Dear Mr. Dell

27^th June 2009

Mr. Michael S. Dell, Chairman and CEO

Dell Inc.

One Dell Way

Round Rock, TX 78682-2222

Dear Mr. Dell,

I write to inform you of an experience I had with Dell Customer Service, make a suggestion, and to tender you a bill for my time.

My Dell Inspiron 1720 recently turned up as “Operating System Corrupt.” I couldn’t even turn it on. After seven hours on and off the phone with Dell Customer Service, my computer was restored. Stripped of every single configuration, but nonetheless restored. Good enough.

As I reconfigured the computer to my own preferences, it became clear that there was a problem with the Normal setting in Word. I called Dell again. This time, despite assurances to the contrary when I purchased every warranty possible, I was required to open a case and pay for service.

It took two days and four technicians doing the same operations over and over again to no result to finally be connected with a supervisor (who knew more). Her name was Amy. She reinstalled Microsoft Office and restored the proper Normal setting. I again spent hours reconfiguring my computer and reinstalling all the programs that the reinstall had disabled.

Thinking everything was now swell with my computer, I went back to work. No such luck. I couldn’t convert a Word document to a PDF file, a function I use all the time. I called Dell again, having called in late to work because my “contract” was set to expire. Three more people later, all of whom did the same things over and over again to no avail, I lost my temper, and demanded to speak to a more qualified technician.

Finally, I was sent to Customer Resolution. Irfan heard my story, had read the notes and refunded my money. Still, I’d spent hours by this point, hours wherein I could have been earning my livelihood, but instead was stuck on hold, or on mute, in Dell Connect Hell. Irfan asked me if someone from Premium Support could call me the next day. We settled on two windows of time which did not conflict with my patient schedule. The first window went by. Nothing. At 5:30, as promised, the beginning of the second window, Anto called my home office.

It took him less than 50 minutes to find and resolve the problem which had nothing to do with Microsoft Office. It was instead a security setting that was causing all the problems. He solved the problem with elegance, a sense of humor, and he even called me back to tell me he’d changed the start-up, and if I wanted it changed back, he’d coach me. So everything is now swell with my computer, and I remained dismayed with Dell.

From the moment I discovered Operating System Corrupt till the final readjustment, I have spent 14 hours on hold with Dell. 14 hours! I’ll be glad to give you a full day to fix a damaged computer, but I’m enclosing a bill for 6 hours of clinical time that I had to forgo because of Dell.

The thing that was the most frustrating was that person after person did the identical diagnostics over and over again despite the fact that I could reliably tell them that they hadn’t worked before. I reached the limit of each tech’s knowledge and instead of having a place of more experience to send me “upstairs,” they simply referred to others on their shifts who did THE SAME THINGS again and again!

Mr. Dell, not only was it frustrating, it put me in mind of AA’s definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again (in the same way) and expecting a different result. There were no different results to be had.

I’d like to suggest that you consider putting in place a secondary tier of techs who are more experienced than the frontline techs, a place where those valiant first response people can kick the problem upstairs to a wiser person rather than frustrating your customers like crazy.

Your system wasted my time repeatedly. That time cost me money. I’ll look forward to Dell’s remittance in the post.

Yours most sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Susan Corso

Rev. Dr. Susan Corso

Encl: invoice

Divine Alphabet

Seeds XI, 26

Seed: Divine Alphabet

Do you actually remember learning the alphabet? I don’t. I seem always to have known it. That can’t be possible, or can it?

The wise rabbis knew from the moment they saw the symbols that make up their alphabet that this gift was a divine gift. Every letter has a divine resonance, and, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, those symbols when arranged in specific and certain ways would create words!

According to Judeo-Christian tradition, our world was spoken into being! With what? Words. No wonder the rabbis thought the alphabet holy. It is, for it was out of those symbols that earth, seas, fowl of the air, fish, land animals and humans were created.

Even if the Genesis creation stories are myth rather than fact, there is still no getting around the notion that the alphabet is a holy thing. You know this because you have seen words hurt just as well as heal, haven’t you?

