The best way to make
Valentine’s Day
a
l i f e s t y l e
of being an ongoing
Caring Catalyst
is summed up with
JUST 4 WORDS
l e t
y o u r
l o v e
f l o w
Remembering The FLAME
https://youtu.be/RIUkqTq7RZQ
Have you actually ever
had a
D R E A M
come true?
Did it unroll before you
just as you scripted?
Was it better than you expected. . .
Greater than you imagined. . .
A Disaster ?
What would happen if
Y O U R D R E A M
actually
emphatically
unbelievably
inevitably
came true. . . ?
Would it fit under the
PHYSIC EQUATION:
FOR EVERY ACTION
THERE’S A REACTION ?
I F
Your every Dream
actually came true
at what cost
would
it
be
?
Emma Stone poses these kind of questions
p o w e r f u l l y
in her
Audition Song:
H E R E ‘ S T O T H E F O O L S
from La La Land
an Academy Award Nominated Movie
for the Best Picture of the Year
Here’s to rebels
the ripples from pebbles
The Painters
The Poets
The Plays
Here’s to the Fools who Dream
Crazy as they may seem
Here’s to the Hearts
that Break,
Here’s to the Mess
W E
m a k e. . .
L I V E
your life in such a way that
s m i l i n g
through
you’d pledge to do it
a g a i n
. . .a life full of dreams
realized
and not so
c o m p l e t e d. . .
A Caring Catalyst Life
fulfilled
and
intentionally
purposely
painfully
F U L F I L L I N G
Heart Art
Seriously. . .
When’s the last time you put your Heart into something?
No, REALLY, when’s the last time that you
L I T E R A L L Y
gave from your Heart?
There’s a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which no other artist could begin to imitate. The actual secret of his special color actually died with him. But after his death there was an old wound that was discovered over his heart. . .
T H I S
revealed the source of the matchless hue in his paintings. . .
The legend teaches that NO great achievement can ever be made,
no lofty attainment ever reached,
N O T H I N G
of much value to the world done,
without the full donation of the
Heart’s Blood. . .
Nice legend, huh?
Great story. . .
Good point. . .
Excellent analogy. . .
Unless
. . .unless, it isn’t!
Vincent Castiglia
Vincent is an artist who’s art work is bloody awesome,
which is actually a fairly good description
since his art is created from his own blood. . .
Castiglia has been painting dramatic and graphic works
using his own blood for years. . .
He states, “Some of the painting are 7 feet tall and can actually take up to some 30 vials of blood.”
Now he’ll be quick to put it into perspective by telling you that it’s way less than what would be donated to a Blood Bank, but still, he takes his blood and mixes it with water at times and other times just uses it as is–full strength to give it texture and the look of acrylic after it dries. He shares that some works take several months to complete and can cost as much as $26,000 each.
Not THAT qualifies as
The Hmmmmmmmmmmmm of the Day. . .
I’ll ask again:
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PUT YOUR WHOLE HEART INTO SOMETHING ?
It’s easy to talk about our
BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS—
good musical group in the 60’s and 70’s, too. . .
But for W H A T have you actually bled?
But W H E N have you actually Sweat for something?
But W H E R E have you actually left tears?
The World all too often gets our
“H A V E – T O ‘ s”
When it so very desperately needs our
W A N T – T O ‘ S. . .
Legend or Actual. . .
Our best art comes
when we use the most precious and priceless resource we have:
O u r o w n H e a r t s !
Dipping our brushes on to that Palate
and then to Canvas
not only changes it—
But the World’s, too!
It’s long waited for our
H U E
Our T I N T
Our C O L O R
Make it not wait
one brush stroke longer. . .
The Resolution To Resolve Resolutions
I decided to get rid of all of the junk food in the house
to begin my New Year’s Resolution of going on a diet
and. . .
and it was D E L I C I O U S !
Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet?
I only have One Resolution:
T O G I V E U P R E S O L U T I O N S
Is it any wonder why?
The Top 10 Resolutions are:
Stay Fit
Lose Weight
Enjoy Life to It’s Fullest
Spend Less, Save More
Spend More Time with Family and Friends
Get Organized
Learn Something New
Travel More
Read More
REFUSE TO MAKE ANY RESOLUTIONS
There are about 38% of us WHO WON’T BE MAKING RESOLUTIONS
and the other 62% will find only a
W H O P P I N G
8%
who will keep their RESOLUTIONS. . .
Do I hear an O U C H ?
