Last Sunday – 03/03, after having attended the conclusion of Seattle First Free Methodist Church, which is my parents and brother’s church home, I was so impressed with Pastor Craig’s step-by-step, liturgical meaning of the charge given immediately prior to the sacrament of Holy Communion that I decided to follow these members of my family of origin to their Samaritans meeting. Wow! I am glad I did.

Now, first I should scope back to indicate that in my work as a boundary dispute litigant and the attendant frustrations that attend to assisting people in their fight with neighbors, I have found my own church homes.

The first, the Magnolia Lutheran Church with its incredible woodwork which most impressively includes what I have come to call the “Resurrection Jesus” – a cross carving of Jesus which appears to be that of Jesus coming up victorious from the depths of hell with cup in hand to give a blessing as if he were some sort of svelte Buddha.

The 8:15 service at Magnolia Lutheran is very intimate and without the music which is included at their 10:00 service.

If I want music, on any particular Sunday, I then am (again) off to Magnolia Presbyterian for their 10:30 service.

Just as with the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church has good sermons, but as I just intimated, what really takes it next level is the music. Pianist Robert Jones is a master throughout the sermons and he also provides phenomenal postludes after the Benediction – i.e. final words to ‘go out and serve with God’s Grace.”

Well as happenstance would have it, last Sunday the Lutheran Church’s main pastor was back in Chicago and his back-up had some sort of car issue to serve as a hang-up.

Notably, we did our best to work through the program and I even did my best to offer some comments about the three readings as a means of some sort of sermon. Bottom line though, our church experience concluded fairly promptly.

Would I redirect to the Presbyterian church alone? Well, no. They had a service “field-trip” of sorts lined up with Magnolia’s United Church of Christ to feed the homeless and admittedly I wasn’t sufficiently moved by the Holy Spirit to plan my participation the previous week, nor did in the moment feel sufficiently compelled to find out where this service event was going to take place either.

So, I opted for getting a bit of a snack from Magnolia’s Petit Pierre Bakery. Smartly, at least so I believe, I generated one box of “sumptions” – i.e. “sumptuous & scrumptious, portions of food – for my parents and brother who lives with them – who I knew were readying for church and another for my wife – who unaffiliated with any faith tradition – was digging into our taxes – a task nobody finds at at all sweet nor savory!

At any rate, after having our breakfast snack, I accented to their invitation to got to their Church and am glad that I did.

Ok, now returning to the story of Deana Porterfield.

SPU’s new president gave us a three-part presentation which she deftly mapped out broadly at the beginning of her comments. These were specifically: (a) her history – a curriculum vitae of sorts; (b) her call to serve as President of SPU; and (c) her leadership vision for SPU.

A. DEANA PORTERFIELD’S C.V.

First, in that she was introduced as a triathlete, the Samaritan’s speaker last Sunday took a moment to discount her accomplishment by mentioning that it was merely a sprint triathlon a number of years back in Santa Barbara, California.

She went on to mention that along with her husband Doug – who had been sitting next to her until she took the microphone from the podium to give her remarks – she had 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren all under the age of 8. Good start … Family First!

She then went back to relate that she had been adopted into a home of evangelicals who while she was in middle school divorced. At that time, each of their religious participation waned, but they insisted that she yet be involved.

By God’s Grace during this period of chaos in her life, she was approached to sight learn and play music – at least the chord progressions – at her Church. This did two things … it gave her something to do and served to spark her interest in music.

In turn, this interest in music lead her to an opportunity which was never a part of her contemplation – higher education. Her hometown was Watsonville, CA – the same hometown of Martinelli’s Cider – and she wasn’t originally destined to go much further.

See, young Deana’s father had not graduated from Highschool and her mother was a beautician. Upshot, she originally believed that graduating from Highschool was perhaps going to be a stretch. To consider going to college was – at least among her family – pure ‘crazy talk.’

But, that all changed when she was joined a field trip sponsored by her music department to Texas Tech during homecoming. WOW … Epiphany! “If this is what college is about … I’M ALL IN!!!”

She related that she did get into Texas Tech, but ultimately went to pursue music further at Azusa Pacific University (“APU”), which as an aside is this year celebrating its 125th Anniversary. See [HERE].

At this point in the President Porterfield made mention about her connection with Doug, but the author is unclear if she knew him while yet in Highschool or if they met on campus at APU. Regardless, it was clear that Doug was in higher classes than Deana while they both were attending APU. Doug’s musical ability surpassed hers.

