inspired.revelations

QOTD.

2012-01-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

- Rumi -

self hug.

2012-01-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with. - Wayne Dyer

For my mother

2011-11-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am fond of our conversations on Monday nights when I call you on the way back from work. Many an enlightened outlook I've been able to enjoy because of your sound advice and subtle diction. You usher in a sense of composure, of peace, focus and renewed strength.

I tend to doubt, you tend to believe. My vision becomes blurred and astray, you keep me centered. I fret, you continue to remain calm.

Regardless of association: I appreciate you as a human being in my life.

Man, Woman; Heart.

2011-11-02T22:14:00.000-06:00

Sustainable Fulfillment.

2011-10-19T23:05:00.000-06:00

Fulfillment.

At one point in a person’s life, regardless of consciousness, they ask of themselves, “What is fulfilling, to me?”

Working for the weekends.

Being the best husband/wife/family member I can be.

Adventure.

Blacking out on Friday.

“Hooking up.”

Finding love.

I’m working on a theory that highlights short bursts of fulfillment, as opposed to deep and resounding fulfillment. I believe most people don’t ask the question highlighted above, they just generally assume that their agenda for life will fill the bill for the time being. It may last minutes, days, weeks or even years but that well will dry up. They’re not asking the tough question: What is sustainably fulfilling in life?

In my own existence I am grinding through activities, relationships and “life” that allow me to seek what is fulfilling. My answer? Until Life’s beautifully disastrous pinwheel spins me right round again? Love and adventure: Two elemental disciples of life that will never default existence, provide happiness and always stay classy.

Of course people change, life changes, goals change, situations change and thus definitions of fulfillment change. Until then, let everyone be blessed enough to experience some form of sustainable fulfillment.

Giving Somebody Your Heart

2011-10-11T16:58:00.001-06:00

In every interaction you have with another human being—doesn’t matter who—you always have two main choices.

(The keyword is choice.)

One choice usually leads to logical (boring) interaction, politeness, formalities. And, more importantly, a lack of connectivity.

The other usually leads to interesting discussion, love (yes, love), aliveness, friendship, gift giving. And connectivity.

In every interaction you are either giving somebody else your mind—your intellect, your intelligent points, the who/what/where/when/why of your existence.

This is the easy thing to do. The safe thing to do. It doesn’t require much, if any, emotional strength or really expose who you are. In this way, you can hide from others (or from your self, depending on how you look at it) and not risk rejection by not even giving somebody the chance to reject you.

Or, you are giving somebody your heart—the real you, your presence, your true attention.

This is the hard thing to do. The risky thing to do. It involves an enormous amount of emotional strength (until it doesn’t). It entails entering the present moment. And it entails pushing through the challenging and stifling fear of doing so.

Instead of thinking about what to say or do, you let your inwardly felt experience inform your words and actions toward others.

Think about how often you self-censor and hit the mute button. Why? Why not just assume that what you have to say is valuable, even if it comes out not so smooth? Then maybe you say next, “oh, that was lame” and then laugh.

It’s this kind of moment-to-moment truthfulness that is required.

It’s so easy (but frightening) to practice because you always know what to say or do in any interaction with somebody else. The problem is having the courage to act on it.

Isn’t it time to feel less anxious and less alone and less unfulfilled?

--Christopher Lowman

Let go.

2011-10-04T16:32:00.000-06:00

"Be crumbled. So wild flowers will come up where you are. You have been stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender." --Rumi

A Note from Ghandi G.

2011-05-16T15:49:00.000-06:00

Full Effort is Full Victory
by Eknath Eswaran

Gandhi wanted so deeply to help the world that he dedicated his life to siphoning every trace of self-interest out of his heart and mind, leaving them pure, radiantly healthy, and free to love. It took him nearly twenty years to gain such control of his thinking process, but with every day of demanding effort he discovered a little more of the deep resources that are within us all: unassuming leadership, eloquence, and an endless capacity for selfless service.

When he was in South Africa, Gandhi sometimes would walk fifty miles a day and sleep only a few hours a night. Even into his seventies he wrote hundreds of letters every week; when his right hand got tired, he learned to write with his left. Once, while he was writing a letter, the lantern failed. Most of us would have quit and gone to bed, but Gandhi, aware of how much his reply meant to those who had written him, went outside and finished his correspondence by moonlight. That kind of drive gives a glimpse of the wellspring of vitality he tapped every day. If we were asked to live like this, we would say, "Impossible!" Gandhi would object, "Oh, no. It is possible, when your mind is flooded with love for all."

