HUMAN2HUMAN

AGENT OF CHANGE: MYSTICS HAPPEN Sometimes through no fault of their own, some people become Mystics. From a life-altering event, a disease, a struggle beyond imagining, a death, an insight, or a dream. Whatever the case - a change happens. The determining factor is suffering. To experience and live in a state of...

I was broken. I was damaged. It did not happen all at once. It started with a crack. To this day, I do not know the origin of the fracture, the fault line that slowly tore me apart and left me in pieces.  I spent a lifetime trying to figure out when, how, who, what, and where.  No more, no more. It does not matter. I assembled and united all the disparate parts and pieces and that missing piece that I could not find, space where that piece I thought would make me hole, that space – that is where the light gets in. I am OK with that.  The light that got in illuminated me from within and throughout and purged and cleansed and purified and lifted me up and onto a higher plane of awareness and experience.  What makes music beautiful is not so much the notes as the spaces, rests, pauses – so that we may breathe and value and enjoy the stillness and the emptiness so  that the sound, the light may enter occupy and envelope the fullness of the mag...

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." – Theophrastus. Time wasted causes depression. Time anticipated wasted causes anxiety. Boredom makes us uneasy and tense. Living in the moment - Priceless. So much is said and thought of time. To me, it is not a currency   but a source of measurement, and this too is probably not helpful or effective.  Being in the moment is absolutely helpful and productive. But, there are so many factors that pull on our attention and energy. For instance - you have a long weekend off from work - and the moment you leave the office - you start to count down the hours to you have to return - instead of enjoying the time away. What is up with that? We are all tethered to what maybe instead of being enraptured to what is. We always need an adversary and to be at odds when we could accept there here and now and bask in the glorious time that we have. We never know how much of it we have so - why not enjoy what we have and...

Be Mindful of Your Thoughts. Part 1. There are four thoughtful practices we can apply to our thinking to help us to be more mindful and present.  They can be applied to what we think about the external world, the world at large; our interior Heart-Mind world, and how we think and feel about ourselves. Stop thinking habitual negative thoughts: i.e. “I am never going to get anywhere in life”.  This stinking thinking does not help.  Most of our internal dialogue – “The Critique” is negative.  Be Mindful of the habit of always seeing the proverbial glass as half empty.  Be grateful that you have a glass at all.  When you are able to monitor your thoughts and catch a negative thought arise, compassionately hit the pause button, and try to see the inverse, or opposite, turn it around or upside down.  Instead of thinking that you are not “… going to get anywhere in life”.  Think or say to yourself instead – “You know, I do not need to go...

When I was young a friend referred to me as a delicate flower because I appreciated the simple beauties that life had to offer.  I grew up a sensitive child, and later would be called an over sensitive adult.  In time the delicate flower grew to be a strong yet supple reed. I learned not to let life wilt me, or snap me like a twig.  After many trials and tests, I learned to know when to bend, and give, and yield to the circumstances that life would present. I had a poet’s soul.  I spent my childhood in my head, in my room, or alone in the park, or in the woods.  I adored animals, the natural world and felt in tune with the rhythms of the wind, and weather.  I had few friends and seldom ventured far from my room when I needed companionship.  That I found in books. I read Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and the Encyclopedia Britannica that my father bought when I was very young.  Through those volumes, I could explore the world, the hum...

As the wise sage once sang “Give peace a chance”.  I am here to say that – without Peace, we have no chance. Peace is not the opposite of war, it is our salvation.  But, peace begins with every individual, when we see, hear, feel, and understand its value.  No deity from above is coming to rescue us if we believe in some ancient literature, and accept him as our redeemer.  Salvation comes from within.  The first step is the hardest and the most important step towards our evolution, that first step is peace or it will mean our demise. As the saying goes hate cannot be healed with hate, it must be healed with love.  And, there can be no peace without love.  Love for ourselves and love for others.  For we are all one.  Each of us is a cell in the body of man. There is no other.  Politics, religion, race, education, can create boundaries and fences which separate us and can cause derision.  Philosophers and plowma...

YOUR FIRST PRINCIPLE. When I feel my life is bereft of meaning or purpose I have no feeling. I feel empty. My guiding principle is to be kind, caring and compassionate.  I must be engaged with others to do better, or why bother? But, sometimes I find myself alone. The mission is to stay healthy and to be positive. Which means turning off the cable news and social media and being present. I do my best to be a good single-parent, son, brother and friend, employee, boss, or co-worker. There are a lot of challenges to deal with and balance. There are times I need to be alone to charge my batteries and other times I need to be helping someone.  “I am here to help “is my mantra. It is true – if you want to feel better, help somebody. I always do or try. However, there are times I forget to take care of myself. That North Star leads me astray and I find myself lost in the wilderness of self-doubt and I am overwhelmed by the big picture. Big dreams and big expectation...