It's not about how you fall, it's about how you get back up.
Redirect Your Energy Towards something that matters to you.
The link below is something I supported tonight so I can change what the next election looks like. I'll be thinking a lot the next couple of days about what else I would like to be a part of changing or growing, and I'm doing it! Pass it on, redirect your energy! And tell others to get off the floor!
I don't have a Twitter account! Please tweet and tell people to #reflectRedirect
Moral of the story: If your trainee calls from bootcamp and can't give you the full address, try to have your trainee tell you their Flight Number! Then at least you can get into the support group while you wait for mail and phone calls.
My kid left for bootcamp today.
My kid left for basic military training.
How to cope with rollercoaster of emotions when your child goes to bootcamp.
When do they call home from bootcamp? How do you get their address in bootcamp?
-Big Business has yet to see Claressa Shields as "inspirational" enough, "polished" enough to highly endorse her. The unspoken fail here is they see her story as a little too brutal, her honesty a little too rough.-
Claressa Shields just became the first U.S. Olympian to win back to back gold medals.
She's been boxing since she was 11 years old, coached originally by Jason Crutchfield who recognized her potential, took a chance on a girl which he didn't agree with originally in boxing, but could not deny her ability. He took her as far as he could up until she moved from her hometown Flint, Michigan, to train for the 2012 Olympics at a Olympic training center.
She fought her way out of acute poverty, a sludge of hardships, from nowhere-land to champ of the globe. She has kept her family close to her, flaws and all, refusing to deny her roots.
She has shattered limits for women in boxing single-handedly, and won a US Olympic Gold before any other man or woman.
For a decade she has worked, trained, fought, persevered, and won.
She was in a documentary called T-Rex, revealing not only her steadfast boxing ability and perseverance over adversity taking herself to her first Olympic Gold, but also the business side of the sports-world failing to back her with star quality endorsements.
The unspoken fail of the Business Sports World is the failure of big business endorsements. Powerade and Mini Cooper have endorsed her, but in essence her deals have been simply meager, a fraction of the lower end endorsements of world class athletes.
Big Business has yet to see Claressa Shields as "inspirational" enough, "polished" enough. The unspoken fail here is they see her story as a little too brutal, her honesty a little too rough.
"Her own childhood was dark. She was 9 before she got to know her father, who began serving a seven-year prison sentence for breaking-and-entering when she was 2 years old. She was raped by her mother’s boyfriend at age 5, molested at 8. Her mother, an alcoholic, didn’t believe her story of abuse, so Claressa went to live with her grandmother, whom she considers her savior." The Washington Post
The Business side of the Sports World is failing to see the target audience that this girl with a spine of steel represents. It takes as much courage to speak her truth to the world as it does to take and deliver punches for a career. A girl who is loyal, steady, focused outside of the ring, and self-admittedly a beast inside of it; tried and proven.
What Big Business has failed to recognize is the volume of Americans who are inspired by her story of grit, not "rebranded" and "polished", because she is a fierce living example of possibility.
The obvious target audience Claressa Shields would appeal to are people such as: athletes, children in sports, women of aspiration, women of color, etc.
But the most passionate of her audience may be left by Business backers as unacknowledged potential. Up to one quarter of the population who relate personally to Claressa Shields triumph.
14.5 percent of Americans who live in poverty today. That's 45 million people, roughly 1 in 7 people.
25 percent of Americans who experience sexual violence. 1 in 4 people.(National Statistics)
10 Million American children who have had an incarcerated parent.
28 Million American children who have an alcoholic parent.
So for anyone in the business of sports who may be considering an angle to brand Claressa Shields, here is a start: courage to look the worst right in the face and beat it. Trust me, the American population can relate.
Dang. For all you youngsters, this is how you drop the bass old school. Listen at 1:45 and you'll hear it 7 seconds later. (in blues it's called an offbeat run.) Daaay haay haaaayng. This is from Clapton's new album. My Dad played guitar, had an acoustic. When I showed interest in learning, he taught me the basic chords and handed me an Eric Clapton sheet music book. LOL! That's like sitting a newb at a piano and telling them to play some Bach. I practiced til my fingers bled and learned about 2 songs before i gave up. Wish I wouldve stuck with it. My Dad gave me his acoustic that was older than I was, unfortunately it was stolen. One of my favorite memories of my Dad is him playing the guitar on the porch in South Carolina in the middle of the night when it was too hot for any of us to sleep. And Clapton remains one of the few loves we share.
