It occurs to me, I am on a roll describing the inner workings of what are the four great flashes of life.
Greenflash, blueflash done, two to go....the really difficult ones.
Whiteflash will be next...it will be a joy to write and share...because it is the Good News!
It is about the ultimate wakeup call! It confirms we are not alone. When you deeply realize that, and I mean really deep, you are never alone....you can ask for help.
The most tortuous of all for me to lay out will be the Anatomy of the Pinkflash....the grand attempt on my part to explain what, why, who and when of the romantic moments in our lives. It is tough for me because this one is where I have had the greatest of moments and the worst of pain....the super high extasy and the crash and burn pain and loss...
I joked with my students last year. I said I want my book to be such a success, that I will be on Oprah, meaning on the Oprah Winfrey show...that means your book is a great success. Some heard me saying I want my book to be an "opera"....and they are serious to this day....they want this turned into an opera....
....aside from the singing,which I will never do.....the idea is not a bad one. After all, the four flashes have all the incredible drama of opera....especially romantic love....
Therefore, as I share my own deepest stories in my life of the flash moments, I will withhold my ultimate stories of my own life with the pinkflashes of romantic love.....until the moment when I would have the splendid chance to tell these stories on the Oprah show....if I make that goal, then I will lay bare my soul and share what I heve felt as my highest mountains and my deepest valleys of love...given the liklihood that I will not join Dr. Phil as Dr. Mike on Oprah, I think I am pretty safe....
Pinkflash anatomy will be a very difficult chapter for me to write, even though I will hold back....
I have a feeling my friends and readers will understand this one....there is no one in the universe, it is my deepest conviction, who has not felt the extasy of pinkflash romance and love for another....
Buckle your seatbelts....
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Anatomy of the Blueflash....Dissecting the Moment of Truth
This blog if you read it from time to time deals with concepts such as destiny, life purpose, clear life vision, calling, lifework...
I assert that these are all basically the same thing and worth everything to try to achieve....but it is soooo hard. So difficult.
I want in this essay to talk about why it seems so tough and difficult for most of us. This task will not itself be easy...
We are all unique on the planet, like a snowflake, a single specimen for which there is no genetic counterpart, ever in the universe! As our lives unfold, it gets even more unique. We have common experiences as our brothers and sisters on the planet, but we become even more and more unique and idiosyncratic as time goes on...our lives become a labyrinth of complexity...and it is up to you, pretty much alone, to sort it out.
When it comes to something so profound as a "life purpose", many people just fall off the wagon....they laugh out loud and say, "that is just too much for me to deal with....as I am just trying to survive each day!"
I struggled with this all between my early thirties as a young professor, teaching, writing, travelling, and my early fourties when I seem to have found a place and time in my life where and when things just gelled and came together...it even happened in one night! I saw the complete picture of the second half of my life, which I am now living through and enjoying, right on the ceiling of the bedroom, as I lay there thinking about things...
The "anatomy" of it for me was the following....there was a long (10 or more years) leadup to that moment ....pain and searching, wandering in my career, experimenting, feeling that everything important was not in harmony, was not gelling....
Then, in those weeks in the leadup...I had met a catalytic force in the person of my German friend and colleague who had built boutique business schools in Europe....he was a friend, a mentor, he came in on a 90 degree angle, rather unplanned, but all of a sudden, he and his life map looked very interesting to me....we had stuff in common....he became a friend....much more than a friend....a messenger
Why it happened that night, I do not know...but the circumstances are part of this anatomy....I was at my home, away from work, more importantly, away from the workplace....
I was with my loved one, my wife, we were engaged in intimate time and freewheeling discussion...
I had been primed just in the weeks before that night, because I had been invited to become a visiting professor in Germany by my friend....the invitation may have been the spark....that is an important part...some kind of invitation that you need to respond to...that causes you to have to sort things out rather fast...
Bam! Wham! It hit!!! 3am...it all came together...in a picture like a movie...on the ceiling...I could see players...I was in that film...there were others, my friend, especially....students....the vision of CIBU was born. I do not have an exact date, but I am going to just say, March 31, 1988. 3 am
The elements in the algorithm are: long suffering,emptiness, wandering.....someone unexpected enters the scene from a 90 degree angle....they make an invitation or ask something of you, the spark.....you are with a loved one....you are not alone at this moment of truth in your life....you are in a very peaceful place....your mind joins with the other and you spin out a scenario for your life dream or purpose that starts to make real sense....the parts come together....your education precisely fits....your experience fits...your network fits...your spirit is captured in excitement....there is likely a significant other in the picture that starts to form into a visual-mental rendering of the dream....
That, at least, was my experience...its anatomy as best as I can describe it...
....and here is the amazing fact....over the last fifteen or so years I have been researching this exact process as others have described it....I have researched the career literature (especially the hallmark book by Po Bronson, "What Should I Do With My Life?").....and the results are in......
Most others who say they have found their life purpose, describe a very, very similar process with the same elements.....so, we seem to have something, after all!
Oh, one more important thing....when this magic moment happens, the next days are so beautiful...like Bono would sing..."Its a Beautiful Day"....the sky is blue and seems to have a blue horizon that lasts forever....
It happens in a flash....which is why I call this moment the "blueflash"....you know by now, what I have been describing. I think there is chemistry that actually happens: adrenalin surges when we think of this vision. The heart beats faster... Endorphins are released and give us a physical high. This feeling is sustaining. Every time we think of the vision, adrenalin surges, endorphins are released in the brain, and we feel like it a beautiful spring morning....athletes feel this...artists feel this....it is true and natural....it can last for years and the rest of your career or life....it even could keep getting larger and larger....
I believe that deep within every heart and soul is the yearning for this to happen in one's life....
I believe it is worth everything...
I believe if we can find it....it brings out our human best....
....it makes the planet a better place...
....it gives our soul peace
....it enables us to live a long life where we never get "old"....
I have become so committed to this idea and process
It has become my passion to share and help others with it...
I share my story...I share my passion...I am a sounding board for others to help them find it....
The power of this is immense....it directs my life...it helps me sort out how I want to spend my time....with whom and with what priorities....
It led me, with the great boost from Jeffrey Bennett (http://www.jeffreybennet.com/) to write and publish my personal mission statement....
It becomes a "credo" for living....
Credo....means "I believe...."
I believe......everyone has this precious chance.....
Take it....it is yours....they say you shall inherit the earth....
This is your sacred inheritance.....
I assert that these are all basically the same thing and worth everything to try to achieve....but it is soooo hard. So difficult.
I want in this essay to talk about why it seems so tough and difficult for most of us. This task will not itself be easy...
We are all unique on the planet, like a snowflake, a single specimen for which there is no genetic counterpart, ever in the universe! As our lives unfold, it gets even more unique. We have common experiences as our brothers and sisters on the planet, but we become even more and more unique and idiosyncratic as time goes on...our lives become a labyrinth of complexity...and it is up to you, pretty much alone, to sort it out.
