Clear Skies

Yesterday was my birthday and all of this week, the culmination of hard work has yielded so many changes. Wave after wave of change has come from planting seed after seed over a long period of time. There is constant overlapping and suddenly you look around or should I say I look inside and I am startled that I am at certain points.

I took time to clear out some things after I got the job, my license and some new clothes. all of those changes across the board is a tremendous manifestation of forces at work and they do have an impact. They have an impace on perspective and perspective has an impact on confidence and both of those drive improvements in productivity.

And that is what I am experiencing. And yes for months I could not figure out how to get those quotes. Each time I saw Don Garza's blog, with those quotes, I would say "Dam, I does he make those quotes." Every day I looked at the production bar and saw those quotes and it drove me crazy. It reminded me of how I could not upload pictures for at least a month when I started blogging.

I struggled to get my blog going for months. I walked all over downtown to make sure I posted my blog everyday. Sometimes I had to visit 4 or 5 computer labs every day to make sure things got done. I had to post. It kept me focused. It was also an avenue for growth. It would later turnout to be an indirect method of networking-another bi-product of the internet.

That discipline along with others across a horizontal category plane have eventually led to results. If you recall, I said I had to clear away the debris so I can see where I am and experience the benefits of the production of months of labor
and surviving shear terror. Many nights I wondered if I was going to make things happen.

I took that time off and streamlined my physical space and thoughts. Suddenly, while sitting down, an idea came to me, a simple idea that could answer my question about the quotes. And to be honest, it was obvious. I just was not ready.

I learned from that and I recalled many of the same types of examples that reinforced that lesson. With that breakthrough others come and the are built upon the previous work and the successes from that work. As I said previously, it is incredible to watch the discoveries, experience the growth and associate the concepts of economic development mentally, spiritually and tangibly. Things I learned sitting in class in college but now applying them step by step

It is amazing how the skies become clearer every day. And each day quantum leaps are taken.

I had the opportunity to have lunch on Monday with an extraordinary woman. She is very accomplished in her profession. She is an editor and a writer. She asked me,
"Walter, what happened to all of those people you knew when the crisis came? I tought that the old boy school network would rally around you. That is how I understood that it was suppose to be". She understood correctly as her background is the same but from the old girl school network point of view.

I thought about that for the last several days. I forgot that I just did not call anyone. I was embarrassed and I also wanted to do this alone. I did not want to cut corners. I also was afraid that I may not be able to cut corners. In the end, I am glad I made the decisions I made and perservered. Of course if it were not for the people I have met along the way, I do not know if I would be here now saying this.

I made my debut at an alumni event a few days ago. It was time. It was easy to do and the building blocks were in place. With that other things are beginning to take place. From the development of my communication and management systems, coupled with work in each separate aspect of my life, I am now able to contribute to Skid Row in a different way.

I have been talking with City Officials, and business leaders that I know to bring about industries to this area. I believe it can be down. I believe that they components are there. Now that I do not have to concentrate so much on myself, I can put energies into things that can help others.

That is the beauty of staying here for a while and progressing. The skies become clearer for me and I am able to see the pieces more clearly that need to be assembled for productive gain for the community. I would love to see jobs here. JObs make people feel apart of something. Jobs get rid of that frustration and anger.

Clarity is coming each day as to how to bring components together down here to make things happen. Some people are working on the streets and with city officials. Some people are communicating with city officials and business owners. All are constantly developing financial alliances to access necessary resources when the timing is right when the long complex process of development and bonding has matured to the point that warrants commitment from the vital parties.

Economic Development and Regional development were courses I loved at Penn. I see the process in me and can see it unfolding in the community. There are clusters of nodes of strength that are slowly being linked together. Many times the vital links come from outside the VISIBLE area but within the immediate area of impact. That is why Skid Row is an example of how EVERYONE HAS TO WORK TOGETHER TO BRING ABOUT Change that is lasting.

That is why I never called anyone. I wanted to grow up and mature and see things and experience things within myself that are vital. They are the invisible and vital tools that build character and creativity. Necessity is the source of invention. Is that the statement? IT is close enough. If I had called people to come to my rescue I would not have had the opportunity to go through the pain that brings about growth. I would not have the opportunity to develop confidence in an area that I never needed before. or should I say I did not know I needed it.

I needed to find a way to survive emotionally and in other ways. I survived those periods. Skid Row has to endure and survive. It will take collective creativity to correct these problems as they are ever present in this community. They are ever present in our society. Skid Row mirrors are society and is the measure of how successful we are in working withourselves and eachother: cooperating with ourselves and eachother: in order to understand ourselves and eachother.

I made a commitment to myself. Others made a commitment to me. We all were making a commitment to our community and to our society. We all have to live with ourselves. We have to live with eachother. We must help eachother and prove that it can yield results. That is what I did for myself. That is what people did to help me and give them the confidence to commit more of themselves- so I can have the confidence to commit some more of myself to grow and integrate our resouces for the betterment of our communities.

When the skies are clear you see the details of this beautiful mosaic at work. This process is about seeing the trees through the forest--understanding the components that are essential to build a healthy self. From there it is easier to see what is necessary to build a healthy community.

When the skies are clear, you see the links clearly. You see the passages that lead to destinations, and the necessary vehicles that will facilitate a successful journey.

It is nice to see what clarity brings. It is nicer to feel it. I desire to feel more. I desire to see more. My eyes are open as well as my pores. Lets see what is absorbed. Lets see what can be shared. Lets see what the increasing clearer skies tells us to do, TOGETHER.

I have experienced solutions to problems that baffled me for months.
Suddenly ideas popped into my head and I was able to get things done. Simple things. But for some reason I could not resolve the problem.

For instance, the very first time I wrote some material that was put in a blog it was for Eric Richardson on Blogdowntown.

When it was published, Eric put my section in quotes in block quotes. The writing was identifiable by the indentation and separation of the material. That application is very common and is on the production bar of most content publishing software or applications. However, I could not figure out how to do it. I made all of my quotes.

It has been like that in a horizontal sense, in different categories of life, sinc I landed downtown. Sooner or later an answer came that was strong and lasting.