The Most Late Submission EVER …. REALITY #50 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Humanness is reality. We can’t escape reality being human!

Total Words

730

Reading Time in Minutes

3

Key Takeaways:

  1. How much do family bring you to present time?
  2. What is reality?
  3. Humanness = Reality
  4. What’s your reality? RIGHT NOW

About Ginger Aarons:

Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Also offering personal, bespoke requests for family genealogies. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason-Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all-around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), a supporter of the arts, do-gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, a supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector..

Contacting Ginger Aarons:

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Time Travel Tours or you can email her.

By Ginger Aarons

I’ve struggled lately to try to finite my expression of REALITY when it changes every day. We are faced with unprecedented changes and challenges to our everyday reality. But when we get quiet, it is just that … what we have reality on in the present time is humanness. At its finest. At its FINITE. HUMAN EXISTENCE … is what reality is at present.

Early in my career, I worked with a group of Scientologist that challenged the reality of any given situation. What was your reality and what did you experience. Was it real, how did you feel, and could you experience it again? Reality was just that, what was real. A small quirk of the cult that could be honed into everyday life. It gave you a clear agenda on life. What is reality? PRESENT TIME. In the words of Sammy Hagar … RIGHT NOW. THERE’S NO TOMORROW, RIGHT NOW MEANS EVERYTHING.

As I have struggled to identify the reality of today in the world view, I hone mostly into X. It seems to be the most real, right about now, up to date information from those on the ‘street´, but are they? I questioned last night’s rampage (looting) of Dublin and the footsteps it has followed from my own hometown of Portland, getting caught up in the next protest, riot, or good thing to protest when it all comes down to reality, and that is to humankind. We are all human, wanting the same things of family, close friends, companions, community. We all strive to be a part of reality and when we are not, there is no base of reality. Everything is at a whim. We need the reality of belonging. It gives a foundation to build upon.

Tonight, I watched a movie called Ruby Rossi. Independent film about a girl that could hear but the rest of her family couldn’t … what better dictation of reality is there? She can hear and her family can’t. They can’t relate, they can’t feel what she feels because they can’t hear what she is hearing. She can’t experience deafness because she can hear. Reality is very different, even though we are all side to side, space in space, face to face, arm to arm, brother to brother, sister to sister …. and so, reality in some form must communicate what is important to all of us, and that is of humanity. Inclusiveness and in relation to each other in a very human sense. We all relate and have reality as humans, living in very different times. But still, human. That is all. No matter what, we are human. And that makes us all relatable. Reality. What are you waiting for?

December 21, 2023 2023 Reality No comments yet

P U R P O S E #23 #cong22

Synopsis:

Understanding your purpose – 7 Things to think about when finding one’s purpose in life.

Total Words

538

Reading Time in Minutes

2

Key Takeaways:

  1. What’s the purpose of your existence?
  2. What are you doing that impacts the world around you?
  3. Do you practice spirituality in your purpose?
  4. How are you responsible to others in your purpose?

About Ginger Aarons

Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Also offering personal, bespoke requests for family genealogies. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason-Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all-around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), a supporter of the arts, do-gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, a supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector..

Contacting Ginger Aarons

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Time Travel Tours or you can email her.

By Ginger Aarons

What’s the meaning of life, Pooh?

I’m not sure, Piglet.

Maybe it has to do with having a purpose.

P U R P O S E

Planning

Planned Action – When we do something on purpose or we do something with purpose, we usually have an end goal in mind. What is your end goal?

Understanding

Understanding that when we act with purpose, we will receive the abundance that purpose creates. We also have to understand that we need to be open to that abundance.

Responsibility

Having an inner core belief in values and responsibility to yourself and others. That inner voice guides you throughout life and keeps your purpose solid.

People

When you interact with people on purpose, you expand your understanding of that person or persons and your relationships expand. You create new relationships. Better relationships.

Objective

What is the objective of your purpose? Teaching others? Creating art? Helping others? Service? What is your usefulness?

Spiritual

Spiritual growth should be part of every person’s purpose. To live a life well lived, spiritual, not physical, soul exploring, in tune with God or nature. Wonder.

