Thankful for...

I like so many, often think of Thanksgiving as a time to reflect on the gifts I have in life as well as the big feast of turkey.  I am sure you do to at this time.

I am thankful for the love of my wife, family and friends. For my good health longevity and prosperity. I am thankful for my position on the faculty of one of the best art schools in the Northwest. For a life long artistic career and all the adventures it presents.

I know it all could be otherwise except for the right turns I've made instead of the left ones that would have put me somewhere else doing something else. It's a gamble, each day is a new set of choices. Each choice changes the events that open before me. I guess the best I can do is to be with each moment as a witness, no as a participant of it's unfolding. That's the key participate in the NOW. Living in the now that's all there is, all else is illusion, no past, no future. I am thankful for NOW, Oh and NOW and NOW.

Thank you for the illusion too, sometimes we need to step out on reality. The NOW can often be boring, not all it's cracked up to be and while I'm at it, thanks for dreams and all the fantasies I find myself dreaming. Have you ever had a dream that was so good you didn't want to wake up? I have, but then I wake up... so now I'm thankful for the new day. Oh, and the rain falling outside... and the sunshine that will eventually follow. Right?

Global Positioning Satellites

We live in interesting times.
I know you have heard that before but it really is true.

I am so amazed at all the things that have become a real part of our everyday lives in the last 40 years, flat screen TV, computers, digital cameras, blue tooth phones and Global Positioning Satellites.

Gosh, who would have thought that such technology would be put in the hands of everyday people and that we would make such wide spread use of it. Today I ordered my first GPS and did so as simple as if I had bought a new pair of paints. I don't want to speak for others but it seems these days that in America, we often take for granted so much of the abundance we have available.

I am excited to think that I will never get lost again, that I will find my way on highways, back roads and trails, through valeys over mountains, on waterways, lakes, and oceans. My mail ego will never have to shrink to ask directions of anyone ever again. I can now sit tall in the knowledge that I know where I am going and exactly how I am going to get there.  No more mystery's no more dramas... just what I need right?

So here is the best part of having a GPS... You can turn it off and get as lost as you want, whenever you want. Sure is good to have the choice.

A day at a time

You know often I think I have taken on too much, agreed to to many things with too many people. I can often feel overwhelmed if I look at all the things I must take care of in the next year. I have commitments with my job, I have commitments with my goals and career and I have commitments with my family and friends. I have events to go to, planes to catch, places to be, bills to pay and much to do. I have work for myself and work for others and I am getting tired. I am sure you can relate.

My only recourse and by default my saving grace is that I am able to see all of this within context, to break it down into small digestible bits that I can manage one at a time. OK Barry, remember you must chew your food one bit at a time my mother would say. So now I see that it is all just fine to have so much on the plate. As long as I take it one bite at a time. It is not all coming due at once, and NOW is really all there is... so chew slowly Barry... enjoy the flavor of each bite of this life. When I am full I will push myself away from the table until I am once again hungry. One day at a time and it will all get done and what doesn't, wasn't meant to be after all.