Choosing to hit the back country roads like I used to and introduce my fiancé to old pines and manzanitas I used to walk through as a child I find instead a graveyard of remnants of a forest holding on from fire and drought. I then think of the redwood tree and yucca plant and how a little fire never did too much harm, one having thick bark to resist flames and the other needing intense flames to help it seed.
Sometimes after the intense firestorms that engulf us or harsh storms that destroy everything in their path or ones that flood our realities and scatter our focus, we find ourselves searching for solid ground to once again build a strong foundation. One question realistic, sometimes cynical question we raise is "foundation on what?" considering what we know and what we have just previously experienced. It helps to be positive, always looking ahead, while reaching into the places, people and teachings that kept you solid thus far to carry you into the next season of accomplishments. I know many shy from religion however I use stories from all cultures to convey the message. Are you familiar with the story of Noah and the Arc?
Noah sent off a crow as well as a dove to check for himself as well as perhaps give his people hope that they could soon leave the Arc after a long journey. First the dove 'found no place to set her foot,' and returned to the Arc. After seven days he tried again and at night the dove returned and in it's mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. Oftentimes we find ourselves needing to lean on a whole lot of faith as well as empirical evidence of what has worked for us, family or even ancestors in the past. Sometimes we have to revoke all false hopes, cut all loose ropes and secure more solid lines in turn leaving some ideas, habits and even people behind however, more in focus and in tune with the path we were originally meant to walk in the beginning. If we look close at our situation like this photo above with the building, we might notice that we are already close to top of the world and that promise... see that rainbow in the distance? Sometimes we don't see the blessings in forms when the winds raging against us and we're simply trying to move forward and sometimes we do and we're still overwhelmed.
Throughout my own battles, storms, automobile accidents and stuff all I can do is recoup and give thanks. I've found myself close to where I began, around the same networks of individuals in the SF Bay Area where my foundation was rooted and started. I attribute my knack for ingenuity aka hustle, Game and my solid views on life from everything I was taught as a child up here, raised by Street Scholars and Revolutionaries seriously. My foundation was in rapping on the corner of Michigan and Fordham and at Jack Ferrel park with friends or in the back seat of a 68 cougar parked in a garage full of smoke, but tonight I'll leave you with a poem and try my best to keep it short. Some folks though have little strength left, are too broken or tired, or just might need a little prayer, push or hand up... so my next blog will be Get Right 101 because some of us need some "Get Riiiight!" (MacMall song in the 90's)
He clears his eyes of the dust stuck to his lashes
Brushes off the rubble he sees on his shoulders
As he finds the thoughts to piece together
What his eyes now sees and
What he knows to be real
As he witnesses two small unidentifiable creatures run on fours disappear from sight
This house he was sold was young he was told
As he heard after the first rains the walls Creek
Then seeing the sight of the paint weep and mold
Deadlocked into decisions Deathslock of an incision yet destruction is nothing new to him
No stranger to struggles, mind is his muscle wisdom within and he knows...
Although the building wasn't made firm
There is still bedrock to build upon below
