Every reality we know is simply…. our perception of that reality.   Each one of us has our own perspective.  Everything which has happened to us in our lives, from the moment we were born (and maybe even before) has shaped those perceptions.

Every moment, every experience, idea, sight, sound… all influence our next awareness of our next moment.  And for each and every person on this planet, there is a unique and distinct method of percipience.

We can’t help it.  That’s just the way it is.

Truly, it is a wonder that most of us can agree on any given situation.  But for the most part, people’s realities come close to matching up.

But every once in a while, you will meet that very SPECIAL someone…. who is way off the charts.  Over the edge.  Not quite getting the channel to come in clearly.  The very nice picnic is missing a couple of sandwiches.  Maybe that entire discussion if for another time….

But even though there are things which are “agreed” upon…. there are many things which are not.

Yet… as we stand there, so sure of ourselves, that we are absolutely right …. there is no such thing as a one true reality. There is only ‘our’ version of it.  Again, that which is essentially our perception. What we believe to be true…. is only as true as our worldly experience.  And… and…. that is as far as it goes.

There are new discoveries… made by some really smart scientists… that are shaping new ideas about “how everything happens.” As much as we think we may know how life and the universe works I will bet my favorite Sock Monkey, that MUCH of this limited knowledge will be re-written over time.  Again, and again, and again.  You can count my Sock Monkey on it.

There is no truth. There is only perception.  —  Gustave Flaubert

There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.  — Aldous Huxley

Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.  —   Jon Bon Jovi

Every once in a while…it is fun to go out on the town.  We were so excited about seeing the show.   I truly love Broadway Shows, and the Theater in general.

We had a few friends join us there.  We went to see another friend of ours…. John Matthews… also an actor in the play.  It was his big break in an acclaimed theater performance.  His character’s name was Mr. Coyle.  He played an attorney of all things.  He was so great!  The play was really entertaining too.

All of the actors and actresses were right on.  Timing was perfect.  The play was hilarious.  And then, just as Harry Hawk delivered on of the funniest lines of the play….  It was something like….

“Don’t know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal; you sockdologizing old man-trap!” Hysterical laughter began permeating the theater.

And then I heard that sound.  It sounded like a huge firecracker… or … a gun shot.

A man leaped from the balcony above, and right onto the stage.  He yelled something, but I couldn’t make out what he said.

The next thing I COULD understand…. hit me like someone sucker-punched my gut.  “President Lincoln’s been shot!”

I loved President Lincoln.  I thought he was doing so much good for our country, and for the rights of the black people in the South.  Well, everywhere really.

But not everyone agreed.

I guess that is one way it might have happen…..on April 14, 1865.   John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.

Lincoln could not be saved and would die during the night.
He was officially pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m.

One of the saddest days in American History.

And today…. 150 years later… we are still struggling with simple human rights.  Here in the U.S. …. and abroad.  Abe, we sure could use another round of you.

Dag nab it, I’ll tell you.  I couldn’t solve the puzzle “Fast-Forward” on the Wheel of Fortune tonight.  I think I was standing WAY too close to the TV. You see, I was fixing dinner, and was rooting around in the cupboard below the counter…  I looked up and saw the blank squares.  But I couldn’t see all the parts which were filled in.   And then…. it happened….. …Mary beat me to the draw.  She got it first.

I was standing TOO dang close.  (Ohhhh… never admit defeat… always come up with a creative excuse.  Right?  Not right. …..  …But that is another story for another night.)

To continue with my first observation.

All of a sudden it hit me.  I really was standing too close.

Sometimes we are faced with puzzles in our lives.  Or problems, or situations, or things we have to figure out.  And sometimes, we are just standing TOO whip-nilly close to the situation.  We simple can’t see the bigger picture.

As the old saying goes, you can’t see the forest for the trees.  I get it now.

I have a few things in my life right now that I think I have to figure out.  Maybe I am standing too close.  Maybe I need to take a few steps back, and take in the big story, the entire show, the whole shebang.

Yet, I know sometimes it is important to get way up close and augment things too. Like when you are trying to fish a splinter out of the skin on your little finger, with a needle and a magnifying glass.

The trick of it… for all of us… …. is to know the difference.  Do w get way up close, or look at something from afar?

I guess it depends on the size of the matter in front of us.

If and when it happens ….. I wish we could all see it clearly, no matter  “the what” of it is.

Like on a clear day… you can see for ever.  And ever.  And ever.  And ever more.

It can’t all be easy.

As much as we’d like it to be… it just isn’t.  I guess it truly is a matter of perception.  Some things seem very hard to certain people, and quite easy to others.

