Viewing the tracks

Bringing in the new year is sometimes about looking back to see the tracks in the snow in order to better make new year's resolutions. A science magazine I was reading was looking back over the last 150 years at the advances that had happened and some of the discoveries in geology that had shaped modern thinking. A column in the newspaper was looking back over the last decade at some of the best stories printed. Tiger Woods was named the athlete of the decade. The financial magazines were taking this month's edition to look at the track of the stock market and the performance of some of the up and coming companies.

Looking back is important at times so that one can appreciate the events of the path behind. Some years are better than others for looking behind. But, this year was a very good year, so I don't mind at all looking back at this one. This year yielded a job change, one that led to a change from public education to self-employment. It had been in the planning phase since last January, but came to fruition on November 1st. I also got to spend more time at the lake than I have ever done before. And, I got to travel to Canada for two weeks. I was in phenomenally beautiful country for an extended period of time. What a good time!

This year also spawned some changes in stretching my horizons. Can anyone believe that this non-reader read 6 novels this year, encountered 5 new musical artists or groups, wrote original poems, and wrote more blogs this year than in the last 5 years! Call it a change of heart. Thank you, my heart!

So, this year has been good. It is a springboard in every way for the years to come. It was a change in direction and a change in heart.

Precious gems

Gems are precious sometimes not for their color or sparkle, but because of the "character" they have due to what it takes to make them into a gem. Diamonds and pearls have such character.

Most people know the story behind diamonds. They come from deep within the earth. They are only made over a long period of time. They have to undergo great amounts of pressure and are born of pressure and heat. Even after their birth, they have to go through additional cutting and polishing. It takes a lot of time, effort, and equipment. That is part of the reason why they are the chosen jewel to represent relationships.

Pearls have an equally interesting story. Pearls come from within clams. They start as foreign material that has slipped into the clam while it is eating. The clam protects itself by producing a membrane-like material to protect itself against the irritant. This material eventually turns into a pearl over time. Not all clams make pearls, so that makes the pearl an envied object of affection.

I would like to add a third gem to this list. I was watching a National Geographic program not long ago. Scientists have found a cave in which giant crystals have formed. These are so rare that only in one other spot on the earth is there another instance of a giant crystal cave. The crystals form over thousands of years like diamonds, but not quite as long. They also form if they are immersed in water that is over 120 degrees F. To mine these crystals scientists have had to drain the water and take their lives in their hands while breathing heated air that could kill them.

People love diamonds and pearls partly because they know the pain of the oyster or the rarity of diamond mines. These are gems of character. But, I would like to add a third gem - the giant crystal. I wish I could buy a chip from one of these crystals and mount it on a ring to capture its rare quality and its born-of-pain story.

I have a friend who wears a diamond and a pearl. I would add a ring of giant crystal to this collection if I could, for this friend is of rare quality and has much character, some of it born of adversity, some of it inherent. Don't we all need friends of such high quality and character!

A park gift

This is the time of the year when gifts are on a person's mind. I have been able to enjoy the gift of a park close to my house that I have walked in for the past 7 years. I walk there many mornings of the year. Over the 7 years it has produced a number of scenes for me to think and write about. The park is a gift because it spawns such generative thinking power.




Today even in the cold part of the day, squirrels were gamboling from one tree to the next. They ran spryly, crisply so that it looked like they enjoyed the movement as they chased each other or paused to crunch a nut off the ground. They gave life to the park. I have seen this scene over and over, regardless of the time of year. It's a gift from the park.



Sometimes the park seems a little sinister. During the winter months, many days the sun is not up when I walk, so I walk in the darkness. But, even if the walk begins on a sinister note, it ends giving me comfort because my eyes adjust to the darkness, and I know every crook and cranny of it. So, I lapse into the familiarity of its places.

And, on a number of occasions, pictures emerge in the park that strike me as something to write about - the moon over the trees, the trees dropping their leaves, its winter wonderland look when it snows. It gives me a certain amount of energy.

And finally, the park revives my mental energy. This is especially true if one facet or another of my life is out of whack. I get to concentrate on what is happening and try to figure out an answer or an approach that will yield happiness. Walking there helps me sort out thoughts as to the priorities in my life, or lets me see a direction that I need to take. The last few months, time there has allowed me to think of the new direction I need to take and the priority I need to have. Just recently some interesting ice formations in the park resembled a crown. It gave me pause to apply that symbol to the priorty of the one who has the regal position in my life.

