Passion Party #550 - Prayer

Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, or "the big do-over" as I like to call it.

Asking forgiveness for all my sins, conscious and unconscious, known and unknown.  And moving forward into a new year where I hope to spend more time in communication and connection.

A year of "At One-Ment", rather than Atonement.

Here is a most appropriate poem from Marie Howe, "Prayer":
 
Every day I want to speak with you. And every day something more important
calls for my attention—the drugstore, the beauty products, the luggage
I need to buy for the trip.
Even now I can hardly sit here
among the falling piles of paper and clothing, the garbage trucks outside
already screeching and banging.
The mystics say you are as close as my own breath.
Why do I flee from you?
My days and nights pour through me like complaints
and become a story I forgot to tell.
Help me. Even as I write these words I am planning
to rise from the chair as soon as I finish this sentence.

http://www.onbeing.org/program/feature/prayer-by-marie-howe/5326

Passion Party #549 - I Don't Know

Early in my childhood I came to realize I had the ability to sound smart, even when I didn't know what I was talking about.

It wasn't arrogance.  It was the ability to say something with conviction and authority that would cause people to believe it was true.

This seems to be a primarily masculine trait.  More men than women are afflicted with this malady.

Over the years this trait has served me well.  It wasn't until much later I learned that acting like I know everything is not the best way to travel through life.

Some people think the most important three words in the English language are "I love you".  I suggest that the most important words are "I don't know".  This opens you up to learn something new.   It gives you the ability to increase your knowledge.  It allows you to be vulnerable.  It creates a space where it is possible to find the true answer to the question.

So today I will practice "I don't know".

Passion Party #548 - No Labor Day

I learned from my dad that working for an hourly wage is  a losing game.

You may not need to be "The Boss", but you need to be the boss of your own destiny, and to do this you cannot be tied purely to an hourly wage.

I learned that in America we are not paid for our labor.  We are paid for how many people we help and how many people our work touches.

So let's call it what it is.

Today we celebrate all those who are tied to a wage, be it $7.25 an hour, $10.00, $15.00 or otherwise.

And how do we celebrate this? By giving people the day off and a chance to shop for cars, mattresses, clothes and new television sets or appliances.  Because that is the American way:

The one with the most stuff wins, and Uncle Sam always needs the biggest rocket.

Passion PArty #547 - Truth In Advertising

How many times have we been told "this merger of Airline A with Airline B will benefit consumers with better service, more competitive pricing, blah blah blah"
or
"This merger of Phone Company A with Cable Company B will benefit consumers with better service, more competitive pricing, blah blah blah"

when we all know that the purpose of these mega-mergers is to benefit shareholders and executives, not the general public.  This is a business after all, right?

It would be so refreshing if they fired the spin doctors and just told the truth.

Every now and then someone will call a spade a spade.  I try to do this every day in my business.  It saves a lot of time and avoids bad feelings later on.  And even in Los Angeles, this city of illusions, every now and then there is Truth In Advertising

Passion Party #546 - The Land of Yoga and Donuts

I live in a land of contradictions

Where people are willing to spend $30 to have their dog get a massage, but are unwilling to give a guy on the corner $3.00 to get a sandwich.

Where people obsess about exercise, but are unwilling to walk a mile to the store when it is so much easier to drive.  Oh, and you have to fight for the parking space closest to the door to enter the Mall.

Where we obsess about eating the healthiest food, but then, driving home from the yoga class you can't help but take a detour over to La Cienega Boulvard to visit Randy's Donuts.

Passion Party #545 - A Dream Realized

In 2010 when my son Evan was starting his senior year of high school, I approached the head of the music department and asked if I could write a piece for solo cello and string orchestra for my son to play at the end of the school year. Evan had already shown himself to be a very accomplished musician, and the school agreed.

In the Spring of 2011 the Adagio for Cello got its world premiere: Evan Kahn, Cello, with the Santa Monica High School Senior Gala Orchestra.  Jason Aiello conductor, Joni Swenson director. You can watch it here on youtube if you like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVUJVh4b9Cw

Evan went on to be a Cello Performance  Major at Carnegie Mellon University, and for the last 4 years he has been ripping it up in Pittsburgh.  In his junior year he asked me if I would like to take the Adagio and turn it into a full-blown Concerto for Cello.  I loved the idea (of course), and started work on the two additional movements.

Evan graduates in about 4 weeks.  He won the Concerto Competition this year, as well as a Chamber Music competition, so he is already scheduled to return to Pittsburgh in the fall as the featured artist in two concerts. Next year he will be continuing his studies at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

But on next Thursday, April 30, Evan will be premiering my Concerto for Cello and Orchestra with a chamber orchestra under the direction of Professor Daniel Nesta Curtis.

Here is more information on the Carnegie Mellon Website

Please join me, if you can, for this dream realized.

Passion Party #544 - Teach Your Children

If you could teach your children one lesson in life, what would it be?

This question was posed to a group of parents yesterday, and here are the answers (in no particular order)

 - Be willing to give.  Be of service.
 - It's all about your contact list, and learning to differentiate between who you meet and who you want to get to know better.
 - Don't give up. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it
 - ASK.  If you don't ask, you don't get.
 - Everything in life is negotiable.
 - Don't be afraid to fail.
 - Have the right tools for the job.
 - Be open-minded.
 - Everything starts with a thought.
 -  Hard work is its own reward.
 - Growth can happen in leaps.
 - Have persistence - "When someone says no, that's when you go to work".
 - Luck does not just happen.  You can make your one luck
 - Play nice in the sandbox.
 - Worrying is a poor investment
 - Learn how to read a balance sheet and P+L statement - it will help you in more ways than you can imagine.
 - Be generous in life - always leave something on the table
 - Balance between career and life is a key to happiness
 - Listen - listen - listen.
 - Life has a bias towards action.  It's better if its "done" than if its "perfect".