Mike Wilde

The L.O.V.E. Principle came to me yesterday while lying on my back in water. 

Is this what they mean by a Thinktank ??

It has been my experience that in order to make anything work … and I am talking about making something work for more than five minutes it is worthwhile to keep in mind the following fundamental concepts, the letters of which spell LOVE.

L stands for Loyalty.

When working in a team towards a common goal Everyone and I mean Everyone makes mistakes. The idea is to deal with these mistakes constructively, learn from them and move on together to do whatever it is you are doing Better. This requires a supportive attitude towards your fellow workers/partners etc and may mean that every once in a while the wrong person takes a hit for the team. Back each other up. There is a big difference between asking for Loyalty on the one hand and Blind Loyalty on the other, which inevitibly leads to a breakdown of communications and chaos. (the bad kind) !!

O stands for Organisational skills.

 Micromanagement is an essential part of any successful endeavour but at the end of the day … Someone has to have their eye on the ball(the big picture) at all times. This requires delegation and trust in equal measure from that person so that everyone in the organisation can do what they are best at.

V stands for Veracity. 

There has to be some truth in what you are doing. You can fool some of the people all of the time and even all of the people some of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. So try and get involved with people and projects that you believe in. In the long term you will be thankful that you did.

Which leads me to E:

E stands for energy and believe me ..

 you are going to have a lot more energy for a project, person or job that you believe in. I was going to suggest Effort instead of Energy and it is indeed true that more often than not a great deal of effort is required to make a new idea fly. However, this is not always the case. It doesn´t have to be hard. It is also worth noting that when you work towards a goal that you are passionate about even a superhuman effort becomes easier to achieve and maintain because your energy levels are naturally much higher. 

A lot of these ideas are really just Common Sense.

However this term has become somewhat of an anachronism because

Common Sense is just not that common.

To illustrate my point I would like to draw your attention to Malcolm Gladwell´s new `Outliers´ book. He expounds upon the 10000 hour theory which roughly states that in order to get really good at anything you have to put in about 10000 hours. 

Just about any creative person with a passion that they are following for the Right reasons knows this hypothesis to be pretty accurate but just the fact that `Outliers´ has been such a Revelation to the general populace proves that even in this 21st Century Common Sense is hard to find.

mw

It..s 3 in the morning
You..re home in bed
I drive down to Bondi
Just to clear my head
It..s been such a long time
Since I lived in this town
And the memories still haunt me
Knowing you..re not around
But I know that I will be alright
..Cause the sea is calling out my name
Tonight … Bondi
She..s calling out my name

It..s 6 in the evening
I..m far away
Just walked away from a car crash
On the lost highway
Well I don..t need a road map
To find my way home
And the last thing I need now
Is to die here alone
But I know that I will be alright
..Cause the sea is calling out my name
Tonight … Bondi
She..s calling out my name
… Bondi

Livin.. in this skin
Wondering where I..ve been
For so long
Doesn..t matter where I roam
You..ll always be my home
Where I come from
… Bondi

Well I..m running out of patience
And I..m running out of time
I..m running out of reasons
To keep running down that line
Well I..m running to forgiveness
..Cause I..m running out of hate
I..m running to redemption
Before it is too late …
And I know that I will be alright
..Cause the sea is calling out my name
Tonight … Bondi
She..s calling out my name
Bondi ….
Gonna ease my soul
Bondi …

mw

© APRA 7/10/2008

..Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel.
He is the man who talks the loudest…

Mark Twain  - Education and Citizenship speech, 14/5/1908
 

Patriotism is important when it comes to Nation building 
but there is a point where tolerance becomes more important 
in the interests of a world we can all live in.

40 years ago the situation in Northern Ireland seemed hopeless.
Irreconcilable differences threatened to tear the Nation apart.

But somehow we have moved on.

So in a broader sense, where are we today with Israel/Palestine ?
So many people(of jewish heritage) from so many diverse and different
cultures flocked to the fledgling Nation from 1948 on that it is a small
miracle that they can get on with each other, let alone with their neighbours.

And any cursory reading of History will reveal how dismissively
we in the ..West.. have treated the Arab Nations in the past.

And now it is blowing up in our faces, literally.
Not that I am a big fan of Islam..s particular brand
of fundamentalism (or any form of fundamentalism for that matter)
and the Arab world could hardly be labelled as ..Heroes for Human Rights…

Israel/Palestine is a microcosm of the planet.
I would venture that if we are not able to resolve this conflict ..
sooner or later we all go down.

Having said that, I believe that the inverse is also true.
If we can reach a solution there ..
then there is hope for the rest of the planet.

As far as US dominance goes .. I don..t know who are the more naive.
Those elements in America seeking to export a democracy in their own likeness .. 
or the rest of the ..West, ..so quick to criticise US policies and see them as an oppressor.

Mistakes have been made … and will be continue to be made … by all sovereign Nations.

Perhaps if we cast our attention to Russia we would see that their 
efforts to control as many Energy resources as possible are taking
them down an all too familiar Authoritarian route.

Or what about China ?? 
Yes they are marching towards Democracy
but take a close look at Tibet.
Not a lot of tolerance happening there.

It..s not about us and them anymore ..or even you and me.
It..s about WE
One planet, many peoples.

mw

When I was about 4 or 5 my sister and I used to ride our bikes on Saturdays to the local Cinema
to see a Golden Oldie Double Feature (those were the days !! ) in Christchurch in New Zealand.

Because my sister was older and is a bit of a tricker she generally got to choose what we saw.
So I remember being absolutely gutted on one occasion because I thought we were going to see Ben Hur and was totally psyched.To my shock the credits went up and it was an Elvis flick.
Elvis in Las Vegas, Elvis in Hawaii .. Elvis in a cowboy hat. Elvis really got around !!
After my initial disappointment I started to notice the Babes, the Songs, the Sports Cars …
did I mention the Babes ?

My fate was sealed. By the way, I had a three wheeler to die for.
An ancient chariot that my mum had repainted. I was a tiny singing Road Warrior.
My first Public Performance was a year or two later at a talent contest in a shopping mall. Again dragged along by my sister !!
We sang (1) ..Raindrops keep falling on my head.. and came Second. I wasn..t really in to it apparently.

Singing in Public ??? Yeah … whatever. Where..s my soccer ball ??
We moved around a lot. Ended up in Auckland in the North Island of NZ by the time I was 11
and at my school we had an annual Eisteddfod. (Talent competition).
It was obligatory so I decided I would sing (2)..I don..t know how to love him.. from Jesus Christ Superstar.
My preparations were going really well until someone ( my mum) pointed out that this song was sung by a woman (Mary Magdalene to be precise) and maybe I should sing something more appropriate.

I was mortified because up until that point it did not occur to me that the fact that I was a boy singing a song sung from a female perspective might be inappropriate.

Anyway … I sang Edelweiss from The Sound of Music, won the Eistedfodd and got hassled for weeks afterwards from my classmates for singing such a wussy song.
This has resulted in a lifetime aversion to Musicals and I think it might also account for why I get nervous in Shopping Malls (see point 1)
This is my story .. and I..m sticking to it.
To Be continued.

P.S. I am actually preparing an Album called WOMANSONG.
It is songs written, sung or both by women that influenced me growing up
because it is the song that counts dammit and that is what is ..appropriate..to me.
mw