Mike Yaconelli’s, THE LITTLE BOY WHO WANTED TO FIGHT FIRES has always been one of my favorites, especially this time of the year. Mike died a few New Year’s Eve’s back
Allow me to share it as I remember it:
ONCE THERE WAS A LITTLE BOY WHO, EVER SINCE HE COULD REMEMBER, WANTED TO BE A FIREMAN. THE SHRILL OF THE SIREN AND THE DEEP RUMBLE OF THE RACING FIRE-TRUCK HAD FILLED HIS DREAMS ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. DEEP IN HIS HEART THERE WAS A LONGING TO SOMEDAY BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE; TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM THE RAVAGING GRASP OF A FIRE. IT WAS NOT JUST A CHILDHOOD FANTASY. HIS WAS THE UNMISTAKABLE CALL OF DESTINY.
GROWING UP NEVER CHANGED HIS MIND. TO BE SURE, HE HAD GONE THROUGH ALL THE INDECISION AND DOUBTS OF ADOLESCENCE, THE WELL-MEANING QUESTIONS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO ‘WONDERED WHETHER HE COULD BE HAPPY AS A FIREMAN.’ HE WAS TO PUT OUT FIRES.
OH, HOW HE LONGED FOR THE DAY WHEN HE WOULD NO LONGER BE A SPECTATOR, BUT COULD PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY AS A FIRE-FIGHTER. NOW, ALL HE COULD DO WAS WATCH.
THEN THE BIG DAY ARRIVED. HE WAS ACCEPTED AT ONE OF THE BEST FIREMAN SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY. FOR THREE YEARS HE IMMERSED HIMSELF IN HIS SCHOOLING. HE SPENT HOURS HONING HIS SKILLS ON PRACTICE FIRES. HE STUDIED FIRE-FIGHTING THEORY LONG INTO THE NIGHTS. HIS TEACHERS WERE WORLD-RENOWNED.
BUT STILL AFTER ALL THESE YEARS HE HAD NEVER FOUGHT A REAL FIRE. AS GRADUATION APPROACHED, HE REALIZED THAT LONG-AWAITED MOMENT WAS WITHIN HIS REACH.
BUT SUDDENLY HE BEGAIN TO HAVE DOUBTS. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE WAS UNSURE, AFRAID, AND WORSE YET, QUESTIONING WHETHER HE OUGHT TO BE A FIREMAN AT ALL.
IT WAS THEN THAT ONE OF HIS PROFESSORS SUGGESTED HE TRAVEL TO EUROPE AND STUDY UNDER ONE OF THE GREATEST FIREMAN THEORISTS OF ALL TIME. HE WOULD BE RECOMMENDED BY HIS PROFESSORS AND WOULD RECEIVE THE FINEST TRAINING AVAILABLE. IT WOULD LAST FOR TWO YEARS.
THE NOT-SO-LITTLE BOY DECIDED TO GO TO EUROPE, AND FOR TWO YEARS HE EXHAUSTED HIMSELF IN DEDICATED STUDY AND BECAME ON OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY EDUCATED FIREMEN IN THE WORLD. BUT ALL HE HAD EVER DONE WAS PUT OUT PRACTICE FIRES. ONCE AGAIN, GRADUATION LOOMED BEFORE HIM. AND, ONCE AGAIN, HE WAS HAUNTED BY INDECISION. HE KNEW ALL ABOUT FIRES AND COULD TELL ANYONE HOW TO FIGHT ONE; IN FACT, HE KNEW SO MUCH HE BEGAIN TO FEEL THAT HIS SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE DID, IN FACT, PLACE HIM A NOTCH ABOVE ‘ORDINARY’ FIREMEN. HE BECAME INCREASINGLY CONCERNED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE TO FIGHT FIRES WITH ‘UNEDUCATED’ FIREMEN, WHICH COULD RESULT IN HIM BEING EXPOSED TO UNNECESSARY DANGER.
IT WAS THEN THAT HE WAS OFERED A POSITION TO TACH AT ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED FIREMEN SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY.
HE ACCEPTED. AND FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HE TAUGHT WITH HONORS AND RECEIVED RECOGNITION WORLDWIDE. HE DIED LAST YEAR, AND WHEN THEY READ HIS MEMOIRS, THEY CAME ACROSS A STRANGE PASSAGE WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS DEATHBED:
“I LIE HERE TODAY REVIEWING MY LIFE. I STILL REMEMBER MY DREAM, MY PASSION TO BE A FIREMAN. MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE I WANTED TO PUT OUT FIRES…BUT I REALIZED SOMETHING TODAY.
I HAVE NEVER PUT OUT A REAL FIRE. N E V E R!”
What. . .
what in our lives–yours and mine–
are we spending our time studying i
n order to avoid
D O I N G ?
Seriously. . .just what Day is exactly NOT a New Year?
