commit,,, (life)

friends,,,

there is something surpassing beautiful about the way kids commit to what they're doing.

if they're running,,, they're running. if they're laughing, they're laughing. if they're upset,,, it will be hard to miss ; )


one of my son Prevail's favorite games to play with me is chase, and it has become something of a daily ritual.

each time before we start he tells me about the superpowerful, so so fast engine he now has, and how it will make him go too too faster than the world.

this morning, i couldn't help but become lost in stunned appreciation as i watched him rev up in preparation to launch from the starting line.


we've all made the car noise with our mouth,,, you know, brrrpprprppprm, brrrprprprrrmmmm. this guy wasn't just making the car noise, he was the car noise.

his legs crouched down in a primal, ready-to-pounce position, tiny fists raised in the air, somehow instinctively knowing the the exact position that would take full advantage of his diaphragm's brrrpprrrmmp-ing power,,,

and he set it free - - - *

four year old boy-spit flew in quantities i can only describe as astounding, and he shot off from the living room floor like i've seen lions do on the nature channel, when they're hunting gazelle.


needless to say, i was impressed on many levels.

it was so fast, so sure. he knew what he wanted to do and committed instantly, involving his whole body in what might seem to be an isolated act of his mouth.

but of course it isn't isolated at all, is it?

the mouth, is connected to the throat, which is connected to the diaphragm, which works with our lungs, which rely on blood supply, which depends upon the heart,,, we are an entire orchestra of living, whether we realize it or not.

at what point in growing up do we learn to do things so halfheartedly? when do we forget to move, breathe and live with our whole body? when do we start practicing saying things we don't mean? when did we settle for being so much less powerful than we really are,,, for using such a small percentage of our natural potential?

why? when? i'll tell you exactly when: when we start becoming conscious of the spit flying out of our mouth, and how it really is a ridiculous amount of spit, and o no, what will the people around me think of me now that they've seen all this spit, and will they take their love from me because of it???

the fear of rejection is so strong, so deeply ingrained in us, that we imprison the best parts of us in a misguided attempt to keep them from harm. the greatest gift in the universe, traded for fear.


really? so what if johnny thinks you have too much spit, you're alive!!! alive, and no one can take that from you, no one can lessen the glory of that in any way.

no one, but you.

that's what i want to tell that precious little man as i see him fly through the air, so free and unburdened.

that's what i want to tell the 52 year old boy i saw on the street last week, locked behind eyes that had seen years and years of too much of that same fear.

it's what i want to tell the 27 year old girl i saw at a restaurant two nights ago pretending to laugh at something said by the man she was trying so hard to impress - a man who looked at her, completely missing the wealth she truly is.

it is what i want to tell to everyone i've ever met who is pretending to be fine.

no, my friends, no. we are more than this, and it is too long buried, for reasons that could never be good enough.


watching my boy work the magic he was born with, so effortlessly, so thoughtlessly, i am reminded of the most powerful artists i've been blessed to witness perform, whose work i've been privileged to experience.

there is an undeniable similarity between the two - a complete surrender, a commitment to the act of expression which is at the same time riveting and deeply moving in a way older than spoken language.

and we are born with it. born with it.

is it possible that reconnecting with that gift is as close and as simple as practicing being fully alive, fully present, fully genuine, in what we choose to say and do?

i believe it is that simple.

if something is worth doing, it is worth doing with everything you have. if it's not, then why are your spending precious moments of your life doing it?


love, love and more love, my amazing friends,,,

jesh *