Oldest Fears

There’s something uniquely haunting about the fears we’ve carried the longest. They embed themselves deep within us, often formed in childhood or shaped by early experiences. Unlike fleeting anxieties that come and go, these foundational fears don’t just whisper—they echo. Over time, they can morph into quiet narratives that influence how we see ourselves, what we believe we’re capable of, and how we interact with the world.

Old fears aren’t necessarily logical. They’re emotional, powerful, and often rooted in moments when we felt powerless. Maybe it was the fear of not being good enough, of being abandoned, of failing in front of others, or simply being unseen. These fears can harden into assumptions: “I’m not smart enough,” “I’ll always be alone,” “If I try, I’ll fail.” And because they’ve been with us so long, we stop questioning them. They become part of the lens we view life through.

But here’s the truth: just because a fear is old doesn’t mean it’s true. In fact, the very age of it may be proof it’s outdated. You’re not the same person you were when that fear was born. You’ve grown, learned, and survived so much since then. So the work becomes recognizing those old fears for what they are—ghosts of a younger version of you. And then, gently but firmly, choosing to move forward anyway.

Because your oldest fears might be the worst ones—but they don’t have to be the strongest.

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski

The Bluebird in My Heart

Reflections on Charles Bukowski’s Raw Honesty

Charles Bukowski "Bluebird."

I don’t know how I stumbled on this poem but I loved it. Not necessarily because it relates to me, it doesn’t. Not at all. I think I can’t stop reading and listening to it because I love honesty. I love brutal, real, raw honesty. For that reason this poem is simply amazing to me.

The poem “Bluebird” by Charles Bukowski is presented in the video above. It’s a powerful exploration of vulnerability, hidden emotions, and the masks we wear. The poem describes a metaphorical bluebird in the narrator’s heart that represents vulnerability and authenticity.

Throughout the poem, the narrator describes keeping this bluebird hidden, only letting it out when no one is watching, maintaining a tough exterior while harboring this secret softness within.

– Charles Bukowski

Literary Analysis

The Bluebird Metaphor

The bluebird represents vulnerability, sensitivity, and authenticity that the tough exterior of the narrator conceals from the world.

Duality of Self

The poem explores the tension between the public persona and the private self—tough exterior versus inner sensitivity.

Masculine Vulnerability

Bukowski challenges traditional notions of masculinity by acknowledging the presence of tenderness beneath a hardened exterior.

Charles Bukowski
1920-1994

About the Poet

Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer known for his gritty, unfiltered portrayal of life’s hardships. His writing often explored themes of alcoholism, dysfunctional relationships, the drudgery of work, and the hardships of urban living.

Despite his tough exterior and often cynical outlook, poems like “Bluebird” reveal a surprising vulnerability beneath the surface. This contrast between his public persona and private emotional life makes his work particularly compelling and authentic.

Reader Reflections

What is the “bluebird” in your heart?

Bukowski’s poem invites us to reflect on our own hidden vulnerabilities and the parts of ourselves we keep concealed from the world. The power of this poem lies in its universal theme—we all have aspects of ourselves that we protect, hide, or only reveal in our most private moments.

The poem’s final question, “But I don’t weep. Do you?” challenges readers to consider their own emotional honesty and vulnerability.

Your Thoughts?

What aspects of Bukowski’s “Bluebird” resonate with you? How do you balance vulnerability and strength in your own life?

Interesting Facts

31 Fascinating Facts

That Will Make You Say “Wow!”

From incredible animal adaptations to surprising human habits, these mind-blowing facts will change how you see the world around you.

1

The Statue of Liberty’s index finger is eight feet long.

2

Rain has never been recorded in some parts of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

3

A 75 year old person will have slept about 23 years.

4

Boeing 747’s wing span is longer than the Wright brother’s first flight. The Wright brother’s invented the airplane.

5

There are as many chickens on earth as there are humans.

6

One type of hummingbird weighs less than a penny.

7

The word “set” has the most number of definitions in the English language; 192. Slugs have four noses.

8

Sharks can live up to 100 years.

9

Mosquitos are more attracted to the color blue than any other color.

10

Kangaroos can’t walk backwards.

