- The world can be a terrible place at times, with evil and tragedy and calamity. Living in the positive doesn't mean we ignore the presence of the darker side, but dwelling in it's existence surely brings more of it into our lives. We are what we think; by focusing our thoughts on the positive, then acting on those thoughts, as a collective we can change the world. I am thankful for the spirits that have led this revolution, I cannot see many of you and may never know you, but I feel your presence and join you.
- I am thankful for humor in life, and it's power to disarm frustration. One of the frequent fliers is not being able to find something - your keys, or phone, or remote - and begin asking "who hid it?" "what did *they* do with it?" only to find it in the most obvious place, such as your pocket, or wherever you left it. (Go on. Tell me you've never done that.) When you can laugh at yourself, the universe laughs with you. It is said we are created in God's image; in respect to humor, this is absolutely true, our creator has an awesome sense of humor. Just look at the platypus, a mammal with a a beaver tail, otter feet, a venomous spur on the rear leg (males,) duck bill, and lays eggs. The creator was in rare form they day he/she thought that one up. HAHA! :-)
- Out of all the books I've read, from a technical standpoint I am most thankful for these two: Color Structure, and Design by R.G. Ellinger and Electronic Color Separation by R.K. Molla. You often hear artists and designers speak of color and it's effect from an intuitive standpoint, these two books explain the science behind color, and how it dances its way to the media we see, with mathematical certainty. I no longer use the words teal or mauve, I describe these as mid chroma blue-green and low chroma magenta-blue, and define their shades by numbers. I understand the difference between reflective and additive color, balance points, under color removal, gray component replacement, simultaneous contrast in which a gray doesn't appear to be neutral, the effects of complimentary, tertiary, and triad schemes with shocking discords, and owe it all the these two authors and the exercises within their books.
Color, Structure, & Design, R. Ellinger
Electronic Color-Separation, R. K. Molla - I am thankful for sunrises and sunsets, from the first golden stab of light over the mountains to the last fiery red splash into the ocean. I see them every day, but they are always hypnotic and fascinating, demarcating the eternal cycle of our trivial scurries over the Earth. I never grow tired of watching them.
- We live on a slippery slope built on eons of of lies and deception. Call it whatever you like, discount it as conspiracy theory bulls**t, it is plain as day for those who wish to see it. It is a challenge to carve out an existence in a society based on debt, poverty, and deceit, and somehow maintain a balance of inner peace and hope. I am thankful I have learned to see with three eyes, two outside and one inside, that see with the clarity that will guide me to a place I can make some small difference.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - I am thankful for all the things that still give me goosebumps - a favorite song on a radio, a well played scene in a movie, the first sight of something amazing in the world.
- I am thankful for the two recurring events in my life that play out over and over: all of the "firsts" and the "second chances." The first kiss, first job, first fish I remember catching, first time I stood up on a surfboard, even the first epic failure, the first time a new experience enters your life it opens a new door of possibility. Often we feel that the first failure is final and absolute, but it is a preamble to learn what not to do for the second chance. I've had many of those too, almost as rewarding as the "firsts."
"You've got to lose to know how to win." - I am thankful for old photographs and images of earlier times in my own life and historical ones as well. When you take the time to study an old image, look around in the background of the image, imagine yourself in that moment, the mental pictures of the journey that has taken place from then to now rush into your mind, sparking memories and reminders of what you, and the world, have done since then. When I relive moments of my past through photographs and images I'm not wishing for an earlier time, I'm remembering the journey that has brought me to this moment, the events and pictures that cannot be captured in simple images.
"Time it was, and what a time it was, I have a photograph. Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you." - I am thankful for the one time in my life I hit a royal flush on a machine in Reno, Nevada with four quarters, on which I won $800. It would have been $5000 if I had put in five quarters, but the universe knew I didn't **need** $5000. The next morning the timing chain of the pickup I was driving jumped a tooth, leaving me stranded several hundred miles from home. I limped it along on two cylinders to the nearest service station, where it sat in the service bay for the next two days. The bill . . . $800. I say it often: what you want in life is not always what you get, but with the proper alignment of your energy, what you need will always come to you.
- It's often said "people will disappoint you every time, just give them a chance." We can live our lives selling the face of generosity and charity, but when it gets down to it, disappointment only arises out of our own desires and expectations; our actions define how we expect the world to treat us. I am thankful I have learned to live without expectation, people never disappoint me any more, if it seems like they do, I ask myself why I tried to task them with the burden of expectations I didn't realize I even had.