When it comes to something so profound as a "life purpose", many people just fall off the wagon....they laugh out loud and say, "that is just too much for me to deal with....as I am just trying to survive each day!"
I struggled with this all between my early thirties as a young professor, teaching, writing, travelling, and my early fourties when I seem to have found a place and time in my life where and when things just gelled and came together...it even happened in one night! I saw the complete picture of the second half of my life, which I am now living through and enjoying, right on the ceiling of the bedroom, as I lay there thinking about things...
The "anatomy" of it for me was the following....there was a long (10 or more years) leadup to that moment ....pain and searching, wandering in my career, experimenting, feeling that everything important was not in harmony, was not gelling....
Then, in those weeks in the leadup...I had met a catalytic force in the person of my German friend and colleague who had built boutique business schools in Europe....he was a friend, a mentor, he came in on a 90 degree angle, rather unplanned, but all of a sudden, he and his life map looked very interesting to me....we had stuff in common....he became a friend....much more than a friend....a messenger
Why it happened that night, I do not know...but the circumstances are part of this anatomy....I was at my home, away from work, more importantly, away from the workplace....
I was with my loved one, my wife, we were engaged in intimate time and freewheeling discussion...
I had been primed just in the weeks before that night, because I had been invited to become a visiting professor in Germany by my friend....the invitation may have been the spark....that is an important part...some kind of invitation that you need to respond to...that causes you to have to sort things out rather fast...
Bam! Wham! It hit!!! 3am...it all came together...in a picture like a movie...on the ceiling...I could see players...I was in that film...there were others, my friend, especially....students....the vision of CIBU was born. I do not have an exact date, but I am going to just say, March 31, 1988. 3 am
The elements in the algorithm are: long suffering,emptiness, wandering.....someone unexpected enters the scene from a 90 degree angle....they make an invitation or ask something of you, the spark.....you are with a loved one....you are not alone at this moment of truth in your life....you are in a very peaceful place....your mind joins with the other and you spin out a scenario for your life dream or purpose that starts to make real sense....the parts come together....your education precisely fits....your experience fits...your network fits...your spirit is captured in excitement....there is likely a significant other in the picture that starts to form into a visual-mental rendering of the dream....
That, at least, was my experience...its anatomy as best as I can describe it...
....and here is the amazing fact....over the last fifteen or so years I have been researching this exact process as others have described it....I have researched the career literature (especially the hallmark book by Po Bronson, "What Should I Do With My Life?").....and the results are in......
Most others who say they have found their life purpose, describe a very, very similar process with the same elements.....so, we seem to have something, after all!
Oh, one more important thing....when this magic moment happens, the next days are so beautiful...like Bono would sing..."Its a Beautiful Day"....the sky is blue and seems to have a blue horizon that lasts forever....
It happens in a flash....which is why I call this moment the "blueflash"....you know by now, what I have been describing. I think there is chemistry that actually happens: adrenalin surges when we think of this vision. The heart beats faster... Endorphins are released and give us a physical high. This feeling is sustaining. Every time we think of the vision, adrenalin surges, endorphins are released in the brain, and we feel like it a beautiful spring morning....athletes feel this...artists feel this....it is true and natural....it can last for years and the rest of your career or life....it even could keep getting larger and larger....
I believe that deep within every heart and soul is the yearning for this to happen in one's life....
I believe it is worth everything...
I believe if we can find it....it brings out our human best....
....it makes the planet a better place...
....it gives our soul peace
....it enables us to live a long life where we never get "old"....
I have become so committed to this idea and process
It has become my passion to share and help others with it...
I share my story...I share my passion...I am a sounding board for others to help them find it....
The power of this is immense....it directs my life...it helps me sort out how I want to spend my time....with whom and with what priorities....
It led me, with the great boost from Jeffrey Bennett (http://www.jeffreybennet.com/) to write and publish my personal mission statement....
It becomes a "credo" for living....
Credo....means "I believe...."
I believe......everyone has this precious chance.....
Take it....it is yours....they say you shall inherit the earth....
This is your sacred inheritance.....
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Anatomy of the Greenflash...Seeking Sacred Moments in Nature
So, nature is all around us. In the countryside, and in cities....we have fengshui in cities...we can construct nature inside our office buildings...fishtanks, palm trees...we can seek out moments of solitude even in the chaos of "the office" environment. We can make a terrarium on our desk, small objects and pieces of nature that take us out, in our minds, to the big scape we dream of...
Greenflash moments are the few, very few most special actual moments we find in nature...
The "greenflash" phenomenon is real...the last actual flash of light that we see in an instant as the sun goes down over the ocean...the last part of the light prism, shinng through the water back at us...this is very rare. You typicaly need a low humidity atmosphere...long visibility...still water...and even then, you need to really watch. Not everybody sees it. It happens very fast, in a split second.
In my own case, I saw one in 1993, on Waikiki Beach in February, when the sun typically goes down early evening, with very, very clear horizons...when I saw it, I was really wanting to see it. I had heard of it. Then, there it was, flash! Green light...gone!
To bring it to you in words and music...the sky was light blue, the sun a big ball of orange...there was a crisp smell of firewood burning from beachfires...somewhere somebody had a boombox playing "Dancing in the Moonlight", (1973, King Harvest)...I was walking on the sand in bare feet, could feel the sand crunching up between my toes...the sun was almost down...I stopped on the sand, watched real hard....sun gone...then, yes...green flash, in a milisecond...did I see it or just want to see it? I saw it!
This is, of course, a metaphor for all those sacred moments in nature when our spirits soar...it can be any special moment...it could be a peaceful evening in your garden, when you smell the freshness of tomato leaves, basil...sweet citrus blossoms...
But, it is not just the physical. It is what we give to it. It is part us. Without us, who would hear the tree fall in the forest, who would see the greenflash?
It takes our wanting this moment...waiting for it, wanting to see the flash...
All our lives we could live this way for nature, wanting to join with it...or we could live walled in our urban jungle, never emerging to smell, see what is outside. I can remember the long work days when I couldn't wait to put on my running shoes and get out and run in nature...
The greenflash moments of life are unique for us all. Each of us has a short list of the special ones in our life...
We are, after all, unique in the universe, and the universe and nature speaks uniquely to each of us...but the song of nature is the same...we need to hear that song...we need to sing that song...
One of the biggest gifts to us in this lifetime...the sacred moments from nature to our soul...
It takes effort to go out and get these...but the reward is for our soul...
When we can do it with loved ones, it magnifies the experience....dance in the moonlight....
Greenflash moments are the few, very few most special actual moments we find in nature...
The "greenflash" phenomenon is real...the last actual flash of light that we see in an instant as the sun goes down over the ocean...the last part of the light prism, shinng through the water back at us...this is very rare. You typicaly need a low humidity atmosphere...long visibility...still water...and even then, you need to really watch. Not everybody sees it. It happens very fast, in a split second.
In my own case, I saw one in 1993, on Waikiki Beach in February, when the sun typically goes down early evening, with very, very clear horizons...when I saw it, I was really wanting to see it. I had heard of it. Then, there it was, flash! Green light...gone!
