I have not been writing. Changes are afoot. Sometimes I look like the bassoonist in an orchestra but then come across like the little guy with a whistle. But I’m thinking myself away from all depression, depression being a form of self-oppression. Not wanting self-inflicted wounds, I’ve moved myself to a higher level. The crunch is, I barely can walk these days ----- but I can fly.  I just let other people do the doing.  I’ll do the making.  I’ll make the ideas work. I’ll get and stay focused.  I won’t let my mind wander into a not-having scenario or pity.  How?  One thought at a time.  Thoughts after all, are my steps and they are precious.  At seventy-five, life now can’t be wasted.  How powerful is that?  Very.  Doing the impossible has become a lot easier.

Flying is the key.  As a concept, flying beats walking any day.  In my case, it means walking intensely, as in an intensity of purpose.  It’s like Obama’s mind, which is clear and directed.  He’s not flailing around, nor taking action for the sake of show.  His mind is quiet and laser-like; that’s how stuff gets done.  And it works.  Other people can do things for you, why not, if they like the author?

The truth is, the leader doesn’t know where we’re going anymore than you do.  He is just a better listener, he’s learned to focus.  He’s not hell bent on doing at every moment.  When the time is right to act, he’ll know.  He gets the signal, he’s not too early out of the paddock.  What’s the method?  It’s not meditation, exactly, it’s being quiet enough to respect the inner being.  It’s not a conversation, a struggle, it’s allowing a want to come find you, so you can take life’s next step.  It’s as if there are two points merging, and you have the target of your desire align itself with you.  I envision myself like a tuning box, wanting to get connected to a bigger idea, and above my head, there is this perfectly straight up-and-down pipeline for these terrific impulses to drop in.

The rest of the message is to do what Christ did.  You rise above your maladies.  Everyone on earth has failures --- physical or otherwise.  Like me, Franklin Delano Roosevelt couldn’t walk, and he rose above it to run the United States of America for four terms as President.  We never heard him complain.

Rise and fly I say.  Do not be at war with the obstacles of your life.  Focus on your next, not-yet-visible personal dream waiting to be realized.  Hook yourself to a star.  Put out there the gifts you came to this earth to give the rest of us.  How grateful and amazed we will be at those who rise up and create this wondrous new world. 

NOTE:  As I told you, I haven’t been writing lately.  I’ve been working with various computer and graphic artists.  I’m also redesigning my image through photographs, a kind of New Vintage as Simon Doonan would say. You’ll see.

After that, the talented artist Olivia has deigned to paint me, after she gets through her Bettie Page period.