Electronic Love...Happy New Year...

181...according to this blog publisher....since last year at this time...I only ever tried for about 100...
...when you write from the heart...you cannot count exactly....

Most folks on this date 12/31  recount the thanks and memories of the past year and swear to new promises...

...I just want to go sideways, my favorite angle, to spot some thoughts for you, my friends...

This year...all electronic from the heart of you to the heart of me....

I saw my first grandchildren, cannot believe I am there, but yes...and they are beautiful twins!
Many new students from various countries came to our college....we welcome with our heart and minds
An Olympic US female swimmer is about to break the records of how fast in water....
A friend of the family from former times stays close to my heart...
A US Marine combat woman came to our staff...with heart...
A young Canadian artist who spoke like an adult about her life and art...
A Professor who is realizing his own career destiny within our community..
A new friend from Rotterdam, who opens our minds to a global alliance...
A mom who lost her children in an accident won my passion to write...one year ago tonite!
An artist out there won my heart not with her voice, but with her silence....

New friends...they all came somehow electronically, then in sight, then in touch...if it was ever real, it was real in words then in continual messages that mean real things, like..." I care"...we all want it to lead on to meaningful time spent...

We look at the smallest things and see our world...out there so huge...
...now, we look at the largest things, and we see...and we love....
.....the smallest things, the hairpin lost...the key found...the grains of a picture...
......our hand..our written word...our scripture....

Everything I have written in this last amazing year...is about my love for many of you.
It is what keeps me alive and going strong...
There is a flame that burns and will only grow....
....as we go on now...our best will flow...
.....the source is within us
.......and out there in a place... we can only hope to know....

Happy New Year!
11:17pm San Diego time  12/31/10....it has been one of the best years of my life...
....thank you!
......I really do look forward to a great and strong cup of coffee and seeing that warm sun in the morning....

Little Passengers on the Ship of Friends...

Remember...the Ship of Friends is a place and time both here in our lives now and later on...
...it is where we seem to join a cruise for our lives...with those we love...our friends, family...and..
.....even those we might have loved...we are all together...it is a place of reunions...of belonging...
..... it is a place outside of time as we know it...but very real...it is here and now, and tomorrow..
...... it knows no person who is not ultimately welcome...it just takes love...
.......there are those on board who take care of us...those who test but love us...those who..
........pick us up at airports...who bake us apple pies....who stay up all night...
.........with laughs and cries....
.......it is our ultimate home...yet, we are embarking always on that cruise...that great ship....with love

I saw something today.  These stories just write themselves...I am just a messenger...

A place where there are homeless families.  Homeless children.  Many of us do not know this.

A little boy.  He said his name was Jeffrey, and that he is six years old.

He was hugging a younger girl, he said her name was Jennifer.  He said he loved her.  Let me explain....

She is apparently deaf from birth, cannot hear anything.  I asked Jeffrey how he communicates with her?
...He proudly showed me with his right hand, making the sign of a dog..."with my hands", he said.

Jeffrey was sitting behind Jennifer and hugging her just like a big husband would hug his wife from behind.
It was a huge hug of the ages.  Protecting her.  Taking care of her...

I said,  "Jeffrey, what did you say?"  He said,  "I love her.  She needs me to help her...she can't hear, you know...."  He looked at me like we were old friends...like...you know!

I should have known.  Six year olds can join with us all in love for each other...who ever said they cannot feel it like we do as "big people"!  We are all on the Ship of Friends...all who love each other....and take care and protect each other...

Imagine, just imagine....Jeffrey, sitting there with his hair all scruffed up, and a big smile, and a proud big brother tone...he just told me..."I love her"...and he will protect young Jennifer, four years old, who also knows...what love is....

We all know each other...on the Ship of Friends...it is ageless...we are all children!

Santa at the Speed of Love....Merry Christmas!

Malls this time of year are where the most amazing things are seen and heard.
Today, on Christmas Eve, I overheard a young daughter ask her Mom, as they waited in line...
      "Mommy, how can Santa reach all of our homes tonight?  All over the world...?"

I thought about this one, too, back when I waited in such lines...
...I always believed he would come to my house...
...but it seemed as I got older that there were such a lot of houses out there...
...those raindeer must get pretty tired, but, oh, well, he would always come...
...to my house...and this little daughter's as well...

The Mom was right to the point...she said,
..."It is like this...Santa flies faster than the speed of light...
....he flies at the speed of love!"

That was good enough for me.  Even today!

Angel-Spotting....

I remember a great film ("One Magic Christmas")years ago in which the star, Mary Steenbergen, played the role of a wife and mother who was so stressed at Christmas that she was delivered to meet a Christmas angel....and that meeting made all the difference....she came back to life, for herself and her family.

The angel was a stranger.  I guess they often are.

But, if there are angels out there, they are somehow more present at this season, when people need deliverance and help.  If we can believe in this, or something close, I believe we are strong.  If they really don't exist and are not out there, and we still believe, it seems it may just be one of the greatest errors we could make! 

I decided this year, I will tell some people if I think I have spotted an angel, and if it is them.  A few of my close friends have heard me say this, but it is between them and me.  It is not something that should be shared with all.  Angel-spotting is a very personal and private thing.  If you believe like me, and feel brave, and feel you see one, just try it...see how giving that gift is given and received.  It is like the sound of a raindrop on a flower petal....it is there, but it is so gentle. 

Sharing our deepest faith with a friend is sharing our soul....and there may not be a greater gift.

The Moment When You Feel at Home.....

I remember...
...when I was an exchange student in the Netherlands...for a year...
....more than halfway through the year....
.....I changed.

From that point on....I was never the same....I now see it in others...
...in all students who study abroad....

It is what unites us as brothers and sisters of a global family....

It was the point when I really felt at home with the Netherlands culture...
...when I spoke enough Dutch to get around and actually speak with people in their language...

It was when I still missed my own home and my family, but I felt loyalty to...
...the new friends and family I had in the new home country...
.....like a second country....you feel at home....you feel like you could represent it...
........and so different from the first times when it was all new...

We can never go back to "start"....we are changed....
....the rest of our life, when the new home country touches our lives in any way...
......we understand, we feel warmth...we feel we know that place
........and we want to return....

When we see ourselves as just renting space on this planet for the years of our life....
....we know we are truly at home where our life has put us...we have little choice....
.....except that we can return, we can choose to go back there, we can choose to love...
.......the places and people we have called home...

There is that magic point, that moment when you begin to feel at home again...

Winter Is Here...The Days are Getting Brighter!

On this day, it is officially winter.  Look outside, and you will hardly notice the difference...
between just yesterday and today....yet the days starting tomorrow will be longer again...
initially by seconds, then by mintes as we all approach summer and long days....

We all are riding this planet....renting space here....while we live and love and give back.

So, what is the difference between a star in the night....a bright star that shines through...
Or, a faint star, a spec of light up there...or a candle we hold in the night air...
Or, a faint hope deep inside that someone will live longer...
....that someone will get better....
......that someone will hear or see...

Bright star, faint light...
Candle in the night....

Hope not fear...
Faith so clear...

Winter is here...
Warmer sun is near...

Against the darkest night, we connect the dots of our life,
And find, we are not alone....

Soul to Soul....This Time of Year!

This Season is like no other....
We gather together with true friends and family...
...and we travel...do we travel!  Over hills and valleys....oceans...
....to be with each other....we enjoy how hard we work just to be together again....

We sing in churches...and our hearts sing when we see each other...friends and family...
...and when we even just think of each other....our mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers...
....our workmates, our playmates...even we say "hi" in a better way than ever to complete strangers...
.....this season....

It is a chance we have now to pause and think...and wonder...
....who we do thank...and who we live for....

....and to think into the farthest corners of our world as we know it...
.....everyone has a universe we want to understand in our minds...
.....and we know, if we are honest....that we cannot....
.....and we may even ask forgiveness....
......for trying so hard...so hard to understand what we possibly cannot
........begin to understand...

The heart can see what the mind cannot begin to understand...
The soul can reach for what we cannot ever see....but we can feel....

In this Season, many of us try to understand and share what we see of our world....
...if we find a soul that listens, it is like we have found everything we could have ever hoped for....
.....like we have found someone like ourselves....someone just absolutely who understands..
......this crazy and wild universe....just like we understand it...

Maybe this Season has more of these special moments than any other time....
....I do know that if there are great forces of love and agents of those forces greater than us...
.....this time of year...
......they appear...

And we say,  "Seasons Greetings"...and we know it is the call of the ages and the soul...
...who has heard us...when our reach meets the touch we know from a long time ago....
.....our mother's first touch....when our soul was new in the world....
.......now, our voice is heard.

