eliminate the stuff from my life which doesn't fulfill me spiritually, emotionally or creatively

WOW ! A paradigm shift is a change in the ruling theory of science first described by Thomas Kuhn in 1962 in The Structure of Scientific Evolution.

Poetry Takes Over. While Kuhn meant for the concept of the Paradigm Shift to relate to hard sciences, in recent years the concept has been apllied in a more psychological and sociological manner in the way people view the world around them. (think ugly duckling realizing it is actually a beautiful swan, got it?)

I am sure Kuhn would have a field day with the modern, and especially my, interpretation of a Paradigm Shift and that is okay, because whatever he thinks of me doesn’t have to affect what I think of me in the least. Ah ha. (do you sense where I am going with my paradigm shift?)

I may very well have to face my self in the mirror and give myself a round of applause, no scratch that, a standing ovation!

a much needed break from Toastmasters is being fully enjoyed – in the meantime I am having experiences that will be worth discussing, reading books that should inspire speeches (sort of a Cliff’s Notes oral book session for some I guess), and spending more time at the soup kitchen.

all in all not speaking for a while will surely turn out to be a much needed sabbatical

In an effort to manage 43T a little better I parked a handful of my goals in the “given up” section for now.

Having too much stuff, even goals, can be messy, espcially when they clog up the works of the things that really need to get to done. So for now many goals are being parked as ‘given up.’ They’ll probably be back eventually, but for now they are being sent to storage so I can focus on other matters at hand.

My Toastmasters experience came to a crashing end this week. And once the dust settles from this experience I think it may be a good thing.

(background in a nutshell : I love public speaking and love to introduce people to the world of public speaking. I also have one of those personalities that fill a room and at the same time I can find the wallflowers and help them bloom.

My Toastmasters club has been through some interesting challenges lately – participation is low, in part because of the holiday season, and many of the members who attend are not exactly extroverts. Being humorous during the rough (or dull spots) is a part of my schtick. At the recent Toastmasters breakfast I was even given a trophy for club spirit.

Its kind of draining, in large part because I am taking helping other people grow while not being able to speak and improve my skills.

This past week, for whatever reason, of the the long term members of the club sent a really meanspirited email to the club member list. The list includes current and former members. In it she started by ripping apart my wardrobe, and continued to state that the group “is not a comedy club” and a “return to pride and dignity” was needed.

I was blown away by the whole thing. Being attacked so personally and specificially in a public forum, to people who know me personally, was a definite new and hardly fulfilling experience.

I was slowing down my Toastmasters experience in large part because I was not able to grow anymore. I was hoping that somehow the experience could change – instead I was kicked, hard. And have made the decision to leave the organization.

The one thing that came out of this experience most was that it showed me again just when New Jersey is the punchline of so many jokes, and why it is never portrayed in a respectable manner in TV and film. It’s a nasty place, with an over abundance of nasty people, who don’t floss often.

I’m still mourning the end of my Toastmasters experience, but I am sure I will be very happy once the dust settles.

Go away dust. Be gone! Eliminate yourself !

In reading the two previous posts I am surprised at how literal those two entries are !

When I adopted this, I was thinking back on an interview of a few years ago with Maya Angelou. In it, she was speakign of the people who have a negative influence on us, and how their “stuff” needs to be removed as well. By “stuff” she was referring to those intangibles like attitude, and the remnants of those attitudes that remain with us. “Take all your stuff with you” she stated.

The stuff I want to eliminate may have a physical embodiment, but it represents intangibles.

(( I hope I am not the only one with that interpretation or my entries will appear very strange ! ))