You touch me

Have you ever been touched by some-one, some-thing, some-experience that changed you? Changed the way you look at the world? Changed the way you feel about certain things? Changed the way you see, the way you think ... the way you ... changed you? Changed you in such profound ways that you didn't even realize it when it was happening?

Sara Bareilles wrote a song called "Gravity" that has the lyrics "You hold me without touch. You keep me without chains." That is the type of effect I'm talking about. The effect that holds you when your not around; that constantly whispers in the back of your mind; that keeps you without chains; that keeps you seeing through new eyes even when you're alone.

I've had that experience. Both in the further past and in the recent past. And if you let go enough ... if you're not afraid of being touched ... it can be a remarkable experience.

So the question is: "Have you ever been touched?" and "Can you be touched again?"

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Are you bored yet?

Well I've recently returned from my trip to the Himalayas and I've been telling everyone the exciting yet unexpected set of experiences that I had ... what an amazing time. A place full of the contradictions that give life its splendor (see previous post about living on the edge).

When I returned a friend asked me about the trip and then she preceded to say: "well back to the same old boring grind;" with a smile on her face. That comment took me by surprise. I guess of making such a crazy journey, she thought that everything else would be boring.

I asked her: "Are you bored with your life?", and she answered that she was happy and that everything was calm, so yes, she was bored, but that's how she wanted it (she's on the "I need certainty" side of the coin right now ... see the post about Concept Duality).

So I guess the question is: "Are you bored yet?"

- Bored with what you're doing?
- Bored with who you've become?
- Bored with who you're becoming?

If you answered yes to any of the above then maybe it is time to start looking at what you're doing on a daily basis that's boring you. And where that behavior will take you in the short term (4 months), the medium term (4 years) and long term (4 decades).

Shake the tree; Rock the Boat; Dance on the uncertainty side of life ...

And then see if the following works for you: "I'm scared ... but I'm certainly not bored any more"

See you on the wire

- Steven Cardinale