Pinkflash...not All Bliss...Unless We Wish

If you consider all the time you have loved and been loved, I mean romance, deep romance, in your life space, I think maybe a huge chunk of it is pain....so its not all bliss.  At least from what I have seen myself and what I have heard and seen from others...

Life space?  OK, that is your timeline in life, your total time here...age!  And in the space or places you have been....that means everywhere you have loved as well as everyone!  A little scary?  Needn't be...hang on...

So tally them up...all the loves....all the times...all the places...that's it, your love life space!  And if you follow...a chunk of it was not always smooth, was it?  Some was downright painful...and, of course, most as probably just great...but why?  Why the pain?

I decided to try my best in these conversations about the Pinkflash to stay true to life as I know it, but somehow mostly positive.  How can that be if some of it was not so positive?

I have come to think, not the easy way, but after long times and trials at it, that it has to do with the way we choose to view our loves and, as well, our losses.

So I will be trying for this side of it...the upside....

Whether we think about this from our daily schedules on the planet, or at 30,000 feet, flying in a jetplane, it is all about our memory and how we hold it.  So the loves of our life, the good side of the story, the side we are proud of and makes us happy, and the losses as well, it is our memory we live with....what is today, not what could or should have been.  It is sometimes so hard.

Janet Jackson said, "You don't have to hold on to the pain, to hold on to the memory".  Let the pain go...hold the best part...that is the part that has the light in our souls...

Pinkflash is forgiving.  Remember, when we want it, it escapes, when we are least expecting it, it is right there...

I am convinced that it visits everyone...more than once...and that with all that it is in its full show...it is one of the greatest gifts...

Morning Dew, Rainbows, and Concrete....What Is "Nature"?

Greenflash is about sacred moments in nature, when just amazing things happen that wake us up.  The actual Greenflash is documented, maybe the most vivid example.  That is why I chose it to name this whole great part of our lives as "Nature".  But what do we mean by that word....?  Is it forests, oceans, and fields, or can it be found in hard, cold, man-made cities?  Is it large scope or can it be micro or miniature?

One of my favorite artists in the world plays with this dichotomy....organic versus inorganic.  So what is the essence of life, if it sits in an inorganic bird's nest of steel, concrete, mesh-wire, and glass?

I was sitting this evening at a Major League Baseball game.  The evening air was cool, and a bit moist.  The breeze was soft.  The whole scene of 40, 000 people, blended with this carpet of beautiful green grass below...the colors, the sounds...

Yes, I was into a moment of total relaxation enjoying this all, and it was really relaxing.  I focused on some tranquil thoughts far away, and all the ballpark and movement, and noise and color just played as a nice background movement of music...while I was enjoying my thoughts of being somewhere else for those minutes...

I was sitting in  a hard plastic seat, on piles and piles of concrete floors, supported by concrete  and steel support beams..not like on a comfy wood bench by the sea...but it was like being in nature...

There is a set of places in natural surroundings we tend to call "nature"...for sure, and these we do need to see, smell, hear the sounds in, and if there is water, some of us take a plunge....we get a real big dose of that natural moment....with a flash component that is the surprise part...the "flash" can be the wake-up call that allows us to realize the moment as one of the Greenflash moments in our lives....it can be a rainbow, a thunderclap next to where we are standing on a mountain, it can be sighting a rare animal in the deep forest....or maybe a beautiful tranquil moment sitting in Section 309, Row 27, Seat 3 during an evening game at a concrete and steel stadium!

Tonight just reminded me we can create micro nature environments in our psyche and in our mind....
The tranquility that produces new thoughts and insights and just the "WOW!"  factor can and often does happen in concrete buildings, in stadiums, in micro nature places where we feel comfortable...

We are stronger if we can, BUT, we cannot forget the real thing.....when nature's force just decides to have a show!  And we are the audience...

Can the cross country flyer find the Greenflash on a flight from Chicago to New York?  If he can relax and tune out much of the flight stuff, he my be able to tune to the right stuff....noise-cancelling headphones, the right music....focus on a memory...

Moments in nature can be sought on rooftops....in ballparks, in streets, and at 30, 000 feet...

Greenflash cannot be willed.....it has a fickle nature......we can get almost totally there, but there needs to be a flash element, something that makes us say, "OK, there it was....there it was..."

It is what we all should teach our children about....

....and when it hits with huge intensity moments, we know we just received a special gift!

Pink Flash Lives Forever!

This is one for the ages....

I once had a good friend who shared much of life with me.  He was married twice.  Both wives died of cancer.  I knew him through these times, good and bad.  I knew his wives.  I shared his grief.

He once told me that even though they had left him in death, he felt their love in his life every day, every minute.  He told me how he could see their faces, he had this mental picture of each...their smile, their fresh beauty, the light in their eyes...he carried his love and what he said was their love every step of his life...

I thought often to myself it kept him going.

He is now gone.  He died an I am left with these thoughts which I share with you, my reader.

What I am about to say, I have no proof, not a single shred of evidence, but my own instinct that I think this is true...

So, here it is...what if even when he was alive, his lost loves were not just a flicker of light shining in his heart, but what if that love was a flicker of light in them too...an eternal love shining back at him, something he told me he felt...something that is out there in the night?

What if love never dies?  What if it still goes on?  So, now he is gone, too.  But I still feel the love he shared with me, that love he kept alive in him.  I knew each of his lost wives, I saw their love...I could not see that it would be easily forgotten, but now, I cannot forget, for my friend, for myself, and beyond...

So, I ask you, my reader,...

What if love never dies...
After the cries...
When we are alone in the night,
It is still forever in sight...

