Pam’s Blog

This Thanksgiving feels different…the love runs deeper, the need for connection to family and friends more intense. We look out our window and see that the world is a scary place, so we turn inward looking for comfort from the people, places, and traditions we hold most dear. There remains much to be grateful for, […]

Many of us are engaged in our year-end ritual walk down memory lane. How well did we play our part in the circus, did we grab the golden ring or just miss it? One more ride on the merry-go-round, please.

We have once again seen clearly that terrorism can reach us even on a fall Friday evening in the most beautiful city in the world. These acts of barbarism have changed us, but they have not killed the hope that ultimately good will prevail over evil.

Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina may be polar opposites politically but they are sisters of the spirit when it comes to fighting for what they want. The emergence of one of them as their party's candidate for President would be historic. To have both of them at the top of their respective tickets would be truly glass-shattering.

The late summer edition of Perspectives...For Women Who Lead, if filled with ideas and information to help lead your best life, including a study that shows that being a working mom is actually good for your kids; there are ways to overcome your fear of public speaking; that bouquet of flowers on your desk not only make you happy, they make you a better employee; and the last best hope for the future of the planet may be this 20/30 something generation of young leaders.

Our lives move at such pace that yesterday's accomplishments quickly disappear from our memory. A recent move prompted an enlightening trip down memory lane that ended in a box filled with problems solved, challenges met, and hurdles overcome. On the lid I wrote "Victory Box". I'm keeping it around for those long days when things haven't gone so well. If no one else tells me I'm smart and competent, I'll tell it to myself...and then open that box and prove it. We all need to be reminded of our victories from time to time.

By almost any standard, the Perspectives Poetry Contest has been a great success: It accomplished it's goal...to encourage people to delve in to their inner most thoughts and tucked away journals and share those musings with the world. The result has been three poems that have seen the light of day and three poets who are now known for their work. This is just the beginning...

The smallest moments can sometime have the largest impact on the way we see life and ourselves. One of those moments happened recently for me when our community held a free electronics recycling day. The entire back compartment of our SUV was filled to the roof with extinct dinosaurs, victims of technology’s evolution. Wouldn’t I like to have those six plus thousand dollars, now. Every experience in life is a lesson. Do I really always need the latest and greatest or would I prefer to cruise to Mykonos. Bon Voyage, my friends.

With the recent passing of Maya Angelou, one of America's greatest poets, along with my own modest success of having a poem published in the New York Times, brought forth the idea to have a poetry contest of our own. No matter how many forms your creativity takes, from cutting edge leadership to great cooking, writing down your thoughts and observations can free your mind to fly. I believe there is a poet in all of us. So dust off that old journal that's stashed in a drawer, and get writing. The world is waiting to read your thoughts!