In

Visible

Light … the path that color waves take

Varies.

Your particular portion of

Potential is akin to a particular wave within the spectrum of

Light … a unique path that won’t sit still … an

Energized line to catch and release.

There is a way about you that can be seen

In and over time. You enter days, rooms, parties and chapters

Through a gait that’s yours. An ever-present threshold

Hovers.

Think of that uncle or coach who’s on another wavelength; a frequency that your friend Nate appears to be on as well.

(Look out.) There’s only one Nate, and yet there’s an energy, flavor, tone, or way of being

In Nate, that you see glimpses of

In others as too.

At the paint store, a worker helps you pick out a color of paint from 10,000 versions of the color you had in mind.

They compare and contrast. They crack a joke about cashing

In on chips, making you the punch line, which

Instantly reminds you of Nate, making you smile.

Laugh out loud and celebrate how that’s a path that you don’t need to travel.

In theory, they’ve got that theme of themes covered and then some

Freeing you up to observe and make happen

That which has always been yours.

Hi.

Be more you

So I can

See more me.

Unthaw my screen, setting me free

One more degree

By revealing unto me

How I still can’t see

The way

I

Still spin

color.

Think about how colors can compliment

One another

If

They share space.

In color theory, we see how a particular color can bring out qualities

In another color when they partake

In an actual relationship … with another who is not like them.

Here, characteristics unseen are pulled to the surface with harmony.

Everyone ever, honor thy neighbor

Just

In case

They are more than you think they are

What are the chances, they are more than you think they are

In part, to the degree you believe that’s true; as you act that belief out, calling it out of another?

“Hi Risk.”

Hi Reward. Nice to see you again.

Your role is calling

Your role is leading

For better or for worse

Near, by and by

Later today

In our midst

A not-yet-heard

2-3 part harmony awaits

In time, the remarkable

Process we

Appear to be

Reveals the contour of our particular wave, to the degree we’re paying attention. Look out.

We pick up on our part to play

In and on more than one stage. We learn our lines as we go, adlibbing as we are

Complimented and critiqued by more than one crowd, overseen by more than one village

Surrounded by scaffolding that sways and strays, shifting between stifling and supportive.

We try on different tasks that fit and don’t fit

Creating moments that fade into memories, which

In turn

Provide us with reference points to link and relink, as we learn more about our wave.

“What a week. Talk about chaotic, am I right? Let’s share some Highs and Lows.”

(A glazed over circle just sits there.)

What have I gotten myself

Into?

To review (and throw the few who are still reading this page a line ;)

Our wave is a way to talk about our particular portion of

Potential; a risky, rewarding line

In life to align to.

Our

Individual wave is held

In

Light.

This

Word-picture provides

Us a way to envision how

In the world

We

May

Be

One.

Moving on.

Potential resembles smell as well

A see-through scent we sense; a subtle, solid, volatile trace within and beneath

Our wings.

Think about smelling baked goods baking and not knowing where it’s coming from.

The wind hints and hints. Shift. I wasn’t hungry, but now …

I

Am.

I had plans … but now I’m possessed

Captured by goods I can’t see.

Son of a …

“Baker.”

In smelling bread, we are

Interacting with small pieces of airborne

Bread that broke

Off a surface.

“If a substance is somewhat volatile (that is, if it easily turns into a gas),

it will give off molecules.” (26) “Smells are carried by molecules,” (27)

Traveling through the sky, catching lifts on currents

Unseen.

In the sweet heat of the kitchen,

“We witness the most complex chemical reactions, which produce an enormous

Variety of volatile compounds that make our foods pleasant and unique.

Such reactions are very sensitive to small variations in the conditions applied.” (28)

When we smell bread, coming from a distant bakery, we relate with it … without it

Interacting with microscopic, air born particles that have loosened their grasp, stirring a hunger

In another, for a

Source they left behind.

