IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR

IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR

Our world is full of impulsive behavior, and it makes one think how many lives would be saved if we, the collective society, took the time to recognize the issue and create some early preventative ways to stop and learn more about it? Just about everyone has an impulsive urge from time to time, but most know how to manage it. Sadly, many don’t.

A few years ago a friend asked if I would like to accompany him on a visit to a state penitentiary. A childhood friend of his was spending the rest of his life behind bars for murder and I happened to be writing a screenplay with a similar situation. I told him I would appreciate tagging along and arranged for all the permits, approvals and paperwork needed for the visit.

I must share, there is nothing like hearing those steel doors slam shut behind you. I make movies and help create sound effects, but nothing can match the real thing. We met in a cafeteria, which surprised me even though there were lots of guards all around us. I thought I’d be sitting at a bench looking at a guy through a glass wall. No such thing at a real prison. Many convicts sat around with their visitors, and for a minute or two I forgot we were at a prison.

As we chatted, the man we were visiting explained to me why he was there. He had one of those impulsive behavior moments. He got angry, and the anger took over and got out of control. Before he could control his emotions, another man was dead. He hated the guy but didn’t mean to kill him. Up to that single moment, he had never been in trouble. He didn’t use drugs, liked a glass of wine or a beer but had never been drunk. The more we talked I realized I was sitting with a man found guilty of murder in the first degree who prior to the time of the crime had never been arrested for anything, and was for all practical purposes, a normal guy.

We had lunch and a very comfortable conversation developed. The guy we were visiting introduced us to two of his cellmate friends and, at first blush, I thought they were both extremely nice guys. Easy casual conversation until we started talking about why they were incarcerated. The smaller man was athletically built and talked about how easy it was for him to climb walls, go up the sides of buildings using his fingertips, and how he mastered the art of burglary. He started when he was a teenager and then graduated to bigger, more daring acts, and larger crimes. Of course, they all came with some risk, and that led to him terrorizing an entire affluent neighborhood. He stole millions of dollars in artwork, jewelry and other collectibles before someone tried to stop him and was severely beaten. Because of the instant choice, run or fight, he made the wrong decision. That impulsive beating slowed him down enough to get caught. The man he robbed almost died. I asked him why he did it, and what he planned on doing when he got out. He laughed. All his crimes were impulsively done without planning. He said he was an artist, had several of his paintings in galleries before he was arrested. He had paintings in the prison store where his artwork continued to sell well. When he said he only had two more years to serve, I assumed being an artist he would go back to painting. He laughed. “No,” he said, “I now know what mistakes I made. Next time they won’t catch me.” I felt my head nodding while the brain didn’t comprehend a word he said. I made a note to check the prison store before we left.

The other man suffered as well from an impulsive moment. He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He had a fight with his wife, stormed out of the house when she said she was leaving him and drove around for hours. He took a gun he kept in his trunk and walked down one neighborhood block knocking on doors. When total strangers opened their door, he shot them. He wounded three and killed a dozen people before the cops arrived. In less than an hour, his impulsive behavior changed the lives of many. He too had never been in trouble before. He told his story without remorse. He was sorry, but no other emotion was expressed. He said what was done was done, and afterwards it didn’t matter. He was serving multiple life sentences and would never be released. I was silently horrified. I know we all have impulsive moments. Parents get angry with children and even say things later regretted and do it frequently. Impulsive behavior happens every day in every walk of life. The difference is almost all of us know when we’re losing it and are able to pull it back and control things before they get out of hand.

Impulsive behavior is simply giving in to the moment rather than recognizing the need for thought. I was sitting with three men who lost control for the first time in their lives and created the ultimate nightmare for their victims, the surviving families, their families and themselves. Before we left the prison, I had to visit the store. On the shelves, we found beautiful painting by the famous night burglar, and intricate, detailed woodworks from the man who killed all those people. My buddy's friend had studied law and served other inmates with legal advice. I couldn't help but think of three wasted lives all brought on by impulsive behavior.