Deana quickly related in accord with her Seattle Pacific University bio her ascension through the ranks to become the second highest administrator at APU as well as the fact that she ultimately secured her Masters in Organizational Management from APU before going on to The University of La Verne [See [HERE]] to secure her Ph.D. in that same discipline. In 2014, she was called to Rochester, NY to preside over Roberts Wesleyan and Northeastern Seminary. See [HERE].

B. PRESIDENT PORTERFIELD’S CALL TO SERVICE

President Porterfield in moving into the second part of her comments prefaced the same by indicating that each year she seeks to identify a verse from the Bible to serve as the theme. This year that verse is …

I am doing a new thing!

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.”

16 This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland. (Emphasis Added.)

Isaiah 43:15-19 – New International Version

Dr. Porterfield indicated that when a new opportunity to lead a Christian school quickly goes out to the presidents of all the other Christian schools throughout the nation. So, naturally she was in the know about the opportunity to lead SPU.

Her immediate thought was: “Man! Whoever goes to SPU … really needs to be called!”

[Unknown to the author at the time of her comments who wondered if this had anything to do with the SPU campus shooting in 2014 [See [HERE]], has through research come to recognize that this must be more systemically related to the school’s 38% drop in enrollment over the past decade generally attributed to SPU’s hiring prohibition of members of same-sex marriages and the pandemic.]

Nevertheless, in line with the bible theme she had chosen, she started to reflect on distinctions. This got her asking herself to examine the difference between the questions: “Do you not see it?” and “Do you not perceive it?

Continuing, she remarked, it’s easy to see ‘a big check coming in from a donor to the school.’

But what isn’t as easy to see, yet must be instead be perceived are intangibles like: ‘The great people who come on board the her mission as hires’ and ‘the pulse of the student body.’

Well, ultimately Dr. Porterfield was called to SPU and regarding the last comment she said what is so wonderful is that students on campus here are actually approaching her to solicit the prayers for and with her in her leadership role.

C. SPIRITUAL WARRIER PORTERFIELD’S FUTURE VISION

OK, I know … this “Spiritual Warrior” language may a bit over the top.

Nevertheless, this author believes that there is something to it which warrants its use, albeit certainly not self-assigned, by President Porterfield.

Lord don’t leave us. Don’t let our pilot light go out. Let it grow from 1 to 2 to multitudes.

Seattle is one of the most unchurched places in the nations. And SPU has not always received best light from the press. But, soon after she came, our new SPU President was approached for a story by the Seattle Times … oh boy! But, it worked out just fine. See [HERE].

After some further brief expressions of her view that we are involved in Spiritual Warfare which President Porterfield acknowledged her desire to develop more fully through future authorship on her own blog platform, she concluded with some comments about her inauguration itself.

This was a moving event for which she gave some personal insights also best left for her to share more publicly as she deems appropriate save for perhaps one observation.

As someone who started her faith journey many years ago as a troubled soul in a divorcing family through music, she provided the music director a song that she wanted performed – “He Will Hold Me Fast.” See [HERE].

And she concluded her remarks by saying that with the a slight pronoun turn … “If you had checked in on Friday [03/01’s Inauguration], you would have thought SPU was the most vibrant campus in America.”

What was that turn of pronouns?

On the last refrain of “He Will Hold Me Fast” everyone sang out “He Will Hold … US … Fast!”

Now, the author readily admits that he wasn’t at the inauguration, but here’s what came up on his feed as he closed out his comments. Listen & See [HERE].

God was at the President Deana Porterfield’s Friday, 2024.02.23 Inauguration … listening too!

—

Photo Credit: The Falcon. See [HERE].

Yesterday, the resumption of the regular calendar immediately after Leap Day, was to be anything but normal.

  • 8:30 – Coffee in Mukilteo with attorney mentor, colleague, & friend – Dubs Herschlip. See [HERE].
  • 10:30 – Land Surveyors’ Association of Washington (“LSAW”) Conference at the Tulalip Casino & Resort. See [HERE].
  • 11:00 – Service Call with Legal Match. See [HERE].
  • 4:00 – Dental appointment back in Seattle at Crown Hill. See [HERE].

Though not quite the excitement of Ray Liotta’s portrayal of Henry Hill in the helicopter scene in “Goodfellas,” this was going to be a big day. See [HERE].

Soon though, the need for decisive action would be much more compressed than even that high-flying portrayal.

About 6:50, I was just starting to take of my gym clothes readying for a shower before dashing off and I noticed a man was/had fallen behind me. He had passed with nothing more than a towel covering his waist and did the color of his face did not look good. Go time!

