Young Again

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

Sophia Loren
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Hello Lily
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Sophia Loren, one of the finest artists of the 20th Century, rarely makes appearances on TV interview programs. I suspect, like many actors, she has a private life that she cherishes and protects. But she did make one exception years ago and allowed herself to be interviewed by a well known evening TV personality who will mercifully remain nameless. He was apparently so stunned by her beauty, her charisma and her magnetism that he was basically tongue tied. She wasn't there to talk about a recent film but that's all the host seemed to think about.

I was thinking to myself that if I had Sophia Loren sitting across a table from me no doubt I would be dazzled by her beauty but I hope I would be able to scramble up enough courage to engage her in a conversation. The first question I think I would ask her is "When did you know you were an actor?"

Her quotation above points at and labels some of the most important sources that exist in any person's life. We are thinking creatures if we choose to be. The thoughts, ideas, dreams, visions that the human mind is capable of are rich ores to be mined and used. They re the stuff of life.

You don't have be an artist to use them, but along with them come your talents, whatever they may be, and the combination is revivifying. Putting imagination to work on any venture is likely to provide one with a sense of purpose and future, a carriage ride into agelessness.

It isn't necessary to describe yourself or what you do. One who is involved in many things without rushing around just being busy but who can calmly and creatively take up the challenges that occur or that one makes for oneself is living a vigorous and productive life that lends much joy to you and other people. When there is something going on that grabs your interest and keeps it, there will be no telling how young you are.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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Gettiing It Wrong

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

Sophia Loren
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"What ho, Mrs Brisket,
Why not take a plunge and risk it."

Watch your step. But keep walking.

Watch your back. But don't turn around and go that way.

Watch your mouth. But don't be afraid to speak up.

So what if you make a mistake? So what if you screw something up? Join the human race.

Mistakes are good things, they're blessings. Why? Because they are filled with lessons. They are sudden gusts of knowledge through the brain, slippery ice under the feet of our certainty. Mistakes are the things that grab us and fling us forward into a better understanding of who we are and what we're doing.

I was just talking to my fried Marty and saying that in this entry I could recite a catalogue of my mistakes. But I don't want to. That would just depress me and then depress you. It is much better to recite the lessons learned. And even better to describe the positive results of those lessons.

To not take things for granted is to be open to exploring all the facets of whatever I come across. To not judge anyone or anything just by appearances is to discover hidden values. To acknowledge my mistake and take it's lesson to heart is to be thrust forward into a greater, higher place in my own thinking. To refuse to accept the claim of my own limitations imposed on me by my errors is to yearn and strive for a limitless life.

To risk taking the plunge in any of life's adventures is to risk getting my feet wet in the mud puddle I didn't see. It's to risk stubbing my toe, bumping my head and slipping on the ice. But the adventure of a full life is worth the risk.

Some mistakes loom very large in one's history. They may cause deep regrets and years of repair. Those require time and space in our lives. But the learning is even more valuable and needed as we become better, more fulfilled creatures.

I think my errors should be put into a box. They've had their day, and paid their way. I will put the box into the closet, close the door, forgive myself and get on with my full life.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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SUMMER QUESTION

Summer is moving along, people.

It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.

Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

15 answers so far.

You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.

DB