Picture broken bread

In

The

Wind

Abiding

In

Seriously

Scary caves.

Smell is a taste preview received.

Smell is a down-payment of sorts

Which convinces some body to seek and find,

In order to taste and see and know first hand

What

In the world could be responsible for

Their newborn hunger

Inside.

A trace of what could be

In

Thin air

Just won’t leave me alone. (That’s why I’m still writing.)

We get a small taste of our

Potential as a kid, as that younger frame struggles to hold it.

How

In the world?

Some have had a harder time getting a handle on their particular batch.

We watch 4-year-olds as well as 40-year-olds, and wonder

What kind of gift is hovering

In that hot of a mess?

Depending on the season we’re in, we may realize that we’re “not all here.”

Not being in touch with our

Potential, can make one feel off, down, foggy, restless, angsty, lost or sad; which

In theory, can be seen as proof that we’re missing something that’s at least as real as our funk.

Or not.

Whatever.

Merry

Me.

“We all have unused potentialities or not fully developed ones.” (29) True?

Caution: Looking into our

Potential will cost us.

Caution: So will not looking into it. “The ‘unlived life’ is an illness of which one can die.” (30)

Maslow notes: What a human being “can be” they “must be.” (31)

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy.” (32)

“Must?”

Yes.

“But Must leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Must tastes like Should.

Should and Ought have bullied me for years.

I am done with those dirty words. You Should throw them out too.”

To live the life that’s truly ours

We must eat and sleep and breathe on some sort of rhythm. While we’re at it, we should remain

In touch with how

Potential is ours.

This being true

Has a weight to it. Looking

Into this

Will be straining.

Stress Test: How tense do you think the future is?

(Careful.)

Answer: Find a verb to

Be your “helper” and see. (33)

Potential is a simple, complex, dimly-lit bright that’s heavy.

Taking this head on can be uncomfortable and scary.

Sometimes we shut up and hide.

In looking away

Potential

Remains

Hovering

Without a body.

This being true … haunts us

In

A way that is difficult to put

In words.

Not looking

Into “what could or should be” … because we’re preoccupied, or afraid of how

Complicated consequences come connected to catching on and digging

Into “what could or should be” … is a state of being we’ve all entertained.

Ignoring or hiding from how

Potential is

Ours … escalates a disconnected state that’s ours … a gap that’s abstract … which we make seen

In concrete.

Keep reading between those lines.

Cells holding clay multiply every day

According to patterning we could and should look

Into … and yet, we look away.

Look.

Our

Life is passing

Us by.

What remains is TBD, AKA, the presence of absence is real. (34) (35)Angst tells us so.

The idea that something’s missing

In our lives, shows up differently

In each of us.

This can be seen

In part, by looking at how existence bugs you the most.

Keep catching on from there

Showing us what your net is worth.

Angst is annoying.

Yes, and …

We ought not kill that messenger.

In doing so we atrophy our account.

Angst is just checking

In

Wondering how sustainable our belief system is.

All they want to know is, will our foundation will keep us afloat?

Angst is a super-strange account-representative (36)

That interrupts the games we play

Streaking through our “statement of reasons.” (37)

“My eyes!” “I can’t unsee that.”

In choosing not to listen to, wait upon or carry

How your particular portion of

Potential has an angsty edge to it … the world not only gets heavier for everyone else

Everyone else gets robbed of you’re value.  

In quietly showing your

Potential very little

Interest, your account begins caving

In … forfeiting to fine, hiding safe and sound.  

In this state

Sustenance is a “no-show,”

According to

What only you can bring. Choosing not to

Invest and multiply what you got

In you, so that you can serve the world what you got

In you … is what it is. (Not that

Interesting.)

Taking up who we may be, does not need to be held with the

“I’ll never be good enough” motif, or

“I’ll never do enough good” narrative that so many of us

See through.

Processing our

Potential is about discovering an offering that’s ours to make, while

Investing

In practices that re-mind us to align.