The Oath of Angels...

And then, there are some special ones...
....again, by invitation...
....no one signs up for this one by chance or by accident....
.....but those who do take the oath are....

....unafraid of the unknown...
....bold by instinct...
....willing to save lives, her, his, and there, and somewhere...
.... to give their life to save another....
.....to care for the few remaining tigers and pandas in the wild....
.....to give food for a dying mother and child....
.....willing to share mind, heart, soul....
......however young...however old...
......however. from the start timid, now, however bold...

....these are the utmost human agents...
... and, for all we know....!

.....walking among us...
....they have taken some oath...I could never put in words, exactly...
....except for those I see as angels....I will tell them what I believe...

....the true ones..I believe have the wisdom of the old but the fun of children..
....their love, their committment to art, and expression...
....of loving soul...their hands bear scars....of the artist in passion...
......of some deeper soul scars

That it would be a mission of life....
...a "career objective", to become an angel...
....there may be no greater job description...

This holiday season is visited by "angels"....and it is extremely important to point out that the major religions of the world all hold that there are special agents...angels..

That is for this writer, the special mission of this season...as always...

This Evening

Walked back to my hotel early evening in DC...
...across New Jersey Avenue...snow everywhere...

You know, I have seen the Eifel Tower lit up flashing in the night...
...the Arc de Triomphe...
...many majestc, lit-up-at-night national monuments...in great cities

....seeing the US Capital building in the night...
....lit-up in the dark night...
....I stopped in the street for a second...just to look at it again...
....it is...
.... amazing....

Not the Ordinary Flight

Yesterday, flying across America, the pilot sent his business card to million mile flyers...
I was impressed, wrote back, in fact, gave him one of my books...
...the book has a story about 'ultimate flight' as well as a story about a Captain...
....who cared enough to give his business card...

I took this as not the ordinary flight...
...not the ordinary Captain...

When we fly, we literally place our lives in the two hands of a Captain....
...like in life, so many minutes of the day....
.....we cannot possibly do everything...
.......how many times and moments do we place ourselves in others' hands...
.........in even the ordinary day...!

Some Rules for Joining the Ship of Friends...

See the earlier essay on "The Ship of Friends"

When anyone wants to join now or later...

They must...

...understand that we are all searching in life here and now...

...what particular badge we may wear, our nation, our ethnic, our face, our gender, does not matter...
....what does matter...
....for connections to others minds...
....for connections to others hearts...
....maybe on special occasions to reach out to someone's soul

...mind to mind...
...heart to heart...
...soul to soul....
,,,,some are short...some tall...

the Ship is a place for respect and love and friendship...
....and champions who set records for us all...
....and champions in life who strive, just sometimes, to survive...
....give evrthing, give all...

...we grow in these directions as we live...

...there will be some very special moments of life where human reach meets human touch....

...these and more are the rules for joining...

...sometimes by invitation....
...sometimes by our own search and action....

No one joins by accident....
...because on the Ship of Friends...
....there are no accidents....never, ever....

Looking Back....Looking Ahead...

The last year has been amazing....
One year ago, almost to the minute, I was enjoying tea with a good friend...
...and though I hope to one day see this friend again....it reminds me...
....we can never take anything for granted....like we usually think we will see our friends again...
.....but, we are not running the show....sometimes we may not...and we never knew it until it was too late....
.....thus, every minute we have, we need to treat it as if it may be the last....and hope....
......it may lead on to our next time with that friend....
Miles flown, bridges crossed, seeds sown...

Moments of 2010 flew by with lightening speed...
...some moments ground to a halt...there was ever a need

Connecting with the new...
Growing with the old...
Colors of blue, white, pink, green...
...and for all the best moments...gold...

This year was a year of gifts...
...like I never knew before...
.....someplaces, some faces, some things forever...
......that now I seem to exist just for...

But on now to the next time...
...I am given again the gift...
....with the energy to create
.....the purpose our spirits to lift...

2011 holds new things, people, places to call...
....graces to raise high and not let ever fall...

As we go forward we go with the many but not all
...some are fallen,some are lost, and some seem to fall...
.....they may return, they may come back...
.......it would be not what we can hope for...
........but we never forget the track...

The year past...a huge gift to this very day...
.....Just a dream that such a year ...
.......Could once again come this way...

We look ahead...we are grateful for what we are given....
...and forgive us for what we cannot begin to understand....
....however we may try.

Global Eyes....The Better To See You With...

We met about a year ago in Taiwan.  She is from Japan, Tokyo is home.
Educated in hospitality management in Japan, with a father in international trade...
... she wanted to see and learn more of the world...
Time spent in Canada learning English so well...
Then to Taiwan for several years to learn Chinese and China culture...

I was so impressed when we met...the spirit...the sense of culture...
Her Christmas card last year she signed, "Global Eyes"
We have stayed in touch.  Saw her a few weeks ago in Tokyo...she is back home now...
Hope to see her someday in San Diego...

Global Eyes.  When you have this experience and see the world...
...with global eyes...it is never the same...

We are never the same.  We meet someone with global eyes...
....they see the world with such a smile...they want to know cultures...they see them...
....we have global eyes when we want so much to do things like she has done...
....thanks, "Global Eyes", the better to see you with, and you see me!
....see you later on, and keep seeing it that way...
....we met by accident, didn't we...?  I have known you much longer than that...
....again, no accidents...

The Sea of Creativity......

Great news item!  Laura Ling is back!  She wandered into North Korea with a friend, was captured and nearly gave up.  Bill Clinton went in and brought them home...remember?  Now Laura, a media specialist and a very accomplished one, is restarting her career by creating a new television production which will feature major human stories and public interest.  Congratulations, Laura!

There is a larger story here.  I caught this news item, and was happy to see it, only because I scan the news daily from various sources.  In the last year, I have been swept up in new interest for me in the arts, creative arts and the world of artists.  I have been fascinated how they make it through their education, starting their craft, honing a market and a business.  It is for some of the most talented a huge and vast land of opportunity, and a land of difficult challenges, among them, just sometimes survival.

Laura is back, and she had a great start, and she is at it again....creating stories with real life, television journalism, true creative work.  But she is one of millions literally just in the United States, let alone the entire world, with the creative drive, the fire within, making a path...from her artist's soul to the soul of her truest audience, those who would love her work....

It is a vast sea of creativity.  It is like the sea....think for a minute...the oceans take up most of the planet Earth's surface.  We all live on the rest of it, though vast stretches are ice and cold and mountains where nobody can survive.  Billions of us on small patches, relatively, of the planet.  The seas are wide and deep and full of live....marine life beyond description....like the vast sea of human artistic creativity, there are forms and species which have not been catalogued or even seen....

It is a human sea of creative life.  It is the human spirit alive and well everywhere.  The young schoolgirl who can't wait to get up in the morning to draw or paint.  The young professional who dreams of having a week to herself to just paint...the photographer who wants to just photograph that artist at her love of work...the older one who paints what is in his heart...the man and woman who invest in art because they love what it represents....the museum walls filled with live work...the stage off Broadway with the new play that will rock the nation....a vast sea of beauty....so big, moving so fast...no one can keep up with but specs of accidental news, like seeing today that Laura Ling is back. 

As vast as the sea of creativity is, it can mean everything that life is worth living for when one person tells the artist that he loves her work.  In a single instant, the universe becomes real for the artist, and for the one who loves that art.  In a flash of words, a memory and a dream are created that last forever.  The vast and powerful sea of creativity is touched by one who creates and one who loves that creation.

There are no accidents out there...

The Ship of Friends...Forever!

The Ship of Friends is where we all meet at every level....
.....sooner or later....and in special times....

It is a mystical ship that sails the high seas of life...
It is a metaphor for a safe place where people can meet and be close together...
It is something that may be in our futures, both in this life and beyond...
It is a friendly place....it is a place in our minds, hearts and souls...
Heart to heart friends meet here...
Mind to mind...meet here
...Soul to soul meet here...

The ship is always departing, always arriving...
....it is safe in any storm....
....it sails with speed on open seas...
....and into the night with great light...
......it knows no specific form....

There is no fear on the ship....
....she holds all souls safely....

Lives touch on the ship.....
....like nowhere on land....
.....only on the life of seas....
......and the sea of life....extends her hand....

Her spirit is friendship, welcome....
....warm tea to newly on board...
......warm touches to those who want to move forward...

She waits for us all...
...we will be there....
....the fallen and the strong....
......yet life is there in our times...
........everyone is there in no harm....