Late in Gandhi's life a Western journalist asked, "Mr. Gandhi, you've been working fifteen hours a day for fifty years. Don't you ever feel like taking a few weeks off and going for a vacation?" Gandhi laughed and said, "Why? I am always on vacation." Because he had no personal irons in the fire, no selfish concerns involved in his work, there was no conflict in his mind to drain his energy. He had just one overwhelming desire -- an ambition that, like a bonfire, had consumed all his passion. This world-famous figure, who could have been prime minister of India and one of the wealthiest men in Asia, declared he had no interest in becoming rich or famous. He wanted something far greater, he said: to become zero, to place all his talents, resources, time, and energy in a trust for the world.

"Full effort is full victory," said Gandhi. You need not be troubled if you have made mistakes, or if your ideal has slipped away. Just continue to give your best. If you fall, pick yourself up and march on. If you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, crawl. Nothing in life is more joyful or more thrilling. The effort alone brings a continuing wave of joy in which every personal problem, every suffering and humiliation, is forgotten.

--Eknath Eswaran

Never too late

2011-03-28T21:09:00.002-06:00

Accept everything about yourself--I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end--no apologies, no regrets. --Clark Moustakas

Zzzzzzzz...

2011-03-22T18:13:00.000-06:00

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep. --E. Joseph Cossman

Where da hope at?

2011-03-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

When You Are Low on Hope

by Max Lucado

Water. All Noah can see is water. The evening sun sinks into it. The clouds are reflected in it. His boat is surrounded by it. Water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the west. Water.

He sent a raven on a scouting mission; it never returned. He sent a dove. It came back shivering and spent, having found no place to roost. Then, just this morning, he tried again. With a prayer he let it go and watched until the bird was no bigger than a speck on a window.

All day he looked for the dove’s return.

Now the sun is setting, and the sky is darkening, and he has come to look one final time, but all he sees is water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the …

You know the feeling. You have stood where Noah stood. You’ve known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the office, anger at the disability in your body or the inability of your spouse. You’ve seen the floodwater rise, and you’ve likely seen the sun set on your hopes as well. You’ve been on Noah’s boat.

And you’ve needed what Noah needed; you’ve needed some hope. You’re not asking for a helicopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nice. Hope doesn’t promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one. Sometimes all we need is a little hope.

That’s all Noah needed. And that’s all Noah received.

Here is how the Bible describes the moment: “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!” (Gen. 8:11 NIV).

An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to have the bird but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise. The bird brought more than a piece of a tree; it brought hope. For isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that dreaming is worth the risk.

To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a fleck of hope, Jesus proclaims, “Yes!” And he comes. He comes as a dove. He comes bearing fruit from a distant land, from our future home. He comes with a leaf of hope.

Have you received yours? Don’t think your ark is too isolated. Don’t think your flood is too wide. Receive his hope, won’t you? Receive it because you need it. Receive it so you can share it. Receive his hope, won’t you? Receive it because you need it. Receive it so you can share it.

What do you suppose Noah did with his? What do you think he did with the leaf? Did he throw it overboard and forget about it? Do you suppose he stuck it in his pocket and saved it for a scrapbook? Or do you think he let out a whoop and assembled the troops and passed it around like the Hope Diamond it was?

Certainly he whooped. That’s what you do with hope. What do you do with olive leaves? You pass them around. You don’t stick them in your pocket. You give them to the ones you love. Love always hopes. “Love … bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4–7 NKJV, emphasis mine).

Love has hope in you.

The aspiring young author was in need of hope. More than one person had told him to give up. “Getting published is impossible,” one mentor said. “Unless you are a national celebrity, publishers won’t talk to you.” Another warned, “Writing takes too much time. Besides, you don’t want all your thoughts on paper.”

Initially he listened. He agreed that writing was a waste of effort and turned his attention to other projects. But somehow the pen and pad were bourbon and Coke to the wordaholic. He’d rather write than read. So he wrote. How many nights did he pass on that couch in the corner of the apartment reshuffling his deck of verbs and nouns? And how many hours did his wife sit with him? He wordsmithing. She cross-stitching. Finally a manuscript was finished. Crude and laden with mistakes but finished.

She gave him the shove. “Send it out. What’s the harm?”

So out it went. Mailed to fifteen different publishers. While the couple waited, he wrote. While he wrote, she stitched. Neither expecting much, both hoping everything. Responses began to fill the mailbox. “I’m sorry, but we don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts.” “We must return your work. Best of luck.” “Our catalog doesn’t have room for unpublished authors.”

