- I am thankful for our refrigerator, and all the times I get annoyed trying to put something in it because it's too full.
"You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective." - I am thankful specifically for lyrics. Lyrics aren't just poetry, they are a multidimensional translation of emotion and senses, varying from chiffon curtains draped over melodies to metallic grunge stabbed with barbaric spikes of iron, always in a way that can touch us down deep where no one else can go. They can lull you to sleep like a baby, bring you to tears with sadness, raise your spirits to the heavens, or fire you up to take on the day. I've always been amazed at the way an artist can spin yarns wound of the most trivial phrases around a sculpture of sound and vibration, forever imprinting their powerful ballads in our hearts.
"If your life had lyrics, would they be any good?" - I have recently started painting again, first time in over thirty-five years. I'm rusty, the first one kinda sucks, I'm having trouble finding the vibrations but they are coming to life, slowly. It was one of those things I used to do, one of those things I looked back on, never seemed to make time for, one of those things I was comfy with letting it be a part of my past. The first time I sponged the paper, stirred the colors back to life, felt the sweat on my brow as I focused and listened to what the water and color were telling me and let myself respond, something awoke. I am thankful that passions never die, they never really go away, that's just a story we tell ourselves; they lie dormant in a cryonic sleep, for fifteen years or a hundred, waiting for you to wake them up and be a part of your life again.
"In the composition of the human frame there is a good deal of inflammable matter, however dormant it may lie for a time." - The times when things go wrong seem to have a stronger hold on our memory, blotting out all the times things really have gone right. We take them for granted, maybe it's because we think we have some sort of control over our destinies and expect no less than for the world to play out our lives as we see them. Today I am thankful for all the times things go exactly as planned, and when I think about them, they far outweigh the things that have gone sideways. I've never really given them enough credit.
"When things go right it's hard to figure out why, but when things go wrong it's really easy." - Today can't go to anything but watercolor, I've recently awoke the sleeping dragon after 35 years and brought with it so many things I'd forgotten. That I used to have two water bowls, a clean bowl and a dirty bowl so I didn't have to keep running to the faucet to change water. That the brushes go left, the warm and cool palettes go next on the table to the left of the work, to have the sponge ready so you don't drip all over the fills. To not be afraid of hitting it hard and dark and full of chroma, but be sensitive with the white space and let it speak. And most of all, that the details make it or break it; pay attention to the details. I've many things to remember, many things to bring back, but thankful I've gotten the pallette wet again.
"Watercolor is a swim in the metaphysics of life ... a mirror of one's own character. Let it be unpredictable and colorful." - Today I am thankful for maps. In the days when there were only printed maps I used to read them like picture books, following the roads from my home, noting the elevation lines, terrain, and landmarks, then repeat the journey on alternate routes, visualizing the difference in terrain and scenery (and often traffic.) Leave the highway here, take the two lane road there past the farmlands and into the mountains, from there we take the seldom traveled gravel and dirt service road that winds through the wilderness. I used to say "don't give me directions, just give me an address," and it was always easy to get anywhere from anywhere. I only need to see directions on a map one time and it's imprinted in my mind, I can get wherever I'm going, and sometimes, the confidence to go beyond the edges of the map.
"If geography is prose, maps are iconography." - I was standing on the patio today, watching the gauzy thin layers of clouds slowly drifting eastward, a living monotone of white on blue morphing with the air currents and thought man, that is freaking beautiful. As children we lay in the grass of back yards and parks, daydreaming away hours looking for familiar shapes in them; elephants, faces, boobies, horses, dogs, cats, President Lincoln, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. We'd give our kites flight and imagine their tops bumping the icy undersides of those floating puffballs that seemed to have a life of their own. Their brushes of water and ice paint soft strokes on the glowing palettes of every sunrise and sunset, and you can almost hear the orchestra as they dance with the sun rays after a parting storm. When they join forces to give us the gift of life, we hide from them under umbrellas, raincoats, and if caught unprepared, a cover fashioned from today's news. I am thankful for the glorious clouds that paint our lives from above in all their unique transient forms, without them, life would just be . . . blue.
"Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud God." - Last night I felt a little sad the day had to end; hours bobbing on waves that shared their energy with me, allowed me to dance along their faces, paddling back out after each ride until my arms felt like they would fall off, basking in the sun afterwards under a summer sky in December, spending the rest of the afternoon painting, lazing hours of nothing to do but dig life as if that's all that matters. Then I realized something; I am thankful all days are not as memorable as this one. If they were, they would probably fall the way of boredom and repetition, I'd have nothing to measure the ordinary against. What makes special days special is that they stand out against the commonplace and etch themselves in our memories forever. Besides, if all my days were like yesterday, I'd never get anything done.
