Power of "The Ask"

Just when he was ready to pack it in... quit the group.
Just when he felt he had nothing to offer...
questioned why he'd joined in the first place, he asked us,
"Should I even be in this group, what do I have to offer?"

His humbleness told me we had the right guy leading the group.
I rallied to his side. You have something I want...
the ability to be vulnerable... the ability to risk...
the ability to ask. I was impressed with his bravery.

There is huge power in "The Ask", and I am learning
to ask in every aspect of my life. At work I ask a collegue
"what skills do I have that can benefit this project?",
I ask another "Can you help me with this powerpoint presentation?"
In my personal life I ask a friend "can you help me organize
my basement?"

In his book The Success Principles: How to Get from Where
You Are to Where You Want to Be, Jack Canfield talks about
"The Ask". In his chapter Ask! Ask! Ask! Jack says, "You have nothing
to lose and everything to gain by asking. To be successful you have
to take risks, and one of the risks is the willingness to risk rejection."

The old saying goes "Don't ask if you're afraid of the answer"
I guess I was always afraid of the answer.

There is a feeling of exhileration and hopefulness when I do
"The Ask". And I'm learning that people like to be asked.
People like to contribute, teach and support others. Like the thrill
of finding a Purie on the ground while collecting marbels as a kid,
I am now revelling in the joy of collecting yes-es to my asks.

Since I have been doing "The Ask" (five months now), I have not been
turned down once. Am I taking advantage of asking? Definetly not.
I treat it like special underwear that I only take out for special occassions.

Start asking today. Tell me how you make out with "The Ask."

Downtown

 
Today while walking back down Ouellette after lunch with Pat
at Basil Court, I saw a man slap himself in the face seven times
hard. He tumbled out of the TD Bank, wigged out, then jumped
on his bicycle and took off in the rain. Many times I have wanted
to slap myself in the face after coming out of a bank too.

Downtown Windsor has become a place where all the sad souls gather;
a concrete island of misfits. Sometimes I feel like I am only
one screaming fit, one anti-depressant, one paycheck away
from being there too.

What is happening in your downtown?

I Wanna Be Evil

I've posed for pictures with Iv'ry Soap,
I've petted stray dogs, and shied clear of dope
My smile is brilliant, my glance is tender
But I'm noted most for my unspoiled gender

I've been named Miss Perseverance year after year,
And I'm the person to whom they say, "Your sweet, My Dear."
The only etchings I've seen have been behind glass,
And the closest I've been to a bar, is at ballet class.

Prim and proper, the girl who's never been cased,
I'm tired of being pure and not chased.
Like something that seeks it's level
I wanna go to the devil.

I wanna be evil, I wanna spit tacks
I wanna be evil, and cheat at jacks
I wanna be wicked, I wanna tell lies
I wanna be mean, and throw mud pies

I want to wake up in the morning
with that dark brown taste
I want to see some dissipation in my face
I wanna be evil, I wanna be mad
But more that that I wanna be bad

I wanna be evil, and trump an ace,
Just to see my partner's face.
I wanna be nasty, I wanna be cruel
I wanna be daring, I wanna shoot pool

And in the theatre
I want to change my seat
Just so I can step on
Everybody's feet

I wanna be evil, I wanna spit tacks
I wanna be evil, and cheat at jacks
I wanna be wicked, I wanna tell lies
I wanna be mean, and throw mud pies

I wanna be evil, little evil me
Just as mean and evil as I can be

When do you wanna be evil?


www.earthakittfanclub.com

Writing is Hard

Some days it's easier to write than others...

Not only The Crux, but several writing jobs I am working on. I finished one and it was tough. It was sell copy written for a shopping mall leasing team. Client loved it. I was pleased with a good feeling of accomplishment. I need to bask in that feeling more. My writing partner is teaching me a great deal.

I should be working on a press release right now, but instead have just woken up from a long afternoon nap. This past week I felt like I was running a marathon. Work full time. Freelance full time. I'm exhausted.

Looking at the blank page of a writing job is much like when I was a junior designer looking at the blank page. I know now, from my 15 years of experience as a designer, I just need a process. I know the writing is good.

Love to hear your process.

Chocolate Helps

First week of the new job under my belt. Happy it was a short week. A complete roller coaster ride inside my head trying to sort out the personalities, the changes and my emotions. Been carrying my
Enhancing Emotional Intelligence book with me and reading it faithfully at lunch and breaks.

Have come to the realization that I don't handle change very well, at least change I haven't any control over. I've been journalling and talking with Frank and friends. Talking has helped tremendously... Talk is a new thing for me.

After weeks of stress about the move to the new position and an intense desire to take flight instead of fight, I feel exhausted.

Usually I crawl into a hole and keep digging down and down and down... Attempting to do things differently this time. It's a hell of a lot of work. I am equal to this challenge.

...and chocolate helps.

Canadians are Stupid for Maple

Canadians are stupid for maple.
Tim Horton's advertising tells us so.
Canadians donned in toques, iceskates,
Hand-knit sweaters; (always winter
when we want maple) doing nonsensical
acts in the name of maple.

Am I supposed to know something
about maple syrup?
Can you believe it's made from
tree sap? Why isn't it green, sour?
Why aren't ants, dog-paddling through it?

Do they?

Why does Winnie the Pooh
eat honey from a tree?
Why not maple syrup?
After all he was named for the
Canadian City Winnipeg.

What do you do with maple syrup?
Pancakes and... ?
Canadian Marketer of the Year: Tim Horton's.

England Comes to Canada

Lee Baker represented the English side of the family by visiting us this weekend.

He was in Detroit for Wrestlemania 23 and skipped across the border Friday night to meet up with us. With my connections to local media, an arrangement was made for interviews with the Windsor Star newspaper and AM800 Radio. They couldn't believe he came all the way from the UK for Wrestlemania; Lee was a smooooooth interview.

Lee's great-great-grandmother Sarah Ann JARVIS and my great-great-grandfather Harry JARVIS were brother and sister. Lee's mom Dawn and I have traced the JARVIS's back to the 1600's in the Leicester area.

Harry and his wife and his ten children, (most adults at the time) immigrated to Canada. Sister Sarah Ann stayed at home, where war broke out a year after Harry's leaving.



Harry JARVIS was a shoemaker in Lesicester England (is this where I get my shoe obsession)? In fact, there is a school in Leicester that still teaches shoemaking. Would love to do the workshop. Look out Lee, I'm coming to visit you!

We had a good time. Went out for dinner with the family and then Lee, Frank, my sister and I did a bit of bar hopping. I really like him. He has a wonderful dry sense of humour and tells a great story. He is an amazing writer and knows the proper way to perform a "pile driver".

I hope we see him again... soon.