a good day of great love

2011-12-08T16:56:00.002-06:00

therefore what be the very most important thing? a warm light of love. so, be it.

2011-11-21T17:47:00.002-06:00

while so there is friendship with which you can both laugh at your joy-est and cry at your deepest, be it the most vital.

2011-11-10T08:20:00.001-06:00

more lovely it is to have few things with wonderful taste than many things with poor flavor -

2011-10-25T13:52:00.000-05:00

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

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.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.
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Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

2005 Stanford Commencement coverage

2011-10-17T15:42:00.002-05:00

can't you smell the possibility in the wind? and can't you even more clearly see? oh, belief.

2011-08-30T18:57:00.003-05:00

therefore it is a facebook page of one, or a similar journalling, or a scrapbook keeping, that is healthy to revisit as an autobiographer; that is, it is, healthy to revisit all about oneself from autobiographic perspective and the inputs that come alongside such work from others; that is, we are, truly blessed to know of in ourselves much truth, and much joy, little things of happiness -- to see from others' input these and being just in all that is wonderful.

2011-08-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

they waltzed the aisles of the five and dime...

-michael hearne

2011-06-24T11:04:00.001-05:00

It's wild, huh, Emily, how many happy people there are in the world who claim to be otherwise.

Admittedly happy,
The Universe

*from Mike Dooley's Notes From The Universe. subscribe.

2011-06-08T08:05:00.001-05:00

Try living your life in the belief that our natural state is pure joy. It's when we're truly happy that we're in touch with our souls. The pain and the suffering we feel through any negative emotion or experience is simply a way to tell us how not to live. When we learn to identify what's going on, we can make the changes we need to get back into our natural state.

-Elaine St. James
from Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul

2011-06-07T09:16:00.001-05:00

You only live once -- but if you work it right, once is enough.

-Joe E. Lewis

2011-05-21T00:54:00.000-05:00

The future of a nation depend on the way they eat.

-Brillat Savarin, 1789

2011-05-18T09:46:00.001-05:00

and what is the point?

ah, dancing.

2011-05-16T10:44:00.001-05:00

the exterior beauty of oneself is entirely, both as and in perception, a result of the internal beauty of the same bodily spirit.

2011-04-10T11:40:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c__iw1WuKBE

2011-04-10T00:05:00.001-05:00

and in the midst of humanity's imminent peril, the universe said, "but, don't you see?! i have the other slipper."

2011-04-09T23:43:00.002-05:00

i want to save the world, or my parts of it, because not anyone can do the whole but everyone.

2011-03-30T00:11:00.000-05:00

joyfully and enjoyingly be beautiful and lovingly-kind in all moments, with humble thanksgiving and a smiling giggle.

2011-03-29T23:43:00.001-05:00

think joyfully of and pray gratefully for all beings who cause not mean, hurtful, painful, or oppression upon another. smile for all stories and abundance of so.

2011-03-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

so i thought about the wind farms while passing, and how their turbines look like pinwheels rather than whirlybirds, and i thought that maybe they might work better if designed like whirlybirds and if built at different varying heights. but anyway, i'm not an engineer, nor one who was asked.

2011-03-23T23:49:00.000-05:00

teaching, at some point in the life of everyone, can only be a goal of greater good for humanity to keep and endorse.

2011-03-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

the greatest gift humanity could give itself would be the assurance of unconditional love, support, and opportunity for every baby child.

2011-03-19T00:02:00.000-05:00

when it is time for a moment of fun, be so fun. if in busyness, be productive. if in sadness, cry extensively until through. laugh yourself to sleep and you will wake up smiling.

2011-03-16T23:58:00.000-05:00

and so if you ever get sad, think about the big giant planet Earth that is exceptionally pretty and lovely and rockin' fabulous and especially think of all the wonderful people who live on it that are more pretty, and their spirits.

2011-03-15T00:06:00.000-05:00

and so it is truth that beauty and health are economically and practically more feasible and affordable than as opposed, mainly because smaller amounts of food consumption generally yield lower food expense reports, which leads to better maintenance of healthy weight, and because local natural foods cost less than highly-processed and far-transported foods, of which the former are more beneficial to long-term health and beauty, and because less expenditure toward body care products and therefore use of them (medicine, bath, etc.) lends more opportunity for the body to naturally regulate, function, cleanse, and heal (rigorous facial cleansing leaves no room nor time for naturally healing oils to produce and work, etc.).

2011-03-11T00:16:00.000-06:00

everyone knows that the only thing with more than one lifetime is a cat. be vital.

2011-03-10T00:17:00.000-06:00

from Elaine St. James' Inner Simplicity:

"As we discussed it further, I also had to consider the fact that being evolved had nothing to do with it -- we're [all] simply doing our own thing. It's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the inner quest is somehow superior to the activities of the everyday world. But inner seeking is just inner seeking. There's nothing inherently better about it. Outer explorations are just as necessary and just as valuable. The inner stuff often seems more important to those who are in the midst of it because many of us have spent so much more time recently in the marketplace and so little time cultivating our own souls. When our lives are in balance, there is no distinction between the outer and the inner."

2011-03-07T00:11:00.000-06:00

sleep warm and snug.

2011-03-04T23:59:00.000-06:00

it is so nice to think about the span of time for a body of age, and the lovely earth and our ratio therefore in size, because we will, at this size and time there, go 'round and 'round and never tire, nor be blind to the beauty and wonder and scape and everywhere, because it, even with airplanes, is just enough for it to ever look any different, or less; and that is so good.

2011-03-03T00:15:00.000-06:00

flutters-by, bees, and butterflies.

2011-03-01T00:21:00.000-06:00

if a government could feasibly exist and function as a sectored two parts, one for fiscal decision- and policy-making, and one for social decision- and policy-making, i would be interested in the-giving-of-it-a-whirl. both components could be fairly and appropriately argued/discussed, and therefore neither sacrificed in part for the mere satisfaction of the opposing.

