The Art of You

many moons and four balconies ago, my cousin told me that he lost
a close friend to religion/spirituality/God and he told me with his eyes that he did not
want to lose me in the same way.

rejoice my cousin for you lost a friend but gained a brother instead.

The Art of You.
making everyday your masterpiece

as I take a cruise down the old block, where I grew up
I realize as I watch kids playing in the park....
that this world is our playground.
this world is where all walks of life get together and join as one.
to get along with, to learn things from one another, to have fun and enjoy
eachothers company.

we all have a responsibility to ourselves as mush as to eachother.

I grew up in a very poor neighborhood.
my cousin grew up in a very rich one.
as I was thinking of class, I remembered what my cousin once said to me
when he was not feeling so cool,
he told me that its better to have air conditioning
than a fan in a hot apartment.

mocking/mimicking me for not having a place with air conditioning.

then attacking my misfortune for being poor and questioning my value as a human being for it.

as I sit here now, I remember standing up for myself and being proud
for telling it to him about how it is as he kept slamming me for coming from the ghetto/slums.

I told him:
the gutter is not in the poor house, the slum/gutter is in the people.
money dont mean who you are inside, money dont bring happiness either.
work does and as long as I work in myself and support myself making a living
then I am happy, give a paradise to the spiritually poor and that is what you will
get back, a paradise lost!
but give the slums to the spiritually rich and you will get a paradise.

there is no easy way out or two ways about it,
because if that were the case then money would beat out everything
including love.

material wealth or luxury dont make the man.
man makes those things.

you are a man of the world, that is why earthly things matter to you so much.
you think money will bring you the happiness you seek for then it will and only
then will you learn that it was not all as great as you thought it would be.

more money= more problems.

you suck he replied, frustrated with anger in his eyes....

if you find the happiness within yourself.
if you find the peace within yourself.
if you find the spirit within yourself
then no one will be able to steal it/take that away from you.

for it is you. your god given right and true nature.

then you will have the makings of a champion.

to be a champion is to convert obstacles into stepping stones-
no belt, titles, names, mansions, money or cars will make you-
you will come to your senses only to go further beyond them
and see that champion is a set of qualities rather than any title
or possessions-

a champion is a species of hero and hero is nourished by misfortunes- [ahem]
that is why one attracts mysticism and legend-
let us hope that these qualities that make up a champion are not quenched in vain
for God gave me his word that "they" who try to take away from you I will multiply by 10
and whenever you feel weak or drained I will nourish and strength!! [a dream]

We are champions for we are more than that; we are mankind
created in God image.

made by the best.

we carry his logo, his brand= LOVE.

by nobody [dont let the name fool you]

my cousin got a job and became a millionaire and I have not heard from him since.
telemarketer during the day-superhero at night wink.gif

much love and God bless to you all.
and stop jocking- be original lol
-M9

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It's funny, how when I look back at my childhood I mostly remember being happy. I played in the woods, picked wild flowers and sold them to the neighbors, sang constantly, and was always making things. It didn't matter to me that we were on food stamps, clothes came from K-mart, we lived in a trailer for a while, and the roads in our neighborhood weren't paved.

Until people started pointing out to me that those things were supposed to make you feel embarrassed, ashamed, or inferior.

When did it all become a competition?
Why was it ok to lose sight of who I was, of what made me happy, in order to try to get where I was "supposed to be"?
My mom always said (actually still does) I should become a doctor or lawyer-
as if I can only be deemed successful/make her proud if I make a lot of money.
Much to her dismay, I also believe that more money=more problems. It is not a motivator to me.

To me, I'd view my life as successful if I was doing what I loved and could share it with others;
If I could help people, make the world a little better;
if I had enough money to get by;
if I were happy and trying to be the best person I could be.

I don't care where I live, what brand I'm wearing (although that Love brand looks pretty good),
or if my job is considered 'impressive'. I'm not interested in keeping up with the Jones'.
I want my kids to be good people, make good decisions, and be happy when they grow up.
No matter what they do.

And for us all to see that we are part of something bigger.

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btw- I really like your signature. Nobody couldn't have said it better wink.gif


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There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.-Amu
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yea, I still remember the dreams of our fathers and my friends fathers
always making us believe we can be whoever we want to be.

that stuck on my head more than doctor, lawyer, astronaut....
more like an astro-nut!

too much t.v wanted you to become batman, rambo or mel gibson in lethal weapon.

I thought Mad Max was cool.

I wonder how different it would be if everyones parents would have wanted/supported
their kids in arts/crafts/music?

maybe then if they would have used reverse psychology on us would we all have
become what our parents would have wanted us to be al along lol

who knows?

I am gonna train my sun to be a proffesional wrestler.

maybe that will help him tackle any obstacles in life growing up
after I teach him that wrestling is a painful way to make a living....

he will run to school everyday and bring home a engineering degree?-M9

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you totally made me think of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0QT_9iCgWQ&feature=related

commercials like that are why I only let my kids watch PBS when they were younger...
now I hope they can use a little bit of perspective when they see things like that

my mom now claims she would have supported me if I had decided pursue art -
but in the same breath thinks I am completely immature (or selfish) for wanting to change what I'm doing now

I have to make decisions based on what is best for 3, not just me
that adds some more pressure
I want my kids to be whatever they want to be-to follow whatever passions they have
which makes me a hypocrite if I'm not
but what kind of person would they think I am if we can't pay the bills because I wanted to do what I truly love?
I'd probably be a better parent if I was happier though

trying to find a happy medium there-
it's all about balance I've heard

hey, you're welcome to teach my son some wrestling any time...
(wouldn't hurt for him to have a male role model)
sounds like you've got a good idea going there
and I love pulling the reverse psychology on them :)
right now he says he wants to be on a SWAT team when he grows up
which is pretty much the worst place I could imagine him ending up-amu
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lol [if they only made some for adults] that would be awesome!

if your son is as tough as her mother then
I think I will be the one heading back to school. smile.gif

yes, I get what you mean;
you want to put your self aside for the sake of your kids.

at the same time you want to be happy.

what sacrifice!
[the choices grown ups have to make]

do what you got to do and dont give up your dream.

no matter how old we get or responsible we may become,
[we will alway be children at heart.] no exceptions.


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Nobody is perfect!-M9