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"For each of us, there are unique, everyday distractions that call us away from being here now. The temptation to linger in the past or to hope for a better future. The alluring eyes of a coworker who appreciates you more than your spouse does. And every time we are lulled away from our lives and distanced from the moment, we lose something of ourselves and our purpose.
And we wonder why the abundant life seems so evasive, so distant. Like something just beyond our reach, it seems to taunt us. And we may eventually despair of ever finding it.
In frustration, as a last resort, we may turn to an old but familiar lesson: one of letting go. Of looking beyond personal ambition and replacing it with something better. The slow growth that happens when we surrender to what all these delays and setbacks are really trying to teach us.
So it seems the antidote to our restlessness is not necessarily another adventure or experience of a lifetime, but a deep abiding in where we are now.
How does this happen? With waiting. Normal, everyday situations that test our patience and cause us to reflect on what really matters."
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"What if everybody with a child in public school decided, collectively, to stop buying one thing in favor of another? How much would a company pay to have their product be the new thing bought?
We are talking about leveraging an emotional tie to a business decision. We are talking about bringing small businesses and education together. But we have a few hurdles to get over first.
When it comes to changing the way we fund public education, we have to stop looking at ourselves as just voters and taxpayers. We must also identify ourselves as consumers and business owners, and use that as a way to see what funds are available and really get what we need."
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"My name is Erik Wahl and Art has saved me from a life of slavery. I've been a member of A.A. (Artists Anonymous) for over twelve years. I am a recovering suit and tie. I am recuperating from years as a gear in a wheel that barely touched the ground. And now, after rediscovering my Art by freeing my mind and digging to find my inner creative genius, I am a proud survivor of 'standardized education.'
I found a new path. I learned to UNthink. I learned how to unleash and unlock my mind to find freedom.
In my search for freedom, I was unaware that 'art' (actual paintbrushes and paints) would serve as my personal rehab as I began to rebuild from rock bottom. But during this deep search for real answers, I realized the term art had been misused for centuries. What originally began as a term defining the interaction between geniuses and muses eventually was morphed into a hierarchical description of taste and masterpieces.
'Art' became a product and 'artist' became a career where, like any other job, you could succeed or fail."
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"Uncertainty as to life's purpose is much in vogue today. So too are the relativistic notions that would consign life's purpose to a matter of taste. The agony of life is uncertainty and the rationalization is that uncertainty is certain. However, the plain truth is that for all our anguish we treasure uncertainty. Doubt forestalls action. The problem with life's purpose is that we know damn well what it is but are unwilling to face the changes in our lives that a commitment to self-transcendence, to being the best human being we could possibly be, would entail. It wearies us just thinking about it. So we rationalize that it's all "relative," or that we're already doing enough and don't have time. Worst of all we rationalize that those who do accept the challenges inherent in self-transcendence are uniquely gifted and specially graced."
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"You impact the people around you.
From the very day you are born, you make a difference. Your parents took one look at you and realized their lives would never be the same. People feel your influence countless times, in amazing ways you never notice. Just as the butterfly's wings can change the weather, your tiny movements may create storms that shake the entire earth.
Your impact is incredible, and today is the day you can take charge of it.
Today you can amplify everything good.
Call it the Impact Factor."
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