With Police Brutality that has taken a front seat to the health crisis named Corona-Virus “Ignorance  and stupidity are the most dangerous viruses that jeopardize our living  together. Calamity cannot be prevented nor cured, simply as a result of  unawareness.” ― Erik Pevernagie A Killer Within Disclaimer: This is not my most hope filled writing, I’m not sure there will be a  good takeaway. I’ll work on one as I go, let’s hope it shows up. When I was a young man, I liked to have fun and blow off steam accumulated from others attempts at my domestication. This  usually meant, women, wine and driving around. This combination will  get one into trouble sooner or later, it got me sooner. One  evening, heading home after a particularly good night of frolicking  around, I drove my brand new Pontiac Grand Prix through a fence into a  field. I was stuck, could not get it out and somehow police were on the  scene in minutes, even though it was a rural area. They  quickly decided I was driving while intoxicated and began the arrest  procedure. Although not resisting, I was mouthy and not particularly  willing to be handcuffed and drug away. They don’t like that. Read the entire article on Medium https://miro.medium.com/max/4800/1*XQcZ7Z5E__F7ZxlBGIGA5g.jpeg --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

Saying no more often could lead to a more curated and enjoyable life, by Real Window Creative, read by Megan Kumakura. Support us on Patreon for much more at https://www.patreon.com/realwindowcreative “The pieces I chose were based on one thing only — a gasp of delight. Isn’t that the only way to curate a life?” ― Maira Kalman, My Favorite Things The Onslaught of Things Every  single day, my inbox is full of valuable offers for things I can  acquire that will supposedly enhance my life. My favorite is an email I  get every few days from B&H Photo. They  sell a lot more than just photography gear and send out a daily deal  email with three or four items heavily discounted. I love electronic  gadgets and over the years this one has drawn me in the most times. Heck  there is not tax and the shipping is free! So  I see it, click in and purchase that Police Scanner I apparently could  not live without. Or another Bluetooth speaker, set of headphones or  earbuds, even special finger-less gloves. Then  there’s the two microscopes that take up and entire workbench in my  office. Or the outdated Tamron Photovix that I had to have, but have  never used. Start Saying No In an article by Michael Simmons titled Warren  Buffett: “Really Successful People Say No To Almost Everything” he  writes “When Bill Gates first met Warren Buffett, their host, Gates’  mother, asked everyone around the table to share the single most  important factor to their success.” Gates and Buffett both gave the same  one-word answer: “Focus.” My interpretation, gleaned from a lifetime of studying what successful people do, sounds like this. Say no to everything that does not add value to, or is not in alignment with my mission. In other words, ruthless prioritizing and curation. I  stopped going to the grocery store years ago, my food is now delivered.  Same with the lawn, the 4 to 8 hours I save every few weeks not doing  those tasks can be spent creating new artwork, or writing. I decided to  say no to spending my time on these two tasks, instead using it for  tasks more aligned with my passion. These decisions took a while, Its likely counter intuitive for most of us. Doesn’t doing more actually bring abundance and opportunities into my life? The answer is not always yes. Recently,  I also stopped answering the phone for all the automated sales calls.  It was irritating, same recording over and over from different numbers. I  now spend the time saved to block the phone number. This choice  effectively replaces the discomfort with a feeling of accomplishment,  just one choice. I’m  not sure why, but there were no classes on decision making from  elementary school through to college. Looking back, it’s clear that I  could use some coaching in this area. This idea has brought writing on Medium into a critical light for me. The jury is still out, more on that later. Read the entire article and enjoy illustrations on Medium. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.–Albert Einstein The Library is off Limits Back  in the day, while I was still kicking up my heals you wouldn’t find me  dead with a library card. I was getting ready to say, “I don’t know why” but that’s not entirely true, well, not true at all. It  was tough for me to avoid run-ins with the local police back then, what  with cruising around looking for girls, driving too fast and drinking.  They tend to frown on those three items mixed in together at the same  time. Now I know, most everybody does. Somewhere,  I had read an article talking about a project the police were using to  gather library card data for something or another. Right there I made  some adolescent decision that the library was a ruse.  A cover for or an extension of the local law enforcement. Not that I  had anything to hide, it took me about 15 years to shake that  resentment.Back in the day, kicking up my heels, I wouldn’t be found dead with a library card. Read and enjoy illustrations at https://medium.com/the-4-elements-of-change/a-boy-a-goldfish-and-the-local-library-e852038d3f67 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

I decided to head back to school hoping to earn a degree. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. — Nelson Mandela Life Happens in its own way After  a career spent mostly in restaurant and retail management, with some  entrepreneurship and artistry mixed in, somehow I desired something  else. We  are taught in conventional circles that institutional education is the  path, a voice kept repeating in my head, that message they put there. I  had something nagging, an in-completion gnawing at me. I had moved  several times in my High School years, missing some time in school. When  the graduation event arrived, I was short a few credits. Read and enjoy the entire article and illustrations on Real Window Creative the Publication. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