This is about participation,

Integrity and authenticity

In light of terrifying, exciting, bright ideas, such as

Potential is

Ours.

“Did you just make that up?”

No. I found it

Teaming through 10,000 trails.

A man obsessed with Symbols

Drops a line. “The very word ‘invent’ is derived from the Latin

Invenire, and means to ‘find” and hence to find something by ‘seeking it.” (38)

Noted.

I am not all here.

You know it and I know it.

LOL (39)

Am I right?

A light is on, but I keep forgetting to

Be

Home.

Consequentially, I have an ache that comes and goes.

I’ve felt this for as

Long as I can remember.

Maybe you have too.

Maybe they have too.

Focus. Aim.

As they come to mind, envision that “other”

(Who’s almost as strange as you are)

Holding a piece to your puzzle, wondering if you care.

Potential is waiting

Within.

Potential is waiting

Without.

^

Several years ago, I was working

In Minneapolis during the day while writing before work.

At that time, I was thinking through how I’m related to my great-grandfather

A Swedish farmer, who I’ve never met.

My writing was a way of exploring a notion that hit me on a hike.

What was this general understanding, made of “vaguely drawn” outlines, you say? (40)

Glad you asked.

It was this:

We are good portions of a Greater Wholeness to realize

Through work to do that’s not done yet

Passed on by those who’ve passed on

Before

Us. This abstract reflection was essentially about

Value

In

Relation

In light of recognizing and actualizing

Who on earth

We may

Be.

Who knows why I felt led to write about this?

(Actually, I do. Because I wrote about it for months

In an attempt to get to know what my angst was getting at.

So far, all I’ve got is a sliver.)

On a hot summer day, I left my desk and walked a few blocks to lunch.

A stranger met me there, right

In my right of way. He was hungry. He told me

So

I asked him if he liked Chipotle.

I told him I’d get him a gift card, to get what he wanted.

I stood

In line while he waited out front.

I could tell I was hosting an unseen

In … that was working on

Informing an upcoming

Outcome.

I could hear a cloud of words telling me to return

In order to ask the man if he had time to join me for lunch. But

In the middle of how my day was flowing, my mind framed up this new idea as

Too unknown, unpracticed, strange and “out there.”

Too much. Way too much.

I could feel myself looking away from how the presence of

Potential appeared to be … choosing me … over and over

In that eternal line.

I zoned

Out

On plywood

Instead. 

I got to the end … and just like that … the truth was revealed.

(In this location, they were all out of regular gift cards. All they had were off-season ones.)

A swiped Christmas present was what it was.

I made my way out the door.

Back outside

In the heat of the day,

I reached out and handed the man my loaded Christmas card.

A distance was maintained. A see-through gap remained.

Salt water surfaced on my brow.

A bright star above baked down.

We exchanged a few words while I entertained an

Intense desire to be on my way. An urge to get going, just wouldn’t let up.

I remember being able to watch my own awkwardness, “live,”

In this unpracticed scene, before quickly giving

In

To my relentless, needy drive.

We traded goodbyes and I turned to start walking.

Three steps

In, I heard him call

Out, “My name is Otis.”

My fixation on “FROM” drew a blank.

Otis just smiled. To his credit

His joy overpowered my loss, directing the rest of our scene.

I told him my name and we exchanged a 2nd goodbye, as good Minnesotans do.

It was

In looking back where I was able to see, more of the

More that I missed; after this stranger named Otis and the moment that held

Us, had officially passed me by.

In hindsight I could see how I was holding our

Interaction with my go-to storyline, of “good-boy ‘saving’ the day;”

All the while missing out on another narrative, where “unseen riches are dwelling

In the other, awaiting those who believe.”

What has Otis learned about existence that I haven’t learned yet?

Just how much

Value did I miss out on that day, due to

The Chosen Concept called Comfort?

