Hitching Rides with Buddha

I just finished reading Will Ferguson’s book Hitching Rides with Buddha. The book chronicles Ferguson’s journey to follow the cherry blossom migration across Japan. Ferguson wanted to experience the essence of Japan so he challenged himself to complete his journey only through the benevolence of others by hitchhiking the entire way.

Ferguson’s travels highlighted his emerging sentiment of isolation. Will Ferguson lived in Japan for five years but yet no matter how integrated he was with the country, he could never belong. He would always be classified as a foreigner, an outsider. In Japan people are often referred to not by their name but by the role they play. Mr. Policeman. Mr. Post Office. Mr. Foreigner. Such broad classifications can border on racist but it is a tendency that is not unique to Japan. It transcends cultures.

How many people do we dehumanize by our broad classifications? How many conflicts do we perpetuate through the polarization that these broad classifications encourage? What do we do with the fringe elements that fall outside these broad classifications?

These broad classifications, and their associated issues, are more common today than any other time. It is impossible to be an environmentalist without immediately being classified as left wing. It is difficult to mention gun control without it being assumed that you are against all guns. If you find yourself from a fringe element such as someone suffering from a mental illness, be prepared to be ignored or pigeon holed into a mainstream group that will ensure you do not get the help you need or deserve.

Imagine if we all chose to stand down and pause to think about an issue with an open mind. Would our values really be as far out of skew as our labels suggest?

“Once you label me you negate me.” - Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)

Calm Reflection

Political rhetoric on both sides of the gun control spectrum continues to dominate the internet. It is easy to let emotions blind us to the problems we face as a society. These problems are not going to be solved by banning all firearms or, heaven forbid, bringing even more guns into the equation. Quiet, calm reflection should point the way clear.

Below is a letter that was shared by the Parallax Press that I feel has hit the nail on the head.  I am copying the letter below:

Brother Phap Luu, a monastic at Plum Village, grew up in Newtown, Connecticut. He has written an amazing, heartfelt letter to shooter Adam Lanza, that you can read here:

Saturday, 15th of December, 2012
Dharma Cloud Temple
Plum Village

Dear Adam,

Let me start by saying that I wish for you to find peace. It would be easy just to call you a monster and condemn you for evermore, but I don't think that would help either of us. Given what you have done, I realize that peace may not be easy to find. In a fit of rage, delusion and fear—yes, above all else, I think, fear—you thought that killing was a way out. It was clearly a powerful emotion that drove you from your mother's dead body to massacre children and staff of Sandy Hook School and to turn the gun in the end on yourself. You decided that the game was over.

But the game is not over, though you are dead. You didn't find a way out of your anger and loneliness. You live on in other forms, in the torn families and their despair, in the violation of their trust, in the gaping wound in a community, and in the countless articles and news reports spilling across the country and the world—yes, you live on even in me. I was also a young boy who grew up in Newtown. Now I am a Zen Buddhist monk. I see you quite clearly in me now, continued in the legacy of your actions, and I see that in death you have not become free.

You know, I used to play soccer on the school field outside the room where you died, when I was the age of the children you killed. Our team was the Eagles, and we won our division that year. My mom still keeps the trophy stashed in a box. To be honest, I was and am not much of a soccer player. I've known winning, but I've also known losing, and being picked last for a spot on the team. I think you've known this too—the pain of rejection, isolation and loneliness. Loneliness too strong to bear.

You are not alone in feeling this. When loneliness comes up it is so easy to seek refuge in a virtual world of computers and films, but do these really help or only increase our isolation? In our drive to be more connected, have we lost our true connection?

I want to know what you did with your loneliness. Did you ever, like me, cope by walking in the forests that cover our town? I know well the slope that cuts from that school to the stream, shrouded by beech and white pine. It makes up the landscape of my mind. I remember well the thrill of heading out alone on a path winding its way—to Treadwell Park! At that time it felt like a magical path, one of many secrets I discovered throughout those forests, some still hidden. Did you ever lean your face on the rough furrows of an oak's bark, feeling its solid heartwood and tranquil vibrancy? Did you ever play in the course of a stream, making pools with the stones as if of this stretch you were king? Did you ever experience the healing, connection and peace that comes with such moments, like I often did?

Or did your loneliness know only screens, with dancing figures of light at the bid of your will? How many false lives have you lived, how many shots fired, bombs exploded and lives lost in video games and movies?

By killing yourself at the age of 20, you never gave yourself the chance to grow up and experience a sense of how life's wonders can bring happiness. I know at your age I hadn't yet seen how to do this.

I am 37 now, about the age my teacher, the Buddha, realized there was a way out of suffering. I am not enlightened. This morning, when I heard the news, and read the words of my shocked classmates, within minutes a wave of sorrow arose, and I wept. Then I walked a bit further, into the woods skirting our monastery, and in the wet, winter cold of France, beside the laurel, I cried again. I cried for the children, for the teachers, for their families. But I also cried for you, Adam, because I think that I know you, though I know we have never met. I think that I know the landscape of your mind, because it is the landscape of my mind.

I don't think you hated those children, or that you even hated your mother. I think you hated your loneliness.

I cried because I have failed you. I have failed to show you how to cry. I have failed to sit and listen to you without judging or reacting. Like many of my peers, I left Newtown at seventeen, brimming with confidence and purpose, with the congratulations of friends and the approbation of my elders. I was one of the many young people who left, and in leaving we left others, including you, just born, behind. In that sense I am a part of the culture that failed you. I didn't know yet what a community was, or that I was a part of one, until I no longer had it, and so desperately needed it.

I have failed to be one of the ones who could have been there to sit and listen to you. I was not there to help you to breathe and become aware of your strong emotions, to help you to see that you are more than just an emotion.

But I am also certain that others in the community cared for you, loved you. Did you know it?

In eighth grade I lived in terror of a classmate and his anger. It was the first time I knew aggression. No computer screen or television gave a way out, but my imagination and books. I dreamt myself a great wizard, blasting fireballs down the school corridor, so he would fear and respect me. Did you dream like this too?