Our souls reach out....
....her Captain hears the call..
......The Ship of Friends....
.........welcomes each and everyone of our souls...
.....as we stand for our life and the life for all....

It has friends for fun times...
...friends who seek their soul...
.....friends who want to give....
.......and friends who take all....

It has the most loving face....
....waiting for our kiss...
......just as we step on board....
.......we cannot miss....

The Ship of Friends is our life....
....we cannot miss her call....
......it's when we see her....
........that matters all...

The Ship of Friends....Human Bonding in the 21st Century

In earlier writing, I have described the Ship of Friends.

I now realize my next book is about just that....

...human bonding and connecting in our time...it is a rather precious thing....

....some of my writing since the recent book has been more to this point than earlier...

......everyone seems interested in relationships and the anatomy of love....and connecting points...

.......so let sail....

The Ship of Friends....

....we shall all meet there anyway....we might as well, join and get ready to sail....

.....for those friends already on the ship, ahoy....mates....!
......for new friends, get ready for the journey of your life....you are already underway....

Art is the Gift...for eons, for seconds....

When the artist finally completes the painting, the poem, the story, the framing of the photo...
...the song....the drama....the acting....it's over...

But only for that moment!

Its life goes on....people see it...read it...dream it...see themselves in it...
...there is life there, from the artist's soul to medium, to your eyes, to your soul....

It can live years, decades, centuries....forever....its light shines...
...on out into the far distant places....

Art is also the last dance of the evening....
...the last flight of the Captain...
...the one that had  the perfect landing....

It may be the act of love....the poem spoken in broken tongue from the unbroken heart...
...from the unbroken breath of the broken heart....
It may be the touch of the hand at the golden moment...
...when time is running out....when the touch is not ordinary touch....
....when it is maybe the last touch....ever....it becomes the touch from the soul....
....it may be the last art from that heart....

Early or late, small or large....the touch is the art....
....it is the gift of life...it can be the last gift of love....
....it is never lost....it is the gift from something greater than us...to us, through us...
....other things are lost...never art...it is our legacy...it is what we inherit, and what our children will inherit...
....it is our civilization...the best we know to give....
....voice, words, sounds, paint, lines, color...
....never random...
...the creative designs from beyond our hands and soul back from a deeper place out now into the
...universe of our world and our children....may it last long enough to inspire them, speak to their souls too...
...and ask of them the same....what can we do to give back the sunrise, the mountains, the flowers...
...it will be 'art' their answer, as it is ours, our ancestors and all of our fellow humanity to come....
....it is the only truly human language we speak....it is, after all, our gift...

How Do We Know When We Have Just Said 'Hello'...?

Surprise...
Someone just woke us up...

New....
Awake...
Like morning...in the middle of the afternoon...

Where did you come from?
Why are you here?

From the city
Far or near?

More to come...
Don't know where from...

But, it is unmistakeablely clear....
I can see and hear...

You now have no fear...
"hello'....from right in here....

Cold hands....
Warm them here...
Have no fear....

I touch your hand...
It's very clear....

We are here...

We just said, I think, 'Hello'...
Cold city, warm tea....
Come inside...
I'll sit with you...
...if you sit with me....

...'excuse me, if I may say..."
..."Hello"

We knew each other long ago....

How Do You Know When You Have Said 'Goodbye'...?

Mostly, it just happens....
Most of the time you don't know...at the time....
Ask yourself, when you have lost someone you miss, maybe to life, to love, to death....
And you never see them again....

The last time you see them, almost never, we know at that moment....
It hits just after, or maybe later....
We never had the chance to say 'goodbye'...

We would not have wanted to, anyway....
Not then....anyway, no way....

Goodbye is not something we humans like to celebrate....
Beginnings are better than endings....

Sometimes, we know it when it is 'Goodbye'...
It is up to us to say it first....

Both ways have happened to me....
There are none of them that I consider my best moments...

For today, maybe not forever, I choose...
"Hello' to a new friend is my choice of moments...
...always over 'Goodbye' to an old one....

In all cases, we do not run the show....
We do our best, as we know, as we love, each day, in every way....
Mistakes we may make...
When we are true to our heart and our best...and our friend...
There is never a 'Goodbye"....at stake...

Fifteen minutes with a true friend is good enough forever...

Trajectory

Careers....relationships
....up or down......
.....percolating coffee...
......between black and brown....
........wakes us up....when we see....
.........someone going up....up.....up
...........ever higher...than what should be....

....Some slant downward....
.....leaving us wondering why...
......careers in stall, someone, please just try....
.......loves broken, souls not in sync...
.........stretches our hearts, limits where we think...

.....We live for the movement upward and higher....
......we sail and straits are not dire....
.......the ones we will follow....
.........the paths seem drier...

....The patterns of life and love all the way through
......shape who we are....
.......and define the ones who....
.........will be with us....for all that is true....

How Do You Know When You Have Been Touched?

This Thanksgiving, some one gave me a beautiful cultural gift and a personally made Thanksgiving card. It said  'Happy Thanksgiving, Dr. Mike, to you and your loved ones...'

My loved ones include her, and my family, and the many students and friends I share mutual feelings with, but it is a big circle of loved ones.....not defined by traditional ways of defining family or 'buddies'....rather, by who chooses to express love to me and who I care enough about to love, and to let them know it....

See, life is so short....we need to say it out...when we care about someone,when we worry, when we appreciate the smallest things about them....if we do not release it, it will just be like a gift we give ourselves, when it was really meant for the other one....

So, I said....this also is you!  I hope she understands....my appreciation of how much she cares and how she does things....so very well and with such appreciation...

Thanksgiving 2010.  It has real thanks in it for me and real meaning.  I was lucky and received some things that no one can understand how much they mean to me....

I hope I did something of the same for some of the ones I love......this precious day of the year.....

This year, I was touched.  Thanksgiving happened for me....

Creative Space

Art for art's sake is an empty phrase...
Art for the sake of the true...
Art for the sake of the good and the beautiful...
...That is the faith I am searching for...
                                 George Sand

Art that speaks to our soul is true and beautiful....
...the truth is, art comes from our soul...
...and for that we can say...
...."Happy Thanksgiving"....

Now We Are at Thanksgiving, We Turn Toward Santa...

Someone, with a young heart,  asked me where Santa Claus comes from...the North Pole?

I said, not really knowing, of course, "No!"...

Santa comes from the North Star....the farthest place in the universe....

Straight to our heart.....

More than the speed of light....

With the Speed of Love....

If you have or know any young ones....this is the message....

If you are young enough to believe....you know that speed!

Message of Thanksgiving...!

A tough love message of Thanksgiving...for those who run...
....and those we want to reach, but we cannot..

If you hate me....I am truly sorry...
If you remember me....I am with you....
If you understand me...I know you...

If you see my heart...I see yours too...
If you wish to thank me....I just want to thank you, too...

But if you want to love me....
Then, I say,...I love you too...

And....if you want to love life....
...more important...
I love it with you....
...we see it as two....through...
....one window....

If you want to thank someone...do so....
...But the best Thanksgiving is to just....
......to be it with you....
.....and for you to be it with you....

.....deep down....

Greet the sunrise and smell the coffee and have a fresh morning....

Pick Ten...

"Pick ten people you are thankful for...."
....I attended a church Thanksgiving dinner last night...
....that was the challenge...

Got me listing my ten and why and what....
Chances are, if you are reading this, you are one of them...

I gave thanks like this...

God's speed and safety....
...to all those in the air...
...to all those on the sea...
...all the souls everywhere...
...who defend our right to be free....

...to those on land....
...who extend a hand...
...we know them or not...
...with a prayer or a thought...

...to those we love...
...who know us or not...
...heart is the home...
...mind is our own...
...soul is what we are brought...

God's speed and safety to those who protect us....
...Happy Thanksgiving!

People of Heart

Cold stares....inquiring eyes...hard looks.......lowering skies...

Warm eyes....eager to say 'hi'...eager looks wanting to smile...

So many are there...fear, shy, not too good to say "hi"...

Want to smile....go the next mile...

I extend the hand to you....

You extend to me with who...

...you are...

...I am here for you...not far...

Cities of Heart

Tokyo is heart....and art....

When you see a smile....it goes a long mile....
If you ever see deep down....
There is never a frown....

It is with honor....from the heart....
Japon, we see the Creator's art...

It is here...
Forever, we hear...
....and have no fear...

Blessed smile...
....forever dear...

Soul to Heart

Leaving Seoul for Tokyo..
Sort of like leaving soul to go to heart..
Soul is deep, cannot get to it...it is the deepest thing, but how do we possibly communicate..?

