A Life of Wonder

Marylin Monroe, originally uploaded by barbie.harris37.

Arthur Miller talks about his wife, Marylin Monroe. Fully realizing her beauty and his inability to act rationally in the face of it. Thanks to the On Point program for leading me to this dialogue.

MIKE WALLACE: No, no. Arthur Miller and I have known each other – we went to the same university, the University of Michigan, together. He realised that it was – unthinkable, what in the world would Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe have in common? He virtually acknowledged it. You knew that it was doomed?

ARTHUR MILLER: I didn’t know it was doomed but I certainly felt it had a good chance to be.

MIKE WALLACE: You said to her, “I keep trying to teach myself how to lose you “but I can’t learn yet.” And she says, “Why must you lose me?”

ARTHUR MILLER: Well, it just shows you the power of instinct over what’s left of your brains at such moments when you’re being drawn to someone and you sense that it may not work and you can’t stop it anyway.

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A close friend reminded me of many things I already knew but seemed to have forgotten: 

• Healthy personal and business relationships begin with loving and forgiving yourself.
• Make time for the important, non-urgent aspects of your life and career.
• Consider doing yoga, three times a week, and watch your life change in six months.
• Put aside the daily news and updates in service of universal lessons and contemplation.
• Mediate, and the place where you mediate should not matter as much as the act itself.
• Commit to trying something for 7 days, then evaluate it.
• Spend real time understanding why you do things. Build a company around people who share the same why.

Of all the points he shared, being patient with myself resonated the most. Without that, none of the other points are possible. The conversation also wasn’t a cheesy self-help one either. My friend has gone through difficult times and emerged a good person and successful businessman. This advice was given from his experience and shared her for our benefit.

What’s the best advice you have received lately from a friend? 

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Notice how this man distinguishes himself from occupy protestors. A subtle touch on the street in New York.

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I have a new favorite story blog, Humans of New York. According to the site “The Humans of New York Project is an effort to create a photographic census of New York City. The project seeks to collect 10,000 street portraits, and plot them geographically on an interactive map.” According to me, the project is tour of the faces of New York City, those same faces on which your eyes would linger if you were to see them on the street. Rather than looking away quickly, fearing being caught in an awkward confrontation, this project invites you to look a little deeper, a little longer. I am very grateful for site, and I encourage you check it out.

P.S. Its Facebook page delivers a right sized story every day.

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Colour and Snow, originally uploaded by TORIMBC.

Before there was urgency, there was the silence, and before that, the hum. I never knew what called to me, and now I still do not know: The empty heart full of snow; a mountain of ash; skies looking up to see cities. Here again is the dream. I have opened myself to all the things that frighten me, the death of this body, the opening of this mind, there is nothing here: a fallen leaf against my head. Answers, at last, answers and not questions leave me empty – a universe swallowing itself to safe face – a star needing to but refusing to explode.

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Sunday Is Gloomy, originally uploaded by Hamed Saber.

At some point you arrive at the end. There is always more beyond the end; there is more to sort and more to see. But the end must be greeted with the still pause of life, must be welcomed, a final and needed stillness within the motion surrounding everything, the silence within the noise, the place where the brain rests inside a hammock of peaceful pondering unbound by time, free from agendas, and protected from ever being perfect–perfectly content in the solitude of an ending fit for such a day.

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I attended a funeral tonight of a man who made people laugh, who was honest, joyful and real. It was an honor to call him a friend. Unlike any funeral I have attended, the joyfulness of his life was felt in the room. When the speakers spoke, they shared experiences that all pointed to the joy he brought to this world. One of the speakers was a lifelong friend, and as adults their families spent time together. This speaker said of his friend, “you were the father that I wanted to spend my fatherhood with.” That really moved me.

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Random acts of kindness, originally uploaded by merfam.

I found this picture on Flickr when looking for an image to illustrate a random act of kindness that just happened to me. A small thing really, a grocery store clerk saw what I wanted to buy, knew there was a coupon for it and scanned it for me without me asking. He did not expect to be recognized, and he didn’t do it for praise either. This small act gave me a big idea. What if instead of simply focusing on inspiring ideas and big sentiments for this blog, also including the small moments when things like this inspire me. I believe that collecting them in one place, celebrating them really, will be good. So, tell me about your random act of kindness story?

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