A New Beginning?
A Do-Over?
NO!
No more Resolutions!
No more, “I SHOULD’S”
No more, “I COULD’S”
No more, “I WOULD’S”
DISSOLVE Resolve- -this Day
. . .this Year.
Merely. . .Actually. . .
W H O L E H E A R T E D L Y
become Absolutely Y O U!
You were. . .
You are. . .
You will Always be unfolding
to Become more completely YOU!
(and less than Anyone else).
Dissolve to Resolve. . .
IT will guarantee you a New Year any day of the Year!
Be the Firemen WHO fights Fires. . .
watch the Flames lift you and eliminate all of the smoke from being in your eyes;
and Seeing. . .
S E E I N G clearer,
others will see more clearly, too.
B E
Happy New Year’s. . .
Happy New DAY. . .
Happy New YOU!
Possessssssssst of the Day:
It’s the only Resolution you’ll never make
that absolutely won’t fail to
to s u c c e e d!
Ugly Christmas Sweater DAYS
D O Y O U O W N O N E ?
An Ugly Christmas Sweater?
T H E Y
actually have parties with everyone wearing an Ugly Christmas Sweater. . .
Do you own One ?
Do you feel like you’re wearing one
W I T H O U T O W N I N G O N E ?
Even if we don’t own an Ugly Christmas Sweater
There are some days when it feels like we are wearing one that seems it’ll never come off:
Bad Relationships
Job Security
Ill-Health
Death
Unrest
Zero to limited Bank Accounts
Moves
Conflict
. . .What to do?
I often remember my student church the first year I was in Seminary.
By God,
we were going to have the first
LIVE NATIVITY CHRISTMAS PAGENT
that small little Country Church had ever had. . .
I learned from that experience,
NEVER TO BRING LIVE FARM ANIMALS
into the Sanctuary;
Little Lambs looks great on Christmas Cards,
but the things they left between the
PEEE-EWWWS
while they were bleeping away
are smells and stains
I don’t think they’ve yet to rid themselves of nearly 40 years later. . .
I’m not even going to mention the Donkey’s antics
or the calves
or the fact that the goat ate stored furniture. . .
It got worse still
when our third Wiseman came down with chicken-pox the night of the big show
and it’s not the same song singing:
“WE TWO KINGS OF ORIENT ARE“
. . .It got worse before NEVER getting better:
We had a beautiful illuminated JESUS
in the manager who’s LIGHT burned out. . .
no problem,
I replaced it with a bulb
that turned out to be a STROBE LIGHT. . .
N O T H I N G like an
ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF ON/OFF
J E S U S
B L I N K I N K
away in the manger.
W E L I V E
Ugly Christmas Sweaters LIVES
and we have the same three choices I had that
bleating/blinking/too much stink for a sanctuary full of un-clogged noses/two-wiseman cursed night:
C A N C E L T H E M E S S
It always seems like one of the best of possibilities,
doesn’t it. . ?
Let’s just cancel this craziness;
this mess,
and cut our losses and speak of it never again. . .
Who would blame us when things are a disasters
and getting no better. . .
I mean,
when the Ugly Christmas Sweater snags—-
why fix it. . .?
P R E T E N D
I’ve long believed
that the only day we actually celebrate all 365 days is
H A L L O W E E N
We should all be nominated
and actually win the Academy Award
every year for the phenomenal acting jobs we pull off each day. . .
Let’s just pretend our way through our Ugly Christmas Sweater Days. . .
After all,
we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone,
especially during T H E S E A S O N. . .
E M B R A C E I T
It’s like hugging a porcupine. . .
but why not just embrace the obvious—-
Just not O W N. . .
W E A R T H E C H R I S T M A S S W E A T E R
I N S T Y L E
Endure the Stank,
Dance to the pulsating Light,
Sing the not-so-complete-song
and fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
your way to the homemade cookie and coffee cake line,
straight to the hot chocolate. . .
Y O U R C H O I C E ?
UGLY SWEATER CHRISTMAS DAYS
We all have them
We all live through them
We all come out the other end of
T H A T
tunnel a little more disheveled, snagged, smelly, guffawed at
but–THRIVERS–ALL
There’s only one thing to do–ever–when faced with an
UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER DAY:
S P O R T I T
(No Matter What The Season)
The CHAMELEON of YOU
Question of the Day:
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU EVERY FELT LIKE A CHAMELEON
(I N O N E S I N G L E D A Y)?
It’s amazing how we change–
literally from one situation to the next
without ever really thinking about it
or much preparation.
