Composing my life to file with Poetry, Clouds, Wisdom, Philosophy
Many of us do not understand the concept of exponential growth with regards to how quickly things grow and change. The explanation below, in layman terms, is the best I found so far from Jane E Brody, Personal Health columnist for The New York Times. Dr. Slovic, author of “The Perception of Risk,” explained exponential …
Continue reading "Exponential Growth – CoVid-19 And Climate Change"
A house that offers sanctuary, that embraces family and friends alike with comfort and warmth, becomes a refuge from the world outside—a truly peaceful home and haven that soothes the senses and refreshes the spirit. — Ann Rooney Heuer I believe this body is my sacred space. Wherever I am, it is a place of refuge …
"You write a lot about 'Love'," a friend recently commented. "I do," was my response. "Why?" "I write about love because it is what I am, what I am learning, and what I want to understand more of before I leave this world." And then, in the style of Almitra, the High Priest of Orphalese, …
I wanted to sing like Johnny Hartman, paint like Picasso, dance like Mikhail Baryshnikov, and write like Camus, but I did not. I was not given at birth their unique talent to do those things. It might have been their genes or a gift from the gods. I do not know. I know what I …
It's been a while since I had a meeting with myself. I don't understand why a meeting with me is so difficult to schedule. I'm easy to find. We see each other every day when we look into the mirror. We have the same amount of time as everyone else. I make all the entries …
…for good or evil, we are a single people: the more we become conscious of this, the less difficult and long will be humanity’s progress toward justice and peace. Primo Levi (July 31, 1919 – April 11, 1987) My 72nd and 73rd birthdays were spent in lockdown which meant no celebrations with friends or family …
Stanley Kunitz is one of my favorite poets. He was seventy three years young when he wrote his poem The Layers. He died in 2006 at the age of one hundred and one years. The poem itself is a masterpiece of storytelling about transformations and because of his mastery of the art, it needs no …
Flooding In Europe Fish Dying From The Red Tide In Florida Forest Fires In Oregon Drought In California Everywhere People Still Dying From CoVid-19 Because They Can Billionaires Go Into Space What is going on is going on with this world? The doomsayers should be having a celebration but they are all running for the …
Sometime during the late ninety's I read the Biography of William Blake (1757-1827) by Peter Ackroyd. Prior to this, my only connection to Blake was in college where I read his Songs of Innocence and Experience. I saw Blake as a visionary, poet, and gifted artist who chose to be detached from the affairs of …
It's time to write about freedom! I shied from this topic for a long time because it was not something I had experienced in this body before. I believed as Antoine de Saint-Exupery that freedom was "of the mind" because that was the only experience of freedom I have had. There is not an adequate …
The lowest depth of misery is the loss of a loved one. It was the only time I ever considered suicide as a viable option to life. It was not in my thinking an attempt to join with Kathleen in her realm as energy, but in truth, I was uncertain if I could go on …
We believe all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings . because of the color of their skin. The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand - without rancor or hatred - how this happened, but it …
Continue reading "Juneteenth – The End Of Slavery? But I Am Still Treated As A Slave"
Growing Old When, halting in front of it, I look at the reflection which is in the depths of my clear mirror. It gives me the impression of meeting an unknown old gentle man. — Hitomaro The biggest problem with growing older in my physical body is that in my mind I am still in …
Who are we, if not measured by our impact on others? That’s who we are! We’re not who we say we are, we’re not who we want to be — we are the sum of the influence and impact that we have, in our lives, on others. — Neil deGrasse Tyson Life is a continuum, …
I watched a film a while back named "13 Assassins." During the closing scene, the dying father and leader of the group of thirteen says to his son, "Live your life." These are powerful words particularly when coming from a dying father to a son who was trained as a samurai but never totally embraced …
I was not born a writer. I write because I am a lover of words. I like to breathe life and meaning into these symbols of thought. I want to lift the word from the mind or page, give it air to make a sound, then shape and mold it into meaning. I write because …
To be full of strength and vigor one moment and virtually helpless the next, in the pink and pride of health one moment and a cripple the next, with all one’s powers and faculties one moment and without them the next – such a change, such suddenness, is difficult to comprehend, and the mind casts …