Yet, we all meet circumstances in life which are difficult.  To us.

It is kind of like taking a pill… …. maybe.

You see. We need the pill to get better.  In the same way, we need things in our life which are difficult.  If it were all bright happy sunshine, and good smelling feet…. we wouldn’t have appreciation for ALL the good things in life.  The sweet times.

So here is this bitter pill.  And we have to take it to get better.  To grow.

It is probably a lot smarter to swallow it whole, don’t you think?  I mean… crunching it up in little pieces… and tasting all that bitter, horrible, cat-puke taste in our mouths.  Well… there is nothing pleasant about THAT.

In the same way, if we face difficulties in life… in some circumstances… it may be better to take them whole.  Swallow it whole, and let the learning process, start to work on us.  But if continue to prolong the pain, for days… months.. or even lifetimes…. all we have is a bitter taste in our mouth.  The medicine never quite got down.  Our lesson never learned.

I wish it all could be easy-peasy… domineasy.  But when that hard thing comes to us, we do our best to get by.  We do our best to learn and grow.  And begin to appreciate the good things, once again.

The sun’s going to shine again.  We are going to feel better, eventually.  But first we need to get past the hurdle.  We need to swallow that medicine.

You may not believe this.

But here it is.  YOU are a very important part of this Universe.  
I know I have said this before, but a lot of people before me… who are a lot smarter than I… have been saying the same thing.

Sometimes, this is hard for me to believe, or perhaps… difficult to comprehend. Sometimes, I consider all the 7.15 billion people in the world, and I begin to feel very small.

Yet, many people subscribe to the idea that each one of us… YOU, ME, WE…. are significant in this existence.  This Universe.

There is a great paper written by a guy name Charles Eisenstein.  He talks about the Story of Separation vs. the New Intention.  This New Story is one of Interbeing; meaning that we are all basically in this together… this big thing we call life.

This study has many Principles and Levels to it.   But essentially it is this.  Our very being is connected with all beings.  Our very existence is relational.  Because of that, WHAT we do to one another, we also do to ourselves.  Each one of our acts, is significant to the overall effect on the cosmos.

You know, we also, each one of us, have a unique and necessary gift to offer the world.  I believe a big part of our purpose in  life is to express our gifts.  We truly all are connected… in our humanness.  In our spirituality, recognized or not.

If you still don’t believe it, think about things in scientific terms.  The interconnected and interdependent nature of things is the heart of ecology.  The big farm pond is dependent on the fish, the frogs, the insects, the rocks, the plants, each little part of the water…. and they… all dependent on each other and the pond.

That is us.  The fish.  Except, I want to be the frogs.

But back to it….

So our existence is not a distinct and separable phenomenon. Genuine compassion, should be easy for us.  Theoretically.  You see… again….. our actions effect everything, including ourselves.

The 19th-century conservationist John Muir sought out the VERY same principle: ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.’

For ecologists, it is the fundamental rule.  For us too.  Our spirituality, our being, our heart….. whether you call it connectedness, inseparability or, equal association…. there we are.

We may feel like we stand alone, as a singular person.  But in fact we stand together.  Like drops of water in the pond.  Every ripple, moves to the next… and back again.

Be kind today.  

It helps the world.  It is good for the universe.

We are all hitched together, after all.

Some words in our vocabulary…. get pulverized.  They used to mean something good and wholesome.  And all of a sudden…. a perfectly good word like (or name) gets plastered.

Like.. …. awesome.
Or… …  totally.

But on an entirely different plane, is the non-slang.  Take this word, in fact.  Enable.

Now years ago it was a pretty good dang word.
Enable.
Enable the verb.  It meant (and still means)…..  to  give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something.  OR it meant you make something possible.

Now how great is that when you give someone possibilities?

But now… these days… it is almost always associated with addiction, or bad behavior.

“Oh, he enables his son’s drinking.”  Or…. “She enables him to act that way.”  Not so snappy.

So.  I must fess up.  I am a bit of an enabler.  You see…. my 91 year old Mom loves (and I mean LOVES) Lay’s plain potato chips and Diet Coke.  Seriously.  I buy her lots of Lay’s Chips, and Diet Cokes.  In fact, I give her one of each …. everyday.  She doesn’t just remember that she has had one 10 minutes ago.. …. so … somedays she gets two.  And that is just from me.  Heaven only knows how many more she gets in a day, where she lives.

But the way I figure it… at 91 years old… if it makes her happy…. I will enable away.

I’m a bit of a Chip Pusher… the “Guy on the Street”…. the Bagman.  The Supplier.