Even right now as you read this
you are not the same p e r s o n
before you began looking at the short video
or even the same o n e
while your reading these very words
as you will be just moments
when you begin reading something else
or get a phone call
or get a text
or see an old friend
or remember a wrong done against you
or hear a song
or see a picture
or taste a food
or sip a drink
or smell a fragrance
or be with family
or being with co-workers
or shopping
or reading a book
or watching a movie
or exercising
or right before you go to bed
or right before you get out of bed
or when you hear bad news
or when you win a lottery/sweepstakes
or . . .
Quick. . .
go look in the mirror or turn the phone camera on you as to take a
S E L F I E
Do you Recognize T H A T person?
If not. . .
quick look again
and again
and now right now again
and then once more. . .
The only true guarantee in life:
The Chameleon of You
might never be the
The Chameleon of You
ever again. . .
See. . .
how you just changed
a g a i n ?
Psssssssssst of the Day:
The only thing that’s constant is Change
(most especially in each of our chameleon selves)
Your V o t e
The V O T E
y o u r s:
I’m not asking if you used yours
this past week. . .
I’m asking if you are
e x e r c i s i n g
your vote at
this very moment?
I’m not asking
W H O
you voted for. . .
I’m imploring
W H A T
you vote for
day by day
moment by moment?
History
was made
this past Tuesday
as America came to
v o t e
once again. . .
i m p r e s s i o n s
are more importantly being made
every moment
a vote
much more important than
what happens every four years
is the one
that we
m a k e
countless times
a d a y. . .
n o w ;
we are hearing
we are seeing
we are feeling
we are experiencing
a myriad of emotions
ever since
T H E V O T E :
Grief
Anger
Shock
Fear
Disbelief
Elation
and we do what we do best
when any one of those things intrude on us:
T U R N A W A Y
A Suggestion:
Turn Towards
I T
D A R E. . .
EMBRACE IT. . .
Why?
Because we can’t control the
u n c o n t r o l l a b l e. . .
Just because we like
fairytale like
h a p p y e n d i n g s
seldom guarantees them;
The more sure bet guarantee is
c h a n g e
u n c e r t a i n t y. . .
There is brutal suffering in our world. . .
in our Nation
but there is an abundance of
C O M P A S S I O N
to confront that suffering. . .
The Buddhists
have an age old saying:
BEFORE ENLIGHTENMENT, CHOP WOOD AND CARRY WATER; AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT, CHOP WOOD AND CARRY WATER
Can you give that a VOTE?
NO ONE IS GREATER THAN ALL OF US
Can you give that a VOTE?
LOVE IS THE GREATEST FORCE IN AND OUT OF THIS WORLD
Can you give that a VOTE?
BEING A CARING CATALYST IS A CONSTANT CHANGE AGENT
Can you give that a VOTE?
No one can ever take our VOTE away. . .
Especially
The one we choose to exercise
our
compassion
our
love
our
willingness to be open and affirming
our
openness to embrace
the uncomfortable
until it becomes
more bearable. . .
To SHOW UP
when it’s least popular
or even advantageous
Can you give that a VOTE. . .
Then you’ve just
chopped a forest of wood
carried a Lake of water
and made history
that hopefully gets
r e p e a t e d
endlessly. . .
Can you give that a VOTE?
L O V E
is
L O V E
Right Side UP
and maybe more especially
UP Side down. . .
W i l l you give that a VOTE ?
Congratulations on a Campaign well run
an Election well won
. . .now l e a d
where aimless haven’t followed
and followers haven’t yet gone. . .
UnPledged Allegiance
Sometimes what we S A L U T E,
doesn’t much merit our A T T E N T I O N. . .
Quite a clip, isn’t it?
Is it True?
Does it make you think?
Do you Care?
Is it just so HBO of me to share it?
Sobering thoughts expressed by Jeff Daniel’s character, isn’t it?
TV/Cable at it’s Best. . .
or Worst?
Tomorrow
AMERICA
v o t e s. . .
No more slamming of candidates and policies. . .
No more smear campaigns. . .
No more N O T talking about the real issues. . .
In many ways
our Country will Change
but in many more ways. . .
maybe we—
each of us—
i n d i v i d u a l l y
need changing, too;
We know what happens. . .
there’s plenty of rich documented History. . .
when we Pledge Allegiance. . .
What. . .
what happens if that Allegiance goes
UN-PLEDGED?
Yes. . .
there’s plenty of that rich,
documented History, too.
The beauty of our Nation on Election Day,
Flag Day,
Memorial Day,
4th of July
or any other National
or not-so-national holiday
is that W E can feel or express anything we want or can
because we can !
Hmmmmmmm. . .
we don’t have to be perfect,
as a person,
a community,
as a nation to be becoming more perfect. . .
