You could find a penny and pick it up and all the day have good luck. Or step on a crack and break your mother’s back. Or open your eyes and see, for the first time, how we all are connected. To the earth, to the stars, to the seasons, and to magic.

It fascinates me how by merely adding the suffix teen to a child’s age, somehow the ability to think clearly is wiped away. We could argue all night that it is due to hormones raging, life raging, and rage raging. But whoever said that "None are so blind as those who will not see" really knew what he or she was talking about. And maybe it’s the hormones. And maybe it’s the drugs. And maybe it’s the videos. And maybe it’s the television. And maybe it’s the movies. And maybe it’s the wealth. And maybe it’s the poverty. Or maybe… its for me to know and for you to find out.

He who rebukes the world is rebuked by the world

Sometimes it helps to think of a love affair like a game of cards. We each are dealt with five cards, only in this case, they are made of fine brown glass and are incredibly brittle. As we get closer and more trusting, we show more and more of our hand by putting down a card at a time, knowing that it’s all a gamble. One day, the love affair ends and the cards are swept off the table and shatter. And all we want are the cards back intact. When the whole point in the first place was to play a game of cards…

The gambler is an interesting sort. He derives his pleasure from watching others participate in life and then wagering on the outcome. It’s like watching television and yelling for someone to "watch out!" or having sex with your eyes closed. Either way, you’re not really in the game.

Even after all this time, I can look up at the sky and connect the dots from star to star. Or peer into a grassy field and see the quilted pattern the white goddess made with each blade of grass. That’s what it is to be aware of the world around you. The problem, however, of being in touch with the earth and the sky and the seasons and mankind and womankind and animal kind is that eventually they touch you back. You’ve chosen a path or its has chosen you. It doesn’t matter which – that can swallow you whole. But only if you allow it. Listen to your heart and no harm will come to you.

Each of us no matter how cynical or jaded, has, at one time or another, had an encounter with magic. I am not talking about when they saw a lady in half or pull a rabbit out of a hat or make a silver pocket-watch disappear. When after the loss of a lover, or partner, or friend, that seemingly unstoppable pain suddenly fades, that is magic. When, the tenacious roar of a tenor saxophone works its way up from below the ground by way of a sidewalk grating and your foot starts tapping, that is magic. When a young woman, for no apparent reason, turns on the street and smiles right at you, that’s not only magic. That’s as good a reason as any to get out of bed in the morning.

Each of us has a choice. We can ignore the pain and suffering and splendor and suffering and joy of the world around us. Or, we can dive right in, getting both shoes muddy and help.

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he gets to know something.

One day, three blind man were stopped by something in their path. Having no sight, they each touched what was in front of them. The first, upon grabbing a leathery trunk insisted that there was a snake blocking the way. The second, holding on to a coarse tail, disagreed, thinking it was merely a piece of rope. And the third, feeling the rough sides, was certain they had come up against a wall. It was not until they each shared what the other knew that they determined it was not a snake nor a rope nor a wall. It was an elephant.