We used to have one or two anniversaries of tragic events to keep track of. Pearl Harbor, the day President Kennedy was killed, shooting in San Bernardino, Charleston, Newtown, Aurora, Virginia tech, Downtown Dallas, airport at Fort Lauderdale, concert in Las Vegas, church in Sutherland Springs Texas, High school in Santa Fe Texas, high school in Parkland Florida, News room in Annapolis Maryland, synagogue in Pittsburgh,Bar in Thousand Oaks California, Office in Virginia Beach, festival in Gilroy California, Walmart El Paso Texas, entertainment district Dayton Ohio,Midland and Odessa Texas, gas station in Springfield Missouri, Spas in Atlanta, grocery store in Boulder Colorado, FedEx in Indianapolis. Those are only the examples I can remember! Sadly, I’m sure there are more.  The pace is too much. The cost is too much. The politics preventing any meaningful action is too much. The numbers of families scared is too much. My point is that we used to have only a few of the dates of tragedies on our calendars. Now, the calendar is jampacked with gun violence mass shootings from coast to coast. Now, mass gun violence and random gun violence in our communities all across this country has jampacked our calendars. It is so bad that at this point some people are turning away from them because it is overload! People can’t handle the problem because they frankly can’t see any way to fix it. THAT is a real problem.  What skills will it take to begin to solve this gun violence problem. Well, in plain language (and excuse me if you’re offended but…) we need to give a shit! It’s not someone else’s problem, it’s not something that can only happen somewhere else. This gun violence epidemic can happen anywhere and to anyone!  Our leaders need to stop playing games with our lives and start protecting, serving. Start caring more about the people of this country than they do about getting re-elected.    Finally, everyday folks like you and me need to realize that what we say and do, what we don’t say and don’t do affects this situation in a big way. Every measure brought up isn’t a frontal assault on your second amendment rights. Likewise, every concern a gun owner has isn’t wrong. If we’re going to begin to fix this, we’re going to have to compromise. That means change. That means keeping some things you want to keep but also losing some things you once had. Until you’re willing to do that, the random gun violence won’t change, the mass shootings won’t change, the animus and division in this country won’t change.  Nobody wants to be the first to make a step in this journey. It’s going to take a big person, then another and another and another and so on until people aren’t afraid and over whelmed. Only then will they join. So, are you willing to be one of the big people to begin this healing? Maybe it’s a conversation in your family or among friends. Maybe it’s […]

With all due respect, we talk too much! Depending on the situation we either need to shut up and listen or shut up and understand the situation or shut and and say only what we really mean or shut up and look for the facts instead of the fallacies or shut up and have some respect or shut up and act instead of speak or shut up and consider the consequences of what you’re about to say or shut up and stop whining and/or complaining or shut up and find a better way or shut up and attempt to understand the meaning of empathy, gratitude and selflessness or shut up and ask yourself if all of those grudges and anger you’ve been carrying 24/7 are worth it or as I said earlier, shut up and listen. Listen to others around you, to the world around you and to the messages within you that have been trying to get your attention for years.  If you’ve been paying attention you’ve noticed that there is a recurring theme here. If you missed it then I’ll add another one to the list…  We need to shut up and pay attention!  Peace     …..Gregg

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” ~ Lao Tzu I was reminded of these profound thoughts by Lao Tzu the other day as I was talking to a friend. I saw that she was under a tsunami warning, so I called to make sure she was ok. She was, and then she thanked me and told how kind I was.  In the course of our (very long) conversation we started talking about that statement. We all speak about kindness but what is kindness really? After much in-depth conversation we realized that kindness was different to each soul on this planet. “Kindness was as different as each sunset and as necessary as every breath we take” she said.  Our own kindness isn’t up to us to define, the kindness others show to us is! Kindness is defined only by those who our actions affect and those who witness them. We can’t define or understand our own actions until they have been assessed by others. For instance, you might have the kindnest of intentions to tell a friend something but once you do, your friend is crushed and their life is changed. You thought you were being kind but were you? Doing your best to be kind is a lifestyle and a learned behavior not an every now and then dalliance. Kindness is a deserved outcome of your loving and aware actions. Kindness is also something you deserve to have happen no matter whether you are the one giving the kindness or receiving it! As my friend and I continued to talk about kindness, I asked her, deep down, what kindness actually felt like? We made our way through the usual descriptions but pressed each other to dig deeper for more and more. Finally, after a long pause she brought up a quote of mine. “Kindness is what the thorn must feel as it sees the rose bloom. “ I threw one of her’s back at her. “Kindness is the wind knowing it will cool you on a hot day and the stream being willing to offer itself for you.” So what is kindness, how does it make you feel, why is it? The answers, as my friend Running Sky would say, are as plentiful as the stars in the sky.  The only thing I know for sure is that I wish you kindness in your life. I wish you the gift of feeling kindness building from within and the feeling of kindness washing over you from the outside.  Peace    …..Gregg