Positivity or Actions

Few days ago, I did a post on being positive and kinda carried away with that “boasting” time when I penned down my thoughts. I wanted this post to be a critical one with that idyllic euphoria of “Attitude is everything” scribble.

Maybe this positive thinking does have some effect on our physiology. Although our conscious mind is aware that the underlying emotions are pretty much congruent with the reality, but we are always taught to dress the wounds without treating the actual cause. To put it on skeptical terms, this “Positive Thinking” is a cheap “legal high”!

So, what did this “legal high” has done to me in the last couple of days? Well, to be honest, I kinda felt better. I did some stuff which even now I still get some butterflies in my stomach viz., using the telephone! For a stutterer, it’s pretty daunting. But, my audacity of hope that I will do better, did manage to get me an interview for a part-time job as a “Customer Service Assistant”. Now, to be critical, does that mean I didn’t face any setback? Nope, I did stutter pretty heavily when I did that cold-calling because I didn’t know what to expect from those people? Imagine the situation like going to a battlefield with your hands tied. I was in that kinda situation. Whatever, I felt much better after every call. I kinda became narcissitic!!!

Jokes apart, you guys gotta try out this “feeling good about yourself” thing. It’s there within us. Just like how we could miss out the SMS alert tone of an important text message, yet taking the necessary steps as directed by that message when we find about it later. We need these kinds of little “hope” shots to see what we might have missed out and take some actions to steer us back to our goals.

All in all, it was a rough week with just one good thing. But, hey, this positivity coupled with a definite action-plan could do something in our lives. Even though, it’s tough to maintain during a rough patch.

I’m still skeptical whether to ascribe this little success entirely to my positivity (like all the “Attitude is everything” fellas ), when my actions have done the trick.

What do you think? Positivity or Actions? Which is the right thing?

The Skeptic in Me

It really amazes me how avid bloggers come up with new posts every time. I am finding it really difficult to write new stuffs each and every time. I wanted to write on various topics, some serious enough like Pet Love, Movies, Music, Twitter, Facebook etc and trivial issues like Stuttering, Job Hunt, Politics, Science, Critical Thinking, Environmental Obsession, War on XYZ (you can fill up anything you want and at least one country will be in war with that! ) Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize etc. If you had read my That’s Me page, I wrote “This is my place to be myself”. But now, I second-guess my thoughts. I think like “Is OK to mention this? Or Can I write about that? Or Can I be more open on my viewpoints?”

The reason why I am talking about this is that, I think I have an innate inquirer’s mind. During my childhood days, I would always question about many traditional belief systems, personalities, politics etc. And, my Dad comes back with either of these two questions. One, “Why are you criticizing everything?” Two, “Why don’t you look at the positive side?” I go for a rebuttal by telling him, “Dad, A critic is a person who knows the value of Nothing! (Well! Actually I read that somewhere! )” I love my Dad and I really liked to ask tough questions to him.

I really didn’t know why I am questioning all the age old stuffs and what makes me to do that until the late 2007, I stumbled upon some Youtube videos of Penn and Teller and James Randi. Out of serendipity, I exclaimed “Man! That’s might be what I am! I might be a Skeptic!” The Farlex Dictionary defines skeptic as “One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.” When I mull over on the various subjects taught during my school days like United Nations, World Peace, Environmental Pollution, Renewable Energy, Global Warming, Green House Emissions, Logging and other “sensationalized” topics. I always wondered “Why do these textbook authors dramatize the effects?” Although, I didn’t get proper explanations from my teachers; Creative Writing of my English class was a great opportunity to question those issues. (My English teacher liked my arguments. But, I always got average grades because I sucked in grammar and I think I still do! )

My final thoughts are; coming from a conservative background on various topics, it took me a lot of time and research to understand who I am and what makes me to think from a different frame of reference. Like how stuttering perplexes the medical world, my innate mind still befuddles me!

Have you guys ever faced these kinda situations in your lives? Do share your thoughts.

Fluency Hysteria

Hey Ya!

Few days ago, I read a wonderful blog post titled “Overcoming Stuttering” by my friend, Pam Mertz (@stutterrockstar). It’s a good analysis on how kids and teens could be programmed by the “I-overcame-my-stuttering” hogwash of the “media-made” famous people. And, I couldn’t disagree. It’s not only about kids & adolescence, even many adult stutterers fall prey for these kinda stuffs.

See, I don’t have any vendetta against the famous people whether they are stutterers or not. I admire them for their triumphs and victories. They motivate and inspire us to achieve against insurmountable odds; which is brilliant. But when it comes to “fluent speech”, is it possible? How many of the stutterers know that “fluent speech” is really a wrong goal and there is no scientific evidence to make it possible. It’s like climbing the ladder when it is actually leaning on the wrong wall. On the other hand, when fluent speech is the norm, the minds of stutterers undergo lots of pain and agony in regards with their speech. They automatically start to buy in to these kinds of false-hopes of fluent speech. And, it’s understandable.

How much ever I criticize the “fluent speech” notion, there is a part in me which yearns for the same. I enjoyed a great childhood and teenage, good education, great parents and siblings, wonderful family etc. Now, when all my carefree years are over and I hit the job market, it’s pretty daunting and I feel the pain. Apart from my qualifications, skills and experiences I understand that my stutter plays a pivotal role in the interview process. And at this time, I feel the pain about my speech impediment and think “Could this be the reason for my rejections?”

