Fine Art

The only word that comes to my mind is “Chill” in describing Steven, veteran, cycle builder and now friend.

“I’ve got all that I need,” Steven tells me in describing his lifestyle. “I share a house with a friend and my stuff will fit in the back of a pick-up truck. I don’t stress that much about things. I don’t worry about money, I can pay my bills and it always works out.”

Relaxed, non-judgmental and wise are the attributes that best describe Steven. He speaks no guile, even at one time catching himself to not label a comparison in the way he refers to the people of the world. “I ride my bike, and too many people are not aware of me as I ride. It gets sketchy sometimes. People are…” he catches himself, “I’m not going to say anything about people. They just need to be careful as they drive and to not road rage. That does not do any of us good.”

Steven has witnessed a lot in his life and calls himself a realist. “I went to war and have seen a lot of poverty, hatred and strife. After being there I realized that we are blessed to have what we have.”

In every word that Steven says, his eyes are filled with compassion, friendship and patience.

“I’ve learned to not get angry. Like when I build my bikes. Sometimes I get burned in the bikes I buy and do not make a profit on them. Other times I do alright. That’s part of the challenge in what I do. It’s all OK.”

That is what initially drew me to talk with Steven, the very cool bike he was riding. I did not know, at first introduction, that it was a creation of his mind.

“I like working on, and rebuilding classic bikes… ” Steven mentions, “…I’m a traditionalist and try to fabricate from vintage parts, and I always try to reuse as many of them as I can,” he points to the oil tank that he built from a removed portion of exhaust pipe.

A bike builder per world standards Steven is, but in my mind he is much more… I call him an artist. The detail work in his ride is intricate. From the cut out engine parts to the hand build fender this bike is as trick as it gets. Custom to the core it screams of the love of its maker and is truly one of a kind. And never once did Steven boast of his creation.

Most of my works come to me through word of mouth, I’m not that organized in my marketing.

I understand why, Steven is in no fight for the successes of stature. “I’m happy with my life,” he says… And in making the claim I cannot ignore his conviction… he means it.

What about the future I ask, “We will probably have a another world war, they come in cycles. People get too greedy,” Steven predicts. But as he does, once again, there is no guile, just a realistic and compassionate outlook.

If there is any take away we need to pull from our time with Steven, it is to appreciate his calmness, his ability to look at people without judgment and his obvious acceptance to the conditions of the world we live in.

In all, what Steven suggests is that we look at the planet with realistic eyes, and as we do, be participants in planting constructive seeds in pondering our surroundings. To reconstruct our mental capacity in realizing that we are more fortunate than we know.

“Sometimes I get burned in the bikes I buy and do not make a profit on them. Other times I do alright. That’s part of the challenge in what I do. It’s all OK,” Steven exposes.

In it is a parable to navigating life. “We need to keep our minds grounded in the journey.” To not fear what is to come, or to harbor resentment for what has passed. That in whatever way… we can learn to be in the present. A presence that through a realistic outlook can be found reason for all we see; a tool of sorts for monitoring our decisions and interactions within our societies and our circles of influence.

So whether at peace or at war (hopefully not war), we can still look upon our fellow humans with compassion and an ear leaned towards understanding and away from the animal instinct to destroy. And if we can, resolve might well be the reward.

Perchance, and I wonder, what the world would be like if we all worked to find a little more positive Chill time. Using it, as does Steven, to think realistically in having the courage to think of others before ourselves. A thought that is impressed upon me from one gesture of self-control demonstrated this evening via our new friend Steven. For in his choice to not react negatively in labeling the people he shares the streets with, he exemplifies his bike-building parable of mind balance.

We win some… we lose some… That is reality… Thus, the challenge is laid before us. Leaving us two black and white options to controlling our instinctual desires to battle. Do we opt to prioritize the need to fight, or do we consider the strength of connecting?

At the end of the day we are ultimately responsible for our reactions. Through our actions we are influential catalysts to those we associate with. There is a measurable cause and effect resulting from the way we treat and view our fellow-man.  Our stewardship is palpable and can be profoundly transferred to the humanity around us.

The options are ours to grasp. Do we quest to build? Or, do we thirst for more?

What we do about it is up to each of us.

And Steven, thank you for shaking us to thought!

Auto drivers make way; there is a wise Harley rider out there.

Yesterday I confessed of being stressed and rushed in my day. And in calming me, I credited Ken, the guy I met at the hot dog stand outside of the Lowes Hardware that I was doing business with. What I did not tell you was the spirit of the mentioned lunch stop.

Arno is his name, and after making sure our food was fresh and our drinks cold, he sat with us as we chatted. There was something captivating about Arno, and I knew that he needed to be included in 365. So, at the end of my time spent with Ken, I prearranged a follow-up meeting with Arno for a formal 365 interview. My hunches were right. Arno is the embodiment the peace that Ken talked of. And today his words anchor yesterday’s discussion with a few action points.

“Love each other…very simple… no more… no less…” Arno grounds his thoughts…

“Everything is in love. If you love someone… you respect them… you take care of them… you feel them… and you understand them.

What else can I say… just love each other, that’s all.”

Arno outlines an account of his history: “I’m Armenian, Born in Tehran, then moved to Austria as a refugee (He was persecuted for his political and Christian views), then to United States with his whole family.”

He talks of his life in Iran. “It was a nice place when I was growing up. My father had a business for twenty-five years. Then, when the Arabian government came in and the then president of the United States, it got bad. There is a terrible recession now and it’s all based around oil. But there are good people there.”

What Arno does not fully reveal, other than, “We were refugees to Austria,” is what he went through in being persecuted for his faith and political views. I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty his parents and family must have felt in seeing all that they worked to build be torn away from them.