To bring it to you in words and music...the sky was light blue, the sun a big ball of orange...there was a crisp smell of firewood burning from beachfires...somewhere somebody had a boombox playing "Dancing in the Moonlight", (1973, King Harvest)...I was walking on the sand in bare feet, could feel the sand crunching up between my toes...the sun was almost down...I stopped on the sand, watched real hard....sun gone...then, yes...green flash, in a milisecond...did I see it or just want to see it? I saw it!
This is, of course, a metaphor for all those sacred moments in nature when our spirits soar...it can be any special moment...it could be a peaceful evening in your garden, when you smell the freshness of tomato leaves, basil...sweet citrus blossoms...
But, it is not just the physical. It is what we give to it. It is part us. Without us, who would hear the tree fall in the forest, who would see the greenflash?
It takes our wanting this moment...waiting for it, wanting to see the flash...
All our lives we could live this way for nature, wanting to join with it...or we could live walled in our urban jungle, never emerging to smell, see what is outside. I can remember the long work days when I couldn't wait to put on my running shoes and get out and run in nature...
The greenflash moments of life are unique for us all. Each of us has a short list of the special ones in our life...
We are, after all, unique in the universe, and the universe and nature speaks uniquely to each of us...but the song of nature is the same...we need to hear that song...we need to sing that song...
One of the biggest gifts to us in this lifetime...the sacred moments from nature to our soul...
It takes effort to go out and get these...but the reward is for our soul...
When we can do it with loved ones, it magnifies the experience....dance in the moonlight....
Friday, March 26, 2010
Flashes...not Sustained Burns....
Someone asked me why I speak of "flashes" for the great moments in nature (Green), romance (Pink), moments when the Creator speaks directly to you (White), and clear life purpose (Blue)...and why I don't speak of sustained fire burning....?
I think the metaphors I am using are more flash than long-burning flame...though some romances are truly long-burning fires for sure!
"Flashes" suggests that these moments are fleeting, come and go quickly...so quickly we may even miss them if we are not aware...
We are dealing with moments that are so very special and crutial, not sustained periods...the gifts are in moments...the effect is in weeks, months, years, lifetimes...
Take, for example, moments of the Whiteflash...some of these are serendipities...sometimes very subtle...they blow by us and unless we are sensitive to them, we could miss them,...they are true flashes...
The great moments in nature come and go...we often joke about wanting to bottle them...that is because we innately know they are just so fast moving...
Because we are dealing with "flash moments", maybe only lasting seconds when they happen, we can still think them over, and over, and over...so they have a lingering effect that we can savor just like wine and cheese, good chocolate...or as we see in our minds over and over that sunset...or we can revisit in our minds that kiss, that magic moment with the other we love...the kiss is seconds...but it can live forever...
We need to appreciate "flashes" in our lives. Our lives are flashes in the clock and calendar of the universe. We must learn to savor...and savor...and savor the fleeting moments that make our life rich and whole...
The great and good "accidents" that happen in our lives, the good accidents...are usually seconds to happen...months and years to appreciate...
...flashes in our lives...who ever taught us to see things that move so fast!
I think the metaphors I am using are more flash than long-burning flame...though some romances are truly long-burning fires for sure!
"Flashes" suggests that these moments are fleeting, come and go quickly...so quickly we may even miss them if we are not aware...
We are dealing with moments that are so very special and crutial, not sustained periods...the gifts are in moments...the effect is in weeks, months, years, lifetimes...
Take, for example, moments of the Whiteflash...some of these are serendipities...sometimes very subtle...they blow by us and unless we are sensitive to them, we could miss them,...they are true flashes...
The great moments in nature come and go...we often joke about wanting to bottle them...that is because we innately know they are just so fast moving...
Because we are dealing with "flash moments", maybe only lasting seconds when they happen, we can still think them over, and over, and over...so they have a lingering effect that we can savor just like wine and cheese, good chocolate...or as we see in our minds over and over that sunset...or we can revisit in our minds that kiss, that magic moment with the other we love...the kiss is seconds...but it can live forever...
We need to appreciate "flashes" in our lives. Our lives are flashes in the clock and calendar of the universe. We must learn to savor...and savor...and savor the fleeting moments that make our life rich and whole...
The great and good "accidents" that happen in our lives, the good accidents...are usually seconds to happen...months and years to appreciate...
...flashes in our lives...who ever taught us to see things that move so fast!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
For the Love of....Whiteflashes in our Work
Even in stressful workplaces, we occasionally have a chance to see the most remarkable expression of highest human acts...
A colleague joined the organization several years ago and progressed through the normal eschelons of administrative jobs and tasks...
Performance was quite always good to quite good...she was always there, on time and giving cheer to us all...
In time, stress came to us all in different shares.
Some of us had our own crises, health, death of loved ones, stresses...
We mostly pulled together, sometimes trauma, sometimes team....
But, today, I heard that this team member rose above everything that I thought was going on....and I do not know why...
It was certainy nothing that I ever had to do with as one of her bosses...
It came from somewhere, someplace, deep in the experince of her work....
Now, what was that? It simply is a phrase she used today...
"I love these students"...that has transformed her from when she first joined us for a "job"...she now has passion...she comes to work with some kind of purpose that overtakes everything else she brings...and it makes all the huge human difference...she has come to love the very students we serve...the same ones that drive us crazy...the same ones that astound us with their brilliance...they make us laugh...they make us cry...
Where from does it come? Somepeople love the "product" they sell, the cars they drive, the technology their company produces...it gives them thrills....
Some stay for the love of money...AIG executives, Goldman Sachs MBA"s deeply entrenched in Wall Street who can just taste the next Christmas bonus...
Yet others like the people they work with, that brings them back each day.
This time it is a passion for the customer
...the students whom we serve each day with their problems...
Some are friendly and come with hugs, that was earlier today...
Some are angry, full of agendas needing to be heard, not with hugs, but maybe with shrugs! Some bring gifts....some are gifts!
So this is the passion. Just the people we are supposed to be there for. Nothing more. Magic? What is so special? Are we not supposed to have passion like this? It does not come so easy.
It is not another just ordinary day at the office. That kind of passion is rare and so welcome.
Accident, like I said before, I don't think so...
It is a gift that no one could have seen before.
A kind of whiteflash gift, that reminds the few who saw it what and why these moments are so rare...no accident. No accident.
A colleague joined the organization several years ago and progressed through the normal eschelons of administrative jobs and tasks...
Performance was quite always good to quite good...she was always there, on time and giving cheer to us all...
In time, stress came to us all in different shares.
Some of us had our own crises, health, death of loved ones, stresses...
We mostly pulled together, sometimes trauma, sometimes team....
But, today, I heard that this team member rose above everything that I thought was going on....and I do not know why...
It was certainy nothing that I ever had to do with as one of her bosses...
It came from somewhere, someplace, deep in the experince of her work....
Now, what was that? It simply is a phrase she used today...
