Auburn Alabama Area Real Estate Living

A Native American once told me that clouds reflect the soul of the river... One-sided images of everyday life barely, rarely, reflect what is wholly true, because TRUTH is TRANSPARENT and, day-to-day, we tend to see through a glass darkly. The images we take in have a way of impressing our state of wellbeing and superimposing the landscape of our soul--- mission central for the animation and imagination of our lives. Unkind actions and words don't originate in the un-circumferenced beauty of Soul, but from the unfiltered overlays that we allow to stagnate in our perceptions, much like dark clouds keep a bright and shining sunshine from our view. You've probably seen how a stormy picture can change right before your eyes, if you've ever taken off in an airplane and reached a higher elevation, above the storm clouds. The first time I experienced this, in my early 20's, I felt completely.transformed by the effect. It's when I first began to think about not allowing myself to enter the storms that could suddenly burst into my life, but rather, take out my umbrella, and know that it is just passing through...and I could trust that the sun was still shining, especially since I'd seen it with my own eyes.  I learned that I could shift my thinking and elevate my perspective and, ultimately, change my experience from one of gloom or dread to one of joy. I've learned that, more than anything, we need each other to navigate through stormy weather, and, when I find myself weathering Life alone, a story becomes like an umbrella, and holds me together. 
Telling stories is powerful. Storytelling is an inscription of THE WORD upon the soul...stories weave texture and color into the fabric of our communities and our lives. Stories have a way of allowing us to look at 'the other side' of an image. A story can be an illustration of Life in a mirror... reflecting sleeping giants of greatness in all of us.

While I've been surrounded by the world of real estate for more than a decade, I've been selling real estate for 5+ years, flying high the first few, then bracing myself against the storms of the present and past two years. I joined ActiveRAIN in April of 2007, but didn't post my first blog until December of that year, the time I was considering my exit from the marketplace. As I searched my soul for answers to questions I couldn't even seem to articulate, it dawned on me that, for me and my circumstances, my best direction was going to be to reach out online and develop myself and my business with web tools, applications and communities. It proved to be profitable, because it shifted my thinking and and elevated my perspective. For me, the ActiveRAIN community quickly became my favorite online vehicle. It operates like a flightcraft, with the infusion of constant insight, inspiration, instruction, food for thought and sharing of stories, it grows organically, recycling the rain from the river of drenched experiences in the marketplace and, I find, often breaks through clouds of disillusions---those one-sided images. When people can share their stories, people can grow. You can't put this on a spreadsheet or pinpoint it or because it is the elemental art of RAIN...the invisible aspect, the transparent truth that operates without any circumference of the soul.  No matter what hour of the day or night I log on, there is so much contributed here, and the basic, overall direction is upwards. I'm unfailingly able to gather enough momentum to propel myself beyond the storms, whether gathering in a coffeeshop-style conversation on a blog or twitterfeed (where many ActiveRain friends connect), building "unintentional" relationships & often finding the most amazing FRIENDS that sometimes meet up in real places around the country, like ReBar Camps, Inman Connect, ReTechSouth conferences, BlogTalk Radio, and sometimes (like in the big state of Texas), they meet up just for the fun of it all. In life, complaining is easy, but expressing my gratitude is the highlighted part of my own story, and it's effortless.

And to every one of you that I've gotten to know here on Active Rain or will, your story is a blessing for the chapters of my own life. THANK YOU for your stories, and may you always be able to SEE THROUGH your dark nights and shine through your days...your best reflection is one of transparency---just like the rain.

© Copyright 2009 - This posting is the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved.

Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.

CLICK ON CART TO SHOP FOR HOMES IN AUBURN-OPELIKA, ALABAMA   

Disclaimer: All information provided by this author on homes in Auburn-Opelika is is not guaranteed, may be based on information collected from several sources, which may or may not be deemed reliable at the time of posting and may be time sensitive. 

 © Copyright 2009 - This posting and the photographs are the copyrighted property of Mara Hawks & Family of Photos, All Rights Reserved.

Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.