- I am thankful I have learned to speak and think from the heart, down deep where it matters. Sometimes I may seem pretentious, obnoxious, rude, delusional, pseudo-intellectual, or egotistic, but at the core my thoughts and ideas are born of authenticity, love, and understanding. I'm also thankful for all of those that get this about me. :-)
"Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts." - I am thankful for all the endings in my life: jobs, relationships, pets, disasters. I thought they were tragic at the time, that the world was coming to an end, that I'd never get through them, but I emerged from them like a Phoenix from the flames - okay, a little melodramatic. I lived through them because there was really no other choice, the universe had decided for me. I was then able to look at these endings with new eyes and see them clearly for the first time. The thing I'm most thankful for about these endings is that I was able to see the part I'd played in most of them, and learn why I needed to experience them. And of course, ponder on what an idiot I had been.
- I am thankful I finally know the secret of happiness, that it is the driving force in my life, the one that makes me get out of bed every day. The irony is that it's always been with me, as it is with everyone, including you. As with anything important it hides in plain sight, like the glorious sun that greets us each morning, but we are often blind to it, blotting it out with the darkness that imprisons us in unhappy lives, in endless quests for possessions and vanity and power. The answer is #33 in this list, but I have a more clear definition of it. When I stopped believing my own lies, truly got real with myself, the frustration and unhappiness just ceased to exist. (Well, the frustration that means anything, anyway. :-) ) I live by a single promise to myself, just one: I refuse to believe my own lies. It changes everything.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Until today, I have never confessed this to anyone but my wife. When I was 17, I got myself into trouble. BIG trouble. Trouble that landed me in jail for almost 90 days, awaiting the decision to see if I was going to take the low road and spend the next 5 to 20 years in prison (I will only say that it didn't involve physical harm to another person.) I was placed in "soft tanks," isolated from the usual terrors most people think of when they consider incarceration, but there are far greater terrors than sexual assault. The greatest terror is not knowing if you will ever see sunshine, know freedom, walk among society, meet a girl, eat a meal in less than 120 seconds, be a human, or live a life beyond concrete walls ever again. Only now can I express gratitude that the universe changed the course of my life with this detour. Had it not, I surely wouldn't be here, see your smiles, know your joys, be a small part of your journeys. For all I went through . . . I am thankful, it is one of the best things that could have happened at that point in my life.
- Yesterday it rained for the first time in months. Cold, lip-chapping windy, drizzly to blinding downpour, shivering in my swim trunks before I even left the house, I almost talked myself out of going surfing (as most sane people would.) Stopped at a red light, through the pelting rain and wind I could see a sticker in the back window of the station wagon in front of me, a palm tree graphic and the words,
"No bad days."
I am thankful for that tiny reminder that a day is only good or bad because you tell yourself so. I arrived to waves that were an unrideable, angry, chaotic washing machine mess, branches of seaweed churned hungrily around my legs, anchoring itself to my leash, and at one point wrapped around my waist so strongly it almost pulled me under. I barely got a few rides in, but was completely stoked over the few that came my way. I had a great time getting kicked about in the surf and am really glad I went. It was definitely a good day. :-) - I am thankful I have learned to see through the veil, draw back the curtain, raise my voice against the common perception of what I see, and the strength to stand against the backlash.
"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." - All things metaphysical were always alien to me, like religion, politics, and social convention (which still are, for the record.) I have grown to understand that the now, this present moment, is really all that matters. What has transpired is the past, the future is undetermined, all we control is this moment and what we do with it. I am thankful not only for this realization, but for every moment to come. The present moment is pregnant with possibility, fill it with passion and fire.
"Today is a gift. That's why they call it 'the present'." - I am thankful for commitment as a driving force in my life, not only in my relationships but with everything that inspires me. My word is my law. If I fail my commitments, I cheat not only myself but everyone I know.
"There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or out. There's no such thing as a life in-between." - I spent a lot of my life proving myself, and at the root it was a self judgement in comparison with others. I am thankful I no longer have anything to prove.
- I am thankful for convertibles. Sun roofs and halftops don't cut it, it has to be a full blown drop top, three hundred and sixty degrees of open air. Just a short ride to the store with the top down, sun beaming throughout the car, wind toying with the hair on top, unencumbered by a claustrophobic roof, this can change the attitude of the whole day. I'm so grateful we were able to get our hands on one. The only downside is it's hard to transport a board over 7 feet without giving up a seat. If they ever manage to make an all electric pickup designed as a convertible, it will be mine.
- In #1 I expressed thanks for physical strength, but I'm also thankful daily for good health, put into motion by regular strenuous exercise and a sensible diet (for the most part! :-) ) I almost never visit doctors and need no regular medications, rarely suffer from common colds or even headaches any more. As we age it becomes easier and easier to let your health slip away with poor nutrition and inactivity, and for most the decision to do something about it comes far too late. There's nothing wrong with a little extra weight, but what comes with it - heart disease, hypertension, diabetic disposition, circulation problems - is not something I wanted in my future.
