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The World According to Michael
-My Personal Thoughts About Life In General-
-Michael J Pickett-



When I was teaching at the Umpqua Valley Arts Association back in 1993,
I ran across other artists, teachers and others, many of whom I become friends with. Oh yes, artists can be
very high-strung, cliquish, having a "I'm better than you" attitude. Personally, I think that's wrong!

Being an artist, you find yourself at times feeling as though you are a dime a dozen. The reality is you are not.
We are all blessed with some form of creativity. It doesn't matter who you are. Each and everyone
of us is different so our talents and creativity are different.





Have you ever been drawn to an ad because they advertise the product to be FREE? I have;
BUT WAIT, THAT'S NOT ALL YOU GET!
Screwed is what you get. Not only that, the product isn't free, you are charged 4 times as much as you thought.

Guess what? I got a FREE credit report that cost me $40.00.





On your work day, do you ever wake up in the morning and say, "I don't want to go to work?"
Well, that's common with many people.
I don't know if this is true, but this is what I think. That anxiety you feel while getting ready
for work stems from the time you were in kindergarten through High School. Think about it,
"I don't want to go to School!"





I have been at my work-place going on eleven years. When my fellow associates see my 30 years
of artwork they always ask me, "what are you doing working here?" Well, I don't know how to answer that,
except maybe that my ship hasn't yet come in, or that I need to pay rent and eat. It takes
money to buy the materials to create in-between shows. All in all, I love creating beautiful things for
people to enjoy.





Everyone has a way to get motivated, forcing yourself to accomplish certain goals.
If it's something you really want to do, it's fun, but if it's something you have to do that you don't like,
like mowing the lawn, doing dishes, taking out the garbage, doing laundry and so on.
We all seem to grit our teeth kinda like jumping into ice water, once you hit the water you get numb,
then it's not so bad. In other words, fake it until it becomes real, activate your super human powers.
When you are finished, step back and see what you've accomplished. Feels good, doesn't it?





Did you know that lying is the fear of being punished for telling the truth?





I don't trust anyone who claims to be honest and always tells the truth. Think about it,
"ALWAYS TELLS THE TRUTH" meaning that they have never in their whole life have ever
lied, not even once. Just by making such a statement makes him or her a person who tells lies.

Now let's be real about the whole thing about dishonesty. We all know it's impossible to always
tell the truth because it's the universal law of nature. We all try to be as honest as we can.
We all interpret information differently, trying to repeat something someone says, then forgetting
parts of it, we try to make the story interesting so we fill in the blanks.







We all have friends, then we have fri-endZ.

Our true friends, that we love and who inspire us has friends of their own that we may not like at all.
So what do we do about that, do we tell our true friend to buzz off because their friends
with someone we hate? Remember to stay neutral when their Fri-endZ are around, don't
ever throw your true friends away. Now, what's that old saying? "respect for the individual?"





There is one thing I can't stand, Telemarketers. They call you morning, noon and night.
It's like being invaded by creatures with big mouths and huge lips. If you could ever catch
one live, you could throw it against the wall and lips like a suction cup, it will stick anywhere.
Any store could sell them as evil action figures, the kids will love them, they could stick them on any
telephone and make prank phone calls.

All in all, remember that these are people employed by a telemarketing service, they
have tough, high stress jobs, so if they call you and you're not interested don't answer the phone,
or if you do, please be kind and appreciate their call, just say thanks or no thanks,
it's up to you to decide.





You are who people think you are. If they don't know you, they tend to play God
and judge. People can be very cruel to each other through their misinterpretation of
who they think you are. Trivial talk, often involving personal or sensational rumors are so
addicting to some people that they actually get an adrenalin rush. It makes them feel important
despite their insecurities. People are people, whether they're Gay, Straight, Black, White,
Yellow, Purple, Green and all the rest of the colors in the rainbow of life. Be who you are,
believe in yourself and all things are possible, God bless us all.





Too many people misunderstand the principal for giving and receiving. When you give to a
charity do you expect that charity to give you back what you have given them, plus more?
Sounds like a bank account paying interest instead of genuinely giving.
Remember, by not expecting anything in return is when good
things begin to happen, for you, from other sources.

Example: You are standing in a long line at the grocery store, when you finely reach the
cashier, the person in front of you realizes that their 75 cents short of paying for their
food. So, out of the kindness of your heart, you give them the 75 cents. Then, you head
out to your car with an armload of groceries; you look down finding a $ 20.00 bill.

You will get back what you give in life, (ten times, ten times, ten,) good or bad.






Have you noticed that the news media, radio, television and newspapers all project negative
stories. I would guess only about 2 percent is positive. Wonder why that is?





Some people don’t know this about integrity because it refers to a quality of a person's
character and attributed to various parts or aspects of a person's life. We speak of
attributes such as professional, intellectual and artistic integrity. Integrity is the
integration of you with maintenance of identity, standing for something and
moral purpose.

Integrity Means you have a strict personal honesty and independence.
INTEGRITY IS A PERSONAL ISSUE.





Did you know that being patient is enduring affliction with calmness?