I still have those letters. Somewhere in a file. Finding them would take some time. Finding Denalyn’s cross-stitch, however, would take none. To see it, all I do is lift my eyes from this monitor and look on the wall. “Of all those arts in which the wise excel, nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well.”

She gave it to me about the time the fifteenth letter arrived. A publisher had said yes. That letter is also framed. Which of the two is more meaningful? The gift from my wife or the letter from the publisher? The gift, hands down. For in giving the gift, Denalyn gave hope.

Love does that. Love extends an olive leaf to the loved one and says, “I have hope in you.”

Love is just as quick to say, “I have hope for you.”

You can say those words. You are a flood survivor. By God’s grace you have found your way to dry land. You know what it’s like to see the waters subside. And since you do, since you passed through a flood and lived to tell about it, you are qualified to give hope to someone else.

Laughter > Food

2011-03-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food. --Anna Fellows Johnston

Experimenting with Silence

2011-02-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've been trying new things in life as of recently. No I haven't jumped out of an airplane, picked up the french horn or get better at tomahawk throwing. I am trying new things in terms of personal challenges. Amongst these stepping stones to (hopefully) become a better person is being comfortable with silence. It takes about 20 minutes to get to work each morning. If you took a 20 minute ride to work with me 5 years ago I'd probably be blasting off to Led Zeppelin (wearing all black of course) or some other band on my iPod.

Now I'm trying out silence. I want to be conscious of the thoughts in my head as I do a normal route each day. I want to be able to listen to what is actually going on inside my head and hopefully my spirit. I want to quiet my mind and allow room and time to listen to...well, we'll find out I guess!

Is there something you feel is mundane and you drown out of your day? I do, that's why I'm changing things up.

Silence is a fence around wisdom. --German Proverb

Small Battles

2011-02-10T12:23:00.003-07:00

Believers in Small Graces
by Kent Nerbern

[Listen to Audio! ]

There are those who search God in the quiet places -- no churches, no public displays of piety, no dramatic or flamboyant rituals.

They may be found standing in humble awe before a sunset, or weeping quietly at the beauty of a Bach concerto, or filled with an overflowing of pure love at the sight of an infant in the arms of its mother.

You may meet them visiting the elderly, comforting the lonely, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick.

The greatest among them may give away what they own in the name of compassion and goodness, while never once uttering the word “God” out loud. Or they may do no more than offer a smile or a hand to someone in need, or quietly bow their heads at a moment of beauty that passes through their lives, and say a simple prayer of gratitude to the spirit that has created us all.

They are the lovers of the quiet God, the believers in the small graces of ordinary life.

Theirs is not the grand way, the way of the mystic or the preacher or the zealot or the saint. Some would say that theirs is not a way at all. All they know for certain is that life has beauty and a joy that transcends all the darkness that surrounds us, that something ineffable lives beyond the ordinary affairs of the day, and that without this mystery our lives would not be worth living.

I honor those who search for the quiet God, who seek the spirit in the small moments of our everyday life. It is a celebration of the ordinary, a reminder that when all else is stripped away, a life lived with love is enough.

--Kent Nerbern

Do/n't

2011-01-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

“In leadership, there are three don’ts:

When there is much to do, don’t be afraid;

When there is nothing to do, don’t be hasty; and

Don’t talk about opinions of right or wrong when

action can be taken.

A leader who succeeds in these things won’t be confused or deluded by external objects and circumstances.” Thomas Cleary

With your own two hands

2011-01-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds. --Wayne Dyer

Leisure Rules

2010-11-04T21:21:00.000-06:00

I've made some rather "landmark" changes in lifestyle lately that have left me with plenty of time to think, relax and peruse the idea of the bigger picture in life. I like it. I have enjoyed this time a lot. I found out I'm capable of using my energy for the day for a number of things. You see, I used to travel for work about 80% of the time. I was never home, I was always alone and my region of travel consisted of the entire US; ergo my internal clock was constantly off no matter what I tried. I never was able to join any kind of volunteer group, intramural league and genuinely felt like the clock was ticking on my youth. That's not the case anymore.