Heart is there, can see it, he and she feels it and says back, "yes"....I see you...

Mind is waiting for me back home....thinking again like always...

Soul would be really amazing to connect with if we could, but soul must answer our call...

Heart answers our call.  

Mind is always there....wherever we are...

Our whole being travels these places....some give us more, some less....

Tokyo, can't wait to see you...

Seoul, Heart, Mind, Body....

Seoul.  Landed here this evening.  Right smack in the middle of the G20 summit...feels like Bourne Conspiracy all over again...Paris East!

I didn't pick this time to be here, just like last year when I was here, it was the worst of times to pick to be here.  Yet, I did pick it, I mean, I planned the trip, just did not hear from my G20 buddies that they would be here too.  The hotel lobby is so colorful.  The dresses, the national dress of so many exotic nations....wow!
I guess I am glad I picked this time.

Then, it reminds me, I think I want to rename my home city to Haart, and find a vacation place that might be called Mynd.  And find a gym or workout place that would be known as Boddy.  I mean, then we would have it all....Seoul, Haart, Mynd, and Boddy...what a connection.

On the serious side, this city is amazing.....the design center of the universe.  Seoul....soul....our deepest place ever...where we know we are truly at our deepest...our soul.....can you imagine living in a great city where that word every day reminded you of what we are working on...

It's nice to be back to soul, I mean Seoul...of course.

Greenflash hits...The Rim

Greenflash is serendipity or just stupendous moments in Nature.  It reminds us who we are...it connects us with the universe...

This evening on a flight from Taipei to Seoul, I unexpectedly had one of those moments....

The sun, in this northern hemisphere has a rather steep border between lightness and darkness, what I call the "rim" of light...when day becomes night....

Our flightline was right along this line.  On the left side at 39,000 feet altitude, at 660 mph, was blue sky above, orange sun going down on the edge of Mother Earth....

On the right side was dark, dark grey below the wing, and nearly black above....the deep night...

Flying the rim....wow....

Greenflash is a metaphor for life....

We sometimes ride the rim of life....on our one side is the sun and the other side is darkness....we fly straight ahead through this....somehow we land...we need to stay aware and awake through the landing, because, after all, we make choices, and these are about darkness or light....

Flying that rim this evening on my way into Seoul, yes, it felt very much like life....

I want to choose the turn toward light....our pilot landed us through darkness...

Pilots are people we put our lives with for a while....but we are pilots.....we have to fly the rim and maybe land in darkness....but, oh my, do we remember the light....

The Best of What, Who, Where and How...

So what does this mean?   It is the by line of my book, the purpose of our lives in business, and in life in general...

We are supposed to not neglect, at least, as we go through life, and hopefully, at our best....push the envelope for what is our pursuit of happiness....we have only one life we can touch here right now.....

What that means... our purpose, our destiny...what we are supposed to do...if you ask me, it is to do something back....back to this planet....a company, an institute, a business, art, a family, a child, a tree....love back....
Because, you were given here by love...the love of your mother and father and the love of the Creator of the universe....you are unique gift to this world...we all are....

Who...means a lot of things...what company to associate with....what friends you have....who you would give your life for....who you love in the many....and who you love in the deepest, most secret places of your heart and that may be a few blessed people alive or heroes...fallen and gone, but with us every step...

Where...that can be anywhere or someplace on the global horizon....now or future....we do not know...we are right here now....

How....this is how you want to live....open, sharing, daring...however...it is everybody's evolving lesson of life at that moment...how much risk...how much to hold back or to let free...

We are all so uniquely different just like snowflakes are universally unique...we just need to be conscious as we can be...our human best...for others and not least for our own soul and heart....it is, after all, where we live most of our lives...we can not neglect our own self, our heart, our soul...where will we be, when we are all old....we want to be surrounded by loving young....to keep our souls moving forward...we want to be giving to others....so we can have happy hearts...we want to be loving all our lives, so we enjoy the great big spaces of the universe....to create...to choose to create....after all, that is what we have been taught by our own mentors and family...remember?

We cannot completely choose our destiny, just as we could not choose how we got here.  But we can put our conscious belief in our choices....constantly looking to the side each way...because that is where it will come from.....guaranteed...not what is in front, but the sides....

The Best of What, Where, Who, and How....is everyday choices....and everyday looking for the surprises that are true gifts....we can never completely control or plan, just the best we know....remember?

This Holiday Season, it's time to stop and take stock, make some new plans, and remember....who we are living for, how we got here and what we can do with our time....

Have a Happy Season, and stay warm...all the way!

Analytics and Some Hunches

Google has this great tool that tells you how many and where and when and how long your hits are....Google Analytics...

Fascinating.  This blog has 22 countries following it....some I have no connection with...
The greatest single concentration of the blog's popularity is Los Angeles....it is huge...

The more I write, the more hits come, but the more I write about "love", the more sustained are the hits....
I guess a lot of interest out there in love...

Second topic of interest is career destiny and finding it....I always knew that would happen....

When I hit deep about serendipity and the role it plays in lives, people write back to me....from places I could never imagine....

The best news is that my best feedback is from people whose opinion I would just treasure it from...so that feels good...

Here is an interesting one...of all countries, people in the Netherlands stay on the blog much longer than anyone else....don't know why, thou I suppose I should, I have lived there....maybe it is because the Dutch are philosophical at heart....

In Asia, Korean hits are few but also longest...

France and Germany vie for second, but I believe that is because we have so many student connections there...

Some days, the curve rockets high and I don't know why....other days it crashes....

Tuesdays are the heaviest traffic....second are Fridays....

In the book just released, career stuff (Blueflash) occupied the most pages....second was love stuff (Pinkflash)....shortest chapter was Nature (Greenflash)....I guess I am not surprised at that either...what got me started, on the book, after all, was my passion about career destiny....

My surprise was in how much I had to say, and said about love and romance.  I dealt with stuff there people have a hard time with.....but it needed to come out...

Its fun to play with analytics and hunches.

I wecome any comments from you my reader, especially the folks from Los Angeles....how in the world did you hear of this blog....that would be cool to know...

I also welcome any topics you want me to write about.....by the way, my most frequest question at my speeches is "how do I find my Blueflash?"  Not surprised.  My answer always disappoints the questioner....I just say, "You can't!...It comes to you...someone will bring it...probably from the side....so be ready to see it....it happens fast...."

It's like music...Ahhh, the best friend, that came into our life....remember?

Raison d'Etre Parte Deu....My Dad

Our purpose, all of us, is to do and give something back to this Earth...
A company, an institute, a cause, a family, a child, a tree....

And to help one another....

When we do these things with ultimate sincerity, it is my belief....
The Creator and friendly forces in our universe act to help us and the momentum..of these things.

It is for each of us to define and bring out our divine gift...some kind of art...and to help each other to do so..

As my Dad just reached his 92nd birthday, and as I was so far away...
It gave me the realization that he is a great example, those of you who know him...and some who don't...

He founded a company.
He fathered two children into this world with my Mom...
He founded and created and fought hard for certain political causes and organizations...
He planted trees....
Thousands of trees...and bulbs, and flowers...I was with him for some of these
I mean he planted trees...to this day, he is planting trees...
And he loved and cherished animals like children....

And he is still at it!

His divine gift...his art...is still being shaped, and that is the miracle!
It will have to do with his love and the trees...the trees...

We all have this.  We look out at the world, but we come back to those in our family to see...
The essence of life....

Who we are..
What we need to do..

For most of us who see this, we know, the job is half done.
The Reason to Be...after all.
It is our gift...remember?

The Speed of Light....in Our Minds

There is the speed of light....actually, what it is....186,000 miles per second...
Then, there is the speed of light in what we perceive....may be faster or slower than the actual...
But perception is everything....

Our minds can make time and motion just slow down...or speed up....

After writing just several days ago about jetting over to Copenhagen from California and Chicago...
I got back from that fantastically successful trip, through Amsterdam....just as fast...

One day at home, then to Asia, where I am now already one full day.
It feels good....you might ask, why?  how could it?

Here is why....

This planet is smaller than we know.
People connections are everything.  Plane connections are second!
Some moments in our minds just stand still in time.  They are frozen like life-long photos...
Most of those are good ones.  The memory is down to the seconds, minutes...

Then there are whole passages that whir by like a blur...

We have to get down to business, yes.
But, we have to get down to what really matters....
Its the people who matter in our lives....the connections are so frail...and yet so enduring...
Its the places that matter, yes...
It is our life destiny that we are writing the script of every day...

It can travel sometimes so fast it may catch up with the speed of light...
Or, if we can savor it, sometimes so slow, that each micro-second is like a whole lifetime....

