KALEIDOSCOPE: ODE TO A DREAM.....

Contemplating where you are, as the sheets of rain hang down
like beaded curtains in a 1970s era room
the music was always the link between us
but the words no longer call my name

The verses no longer take me back
nor do I feel that catch in my breath, in my heart, in my spirit
at the memory of your voice, singing in my ear
or the guitar strings strumming my soul

Yesterday is gone and today is done
We now exist independently in the tomorrows of our life
So invigorating to finally be free to be who we were meant to be
We are young and the sun is rising on the rest of our days

The strength that we have gained from each other
propels us forward as we make our separate ways in the world
Even though the pull is gone, I know that we will remain friends
And that one day we will find each other again,

If only within the pages of Dreamscape......

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

We Are Too Freakin' Young to be Dying Right Now

Let me start by saying I hate rainy days. They are dark and cold and massively un-motivating. Unless I have an appointment that requires me to be outside of the office, I prefer to ruminate on the inside away from the elements. Lately, Cincinnati has looked a lot like Seattle, Washington: cool and wet. This is the first summer in the history of my life to not have a killer tan by July. I haven't even dipped one little toe into the pool and my garden hose is gathering dust as the weeds fly higher into the sky competing with the blades of grass that are a bright, vivid green. Usually as we approach August, the grass begins to take on a bit of a straw-like hew, despite having an in-ground sprinkler system to revive it.

All of this talk about the weather is really a ploy to procrastinate what I really want to write about. And what I want to write about is this huge divergence in feelings that I am experiencing. On the one hand, despite the gloomy weather, I had an incredibly successful business day. Made some great connections; worked with a really fun client to clarify a project; and helped out a college senior majoring in communications by discussing social media career options with her.

I even received a wonderful phone call this evening from Mackenzie's new basketball coach letting us know that she made the highly competitive A team for CYO again for the fall. She will be playing basketball and soccer which she has been doing concurrently forever, but also wants to pick up a Lacrosse Wednesday night league. 3 sports, yeah call me crazy. We did it once before and I said never again! We'll see...........

Despite all the good news, my mood is tempered by a message I received today about an old high school friend. She has CANCER- a word that strikes fear into my heart. Several of my girl friends have lived through Breast Cancer and three of my friends from the Academy of the Holy Cross have died of cancer in the last 5 years.

We are too FREAKIN' young to be dying right now.

That's all I have to say.............

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Becoming the Best Version of Yourself Part 2.

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

"Becoming the Best Version of Yourself"

Attended a Dream Manager Workshop given by the inspirational Catholic spiritual speaker Matthew Kelly last week. There were nearly 500 people gathered together in my college alma mater meeting space, Xavier University's Cintas Center. Daniel Johnson Jr., founder of local networking group, New Media Cincinnati and I sat among strangers and friends all seeking the wisdom to be found in pursuing our dreams.

Matthew Kelly has teamed up with Amend Consulting to offer the Dream Manager Program to companies and to individuals. The main thrust of the program according to the literature:

"The Dream Manager Program is a unique program that combines traditional business planning principles with an original system of personal life-coaching. People become more engaged at work and in life."

The point is that if you have dreams that can be fulfilled in your personal life, then you will be more productive in your work life and focused on achieving goals and dreams there as well.

Who doesn't want to have a Dream Manager coaching them to reach for the stars? The first thing to do is to list every dream that you have. Some people were able to list nearly 100 dreams in the short time that we worked on one of the workshop assignments! List your dreams and start setting realistic goals to achieve them.

I feel fortunate that for the most part, I have lived my entire life following my dreams. Sure, I have a few that I haven't gotten to, but the point is that when you have that list and you are working toward achieving those goals, you become a happier, more fulfilled person. In that state, you are able to give even more to the people who depend upon your leadership.

Here are a few key nuggets that I took away and simultaneously tweeted (multi-tasking is hell sometimes, lol!):

• BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF
• FUNDAMENTAL DRIVER IN LIFE: PEOPLE WANT TO BE HAPPY
• PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO LVL 4 HIGH ENERGY PEOPLE (confident, joyful, enthusiastic, invigorating people)
• TRANSITION SPACE BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE IS CALLED "KRAZYTIME"
• MOST POWERFUL THINGS IN THE WORLD ARE DREAMS
• BRAND THE DREAM, BRAND THE VISION
• ENGAGED PEOPLE CAN INFLUENCE THE FUTURE

I am completely sold on the program, so come fall, you will find me in a small group in the Dream Manager Public Forum Program. Care to join me in becoming the best version of yourself possible?


Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Treasuring Friendship

Friends stay in my life forever and even when significant time has passed, a renewed connection brings us back as if it we had parted only yesterday. Every person who becomes close to us holds a bit of our essence in their hands. For those of you in my life, I want you to know that I carry a part of you with me always. The memory of you swirls in the ribbons of my dreams and the fairy dust of my days. We will always maintain a connection with each other, because that's just the way I operate.

Today I am glad to have reconnected with Nikki, who took care of my children when they were young and today has 3 young children of her own; with Terri, who traveled the path of my Xavier University Back to Business Post-Graduate Certificate program with me and last but not least, Tim- my friend from England who honored me today with a live mobile call vs. being virtual on Skype. It's always so cool to hear a British voice say, "How are you darling?" (he calls everyone darling, so no worries!!!) and know that the voice on the other end of the LG9800 really and truly wants to know how I am doing.

Friends have always meant the world to me and I treasure them greatly. Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for allowing me into your life.





Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Do You Remember??

This is retro day. I picked up a small yellow book that has been on my bookshelf for more than a few years. The initial read gave us all some big laughs as we reminisced on things from our childhood that we had forgotten about. Perusing it today, many years later, I notice that many of the products are back on shelves. Reminds me of the literal version of the saying " What goes around, comes around." Wondering if this is a commentary on the fact that we are aging. That we have finally reached the point in our lives when these toys, products, songs etc. are being reintroduced to younger generations because they are "classic", which is really another word for just plain "old". See if any of these things spark anything in your memories:

• Daisy chains
• Black lights
• Metal lunchboxes
• Lava lamps
• Rocky Horror
• Pet Rock
• Mood Ring
• Green stamp books
• Leif Garret
• Bay City Rollers
• The DeFranco Family
• Mad Libs
• Ouija Boards
• Black & White tv sets (not talking about the console here!)
• The Marlboro man on tv
• When tv channels went off the air at night.

"Hey Mikey, he likes it!"
"Ancient Chinese Secret, huh?"
"Where's the Beef?"
"My dog is better than your dog."'

Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me to a time when there were no worries; a time when we were free to be kids. A time when w were just free to BE!
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

GROOVING ON THE RIVER

Floating down the river filled with peaceful motion
filled with birdsong sporadically punctuating the silence
Filled with the occasional splash of brown river water spray

Looking up into an azure sky holding clouds
punctuated by slices of bright sunlight
I duck low in the canoe
and let the spanish moss tickle my face
as I pass underneath low hanging branches

This would be a wonderful place to think and write
to write and think
to reconnect with my soul
and so the journey begins

The peaceful journey into my mind
Everything is crisp and clear and comforting
I feel happiness in every pore of my being
I am one with the day

I carry no regrets, no worries, no fears
Not even a thought of what was
I am just Being and
damn, it feels good!



Image credit: www.saveourmiami.com/files/QuickSiteImages/Li.
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Late Date With Great Grandma & Johnny Cash

Ok, I had to interrupt my stream of consciousness writing on the previous blog post to create this one. My husband walks into my office with cell phone in hand mouthing to me that he is talking to his grandmother (whom he had been trying to reach for weeks). Mind you it's 10:00 p.m. I don't even talk to my parents this late! The kicker is that she is 93 years old and just returned from seeing a Johnny Cash movie.

Great Grandma Idy lives in a beautiful retirement home on Long Island. Somehow New York and Johnny Cash don't seem to go to together, but hey, if she's having fun, then that's all that matters!!! We should all be so lucky to be still kicking it up as we approach the century mark in our lives. She has experienced a lot in her life, including being one of the turn of the century children to enter Ellis Island from Europe. But that is a blog post for another day....


Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Social Media Ate My Blog Post Homework.....

Apologies for the recent lack of blog posts. This past week has been busy with a wide variety of social media experiences. Thought I'd take take a minute, slow down and examine just how my week was spent on the social media highway (yes, I know this seems like a lame attempt to explain why I haven't written anything lately as well as a thinly disguised way to create a post without really creating a post, if you get what I mean??!!). Here goes:

• Worked with two local small businesses to show them how to use Social Media tools to increase their marketing efforts and effectiveness
• Worked with a new coaching client in the areas of social media training and job search
• Prepped for an upcoming social media seminar that I will be leading on 7/10/09
  
• Worked out details for an upcoming local chamber of commerce event I will be participating in
• Participated in the Live Talk-Shoe New Media Cincinnati Community planning call for the July meet-up- Call (listen here) was simultaneously live-tweeted
  
• Live-tweeted from the July 3rd Cincinnati Reds vs. the Cardinals game
• Twitpic' d the game and the concluding fireworks
• Had a great social media discussion with family friend Stan Joosten, Innovation Manager for Holistic Consumer Communication at P&G (very, very cool job he has!) at our 4th of July party
• And of course continued to create connections with business partners, potential clients and friends on Twitter!

So there you have it: a new blog post. Mission accomplished!!

Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009