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This is a meditation garden I drive by almost every day. No one is ever there. On that rare occasion when I walk past, it remains free of “peoples”. When passing on my road bike? Same. I find myself meditating on that…but not there. I am miles away.

The one place, by design, asking me to do one specific, focused thing: “think”…and I drive right by; Only to do that exact specific, focused, thinking thing – about that one specifically designed place – at ANOTHER place. That defines irony.

A lot of mental jumping jacks and hoopla-verbiage in that-there paragraph to make a point. We don’t just complicate our lives, we over-complicate our lives. Run here. Run there … and don’t stop anymore to think. To just meditate.

I’m writing this after a day that started at 6:00 and didn’t stop until 6:00 this evening. Non-stop activity. Literally. Teaching, selling, moving, shopping, planning, etc…that’s today. An EASY day by my standards. Tomorrow is full. This weekend is busy…The month is filling up. On and on. And. On. Seemingly year after year…

🙋🏻‍♂️Guilty.

I choose this for myself. My decision – just like my decision, day after day, to not stop and sit in the meditation garden.

We are ultimately responsible for where we choose to not sit. Why we choose to not meditate, not think about our life choices, not act in accordance, possibly, with our purpose sometimes.

What designed gardens did we see and pass up because they were too inconvenient at the time? What person did we not talk to for a few minutes because of our hurried-ness? What friend needed us … and we just …. couldn’t … find the time?

Look, I’m just a simple guy who likes to be very busy with my music, dawgs, and writing. Simple as that. Give me 24 hours and I’ll fill them up quicker than you can say, “Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in again!”.

I don’t have any answers. Our world is so different. So active. So connected. So alive. So engaging. It really is hard to not want to be a part of everything going on. In the enticement of the chase, however, the prize fades. By not paying closer attention to simple thinking, we may get to the end still wanting more complicated things. At that point, what’s left? Nothing. Again, ironic. Out of place and time … thinking.

Maybe that’s the message in the garden? I probably won’t know unless I take the time to sit my active cheeks down on the unwell-worn slats on the bench in the garden. A few minutes there … not here …. thinking upon these things may lighten the load a bit.

For now, if you see me there as you pass by…join me. We’ll chat. It’ll be nice to be with a friend for a few minutes. We can talk dinosaurs, chocolate, Chopin, quadratic equations, the downside of quantitative easing, pottery, diesel engines (yeah, right..like I know anything about these🤔), anatomy, ….. or, we can simply watch birds poop on expensive cars. Your call. Anything to break up the busy-ness of life. We’ll meditate on the simpler things in life.

Let’s meet. An unscheduled rendezvous of sorts. Allegheny and Union. Hollidaysburg, Pa. Bring bug spray – they have no brains and they’re annoying.

I had to tell a young someone to be quiet…
and immediately thought about what I said.

In the context of being, “be” is an extraordinary word. It’s often used as part of a motivational phrase…be happy, be yourself, be YOU, or the most profound: just be.

Even single words we say including the syllable “be” – become or belief, for example – are wonderful.
What do you want to be? Rather, what does your “be” look like?

Ask a child… their answer will include “be something”. ..fireman, nurse, Spiderman.
Ask a terminal cancer patient – after years of unsuccessful treatment, and they want to “be free” to go. Ask Shakespeare … and he’s no freakin’ clue: to be, or not to be..

I figure “be” is whatever you need it to be. A dream, a way of life, a reflection, Batman, co-worker, or dear friend.

Living as a be-ing isn’t easy at all. It is, however, always about new be-ginnings… creative and well-thought out ways to “just be” in a world where being quiet is the best place to be.

That’s what I want. For you. For me. Let’s be “be” together.

Our common experience is birth. That’s pretty much it. We depart ways at that point. For the remaining time until death, our individual lives twist and turn in remarkably different ways. We adapt to customs, walk through experiences, and jump over unimaginable hurdles.

Yes, we are uncommon the second after we are born. From that point forward, however, we may need help and guidance focusing our individual light on the right path.

If we’re lucky, someone will hold our hand along the way:

Could be a great friend. A “meet you where you are, close, warm, caring, come with me regardless where the road goes kind of a person”.

Could be a great mentor. A “follow my example, learn, read about my life, hear my wisdom, follow my path kind of a person”.

Could be a professional. A “look at my education and experience, study as I have, work hard, practice, and apply youself kind of a person”.

Could be a deity. A “read my book of instruction, invest your time studying my sacred book of life kind of being”.

Could be nature itself. A “Sit by be and meditate, look up and breathe deeply, stretch your arms out and embrace the flow of the creek kind of thing”.

Could be a parent. A “Here’s what I did when I was your age, disciplined, engaged, provider, loving kind of a person”.

….or, really any weird combination of the above. Whatever works for you. All or none.

Could be just you, though. Arguably, THE best “uncommon” ever born!

Holding your own hand. Being your own advocate. Your best friend, mentor. The go-to person. The one who laughs at your bad jokes and cries with you when your emotions are tired and worn to the core.

Hey, take all the hand holding help you can get from as many friends and family folks available. Life is uncommonly hard.

But, remember, you need to be you 24/7 … that’s been the plan the second you were born, so hang in there.

I like to consider things. For example, the “what ifs?”, “whys?”, and “huhs?” in life – (to mention a few near the top of my list). Doing so keeps my spirit fully engaged…not only with the mundane drudgery of the day to day, but also the higher, loftier air of possibilities. Both have the “what ifs?”, “whys?”, and “huhs?”. Whether my mind is embracing the expanse of our Milky Way, or my mouth is telling the same joke for the 100th time, I am caught up in considering the possibilities.

Seems a bit complicated. Really, it isn’t. It’s just me – and I’m kinda cool with it.

I’ve been asked, “Why do you need to know why?…Why is ‘why’ so important to you?”… My internal process of thinking churns through possibilities – over and over – until I come to some kind of resolution (which doesn’t always happen, btw. Case #1: slow drivers in the left lane!). That’s the “why”….I need to know. Important to me? Yes. To anyone else? Probably not.

I was raised by parents who were loving but individually quirky. I have goofy genes. I am a philosophically leaning, piano playing, fifty-something wiener salesman with two college degrees. Kinda makes anyone go: “huh…why?”

To which I reply, “Hey, y’all gotta consider the possibilities in life.”

It’s all part of my day-to-day life….and I get to tell a joke or two along the way.

Explore one “why?” in your life today. Maybe you’ll get an answer, maybe not. In either case, it’ll be well worth considering.

Little girl once missing. Little girl once gone…now gone forever. She was a precious one few of us knew except through Amber alerts on our phone. No more alerts. Just sad news that she was found. Gone forever in a park. Alone – with only our hopes she would be found alive. Not to be. So sad for all of us. She could have been a great person. Instead, she won our hearts and became even more remarkable in her passing. May the stars accept her soul as the infinite hope she was to all of us…

If the possible is seen only from what has been, then there is little point in dreaming.

However, we are gifted the impossible. We close our eyes to dream – to see the impossible: blind to the influence of others, enraptured by our wild artistic musings, caressed with grace, and reach beyond our longest stretch.

For me, I would rather be open to what is blindly impossible than see clearly the possibilities based upon my failures and successes in the past. For in my unknown future waits quietly a blank staff, an empty canvas, a mystery so enticingly rich, so sweetly beguiling, so mercifully tender that it makes my past seem almost impossible unto itself.