Existing

Existence – How are you existing? Do you sub-exist? Do you know that your life has a purpose and that there is a reason you exist? Understanding that you were created out of love and that there is meaning in every interaction, every moment that gets you closer to knowing your purpose on this journey called life.

November 8, 2022 2022 Purpose No comments yet
Supporting Leaders through Ancestry Work

Supporting Leaders through Ancestry Work #23 #cong21

Synopsis:

How knowledge of our ancestors helps us lead in today’s world.

Total Words

1,200

Reading Time in Minutes

5

Key Takeaways:

And To borrow from Bruce Van Horn on Leadership

  1. Leadership is a choice.
  2. Leadership is an endurance race.
  3. Leadership is a team effort and the word Company comes from the root word companion, united and working together for a common goal.
  4. Ancestry impacts all of us in our roles as leaders of our families, our companies and our lives.

About Ginger Aarons:

Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Also offering personal, bespoke requests for family genealogies. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all-around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), a supporter of the arts, do-gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, a supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector..

Contacting Ginger Aarons:

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Time Travel Tours or you can email her.

Supporting Leaders through Ancestry Work

By Ginger Aarons

In my career I have had the opportunity to work with great leaders in the tech, automotive and the entertainment industry as well as many others. In my role as a tour operator and researcher, it is my heartfelt wish to support these leaders in a way that gives them more purpose by allowing them to talk freely without any bias on my part about their fears, wishes and discoveries in their ancestral line.

When researching someone’s ancestry the best way is the holistic approach of homing in on why someone wants to do this ancestral work in the first place and bringing their family story to light. Sometimes it is surprising for these leaders to realise what came before them and what their own role in the world is. As they peruse what came before and have that ah ha moment about their impact on the world down the road, I feel a sense of accomplishment of helping someone be a good leader by helping them see what might be affecting their leadership from the legacy of the ancestor.

When you can reach back to include the discovery of the new world and the role of the ancestor, the stories impact people differently depending on their experiences and views. Were they attacked by Indians? What does that mean in our current climate of inclusion or exclusion? Were they new world leaders that held slaves? Were they ministers that led their congregations across the Atlantic Ocean to find religious freedom? Were they founders of Harvard or some other institution that still impacts the lives of many? Were they founders of towns in the new world? The first to make landfall and establish a new way of living? Fighting for Freedom against tyranny? Were they musicians? Did they forge the way in the Golden Age of film in Hollywood? What impact did the ancestor have on present day?

Or should we wander all the way back to early Ireland, Scotland and England and the fight for the throne? Did they flee as Earls or as followers? Were they involved in what led to the Flight of the Earls? Were they Red Hand O’Neills and how does that affect your predisposition for tyranny or brutality? Were they once the King of Scotland or notorious like Marie Antoinette? Does their legacy still exist in a thatched cottage or a castle that offers a way to go and feel what that ancestor might have felt, seen or experienced?

All of these ancestors left a mark on our DNA and sometimes it is etched in memories or what I call existential genealogy. This manifests itself in present day as we feel their echoes in the fears we harbour and as we feel their presence in the places they walked. You may not know why you are drawn to your neighbour, your client, even your wife as the discovery sometimes leads us to realise, we are very distant cousins, or our ancestors experienced something traumatic together. We have always travelled in packs and that otherworldly realm impacts how we lead and are in the world.
Supporting clients in these trying times through ancestry work has helped them guide their businesses and employees in some of the most trying times of their careers. It has taught some of them that tyranny is not the way and it has taught others compassion for the ancestor experience in the time that they lived, thus helping the client navigate present day quandaries in leadership surrounding such things as virtue signalling and critical race theory. It has taught critical thinking minus the trigger verb attached to the action. Why? Because knowledge is power and insight.