2011-01-26T01:18:00.002-06:00

thoughts on my concerns with food sourcing and the natural food chain:

[from Disney's Oceans movie] -
"... and after it's all over, when the dolphins and dive birds have had their fill, plenty of sardines survive, so life can go on..."

i often and unfortunately hear all of the scientific stats regarding how we will struggle as humanity to realistically "feed" the to-be 9 billion people of Planet Earth in 2050. i argue that we can by making local and sustainable food supply and demand circuits not only effectively, but also economically, ecologically, and environmentally-friendly. woohoo! :) if we'd all consume more locally and less in general, it'd be possible... too, if we - many Americans - just wouldn't eat so damn much, we wouldn't have to make fake food or modified foods. we'd value the taste more greatly and increase local economies by adding to the food industry hands and less machines and less chemicals and more people resources of loving labor. we could open schools around the globe to teach of how to locally and sustainably farm and create food markets and products, for produce and fishing and livestock. we can eventually evolve global transport to be cleanly-fueled, and more importantly, cleanly-sustainably-fueled, renewable and abundant, and guilt-free for use. there could be no fighting over needs or resources or transport costs or fuel.

dreams to yes

2011-01-26T01:05:00.002-06:00

someone once said and somewhere i once read and so many times the wind still says and so often i can read in the clouds the love-oozing words that beauty will save the world...

2011-01-26T01:00:00.002-06:00

the most dangerous thing in the world is not skydiving but rather skydiving with a gut-wrenching worry that if you were to die, you would have been the only enlightened, loving, compassionate, caring, lovingly-kind, giving, serving, progressive, Earth-loving, recycling, understanding, prayerful, tender, hopeful, believing person on the planet.

2011-01-11T15:08:00.002-06:00

the speed by which you flow down the river of life is directly proportional to how much weight you carry along with you. heavily-burdened travellers rush swiftly and with bumps along the bottom. light-weighted floaters have such a lovely ride that they can even enjoy the scenery along the way.

2010-12-20T18:21:00.007-06:00

i think often, maybe too so. i utilize and analyze intuition unendingly. i can, though, let down and have fun and stop the brain and lose the concerns and let go and be and sit or run and smile and laugh and eat and go staring at the sunset.

with prayer i'm commiting to the self-challenge so related: to live for, of, and into positively progressive change without missing life all the while... to find my thoughts and compassions and dreams and worries tailored to such positively progressive change... to not leave my mind in the skies of bright sunshine and wishful thinking but to bring back to my breaths a diligence and path and productivity, so that all i perceive and pray for and hope for regarding our peoples and planet and all above and in between and below and around and inside would be actually and indeed changed by me just simply as best i can do so... because wishing and hoping never got anyone married... because soaking in the sunbath of life everyday is the only way i can really communicate with life and know my path and purpose anyway... because the ins and outs of my step-by-step have a way for change and a way for not and i want to be the former... because it's time to stop running from problems of our peoples and our planet and instead function the thoughts and dreams and compassions and ideas of my brain to face them in reality for action.

it's time to go after life and make stuff happen, because we can, because why not, because what are we doing otherwise, because we don't have to have power or money but rather intelligence and compassion and faith and motivation to walk the path of our best, of positive change, of good.

2010-12-15T11:57:00.001-06:00

reality is perspective, and perspective is reality, and reality is perspective.

tonight we ordered pizza from the newly-moved-to-central-Norman, Pisa by the Slice. it was absolutely delicious (we ordered the Mediterranean - apparently, they said, their best-seller). above all, it was a warm and humbling surprise to find the two young entrepreneurial proprietor/chef-owners answering phones and manning the drive-thru, tossing homemade dough, sliding wedges in and out of the stone oven, and ringing up checks at the register. they are in this to succeed, give every detail their own attention and care, and work hard each moment; they inspire.

en route to the Pisa restaurant, I flipped the radio to momentarily check-into Delilah's Christmas broadcast on OKC's KMGL104.1. bing crosby's beloved and comforting voice requested listeners to sing along, or, "gee whiz, do somethin'" as he began The First Noel. either because I love bing crosby's work and voice and character enough to always follow directions, or because i knew what was coming, I sang. what came was happy and tear-evoking; i envisioned and knew all the other many ears and hearts across airspace and time who were doing and feeling the same thing at that moment. what came was a blind yet soulful awareness of everyone in connection, with love, of the Christmas spirit. cheesy? maybe. maybe not.

2010-12-14T11:55:00.002-06:00

i love watching my baby puppies (truly adults - 1.4 years) sleep soundly. how amazing is this life of breath and feelings and light and sight and heartbeats and gut-wrenching, connective love.

i was again telling Austin how proud of him i am for his law school work, and endurance through the most rigorous of finals, and he replied, "i know. thank you, darlin'. and you know… i just tell myself it could be worse. i could be in a third world country, running, starving --
that's about it really, but it could indeed be worse!" :)... oh, hehe. law school.

sometimes I just want to yell at some people: "stop livin' to know more, and try knowin' to live more."

2010-12-09T11:54:00.000-06:00

Is There Any Truth to Claims That We Can't Afford Comprehensive Climate and Energy Legislation and It Would Cost Thousands of American Jobs?

