Carl Setzer

This evening was spent  With dearest friends that I love  Training: my passion 

   Evening passes by  Night's seduction soothes my heart   Dreams awakening

This article, over at Huffington Post, provides a different look at race in America. We’re Indian-American With Adopted White Children And Here’s What People Ask Us A lovely, gentle piece exploring a mother's love for her children, both from birth and from adoption. I particularly enjoy the voice she adopted. Some great lines in there. My favorite: "The hyphen will define us more than the terms themselves...", which tells a big part of the story about race in the United States right now. I doubt Ms. Iyer thought much about the social experiment she would be opening up. I expect, simply, that she and her husband followed their hearts and opened their homes. She opened my mind with her writing. I hope the same for you.

I pride myself on thanking people. I see this as basic. Time and time again, though, I hear how rarely it happens. Really, one of the most basic elements of community building: acknowledging each other. An element of “namaste”, of seeing each other at a deep level, of valuing each other. Appreciating everyone’s unique gifts and contributions. So often, in the comms world, we focus on solving some problem. Once the solution gets executed, off to the next thing. All the work teams put into the resolution vanishes into vapor. Perhaps the easiest action to take, and one that reaps rewards in terms of connection, yet so often forgotten. Want to stand out as a communicator? Well, remember the “thanks”. Thanks for reading! Come and connect with me on  Twitter  and  Instagram ! 

I loved this song by Queen, as part of the original Highlander movie. Add The Tenors with Lindsey Stirling and we get brilliance. The intro gives a Phantom of the Opera dramatic vibe, and the 18th century styling delight me deeply. So, happy Friday and enjoy this musical treat.

My first writing love has been poetry. So I created QuestionsAll.net as a place to host it and explore poetry deeper. I try to post at least daily, and have been pretty successful at that. For years I adored haiku. That's been a recent focus, perhaps obsession, with me. Finding expression within the confines of such a small form challenges me. Rising and meeting challenges delights me. Come on over and see what I've been up to lately. You can also subscribe and follow me there. Thanks!

Awake and moving Facing this day's morning light Drawing energy from coffee

Words are reflections, capturing the light reflecting off our lives.

Thought:  are martial arts a physical manifestation of zen?

Perhaps you’re familiar with  Gary Snyder . Most famous for his affiliation with Beat poets like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, he work is really it’s own beast. One of my favorite writers, I read his work quite regularly. He’s quite influential on me. I find the way he combines such things as zen, Chinese literature and nature poetry with geomorphology and geology simply fascinating. And his eye keeps looking at the west coast, with him spending a great deal of time in the Pacific Northwest. His seminal work, Mountains and Rivers Without End covers a great deal of ground topic-wise. There are several poems with Pacific Northwest themes, but one strikes me most: “ Night Highway 99 “. (The link will take you to the Google Books edition of book.) I remember when I first  really  read the title. “Really” meaning “attentive, aware, awake (in a zen-sort-of-way). The connection was instant. Growing up in Lynnwood just a few blocks from Highway 99, i...

My career has been rather unique. At least when compared to so many of my friends. It's been terribly linear. I've orbited around administrative/secretarial/office manager stuff. Orbited, and sometimes even held those titles. But it's not been a deliberate effort. Mostly, my employment has centered around taking advantage of opportunities. I generally consider the growth and development opportunities, long-term viability, and all that sort of stuff. Ironically, once I tend to be in a role, I generally settle in. Not sure that's the best way to live, but that's what tends to happen. The universe rarely lets that happen. My main element of deliberation: family. That's what's been important to me. Now, both at Starbucks and at Microsoft, I didn't see how deeply that was. When I left Microsoft and decided I wanted to focus on eliminating my commute. I concentrated on Snohomish County, and was interviewing with Boeing before I was hired with C&K...

A few thoughts: Regardless of how one feels about President Trump, Democrats or Republicans, flailing about invectives isn't going to get us anywhere. I know of no one who's change their stance on any issue because some troll called them "idiot" or "snowflake" or "nazi". It's quite interesting to me the role that the internet has played in degenerating the stuff talked about in point 1. On "Making America Great AGAIN": that's one that I've thought quite a bit about recently. Simply, the MAGA folks seem to look backwards to when "America WAS Great". Progressives look forward to Making America Great FINALLY. Seeing potential, the strengths of diverse communities, economies and cultures. But the distinction between the two mind-sets hit me hard recently. Somehow, we need to find a way to embrace dignity in our public discourse. However, I'm totally at a loss about implementing that. There's more to talk...

So, hey, I'm biased. However, bias aside, I think this is a great proposal. The judges do, too, as she's a finalist. Please give her a listen, and, if you're so inclined, a vote! Save The World One Purchase At A Time: by JoHanna F.

This dance of starlight Standing still at intense speed Such is the way of Zen