Think carefully when you dispense the holy letters which make up words, dear one.

Be joy,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, God’s Dictionary,

Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

The divine alphabet is written upon your soul.

Connection?

After a series of emails to straighten out a misunderstanding that proved progressively frustrating, I repaired to the telephone this morning, and what a relief! We got the matter cleared up in minutes.

Instead of getting continually twisted into the written word, a few spoken sentences solved the problem and added value to the exchange. A miracle! Why? Because of genuine connection.

I’m beginning to feel the discomfort in email. There is no voice quality to tell us what’s really going on for the other person. There are no pauses. It’s slick, and, a lot of the time, too fast. Do I sound like a fuddy-duddy to you?

Maybe I am, but I don’t care. Or, I do, but perhaps I care too much.

A colleague and I had the kerfuffle this morning. It was silly. We went several email rounds before I called. I’m shy, I admit it. I like the written word. And it takes time to write what one means.

It also allows me not to connect, not really.

A friend and I had a long visit on the phone one evening. It had been over a year since we’d talked, and I’d missed her. It was sheer delight. We laughed and cried and picked up right where we’d left off. It was delicious, and we promised it wouldn’t be a year before the next time.

Interestingly, one of the things we talked about was her two just-out-of-college assistants. She told me that they prefer texting and email to face-to-face any day, and that she has to push them into face meetings! In addition, my friend observed that these two aren’t very good at actual connection. Virtual connection, no problem, but real, in person connection, nope! I felt sad.

I’m beginning to feel like email is a sometime cop-out, like texting is no stand-in for personal connection. I also feel that personal connection is underdone these days, and that virtual connecting is overdone.

May I suggest we feed our own spirits and souls and plan a genuine connection here on planet earth at least once a day? The God Within will thank us for it.

The Three Most Powerful Words

Any guesses? I’ve asked this question of countless listeners in corporation speeches and religious institutions. It engenders all sorts of discussion. The usual consensus is:

I love you.

Nope. Not a chance. These particular three are fraught with convolution. What’s I? What’s you? What’s love? We can say them to anyone for any reason. As a thank you. As an affirmation. As an excuse.

The three most powerful words I know are:

I don’t know.

Surprised? I’m not surprised if you are. But think a minute. Think of the implied obligation so many of us feel to know. We’re adults. We’re supposed to know. We’re supposed to have answers. We’re supposed to be clear.

I don’t know makes for much greater clarity than already knowing. As part of my work these days, I’m working for Visions Medical Center, a wholistic group of doctors and practitioners, dedicating to changing the face of Western medicine. The doctors practice Functional Medicine. The practitioners practice Complementary Medicine. The patients change and heal a lot of the time. Why?

Because we, the healing team, don’t know everything. We can’t. We get stuck. We get blindsided by our own prejudices. We wonder. We question. We doubt. We consult with one another. What comes of it? Better health care. Better outcomes. Larger ideas. Greater understanding. And, hopefully, better health for our patients.

Working in an I don’t know environment is liberating. The burden of knowing is released and in its stead I find a creative space that invites new ideas of health, new approaches to healing, new horizons to see. What a relief!

Not only that, but the patients we see are able to speak their experiences of their own health and well-being freely. We, as caregivers, walk parallel with them for the duration that’s required. We don’t fix them. We don’t heal them.

Instead, we hold them. We see them healthy. We explore options with them. We find our way together. It’s a model for a total approach to health that’s both evolutionary and revolutionary.

When Dr. Ed Levitan asked me to consider joining the team, I was startled. I’m no fan of Western medicine having had my own experiences of betrayal within its antiquated system. When I got to Visions and began to see what they were doing there, the scales fell from my eyes. I got a glimpse of what real health is all about.

It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to say with all these other highly-qualified practitioners, “I don’t know.” What’s even better is to be able to say, “But let’s find out together.”

Visions Medical Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts is changing the face of health care one patient at a time, and it’s a privilege to be on the team.