I’ll keep it brief, for you have bore enough of my rants. But I’ll say this, shame on the selfish minds of the religiously ignorant and the money driven greed mongers. I’m done… on to warmer topics.

Arno shows no signs of bitterness, no air of entitlement and no chip on his shoulder in any way or form. He is kind, outgoing and extremely optimistic.

“God is the first important person in my life, Jesus Christ…” Arno reveals the base of his priorities, “…then my family… then my friends.”

I’m not setting Arno up as a religious zealot, per his words, “’I’m Christian, but I’m not that religious. But I do accept the fact that all of us sin, and in the love our God has to forgive us. No one is perfect. There are times that it is hard. Sometimes I feel that if I help someone… they should help me. If I respect someone… then everyone should respect me. I do my best to be good. But sometimes I have to ask myself, ‘Why? Sometimes when I do good… when I respect someone… they don’t respect me?’ And I’m a little bit sad about that.’”

He sites what he calls a “life changing moment” in referring to a message he read on a Facebook posting. “It really affected my life. It said something like this, ‘I’m God, and I’m talking to you, and what is my message to you… My Son?

Don’t look around… because you will be impressed. Don’t look down… because you will be depressed. Keep your head up and look at me… and you will be blessed.’

This is my message for the people, my friends and to the whole world.

Don’t look around for people to do something for you. Just do your best and be positive…

People… they will come to you… And they will help you… if you just love them.’”

I get it, that is the magic of Arno’s presence, and the pull that stopped me to eat, sitting outside in three-digit weather. It’s obvious that Arno cares about me and of the world around me. When he invited me to sit, he did so to make my life more comfortable, not to make a sale. Evident by the others that he has invited to sit and eat with us at we chat.

Yep… we are not alone. Several others have joined us in a rather deep spiritual discussion. One that in respect to the wishes for privacy of our undocumented friends, further resolves my opinion of Arno… He is a giver.

We talk about balance in life and in work. “People… they become like robots…” Arno reports, “…Day by day they forget about moral seeds…

Money… money… money! I know a lot of people that have a beautiful life without much money… trust me. They enjoy their life… every moment of it.

Maybe money gives you a comfortable life… a good house… a nice car… a wife who married you for money and nothing else… right. But does money give you happiness? Money fills a temporary void.

But happiness is something from inside you and it cannot be bought.

We have to keep our balance. We have to have our fun… our joy… and our family.”

“How?” I ask.

“First you have to build up your family. It’s very, very important.” Arno accounts. “If you want to focus on yourself… alright, go for it. But, you may not find happiness. You broke the rules of life.

You have to work… right. You have to make money… right. But you have to have your family also… to love people… to think positively about life. It’s all balance… right.

Technology is going so fast… I guess. And people are becoming a robot society, forgetting about each other… I guess. I want to think positive, but in reality, everything is going worse day by day… nothing going good.

People right now… we have more population than every before. People need food. There are a lot of very sad things going on with war. People are killed daily, by war, by Tsunami. You can watch the news, every day a lot of people die for every reason.”

Sounds dark at first, and coming from a man who has such a positive outlook towards loving people and of balance, it catches me a bit off guard, so I listen carefully to his next set of words.

“But, the future should be good…” Arno expands, “…it up to the people, if people would try to change something as they look towards the future; their life balance… their work balance. And, use technology for humanity.”

Good council, yet once again, Arno supports his claim with a dose of reality. “But when there are nuclear weapons and chemical stuff and other things disturb our world and our countries. We have to work harder.

This is my vision. We have to keep our balance in order to make a better world. With that, the future can be good.”

Arno… thanks for the frank talk. Or is it the talk over Franks? Whatever it may be, I’m glad I slowed down again.

Talk tomorrow, my friends.

I’m grateful for the business that has befallen upon me. Please don’t read me as gloating in the face of recession. And in saying this, I am humbled by the terrible years of 08 through 11. Years that pushed my family to the very edges of security.

I’ve shared a lot with you over the last months. More than I have ever published about myself, all for the purpose of building trust with you. A trust that I will always do my best to maintain in whatever path 365 carries me on.

The primary reason I write of the good fortune that has befallen to my household is in making an observation in exampling the situation I find myself in.

On day one of 365 I said, “Let’s see what happens.”

At that time,I had zero idea of what I was getting into. Their was no standard set for the heavy writing commitment I’ve now grown accustomed to, the sacrifice of family time that all under our roof have learned to manage, and the deep hit’s to the marketing initiatives of my business. In a world driven by financial and social positions, many might think it crazy to prioritize a social experiment over the responsibilities of being a family breadwinner, yet in a remarkable way, we have wanted not, and have even witnessed our business grow.

I can’t eloquently explain it in writing, but last night our new friend Julia commented her viewpoint on life’s journey when she said, “There is a purpose in everything.”

She also shard her life earned philosophy of “No regrets.”

Julia’s words have been echoing in my head today, and in mentioning my above intro, my intent is to illustrate her point. You see, my heart is changing, not saying that I’ve ever really been a self-absorbed greed-monger, but there has been many a time where business has been first to everything. A battle that I fight to this very day being the self-employed artist that I am.

For whatever reason, I have been given enough to meet my needs. No more… No less. What is fascinating about it, though, is the fact that the more I let go to nurture 365, and in keeping a keen look out to the people around me, work miraculously comes in… my mind is lightened… and my emotional burdens lesson.

I’m not saying that I am anywhere near out of the pit that the recession constantly is pushing on my family. And, I’m sure you have your own set of obstacles, but my point, however, is this. 365 is proving to us that the more we take courage in letting go of… the more we open our lives to gifts un-noticed.

Every day a stranger has proven this to me, and I hope to us. Leaving one condition to meditate upon. “I’ll do the best I can for myself, for other and optimistically accept what is to come.”

