Gratitude Project Day 9

Consistency – Over a year ago I started blogging what I was grateful for. For reason I don’t fully understand, I stopped at day 8 of 30. So, I am picking myself up, dusting off the inconsistency, and resuming what I started one full rotation around the sun ago.

To that end, I am grateful for just that: consistency, especially when applied to a craft. I remember my Karate teacher, Masaki Sumida, explaining in a mix of Spanish and Japanese that Shotokan was like a boiling a pot of water: if you took the pot of the burner then the water would stop bubbling. Karate behaved the same way and so does everything else. As Kyle Austin one of my first improv coaches explained, “If you want to be good, you have to get your reps in.”

If perseverance is the mother of consistency, then vision is its twin sibling. Consistency has little meaning without a strong ‘why.’ I read a great story about two laborers in 14^th century France who were laying bricks for a gigantic cathedral. An inquisitive child asks the first laborer what he was doing. He sneered, “I am laying down bricks.” The child asked the second laborer who seemed to be doing the same job: “what are you doing?” He replied, “I am building a cathedral.” Vision gave meaning to consistency.

This weekend Israel Saginaw, the patriarch of the Saginaw family, passed away. When I think back about all my times hanging out with ‘The Chief’ he was consistent. Consistent in the way he loved his family, in the way he organized his Life magazines in his basement, and listening intently about my life in Texas. I am in Detroit for the celebration of Sol’s life.

Khan Academy – Much like my love of Wikipedia, I am grateful for Khan Academy. For the longest time a world-class education belong to those who won the birth lottery. Now if you have access to the Internet and are curiosity, Khan Academy can teaching you everything from how to balance a quadratic equation to the development of Western democracy. What’s cooler than the democratization of education? Nothing.

Doors- After a coach surfing in Easton Europe in 2010 I became fascinated by doors. First, because every culture and country had doors and it reflected their values and tastes. Second, because doors symbolized opportunity. Recently what has fascinated me is challenging my friends to pick a door that speaks to them and taking their picture in front of ‘their door’. Now that I have formalized the process with a page, I get to me more consistent with my love of doors and the people who pick them.

                                                

Day 8: Failing Forward, Making Things and The Cold Side of The Pillow

Day 8 January 26^th 2014

Because a heavy work schedule with market, I have not been updating this blog, but back on the gratitude wagon. Wahoo!

Three sources of gratitude and/or meditation: 

The cold side of the pillow– You know that feeling when you wake up slowly to the Saturday morning light only to turn on your other side and drift back to sleep? Those times when you might be fortunate enough to catch the cold side of the pillow. This is the top of the mountain, the pinnacle experience I can while sleeping.  In that moment, where my head touches the cool side of the cushion, I am in a cocoon of comfort where everything feels light.

While a bit of a side note, I am also a fan of the siesta. Is it the most efficient way to spend productive hours of the day? No. Is it insanely satisfying? Completely. Rachel, I support your pro-siesta platform.

Making things– the idea of creating is often much more difficult than it sounds, but making anything (writing a song, growing a harvest, rearing a child, building an organization, crafting a sculpture, welding a circuit board, okay I think you get it’s a pretty broad idea) is something to applauded. To make something new that has never existed before requires a vision paired with confidence and vulnerability. Rarely does the prototype preform the way you want it to the first time. Sometimes the toast gets burnt and sometimes the laser goes haywire.

Failing Forward– This is one of the most difficult things for me to appreciate because I simultaneously fear it and harbor a large amount of application for it. It is the means not the end.  Much like the Facebook relationship status, its complicated between me and failure. In a good light failure is one of the most thorough teachers. In the end will you remember your failures or the triumphs?  Did you know that Thomas Edison conducted over 1000 failed experiments? THE 1001^st was the light bulb. Name one of the failed experiments without looking it up. Yeah I didn’t think so. If you don’t fail sometimes you’re not taking enough risk and in my mom’s sage advice “try to be right more than your wrong and you will be fine.” Here is Denzel Washington speech at UPenn about failure that inspired my gratitude for this idea. Cut to 8 min in to skip the jokes.

“If you want something you never had, you gotta do something you never did.”

Day 7 — Taste Buds, Public Parks and Conversation

Day 7 –

January 20^th, 2014

3 sources of gratitude and/or inspiration 

My taste buds—Tonight I went out to eat a nice meal with Rachel. After studying the various yelp reviews we decided to try Lark on the Park. More than three times I throught out loud, “I am so happy I have taste buds.” The server must have thought I was on drugs. But really, through the leg of lamb w/ Lebanese pesto and feta and a flight of various Texas beers (Live Oak, Peticolas, Revolver and Community, to name a few), I experienced a symphony of savory and sweet that would make a grown man weep like a dam baby. It nearly did.