Pledge Allegiance
to that. . .
and Un-Pledged Allegiance
becomes unnoticed and better,
insignificant. . .
. . .the best way to solve a problem
is to first acknowledge that there is a problem. . .
The best way to become a better Country
is one
Caring Catalyst Voter
at a time
Starting
humbly with me
and you
and you
and you
and. . . .
Legislated Hearts
H E A R T M A P P I N G. . .
Have You?
Heart Mapping
is little exercise that helps illustrate
what’s really important to you. . .
Heart Mapping
was a concept
created by Georgia Heard
to help students
a c h e
about writing
instead of just merely stringing words together. . .
but it should be mandatory for everyone who has a
H E A R T beat. . .
It helps you fill in the spaces of your
H e a r t
with
Memories that are the most dear to you. . .
People who are most important to you–and why. . .
Experiences or events that you will never forget. . .
Impactful Happy and Sad Moments you’ve had. . .
Secrets that can only be kept in your heart. . .
What would be at the Center of your Heart?
Would you add Colors?
Would you add more than one Heart that overlaps?
Would you have things written around the outside of your heart?
What would be on your Heart Map. . .
that if you could, you’d legislate for the whole world to abide?
Hmmmmmmmm of the Day:
YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE THINGS OF THE HEART
if we could
we’d probably all legislate
a kinder
more compassionate
less judging
more accepting
more loving
less hating
more understanding
more caring
more forgiving
more merciful
more healthy
no cancer,
no pain
no disease
no disappointment
no terminal illness
no homelessness
no addiction
all accepting
w o r l d. . .
I would legislate that we’d all be
Caring Catalyst’s
who would literally find it impossible to be mean or disrespectful of anyone
and more giving and warmhearted to everyone
. . . h o w e v e r
we can’t legislate hate out of the heart. . .
s o m e h o w,
our Heart Map
still has passages
that takes us through some pretty swampy areas
that makes GPS’s tremble and stutter.
We can’t legislate a Heart that accepts and loves all—regardless of
race,
color,
creed,
sexual orientation,
socioeconomics,
o u r s e l v e s
If IT could happen or come to be just by
writing it down
then our Founding Fathers would have had a way to personify
creating all equal with full rights to Life,
Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness. . .
Maybe. . .
m a y b e
that’s where it all starts?
I can’t do your heart map. . .only mine!
We can’t vote in
L E G I S L A T O R S
or adopt laws or amendments or new Constitutions
b u t
by looking at our own heart maps
and continually re-drafting
re-working
R E F I N I N G
them
and not only Beginning
but better still. . .
R E F U S I N G
to end there–
Well now. . .
We just might have created–
each of us–
a kind of Heart Map
W I T H O U T B O R D E R S
It’s a Continent worth reaching
and
s h a r i n g
See you in that never-need-legislating-land-of
T H E R E
(hopefully soon–very soon)
Taught
Amazing isn’t it. . .
it’s rarely about Teaching;
Amazing isn’t it. . .
it’s rarely about the Student;
Amazing isn’t it. . .
it’s rarely about them
N O T finding themselves
T o g e t h e r
at the exact time they’re both needed to show up. . .
The Teacher doesn’t always Teach. . .
The Student doesn’t always Learn. . .
But. . .
when that exact moment
the two are on the Same Page
in THE SAME BOOK. . .
Learning just doesn’t take place,
M A G I C
h a p p e n s. . .
Who was that Teacher for your Student?
It doesn’t always happen in the Classroom,
does it?
Maybe that’s the problem. . .
we look for the Teacher in a Classroom,
chalk in hand,
Blackboard at their back,
opened Book,
Power-Pointed Up,
Lecturing,
Instructing,
Directing,
Assigning. . .
Maybe that’s the problem. . .
we look for the Student in a Classroom,
slumped in seat,
doodling on blank pages,
reading the same sentence/paragraph
over and over again,
feigning attention. . .
But the Teacher,
the Student
can be in grocery story lines,
or movie theaters,
or ballgames,
or swim meets,
or at a diner,
a car wash,
Church,
a Mosque,
Synagogue,
Cathedral,
Cemetery,
Drive-Thru,
Playground,
Anywhere. . .
Anyplace. . .
Anytime. . .
Anyhow. . .
Is it Today ?
Is it Right now
at this exact moment
via a blog?
Is it
Virtual?
Did you hear it in a Song Lyric. . .
a Headline?
Maybe the truest question is
N O T W H E N I S I T. . .
BUT WHEN ISN’T IT ?
Class is in Session. . .
All Ways. . .
Always. . . .