So, what is your leadership style? Has your ancestry impacted the way you feel and think about certain events or people? I personally think that carried over beliefs of our ancestry is a huge trigger in present day Ireland. It impacts the way I do business in Ireland and how I choose to guide my clients with their ancestry research. My style of leadership is one of inclusion because I am American and that affords me a very different viewpoint from the norm. For example, when on tour I make sure that both Catholic and Protestant viewpoints are offered. As I watch events unfold in real time, I am often hit with the very lack of knowledge Ireland has of its shared history that dates back centuries, not just the just the 100 years of freedom. Will we take this opportunity to lead people using compassion and inclusion? Or will we be one that helps tyranny win because we know no different way other than our experience of being abused and thus become the abuser?
In closing and as a thank you for Frederique Murphy’s fantastic leadership guidance this week to get me into writing this all down. In her new book on leadership and shifting the narrative, Lead Beyond the Edge, she says…

‘Knowledge gives us the confidence to move forward. Gaining more awareness about something makes it more tangible thus increasing its reach and your ability to work on it. The more aware you are, the better you are at leading your life where you want it to be’

November 11, 2021 2021 Leadership No comments yet

Manners in a 3.0 Society – Freedom or Slavery? #17 #cong20

Synopsis:

A view of the society we are currently living through and in and the lack of allowing humans to be human in their own right. The chance to be human and all that entails with the human condition. A conversation starter on where we are headed in Society 3.0 and cautionary tale of slavery.

Total Words

1,044

Reading Time in Minutes

4

Key Takeaways:

  1. Are Manners a thing of the past?
  2.  Big Tech and Censorship of the masses and the individual thought
  3. Are you stuck in your color, race, or creed?
  4. Freedom of speech and basic human needs and rights.

About Ginger Aarons

 Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Also offering personal, bespoke requests for family genealogies. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all-around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), a supporter of the arts, do-gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, a supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector..

Contacting Ginger Aarons:

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Time Travel Tours or you can email her.   

By Ginger Aarons.

Being an American, I have watched our Society change drastically over the past four years. Some would like to blame Trump for the change, but it is was always just below the surface. The in your face, take it or leave it attitude that so many have decided is ruining our society on a global scale. But as we gain our voices in this space, we have forgotten our manners and have taken on the persona that we so hate, and therein lies the problem as I see it. We have become a cancel culture all across the globe. Not just in America, but also here in Ireland. I have witnessed my work colleagues, people I rely on and trust, put down the American point of view, the Trump point of view, the Black point of view, the Republican point of view, and even for some the Democratic point of view. Cancel America. All of these things bordering on the destruction of democracy and free speech. As we fight our way through our raw ideas, thoughts, and blatant disregard for each other’s feelings, free thought, and way of life, we have simply forgotten that this is what we fought for, freedom to have these thoughts, speech, and conversations. American’s fought this war with Britain over 350 years ago. We paid in blood and we fought in blood to the detriment of other nations at times. The same happened in Ireland and all over the world for different ‘causes’ but all lead back to the freedom of speech. The right to be wrong. The right to stand against tyranny and the right to basic human needs. Some would argue that the ‘Rights’ are not really there. We don’t have a ‘right’ to anything other than to earn the right to freedom.

As we travel through this new space, we must start again. We must start to realize that everyone has the right to their thoughts and speech without retribution of the masses. Or retribution of your partner, best friend, and work colleagues. I for one, want to learn from others and why they think the way they do. We must put everything back in perspective before we lose the very thing we want the most, Freedom. That is FREEDOM with capitals. We are on the brink of losing it!

In Society 3.0 we have a chance to reverse the rhetoric every day. With every conversation we have, be it the ones we start or are brought into. A couple of months ago when we were in the early days of BLM protests, I entered into a Twitter feed where I asked a well-known Black reporter whom I had followed and respected for over 10 years about his thoughts on the matter. Instead of a conversation, I was met with my ‘white privilege’ was ruining the world. After 100’s of Twitter bots getting into the mix and a few Twitter friends, I unfollowed him. Because he was Black? No, because he lacked the respect of a fellow human being to have a conversation and to learn from each other. We have a choice to engage fully in being human. We are not a race, color, or creed. We are human. Our chance to change the rhetoric is waning. As we get ever closer to the nanny state, the censorship by big tech giants such as Twitter, Google, and Facebook and our governments, we stand no chance against them if we are acting the same way towards our fellow man. It is time to change the conversation on Society 3.0. Choice is king and to choose life and understanding of the human condition, no matter what your walk in life is, or what color your skin is, is going to make or break us. For once, I am afraid that we have lost the plot as we say here in Ireland. We need to make a conscious effort to afford everyone their opinion and their thought processes to be engaged healthily. To have a voice, no matter how big or small. The consequences of not acknowledging these differences and the freedom to be different are slavery.