CLICK ON CART TO SHOP FOR HOMES IN AUBURN-OPELIKA, ALABAMA

I didn't think the bandwidth of RETech South's BEST SPEAKERS EVER could broaden any further after Jeff Turner stepped down from the main stage (and I think we're all in agreement that those are some one-of-a-kind shoes to fill), and yet another gift of the amazing day (produced and orchestrated by Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix) was the presentation of DAVE JENKS. What a privilege to have the opportunity to listen to this man's stories and wisdom! Dave has been in the business of real estate for about 30 years. He currently represents Keller Williams Realty, possibly attracted by the firehouse red color they brand with, because he is FIRED UP and ignited his audience! He is also the co-author of 4 best-selling must-reads:

1. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent
2. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
3. FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
4. SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times

Straight up, Dave positioned us with "We are not under the gun in this market. We are under the gun in our profession," then proceeded to teach us how to identify our target, aim and BE FIRED UP (yet calm). It's not who you know anymore, but rather WHO KNOWS YOU. Social media allows consumers to virtually watch you work. Your words reveal you. Establish credibility. Target your transparency so consumers and search engines point and aim your way. Taste, intelligence, trust... credibility and skill....be mindful and proactive...'DO IT, OR CONNECT THEM TO IT'...

Dave encouraged everyone to 'increase your bandwidth,' even if you're uncomfortable. DO IT!

T.R.Y. = The Real You

'Talent,' he reassured us, 'is not the issue. IT'S TIME ON THE TASK! You can be terrible at something, and 5000 hours later, BE EXCELLENT at it.' (practice, practice, practice!)

Much of the Dave Jenks attitude stems from his adopted philosophy that 'you don't get business---you attract it.'  Just this week, his team launched and invited us to join the F.E.W, the Free Enterprise Warriors, aimed to provide support and thought-leadership worldwide, specifically to entreprenuerial ventures.

P.S. On a note of synchronicity, at the day's end, I (and one other person) boarded a shuttle to go back to the hotel.We began pulling away from the curb and got flagged down by 2 more riders---Dave Jenks and his brilliant assistant, Laurie Hathorn. That was simply the icing on the cake!

© Copyright 2009 - This posting, photos and the contents written here, except where noted, are the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved (with exception to Dave Jenks and Laurie Hathorn, of course!)

Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.

CLICK ON CART TO SHOP FOR HOMES IN AUBURN-OPELIKA, ALABAMA

Disclaimer: All information provided by this author is strictly an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be based on information collected from several sources, which may or may not be deemed reliable at the time of researching this article and may be time sensitive.

A few weeks ago, surfing the Active Rain net, I landed in Hawaii, reading Randy Prothero's blog post: SO YOU WANT TO BE A REAL ESTATE AGENT.  He references Margaret Rome and recommends and links to an order form for her newly published book: Real Estate The Right Rome Way.

I was excited to order the new book, clicked the link and an order form opened up. I filled in the usual blanks, and was then asked if I would like an autographed copy or not. (WHAT? Are you kidding?! This is a question?) And my thoughts simply wandered away...

... far, far away, to Marshall Field & Co in downtown Chicago in the 1960's. Once in a blue moon, my father would take me out of school for a day for what he decided was an "educational" day on the finer things of life (sending me back to school the next day with a sick excuse). Leaving the south side neighborhood of St. Christina's parish behind, we headed out, in our finest, to Michigan and State Avenue, where we set off on an adventure through the many forests floors of this world-famous, iconic department store. A true, fairytale-of-a-day, with his red carpet of words presented to me each time the elevator door opened up for our entrance to another department. He pointed out all the things I would never see in our cookie-cutter home where about 10 children slept at night. So, before I'd lived a decade, I had learned to appreciate the art and the BEAUTY of beveled glass, bone china, cut crystal, Egyptian cotton, fine linen, solid wood-handled real hairbrushes, Italian leather shoes, silk dresses, and delectable pastries, properly served at The Walnut Room. One afternoon, he kept me huddled in a long line that had formed around a table stacked high with books. Perplexing enough, every book was the same. It took me awhile to put all the pieces together, long after I shook the hand of writer, Virginia Graham who stooped down to greet me as I held on to my father's enthusiasm. So before I was a decade old, I'd been hugely impressed with the autograph my father showed me in the book he proudly carried home. And the photo of Virginia on the book jacket was a face I never forgot. I MET AN AUTHOR!