In watching and reading about some of our world events, happening all around us, now and seemingly every day, you have to wonder “what if” things had been thought out first? Can we change impulsive behavior? Is there any treatment? Are their early signs, any childhood reactions that might warn us? It’s way beyond time we start looking for a solution. Children are impressionable. Put them with the wrong person and they can easily be molded into something they’re not. What do you do after they change? Is it too late? Do we just give up?

How many fabulous minds have we lost? How many doctors, musicians, writers, politicians, teachers and scholars have been swept away because of impulsive behavior?

We know a bully starts early in life. He starts with some issues, usually to prove something, or that he can be dominant over someone else, and it festers from there. Many bullies out grow their attitudes and are able to function and move on. Many do not. Some of those who bully, end up doing horrible acts against society. Could they have been stopped? The sad answer is yes. Many behavioral issues can be corrected if caught early because there is usually a better way of dealing with issues if they are thought out.

I’m a filmmaker/author and know I don’t have all the answers. I write stories about situations. Some are stories that contain subject matters like crime, violence, humor, family, laughter, animals and love. I mix it up on purpose, so I don’t get caught writing about one subject, theme or genre.  While there is a gray area on solutions, one thing I know is the problem exists, and we need to do something about it.

Our society has become cold and uncaring. We are in a hurry, and it doesn’t seem to matter if we have someplace to be as long as we get there first. We’ve misplaced love, the simple act of hugging, and the warmth and joy a smile creates. Parents forget to say, “I love you,” to wives and children every morning and every night. If they are still alive, we forget to call our moms and dads just to say hello. We push God away because we don’t want others to think we have become fanatics, after all, to believe in God is dated. Many governments need to take God away from us because they fear we might wake from a bad dream and turn the clock back a little bit. When times were sane, travel was safe, and it was okay to leave the front door unlocked. Going to a church, a synagogue or temple brought peace to our hearts, souls and homes. God was good. In short, we have lost our way, and that peaceful feeling that once existed in our minds has been replaced with worry, stress, anxiety, medicine, and ugly behavior. We have become an impulsive society. The goal of becoming successful is slipping away from the hope we once had.

Some say, "What difference does it make? Get over it and move on,” but moving on isn’t the answer or solution. The need to want more for family and self is not only important it’s imperative for our survival.

As my grandfather used to say, “It’s never too late” and he was right. Life is good if we learn to live it. Time is precious if we learn to use it. Love is great if you can see it with both eyes. Hugs are meant to comfort and share the electrical part of our heart and mind. Family is something we all need. Living in the South reminds me of how much I missed growing up in the big city. In the South, like in the country anywhere, God and family come first. To help you, a total stranger will bend over backwards, and in the South, paying forward is the norm. In the big city, it’s a dogfight. Everyone is looking out for themselves, and they tend to forget there are others around them. We lose touch with our inner selves and forget how to live and how to help others live their lives. Many of us have become tainted, careless and distant. We have forgotten how good it feels to help a stranger. We don’t wave to the people driving by because it’s embarrassing and so we miss that large and happy smile when they wave back. In the big city people walk with their heads down, mind their own business and live a quiet empty life. No one wants to rock the boat. Stress and fear seem to be the rule and that’s a sad way to life.

All of that can be changed with a little thought. Each day we live, each moment that passes never comes back. There are no do-overs in real life. Many of us make mistakes and in some cases there is no taking them back. Impulsive behavior is not the way life should be. Life is well worth thinking about. Thoughts can be wonderful and a saving grace.

I try to work on my life every day and hope you will try to do the same. It goes by quickly.

William Byron Hillman © 2013

Web site: http://www.williamhillman.com

Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/williamhillman

Book Links:

Let’s Sue ‘Em http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M9E790

Veronique and Murray: http://tinyurl.com/8xrmmu7

The Hard Way: http://tinyurl.com/86hgtz6

Zebra’s Rock and Me http://tinyurl.com/7b28qu6

Quigley’s Christmas Adventure http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANVNQ6G

Rollie Kemp Books

Ghosts and Phantoms Part 

Ghosts and Phantoms Part II

APRIL

Bad Rap: (Coming May 2013)

FAIR SHARE

FAIR SHARE

I keep hearing the words Fair Share, and have come to the conclusion most who use this term have no idea what they are talking about.