Ask a Scientist - December 2010
S. Hutson from Gainesville, FL, asks "My legislators in Washington, D.C. have voted against climate and energy legislation claiming that we can't afford it and that it would cost thousands of American jobs. Is there any truth to this?" and is answered by Climate Economist Rachel Cleetus, PhD
No, it’s not true. Taking action to fight climate change is good for our country and will bring numerous economic, public health, and security benefits. In fact, the most costly and risky thing we can do is nothing because that ensures that global warming emissions will continue rising—this path will likely lead to costly impacts like more extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and threats to energy and water resources.
Let’s start with why climate and energy legislation would be good for the economy. A comprehensive program to reduce global warming emissions would stimulate the economy by spurring investment and innovation in clean technologies, creating new business opportunities, and creating new jobs. Other countries like China, Germany, and India are ramping up their clean energy investments and we must step up if we want to retain leadership in this burgeoning global market. Of course, to this list of benefits we should include all the avoided costs of unchecked climate change.
Unfortunately, the coal and oil industries, who are more interested in their own short-term profits, are standing in the way of this progress. They have been engaged in a disseminating a steady stream of false and misleading information on climate science and economics, such as the information you cite. In fact, independent analyses of the recent climate bills by the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Energy Information Administration, and Congressional Budget Office show that the bills would have had a negligible effect on the economy and would have helped transition us to a cleaner, more efficient energy system. Yet the fossil fuel industries spent $175 million in 2009 to lobby against clean energy and climate policies and have succeeded in halting such legislation. (We are of course working hard to make sure this is only a temporary setback.)
2009 analysis by UCS found that a comprehensive suite of climate and energy policies can help make deep cuts in our emissions—and can be done in a cost-effective manner. Although these policies do require upfront investment, the economic results are impressive, with consumers and businesses reaping a net annual savings of $255 billion in 2030. Consumers alone would save more than $126 billion in 2030, about $900 per U.S. household: $320 from lower costs for electricity, natural gas, and heating oil and $580 from lower transportation costs.
But like I said in the beginning, you can’t look at the economics of climate legislation without considering the costs associated with not taking action to curb our global warming emissions.
Unchecked climate change means more sea level rise, heat waves, droughts, flood risk, public health threats, and more—all with a hefty price tag. A Tufts University report, The Cost of Climate Change: What We'll Pay if Global Warming Continues Unchecked, found that doing nothing could cost the United States alone $3.8 trillion annually by 2100. And the longer we wait the harder and more costly it will be to limit climate change and to adapt to those impacts that can't be avoided.
That's why the time to act is now. Investing in a clean energy is exactly what we need in a down economy to spur growth and create new jobs, as well as avoid costly climate impacts in the future. Please urge your legislators to recognize the importance of, and vote for, smart climate and energy policies.

Dr. Rachel Cleetus is an economist with the UCS Climate and Energy program. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Economics from Duke University and a B.S. in Economics from West Virginia University. The focus of her work is designing and advocating for effective global warming policies at the federal, regional, state and international levels. These include policies that put a price on carbon, as well as sector-based approaches to promoting efficiency, renewable energy, and R&D in clean technology. She also analyzes the economic costs of inaction on climate change.

2010-12-05T11:52:00.000-06:00

The Universal Peace Covenant
Peace is the breath of our spirit. It wells up from within the depths of our being to refresh, to heal, to inspire.
Peace is our birthright. Its eternal presence exists within us as a memory of where we have come from and as a vision of where we yearn to go.
Our world is in the midst of change. For millennia, we have contemplated, reasoned, and practiced the idea of peace. Yet the capacity to sustain peace eludes us. To transcend the limits of our own thinking we must acknowledge that peace is more than the cessation of conflict. For peace to move across the face of the earth we must realize, as the great philosophers and leaders before us, that all people desire peace. We hereby acknowledge this truth that is universal. Now humanity must desire those things that make for peace.
We affirm that peace is an idea whose time has come. We call upon humanity to stand united, responding to the need for peace. We call upon each individual to create and foster a personal vision for peace. We call upon each family to generate and nurture peace within the home. We call upon each nation to encourage and support peace among its citizens. We call upon each leader, be they in the private home, house of worship or place of labor, to be a living example of peace for only in this way can we expect peace to move across the face of the earth.
World Peace begins within ourselves. Arising from the spirit peace seeks expression through the mind, heart, and body of each individual. Government and laws cannot heal the heart. We must transcend whatever separates us. Through giving love and respect, dignity and comfort, we come to know peace. We learn to love our neighbors as we love ourselves bringing peace into the world. We hereby commit ourselves to this noble endeavor.
Peace is first a state of mind. Peace affords the greatest opportunity for growth and learning which leads to personal happiness. Self-direction promotes inner peace and therefore leads to outer peace. We vow to heal ourselves through forgiveness, gratitude, and prayer. We commit to causing each and every day to be a fulfillment of our potential, both human and divine.
Peace is active, the motion of silence, of faith, of accord, of service. It is not made in documents but in the minds and hearts of men and women. Peace is built through communication. The open exchange of ideas is necessary for discovery, for well-being, for growth, for progress whether within one person or among many. We vow to speak with sagacity, listen with equanimity, both free of prejudice, thus we will come to know that peace is liberty in tranquility.
Peace is achieved by those who fulfill their part of a greater plan. Peace and security are attained by those societies where the individuals work closely to serve the common good of the whole. Peaceful coexistence between nations is the reflection of man's inner tranquility magnified. Enlightened service to our fellowman brings peace to the one serving, and to the one receiving. We vow to live in peace by embracing truths that apply to us all.
Living peaceably begins by thinking peacefully. We stand on the threshold of peace-filled understanding. We come together, all of humanity, young and old of all cultures from all nations. We vow to stand together as citizens of the Earth knowing that every question has an answer, every issue a resolution. As we stand, united in common purpose, we hereby commit ourselves in thought and action so we might know the power of peace in our lifetimes.
Peace be with us all ways. May Peace Prevail On Earth.
signed this 8th day of October, 1997, at the College of Metaphysics

1. Dr. Barbara Condron Dr. Daniel Condron  Dr. Laurel Clark Dr. Pam Blosser  Dr. Sheila Benjamin Dr. Al Rohrer Paul Blosser Melanie McManus Linda Yeingst Ernie Padilla Teresa Padilla Terry Martin Christine Andrews Sharka Glet Jay McCormick Greg Hoeflicker Lisa Kinser John Clark Patrick Andries  Damian Nordmann Mari Hamersley Terryll Nemeth Paul Madar Oliver Seger Lyle Branson  John Harrison Karen Low Traci Byington  Shannon Cordes Created in 1997 by faculty & students of the School of Metaphysics

2010-11-28T11:50:00.000-06:00

on the note of politics, who can blame anyone in a party for being in a party? it's really just a way to become a serving official. sign on to the wide-spread base of ideals from one party or another, smile and shake well, and you're in. with money, backing, power, support, applause. so regardless of your opinion, regarding either party, can't we all agree that, aside from politics and policy fights, these officials are best to be considered from perspective of a questioner of character, ideals, motivation, loving kindness, and honesty? can we stop bashing officials in office for simply doing the jobs we didn't choose to run for or do ourselves because we knew there'd be constituents like ourselves bashing us anyway? can we stop nailing all politicians if they simply belong to the party we "aren't registered for"? as if that's important… and can we start thinking and acting like mature, well-read, intelligent, pensive, non-judgmental, non-stereotypical, curious, and effective American voters who are blessed to live in this country of amazing access to resources, knowledge, and information? to rights and freedoms? please?