I’ve been lucky this season, and I have no expectations of what is around the corner. Yea, I’ve been a little blessed with work lately, and true, I’m a planner and without a doubt this afternoon I find myself in the middle of a heavy post production workload. But in that, I also realize than next week the bottom could fall out, and that is OK.

For what really matters is the lesson learned in meeting today’s friend of 365, whom in the blur of my desire to crank through a hectic day in questing for some much-needed family time, I almost overlooked.

Here is the set-up… I’m rushing like a mad man, multi tasking on everything, won’t say that I’ve completely shut the world off, but I have allowed myself to become a little too numbed is expression eyeless hellos with all I pass. Paused footsteps and fading smiles are the trail I leave as I walk my rushing cadence into the Lowes to return a product.

Transaction complete, I pause… “What am I doing…? Slow down… Absorb… Listen to you own 365 advice Richard.”

I exit and to my left is the very person who made a great impact on me only moments before. Ben is his name, and the sociable response he replied to me as I threw him my zooming hello is still ringing in my head… I slow down and get to know Ben, our friend of the day.

Ben talks of Peace… “’Love each other… Nothing else matters.

Peace is mother of solving all problems. People are greedy, they want money… they want power… with that; we are not going to get anywhere… man! The world needs peace.

I’m Middle Eastern. My country back home is far from peace. That’s what’s we need. If you have peace, you can solve almost everything.

Originally, I’m a Syrian, we have a seven thousand-year empire… we have history.

But people right now are more educated; we are more intelligent than people thousands of years ago. We have to look back… Power…? Money…? It did not get the people anywhere. They ended up dying… somebody killing them. They didn’t take their power or money with them… They went to the grave empty-handed.

So we have to learn. If I die, I want people to remember ‘Ben, what a nice guy he was, he helped me here… he helped my family.’ I don’t want them to say, ‘Ben… he killed my Cousin, or ‘he did this to…’ That’s the only thing we are going to leave in this world… who we were and what we did.’”

“How do we end the cycle?” I ask.

Ben sighs… “’Stop being greedy… Pay attention to your kids, your daughters and you’re your sons. And ask yourself, ‘Would you want somebody hurting them?’

And realize that somebody you’re hurting is somebodies kid… is somebodies father… is somebodies brother or sister. We’ve got to put ourselves in the shoes that we are trying to harm and ask ourselves, ‘Would we like somebody doing that to us?’

People that hate peace… they don’t put themselves in the other persons place. They’re messing up the whole world… and it’s wrong. One day they are going to realize it’s too late. Hitler killed millions of people. What happened at the end? Did he get anywhere? No, he was the most powerful man at the time… He ended up killing himself.

When you are a good person, you have peace. It makes sense, don’t hurt anyone. Hurt comes from when you lie to somebody, killing somebody, raping somebody. Hurting somebody is the mother of all the sins. That’s what the bible says, that’s what the Torah says, that’s what everything says… Don’t hurt anyone and you’re fine.

I’m afraid of the future… I don’t have any good news… I don’t think it is going to get better.

I predict a big war… a bloody war, and at the end, the whole world is going to be controlled by one society, or one group, or one person.’”

A dark prediction, so I challenge Ben to guide us in what can we do to avoid such a fate?

Ben shifts gears, “’Do not listen to the news, do not to believe the newspapers… just go with the logic.

Like politics for example… If you go to the Middle East the media brainwashes you to be against America. You come here, the same thing. From all the news they tell you, ‘All those people over there… they’re terrorists… don’t trust them.’

I was born there. As far as I know, no one ever told me to blow-up Americans.

East and West are telling different things about each other. And it’s not true. Because of this there will always be war… It’s wrong!!

Sure there are bad people on all sides, but that does not mean the whole nationality is bad.’”

Ben had drawn a scale that contrasts a vision of a doomed future with an equally qualified vision of peace.

And per us… no matter what our outlook on the planet of 3013 or beyond, we have opportunity to plant seeds for the future. Never forget that in each of us… as individual as we are… every choice we make or act we play out can either build or destroy.

My vision… that as demonstrated by Ben… is that peace will be our choice.

Glad I slowed down today, Ben, my friend, great chatting with you and thanks for halting my pace.

It’s around 10:30pm, one and a half hours away from the day’s end. And at day 315, the mere thought of a restart of 365, due to a missed friending is in no way acceptable. I promised a new friend every day, and by gosh, I’m no going to let us down.

To the teen dance I go, to as promised, pick up my chaperoning wife and daughter. And, with no idea of where I’ll be settling, and while I drive, I look to the sky in letting go to the evening (well as much as I can, being belted into the driver’s seat of my freeway traveling commute).

Time has proven to me that someone will appear with the right message for the day. So I settle in to watching the traffic as I let my mind numb to rebalance itself after a long day of commercial shooting.

10:45pm now… I arrive at the dance, the clock is ticking, last dance has been called and backgrounded by the scurrying of adult and teen gymnasium clean up, I grab a couple of family friends (the late night watch my back guys) and hit the streets in search of today’s friend.

10:48pm… within minutes we are pulling into a little strip mall where a few people are enjoying a caffeine nightcap. An elderly couple pleasantly dismiss me with a, “Not right now we have just been engaged.” I guess love is in the air and I’m no cupid to them.

10:50pm… countdown speeds up in knowing I have promised to be back for my family at eleven sharp. And on top of that, one of my escorting friends is actually an FBI agent. I realize this later when my wife tells me, “’When he said, ‘I’ll go with you… I’m packing,’ he was not joking.’”

Ten minutes until my camera turns back into a pumpkin, we begin walking to the front of the building of which we have parked behind, and as we do, we come across Julia sitting taking the last minutes of her work break.

