All posts by myorbitx

Books, Faith, Spirituality

Notes on Spirituality – by Richard Blackstone

Richard D. Blackstone profile imageDuring the first forty years of my life I was sleepwalking.

I listened to what other people told me about life and how I was supposed to conduct myself as I stumbled along in my journey from birth to death.

I was told to follow the rules because only by following the rules and working real hard would I be able to achieve this illusive thing called “success.”

So I bought into the idea that I was a separate entity from all other people and things and went about the business of hard work and being better so that I would be successful.

I got the college education, the job, the wife, the children, the house, the right car, the material possessions, the life-style, the alcohol, the drugs, the affairs, the divorce, the depression, and the guilt. While all this “life” was happening I always had this nagging feeling that there was something about life I didn’t know, the knowing of which could change my life in a more meaningful empowering way. Continue reading →

MyOrbit Blogs, Travel

10 Famous Lighthouses around the World

Here are ten famous lighthouses from around the world:

  1. The Pharos of Alexandria – Egypt: Built in the 3rd century BCE, this ancient lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It stood over 130 meters tall and used a mirror to reflect sunlight during the day and a fire at night to guide ships into the harbor.
  2. Eddystone Lighthouse – United Kingdom: Located off the coast of Cornwall, England, the Eddystone Lighthouse has been rebuilt several times since its original construction in 1698. The current tower, which was built in 1882, stands over 50 meters tall and is made of granite.
  3. Heceta Head Lighthouse – United States: This lighthouse, located in Oregon, is famous for its beautiful setting on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was built in 1894 and is still in use today.
  4. Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse – Canada: Located in Nova Scotia, Canada, Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse is a popular tourist destination known for its picturesque setting on a rocky shore. It was built in 1915 and is still in use today.
  5. Lindau Lighthouse – Germany: This lighthouse, located on Lake Constance in southern Germany, is famous for its unusual design. It was built in 1856 and features a circular tower with a small house attached.
  6. Portland Head Light – United States: Located in Maine, this lighthouse was first built in 1791 and is one of the oldest lighthouses in the United States. It is known for its beautiful setting on a rocky point overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
  7. Cape Byron Lighthouse – Australia: Located in New South Wales, Australia, this lighthouse is known for its beautiful setting on a headland overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was built in 1901 and is still in use today.
  8. Hook Head Lighthouse – Ireland: Located in County Wexford, Ireland, Hook Head Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouses in Europe, dating back to the 13th century. The current tower was built in the 19th century and is still in use today.
  9. Montauk Point Lighthouse – United States: Located on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, this lighthouse was built in 1796 and is the oldest lighthouse in New York State. It is known for its beautiful setting on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
  10. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse – Australia: Located in Western Australia, Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse on mainland Australia, standing over 39 meters tall. It was built in 1895 and is still in use today.
Books, Faith, People, Spirituality

Nuts and Bolts Spirituality – by Richard Blackstone

Richard D. Blackstone profile imageI was conditioned all my life to believe in the American dream of working hard, following the rules, investing in my retirement and America and then reaping the rewards at the appropriate time.

Well, I worked hard, followed the rules, made the investments but I never was able to reap the rewards. What was it that I was missing?

What I came to find out was that I was “sleepwalking through Life” because I was looking to the outside world for all my answers and thinking that life was happening to me and I had to keep reacting to the people, events and circumstances in my life.

I didn’t realize that I was living my life unconsciously and the natural consequence of that existence was lack, illness and frustration.

Then a fortuitous event happened in my life and I began to see life from an entirely different perspective that opened my eyes to the idea that I was creating my life, whether I knew I was or not.

The whole problem I had was one of ignorance about the immutable laws of the universe that govern all of creation and my lack of knowledge about “who I really am.”

Once I got on this path of self awareness and started creating my life consciously everything changed in my world.

Once I understood my true nature I was able to begin the conscious creation of my life where abundance, health and harmony flowed to me easily and effortlessly.

I am now an award-winning author and international speaker about life, love and the true nature of how the universe works. I live an abundant life in total wellness and am in harmony with all of life.

Wow! Now I am blessed to teach these life skills to others and there is no more rewarding experience for me. Yes, I am following my bliss and raising the consciousness of all humanity at the same time. Life is good.

It is all good. I am building my dream house on the banks of the Coast Fork of the Willametter River in Pleasant Hill, Oregon with my four cats surrounded by nature. I wake up every morning giving thanks for having woken up to my true authentic self and I appreciate everything that happens in my life.

Life is good and it is all a matter of perspective. We are all on a path of self improvement and that path will always take you to an understanding of self as a priority destination.

Thank you for being in my life.

Live in love,

Richard D. Blackstone

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5 Questions, Business Development, Online Marketing, Sales & Marketing

Five Pillars of Marketing Success

Does the following give a pretty good picture of your current marketing activity?

You have a website but you’re not really satisfied with it. You go to networking events once in awhile. If someone asks you to give a talk, you’re happy to do it. You post on Facebook and/or LinkedIn semi-regularly. When you find the time, you send an article to those on your relatively small email list. You occasionally set up meetings with colleagues to explore opportunities.

Now there’s nothing wrong with any of those marketing activities. And usually, they will result in landing some new clients. But this is not the approach that works to get a steady, predictable stream of new clients.

Please don’t tune me out here, thinking, “Well, I really can’t do more than this. I’m already stretched thin. If you give me too much to do I’ll get overwhelmed.”

I agree. It’s not that you need to do more marketing, it’s that you need to shift your marketing paradigm from one of “Randomness” to one that is “Focused.” Continue reading →

Business Services, Capital Markets, Finance, Software, Technology

BFSI moving to a Cloud-first paradigm

Cloud migration is an integral part of the digital transformation journey of banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) firms. Many BFSI firms are adopting cloud-first strategies to realize the benefits of business excellence, innovation, speed-to-market, and operational and infrastructure savings. BFSI organizations tend to initiate the cloud migration journey by adopting infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) models and evolve to embracing platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) models as cloud solutions and products mature. Successful migration will, however, depend on choosing the right cloud deployment models as well as cloud service models. BFSI firms must consider some crucial factors while choosing the cloud migration model:

  • Business value and technology
  • Functional uniqueness and product maturity
  • Privacy, security, and regulatory requirements
  • Costs, scalability, and performance

Aparna Jiddu
Platform Architect, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, TCS

Sripada Sarma
Solution Architect, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, TCS