Continue reading "I Am Not Me Anymore, At Least I’m Not The Same Me I Was"
The other day I was thinking about memories, why they occur, their frequency and triggers. I was walking along the river under my own contemplative spell when I was suddenly hit with a memory of a lost love. The trigger was the back of the woman’s head in front of me. She had the same …
I woke up early this morning because the roosters were roostering more and louder than normal. As I do every morning, I looked out my window to see if the mountaintops were clear. This is usually a good indictor of what the weather will be like for the day. This is the place I love …
I am an Aries in Western astrology. A triple fire sign with sun in Aries, moon in Leo, and rising sign in Sagittarius. There is very little earth and no water in my chart, mostly fire and air. Therefore there are no conflicting elements. In Chinese astrology, I am the Rat. A creature who enjoys being …
“You are the responsible one,” my mother would tell me when I would wine about having to reheat dinner for my brother and father when she left for work. “I know you will do it,” she would say. The responsibility of being responsible started early for me. I was eight years old. When mom and …
The only thing I know for sure, absolutely without question, is that one day my physical body will cease to exist. I will die. It is a fate that awaits all living organisms at some point no matter how long science may extend our life span. It is one of only two traits common to …
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do …
If our leaders seek to conceal the truth, or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom…When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth even on what may seem the most …
The time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time. — Bertrand Russell Time is all I have but I can not claim ownership because I do not know when it will run out. Remember Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz? The wicked witch gave her until the sand completely ran out of the hour glass to …
Today is my mother’s birthday. If she were still alive, she would be ninety-five years old. I also discovered another one of my favorite people, Kahlil Gibran, was born on this day in 1883. So today is his one hundred thirty eighth birthday. These two individuals born only forty-three years apart filled my life with …
Tonight is Christmas Eve. The cat is curled up at the foot of the bed, the gas fireplace heats the room and I have just climbed into bed. As a child and during my early adulthood, my Christmas Eves were spent doing all those last minute tasks before the big day. I only remember bits …
The Hour Of Man I wrote down the quotation below in my composition pad some years back before the time of personal computers, and although my research on the man who made the statement, Harold Maine, did not yield any results, I still find his words relevant today. Please see note below.* I want to …
It has been a long time since I have written anything down. A lot of things have happened. So many things I have been unable to write them. Kelth Haring I “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end,” said Seneca. No truer words, I believe, have ever been spoken. One must always leave …
Continue reading "A Writer’s Diary – Disparity Of Thoughts – Born Different"
Acceptance—What The World Needs Now With the senseless killing of Black men by white police officers in the United States, at a rate which has not been seen since the racial unrest of the sixties, to the ISIS bombings in France, Yemen, Turkey, Afghanistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, and Brussels, etc., to the endless bloodshed between …
For seventy-two years I watched as laws were passed, cities burned, appeasement tokens appointed and Black people killed by the police with no actions taken upon their white assailants. For Seventy-two years of my life Black people have been protesting for equality and being killed for being Black in America. For Seventy-two years I still …
Continue reading "America In Distress – Updated For July 4th 2020"
Why is life worth living? Okay, for me, I would say...well, Groucho Marx, to name one thing, and Willie Mays and the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony and Louis Armstrong's recording of 'Potato Head Blues', and um, Swedish movies, naturally. Sentimental Education by Flaubert, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, those incredible Apples and Pears by …
Preparing For The Unexpected I love books. Even though I no longer work at the library, nor is my collection of books as large as it once was, I still love books for the knowledge and information I gain from them. I love them for the journeys and adventures they have taken me on. As …
My beautiful dear friend Rebecca sent me these words from Samuel Ullman in celebration of my seventy two years of living. YOUTH Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, …