I go to work, I come home, I make dinner, I work out, I go to my softball/kickball league, I go out to eat and drink beers with my friends on a weekday and I get see my roommates on a normal basis. I know this sounds outstandingly normal, but I've never had an experience like this before ever since college. It's been a long time since I've been able to say this but life, right now, is peculiarly easy. In other words, life is comfortable. It's good, great, wonderful and I have no reason to gripe. I really don't. I guess the point I'm getting at can be summed up in one of my favorite Rolling Stone's Songs, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." I'm not satisfied.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it's a good thing. I don't ever want to have my life to be satisfactory. My new lifestyle of the 9-5 is brimming upon 3 solid months. Go to work, come home, rinse and repeat. It's a very comfortable lifestyle and some people love it. I actually love the fact that I get to sleep in my own bed tonight and if I wanted to I could volunteer somewhere or join an intramural team after work because, well, I have the option to do that. Nonetheless, I guess what it boils down to for me is: if you're not satisfied with something, do something about it. I'm not sure what happens next but I bet it will be cool.

The most important adjustment to be made is not in the thermostat but in our own view of what constitutes comfort. --Steven Cox

You'll get there, trust me

2010-08-12T11:28:00.001-06:00

So, I went through a pretty hellish pursuit to find a new job. It took a while, I wasn't happy with my initial results. I learned a number of lessons from this trial of one's will and came up with a couple of conclusions...

1. You're the only person who can change your situation.
2. Nobody else is thinking about you as much as you are.
3. Identify the necessities that make you happy.
4. Attitude is something you have total control of. Attitude single handedly commands the direction of your day/week/month.
5. When you think you can't go on anymore, you actually don't have a choice. If you want to meet your goal the phrase "hitting rock bottom" doesn't really exist.
6. Never expect anything from anyone.
7. Optimism (or hope) is the only thing that will keep you going.
8. Time may not always be on your side but you'll get to where you need to be, trust me.

"How long should you try? Until." --Jim Rohn

Oops-a-daisies

2010-07-28T11:26:00.000-06:00

"Freedom isn't worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes." --Mahatma Gandhi

Todd says it best

2010-07-23T09:20:00.001-06:00

I like to draw because it makes my mind flow. --Todd, age 10

environment.

2010-07-09T11:02:00.000-06:00

Man shapes himself through decisions that shape his environment. --Rene Dubos

One compliment

2010-07-07T09:31:00.000-06:00

I can live for two months on a good compliment. --Mark Twain

Old People!

2010-06-30T09:30:00.000-06:00

The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships. --Anthony Robbins

Today

2010-06-29T10:51:00.000-06:00

"Today, you have 100% of your life left." - Tom Landry

From me to you.

2010-06-27T17:13:00.000-06:00

The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention. --Richard Moss

Some great advice.

2010-06-25T08:06:00.001-06:00

How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened. --Thomas Jefferson

Perseverance

2010-06-22T09:49:00.000-06:00

I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature. --John D. Rockefeller

What a delightful sound

2010-06-13T17:47:00.002-06:00

Try to

2010-06-08T10:37:00.000-06:00

I have a male crush on Xavier Rudd

2010-06-03T10:32:00.005-06:00

So Fresh and So Clean

2010-06-02T11:42:00.000-06:00

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. --George Bernard Shaw

I may be taking those quote out of context, perhaps I'm not. Let me explain what I mean...

I made a conscious decision a while back to make sure that whatever I do, I'd be able to be stand behind it. That's not to say I don't make terrible decisions because I certainly do. What I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't want to have to cover my tracks. I want my "tracks" to be completely visible and if anybody were to ask me why I did this or what I was thinking...I want to be able to give them an honest answer without being embarrassed or make up a lie about my actions.

Make sense?

Well, this kicks ass.

2010-05-27T16:44:00.001-06:00

Sloths, yes!!!

2010-05-24T22:26:00.002-06:00

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Change

2010-05-24T11:20:00.000-06:00

"Light always hurts before it helps" - Quote from a random e-mail

What's your plans?

2010-05-11T11:36:00.002-06:00

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept that one that is waiting for us. --Joseph Campbell

What's on your mind?

2010-05-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

Facebook, believe it or not, asks you this question every single time you sign on and look at your profile or home page. It is in the empty space of your status. I looked at the question and haven't really thought much about it up until last night. I thought to myself, "What is on your mind, Ryan?" This is more rhetorical than anything, but the deeper inquiry lies in the question: "What's on your mind when you're not consciously thinking about something?" In other words, what does your mind gravitate to naturally? Once you figure that out, what does this say about your thought pattern? Obviously Facebook isn't really wanting to know your deep most inner thoughts, but it made me think about the question in general. Not really much to comment on from my personal artillery of thoughts, but it made me think about the focus of people's minds. Do most people worry all the time? Skip worry by overriding their mind with positive thoughts? Are there thoughts in the back of your mind that you're aware of but just aren't dealing with? Do you ever come to terms with those thoughts? Ready, go.

Hip.

2010-04-30T09:59:00.001-06:00

Simplify to Enhance

2010-04-23T08:44:00.002-06:00

Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter, find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. --Albert Einstein

Mountain Lightning

2010-04-21T22:27:00.000-06:00

There's lightning in the air in Denver tonight. I love storms.

From Within.

2010-04-13T11:02:00.000-06:00

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. --Albert Camus

Home.

2010-04-06T10:44:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of my backyard. Going home (for me) is like a dosage of sanity-medicine administered about 4 times a year.

Who are you serving?

2010-03-29T14:07:00.000-06:00

Experiment with this mental model: It is my duty and privilege to be of service. I will do whatever I can to make life easier for all people who cross my path. --Srikumar Rao

Birds!

2010-03-26T13:17:00.002-06:00

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

This is cool.

2010-03-23T22:15:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow.

2010-03-22T14:39:00.000-06:00

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." (Mt. 6:34)

Space out! Why daydreaming is so important

2010-03-17T10:09:00.004-06:00

I came across this article earlier today and thought it had important relevance to my life. My 2nd grade teacher thought I used to have mini-seizures in my brain because I never paid attention in class. As it turns out I was just incredibly bored and took to daydreaming the entire time--I wish I could do that more often.

Undaunted

2010-03-15T21:06:00.002-06:00

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong - Joseph Chilton Pierce

Perception as a Cornerstone.

2010-03-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

I came across this video from an e-mail I get every week. There's some corny parts in it but GREAT message.

Strive To Be

2010-03-09T20:40:00.001-07:00

I just started the book "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac and I'm really impressed so far. Here's a quote that has been used plenty of times, but for whatever reason is resonating with me right now at this juncture in my life.

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

Sunday Night

2010-03-07T22:12:00.002-07:00

I couldn't tell you exactly why, but this sums up my Sunday night.

This song is ruling my life

2010-03-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I was listening to this song as I was driving from Washington, DC to Frederick, MD last night and it was blowing my mind. Thanks to Alex Leaming, the human oasis of music.

Being Judicious, not Judgmental

2010-02-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

One of the most difficult but necessary skills we need to develop as meditators is learning how to be judicious without being judgmental. An as a preliminary step to developing that skill, it's good to reflect on the difference beween the two.

Being judgmental is basically an effort to get rid of something we don't understand and probably don't want to understand. We see something we don't like and we try to dismiss it, to stamp it out without taking the time to understand it. we're impatient. Whatever we're being judgmental about, we just want to get rid of it quickly.

Being judicious, however, requires patience together with undestanding. A judicious choice is one you've made after understanding all the options, all the sides of a question. That way your choice is based on knowledge, not on greed, aversion, or delusion. [...]

The problem with being judgmental is that it's not effective. We try to stamp out things here and they go springing up someplace else. [...] Being judicious, though, is more effective. It's more precise. We see what's really skillful, what's really unskillful in the mind, and we learn how to disentangle the two. Often our skillful and unskillful habits get entangled. The things we don't like within ourselves actually do have some good in them, but we don't notice it. We focus instead on what we don't like, or what we're afraid of, and we end up trying to stamp it all out, the good along with the bad.

So this is why we meditate: to step back a bit, to watch things patiently so that we can see them for what they are and deal with them effectively. Our concentration practice gives us a comfortable center in our awareness where we can rest, where we feel less threatened by things. When we feel less threatened and less oppressed, we have the resilience to be more patient, to look into what's going on in the mind, and to develop the proper attitude toward what is skillful and what isn't. [...]

One of the main problems in modern life is that people have so little time. When they meditate, they want to cram as much of their meditation as possible into their little bits and pieces of spare time. Of course that aggravates the whole problem of bing judgmental. So keep reminding yourself that meditation is a long-term project. When you have a sense of that long arc of time, it's a lot easier to sit back and work very carefully at the basic steps. It's like learning any skill.

- By Thanissaro Bhikku, from "Meditations"

I am this wolf-dog.

2010-02-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Comfortingly Powerful.

2010-02-20T22:26:00.006-07:00

I came across this video while looking for a new song to play. The song is called By Your Side by Sade and I remember it being really popular a couple of years ago. It became so popular that I looked past the message of the song. Pay special attention to the lyrics in addition to this woman's incredible voice. Here are the lyrics in their entirety.

Purposeful Proximity.