11

About 75 acres of pizza are eaten in in the U.S. everyday.

12

The largest recorded snowflake was 15 Inch wide and 8 Inch thick. It fell in Montana in 1887.

13

The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that the sound it makes is actually a tiny sonic boom.

14

Former president Bill Clinton only sent 2 emails in his entire 8 year presidency.

15

Koalas and humans are the only animals that have finger prints.

16

There are 200,000,000 insects for every one human.

17

It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery had in it to begin with.

18

The world’s largest Montessori school is in India, with 26,312 students in 2002.

19

Octopus have three hearts.

20

If you ate too many carrots, you would turn orange.

21

The average person spends two weeks waiting for a traffic light to change.

22

1 in 2,000,000,000 people will live to be 116 or old.

23

The body has 2-3 million sweat glands.

24

Sperm whales have the biggest brains; 20 lbs.

25

Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother’s womb. The survivor is born.

26

Most cats are left pawed.

27

250 people have fallen off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

28

A Blue whale’s tongue weighs more than an elephant.

29

You use 14 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Keep Smiling!

30

Bamboo can grow up to 3 ft in 24 hours.

31

An eyeball weighs about 1 ounce.

BONUS FACT

Reading interesting facts makes your brain release dopamine – the “feel good” chemical!

Source: www.citehr.com

Know Any Other Amazing Facts?

Share your own mind-blowing facts in the comments below!

2012 Resolutions

My 2012 Resolutions

A Year for Growth and Balance

About this time each year like everyone else I start getting goal oriented and love to reflect on where I am in life. I like to think about where I’ve been, and where I hope to go.

Letters to Years

I’ve even written a few letters to some of my more challenging years (very therapeutic, by the way):

We should also revisit my 2011 resolutions to see how I did.

2011 Resolutions: How I Fared

  • Resolution #1: Be happy. How do I measure being happy to know if I achieved it? I won’t, I’ll just be happy.
    • SUCCESS – Yeah, I killed this one, knocked it out of the park, owned it.
  • Resolution #2: Have a healthier balance of giving and sharing of information. Read more, get information if it isn’t given. OK I won’t, I love sharing, but it is worth a try.
    • FAIL – Shared more than ever and didn’t take too much time to really improve myself, so I think I failed on this one.
  • Continuing 2010 and 2009 resolutions (more specific and reasonable)
    • Resolution #3: 50 consecutive push-ups
      • FAIL – When Jeremy + happy = weak Jeremy. Jeremy + sad or upset = farmer strength Jeremy.
    • Resolution #4: Run at least a mile once a week
      • FAIL – Run? What is that? FAIL, epic, epic fail.
    • Resolution #5: Create one new website
      • SUCCESS – Yeah, I did well on this one, actually created several, but nothing I’m too proud of or anything that is getting much traction yet.
    • Resolution #6: Add more self created videos on jeremyperson.com, I’m really enjoying doing that
      • FAIL – Fail, don’t think I did any this year.
    • Resolution #7: Make my bed at least twice a week
      • FAIL – Fail, hate making the bed. Never do, sue me.
    • Resolution #8: Do the dishes 4 times a week
      • SUCCESS – Yeah, I think so.
    • Resolution #9: Work on one book
      • FAIL – No, didn’t really get to this one.
    • Resolution #10: Christina and Jeremy date nights (like actually taking my Christina out) at least every other week
      • FAIL – No but this did come up in conversation last night. I recognize we need to “hit the town” more often.
    • Resolution #11: Mr. Tyler man, don’t think I forgot about you. This year we are going to work on some computer skills, language, and continue your (OK my) love of baseball. Oh, and we are going to play, play, play.
      • SUCCESS – Lots and lots of playing with T-Bone, T-Dog, Tyler…

And drum roll please…

My 2012 resolutions are…

The “Fuzzy” Resolutions

Let’s start with the “fuzzy resolution” stuff…the stuff you really can’t measure very well:

  • Resolution #1: Share less, do more.
    • I find I spend so much time-sharing things with others that I’m actually not as productive as I could be. Same problem as years past but I’m slowly learning to cut back on giving and in 2012 I’m going to get all knowledge greedy on you all. OK, I’m always a big talker, but we’ll see how I do.
  • Resolution #2: Music
    • I’ve been using Spotify for about 6 months now, and I absolutely love it. Ironically I’m listening to Pandora because I need some new recommendations for my Spotify playlists. Listen to more music, I absolutely love music.
  • Resolution #3: Open source
    • Keep my thoughts and actions open.
  • Resolution #4: PHP
    • Keep up on learning all I can, and doing all I can with PHP.