Beliefs: Part I In the battle of beliefs. Who wins? Might? Wisdom? Gods? Beliefs are always right of course, at least to those who hold a particular belief. Why would anyone believe something they do not believe is true? We are conditioned to believe what we believe. The course of this planet's existence following the …
Beliefs: Part II Every act is a statement of your beliefs. What you believe is so ingrained with the consciousness and with the body that you and its reflection are one. A man cannot be separated from his beliefs any more than he can be separated from his soul. A change of belief can occur …
The great difficulty with language is that we use it in our attempts to explain things for which no true explanation exists. In the Hermetic writings of the third century it was written, "If you don't make yourself equal to God you can't perceive God: for like is known by like." Anything I say about …
What do you believe God is? God is a concept not a being. God is the black face of the universe, the stars, the planets, the solar systems, the dragonfly, the elephant, the mouse, the spider, the man and the woman but these are only the life forms we know exist. There are obviously countless …
A little over fifteen years ago when I started these pages, I asked the question What have I learned that I can give? I am continually amazed at how much I have learned as I continue this journey of introspection into my life and place in the universe. I have no idea if my ramblings …
You are going to see wonderful things that no tongue or pen can adequately describe. Well, when you return to earth again, do you suppose you can make people believe the story of your experiences? Never! Be thankful if you are the possessor of a secret joy yourself, and do not attempt to impart it …
Constraints on the abuse of power are being weakened internationally and nationally. This cannot continue. Those who can must speak out plainly – and truthfully – or be complicit in a world of lies. David Miliband (July 15, 1965 -) The other day when starting to write this essay, the original title was Truth, but …
A Hotel Citizen "I am a hotel citizen." It has been nine months since I moved to the fifth floor of the Hostal Los Molinos (Hostal The Mills) in Loja, Ecuador. It was my initial intension to use this location only as a landing base for my permanent return last December until a more suitable …
Why Ecuador? My first conscious exposure to Ecuador came in August of 2012, when the small South American country granted asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. I thought at the time how brave of this small nation to stand up against the larger and more powerful nations of the world including England and …
Seeing It is not a race to see who can have the most experiences before we die because everything we do can be a new experience if we are able to see it with fresh eyes. My friend Arnie Nybak taught me that. During the two years I was his house companion, almost every day …
The Artist Of Being The things I have enjoyed all of my life - reading, writing, thinking, and dreaming are not, nor have they ever been the driving force of my life. With reading my pace is deliberately slow permitting the bonding, the falling in love with each word as its image and my eyes …
Flags As Symbols Of Racism Flags are soaring symbols of pride and community, as well as emotional, incendiary sparks for those on the other side of the barricade. They are among the most immediate, primal, and communicative forms of design. They are made of icons and become icons themselves — even more so when they …
If I Were King... With the arrogance of youth, I am determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, …
What Goes Up... Analysts will tell you they did not see it coming, the growing crisis in the financial markets, but who are they kidding? The brokers at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae saw it coming and pulled out their investments before the companies crashed. The executives in the auto industry saw the pending doom …
Living In Different Worlds "When in Rome, do as the Romans." We have all heard that expression and for most of my travels I have made it a practice to sample the local flavours as much as possible. Snails (escargot) in Paris, snake in Hong Kong, and crawdads in New Orleans, but I could not …
Never Kiss And Tell I have lost most of the memories of my youth. Some forgotten memories will remain forgotten. Some might be recalled or triggered by an event in the present moment, and then there are those memories which will remain imbedded forever in my mind. The first and only time I kissed Debbie …
Feasting On My Life Sometimes, I need a little help from my friends...and when I do, I often turn to poetry. Another one of my favorite poets is Derek Walcott. I keep a copy of his poem Love After Love in my rainy day box. I am grateful each morning I awaken to this life but …
It Doesn’t Matter Who You Love I was saddened to hear of Rod McKuen's (April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) passing a few year ago. It was because of his words that I fell in love with poetry. It was because of what his words inspired in me that I am a poet today. …
