SPACE

 LPC/2013

Leaving something incomplete 

makes it interesting and 

gives one the feeling that 

there is room for growth.

                     ---Yoshida Kenko

Self Portrait

                LPC/Self Portrait

The artist appeals to 

that part of our being…

which is a gift and not 

an acquisition---and 

therefore, more 

permanently enduring.

              ---Joseph Conrad

The Zen Gardener

Villa des Amis/May 2014

The Zen gardener has no mind to impose his 

own intention upon natural forms. While he 

never ceases to prune, clip, weed, and train 

his plants, he does so in the spirit of being 

part of the garden himself rather than a 

directing agent standing outside. He is not 

interfering with nature because he is nature.

THE TRUTH

Villa des Amis 12-15-13

Inside this clay jug are canyons and pine mountains

And the maker of canyons and pine mountains

All seven oceans are inside, and hundreds of millions of stars

The acid that tests gold is there and the one that judges jewels

And the music from the strings that no one touches,

And the source of all the water

If you want the truth, I will tell you the truth;

Friend, listen…

The God whom I love is inside     

                                           ---Kabir

SOMEDAY

Someday I’ll be a weather-beaten skull

  resting on a grass pillow.

Serenaded by a stray bird or two.

Kings and commoners end up the same.

No more enduring than last night’s dream.

                          --Ryokan

OPTIMISM

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is not our darkness but our light that frightens us most.

We are not passengers on the planet but participants in its evolution.

We have the power to make the transition from fear of nature to a deep sense of connection with her.

Anything can change when we change the way we look at it.

Attention is the most powerful tool of the human spirit.

Through shared experiences, the generation now growing up has a broader sense of global issues and possibilities and a reality that moves beyond ‘my country’ and instead embraces ‘our planet.’

The most effective means of changing people’s minds usually involves grasping the minds they already have.

Teaching is, at its heart, an act of optimism.

Optimism is a way of viewing possible futures with the belief that you can affect things for the better.

Technology/the internet helps make the strange familiar.

This has an overall positive effect on how we think about others in our shrinking world.

It illuminates our similarities and connects us to our common humanness.

It confirms Forester’s admonishment to “only connect.”

Optimism always wins.

You are more likely to find solutions if you believe they are there.