Original Painting - Sunrise over Water - 8 inches by 8 inches

Oblivious to My Gratitude

These faceless masses 

With grim, determined drive

continue forward regardless

of the failing social hive.

Ignorance to truth of a

less than purposed life.

Stumbling onward blindly,

heedless of the strife.

Do they sense a bitter despair

or a hopeful horizon?

Do they even care

how I love my son

And daughter and wife?

My vision shapes my thought

to live slowly and softly,

grateful for what is taught.

The Cycle

What is purpose if

Chesterton's Labyrinth proves true.  

The arrow of time continues

As we dissolve into the blue.

A certain crispness fills the air

And autumn has arrived

To set life's stage and show 

All has been contrived. 

Unplowed fields lay fallow.

Shame built from despair.

The watchers keep watching

While the doers only stare.

What path can be found

If all are unattended.

Badly broken, bleeding hearts

Are sad and unmended.

Is your house in order?

Do you sense the reeling?

Can you sense the softest glow 

while cold darkness is stealing?

Winter waits, willing yet impatient.

Frost with effort will freeze.

In our time of living, stalled.

To hibernate with leafless trees.

Yet over yon horizon met

With serenity so filled.

The sun and warming heat awaits

The proper hour billed.

Those left standing after all

The freezing air dissipates.

There may be fewer around,

And we simply congregate

To tell of woes and grieve.

Season's losses, vast and unreal.

Incomplete harvest leads to

deadly Winter's earthen feel.

Hope rides high and fresh.

Spring begets new green.

Promises of man's bitter life

Begin again unseen.

Do Not Fear the Unknown

Do not fear the unknown. If

knowing is surmountable

then know all you can, my friend.

Fear has no place where knowledge

exists.  Seek the tomes, dusty.

Absorb the message behind.

Seek to understand meaning.

Seek to understand substance.

This ever-driving desire

to never absolve fear of

hollow powers unfounded,
but to vanquish the unknown.

Within knowledge is power.

Original painting - 16 inches by 40 inches

Moments like these

Ode to a Wondrous Evening

Dreams of perfect hills blanketed

with evergreen spires against an indigo sky.

Each twinkling light, a pinhole in the dome above

as silence dominates the air.

These fleeting moments which seem to drift, ephemeral.

How we long for time to slow to a crawl.

A mixture of mourning for those no longer here

and sheer joy on the faces of our youth.

Patience now as the air, cold, presses the lungs.

Contentment, real or not...accepted.

These shock waves of silence send shivers

and all stand still.

Only daylight may break transcendence.

Maybe.  The beauty could linger...longer.

Tomorrow is of no consequence

when the night is as perfect as tonight.

Within your control

There are many factors beyond our control, though this knowledge does not stop the panic or anxiety.  The question then becomes: why?  Why do we let things beyond our control have power over us?  We may make many excuses along the way:

"If this would've happened", or "if I could've done this or that", or maybe, "that person was against me", or "I don't know how", or "it's too hard".  I've become quite adept through the years finding blame on other issues, but the truth is I was deflecting.  I was pointing fingers at all things other than the source of the anxiety or stress.  Me.

Ultimately we can only control four things: our action and our reactions, our effort, and our overall attitude.  Anything falling outside of this cannot be controlled and thus must be something with which we must deal.  Therefore, we must master how we react to information coming to us.  What happens with good news, or bad news?  What happens to you if the determination of your happiness hinged on four simple things?

Your actions: what you decide to do on a daily basis.

Your re-actions: how you process information (with my best Master Oogway voice, "there is no good or bad. There is only information.") and how you outwardly project your mental state.

Your effort: what you do as an individual through determination and perseverance to ensure the task is completed no matter what.

Your attitude: is the glass half full or half empty?  Do you look for silver linings on cloudy days or do you sense pending clouds on sunny days?

The mastery of the four factors in your life will open your eyes to happiness and joy, but self reflection and the acceptance of failure are always a part of truth.