A Wednesday Love Poem – 1

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms,

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers.

Thanks to your love a certain fragrance,

risen darkly from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,

so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where “I” does not exist, nor “you,”

So close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

So close that your eyes close and I fall asleep.

-Pablo Neruda

Ideas Worth Sharing

If you have never watched or listen to a TED talk (www.TED.org) please go to their site now.  The greatest thinkers, innovators, entertainers, scientists, and writers have given brilliant and passionate talks about their area of expertise.  TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading.

Bruno Giussani, TED’s European director has said the following about their TED Global conference taking place right now in Oxford:

“Someone has written, in presenting the conference, that good news is a species that is becoming extinct. If you look at any newspaper … we are bombarded by bad news, but if you dig, if you look under the surface and search, you will find a lot of new technology, new science, new art, new ways of thinking, politically, socially, philosophically that may give you, when you string them all together, a more optimistic view of the future.” Read more

Doing Our Part And Being Inspired

On Saturday, July 10^th, I participated in a discussion at the Academy of Arts & Science sponsored by the department of labor, on how to increase opportunities for people with disabilities in the entertainment business.  Others there were union leaders (Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild), television producers, advocates, and people with disabilities (PWD) who run prominent organizations that focus on supporting PWD, the secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, and assistant secretary of Labor, Kathleen Martinez, who herself is blind.

It was a very inspiring day.  I shared thoughts with able bodied individuals that recognize the need for us as a society to improve the rights and opportunities for PWD as well as from people with disabilities who in spite of their difficulties have the fire in them to have the same rights just like the rest of us. Read more

The Pleasures Of Solitute

I ended up having a lovely day yesterday; actually very recharging.

I had written about being in a funk in the morning – as I had been waking up feeling down and fighting the feeling throughout the day for the past few days – but then I realized it was a beautiful day.

I usually go to Yoga on Sundays but I knew I needed to do my day differently so I put the dogs in the car and went to the farmer’s market.  Walking around the market amongst the many other people with their partners and children made me feel part of a community.  I guess I could have felt lonely but I have come to a point in my own personal growth that I take the good moments for what they are, good moments.  I have learned to leave myself alone and not have the banter within that could have pointed out that while most people had others, I was alone.

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Stop Negative Thoughts And Get Out Of A Rut

Combining negative thoughts with a rut is a difficult scenario for anybody to find inspiration and contentment in life.

Negative thoughts can be: always thinking about what we don’t have or always thinking we are going to fail no matter what we do.

Negative thinking zaps our energy away.  So not only we feel bad by the thoughts themselves but we also feel constantly tired and thus create a cycle of “down”.

I think it is important to understand why we have those thoughts but more important is to learn how to stop them from taking over our lives.

Here are some suggestions:

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Living A Passionate Life

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to a TED Talk (Ideas worth spreading).  The talk was by Simon Sinek (http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html) and it was about a discovery that changed his life.  His discovery pertains as to why some people are able to achieve certain things that seem to defy any assumptions.  His answer is that those people think, act and communicate in a different way than most people.  They do it from the inside out.  They think, act and communicate with their passion with their whys.

I thought it was a very good talk as it clearly delineates the difference between going from task to task and letting the years pile up and living life with purpose and passion.

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Jealousy

Go Ahead And Unplug

We all know more does not equal better.  So why do we all have bought into this idea that if we aren’t busy 24/7 we are unproductive?  We have to realize in all the running around, mobile phones, computers, internet, we are leaving behind ourselves, family and friends.  We are also risking losing the quality of our creativity, love and sex- which are life’s energy sources – because these feelings and inspirations need space, calm and attention to thrive.

Information and technology are a great advancement in human development but they are suppose to be in addition to our relationship to ourselves and others and not replacements.  We have become a nation of stressed out overachievers without becoming even one ounce happier.

So if you are feeling stressed out and overwhelmed you have to ask yourself if it is worth it.  Can you adjust your life just a bit so you can actually draw energy and power from within?  Yes, should be the answer.  Carve out a little bit of time everyday to do what feeds you.  Is that meditation? A nice meal? A delicious cup of coffee consumed with time and attention? Is it playing with your dog or cat without thinking about the things you need to do?  Is it a glass of wine?  Whatever it is, an action (even if it is to lay down with our eyes closed) done with all of our attention have the ability to recharge us.

So go ahead and unplug.

Letting Life Do Its Thing

Most of the things we do we think about the result and not the process.  What ends up happening is that the end result more often than not is different from what we had hoped for or expected.  And so we become disappoint, angry and regret the time we spent trying for whatever it was we were trying for.

John Lennon said: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”  So why not be in the moment appreciating and enjoying the process? If we can manage to do that, the result becomes part of the process and whatever ends up being is just a peg in the wheel.

For example, of course I want this website to be successful.  I want people to find inspiration, solace and community here.  But if I only concentrated in the site being successful, I would miss out on how fun it is to think about things that are important to me that I want to share.   And how moving it is when I get an email from someone who really appreciates what I’m trying to share.  If I only thought of the result I would suffer when I didn’t have many readers in a day and I would rejoice when I had many.  I would blame myself and the outside world for the few readers. In essence I would become a prisoner of the ups and downs of internet patterns without having any control over it.  Instead of doing that I choose not to think of the outcome and just enjoy the process.  I write what I think its important and inspiring and then I leave the door open for life to do its thing.

John Wooden, The Meaning Of Success

I really love John’s talk.  He says: “Reputation is what others perceive of you.  Character is what you are.  And character is always more important than reputation.”

John Wooden, affectionately known as Coach, led UCLA to record wins that are still unmatched in the world of basketball.

With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father’s wisdom. John Wooden is 99.

Wooden met his future wife, Nell Riley, at a carnival in July 1926.  John and his wife had a son, James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter, Nancy Anne Muehlhausen. Nell died on March 21, 1985 from cancer.

Wooden has remained devoted to Nell, even decades after her death. Since her death, he has kept to a monthly ritual (health permitting)—on the 21st, he visits her grave, and then writes a love letter to her. After completing the letter, he places it in an envelope and adds it to a stack of similar letters that has accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together.

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