Bibi Hayati

Before there was a trace of this world of men,

I carried the memory of a lock of your hair,

A stray end gathered within me, though unknown.

Inside that invisible realm,

Your face like the sun longed to be seen,

Until each separate object was finally flung into light.

From the moment of Time’s first-drawn breath,

Love resides in us,

A treasure locked into the heart’s hidden vault;

Before the first seed broke open the rose bed of Being,

An inner lark soared through your meadows,

Heading toward Home.

What can I do but thank you, one hundred times?

Your face illumines the shrine of Hayati’s eyes,

Constantly present and lovely.

• Bibi Hayati
• From: Women in Praise of the Sacred by Jane Hirshfield

Right to the heart of the matter

I have no way to know if this was a scripted moment or an actual snippet from a local-news guy trying to get 20 seconds worthy of air time.


Now that I think about it, does it really matter?

Foundation not of stone

It has been revealing to see how different folks have reacted to the downturn of the world economy. Some who thought they had established a permanent financial foundation discovered it was really sand and the rising water washed it away. They became fearful, distraught, and lost faith in everything.

Others suffered the very same financial disaster but were fine. Their foundation was one of an inner knowing, an innate understanding of universal law: be happy now, and you will know how to be happy anywhere, any time, under any circumstance.

Not the mama

Why is it that I struggle so to break into the "women's coach" market? I'm gentle, empathic, nurturing, and a person with male genitalia.

I'm at a loss.

Anyone?

We did not go away!

I am living proof that band geeks, tech geeks, and high-GPA geeks do not die.

No, we simply show up to offer corrections to your blog posts and think we are doing you a favor.

Yes, but what about error handling?

I spent a number of years early in my IT career programming computers.

Here's the thing about writing software: coding the straight-ahead path is easy. It is in deciding how to handle the anomalies such as bad user input or a failed connection to another application that the real investment of mental capital takes place.

As I was thinking about this just now, it dawned on me that the same is true of life. It is easy to plan the straight-ahead path, but not so easy to decide what to do when things get sideways and we have to work on getting back on track or decide to change to a different path altogether.

The Kleig light in the fridge

Some days, I feel like a 5,000-watt Kleig light being interviewed for the position of .5-watt refrigerator light.

"We're sorry, sir, but you are not the right fit. Nothing personal!"

I so far out-shine the entire situation and all I can do is walk out and continue to shine.

Kleig lights don't belong anywhere except where they can SHINE.