If You’re Not Outraged...You're Not Paying Attention To What Is Going On Around You! Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. — Martin L. King Jr. The movie Network was made over thirty years ago. I remember seeing the out take of Peter Finch's character, Howard Beale, leaning …
The Golden Age This is not something anyone can tell you for if they do, you probably won’t believe them. In my 20’s, I thought I knew everything, and I did from my perspective as a twenty something year old. I was the first in my family to graduate from college. I had survived the …
Land Of The Free Almost seventy years ago George Orwell published his futuristic dystopian novel, "1984". The main character, Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth where he rewrites history according to the Party's platform. Winston is a citizen who is overwhelming frustrated by the totalitarian control of the government over its citizens. Everyone …
The Road To Ecuador I never made it to Vilcabamba. When the shuttle stopped in Loja, the voice in my head, my guide through life, said, "Get off here." I did and the moment I walked through the town entrance, I fell in love with the city. I was under the castle's spell. While walking …
Reading Reading is another one of the four things, along with writing, thinking, and dreaming, I have done for myself most of my life. I have always found books to be easier to be with than people. A book can engage me the way few people can. People generally want to be right whereas a …
What’s In A Name? A friend recently sent me a list of The 100 Most Beautifully Unusual First Names. I was not surprise to see my given name listed. There have always been those who complimented my name when introduced, but I have never felt comfortable with my given name. It never felt like my name. …
I Am Selfish. I stand alone from the crowd and guard that aloneness and love for solitude with my very existence. I do this to preserve me, myself. Without it, a different me comes into being. A being that placates to the wishes and desires of others before my own. I know this other person …
Entelechy |en?tel?k?|noun ( pl. -chies) Philosophy - the realization of potential.• the supposed vital principle that guides the development and functioning of an organism or other system or organization.• Philosophy - the soul. ORIGIN late Middle English : via late Latin from Greek entelekheia (used by Aristotle), from en- ‘within’ + telos ‘end, perfection’ + …
Acedia There are times when I have not wanted to be of this planet. In truth, I have grown weary with the world, the politics, and the unending changelessness of things. A presidential campaign lasting for more than two years. The power and wealth of the few and the continued suppression of the many. The …
What Matters? Ten things that matter most to me in this life are: Love — It is the most precious of gift of all. Nourishment — Air, Water, and Food — These are necessities. Life must have access to clean air, clean water and food to sustain itself. Free Speech — Ideas must never be …
The search is the meaning, the search for beauty, love, kindness and restoration in this difficult, wired and often alien modern world. The miracle is that we are here, that no matter how undone we’ve been the night before, we wake up every morning and are still here. It is phenomenal just to be. This …
A Soul Reader - Oliver Sacks I had never heard of Marcelo Gleiser until a few weeks ago when a friend recommended his book The Island of Knowledge-The Limits of Science and Meaning. "It's right up your alley," she said, and she was correct. As circumstance would have it, I came across his name again …
Happiness I have wanted to write about happiness for a few day now, but I didn't know what to say. I know happiness exists. I know it to be a major source of joy in my life. I know it exists as a part of my being. It is my general nature. I am happy …
Enlightenment—What Is It Really? Enlightenment is not something to be sought but rather something to be realized. It is a state of being which does not have to be experienced each moment of our existence. That would be overwhelming and could lead to schizophrenia and yet, it can be realized each moment of our life …
Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it. — Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 01, 1945) Joseph Goebbels was the head of Hitler’s Propaganda Ministry after the Nazis took control of Germany in 1933. He was also Hitler’s named successor and was Chancellor of Germany …
CrossRoads I am here and once again find myself at this cross of roads. They appear in my life, I think randomly, but I am not sure. I do not know how many times I have come to this place. This place, where the road I am traveling intersects another road and becomes a crossroads. …
Happy New Year From Ecuador In Ecuador they celebrate the new year by burning effigies and dressing up with costumes and masks. The most popular costume is young men dressing as old women akin to Mardi Gras and Halloween in the US. The effigies are made from cardboard and paper mâché. They are then dressed …