"I love these students"...that has transformed her from when she first joined us for a "job"...she now has passion...she comes to work with some kind of purpose that overtakes everything else she brings...and it makes all the huge human difference...she has come to love the very students we serve...the same ones that drive us crazy...the same ones that astound us with their brilliance...they make us laugh...they make us cry...
Where from does it come? Somepeople love the "product" they sell, the cars they drive, the technology their company produces...it gives them thrills....
Some stay for the love of money...AIG executives, Goldman Sachs MBA"s deeply entrenched in Wall Street who can just taste the next Christmas bonus...
Yet others like the people they work with, that brings them back each day.
This time it is a passion for the customer
...the students whom we serve each day with their problems...
Some are friendly and come with hugs, that was earlier today...
Some are angry, full of agendas needing to be heard, not with hugs, but maybe with shrugs! Some bring gifts....some are gifts!
So this is the passion. Just the people we are supposed to be there for. Nothing more. Magic? What is so special? Are we not supposed to have passion like this? It does not come so easy.
It is not another just ordinary day at the office. That kind of passion is rare and so welcome.
Accident, like I said before, I don't think so...
It is a gift that no one could have seen before.
A kind of whiteflash gift, that reminds the few who saw it what and why these moments are so rare...no accident. No accident.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Early Arriver!...Just as I Was Describing This...She Appears!
As you know by now, I have shared my views and experiences as a college president about some of the most extraordinary things I see in our student body and their lives. This is a community of diverse, international young adults, from various cultures, family values, social and economic levels around the world. Some come with wealth and are here to sample the greatness of Claifornia. Some come to work and sample and get a life purpose going. Some frustrate us with their stubbornness....some astound us with their bravery...some amaze us with their clarity...
Just as I have been writing about clear life vision and some young people in their twenties who seem to have it...I saw one today. Right before my eyes!
She is from Vietnam. She needed help with her schedule, fitting classes, her budget, her plan...you see she has a plan. She has a long range plan and a dream. It is to finish her degree in a specific timeframe, complete a TESOL program for teachers of English, do an internship in the USA, then return to a company in Vietnam and teach English in the evenings....you would look at her describe this and it was so clear...there is no doubt. There is modesty, no ego, just determination and clarity.
I could see that clarity and feel the seriousness of her plan. I could feel that she has really thought through this plan. This is a claer life vision...a dream scenario.
Maybe these students are around us all the time every day, or is it just because I am writing about this subject just now?
No, they do not appear every day....early arrivers are few and far between...it is such a gift for that student to have....and for me to behold right in front of me...just another not so average day at the office! Accident? I don't think so...
Just as I have been writing about clear life vision and some young people in their twenties who seem to have it...I saw one today. Right before my eyes!
She is from Vietnam. She needed help with her schedule, fitting classes, her budget, her plan...you see she has a plan. She has a long range plan and a dream. It is to finish her degree in a specific timeframe, complete a TESOL program for teachers of English, do an internship in the USA, then return to a company in Vietnam and teach English in the evenings....you would look at her describe this and it was so clear...there is no doubt. There is modesty, no ego, just determination and clarity.
I could see that clarity and feel the seriousness of her plan. I could feel that she has really thought through this plan. This is a claer life vision...a dream scenario.
Maybe these students are around us all the time every day, or is it just because I am writing about this subject just now?
No, they do not appear every day....early arrivers are few and far between...it is such a gift for that student to have....and for me to behold right in front of me...just another not so average day at the office! Accident? I don't think so...
Monday, March 22, 2010
Clear Life Vision....Is This Not the Blue Flash!
Phrases sometimes stick! Even when they are our own...created by accident...
I came upon the words.."clear life vision"....now it sticks...that is the moment when we see our life backwards and forwards and it makes sense. What a rare moment.
Some say they see this when they face imminent death....after a car crash while in the emergency room...awaiting death...their life flashes before them...everything is clarified...they are never the same when they survive...they make changes and life becomes a better, clearer life...what is the mechanism here? What is this all about? Have they really "touched the face of God", as some would say, and lived to make changes and sometimes profound changes...why do we need to feel such pain, even near-death, to be able to reach so far down into our soul, to see what we need to see....to have clear life vision...
There are no distinct psychological or even theological theories or research studies to nail this down...this quintessential phenomenon of transformation...yes, there are some concepts, constructs but no complete theories to explain the mechanisms...
Yet, we know that about one third of the population will experience the life fulfilling moment of what we have called the "blueflash"....when they see their life purpose all unfold into an algorithm, a formula for living, and achieving something that brings all their history together into a central project...something they say that makes their whole life make sense and worth living...
The other two thirds...?
Maybe half of that group finds partial fulfillment, not central, but partial purpose and happiness...
The other third, I fear, may lives lives of quiet frustration and lack of fulfillment...
Where are you, you may wonder? How can you fulfill this destiny or even find it? What is the search all about? How can you get clear life vision?
My hunch is that it starts with the "vision" aspect...how we see things and if it is really looking at things as they are...like clear and real, or as we want things to be. If we want "paradise", we want things as we wish them to be, people and places...if we see things as they really are, we are begnning to go down the path toward clear vision...
Yet, pain and hard work seem to be part of the long path most of us need to get the clear picture of our total life path...what the whole thing is all about...and maybe leading us somehow through the as yet indescribable part called the conversion or transition to whole life vision...what we are supposed to do with our life...the concept is clear, the mechanics and formularies are not...it seems each of us has an extremely unique set of life circuitry to get through before that is possible...
Some of us yearn so much to get through that...and some of us did...
Not without outside intervention of agents of insight, maybe "angels", or just people and forces beyond us or any possible logical explanation....
Thus we needed to wait it out, ever yearning, seeking, experiencing...with or without the faith that something, someday, somebody would appear and help us make it...
That part of the formula...when, where that magical stuff comes from, why it does, and how it does...we and our ancstors will wonder at for the ages...but sure as the sun rises on the San Diego eastern horizon, and sure as I will have my morning coffee to greet it, those forces will come....they are out there...we are waiting and watching...to greet them with open hearts and hungry souls...
Clear life vision...it will be here by afternoon, blue sky...the path we have been searching for all along...
I came upon the words.."clear life vision"....now it sticks...that is the moment when we see our life backwards and forwards and it makes sense. What a rare moment.
Some say they see this when they face imminent death....after a car crash while in the emergency room...awaiting death...their life flashes before them...everything is clarified...they are never the same when they survive...they make changes and life becomes a better, clearer life...what is the mechanism here? What is this all about? Have they really "touched the face of God", as some would say, and lived to make changes and sometimes profound changes...why do we need to feel such pain, even near-death, to be able to reach so far down into our soul, to see what we need to see....to have clear life vision...
There are no distinct psychological or even theological theories or research studies to nail this down...this quintessential phenomenon of transformation...yes, there are some concepts, constructs but no complete theories to explain the mechanisms...
Yet, we know that about one third of the population will experience the life fulfilling moment of what we have called the "blueflash"....when they see their life purpose all unfold into an algorithm, a formula for living, and achieving something that brings all their history together into a central project...something they say that makes their whole life make sense and worth living...
