Chris' Christian Blog

March 30, 2017

"March 30, 2017"  ** Image ID #2113629 Unavailable ** "


The Blog City Prompt forum prompt for March 30, 2017 is "Novelists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life." Charlotte Bronte What are your thoughts on this?

I

agree with this thought. Life teaches us many lessons. I have learned more through experience, trial and error than I could ever possibly learn in college. Life itself is a college education for those willing to learn. The problem with learning from life is that the lessons are not in a compact lecture format. It takes a long time to learn. Everything we learn is in the future and we cannot rush it. We have no time machines to travel forward. If we did we would miss those lessons anyway. So we must be patient and let the years pass.I have more experience knowledge now than I ever had and each day adds something new.



The 30 Day Blogging Challenge prompt is "Have you ever been on tv, the radio, or in your local newspaper before? Tell us about it! If not, tell us about someone you know who has."

Y

es I have been on television and in the headlines before. I was the executive director of a mental health consumer group designed to nullify the stigma associated with mental illness. We also lobbied for legal changes and were instrumental in passing the Ohio Mental Health Act back in the 90's and we were instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was on WTAP TV 15 in Parkersburg WV. We had an estimated audience of 250,000 people. I did a 2 fifteen minute interviews with them advocating for these acts. I was also the at-large representative to W.E.C.A.R.E. Network, a state wide mental health consumer group that actively and vigorously lobbied both US and state congress. I have met in person with several congressmen and told them frankly that I represented and estimate 1,000,000 mental health consumers in the state of Ohio and if they wanted to keep their jobs they would vote yes or no on certain bills. That led to exposure in Columbus Ohio and Washington DC. Numerous reporters have interviewed me about the bills I wanted to pass or fail and why we wanted that. To be honest I don't know how many times I have been interviewed. I have even had bylines in some papers though they were usually only opinion section articles for various causes. I know of at least two quarter of a page spreads I have written and published in both the Marietta Times in Marietta Ohio and the Marietta AM. The circulation was about 100,000. I have talked on various subjects in front of very large groups. So public appearances, television, etc are not new to me. I was also on local radio several times. One was talk radio where I did a 30 minute segment supporting the Americans with Disabilities Act and the other was a 20 minute segment in which I discussed my books. The station wanted to interview me because I was local talent and a published author. The DJ read one of my poems and we discussed it then I answered some call in questions. So television, radio, and newspaper appearances, both positive and negative are old hat to me. At first I had stage fright but now I could talk or even sing in front of a football stadium full of people and it wouldn't bother me. The only time I was ever nervous before a group after being on television and such was when one of my professors assigned us a presentation to make to the class that counted for 33% of our grade for the semester. That made me nervous but I got an A plus for my presentation. Aside from that public appearances are fine with me.



The Blogging Circle of Friends prompt for March 30, 2017 is ""Human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation, they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning. "~Karen Armstrong

What's your take? Do you agree or disagree with this statement?"

K

aren is absolutely right. Humans will never live in a vacuum. When we are in a vacuum we find ways to fill it. My way of filling the vacuum for many years was to get high every day. I was lost in the world of addiction much longer than I care to mention. It was a horrible place to live and I often considered suicide to escape it. Thank God I never carried through on those thoughts. In those days I did not carry through on much of anything. I've been clean quite awhile now. I hope to stay that way. I still don't like vacuums in my life. Now I find constructive ways to deal with them.