What if all food had not taste and was purely fuel? I am amazed how taste buds trigger signals to the brain to create flavor and how the combination of sight and smell enhances the total experience. Isn’t it incredible that the shape of chemicals in the food match the receptor cells on the tongue to communicate a whirlwind of flavor?

Public parks and shared spaces— After a life-altering meal, we strolled around Kylde Warren Park surrounded by the towering lights from downtown. The walk around the park in the heart of the city reminded me of the Zocalos (squares) of Central and South America. No walls, no boundaries, just space and people. It does not belong to anyone, it exists for the people. The human energy is as much the attraction as the food trucks or ice-skating.

 

Conversation – To me, conversation is nothing less than an art. It requires listening, thinking, and responding— just for starters. My favorite thought about conversation is stolen from improv, the ‘yes and rule.’ That is, you listen to what has been said and you add something. Today I ran into my friend Channan at Ascension coffee and we swapped stories and ideas. The ‘yes and rule’ was in full effect. A good conversation can energize me more than the most potent triple shot of espresso.

 

 

Day 4/5/6: My Grandfather Charlie

Day 4 January 20^th

Because of a crazy but thankfully busy market week I have fallen behind on this gratitude blog project. But fear not, I am still grateful and I want to catch you up on what is making me smile.

2 sources of gratitude and/or inspiration (this is usually 3)

My grandfather citizenship papers— 2 years ago as a house warming gift, my aunt Mimi gave me my most prized possession: my grandfather Charlie’s (whom I am named) certificate of citizenship. My grandfather Charlie Friedman immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe by way of Ellis Island around 1910. He was the 2^nd youngest child and grew up on the Lower East Side of New York peddling glasses on the streets. At that time, the LES was the most densely populated area of the world. He moved to Cleveland where he stayed in the Cleveland Clinic, a charity hospital, for nearly a year. After making a recovery he had an opportunity to earn sweat equity in a general store in Clarksville, TX where he was the first Jewish person most of the people in the rural east Texas town had ever met. I even learned that he stood up to the intimidation of the KKK for giving a college scholarship to an African American employee.

I had never met my grandfather because he had pasted away before I was born, but my mom always speaks of him in the way one would describe George Washington or Abraham Lincoln— with mythical virtue the likes of which does not exist today.

When I leave the house every morning I see his immigration papers and it reminds me how much I have to be grateful for. I know that all that I can do and achieve is because I stand on the shoulders of giants, like him. I love how Cory Booker expresses this idea in his communicant speech at Stanford. It a humbling idea, but it makes me more determined to make my namesake proud.

The New York Times— I am a news junky and I scourer the front page of the nytimes on my phone. Oddly enough, a former member of the French Resistance unknowingly convinced me to read the news daily. I remember when I was in Europe studying World War II with the Normandy Scholars Program that our group met an elderly French woman who was caught smuggling classified information out of Viche France to British intelligence. After several successful missions, she was intercepted by the Nazis and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. After her heartfelt story I had the chance to ask her why she risked her life to help the allied troops when she was only 18-years-old, instead of taking the easier route of apathy.

Her answer was surprising as it was simple. “I read the news.”

Sometimes world and national events seem too large for my day-to-day life. How often do you make a check list that reads: 1) put laundry into the dryer 2) buy milk and bread 3) close the achievement gap in the US schools 4) buy dish soap.  To be honest, #3 doesn’t ever make it on the list. But that women in France made me think that if I read about the issues of our time, I can make a difference even if it is just in my tiny community—just by paying attention. So I always read the news, even if it’s not something I can directly impact because, as crazy as it sounds, I have this feeling that I will have my moment.

Intentional Act of Kindness: I helped a woman from New Jersey who has been struggling to understand the role of social media for marketing her store to her customers. We went over how to use hashtags on Instagram and how to build a facebook following on her new page through giveaways. It sounds silly, but she was really intimidated by these changes in her world.

Day 3: Couching the First Amendment in Questions

Today is the first day of nearly 14 days of market. Geronimo!

Day 3

Three Sources of Gratitude AND Meditation/Reflection:

Freedom of Speech/ First Amendment: By typing a blog, I am exercising my first amendment rights. The idea that your right to political speech is protected, no mater how unpopular, is something to celebrate. For this reason alone, political dissenters immigrated to the US and uprooted well-established lives because they could not express their views without fear of repression. (Cough, Cough… Russia, Iran, North Korea.. Cough, Cough) 2014 marks the 50^th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement student protest at Berkeley, which brought 1^st amendment issue and political activism to the forefront of the national discussion.