“Hi my name is… bla, bla, bla,” I introduce myself, my friends (less any FBI reference, I’m sure that would have not gone over all that well) and 365.

“I’ve got three minutes left of my break, can we do it in that time?” Julia counters… and we are off.

“There is no such thing as regret,” Julia advises.

“There is a purpose in everything. I lost my job at Starbucks four years ago and now I am doing my dream job… helping kids with autism. And I am doing this job as a side job to make a supplemental income (Julia brings attention to the Coffee Bean logo on her hat). If I never left Starbucks, I would still be there… postponing my dream of working with kids who have autism.

Then after Starbucks… I worked at T-Mobile where I bumped into a woman that was a speech pathologist… she hired me.

Things happen… and I can’t regret that I ever left Starbucks. If I never left, this would have never happened, and I would not be working in my dream job.

Yea… short-term I was… Oh my gosh…! I lost my job…! It’s been ten years…!

Now I’m doing what I want to be doing… So there is no such thing as regrets.”

I’m confident that I can say that most of us have had adversity in our lives. It is probably one of the most absolute things we can expect in this mortal existence. But in listening carefully to Julia, what is highlighted is the notion, or maybe the fact, that there is a force in the universe that is greater than us. And in accepting it, as well as our circumstances, there is cause to accept whatever the situation.

“Things happen,” Julia petitions as she faces reality.

But paralyzed she is not, for in the heart of the storm of loosing a ten-year career investment, to a greater plateau she has climbed; one that she might not have summited without the loss of her job security.

I ask Julia to make a prediction for what people can do in preparing for the world ahead of us. “First we need more humanity and we need to travel the world more. If we would experience other cultures and other people, and lose the egocentric ways of our own personal nation, our minds would open to other lifestyles and other cultures. The foods… the religions… the… If we experience it, our tolerance becomes bigger because we are not egocentric ogres in our own ways and our own thoughts… so we need to travel!

I’ve been to China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Switzerland. Whenever I travel I always try to go to the rural parts so that I can get away from Western influence just to really experience what other cultures are.”

I’ll take it a few clicks down from needing to travel the world. That for many is a very expensive proposition, especially for those who are working to support families and children.

The bright side of the coin, however, we do not really need to board an airplane to travel to new cultures. For in just about any town, village, country or state, there are places or people unknown to us. Find them and work to understand them. In the words of Forrest Gump, “That’s about all I have to say about that.”

I can help but to ask Julia of her long-term goals… you’ve got it, “I am working to gain my degree in speech pathology and to become a therapist so that I can mainly help kids with autism as well as stroke victims, they need help with their speech too.”

Every once in a while for reason I’ll never figure out a third question comes to my mind. Tonight is one of those nights.

“What would you say to anyone who is caught up in judging others at first sight?” I ask.

Julia replies, “’Judge all you want… it does not change me or them. The opinions of others are their own self-reflections of themselves. So if they see a negative attribute the questions really is: ‘Why to they see that?’ or ‘What do you see in yourself to create that image?’ We always have to remember that our vocabularies only grow from what we know.’”

10:58pm sharp… Looks like Julia is keeping her job and there will be no need for a FBI motivated escort back to my 11:00pm commitment in picking up my family.

Talk tomorrow my friends, 365 beats on!

“This in itself is a monument to dreaming big,” Ken points to the architecture of the Walt Disney Concert Hall as he and his lovely wife Elaine stop to chat with us.

“Dream big,” are Ken’s to the point words. As simple as they may be, they are possibly the genesis to an unlimited target of thoughts and actions.

And standing dwarfed by the complex engineering of the silvery building we are standing in front of, words that are eloquent and appropriately expressed considering the short time we spend together.

Elaine supports Ken’s council with an equally focused outlook, “Live every day as if it is your last.” A theme we have heard in many a perspective over the last ten months in meeting our 365 strangers turned friends.

What’s cool is that in meeting Ken and Elaine our conversation is webbed with a viewpoint that includes not only ourselves, but also the society around us.

I confirm in asking Ken to further explain his thoughts on dreaming big. “Dream for yourself and the world around you. I dream for a future world where people are more environmentally aware and one where resources are sustainable.

Part of dreaming big is being able to dream for self and for everything.” He expands.

At first meeting, I think my new friends are locals, however it turns out that Elaine and Ken are on vacation from Edmonton, Canada.

In Elaine’s words, “We love it here, in Edmonton we get winter three-quarters of the year and in Los Angeles there are so many thing to see.”

Now here we are, downtown LA, standing in front of a local icon of architecture and in looking at Elaine and Ken, they look as if they are area locals. If you could see me standing in my cabana shirt, fedora hat and flip-flops, the one who looks like a tourist is me, funny how the real stories are beneath the skin.

I share this as a lead in to the wonderment of the way 365 impacts most of those who it touches. There is a compliment that I receive very often, one that until today I have not published. As you read it you may understand why I have waited to share this affirming comment, for read incorrectly, it could be read as self-proclaiming.

So I ask you to absorb it in a spirit that is directed towards 365 and at its real contributors… the people who have become our virtual friends.

Many say, “It is a great thing you are doing, very brave and a great example in the way you approach strangers every day.”

Every time I hear it, I take it as a reaffirmation to the responsibility I have placed upon my shoulders in carrying forth the message we are growing within 365. Here is it again, “We are all in this thing together.”

The broken record speaks again, but today it is prompted to do so via the kind words given by Elaine and Ken.

Elaine and Ken are engaging personalities, and although we barely know each other, it feels as if, in only minutes, we are united in a cause to reach out to the world around us. A conclusion I own in the openness they express in speaking with me on a downtown street while ignoring the fact that their car is parked in a red zone.

And not wanting them to get a nasty California traffic violation I ask if they have any last words of wisdom.

