For Your Viewing Pleasure…

I will be engaged  all weekend so until Monday enjoy… I know I missed Halloween by a week but this should really be enjoyed year round!

Slow Down, Relax

I think most of us would seriously benefit from slowing down and relaxing every so often. We live in a fast paced world and spend way too much of our time worrying about things that really should not dominate that much of our time. It seems like everything today comes in a prepackaged ready for consumption package. Food, news, sports, and even relationships all come ready to go, fast! Our news is dominated by 30 second bits with bright colors and loud theme music. How many of us cook a real meal every night? Everything is canned, vacuum sealed, and boxed up ready for the stove, oven or microwave. We have Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, gmail, and a host of chat programs. Blackberries, iPhones, and text messages. We want the world and we want it now.

We lose a lot in our sprint through life. We all just need to take it slow and relax once in a while. Try this, I guarantee you will feel better. On the next sunny day that gives you a positive feeling skip class or call in sick to work. Here is what I want you to do…

Wake up early and get nice pot of coffee or tea started. Take a walk down the nearest place that sells newspapers or magazines and buy a New York Times or an Economist. Go home, pick out your most  comfortable chair and read it, cover to cover. Take a break halfway through and make yourself a real breakfast, whatever you like. Pancakes, eggs, french toast, bacon, anything that takes a little time and preparation. When you have finished your paper and your breakfast take a nice slow walk to your favorite coffee shop, library, bookstore or anywhere that you feel cozy and comfortable. Once you are there get out a pen and some paper. Think of a friend or family member you haven’t talked to in a long time and write that person a good old fashioned letter. Connect with flow and relaxation of letting your thoughts roll out onto the paper. Next try to find a somewhere beautiful, ideally some sort of place with lots of plants and trees. Find a bench or take a walk through the area. Really look at everything around you, feel the energy and life in those trees. Soak up the energy and warming life force of the natural world. When you have finished with this head home and cook a real dinner. Something that makes you happy to prepare and to eat. When you have finished go back to that comfortable chair with a hot cup of tea and read your favorite book. Let yourself fully sink into the story and the characters. Or listen to a piece of music without doing anything else. Try to seek out the twists and turns of the story that the music is telling.  When your eyes get tired and your head begins to droop get in bed, as you slip off to your dreams reflect on your day.

During your day really try to think about the raw sensory nature or everything you do. Feel the newsprint between your fingers and smell the fresh ink on the page. Taste the real food and hot coffee. Breathe in the fresh air, let it fill your lungs and refresh your soul. Think about the real physical connection that letter makes with the person you are writing to. Try to feel and experience every aspect of your day with more than just your eyes. The sounds, the tastes, and the smells are no less meaningful than the sights. Let your mind be filled your senses and let your mind be swallowed up by a sea of experience.

Try this. Really. You will not regret it. When you wake up the next morning with a new energy and vigor it will all become clear

One Year Later

As much as I was hoping to avoid doing this here we go…

One year ago today I was trying to fully grasp what had just happened. The day before I along with thousands of others helped elect our country’s first black president. A man who built his campaign on the promises of change and hope rather than fear. I am not sure that I will ever again be a part of something with the kind of energy I experienced last fall during the post election march back and forth down State St. Several thousand students chanting USA and singing the national anthem. The crowd was charged up with something new; hope and optimism.

I think the best analogy for my feelings a year ago is like picking up a new book at the bookstore. The cover was a picture of a beaming handsome man with a beautiful wife and two smiling children. There was a glow that jumped off the cover and warmed the soul. In my short 22 years on the earth I had never seen such youth, energy, and charisma in a political leader. The campaign was like reading the back cover and the inside flaps. I liked what I was reading. Enough to take the chance and dive in. The year that followed has contained the opening chapters. I want more.

President Obama has been criticized by the left, the right, and everyone in between. Some it has been fair and some has been ludicrous. He entered office with two wars, an economy on the respirator, and the hopes of a generation on his shoulders. We sent him to office with massive Democratic majorities. I think it is fair to say that expectations were high, higher than any President could reasonably expect to fulfill.

Where are we now? His term so far has not been without accomplishments but many Democrats and liberals have this feeling of unease. Washington looks much the same as it always has. We have heard the ideas before. It seems as though the “Audacity of Hope” has been replaced by something else. The soaring language is still there but the actions have not measured up.

At his acceptance speech of the Democratic nomination then Senator Obama said: “the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.” To that I say… Yeup… What we have seen over the past year are fresh ideas clashing with entrenched power. Our congress lacks the capacity to take risks and dream big. They cower in fear of losing their next election. They desperately cling to their power, defending the status quo seeping out just enough change to keep the people happy.

The next generation will not remember the “Blue Dog Democrats” or the “Teabaggers” because they have done nothing of any real merit. Our halls of power are filled with people who push the same old policies with new names. President Obama I ask you to remember why we gave you the country to care and watch over. We believed in you last November and we still do. Make us proud. Stand up to those who are afraid to change. They may call you a socialist  now but history will remember you as the man who changed the game… maybe. It is not too late.

Our country is hurting. We are laboring under the shackles of extreme partisanship and vicious lies. We are not afraid to hear the truth. Our economy is broken. The free market and capitalism in our country are broken. We need to rebuild with the regulations and enforcement in place to guarantee a fair playing field. Our healthcare system is laughable, best in world? Hardly. What good are great doctors if you can’t afford to see them. What good is best medicine if you can’t afford it? Healthcare is a right! Our environment is crying out in pain. From our dependancy on fossil fuels to industrial agriculture we are on a course that will ruin our Earth. If we don’t make drastic changes now it will be too late.

We can do better. I know it. I still believe in you. I still believe in the philosophy of yes we can. It will not be easy but there is much more at stake here than your political career. You can alter the course of the country and the world. I still have hope that my children and grandchildren will live in a better world than I do. Please, for all of us, remember why we voted for you.

The spark the burst into flame on State St. just over a year ago is still within all of us just waiting for you.

Yes we can. Yes you can! We believe!