Ability Beyond the Horizon

So what do you think as a name for our organization?

To understand the depth of the name, it is important to define horizon. A horizon is an edge, an edge that appears very real, but is really just the edge of our perception, knowledge, or awareness. The horizon caused our ancestors to believe the world was flat, that should we sail too far, we'd fall right off the edge of the earth. It took someone like Columbus, and others, to push the envelope and thus determine that the horizon was really only an illusion that concealed much possibility and potential, in his case, North America.

The context in which I'm using "horizon" in this instance, is in viewing a person with a disability. Many people around the world, including right here in the US, see someone with a disability and all they see is the impairment, the limit, the horizon. The reason I wish to name our group "Ability Beyond the Horizon", is to remind us that, should we push further than our immediate perception, should we dare to invest a little more energy, we may find promise, potential, and Ability. History teaches us that looking beyond the horizon is often a worthwhile endeavor. Through our organization, I'd like to draw the awareness of the people of Vietnam, and elsewhere the path might take us, toward a different horizon, but one that still promises possibility. Through early intervention services, and hopefully one day other services as well, I believe that "Ability Beyond the Horizon" can make a cultural shift in the minds of people, so that when they see the person with a disability, they learn to look past the immediate horizon, and see a person, a person that can make a meaningful contribution to the world.

Thanks to everyone that sent in your ideas for a name, there were many great ones, and many that bumped me along to this current name which literally woke me from a dead sleep night before last. I was so energized, I couldn't go back to sleep, and had to get up and write it down. I'm convinced that if it were not for your suggestions I would have taken a lot longer to discover the right name for our group. I think this one really resonates, what do you think, is this a name, an idea, that people can get behind and support?

Thanks for following along on the journey. Exciting things are just around the corner.

~Mickey

What's in a name?? I need your help!

Hey everyone, its been awhile since I left Vietnam. As promised though, I'm trying to put together a non profit for early intervention services. I've not dropped the ball on this, but it takes longer than I anticipated. But, thanks to the help of a couple attorneys, who are incredibly busy right now but still doing their best to help, I'm now at the leg of the journey where I have to figure out the governing laws of the corporation. One of the very first things to answer is the name! That's where I'm lost, so I'd like to enlist your help.

The name is so IMPORTANT, this is going to be how people first taste the idea behind the organization. It needs to be something that really tells the listener the flavor of what we're about, so that they are interested in hearing the details. It needs to be something that will inspire them to want to give support to, something they can be proud of, and sounds good when they tell their friends, so those friends will also want to be a part of it. The name is a very weighty thing, and its making me nervous, so I thought I'd ask for your help :-)

Here's what I don't want, I don't want Vietnam in the name, or vision, visual impairment, blindness, etc. The reason is, I don't want to limit the potential of the group. I don't plan to stay only in Vietnam if this is successful, I'd like to roll it out to other countries that need the help also. I also don't plan to stick with just visual impairments because there are many others with disabilities that also need services. We can use the word Foundation, but not corporation, corporation sounds too much like money hungry oil mongers. The main thread I've got running in my mind revolves around potential and possibility. Everything I imagine doing with the group in some way opens up the path for a person with a disability to realize their potential. Right now, potential is not fulfilled due to lack of opportunity/education. What I want to do is blaze that trail open for them so they can move as far as they like toward their potential. Sounds idealistic I know, but my thinking is, reach as high as I can, and even if we fall short, we're still much higher than we expected.

So, do you all have any ideas? This is such an exciting time right now, and I'm hoping I can tap into your creative juices a little bit. No idea is a bad idea, please just start pumping them out, leave them in the comments or email them to me at visionteacher @ gmail.com pretty please. Obviously, I'll throw out most of them since I can only use one name, but I'm hoping somewhere in there will be the one that resonates with me, and really encapsulates what we're trying to accomplish. Poor Melissa last night was throwing out names left and right, and I was like, no, no, not that one, nope that's not quite right. So don't get discouraged! I'll keep you posted on the process, and hopefully will have a name for you very soon. I need it to go to the next step!

~Mickey