Source: Mreeuh Chang

For years, I’ve been meaning to set aside the time to create a cohesive vision of how I’d like my life to look. Every area: health and fitness, career, finances, emotional life, spiritual life, social life, romantic life, etc. Occasionally, I’ll remind myself that fuzzy targets don’t get hit and when it comes to understanding exactly what I want, there’s often quite a bit of fuzziness.

At the end of the month, I’ll be embarking upon one of the scariest and simultaneously most exciting adventures of my life: I’m taking off to Central America for two and half months. The why is multifold. The timing is just perfect. It’s winter and the only way I enjoy winter is with some sun and warmth; wearing socks indoors and sleeping with hoodies and heating pads isn’t my thing. Additionally, I’m not sure when else all the factors in my life will align perfectly to create another opportunity like this one.

Before I take this journey, I’ve begun to start critically examining my life. There are gaps that need to be closed and the first step is identifying where I am and where I’d like to go. The quote above is helping me maintain my motivation for actually completing this process. It’s my wish that it’s of assistance to you as well.

Here’s a short video of an impromptu interview before he was arrested.

Read more about this here.

Without a doubt, life has revealed the presence of this flow, this movement, this protection. Lately, I’ve been getting just what I need, whether it’s a momentary break from the imminent stormy weather long enough to see me through a beautiful, dry bike ride to work, music that makes me smile or puts me face-to-face with myself, a kind word, or a highly unlikely situation that restores my spirit and inspires me. Even with the challenges that accompany life, lately I’ve been feeling even more inspired, more in-tune, more connected to the magic and wonder this world offers. And I’m so very apreciative of it.

This snippet of Oprah’s Master Class where she discusses how The Color Purple taught her about the importance the role surrender plays in the process of getting what you want. It was so amazing and powerful, I wanted to share the entire videos from which the snippet was excerpted. If these videos are too much for you to commit to, please do watch this. It’s much shorter, yet incredibly powerful and inspiring.

Returning to the idea presented in today’s #notetoself, “God can dream a bigger dream for me, for you, than you ever could for yourself.” Thanks, Oprah.

Best wishes on your journey.

love&light…

Image source

i’ve been listening to a lot of jazz. it’s taken over my life, and i couldn’t be happier about it. it started with the ipod shuffle to a robert glasper song. made me realize i needed a live show in my life. this was a tuesday night. the first venue i looked up was the jazz standard. how about the robert glasper trio is playing there the following thursday to sunday?

floored.

now i’m experiencing an amazing domino effect. look at robert glasper’s twitter feed, find an interview of his bandmate, trumpeter ambrose akinmusire. fall in love with akin musire’s music. on a youtube search for akinmusire’s “ruby”, i find about a trio called pascal’s triangle, led by pianist pascal le boeuf. looking at pascal’s work, i discover he’s a twin (being a twin, i have a special affinity for them. ). he has two albums with his brother, remy, and they’re both pretty cool. the composition is really interesting and emotive. they’re incredibly talented in their arrangements and playing, especially to only be in their early twenties.

the le boeuf brothers’ first album was house without a door and the video above is the title track. the one below is “wetaskiwin”.

absolutely. friggin. insane. not just these songs, but the album in its entirety.

feel the love.

the concept of mastery always comes to mind when i’m taken by incredible talent that’s obviously been fostered and developed into skill. it inspires me. hobbies and interests should be taken to the level of craft. all of them won’t, but at least one of them must.

i’m starting to read george leonard’s mastery: the keys to success and long-term fulfillment. so far, it’s a pretty good read.

time to practice to perfection.

What is it? In a word, awesome. In a few, The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory traveling to nine major cities worldwide over six years. Led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability, the Lab addresses issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. Its goal is the exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking solutions for city life.

It’s a pretty awesome idea and all the events they feature are free, prohibiting no socioeconomic group from attendance. Fun and free is always fantastic. It ends on October 16th, so head over while you can, before it travels to Berlin and Mumbai. In 2013, there will be an exhibition at the Guggenheim before completing two more 3-city cycles.

The rapper is Silas Zephania. The producer is Politiks. The combination is beautiful. They have an album together called War Begins Where Reason Ends available on iTunes for $9.99 or on bandcamp for £3 GBP, which is about $4.65 USD.

Tonight I shuffled upon a little reminder about life, and I’m grateful for it. Please enjoy this selection, “Open Mind”, from The Robert Glasper Experiment, composed of pianist Robert Glasper, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Chris Dave and keyboardist/saxophonist Casey Benjamin. As you listen, remember, it is experimental.

The Robert Glasper Experiment – “Open Mind” featuring Bilal

Photo credit: Jati Lindsey

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle…
When 24 hours in a day is not enough…
Remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes’.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things – family, children, health, passions.

Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else – the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So…

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

“I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”