The way out of being a victim is not to become the destroyer. No matter how great your loneliness, how heavy your despair, you, like each one of us, still have the capacity to be awake, to be free, to be happy, without being the cause of anyone's sorrow. You didn't know that, or couldn't see that, and so you chose to destroy. We were not skillful enough to help you see a way out.

With this terrible act you have let us know. Now I am listening, we are all listening, to you crying out from the hell of your misunderstanding. You are not alone, and you are not gone. And you may not be at peace until we can stop all our busyness, our quest for power, money or sex, our lives of fear and worry, and really listen to you, Adam, to be a friend, a brother, to you. With a good friend like that your loneliness might not have overwhelmed you.

But we needed your help too, Adam. You needed to let us know that you were suffering, and that is not easy to do. It means overcoming pride, and that takes courage and humility. Because you were unable to do this, you have left a heavy legacy for generations to come. If we cannot learn how to connect with you and understand the loneliness, rage and despair you felt—which also lie deep and sometimes hidden within each one of us—not by connecting through Facebook or Twitter or email or telephone, but by really sitting with you and opening our hearts to you, your rage will manifest again in yet unforeseen forms.

Now we know you are there. You are not random, or an aberration. Let your action move us to find a path out of the loneliness within each one of us. I have learned to use awareness of my breath to recognize and transform these overwhelming emotions, but I hope that every man, woman or child does not need to go halfway across the world to become a monk to learn how to do this. As a community we need to sit down and learn how to cherish life, not with gun-checks and security, but by being fully present for one another, by being truly there for one another. For me, this is the way to restore harmony to our communion.

Douglas Bachman (Br. Phap Luu)
who grew up at 22 Lake Rd. in Newtown, CT., is a Buddhist monk and student of the Vietnamese Zen Master and monk Thich Nhat Hanh. As part of an international community, he teaches Applied Ethics and the art of mindful living to students and school teachers. He lives in Plum Village Monastery, in Thenac, France.

Why

It is impossible to make sense of the killing of twenty-six innocents in Connecticut this week. As a parent myself, I can’t begin to imagine the horrific pain the parents of those twenty children are experiencing. It seems so senseless.

It is easy to let our emotions dictate our response to a situation like this. It is almost impossible to not do so. It is important that we all remember that this is not the first time an atrocity like this has taken place nor, unfortunately, is it likely to be the last.

Mental illness is not something that we can will out of existence anymore than we can will cancer eradicated. The sooner we remove the stigma surrounding mental illness, the sooner we can start finding solutions to a problem that affects over 60% of us. Only through understanding will we begin to be able to address these problems we face as a society.

Our world is a little less bright today. My heart goes out to the families who suffered such an inconsolable loss. As much as our curiosity draws us to make sense of what could cause a person to commit such an atrocity, let’s not let our curiosity 'glorify' the individual. Sick or not, no one deserves that. Remember the victims.

“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.” - Bill Clinton (b. 1944)

Because

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I do what I do. Not thinking in terms of wondering why, but rather in terms on how to logically and concisely convey my thoughts about this to others. This has always been a challenge for me. My thought process barely ventures beyond the abstract. This can make it difficult to get others on to the same page as myself.

I have strong feelings about activism, freedom, and human rights. My opinions obviously conflict with those of many people. Yet despite philosophical differences, there should be common ground in which we all can find instances where we agree. Whether or not you agree with your leader’s actions, you should never allow freedom and the democratic process to be compromised - no matter what. Once accepted, any compromise becomes the norm. Are you sure you are willing to accept that norm when you don’t agree with your leader’s actions? Or better yet, are you willing to accept this autocratic power to reside with the future leaders who are, as of now, an unknown quantity?

It is disheartening to see how much people are willing to compromise on their values as long as they feel the ends justify the means. If we are willing to give up our values for any reason, can we really consider them values?

“All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and not take.” - Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Acts of Kindness

As the Year of the Dragon enters its final months, my Year of the Snake I Ho Chuan team is gearing up for their UBBT challenge. As has been the case with all previous student UBBT teams, the acts of kindness log continues to be one of the most vexing requirements for my students. This requirement seemed somewhat redundant to me when I first challenged the Ultimate Black Belt Test but by midway through that first year, acts of kindness became the flagship requirement for my entire challenge.

I am a kind person. I tend to do kind things. Logging these kind acts seemed somewhat superfluous and perhaps a little narcissistic. Why would I take the time to write down an act that is just second nature?  Does not the benevolence of the act become somewhat tarnished if I am keeping score? All these questions and more went through my head as I prepared for my first UBBT. Since I had a gajillion other requirements to track and log I decided to stop thinking so much about the acts of kindness requirement and just do it. That’s when something wonderful happened.

The act of logging my kind acts made me much more mindful of the acts of kindness I was performing everyday. I was confirming what I knew all along - I am a kind person. Yet while I was busy patting myself on the back over my keen awareness of these kind acts I was performing, I became aware of all the opportunities to be kinder that I was missing. The simple act of making eye contact with a convenience store clerk and smiling could have a positive impact upon both of our days and yet this simple act was not something ingrained in my daily repertoire before I started logging my acts of kindness. Taking a moment to appreciate the sorry state of health of the cat that was harassing the fish in my fish pond before chasing it off, brought a new friend into my world and changed my life forever.

Logging my acts of kindness have made me a kinder person by keeping me aware of how my actions affect the world around me and directly impact the quality of my life. Happiness is found in a single moment. Awareness is the key.

“Those who make compassion an essential part of their lives find the joy of life. Kindness deepens the spirit and produces rewards that cannot be completely explained in words. It is an experience more powerful than words. To become acquainted with kindness one must be prepared to learn new things and feel new feelings. Kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind. It is a philosophy of the spirit.” - Robert J. Furey

Inconsequential Consequences?

As parents we all know that our children’s schedule is set by the decisions we make on they’re behalf. I think about how often a parent of one of my students has used their child’s busy schedule or varying interest as an excuse to pull out of training. This is inevitably the same parent who raved about the positive influence kung fu training had on their child’s self esteem and school work the year before. Things eventually become taken for granted. This tends to be our way when the extraordinary becomes ordinary.