Brothers—Hermanos "Hermanos" is the Spanish word for brothers and was the first Spanish word I learned. On a trip to the Yucatán, I visited a cenote, or underground pool. The water was freezing cold as the only sunlight entered through a small opening at the top of the cave about fifty feet from the turquoise …
Language — The Tower Of BabelRemember the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel? After the landing of Noah's Ark, the survivors wanted to build a monument to God. They wanted their gift to reach up into the heavens to God's kingdom. God realized the combined efforts of the citizens would make anything possible because …
You Are The Fool I stumbled up three flights of narrow, wooden stairs before arriving at her door. It had at least six locks that I could see from the hallway but when I knocked, the door opened freely. Inside the tiny living room sat three elderly women each comfortable within her own world and …
Does Life Get Better With Age? This is not something anyone can tell you or if they do, you probably won’t believe them, but I am going to atempt to tell you just the same. I am stubborn that way. In my 20’s, I thought I knew everything, and I did from my perspective as …
Everybody's scared for their ass. There aren't too many people ready to die for racism. They'll kill for racism but they won't die for racism. — Florynce R. Kennedy To write about the world, it is sometimes necessary for me to retreat from it, to place myself outside the daily conflicts of living on this planet. …
O’ To Be Human I am not sure if my being human was a choice, an accident, or predetermined by fate but I am grateful in either case for the gift of life in this human form. I needed these years and experiences to understand why I am here. As much as I identify with …
Loneliness And The Solitude Of Aging Solitude is a choice, but loneliness creeps into your life like a dark storm cloud releasing its thunder and lightening into the essence of one's being. It feels like bombs exploding overhead while depression and self pity sprinkle down in an endless shower of gloomy days and nights without …
Simplicity The smaller you live (materially-speaking), the bigger you can live (creatively-speaking). — Elizabeth Gilbert I wish I had known these word earlier in my life, but then I would not have had the experiences to make the words valid. Living a small simple life provides me the freedom to live my life the way I …
The Sum Of My Life We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come. — Milan Kundera Today, I have been alive on this planet for 26,000days or 624,000 hours. If I am blessed to live …
Know ThySelf From the time I was a small boy, the words "Know ThySelf" have reverberated like an echo throughout my life and consciousness. I remember first reading these words in the Book of Knowledge, a set of encyclopedias my mother purchased from a door to door salesman for my brother and I to expand …
Find Your Own Shtick It’s about what YOU are going to do with the short time you have left on this earth… Put your whole self into it, and you will find your true voice. Hold back and you won’t. It’s that simple...Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else's …
How Does One Know God? To most Western Civilizations the image of God that comes to mind when one thinks of God is the painted image on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He (God) is the clothed white haired man, supported by a host of angels, reaching out to touch man, who is naked, …
Milestones Of Age—What Is Real? I remember when I couldn't wait to be five years old so I could start kindergarten. I was busting at the seems to be thirteen so I could be a teenager and not a child any more. Turning eighteen was not an exciting milestone because I was required to register …
If I Should Die, Before I Wake Each day, we wake slightly altered, and the person we were yesterday is dead. So why, one could say, be afraid of death, when death comes all the time? — John Updike I am more conscious of death's inevitability as I age. Knowing death can come for me …
Let Us Not Forget But apparently man loves to kill things, the fleeting deer, the marvelous gazelle, and the great elephant. We love to kill each other. This killing of other human beings has never stopped throughout the history of man's life on this earth. If we could, and we must, establish a deep long …
My Best Friend—Solitude Before living it, I learned about solitude from books. Two particular guides into this area of depth were Alice Koller in her soul searching quests written about in An Unknown Woman and A Station Of Solitude, and May Sarton in her books Journal Of A Solitude and The House By The Sea. …
Proust Questionnaire Since July 1993, the back page of Vanity Fair has been devoted to the Proust Questionnaire, in which a noteworthy person answers a series of personal questions. The questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust (1871–1922), the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in …
Where Do Poems Come From? I am not one of those poets who can sit down first thing in the morning with pen in hand and write a poem the way I can write an essay. I wait for the poem in the way one waits at a stop sign allowing their mind to drift …
