10/30/06

last weekend we visited my mom, who is in the alzheimer’s ward in a assisted living home. there was a new resident, john, who is confined to a wheelchair and does not speak. stu sat down near him and sketched him as john watched. after stu was done, he got up and showed the portrait to john who smiled gently and nodded.

later that week, my sister was talking to john's son and told him the story of the sketch. it turns out that john, too, was an artist and even did a stint as a political cartoonist (like stu). i will never forget the look on john’s face as he nodded and smiled at stu. a connection had been made that did not need words.

There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. ~ G.K. Chesterton

10/27/06

The tragedy is not death. The tragedy is to die
With commitments undefined, with convictions undeclared, and with service unfulfilled.
~ Rachel Lindsey

10/26/06

The removal of the superfluous intensifies the essential. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

10/24/06

Real commitment is a choice I make regardless of what is offered in return. ~ Peter Block, The Answer to How is Yes

10/23/06

Do what’s true to your nature. ~ Swami Muktananda

10/19/06

As long as we wish for safety, we will have difficulty pursuing what matters. ~ Peter Block, The Answer to How is Yes

10/16/06

There is not a single moment in life that we can afford to lose. ~ Goulburn

10/11/06

The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

10/10/06

i know all of you aren't big disney fans like me, but i just had to share this story with you because it was so cool.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=wd061009mg#NewsAndViews

you can watch videos here (the first one is my favorite)

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/disney/25613/

dreams really do come true!

10/9/06

Was a bug, little bug, hardly there
How he felt, what he dreamed,
Who would care?
Without any evidence
(his flaws were many)
He was full of confidence
(some people haven’t any)
Didn’t have much common sense
(it’s highly over-rated)
He just knew that he’d come through
It’s the time of your life
So live it well
We may only go ‘round one time
As far as I can tell
It’s the time of your life so live it well.
~ Randy Newman

10/6/06

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ~ Steve Jobs, Commencement address delivered on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University

The entire speech (well worth reading) can be found here:
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

10/3/06

One of my favorite Taoist stories:
There once was a farmer whose horse ran away. His neighbor commiserated, only to be told, "Who knows if it’s good or bad?" It was true, for the next day the horse returned, bringing with it a drove of wild horses it had befriended. The neighbor reappeared, this time with congratulations for the windfall. He received the same response: "Who knows if it’s good or bad?" Again this proved true, for the next day the farmer's son tried to mount one of the wild horses and fell, breaking his leg. More commiserations from the neighbor, which elicited the question, "Who knows if it’s good or bad?" And for a fourth time the farmer's point prevailed, for the following day soldiers came by commandeering for the army, and the son was exempted because of his injury.

10/2/06

Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world. ~ Tennyson