Staying engaged with anything over the long term is always a challenge. There are always other interests and distractions conspiring to divide my attention. I continually prioritize my time and efforts to ensure they are serving my goals. Off course there are many times where I veer off course and lose my way. There are infinite reasons to take a break or a more scenic route and it is easy to convince myself that the consequences will be inconsequential. Yeah right, inconsequential consequences. I am constantly reminded that nothing is for free.

Experience without focus and discipline has little to do with mastery and promotes a lifestyle where mediocrity is the norm. It is easy to get used to not following through. Mediocrity is a numbness that can overtake you without you even being aware and sculpt you a life that is all about searching but never finding.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” - Alexander Graham Bell (1947 - 1922)

Ego

I conduct a black belt grading once every year and holes in my teaching process are brought to the forefront each time. No matter how well you think your students are prepared, something always slips through the cracks.

Technique mastery only comes in phases. It is critical that form must be perfected before all else. There is no use in executing with speed and power, let alone realism, if the fundamentals of a technique have not been mastered first. I have a few students, always male, who are always too psyched about getting to realism that they never completely master the nuances of a technique. I have drilled it through their heads that they must slow down to perfect their method before progress can be made. You can lead a horse to water but . . .

Ego can be such a detriment to self improvement. I shudder when I think of all the opportunities I have missed by interpreting what my teachers had been trying to pass on to me rather than just absorbing. I realize now that the why was never as important as I thought it was. Arrogance is very limiting. Don’t think, just do.

“Give up all bad qualities in you, banish the ego and develop the spirit of surrender. You will then experience Bliss.” - Sri Sathya Sai Baba (b. 1926)

Remembrance Day

Today is a day for reflection. A day to take stock of what we have but better yet, why we have it. Growing up in a free country is a privilege that is easy to take for granted. It is important to remind ourselves of the unspeakable horror and sacrifice that has gone into securing our birthright.

158 Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan. While they and their fellow troops were putting everything on the line a world away, life went on back home. The performance of the Toronto Stock Exchange got more news coverage and political attention than the military deaths announced in the same newscast that proclaimed new economic initiatives and sports scores.

Support our troops. This requires more than putting a slogan on a bumper. Remember the sacrifice, the permanent sacrifice, that is made in the name of Queen and country. No one comes home whole after experiencing the horror of war and our veterans need our support more than ever. Their combat in Afghanistan may have come to an end but their battle with their government at home continues to rage on. Let’s not let the government that has run up the biggest fiscal deficit in Canadian history, justify cutbacks  at the expense of our veterans.

Never take lightly the rights that so many have died to protect.

“It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the sounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell” - William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 - 1891)

Regroup

I’ve spent the past few weeks digging myself out of some big holes. It is easy for things to get out of control when a couple of things go askew at the same time. I’ve had to take a step back to organize my thoughts so I can prioritize, regroup, and get things back on track.

This added stress has been a good reminder for me that commitment and effort do not guarantee results. There are always factors beyond my control. When I think about it, It does not take much for things to go wrong and most of us are only a couple of simultaneous catastrophes away from homelessness. Somber thought indeed.

“It’s a good thing to follow the First Law of Holes: If you are in one, stop digging.” - Denis Healey (b. 1917)

Everyone Gets What They Get

I read an interesting article in the Vancouver Sun this week that reminds me of the importance of activism. By not accepting responsibility for our own situation we allow mediocrity to run rampant. In a free and just society, everyone tends to get exactly what they deserve.

 I am the creator of all my relationships, personal and professional. I have the power to mould them into whatever shape I choose. If I want my co-workers to respect me, I must conduct my professional affairs accordingly. Conflicts in my personal life are inevitable. The efforts I put into resolving them reflect the value, or lack of, I place on a particular relationship. I know I am judged by my efforts and people estimate their value to me by the time I invest in them.

If I accept mediocrity in any relationship I cannot expect that relationship to not be mediocre. I reap what I sow.

“A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.” - Ernest Bramah (1868 - 1942)

Quality of Life

Our student I Ho Chuan team made a trip to a senior’s lodge this weekend to entertain the residents with a Chinese Lion Dance and demo. I find myself thinking about the twilight years more often these days. With only one alternative, old age is something that awaits us all.

Quality of life in my later years is something that is important to me. It seems like yesterday that I was looking at thirty year olds and thinking I never want to be that old. Looking back I realize that those thirty year olds were old before their time. Bad habits and lethargy take their toll on everyone. I am thankful for the lifestyle kung fu has inspired me to adopt and the quality of life I enjoy and plan to take with me into my senior years.

“if you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviours and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.” - Anthony Robbins (b. 1960)

That's It?

I’ve been tracking my pushups since mid 2008 and passed the quarter million plateau yesterday. I’ve been staring at that number - 250,000. It’s a big number but at the same time I can’t help but think - is that all? There is no doubt that 50,000 pushups/year is a pretty decent pace. Yet I feel like I have been doing pushups for so long that my total should be in the millions, not just 250,000.

Before I started tracking my numbers I had a lot of false assumptions about the state of my training. I had become complacent and in retrospect - lazy. When I don’t record my numbers I tend to be aware of everything I am doing but completely oblivious of everything I am not doing. I have wasted many years of potential progress that I can never get back.

My daily training journal has stopped the bleeding of wasted time. I can no longer lie to myself over how hard I am training because numbers are quantifiable and they do not lie.

For me, mastery is found in exploiting every opportunity for growth and recognizing those opportunities in every moment of every day.

“Stop the mindless wishing that things would be different. Rather than wasting time and emotional and spiritual energy in explaining why we don't have what we want, we can start to pursue other ways to get it.” - Greg Anderson (b. 1964)

Thanksgiving

I continue to be blessed with a life with so much to be thankful for. I am surrounded by good, compassionate people and I feel I am living a life of consequence. I have found myself wanting at times but in my life I have never been in need. I am grateful that I understand the difference.

“Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.” - Dennis Prager (b. 1948)

Rick Mercer

My whole life, I have never thought of myself as an activist. I’ve always believed in doing what was right, popular or not, but I never went out of my way to publicly take a stand one way or another. As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I realize that silent disagreement can be construed as contentment and support.

