folded wisdom

Take time to relax and think about Life.

Oh Theo - is it true? When you wear your new black shoes you can jump as high as you choose? Oh Theo - is it true?

Oh Theo - tell me no lie. When you play superhero you can fly back and forth across the sky? Oh Theo - tell me no lie.

Oh Theo - is it so? You're the greatest from head to toe. Tell me tell me I've got to know. Oh Theo - is it so?

The world is a beautiful place. The world is a confusing place. The world is a happy place. The world is a sad place. The world is so big. The world has so much to do in it. The world is small. The world is boring sometimes. The world is so exciting. The world is so fun. The world has so much love in it. The world is yours - use it well.

What could be better than getting up every day - taking a deep breath and swinging your legs onto the floor and standing up? What could be better than just being young and alive? Enjoy it! Live it!

Open your mind Theo. I know that we all see the world with our own eyes. Our own unique eyes. From the time we are born our biggest challenge is to understand ourselves and to understand that other people are different from us - different not wrong. So learn from other people. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Listen, think & learn.

When Michelangelo went to carve his sculpture of David, the marble was a huge, rough block. Michelangeo said he could "see the finished work inside the stone." So he began to carve. He chipped here where the head would be. He chipped there where the hand would be. He carved and carved for weeks and months. He knew what he wanted it to look like and he didn't stop until he had it. Carving a sculpture. Writing a paper. Becoming a ballplayer. They all take time, effort and the desire to be your best. I love you so much!

Time goes by without stopping - ever! Babies turn into boys who turn into men. Changes happen slowly and seem to sneak up on us. When we realize it and become aware it's like they happened overnight. We are shocked. But we shouldn't be surprised. We knew it would happen one day.

Walking Sunny this morning through the neighborhood, I could hardly believe we live in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the World. Green grass wet with last night's rain, the sky gray but tinged with pink and blue and the ground around our house covered with pink petals. Take time to notice and appreciate your surroundings Theo. Our world can be such a beautiful place. In your life, help to keep it that way. Be responsible, live responsibly. We really have no choice. I hope we choose a responsible leader this Fall.

"On your own two feet!" Ever hear of that expression? Ever thought about what it means? I'm thinking about it this morning because we all have to stand on what we have. God gave us two feet to stand on and he gave us those same two feet to take us where we want to go. Most of us don't think about our feet too much - they're a long way from our head - but where would we be without them? Your feet are strong enough to hold your weight and then some. They're strong and flexible enough to walk you anywhere you want to go - to run and get you there faster if you want. They may be a long way from your head but they'll listen to you and go where you tell 'em!

You know, every morning I read stories in the paper that make me cry. Stories of whole countries full of people being murdered or starved or washed away in floods or dying of diseases. So many people suffering in the world today, while we talk about sports and colleges and new clothes. I'm guilty of blocking it all out as much as anyone else is. It's hard to live your life crying for the whole world. At the same time it's important to understand how fortunate and blessed we are as a country as a people as a family. How many talented people in the world never get a chance to work hard at their dream? I love you!

A quiet morning this morning. We slept in the guest room and I forgot to set my alarm, but fortunately woke up anyway. Quietly. Gray and damp outside as I walked with Sunny. Quietly. A single seagull flew hard and straight towards Coney Island. Quietly. No bird sounds save a morning dove a few houses down hooting. Quietly. Around here it's just the hum of the refrigerator and the scratch of my pen as a truck breaks at the light. Quietly. If you're up I can't hear you. I guess you'll be down soon and we'll be off to school. Quietly.

The world of ideas. That's what we live in. Ideas are everywhere and all around us, coming at us and coming from us. What ideas to listen to, to follow, to choose, to believe in - which ones are "right" - if not objectively "right" at least right for us? When we hear something for the first time, what's our test for truth? How do we judge its correctness - its appropriateness? Ideas come at us from all directions - too many to handle really so we make filters for ourselves so that only certain kinds of ideas get our attention and we disregard the rest. That filter changes as our maturity changes, as our interests change. It's healthy to be aware of our own filters and to try to open them up a little bit when we can. It's called being open minded - a good thing!

Someone left a fortune cookie fortune on the counter here and it reads "If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by." Sounds pretty true to me, although it's really hard to know when you're waiting too long or just the right amount of time, because there's some luck involved in the equation as well. "Hurry!" "Act now!" "A limited time offer." We hear these sales slogans every day, but that's other people trying to urge us to buy. The fortune is about decisions we have to make and whether we miss our chance to be what we want to be. So be what you want to be Theo!

There ain't no reason things are this way. It's how they always been and they intend to stay. I can't explain why we live this way. We do it every day.

  from Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason

There is a reason actually - several of them. Things like selfishness, greed & laziness are a few I can think of right off. We all are guilty of them at one time or another. It's hard to break out of the comfortable shell we live in, see people suffering, see things that need changing, and decide to do something about it. Be a son, be a brother, be a friend, be a student, be an athlete, be a ceramist, be a lover, be a father, be a changer of things. One hat at a time or all at once or any combination, that's what life is. We are born thinking only of ourselves. Growing up - maturing - is about learning to turn that energy outward to the world. You're on that road. Walk it well!

Mornings - school mornings - work mornings - sleep in mornings - up early mornings - dark dog walking mornings - swimming mornings - biking mornings - beautiful blue mornings with incredibly bright crescent moons and a scattering of stars - so crystalline - so beautiful - achingly so - so glad to be alive morning. Decision-making seems fresh and possible on mornings like this. God seems in his (her) heaven on mornings like this. It's good to be loved on mornings like this. To feel that love in your bones, in your heart, in your head, in your smile, in the first person you meet on the street. I love you!

Poetry churns and humms like an engine that only you control. Reading is like turning the key and starting off on a journey. Writing is a gift from me to you and you to me - pass it on. Living is a raft trip down the Colorado river paddling for dear life. Love is holding on to the back of a bird as it soars and dips and perches on a sea cliff nest. Singing is unlocking the door. Learning is the greatest gift to yourself you can give.