A lost Art?

Have you ever been given advice that you didn't ask for? Have you ever felt that someone has asked you a question with the intent of giving you their advice rather than the desire to hear your answer? I have, in fact I experienced that just a few hours ago. A co-worker asked me a question about my future. When I responded it was clear that wasn't what they wanted to hear and or were assuming I would say. They then preceded to share their input on why I shouldn't do what I shared and I should continue doing what I have told them I am stopping. Now some of you reading this may want to know what they advised, what I said, and the subject matter, but that is of no relevance. What is relevant? Well, to me, it is the fact that rather than supporting me, rather than showing interest by asking questions to learn, they asked a question with a self centered pretense and when I didn't answer their question to their pretense their mood shifted. Now this happens to all of us, and the more I look back on my life, the more I see I've fallen trap to this so easily device. It is hard to ask a question and not respond, isn't it? It is hard to accept other's decisions as best for them and support them through positivity despite our feelings. It is hard to let silence occur. It is hard to not input, not advise, not "help". It is hard to listen. It is hard to actually be interested. It is hard to support effectively. But, if most of you are like I, through experience hard things generally are best. Hard things usually involves me letting go of myself and jumping on the wave of life, the wave of the cosmos, the wave of God. Why is it hard to not respond? Why is it hard to not merit advice to those whom don't ask? Maybe it is hard because it is hard to listen. Is listening an art? Is listening a skill that must be learned, inquired, and or trained to inherit? The more I look back on recent conversations, the more frustrating feelings have occured rather than encouraging feelings. Think about the last time you had a conversation with someone where the topic of conversation has been 'difficult, hard, uneasy, or confusing.' Have you felt the need to give an answer? Have you given an answer, or advice, or your thoughts or feelings? Did that individual ask for advice? Did they ask what you felt about it? Did they ask for your input? Or maybe, just maybe, did they just need an ear? Did they just need someone, who cared enough about them to listen for 5 minutes. Because really that is all it takes right, 5 minutes. 5 minutes to show someone that you care. 5 minutes to hear out someones inner most thoughts. One of my best friends, Aaron Benedetti, whom I respect abundantly, does this better than anyone I know! AB lives in the present moment more beautifully than anyone I know. He is always present in the now, yet without neglecting future responsibilities and opportunities, and with a beautiful balance of remembering the past so that it serves as a catalyst of growth and blossoming within the present! He is not afraid of silence....the unknown! I love this about him and make it a daily ritual of mine own so that I myself can cultivate this into my lifestyle. It is a talent, it is an art-form. It is the ability to clear your mind of all pretense and deception. It is the positive trait of living in the moment, connecting with the present energy and emotions that float around us in the very particles we breathe every moment of every day. Slow down and breathe! Think about it. The oxygen we take for granted every second. The beauty that we miss because we are so worried about where it may come from next, that we don't see that it is already here! I don't have any tattoo's, but the one that I have contemplated getting forever etched on my body for the past 3 or 4 years is the word Peace and or Shalom, but I would like it in the Aramaic script. I read a deeper meaning of this word a few years back that has forever stuck. The author described Peace, Shalom, as this; "The ever surrounding goodness and presence of God." Goodness is all around us, isn't it? I believe it is. Yet, if I'm honest with myself I find it easier to see negativity. I find it easier to see what isn't around me that I want to have around me, rather than focusing on the good that is current. Yet, again, if I'm honest with myself, the less I focus on what isn't around me that I want, and the more I focus on the Shalom that abounds, the happier I am. The more at Peace I am. The slower I am to want. The better listener I become. The more secure with the unknown I feel. The more I see the Shalom of life, the more I believe in others. The more I want to know others, and their interests, and their mindset and their thoughts. The more I want to ask questions and actually listen. The more I want to not give my advice, but rather hear other's. The more I believe in the Shalom that resides in the very ability to move my fingers, in correlation with my cognitive thought process and actually type this very blog is nothing less than Beautiful and Fascinating! Today my co-worker, in my opinion, wasn't very supportive. But, thankfully I believe in my decision. I believe in my life, because I believe in the Shalom of life. I believe that despite not having a fully explainable answer to a question that was posed futuristically (which is mere speculation anyway) all will be good! All will be beautiful. And all will be Shalom. Next time someone comes to you with the braveness, the courage, the vulnerability to share something about their life, I encourage you to listen. Take a breath. Think about the Shalom around you. Think about what they are saying. Listen to what they want, need, and or feel. And please, if someone doesn't ask you for you advice, it is not helping them to give it. In fact it may hinder. I know we all have been in these situations before, because we are all human and we are all striving to exist within this crazy energetic world to the best of our abilities.