- One word: Velcro. I am thankful for the awesome invention of Velcro. Costume straps, hanging objects, car accessories, surf leashes, wetsuit tie downs, computer cables and electric cords, sandal straps, backpack and other carry bag seals, helmet pads, the Velcro Fly made famous by the Three Texans with Beards, any mount point you need and don't want to gum it up with adhesive crap that will eventually fail and need to be scrubbed off with acetone, there is a Velcro solution. Sure, duct tape rocks, but it's just another form of sticky gum bonded to strips of fibrous plastic tape. Velcro is the most awesome freak of un-nature ever devised by humanity. It solves almost anything right up to greed and selfishness. I'll bet if one tried hard enough, they could even stick those two bastards to each other with Velcro, then we could shoot them off into the far edges of the universe.
"Aside from Velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe." - I am thankful for Rod Serling and the original Twilight Zone. I spent many evenings of my youth with my belly and elbows to the floor, chin cradled on the heels of my hands, complaining impatiently through the offerings of Tide, Brylcream, Crest, and the Cross-Your-Heart Bra to absorb lessons of morality, irony, the consequences of greed, and the repercussions of unjust judgment taught with every cheesy and twisted episode. We'd laugh at the phony sets, scoff at the bad acting, and groan at the melodramatic theatrical devices, but the stories awoke something our hearts and minds that refused to remain quiet. These lessons are still with me today, in a dimension as vast as space, as timeless as infinity, between the pit of my fears and the summit of my knowledge.
"The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be **our** journey." - I am thank for for synchronicity, the symbolism that binds humanity with common goals and ideas. As I watch my grandson in law learning the confusing encryption of the English alphabet, I note his favorite shape, number, and letter is "O." Oh, zero, the alpha and the omega, he has already formed a bond with the symbol of eternity that marks all significant events in our lives. We stand in circles to declare communion, wrap our beloved in the circles of our arms, bear it on our fingers to announce our eternal commitment, and draw our personal boundaries with the circle, the symbol of eternity and infinity without beginning or end. The circle empowers us with the knowledge that all we gain will be lost but will come to us again in an endless loop of heartache and joy and triumph.
"The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere." - Our lives are built on dependencies; we awaken each day expecting the sun to rise, the lights to illuminate when we flip a switch, the car to purr when we turn the key, the places and people to be there when we get wherever we are going. I am thankful for all the things on which I depend daily, and never take it for granted that they will always be there.
"Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves." - Thankful in the knowledge that if I were to die right now, there are no words left unsaid where they can be spoken and no unextended hand where one was needed. I'm not planning on that any time soon, I still have a lot of work to do.
"When things are left unspoken, we forget that everyone is destined to share the sky together." - Fresh peas. I like most vegetables, but am especially thankful for the way lightly steamed peas burst when chewed, awesome little packets of iron. :-)
- I've always been a bit Grinchy when it comes to surprises, probably because I like to keep things planned and scheduled. One of the types of surprises I'm thankful for and welcome is the way people surprise me when their actions are contradictory to what I've grown accustomed to. A funny thing happens when you don't bring expectations to a conversation (#70.) I love it when people surprise me by their actions, a voice somewhere in my head says "see? Wrong again." (#62) :-)
"The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us." - A few days ago a seemingly lunatic woman approached us in the parking lot at the supermarket, as many panhandlers do, and cried out "can you help me out?" Not 'can you spare change.' or 'got a quarter,' just "CAN YOU HELP ME OUT?" Before we could say anything, she screamed "I'm not on drugs, I'm not drunk!" and turned away, screaming "I don't know what you people are thinking!" She immediately went to the next person walking to his car who quickly jumped in it to avoid her, and she screamed at the closed window, "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" The line between sanity and the slide into chaos is thin for all of us. In a world gone mad I am thankful I cling to some semblance of sensibility and sanity. Turn the wrong gears in a life, spin the wrong knob in a mind, and any one of us could slip into the darkness.
Or have I got it backwards, we're all insane and the fringe dwellers have it right?
"Sanity is a cozy lie." - I am thankful for the love and joy and laughter that fills my life, gifts that cannot be bought or sold, available only when you shed the costumes of posture and the masks of propriety. It's a strong possibility I may never know financial wealth because I refuse to submit to the Desire for Things. I make this choice and accept ownership of it. It empowers me to swim in oceans of treasures many lack eyes to see or hearts to accept. I choose that any day, in any life, any reality, oh yeah, thank you very much.
"Stand for something ... or stand for nothing."
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