But we all have our own Lay’s Potato Chips and Diet Cokes… I think.  Some have it with food… like ice cream or chocolate…. or chicken eggs (and Diet Cokes).  Some people have their addictions in other areas… like alcohol, drugs, shopping, or even vanity.  It all depends. I guess.

I think it is okay to enjoy our “things” as long as we can somehow do it in moderation.  Yes.  I think moderation is the key.

As long as those things don’t keep us from reaching our greatest of heights.  Because of all the things we do in life… probably the most important is to reach our highest best.  We can still have the things we love.  It is called enjoying life.  Heck….  it may even make us better people.

And with those highest heights….. I’m not talking about success in the way of jobs, or riches, or fame.  I’m talking about the the success that lies within finding your innermost spark, and taking it all the way.

Singing at the top of your lungs.  Dancing your happy feet left and right, and back across the floor again.  Helping someone find their way.  Feeding a hungry person.  Sharing your wit and intelligence.  Smiling at just the right minute.  WE all have our own sparks in life.

Wave to us all…. from your best height.
AND….. Be ….. uhhhmmmmmm… be Totally Awesome.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated. —  Lou Holtz
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In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.  —    Theodore Roosevelt
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The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.  —  Buddha

It is not easy being green.  At least, that is what Kermit the Frog said.  In fact, he sang about it.  When you think about it, though… some days it isn’t easy to be you.  Some days it isn’t easy to be me either.

But here we are… and here it is Spring.  Things all around us are turning green.  I wonder if it easy or hard for them?  Everywhere I looked today … I could see green.  The grass is growing, some fields are sprouting, leaves are coming on trees, algae is beginning to grow in the pond.  Green.

However, I must tell you, there is a lot to this color… green.

The color green signifies nature, life, youth, safety and hope… in the psychology of colors. Or so the lab coats say.

But it is not our favorite color here in the U.S.  That goes to Blue.  Green comes in a close second.  I like them both.  But I like orange, and purple, and red.  Yellow’s not so bad either.

We all know that green represents ‘go’ in traffic signals, railway signals and ship signals. Well… MOST people know about this.  There are a bunch of dudes in hats…. driving cars…..  that sit for a long time at green lights… until prompted by a horn.

Green is the color used for night vision goggles.  That is  because the human eye is most sensitive to the color green and we are able to distinguish a bunch of shade variations in green.  Think about THAT tonight while you are out slinking around with your goggles on.

The color green is often used as a symbol of sickness.  Mostly in cartoons, and such.  Characters often have a green face when being sick.  And puffed out cheeks.

Speaking of sickness… how about the “morning” variety of sickness?   Green has long been a symbol of fertility, and was once the preferred color choice for wedding gowns during the 1400’s.

And more Historical Green.  I’ve seen the pictures, but I don’t remember this.  Before the 1950’s Santa’s suit was originally green.  That is…. until Coca-Cola bought him out…. and changed his suit to red.  That’s because it is not easy being green… and Santa needs a Coke, and a smile.

And don’t forget the other sorts of green things… like peas, money, hoses, jade, ferns, envy,  broccoli, geckos, moss, tennis balls, shamrocks, emeralds, seaweed, cucumbers,….. oh…. and…. frogs.

Which brings me back to Kermit.  Smart frog.  You know, he starts out all downtrodden about being green, but three verses later… he is singing a different tune.  In fact… “Why Wonder, I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!  And I think it’s what I want to be.”

So on those days… when it doesn’t feel so “easy” to be us…. perhaps all we need to do, is take the time to sing a little song… and three verses later… we may be thinking that WE “are beautiful”….

…. which … in fact….  we ARE.  And we’ll do just fine.  We are exactly who we weren’t meant to be.  Like the smart green frog.

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.  —  Agnes Repplier

Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.  —  Saadi

Oh… what about these questions.

If the goldfish dies… and the parent runs out to the pet shop to get a replacement… and the kid is none-the-wiser.  Did the goldfish really die?  To the parent?  What about to the kid?
Which one is true?

Have you ever said out loud… “We are out in the middle of nowhere!”  I wonder where that is, EXACTLY.  And how can we be so sure that we are directly in the middle…  of this nowhere?

Do you ever get a quiver, a tingle or a shiver.  That little feeling that brushes up against you, and you were sure someone was standing right there.  Or catch a glimpse from the corner of your.  Maybe sometimes, the hair on the back of your neck pringles up a little bit.

Or the world just feels a bit jabberwocky all of a sudden.  Everything goes a little sideways.

It is times like these that make me wonder.
I wonder what is beyond, and before.  Where time goes exactly, and how energy flows from one thing to the next?