Over the past six years I have watched democracy in Canada take a back seat to economic and political priorities. Something the martial arts has taught me is that mindful action can change any situation. Rick Mercer is an activist I admire. He does not hesitate to take a stand and, agree with him or not, you can’t help but respect him. McLean’s Magazine published a good article on him this month - http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/09/21/why-i-rant/#more-295261

We need a few more committed people like Rick Mercer to remind us that democracy and capitalism are not even remotely the same things.

“If we as a nation don’t rant then the powers that be will use that complacency against us.” - Rick Mercer (b. 1969)

Reconciliation

Why do we accept this from our government?

A moral disconnect has permeated into our collective consciousness that continues to polarize society. The left and the right scramble for control of the high ground while destroying the fabric of what it means to live in a free, just society. The majority seem to be oblivious of this contradiction as long as unsustainable economic growth remains the priority.

I’m old enough to remember when news reporting was politically unbiased and trusted as such. Today unbalanced reporting is so widely accepted that people only tune into news sources whose skewed reporting support their own political views. If they do get exposed to a documented fact that does not adhere to their preferred skewed presentation, they write it off as a biased attack on their political leanings.

The west’s foreign policy seems to value revenge over reconciliation and might over right. So much so that we continue to suppress rights and freedoms at home that we supposedly have soldiers dying overseas to protect. At the same time it seems our politicians are perpetuating such a deep divide in our own political landscape and instigating civil unrest that the spectre of civil war can no longer be considered farfetched.

How can we continue to claim the moral high ground in international disputes when we can’t seem to even reconcile at home?

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” - Edward R. Murrow (1908 - 1965)

Final UBBT

The honour of being part of the last official UBBT team is dubious at best. While the legacy of the Ultimate Black Belt Test will live on through the UBBT alumni and their students, it was under our watch that the plug was pulled.

Mastery is a process, a long process. It’s about turning the wheel a couple of degrees and making sustainable changes that, over time, lead to permanent transformation. Hindsight is always 20/20 and from my perspective it is clear where we failed to give the UBBT the relevance it deserved. 

Journalling. I believe it is as simple as that. If our journalling is not consistent, public, and most importantly defining our journey, then our journey brings no relevance back to the UBBT. “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Under our watch a lot of trees were chopped down but I am thinking many were not heard. There should be a story behind all that clear cutting and I wish I would have contributed to a clearer story being told. The Ultimate Black Belt Test is the single most powerful transformation tool I have come across. The UBBT process is reclaiming what it means to be a martial artist and it is defining the relevance of our craft.

The UBBT will continue to resonate in my school through my student team enrolled in our I Ho Chuan program. Our current Year of the Dragon team just turned a major corner in their journey and our Year of the Snake team is already tooling up and preparing for their February start. There may not be a UBBT 10 in the immediate future, but the ripples continue on.

“The Ultimate Black Belt Test is a hero's journey—exodus, epiphany, and return—and passing it requires a physical, mental, and spiritual transformation that will make people stand up and take notice.” - Tom Callos

Rotary Run For Life

Sixty percent of Canadians will be affected by mental illness at some point in their lives, yet mental illness continues to have a stigma associated with it. The shame and embarrassment cause many people to go untreated. I hope that someday mental illness will be seen as no different than a broken leg so those afflicted no longer need to suffer silently and alone.

Today we performed a Dragon/Lion dance for the Stony Plain Rotary Run For Life to support the Coordinated Suicide Prevention Program. It’s not everyday that you can begin by doing something you love while supporting an initiative you are passionate about. A great day with great friends and great times.

“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.” - Bill Clinton (b. 1946)

Joe Lewis (1944 - 2012)

Joe Lewis passed away yesterday morning. As I look back at his career and the impact he has had on the martial arts, I feel an intense sense of loss.

I can’t think of anyone who was more intimidating with his presence than Joe Lewis. The man was huge and moved like a cat. He is considered the greatest karate fighter of all time and from what I have seen, it is a title he definitely deserved.

Joe Lewis was a great teacher. I never had the opportunity to train with the man but I have watched him teach his tactics and was reminded of the late Grand Master Edmund Parker in how he could break down a technique into its raw components.

Grand Master Lewis lost his thirteen month battle with brain cancer but his determination to teach throughout his chemotherapy and radiation treatments was  an inspirational attestation of how fierce a fighter he was. Simultaneously it serves as an important reminder that none of us get out alive.

“Every man dies - Not every man really lives.” - William Ross Wallace (1819 - 1881)

The Living Kwoon 2012

Once again we're at that time of year when we take advantage of our extra downtime to reconnect with our kwoon. While our students take the next week to get their kids or themselves ready to return to school, we use this time to perform renovations to our training hall. I had a conversation with one of my students about this annual project and was reminded at how difficult it can be for some to recognize the opportunity a project like this represents.

Robert Pirsig points out that a "Church" or "University" is not defined by the physical walls of the actual structure. Each is more about the spirit of the community that worships or is taught in the structure. A building's function and purpose will always be dictated by the community that uses it. Case in point - Thich Nhat Hanh's Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbrol, Germany is located in a building that used to be a Nazi resort hotel. A building is just a building but what takes place within its walls is so much more.

The kwoon is a living entity that is not confined by the walls of the physical space where it resides. The kwoon is defined by the community of students who are engaged and involved with the kwoon. This may seem common sense to some but it most definitely is not common sense to everyone.

No matter what, many students will approach the kwoon as nothing more than a gymnasium. They show up, leave their sweat and mud behind for someone else to clean up, and are off to get back to their separate lives. That's what their membership is to them - a place to work out and have someone clean up after them. They want to be part of something bigger but they go about it the wrong way despite the answer being right in front of them.

Renovation week is not about fixing up a "gymnasium" so that it is clean and attractive for a bunch of users. Renovation week is a spiritual journey, or awakening if you will, that reconnects us with our kwoon - our kung fu community. Some of my students struggle with a feeling of isolation when their work keeps them from training at the kwoon, yet there are people who feel just as disengaged even though they are at the kwoon three times a week training.