Sorry about that...back to the online order form I was completing earlier this month. OF COURSE if an autograph was offered, OF COURSE that would be a treat! So OF COURSE I selected YES!  Then another box appeared for me to enter the text of how I would like it autographed. HUH? Gosh... I had no words except the obvious "To Mara, the best, from Rome"... No, that just wouldn't do. So I entered "surprise me."  Less than a week later, my phone rang. "Hello Mara, this is Margaret Rome." "Oh my gosh!" I answered, "the lady who wrote the book?!" "I wanted to surprise you," she said. Well, mission begeezus accomplished! I couldn't have been more thrilled with this absolute GIFT of a surprise, enjoying a delightful conversation that blessed me with inspiration and put a 1000-volt charge into my day. I learned she was one of Active Rain's first thousand members (800+), and that she left the first comment on Broker Bryant's first blog---now that is some real history folks! She told me about her days as a ceramic artist, and how she, too, became an unintentional Realtor. She told me the heartwarming story of blog artist, Marti Garaughty, who worked diligently and brilliantly with her time and design constraints, pulling through with the amazing (as his work always is) book cover design. Listening to Margaret was being educated to the finer things of life. It was that special day out of school and a trip to the world of downtown. It was the art of ROME and a delectable surprise, properly served. THANK YOU, Margaret Rome, for the gift of surprise---the ROME Way!  Thank you for the beautiful, red-carpeted inscription in my book:  "keep surprising yourself" and for the ultimate surprise of your phone call. THANK YOU for the BEAUTY of ACTIVE RAIN that was left pounding in my heart.

© Copyright 2009 - This posting and the contents written here, except where noted, are the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved

Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.

SEARCH FOR HOMES IN AUBURN-OPELIKA, ALABAMA at www.marahawks.com

Katie Evans from Greenville, NC blogged about musical chairs this morning. Thanks, Katie. It got me remembering the childhood game and the overwhelming anxiety that charged my body and the cinch of a foreboding knot in my stomach...isolation and exclusion approaching...no place for me to exist in the world that is neatly set out where everyone else is securely positioned...wishing I could fly, far away, or simply evaporate into thin air.  I really did not like that game at all. Are there any readers out there that grew up and actually liked that game? I thought it was purely punishment, just for being a kid.

Of course, like many of us, I carried a lot of these awful experiences into adulthood, and, thankfully, have succeeded in somewhat sorting them out over the years...sifting through all the debris to find the single treasures of those moments, the single pearl of goodness that was knotted into the strand of my childhood journey that, as a kid, we can experience as a choking of the spirit.

Today, my "polished" view of this game, as it played out in my life, is that it provided me the opportunity to develop work and relationship survival skills.

The REALITY is, sometimes we do lose out, whether it be a hurricane, a job promotion, a date with your biggest crush (will George C. ever call me?), your favorite restaurant being fully booked, even though it's your birthday... the overnight  line at the Apple store is cut off after the person in front of you---SOLD OUT!  I guess there really are so many times we are playing a musical chairs of sorts. The willingness to let go can be a gift of wisdom. Everyone can't have everything. (Where would you even put it all?)

SO here is a 2-step ACTION PLAN for the chair arrangements in your life that leave you standing: #1 - STAY In the game. The round ends, but the game doesn't. We all can lose an established place, but you can keep your winning attitude. We all stumble and fall, but please, DON'T STAY DOWN & OUT. Don't stop listening to the music in your heart.

#2 - DO SOCIAL NETWORKING. We are LIVING THE PHENOMENON..the manifesto of ‘space expansion' (one of the final concepts that Albert Einstein wrote about in his journal---if he were here today, I'm sure he would have blogged about it.) NO ONE is left standing or without a place. It's music to my ears, so pull up a chair.  