“Work hard – play hard… for everyone,” Elaine concludes.

Lucky for me I’m pretty certain that I have met a sweet couple in their play hard mode. Per the work hard…? Something tells me that Elaine and Ken know how to balance the things they do.

For as stated by Ken, “Part of dreaming big is being able to dream for self and for everything.”

As I mentioned, our talking time is short, but in pondering Ken’s sentence, we have to take council in his dream instructions. Sure, there is no sin in dreaming for ourselves, but as we do… do we dream for the bigger picture around us?

In a way, 365 proposes a dream of its own. A dream that is beyond the thoughts of any one single individual… A dream for a global effort that dwells in the hearts of every person it touches. A dream that, once again the words of Ken… Includes everything.

My friends, shall we continue to dream the dream of a union in the way we accept each other.

Elaine, Ken… enjoy your vacation!

“We do everything together.” Say’s boyfriend / girlfriend engineering students William and Jessie.

Here I go again with my soapbox for the youth of today. “The future is in good hands.”

A claim I can comfortably make after meeting so many sharp young adults.

“Never stop questioning,” Jessie challenges in crediting Albert Einstein.

And questioning is what this new generation is doing. In them, the right queries are being made. From politics to environment to humanity and the responsible use of new technology, all are the concerns of the majority of the eighteen to twenty-two year olders I have interviewed.

Sure, they use word like fun and me. Yet, through it I see a grand shift in their awareness and maturity in comparison to that of decades past. Yea, I know, what about the enlightened sixties, the if it feels good, do it seventies, the what are we going to do about it nineties and so forth. All eras that produced many a good mind, but the grand total of which has also equally contributed to a planet of division and conflict.

Yes, I stand strong in my conviction, that never have we had a generation of future leaders the likes of those walking the earth these days. Perhaps it the ease of virtual communication…possibly… but I hope not. Maybe it is the bombardment of negative and sensationalized media… a sad fact. Or, hopefully the growth of desire to get along… regardless of race, religion or creed is what is inspiring our youth. But whatever it is… It is tangible, real and activated.

Jessie talks with a lighthearted confidence as she passes on a second quote, one that in her radiance telegraphs her owning its said reference. Per Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

William chimes in, “We have to keep going… no matter what happens.”

We talk of the status of today’s society: The positives, the negatives and the influences that attack us every day by the hidden agendas of so many. We debate the way media has influenced us in referencing the number of so-called reality based programs. I call it the “Numbing of Society.”

Jessie concurs in using a theatrical reference in supporting the argument. “’I hope we don’t end up like the movie ‘Idiocracy…’ Where there is no room for smart people.’”

Smart People… that alone conjures up thoughts of diplomas and egos. However, I ask us to ponder the meaning of true intelligence as it relates to the world around us. For I have seen many a scholar fall or visible persona falter in the eyes of their beholders.

In my opinion, real intelligence is not gained though academic accolades or via professional back pats. It is hard-earned, webbed with understanding, compassion and optimism. It works in silent and effectual ways, and cannot be measured by metric values. In its purest form, it is quite and long-suffering, able to lose any bands of boastfulness and want of ego driven gain.

Many talk of brilliance and genius. Both attribute to be admired and celebrated. But what of the quite ones, those of us I call “The Silent Majority.” For it is in them that the real lessons of life are to be gained. Their wisdom is well formatted and is a result of many a heart earned experience. It is this definition that is the true definer of intelligence, and applied well it can teach us all lessons that cannot be found in any form of institutionalized learning.

Therefore, may I suggest that true intelligence is the result of applied observation: Meaning the more we accept and know ourselves, and apply the laws of understanding in getting to know our neighbors… adding that to the courage to openly look, honestly listen and fearlessly feel, the greatest lessons are learned. A self-curriculum of sorts, one that if enrolled, allows us to navigate our existences with our eyes wide open, free of the confines of technology and from the influence of media.

Jessie talks of her learning style, “I go to the library and study where people are. I use the textbooks and realize what is really out there. I don’t want to live in this virtual world.”

William, “’I don’t want to see the world keep going the way it is. The way I see it, also another movie reference… the movie ‘Surrogates.’ Where the whole world is just playing fake… there is no real anymore…

… I really want to see the world go more real. Get more real in the fact that we can express ourselves more. That we will want to be ourselves instead of what we see on TV or something.

That’s how I see the world going right now… They are living the way TV or what they see in movies, or in the shows and stuff like that tells them to live. I think people need to get out of that.

That’s why I think the world should steer more towards themselves, and away from the media… to be more real… and to be themselves.’”

Jessie “We need to go outside more. I heard that two percent of the land is occupied by people. Ninety-eight present is not. There is so much more out there…! I don’t get it!”

I did a little research on her statistics.

According to award-winning geographer Matt Rosenberg:

90% of the earth’s population occupies 3% of the land. Land covers 29% of the globe.

.03 x .29 = .0087 = .87% Let’s call it 1%. Therefore, if Mr. Rosenberg is correct with his data, it’s very safe to say that less than %2 of the Earth’s surface is inhabited by humans.

Back to Jessie, “Why live with all these freeways and traffic. Go hike somewhere… Go look at something… It amazes me that people won’t do it. Some people even consider Google street view now as traveling. That’s just wrong!”

I ask my final question, “What about the world ahead?”

Jessie, “’I don’t even know… I like trying to stay kind of present. I remember as a third grader. I always lived for how it was going to be in the future. And then I realized that was not fun. I did not do anything. I was just preparing myself for later on. So you have to live for now… and do what you can do now for how you see the world becoming.

I don’t have a hundred year plan… I’d just like to see No ‘WALL-E…’ No ‘Idiocracy.’”

