Sunbathing at the Rainbow

A  L  O  H  A !

 Sunbathing at the Rainbow Tower 

(World's largest tile mural)

Link

The mind is its own place, and 

in itself can make a heaven of hell, 

a hell of heaven.  

    John Milton

 Gratitude

Dissolves fear.

A smile

Thins the veil

Between Heaven & Earth,

Between souls.

๑

Love You,

                                   cloudia

Mele Kalikimaka!

A Song that Saved My Life

A L O H A ! 
    

"An education

 isn't how much 

you have committed 

to memory, 

or even how much 

you know. 

It's being able 

to differentiate 

between what you do know 

and what you don't."

       Anatole France

" The more I see

 the less I know 

for sure. "

John Lennon 

"Contagious conversations

change

the world."

Daniel Pink

 > < } } (°>

When I was a depressed youth,

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

resonated

with my aimlessness,

hopelessness,

pain.

Listening to the song

made me feel better,

helped me to find

an artist's dignity

in my endurance.

If I could time travel

to advise

my younger self,

I would tell her

that it all

works out.

"Life is short,

enjoy it."

What would You

tell the child

You were?

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                     Warmly, cloudia

My Secret - The REAL X-Factor

A   L   O   H   A  !

Click for the 'POW"

" -when you are Black

White People often don't see

YOU-

they look right through you,

at the dark & scary face

that lurks in the open windows

of their vivid

imaginations. "

Leonard Pitts Jr.

" The more theatrical

the story you hear

and the more it divides

the world into

"Goodies" vs. "Baddies,"

the less reliable

that story

is going to be. "

Felix Salmon

 

" There are no hopeless situations;

There are only those

 who have grown

helpless

about them. "

Claire Boothe Luce

" It is one of the most beautiful compensations

of this life,

that no one can sincerely

try to help another

without helping

himself. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 >< } } ( ° >

For a few years

 I had the privilege

of facilitating an after-school group

for at risk kids.

If they could feel some belonging,

some caring,

and get some basic information

about protecting themselves

it would all be for the good.

I knew that the activities,

and the food I brought,

didn't matter as much

as being there 

every time,

on time.

In time

the kids blossomed.

When they were home sick,
or skipping class,

they would sneak INTO school
to attend!

In time
they started to talk

about real stuff.

We got beyond
 High School posturing.

Eventually,
 my boss wanted me to write

a 'curriculum'

so we could share

what was evidently
working.

I knew that I could write

everything we did,

but what we did

was not the essence of it.

The secret began

when each kid 
entered the room.

I smiled at them
sincerely

[a big smile]

to show them

that seeing them

made me HAPPY.

They saw that they

mattered;

and in at least one place

they were always celebrated.

It couldn't be artificial.

That smile,

and the heart behind it

had to be

sincere.

How could I write

that?

One time

I met with a school principal (a PhD)

and a psychologist

to conference on one of my kids.

After we talked for a while,

the kid was sent in.

Realizing in that moment

that 3 adults

were sitting in a row

 waiting,

I jumped up 
to take her hand

and pulled up a chair

to sit beside her

FACING the authorities
together.

Together

we accomplished

what had to be done.

Later the Principal told me:

"You are the consummate youth worker!"

Sometimes

on a bad day

when I wonder where all my

promise

went,

I think back on the kids.

No one got AIDS,

though several were subsistence

sex workers.

They ALL Graduated High School.

 

Several went on to college!

One of the 'kids'

is now an on-line editor

for People Magazine!

The real X-Factor

is treating people

( sincerely

and simply )

as if you are
 HAPPY

to see them!

And here's the strange

and wonderful part:

In time

you WILL be happy

to see every person.

They will feel it.
And so will you.

 

Your life will change.

And You will be
[even more of]

an influence

for

GOOD!

What do YOU think?
Join us in comments


                              Warmly, cloudia

Natalie Wood

 ALOHA !

" At night, 

when the sky is full of stars

 and the sea is still 

you get the wonderful sensation

 that you are floating in space. " 

Natalie Wood

"When you are sorrowful

 look again in your heart, 

and you shall  see

that in truth

you are weeping for that

which has been your

delight. "

 Kahlil Gibran

This is the boat from which Natalie departed this life,
docked here in Honolulu

"I like being on the water

 or near the water,

 but not in the water."

Natalie Wood

  =^.^=

Perhaps

 it is because she grew up before our eyes

in the movies

that Natalie Wood seemed more than

a "movie star."

There was something

 very individual,

honest,

vulnerable,

and familiar

 about her.

She was beautiful too,

but in an unassuming,

un-brassy way.

Like an ancient hero

she was taken too soon,

 taken into 

the realm of 

the immortals.

The boat from upon which

 she sailed

from land for the last time

has been re-sold,

and docked here in Honolulu

for many years.

Now that the case surrounding her death

is being re-examined

officials are coming over from California

to scrutinize the vessel.

Meteorology

was my college lab science.

The professor told us

that he would give us extra credit

for every weather-related news story

we clipped/printed

and brought to class.

"How many weather stories can there BE?"

I wondered.

But that turned out to be

just what he was teaching us:

the importance of weather,

( once you notice it )

all over the world

week after week.

I had no problem

finding such a story

every week,

all semester.

Have YOU found

that visiting Hawaii

 via this blog

has been a little 

like that?

Here on the most remote islands

on Earth,

my life MUST be quite different

from yours

-and yet-

there always seems to be

something

that I find

 to present to 

Y O U.

In this case,

my connection to Natalie

goes beyond sharing a harbor 

for many years

with the 'death boat.'

When the film

"Inside Daisy Clover" came out

I was the same age

 as the character she played:

a tom-boy who mostly raised herself.

If you watch,

really watch,

the performance at the beginning

 of the video below,

you will see an extraordinary

"something"

that spoke deeply to me

as an adolescent;

A yearning,

a determination,

a 'self-pumping up'

an unconventionality

that I really identified with.

You're Gonna Hear From ME ! 

Thanks for letting us hear from

Y O U 

in comments

                                            warmly, cloudia

Inside Daisy Clover HERE