Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
MOTHER TO SON by Langston Hughes
Do you remember? Back when, probably! Barebelly on your lawn or in a garden or creeping across white sands, a beetle at your finger tip, a caterpillar chewing a flower, a centipede on the run, and your eyes right there. Just there!
Maybe not then! Maybe it was seated on the bank of a river, or wading ankle deep through a lake, a fishing rod in hand, its fly launched, you, patient above the ripples, silver sparkles right there - everywhere just there.
Maybe not then! Maybe it was wobbling on that first set of roller skates or on that first bike, or breathless in your first car or with your first love, or holding that award - you wanted it - on reflection isn't it true, yes, in the pointedness of your focus your vision expanded. You dreamed there. Right there! Do you remember?
-: breathe :-
There is a life - if not a life, moments, perhaps a tapestry of moments, brilliant moments woven into the fabric of being - a sweetness is there, a sweetness which is as sweet in a smile as in a tear - that fabric (being) isn't it a trampoline where on every bounce, you - becoming - rise, higher, freer, knowing no bounds, nothing in the air about a fall, for every down is for an up, every rest fuels a resurgence, still becoming, rising into a moment not seen before (personally) or felt or heard - oozing so much worth, and meaning, and inspiration, and optimism. Riches. Royalty! It is all there. Royally! And here. Isn't it grand?
-: inhale :-
It is grand. There is majesty. There is pomp-and-ceremony. This grand is majestic. This grand - this living of life - is a ceremony. Hailed. Now majesty is intrinsic, but pomp is expensive. Who pays?
Could it be that cherished guidance on affordability is detailed throughout the functioning of our universe (this grand universe which proves ever grander, that is, on each and every discovery of its epic sparkles and glowing hatcheries), a universe in which information is its most precious resource, an undying need? Could it be it knows?
-: exhale :-
Let us take the perspective that each and every human being is an information consumer, an information keeper, and an information carrier. Might the following questions when answered hint at the capacity of your reservoir, your spectrum of affordability: a) is the information you are consuming a convertible asset or an assumedliability; b) is the information you are deliveringan enabling gift or a confining load; c) is the information you are keepingincreasing its value stored or a spoilage rotting bones; d) how do you balance your consumption, your carry, and your keep in ways more accomodating of the joyous rhythms of an epic life?
Shall We?
-: breathe :-
Something to consider:
When we know better we are in an informed state to do better, for we have agency; the choice becomes ours. Choosing is a gift, a privillege of being, a pathway creator, an owned action in this dynamic world where all acts, without exception, and every condition no matter their state, have consequences known and unknown, intended and unintended, without deference or unjustified favor to its actor(s) and with total moral indifference to the state of that act's environment. Knowledge is valuable. "The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance." Nathaniel Branden. "Awareness without action is worthless!" Phil McGraw.
Be aware! Such a life being epic requires balance, focus, and rhythm, three pivotal actions that are exponentially transformative.
"Everything in the universe has a rhythm, every thing dances." Maya Angelou. So let us dance. Rhythm is a remarkable way through which to learn; so let us move in rhythm with our life's music.
It is one thing - a joyous thing - to appreciate rhythms surrounding us, and that much more joyous whilst being appreciative of rhythms beyond us as well as those not of our kind; it is quite another thing - powerful - understanding and appreciating one's own rhythm.
Everything in the universe has a rhythm, every thing dances. What is your rhythm? Can you dance? Here goes!
Awesome! Energetic. Connected. Epic. Well connected rhythms are beautiful. Flow is magical. A clash of rhythms is volatile. Forced rhythms are frustrating, futile, and destructive. Rhythmic connections are productive.
Have you ever found yourself trapped in rhythms that are out of sync with your own? How was that? Do you know your rhythm? Here too is where awareness is not only essential, it is powerful. But what if we are not aware - fully aware?
Indeed no human knows everything! (That is an awareness - an essential awareness - absent of which one is trapped.) No human knows everything, but there are things that are a need to know. How likely are we to fully enjoy life's dance if we don't know our own rhythm, if we have not grasped what it is to be alive, to be in the living, to functionally know we are alive, to experience the wonder of one's own aliveness (radiating light and joy), that cognition of being essential to the now of our alive universe? Would we not be for the better knowing this?
What is your rhythm?
Every thing dances.
Time for a reflective pause.