Active Rain Community Builder, BRAD ANDERSOHN, has helped a lot of us learn about A LOT, including the what's what and who's who of these social networking sites, and suggests these as some of the best places to start: 

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google Talk. WordPress, Typepad, LinkedIN, Google, Instant Messenger, Skype and Ebay.  These applications are all FREE. Download and access them from anyplace that provides Internet service.

© This posting and the contents written here are the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved

Today was the first of 12 SESSIONS produced by the DOMUS CONSULTING GROUP's Social Media Webinar Series for ACTIVE RAINERS (and others, but very specially priced for us!) Practically a giveaway! Thanks to BRAD ANDERSOHN for the blog-rally about this (see Social Media & Marketing Webinars). He was in attendance, along with DOMUS co-founders, KEVIN BOER and PAT KITANO. I knew I couldn't afford to miss it, especially since I only pick up on these technological advances after lots of absorbing and practicing. My brain was wired from a different generation---and then some--- and so I usually seem to have a lot of re-wiring and unscrambling to do. While the brain doesn't necessarily improve with age, the good thing about it, I'm told, is that it can improve with use. This fact alone is what motivates me. Once I grow accustomed to a new way, more efficient, faster, better, bigger method or technique (& seemingly smaller technology), it's just the joy of playing with new toys and having a lot more friends over ---aka social networking!

One thing I gathered from today's broadcast is that it is A LOT about perspective... to be able to grasp what is happening, it is essential to have an understanding of your place in time, not just as a point in history, but as a medium through which we have transported stories and ideas. For the first time since time management became a task, our placement in space brings us into a new work/business arena... in other words, your placement and presence in a cyber-world is critical. In a business nutshell, you can not only manage your time without being online/connected, or YOU WILL BE virtually lost in space.

While a short amount of time was spent on identifying a punchlist for this newly-constructed forum, the significant length of the presentation illustrated the muzzling of mainstream media that was (and much of it still is), historically, owned and controlled by a few. Now, since about 2001, especially heightened after 911, we have the masses (the many) going mainstream as an organic whole. The social media is converging with the mass media, and beginning to replace a lot of it. This is a huge change in journalism and how we receive information. Kevin and Pat talked about how the whole blogging phenomenon took off around this time, and, with the introduction of MySpace, became mainstream. Then YouTube began generating video. These were the seeds for social transparency, which translates to the astounding revelation that you/your business really can't be anything but authentically YOU! Kevin and Pat put forth what I thought was a powerful statement: "The key to creating successful philosophies and businesses is to be socially transparent." (This, by the way, is the main work of DOMUS CONSULTING, setting this up for companies). I picture the mix as striving for A CONTINUUM--- a coherent whole, methodically harmonizing what is sound, and hammering out what is discordant or non-synchronous. The speed at which you can develop a network and build a business is rapidly increased, because information travels at high speed and "everyone knows everyone else in a transparent society, and you'll form these serendipitous relationships."  (I can personally vouch for this already!) Kevin and Pat continued to embellish this concept by suggesting that this is "the next generation of a Brian Buffini, a referral-based marketing style with a lot of personal, face-to-face going on." It is noteworthy here that there isn't an online emphasis [yet] with this marketing style. "Communication is being broadcast now and is much more efficient" This doesn't mean that the personal touch is outdated. Not at all. As long as we're human, that just can't happen. It merely informs us of the new phenomenon of "intimacy" being created through social networking, often well ahead of the formal handshake and face-to-face meeting of a new client, colleague, employer, partner, etc..(Before you are HERE, in real time, you are THERE in real space.)

Related Activity Suggestion: watch Real Estate Coaching 2.0

Final Note & Action Plan: BE A TRANSPARENCY FOR THE TRUTH AND INTEGRITY OF YOUR WORDS and your WORK. WE ARE AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS IN A UNIVERSE OF SOUNDness.

© Copyright 2008 - This posting and the contents written here, except where noted, are the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved