Dear Sir, I salute you.

This past weekend,

on National television,

a little girl sang the national anthem.

It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard -

such big feeling coming out of such a small being.

As the camera panned out and across the the baseball field,

I noticed that a grown man was weeping.

I wish I could tell him what that meant to me.

Me, the one among millions

who saw him remove his cap,

bow his head and close his eyes.

I don't know what his moment was about,

he could have been in pain from loss, 

or maybe he was overcome with emotion from the words of our

nation's anthem.

"Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there."

I don't know,

but I do know I was right there with him.

I felt his emotion as I, too, was moved 

in this moment.

This goes out to all the men and women

who have the courage to show their feelings in front of others,

in front of their peers, their children, the nation.

To weep is universally understood

and yet so misunderstood as weakness.

We don't know each other, Sir,

but I acknowledge you 

and I salute you.  

And I'll say a prayer for you tonight,

after I say one for those who 

aren't aware they live in the

home of the brave.

~L

perspective (do try this at home)

To some this may look like just a pair of rings hanging from a bar.

To an ape its an easy shot to the next tree.

To a gymnast it's a chance at gold.

But to me,

these rings are golden circles of opportunity 

with barbed wire wrapped around them,

a seemingly impossible means to an end.

To swing from below with such tightness in my core,

to whip my hips up to the base of them with such precision,

to snap my chest to replace my hips so fiercely 

that the movement can barely be taught - only felt

from so many trials and errors.

To then push myself up with all my might

and then swoosh back down and do it all over again

with equal or better precision….

…..I'm so close after a month of practice.

But I'm stuck.

So i got down on the floor 

and stared up at them from a new perspective,

this time shifting my mind to see them in a new light.

I thought,

if I can't get on top of them at this point in time,

let me get under all the way.

Let me feel vulnerable from below.

Let them feel me in their shadow.

Then,

suddenly the barbed wire went away.

The opportunity is there and the 

fierceness with which I want this opportunity 

is slowly chipping away at fear and intimidation.

Maybe we should all look at our 'problems' 

this way.

Get under them and understand them 

from all angles.

More to be revealed on this process :)

~ L ~

re-demp-tion; noun

/ri'dempSHen/

I always feel compelled to write on Day 1 of each month.

Redemption Day.

I think of them as 12 mini New Years

such that I think of Mondays as 52 microns of those.

The archaic definition of redemption is 

the action of buying one's freedom.

What freedom have I purchased today?

Forgiveness of the present.

Allowing this moment to be is 

my modern-day freedom, 

my salvation,

my (( ri'dempSHen )).

"Forgiveness of the present is even more important than

forgiveness of the past.  If you forgive every moment -

allow it to be as it is - 

then there will be no accumulation of resentment

that needs to be forgiven at some later time."

~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

So what does one do with the second day of the month, the year,

the third day and so on?

There's some power in that space,

that BIG empty space that people mistake for the need to fill up.

This vail of an illusion is replaced in theory

with the fact that all empty space has the potential 

to remain empty or to be occupied (( with clutter )).

The space has a choice.

You are the space.

Your.

Choice.

Keep the potential open for love, growth, clarity, joy.

~ L ~