Things are not as they seem

How I love that poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- "A Psalm of Life". The grave is not our goal and our souls do live on. It is not the end to have enjoyment or sorrow -- he calls upon us to act and leave our footprints in the sand. Let us be up and doing says he -- the lives of all great men remind us.

It is our choice to be happy or sad. It is our choice to remain where we are or move on. It is our choice to be a victim of circumstances or be in the hum of life doing and becoming. It is our choice to have a relationship or to let it go. And those choices, however hard are freeing to our soul for we are placed here for such choice. I rejoice in the choices we have before us.

Right or wrong choices bring us experience and are for our good. I rejoice on both sides of the coin. It is our time to be alive.

There is so much silence in my journal over February, March, April, and now May. Yet I feel so much movement afoot in my life. It feels so good to work so hard. Many of my patients have gotten better. I've continued to write songs, programs, and poems. I've so enjoyed the life of recording weekly as I work on albums on some of the best instruments in our town. I finally got a set of drums up today next to a great piano that I'm doing the recording on. It gives me a chance to work out percussion, bass, and other ancillary parts.

I've read more than the last 2 years combined. It is so fun reading a book for fun. It is so fun reading books by topic and summarizing them for patients. It is quite a kick to read a book and attempt to glean what I need from it for my life, right now, right here. I've loved trying out grand pianos in various locations. I've played them until I'm exhausted. I've played guitar until I have blisters on my fingers. I feel an urgency to life and it makes life easier for me.

Oriental medicine has become like poetry in motion to me. It is like a second wind of understanding. I'm sure it will continue to grow and blossom in a world that so desperately needs choices in healing. Reality to some people is nonsense to others. Everything is as it should be -- how boring life would be if we all felt the same, talked the same, and agreed on everything.