Reconnecting with your kwoon, spending time getting to know your classmates, and taking ownership of the school where you spend so much of your time could turn out to be a pivotal turning point in a person's kung fu career. The difference between success and failure often comes down to a person's level of engagement.

I recognize that 90% of my students who take advantage of renovation week will probably miss the the entire point of the event and only see it as a responsibility. But if this year's event rejuvenates, re-engages, reconnects, inspires, or grounds 10% of my students, I will consider it a success. Thirty engaged, cognizant human beings can shake the pillars of the world.

"I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one." - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

 

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Monkey Thoughts

It seems a common theme that kept popping up this week during my student meetings was accepting responsibility. It is unfortunate that so many people equate taking responsibility with only accepting blame. Taking responsibility for a situation empowers you to change the situation. Taking responsibility is the difference between being a victim and being in control.

Self talk, that inner conversation we all have with ourselves, is one thing we all have complete control of. The words we choose to use during those conversations go a long way in colouring our perceptions. "He hit me" and "I got hit" both may accurately convey what just happened in a sparring match, but saying it from the first person perspective definitely gives you more of a sense of responsibility and control. It promotes analysis of what could have been done to prevent the outcome where the other statement gives all the control to the person who hit you.

I try to stress the importance of choosing words carefully, most importantly those words used in silent inner diaglogue. Words affect perception, perception affects thoughts. Control the words and you control the thoughts.

""Careful with fire" is good advice, we know:

"Careful with words" is ten times doubly so.

Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead;

But God himself can't kill them when they're said." - Will Carleton (1845-1912)

 

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Moving On

The fact that this year will be the final year of the official Ultimate Black Belt Test has left me with many conflicting emotions. I hadn't expected to be part of the team this year when originally only people wishing promotion were to be included. I had myself psyched up to face 2012 without being part of a team that has been a big part of me for the past five years. I am grateful to Master Callos for waiving the promotion requirement and allowing me to participate for one more year. It has been a great ride and a life changing experience.

I understand why the project is being discontinued in its current form and I agree with the decision. A project is only viable if the partiipation level is high. I know it has been impossible for me to juggle all my personal responsibilities and make significant contributions to both The One Hundred and the UBBT so the closing of one of these initiatives will hopefully strengthen the other. Ironically it was the demise of The 100. (the original iteration of The One Hundred) that had me finally commit to the Ultimate Black Belt Test in the first place.

I am disappointed that as a group we couldn't get it together enough to make the Ultimate Black Belt Test the project it aspired to be. In an industry that has so woefully lost its way, the UBBT and The One Hundred are beacons of light guiding the martial arts back to the noble path. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this industry revolution and I hope I am able to contribute something to Master Callos' extraordinary vision.

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.” - Joel Barker

 

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Ahhhhhh

An injury has given me the opportunity to narrow my focus on my meditation. Meditation has always been a huge part of my everyday life but it is reinvigorating to completely immerse myself into the practice every so often. The world slows down, problems disappear, and priorities realign. Once again I am reminded that I am exactly where I need to be.

“What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.” - Author Unknown

Tools Versus Hoops

I am getting close to a black belt grading deadline. I am spending more and more time analyzing our school’s candidates and using their successes and mistakes to help me further refine our future grading process. This year we introduced a few more tools to help our students achieve the mastery that should be indicative of a black belt. Of course you can lead a horse to water . . . .

Something that has taken me a long time to accept is that a tool is only a tool if it is recognized as such. Unfortunately a tool for one person is a hoop for another. The difference between a hoop and a tool comes down to who you are doing the work for. If you are doing the work for yourself because you recognize the value in the rate of return on your investment, then your black belt requirements are accepted as tools to help in your success. If you are doing the work for your instructor then any tool I put in front of you will be interpreted as a hoop you have to jump through to get your promotion. Either approach requires the work to be done but it is much easier to stay the course mentally when you are using tools to blaze your trail rather than depleting your energy jumping through endless hoops and over various hurdles.

A team is only as strong as its weakest member. Teammates get support from each other and the team is probably the most valuable tool I have ever given my students. Not living up to your responsibilities and commitments not only have a drastic affect on the outcome of your efforts but will also have a negative impact on the rest of your team. Everyone knows that actions have consequences but what must be kept in the forefront is that inaction’s consequences can be far more damaging.

“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” - Josiah Charles Stamp (1880 - 1941)

UBBT Success

I’ve been participating in the Ultimate Black Belt Test for almost five years now. I’ve witnessed spectacular successes and many failures. The one thing that all the failures had in common was the breaking of the no quitting rule. When you think about it, whether or not you achieve all the goals you set out to achieve, a year dedicated to mastery cannot end in failure if you stay engaged in the process. Stick to the process and progress is guaranteed. The process. That is the secret. The UBBT is not a program you participate in, it is a process you develop. My I Ho Chuan team members (student UBBT team), past and present, continue to struggle with this perspective.

Lifestyle changes are only lifestyle changes if the changes last a lifetime. Temporary change only garners temporary results. If you want to lose weight, any strategies you adopt to lose that weight must be maintained over your lifetime if you want the weight loss to be permanent. Mastery is no different. A Master does not achieve a goal and then immediately revert to a life of accepting average. Mastery is a way of life, not some arbitrary goal recognized by a certificate you hang on a wall.

Something for my 2012 student team to think about — have you transformed yourself over these past seven months? If not, you still have five more to turn this around. Finally, a question for my past student teams. Has the mastery you developed over the course of your challenge become part of you or have you already discarded some of the tools that allowed you to achieve the extraordinary?

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” - Patanjali

This is a Test

As of January 23, 2012, I will no longer promote anyone to Black Belt or beyond unless they have successfully completed a full year in our I Ho Chuan program. Our I Ho Chuan program is based upon Tom Callos’ Ultimate Black Belt Test and my expectation is that anyone wishing promotion must make an unmitigated commitment to mastery.

The I Ho Chuan program is limited to twenty participants each year. This year due to a few long distance students, I have allowed twenty-four to participate. As I identified last week, some of my student team members are struggling. I made some changes to my student UBBT program this year by designating bi-weekly I Ho Chuan classes and a monthly team meeting. These extra opportunities allow the team coaches to connect and follow up with individual team members. Motivation over the long term can be a struggle so that makes these opportunities that much more important.