In spite all the negativity and put-downs, my stuttering actually made me an optimistic and a happy dude. I equate stuttering to the idea of “fate”. We all do that. When we achieve something, we say “I did it”. And, when we screw up, we say “Sometimes, Life Sucks!!!” and move on. Similarly, when we start to accept ourselves how we are and move forward. We get a life of abundance were we barely notice we stutter. (Unless, some dimwit points us! )

Finally, I too share my friend Pam’s concerns on getting out celebrities to talk about their successes with their stutters and not by giving an illusion that they succeeded by overcoming stuttering. I promise, I will never do that.

PS: I really didn’t know what title to be given for this blog post. I used this title because I think it summarizes the mental agony & hysteria that surrounds fluent speech among the stuttering clan; which in reality, pretty difficult to be established. I hope I have done justice in relating the blog post with the title.

International Stuttering Awareness Day Online Conference 2009

Stuttering: No More than a Tangled Tongue

Stuttering: More Than a Tangled Tongue is the theme of the twelfth annual International Stuttering Awareness Day online conference, hosted by Judith Kuster, Minnesota State University, Mankato, will open October 1. It can be found by going to The Stuttering Home Page  (www.stutteringhomepage.com). The online conference features several papers written by well-known professionals and consumers (people who stutter/clutter) from around the world.  Participants can read papers and interact with the presenters on easy-to-use threaded discussions attached to each paper, during the three weeks the conference is “live” — from October 1-22. The ISAD online conference is freely available or can be taken for Continuing Education (1.5/15 hours) or one university credit (either graduate or undergraduate). Instructions and requirements for CEU or credit are online at

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/requirements.html

Papers remain available online after the conference has ended and all past conferences are archived and available at

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/onlineconference.html

Job Hunt, Stuttering and Nursery Rhymes

Hi hi hi hi Hi!

Yesterday, I wanted to do a blog post but I was quite busy and I was doing the same thing what I have done for a couple of months. So, here we go!

Yesterday, I had a telephonic interview for the “Controls Engineer” position with a small R&D company which specializes in Marine Engineering Systems. I had a great time talking to their company’s Managing and Technical Director, Chief Technology Office, Lead Electrical Engineer and to their Office Manager. I got to say this, it was fantabulous! They were looking for professionals with wide range of experience. But the funny part is that, they very well knew I am a recent graduate with minimal experience because they contacted me through an online job-search website and they wanted to talk to me about my qualifications, skills and experience. *Shrugs*. Well, this means that they were impressed with my CV and all I had to do is to reassure them that I am capable to handling greater responsibilities and a drive to succeed at workplace. So, I think I did impress them. They asked me about their competitors and I knew that they would do because I screwed up this question with another telephonic interview. And, I was prepared for that. Finally, I had the opportunity to ask them questions and I hit the bulls-eye. They were impressed with the question because it summarized my preparation for this telephonic interview. This is the question: “I wanted to know more about your Tidal Turbine System and how it looked. So, I googled, But, I could not find any information or pictures. I would like to know whether the system is in operation or is it still in the design phase.” They said “That’s a good question.” and started to explain about their system which is still in the design phase and yet to be prototyped. This gave me another opportunity to prove my candidature and how I, being a graduate engineer would be advantageous? All in all, it was a good ride. I did stutter here and there. But, it was not pretty intense. I phrased myself properly, giving lots of pauses and breaths. So, my stuttering really didn’t bother me and I hope, it didn’t bother them as well.

Regarding the Nursery Rhymes in the title, I had a great time singing my nursery school rhymes. It all started on Monday, I was having a chat with my friend in Norway (She calls me “little bro” and I call her “big sis” and Do I hafta ask her to sign a release form to say her name? I don’t know!). All of a sudden, our Skype went blank. Now, I didn’t know that she could hear me. I was bored at that time and I didn’t know what to do?. So, I started to sing the ABC rhymes and boy, I sucked! I got confused after “P Q R”. But, I managed to complete it. Then, she revealed that, she could hear me! We laughed out loud! Our conversation changed to Nursery Rhymes and I tried to sing all the famous ones but I could just remember 2 or 3 lines. It sucked!!!

Yesterday, we again talked about this topic and luckily we had a teacher to join us in the conversation. We wanted to ask her the full stanzas and also to join us in our singing endeavors. Well, she was quite reluctant at first. But soon, she joined in.

Some of the famous rhymes we tried out are:

• ABC song
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Jack and Jill
• Hot Cross Buns
• Here We Go Around the Mulberry Bush
• Johnny Johnny Yes Papa
• Humpty Dumpty
• London Bridge is Falling Down
• Baa Baa  Black Sheep

Oh my dear! We had a great time! I wish, we could have recorded it. Believe me, it was great!

Oh, I forgot about this. Today, I was over the phone talking a call center guy. I was pretty fluent and the moment when I gave myself a pat, I got a terrible block. And, the guy started to speak so slowly and also stepped up his volume. I thought to myself, Whatta jerk? Then, I started to speak really slowly which I assume; freaked him out and he again started to talk normally. I was just LOLing inside. It’s kinda fun because you think he is a dork and he thinks you are one!

That’s it for now! Take Care All!