Our own clock inside our heart is not a metric like what measures the speed of light-actual
It is the ultimate clock of our universe, because we and our hearts are at the very center.

I said earlier, love moves at the speed of light out into the universe...and it does..
It can also move as slow as each second we wait to hear from someone....each heartbeat...
The clock of our heart is the clock of our life.

Nice to be back here in Asia...the smell of fresh tea....the warmth of friends....
Time has slowed down for a while....and it feels so good!

With the Speed of Light...

Whether it is love for an animal....or each other....I believe love is like a force that goes out as energy....maybe with the speed of light....and it travels to the farthest corners of the place we call 'universe'..thus it keeps on going forver, whatever forever means to us here...it far excedes our own lives, and space....and travels, and travels...and travels....
.
Thus, love can never be truly lost.  It is an act of the giver.  It eminates from the fire that starts within us...it is started by us.  If we can be strong enough to set it free, it triumphs any other force in life...

...light....into the night...
...conquers fear, fright...
...goes forever....with our hearts
...gives us sound, song, and sight..
...that love, forever, we might....

My Bear....Child...Doggie...Art?

If you see my blog pic, it is me with Bear, our Pomeranian.  I brought Bear into the world when he was born...16 years ago...he looked like a little bear then....and he does now....16 years....still a little bear..

Each year, we are closer.  Bear has lost his hearing.  He still kisses me like he always did.  Now I am his friend....he knows his age....he is getting close to the rim....when he goes, I will be a total basket case.

Doggies are truly loving....they are like children.  Yet they cannot laugh like we humans can...and they cannot produce art.

Producing art from within is the human gift...the destiny....I do not know any animal story where the animal produces something creative from their soul and they enjoy doing so....so much that they are like 'reborn'...

Thus, as we hold our loved pets....they are like children....they depend so much on us...without us to protect them, they are nothing.....they would be lost....

We shower our love on them like children...yet they cannot make the step that is made by a true child....who lives for art....the Creator's gift to express some kind of form and beauty in the world.

These creatrtures just want our love and to love us....and we do and they do....

Bear is something special in my life....will always be....his love is real...my love is real....his art is rather simple....it is just his love!

Raison d' Amour Parte Deu

Landed in Copenhagen...just a quick straight miraculous shot across the Atlantic from Chicago...here at my keyboard some 18 hours later.....no big deal...that is our global world...Southern California to Skandanavia in 18 hours....continue wtiting....continue where you left off....it is just a minor global adjustment.  After all, our primary mission is to put something back on this planet.....a company, an institution, a school, an art institute, a family, a company, a child, a tree...

So where does this love come from?  Why does it hit?

Here is where I am in my life and what I have learned from my interviews with those of all ages...everywhere....

Faces.....that is what we look at first....sometimes love at first sight.....body.....same.....but that is just the first layer of attraction....some people like me tune in fast to who the person is, below their facial beauty.....what they stand for.....do they appreciate small things....are they spoiled about the materialism of the commercial, fashion, travel world....

Thus, I look fast, and can find fast deeper values....

Then, if the other person really does notice you....does hook into your words, your poetry....and if they take it deep into them and their life, then share with you....something has happened that is maybe magical....a back and forth starts...deep or not...it starts....and you know it....

It means going deep.  Sharing, being vulnerable, and reciprocating that vulnerability....if there is still a rapport at that level, look out.....we are talking heart and soul.....

But why?  Where does this come from?

Young people also want soul....want deep...

We do not really as humans have any way of finding such dear people to us.....no matter how hard we try....some say, if you want to meet your future husband or wife go to church meetings.  It remains the number one place people who marry meet--church.

The whole rest meet by accident.
Art stores, bars, restaurants, schools....
Accident.

Could we agree that there may be no accidents for some of these meetings?

I personally believe that when people are spiritually ready, the forces of the universe puts them together as "accidents"...they have to do worldly footwork to make things happen ...maybe marriage....maybe babies...

So, why, the raison d'amour......it is a deep biological drive within each of us to mate and see our face with that of our dear loved one in a child....to nurture that child all the way....our biologies and hormones cannot be denied.....yet alone our dream of having a child, family....Where does this come from....the person....at the time.....who they are....that is the big 'accident' that the universe has given each of us....that moment we free-fall....

Perfect age, perfect family, perfect demographics and cultures....sometimes....BUT, sometimes not and the love is even stronger......

We talk about heroes.  We talk about entrepreneurs.....
Through all of this, there are deeply human stories triumphant that contain pain, culture difference, age difference, other barriers, yet a child is born.  Love is at the highest.  That child receives kisses as much as any child.  That child is a champion, a treasure.  Two parents are so much in love, they know the deepest secret....they acted on their love....they have a beautiful child to raise into the world as a product of their love...

That is partly where it comes from.  The whole rest is the Creator.  No matter what a husband and wife want.....it is the Creator who brings them this destiny....

Our heart is not just this very rational thing, logocal, strategic.  Real life brings love and more when we maybe least expect or plan it....is it s a gift?   

If we see it as a gift, a wakeup surprise.....we live....

Our future husband or wife may be an angel....as we think of angels.....
They may be strangers.....coming into your life quite legitimately but in surprise dimensions...
They will be rarely people you have stayed with for long periods, like old girlfriends, old boyfriends...
I have seen too many cases where someone was just wakened up by someone new....
"New"....meaning older, younger, not in the normal category of lover expectation....

Pinkflash is real....it does happen very fast sometimes...it is based on brain chemistry....
My argument is that it may be based on destiny....and more than brain....it may be about deep values...
Things we see beyond the eyes....things we see deeper in the person, then we fall.....free fall...

It comes from what our Creator has given each of us as basic equipment.  Our job is to make sure that we are tuned and in fitness.  How we have been taught to love....comes from our own mother when we were infants....and everything we have observed about love ever since those days....no book, teacher, picture, film, can change that.....we are destined to love.....because that is what we first knew.....and we are destined to find what our spirit and our bodies hunger for.....it will be seen later as "no accident"....everything will make perfect sense....across cultures, ages, times....deep love will find you and me....and always has....
....a force we cannot fight....shape or deny.....

It may be part of what we all have to do.....put something back on the planet....like a child......
We are not meant to die alone....with no one to take care of us......the whole human drama gives us all lots of room to make sure we will have our destiny as we want it.  But, we are meant to have love with us and around us....parents, loves, children....that is just what human history and destiny is all about....
Our challenge is to know when the players of our sacred family act just show up....and to love until we are fulfilled and fulfill the life of that one we so deeply love...

Love was the first thing we all knew when we were all so helpless in our mother's arms.  It was her first kiss we all felt on our forehead.  She taught us all the first lesson of life....love.  That is where it comes from....and from the original love of our mother and father who loved enough to create us.  How could it be otherwise....that is what we first knew.  That is the origin of our love for all others....the light of life is passed on....

So when you love someone....it all traces back....we are all amazing miracles, not cosmic accidents.  Our job now in our lives is to create that first kiss...to love someone so deeply....to share our spirit of love and life....and to pass the torch of life....our life and our love is in our hands...hearts....souls....

Raison d' Amour

Our Raison d' Amour, reason for loving, is just as important as our reason for being....

A medical physician friend recently showed me data that "falling in love" is part chemical, and can happen as fast as .2 seconds....the release of endorphins, Adrenalin, oxytocins, etc.....

I have talked about this in my recent book, The Four Great Flashes of Life.  It is the Pinkflash.  It can happen so fast that we can sometimes barely keep up with it....I call it a "whoosh"...a free-fall feeling. We may feel out of control.  We may be out of control.  Our thoughts are about that person...time and space are not the same...others notice a difference in us....usually very positive.  Our life seems to completely change for the better.  We have someone to live for...we all share this, whether .2 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 hours, 2 days, or 2 years....

But the reason...why?  What does this represent in our life?  Why does it come out of nowhere?

I leave now to fly across the Atlantic to Europe....from there, in a day or so, I will return to this favorite vital subject....to answer, as I know it, why this all happens....

Stay tuned....when it hits, it is like a ton of bricks or a ton of roses...one of our greatest gifts and can help us put something back on this planet.  It comes from special places and for one very good reason....

Raison d'Etre....

Let me try to bring a few things together from recent essays here....

Our reason for being, Raison d'Etre, from all I know, is to put something back on the planet....a company, an institution, a school, a project, a family, a child, a tree, a work of art...and more.  And we are here to help each other.  When we are sincere at these things in our life, I believe greater forces move in the universe to help us.

