Imagine knowing every aspect of creativity and that of logic as well. Which of the two would you choose as to how you live? How do you know the right path if they both make sense to you but for different reasons? Knowing all aspects means that they are equal in the mind, heart, and soul. Wouldn’t absolute knowledge be a curse that leaves us immobile? How does one choose between two rights when we can only follow one with true conviction? Do we follow a creative path or a reasonable and logical one? When there is no wrong choice…
When we make room for others in our lives, we fill up spaces in our souls that might otherwise become cluttered with the baggage that accumulates in our spiritual attic over time. Life is in constant motion from our first breath to our last and within that time comes the sum of all our actions. We have no control over the rate in which time passes, but we do have dominion over how that time is spent. We can spend it creating baggage that we must store in the limited spaces that are available. Or we can use that time…
We lose parts of ourselves while traveling through this life. It’s probably one of the saddest realities that we must accept and certainly one for which we mourn the rest of our lives. These lost parts haunt us as a ghost who wishes to close the separation between us and what we’ve lost. But there is no unification, only the acceptance that our loss has forced us to become someone different and new. Losing parts of ourselves, in essence, is the slow death of who we once were. Each new day we shed a bit of who we were to make…
Imagine you were created to achieve one incredible accomplishment. This one achievement is a link in a chain that began long before you were born and will continue long after you are gone. Your link is every bit as important as the ones before it and just as crucial for the next. Our understandings and meanings of life, as well as our ability to grow as one, are in this chain that links past to present, present to future and future to comprehension. This chain is unique in the sense that it does not need to be connected by each…
Each of us seeks treasure. We work for it, sacrifice for it, even take risks for it. But have we ever actually defined what is treasure? What we desire is not necessarily treasure although it feels as though it should be or that it will be once we have obtained the desire. But what if the hunt for treasure is actually just a phantom we chase? Although treasure is real, it is not hidden in some distance destination or achieved dream. It is found in our perceptions and understandings. We actually stumble over treasure in our attempts to find it.…
We should never hold someone else to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. We should not expect more from them than we ourselves are willing to be, give or do. Sometimes that standard can come in the form of an example and often times in a word. Those simple gestures or words form building blocks which allow negativity to move forward and build foundations upon us. It is imperative that we acknowledge our mistakes. Not just so we can learn from them but so we can forgive ourselves and be forgiving when others make their mistakes. There is no…
Success is not about big goals that one accomplishes which are planned for years. It’s about getting out of bed in the morning when the only thing you want to do is sleep and hide from the world. It’s about rising up and putting your feet on the floor when yielding to a feeling of failure seems normal. It’s about forcing a laugh when crying feels more natural. It’s about living through each day when death seems the only way to peace. This is success! Success is a relative term but most will agree that it is defined as the accomplishment…
All circumstances pass away, they live and die within the moments that age us all. What is happening in this space and time will fade away and only the residue will remain. In each moment we must remember this truth. When we look over our lives and that of history, we see parcels of time where things were good or bad to different degrees. Those moments become lost in days and those days may become wrapped up in months and even into years. That period of time is remembered as a circumstance in our lives. No matter how violent or frightening…
It is not from the evil of this world in which we are defined. Those acts of atrocity against humankind, the crimes of individuals in our everyday lives and the will of those to bring conflict and suffering are not who we are as a whole. They are mere slivers of a broken world which obstruct a clear view of what is mostly wholesome and good. Our collective identity lies with those who work hard with pride and integrity to provide a living for those whom they love. It is apparent in the forgiveness that is given when forgiving is…
Most of us focus on our individual lives. We live in such a large world with numerous activities abound at every moment that we tend to remain in the small part of the world which makes sense to us. As a result, we become disconnected from others even as the technology works to bridge us closer together. This implies that we choose to be separated. But what if we were to perceive the world differently? Would this change not only affect ourselves but our involvement in the world? How would our lives be different if each of us saw ourselves…