What is your choice? Mine is Freedom.

October 28, 2020 2020 Society 3.0 No comments yet

Only a Fool Would Say That – The LinkedIn international Community Phenomenon #10 #cong19

Synopsis:

A short essay on how an early adopter of open network LinkedIn has become a bit skeptical. Is it truly a fear that is founded in truth or is it influence from fear-mongering and how can we combat the trend that has headed us back to a closed society.

4 Key Takeaways:

  1. Trust – Who?
  2. Community – The World
  3. Fear and Hate vs Love and Peace
  4. Communication is the Key! Hands Across the Divide!

About Ginger Aarons:

Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Also offering personal, bespoke requests for family genealogies. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all-around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), a supporter of the arts, do-gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, a supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector.

Contacting Ginger Aarons:

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Time Travel Tours or you can email her.

By Ginger Aarons

International Community and the Phenomenon of LinkedIn.

Being an early adopter of LinkedIn back in 2004 I was excited to be able to network and communicate with the wider travel community that also seemed to be early adopters to the service. Because I had already established myself in the wider community abroad, I quickly connected and took on the attitude that I would have an open-door policy accepting anyone in the tourism sector, no matter how long they had been established. And certainly, to lend a helping hand to those in third world countries, just trying to show the beauty of their home countries that weren’t necessarily on the mainstream radar. I have a core community that I have now known since 2004 online and those I have known much longer offline. Unwavering, always there to bounce ideas off and to help spread the word about whatever product we all happened to be selling. Some have moved around to different companies during their careers, some have made complete changes out of tourism and some are still leading their own companies like myself into the great and uncertain world we have now. Some I have helped get a new job or promotion by helping with the recommendations and some I have had to report for serious breaches in trust in our community.

About 6 years ago, I started noticing that people were using LinkedIn as a dating site. Trolling became a common phenomenon that I was very cautious of as well, using Google to identify someone’s picture as theirs to make sure an imposter using the site as a means to gain access to your professional life wasn’t lurking behind the stellar professional photo and accomplishments.

Now, in the current time, if someone isn’t in my direct community, I find myself questioning their motives to connect and wondering what brought them to connect with me in the first place. Where did my trust in the community go? My trust in humanity? My happy go lucky self that accepted everyone for who and what they were and indeed who they said they were?

Is it me that has changed to be more untrusting? Is it my age and the fact that you actually can’t trust everyone carte blanche and I now have healthy boundaries? Or is it a true view on our world today and I’m justified in my fear or worse, everyone feels the same and we are all unjustified in our fears!

The current geopolitical climate has changed us. Where there were no boundaries to me in 2004 and the understanding that everyone was just trying to make a living and show their love for their product and country, I now am afraid. What?! Did I say that? I have fear of my fellow human beings on the planet? Where is the community in this scenario? Are we back to the age of closed societies, instead of open ones where we can all benefit no matter the socioeconomic status one lives in? That term, socioeconomic has only been used since the 1950s. But, in that short space of time, we are really no better off given our current climate of hate, war and all for me, not all for one.

It’s worth the discussion with your own communities about what drives these fears, because communication and knowledge of each other erases fear, hate and I believe, also the boundaries of status. We gain reality on each other’s lives in a way that makes you want to have a wider community than your own back garden. But, in the words of Steely Dan, Only a Fool Would Say That …. I’m willing to be that fool. Are you?

Linked In Member since 2004 – Connections 12,000 Plus

Only a Fool Would Say That
by Steely Dan

A world become one
Of salads and sun
Only a fool would say that
A boy with a plan
A natural man
Wearing a white Stetson hat

Unhand that gun begone
There’s no one to fire upon
If he’s holding it high
He’s telling a lie

I heard it was you
Talkin’ ’bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And only a fool would say that

The man in the street
Draggin’ his feet
Don’t want to hear the bad news
Imagine your face
There is his place
Standing inside his brown shoes
You do his nine to five
Drag yourself home half alive
And there on the screen
A man with a dream

I heard it was you
Talkin’ ’bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And only a fool would say that

Anybody on the street
Has murder in his eyes
You feel no pain
And you’re younger
Then you realize

I heard it was you
Talkin’ ’bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And only a fool would say that

August 21, 2019 2019 Community No comments yet

It seemed like a good idea at the time … #84 #cong18

Synopsis:

Over the past 20 years in tourism for me in Ireland, the ideas have poured through from all four provinces and beyond to come up with a new idea or a better idea about how to deliver the perfect product in Ireland. So, what happens to all those great ideas when the Irish invention of chasing the next big story or product idea for the Island takes hold and your great idea is left in the dust?

