A man walks down the street

He says, "Why am I soft in the middle, now?

Why am I soft in the middle?

The rest of my life is so hard

I need a photo-opportunity

I want a shot at redemption

Don't want to end up a cartoon

In a cartoon graveyard.

~ “You Can Call Me Al” Paul Simon

Tai Chi in the age of Covid-19

When you practice alone, remember - you are practicing with all the beings in the Universe

~ Kim Kanzelberger

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

~ Nelson Mandela

Be good humans  

Do good things  

Search for happiness 

~ Elijah Orr

You live simply, you train hard, and and live an honest life. Then you are free.

~ Eliud Kipchoge, world record holder in the Marathon

I can't hear you!

The enemy is noise.

The goal is clarity.

~ Jon Stewart

Tai Chi Wisdom

"Stick, Adhere, Listen and Follow" 

Fundamental principles of push hands in tai chi that can also be applied to human relationships.

Here at the frontier, the leaves fall like rain.  

Although my neighbors are all barbarians, there are still two cups at my table.

~ Wu-men

Zen Wisdom

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. 

If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.

~ Wu-men

Me too!

I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry!
I try not to cry until you're asleep.

~ Lisa Simpson to Homer

Applications for this abound!

How to have an argument about something that's not proven:

1. Present your case on an issue without raising your voice or calling people names
2. Agree to disagree
3. Agree that if the other person turns out to be right you will congratulate them
4. Bond as humans

~ Adam Dietch

Some things never change...

Every Disaster Movie begins with a scientist being ignored.

~ Niel deGrasse Tyson  

Alas, the existential paradox

Financial freedom simply creates space for something else. 
If there is no something else the freedom doesn’t matter.
Your job is to figure out what it is.

~ the Happy Philosopher

Three Equations for a Happy Life

From an article in the Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks, April 9, 2020

Equation 1:

Subjective Well-being = Genes + Circumstances + Habits

Equation 2:

Habits = Faith + Family + Friends + Work

Equation 3:

Satisfaction = What you have ÷ What you want

Years and years and years...

"You can’t go on and on for years being miserable about a situation and not have it change you.  
You get so you can’t stand yourself."

~ Lucille Ball, about her divorce from Desi

My New Year's Resolution

Pee before you leave.

(tip of the hat to Larry David)

On Mitt Romney, voting for the President's removal from office (February 2020)

The tallest blade of grass is the first cut by the scythe.

~ old Russian proverb

Looking for the magic...

"No, we don’t need more sleep. It’s our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We need nature. We need magic. We need adventure. We need freedom. We need truth. We need stillness. We don’t need more sleep, we need to wake up and live.” 

~Brooke Hampton

A hero's journey

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek

~ Joseph Campbell

The solution to unrequited love...

Never, ever, EVER give up.

~ Michael Scott, in The Office, Booze Cruise episode, talking to Jim about his unrequited love for Pam

True words from a true poet

“You want a good life?  It’s not complicated.

Tell the girl you love that you love her.

And tell the truth to everyone whenever you can.”

~ John Lennon in Yesterday

More Mattis Wisdom

There is no such thing as spare time.
No such thing as free time.
No such thing as down time.
All you got is life time.
Go

~ Henry Rollins

Mad Dog Mattis on Lincoln

“ ‘With malice toward none, with charity for all,’ ” Mattis said. “Lincoln said that in the middle of a war. In the middle of a war! He could see beyond the hatred of the moment.”

~ General James Mattis, former Secretary of Defense, in an interview in The Atlantic

Chekhov's Gun

"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep."

~ Anton Chekhov

If you see a rifle on the wall in the first act, it should go off by the end of the play.

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting...

Don’t wait too long to be happy.

Rose to Dr. Benjamin in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Oh, dear. I'm screwed...

People who have meaning and purpose in their life live seven to eight years longer than people who don’t.

~ Jo Ann Jenkins, Chief Executive of AARP

Fred Roger's favorite saying..

"L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux" 

What is essential is invisible to the eyes

 The Little Prince - Saint-Exupéry

Ruminations from a guy on his 29th wedding anniversary

I thought it would be better than this...

Where does one find such pill? Asking for a friend...