We live in a yield sign world where everyone and everything slows down but nothing seems to ever come to a complete stop. Life rushes by because we experience the world around us moving at ever-increasing speeds and if we are to keep up then we must flow with the rhythm of this world’s chaotic momentum. However, we need to understand that the world only spins as quickly as each of us allow. We need to realize that it should not push us but instead be pushed by us as individuals in control of our lives. When our actions are…
So often it seems the root of humanity stems from what we want instead of what others need. The desire to tend to our own comforts can build walls separating us from those who need us the most. It is not always a conscious act of neglect but more of an unwilling blindness that keeps us from the most important issues and people in our lives. It is a simple gesture to give, one that requires only the choices to see and then to act. This simplicity has an awesome effect on both the giver and the receiver because it…
The truth is that there have been moments in my life when I have loved being depressed. I loved it with a passion that I will never be able to explain to anyone who has never known madness. It’s power, freedom clarity and safety beyond understanding. It is a blessing lost within a curse that dies in a hot breath and is reborn in a simple sigh. It’s life through a pouring rain of hot bullets and gentle cool drops. Found means nothing without the experience of being lost. We only find what we all truly seek in the chaos that…
For some, there will come a time when you will step out on faith and that faith will fail you. Only then and only by those who have experienced that loss will ever truly understand what it means to possess it. Many will make sacrifices and carry heavy burdens but that is not faith; those are actions and consequences. To step where there is no ground. To walk in darkness without light. To trust more than to fear, these are actually acts of faith. There are few who truly test to see if there are boundaries of faith because there…
Everything in existence is made up of different elements coming together at different times to form a specific creation. There is always a process, a chain of inputs and actions that produce the smallest of insects to the largest of solar systems. We are constantly surrounded by these seemingly never-ending processes and rarely realize their significance. We have become so numb to the miracles all around us that we don’t even see ourselves as a miraculous creation any longer. Our struggles, disappointments, and losses become our primary focus while we ignore the awesomeness of our own existence, simply take it…
The first part of understanding is acceptance. There can be no enlightenment through denial. What we allow ourselves to feel and experience are the seeds that become the trees of knowledge and wisdom. There is growth in the darkness of despair just as there is in the light of prosperity. We shield ourselves from fears and tragedies in hopes of escaping the sorrows that befall humanity. We close our eyes and withdraw from others to find sanctuary within ourselves, trying to avoid the bleak times upon us. This causes us to lose sight of our potential to expand our understanding…
PLAYING WITH FIRE What is your passion? There is one inside all of that burns with an unquenchable thirst. We feel it in times of high emotions and in the lows of despair. It’s a feeling, a voice, a desire and a sense rolled into one. It never leaves us and it never rests in peaceful slumber. It’s a part of us that we may not have yet met. But it’s there in every part of us Our passion is as much a part of us as bones and blood. It lives, it grows and it dies within us .…
We are divided in so many ways and history shows us that we have always been. What is the cost of such division and what do we gain or lose because of it? What do we do in the name of these divisions and do they save us or destroy us? Does anyone believe that slavery is acceptable? And by this, I mean would they be willing to not only have slaves, but be one themselves. When men and women in the world took actions to eradicate slavery throughout history, there was always opposition. There were wars, murders and uprisings…
I have been writing Mindsets for 25 years. I thought I might take some time to explain exactly what they are and how they originated. For most, if not all of us, we have defining moments or experiences which mold us into who we become. For me, that was a clinical depression in early adulthood. I began writing to help me express and understand that depression. Initially, most of it was dark poetry, but the more I wrote the less about expression and the more about understanding and finding hope it became. Within a few years, the dark poetry became…
I have been writing Mindsets for 25 years. I thought I might take some time to explain exactly what they are and how they originated. For most, if not all of us, we have defining moments or experiences which mold us into who we become. For me, that was a clinical depression in early adulthood. I began writing to help me express and understand that depression. Initially, most of it was dark poetry, but the more I wrote the less about expression and the more about understanding and finding hope it became. Within a few years, the dark poetry became…