It is also about acting boldly in the very face of fear and in the midst of chaos....
And, it is about going out there sometimes, in fact, often, boldly within, but modestly from the outside...

It is about all of us finding within the deep passion of creativity and shaping that into form and putting it out into media so others can enjoy and the world can move forward with art.  The art within must come out, we can help each other...it is the expression of a divine gift.  It takes many forms, from the pure arts to business and commercial venues where art is shared with the world.  Schools are a great vehicle for that expression and transmittal.  Business schools must search for their unique way to express and be part of the greater world of expression.  Art schools, music and performing arts schools and media schools have found their platforms and enrich the world.  Business schools must now search and craft their unique platform.  Our CIBU is doing that now and is at the leading edge.  Through the CIBU Arts Initiative 2010-2011: The Art Within Us Project, CIBU is forging this exciting venue.  An entire, exciting world will unfold.

Thus, it is an institutional and an individual imperative.  It is our destiny and legacy all in one.

Amelia Earhart showed us that actions speak louder than words....and that some "art" is just bravery in being a pioneer, in her case, it was her life that she sacrificed to make her artist's statement.  She is one of my greatest heroes and innovators....I really do not know what happened to her, and I cannot pretend to know, but I wrote that I feel her spirit alive out there, somewhere in the wide expanses of the Pacific....if only her spirit lives forever, that is a gift.

Thought I should try to pull a few things together before taking off again for Europe and soon Asia.  We are not a cosmic accident, though our time here is but a cosmic moment.  Our living and loving is our gift to ourselves, each other, and to our time...every moment counts...huge surprises await....

Soon, again, the sunrise East on the California mountains and the smell of fresh coffee....

Sprint Laps and Breathless...

I did some sprint laps today in the pool at the fitness center.  I happen to think this is a great way to finish a workout in the pool.  It really blows out all the systems. 

But it is the mental part that is almost the best part.  Everything goes into focus on stroke, speed, breathing, and all out push.  When I do normal laps for cardio and endurance, I get to think about all kinds of cool stuff....but the sprint, there is the clock...there is the focus....there is the dash...

I'm a fan of Olympic swimmers, and a special one is Natalie Coughlin, a member of the womens' US team.  I just like the way she is handling herself as a total athlete and professional, and a spokesperson and a role model.  But,wow, what times she and her teammates are putting up.  They do the 100 meters in less than a minute.  That is without fins!  When I do my all out, with fins, I would be well behind!  I am so amazed at how the best of the best just sail through water.  Their sprint is a fast, fast human dash through water.  Their goal is to be the fastest in human history through water. Mine is to watch them in wonder and just give my best to beat my own time...

But when the sprint is over and you are catching big gulps of air and can savor the time....it is one of the greatest moments.  Watching Natalie and teammates is a thrill....doing it for myself is a truly breathless thrill!

Endurance laps are great.  The sprint is the best more than minute I spend in water!!

Amelia Earhart Lives....Out There....

She has captivated my heart, for a long time.
Ameria Earhart.  America's lone eagle female flyer.

I beieve she is alive, yes, alive, very alive.

No conspiracy theory here, just it is about what if we believe...
Can we be bold enough to believe?

This is not like denying that Santa Claus does not exist.
This is not saying it is snowing, when it is full sun.
But it is saying it is snowing...
And it is a cold rain that might....
Just might, turn to snow.

I wanted to think she and her partner flyer Fred Noonan found land.
That they made a decision to go "lost"....
She was still alive...
She is out there...
Come on, keep on believing...

Yes, no doubt, the evidence is there...she was found....
Or was she....actually no...
No one is really sure.....

Parents lose children....
Lovers lose each other....some just not forever...
Not all are lost...
Some return...for reunions..
Some come back from the lost....

It is important to believe in something.
It is important to give hope a chance....
It is important to be bold and refuse to lose...

Important, maybe it is more....
It is life itself, to have to believe...
To imagine there is a chance for life....
To refuse darkness and strive to see light...

Her spirit was bold, her force was strong...
Amelia Earhart.  Gone?
I don't think so....
Living out there in the South Pacific?  in China, Japan somewhere?
You can let your spirits soar..
Imagine...
Just like she did, after all....
That we could believe she lives....gives us a breathless moment..
When life itself has hope......
......Amelia lives....and she flies....in our hearts....
We must not deny her that....
We must hold that life alive....
Her story is bigger than life....
.....Amelia lives....out there....she is out there.....
When we can say that, more, if we can believe in the idea....
We can fly and soar, like her spirit does today....out there...

The Dash to Freedom

Everybody has their frontier of fear
And their space where that fear meets freedom...
And the writer, the artist, the scientist, the traveller ...
Learns what sets the soul free...both within and with others...

The great athletes have it...
The great leaders have it...
The people of everyday living know it...
It is crippling fear of failure..
The fear of absolute rejection ...
The fear of being truly alone....

The brave step up...
The honest look up...
The true to their love...never look down...
Or back...

They know the moment of truth...
The air crackles with the lightning of the gifted moment...
The dream is ignited...
Reality is different...
At that moment...

It is the mad dash to freedom...
Up the hill like never before...
The sprint of life itself...
The breathless moment...
Ever in our heart...
It was always there...

When we saw it...
It became our dash to freedom...
Our sprint of life...
Once begun...
We are forever in the swim, the stride of champions...
They can never call cripled with fear...
They are the life runners of freedom...
Forever...

Born Conspiracy

Two days  in Paris....fast trains, aggressive driving,    Arc de Triomphe traffic....busted appointments....waiting long times for mysterious events and marginal people....strikes....public disturbances...beautiful faces and fashion....feels like the movie....including the photography and the fast moving events....

Bon soir, Paris....Bienvienue San Diego...

The Book Is Out!

This is more of a note to potential readers than a journalistic piece.

I saw what the book looks like, as in the "Proof Copy" from Amazon yesterday via Skype from San Diego.  I will be back there Saturday night from Paris, Germany, Holland over these last two weeks.

Fun to see your actual creation on Skype first time!  Looks not bad!  There will be lots of last edits before the final release, but it is almost there!

Funny, seems like some of my more important writing has taken place since the finishing of the book!  That is a common disease of premature finalization for artists and creators.  We all know the rush!

One day left for this trip, maybe one of the most important.  And, like in writing, after I get home, there will be all the things I thought should have been said, done better.

The life of the creator is never quite complete!  But we must live it.  Auditions are rare.  The play is taking place right now, as we go....we take our chances...we give our best, every day...

Fresh Paris coissants and coffee in the morning...so nice....almost as nice as those moments in California looking East as the sun rises to the smell of fresh coffee...

The Heart of the Heart of the Artist

She never goes out boldly....
...she goes with her true art....
....that is bold....as bold as anyone's...

It is not her Name, or family name...
....she goes out with her true art....
....her true, own creation...
...she has known true free moments.....

She is not the Artist of the Times...
....she is the artist who has work...
... she can show on her hand the injuries of the painter's knife...
.....she has the passion to put it out....

Her Art is the art within us....it is life's breath captured on canvas,
.....life's mystery captured in print, in photo-art...
.....her message is her own stamp on the pulse of our lives...
.....it is modest, it is bold....it is definitive, visual, always brave....
.....it is her life stamp on the art of her own life and what she wants to give...

Her heart, this artist....
....she goes forth with the art within her....
....it is not famous....it is not meant to be famous...
....it may not be noted.....it may not be meant to be notable...
....but, it may be noted...

The heart of the heart of this artist....
.....expresses herself in her media....
....in paint....
....in charcoal...
....in sketch....
....in music....
....in media of every way...
....in business as a creative specialist...
....even in her dress....her own true beauty....

She is an eight year old Canadian who enjoys painting Mona Lisa....
She is an Israaeli who matches sketches with music...
She is from Philadelphia and wants to do drama plays...
She is from Beijing and has her poetry refined...
She is from Seoul and has her art underway....
She is from Pittsburgh, won awards for poetry, and is no longer with us....but her art is...
She is from New Mexico...she creates bold scapes of that place with few strokes..
She is from Colorado...she created her art in small objects, pine cones, sand, feathers...
She is from Maui, digital art is her new pastel, she has dealt with art longer than her life...
She is from Europe, yet has a business design for Asia...still emerging..
She is from everywhere....and her art is emerging...always, without end...from eight to ninety three, she spans ages, cultures, media, yet her passion is the same....to go boldly with her art....

If you ask her, she may not seem bold, but her passion inside is bold...

Her heart, as artist, is the whole, entire thing in one....
...it is everything she has to give...
....she needs to so deeply give....
.....and the whole world receives.....her.