Shalom

PDX Memorandum

My distain for corporate-food America grew tremendously today. I was craving a burger so I went to an establishment called Coal Burger. I proceeded to spend $14.79, without tip, on a burger, fries, and water that was mediocre at best. The bun was from a package, the burger thin and compressed, and the fries to big and flash fried. The flavors were skeptical and tasted like mass production. What does mass production taste like? Dull. Boring. Dry. Plastic-'ey'. My lunch today made me miss Portland, OR. It made me miss Killer Burger on NE 46th and Sandy on the East Side where you can't spend more then $10 if you tried and you get a burger that is made fresh with characteristics so controversial they allure you in like an arcades Bright Neon Lighting (which can be found just down the road on Belmont and 19th at the Avalon Arcade!!! Check it out if you haven't!!!) I miss PDX. I miss 23 Hoyt at 10:00pm on a Tuesday night where I could go grub on a Burger and shoestring fries, where the burger is topped with Avocado, tomato, lettuce, onion, bacon, and an Egg over easy for $10 during their Happy Hour times which so conveniently were 4:00 to 6:30 and 9:00 to close! So basically, don't be an idiot and go during the 2 1/2 hr gap they they are open for those with endless pockets. PS...this is a perfect burger to consume after a great late afternoon and early evening of drinking with friends. Mow down this burger at 23 Hoyt and your what would be headache and cloudy mind the next morning is non existent. Despite missing local eateries, I miss much more than just the food. I miss the people making the food. I miss the mindset behind local companies. I miss the moral and way of living life that those in the Pacific Northwest portray so elegantly, yet humble. It's a paradox. Portland is a paradox that I find tough even in this current moment to properly explain. I can't and I won't try. Just go. Experience it for yourself, you will love it as long as you let it love you. Open your mind, go in with no expectations, and ride the city like your making love to her! Allow her beauty to penetrate your taste-buds, your heart, your ears, your eyes, and your soul.

I woke up this morning to rain. That is a rarity in Arizona. I loved it. I still am loving it. It is still raining. It is actually humorous watching people run with their umbrellas frantically outside as I sit in Press Coffee and type. Anywho. I'm over writing for today. I distain Corporate America. I'm an advocate for Local impression no matter the business venture. I miss PDX and all that it embodies. And I miss the people. The people I met behind the bars. The people that actually cared about cooking the burger for me. The people who treated everyone as equal. The people I shared life with, you know who you are. We will be re-united. We will love together again and laugh together again. I miss VanRon Yards. I miss the Gorge. I miss RonToms. I miss Barista. I miss Pumpkin Ridge. I miss the Portland Towers. I miss 21st St. I miss Paper Source. I miss Paradox. I miss Washington Park. I miss Pine State Biscuits. I miss her. I miss her beauty. I miss her allure. I miss her energy. I miss you Portland, OR. Until we meet again, I wait in high anticipation! Much love to all my people who share this love and still currently embrace it daily. Take care of her, for we all know that she takes great care of all who live amongst her!

6.841

As of 2010, the World Population is said to consist of 6.841 Billion people. What? 6,840,507,000 people who live, breath, eat, sleep, play, work, love, hate, give, take, laugh, cry, contribute or consume. The last 10 years of my life have been spent in numerous places. I resided in the greater Los Angeles area for 5 years. Reno, NV for off and on throughout. Portland, OR the last 2 (which have by far been the best) and now Scottsdale, AZ. Every place is quite populated in the worldview of density size per area. However, each city has been incredibly different. Different energy, different conversations, different intellectual structures, different belief systems, values, moral, conviction, different foods, music, art, entertainment, different attitudes, linguists, accents, verbage, different attire, styles, and physical hygiene, different climates and most importantly different people. However, we are all people, right? All 6.841 billion of us are all people correct? All human beings that need to eat, sleep, drink, breathe, work, play, love????? Why if we are all the same at our core, we look so different? Why if we are all human beings, living amongst one another, we try to stand out, almost to my perception of as if we were competing with one another rather than working together with one another for a common goal? The more places I have lived and traveled upon, the greater my soul years for equality. THE WORLD IS ENORMOUS. People are everywhere. People carry beauty. Beauty is perceptual. But the more I live, the more I find that this 'world' (America media and the stereotypical norm) says that beauty isn't perceptual. It isn't 6.84billion people wide. America says their is One Way. One prominent country. One prominant people group. One physical beauty. One way to live life. I'm not going to explain what they say it is. I trust you all to open your eyes and see it for yourself. I trust that many of you already do see it for yourself and ask, really? Is this what I wake every morning for and exhert my energies toward. Is saving for a BMW and House really what I want my legacy to be. Sometimes, check that, majority of times I think I am so important. I think I am bigger or better than the other 6 billion-840 million-5hundred and 99thousand-9hundred and 99 people in this world. Sounds different spelled out right? Put's it into a bit more perspective, doesn't it? Here's the paradox though, you are important! You are beautiful. I am important. I am beautiful. But, everyone is important. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is a human being. We are all the same at the core. Millions and Billions of us could argue how we all got here and what our purpose is. This is not the point though. The point is that we are all here. The point is that we are all living amidst this giant sphere of cosmic energy someone labeled Earth. The point is that we all have purpose. We all need the same things. So my question then is why do we all look so different. What has gotten us to December 7, 2011. What has tore us apart and made us all look, act, speak, work, play, love, hate, and feel so differently from one another? Should it be this way? Check that, maybe a better question is, do we want it to continue to be this way or is their a more beautiful way? I am one little person amidst this world and I don't know. But what I do know is this. The more I have experienced. The more I have travelled. The more people I have met and actually opened myself up to and been willing to invest in whether it be an hour conversation at a bar over a beer with no pretense or selfish intent or it be someone who I have spent my entire 27+years of life with, they all seem to want love. They all seem to hope for more than they currently have, or at least believe that there is something more and greater than what they currently have. Wherever you may be, whatever culture you are within, here's to being the same. Here's to being human. Here's to being equal. I apologize in advance to my Republican family and friends:) for I know you may disagree. But when I dream, I dream of utopia. I dream of love. I dream of a world where all 6.841 billion people may look different on the outside, but live the same within. May our differences bring beauty to this world and more importantly bring us closer together because far too often through my personal experiences they have unfortunately seperated us apart from that which we all are.