not sure that was the catalyst for their aggressive behavior but I knew that I needed to do something about it for the sake of the kids.  At my own expense, I hired a professional counselor who at the time had designed a program for children called “Cool Waves.”  The idea was to bring youngsters together for special  sessions which included everything from role playing to leadership training exercises and even watching videos designed to teach children how to resolve problems through non violent means.

We pitched the idea of this “Cool Waves” program to the young boys who had displayed aggressive behavior above and beyond what we thought was appropriate.  I secured permission from the parents. A signed contract from the boys meant that they understood that this program was to help them with their aggressive behavior but most importantly it would help them redirect their energy towards a more productive outcome.  They also understood that we were paying for this because we believed in them and we believed them to be our leaders of tomorrow.  “Leaders of tomorrow” was the phrase that appealed to them.  The sessions were held off site each week for a number of months.  The boys were respectful and made every attempt to make this work for all of us. I was so proud of them.  They graduated from the program and were told that it was their job to pass that knowledge and newly-found behavioral skills down to the younger children.  And they did.  The whole atmosphere at the Center changed. Violence was replaced with compassion, kindness and understanding.  Peace had been restored.

I share this story today because I’ve witnessed the same aggressive behavior in society probably more these days than ever before. And not just among children.  Have we replaced compassion and kindness with hatred and violence? Has arrogance and greed along with our hunger for superiority divided us even more?  Have we become a country of bullies?  We seem to bully those who don’t believe as we do. We bully those whose political positions don’t mirror our own. ?  I feel somewhere down the road, we have allowed our egos to get the better of us.   Maybe it’s time we all took a hard look at ourselves.

I’m not excluding myself in this. I have been examining my own behavior and becoming more conscious about my actions and my reactions.  We should all be willing to fight for compassion and not mistake kindness as a weakness.

 Peace be with you!