The other two thirds...?
Maybe half of that group finds partial fulfillment, not central, but partial purpose and happiness...
The other third, I fear, may lives lives of quiet frustration and lack of fulfillment...
Where are you, you may wonder? How can you fulfill this destiny or even find it? What is the search all about? How can you get clear life vision?
My hunch is that it starts with the "vision" aspect...how we see things and if it is really looking at things as they are...like clear and real, or as we want things to be. If we want "paradise", we want things as we wish them to be, people and places...if we see things as they really are, we are begnning to go down the path toward clear vision...
Yet, pain and hard work seem to be part of the long path most of us need to get the clear picture of our total life path...what the whole thing is all about...and maybe leading us somehow through the as yet indescribable part called the conversion or transition to whole life vision...what we are supposed to do with our life...the concept is clear, the mechanics and formularies are not...it seems each of us has an extremely unique set of life circuitry to get through before that is possible...
Some of us yearn so much to get through that...and some of us did...
Not without outside intervention of agents of insight, maybe "angels", or just people and forces beyond us or any possible logical explanation....
Thus we needed to wait it out, ever yearning, seeking, experiencing...with or without the faith that something, someday, somebody would appear and help us make it...
That part of the formula...when, where that magical stuff comes from, why it does, and how it does...we and our ancstors will wonder at for the ages...but sure as the sun rises on the San Diego eastern horizon, and sure as I will have my morning coffee to greet it, those forces will come....they are out there...we are waiting and watching...to greet them with open hearts and hungry souls...
Clear life vision...it will be here by afternoon, blue sky...the path we have been searching for all along...
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Global Dream Team....and Early Arrivers!
Columnist Thomas L. Friedman just described in an op-ed piece in the New York Times an experience he had recently in meeting the students and teachers of the Intel Corporation's New Science Talent Search. The top impressive young awardees were heavily international young people and recent immigrants with brilliant, clear new concepts, products, innovations, and the skillful persuasiveness to present them. Friedman was struck by their global look and their teachers' attitudes of doing what was needed to bring out the clear talent and creative design skills of these young people.
Early arrivers in the blueflash? Maybe. Some may just go on to other brilliant products. Some may stick with their original concept, and take it all the way to clear life vision companies or products. But the distinguishing thing that caught Friedman, award winning journalist, was their youth, clear vision, and global qualities here in America.
That is why CIBU in recent years has placed such emphasis on exposing global students who come to America and San Diego to entrepreneurship, creative design skills, and global teamwork. These ARE the quintessential things that are what we need to strive for...they are part of our everyday world. an idea conceived in San Diego by a student from France, who teams with a Taiwanese to manufacture in Vietnam or China....and alas, we have a company....with a market, a downstream set of good income and outcomes...
Arrivers are those who find clear life vision and go about making it happen. Early, middle or late, it is grabbing the gusto and essence of life and making a contribution!
Early arrivers in the blueflash? Maybe. Some may just go on to other brilliant products. Some may stick with their original concept, and take it all the way to clear life vision companies or products. But the distinguishing thing that caught Friedman, award winning journalist, was their youth, clear vision, and global qualities here in America.
That is why CIBU in recent years has placed such emphasis on exposing global students who come to America and San Diego to entrepreneurship, creative design skills, and global teamwork. These ARE the quintessential things that are what we need to strive for...they are part of our everyday world. an idea conceived in San Diego by a student from France, who teams with a Taiwanese to manufacture in Vietnam or China....and alas, we have a company....with a market, a downstream set of good income and outcomes...
Arrivers are those who find clear life vision and go about making it happen. Early, middle or late, it is grabbing the gusto and essence of life and making a contribution!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Early Arrivers....Stand Back with Awe...
Some people see their destiny at a younger age than most. They are what I call "...early arrivers"...
There is an aura about them...they have purpose, energy, clarity, mental acuity...
This deserves a bit of background...
My research says that most of us take about half our chronological life age to figure out what is the best fit of our actual with our potential...in other words what we are supposed to do on this planet. It is extensive research over twenty years, many cultures, many, many people...literature included...what others know and have discovered on this topic...
Few, less than maybe five percent, discover this life goal early, I mean in their first thirty years! The twisting and turning and jaws of life really hit big time in our fourties and fifties, and by that time, most people, if they have not found a passionate pursuit, have given up....so sad...the next challenge for our research...what is possible for this group....(another time, another place....)....
So, OK, what I have seen is that these very few stand tall, though they may be modest, small in physical stature, and reserved in their personality style...they may not look the part...
They have an AURA! Not a light field, but a sense that they know their role and purpose in life...they are clear, they are about pursuing it in their twenties....
AND, importantly, the concept has specificity...it is a clear thing they are pursuing....building an art institute, building a branch of a university, building a brand new marketing brand....
There is directionality and movement, momentum...you sense it...you feel it deeply in their character, when you talk with them over tea...there is an intensity, almost beyond their years...
These are the blessed, lucky ones....we need to make their path clear and help in every way....we can learn so much from these men and women....
We are all in search of our blueflash....whether we admit it or not...most of our cultures teach us that we should find it....
....why is it so hard for most of us to find it early...?
....no easy answers to this one....after all, I am a good example...having spent half my life trying to discover what I was supposed to do with the second half!!!
When you see these people...early arrivers...stand clear...give them path...they are the teachers for us all...
...they seem to have seen something the rest of take much longer to see...
...they seem to have a gift....
...their modesty is usually huge, so they will never admit it....
...this gift is huge...it is one of the luckiest gifts in the universe....clear life vision...
...stand clear...we must listen and see as much as we can....every moment...every day....every way...
There is an aura about them...they have purpose, energy, clarity, mental acuity...
This deserves a bit of background...
My research says that most of us take about half our chronological life age to figure out what is the best fit of our actual with our potential...in other words what we are supposed to do on this planet. It is extensive research over twenty years, many cultures, many, many people...literature included...what others know and have discovered on this topic...
Few, less than maybe five percent, discover this life goal early, I mean in their first thirty years! The twisting and turning and jaws of life really hit big time in our fourties and fifties, and by that time, most people, if they have not found a passionate pursuit, have given up....so sad...the next challenge for our research...what is possible for this group....(another time, another place....)....
So, OK, what I have seen is that these very few stand tall, though they may be modest, small in physical stature, and reserved in their personality style...they may not look the part...
They have an AURA! Not a light field, but a sense that they know their role and purpose in life...they are clear, they are about pursuing it in their twenties....
AND, importantly, the concept has specificity...it is a clear thing they are pursuing....building an art institute, building a branch of a university, building a brand new marketing brand....
There is directionality and movement, momentum...you sense it...you feel it deeply in their character, when you talk with them over tea...there is an intensity, almost beyond their years...
These are the blessed, lucky ones....we need to make their path clear and help in every way....we can learn so much from these men and women....
We are all in search of our blueflash....whether we admit it or not...most of our cultures teach us that we should find it....
....why is it so hard for most of us to find it early...?