wasn't abraham lincoln the best president we've ever had because he threw partisan issues and bickering over mediocrity out the window and rather went to battle for the emancipation proclamation? would you have been so easily swayed to support his "crazy" efforts at the time? maybe yes. maybe no. maybe you'd have gone mainstream traditional partisan with whatever side (they both were) bashing him was closest to your comfort zone? would you have stopped to think about the magnitude of policy and it's capacity to change for good? that his non-partisan, unpopular, and selfless goals for the freedom of slaves may have been so much more caused for the greater good and above the standards of the time that you would've not even known it then? would you have thought or wanted the right politics to win? i hope you say you would have then. i hope you say you will now. we've matured past inhumane slavery rights issues, but we still are inhumane toward each other and ideas during a day of policy-making. is there any chance we can regain recognition of and practice for positive politics?

and by the way, it doesn't matter here to which party or politicians i'm specifically referring. or if i even am. or the fact that if i told you which and whom, you wouldn't believe me. it's all part of what i'm talking about. bash no more, judge no more, stereotype no more. just use facts and liberties to be change-makers for greater goodness. not just for a party or a politician or what you think you believe in. have you double-checked that policy you support? really read it? really agree with the author(s)? really even know who they are or for what they stand? really voiced your opinion about it to someone in office or started a movement to voice many opinions to many officials? really talked about it with family or friends or others? like with your voices? really recognized that your consideration and action makes a difference?

America, let's be honest. let's be better. let's stop letting the parties, politicians, and policies beat us just because we're lazy and uninvolved and uneducated and - on top of all that - shockingly pre-prescribed for beliefs (from outlets we blindly follow - like family traditions and religious/non-religious and community-oriented and partisan media beliefs) and what's going on in legislative forums.

2010-11-25T11:45:00.000-06:00

Nothing feels better than knowing you finally shook the hangover from two nights ago. Nothing feels worse than recognizing your old-age recovery skills.

2010-11-24T11:48:00.000-06:00

Don't worry. There are a lot of really amazing people in the world.

2010-11-24T11:43:00.000-06:00

Do your best. To love, to live, to give, to be, to be nice, to learn, to listen. Do your best every breath. Your life is your best shot at living your best life ever.

2010-11-23T11:40:00.001-06:00

What would I say is my philosophy and why?

Mainly, I could say: unconditional, universal, and unending love. I believe in all the good stuff. I don't believe in any of the bad stuff. I don't care if actions or attitudes are in the name of the Donkey, the Elephant, the Black, the White, the Red, the Yellow, the Buddha, the Church, Jesus, Allah, the Taliban, the Militaries, the Neighborhood, the School, the Environment, the Country. I care about loving kindness, that it be genuine and everywhere, and in everyone, preventing and defeating evil/all the bad stuff.

An appropriate illustration might be: envision the animated images/mini-video segments of a grey, dead, and wintry landscape/skyline/scene turning fresh over with one swipe of a clean brush. Into colors and sunshine and vitality and butterflies and cheerful kindness. Well, that's what I believe about it all. Issues, problems, politics, love, health, family, life. Into colors and sunshine and vitality and butterflies and cheerful kindness.

I believe in change of our creeds for bills and goals for lives and capacities for curricula and sermons for pulpits to read like the sheet music of Bob Marley: "One love. One heart. Let's get together and feel alright".

Many people will consider me unrealistic in my hope for a world capable of non-violent change and peace. I keep visions of terrorist suspects and convicts, drug lords, murderers, rapists, arsonists, bigots, cheaters and haters seated one-on-one with compassionate mentors of peace and love in rehab until the end of time or at least until they've died in effort to change the ugly hearts.

The organics belief system supports care for personal health and well-being. At bottom-line simplicity, one's mind and soul and spirit can not completely be sound or peaceful or content or enduring or positive without loving and careful and considerate personal care. I would like to live daily with complete sound, peace, contentment, endurance, and positivity of mind and soul and spirit. I wish it so for everyone. I have a slight inkling thought that we could all maybe, possibly be happier. The world might be smilier. The dark corners would fade and the monsters of all the world and in people's minds would all go away.

The belief system of sustainability primarily supports environmental care. Some argue that the world will be over in 200 years or so anyway, so why try to care for it? Do we know? Does the earth know? Who knows? There is a greater goodness that knows. Maybe it's tomorrow. If the end is tomorrow, or in 200 years, or in infinity, here's my conclusion: I'm still going to try to care for it. If I make one tiny square foot greener or more natural or more beautiful or more humane, that square foot will smile at me and I will feel it's love and gratitude. Even for just that one small square foot, I will have, at very least, said 'thank you' in return for Earth's sunsets, ski slopes, and water that looks like turquoise rock candy, and it will say to me back, 'thank you, too'. With just that one bit of loving communication, I'll have contributed to a positive heartbeat in the world.

A finality: pray for universal, unconditional unending Love with your whole being, as much as you can, for as long as you can. Then listen to just as much and for just as long in return.

:).

2010-11-22T11:44:00.001-06:00

If we humans, often Americans, just wouldn't eat too damn much, and rather enjoy in moderation the beauty of precious consumption, we wouldn't have to make or breed fake food.

2010-11-21T11:45:00.000-06:00

Let friends become naturally. Love yourself and trust that you're perfectly lovely. Don't try too hard. Where you are, when you are. Then if you move, keep close the dear and true. Rejoice in the many social connections of your life from movement to movement. Be kind. Be nice. ["It's not hard to be nice." - Tommy Byrd, my dad and hero]

2010-11-19T11:47:00.000-06:00

Another note on finding the answers: the problem lies when you lose all sense of wonder and think you actually have all the answers. Laugh more and keep looking, searching, exploring, and loving the wondering.

2010-11-19T11:46:00.000-06:00

And if you are still searching for answers about what is good and what is bad, or if you've stopped using your own beautiful and capable and independent mind/soul/heart/spirit to figure it out, and you let any place or any thing or any person dictate all the answers to what is good and what is bad for you, then I just don't think you're laughing enough.