Epic is grand. Epic is adventurous. Epic is heroic. Epic is legendary. Epic is beautiful. What is life if not a grand adventure!Nature is grand. To grasp the wonder of it, the marvel of it, the size of it, to be able to begin to comprehend its magnificence, its beauty and its splendor, is to aspire to be in resonance with it for we are wholly a part of it. Isn't that grand? Isn't that epic? It is majestic.
Embrace AUTHENTICExperiences.
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." _ Ralph Waldo Emmerson
There is who we think we need to be and there is who we really are. Knowing who we really are positions us ideally to progress to who we purpose ourself to be. You being the best you probably implies you've come to accept you are a work in progress, continually being created and re-created, expanding capacities, owning every facet of your life's experience.
But what if you have no sense of any of that whatsoever?
Be yourself. Know who you are. Embrace your magnificence.
ELEVATE - ELEVATE - ELEVATE
I AM because YOU ARE YOU ARE because I AM
Welcome to SEASON EIGHT, 'An Epic Life' - Episode 3 - A Magnificent Experience - curated by Neville DeAngelou. During this episode we plumb the undualating depths of a grand life. It is the experience of life that authentically "knows" it is alive and what being alive is. We sample marked highlights of "becoming" as revealed across the ages. Growth. Revelations. This awareness proves rewarding. Awakening. Through exercises we are becoming ever more in tune with universal rhythms. Flow. We make note of special elements and ingredients of living a life that is grand. We rediscover fun! And deeper questions surface.
We are a peculiar people, you and I, intricately interwoven (internally, externally), marvelously made, unique, inventive, rich, exceptionally versatile, endowed with remarkable minds and an adventurous spirit.
What fulfills your purpose for being, the reason you are alive? How do you maintain true connection with yourself? How often do you check in with yourself?
Knowing who you are and what you are about in any setting or stage of life will help you focus better, find balance, and attain rhythms that function in your favor. Challenges will exist, but you will be better able to attend to what matters as well as enjoy greater satisfaction doing so.
Magnificent things happen daily. You are one of them. You know you have it; you take a moment and make it magic.
FRIENDSHIP
Experience Wonder.
We are WIDE OPEN wholly responsible for making our world a better place.
Today's pivot QUESTION: you've been plucked, gracefully, from where you are and lifted into an amazing place you approve of, where everything weighing you down or that has troubled you or causes you to devalue yourself or delays you in anyway is promptly removed - miraculously - gone - you are completely new while remaining fully enriched (all of your valued experiences and learnings and wisdom are in tack); and in that altered state you are advised (inspirationally so) to picture your new life - a life worth living hence forward - experienced just as you'd prefer it to be recorded and left for all eternity, and you picture this life that is worth your living - hold that picture - for you are then brought gently to where you are right now, and here you are, fresh and totally new:
presuming you've come to grips with your reason for being, how are you working it out, and if you have not come to grips with your reason for being how will you figure it out?
* * *
TAKE ACTION
Our actions reflect The Story we tell ourselves.
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." _ Mohandas Gandhi
Why not examine your life from a different angle?
As much as is affordable for matters that matter, afford yourself a 360 degree view. You may find this of great value in ways you had not imagined nor known to account for. It is highly probable you will also encounter awesome insights that are of no relevance to who you are or what you are about, and that you will make observations you are ill-equipped to comprehend. It is highly likely you will encounter delightful delusions, and disconcerting illusions, and lots of bs disguised as helpful secrets. It may very well not be incumbent upon you to contest or combat any of these, but they will inform you, and will assuredly put upon you the onus to be ever more discerning and to be ever smarter with your decisions and clearer with your intentions, for all in all these will profitably test your faith and mirror your trust, and render you that much better. As much as is affordable for matters that matter, afford yourself a 360 degree view.
Our RyoLearn VIP Vault, brilliantly designed and conveniently styled with awesome contributions from around the globe, is now unlocked, freely available to you. Click. Peruse. Take. Use. Share. We can choose to renew our minds.
ACTIONS REQUIRED
Potentiality
"An infinity of forests lies dormant in the dream of an accorn."
Learn how to behave in the most fuctional ways to achieve your goals.
