Social changes from the flu and beyond...

The worst of the H1N1 virus is likely a few months away. As kids start school, Universities open their doors for the fall semester, families return from vacations, the flu season begins.

A young, seemingly healthy mother and her brother just died from H1N1 in Florida. Screenings in international airports now include a health screening for passengers entering the country. Churches in England have stopped administering Communion for fears of spreading the virus, churches across the globe have asked parishioners to stop shaking hands.

Now the military is poised to step in to assist medical professionals and FEMA in the event of a flu outbreak.

The chance of a global pandemic is very real. The potential scenario we may see in a few short months reminds me of a story I read in an email from my niece about 10 years ago. That email changed my life for the better. It was a simple story - but one that after I read it - the light came on in my head and stays on to this day. It gives me hope every morning and every night before I close my eyes.

It was my ahh-haa moment. I will share that story in the next few days... stay tuned!

Chameleon of the Big Screen

The thought of Johnny Depp in drag, playing Carol Channing in her biopic, sort of makes my stomach churn. He's a multi-generational heart throb...

My 77-year old mother thinks he's quite cute, I've been a fan since his days on "21 Jump Street," and now my daughter finds him pretty attractive too.

I worked with Johnny on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean II and III. He has an amazing sense of humor, is laid back, and nothing like the guy we usually see in interviews on late night TV. He sits relaxed, chatting with cast mates and when called to the set, gives his head a quick shake and suddenly becomes a pirate. His entire persona changes in a few seconds. His gate, facial expressions, accent, body language -- everything changes when he's on.

So, while lots of male actors may wish to impersonate Carol Channing -- I know there's only one that could pull it off. In fact, Carol herself gave Johnny her blessing if the biopic gets made.

Johnny is probably one of the most talented actors anyone has had the pleasure of watching on the big screen. He has mastered the art and is a true chameleon... adapting and changing to a character in the blink of an eye and producing the believable under sometimes very unpleasant circumstances. (It's not all fun and games on a movie set....)

Johnny has found his purpose in life and entertaining millions with comedic, adventurous and sometimes scary performances is what he was meant to do. We should all be so fortunate.

I'm just not sure I can watch him become Carol Channing...

Changes in Latitudes...

Jimmy Buffett said it best, "Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes... Nothing remains quite the same... With all of our running and all of our cunning...If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane."

Even if you can't change your actual latitude on the planet, you can change latitudes in your head with a little laughter.

Medical research has shown that a good belly laugh reduces stress, releases powerful endorphins, and can provide a healing effect. I read a recent article in the Science Daily that reported employees who work with the terminally ill cope in many cases by well-placed, appropriate humor. It increases job satisfaction. A recent study also linked a healthy sense of humor to happier aging adults and higher life satisfaction.

I ran across a video the other day on YouTube. It's a young couple's wedding and their "trip down the aisle." It gave me a good belly laugh - hope it does the same for you.

Change shall set you free...

Talented teachers tend to influence their students for life. One such teacher in high school boldly told a class of seniors that we would likely change careers five times before we retired. While that statement may have upset a few of my classmates planning on retiring with cushy pensions - it inspired me then and now.

I was supposed to be a DJ, according to the career aptitude test I took in the 7th grade. I LOVE music and have created sound tracks for lots of friends and special occasions. But I've never worked as a DJ.

I worked at the world headquarters of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company soon after high school. The words of my teacher very poignently replayed in my head when I attended a retirement party for a woman who'd worked in the same office, in the same position for 40 years.

My career has mostly involved writing... writing for television news, newspapers and magazines. Writing for public relations and marketing, I've worked in a wide variety of industries... from the obscure (tire engineering, respiratory medical equipment, GPS tracking technology) to mainstream and really cool (Pirates of the Caribbean among other films, skydiving, horseback treks across deserted beaches, high seas adventures).

In high school, I worked on the farm with my Dad. The two of us built fences for the cattle and horses, barns, plowing and harvesting. My summer job was mowing lawns and detasseling corn. Working my way through college, I worked as a landscaper, a car detailer, a Repo (wo) Man, an executive assistant, in University development, and as a marketing and public relations professional.

After college, I worked in broadcast news, print media, film and television, and was then recruited back into marketing and public relations. As a freelancer and business consultant, I worked with a variety of industries and covered news from hurricane recovery in the Caribbean to ski trips in the Alps.

I ran a film studio in The Bahamas, worked with the President of Disney Films and a plethora of other production companies and crews.

My point is, if you've lost your job... or you've lost interest in your job... don't despair. At least you've not been sitting inside the same four walls for 40 years. Maybe it's time you made a change and you were too afraid to make it -- so it's been made for you. Maybe it's time to explore your talents and your entrepreneurial spirit. Take a stand and don't be afraid. What have you always dreamed of doing?

Change is good. Change keeps you fresh and sets you free.

And by the way, if you know anyone looking for a DJ....

Let us "Boldly Go"

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of our first visit around the moon. Only 12 men walked on the moon during these expeditions.