2010-02-18T14:00:00.002-07:00

Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you. --Augustine of Hippo

Moments.

2010-02-16T18:50:00.007-07:00

So much swirling around in my head about this video. Examining each moment of a potential day...makes life big.

The Good News About Being Lonely

2010-02-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

I was reading a book the other day that enlightened my understanding of loneliness. Here's an excerpt...

”I wonder if loneliness is God’s way of getting our attention. Here’s what I mean. Suppose you borrow a friend’s car. His radio doesn’t work, but his CD player does. You rummage through his collection, looking for your style of music—let’s say, country-western. But you find nothing. He has nothing but his style of music—let’s say, classical. It’s a long trip. And you can talk to yourself for only so long. So eventually you reach for a CD. You’d prefer some steel guitar, but you’re stuck with soaring tenors. Initially it’s tolerable. At least it fills the air. But eventually it’s enjoyable. Your heart picks up the pattern of the kettledrums, your head rolls with the cellos, and you even catch yourself attempting a little Italian aria. “Hey this isn’t so bad.” Now, let me ask you. Would you have made this discovery on your own? No. What led to it? What caused you to hear music you’d never heard before? Simple. You had no other choice, no other option. You had nowhere else to go. Finally, when the silence was too loud, you took a chance on a song you’d never heard.” --Traveling Light by Max Lucado

I liked this, thought I'd share.

Live.

2010-02-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live. --Samuel Johnson

Quote of the day

2010-02-09T15:22:00.002-07:00

Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively, unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence. --Eleanor Roosevelt

This is my favorite scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

2010-02-05T13:10:00.001-07:00

Us v Them

2008-06-16T10:37:00.001-06:00

In the wake of these crazy storms that have, more or less, kicked Iowa and surrounding areas in the teeth, it got me to thinking. Somewhere along the line, especially with this dark cloud of a "war" going on in Iraq, we got to thinking that there will always be a human enemy to pit ourselves against. While I can't disagree with an attempt to rid the world of terrorism and evil, I do remember the first words after 9/11 from our president were along the lines of making sure the evil-doers payed the price for their actions. It makes me think a couple things. Why was our first response a declaration of revenge as opposed to peace? Who are we (as a nation) to facilitate a country's growth after we invaded their country for what reason again? Before I get too political and start offending anybody, allow me to say this: we're all in this together so lets start acting like it. I was watching CNN today and they had a reporter right by the new art building which was about 6 feet under water. I can't explain to a non-Hawkeye the devastation that my spirit felt when I saw this. They were literally filming a large portion of my "walk to class" as a sophomore at Iowa. It was actually the first live broadcast I had seen of Iowa City post-storming. I had seen pictures of the storm's flooding but this really put things into perspective to me in relation to the storm's severity. At any rate, I was talking with my friend Bri (also a Hawkeye) earlier this morning when I texted her to check out CNN and she began to tell me how another friend of ours has been sand bagging for 5 DAYS STRAIGHT! I would imagine with the personality of this friend, the Iowa City residents/students and Iowans in general (holler) that this was never percieved as a choice. This was percieved as a call to action, an opportunity to help and and opportunity to join in community together to keep the spirit alive. What made me think of this? Well, in the interview they had the president of the university, Sally Mason, speak about the on-goings over the past week in Iowa City obviously in reference to the flooding. Her response was simple, subtle and (in my opinion) very Iowan of her. "I am inspired by the way the UI family has come together in support of each other, our neighbors, and all of our state’s citizens who are in peril. I am asking you today to hold onto that spirit of support and cooperation to the greatest extent that you possibly can in the days to come." So you may be asking why I posted this blog as "Us v Them." I guess this is my effort to proclaim that "us" should always be the human race, as one entity to progress further as a people and continue on with the cooperation and community that is taking place in Iowa City. As much as I want to tag their efforts in the flood response as "Iowan" or "American" I think it falls under the category as "human." In this horrible disaster I hang onto the old saying "From chaos comes clarity" with chaos being the flood but the clarity of this issue would be the responsiveness and act of community to once again reclaim the beloved point on the map called Iowa City and to bring it back to its normality. Once again, I applaud and promote the efforts of all who have helped, are helping and will help in the continuing efforts to relieve Iowa City. I ask that all who read this pray for everybody who has been touched (figuratively, not literally) by the flooding going on in the midwest. It is through community that we find ourselves doing our best work, through community we get to know our brethren and through community that we make things work to the best of our human ability. What do you think? Anybody agree, disagree? Does anybody have any medium that we can connect and help the people in need? Let me know...