....no easy answers to this one....after all, I am a good example...having spent half my life trying to discover what I was supposed to do with the second half!!!
When you see these people...early arrivers...stand clear...give them path...they are the teachers for us all...
...they seem to have seen something the rest of take much longer to see...
...they seem to have a gift....
...their modesty is usually huge, so they will never admit it....
...this gift is huge...it is one of the luckiest gifts in the universe....clear life vision...
...stand clear...we must listen and see as much as we can....every moment...every day....every way...
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Walking Away...Disappearing into the Night...What Happened to That Pink Flash...Whew!
Segways are key...so the Tiger in the Night...shining bright...she disappears...into the night...
...was it flight or fright?...
Relationships crash...into the night..but, .never out of sight...
We all, when the pink flash is with us, need to understand how frail...
...like a flower....beyond our understanding..how easily it can fail...
What we have and may have...with husbands and wives, lovers, friends, boss, colleagues...
...it is so frail...
We seem to need to be at one, yet to be truly free...we might fail...
To find out what is their soul...
To find what they stand for...seems like it is all...
This may be walking away from loved ones, cultures, companies...
Cultures...that is very most severing of our soul...
It creates ultimate pain for everyone...the leavers and the left...of the half or the whole...
But there is liberation...maybe just temporary...
Beware of anything but professional, socially acceptable, close friendships...'fragilation"...
As we go on in this increasingly visible, transparent, global scape of business and personal relationships,
....with lawyers, pavarotti, liability seekers hanging on the edges of every deal, relationship...
...is the message to truly 'beware", watch every move....I think unfortunately so...like a whip...
What's left for us...."genuine 18th Century Spontaneity"!!! Tell it like it is...Yay, you "love" it..
...say you love him or her....just say it....
This essay is about the pinkflash.....what we love, we must declare...
...or it will be rolled over by our PC society....and never be anywhere...
Who we love we must make known....otherwise our soul is silent...
...a sad end of the book that would read...something our soul cannot own...
Our soul is meant to live forever...let it speak...at least for now if not forever...
Pinkflash, for us and the Tiger, our friend, is a message we share forever...
As we say "tiger...go into the night..."
We are sure ever of the sight...
...the might...
...the fright...the fight...
...what the Tiger has given us ...in the night...
-----------
Figures quoted today say there are about 3000 tigers in the wild, compared to 300,000 only twenty years ago....
She and he are up there in the mountains, on the plains, in the jungles...just 3000 family members left...
...was it flight or fright?...
Relationships crash...into the night..but, .never out of sight...
We all, when the pink flash is with us, need to understand how frail...
...like a flower....beyond our understanding..how easily it can fail...
What we have and may have...with husbands and wives, lovers, friends, boss, colleagues...
...it is so frail...
We seem to need to be at one, yet to be truly free...we might fail...
To find out what is their soul...
To find what they stand for...seems like it is all...
This may be walking away from loved ones, cultures, companies...
Cultures...that is very most severing of our soul...
It creates ultimate pain for everyone...the leavers and the left...of the half or the whole...
But there is liberation...maybe just temporary...
Beware of anything but professional, socially acceptable, close friendships...'fragilation"...
As we go on in this increasingly visible, transparent, global scape of business and personal relationships,
....with lawyers, pavarotti, liability seekers hanging on the edges of every deal, relationship...
...is the message to truly 'beware", watch every move....I think unfortunately so...like a whip...
What's left for us...."genuine 18th Century Spontaneity"!!! Tell it like it is...Yay, you "love" it..
...say you love him or her....just say it....
This essay is about the pinkflash.....what we love, we must declare...
...or it will be rolled over by our PC society....and never be anywhere...
Who we love we must make known....otherwise our soul is silent...
...a sad end of the book that would read...something our soul cannot own...
Our soul is meant to live forever...let it speak...at least for now if not forever...
Pinkflash, for us and the Tiger, our friend, is a message we share forever...
As we say "tiger...go into the night..."
We are sure ever of the sight...
...the might...
...the fright...the fight...
...what the Tiger has given us ...in the night...
-----------
Figures quoted today say there are about 3000 tigers in the wild, compared to 300,000 only twenty years ago....
She and he are up there in the mountains, on the plains, in the jungles...just 3000 family members left...
Monday, March 15, 2010
What is the Tiger...Who is She?
Is it someone in my life?
Is it just a symbol?
She is a mother...
She is a daughter...
She is a protector...
He is the provider...the valiant warrior...
He watches his perimeters...he rivals his territories...
He will claw any outside predator to protect his own...
The Tiger is all of us...
It represents nations, cultures, companies...
She is leader...
He is leader...
They are valiant...together and alone..
Tigers see the blue flash...they know their mission in life...it is to survive, prevail and then preserve their precious history...
We will help that family with that mission...
Ours is theirs and then some...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Tiger, Tiger, in the night, Tiger...you are burning so bright…
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Tigers, fierce and strong, they must keep tryin'…
Tigers need to work hard to be strong…
Tigers see through the night…they are never wrong...
Tigers have stripes…
They stand for diversity in chaos…
They make us stand for whatever is with us…
Tigers have the keenest of sight…
Tiger eyes light up the night…
Tigers have stripes of black…and light
And orange....the morning sun…
Tiger mothers, cubs known for fun,
Tigers stand for fire and fight…
Tigers stand for peace and fight…
William Blake said, “tiger, tiger…in the night…
Tiger, tiger, burning bright”
What an incredible and forever…sight!
Tiger eyes, shining through…
Tiger eyes…see so true…
Tiger eyes, this is me and you…
Tiger eyes, burning through…
Tiger eyes, ever true…
Tiger eyes...see me and you...
Tiger, the Symbol of this New Year: It is more than Meets the Tiger Eye!
The tiger is more than it is given credit for...its stripes stand talll for global diversity...
Its ferocious spirit is what the global economy is all about...and for some time to come...
Yet, we must protect the tiger...she and he are up there on the mountains, on the cold plains... they are out there...huddled in the cold night...
The tiger reminds us all... she is there...she has a voice so strong...she has beauty...she is pristine...
Her eyes are pearls in the night vision...forests...plains...cold mountains...hot jungles...
Her beauty will sustain...
Her strength will prevail...
She is a majestic symbol of our life...
Yes, it is the Year of the Tiger!
Its ferocious spirit is what the global economy is all about...and for some time to come...
Yet, we must protect the tiger...she and he are up there on the mountains, on the cold plains... they are out there...huddled in the cold night...
The tiger reminds us all... she is there...she has a voice so strong...she has beauty...she is pristine...
Her eyes are pearls in the night vision...forests...plains...cold mountains...hot jungles...
Her beauty will sustain...
Her strength will prevail...
She is a majestic symbol of our life...
Yes, it is the Year of the Tiger!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
IWD: What Does It Mean?
My essay on International Woems Day (IWD) got the most reactions I ever had....
Some men went "OK, friend, whew, OK...."
Some men, the majority, went, 'right on'...I salute women!
Some women said OK...cool.!