With the charm and humor of a boyfriend smitten William share a subtle symbolism, “Wear Sunblock.”

We’ll leave it to you to reflect upon the deeper meaning of Williams closing statement, but here is a hint, “Are you prepared?”

When I started 365, I never realized it would get so deep. But you know what…? the lessons have been worth it.

Jessie, William… Great to be in class with you today… Good luck in your schooling.

On May 18, 2012, we conducted an experiment. Setting up a booth at a local art walk, we extended a 365 invitation to anyone who wanted to express one word with the world; a word that they deemed as council to us all. From affirmations to language we heard it all. Yet, in the middle of the hum of advice and slang, one woman charged us with a well-earned call to action, “Think Positive.” A call that although consumes two words, is necessary in the telling of her story… A story that deserves a this second entry dedicated to what our two-worded friend shared with me on that May evening, and a story that today, our new friend Rhonda, returns to share in-depth with us all.

“I don’t know whoever is out there, or whatever…” Rhonda begins, “…but they gave this to me because they knew I could handle it. They knew it was going to be OK. And the clinical trial that I was on, will now be good for a lot of other people. That was helpful, I was looked after for some reason, but I… they… knew it was all going to be OK.”

You see… Rhonda is the survivor of a very large Brain Tumor and despite the clinical trial that she gives great credit to in healing her, she equally applies a mental medication to the recovery that she so peacefully carries. Rhonda tells me how she never gave up, even when she was in the greatest of pain. “I pushed myself to always think positive.” She says as she shows me the book of affirmations that her husband created in recording each day of Rhonda’s fight for her life.

Rhonda is more than an example; she is an activist for others. “I entered into a 5K walk to raise money and bring awareness to the need for finding a cure for Brain Cancer.”

Cool a lot of us enter athletic events for a cause, what makes Rhonda so special?

Think Positive! she ceaselessly promotes. It alone conjures proactive works, but Rhonda puts her actions behind her brainwaves. “I was in the middle of my Chemo when I walked the event. I remember waking up feeling terrible and weak, but I knew I needed to do the event. Once I started walking the pain went away and I finished the event. Since then I have not missed the chance to participate.”

It gets better, the second year Rhonda entered, she created an invitation to join her in a team walk, fifty entered with her. The third year seventy-seven, and now in preparing for her fourth event, Rhonda is hoping for eighty-eight.

I talked it over with my family and it looks like we will be supporting the walk this year, The 2012 Race for Research, Sunday November 4, Playa Del Rey, CA, and I want to ask for your support in joining Rhonda’s team if you are local to the event. Or if not able to attend, maybe you can donate a little to her team. Click here for more information on how to contribute. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could build her team to over one hundred?

“Think positive and pray for our angels.” Rhonda declares as she gives my family a set of bracelets and charms with “Think Positive” stamped into them.

“I started to give them away in seeking donations to be used in for research…” Rhonda explains, “…But after a while I stopped asking for money and directed everyone to donate directly to the Brad Kaminsky Foundation for Brain Tumor Research. It was too hard to deal with the non-profit paperwork and tax issues myself, and the Kominsky Foundation has the resources to get the funds into the right hands.”

Per words of wisdom, Rhonda advises, “Listen to your body… and when you feel that things are not right, you should definitely go in and get yourself checked out. And think positive, no matter what curve balls get thrown at you… they come from out of nowhere… and you have to think positive! And, hopefully everything will be OK.”

Rhonda looks at her illness as an uplifting step in knowing herself and in growing her compassion for those around her. A compassion that can be felt in her every word and via the glow she brings into the room. But naive and rose-colored her glasses are not. “I’ve learned to slow down and appreciate what I have,” she owns the lessons learned in life and illness.

“’I worry about where we are going to be in the future. Because of all these computers and all these things, and we don’t know what is in store for us. I kind of want it to be turned around… to go back to like it was in the forties, the fifties and the sixties in a way; like a ‘Leave It To Beaver’ sort of thing.

I feel like everybody is in such a hurry… that we need to stop and slow down and look a little bit. It seems like everyone’s heads are always in their phones. And, you watch people… they are not paying attention. No one is looking around and seeing things or each other. Everyone is just kind of in they’re own selves… There are people looking out for the community, but it always seems that it is the same people.

Slow down… it’s fast out there… and it is only going to get faster.

Everyone needs to take a deep breath…OK… Slow down… It’s not the end of the world if you are five minutes late. We need to take it down a notch or two, and hopefully that will help us. Stop looking at everyone with that look…you know… that… ‘Come on buddy!’

It’s OK to slow down a little bit.’”

How many of us are willing to let go of overly stressing, relaxing our schedules in allowing our eyes and hearts to open to the world and people around us? To give ourselves permission to see, and to grant ourselves ownership of what we feel is assessable at the moment. A hard thing to do, I know. And sadly, it’s such human nature to only do so when tragedy or disease strikes… But, what if?

What if we could master outlooks and soulfully monitor thought patterns. Training our minds to better govern the over analyzation and quest for scholarly or worldly knowledge that so many of us get tripped by. For quite possibly if we could, doorways unknown or unseen might potentially open.

Rhonda explains, “’The past two years I have met people for reasons I don’t know. It just feels that I have met them for reasons that have not come up yet. There is a Yiddish word, ‘Bashert,’ meaning ‘Things are meant to be.’ There are reasons for everything. Why there are…? I don’t know, but now I see clearly that there are reasons for a lot of things.

I do worry about a lot of things, but I know I can’t do anything about them because they are not here. I worry sometimes for naught. I’m always thinking, but there is nothing you can do until things happen, and you have to have hope that you are prepared.’”

In physics they say “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” The same principle applies to our minds.

Rhonda speaks of looking at the world with worried eyes. But in her worry there is peace. How can that be? You might ask.