Remember: it is YOUR LIFE; only you can live it. Regardless, you do not walk alone, and whether or not it is visible to us the sun is always shining. This sun by measure is ever willing, ever giving, fueling many desires. The courtship we (our planet earth) have with this super star affords our generations the richness of life we have been privileged. Our seasons. Our biodivierstiy. Our means of thriving. Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude. It is we {{on planet earth, tilted as it is}} who orbit the sun at measurable distances every 365.242 days, bathing our various parts as we roll through life-giving light. It is we (each of us that is) by communal designs and-or decree who variously occupy and-or traverse lit and unlit portions, timely or untimely, and by whatever means we resolve to do so or for whatever resaons we reside wherever we occupy. Whatever our personal or communal story, the story of earth's romance of the sun is solid. Ours is - well - shall I say, traumatic. Even if, by some illusion or delusion, earth's said romance proves counterfactual, we know this for sure: this is your life, ONLY YOU can live it. Come alive. Our world (our universe) is discoverable; we are discovering it. May we also, in the discovery and-or the unfolding of ourselves, find balance, rhythm, and focus in useful portions. May you flourish whether your ride is in sunlight, under moonlight, or beneath shelter, rain or cloud. And may the sun keep on shining until our ways are done.
A sensible lifestyle.
Take Action
"Know what you own. Understand what you claim. Believe you can achieve what you conceive then call it by its name. Mine! The extent to which you have this clarity of mind, this purity of understanding, this strength of belief, you have the fire, the fuel, the impetus, the passion, the determination, the willpower you require to pursue and retrieve your truest desire. But do not claim what does not belong to you. It will not keep you . . . it will suffer you but for only so long."
You are valued. You are important. What you experience is important. Your intention matters. You are a whole being. You are a true wonder. You diminish yourself whenever you pit valued elements of who you are against vital elements of who you are: your intuitive self against your intellectual self, your rational self against your emotional self, your gut against your heart against your head. Don't be put at war against yourself: you are a masterpiece. An intricate being. Human!
Discovering: sobering realities
inventor
entrepreneur
creator
coach
Life: it is a dance. It gets better with practice; its music is in your heart and in your soul and in your blood and in your bones. Life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. You have a partner – your spirit. You can have a party if you like, but choose smartly who you invite, for life – your life – is a dance. It gets better with practice, unless you stop the music or so crowd your dance floor there is no space to move or be moved within it. Explore. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice until the dance becomes the dancer and the dancer becomes the dance and life and all of existence becomes a singular flow. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. Dance.
Masterpiece
a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.
tour de force
Be at Home with Yourself
Home is a special place. Love resides there. The best journeys take you there. Hope lives there. Home leaves no question about belonging. Friends belong there. Dreams thrive there. Home is a place of forgiveness. There is no rejection there. Home is a place of rest and recuperation and rejuvination. There is laughter there. Life takes you to unexpected places; love brings you home. At home you are free to flourish. It is where you birthed your wings. Sing your way home. We live amongst viruses and bacteria: some are villains and some are monsters. Monsters breed. Villains are everywhere; you are ever in their sights. Be prepared: find your rhythm, stay in balance, keep your values and your vision in focus. Choose your friends wisely. Choose folks who are good for your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Allow your beauty to reflect the light you let in. Be all of you. Enjoy the fullness of your sacred space - Home. Replenish yourself.
Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
expand your mind
. . .
live
laugh
love
. . .
let your light shine
Live. Laugh. Love.
Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.
Across the nation and around the world there is a long rumble.
It is a rumble so loud it strikes ready ears as a distant clap of a fierce thunder. It is a rumble so low, it rides beneath the noise of a thousand human fears; it can no longer be heard. Fear of flight, fear of heights, fear of sand, fear of snow, fear of monsters in the closet, fear of bugs in the pillow, fear of cats, fear of bats, fear of strangers at the door, fear of being lost, fear of being laughed at, fear of being stuck in the toilet bowl, fear of whites, fear of blacks, fear of browns, blues and yellows, fear of nakedness, fear of the unknown, fear of being hurt.
Smile. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn. Be awesome. You are powerful beyond measure. You are not alone. You can do all things. I am you. You are me. We are one. Keep Sharing.
May our light shine on sprinkled seeds along The Journey.
"Live Your Life - Live it well. You are worth it."
Listen. Learn. Lead.
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up." Martin Luther King Jr.Look. Listen. Learn. YOU ARE VALUED BEYOND MEASURE. (A Place Called Ah.)
Breathe.
We are accompanied.
Balance - Focus - Rhythm
BE EVER REMINDED:the life you are living is YOUR life; ONLY YOU can live it!
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Lead. Learn with us. Get your FREE AUDIO of 'Sven: The High Achiever's Journey'. You'll be glad you did. Share the experience.
ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) 