The heart of the heart of the artist is now known...from the deepest, sweetest, and darkest places in the universe, she speaks out....she creates form, beauty...she does it without fear

Her own art comes from her own beauty, deep down....it is real...
....and what she expresses of her life vision for the world...
....that art has as much or more of her beauty..than could ever be expressed.....

It is her passion to create in the face of the unknown...to know those rare free moments...the bold dare to do something with words, ideas, paints, concepts in the absolute face of chaos.....what bolder could be known?

What more beauty could we ever know?... We know this artist....

Angry Heart...Beautiful Spirit

Here in Europe, one experiences amazing crosssroads of culture, pathways of life, spirit, heart and soul.

This young lady, of such youthful spirit and beauty, working hard in the restaurant I frequent, seemed so determined, so serious.  I asked her in a tableside moment if she was happy....she said a quick "yes"...but her look said "no"...

She later told me people all her life said she looked angry, but she said she was not....she looked at me, as someone who is asking, "do you really care".....

We all get beat up by bosses, parents, teachers all our life trying to prove we are OK.  Most of the time it is, if not OK....we are survivors....

This one, showed me real courage with her strong smile....she was all her life convincing people she is OK and not angry....the fact is, she has radiant qualities and could never be imagined as angry....unless, it came from places we all know are in our family treasure chest of life....

I told her, my question was only meant to compliment her....not bring anything but positive to what I saw was a joyful soul.  I hope I was understood.  It reminded me again....we share our friendship and our joy with someone's presence, and we just have to hope we may be understood....we try to do our best every day, in every way with who we are with....

We never know, unless we show ourselves caring first....then, we take our chances...

Leadership Emerging....

Rahm Emanuel is running for Mayor of Chicago.  He has great credentials....he managed the White House under President Obama....he was also a US Congressman.

It is rare in our time when we see the rising star of a young, strong figure in Amarican politics....
This is a rising star.

His character is strong...his articulation and speech is poised for more.....watch this rising star!

Morning Is Humbling, Rumbling...

It is so quite cool.
Whiteflash reminds us who is boss....

The last two evenings,  I have so enjoyed the warm air here in Southern California...
Starry skies at night....
Clear moon-rise on the Eastern rim...
Sitting under the universe canopy...late at night...relaxing, looking up...

I honestly thought the nights like this would continue....

Strangely, at 430 am...still dark...sleeping....I woke to flashes of light...
Back to sleep...into the normal morning...
Expecting to see the blazing sun....again....so welcome....here...
...in the paradise of Southern California....mornings golden, then warm...

No!  This morning was cool, dark....clouds....by the time I was in the car to work...rain!
Rain all day...thunder, lightening...rainbows...double rainbows...

Tonight, 11pm, out there is clear again...stars clear...starry night...
Just shows one more time, like clockwork, who is boss.
It is not us....we cannot go to sleep ever expecting to see the sun....

But, when we do.....when we see the starry night, like the lightening,
...like the rumbling thunder, like the humbling thunder....
We know...
We see...
We feel the air....
...and we are reminded what we are...
.....a miraculous point of light in the vast darkness...
.......through everything, we awake to new mornings...
.........even here in sun-blazing California!!!

Tomorrow I Fly

Tomorrow I fly...
...into the night...
...all faith forward...
...into the light....

The tea will be warm...
...when I land...
...wherever that may be...
...here is my hand...

Clouds, winds...
...from here to there...
...you are with me...
...every minute, every square...

The Chances of Landing...

Today I was lucky.  I was interviewed  for the global radio show "Into the Night Radio" with Chris Wakefield.  It was extraordinary.  Chris has a great global radio show, a bit modeled after George Nory's "Coast to Coast"....depth...

It was a big fun interview that lasted about an hour...stay tuned for when it will be available thru syndicated radio networks and on the web...

Chris and I talked about the origins of human curiosity, search and discovery.  We touched on the miracle that happens thousands of times a day....planes take off into the night, fly incredible distances, and land on a patch of square feet or inches....even through ferrocious climates and weather....

Just like humans seek each other and eventualy find each other...students and teachers...(remember...when the student is ready, the teacher will appear...)....lovers...friends...strangers....find each other...down to the touch...

We find each other through our human navigation.  Our curiosity...eventually, our creativity.

It can be a long journey, over water, into the night....but we all must hope for safe landings....
....safe landings....not always perfect, but safe....we live to another morning...
....with the bright, blazing sun, and, of course, the smell of fresh coffee...

How Many Nights?

How many nights could be this incredible?
I just at midnight, walked outside.....needed a fresh air moment...
This night....76 degrees, moderate humidity....light breeze....
This one even for Southern California is spectacular...
In January, this will be but a memory...
But right now it is late September...
Golden season....

Sat down, just for a minute....can't wait too long....
Sky so clear....
Jupiter just looming up there straight up, so clear bright...
The friendly moon....just lighting up the light clouds, the very few puffs up there
All the unierse is there....right there....
Just for a minute though....can't wait too long...
The California sun is coming in several more hours,
....and the smell of fresh coffee....it will always be there again...

Just for a minute....another minute, I'll enjoy this universe...
....Can't wait too long....
How many nights could be like this....

What Keeps Us Going...Into the Night

When you consider the odds...
Of ever finding each other in this big world...
Of ever reuniting...
Of ever finding the dream...

Of ever finding the touch....the hug....the embrace
Of true friendship....of love...

The odds are so long against us....
There is so much distance....
There are so many competing forces...

But a deeper force is at work....
A creative force within us and each other...
That lessens the odds....that makes it more likely...
That somehow, in this unmistakeably vast universe...
....we will touch again...

Our minds....
Our spoken words...
Our faces...
Our hearts....

We must go somehow bravely...
....into the night....
....out there, if we can believe, is the light....

Blue Flash Fact or Fiction?

Some really great things to know about Blueflash:

1.  Some see it when the conditions are perfect...others on the same beach do not....why?
2.  It does happen very, very fast, less than a second
3.  Some say it is the light through the green ocean water....others say it is simply a prism effect
4.  The upper end of the green flash in the light prism is the Blueflash (the Cerenkov Radiation effect)
5.  Blueflash is hardly even seen by the naked eye....the green flash is hard enough to see...
6.  Some question whether the Greenflash is even a real phenomenon or a purely perceptual or imaginary one.

If we use the metaphors here, some may choose to see the golden moment of nature, some may not at all.  If you seek it, it may be yours....

If you seek it so hard, and the conditions are marginal, might it be illusory?

When you take a walk in the forrest, are you ready to see a surprise?  If you do not, are you still OK?

Can you go into life expecting to find a Blueflash?  Who gets to do that?  Why those people?

All we know, is that some report they have seen these marvelous things and been blessed, even gifted.
It seems the more one wants to find them, the harder it may be....

Relaxed acceptance, passive, peaceful passion may make it possible....

It is something we cannot will to happen....there is some other element operating out there....

The Smell of Fresh Coffee...Eastern Sunrise...

So many friends have written about how I often sign off...
After a quite serious blog essay....usually written at night...into the night...

I speak of the warm greeting of the California sun....
Waking me, greeting me from the eastern horizon...

The fresh coffee smell in the air...
The crisp newspaper...

These moments are crisp...
...with freshness....

I chose to finish my two paintings in these morning moments.
Creative moments....
These moments are just mine....they are long treasured, still moments
When I can paint...just a few moments....all alone...with the morning sun...

It is great to wake, feel new, look East....see, and feel the morning sun....
California...wherever you and I are.....it is still the same...
We are alive with our senses and our creativity....these moments guarded, ours,
We greet the morning, a new day....and it nods its friendly greeting...
We feel it to our bones.....
....somewhere in the world....we want that we could share this moment with others...
.......this very crisp moment of a new day...
..........everything starts from here....welcome home!

Signals...

All we know and have is today...what is real today...
Our dreams and wishes are paradise...
People, places, chances....
But today, we have what is real, who we are with and who we love and loves us...

It is great to be here and in this place...
And to also be in our dreams...

But how are we supposed to dream, if we cannot even reach out...?

The truth is that we are supposed to dream...
We are meant to reach for the best...

When we send signals out there for our dreams, it is one thing....
When we receive signals....it is altogether another...

Dreams are created, but they also come to us without our asking...
No accidents, just ....dreams are alive within us and pull our spirit...
Toward light...

Another beautiful California morning is on the Eastern horizon...
....the smell of fresh coffee is in the air...

Who Are the Game Changers?

Received an amazing response from folks out there on "Game Changers".
Some asked me who they are?
Here's who they are....