The Shortest Distance

Seeds XI, 25

Seed: The Shortest Distance

Father Anthony de Mello writes that “the shortest distance between a human being and Truth is a story.” It’s true. Think back on all the things you’ve learned so far in 2009. Aren’t there stories attached to a lot of those learnings?

Isaac Bashevis Singer felt that “life is God’s novel.” I like that. In fact, a catalogue I received today made me smile. It had a t-shirt which said, “Be careful or I’ll put you in my novel.” As many of my friends know, all things are fodder for a novelist. I write about people I know in disguise.

And this is why story is so potent. Sue Monk Kidd writes that the deepest etymology of the word story is the idea of knowing. The OED agrees with her. When I tell a story on a podcast or in a sermon, I’m telling you what I know.

The goal of a story is ultimately to help you know the Truth that makes you free. If some story doesn’t do this for you, just let it go and realize that you’ve taken the long way rather than the shortest distance. Then ask for a shortest distance story.

Be joy,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, God’s Dictionary,

Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

A New Conversation with Google

I have become intrepid in addressing Google. The reason is twofold. First, there’s Afformations-creator Noah St. John. Then, there’s my IT wizard, Ryan.

When my computer melted down last week, I was at a loss as to what to do.

Ryan spent two days with it, and couldn’t fix it. Some strange Microsoft quirk. Finally, I braved India and called Dell on a Saturday. After three trips to India in one day (!), the dear thing was restored to its factory settings and stripped of everything else. None of my customization was in place any more. I was, as you know, decidedly uncomfortable, borderline crabby, and determined to fix things.

This meant, of course, installing program after program. First, it was a HUGE relief to remember that I’d made a list of customizations the last time I’d bought a new computer so at least I knew what I wanted. Do you have a list of what’s in/on your computer? If not, make one, print, and save it somewhere in hard copy (with your software?) so you aren’t caught with it inside your unusable computer!

For that matter, also print a list of your passwords and usernames, and all your programs with serial numbers as well as your computer specs. That way you’re never caught out. Consider printing them quarterly so you’re pretty up-to-date. This is what made my recent process painful but not agonizing—I had everything in one place.

Also, while I’m on the topic of computer warnings, BACK UP! Back up! Back up! Every day. Forever. There are some great online systems for this. I’ve used Symantec’s @backup for more than ten years. Their customer service is stellar. Others I know swear by Mozy. Backing up your computer is much easier, and a lot less fuss than it used to be. There are no more excuses. If you write—anything—back up. It’s gospel with me at this point.

So, now, at last, to my point. During the two days Ryan worked to restore my computer, I spent some of my fretting time watching him interact with Google. I was amazed at how he did it.

In the past, when I’ve searched Google for various bits and bytes of information, I’ve kept a very old protocol in place, namely, that of using keywords, and keywords only. That’s how search engines used to work. Not so any more. Not at all.

When Ryan wanted to know something about how to do anything, he typed a real question into Google.

How do I get the Data Disc of the OED to load?

What was even more amazing was that Google had plenty of entries written just that way! What’s happening is that other people are asking the same questions, and Google is adapting to questions.

So I was, of course, reminded of the brilliant Noah St. John and his Afformations. Afformations are questions designed to keep the mind on what one wants rather than on what one doesn’t want. Examples: Why is it so easy for me to be healthy? Why am I so successful? How is it that I get referrals every day? You get the picture.

Reminded of Noah’s wonderful Afformation construct, I bit the bullet and wore my intrepid hat with Google.

How do I set the computer to Shut Down instead of Sleep when I choose Shut Down?

I had it fixed in under a minute.

Many years ago it dawned on me that the art of true living was the art of asking the right questions, not having the right answers.

Google, it seems, agrees with me.

iPod Loss

In the continuing computer saga that has made up my last week or so, the piece-de-resistance came at the end of the week. It turns out there is no way to sync a computer to an iPod without downloading a special extracting program. My IT wizard did that and then, somehow, picked the wrong button to click on so instead of transferring my full iPod to my computer, he erased my iPod.

