The Long Way Up

Scrape the bottom of the barrel and run Look at the stars but don't stare at the sun Feel the gravel and the stones underfoot  Gaze at the planets and where they've been put Wade in the currents, in ripples, and silt Ponder the clouds and then how they were built Sink in the moment of silicone sand Fly through the sky, to the things that are grand Walk on the dust under heat, in the cold Under the light of the pulsars of old Travel across on terrain unexplored Wonder about all the quasars adored Stand on a hill, then look out up above Nebulae, black holes: space dust, they're made of Lowered you are, but their greatness looks down You are more majestic; you are the crown

There is not one single person in the world that was born without at least a sliver of creativity. It may have been deposited during their conception as a small seed -- obscured and untapped -- but it is there nonetheless. Some of us are born with a knack for the performing arts : there are those of us who are gifted at singing, dancing, or acting and take to it with mastery even without formal education. The performing arts are some of the ways we express creativity with our bodies. This is certainly one of the (if not the most) flamboyant forms of creative expression. Some of us are born with a penchant for the visual arts : there are those of us who are endowed with the creativity of translating the images we see with our physical eyes into works of visible art through paintings and sculptures. Others take what they see in their mind's eye and put it on different types of canvas, including digital ones. So many forms of visual arts have manifested in the last few dec...

Songs have a way of eloquently and elegantly expressing thoughts, emotions, truths and experiences that no other medium of art possesses. Somehow when beautifully crafted words are set to carefully concocted melodies, certain sentiments -- from the most mundane to the highly controversial -- become tolerable, easier to accept and more believable. Such is the talent and skill of singer-songwriters . These gifted wordsmiths have such an impeccable knack for conveying their ideas through song that those of us who take time to listen and ponder on the lyrical content of their work would instantly or eventually find them relatable. It almost seems like these songwriters have taken a peek into our hearts and minds and proceeded to write songs based on our thoughts and experiences. I totally have great admiration (and partial envy) for musicians who write exceptionally well, encapsulate their thoughts into words proficiently, and combine it with music skillfully. I love how ...

Last week, while I was at my insurance company paying my regular quarterly investment, I was given their annual giveaway to clients -- a corporate journal/planner. Although it wasn't anything fancy (like a check for 10,000 bucks or a three-night stay in a five-star hotel) I found myself smiling, happy at the thought that I'm getting an unexpected gift. Later on after having left the insurance office, I opened the new journal and flipped through its empty pages. Right there I remembered how much I loved looking at unused pages of notebooks or planners (even ones that weren't mine) and started to think back to the fact that I have two or three journals that I had unknowingly collected and left blank. Why was I excited at the thought of getting another set of fresh pages to use? It's not like I have all the time in the world to fill all of them up. In fact I am at the moment lagging in filling out my current journal, one that I started at least four years ago. S...