Opportunities only bear fruit if they are taken advantage of. It is pretty hard to have a big affect on someone’s motivation if they are not taking the minimum steps to help themselves. At a minimum, everyone on the team should have zero unexcused absences from their I Ho Chuan classes and meetings. Lastly, everyone must journal a MINIMUM of once a week. If you’re not journalling, you probably are not fully aware of where you are. If you don’t know where you are, how the heck can you count on your coaches to be aware?

I constantly remind my students to follow their team’s journals as everyone’s journey is pertinent to everyone else. Sometimes the solution to a problem lies in the experience of another. This posting is a test for my I Ho Chuan members. I am asking each of my students who read this posting to indicate so by posting a comment on this entry on my Blogger account.

“Success begins to happen when you help yourself.” - Arthur Tugman (b. 1938)

Excuses = Reasons

Seven months into the year and many of my student team members are struggling. The problem is that I am pretty sure the majority of those struggling are not even aware that they are. It’s easy to let mediocrity creep into your life when you are not engaged.

When it comes to mastery, either you do or you don’t. Excuses for commitments not met are not free passes. In reality they are reasons why goals aren’t achieved. Actions, not intentions produce progress.

If you are student of mine and do not pass your grading this year, consider the choices you have made and the priorities you have set. The importance you place on mastery is directly related to your level of commitment toward fulfilling the promises you made to yourself at the beginning of the year.

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” - Ken Blanchard (b. 1939)

Grandpa Was A Glowworm

It is hard not to acknowledge my own mortality when someone close to me passes away. I do the math and am acutely aware of how fast time is going by. So much to do and such little time. I guess I am at the point of my life where it is all about quality because the quantity will never be enough to accomplish everything I want to accomplish.

One of my favourite anecdotes about Winston Churchill comes from Helen Violet Bonham Carter —

"At the dinner-table, for a long time he [Churchill] remained sunk in abstraction. Then he appeared to become suddenly aware of my existence. He turned on me a lowering gaze and asked me how old I was. I replied that I was nineteen.
"'And I,' he said almost despairingly, 'am thirty-two already.'
"On reflection he added thoughtfully, 'Younger than anyone else who counts, though.' Then, savagely, 'Curse ruthless time! Curse our mortality. How cruelly short is the allotted span for all we must cram into it!'
"He burst into a diatribe about the brevity of life and ended: 'We are all worms... But I do believe that I am a glowworm!'"

85%

I tell my students that an attendance record of 85% is the minimum required for advancement to black belt. Sure you can make up for missed classes through mindful practice at home — skill can be acquired away from class. If this is the case, why 85%?
Because practice makes perfect but participation is still the most perfect practice.

Everyone plans to train at home but life has a way of getting in the way. The value in practice is not found in the intention. It is found in the actual execution. Intending to come to class but having a valid excuse for being absent has the same effect on your skill level as missing a class to go to a movie. Missed practice is a missed opportunity for progression. Missed opportunities have a habit of accumulating and adding up to an awful lot of mediocrity.

If a student has a minimum attendance record of 85%, they will be around positive, like-thinking people 35% more than a fellow student with only a 50% attendance record. That extra influence will translate to a better mental engagement in their training and a greater awareness of the opportunities we all have to apply ourselves to mastery in every moment of every day.

The inevitable question I get asked every year is: “My attendance record is 81%, does this mean I won’t be allowed to grade?”. My answer is always the same — the percentage is irrelevant, the issue is the missing skill. 85% attendance is not a rule, it is a fact.

“I’ve found luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” - Brian Tracy (b. 1944)

We All Fall Down

One of my business role models, a pioneer in the martial arts community, took his own life this week. His reputation’s imminent ruination and the inevitable consequences were more than he was willing to accept. His family, friends, and business associates will have to face the fallout without him.

My black belts are taught to revere the rank they have earned. They don’t own the rank, they share it. I remind them that their black belt is not only defined by the scope of their accomplishments but also the quality of their character, and the character of every person who achieved the rank before them. Consequently, their black belt will be continuously redefined by the character of every person who achieves the rank after them.

The rank of black belt comes with both privileges and responsibility. Most people respect the sweat and blood that went into making my white belt black, and trust me as a leader. They tend to give me this respect and trust without me having to first earn either. I know I am far from perfect and that I get more things wrong than I get right, so I am careful not to buy into the hype. Respect and trust have to be continuously earned. They may be easily given but once they are lost, they are almost impossible to earn back.

Accepting the responsibility that comes with the rank of black belt is not for the weak hearted. When one of us lets the rank down, the rest of us need to step up our game to repair the damage.

“Don’t consider your reputation and you may anything you like.” - Chinese Proverb

Leadership by Conflict and Fear

In the martial arts we talk a lot about leadership and the power of influence. There are many ways to influence people and the methods that a leader employs tend to reflect the leader’s values, vision, and skill set. I believe the leadership example we set in our martial arts schools is becoming increasingly important as our national leaders manipulate their way into power with short term strategies that serve their ambition at the expense of the people they purportedly serve.

 Stephen Harper has used fear to manipulate his way to a majority government. Despite inheriting a budget surplus when he took power, Harper has run up the biggest deficit in Canadian history yet he successfully promotes himself and his government as being fiscally conservative. He has the Canadian public in so much fear of how bad things could be if another “less financially conservative” party were in power, that the majority of us are oblivious to the financial damage his party has done in a very short time.

The leader of our official opposition, Thomas Mulcair, has shown his short term political strategy by attempting to cause a divide between the east and the west to gain support for his political ambitions. Blaming Western Canada for Eastern Canada’s economic woes may serve his campaign but at what expense to an already fractured national unity? Why would anyone purposely promote internal strife and conflict in a country he hopes to one day lead?

Yeah, my journalling has been getting more political over the past few years, but come on. When are we going to get leaders who are there to serve the people first and their own ambition second?

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” - Yoda

Work In Progress

The longer I apply myself to mastery I become increasingly aware of how important mindfulness and consistent action are to success. Mindful, consistent action leads to incremental progression and that adds up to big results over time.