For some reason, this term has been used as a political object, but when you analyze the use of the term the answer is utterly amusing. If I may be bold enough, here are a few examples.

1.              FAIR to me means: “It is just to ALL parties, equitable and consistent with logic and being direct and to the point. The key word, “all” speaks volumes.

2.              SHARE: Means to take a part, or, more to the point, participate in a portion of the whole.

3.              A Fair Share would amount to everyone’s participation in the whole and, therefore, guide to  what an equitable amount would be.

4.              Participation in the whole is unique in theory because that would suggest everyone would experience a collective collaboration to assist and help each other.

When my grandfather was a young man, he agreed to rent a farm that happened to have a house on the property. He had no job or money, so in lieu of paying rent or buying the property, he agreed to run the farm, sell the crops and share the earning with the landlord. In short my grandfather became a sharecropper.

So what is a Fair Share? Children need a fair share with love, time, teaching, hugging and preparing them for adulthood. This is expected of parents, so that's a fair share, right?

Where does the experience young workers starting out come from? How about we create a fair share department to educate those who need to learn, launch the business doors and welcome new blood in, even those who need a little more time to develop their skills?

What about the young woman growing up in a man’s world? Isn't the female work force entitled to their fair share of salaries paid? What if she’s better than her male counterpart, wouldn’t that make her a candidate for receiving a larger share of the fair share earnings pool?

Young filmmakers, in a business I love and work intensely to keep current, have to learn by trial and error almost every new concept we put on film. Most of us start at the bottom.

At times, we are so far to the right or left we feel as though we’re standing in the alley searching for the door to the world so we can enter. The odd part of the film industry is, you work, learn, have co-workers who give their share of knowledge and therefore you develop, take chances, have a support team behind you and end up earning your fair share of the standard normal. The standard expected is unique in the entertainment industry because you realize what is normal for you and then find a comfort zone of which allows you to share your knowledge with others.

In the real world, you know, the one we live in daily? We raise our children to honor and respect others. We tell them to trust, behave, listen, and love one another. We ask them to share their toys with siblings, and clothes when outgrown. We learn to share books, rides, and instructions. We help fellow students to excel, and we love competition. We learn all of this early on in life, and then we grow up, and nothing is the same. Why? Have you ever asked yourself why we have to grow up and leave all that fun behind? It’s because the fair share slowly slips from our fingers.

Evaluating the Fair Share concept, someone is at fault. Whom do we blame for having to grow up and face reality? Whose fault is it life gets so complicated? We can blame mom, and dad, or grandpa and grandma, but it’s not actually their fault. We can blame the bosses of the world, but in reality they work for someone just like we do. So whom do we blame?

Politicians! It's their fault, isn't it? I mean, they make the laws and then they break them. They spout the truth one moment, you know, the reality we want to hear? Then they turn around and do the real truth, what we don’t want to hear. Regardless of party or alliance, with or without religious belief, with or without sexual orientation, it has to be their fault. We’re on an endless road going nowhere, unless, of course, we get hold of what a Fair Share means and then actually live by it. The politicians, who, by the way, work for us, do not honor or participate in the Fair Share mandate. They exclude themselves from conventional insurance and vote to give themselves a lifetime retirement fund, and I don’t know anyone who has ever been asked if that is okay. I think they should participate in the fair share program. Right now we have a bunch of people who like to argue and solve nothing. That’s not giving us a Fair Share of running the government we hired them to do.

We need to create a Fair Share that will benefit All of us, not just a few. It doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out if everyone paid something on a sliding scale, it would trigger an enormous amount of money that currently doesn’t exist.

