Bob McInnis
Bio
I am therefore I ask questions. Lately, my questions have been about our survival as a species, our zealous and unrealistic quest for freedoms, and what appears to be an aversion to responsibilities.
Stories (24)
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Soar
What is rising from your ashes? Have you been hit with a series of unfortunate and unimaginable circumstances that have you reeling? Have you been given the opportunity to seek employment, relationship, fulfillment elsewhere? Has your world exploded? Did a relationship or project get consumed by flames?
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Motivation
Do I Hear You?
In our neighborhood, we have a conflict brewing between a social agency and the community. The agency director said," It is incredible how many times we can say the same thing, and we still aren't understood." Members of the community suggest that the recent illegal activities and a rash of interpersonal conflicts are because the agency isn't listening to their concerns. This is a sad state, and I am sure both sides feel frustrated and blame each other. Blame creates distance, and distance makes compromise impossible. We need ways to bring people into proximity, give them permission and space to be heard, and listen with generosity.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Humans
Hope Can Be a Struggle
As discussed last week, hope is around every corner. If we open our hearts to a hopeful perspective, it can be found, or somehow it finds us. Hope isn't a strategy, but no strategy survives without hope. Call it the 'placebo effect' or some other minimizing name but it still hope has the power to change the world. There are other forces in the world, and they can seemingly get a death grip once they get a hold of us. Disappointment, humiliation, confusion, overwhelming panic, and harmful scripts can feel like a yoke that is holding you back or down. The weight pulls us into an abyss, and it is difficult to see the horizon. In uncertain times logic has a surety. Hope doesn't appear logical; nonetheless, we have all experienced a miracle moment that didn't fit the expected outcome. Hope isn't an elixir, magic bullet, or a cure-all but rather a tendency. I imagine it as a viewpoint that helps me see a better world. It isn't a trick to use to get your way. It isn't free therapy to the blues or depression, but if we practice hope and lean towards it, even when it feels foolish, it will lift us and keep us afloat. The more practice, the higher we can rise.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Motivation
Hope is in the Air
Where does hope come from? My head? My heart? My faulty logic? Some survival strategy? Are the myths, stories, and misconceptions we tell ourselves the source or the suffocation of hope? I am not sure how hope manifests, but I am sure that it becomes infectious, viral, and creative as I observe it. If I just keep my dim eyes open and wait, will hope walk across my path? Or am I charged with some responsibility to seek the hopeful moments, situations, and individuals occupying my small piece of the world? I do a bit of both, chase and wait. When I am active in my pursuit, more hope awaits me and having more hope affirms and confirms the next incident or re-frames the situation from tragic to something better. The world offers us joy, opportunity, challenge, and renewal as and when they are needed. Accepting the gift and accepting responsibility for their stewardship is a powerful and enriching experience. Don't let it slide by without grabbing hold. Hold tight and make the moments last. You will be better, your world would be better, and the future will be better for all of us.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Motivation
Skirmishes
Joan -1972 Flower power, the War, Nixon's visit to China, Gordie Howe's retirement didn't mean much to Joan or any of the 200 residents of Bloomington, Idaho. The day's events arrived in the village, weeks later, through Spokane and Seattle newspapers that a traveling salesmen left. Bloomington was out of range of TV, and radio signals were cut off by mountains and Montpellier and Bear Lake Wilderness Reserves. Outsiders intruded occasionally, but 'Bloomers' stuck mostly to themselves. Everyone knew everyone's business, and there were lots of backyards and church step gossip, but the sleepy community abided with each other because their circles were small.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Humans
I Don't Believe What You Believe
The cool thing is that we should believe different things because we are different people. My world view has been impacted by genetics, nurturing, indoctrination, and inundation. What I believe is the product of my surroundings and the messages I have heard. Even when we see the world from the same perspective, the sum of our experiences changes what we see, how we view it, why it is meaningful, and who is impacted. Over the decades, I have observed members of the same families, same traditions, or same faith groups who imagine that they hold the same beliefs. Still, when questioned, they demonstrate that the truth is more relative than absolute. Our access to information and facts and opinions are at once extraordinarily open and inordinately selective. Bias may be the primary principle in belief.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Families
No Surprises
Annie - 2002 Common Scents Creative was booming. Annie had more than 125 freelancers and contract designers, writers, web and content consultants working on 30 projects, including the Kelvingrove Museum, the West End Festival, and the Glasgow Rangers. The quant office on Hanover, a block from GOMA and George Square, was becoming cramped, but “that was part of the charm,” explained Annie, “give clients and freelancers a bit of chaos to add to credibility.” While Tesco and Marks were way out of her league, CSC turned about £4 Million in business, which allowed for a too extravagant and indulgent lifestyle. Partying at West End clubs, attending late night (early morning) theatre in the tunnels under Central Station, and using ‘recreational’ drugs on the Green with some dangerous characters was a typical week. “Go hard and sleep on Sunday or when I’m dead,” was her mantra.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Humans
Broken
This was becoming annoying. "Downright annoying," as Granma Beth would have said. The Sobieski's had planted dill in their front flowerbeds and put little gnomes on both sides of the front steps. While not as annoying as the Granger's solar lights along the driveway and sidewalk, this was still an insult to what was expected in Pierce Meadows. Mavis and her neighbour Jill considered and debated over the back fence whether they should "just march over there and set them straight." In the end, they just complained to each other, but the disregard for what was expected kept nagging. "Why couldn't things stay the same." There is safety in sameness.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Humans
Lies
Mavis didn't look like a liar, and Joan didn't seem like one either. Joan and Mavis had stopped lying to each other ten years ago, or at least they stopped pretending that they weren't when they both knew that they were. Watching the crowd rush by from the patio at the market, they recognized how fortunate they were. Hundreds of people trudged by with shoulders slumped and eyes glazed, trying to get through another meaningless day, pretending that they were okay and that they were living a Facebook dream life. The human droids didn't notice the smells from the market or the sounds of the water. The rhythm of the farmers and fishermen stacking their wares getting ready for another busy day went unnoticed. For the two old friends, they saw possibilities, not extravagance but small moments of appreciation and wonder.
By Bob McInnis5 years ago in Humans
