We've had it wrong...

I'm sorry..Socrates
..Plato and Kant
you've had it all wrong
Marx and Voltaire
...completely misunderstood
what humanity has been
...striving for
since the dawn of time
No..no class warfare..
..or utopian dreams
none of that..it seems
after one quick glance
..at youtubes top ten
of bitten fingers
...and korean horse dancing men
and you cannot help
but wonder
...if the worlds masses
all this time have been
yearning for the freedom
to make
.....silly videos...

that's all

I love you Mr. Csikszentmihalyi

.

I was recently reading a book and I came across this awesome quote from the famous psychologist (I'll assume he's famous if he's quoted in a book) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I've always known it to be true but just seeing it in worlds filled me with such joy. It needs to be shouted from the rooftops and told a thousand times to our children.

In his book Flow he discusses the benefits of having a talent or skill set. People who have talents and skills are generally happier than those that don't. And then he adds..
"It is not the skills that we actually have that determine how we feel, but the ones we think we have."

Read it again and again until you internalize it completely..



What a freeing concept...


.

Thoughts on living in the 19th century

It's been an unforgettable few weeks in New Jersey and now that it seems to be behind us I'd like to share a few thoughts on my experience.

First of all I don't think I've ever heard such confusion as to what that thing called Sandy was.
Was it a hurricane? A superstorm ? A frankenstorm? A superfreakinfrankinstorm?

Then it plunged us all into the 19th century. No water, no heat and no power, which meant finding creative ways to get water, like placing buckets under the gutters and using lots of firewood to stay warm.
People back in those days lived on average 30 years less than we did. I get the feeling that they didn't mind at all.
Each day feels like a year when all the things we take for granted needed hard work to achieve.

But on the other hand they must have been happier. If your daily goal is to survive and you achieve that goal then every day is a success.
And the day that you fail, well..you won't be there to feel that disappointment.

Oh and one other thing.
Please don't tell me to stop complaining because other people lost their homes.
Next time you have a toothache I'll tell you to be quiet because there are people's out there with cancer.

Btw I'm not complaining. It was an experience.
.

Beauty and The Beast

you took away
...my heat
my water
and power
You took down
....my favorite trees

But when I go out
...and look at you
I can't stay mad
.......for long


.

washed away

must have been about
..8 weeks ago or so
we were walking along
..the pier
on that picture perfect
afternoon

when I saw my favorite
...roller coaster
the one
...right at the edge
hovering over the waves
...and so I convinced
my 12 year old daughter
...to join me

she was terrified as it climbed
...and climbed
(and so was I)
...and then when it made that turn
above the ocean
before plunging..down and up
..and by the 5th time
we rode that thing
..our hands were in the air
without a care
in the world


..and today I feel
as if
...the memory itself
has been so brutally
violated
...and washed away