The Measurable Resolutions

Alright, and now for the stuff that we can measure:

  • Resolution #5: Read a book a month
    • Books. I have a large queue, but I’m not taking the team to read them.
  • Resolution #6: Drink more water
    • Drink more of that H20 stuff. You know the stuff were 60% made of. It is probably a good sign I’m drinking water as I write this.
  • Resolution #7: Write a book
    • I’ve had a few book ideas, and I’ve even started on them, but I’d love to get one completely drafted.
  • Resolution #8: Push-ups
    • I’m happy, really happy. As previously mentioned, being happy isn’t the best for my physical health.
      • Quarter 1 of 2012: 15 consecutive push-ups
      • Quarter 2 of 2012: 30 consecutive push-ups
      • Quarter 3 of 2012: 45 consecutive push-ups
      • Quarter 4 of 2012: 60 consecutive push-ups
  • Resolution #9: Schedule a quarterly update on how I’m doing with the above resolutions.

Keep on keeping on…and…remember this is going to happen to us throughout 2012…

Lucy Football

BUT…

Never Give Up

Happy 2012 everyone! Let’s rock this year…

Your Resolutions?

What are your goals for 2012? Have you broken them down into measurable steps?

Pacific Pinball Museum

Christina and I went on a double date with her parents to the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA today.  The fee is $15/person but you definitely get your money’s worth because all the games are free.  There are 4 or 5 large rooms filled with pinball machines that range from the 1930s to 2011.  I loved it…

You Get What You Give

The Power of Community

How Helping Others Helps You

What if working to help others also helped you? Simon Sinek, leadership expert and author believes just that.

In the video embedded above, Sinek says:

Key Insights from Simon Sinek

  • People are looking for a community or culture. Community is defined as a group of people with a common set of values and beliefs.
  • When you are surrounded by people who believe what you believe, something interesting happens: trust. Our very survival depends on trust, doesn’t it?
  • You find and create communities of like-minded individuals by going out and meeting people.
  • Every decision you make is a piece of communication. This is why you have to say and do things you believe.
  • The things you say and do are symbols of who you are. People look for symbols similar to what they are looking for.
  • Whatever you say and do will attract people with similar behavior, whether intended or not. Say and do what you actually believe.
  • People want to work for companies and work for clients who believe what they believe. They want to show up and contribute, or feel a part of something bigger than themselves.
  • People use symbols and graphics to say who they are, or what they represent. We put company logos on us to show we believe in, or we are part of something. We wear logos and colors to represent who we are. When people respect your company, they will show it in various ways. When was the last time you saw a dirty Mac?
  • In order to feel truly fulfilled, you need to do something good for someone else. Generosity is doing something for someone else and expecting nothing in return.

This is also similar to the idea of the movie Pay it Forward, where a teacher challenges his class to change the world and put it into action.

The Art of Communication

Now let’s discuss what it means to be communicators. We communicate to express an idea, or a thought. We communicate to ask a question, or to get a better understanding of the world around us. As communicators it is our job to help inform, as well as to ask questions. If our communications are one sided, meaning we are simply doing all the talking and no listening, how engaged are you in the conversation? If you are asking those who you are communicating with to do something and ask nothing in return, I wonder how likely it is for others to do anything for you.

In the new world of digital media, everyone is a communicator and everyone needs, or wants to be heard. Whether you are communicating via print, web, video, email, voicemail, 1:1 meetings, 1:many meetings, or via phone, we are all communicating to seek knowledge, to ask questions. We are likely also communicating to seek community so make sure what you are communicating is generating the desired result. The world is about relationships, connecting with others, and helping others.

How are you going to put this idea into action in your personal and professional lives?

Community

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”

– Winston Churchill

Join the Conversation

What communities are you a part of that share your values? How do you contribute to these communities?