The answer can be found in one great word that Rhonda buries into her above quote… Hope.

For hope is the rain that extinguishes fear; and, in pulling from my scientific comparison, may I be bold enough to offer a word of council. Without hope… fear can reign.

To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. Shall we grasp onto hope as we acknowledge the flames of fear. For as equal to the burning paralysis of fear is an equally strong force: The waters of hope, for in them flow, as proven by our brave friend Rhonda, a power able to overcome any obstacle… Even ourselves.

The question then remains, “Are we prepared?”

Fitting that I am hearing my scratching brakes, in heavy Los Angeles traffic, as I drive to meet a new friend that has been referred to me by Brook, new friend featured in a past 365 interview, “You have to meet Zareh, he is a great guy!”

Brook in herself is quite the human, Her Rolodex is endless, and not one name in it is there for the purpose of her self-gain. Brook is just that way in wanting to know people, and because of this people are just magnetized to her. Forgive me if I am band standing too much in Brook’s favor. But in qualifying that today’s stranger now friend was not referred to us by Brook would be a disservice to the character of Zareh.

He is a man of the highest quality and I regard him as a person who is at the top in regards to integrity. Brook called it right, Zareh is a great guy!”

And for this reason I have dubbed him, “The Honest Mechanic.”

Zareh’s shop is clean, organized and one thing that strikes me is the absence of the typical swimsuit calendars that are prevalent to so many auto shops. The moment I arrive I am greeted as if into a living room of a close friends. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” Zareh offers as I sit with his mechanics for what becomes a campy little family discussion. We talk of our children, parenting and the way the world looks at each other.

Zareh tells me of his history and of his experiences in relocating from Lebanon to the United States in the seventies. “I’ve always been a mechanic, it has been good to me and my family.”

Here I am, sitting in the living room of a workplace, not wanting to go home as I settle into a wonderfully friendly conversation between warm friends. I could hang for hours and would like to do so, but with the time cresting the 2:00pm hour and my needing to post by 5:00pm, we jump to our 365 questions.

At first Zareh personalizes his commentary. Humbly stating, “The future…? I can’t say… “I think I just want to be on the beach enjoying the beauty with my wife.”

Then after a little more thought, he steps out of his humble wishes, “Working class people like us just want everybody to be peaceful and straight-forward people… I don’t know…

… It really does not matter religion, what matters is that the heart is good. If you work straight in your work, in your private life, in your friendship, as a husband and wife…

One lie… Eventually it is going to catch up… And then you are going to be in trouble.

You do your best. And then, if you know you did your best… what else are you going to do more.”

“Do you have any advice for what we can do to make our communities better?” I ask.

“Be honest,” Zareh comfortably and quickly replies. “’That’s it… one word, honesty… It’s the only way.

Again, friendship, family, whatever… business… if you lie…? yea, you can get away with it… once… maybe twice… Third time or more…? People start to see things!

So don’t’ lie.

Sure, we are human; we make mistakes, but be honest in what you do… There is nothing better than being able to sleep at night.

If just fifty percent of us treated each other with respect and honesty, the world would be in a better place.”

And none of us should never forget, that if we make a mistake, we should say two simple words… ‘I’m sorry.’”

I could write a book in reference to the twenty minutes I spend with Zareh this day, but glancing at the clock, 4:44pm, it’s time for me to scrub my writing and upload Zareh’s photos.

One thing I can conclude… Zareh is an “Honest Mechanic.”

Talk tomorrow my friends. May your travels be traffic free?

Terri told you that I was a little slammed, but although deep into directing a little testimonial spot, I nevertheless get the opportunity to meet a new stranger turned friend, the insightful, thoughtful and very talented sound technician Paul.

I’m still deep in production and with a pressing schedule, I’ll get right to the point in letting Paul’s philosophic words drive this entry.

“Uncertainty is not such an enemy.

That’s not from me…” Paul set’s up his narration, “’…that’s from years of going through my own crap and anxiety over things…

…Uncertainty is one of the most normal things that’s going to happen… learn to live with that.

We always want to know the answer. We are more comfortable when we know something is certain, even if it is bad… so hold on… It might be alright.

Let uncertainty happen.

I had a big ego when I was growing up, grew up in a nice area, and now, knocked down to learning how to really follow others; I accept that I don’t know everything, and the more that I grow… I realize the less that I know. And, I feel the less I know about the future.

But if there is anything that has been shown over the last ten years that shows me evidence towards the future, it is that it feels like we are growing more and more separated from each other. And regarding the self-esteem generation who feel like, ‘don’t tell me what to do… I’m so awesome…’ all that stuff. We’ve been telling everyone they’re so awesome, that they don’t know how to collaborate. That is going to explode into so many more levels of narcissism; and, sociopaths will be lifted up. These people will continue to prevail as they have throughout history, but even more so in the year to come and the You-Tube generation is going to explode even more spastically.

But I predict there will be a renaissance to a point where we will all come back together…? I think people are starving for connections and that will happen on micro levels… and those micro levels will share with each other. But as we do this electronically, we are still not going to have the tactile experience. The challenge is, ‘Can we have tactile relationships?’ I’m not sure yet?

Five, ten, twenty years, politically, we probably will not know the difference.  You can sit in a box for twenty years and you won’t know the difference. Everybody thinks you can… I don’t think you can. Maybe there are a few things.’”

I ask Paul to summarize his thoughts on the few things that we can do.

“’You have to care! That’s all it takes! And you have to fight against the urge to trend towards compromise over quality!

You have to remember every that time you got an easier something; there has been a compromise towards the earning of that thing.

There’s a thing spoken of called ‘The Bread of Shame.’ Every religion has it. Just remember, you can’t have fulfillment unless you earn it. I don’t care if you win the lottery… It’s not going to feel the same as if you earned it.