"Every day is a good day to be alive, whether the sun's shining or not." - I am thankful for those people I see daily that are an inspiration to the gift of living. One is a checkout lady at our local supermarket, an older woman living on a store clerk wage, always smiling and happy but more importantly she is present to the moment, not on "automatic" and just doing her job. The clerk at the local convenience store, a complete stranger, but greets me like an old friend. Strangers I pass on the street, some of them homeless, who say "good morning" with no other intent than to share what a beautiful day it is. Many choose to see their fears played out around them, but you don't have to look very hard to find inspiration. You just have to choose.
"Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary." -
Every day as I awake and do my morning brief at the computer, one cat or the other forces her way into my lap, like it or not, one of them clawing my arm before jumping up as if to warn I'd better make room. She will push her head under my arm forcefully, rub my hand with her chin, and if she doesn't get sufficient attention, step across the keyboard typing vdfr lkkj htjk on the way, in a single motion curl her tail around her legs and sit tall right in front of the monitor, purring like a freight train, and stare me right in the eyes as if to say, "can you see me NOW?" I am thankful for the persistence of our cats and other random events that tell me whatever I'm doing at the moment is nowhere near as important as being present. Pay attention, or you'll miss it.
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function." - Today I am thankful for my failures, though I know that is just my judgement about them. I had a goal I didn't reach, and there's so much to be learned when that happens. I used to cross off failures as something I'd never try again. Now I look at them, see why I failed, note it as a practice run, and move on to the next try in which I'll avoid the things that led me astray. The answer is in there somewhere, I'll take a different turn in the maze next time. :-)
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." - We all have bad days, some of them so significant it's difficult to see the light. I am thankful for the strength the get through them with a simple understanding: everything is temporary. Joy, sadness, health, sickness, our lives and the lives of those we love, all temporary states. It's a choice which ones we choose to keep with us.
"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you." - I am thankful I am finally coming into tune with the universe, and the man I met yesterday that underlined it. Sounds kinda freaky and delusional, doesn't it? I had a difficult task to perform, and had no idea how I was going to complete it. I went from person to person and openly asked, all of them refused, didn't want to be involved, didn't want any part of it, flat out no, go away. The last place I tried was down a side road in the least likely of possibilities, I'm not even sure what told me to try this road, and of all the driveways on the private road to pull into this one. Looking back on it, it was simple, I was just LISTENING. The man came out, we spoke, turns out he was also a surfer, and helped me do what I had to do. We'll see each other again, that's how it works. Everything happens for a reason, even the most random, senseless and barbaric events that can't possibly have one, and it's seldom revealed what that reason is.
"Melodic invention is one of the surest signs of a divine gift."
Post note: The task was this, saying goodbye to one of my best friends. - Today I am thankful for that first cup of coffee before sunrise, sipped under a chilly morning sky. Not much different than any other morning, pale blue overhead skirted by thinning clouds all around, puffs of steam frolicking their way from the top of the cup, somehow taking a moment to notice it all at once makes it something to be thankful for.
"Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep." - I see the glass as half full, know a tree falling in the forest still makes a noise, don't really care whether the egg or chicken came first, that there is always an exception to a rule except for the exception itself. I am thankful that I have no need to answer questions that have no answer, drink the gift of life, enjoy the eggs with chopped vegetables and chicken breast in a burrito shell, walk among the trees still standing, and never say never, unless I'm in the mood.
"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches." - I am thankful for one of the simple facts in life, that there is always something I can do about problems in my life and in the world. My actions may be short term, they may not really make a large difference, they may just coddle my ego and make me feel better, but it beats complaining about it and doing nothing at all. Today will be one of those days, a second thanks goes out to Cameron. :-)
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." - It's hard to put this one into words. I am thankful for the authenticity that comes into my life and give thanks when it does. It's not too often people feel free enough to shed the masks of possessions and things and looking good to just be real. When all the proprieties are stripped away, what is left is who you are, and that's a beautiful thing to witness.
"I know of nothing more valuable, when it comes to the all-important virtue of authenticity, than simply being who you are." - It's never about the money, it's always about what makes a difference, and I am thankful that when things get tough, I stick it out and get it done, not because of consequences, but because if I don't, someone is going to hurt.
"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." - I am thankful I've never lost the ability to play. This is one of the keys to enjoying life, turn off the grownup thoughts, live in the moment and just . . . play. I have met people younger than myself who seem gray and old, their spark seems to have dimmed, and I often think it's because they've forgotten how to play. I need to get some of my old toys out, they miss me. :-)
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - I am thankful for the bits of humility I manage to maintain. People tell me I'm hard on myself, too self judgmental, but the truth is the greatest danger one can do is let loose the beast of self-importance. Once you lose yourself in conceit and delusion, it becomes a familiar and cozy form of insanity. I'd rather err on the side of humility.