BUT, the majority said they were concerned about their men. They were concerned that their men would interpret this DAY (International Womens Day, March 8...worldwide)...as a day for them.. and, that concerns me (....that the concern is that if I acknowledge too much the role of women, what is left for me...?)
....concerns me...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Men are the audience....husbands, fathers, sons are the audience...but what is the coherent global voice of women that speaks to this audience...about the basic rights of equality of the sexes, rights to work/profession, rights to leadership...ability to access...empowerment..?
There is no clear, single, credible global voice of leadership. Many national examples exhist: ...Mother Theresa....Maggie Thatcher, Sandra Bullock...
...who is the single global voice for women worldwide, if there is such a thing as "global woman"....there is not a clear voice cadidate for that role..there are many aspirants...
Why so difficult? Maybe it would be the normal trepedation for any woman who might aspire to be the global spokesperson....we are not there yet...or, will we ever be?
The 'global woman' lives...I have seen her...I know her from our classrooms....she creates companies, families, she crosses borders, she and other women leaders of the planet have a strong common language and bond..
I deeply know the global woman when I see her in our universities...she aspires to leadership...
In any case, sublime or dramatic, she exhists, most will agree, and she aspires, and her destiny is strong.
Destiny...the blue flash...
We all need to get ready to deal with destiny...
Some will take it head-on..some indirectly...
What is undeniable is that it is there, at our very footsteps, all along...
Destiny...we must deal with it or it will deal with us.....
Life will go on, there will be another International Womens Day next year....international organizations will pay tribute....
The real issue is with us now...what can each of us do to make sure this is not just a day of tribute....but really ask within our hearts...our mothers started all of us....birth to death...our sisters gave us strength....our wives (if you are male) gave us the power of love...the power is overwhelming with love....
IWD must become a global holiday....just like Mothers Day and Fathers Day!
The results have come in..globally, this is as important as derivative discounts markets for the planet!
Some men went "OK, friend, whew, OK...."
Some men, the majority, went, 'right on'...I salute women!
Some women said OK...cool.!
BUT, the majority said they were concerned about their men. They were concerned that their men would interpret this DAY (International Womens Day, March 8...worldwide)...as a day for them.. and, that concerns me (....that the concern is that if I acknowledge too much the role of women, what is left for me...?)
....concerns me...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Men are the audience....husbands, fathers, sons are the audience...but what is the coherent global voice of women that speaks to this audience...about the basic rights of equality of the sexes, rights to work/profession, rights to leadership...ability to access...empowerment..?
There is no clear, single, credible global voice of leadership. Many national examples exhist: ...Mother Theresa....Maggie Thatcher, Sandra Bullock...
...who is the single global voice for women worldwide, if there is such a thing as "global woman"....there is not a clear voice cadidate for that role..there are many aspirants...
Why so difficult? Maybe it would be the normal trepedation for any woman who might aspire to be the global spokesperson....we are not there yet...or, will we ever be?
The 'global woman' lives...I have seen her...I know her from our classrooms....she creates companies, families, she crosses borders, she and other women leaders of the planet have a strong common language and bond..
I deeply know the global woman when I see her in our universities...she aspires to leadership...
In any case, sublime or dramatic, she exhists, most will agree, and she aspires, and her destiny is strong.
Destiny...the blue flash...
We all need to get ready to deal with destiny...
Some will take it head-on..some indirectly...
What is undeniable is that it is there, at our very footsteps, all along...
Destiny...we must deal with it or it will deal with us.....
Life will go on, there will be another International Womens Day next year....international organizations will pay tribute....
The real issue is with us now...what can each of us do to make sure this is not just a day of tribute....but really ask within our hearts...our mothers started all of us....birth to death...our sisters gave us strength....our wives (if you are male) gave us the power of love...the power is overwhelming with love....
IWD must become a global holiday....just like Mothers Day and Fathers Day!
The results have come in..globally, this is as important as derivative discounts markets for the planet!
Monday, March 8, 2010
International Womens Day: What is "The Global Woman"?
How many men know this day? What the date is, every year? What the day stands for? Ask your man...does he know the date? Does he know what it is? Do you?
Women raise our babies from the first breath to the last in many cases. They stabilize families. They raise our sons and daughters. They, in particular, raise our sons to hopefully respect women, mothers, daughters, sisters. They are the stable rock of culture, wealth, and family values in nearly every society....this is the day we celebrate women, international women, and the global woman.
What is a global woman? She wants education, and she earns every bit of it, side by side, in place with her male counterparts in every classroom. In most cases she excels, though she never brags about it....
She sees and unites with other women, mothers, daughters, sisters from around the world. An unspoken bond so strong....
And she sees our men, fathers, just as strong an unspoken bond, husbands, brothers, friends also on their own pathways...some friendly, some not...but she never fails to respect humanity...however respectful or not they may be toward her...because her humility and virtue are what give birth to all of the joy and the pain....in every house, in every family....she knows....her mother knows...her sisters know...we, men, need to know this too...
A global woman is a major contributor. An enteepreneur, an artist, a major facilitator of causes, a politician, representative, a spokeswoman, a builder of companies, schools, institutes, major, credible institutions with humanity and civilization as causes, not chaos. She produces something on and for this planet Earth. She puts down a family, yes, if she is so lucky, and she plants trees, she plants companies, she plants leadership where she goes...
Every male may be expected as much, but may also be expected to have respect for womens' contributions at the highest level.
There are so many global examples....in America, we know some of the famous ones, the names, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Rose Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Jane Doe, are all prominent women, global, with American affection for their contributions as leaders, pioneers, creators, standing tall, many having gone beyond the borders of their birth to make contributions.... women... mothers and family....but there are millions more, in today's world, globally BILLIONS more who are women alone... and mothers, daughters raising our own daughters and sons, who inherit the earth, who write the next chapter of our plant's civilization....
This is what I see, as son, man, husband, father....of my heroines, on this day, and many more, most of the days and years of my life!
I cannot even begin to bring a portion of what would be a respectable tribute in scale, but to say that the scale is more than half the people of our planet...this day, this one day, we give you our torch of hope and appreciation...
Mothers, where we all started, daughters, whom we raise in such respect, wives whom we are priviledged to love, friends who we respect and love as colleagues....YOU are what turns this world around its axis....
This day is yours. This day is ours to respect and share with you It's like Mothers Day and then some, Wow! We love you!!! Thank you!!! You have brought us all gifts we cannot begin to even imagine....
We can never show our full respect. It will be for the ages to understand this respect. That is why we have International Womens Day, after all! It is for the planet and for the ages....
Women raise our babies from the first breath to the last in many cases. They stabilize families. They raise our sons and daughters. They, in particular, raise our sons to hopefully respect women, mothers, daughters, sisters. They are the stable rock of culture, wealth, and family values in nearly every society....this is the day we celebrate women, international women, and the global woman.
What is a global woman? She wants education, and she earns every bit of it, side by side, in place with her male counterparts in every classroom. In most cases she excels, though she never brags about it....