4 Key Takeaways:

  1. Ideas, Ideas, Ideas … let’s make it 4 .. Ideas!
  2. Hope Floats: How to keep your idea afloat in the glutony of ideas
  3. Hope Floats again: How to keep your spirits afloat when you’re idea is no longer THE ‘new idea’
  4. Should I stay or should I go now? 20 Years on …. what’s the new idea?

About Ginger Aarons:

Ginger is the founder of Time Travel, LLC … often called Time Travel Tours. She offers bespoke travel to Ireland & The British Isles. Passionate about what she does by offering a way to learn while you travel, introducing the best of the best in Ireland in what they do, offer and teach with common philosophies, ethics and goals for the world. She is also a travel and foodie writer for several magazines and online magazines as well as my own blog offered up in service on my website. Often referred to as the one that knows everyone, she is a connector and one that is always making a connection for someone, because to her, that is what it’s all about.

Originally from South of the Mason Dixon Line, and after 30 years, she has become an all around Portland girl that loves the fact that she gets to live and work in two of the best places in the world, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland … what could possibly be better?

Lover of music (it DOES make the world go ’round.. not money), supporter of the arts, do gooder, Masterpiece Theater watcher since the age of 12, supporter of the historic house, genealogy nut and avid antique collector.

Contacting Ginger Aarons:

You can connect with Ginger on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , Time Travel Tour or you can email her.

 

By Ginger Aaron

I’m one of those people that has an endless supply of ideas. I’m never lacking for one and while this is a great thing to many people, at times it can be paralyzing. Over the years that I’ve been doing tours in Ireland, I have heard many great ideas. Some of them have stuck around and some haven’t, but in my 20-year review this year and reflection on the ideas that have stuck for offering the best of the best that Ireland has to offer, I have found that we have changed the way people see Ireland. I’m not sure it is a great idea! People now travel in droves around the country in whirlwind trips that stuff every great idea in Ireland into 2 weeks or less. When I first started doing genealogy tours (1998) it was a great idea! I was ahead of the curve. When it became popular, we encountered things like the Certificate of Irish Heritage back in 2011 and that was defunct by 2015. Great idea? Perhaps, but not done for the right reasons.

As I went through my tourism view of the past 20 years, I also encountered thoughts on the ideas I have had to boost tourism and my bottom line. Some were met with support and others with support with strings attached. How could I possibly walk into the National Library with a group of 25 looking for their ancestors? Bad idea!! Great product!

So, how do you keep your hope afloat? Having a proven track record helps. Keeping up your own good ideas without succumbing to the need to reinvent what already sells or already provides an excellent experience because someone else deems it so. I find that when I take the wheel and steer, fear dissipates, and I no longer feel the need to compete with the latest idea. But I can support those latest ideas of others. One, by offering the client something unique to see and two, by offering an experience in travel, one that makes you slow down, get to know an area and giving that extra care to the provider as well, that wants their idea to be heard, spread and cherished as it grows. Not to be the last checked off thing on someone’s bucket list.

The latest idea? Food for thought after a career spanning 30 years. What’s in store? I have plenty of ideas, but which one will win out? Mine goes to the person that always seems to give me the most inspiration and keeps my hope afloat? Richard Branson. He has a test of two components.

First, the pitch must be free of jargon. Second, the pitch must be short enough to fit on a drink coaster. “If your pitch can’t fit on a beer mat, a napkin, or back of envelope, I’d rather listen to someone else’s pitch that can fit,” from his new autobiography, Finding My Virginity. “Most good ideas can be expressed very quickly.” *

So, what’s your big idea?

*Taken from an interview with Richard Branson on his new book by Carmine Gallo, Senior Contributor – Forbes Magazine

November 22, 2018 2018 Ideas No comments yet