hi friends.

the other day my consort and i went to the beach for a swim and there, sitting on a sandy ledge, were three guys in tight spandex, wearing bike helmets.  there was a bigger, spandex-free guy standing close to them, and all four were relaxing, drinking cold beers.  It was quite obvious they were tired, finishing up a ride, perhaps. I noticed they all wore the same black and red official-looking outfits, so I asked them, “Are you guys in a club?” and they answered, “Well, just our own club. We’ve just finished a cross-the-USA-bike ride for this–” and they pointed at their T-shirts, which had imprinted upon them:

www.usacoast2coast.usa with the name of a children’s hospice, from—it turns out—manchester, England. Will wonders never cease! These guys had started out (the bigger one, as I’d suspected, not a rider, but the driver of their support vehicle) from San Diego, California a month earlier and were on the final leg of their cross country jaunt. For those of you who are new to Lord Flea, I live in St. Augustine, Florida. WOW. That’s quite a ride. You can imagine how flabbergasted Carter and I were. Why, we both asked, have you made this awesome journey? The tired men replied, in turn: “to bring awareness to our children’s hospice back home in Manchester. You have to do something like this these days to get attention, to put yourself apart from the pack. We need the fund-raising publicity, so….here we are!”

Well, I certainly do salute those guys. I didn’t have my camera so all i can do is write my congratulations, and i’ll be sending then a tribue of a cash-contribution. I hope some of you who read this will too. For fellows like them (a fourth biker had to return to the UK because his dad died midway cross country) to ride every day over a hundred miles, face the dangers of being run down by high speed traffic (they agreed, being a biker in America is very very dangerous), enduring fatigue, hunger, aches and pains (they all said it was unbelievably grueling at first, yet something “kicked in” about day 14 that made resistance futile. Yipes! fourteen days waiting to get used to that pace?). I walked away really admiring these guys. Carter and I invited them for a meal at our house but they said they wouldn’t be very good company. Honestly, I think all they were interested in was sleep. Maybe another beer or two.

And—the most curious thing of all—not a word was mentioned in our local newspaper, the St. Augustine Record. We asked the men if anyone from our town called the newspaper, and they said they thought so. But, we could tell … all they wanted was to finish their beverage, bike the last few 9 miles to the campground and crawl into the RV where they slept at night in some other strange American park … and return to the UK, which they were doing just two days later. I’m going to keep these guys in my thoughts. They are a terrific example of to what lengths some people go in order to demonstrate their commitment to their cause.

A few more minutes after shaking their hands as they sipped the last dregs of their beers, Carter and I were in the surf preparing for our afternoon swim. I turned back to see the guys on the beach … and they were gone already.

Will Wonders Never Cease.

will wonders never cease

so many delights in everyday life.

Yes, there are also sadnesses, and bad things to be wary of, too, don’t get me wrong and think i’m a flake who believes all and everything is just honkey-dorey all the time. Bad things happen. Extreme things happen. Terrorists plan attacks, diseases take down good people, murder, bankruptcy, and viciousness like rape do occur. BUT … what i’m saying is that where we put our focus is the tune of the song our lives are singing. I choose to focus on the magical events, the joy, the power of the human soul. The song we all can sing when we’re in tune with our own inner power, and those of good people everywhere. the Goodness of Human Power is all around us. All we have to do is learn to recognize IT, use IT, and invite IT into our lives as much as we can. And pretty soon….life becomes heaven on earth. Who can even say war or global warming are bad things if—now stick with me here—they result in humankind evolving to a higher plateau of being? Let’s face it, Hitler had to be taken out. And perhaps the earth going through its freak-out toxic stage here, where we are—is going to reverse humankind’s apathy and we’ll WAKE UP! and become more spiritualized, more mind-ful as an entire race. Wouldn’t that be nice?

We have to learn to trust goodness, of course, and cultivate it. Even if, dear friends, we are surrounded by dismay, fears, others’ phobias, extremisms, and neurosis…we can learn to say NO to evil.  We can stand up and fight against it. I’m studying the Baghavad Gita right now, and that is the exact subject. “Don’t be a wuss,” Krishna says to Arjuna. “Be a man! You HAVE to fight evil.” By focusing on the positive instead of the negative of things, we can combat anything—anything!—eradicating evil and replacing it with love. It’s up to each one of us to train our consciousnesses to focus on the unlimited possibilities each one of us contains, like little seeds waiting to burst forth into cosmic fireworks! Each one of us is a little bitty seed that can grow into something gigantic and gorgeous—like this!

each moment of life is a surprise

i hope you have a joyous surprise in your day, and the next, and the next. Here’s a little inspiration about how we can cultivate that state, learning to invite the positive in our life and saying “no” to the negative.

each day make a special time to sit quietly. get comfortable. Set the intention of letting go of all thoughts, and prepare to follow your breath. Protect yourSelf from outside interference (noise, telephone, etc.) and close your eyes. Go Within. Learn to journey in the interior landscape of life’s possibilities—starting with your own life’s infinite possibilities. There are endless things to discover in this vast vast territory called your Inner Realm. Spend some time with your Inner Self. Listen to the messages that you WILL receive….if you sit quietly enough. And then, when you’re ready to come back to the everyday life you and I have to live, working, having families, friends, politics, opinions—try to bring some of that quiet peacefulness with you when you return to the world of interactions. It IS possible to learn how to be peaceful. It takes practices, yes. And learning some techniques helps (like the meditations focusing tools I discuss here and everywhere….especially following your breath).

And look at good art! Celebrate life by supporting visionary art! Those who are brave enough to depict the inner journey are often met with skepticism and mis-understanding. It takes a more patient, more thoughtful person to take the time to go beyond what appears to be “reality” and …. dive deeply into another world depicted in visionary (or dream-like, or surreal) art.

Enjoy this one:

always go for the HIGHEST

Tell me how your day is special, and what joy you’ve discovered. I’d love to hear from you.

your pal sending Love and Light, lordflea