I love the country I live in and have never complained when tax time comes, and I must pay my share in taxes. That’s not to say I haven’t used deductions, but there always seems to be an number I owe at the end of the day. I believe we all owe our country something. We owe because life here is exceptional and therefore I came up with a creative idea of what a Fair Share should be.

First, every taxpayer should pay something? Not maybe, but a minimal amount and let’s just call it an trade for the privilege of living in the country. What if the country was a large farm and like my grandpa, all of us were the farmers? What if we paid a fee to maintain the country, the freedom to travel and experience our daily lives? Wouldn’t that amount to a Fair Share?

I know quite a few wealthy people. Some pay taxes and some have never paid a dime. The funny part of saying that is, I know many others who aren’t wealthy but do the same thing in paying no taxes. These people, all of them collectively who pay nothing, owe their Fair Share.

Remember, fair means all, share is to provide or pay a portion. At the end of each year, every single adult should pay something, right?  I know there is an argument that slides up the ladder of logic, and I can hear them screaming that some can’t afford to pay a dime. I don’t agree with that either. I believe in my heart everyone should and can pay something for the privilege of living here.

So you start this so called Fair Share Mandate, why can’t we start with say Three Dollars ($3) a month as a first tear on the sliding schedule. Everyone can afford $3. I mean that's only $36. a year for an unbelievable privilege. Doesn't that sound, right? From there, a sliding scale would be created, $5 for some, $10 a month for others and so on. Every dollar levied and collected would be based on gross income solely, before any deductions whatsoever. The more you earn, the more you pay up to a point. This would go for corporations to, and all companies with offices or headquarters in this country. A set minimum would equal a fair share from everyone regardless of how much they make.

This would have nothing to do with deductions or other safety nets we all have and enjoy, this has to do with the crops (or freedom if you will) that we enjoy throughout the year and the rent that’s required for using them. It is for the privilege of living here, but as it is most don't pay for it. Oh wait, yes the actual taxpayers who pay taxes do pay for our privileges, all of us. Sadly those who pay nothing end up with the same gifts as those who pay for them. That’s not a fair share.

The wealthy can’t pay for everything. That’s not fair either. Those who aren’t wealthy, but have the desire to become wealthy, need to keep their dream alive, but like anything else in life that privilege should have a minimum fee so the Fair Share would be paid by everyone.

There are a lot of extremely well educated people who could figure out the exact numbers, so no one in particular gets hurt. If everyone paid something the national debt would melt away, and our freedoms  improve immensely. If every tax return ended with this minimum fee, I believe all of us would feel as though we did our part, however, small it might be.

I hear politicians from all parties talking about how they speak for everyone, but that’s not true. They speak for a handful, and that’s a long way from all of us and it’s not just.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to pay higher taxes either, but there is a reason we all need to participate in the wellbeing of our country. Every country needs this wisdom. What’s the old saying, “There are no free rides.” Well guess again. Last time I read a study, it stated over half of everyone living here paid nothing and to me that’s a free ride.

We will end up with a flat tax eventually, but that is probably miles down the road and around the bend. Wouldn’t it make sense to set up a minimum tax, so all paid their fair share? Come on, $3 bucks a month is affordable, it is. It’s one less pack of cigarettes or giving up a coke or a few cups of coffee. It’s doable.

Until the day comes when we actually elect people who can think for all of us by doing the right thing for all of us, something needs to be done now. When I look at the list of stupid things the government spends our money on, it makes me sick. Shame on us for allowing someone to do this and say it’s on our behalf. Shame on us for not speaking up and demanding the fair share should be for everyone.

At times, we are like the blind leading the blind, and we accept whatever is said to be the truth. Participating in a Fair Share program would eliminate cheaters, would stop those taking a free ride at our expense and force the responsibility of everyone to participate in keeping the country sound and maybe to get us out of debt. It doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out if everyone paid something, it would create a substantial amount of money. A resource that currently doesn’t exist. With a constant and continuous stream of expected revenue, it would improve our lives. More importantly, this would be a fantastic thing for all of us when the constant flow of new revenue reduced the national debt. I’m just saying … a fair share should be fair.