2010-11-17T11:38:00.000-06:00

A Poem to Progressives Plotting Mass Exodus
By Lauren Zuniga
November 17, 2010
The Oklahoma Gazette
(okgazette.com)

There is a sick pit in your stomach.
A plantation in your front yard.
The static flicker of black and white.
An absurd talking picture,
where sepia skin is now villain.
You are not sure who to trust anymore.
Everyone walks backward in your neighborhood.
You are surrounded by billboards with hate-sized font.
You are looking for a secret handshake.
A fish with feet drawn in the sand.
Blue paint on the door frame.
You resent even the dirt for being so damn red.
At night you are a furious search engine.
Screaming down the track toward
some kind of Shangri-La.
Portland has no jobs.
Canada doesn’t want you.
You hear property is cheap in Costa Rica.
Even Cuba seems safer than your next PTA meeting.
Anywhere is better than here.
But here is your home.
Here is where you chose to raise your kids
because the people are so friendly.
Do not let them drive you away.
Here is where you are needed the most.
Here is where the sunset stretches its arms wide as forgiveness across stolen plains.
Here is where Clara Luper sat down at the Katz lunch counter and asked to be served.
Here is where black and white soldiers fought alongside each other for the first time.
Where Kate Barnard was elected before she could even vote.
Where hippies squatted in Paseo until it became an art district.
Here is where Charlie Christian learned guitar.
Where Wayne Coyne keeps the bubble.
Where Woodrow Wilson Guthrie played the harmonica for sandwiches.
Here is where the healing has to take place.
Tell them you are not moving.
Oklahoma is worth the wait.
Sometimes evolution feels like
the stinging cramp in the back of your knees when you grow too fast for your outdated bones.
Sometimes it feels like a house in the city
with three goats, 10 chickens and 12 wild kids.
Tear up the sidewalk.
Plant a garden.
Bake a squash casserole and invite
all your terrified neighbors over.
Say “As-Salamu alaykum” to everyone you meet.
Fill out all government forms in Español.
Check all the boxes for your race.
Ride your bike to work. Make art in the streets.
Feed people without a license.
Go to city council meetings.
Sit in at the state House and Senate.
Wear a purple boa. Don’t apologize for your presence.
Write love letters to mothers and fathers in prison.
To the wardens, the police officers, the judges.
Write love letters to queer kids and their bullies.
Tell them you are staying here for THEM.
Kiss a Republican on the cheek.
Show them how to love someone you don’t understand.
DO SOMETHING with that tight fist.
That broken heart.
That liberal mouth.
Progress is a series
of small bold moves.
Don’t leave.
Here is where
we need you.
-Lauren Zuniga, Oklahoma City

2010-11-14T11:49:00.000-06:00

Why, during some moments of a life or years of moments, do we choose to make major efforts toward purposes that are vaguely un-good or mostly so, when we could instead choose to make even just small efforts toward great and billowing goodness?

2010-11-12T11:48:00.000-06:00

[to a dearest best friend],
isn't it the most amazing understanding to know the husband aside, in hand, eye through eye, the only, strong -- he could look out across the open with you and know all the answers you question? that that hilltop moment is the picture of everything a life needs to know?
the finest fashion
the most luxe of wealth
the goodness
the celebrity
we have
we are

2010-11-05T11:35:00.000-05:00

in a year during which Haiti has been struck by both an outbreak of cholera and a massive and devastating earthquake, there remains a population of people fighting for survival, with smiles, for others, with love abound, using faith, feeling hope, nurturing positivity, growing care. there remain many foreign doctors volunteering their time and sacrificing families and work and lives for the Haitians.
there remains the proof of beautiful humanity, even in ugly dirt, gross illness, grimy poverty.

2010-11-02T11:39:00.001-05:00

If you haven't read the book Three Cups of Tea, I seriously recommend you do before another day or moment of your life is spent in fear… if you have any tinge of fear… or misunderstanding without peace regarding Muslims or the word Muslim or any discussion or issues brought up regarding Muslims, in our country or otherwise. Please read the story.

My precious brother-in-law's girlfriend, Sarah, teaches 8th grade US history in Oklahoma. today she read, with her class, through the Three Cups of Tea chapter in which part Greg Mortensson is in Pakistan. When 9//1 strikes, he is building schools for the uneducated and rural dwellers who otherwise have no opportunity for education [i.e. the path to liberation and individual freedom]. The Pakistani around him embrace him, support him, love him, and encourage him. Sarah commented on a few loving-kind statements and realizations made by students, one including: "If a Christian were a murderer, he or she wouldn't represent all Christians, so maybe the crazy groups of Al-Queda and the Taliban don't actually represent all Muslims."

Thank you.

2010-10-29T11:42:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Eat, Pray, Love of her game for naming cities with single-word descriptors. When on a Southwest air flight from OKC to Houston, I decided, if asked, what I would name the following cities: Dallas - Car; San Antonio - PartyFiesta; Austin -Guitar; Houston - hEAT.

2010-10-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

Dr. Richard Carlson, Ph.D., writes that nurturing a plant can help one develop a sense of unconditional love and actual practice in life. We have loved without condition our many house plants and are thankful for his tip.

On a similar note of cultivating the practice of unconditional love, I advocate and enjoy saving earthworms. It's totally fine if you're laughing at me :)… I probably would.
When I go out for a walk or jog and see a struggling, wriggling earthworm on the concrete, I simply toss it back onto the grass. This takes my effort of a few seconds. I then watch the earthworm wriggle a bit more, until he stops and recognizes his safety. He dives down past the grassblades and into the dirt below and I jog on, feeling like I just made someone's day.

2010-10-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

Love and gratitude to these educators, coaches, mentors, and influences of positivity and leadership in my life: Steve Nunno, Peggy Liddick, Debby Dobson, Mary Thurman, Sherry White, Melissa Paruolo, Karen Hartman, Marybeth Dailey, Leslie Piccolo, Richard Caram, CeCe Farha, Hui Cha Poos, Andy Roop, David Long, David Levy, and Holly Nastasi.

