Having my own Voice

Today one of my team members told me I could not tweet about politics or religion. I totally got what she was saying about being politically correct and I can somewhat agree with her. But, do I really want to be politically correct at the expense of my own voice being heard?

Do I have to be silent at my disappointment that the country seems to be more outraged that someone got voted off of Idol than a potential government shutdown? To be politically correct I have to care that a lot of people love American Idol....actually I have been watching it this season as well. And I have to be concerned that if I say America doesn't care about her poor, people will be offended.

As I looked at the various polls today it was quite clear that most of America is not concerned with the possibility of a shutdown. What I've come to realize is that when it's not lurking at our front door we tend to not care or notice. And those who try to bring awareness to something not effecting my life can become offensive.

I believe being true to yourself is the most important part of being you. I think that having a true authentic voice is a breathe of fresh air. I like that I get it and that I care about those less fortunate than me. Because truth is at any given moment any of us could be one of those people.

Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one's soul. - Martin Luther King Jr.

And idea is just and idea

While I was the publisher of Atlanta Woman magazine we would do events almost every month. Hundreds of women and men would come out to these events as we honored, featured and took on current topics.

My event manager at the time was a fierce young woman name Deanna Lewis. I will never forget one day she walked into my office and said," okay, I need you to close your eyes and visualize how you see your event. I know you know, but its in your head and we can't execute until the vision is on paper." I think about this encounter whenever I find myself stuck and not able to move forward.

As you know, I don't watch much television but this Sunday I found myself watching the OWN network for the first time. I watched the "Behind the Scenes of Oprah's 25th Anniversary" and was astounded by the sheer largeness of it all. But it really was the Master Class featuring Oprah herself that moved me in ways I can't explain. I thought I knew her story but as it turns out I only knew it in parts.

Like most people I look at her and see her as she is right now and what a powerful woman she is in the world. Yet, for the first time I got chance to see what she had to go through to get where she is today. It's a road traveled by so many people out there but most have not been able to push through to make it.

When I heard her say," an idea is just an idea until there is a reaction and then an action", I sat up straight. I thought about all the ideas that have been lurking in my head for years without any reaction. Simply put...when we react to those ideas it pushes us to action. Simply put...what have you been dreaming about for years and still haven't moved on it. When will it be a good time? What can you be doing until the money or investor comes?

What would happen if you actually took those plans you've written down and started to work them? It takes guts to move an idea to action, otherwise its just an idea.

Time to step up my program and be heard.....