Life Under The Influence Books, books, books. What a wonderful influence they are in my life. From the time I was a small child, my life has been under their magical spell. They provided the wings which carried me to foreign places and undiscovered worlds and gave me the foundation to better understand the world …
New Beginnings There is a lone mountain in the view from my bedroom window. One might think it is not a big deal except for the fact that every day it is different. The same way each day and each minute is different from the last. I can look out of my bedroom window 100 …
Sunday Mornings I love Sunday mornings for the same reason I am attracted to the painting by Edward Hooper titled Early Sunday Morning. It is the absence of activity. Nothing and everything happens. What in art is referred to as negative space. In writing, it is what the words dance around but never say. I …
The Grace Of Small Gestures I was surprised and angry a few weeks ago when I read an interview conducted by Nina Utne with Stephen and Ondrea Levine on marriage and love*. A portion of her interview is quoted here. S: People who get into relationship who don't already have something that's more important to …
Life, Death, And Creativity I do not know if creative people have a more difficult life because of the stress of the creative process or we just hear about the tragedy of their lives more often because they are in the public's eye. When I think of creative people like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Winehouse, Robin …
A Room Of My Own It was the winter of 2001 and Toronto, Canada where I was living at the time was deep into its grip. The cold weather in Canada forces those of us who are not Canadian to huddle inside our homes. I had a room on the third floor in the house …
This I Believe I Know So, where has my path brought me? What have I learned that I can give? I offer these words. Strip yourself naked of belief and disbelief. Know that all things are possible at all times. If you reach this point, the only thing now on your path is you. The …
NoBody But MySelf Whenever I had doubts about my life or place in it, my mother would say, "Just be yourself.” I tried being other than myself and it never worked. I compromised my values and beliefs. I gave parts of myself away and I was not always true to myself. For a period of …
Keeping Memories Alive In the course of twenty crowded years one parts with many illusions. I did not wish to lose the early ones. Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again. — Willa Cather In the end life becomes just a collection of memories. As we …
Friends In A Different Realm I saw in a dream... The dream takes place in Arne’s new home designed mostly of glass and stone built on a lakeside surrounded by beautiful majestic mountains. He is in his studio surrounded by paintings. Each one unique and perfect, leaning against the walls, or hanging by invisible strings …
On Being Human I am and have been a philosopher, poet, artist, revolutionary, student, mystic, teacher, listener, father, grandfather, brother, traveler, prophet, husband, son, child, man, writer, dreamer, lover, and friend. I have never been an enemy of anyone, nor have I the desire to be. At different points during this span of life, I …
Family “I am a horse for single harness.” I have always been and will probably be until my death a loner. I have loved and been loved to the greatest heights and depths of feeling humanly possible. My life has been enriched by extraordinary people and wonderful friends but I am still alone, by choice. …
Date With Solitude In her book Quirkyalone* Sasha Cagen says those who seek solitude are distinct individuals, as complete and potentially happy alone as with our families and loves. She defines quirkalone (kwun kee. uh. lohn) n. adj. as “a person who enjoys being single (but is not opposed to being in a relationship) and …
Hate — The Word The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. — Eldridge Cleaver *hate — feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone) : the boys hate each other | he was particularly hated by the extreme right. • have a strong aversion to (something) : he hates flying | [with infinitive …
A Brief Encounter The only available seats were the two next to her. I took the one against the wall leaving an empty stool between us. Her posture was erect. She must be a student of yoga, I thought a second before the bartender approached and I ordered my drink. She was young, beautiful. and …
Faith And Hope I believe hope is part of our existence. I personally don't like to spend a lot of time living in hope because I think to much hope causes one to not take action on his own behalf. My greater self is life. My presence here is a miracle. We can contribute that …
Habits The Renaissance teaches us that the book of knowledge is not to be learned by rote but is to be written anew in the ecstasy of living each moment for the moment’s sake. Success in life is to maintain this ecstasy, to burn always with this hard gemlike flame. Failure is to form habits. …