There was a moment, as we sat next to one another looking at the screen, when we said nothing but we both knew what had happened. There was nothing to do, no way to reverse it. He acknowledged his mistake, and he did not apologize.

I basically use my iPod to study the musicals I use for my healing mystery novels. There was a lot of other music on it though. It was principally music significant in my past in one way or another. Songs that reminded me of good times past, most of them, long past. My IT guy offered to get me whatever music I wanted to replace what had been there. It was a sweet offer and I will take him up on it.

Strangely though, I, who am the List Queen, did not have a list of what I’d had on my iPod, assuming that it could/would never be erased. In that moment of quiet, I knew without doubt that I had a choice about my reaction. I did have a reaction, no doubt about it, but did I have to/need to express that reaction? Not really.

I breathed. He breathed. We breathed together. Is it such a loss? Yes. No. I don’t know. I know I’ll ask him to get some albums I’ve loved over the years, and I also know that I won’t miss what I don’t know is missing.

Here is how this works in the spiritual life: when it’s time for things to change, things that we think won’t/can’t change do change. I have a “clean” iPod, a fresh slate for new musical memories. I’ll put Wicked, Legally Blonde and Rent back into playlists as I need them for the next three Mex books, and the rest?

The rest is an adventure. What music will inspire this new me, no longer mired in the past? We’ll see, won’t we?

God in Drag

Seeds XI, 24

Seed: God in Drag

I love this quote from Sufi poet Hafiz . . .

Sweetheart, O sweetheart, you are God in Drag!

Does that seem irreverent to you? Think about the idea quite literally. God doesn’t only look like Madonna or Susan Corso or George Clooney or Philip Seymour Hoffman. God looks exactly like you! Exactly.

This is why I say that She is like a drag artiste. Drag performers take their performance selves very seriously. A look, a wig, a walk, a line. They’re careful and conscious about what they put together for their audiences. There’s a new DVD out as I write this in January called Pageant, all about the seriousness I reference.

Here’s my question for us: if we are all God in drag, are we thinking consciously about our presentation? Are you taking care of God’s body which is on loan to you? If so, bravo/a! If not, think again. It’s the only body you’ll get this time.

Be joy,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, God’s Dictionary,

Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Patience

Patience is not even my secondary or tertiary virtue. I, like so many of us, want what I want when I want it. To be exact, I want my computer up and restored to what it was before the meltdown, and I want to spend not so much as a nanosecond of time or energy doing it. Unfortunately, blessed one, or perhaps fortunately, that’s not how recalibration works—with computers or in life.

When I was a kid, my mama used to say, “Patience is a virtue, second to none ….” It was always a reminder to be patient, and she always trailed off vocally in such a way that it reminded me that I clearly was not being patient. Drat!

My computer is still not “right.” It’s not wrong, either, but it’s still not right according to my specifications, and I’m letting it make me crazy except for when I’m not. Ah me. It’s a good learning.

One of the things we heard often in seminary was: don’t pray for patience—you’ll be given opportunities to practice it! I did it once so I can assure you that my professors were right.

So what is patience? Why is it a virtue? How do we cultivate it? What do we do when we’re lacking it?

According to the OED, the Latin roots of patience mean suffering. I’ll cop to it. When I’m impatient, I am suffering for sure. The first definition of the word reads:

1. a. Bearing or enduring (pain, affliction, trouble, or evil of any kind) with composure, without discontent or complaint;
   

Bearing … standing

The lovely message of Solomon’s ring applies here: This Too Shall Pass. If you can remember that whatever is requiring your patience won’t last, it will help you stay patient. Ask yourself: will this be important in 10 years? Go backward through the times? Years? Months? Weeks? Etc. You’ll be surprised at how unimportant our impatience can become.

With … composure

When I’ve been known to get impatient in the past, I am so far from composed, it’s embarrassing. I have totally lost my composure and am usually mad, mad, mad. That’s not good for me or for the relationships in my life. If you’ve lost your composure, excuse yourself from the situation, and go somewhere privately where you can self-talk yourself off the impatience ledge where you are currently residing.

