"We believe we make our choices, but no -- they make us." Our choices reflect how we see ourselves. How we respond to the consequences of our choices defines us. When how we see ourselves is not aligned with how we respond to the consequences of our choices, we make poor choices....

An infinite number of drops of rain lose their identity when they form the sea. Proto-Germanic "saiwaz" (sea) is the etymology of the word "soul." speculative....

"When I was in college I told my grandfather I had just met a boy and was in love with him. Immediately came the questions: 'He's from a good family; he's white; he's black; he's Jewish; he's Christian; he's smart...

Everything is a unique manifestation of God. Therein lies the beauty of everything. If we don't see this beauty, we don't know what we're looking at. If we think we know, we make fools; nothing funnier than that....

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it into fruit salad." Classifications help organize and provide artificial meaningfulness in an otherwise overwhelming universe but often fail to provide insight into the true nature of the objects classified as everything is unique....

In November, Syoji Iilyama, a retired eccentric Japanese businessman will receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure, a medal bestowed by the Emperor for Syoji's work when he was 23 as a volunteer probation officer who rehabilitated 2.5 times as many convicted felons as did other probation officers. Most probation officers do their job and represent the system from which felons have revolted. They are not role models, an example to felons of an attractive socially responsible lifestyle. Their job is to monitor released felons and remind them of the stick that awaits them if they behave out of line. While I have no direct knowledge as to what made Syoji so successful as a probation officer, I suspect it was simply showing up as he is: an eccentric who lives outside of social boundaries (like the felons), yet has a wonderful life without harming others (though I'm sure he's annoyed many people in an effort to entertain them and himself and/or wake them up); someone who has realized the purpose of life; an exemplary life that is available to all, including felons who can be awakened to realize their past choices are not who they are and that they could live like him if they choose to do so....

Tadataka Unno is a Japanese jazz pianist who came to New York city when he was 27 to further develop his craft. Against long odds, he met with success and was a pianist for several jazz groups. Now 40 and a recent father, on September 27, 2020, returning via subway to his home in Harlem, he was attacked by several young people shouting racial slurs ("Chinese motherfucker") and causing him severe injury which makes it doubtful he can return to his role as a pianist. With stress, medical bills, unemployment and childcare to deal with, Unno went to GoFundMe with the goal of raising $25K. To date, he's received more than $200K. Unno's experience is a horrible, tragic and frightening story. However, just about anything, including this story, can be viewed as funny. Funny in that after working for years as a pianist and receiving relatively little recognition, today Unno is an internationally recognized victim who most likely made more money in 30 days than in the past 5+ years as a pianist. Society seems to value Unno' story as a victim more than as an accomplished pianist. This informs us about the level of sophistication of society (which is also reflected by the mere existence of the attackers), which is contrary to how society sees itself....

This contemporary, post-WWII, object describes the evolution of society from tribal peoples to the modern world. The social evolution is marked by the change from a group-centered to an individual-centered world. The base of the container represents the foundation of civilization, tribal peoples. The tribe members are connected as one in dance. The faces of the dancers are undifferentiated and their bodies unclothed, implying their essential selves. Each member is not an individual; they are the dance. As societies evolved, they centered around the head, the mind. The members' heads surround the container, the mind, and are differentiated by facial expressions and hairstyles. At the top, the container's lid, is a man sitting alone in contemplation, lost in thought. The man, now individual-centered, closes the container/mind and no longer connects to others as in the dance....

This whimsical, unique, rare dancing figure is not an iconic example of African art but one that is both inventive and allegorical. (For additional images of this figure, click here.) With its arms oversized and swaying and its legs bent, the figure is dancing. The arms are oversized as they would be in a slow shutter speed photo of  a dancer in motion. It is both male and female. But unlike hermaphrodite figures generally (which host breasts and a penis), this figure has a vagina, a male torso (no breasts) and an Adam's apple. It is a man with female genitals, as in dancing celebrations in West Africa where males dress as females. Unlike this dancing figure which is rare, the majority of tribal art figures are standing, not dancing, and host a head that is disproportionately large relative to torso. This figure has a tiny head and long neck separating the head and the torso. The message it conveys is that when we are dancing our experience is physical and our heads play a disproportionally smaller role in how we experience the world.  A corollary is that when we are not physically engaged our experience is a function of our head....