Imagine having that distinction. Watching the Earth shrink to the size of a ping pong ball on the horizon, hopping like bunnies across a desolate landscape in zero G, quiet, windless, darkness and blinding light, dust and rock.

I had the honor of interviewing one of these explorers while working with CBS in Cleveland. Buzz Aldrin hosted a book signing for "Men From Earth," at the Great Lakes Science Center. At University, physics was one of my best subjects. I remember the excitement I felt knowing I would have the great honor of meeting someone who'd actually experienced spaceflight and setting foot on a celestial body.

(Side Note: Buzz would've been the first human to set foot on the moon, but due to the astronauts positioning inside the tight quarters of the Lunar Landing Module, Neil Armstrong took that distinction.)

How had this experience changed the man? He was a Presbyterian and is said to have smuggled a Communion kit along for the ride (hiding it due to a lawsuit threatened by atheist Madalyn Murray O'hair). He also turned down a full scholarship to MIT, choosing instead to attend West Point. This was a principled man, a patriot, a dedicated Christian AND scientist.

Nervously, I approached him. He was bigger than life. He'd aged, but he seemed to have a youthful vitality about him.

Buzz Aldrin was amazing but a little scary. He talked rapidly and excitedly. His passion revolved around sending man into deep space ... to Mars and beyond. Nothing he said seemed plausible to me at the time.

I wasn't alone in thinking Buzz must've changed somehow. The suggestions made by Buzz and some of his counterparts made us wonder, had going to the moon driven these men crazy? Were they now out of their minds? Was this a symptom of space-induced psychosis?

That was little more than 10 years ago.

Now, four decades after the moon landing, we're still talking about going to the Moon and setting up a lunar settlement. How lame is that? As Buzz points out: There's NOTHING there! What's the point?

Why not focus on the possibilities of our nearest planetary neighbor where the possibility of water exists. And with the further refinement of the superconducting plasma powered rocket, our frequent trips there become faster, safer and more efficient. Mars could be the next frontier and a jumping off point for further deep space exploration.

The point is, in the matter of a decade, the ideas Buzz expressed went from a crazy dream to a viable idea. Buzz didn't abandon his beliefs nor his enthusiasm even though he was ridiculed and doubted by the masses.

Buzz didn't change, the rest of the world changed. What ideals and beliefs do you embrace and know to be true and indisputable. How committed to those beliefs are we in the face of public ridicule?

Let us boldly go, where no one has gone before....

Change or be changed...

Change happens, whether you plan for it or not. As Jim Hartness and Neil Eskelin point out in their book, "The 24-Hour Turn-Around," nothing is permanent. We are in a fluid state of change.

"What is frightening, however, is that most change happens to most people without direction, forethought, or personal control," the authors note.

We often find ourselves reacting to the unexpected, rather than figuring out how to adapt to new circumstances.

What are those folks who never embraced new technology doing for a living now? Personal computers changed how we do business, how we pay bills, even how we communicate with friends and family. How do those not comfortable with that change make a living and navigate life?

"Change demands flexibility, elasticity, and willingness to exchange old ideas for new ones," say Hartness and Eskelin.

How would you react if someone told you that in 10 years, your life would be exactly as it is today. No new friends, same old-same old at work and at play, same knowledge-base, same TV shows, same music, same car, same clothes, same hair style....

Change is probably starting to sound pretty good now, aye?

Order the book on Amazon here.

Embracing Pepto Pink

I never got the 'Pepto Pink' bathrooms from the Fifties, until lately. I wasn't alive back then, but I've always had an appreciation for other things from that amazing decade... the cars, fashion, music, movies... but never the obsession with matching pink tiles, bathtubs, sinks and toilets.

When we moved to Florida last summer, we found an amazing house. Surrounded by fruit trees, with a view of the Intercoastal, and just minutes from the beach... I loved just about everything about the house; with the exception of the master bathroom.

Putrid Pink was more like it. I worked around the disturbing color by adding hot pink, lime green, bright orange and aqua -- playing off the Pepto color.

Since last fall, people have been tightening their belts. Our neighbors now comb the streets for discarded items from each other's curbs. Many of us shop for furniture and clothing from the Goodwill or consignment shops. We barbeque at home with friends, rather than going out to dinner.

We've seen hemlines drop well below the knees (uncharacteristic for South Florida), a surge of 1950s bicycles (some replicas, some original), and an attitude change toward luxury items. More people are selling gold, than wearing it. People are actually clipping coupons again.

With unemployment rates reaching 14% in nearby counties, the nation's third highest foreclosure rate and a pretty high cost of living... things are becoming clearer. And life gets simple really quickly when you're looking at unemployment.

Suddenly, I'm beginning to enjoy my cool showers surrounded by soothing pink tiles. I'm thankful for my friends and family. And I'm hopeful for a brighter future. I'm relating a little better to the lady who picked those pink tiles, the pink toilet, sink and tub back in 1955.

Maybe its time we revisited the optimism and hopefulness of the 1950s, and the confidence in ourselves.