Obama Tech Summit and Me

I was unable to attend President Obama’s recent Tech Summit in Silicon Valley due to prior commitments.

But I can tell you via my insider sources that the summit went off without a hitch. (Great going, guys! And good luck to you, too!)

However, I *can* tell you about the amazing turnout in Winnemucca’s Residence Inn for my Find Your Inner Larry: Vitamins for the Soul seminar.

First of all, Madge, you are a magician with crepe paper and helium balloons. The Donner Party Banquet Room looked just fantastic. A round of applause!

Secondly, I’d like to thank the Boy Scout Troop that showed up midway. Even if you were lost from your Scout Master and looking for food, we welcome you any time. And, Scout Number 12, your insights into survivalist techniques in case the world as we know it ends and zombies take over North America were terrific! That’s the kind of can-do attitude and positive thinking I like to hear.

Finally, to the paying participants of my FYIL seminar: you both embodied the positive side of the Force last night. From the testimonial of the brave man who has been 39 months sober and celibate to the heartfelt tears of the fisherman whose biggest catch was eaten by sharks before he could get to shore, you get it! You have Found Your Inner Larry, and you can expect the Universe to start raining with blessings from now on.

And don’t worry, Winnemucca. As the Terminator said, I’ll be back! (Sooner than you think.)

Daily Affirmation: Positive thoughts are like helium. If you don't want to crash, you have to keep blowing yourself up.

 (Thanks, Madge! They got me home safe and sound!)

Self Image and Self Deception

I always thought of myself as a “builder.”

I was good at writing code, I created things (systems, algorithms, spreadsheets). Not to brag (too much), but back when I had my job, all the guys in the office used to call me, “Larry, Larry, Extra Ordinary” whenever a particularly difficult or tedious problem came up. They know who you gonna call all right.

I was an engineer, for Pete’s sake! We’re “builders” by definition, even if we don’t build actual physical things these days. At least not in America. In this recession.

But that was my false self-image.

During my prolonged surgical recovery, I had time to do some reading about my inner self. I went through my wife’s subscription to O, the Oprah Magazine. And that’s how I discovered I am in fact more of a creative “nester.”

Did that shake me to my core? Admittedly, at first, yeah, a little.

But then I came to embrace my “nester” instincts.

Think about a nest. What is it? Twigs and bird spit? Sure, but it’s also a home. A place where eggs can hatch and chicks can grow. And in China, I hear, it’s a delicacy.

So here I am, a nester, creator of homes, a hatchery, a growth engine...a delicacy!

You see, this is how I embraced my inner Larry.

And you can, too.

Daily affirmation: Universe, you are the Great Nest and we are your hatchlings. You nurture us and you teach us to fly. Watch me fly, Universe!

Images and links:

lBird's Nest Olympic Stadium, Beijing, China

(architectural and engineering marvel!)

  

Bird's Nest Soup

(a delicacy in much of Asia)

Bird's Nests

(where birds come from)

Egg Pictures

(Academy-Award™ winning actress/director Jodie Foster’s production company...and remember without a nest, how can an egg grow?)