Over the past four Ultimate Black Belt Tests that I have been involved in, I have got more things wrong than right. I’ve never been a stranger to mistakes and have made more than the average person. I’ve gone through all the crippling thoughts and emotions that come from facing those mistakes and taking responsibility. Guilt and regret could become overwhelming if I did not like myself. Yes, I am still a work in progress but despite all my imperfections and faults, I like who I am. It would be nice to be perfect and not have a past filled with mistakes but every one of my experiences, including all those mistakes, have brought me to where I am here and now.

If I keep moving forward and do not let challenges or setbacks cripple me, I am guaranteed to be a different person when I go to bed tonight than I was when I woke up this morning. That is all I ask from every day.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” - Conrad Hilton (1887 - 1979)

Heading Down a Dangerous Path

In 2008, the Conservative Government introduced a media protocol that forbids Canadian government scientists from participating in interviews without first being cleared by government officials. On BBC News, Pallab Ghosh quotes university scientist Thomas Pedersen as saying, "The Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) is keen to keep control of the message, I think to ensure that the government won't be embarrassed by scientific findings of its scientists that run counter to sound environmental stewardship. I suspect the federal government would prefer that its scientists don't discuss research that points out just how serious the climate change challenge is."

In 2011, a couple of days after he called the Prime Minister’s office to voice his opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, John Allsop of British Columbia received a visit from the RCMP that was geared toward intimidating him. When the Globe and Mail spoke with the PMO’s office, the investigator was told that the RCMP were not asked to investigate and that there is no record of Allsop even calling. Allsop’s phone bills prove otherwise.

In 2012, the Harper Government overhauled the federal environmental review process for development projects by implementing defined timelines and dedicating fewer resources to examining proposed projects. In essence we are handing stewardship of our natural resources over to the corporations who are profiting from their exploitation.

In this same year, Stephen Harper has virtually eliminated monitoring of the ozone layer over Canada. It’s not just ozone monitoring that has been gutted. Environment Canada acknowledges that other pollutant monitoring systems are also being downgraded.

Not so slowly Stephen Harper is dismantling anything that can interfere with his economic and environmental decisions. Armed with his first majority mandate, he is making Canada less and less like a democratic society everyday. The first step to stopping this trend is awareness.

"Stephen Harper not only opposes Kyoto, but he refutes the science. He’s back in the dinosaur era. Harper is just totally out of it." - David Suzuki (b.1936)

Week Seized

• Chauffeur my parents to their appointments - check.
• Have a Mother’s Day lunch with my mom - check.
• Get caught by my chiropractor doing pushups in the exam room - check. 
• Change my parents tires - check.
• Take delivery of new mats for kwoon expansion - check. 
• Have arms vibrate for two hours following the unloading of 240 newly delivered mats after naively completing 125 pushups first - check.
• Make progress on volatile business relationship - check.
• Rescue confused sparrow from unlit wood burning stove - check.
• Restore relationship with a long lost friend - check.
• Rollerblade with eternally grateful Border Collie - check.
• Spend two gloriously uninterrupted hours watching the clouds - check.

“What fun is it being cool if you can’t wear a sombrero?” - Bill Waterson (b.1958)

Masters of Simplicity

I have always tried to live my life mindfully simplistic. Minimalistic living has its benefits — less stress, more focus, and the global benefit that comes from opting out of the conspicuous consumption paradigm. As my mindfulness practice continues to evolve, I am much more aware of how complexity has a way of covertly oozing its way back into my life. With a global economic strategy that is dependent upon unsustainable growth, complexity is the natural order. Resisting assimilation is a job that demands full time vigilance.

Dieter Rams and Jonathan Ive are two Masters of Simplicity that keep me inspired. When I look at their work I find it impossible to imagine a way to improve the quality. Art can be found in everything we do when what we do comes from a place of mindfulness. Dieter Rams' Ten Principles of Good Design provide a framework for ethical quality in industrial design but also to any project that is worth your engagement.

Dieter Rams - 10 Principles of Good Design

1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is asthetic.
4. Good design makes a product understandable.
5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long lasting.
8. Good design is throrough, down to the last detail.
9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible.

Pandamonium Aftermath

After completely revamping our annual fundraising project from the ground up and setting it in motion, I found myself pulled almost completely out of the project because of a perfect storm of personal and professional challenges that forced me to back off from my usual level of participation and yes, my tendency to over-manage. The added stress of watching helplessly as the approaching date of our Kung Fu Pandamonium event came ever closer while I had to give up more and more control, added a little more fury to my already raging storm. May 5th was a date I couldn’t wait to be past but I dreaded every moment that it inched closer.

Today is May 6th, the Pandamonium is over, and I am humbly ecstatic. My students stepped up big time to make the event one of the most successful of our school’s twenty-five year history. The entire twenty-four hours went off without a hitch, except for a non kung fu mishap that required an emergency room visit to remove an embedded rock from a skull and a single stitch to close the wound. An exceptionally cool injury with a not so cool story for another time.

My guys began the Pandamonium at midnight Friday night and kept perpetual kung fu going in the kwoon for the entire 24 hours. The school turnout was fantastic with most of our 300 students showing up to help and participate. Some students actually stayed the entire 24 hours.

Without my full involvement the event featured a food tent serving goodness throughout the day. The parking lot was decorated with balloons, and an ad was placed in the local newspaper to promote the event. Some of the charities we support were also on hand to help out and promote awareness for the causes we are supporting. Our dragon and lion dance teams got together to perform for the first time since Chinese New Year and they absolutely nailed it without practicing for almost four months. On top of all of this, our kwoon expansion was completed during the preparations for the event. My students showed that without a doubt, kung fu is about community.

As the chief instructor of a martial arts school, I can’t imagine a better legacy to leave behind than the continuation of my system and school after I have moved on. Silent River Kung Fu’s future is definitely in good hands. Thank you to all my black belts for understanding the power of example.