Could we already possess a wonderful tool for increasing effectiveness and averting disaster? Read by the author. Read the text version on https://medium.com/the-philosophers-stone/h-a-l-t-46d6f970a65d Find more like this at our website.  Find a video version on YouTube  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

The rails were rusty as if trains weren’t using it and the view of Philly would be perfect. Read the text here...  Find out more about Christopher  Recorded with a Shure SM7B Connected to a Focusrite Scarlett --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

The Importance of Blooming Right Where You Are Planted By Christopher Boswell Read by Brandon Rouzan I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion — and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies. ~ Ram Dass Blooming  where you are planted, is so important yet easily forgotten. Up until a  few moments ago, I was working on processing images, and the one you  see above was in front of me. There was a gnawing feeling to move on, to  leave the work unfinished. A deeply rooted need in me to be distracted,  many interests pulling me away. Stopping  for a moment, I thought about the photo, it was perfect for what was  happening to me. Or, more accurately, the actions I was faced with  choosing. In  fact, the only reason I was sitting here trying to improve on this  image is because I had used half measures when I originally processed  and key-worded the photo. Once again, in a rush to get to the next  thing, so I could hurry and do that half way too! This occurrence in me has inspired a new inquiry about a seemingly almost universal human trait. Just like that, the feeling is hitting me again. “Why was I wanting to write an article on this?” A  voice asks this question from somewhere deep inside. I’ll answer it, or  maybe ask a question, “what would you rather be doing?” no answer  comes, I already know what activity I’m engaged in rarely matters  regarding my capacity to focus until finished. What does it is, my  judgements about it and the other stimulus hitting my Retinas and  Synapses. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present” ― Bill Keane One  should likely resist the urge to name this behavior, especially using a  medical term that indicates something is broken. I don’t think anything  is wrong, but I do know that focus applied over time can create  wonderful accomplishment. It starts by being fully & happily committed to being where you are, after all, you won’t really be here for long. Read the entire article on Medium --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

Recently while trying to monetize YouTube an assumption was uncovered mistakenly believed for 11 years. “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” ― Isaac Asimov Blind Spots It easy for me to recall when I was first introduced to the idea of blind spots. Our blind spots cause a failure to recognize that emotions, such as fear and distrust,  change how we and others interpret and talk about reality. We think we  understand and remember what others say, when we really only remember  our thoughts about about what gets said. And that is not all… Today, I was working on my YouTube presence trying to attract enough followers and subscribers to monetize my channel. I uploaded the first video there 11 years ago! Wow. Over a decade and it only has 625 views. It’s kinda whimsical, one of my first attempts at making a video from sill pictures. Finish reading the article on Medium Find more media like this at Real Window Creative --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

Could we already possess a wonderful tool for increasing effectiveness and averting disaster? “Self-care is how you take your power back.”– Lalah Delia At  some point along my journey it became clear that most of the time I  operated on emotion. I’d grown up watching others engage emotionally, no  other way was known. Then life began to educate me. One  of the first things to go when operating out of this mindset is  self-care. I can think of story after story, times when fuzzy-headed  from emotional turmoil, decisions were made that cost me something.  Sometimes the cost was trivial and other times it was and still is  life-altering. Warning: The next paragraph contains some graphic descriptions of events. Once,  while on my way to work in Philadelphia, I was stuck in slow moving  traffic behind a semi-truck. Suddenly, I noticed a passenger door open  on a car in front of me, next to the big rig. A young woman appeared  from the back seat of a taxi-cab stepping into the roadway. What happened next is one thing to read a story about, It’s a whole other thing to witness in person. The  woman hurled herself under the semi truck in front of me. She  disappeared from my sight as I saw the semi lurch forward and then raise  up and back down like it had hit a speed bump. A  poor woman had timed it perfectly, ending her own life right there, one  car length away from me. I think of her often even though the event  happened over 30 years ago. Her  action set hundreds of other little events and emotional reactions into  motion for many people. I was a stringer for a local newspaper at the  time. Clearly, this was a news story. I struggled with the personal  nature of it and as a result, never took a picture even though my gear  was in the trunk. What  had she been dealing with? Had she made a split second decision in that  very moment and acted? Or, had her misery been ongoing and it was all  premeditated? Could the HALT method have save her life? Read the entire article on Medium Support us on Patreon for more like this. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message

How do we know what looks good in a picture or design and why? No  one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before  painting it, and is sure of his method and composition. — Claude Monet The rule of thirds. It  is interesting and curious, how we evolved into deciding what we like  to look at? Color, form, lines, contrast, shape and intensity are some  of the variables involved. Can you talk about what it is you like about  the way a view of something appears to you? It can be on the internet,  with text and images arranged just so. Or,  on the TV program you have going in the background right now. It’s  defined on the art you chose to hang on your walls and maybe most  importantly on the faces of those you love most. Today, there only two established rules I desire to talk about. The Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean or Ratio. Read the entire text and see the illustrations on Medium. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message