In the long universe of the memory we have here,
Love is not lost in its flight...
Across the blue skies of morning...
Into the warm air of the long night...

All the World's My View....from 30, 000 Feet!

Frank White, Harvard Professor, wrote the famous book The Overview Effect.  He documents how those who have been in space are permannently changed in their view of the world.  There is a permanent shift that he detects in their speeches and writings.  They are never the same.

I believe jet travel may be addictive.  The few seconds of G forces on takeoff may release endorphins in the brain, creating a pleasurable "champaign effect".  As I approach a million miles with United, I certainly enjoy jet travel more with each flight.

But there is something else operating, and it is the whole basis for much of this writing.  I also believe that when we are at altitudes such as 30, 000 feet, just as a nice round number of high flight, we are at a precious place and time and speed over the earth to reflect, to think over our lives, and gain insights that enrich our lives.

At this height over earth, we are 30, 000 feet closer to the heavens...
We don't see borders below, and even sometimes, we see the great arc of light on the horizon...
We often sit next to the most fascinating people and we have the time to enjoy and savor the exchange of new ideas...

And we are not driving the ship!  Someone else is doing that for us....just like life on the surface!

We get all the new stirrings of thoughts and insights about the four flashes of life...nature, our world of love and romance, our spiritual life and our life-work and destiny....

So, I think we don't need to go to space exactly and I think Frank White is correct...we get this in jets at 30, 000 feet...

We are landing now, but stay with me on this great ship of friends...we will be taking off again soon for more insights at 30, 000 feet! 

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

You (and Dad) created me..
You housed my soul...
Until it was freed...
To live, cry, fear, succeed, and take its toll...

When there were no fans...
You cheered me on...
...when there were victories...
...you stayed up till dawn...

Now, that you are gone...
I still hear your call..
From the kitchen...
...come down for dinner before you go play ball...

Mothers' Day is for many..
..like you who stood so strong and free..
...in the silence, now...
...you are still there for me.

Happy Mothers Day for All!

Whiteflash Leads Me to a Blueflash Star!

Yes, a friend of this blog and someone who knows our students through a French cafe connection was there in the setting, and she helped considerably.  But it was pure Whiteflash that delivered this one...

Several nights ago I watched the last twenty minutes of a documentary on TV about the Liberty Tree and how Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars saved that famous, historic tree's wood to make a series of heritage one of a kind guitars from its precious old wood...tulip poplar.  He took a big risk, invested and when the first finished specimen was ready, his team assembled and Bob played...you could hear the immense sound, the decision was right.

Bob Taylor from 17 years old had the vision of a guitar company, now it is over 35 years old, one of California's great companies, one of the best guitar makers in the world.

I had been looking and searching for someone who could be our Commencement speaker, each year that is my job, and I often go down to the wire, putting my full faith in the idea that someone will appear who is perfect for us and our student graduates, and it usually happens.

I was watching that show on TV,  BY ACCIDENT, haha!!!  The thought hit me to invite Bob Taylor.  The next morning, I made a visit to his company, met Bob, and he agreed.  It will be a great day for all!

Someone asked me if I got the idea through my blog friend, who happens to work for Bob's company?  The true answer is no, this individual helped me to meet Bob, and has been very supportive, but it had to do with my accidentally seeing the TV documentary about the Liberty Tree guitars and how Bob had the vision to make them.

No accidents....one more time...
....it will be a great day for all!

Tough Searching Means Toughness at Your Core...

I have known young professionals who were so tough that they could win the SuperBowl or the World's Cup...if theirs was a sport....their sport was business and starting their career professionally....they are so tough...they are ageless...I mean young in their 20's or old...er...

They are male and female.  My favorite in my recent life is a younger woman, so highly professionally accomplished, she just has immense power...because she is clear at her core what matters to her about her professional goals, her professional stature, she is a formidable force....so the tough ones are the ones who can be like El Wood, and take on Congress!  We lack a few of those on Wall Street just now...

In all that I have written about the fact that the biggest gifts come to you and you cannot reach and touch them.....I am NOT suggesting that we be lazy, or relaxed or asleep!

I have referred to my team as NFL ready...that means "playing injured"...what does that mean?

It means we are tough, at our inner core, not lazy or entitled by birth, Daddy, Mommy, or wealth, or family.
We are soooo tough...we are professional...we measure every word...we watch intently what others are doing...on their own and to us....we do not take abuse...actively or passively.

When I am teaching, if students abuse the classroom and chit-chat, they either respect me and their fellow students or they leave at once...that is tough...

Students should not take placation or mediocrity from their peers...if they do, they are weak and not individuals, not leaders...they are more interested in being popular and seen as stirring up their party, not serious at all as professional students...this is a close call by professors, I know...

...I just know I demand toughness....

Life demands toughness.

Flashes will come to those who are rigorously tough on themselves and those whom they love...
......for the folks who just expect life to be this big gift-giving parent or government, or someone with money...they are not yet tough....enough....

Tough enough is what it takes to survive, yet alone thrive, yet alone live for flashes...

I think the Four Flashes of Life I write about come to those who have achieved "toughness" at their core, not children of parents, or parents themselves who have everything nicely worked out...every detail picked off and played out....

The "tough" inherit the full life, the pursuit of happiness....

Soooo, if you think you are not yet tough enough....at whatever age....you are probably right....you need less comfort, less what you are used to, less of someone taking care of you...you may or may not know what this means if you slip into someone's comfort and your own....

If this angers you, you are surely not tough at all!

If this worries you,....good, we are on the path for a better life.............