She sees and unites with other women, mothers, daughters, sisters from around the world. An unspoken bond so strong....
And she sees our men, fathers, just as strong an unspoken bond, husbands, brothers, friends also on their own pathways...some friendly, some not...but she never fails to respect humanity...however respectful or not they may be toward her...because her humility and virtue are what give birth to all of the joy and the pain....in every house, in every family....she knows....her mother knows...her sisters know...we, men, need to know this too...
A global woman is a major contributor. An enteepreneur, an artist, a major facilitator of causes, a politician, representative, a spokeswoman, a builder of companies, schools, institutes, major, credible institutions with humanity and civilization as causes, not chaos. She produces something on and for this planet Earth. She puts down a family, yes, if she is so lucky, and she plants trees, she plants companies, she plants leadership where she goes...
Every male may be expected as much, but may also be expected to have respect for womens' contributions at the highest level.
There are so many global examples....in America, we know some of the famous ones, the names, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Rose Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Jane Doe, are all prominent women, global, with American affection for their contributions as leaders, pioneers, creators, standing tall, many having gone beyond the borders of their birth to make contributions.... women... mothers and family....but there are millions more, in today's world, globally BILLIONS more who are women alone... and mothers, daughters raising our own daughters and sons, who inherit the earth, who write the next chapter of our plant's civilization....
This is what I see, as son, man, husband, father....of my heroines, on this day, and many more, most of the days and years of my life!
I cannot even begin to bring a portion of what would be a respectable tribute in scale, but to say that the scale is more than half the people of our planet...this day, this one day, we give you our torch of hope and appreciation...
Mothers, where we all started, daughters, whom we raise in such respect, wives whom we are priviledged to love, friends who we respect and love as colleagues....YOU are what turns this world around its axis....
This day is yours. This day is ours to respect and share with you It's like Mothers Day and then some, Wow! We love you!!! Thank you!!! You have brought us all gifts we cannot begin to even imagine....
We can never show our full respect. It will be for the ages to understand this respect. That is why we have International Womens Day, after all! It is for the planet and for the ages....
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Countryside or Urban: It is Part of the Blueflash
I lived in Ithaca, for 12 years, 1975 to 1987...300 days a year of clouds, rain, snow...
Now I live in San Diego, the opposite...320 days of sun....
I am not bragging, but rather sharing my particular story of why some people live longer, and thrive in sunlight.....
But, its deeper...
Countryside has its particular benefits...peaceful, low profile everything...
That's the point, everthing...
It is about stimulation.....what gets you going....
I remember that first fall and winter in San Diego...it was to me then like endless summer...
Countryside had its appeal in my 20's and 30's....we owned a farm. I swore I would never have a garden...having been brought up weeding, roto-tiling my father's big garden...I even swore I would never have a lawn...I had to push a gas-powered mower for about 10 hours per week in the summer months...
We all laugh now....Countryside had me with a big riding lawn tractor....
Countryside had me roto-tiling a big garden about 125% the size of my father's big garden....
It was great, the smell of fresh tomatoes...cut grass...
But, my ultimate sense of place was not to be a gentleman-farmer........
I needed the stimulation of a city....a region..Southern CALIFORNIA..
I moved back to a city I now call home...San Diego!
The Blueflash seems to want us to be in the place we feel most comfortable...
These are big differences...Countryside or Urban....I am glad I got this clear in my mid thirties....
But even after being in the place where I felt most at home, it took many more years before I figured out what I was supposed to do.....
Those years, even being in a great city, San Diego, felt endless....until the moment I saw my destiny...then it felt just like I had paid my dues....
I think it makes a difference if we are in a place we love, where we can feel at home and let the natural forces go to work...
I will cherish the memories of Countryside. But I really, really cherish the moments now on the West Coast of America!
Now I live in San Diego, the opposite...320 days of sun....
I am not bragging, but rather sharing my particular story of why some people live longer, and thrive in sunlight.....
But, its deeper...
Countryside has its particular benefits...peaceful, low profile everything...
That's the point, everthing...
It is about stimulation.....what gets you going....
I remember that first fall and winter in San Diego...it was to me then like endless summer...
Countryside had its appeal in my 20's and 30's....we owned a farm. I swore I would never have a garden...having been brought up weeding, roto-tiling my father's big garden...I even swore I would never have a lawn...I had to push a gas-powered mower for about 10 hours per week in the summer months...
We all laugh now....Countryside had me with a big riding lawn tractor....
Countryside had me roto-tiling a big garden about 125% the size of my father's big garden....
It was great, the smell of fresh tomatoes...cut grass...
But, my ultimate sense of place was not to be a gentleman-farmer........
I needed the stimulation of a city....a region..Southern CALIFORNIA..
I moved back to a city I now call home...San Diego!
The Blueflash seems to want us to be in the place we feel most comfortable...
These are big differences...Countryside or Urban....I am glad I got this clear in my mid thirties....
But even after being in the place where I felt most at home, it took many more years before I figured out what I was supposed to do.....
Those years, even being in a great city, San Diego, felt endless....until the moment I saw my destiny...then it felt just like I had paid my dues....
I think it makes a difference if we are in a place we love, where we can feel at home and let the natural forces go to work...
I will cherish the memories of Countryside. But I really, really cherish the moments now on the West Coast of America!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
...before the BlueFlash....we all burn....
Before I go on....let me state that I will do my best to disguise the real, the innocent....from my commentary, my chronology.......
I will do my creative best to disguise, yet preserve, the quintessential identities....of people, organizations....
....in the absolute tenet of belief that we are always, all of us, all of the time, doing the best we know how....
His name is Marco. He works at the bar and restaurant in a European country from which he derives his heritage...
I got to know him over the last year or so, when I visited his restaurant/bar station in one of the hotels I stay in Europe...
...he told me of his life...his new relationship with a prospective wife in the north...he still spends time with his kids here in the city.....
...as I have know him, we have shared much, across the bar....across life...
...I know his track....I have walked his shoes.....but, as a friend, I just always listened...
...recently, he had the occasion to listen to my track....as a friend...
He will be quitting soon. Leaving this place where I have known him. OK, very well, in fact, YES, firts step onward to the blueflash...
Some of us deeply need to burn out and up where we are, before we can possibly kick up and move on...
Blue flash? I went through deep ..discussions with Marco....
like, where should I now go...
who is my important...mentor, friend, next connection...it is pure faith in his case...
what signals can I grasp...?
same questions...
Some time ago, for me....
Yet, it happens every day, we ask these....same questions...
Marco will be moving on. He is truly burned out, job, boss, organization, company, all... here where I got to know this friend....its OK...its life....
..Everybody is moving on.....on the river of life... away from pain...on toward life and new spirit...
When we burn out, we must, sooner or later, move on....we leave friends....some stay with us, some we lose....but we must move on down the River of Life...
I hope to see Marco again. I think maybe not...hope I am wrong...
That is OK....It is now part of what I understand....
We all must seek our next paradise...or reality....
It will be OK...
I have been here before...we are all doing the best we can to figure out what we are supposed to do...
More to come...
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