2010-09-13T11:32:00.001-05:00

Someone once asked me whether I smoked lots of pot.
"No," I said.
"Actually," I said, "I never have."
I guess two reasons support why I haven't ever: I don't like the smell at all, and it's never been offered.
Maybe people have questioned my interest because I emanate chill often. Or maybe it hasn't been offered just because the moment or chance has never been. Just for the record: if it did, or if I were offered, I probably would have a toke.
I think I mainly don't/haven't smoked is because I'm sensitive about feng shui and personal health. Without them in place, I tend to lose the balance and spirit of happy peace that came with me naturally as a human being. I pray often that the whole world could grow to find that natural place of balance; it's lovely in every way.
Finally, I hope to share that I don't mind the act of smoking pot, at all.
And- I completely and fully love to enjoy a fabulous and fat cigar.

2010-09-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

Stories keep us in tune with what we know, want to know, believe, want to believe, do, want to do, think, want to think. This is all positive activity.

2010-09-10T11:31:00.000-05:00

We are such a young little planet. Let's save the earth now so it can grow up with us pretty, and so we all just abound in goodness for the longest and longest time.
*Care for the world and it will care for you.

2010-09-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

my sister Louisa and i have decided (or did a long time ago and are now announcing) upon our devotion to the Philosophy of Pooh.

2010-09-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

though great competition competes, rain is my favorite-smelling gift from the universe.

2010-09-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

If you want to be loved, because you so fully love everyone, and because you are a joy to be around, and because you have life and fullness and God's spirit to offer, and because you are happy making others feel comfortable and because you do that every time, and because you love beauty and appreciate it and are it and see it in the lights of everyone else's eyes, and because you bring it so fully to the party of others everytime, then you are. And you are invited. And you do have dates at the ritz and you are glowing and glamorous everytime you walk out the door. And you do bless everyone around you. And you are a part of everything most important, societally, and then even more: making life Love each moment. So you are, and so then just be. Glow baby glow--
-Mike Dooley (TuT club/adventurers)
*sign up for Daily Notes at www.tut.com

2010-09-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

So in fact it is not by celebrity that one abides in happy fame, but rather does so by finding a way to be fully known of good things.
Love honestly, humbly, and it will be famous, worthy, beautiful, glamorous.
Bring your own red carpet to life by the moment.

2010-09-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

I heard today on NPR the opinions of a Southern Baptist leader/evangelical regarding his belief that the '60s were the era when our nation "turned away from God"; he stated that we started having "so many childen out of wedlock", that "we went from 4% to 41% of that previously. Aside from other arguments possibly stemming from the broadcast and his discussed opinions, I'd like to rebuttal this particular one. It is important, I feel, to acknowledge that during the '50s, when "idealistic" homes of "appropriate wedlock" were popularly "functioning", we could also run statistics on high rates of alcoholism and rates of affairs. Men would escape for "business weekends" to find prostitutes and alcohol a reprieve from their so-considered "ideal and perfect" lifestyle at home, "married and with children in wedlock". So then in the '60s (claims the NPR speaker), again children were born, but more in the type "out of wedlock" and not "ideal and perfect" family arrangement at home. I rebuttal: can we assume that this is truly worse? Or maybe, can we think of the free-spirited Love which soared in the '60s as the channel for a greater being: happy couples with little facade? Breeding with passion and emotion and mostly - Love, birthing children not out of "duty" to the social norm or pop…
Can we assume, after studies made and research conducted, that children of the '60s were actually more nourished in truly loving home environments rather than those of the '50s? Maybe, and maybe not. But we can assume that whether the couples of the '60s were married when sexually active is possibly not the best way to measure (or judge) our nation's passion spiritually.

2010-09-04T11:37:00.001-05:00

new york stands for all the people in the world who have ever sought a place of new beginning. it sings of young blood. it is alive in the sense of faith, it gives inspiration like she sings… it can be done in new york. it's not easy but rather hard, and the pressure is great and the bills are overprices, but it is where they have come and do come, it is where america stands icon to the outer globe, where we exhibit ourselves to them all, where we demonstrate our talents, loves, differences, freedom. it is a hub of all kinds. new york is for all the people in the world who need a place to go to build on dreams of hope, a place to freely choose the next day's vitality. new york is where people of stereotyped misfitting livelihoods or personalities or beliefs or perspectives can live both peacefully and in harmony together. or just where anyone can live together. it's not really a fight about anything except survival, which isn't great but new york is where the glamorous and wealthy parade, though sometimes unfairly or sometimes with exploitation, it is rather cool. it gives everyone an image of to what they could aspire and to what level of monies they can earn in our country with both diligence and luck poured inward. new york is where musicians play and actors try and chefs scramble. everyone wants another buck. everyone needs another buck. it is possible. our world can make it okay; well, we're made of people. everybody gets a chance in new york, everybody can get a chance in the world. we take new york to the whole earth, it goes and loves and says yes you can, be free. find your way. give yourself a chance to make a difference of your life and those around you. you have to do your best or you won't make it. but you can. go be free, believe in your dreams, ignore any past not for good, chase what goodness you've known, if any, see that someone somewhere wants you to be a human success. it's new york. the america.

2010-09-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

And so it is that actually the beauty lies in such truth that, no, in fact, we have not a guarantee for sunrise.

2010-09-03T11:36:00.000-05:00

technologies have reflected what potential lies globally for peace and understanding. there is, as the greatest song can claim, One Love. it shines in twitter and Facebook and blogs and music sties and artist hubs all online where youth and older gather virtually to experience life, and Love. in the world just today as we see it, young still and with much room to grow, there is hope and dream of One Love, from world cup futbol youngster groupies playing around-the-wolds via iPhone podcast, or a music group youtube recording of a joyful tune, or pen pals between countries at war making jokes and laughter via Skype. yes, there is more happening than wars and evil and oppression. there is better happening. souls everywhere believe in and are combating for Love and peace. there is the life of the world, shared now much in technologies, pouring the soul of it all for good, inspiring, uniting, and organizing for smiles. it is happening!

2010-09-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

Could the soul grow naturally in connection to and in flow of the sun? From east to west? Conservative to liberal to fully spent?

