a matter of experience ...

Babies are masters of trial-and-error learning. Which is why they fall repeatedly. They do it in a relaxed, almost confortable way, making it unlikely that they will be harmed. And sometimes they do hurt themselves.

Anxious, controlling parents, however, often induce shock or fear reactions in their children by communicating their own fear about what the baby is doing. "Oh my God! You'll hurt yourself" they exclaim as baby Jack starts his odyssey across the lawn.

And so, like a computer that has been programmed to believe "you'll hurt yourself", we believe this lie as we spend our whole lives avoiding trial-and-error learning, preferring instead to learn only from the stuff we read in textbooks, hear in the news, and are told by our parents and friends.

It is only the person who has had the experience of 'love' who knows what 'love' is. It is only the person who has experienced 'pain' who know what 'pain' is. It is only the baby who has tried to walk and fallen who knows what it means to fall, and to walk.

Your experience of life is the only basis for living your life, not what others tell you how. There is no other way. There is no other 'truth'.

the alien from inner space

So I'm on a Qantas flight to Adelaide, and this five year old girl draws a tattoo on my hand.

"What is it?" I ask her.

"A alien" she tells me.

"Wow!" I say. "And where does this alien live?" I ask her.

"Inside you" she replies.

subtle and profound

YUGEN

Yugen is a Japanese word that sits at the core of the appreciation of beauty and art in Japan. It values the power to evoke, rather that the ability to state directly.

Zeami Motokiyo, a 14th century Japanese actor and playwright, described yugen thus:

To watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill.

To wander on and on in a huge forest without thought of return.

To stand up on the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.

To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.

All these are yugen. And i fucking love it! Methinks we could all do with a little more yugen in our every day.

soul surrender

We lie to ourselves to keep our soul from having an adventure.

The voice in our head says It's not safe to live on purpose; to stick my neck out; to speak before thinking; to take a chance; to back my instinct because it 'feels' right. I can't do that. That's too big an adventure for someone like me. That's too big a risk for a person like me to take. What if I'm wrong and it doesn't work out?

This is the voice of fear and passivity. It is the opposite of soul purpose = a soul surrender. It is like trying to get an overly active child to go to sleep. Lying to your soul is like saying to the child, "You are too tiny to know any better or make a difference. Sleep now."

Methinks it's time to wake up tiger!

ode to the Modern Man ...

I’m a modern man,

a man for the millennium,

digital and smoke-free.

A diversified multicultural postmodern deconstructionist.

Politically, anatomically, and ecologically incorrect.

I’ve been uplinked and downloaded,

I’ve been inputted and outsourced,

I know the upside of downsizing,

I know the downside of upgrading.

I’m new wave, but I’m old school,

and my inner child is outward bound.

I’m a hot-wired, heat-seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice-activated and biodegradable.

I interface with my database,

and my database is in cyberspace,

so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive,

and from time to time I’m radioactive.

Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve,

riding the wave, dodging a bullet, pushing the envelope.

I’m on point, on task, on message, and off drugs.

I got no need for coke and speed,

I got no urge to binge and purge.

I’m in the moment, on the edge,

over the top, but under the radar.

I wear power ties, I tell power lies,

I take power naps, I run victory laps.

I’ve got a personal trainer,

a personal shopper,

a personal assistant,

and a personal agenda.

You can’t shut me up,

you can’t dumb me down.

‘Cause I’m tireless, and I’m wireless,

I’m an alpha male on beta blockers.

I’m a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk, headcase.

My output is down, but my income is up.

I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds, I watch trash sports.

I’m gender-specific, capital-intensive,

user-friendly, and lactose-intolerant.

I eat fast food in the slow lane.

I’m toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear, and I come in all sizes.

A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested,

clinically-proven, scientifically formulated medical miracle.

I’ve been pre-washed, pre-cooked,

pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved,

pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried,

double-wrapped, vacuum-packed,

and I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

I take it slow, I go with the flow,

I ride with the tide, I got glide in my stride.

I don’t snooze, so I don’t lose.

I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road.

- George Carlin, edited by me