February 18, 2008

Today's smile.

Music: Sergio Mendes - Timeless (iTunes)

Doing for others makes for a much better smile than doing for oneself. Try it sometime. I find that I help people with problems every so often. I'll help my mom with what she needs to do once in a while. I do a little something for my sister way too rarely. I do genuinely kind things only a few times a week rather than daily (and no, small things like opening a door for someone don't count). Until now, I really thought this was sufficient, and it made me happier than most. However, I've been thinking about it a bit today, and a lot of my happiness stems from the deeds I've done yesterday, or worse, the selfish things I've done today. With the former, it's truly leftover happiness that I'm using to produce this smile that I have.

As is the case with all food, the fresh product is always better than yesterday's leftovers (and don't give me that "but I like pizza better when I reheat it" crap. You know what I mean). So basically, rather than condemning you to another one of my 1000-word posts, I'll cut it short. Not to discredit your acts of kindness yesterday, but perform them on a more regular basis. You'll spread more smiles and yours will be a lot wider than it is right now. For another perspective on this idea, check out Anthony Anderson's take on Valentine's Day -- http://rawmodelcom.blogspot.com/2008/02/valentines-day-is-not-for-lovers.html.

What have you done for someone else today? The more often you think about it, the more you'll realize that your idea of your I-self contribution is coming from what you did in the past, not the present. So make it a point to commit selfless acts daily. Your days will be a lot fresher and more ripe, if you will.

Much love.

February 15, 2008

Common's Father on Forever

It may not make perfect sense to you, but it's up for interpretation. Make what you may out of it. Feel free to share your thoughts. From the outro of "Forever Begins," by Common (on the Finding Forever album):

Origin is forever
well, well, well,
Here we are back in the studio again.
Look at that.
Hey, I don't need no cue cards.
They got the engineers holdin' up cue cards.
What that say?
Oh they say, "Just talk. Don't sing."
Son, I bet you feel like you and I've been here Forever.
30 years old red eyes, beholding red eyes
I see my world's tears
Yeah, origin is forever
Every peak will have 2 values:
Hopeful eyes in the comfort of true protection
and admiration of the chime.
That's forever.
Forever is to strive,
a place of endearment.

Forever.
Forever is what I leave:
my I-self contribution
Damn, what I'm gon' leave?
Okay.
I leave my one and only grain of spiritual sand:

To universal scales of humanity
All humanity
Forever is finding a solution to a solution:
tsunamis, hurricanes,
following the trails of the African slave ships,
war, war, and more war,
floods, Columbine, global warming, earthquakes.
Another somebody's done me wrong, son.
Virginia Tech is not an old "what the heck?"
We're still. Did you place your one grain of spiritual sand forever?

Confusion need a solution.
Blend and stir. Stir and blend the part of humanity.
Sift the ingredients of acknowledgment, apology, amendment, atonement.
We gonna work with the four A's here
Forever part
Common good is forever
God's memory is forever

Related links:

February 2, 2008

Henry J. Kaiser on Progress

I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than I am and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am.