They are the folks who stand up....when others sit down...
They are the people who speak...when others are afraid...

They fight tough...against all odds...
When the goin' gets rough...
When all bets are off...
When it's all on the line...

They are the defenders...
They take down the offenders..
They can be either side...
...of the game, without shame....they do not hide...

Every Sunday, every match...
It is some brave few...
Who score in the final minute....
...or prevent the score and preserve the victory...

Game changers rise up.....on either side...
They greet the dawn....
They rush the tide....
They do not know how to hide...

In every sport, in every group
These few make the difference...
They never ask for anything....
They do what they know how to do...
They change games....
They go by many names....

They are the ones standing....in the end...

Game Changers

This is a tribute to all those who are in the Fourth Quarter
...of the game  (NFL fans will know...)
...the score is tied...
...anything can happen
...to change the game.

This is for those who change the game...
...and for those who stand and defend...
...against game changers...

The game-changing moments...
Are where time stands still...
When you might not notice...
That you have had your fill...

When dark meets light...
When up meets down...
When love meets hate...
When smile meets frown...

The game-changing people...
Are where you may not see...
From the side they come...
... hit you like a roaring sea...

But the game-changing changers...
Are those who stand tall...
When hit with a ton of bricks...
... never, ever fall...

Thus, were I to pick my team...
From the vast choices there...
I would pick you, yes, you...
When the odds were not fair...

Thus, be on my team, be there in the end...
When the seconds are gone...
And there is no time to spend...
The whole game just changed...

Because you stayed ...
...with me...there!

The Art Within

When we think of art,we think of visual "art"...things of creation we can see that are beautiful or striking.  Let me play with words for a minute....

That is the art from the outside....but it came from within...from inside the heart and soul of the artist...the one who created it....who created that artist...where is the source of that art within...?

The California International Business University (CIBU) is about to announce its first annual "Arts Initiative", with the theme "the Art Within".  It is about our own university's exploration of its own artistic talent in painting and visual art, creative writing, photojournalism and new media.  Next year we will have a new theme to reach beyond this year's.  A specialized international university like CIBU should and will exhibit extraordinary creativity among its students, alumni, staff and faculty and friends.  Dr. Jorge Reinoza will be our Innagural Artist with an exhibit of his paintings at CIBU from October 20, 2010 through December 31, 2010. 

The art that will flow from this year came from inside all these artists hearts and minds and souls.  It is that artistic creation that expands beyond our common world of international business.  It is the "business within" that may be part of the creative process individually and collectively.  We will see individual art and collective art expression. 

Art is not the opposite of business.  It is its great comlement, like lyrics are to music, like ying and yang, like wind and water.

The ultimate source of art is not forced.  It flows like water.  It yearns to be set free.

This year, after burying myself in business and only enjoying others' art for almost 20 years, I decided to try my hand at painting again.  Voila!  A painting was born.  A second is yearning to be set free.  I know that urge again after so long and it feels good, just like it feels so good to paint with words as I write...

I walked by the brush stand I bought recently and just picked up several in my hand, I feel the tips of the painting knives I bought for my work on canvas.  As I walked there and stopped for a few seconds, to enjoy the anticipation, it felt like I was greeting an old friend.  It felt good again.  It felt good from within.  From somewhere deep within, there is art again...an old friend....a very good old friend.

Was There Ever a Doubt

Why did you take the huge loss?
Why did you take the huge love?

He will always pick you up at the airport.

Was there ever a doubt?

There Should Be This Place...

People want to connect....but cannot....
They cannot make a direct connection...
Even an indirect one...

Their hearts want one....
Their lover's spirit wants to be alone together...

But they cannot....life gets in the way...
Face is huge..."we cannot speak because we have face"...

We cannot speak because our father would not approve....

We cannot speak because we are so many years apart...
...age or just we have not spoken...

I once saw a fax hotel.

It was a safe place faxes could rest until the receiver could receive safely...
Wow....

Can I check into that hotel...
....for just about thirty seconds to see if any messages have been left....

Better yet...here goes....
...Fax Hotel...take this one from me...."............

9/11 is Here Again...Here's to the Ship of Friends...Again....

One year ago tonight I woke at 3am and needed to write.  It was 9/11 again, and I wrote about the idea that we are at times lucky enough to be thrown together by life's circumstances to be close to people...who are or become our deep friends....so deep that we think of ourselves on a mystical, magical sailing ship with them...on a forever cruise...on a wonderful plane of friendship, deep friendship, like brother-sister, like lovers, like best friends, like battle buddies...we would do anything to save their life...they would save ours...

That night one year ago, I remembered Captain Mark Hoog, our CIBU honorary doctoral honoree, who was bonded for lifetime friendship with UAL Captain Jason Dahl, the Captain of United 93...that friendship stands forever in time.  It honors all of us.

That night one year ago, I was sharing my 'Ship of Friends" with a precious few....some alums of CIBU who understood deeply...some dear new friends who poured over every word of what was written.  Hearts were opened forever on these moments.  These moments were so opened to love and respect, they can never be closed.  They stand forever in time.

So, where are we?  One year later.  We still stand forever in time....on the Ship of Friends.  These bonds cannot be broken.  No vows were taken.  No pledges were spoken.  Only sacred memory traces deeply honor our lost heroes.  That is all we have, after all.  What is written fades.  What is painted erodes.  We have what is the life within our hearts...and it is up to us....as long as we can...as long as we live...as long as we believe...that life will go on.

Ship of Friends.  Welcome Again!!!

9/11 is here again, its almost morning....the smell of fresh coffee awaits me...the morning sun arises in the East...we are together again.

Being Real in the City

You opened your heart...
Only to part.

Tea at the marketplace was so nice...its brew warmed me...
My name was there...and I stood back, walking on...with you...

The City.
City was long and lines were broad and thin
The art was within

Cold...the city again...
It kept me there...
...outside in

City so cold, far away...
Warm tea...
....here today

...except you...

Mornings so bright
...brings out the night...

City...heart of justice...
...open heart for more...

The place we met...
...the open door...

...except you...

...were waiting for more...

...and, I, am still...
       ...on this shore.

The warmth of that tea....well.

...you could say, it comforted me..

This Is the Shore...These Are the People

We approach a day...
When we can say...

We stand together...
Now and forever...

For these sands...
Grains in our hands...

In these plains and trees
Forever to feel the breese..

Our family, our friends...
Harmonic, and discordant blends...

One wind, one sky...
We are born and die...

But forever we sing...
Forever, we fly...on our wing...

Blue sky, dark night...
That we together ever might...

Mid-Pacific

Somewhere out there...
Off shore....
Way far, way far....away...
Is the one flying....

Is she a bird...
Lost from her nest...
Is she a seal...
Swimming her best...

Out there...
Between here and there....
She is there...
Oh My, I don't know where....

Bring her to you...
Mother Earth, see her through...
All the way...
Past, tomorrow,
But, most important...
Today...  
            ....for me and you.

Labor Day!....Generally Forgotten, but Enjoyed

Labor Day was meant to honor those who work.  All kinds, from physical labor to "management" labor.  The tougher the labor, the more honor.  That is what was meant to be...

So what of the new breed of government workers who pull down big paychecks, I mean huge paychecks, and astronomical pensions at our expense?  What of those who game the system?  Honor them?  Lately, newspapers and TV stations in California are publishing their names for all to see.  Public information, after all.  Maybe even your neighbor, whoops!

People are sick of people who game the system. 

Labor Day has been lost in the shuffle of the gamed system we all live in.

All we can do is wish a happy day to the actual folks who do seem to work hard, honest work.
We all know who these folks are.  You know them when you see them.
Everybody loves a day off.  Everybody loves a hero.  Nobody appreciates a worker who is making higher than usual money and is protected by big powerful unions.  A retired person buys a GM car.  He learns that $2400 of what he paid goes to the medcal plan for the retired workers who built the car.  He, the guy who bought the car has no medical plan.  Happy Labor Day!
He drives the car to a car wash.  The guys who wash the car have no medical plan.  Happy Labor Day!
He is pulled over by a State Trooper for a moving violation, the Trooper has lots of benefits and a big pension awaiting his retirement.  Happy Labor Day.

The man goes to a university art museum.  An art student is painting.  He sees a good future.  He is not afraid of his future.  He is an artist for life.  Happy Labor Day.

A Day off just to rest, to appreciate summer, its few moments left, a day to remember those who really work hard.  Stay with its pure mission, its historical purpose....enjoy the day.....don't fret about the millions who have been taught how to game their lives...theirs is a calling that has no real hero's welcome.  Theirs is a day lost and forgotten.