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Monday, November 02, 2009

The Power of a Dream

Everyone dreams at one time or another, some do that all day long and some do that once in a blue moon. In today's world, dreamers need a little encouragement, it seems that there has been a lot of negativity happening for a while all over the world but if you change the way you look at things then change starts to happen.

If you feel a little bummed out with the world then stop watching the news or paying attention to the media, they’re a business and they want to grab your attention, murderer on the rampage will grab someone's attention more than a new school getting great marks. You get the point. Change your routine and start reading about people overcoming odds, find some bit of nature somewhere a take a breather, do anything that will inspire you.

A dream is a gift and starting Rezident Junction Co. was my dream. It needed some nurturing but I kept at it, moving it forward and refining it, today it is a reality. Those who dream and pursue their dream despite the odds are human, and those who succeed are human too. The only main ingredient for success is to never give up! Never ever ever give up!

;-)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Symbols

I learned a great lesson recently which re-enters my mind now and again and it is about symbols. Everyone has seen those 80's sci-fi style renditions of wolves howling at a full moon with a half-dressed Native person on a T-shirt, you know the ones. I used to look at those and felt misrepresented, that I as a Native person wasn't an imaginary being like a unicorn.

Because of my business, I am on the road a lot which means that I get to meet new people and I love meeting new people. On this one particular day as I was pulling out of Starbucks, I noticed someone who was wearing a very nice tanned jacket with fringes and hints of beadwork. I really liked his jacket and felt an urge to ask him about it, so I parked again and went to talk with him.

He was a very pleasant guy and I learned through our conversation that he just happened to be reunited with his daughter after nearly a year of absence. His daughter was present, a beautiful young girl and I could clearly see in her eyes a genuine look of pride for her father. Our conversation continued on and I began talking about the business I was in and about the symbols I use in my designs. Since we were on the topic of Native artwork, I mentioned the shirts with the 80's style renditions and noticed that he didn't look too thrilled on me not being too keen on these particular designs. He simply looked at me and said that he had such a design tattooed on his back!

Prior to this encounter, I always thought of such images as mass produced misrepresentations used strictly for commercial purposes. Not once did I ever think that there was something positive, but that fateful encounter with this gentleman and his daughter made me realize that for some, this type of image invokes a feeling of serenity and a symbol of the sacred. (Yes Gary you made me realize a great lesson!)

;-)

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Integrity

The business world may seem like a war, some say it's about who has the upper hand or finding the best way to maximize profits at the expense of quality or integrity. Being who I am and where I come from, when I look at certain contracts I can't help thinking of treaties.

There was a time when one's word was as good as gold, for Traditional people it's an exchange of tobacco, certain oaths and ceremonies. One's welfare was never in doubt but our present times sure are weird.

I heard on the radio not to long ago about a company getting government bailout money in the form of billions of dollars and this company then turned around and started to hand out to their executives "bonuses" in the form of millions of dollars... How lame can you get?

Some people would feel very content with this, others wouldn't and I am assuming that is how most people would feel however I have witnessed on repeated occasions how money changes people, not that it changes them in an evil or bad way, but it does change them in a way where they seem to disassociate themselves with the people and the world around them and begin to create a world of their own.

Native hunters, would go out and hunt, return and feed the people. Imagine if instead they would have gone out to hunt and chose to never return to feed the people, they chose instead to sit with their hunt and eat and laugh and then hunt some more. It is sad that some human beings have chosen to live this way but thank goodness not all...

Live life in a good way!

;-)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

May you have your best year ever!

My view on the economic crunch is to me like someone crying that the sky is falling. It's all over the news and people are worried about it and so on and so forth but it is because of all this worrying that the economy started to slide downward.

Are you in the auto industry? If your one of the big players then worry if you want but besides that don't. Government help isn't in my opinion a solution since the auto industry is obviously a failing business, how many more cars are you going to keep pumping out? Okay so you want to help communities relying on these factories then why not use those billions towards training for other employment careers and help growing businesses instead of failing ones?

Let's say you're a barber, is there going to be a shortage of hair? Of course not but because people are worried that the sky is falling they will go less often to the barber, silliness.

All I can say is if your planning to move ahead, nurture what works not what doesn't and live life to the fullest.

;)