Dressing a Movie

 Dressing A Movie

One of my favorite things to do as a film director is to dress a movie before production begins. So many people from all over the world ask me how this is done and how I do it. While there are many aspects of filmmaking that are fun, this happens to be one of my favorites.

It’s hard to put things you enjoy in an order you can explain. As for me, filmmaking from the beginning to the end is still and will always be exhilarating to me. Casting, locations, set dressing, rehearsing, and then principal photography. Once you get underway, nothing will stop the progress. After principal photography ends, more fun begins in the editing room where you reconstruct the movie again from the ground up. You get to move things around. Like a big puzzle, you can use the “little shots” you created and see if they work. Soon you become thoroughly immersed in the task of completing the director's final cut. This may not be the final-final cut as you might test it with an audience or the studio or distributor may, and most likely will, ask for changes. When it’s all done, you sit in the back of a theatre and watch and listen to the audience. There is nothing more rewarding than to hear them giggle in the right places, scream or cry in others that you planned and designed from the ground up.

When the action begins.

You acquire or write a brilliant script. You are the director and team with a group of people who say they are producers. They raise production funds and prove their worth by getting you a green light for production and distribution.

You start pre-production, and that means you have a whole lot of work to do. It’s like an architect planning a building. He needs a blueprint, and the filmmaker must create the look of the film. Some significant casting may already be in place, but the roles still open will lay the groundwork for how the outcome of the film will look. As casting begins and interviews are lined up, you go back to the production look you want on the film.

You go on a tech scout, that’s where you check locations, find the perfect place to shoot and lay out each shot so they can be effortlessly edited into the final cut of the film. Sometimes you have a storyboard drawn up for each major shot, and sometimes you just make lots of notes.

While you examine each area of each interior location, you also think about how they should look when fully dressed. What might be in the background and what products, if any, would be used by each of your characters. This also helps with how your characters look and what they wear and more importantly how YOU want them dressed.

On a desk in a location office, for example, would they have a computer? If so would it be a desktop or laptop? With each decision comes more choices such as, should you use a wide screen iMac, or smaller Windows component? Maybe the characters use a tablet like an iPad, Google or Samsung product, and that creates more choices. If the character has a Mac computer, he most likely would also use an iPad and have an iPhone on the desk and one in hand. If the character uses a Windows or Android product, a multitude of choices open. With all these choices and the time needed to watch over each one, you realize you needed help from a product placement company. A real pro who can and will shorten the process. Without help,  this chore could take months instead of days.

There are lots of product placement companies, and some require you use their client’s products exclusively while other companies just want their clients goodies to be seen on the big screen. Some large companies manage their own product placement, which requires a phone call from the producer or director.

For example, if two of your characters wear tennis shoes and you as the filmmaker want them to be unique. Your first thought is Nike or Reebok but then you start looking around at K-Swiss, Rockport, Jordan, Adidas, Puma, New-Balance and get dizzy. You end up discussing this with your wardrobe people and they eventually bring you various shoes and styles to choose from.

Does the script call for a car in the garage or a motor home in the driveway? Are the characters well off and live in a spacious house luxury condo or is your cast regular blue-collar workers? It’s essential to know your characters and their backgrounds. Even in the make believe world, much depends on the end look. If you over dress them, and have them drive a Mercedes or BMW when they are written in the screenplay as a hard working middle income family, they would look utterly ridiculous driving an expensive car they couldn’t afford. General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota all have product placement offices along with several other companies and they all want screen time. As for motor homes, that’s a different story.

A few years ago I called Winnabego, and they said yes. It looked fantastic on screen, and the company was frightfully happy. They even gave me a loaner when we finished the picture to spend a couple of weeks and enjoy the road. Over the years,  we’ve used Lazy Daze, Fleetwood and Newmar products and found them all extremely accommodating and were thrilled with the end results.