“A community is like a ship, everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” - Henrik Ibsen (1828 -1906 )

Election Post Mortem

Well our provincial election is over with only 50% of the eligible voters turning out to choose the future direction of our province. Many people said their lack of vote expressed their protest by choosing none of the above. Unfortunately their lack of vote is totally indistinguishable from apathy. When governments count on public apathy to allow them to force and manipulate their agendas through the system, apathy is a very dangerous threat against democracy.

I heard an interesting interview conducted by Peter Brown following the election. He was interviewing two political scientists to get their insights on the election results. He noted that the Wildrose Party had much more support in southern Alberta than northern Alberta and asked his subjects why. The agreed response was that southern Alberta was feeling neglected by the ruling Progressive Conservatives over lack of government support after the southern province endured spring flooding. When Peter Brown expressed confusion as to why, if the people felt they were not getting enough government assistance, would they vote for an even further right wing party whose stated platform is for smaller government and less handouts. Both scientists just shrugged and said it made absolutely no sense to them either.

There definitely is a danger that ignorance can play a major role in an election. Obviously a lot of damage can come about from ignorance but no where near the damage that can be inflicted by apathy. Ignorance and apathy go hand in hand and one fuels the other but I feel that the solution lies in educating ourselves. At a minimum, we should spend the time to understand who we are voting for and what they actually stand for.

 “Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand.” - Bodie Thoene (b. 1951)

Why Journal?

Journalling for me has never been an easy task. I watch people fall off the journalling wagon every week as they struggle to find something pertinent to write. I myself have struggled hard over the last two years to find some direction in my journalling.  Five years ago my journal initially began as a method to organize my ideas as they pertain to my kung fu. The opportunity and responsibility that earning a black belt brings to a person’s life creates a vortex where ideas, emotions, values, and yes, ego, combine into this intellectual primordial ooze just waiting to be catalogued and recorded. As I kept up with my weekly journalling over the years, my sense of responsibility for the state of the world continued to colour my postings. I found myself drawn into political debates over environmental and foreign policy issues despite never being politically affiliated or inclined. The evolution of my postings were reflecting my own personal evolution. I now realize that this personal evolution would never have taken place if I hadn’t first taken the initiative and begin journalling.

So why has journalling been such a struggle over these past couple of years? I think part of my problem lies in my schizophrenic approach to my journal. I try to make my postings pertinent to my personal convictions, my role as a teacher, and my contribution to the Ultimate Black Belt Test. In my attempt to address all three roles, I tend to not serve any single one of them very well. This has caused me to question the value of my journal.

I struggle to find focus and purpose in my writing and I question the value of my writing. So why do I continue? I think I answered that myself in my first paragraph - I have evolved because of my journalling. I not only care about the problems of the world but I now have a better understanding of why the problems exist, what we’re doing to exasperate the problems, and what I can do to be part of the solution. I am a better, more humble, and more cognizant human being because of what I have learned through my journalling.

Journalling is a tool. It can serve you or you can serve it. These past two years I have been serving my journal. I need to reclaim the process as a tool so it starts to serve me again. The first step is to remind myself that if my journal is serving me it will also serve my students and the UBBT. I need to write for me.
     

“What is a diary as a rule? A document useful to the person who keeps it. Dull to the contemporary who reads it and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it.” - Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832)

One More Try

Once again we find ourselves facing another election. I live in the province with the largest CO2 emissions in Canada with no end in sight as long as our provincial economy continues to rely upon the extraction of oil.

Our government has done next to nothing to diversify our economy despite years of surplus budgets. Now that we have a candidate promising free handouts in the form of dividends during any budget surplus years, her election is sure to seal our dependance even deeper. At some point we need to govern for the future of the province as opposed to the future of the party. Our government needs to treat oil like it actually is a nonrenewable resource.

The clock is ticking and while oil will outlast many of us, there is coming a time when either the well will run dry or the addiction will be broken. Either way, oil is not a viable future to bank our children’s lives on.

“A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Broccoli

My youngest daughter is my resident expert on food and nutrition. Of course everything she says I should be eating tends to be foods that I would rather not eat. It’s funny how my taste never seems to correspond to my body’s needs. Downright hilarious.

Based upon her recommendations, I have concocted a super smoothie that caters to my not so unique needs. The great thing about smoothies is that they are easy to make and the taste of the sum of the ingredients is vastly superior to the taste of the worst individual components of the recipe. In my case the worst would be pineapple (for my knees) and broccoli - God’s super food.

This year I have empirical evidence that broccoli definitely has a positive affect on my immune system. Beyond one major bout of influenza over Chinese New Year, I have not   been sick for over a year. Three times over the winter I felt a cold coming on and all three times the symptoms disappeared within twenty four hours of me consuming a broccoli laced smoothie. Coincidence? I think not.

Jeff's Cold Busting Smoothie

40g Whey Protein Powder

1 banana

1 Fuji apple

125 ml pineapple

250 ml broccoli

125 ml blueberries

250 ml ice

“I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.” - George H. W. Bush (b.1924)

There Was A Time

Everyday should be Earth Day. There was a time when everyday was. Back before the economy became THE priority - when food, water, shelter, and clothing were the necessities of life. Somewhere between the time when we started using money as a medium of exchange and now, we began to value money more than the necessities it is used to acquire.

The shift from a necessity based economy, to a money based economy has brought with it great stress and pain for the earth. There was a time when the established generations planned their consumption carefully to ensure the well being of future generations. Today, the future is measured by economic growth. Stockholders demand profit and investment return without any concern of how those profits are being generated. We rape and pillage for the economy today without considering the long term consequences for our own grandchildren, let alone a stranger’s grandchildren on the other side of the planet..

The earth provides enough to satiate everyone’s needs, unfortunately it cannot produce enough to satisfy everyone’s wants. The haves can’t seem to get enough to be happy and have nots can’t seem to get enough to survive. The solution seems so simple but unfortunately it relies upon the haves willing to sacrifice their wants. Really tough to do when the the iPhone 5 is only months away.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Man On Wire

Man On Wire tells the story of Philippe Petit’s 1974 wire walking feat that saw him spend 45 minutes on a high wire suspended between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The scope of the project was astronomical and despite the odds being against his team, they pulled it off.

A very inspirational documentary that reinforces the value and power of passion.

“Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.” - Philippe Petit (b. 1949)