Are we there yet?

We have all have either been or been in a car with an annoying kid in the backseat, who chanted “are we there yet?” for the entire trip. By the end of the trip, the rest of the people in the car are looking for large pieces of duct tape. The constant nagging and focusing on the destination took the fun out of the trip for everyone. 

But how many of us, when it comes to our goals and dreams, are the same bratty kid?  We are so intent on the achieving it that we put on blinders.  We may be more focused and disciplined, yet in the process, we limit our options.  In the military, they call it target blindness. Pilots become so fixated on the target that they can't see the obstacles and fly right into them.  However, it's not just the fun of the journey, but other opportunities and solutions that we can no longer see.  By taking a broader and wider perspective we open our mind to more constructive alternatives that could actually be more beneficial in achieving our goals.

I have been returning to the film and television industries as a writer and producer.  I have been away for a long time, so I've had to make new contacts.  As the Executive Producer finding the resources as well as the cast and crew are major parts of the job, especially when it comes to funding.  Along this journey back, I've met some amazing people.  I was also able to update my skills.  Yet at the end of the day, the funding or lack thereof would determine if the day was successful.  Even though I had made some amazing contacts, including with those in the industry that I greatly admire and who are well respected, how I graded the day depended on that one criterion.  I was the annoying the kid in the back seat. 

So how did I change it? Simple. I took a step back and looked at the whole picture. When I did I started to see my own pattern of behavior, but I also started to see how the individual pieces were fitting together to create a mosaic of talents and resources. In doing so, it took the pressure of me to do it all myself, which reduced my stress and gave me a fresh perspective. I was able to see the open doors that I previously overlooked.  Amazing things have been happening since. I'm enjoying this leg of the journey.  We aren't quite there yet, but soon we will be and then the next leg of amazing adventure will begin.

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Bean Counters Don't Own the Beans

Bean counters don’t own the beans, yet they treat the funds like their own private stash.  Counting them doesn’t give them ownership. The beans always have and always will belong to the depositors and investors.   It is a very simple concept, yet the money managers have forgotten that they are stewards not masters of the funds that have been entrusted to them.

Innovators create the products and services.  Workers make the products and service available for purchase.   It is their combined efforts that create prosperity.  Without them, bean counters would have nothing to count. Yet in the recent decades the focus and power has shifted away from those, who actually keep the country financially strong to those who live off their work. 

The money in the banks belongs the individuals and companies, who deposited it there for safe keeping.  However, it is the cycle of saving and lending that benefits everyone. Without depositors, the bank has nothing to lend.  Without lenders, the bank can’t pay the depositors interest.  The money managers only keep the records of transactions.  Yet, the upper management, especially the CEOs, find new ways to siphon off funds to benefit themselves.  High salaries and perks for the upper management have become the norm rather than the exception. 

Investors may help financially create innovation, but without the innovators there would be product therefore no profit.  Paying investors a return balances out the financial risk they took by supporting the individual or company.  Again this is a very simple process, which has been corrupted by money managers, who have injected themselves into the process.  Hedge fund managers, stock brokers, etc. contribute very little and risk even less, yet they make a profit from both sides.  

The bean counters thinking they own the beans, instead of just managing this country’s wealth has created the imbalance that keeps the country from financially stabilizing.  Money managers have usurped financial control, because individuals and companies let them have it.  In 1929, the stock market crash and banks failed, because people pulled their money out.  They stopped buying what the money managers were selling and there was nothing they could do about it.  Yet, whether an investor or depositor, they continue have all the power; they just don’t see that they have alternatives.  Credit unions and smaller banks focus more on supporting the both the depositor and the borrower, rather than creating a top heavy corporate structure.  Private investment, otherwise known as a non-public offerings, holds the same risk as investment in the stock market or through hedge funds, but it excludes the middle men, who profit without risk.   Private investment makes the financial agreements more personal and profitable for all involved.  Without the intermediary fees, the company receive more funding and the investor receives more of a return.

The ghost is a murdered child bring his parents back together after they have reincarnated.  He needs them to remember their lives together and forgive.  If he succeeds, they will all heal and he will be freed to also reincarnate.  If he fails, their need for revenge will damn them all 

Never Can Say Good-bye is a Paranormal Thriller, which is comparable to Ghost, The Others, and the original Dark Shadows TV series.

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