More was dwelling

In a table for 2

That I chose not to

Wait on.

Like a child learning to walk, a stage that staggers, serves as a base for more steps.

In going through again that scene, rerunning the play

In my mind, I was able to reframe my stumbling presence

As a developmental step … taken.

This was me

Actually

Trying

Taking SUPER “awkward steps toward maturity.” (42)

In taking time to name how I missed out, I made myself a mental note and saved it.

I will be less awkward next time. I promise to try. With discernment and healthy boundaries

In place, I’ll ask my guest for their name, and stay a while … if we have the time

While pushing back on my unreasonable, deep-rooted, “need” to run.

In taking time for reflection, a broken lunch-break was forgiven and transformed

Into an actual step forward. A step, mind you me, I could should take.

Insight announced ... “your memory of this moment is

In a relationship with a not-yet seen, next time, which is

Already on the way.”

So be it. So

Be

It. Actually.

On my way back to work, I looked up the meaning of the name Otis.

It means “wealth” as well as “son of Otto.” (43) Is there power

In a name? You tell me.

My great-grandfather’s name is Otto.

Symbols speak … if we don’t get

Into breaking them

By taking them

Literally

What kind of string is involved

In the pull … that keeps me from facing others?

What is the powerful force that lowers my head while I walk down downtown streets?

To be sure, it’s not just me not caring.

My

Introversion keeps flashing an extra dim signal, telling me my battery is dying

Draining my battery even further. My docking station is miles away and

My adapters only work part-time.

What’s more

I’m not always

In touch with what my face is

Up to. Am I right?

Eye contact can signal all sorts of things, communicating

Interest

In engagement, which is then

Interpreted by the other, according to the kind of morning they had.

“What are you looking at?”

I don’t know.

“You want a piece of me?”

Hard pass.

Sorry. My three-quarter smile + fatigue + anxiety + eye contact

Was just me trying to say

Have a good day, while also saying

I’m definitely all out of chit-chat.

Phones and unseen currents aside,

Sometimes we lower our face

In public squares because of other squares

Such as booked calendars full of tied up peers, hoping we’re on time this time.

And yet, on the days where I’m running early to a meeting

With extra time to spare, that resistance to lift my head remains

Just as strong, if not

Stronger.

What

Exactly is

This pressure that gets us to look away from fellow travelers, especially those

In need? What’s with my short sided list of lame, overeducated excuses?

What are the chances it’s deeper than, how low I score on extroversion?

What if some part of me knows that we may be

One, while some other part of me, sees this idea as way too much to bear?

What if we’re overwhelmed with a split we can’t see, and a depth within us can feel it?

Behold:

Everyone ever is

An energy holder

 In relation. Entertain that which is somehow stranger than you:

Everyone ever is a keeper of

In … who is, has been and will be

In need of others

In ways we could, should and must face

In conversations together and

In contemplation alone

In order to see

That which no eye seen.

Actually. Be and hold

Who

In the world

We may be.

Pop Quiz: If what heaven may be

Started leaking, seeping, and/or welling up

Pouring over an edge that it may or may not have

Would you want to know?

Follow up question: Why?

And what does your answer imply?

Final Question: How long is the face of God?

(Careful.)

“‘What am I supposed to say when I’m all choked up and you’re okay?

     I’m falling to pieces …’ (44)

    ‘(I’m falling around you)’ (45)

Please don’t ‘look away.’” (46)

A mix tape unrolls and rolls

In the distance. A star rests

On a horizon, turning

In for the night.

Who we may be

Is on the line.

Revisit that piece of art.

Go through again what is way too much

     Maybe if I do ... ” (47)

A stand-alone line just sits there, followed closely by another.

 “Ultimately we all have to believe things we haven’t seen.” (48)

You are a holder of helpings to serve.

You are a maker

In

The making.

Potential is calling. (It’s for you.)

Draw near even further

Growing how it’s for

Us.