Questions: It seems fitting to shift to one of the most vital forms of speech I appreciate, the question. I’m always asking them. My favorite story about questions my aunt Jane shares at the first Seder of each Passover. The moral of the short story is to ask good questions everyday. Why not? Recently I have become interested on how food and physical activity affect quality of life. When I was studying at UT, I had a black moleskin journal and I would jot down one question that applied my class ideas to the world I lived in. For instance, I would take Marxist thought and apply it to the pearl co-op. This short exercise animated my history education and I am thinking of applying the same metal exercise to work too.  What I love about questions is that they necessitate an answer. That is, they bring focus to an infinite pool of information and highlight the issue that’s most important to you.

A Couch: I’ve gone nearly 25 years without own anything more than a desk,  a nightstand and a bed. Either I had lived in a student-housing cooperative, lived in temporary student housing or I had roomed with someone with a couch (thanks Ben and Kathleen).  I finally cracked and finally acquired a couch, which I am strangely grateful for. The anti-materialist in me still cringes, but  the brown leather sofa makes my place feel like a home not a crack dean.  For a long time, owning a couch symbolized complete rootedness that signified you can’t adventure in India if you own one. In my deluded mind, having a couch was like having a kid, but harder to moved down stairs. This of course is not true, you just had to ask what is the right balance? (See above question section)

Exercise:

I went to Ashtanga class again with Dad and experience the difference between a personal practice and one with an instructor. The main difference is you can’t cut corners.  I think a personal practice and a teach taught class compliments each other and make for more consistent yoga practice. (Thanks for a great class Jeff!)

Intentional Act of Kindness:

I have continued editing personal statements for friends and have also created a list of must see attractions of Austin, Texas for a few friends from LA and Chicago.

Day 2: Potable Water, Twisting and Wikipedia

Day 2 January 13^th

So the honeymoon is over and its time to keep writing and keep appreciating! Thanks for reading!

Three Sources of Gratitude AND Meditation/Reflection:

Potable water- Access to clean water nearly anywhere in the developed world is mind boggling once you step back and examine its significance. Imagine you have a time machine and travel back to the Middle Ages and explained to a serf that these round pipes deliver as much water as you could possible consume, so much so that  future people even use otherwise drinkable water in the front of their dwellings for the sole purpose of making the grass appear greener. They would completely freak out. But you don’t need a time machine to find these places, only a plane or bus ticket, to find countries where drinking tap water will make you ill. With this thought in mind, I went to the sink in my kitchen filled a glass of water to the brim and realized, wow, this is in the immortal words of Joe Bidden, this is “a big f%*^&#$ deal!”

Coffee– To me, coffee is a swirl of productivity, creativity, and leisure. It also tastes awesome. Oddly enough, I don’t drink coffee to wake up in the morning; I enjoy the undertones, flavors and different roasts. I am a recovering coffee snob. Not only am I grateful that I did not need to endure the equatorial sun to harvest the ripest beans to bring to market, I also did not have to roast it.  Yes, I am very grateful for the luxury of coffee.

Wikipedia-Wikipedia is nothing short of remarkable because the sum of human knowledge is just a few clicks away. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet of curiosity. The fact that dedicated volunteers the world over maintain and edit the pages for the sake of the advancement of human knowledge maintains my faith in humanity. Detractors say that Wikipedia is full of waco information or kids trolling on the Internet, but after reading the Wikipedia Revolution I learned that the folks at Wikipedia have crafted some very formidable systems to counter false information. We are quickly approaching the day where it wont some matter who you are or what you have, you can teach yourself about nearly anything. I am equally thankful for https://www.khanacademy.org/ and http://www.codecademy.com. What is cooler than democratization of information? Nothing.

Intentional Act of Kindness:

Behind the bakery counter at the local Wholefoods, Jill works diligently with a smile. Since I put the cookie monster’s appetite for carbs to shame, Jill has seen my face quite a bit. She always gives me samples and tells me with remarkable gusto about the best new cookies and breads. Three week ago I wrote a review about how helpful and friendly she was. Later Jill told me, as I contemplated between and loaf of French bread or a scone, that she had been given a bonus because of my note and others positive feedback over the last few months.

Exercise 

I went to the Dallas Yoga Center, my dad’s second home, to try out one of his favorite classes. Side note, Dad was looking at a ‘30 Days of Yoga Challenge’ where you go to class 5 days a week for a month and before he could inquire, someone interjected ‘Harry, you already do that.” I guess there are worse vices.

Unlike Ashtanga, which is very structured, this class was more free form in that Nicole asked us before class, “So, what do you want to work on?” Someone said twisting and in about a minute the 12 of us were on the floor twisted like pretzels. It was awesome and I feel taller this morning.

Day 1 — 30 Days of Gratitude

Howdy folks,

I recently became inspired to keep a daily blog for 30 days tracking sources of gratitude in my life, a way to track the precious details that are easily overlooked and under appreciated. Special shout out to Bijal and Rachel: Rachel, for showing me Bijal’s blog, and Bijal for writing about what she is grateful for. Bijal, hopefully imitation is the highest form of flattery. With the goal of increasing my capacity to appreciate all the people and moments in my life, I thought that writing and sharing them would keep me writing for 30 days.

Three Sources of Gratitude AND Meditation/Reflection:

Gospel music—As you likely know, I did not grow up in the Black Baptist church, nor do I boast a particularly good voice outside of the shower, but I am grateful for gospel. For me, it’s the music that says no matter how hard it has been there is always hope. The choir is not just like any other band, it’s a community making a supplication to a higher cause. It’s the kind of music that makes you react and participate—there are no spectators when Aritha Franklin is wailing. I remember when I studied the Black Civil Rights movement how music played a crucial role in the pursuit of racial equality in USA. Every time I hear ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘round” chills shoot through my spine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIX6btGIn8w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Z1trynEHs

Breathing–It seems so oblivious it should not count, but the ability to draw a deep intentional breath of air is one of life’s greatest simple pleasures. Through yoga and karate, I have begun to discover that breath is the bridge between mind and movement. For instance, while performing sun salutations today I began to tap into the power of ujjayi breath and the moves began to flow in a way that was both purposeful and seamless, or what John Stewart would call “Your moment of Zen” After 10 full deep breaths, I can feel the oxygen flood my body and a growing sense of calmness.

Showing Up— It means being present in mind, body and spirit.  At the last moment I drove down to a wedding party in Houston for some of my closest friends. Despite 4 hours of driving each way and some snails pace h-town traffic, I was there. I saw their faces and reconnected with friends from the co-op that I had not seen in over a year. ‘Being there’ was completely worth the gas, time in the car, 5 AM wake ups ect. It will always be easier to stay at home and catch up on Parks and Rec on Netflix or any other reason to stay put, but showing up for your friends when it’s the most inconvenient will ALWAYS mean more. Shout out to Dan Treadway for flying in from NYC just for it and to Danny and Teel for letting me ‘show up’ on Teel’s couch.  As the great Woody Allen said, “80% of success is showing up.”

Intentional Act of Kindness:

I have been helping edit and brainstorm some of my friend’s admission essays and personal statements to various programs and schools. I always enjoy hearing people stories.

Exercise:  

I have begun to get back get back into Ashtanga yoga. Each morning I do 10 sun salutations and then move into the standing sequence, then sitting, and after back bending. As mentioned in the gratitude section, I love how Ashtanga is predicated on deep intentional breaths. Also, the inversions are really fun.

Door People

These are the wonderful people from Birthright in front of unique doors.

Wow, I almost for got I had a blog, but now I’m back–with vengeance

Wow, its been a while since I have logged on and typed something for you guys. For this I apologize. Recently I have felt inspired to write, but I find writing in a journal seems too closed off from the world. So here I am, sharing my musing on the questions that fascinate me most. O yeah, I also want to share some terrible puns as well.

Someone once explained to me that our bodies are merely containers for all of our stories and experiences. While I am sure their are a few biologist who would take issue with that claim, that idea inspired me to write down some of my favorite stories.

I’ll end with my favorite spoken word poet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qDtHdloK44

Enjoy!

Questions and Yoga

                                                                                       Do you think he lost a bet?

How do these to two pictures relate?

 

“Did you ask a good questions today?” my Grandmother Rose asked over the chatter of the Passover seder table. I remember hesitating as a 11-year-old and slowly responding, “whatsa good question?” She paused and smiled. Clearly she was pleased. Then she exclaimed, “your already learning!” I was always the kid with his hand raised high over his head in school, starting every comment with “so I was wondering” or “what if” and “how do you suppose?” I have always believed that curiosity was the vehicle of passion because nothing excited me more than pursuing the answers to my own questions.

My favorite example from American history inspired me to think that asking questions was nothing short of a religious ritual. Earl Warren’s trademark on the Supreme Court was to interrupt a counsel’s scholarly argument citing precedent and ask with the simple, seemingly naive question: “Yes, but is it fair?” The power of those five words overturned Jim Crow segregation in the South with the Brown v. Board decision, confirmed that “separate and equal” was “inherently unequal,” and allowed Whites and Blacks to learn together in public schools. Warren got his answer and he, with the help of others asking similar questions of social justice, changed American.

So I bet your asking yourself: wait, I got the part about the questions at the seder table and the Supreme Court, but how does that relate to Yoga? I am glad you asked.

Through yoga I have discovered there is a time not to ask, but rather to be present in the breath, savoring the moment, focusing on not focusing. While this could be confused for ignorance, the stillness of the mind provides euphoria, different than the pursuit of an answer to a question, but some how equally satisfying.

And in honor of the new Harry Potter Movie: