Tuesday, October 25, 2016

The Difference Between Looking and Seeing

A Video Version


There is a difference between looking and seeing.  And for our purposes, this is what I mean.

Og Mandino, author of The Greatest Salesman in the World was one of my writing heroes.  Though he is now gone, I still desire to see as he saw, but I don’t want to look like he looks.  I’m sure you understand the difference.  

I would make a lousy cutout copy of Og Mandino in the physical flesh.  However, if I could see with his insight what this world needs in words and thoughts, then I would be happy in my calling. 

Note this.
You don’t want to 
look like your heroes, 
you want to see 
like your heroes.


And how does your hero see?  What influences has he or she had that has given them the unique perspectives that they possess?  Ah, that is the thing to ponder.  What has caused their vision, their slant on their field of expertise to be so intense, so acute. 

I want to see what other men and women of greatness see.  I don’t want to look like them – no, no.  I want to see like them.  I think, perhaps, we should read more biographies and life stories of the greats to gain a glimpse of their vision; not their eyesight, but their vision.

This is what is on my mind today.


P Michael Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time


Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Hungering for Love




On May 25, 2011 Oprah Winfrey ended her television show The Oprah Winfrey Show.  In her final words she shared this:

I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common:  They all wanted validation.  If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell
you that every person you meet shares a common desire.  They want to know: ‘Do you see me?  Do you hear me?  Does what I say matter?
~Oprah Winfrey

Those words still move me.  They challenge me.  They tell me I’m on bead with my mission.  My mission?  My mission … to offer hope, encouragement and inspiration to mankind, one word at a time. 

Mother Teresa said this: 
There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

Oh how true that is, for I read the notes from my readers and the responses on social media sites.  The hunger for love and acceptance and appreciation is in epic proportions today.

And what is our response?  How do we show love and acceptance to others?

I have a few ideas.

~When engaged in conversation, I put down the iGadgets and give my full attention to whomever it is I am speaking. 
~I listen with an empathetic ear.
~I do not prepare my next comment while the other person is speaking.  I give full attention and then respond.
~If I sense an openness in their spirit for a spiritual word of hope, then I offer that.

Recently I had a conversation with a thirty-five-year-old single mother of a ten-year-old.  She has been in Seattle one year, has few friends and her world consists of the Seattle Zoo and a few other places that appeal to her daughter. 

While conducting our business I heard her sigh no less than five times.  After talking about jobs and interests she asked me what I did for fun outside of banking.  I mentioned that I am a writer and she wanted to know about that.  I gave her my writing business card and she said she would definitely look at my web site.

I told her about this article and quoted the Oprah quote and told her how I was giving my life to bring hope to my corner of the world.  She brightened and said “You will never know how much I needed to hear that.”

She was a woman hungering for esteeming and validating love.  She was looking to see if there was someone, anyone in her vicinity who might validate her life and let her know she mattered. 

Who do you know that is in need of this kind of validation and recognition?  They exist, and you can offer your heart, a listening ear, and perhaps a few words that might make a difference in the moment.

And if you are one seeking validation for yourself, seek out good, wholesome and inspirational material.  If you are reading this, then I have two other blog sites you should see.

For words of hope and encouragement, Click HERE for Up-Words Morning Notes

If you are open to spiritual insights, then Click HERE for Internet Church

Hope abounds. 

There are some trusted individuals and resources that can help you. Seek them out. 

I will pray for you. 



P Michael Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time


Monday, October 10, 2016

Inspiration Might Be a Myth

A Video Version


If you are waiting on inspiration to strike, then good luck with that one.  Oh, perhaps it does on occasion ‘strike’, but most of the time
it comes from hard work. Note this ...

"You do not need to be inspired to get to work."

When I worked in music publishing, we built two ‘writer’s rooms’ at our company.  They were designed for our under-contract writers as a place to come to and practice their craft, often in pairs. 

That was different from the way I perceived creativity and song writing.  I once thought it was nothing but inspiration on the spot and it didn’t exist otherwise. 

Now, let me be clear – I do believe in instant inspiration, for it has happened to me a few times.   Note I said ‘a few times.”  Most of the time, any inspiration I experience is a fleeting entity, and if I don’t happen to have pen in hand or a computer handy, that inspiration can fly away, never to return.

Rather, this is what I’ve found. 

Inspiration doesn’t often strike like lightening.  Sometimes it creeps in unaware.    

Inspiration comes from doing the hard work, the thinking and mulling.  Sometimes I have to do a mind dump when I’m facing a writing deadline.  I have to empty my mind, and for me that means putting on the screen everything that is in my mind.  I somehow magically know when this process is finished, and then I can go back and be objective in the task of finding a nugget of gold in the pile of rubbish I just produced. 

Let’s go back to my original thought –

“Sometimes inspiration 
creeps in unaware.”

And when that happens, slow magic happens.  At times I create a piece that I didn’t start out to create. 

I suppose one critical factor remains – having the ability to recognize that one sneaky idea that makes all the difference in the world and then act on that idea.

This is what is on my mind today.


P Michael Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time