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." - A friend told me of a story about a schizophrenic diagnosed with cancer, the kind of schizophrenia where none of the personalities have knowledge of the others' existence. Doctors are puzzled by the fact that when one of the personalities is in control, the cancer cells aren't present, in all the others, the cancer cells are in full force. I can't find resources about this case, don't even know it is true, but knowing what I know about the power of thoughts, I CHOOSE to believe it. I am thankful for a personal understanding, something I've always suspected, and try to live daily: thoughts are energy, energy is action, action becomes reality. It's really no Secret. :-)
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." - Today I am thankful for constants. In programming constants are present throughout an application, you can't change their value even if you want to, that's why they are called constants. Variables dance around them and change their faces as the program springs to life, flighty players that go wherever their life leads them and die without a sound when the application is done. Life, and the players that define it, run the same course. The constants in our lives are the people and things that give without expectation and love unconditionally, say and do the things that need to be said and done with full acceptance of the consequences, and have no concept of failure or rest. When we make a stand to be the constant in the lives of others, it changes the game. We become the answer.
"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant." - I am thankful for presence, the act of being present to the moment. No distractions tapping electronic devices, filling endless hours with drivel that spouts out of televisions or other empty diversions, but the honest and open commitment to the moment that shares who we are. It is really the only gift that matters, to yourself, to those with you in the moment.
"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." - Stairway to Heaven. Love it or hate it, choose your side; it remains one of the most enigmatic rock and (not to) roll compositions to ever hit vinyl. Because our shadows really are taller than our souls. Thank you, Plant and Page.
"Every musician wants to do something which will hold up for a long time, and I guess we did it with 'Stairway to Heaven.'" - Raining today, in #94 I briefly mentioned it; I am thankful for the rain that brings the gift of life to our planet. When I set aside the annoyances it brings, listen to it to it tap out it's soft rhythms on roofs and awnings, I wonder how many drummers were influenced by the natural tapping of raindrops on gutters. I visualize the way it works it's way into all living things, watch it wash away the dust and refuse of our paths across the Earth, eroding mountains to sand, and ponder how rain is one of the constant forces in the symphony of life. You can almost smell the rebirth of the world after a good rain.
"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Today I am thankful for inspiration, which has visited me frequently lately. When true inspiration takes hold it's like a fire, it can't be stopped until it burns to a climax and you do what it asks - demands! It comes from the most unexpected places, makes you put your shirts on backwards, take a wrong turn while driving, walk around aimlessly looking for your keys or phone when they're right there in your pocket, gives you that one-track state of mind that pushes aside the trivial chatter in your head. It gets right in your face, demands your active presence, and you'd better listen; if you don't, it's going to leave you. Trivial distractions wither and die against it's force; inspiration is the source of anything that matters.
"Inspiration is God making contact with itself." - I am thankful for accountability, and the course on which it has led me in life. Once you understand that every action bears a consequence, you begin to take actions that almost always have positive consequences. A world without consequence is a barbarian civilization, and there are times it seems our society is moving toward one without consequences or accountability. I can't change that, but I can stand firm and hold myself accountable.
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." - I am thankful my wife had the opportunity to realize one of her dreams by opening Zarifa's Touch of Egypt in Grants Pass, and the five year experience of the joys and often pains running it and watching it grow. From the first ideas and boxes collected on our kitchen table, the saving and scraping and planning that went into it, the monthly community dance that brought so many women together, the creation of her web site that wound up being the financial rock driving it, the presence of Zarifa and her dance studio/store touched many lives. That experience taught us many things, but most of all that we can have anything we can dream of if we're willing to take action.
Zarifa's First Anniversary
Building the Studio
More of the Studio
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - I am thankful for the way juicing and surfing has changed me, both physically and mentally. I started with a three week juice-only diet in November of 2012, lost a lot of weight, then went to two juices, a small breakfast, one meal a day, and never stopped. In May of 2013 an 8'3" O'Neill surfboard called to me, and led me to the joy that has become my bond with nature. Forming these two habits has brought about a shift in my consciousness I can't really explain. It seems these two things have opened places in mind and body that weren't possible before; clarity of intention resurfaces daily and I always feel up for the game.
"In minds crammed with thoughts, organs clogged with toxins, and bodies stiffened with neglect, there is just no space for anything else." - HAHA! This one comes from a dream last night in which I was drumming; the dream came from the topic of today's note. :-) I am thankful for the opportunity to attend the San Diego workshop with Issam Houshan in September of 2011. He is a famous Egyptian master musician known for the music and drumming he does for Belly Dance Superstars. I had followed his tutelage for a few years, at the workshop we played one of my favorite rhythms he calls Moondance. There I was . . . playing this tune with Issam himself! A musician always fantasizes about meeting or jamming with their favorite idol, I'm so thankful I had the chance to drum with him. I have a beautiful inlaid mosaic doumbek that now bears his signature.
"The drum was the first instrument besides the human voice."
Categories: About the Art
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