Mother’s Day I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. — Abraham Lincoln I don’t celebrate any day for which Hallmark makes a card. It’s the commercialization of the holidays that turns me off. Don’t get me wrong — I enjoy ritual and have …
Invisibility Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney. — Vincent Van Gogh The mountains outside my bedroom window are always there standing silently …
Integrity We join groups primarily for survival, strength in numbers, and because of similar language, and ideologies. Each time we join a group or organization we surrender some of our individual freedoms to that group whether it is a corporate structure, a political caucus, a religious organization, or a country. This is not necessarily a …
A Little Yellow Wagon A dream visited me last night ... I love to dream. My dreams provide another dimension to my life. They open the door that says “Do Not Enter.” They fill me with possibility and for a brief time take me away from this world I see in my waking hours. My …
Thinking Thinking is reading my thoughts aloud to myself, and is one of four things I have done for myself most of my life along with reading, writing and dreaming. I love thinking first of all because it does not require any tools like writing, or props like reading and unlike dreaming, thinking can be …
I Am Here — The Essay "I Am Here!" This is more than a declaration. It is a revelation. I love being in this body, separate and part of something greater. I am part of something whole. The finite existence of life is a true gift. I feel free - atop of the world. I …
An Interview With Myself Part II Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. — Anaïs Nin Me: Okay, begin... I: You were the ethereal one, a shadow passing through a large corridor, floating without form into what appeared to …
Me: Let's begin. I have been looking forward to this interview for a long time. We have been on the planet now for seventy years and so in the words of Mary Oliver Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life. I: I no longer make plans, …
My apologies to René Descartes, but when I look back on my life, more than the places I've travelled to and lived I remember most of all the people I love. No, that is not a grammatical error? I use the presence tense for love because I believe love never ends, it just sometimes changes …
Please Do Not Call Me African—American There are many labels used to describe people of color living in America today. I grew up with the terms Negro and colored. Later the terms to describe people of color living in America became African-American or Afro-American. Later Black became an accepted description. During my time living in …
Unplug the Machine Sorry, but I unplugged the answering machine a while back. I've been following my questions. Questions always lead me to the deeper space within. Lingering, unanswered, like the scene where Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Tumbling and tumbling until her path eventually leads to a caterpillar, sitting on a mushroom, smoking …
My dreams have been and continue to be a major directive and translator in my life. They guide me into and out of places my imagination can not imagine. Dreams, like the one told here, have shaped my philosophy as much as any book I have read or person I have known. I saw in …
Continue reading "Esalen Stories – When You Get To The Mountain Top… Jump"
Killing But apparently man loves to kill things, the fleeting deer, the marvelous gazelle, and the great elephant. We love to kill each other. This killing of other human beings has never stopped throughout the history of man's life on this earth. If we could, and we must, establish a deep long abiding relationship with …
A Measured Perspective I did not sleep well the night before and I was in a funk upon awakening. I attributed this unusual occurrence to the full moon and just went about my day. During my morning walk on the beach, I realized today is the day my mom died, one year ago. My body …
I often read poetry when I wake up during the night at a time when most are sound asleep. It is quiet now with only the hum of the refrigerator to keep me company and the occasional cat fight outside on the rooftops. I rub coconut oil into my tattoo (my first) hoping to prevent …
Continue reading "Reading Poetry At Three O’clock In The Morning"
Who Am I? I am a philosopher, poet, revolutionary, student, mystic, teacher, listener, father, grandfather, brother, traveler, prophet, husband, son, writer, dreamer, lover, and friend. At different points during this span of life, I have played all of these roles, often times collectively. I grew into all of these parts of me. I walked in …
My New Perfect Roommate Meet Simone, my new roommate, named after a dream character who was always there but never in the way during a recent, somewhat traumatic time in my life. Oh, I have had some wonderful roommates during my existence on this planet, but I always felt as if I were somehow comprising …