The park has been a gift. I am thankful for my long time walking buddy.

Knowing what's real

Kangaroo leather is characterized by its flexibility, not its stiffness. So, when I bought a hat made from kangaroo leather, the fact that it came folded in a small bag only to bounce into form after taking it from the bag made me know that it was authentic kangaroo leather. It's been a great hat because of its viability ever since.

No doubt there will be a number of caps sold across the United States touting the Olympics in North America this February. There will be caps with the multicolored rings across the front. There will be caps with the word Vancouver 2010 on them. There will be all kinds of insignias on caps, but there won't be one that has the emblem of the Indian nation from the British Columbian area of Canada unless it was bought in Vancouver or in British Columbia. I have one of those authentic caps; it will be a novelty in the area I live in since I live a long way from Vancouver.

Authenticity is important in an age in which one can wear faux furs or sport faux mohawks or buy faux purses. "Knock-off" is a common word these days. So, when it comes to relationships, people are satisfied with "faux" relationships, knock-offs. There are a number of reasons people accept partial relationships rather than complete ones, but one of the reasons is that there are not that many people willing to offer a complete or authentic giving of themselves.



It is a felt emptiness to experience faux relationships. However, one gets to expecting them since authentic ones are few and far between. How refreshing it is to cross paths with someone who brings authenticity, who is transparent, positive, proactive, cheerful, probing, encouraging, energetic, caring, interactive, and enthusiastic. To use an old phrase, "I want to stake my tent" with such a person, not merely to be around them, but to experience authenticity that is just not available anywhere else. It's the difference between wearing silver or wearing gold in a ring.

Nothing like a good ruse

Somewhere around 850 BCE, Trojan and Greek armies had been engaged in warfare for a long time, maybe 10 years. Whatever the length, both armies were worn completely down. Death tolls were high. Important people had been slain. The war seemed like it would only end with the death of the last warrior in the siege. Then, the Greeks did the unthinkable – they offered a peace offering to the Trojans, a gift for being such a formidable foe, loaded their boats for Greece and withdrew from the harbor in front of Troy.

Oh, but that isn’t the end of the story. Literate people know the phrase, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” The Trojan horse that had been given to the town as a gift was a ruse. It contained soldiers, who would wait until nightfall to leave the horse, open the gates, and let in the Greek army whose ships had returned to the bay and unloaded for the final assault. It’s a well known ploy. The Iliad just made the trickery famous.

War is good only if you win it. I have been engaged in wars with co-workers before and in larger office politics as well. The one event that wins it every time is the ruse that is created. Some people play by the adage that luck is always better than preparation. Thus, if they win a war, “There’s nothing like dumb luck,” they say. But I want to weigh in on the side of another saying, “There’s no substitute for preparation.” And that preparation is the ruse that makes the enemy feel confident of a winning outcome when really they are about to be brought down to deafening defeat because they have unwittingly exposed their fatal flaws to the opponent.

Fight well, my kindred spirit!

A work of beauty

Sometimes we assign importance to an object or to a person by saying that the object or person is the "heart and soul" of something. It would seem that the terms are redundant, and English, in general, resists redundancy (although it has its fair share built into its grammar). I guess the two terms could be considered redundant simply because they are synonyms. Someone could be the heart or soul of a company, for example, because (s)he feels so passionate about what the company does, and passion is represented by both heart and soul.

But, I think the terms could also be seen differently so that they are not repetitious. Heart is used sometimes to refer to courage, and soul is sometimes used to refer to the personality exuded by someone. So, if a person is the heart and soul of something, then perhaps (s)he is the courageous one and the one that everyone thinks of first because the entity is best represented by the traits of that one person.

I love meeting people who provide heart and soul. I know several of these people. One stands out. I love the sparkle and glitz, the courage, passion, and social networking this person provides for everything and everyone. It is sheer beauty to see.

Hooking

One thing I really like doing is finding what is under someone's layer of words. Usually people lay themselves bare with the language they use or written language habits they have developed. Some people are harder than others in determining what intentions lie under the verbage. But eventually people reveal themselves. It's a little like going fishing and trying to use a hook to catch someone. At first people like to present themselves through the frame of a picture, but eventually they can be hooked so that what does not appear in the picture can be seen. Language study is the perfect hook. It has certainly served me in good stead.