The other option is to become exceedingly conscious of your breath and only your breath. Let the world outside your breathing recede and allow yourself to focus within. The only place where any of us has any control is within our own selves. Take that control back.

Without … discontent or complaint

Oooh, here’s the rub. When I’m impatient, not only am I discontent (I don’t like the CONtent in my life at that moment!) but I’m also likely to be complaining—internally certainly, but more often externally and to whomever I can get to listen!

Stop. Stop complaining right now. It’s your mind thinking your thoughts causing your mouth to engage your vocal chords making those sounds that come out as complaints. Stop, right now. Breathe out. Do it again. The exhale causes the inhale.

Many years ago, I heard a sermon called “Impatient.” The clergy divided the word up into two and added punctuation.

I’m patient.

Believe it or not, it helps. As I’ve been writing this post, I’ve written a list of things my IT wizard will come fix before the end of this week. I have returned to composure and complaint-free living.

Operating System Corrupted

Okay, so I’m no more exempt than anyone else. I’ve spent the past four days under a cloud of a corrupted operating system in my computer. According to Dell, they receive 20-30 per DAY about just the same problem. What it eventually meant for me was a restoration of my computer to the day it was born.

Clean, clear, new operating system. No customization. No files, folders, music, pictures, nothing personal to me. A tech wizard added all that later, and I’m so grateful to be a person who backs up off-site every day. Nothing was lost, except four days. Or, is that really true?

What does it mean when a tool one uses intimately, daily, for real work malfunctions? Even more, loses its capacity to start, which is what happened with my computer? I couldn’t even use the Reboot Theory of Computers! When in doubt, reboot—it will fix itself.

Operating system, the words, struck a chord in me.

So did corrupt, the word.

Why?

Well, I might know and I might not know, but here’s a stab at it.

Earlier that week, I’d spoken to a remarkable energy healer, a woman who has developed her own form of core energy healing. It includes the ability to tune into when the body she’s scanning was last healthy as well as the ability to restore that same body to the time of good health. We’d made an appointment to talk on the phone on Friday.

Thursday morning, I got up as usual and my sweetie had already turned my computer on. Everything looked normal (as do I; no one looking at me would know that I have dealt with a chronic disease for 20 years). I double-clicked on Google Chrome, the browser I use because it makes gmail ten times faster. The click/whirrs began and then nothing happened.

I clicked off Chrome and tried Firefox; again an hourglass but no action. My IT wizard was coming at 2 so I whiled away the morning with a novel. It took quite a while but he came up with Corrupt Windows Directory as a diagnosis. He took the computer home with him to restore it. So far, so good. I expected a fully-functioning computer back on my desk by Friday.

Late that afternoon, he returned and tried a few more things. No dice. In the midst of this turmoil, I spoke to the healer for 90 minutes and had a powerful session with her.

As for the computer, it was down to me, all alone, on various trips to India to consult with Dell on Saturday. Fortunately for me, I had bought every single insurance I could for this computer so it cost me nothing monetarily. Timewise, it took 8 hours, from 11 to 7 to have a rudimentary computer back in my office.

Some time during the many hours I spoke to and waited for Dell, a glimmer of insight began to come to me about why this computer glitch had happened. It may not satisfy you but it did satisfy me.

My healer friend and I talked at length about the last time in my life I lived healthily without this disease. I was 30 at the time. She said several illuminating things to me, but one of them was … “I’m hearing that you were never meant to have this illness stay with you.” And, “There’s a structural realignment that’s necessary.” Do you see where I’m going?

My body’s operating system was compromised by allopathic medicine 20 years ago. Doctors, frightened by the turn of events, threw medicine at me rather than letting my body heal itself. I am working with this healer to undo what was done in error.

What she’d basically said to me is that my operating system was corrupted 20 years ago, and we had to restore to its original healthy pattern. I cannot tell you how much more patient with Dell that made me.

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