The BOWA Blog

LJ Polin

YOUR MOUTH IS DEAF

by LJ Polin

Contrary to popular belief, you cannot listen with your mouth. Sounds funny, however most people insist on speaking then listening, when in fact you are heard more when you show interest in what you are actually hearing. Sound interesting? Keep listening…

It’s part of what Bert teaches at his academy. He has mastered communication and shares his knowledge such as this. I especially like this topic because I recently completed a 21-day vow of silence in which listening was mostly all I was capable of. You learn more about a person when you listen. You begin to hear what is beneath their words once you listen even closer. Their tone, speed of speech and inflections… You understand what is really on their mind. What topics they are excited about and what they skirt by. Most people tell more through expression then verbiage these days… Our ears are just not trained to listen for it.

Train your ears. I received a great tool from my music engineering professor back in college… He asked the class to close their eyes and listen. Listen to how many different channels of sound they could decipher, channels of sounds being the different origins of sound itself. You would hear birds. Wind. People across the street. Wheels screeching. The bass of music from another vehicle. The hum of power lines. The slight flick of sound when traffic signals change. Your breath. Your own heartbeat.

It’s amazing when you break down how many channels of sound are flooding your ears at any given time. Coming from all directions at different times, different volumes and different tones. The question is what are you hearing?

If your mouth is speaking, then nothing.

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29
JUN
0
Eric Munter

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?

by Eric Munter

This must be one of the most commonly asked questions a child faces as they grow up. At first, grandma, grandpa, relatives and friends will gush over the baby of a parent and eventually ask, “So, what do you want little Oswald or little Mildred to be?” I guess technically, the first question these people should be asking the parents is, “Why in the world did you name your child Oswald or Mildred?” (No offense to those of you who named or plan to name your child as such – but I beg that you please reconsider).

Later on in the child’s life when they can speak and are in school, they will field this question themselves. “What do you want to be when you grow up, Ozzie? Miley, have you considered what you will do in the future?” (Oswald and Mildred have of course grown up to despise their names as I predicted, and they demand to be called by their self-enforced nicknames).

Ozzie and Miley know exactly what they want to be when they grow up. Oswald wants to and becomes a lawyer (but sadly this will cost him his “Ozzie” nickname, and he will henceforth be known as Oswald Reagan Kensington IV because it sounds more “lawyery”). Miley wants to and becomes an actress (and changes her name for a third time to stage name Macy Furlap because her birth-name is already registered with the S.G.A. – the Screen Actor’s Guild).

Oswald and Mildred are lucky. They have known what they’ve wanted to be their entire lives. When growing up, I was asked the same question they were asked hundreds of times. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I answered this question hundreds of times and probably gave dozens of different answers over the years.

“I want to be a writer.”

“I want to be a teacher.”

“I want to be an actor.”

“I want to be a priest.” (Fortunately, this ambition passed – no offense to those in the priesthood.)

“I want to play in the NHL.”

“I want to be an architect.”

I’m now twenty-nine years old and if you were to ask me what I want to be – I honestly don’t know what I’d tell you. I have dozens of different things that I am extremely interested in pursuing, and have been lucky to pursue several of them to various degrees. But to only pick one? I get antsy and want to try something new after doing the same thing for a period of time. Is this just a lack of focus, or is it simply I haven’t found the one thing in life I love to do and want to do until the day I die – the thing to which I can finally answer the question, “What do you want to be?”

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29
JUN
0
Val Leichtman

RIDES

by Val Leichtman

Click, click, click, click, click . . . the car slowly clicks as it rises up the inclined track. My heart begins to pound, my palms begin to sweat as I grip the handlebars so tightly my fingers tingle numbly. The clicking stops and our movement pauses for what feels like an eternity. I clench my eyes shut. “What am I doing? I don’t want to be here. Let me out,” I weakly say inside my own head. Even the thoughts are futile. I’m not sure how many hundreds of feet up in the air we are, but there’s only one way off of this ride . . . down.
—
I’ve always loved rides, specifically roller coasters, but I never knew until recently that I wasn’t riding them properly. The above description is almost always exactly what would play out in my head during that terrifying, interminable first incline. Last year, the BOWAworld team took at trip to Tampa for Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens (the same great theme park with the added fun, Halloween twists of haunted houses and people dressed up like monsters jumping out of bushes at you) and I rode a roller coaster with LJ as my partner. When we got off the ride, he informed me I rode it wrong; that I was fighting the ride with fear rather than embracing it and just allowing myself to enjoy it. I looked at him confused (and honestly, probably a little bit annoyed; I don’t like being told I’m doing something wrong, especially when it’s true), but in his unique LJ way, he shrugged his shoulders, grabbed my hand and asked me to trust him.

Normally, I would ask a million and one questions, but that night I just let him lead me back to the front of the ride and into the “front row” line. “Oh, this is what you meant, I’ve ridden at the front before,” I said. His green eyes brightened as he said, “Yes, but this time you’re going to ride with your eyes open and your hands up.” I was immediately hit with fear. I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but something (maybe the absolute desire to not let LJ see me as a coward) kept me in line.When our turn came, we sat down in our seats. As it started slowly moving, he grabbed my left hand with his right, and held our hands up high. “Now put your other hand up and keep your eyes open.” I was terrified, but I did as instructed. It was the best roller coaster ride of my life.

