Mission Statement and personas

Mission Statement

My mission is to share my story about how loosing everything helped me to realize I needed to change.  My hope is to inspire others to believe in themselves, to find the power they have within themselves, and to have the courage to become the person they have always dreamed of being.  The first step is knowing what you want.     

Personas:  

MaryAnn is a 35 year old mother of three young children.  Her life is busy and hectic.  She rarely finds a moment to herself.  Over the years, she has gradually given up her interests to help her children learn and grow.  Often times when she goes into a store to get a few things for herself,  she ends up in the children's section.  She has gained a few pounds and enjoys buying clothes for her daughter more than for herself.  Money is tight so she caters to her husbands job.  She doesn't complain when he works late.  She even encourages him to go fishing with his buddy because he works so hard.  MaryAnn loves her family, but she finds herself yelling at her kids more often than she wants.  She feels guilty and compensates by sacrificing more for them.  

Bob is forty five years old and suffers from depression.  Growing up his parents were very controlling and never let him make his own decisions. Bob went to the college his parents picked, got the job at the CPA firm they suggested, he even married the girl his parents approved of.  Bob has three teenage boys.  He is gets discouraged because his parents often disapproves of his parenting style.  He would like to stand up to them, but feels it would be disrespectful.  Bob would like to move to a new state and open his own practice but doesn't dare take the risk.  He is often tired and overworked.

Kate is 50 years old.  Kate's dad died when she was nine.  She is strong and independent; however,  she looks for validation and approval from the men in her life.  She gives up her interest and friends to be available to her husband and kids.   If her husband is not happy at his job, she encourages him to quit.  She offers to take on the financial responsibilities and the kids while her husband goes back to school.  When Kate's husband gets angry at the kids, she steps in and takes over.  Kate feels like she is solely responsible for the quality of her marriage.  She has the tendency to undervalue herself and her contributions.  

Tactic Plan:
Post exerts from the book--I will post a few sentences from the book that will draw the reader in.  It will be just enough to make them want to read a little more.    
Personal Videos:  I will be introducing the chapter and giving  a hint as to what the chapter is about.  
Facebook add:  Run an add to women in the united states.  Interest and other demographics will include mothers, christian, age,
Contest:  Offer incentive to read.  Do a challenge.  

Maybe we just don't want to know

Both interesting and sad.  It was interesting to find out that there was much more press about seventeen people being killed in Paris than hundreds of people being killed in Nigeria.  Why are some things shoved under the carpet while other things receive repeated news media attention?   The conversation in class was interesting.  Someone brought up that technology may be a factor.  In Paris there were people with cameras and videos recording the attack while in Nigeria there were no bystanders with that kind of technology. Several people brought up proximity--proximity as in culture, distance, and similarities (color).  It was quite surprising to most in the class that this kind of prejudice existed in the reporting of news. 

Some  suggested perhaps the decision not to report on the Nigeria incident was because this kind of stuff goes on all the time in Africa.  It is very sad what is going on in Nigeria.  Africa is a place that has had it's share of horrific violence for a very long time.  It is where I first learned of the awful meaning of genocide--"the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation"(google).  I've heard news about boy soldiers being forced to commit murders in the most unthinkable ways. Kid trafficking, drugs, disease, wars, torture is not new to Africa.

Could it be that to Americans, Nigeria is like that messy closet in the back corners of a  home?  It's awful and overwhelming.   There is just so much stuff we don't know what to do about, so we just close the door and try not to think about it.  Someday, that closet is going to have to be dealt with, or  the door is going to break and everything in that dark closet is going to spill out.
   

Social Networking and stabilzaition

 The old adage about women (or men) can also apply to social media--Can't live with them; Can't live without them.  At times I love social media like the times log into my Facebook account and see the birth of my nephew in North Carolina.  Within a few quiet moments, I catch up on the mothers sweet moments with her new baby.  I read about her thoughts and her emotions which are further enhanced by portraits of the baby cradled in her arms.  Thousands of miles apart, the captions and the pictures put me right there.  I also enjoy the times when I see what my friends are doing and later I can talk to them about their latest trip or new additions to their family.  I have also benefited by getting feedback when I asked for a good photographer.  I was able to go to several Facebook pages to view the photographers work.  The photographer wasn't cheap, but she was good and worth every penny.  Her Facebook page got her my business.  

But, there are times when I hate (yes, hate) social media like times when I go to lunch with friends and everyone is  checking their phones. At family get to-gathers  everyone is on their phones connecting with other people.  You see it everywhere--people so in-tune to their social media that they don't even notice the person sitting next to them.  So much time can be wasted on Facebook pages that are meaningless.  Some political posts are misleading or just plane false.  There are so many fanatical extremists. 

There are times it appears that social media is putting a gap between the human race, but Hans Roling suggests that Social Media will bridge the gap between third world countries and western countries. Information used to by possessed only by the rich.  With the emergence of technology, information can passed around the world in minutes at little or no cost.  Roling suggest the equal sharing of information will bridge the world wide gap between the rich and the poor.  He sees the western world merging with other countries and the world as a whole on a more equal economic status.

In a Mashable article, they give 5 technology innovations that make Roling's prediction seem closer than estimated (Fox, 2011).
The first three innovations, tablets, laptops, and cell phones are important because of the  affordability of this technology in third world countries and the funds available to make them accessible to school children.   Cell phones can cost as little as $15 and tablets a mere $35.

The last two innovations discussed in this article, alternative power source and water treatment,bring these countries a little closer to the western world.  Commodities we have taken for granted for centuries has been inaccessible to third world counties.  These innovations are improving life in impoverished countries.  Although technology may put a gap at the dinner table, it is bringing the world a little closer together. 

Fox, Z. (2011). 5 tech innovations that could change the developing world. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2011/10/12/tech-developing-countries/

 

Hi,
This is my first post of the year. There any more to come.