How can a smile transcend the plane of physical space?
How can a feeling…. be felt?  This transference of feelings and emotions across the physical plane?  Is it not energy?

What we know may be what we do not know at all.

It is just taking one step forward, and two steps back?  And looking.

Are we ever really alone?

“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”  – Arthur C. Clarke

Our dog Frances is really afraid of storms.  Ollie is too.  I wonder why some dogs are afraid of the big storms, and others go completely unfazed.   I guess that is true of humans too.

But it worries her.  That is for sure.  It makes that fierce, strong dog… stand and quiver.

I used to be deathly afraid of storms.  Now, I sort of like them.  I do.  Not the kind where they have the potential of becoming severe.  THAT exposes the shear power of nature…. right before our little eyes.

The power of nature is apparent every day though.  If we look.  That power takes shape in many different ways.  It manifests itself through life and death… of animals and plants.  It stirs in the wind, and beats down with the hot sun.  Or suspends the world in frigid cold.

We certainly always take notice of the lightning strikes, the big winds, and the events which take the form of severity.  But there is just as much power in the calm of nature.  It connects us to something much deeper.

I am… just now in my life… learning this.

I had felt it, at times before, mostly in magnificence and awe.  Like walking through a Redwood Forest, or seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time… or finding stunning waterfalls… or viewing expanse of the ocean.  Those feelings were brief and fleeting though.

But that same exact power can be felt by laying your body down against the earth… or giving a morning salutation to the rising of the sun.  It can be found by sitting with the quiet stillness of rocks.  Or listening to the sweet music of the Spring’s breeze.

We are in this place.  And it is in us.  But our being and all those beings around us… have a deepest self.  It lies within us…. at the level of an invisible essence.  Our heart.  Our spirit.  Our soul.   I think it is indestructible.  Our true nature.

I am not sure we can ever truly know it with our minds. I keep trying  to understand it…. unsuccessfully.  I think we only know it when we aren’t thinking at all.  We come to know it when our minds are still.  Still in our world, and still with nature.   It happens when we TRULY find the present…. when we are COMPLETELY in the NOW.

And here we are.  Standing with the lightning and the thunder.  Feeling, and noticing that power… which simply flows from one place to the next…

Listen to roar.  Listen to the quiet.  And listen to the within.

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.  —  Swami Vivekananda

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.  —  Mahatma Gandhi

Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes. —  Walt Whitman

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We can’t possibly know what another person is feeling… exactly.  We just can’t.  We may try…  and try very well… especially if we have had a similar experience, or come from a similar existence.

It is called…..Empathy.  Empathy. And to describe it?  Well… here it is.  As the old dictionary puts words to it…. Empathy means to be capable of identifying and understanding another person’s feelings, without experiencing them for yourself at that particular moment.  You know how the old saying goes… Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

As I eluded to above…. here is the deal.  Surprisingly, the ability to empathize with others …. is very reliant on our OWN capacity to identify and understand OUR OWN feelings.  And, if we can do this….. we are able to project OUR feelings onto others. (And we’re walking….)

But wouldn’t you know.  Unless you have been through the things that person has BEEN through, it becomes complicated, even difficult…. to understand what the other person is  undergoing.  If we haven’t had similar feelings or experiences… we just don’t normally get it.

A lot of other things come into play…  but it is hard.  Like, I don’t know what it is like to be homeless.  I don’t know what it is like to be a dark-skinned person.  Or to be handicapped.

But I think it is important to try.  It helps with Life Compassion.  We should, quite possibly, make it an intention to respond with “understanding” instead of anger.

Truth be told… here it is.  People are just trying to be happy, for the most part.  When we see and feel life from somebody else’s point of view, I think we can realize that other people are simply trying find happiness in their own lives… and in their own ways.

AND…. Most folks aren’t on some life mission to “get” us… or cause us to be miserable.   That guy in the polyester baseball cap, probably didn’t mean to pull out in front of you and then drive very slowly in a 50 mph zone.  Truly.

There is a Buddhist practice called “exchanging oneself for others” that is intended to cultivate compassion and empathy.  It is called “tonglen.”

What happens is… as we breathe in…. we bring into ourselves that which is difficult, problematic and upsetting from the other person.  We think about all the things we wish we could get rid of.

And then…. as we breathe out, we send them every good quality — openness, clarity, affection, peace — everything we would like to hold onto.

If done with true-ness, it can be very liberating.

So believe me when I tell you, I am breathing in, and breathing out.  I work very hard at this… until some numb-know does something that confounds me.

Then the Zen goes out the  window, and I have to put those shoes back on… and walk.  It is all… just a journey after all.  One little step at a time.

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”   —  ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison