Monday, June 16, 2008

my life...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

ping pong diplomacy




you never know what might move you from day to day...

on the way to work this week i caught a few minutes of npr's morning addition. an excerpt on ping pong redirected my whole outlook for the day. as usual i began to feel very ignorant, not having a clue how "ping pong" has changed the world.

one incident in particular got me thinking: while competing in Japan, a seemingly insignificant act of kindness by a Chinese player towards an American player softened the heart of China's communist leader Mao Zedong. the American missed his bus after the match and was invited to ride with the Chinese team back to the hotel. assuming that Mao would be furious, is was in fact quite the opposite. Mao declared the Chinese player a "great diplomat"! 2 days later the American team was invited into China to compete.

now i know there were may things that played into a decision like that, but i want to believe that God makes it that easy for us. if we can remove ourselves from the heat of a situation, it is then that healing begins.

so often we past up the opportunity to spread simple acts of kindness... to our loved ones and to our enemies... (especially our enemies) we forget to ask ourselves..."how can i love this person" "how can i extend grace to this person" even when nothing in our earthly bodies tells us we should.

"Those games helped to open relations between the United States and China and pave the way for President Nixon's visit to the communist nation."

even when we love simply, we can transform our relationships, our homes, our citys, our country, our world.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

inspired revival


a true lack of creativity and simple expression in my life has finally brought me back. ironicly, work as a designer is to blame... i'm beginning to realized how important it is to be an artist on a personal level... something so intimate yet communal... comfortable yet risky

it has been 8 months since my last post, and as any good relationship - absence makes the heart grow fonder.

freedom of expression is a wonderful gift and i am a fool for wasting  it. 

good conversation with friends, humility, and a new documentary are what's moving me right now...