Sign of the Times. Participate...you ARE needed!

We now reside in a most unusual...a most comfortable...uncomfortable...advanced yet "backward" social environment when whole truths, half-truths, lies and deceit are rampant. Technology has had a hand in this consequence- wreaking havoc and confusion among us.  HOW do we ever KNOW what is truth and is not?  There seems to be no "clearing house" of information...the truth of what we hear and know.

Let's all make suggestions on HOW we should all think and operate within today's turbulence. Your opinion(s) is most important....needed...appreciated.

D. S. Vanderbilt
May 4, 2019

A "re-boot"

I have "re-booted" this blog for receipt of your comments, experiences and/or suggestions. Please feel free to respond. Let's ALL make a change within our currently-rude society so that we may have a better environment in which to exist  DV

NOTICE!

I have temporarilly suspended this blog due to my schedule. Please check back at a later time. Thank you!  DSV

YAY! A day "off"!  Enjoy your day as well!

The "One Year Rule" 

Did you receive an "unwanted" or "redundant" gift over this recent Holiday season?

You received the gift and, now, WHAT will you do with it? 

This gift-giving dilemma is fairly common, and we all get to participate sooner or later. 

It's a fairly easy situation to deal with, but there are (as in most social situations) some rules.

We'll make this very easy.  

Let's assume, the gift was a gift "exchange"...a pleasantry observed each year, 

and an exchange in which mutual expressions of gratitude were issued- the big "thank you". 

Forget the fact that that you had spent bigger $$$ on the gift you had given to your friend or relation- 

chalk it up to an expense that you can easily either absorb or remember for the next year exchange.

So, here you are with either a gift that is a "re-gift", an unwanted gift or just plain WRONG gift.       

To avoid an unpleasant and, perhaps, hurtful faux pas, remain gracious and kind to the giving party-

don't make a big deal or seem ingenuous. Just accept the gift and file it away. I suggest at least 1 year to   

any unfortunate and premature "sightings" of said gift. 

Now, what to do wrth the gift in question?  If any label remain, it could be "re-gifted" to an appropriate 

recepient, it might be "exchanged" for credit at a local store if the item's origin is known or it could be

donated to a local resale organization.

My point is....give it ONE (1) year, please, Memories are generally "lost" after a year, and one usually goes into the next gift-giving "phase" after one year. Always  remember to be generous...magnanimous, really, when dealing with others in times of gift-giving. It IS the thought that counts! 

WOW, now that was original!

D. S. Vanderbilt

Rodeo, New Mexico

The New Year's Eve Party Invitation That Never Came

Two evenings ago (New Year's Eve) I learned that I was NOT invited to a special N.Y.E. party being held at a friend's    home nearby. I was surprised to have felt "devastated", stunned by the seemingly glaring omission which, to me, seemed incredulous.  

Searching my soul, I arrived at three possible reasons for my "exclusion": 

1. It was a special event that dictated certain people of an "inner circle" 

2. I was not included because something or someone present would make me uncomfortable and/or other guests uncomfortable  

3. An obvious "error" had be made for the oversight 

4. I was simply NOT wanted  

I'll address these thoughts in this same order: 

1. True- it MIGHT have been a "special event" which was to include only a select group of people. After all, people involved may have different groups of interests, causes or relationships.

2. Level of "comfort":   OK, true there MIGHT have been someone present who could "inflame" the evening with   my presence. The host and guests do have the right to enjoy a peaceful and strressless occasion. Therefore, my exclusion may have een for MY level of comfort...or the level of comfort for the other guests. 

There might also have been a "limit" to the number of guests to be invited...due to space and other contraints  

3. People make errors....mistakes ALL the time. Nothing personal....oh, but I don't make mistakes....RIGHT!! 

4. WHAT do you mean I am NOT "wanted"?!  OK, time to search your own "value added" qualities. 
Would MY presence really have enhanced the event? Not everyone can be invited to every event all the time. So, just "get over it". The sense of "self"- ego is tough to comprehend and acknowledge. Swallow your pride and hope for better luck next time. The next event will come along, and you'll be back "in the fold". 

OK, I'd just BETTER be! 

D.S. Vanderbilt

Rodeo, NM

NEW YEARS DAY 2017! 
I'm so glad (yet also sad) to see how some are giving thought to some of the great names of show business, many of whom have passed this past year. Sad...because they ARE now passed, and glad because of the high praise, tribulation and honor many have bestowed upon these great names. Let us take, as and" example, actress/singer/dancer and comedian, Debbie Reynolds. It is hard to imagine the great personal loss she experienced just days ago, when her daughter and also highly revered actress, Carrie Fisher, died shortly following an in-flight cardiac intervention. Yesterday, I read a post on Facebook describing a fan of Ms. Reynolds' as seemingly "obsessed" with the actress following her sudden death. The fan wrote and posted numerous tributes to the actress one after the next. I believe this gushing of tribulation of the actress is mistaken for "obsession", when it is (in my belief) a coping mechanism...a "mourning"....not an "obsession." We all have different manners of coping or mourning a death or other forms of loss...regardless of relationship- close, distant or non-existing. It may be a "venting" technique or a "reality check" for a person to write or speak of the person no longer present. What is a great loss for some may not be a great loss for others. Try to provide comfort- space and compassion for any person experiencing a loss. Minimizing that emotion being displayed by others is heartless- cruel and unnecessary. Take the "upper road" to comfort and understand that person's great sense of loss- one day it WILL happen to you!