2010-09-01T11:27:00.001-05:00

America doesn't stand for freedom or pretend to do so. America is freedom.
I say we shouldn't condemn people who come here for freedoms. Many of them fight for ours and we collectively shun them with laws against immigration or cultural norms pointing against immigration. I say we can't and shouldn't blame them for our problems. And I say let's not condemn or those who leave our country to go serve or mission or abide elsewhere. They appreciate Americas freedoms but have other passions to live elsewhere and thats the beauty of our generation: travel accessibility and travel freedoms. And they show foreign places more love and peace than do some of our service men and women who stand and fight in the same foreign places with weapons and scary faces and forceful governmental implementation.

2010-08-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

there are no monsters.
-Mike Dooley (TuT club/adventurers)
*sign up for Daily Notes at www.tut.com

2010-08-24T11:27:00.000-05:00

I believe in the philosophy of Disney's "It's a Small World".

2010-08-23T11:27:00.000-05:00

The big sky of Oklahoma is what I think had led us to faith above all else. Where else can one be raised to physically see and know the greater, bigger divinity that covers us all?

2010-08-22T11:26:00.000-05:00

So if evil is everywhere, the world goes on? Ahh. It is turning with goodness and light, blinding and always defeating the opposition. There will never be evil too strong, just always at loss. From the start. It's essence is numbed by good upon action. Always. That is the promise of the world, of life, of Love. Find, hold, be the light.

2010-08-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

Often the pursuit of total Love disheartens, because there seem to be too much or many darkness to overcome. Can we remember, however, that for what else do we live? That there is more than enough good and more than enough people making light, being Love for it to prevail? We see and hear and experience stories and examples of trouble for apprecition of what is Love. For knowing Love. For if no darkness we could not know light, and so we give unending thanks that for in light there can be no dark, that for all the beautiful world there will never be darkness to prevail, that Love is alive and Love is all.

2010-08-17T11:25:00.000-05:00

Richness is travel. Even around the block.

2010-08-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

Land is beautiful. The Texas panhandle may view bare but it exists in plenty. Of sunrises and sunsets and baby blue skies and hills and canyons. So yes there are problems with cattle and ranching and farming but I believe we will eventually overcome it and figure it out. We'll figure out how to own and enjoy the land without exploiting it for cattle or coal or ugly wind farms or anything else that we all disagree about. Can't we all just share it and love it and nourish it? :)

2010-05-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

Gratitude and perspective might very well be two of life's greater gifts. They are opened and then they open doors to understanding, thanksgiving, joy, trust, faith, hope, and vitality.

2010-05-16T11:23:00.000-05:00

So the movie Up could very well be the wisest of them all. Ellie always wanted to build their home on paradise falls, she had her adventure book about it and a map of it above the fireplace. Her spirit was beautiful, full of love and joy and life. Nothing diminished her light... Even when she couldn't have children and even when they never made it to paradise falls before her death. Her life was a light of joy to the end. Her grumpy and bitter husband grew so after her death, and later he found her adventure book. Surprisingly, at the back where she had saved blank pages for "stuff I'm going to do (when I get to paradise falls)", he saw she had filled it with pictures and memories of their life together. Not with paradise falls. And it was beautiful. Wonderful. Full of treasures and special events and times of laughter and joy so beautiful that it would seem no other moment could have been better. She wrote at the end: "thanks for the adventure, now go have a new one!"-- all to say that her adventure was in fact the daily beautiful gift of life itself. That should be our adventure. Every single moment. Not the joy of what may come or of our dreams when they happen, but the dream of living the dream moment by moment and soaking it all in - for that, is vitality and life and real, true adventure.

2010-05-16T11:21:00.000-05:00

Savannah is moss and i think the moss is Savannah. no tree lacks it and no one or no part of the town is not like the moss. everyone and thing hangs, slowly moving. with impeccably comforting deliciousness.

2009-10-07T21:43:00.004-05:00

glorious feeling to recognize yourself as the one crossing a parking lot and earning raised eyebrows in question, from whose gut a carefree and poorly talented and uninhibited set of song lyrics with tune is being belted... to recognize your source of liberty and vitality in it... to be alive in joy and peace and dreams all at once and pouring such pulse to the world

2009-10-05T11:15:00.005-05:00

life only is made of small, insignificant occurrences. -ekb

there is no thing more intellectually inspiring, spiritually understanding, peacefully moving, warmly exciting, or fully believing than an early fall moment on a busy and green university campus lawn. -ekb

2009-10-05T11:00:00.003-05:00

a few moments of smiles from the honeymoon in Anguilla, Cap Juluca Resort:
- two young boys, probably brothers, walking along the surf ang licking jam and preserves straight from the tiny glass jars in which they are packaged. they had grabbed them, i'm sure, from the late afternoon tea assortment on the veranda.
- new wonderful love of Orchid tea, oolong.
- from journal note: "maybe one of my favorite things in life is to wake up leisurely after great rest, have an appetite, eat enough to enjoy, sip warmth, and then crawl back into bed just because it feels good. for like an hour."
- turquoise blue reflection beneath the wings of all seagull swooping along the mist, enough to create illusion of actual under-wing coloring.

2009-06-19T18:13:00.003-05:00

my brother james is handsome, confident, hilarious, witty, compassionate, tough, and pure.
what blessing he is to life, not only one but many, from mine to those nearby, around, or dear.
he will find blessing from God, for Love, of love.

2009-06-19T17:46:00.001-05:00

the highland cathedral
korb/roewer

2009-03-17T09:48:00.002-05:00

treasured sittings of peace in totality:
-120 lilac lane in the backyard under the fig tree full of fat figs
-the creamy hammock suspended over the banks of the Blanco at the riverhouse or also a rocking chair on the porch
-the foot of the cross at parc guell with an eastward gaze at dawn's break

2009-02-01T12:58:00.001-06:00

oklahoma city is full of new life, mostly rooted in the foundation and care of my generation. we are building art enthusiasm, social creativity, and city pride. there is down-to-earth spirit among us and, as I feel it, all over town. i do not know if Austin and I will live here permanently, if we will leave, if we will return. i do know, however, that I love Oklahoma, and especially this city, we have dear friends here and beloved family. we will find our blessed home somewhere fabulous one day, and whether here or away, we'll give thanks for this BLC.