You end up with lots of choices from furniture, bedding, televisions and kitchen products. You have clothes to deal with, along with shoes and other personal items. Your characters might wear Levi’s or Wrangler at home and fancy suits at the office. The look changes much of the final look, and this too can easily be overdone with the use of too much.

As you move around each location and understand each one has a different look, and then you might face the need for multiple diverse ways to decorate each set. You have, of course, the professionals of your crew to depend on, but most directors have certain things they want to allow their vision the satisfaction and nature of the director’s identity. A look that’s only in their head and at times the needs pops up, and you must reach out for help in unlikely places.

Your Set Dresser and Art Director help with most items seen on the set unless you have a plan and then you must talk to them and share the vision you have in your head so they can help to clarify that look. Thankfully most professionals know the shortcuts needed to prepare a kitchen with current products from food, to soft drinks, beer and spirits. What’s on the counter or in the fridge? If they have s bar, what kind of alcohol would be stocked on the shelves?

Your Costume personnel know ways to dress your characters with jeans, shoes, shirts, jackets and most of the time you put things in their competent hands. Once again, the director may demand that look. A fabric or color or one that doesn’t exist and in comes the Wardrobe pro to help out or arrange to have what you want created and produced.

We talked about a storyboard and sometimes they genuinely help define the look and vision of the director. Of course, you always have to have permission and release forms to use most products even though it’s advertising and in some cases a boost to the industry as it might create a new fad. You still need the right to use and to avoid a liability lawsuit.

Before you begin principal photography, hopefully you get most if not all of these movie dressing needs out of the way because once you get started it’s most likely too late to change or add something new. Time becomes treasured, and you quickly realize you have none to waste. The cost of production, when broken down by the hour, can swiftly wake you up. The pace you specify will make or break the result of your film.

When you make a studio film, much of this is done in-house, but when you are independent and raise the production funds on your own, all of the above falls into your lap. If you slow down and take a few deep breaths, the fun of it all is unexplainable.

The whole idea of dressing a movie is to make sure the look and inspiration you started out with are completed when it’s all over. It’s a whole lot of work, but boy is it fun. To prep is the beginning of your creation, to shoot becomes pure excitement, and then comes the editing and music score during post-production, and when you put it all together … that’s what filmmaking is all about. There is certainly nothing else in the world that consumes you with the adrenaline rush that comes from starting with nothing and ending with a motion picture you created from the ground up.

IMAGINE

IMAGINE

Imagine how refreshing it would be to live in a perfect world.

I got beat up pretty good a few years ago, while in high school. When I came home, my grandfather noticed how I was hiding my face until I could get in the bathroom. He stopped me and saw the cuts and bruises. I explained how I stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong. He didn’t understand until I told him about three boys who were taunting another boy. The smaller kid usually stayed off by himself. I stopped, or tried to stop them from humiliating the boy, so the three bullies turned on me. I told the boy to run, and before I could go into a defensive mode, they jumped on me. I got the worst of it that day.

Grandpa said he was proud of me. Then he asked me to imagine there were no bullies around. I didn’t want to laugh because it hurt my cut lip, but when I did, Gramps angrily shook me. He repeated the statement. Imagine there were no bullies. He told me to close my eyes and think about it. I did, and it didn’t make any sense until I realized what he meant. If there were no bullies, we would not have the problem they created. I had a choice, go back and engage with them or advise a teacher what they were doing. Before I could decide, they attacked me in the school parking lot. I got mad, and subsequently managed to drag all three into the principal's office. I was sent home for a week, the parents of the three bullies were called, and a police report was made. When we all came back to school we didn’t like each other much, but they were never bullies again. I wish it were that easy today because few know why we have bullies period. Bullies exist. How can they be stopped? Do parents stop caring when kids reach a certain age?

Grandpa went further with his curiosity, asking me about other issues and we had a terrific conversation that lasted for hours. As I grew older, hopefully wiser, I started to analyze the whole of life and how we mange to survive and get along with one another.

