Pirating your life

All we hear about is the economy and how bad things are. Maybe the end of days is coming. More fear. What if we realized that this is just another roadside attraction distracting us from following our dreams?
If I make my decisions based on what people around me fear, I am never following my inner guide, my personal beliefs, or my dreams. I see students who major in business when they love art, or go into nursing when they want to be a medical researcher. They are listening to the people around them who say "do something safe."
We cannot live life fully when we make choices based on the fears that surround us.
We can only be a pirate in our life when we are willing to sail away from the known shore into unknown seas.

Stop believing the fear Mongers

I was watching yet another end of the world show last night based on ancient the Mayan calendar and Nostradomus. None of this is actually based on science or reality, only our interpretations as we look for something else to be afraid of. Or pehaps a way to justify our religious beliefs or actions. All of it is about living a life based on fear, full of problems we cannot solve and sign that all is lost.

Again, I wonder about Pirates, people who did not live in fear, but lived fully in the moment. They were not afraid to sail out to sea, or weather a rough storm. Most of them had very lttle, but were willing to share what they had. Pirates believed in sharing the wealth equally, and providing for disabled pirates. They had very little, but appreciated it a great deal. I saw the same thing in Israel, people who do not have much, but feel rich.

We in America, however, so often are afraid to share what we have, donate part of what we have, or be content with what we have. We have so much, appreciate it so little, and live in fear of losing what we have.

Israel and Innovation

When I went to Israel to study innovation, I found something interesting. Yes, there is a focus on education and learning that helps. I expected that. There was also a story telling tradition, as well as great diversity that brings different ideas together. I expected to find a sense of courage, or perhaps chutzpah, and I did. All of these elements push people to move into new areas and create new possibilities.

However it was the element of hope that pulled it all together. Hope was everywhere. There was art at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. There were messages of hope at the Diaspora museum. Everywhere we went we heard people talking about the future in positive ways. We heard people talking about building for their children, or following their faith to heal the world.
It is this power of hope that ties all the other elements together.