You have to care and you have to earn it!’”

Paul tells me of a trademark he lives his life by, an inspiration that he encourages us all to adapt into our lives, “Go on and do great things.”

Thanks Paul, we’ll do our best.

He proudly appoints himself Pigface, a title that exemplifies his bold, entertainingly spontaneous and captivatingly aggressive demeanor.

Within seconds of knowing my new Harley riding friend, I know he is a man who holds no punches; and in what he expresses, he mixes no words in calling it as he sees it.

I ask him of his council.

“Learn mandarin and Hindi…!” Pigface accounts with a sarcastic tinge of wit, “…You better know it for the future… We’re F…ed!

It’s all about American greed… and we created the monster.

I work in Aerospace and all of our jobs are going to people who will work for fifty bucks a month. Bottom line, the few rich here will reap the benefits… The rest of us are F…ed.”

As I said, Pigface holds no punches.

Like it or not, he flies with his opinion, and in it, slaps us in he face with reality. I’m not going to point a finger at China or India. For as Pigface charges, the problems start at the core of big greed, and in the end, pulling from the tone Pigface has started, we… the working people… get it in the proverbial end.

It’s strange how themes come in bundles with 365. I don’t look for any specific weekly agenda, profile those I approach or guide our conversations in any way… other than asking the same two common questions of everyone. But, somehow this last week has been charged, in both fearful and accepting tones, with the topics of patriotism and immigration. The sum whole of which I’m sure has stirred a great variety of emotions in all of us.

And to finish the week with Pigface’s aggressive stance might possible be the kick that gets us thinking as to our views on the subjects. Trust me, in all that we have spoken of this last week, I do not sit on the fence. But in respect to honest journalism and to allow all a fair representation of their views I charge no arguments. To do so would be wrong and disrespectful to those who have continued to trust me and have the courage to make their opinions heard.

I will however politic on one disclosed agenda. That being my mission of being an ambassador to the one statement I will not bury. I’ve written it many times this week… not planned… just happened. And in even writing it I will admit that I am a little charged by the energy of the topics of the week… “We are in this thing together!”

Truly the power to tolerate is within us all… and tolerance in the most powerful weapon in our arsenal of humanistic outreach. There is no way we will all ever agree on any one given perspective. It’s a wonderful dream, but we need to keep our heads grounded in reality. Sure, I’m an optimist, but even with the quest to seek the best in all, we sometimes walk through mud.

Pigface is a cool dude, who is doing his best to eek out his living in a rapidly changing economy. And in his Aerospace experience, he has seen first hand the many who have lost their livelihoods to the low bidder. Yea, he does point a finger, and many fingers have been pointed back at him as an American.

I don’t think he is speaking with any form of supremacy; he speaks of fairness. A fairness that we all may receive a wage comparable to the product or service delivered, no matter who offers it. And in pointing to other countries he is accurate. Too much undercutting is happening between boarders. I’m no economist… Not even going to claim that I make my observations based on any mathematical facts or corporate training. Its just opinion… Opinion that in the case of 365, is not wholly of personal or political objective, but a compilation of emotional response spurred on by the hundreds of people I have spoken to during my 365 travels.

Yes, I’m a little charged this week. Not ranting, not raving, but at the core I confess that I am feeling an overriding emotion. One that makes me want to stand on the roof and yell, “Listen people, we need to respect one another, no matter what!”

In that I will give one more confession, perhaps a hidden agenda… I really don’t know. But if I was to give a theatrical definition to an outlook, it might read like this, To self and to each other, “I’m not trying to cut your legs off… so please don’t chop at mine!”

Personally, I don’t care if you are American, Chinese, Indian, Canadian, Arabic, European or whatever, just listen to each other and look past the words in a shared camaraderie of temperance.

I’m no Gandhi, just a balding white dude in Middle America who has now spoken to almost two thousand people, and in doing so, has received a countless number of blog, Facebook and direct email comments. Some are endearing, some are freighted, others scornful. One thing I can say is that in all, whether positive or negative, and as passionate as they all are, I can honesty collate; the majority of them have been addressed and are resolved. Not by me, but by the very soul of 365, it’s readers… and how cool is that. In it is evidence that we can learn tolerance and respect, or at least gain the skills to bridle our reactions, reformatting them into a more constructive use of intellect and emotion.

Enough said, and still I’m clueless why I have orated so much today and over the last few days. Must be the chili I’ve been eating or quite possibly the triple digit weather is affecting my mood.

“What about the future?” I ask Pigface.

He takes a very long silent breath, then responds, “Learn to tighten your belt.”

“Do you mean financial belt?” I ask.

Pigface smiles.

“Is there any recovery in store,” I second.

Soberly, “I don’t know…” he responds, “… by that time I may not be here.”

Despite his colorful countenance Pigface is short in words, so I inquire if he has any final thoughts.

“We should legalize Marijuana and never elect a Republican…

Better yet… we need a pot smoking atheist in the White House.”

I leave that one alone; the week has been political enough.

We resume back to the world of jesting.

“I’ve been working out,” Pigface jokes, “…Does it look like I have a six-pack or does it look like I drank a six-pack?”

I buy into his humor, “Sure, you look tight… better than me. I’ve been working on my one pack.”

We start taking pictures and inspired by the “Are you modeling?” comment from the employees of the Harley Davidson dealership at which I have met Pigface, he grows our laughter, “Am I not photogenic or what!”

He puts what he calls “his ridiculously legislated helmet” on the seat of his bike, and showing off his tee-shirt logo, asks me for a favor, “Can you get me on the Sons of Anarchy?”

Anarchy or not, Pigface has made us think.

Signing off now… I’m toast.

Talk tomorrow my friends.