The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove.

- Samuel Johnson

The interview is 16 minutes.  Take a listen.  Enjoy.

“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

You can find talks about various topics, from education to religion to technology to entertainment…Lots of very intriguing speakers, some who are well-known, such as Al Gore, to less well-known people, who, in their talks, inspire us, teach us, persuade us, fascinate us…

I came across a new TED talk today that I felt I had to share. This talk was given by Tony Porter at the first TEDWomen conference held just this past month. Mr. Porter is the co-founder of A Call to Men, a non-profit organization “committed to ending violence against women.” In his presentation, he discusses the “Man Box,” and how living in the “Man Box” causes men to live in bondage to what some men think being a man is all about. He discusses how much of living in the “Man Box” leads to violence against women. Nonetheless, he concludes his talk with a profound statement of liberation that we all, men and women, must hear.

Below is the video of “Tony Porter: A Call to Men.” Play it for every man you know. But as a woman, I feel it is also a call to me – to further understand these issues so that I can understand that there are other men who are trying to break free of the “Man Box.” I need to understand these issues so that when my husband explains the “Man Box” to our daughter, that I will be able to understand right along with her.

I am the wife of a man who has long broken out of the “Man Box.” Nonetheless, let us all seek to understand the men in our lives to support them breaking out of their own “Man Box.”

Poetry slammer Katie Makkai gives voice to how we – as parents, as teachers, as those concerned with the tender hearts of our young people – should respond to the insecurities our girls carry as a result of listening to and watching what the media deems to suggest what’s right for them. It is absolutely powerful.

One of the areas of greatest concern to me now, as a mother and teacher (in a private school) is the state of education today – public education, that is. Our daughter is in first grade in the public school system, and I’ve found myself dismayed by the education system in this country. Civility is no longer valued among students, teachers are not respected, some teachers deserve not to influence our children’s minds. So one of the things I focus on is education.

To that end, my posts will probably focus more on the topic of education, since the need for education reform is staggering. We all need to engage ourselves in this effort, because if we don’t, we’ll decline into third world status…literally. And our children, so precious, deserve so much better than that.

To that end, I want to share this video. It’s entitled “Lost Generation.” It’s less than two minutes long, but in that less than two minutes, a great message about our young people needs to be heard – and spread across this country.

Take a look…

Our children deserve so much more than what we’re giving them.

My husband is a phenomenal man! He doesn’t settle for second best. He seeks to do everything with excellence. So when he told me he was updating his first book, Steppin’ Out of the Darkness, my first question is, “Why?” He replied, “I can do better.” So after many months of rewrites and revisions, my husband has now published and released his first hardcover book entitled Come Morning. You can view a description of the book on my husband’s blog, “When Least Expected.”

Come Morning is indeed a blessing to read. There is something for everyone in this book. It was easy for me to identify with different characters in the narrative. Oh, and there are surprises in the book as well. I remember reading and editing the revision for one chapter, and as I read, I suddenly laughed and said, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.” I won’t tell you what happened; you have to read it for yourself.

Take a look here to read what my husband has to say about the book. Then go to Amazon.com and order it! Keep a journal by your side as you read. As someone already reviewed, it “…will make you take a slow, deliberate & honest look at your mindset…” You’ll want to write the insights you make about yourself in your journal as you read.

Invest in yourself…invest in others…read Come Morning.

My father suffered a stroke in August 2008, and my husband and I moved him to the Atlanta area at the end of September 2008. He lived with us for the past 15 months. Nonetheless, God decided it was time for my daddy to enter into His presence – my dad passed away on Monday, April 5, 2010, the day after Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His funeral was today, April 9, 2010.

Although I told him before he passed, I want to honor my father publicly. I told him how much he was loved, what a great job he did as a father, and that he didn’t have to worry; we’re going to be fine. He was a beautifully sweet man, quite the handsome one, very generous, and wonderfully loving. Here is a relatively recent photo of my father:

I love my father; I miss him terribly. I wish he were still with us. But he is experiencing God’s kingdom right now. And for that, I can only celebrate that my father is experiencing pain no more, and we will see him again one day.

Thank you, Daddy, for being my Daddy. It has been an honor to be your daughter.

So how often do we observe cell phone use while driving? In the Atlanta area, all the time. And ‎although inherently I believed it was a dangerous practice, I sometimes felt I had to call my ‎husband on my way home from work, or call a friend because the 35-40 minute commute was the ‎most convenient time to have a conversation.‎

That was before I watched Oprah’s episode on what Oprah refers to as “America’s New Deadly ‎Obsession,” cell phone use while driving, when it first aired a couple of weeks ago. As I listened to ‎the stories about people losing their lives because someone, whether it was the person killed or ‎someone in another vehicle, was using a cell phone while driving, I was convicted. And I thought ‎to myself, “That could’ve been me. I could’ve caused an injury or death at any time.” So I ‎acknowledge I’ve been fortunate. My angels have been looking out for me. But after that episode, ‎I promised I would never use my cell phone for anything as I drive.

To that end, I am signing Oprah’s No Phone Zone Pledge. It states the following:‎

I pledge to make my car a No Phone Zone. Beginning right now, I will do my part to help put an ‎end to distracted driving by not texting or using my phone while I am driving. I will ask other ‎drivers I know to do the same. I pledge to make a difference.

I know we are all busy. We try to cram as much into a day as possible, because there are ONLY 24 ‎hours in a day. But seriously, is phone use while driving really worth the lives we put at risk when ‎we engage in what Oprah calls “America’s New Deadly Obsession”? Is it worth your son or ‎daughter losing their mother or father? Is it worth losing the loved ones who ride with you each ‎day? Is it worth taking the life of someone’s daughter or son? Rhetorical. No need to answer.‎

Oh, by the way, check out this statistic: we are four times more likely to have an accident if driving and talk on our cell phones. That is the equivalent of a driving with a blood alcohol of .08, ‎the limit at which one is charged a DUI. Even worse, we are eight times more likely to have an ‎accident if we text while driving. ‎

Unfortunately, not too long after the episode aired, it was reported that a 19-year old man sending a text slammed into a telephone pole here in Atlanta.

Is it worth it?‎

Check out the show link here ‎at Oprah’s website.‎

So far, only over 76,000 drivers have signed the pledge. I’ve signed it. Will you?

The video is a presentation of “Life Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” what many refer to as “The Black National Anthem.”  The Rev. Joseph Lowery quoted from the third verse of the song during his benediction at the Inauguration on January 20, 2009 when he prayed,

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand — true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.”

As I watched the images, I couldn’t help but be propelled into a past that I only experienced on the surface (being born in 1964 living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin).  I couldn’t help but to feel some pain knowing the injustices that were wrought on innocent people just because of the color of their skin.  Yet, the video is full of images of power, in the midst of the injustices served, and in the midst of the hurt and pain I felt, I also felt proud for the progress we’ve made.

I think the video tells a powerful story.  As my student shared it with me, I’d like to share it with you.