2009-02-01T12:57:00.001-06:00

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote genius. I discovered his brilliance in college, and am now, with great gratitude, a better writer, thinker, and optimist through learning of his words. Enjoy this quote daily, one that could change the world if embodied thoroughly, completely, consistently, honestly, passionately, and entirely:

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children, to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- that is to have succeeded."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

2009-02-01T12:48:00.003-06:00

About one of my favorite books: titled Eat, Pray, Love, this memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert has attained giant popularity and praise. I am so happy for her in this success. Eat, Pray, Love is beautiful; everyone should read this articulate, witty, descriptive, passionate, and honest story. Love of others, love of self, love Divine.

beloved favorites:
1. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
2. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
3. The Alchemist, Paulo Cohelo
4. The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
5. Oh, the Places You'll Go, Dr. Seuss
6. Books on Food and Cooking
7. True Nature, Barbara Bash
8. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson
9. Harry Potter Series, JK Rowling

2009-01-29T11:35:00.000-06:00

it is through connecting with ourselves and others in spirit, by use of energy to and from, that we become aware of and alive in the soul of the world, all goodness and love. we are, in those connective existences, love and life fully in themselves. that/those moments are our purpose. our connective souls will spread unto the world and continue to grow and multiply and reign. the world will prosper in its love and life most fully and truly, and our souls will be reflected in future souls. we are each the light of the world.

2009-01-23T08:37:00.000-06:00

Emily K. Byrd
Graduation/Convocation Speech, May 2006
Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma

Being a member of what President Boren often refers to as “the OU family,” whether as a student, staff person, or faculty member, offers one the opportunity to hear from a wide range of distinguished speakers who come to visit the University of Oklahoma. The fact that OU can boast its repertoire of past honorable guests, which includes Madeleine Albright, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Senator John McCain, is certainly impressive. Members of this community were inspired by John McCain’s commencement address last year, and I have recently been inspired by his book entitled Why Courage Matters. In the fourth chapter, McCain recounts the story of John Wesley Powell, the man who explored the mysterious and uncharted ends of the Colorado River. Powell’s expedition grew out of his desire to test his hypothesis that the waterway indeed flowed into and out of the Grand Canyon. McCain’s account helps us to imagine the glorious sensation that Powell and his starving crew must have felt when they finally floated out of the majestic gorge and into the mouth of the Virgin River after enduring ninety-eight days and a thousand miles of perilous navigation. McCain accentuates Powell as a man who achieved his greatest aspiration through courage and conviction.

Not only in moments of grand discovery, but also in moments of tranquility is true character revealed. I once was told that character is the person you are when no one else is looking at you. Let me ask you: Do you know who you are? Possibly, you may not allow yourself enough time alone to peacefully relax and collect your own opinions. Dr. Richard Carlson’s book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, instructs us to take time alone each morning before we are swept away by the day’s rapid current. I myself set aside a morning quiet time from which I gain composure to face the day ahead. As you move onward in life, be sure to embrace it as an enjoyable adventure rather than an accelerating ride in which you never stop to take in the present moment.

It is in quiet times of introspection that one may find personal revelation, like those found in Oklahoma author Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man. It reads, “All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers, too…; I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself.”

In my own life I have often suffered from looking toward others for affirmation of my own thoughts, beliefs, and decisions. One of the most liberating truths I have discovered in the past four years at OU is that this simply does not and cannot bring me inner satisfaction. I will never be able to ignore my natural compassion for others and my desire to please them, but I stand before you today as a woman of independent enterprise who no longer subordinates herself in order to please those around her. You, too, must find and know your own character and then believe in it despite the risk of isolation. At the same time, you must always give love and remember why the giving of love is the most rewarding act in life.

Independent enterprise also requires the pursuit of your truest passions. You may be interested now in following a career path appropriate for your specific major, but if you later toss it out and choose to open a Coney Island hot dog stand in Belize, simply because that is YOUR notion of free enterprise, then good for you.

Pursuits like these require utter honesty. In life, be honest about your ambitions, your thoughts, your beliefs, your ethics, and your potential. Be honest, too, about your fear of reaching beyond yourself, and then conquer that fear with a brave heart. McCain concludes his book Why Courage Matters with these words, “We’re all afraid of something. Some have more fears than others. The one we must all guard against is the fear of ourselves. Don’t let the sensation of fear convince you that you’re too weak to have courage. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice. No one is born a coward. We were meant to love. And we were meant to have courage for it. So be brave.”

Dare to be yourself and to do all you can, and in both, dare to love others.

2009-01-08T18:16:00.004-06:00

oh, how the truth of real friends brings clarity and assurance to life. i am thankful for my friends; I love them, and we love each other. There is no boundary of time, no intimacy lost in distance. even a scratchy phone call* connection warms the spirit like tea in the winter night. real, truthful friends share the joy, the love, the hope, the dreams, the passions, the feelings of a soul.
*miss wendi black

2008-12-03T17:50:00.006-06:00

usually, Oklahoma fall and spring seasons are not ones of great glory. this year's autumn, however, was beautiful. embracing the cozy winter ahead, we honor the fall, now past.

2008-12-03T17:21:00.005-06:00

growing up means finding out realities, usually through personal experience or witness, by any means, those of others. sometimes, these realities are sad. like when you see other people miss out on the joy and glee of Christmastime because busyness grows to consume all focus and it becomes impossible to fall peacefully into the hope offered by the promise of a New Year to come. may we find Love and Joy so alive and strong in us that such realities of the lives of others may only become laughable in our perspective; not laughable with menace, but with compassion. with compassion and a diligent patience for others abiding in such gloomy realities, let us nurture them into great Love and Joy, that they may become laughing beings of life, light, and smiles.

2008-11-20T19:48:00.013-06:00

often, life is abound in the tiniest corners of the world and we are forgetful. thanks be for the blessing of reminders, this one how life promises us its unconditional endurance.

2008-09-30T13:18:00.008-05:00

sometimes you have one of those days when you feel life's love embrace your soul.

here's my prayer and lots of love hoping it can be all day every day for all days.

:)