I can't get the video to embed on this blog, so you'll have to click the link above, it's worth it! This is a public video on facebook that Jaime Primak Sullivan posted to all the mother's who are fighting for peace in the lives of their children. She does a series of videos called #cawfeetawk .
I often feel this way, and love that she made the video, sent it out into the world, and so many responded immediately. I hope to do more projects related to this sentiment soon and hope this can inspire women to talk honestly and support each other...this is what it looks like when a woman Does this instead of Says it.
My daughter
Comment and let me know if you have any more websites or links that relate to this for mothers.
I have a collection of pages at Google Plus for mothers dealing with domestic violence and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Here is the link:
My 16 year old son recently asked me for my perspective on 'this whole crazy feminist thing.'
I gave him the look- the deadstop, eyelock, WhatAreYouSaying? look.
"Wait a second," I told him, "you might need to start over and rephrase that, because I have a whole different understanding here...".
"No, that's what I mean," he said. "There's all these crazy teenage girls on YouTube provoking guys and screaming at them, and making all of these outrageous demands. So I wanted to ask your perspective on this, like what's the deal with feminism?"
For me, this is one of the best kind of moments with my kids. That my teenage son would come to me on purpose and ask my opinion on issues of substance is...well, really it is what I strive for as a parent; an open dialogue, and inquiring young adults.
Even though I haven't seen much of what's going on with young radical feminists on YouTube, I understand immediately what he's getting at: these girls look crazy and they're angry at men (which he is fast becoming).
I cut to the chase.
"Look- men used to own women as property by law, it was legal for men to beat their wives, and women were not allowed to have careers, or even go out on the town for an evening without adequate supervision."
I could see that he hadn't known this history, he took it in and understood it immediately. The conversation led into the right to vote, abortion issues, political under-representation, the ability to make money as a mother with the responsibilities of caring for children, and even what it means to be a man in a reality with these women.
I asked him, "Does this mean that you should feel guilty for being a man? No, you didn't personally do any of this to women. But what does it mean for a man of your generation? What is your response to this?"
He paused at this question. And so did I.
Because this is really the space where we go off and find ourselves a little further in the world.
My kids and I have watched Iron Jawed Angels together, which is grabbing enough as a movie for them to stay interested. It's about Alice Paul's amazing fight to gain the right to vote (suffrage). Not only does it shine a light on how much women have actually Fought for their rights, it left a fantastic impression on me of how smart, strong and determined Alice Paul was.
watch full movie- Iron Jawed Angels
And recently I found the PBS series Makers: Women Who Make America. The first three episodes are on the womens movement, from the 60's until now. They did a really great job of reviewing a huge era. It's exciting, frustrating, and completely thought provoking.
watch full episode- Makers: Episode 1
Makers covers the womens movement in three episodes, and followed with a season 2, that has six more episodes of women makers in different fields.
"Well I'm pretty preoccupied with the idea, 'what are we in this generation gonna provide for future generations to work with?' We have a planet that's shrinking, depending on how you look at it, and what are we gonna leave for them to breathe, what kind of air to breathe, water to drink, and so forth. So when I look at it that way, I say 'where's the hope?' I mean, we have to have hope, otherwise we become acidic.
And to me the hope, maybe this is gonna sound a little politically correct, I'm hopeful that the role women are going to play will increase. Also that the young people that are just coming on...it seems to me that these kids are really interested, because we're going to be passing them the reigns and they want to have something to work with. So they're getting involved, and to me that's where the hope is."
-Robert Redford
From NY Times Talks, full interview of the movie Truth with Cate Blanchett, Mary Mapes, Robert Redford and Dan Rather.At 1:09:42, an audience member asks Robert Redford the question, "...I'm wondering what your take is on what the next generation is bringing us because I think there are a lot of good things that are gonna happen." Robert Redford answers.
“I think the future—and this is just my opinion—but for us to move out of where we are now, and to move to something more sustainable and exciting, I think it will be in the hands of women and young people." -Robert Redford, again answering an audience question at the Sundance Film Festival.