RoofTops Creative space isn’t about putting up walls or hiding from the outside world, nor is it a simple desire to be away from people. Creative space is about finding solace and silence in the external world, so that we may adequately listen to our own minds. This can mean different things to different people: …
Gratitude I To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. …
Even in the best of circumstances, happiness is elusive. We seek pleasant sights, sounds, tastes, sensations, and moods. We satisfy our intellectual curiosity. We surround ourselves with friends and loved ones. We become connoisseurs of art, music, or food. But our pleasures are, by their very nature, fleeting. If we enjoy some great professional success, …
Living In A Different World Roasted Guinea Pigs Are A Delicacy* * Known in the local Kichwa language as cuy, the furry little creatures are flattened and roasted whole over an open fire. You won't find them on every restaurant menu in Quito. This is a premium priced specialty dish served in only a handful …
Rape And White Privilege In America Rape is one of the most personal intrusions upon another person's body and mind along with torture. It seems to have become commonplace on today's college campuses and in the military with very little being done to prevent such transgressions. Far too many men go unpunished or are never …
If You Had Ten Minutes To Live... Who would you call? What would you say? Why aren't you doing it? Most participants in the one day seminar on “Death & Dying” presented by Stephen Levine and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross had instant answers to the first two question. Everyone would call a loved one and say, “I …
Patience Having decided to leave his castle home to explore the world outside his protected environment, Prince Siddhartha sought a means to support himself in his new life. Upon meeting the merchant Kamaswami, Siddhartha was asked, "What is it that you've learned, what are you able to do?" To a prince whose needs had been …
In my entry Why Ecuador? I revealed something to the reader that I was not myself aware of until the words were typed upon the screen. Another reason for my being here is that as a Black man who has lived for sixty plus years in America, I am 99.9% positive I will not be …
Music Loja is the musical capital and an important cultural center of Ecuador. The motto here in Loja is: The one who does not play the guitar can sing a song; the one who does not sing a song can write a verse; the one who does not write a verse reads a book. Although …
Meditation I have returned to the practice of meditating each day since my move to Loja. It has been a part of my life for many years but never part of a routine until now. It is the second thing I do in the morning after relieving myself. Before I put the kettle on for …
Mad As Hell! I always thought representing the concerns of the people was the purpose of a democracy, but 68 years of living in one has proven otherwise. The so called representative democracy of the United States has been taking more and more control over our lives, leaving us with fewer and fewer true freedoms. …
The Power Of A Word It was a cool October evening, 1997, when the following incident occurred. It seemed like a page torn from history. I was standing on the corner of Chorro and Higuera in San Luis Obispo, California, a small college town on the Central Coast, waiting for the light to change when …
Walking I am one of those people who absolutely enjoys walking. Although it is a wonderful exercise for my body, I walk because walking takes me outside of my physical world. It forces me to be aware and present. In the moment, each moment. I can live in my introverted world for days on end …
Deceit's Tangled Web deceit noun— the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth : a web of deceit. — an attempt or disposition to deceive or lead into error; any declaration, artifice, or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false; Deceit is not one of the …
Manifesto For Living The quest is one and the same...We are drawn toward the same craters of the spirit — to know what we are, and what we are for, to know our purpose…. — Saul Bellow A manifesto is a public declaration of goals and aims. The development of a personal manifesto most often appears …
Love Simplified I don't believe love ever ends. Once having loved you cannot, not love. I still love everyone I ever loved. It is just the tense of the word that places love in the past. It is our language which complicates love more than our emotions. Love is an absolute without tense. It is …
Life’s Last Day It is a disarming feeling to know I am going to die. No matter how much I philosophize or write on the subject. No matter how much I know it is an unavoidable end for all of life. I am still somewhat unsettled in his presence. I know a little of life, …
ThanksGiving To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. -Victor Marie Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) No one is immune to poverty. War, weather, the economic or political arena can change the faces of …