Imagine parents who care enough to raise their children with morals, and teachings of right and wrong. Imagine creating a sensible punishment that would change wrong into, right? Wouldn't it be fantastic if life were that easy to resolve issues?

Imagine politicians who got along with one another and while both sides believed differently, they could compromise and create an acceptable solution. Imagine politicians who told the truth all the time and never lied about anything. Imagine that.

Imagine if all countries worldwide worked together to provide a lasting peace, cure illnesses, and share medical discoveries.

Imagine if anger could be eliminated and replaced with a new method of creating a peaceful mind and heart.

Imagine if no one cheated or lied and honesty and truth ruled our hearts and minds.

Imagine if you could travel anywhere in the world and receive nothing but joy and satisfaction.

The wish list goes on and on, but it always comes back to working things out so as human beings we can learn from our mistakes and survive with our fellow man.

On the other side of the fence comes another kind of imagination, one that’s not so spectacular or full of potential solutions.

Imagine if one person made the rule of law and those who disagreed were punished severely.

Imagine there were no religions, no belief in anyone or anything, no higher power and no one to comfort a lonely individual in need of a friend who will just listen without judgment or degradation.

Imagine if there were no political parties, or perhaps only one, and that one body of law made all of the decisions. Imagine no Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party members, Libertarians or Independents. Imagine no one could have an opinion on anything that differed from the sole leader.

Imagine there was only one car, one way to build a road or building and one way to dress.

Imagine if there were no rich and poor, there was only one class of people. What if no one owned a business or more than one franchise? What if everyone made the same amount of money, lived in the same type of home, drove the same type of car, and dressed in the same clothes as everyone else. Imagine the dread.

Imagine no one other than the sole commander had control of a business or private life.

Imagine an autocratic ruler who laid down his law, so no other existed. If you didn’t agree with his opinions or decisions, you were punished, prisoned or eliminated. Imagine.

Imagine if everyone had the same insurance, the same deductible, the same coverage and no one had a privileged position for better care.

Imagine if every country had reason to dislike one another and world travel ceased to exist. Imagine.

Imagine if teenagers were not allowed to be punished and had the freedom to do as they wished. Imagine as drugs flowed freely without rules or laws.

Imagine if terrible decisions were made by public figures and no one was held responsible. What if there were no punishment for the death of innocent lives?  What if it actually didn't matter in the eyes of the majority?

The bottom line comes down to a need for a lot of work. As my grandfather said, most on the above list will never happen. There are many reasons but most falls into only a handful of categories, selfishness and not caring what others do, greed, anger mixed with hate and the lack of mastering the art of compromise.

When troubled times begin to develop, we need to rationalize the changes and make corrections for all. If we legalize drug use, we must prepare for the consequences that will come later down the road and not wear blinders or buy it won’t happen.

Bad things do happen and need to be addressed. Imagine if we can learn how to stop the evil before it becomes reality.

As a filmmaker/author, I am also a dreamer. My heart wants to believe we will find solutions before terrible happens. My heart and mind is dancing with an imagination that creates peace, smiles and happiness. I want and need to trust the future will be better than the past, not only for personal reasons but also for the children following behind me.

The world needs attention. It's far more difficult to stop a conflict than it is to develop one.

What it all comes down to is how we raise and bring our children into the world. We have choices, and we all make mistakes. The problem is most never live up to their potential because the trail gets twisted, forks in the road distract from the goal and what started out as a successful oath slips into troubled waters.

We need to stop and, like the saying goes, smell the roses. Grandpa used to say, close your eyes and imagine, then open the eyes and do the right thing.

Life itself is superb and full of all we can handle. Not everything is perfect, not every body sound, but in our opinion there is little that can’t be done and in the end with a mind set correctly, what was thought of can certainly happen and take place.

Imagine if we share love, hug often, sustain a peaceful heart and look forward to good instead of the alternative – how intensely significant the life we live can be. Remember, a smile speaks a thousand words and generally enriches the soul.

Can you imagine that?