I’d forgotten all about this special moment until tonight, when I found myself on a metaphorical emotional roller coaster of stress, fear, worry, etc. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was back on that October ride for a moment; the wind was in my extended hands, my eyes were open, and I was smiling as I heard LJ yelling “Keep them open!” So often, we go through the rides of our life white-knuckling it and squeezing our eyes shut till we’re back on “solid” ground, or what we know to be “normal.” The problem with riding through life this way is that we miss out on half the fun. The next time you find yourself on a roller coaster, literal or not, put your hands up and keep your eyes open. Not every twist and turn will be fun, but it’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.

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29
JUN
0
Bert Oliva

EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY

by Bert Oliva

“If you don’t think every day is a good day just try missing one.”- Zig Ziglar

I love this quote. I want you to just think about it…

Why waste your days focusing on the negative things happening in your life? Focus on living.

“Live Life. Don’t Let Your Life Live You.” We spend too much time letting life live us.

Today is Friday and like I always say, have a “Strongend.” You must think positive. Make this day and every day count.

PowerTools:
1) Step out of your house and look at the day in front of you. Really look at your surroundings.

2) Focus on what you do have, not on what you want.

3) Sometimes all it takes is to be grateful.

Enjoy your weekend and let’s Make It Happen together.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

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28
JUN
0
Alexa Oliva

SAY IT

by Alexa Oliva

I am the type of person that does not like B.S. I just don’t do well with it. I guess because I think I’m an understanding person and try to never B.S. anyone. I always tell people to give it to me straight, I can take it.

I think that is how people should be honest. I see so many people hide what they really want or really think because they are embarrassed or don’t want the other person to feel uncomfortable, so they stay uncomfortable themselves.

I say go ahead, say what’s on your mind. It’s called communicating. If the other person can not understand, help them but don’t hide it from them.

Call me blunt, call me shameless but I have to say what’s on my mind or I’ll drive myself nuts.

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28
JUN
0
Eric Munter

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT CARTOONS

by Eric Munter

I don’t know this to be fact, but I imagine that the majority of people think cartoons are for kids and adults who watch them are strange. If this is so , I proudly count myself as a strange person because I LOVE cartoons and all things that have to do with animation.

Much how I love writing and the endless possibilities that  medium brings, in the world of cartoons anything too is possible. There are things that simply can’t be done in traditional sitcoms and movies due to budgetary constraints and other concerns. But in cartoons? You want to have a thousand explosions? Just draw them. You want to have a talking whale fly through the sky? Just draw it. Want to create a world where everyone can fly? You guessed it – just draw it! The possibilities are endless.

One of my all-time favorite movies is “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”(Interesting tidbit: the studio did not want to include a question mark at the end of the title even though it would’ve been grammatically correct because of a supposed “question mark jinx.” Supposedly, movie titles with question marks did not perform well at the box office.) That movie PERFECTLY blended live action film with animation – and it even got the two kings of cartoons on screen for exactly the same amount of frames and words spoken. Those two characters? Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. On top of it all, the plot, while not original, provided a good spin on the “who-dun-it” genre. It’s a movie I’m not ashamed to say I’ve watched at least two-dozen times.

Cartoons allow us an escape from reality even though its characters are created in ours. And when a cartoon is done well, I can’t help but completely “geek out” and fall in love with it.

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28
JUN
0
Val Leichtman

FIRE

by Val Leichtman

Tick, tick, tick, tick . . . She rushes around the house to the beat of the clock. She grabs her purse and rushes out the door. Getting to her car, she realizes she left her keys in the house. She slams the door behind her as she rushes back to the house, the door starts to smolder. Grabbing her keys, she realizes she left her cell phone charging upstairs.Sweat starts to run down her back as she takes the steps two at a time, little spouts of smoke start to rise from the steps . Breathing heavily on her way back down, she doesn’t see her son’s toy on the step and trips over it, banging her knee into the railing as she grabs onto it, keeping herself from tumbling down. The railing bursts into flame.

Everything she’s touched has caught on fire. The more frustrated she becomes, the higher the flames and the more she burns herself.
—
The above scenario is an exaggeration, but it is relatively true for me. Whenever I’m in a hurry, I make more mistakes. I forget things, I don’t notice things, I hurt myself. It’s like everything I touch really does get set on fire. My frustration and negativity gets sucked up by the things around me and then nothing cooperates. And what’s worse is that even after the scenario is over, I’m still in a wretched mood because I’m dealing with the effects of my “burns.” 

Lately I’ve been working on slowing down when I feel myself start to “heat up” in a situation. Even though it seems counter-intuitive to your subconscious, slowing down when you want to speed up, enables you to get things done faster and more efficiently because you make way less mistakes. You also don’t get “burned” in the process.

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28
JUN
0
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