The cyanide pill won't work

unless you take it before the Commies bust in your door

~ Frieda on Orange is the new Black

Are you the victim or the creator of your life?

~ question posed in a brochure advertising a 'transformational journey' to Portugal

“Be content with what you have, 
rejoice in the way things are.  

When you realize there is nothing lacking, 
the whole world belongs to you.”

                                      - Lao Tzu

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." 

~ T.E. Lawrence

Don't give up your day job!

Question:

What is the difference between a Blues musician and a Jazz musician?


Answer:

A Blues musician plays 3 chords in front of 1000 people.
A Jazz musician plays 1000 chords in front of 3 people.

Wisdom from the Bold and the Beautiful

Young, beautiful girl, who has just been proposed to:

"I can't marry you! I'm a sex addict! I can't control my physical desires!"

Older man who has just proposed:

"You say that like it's a bad thing!"


The meditation phrase for today is..."dream come true"

Walking through life with curiosity and a sense of investment and joy in no way requires having a child.

~ a NY Times advice columnist

If you're going to walk on ice,
You might as well dance
~ Joey "CoCo" Diaz

Don't judge a book by the cover

“He looked like a shitkicker, but he spoke with the wisdom of a sage.”
Bob Dylan describing Ronnie Hawkins

"When I was a child and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” 

 ~ Mr. Rogers

Get in line, sister

I want my life to get bigger, not smaller...

~ Debbie from GLOW

Keep Hope Alive!

Hope” is the thing with feathers

by Emily Dickenson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Personal note:  Emily Dickenson wrote with a particular cadence, and you can sing her poems to the melody of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song. 

Joy is the opposite of fear.

~ Carlos Santana

Warrior Truths

“As we stand here tonight, there are thousands of nuclear missiles pointing right at us, and if we were to get an attack, we would have 30 minutes, 30 minutes, before we were hit. 

There is no shelter. This is the warmonger’s hoax. There is no shelter. It’s all a lie." 

~ Tulsi Gabbard

I'd Really Like to See You Tonight...

Hello, yeah, it's been a while
Not much, how about you?
I'm not sure why I called
I guess I really just wanted to talk to you

And I was thinking maybe later on
We could get together for a while
It's been such a long time
And I really do miss your smile

I'm not talking about moving in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowing, the stars are out
And I'd really love to see you tonight

We could go walking through a windy park
Or take a drive along the beach
Or stay at home and watch TV
You see it really doesn't matter much to me

I won't ask for promises
So you don't have to lie
We've both played that game before
Say I love you and say goodbye

I'm not talking about moving in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowing, the stars are out
And I'd really love to see you tonight

~ England Dan and John Ford Coley

Life is a choice, 
and the choices we make dictate how we live

~ gymnast Katelyn Ohashi

Hard times build character.  

Wrong.  

Hard times do not build character, but they do reveal character.  

~ Iraq War Veteran

May you live in interesting times...

Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them.

~ James Comey (in a New York Times editorial)

If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

~ Ramsay Snow, in Game of Thrones

“Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.” 

~ Rosa Luxemburg

“A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not be being true to yourself.”

~ Steve Maraboli

Yet we must persevere...

Behold the Dreamer! 

Let us slay him and see what becomes of his dreams.

~ Genesis 37:19-21

Sufi Wisdom

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

~ Rumi

Seeing ahead

Prophesy is like a half-trained mule.  It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, is kicks you in the head.

~ Tyrion, Game of Thrones

My typical sleeping aid...

Johnny Rose:  Moira!  Get up! Get up!

Moira Rose:  Ohhhhh, nooo.  I just cried myself to sleep!

~ from Schitt's Creek (Netflix) 

Truer words...

Do not regret loving someone...

Sarek, to Michael Burnham
Star Trek Discovery

Depression is just rage turned inward.

~ Dr. Melfi, the Sopranos

Princess Bean:  What's this feeling that I don't want to drink away?

Elfo:  That's hope 

~ Disenchantment

My whole life, I've done everything I was supposed to do,
and all it did was make me miserable.

~ from Suits

You'll always feel the same, you'll just keep getting older

~ Nora Ephron

The Perfect Icebreaker:

How's your day?