N O B I L I T Y

This may seem like an odd way to begin a discussion on nobility (aspiring to become a higher personification of oneself), but... I'm watching 'The Voice' on television tonight, something I don't typically do. I love live performances and great singing but the show chops up the entertainment a little too much for my liking. And let's face it, all those commercials are despicable are they not?

But tonight I'm struck by something else about the show. What is with the boxing ring and the 'VS' between contestant names? Does even something as feel good as aspiring-singers-giving-it-their-best have to be so adversarial? As each of the contestants entered the 'ring', they then had to face off, in each other's faces as they sang.

There is something subliminal in all of this. And it's not just The Voice. Most of what we see on television, since the days of The Survivor and Everybody Loves Raymond, are people pitted against one another. Must we be entertained by people treating each other badly? Not to mention the relentless barrage of reality shows (most of which are scripted by the way). 

Seems to me we are missing something. Where has nobility gone? I bet kids today think 'nobility' is the Earl of Grantham on Downton Abbey and nothing more. It's time for television to wake up. 

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility;

every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty."

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960)

p.s. Downton Abbey is a great show. PBS continues to lead the pack in quality entertainment!

N I C E L Y - D O N E - B O S T O N !

Boston Harbor Sunrise

"They failed because the people of Boston refused to be intimidated. 

They failed because as Americans we refuse to be terrorized. 

They failed because we will not waiver from the character, the compassion,

and the values that define us as a country." 

Barack Obama (1961-    ) 

M O V E - W I T H I N

"Keep walking though there's no place to get to. Don't try to see through the distance.

That's not for human beings. Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move.

As you live Deeper in the Heart, the mirror gets clearer and cleaner."

Rumi (1207-1273)

H E A L I N G

There are some who would say that time heals all wounds. I'm not sure healing is ever attained when one loses a child, a friend, or a lover to a senseless act like the recent Boston Marathon bombings or the grievous sadness of 911, but time can lend a certain numbness to great losses or pain. 

As we get caught up in the continuous coverage of the recent events in Boston, we must be vigilant in keeping our perspectives intact. With each news update, interview, or photograph we are apt to let our emotions boil up, anger us, seek revenge. 

There are many who believe that giving that type of energy to such events makes their likelihood of recurrence stronger, while it makes us weaker. Revenge is the mask of fear, and fear is the weakening of the human spirit.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze too long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) 

REMEMBER - IN - YOUR - HEART

"Brief were my days among you, and briefer still the words I have spoken. And although death may hide me, and the greater silence enfold me, yet again will I seek your understanding.

It was but yesterday we met in a dream. But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn. The noontide is upon us and our half-waking has turned to to fuller day, and we must part.

If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. 

And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky.

Remember in your heart... 

A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind..."

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

May  recovery come quickly to the people of Boston.

B O S T O N

Heartfelt condolences to everyone in Boston who was affected by today's tragedy.  

With love, to my favorite city.

BETTY WHITE - RECIPROCATE

"When I pontificate, it sounds so, you know, oh well she's preaching. I'm not preaching, but I think maybe I learned it from my animal friends. Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself. I think that keeps you feeling young. I really do.

A lot of people go, 'Well, I'll get a dog because I have a kid and a kid needs a dog.' And it doesn't work out for that dog and the dog is on the street. If everyone took personal responsibility for their animals, we wouldn't have a lot of the animal problems that we do. I'm a big spay-and-neuter supporter. Don't have babies if you're not going to take care of those babies. We don't need more. We just need to take care of the ones we have. Take responsibility and breathe kindness."

Betty White (1922 - )