I called out for my locker-room mates to call 911. Three dashed over from the next bank of lockers and started to attend to him. Not worrying that I had no top on, I dashed to the front desk, and asked them to call 911 … they confirmed that they already had.

Returning to the locker room, I first called out: ‘Hey guys, help’s on its way. Let’s move this bench so there is plenty of room for the stretcher.’ Bench immediately gone.

Then, I remembered that I had seen Phil – a doctor that I had shared a return flight from Atlanta last Fall – swimming. So, while the others were attending to this fallen gentleman, I went straight to the pool.

Dr. Phil was almost just about to complete his lap and I was able to catch his attention before his turn. To my query: “Could you come to the locker room, there is a man there who has had a heart attack or seizure.” … Dr. Phil’s answer was simple: “Sure.”

He then got out of the pool and calmly came with me. By this time another gym member and doctor – Andy – was attending.

Together, they took over. Towels needed?! Towels appeared.

Dr. Phil took vitals inventory and started CPR compressions and mouth to mouth resuscitation while Dr. Andy raised their emergency patient’s legs.

Starting to get tired, trainer Alberto jumped in to relieve Phil of compression duties and my offer to keep this unfortunate man’s legs in the air was accepted.

Dr. Andy started to rifle through the locker of the downed man, stuffing his clothes into the man’s gym bag and soon found his main aim of securing the man’s wallet and phone.

Now, we had the man’s name: “Matt …”. These personal effects were passed out to a good Samaritan whose name I later discovered was Tim.

Tim called the last person with whom Matt had spoken. This gal, presumably from his work, knew Matt’s wife and got the message across of the situation and was advised to start making her way from their Mount Vernon home.

“Do you guy’s have a defibrillator?” Dr. Phil asked somewhere in all the commotion.

Someone said: “No.” And now, Dr. Andy was on top giving compressions.

Soon though, Alberto showed up with one and Dr. Phil was back at work.

Now it came down to the medics, would they make it on time?

Yet topless, I went back up to the front desk and asked what was going on. They said they were 4 blocks away. OK!

I’m going to take the elevator down and be waiting for them. Down to floor 2 which is the entrance most vehicles come in on. More importantly though from floor 2, we can also see out to the streetside at floor 1.

Approached by a couple of folks wanting to ride the elevator to the gym instead of taking the stairs, I told them we have a medical emergency. No fuss, both started their workouts 20 seconds earlier … they took the stairs.

Ambulance arrives at streetside floor 1. Down I go.

Four big guys in blue step step on and up we go.

“Ok, as you go out take a right and take another right past the front desk and the men’s locker room is again to the right.” The elevator opens at 4 and off they go.

“Ok, I’m going to go down again for the stretcher,” I said to the kid at the front desk.

“The stretcher is already here.”

“Really?!” Thinking to myself, how the hell would a stretcher have made it up there when I hadn’t been away from the only elevator. ‘Whatever.’

I went back to the locker room and had my answer. A plastic, yellow, handheld gurney was now in the locker room too.

Blue now attending. I counted 10 total. Though I didn’t have a sight line I believe they opened up Matt’s trachea to ease breathing, got him on an EKG, and also gave some sort of shot – epinephrine? But, even if I did have the sightline … I don’t know!

Dr. Andy gave his contact info to the paramedic with the computer. I asked him if he wanted Dr. Phil’s contact info too.

“Yes, could you ask him to come give it to me.”

So, back to the pool and Dr. Phil was just finishing his interrupted swim. So, that worked out.

Ultimately, the paramedics got Matt under a heavy clear plastic tarp and raised him to the real stretcher which had ultimately arrived. Strapped down, off they went.

Did Matt live or die? I think he was lucky, but I don’t know.

Whether he had or not. The picture above is the same either way!

Last task by blue, clear away the sharps … and make sure to watch the blood too.

Back to me. Shower, dress, call to Dubs, and the realization that I and another 20 – 30 people had spent 30 minutes of our lives for that of another – a good trade!

I arrived in Mukilteo right at 9:00. Though admittedly I wasn’t as calm as Dr. Phil.

“Form is Content.” Notice how Orca’s whale tale is an echo of the roof, or is it the other way around? At any rate the micro and macro imitate one another.

This house was an absolute wreck several years and two construction companies had false starts before they built this one less than 5 years ago. For proof, see [HERE].[1]

My immediate thought was why the heck would you ever do an inverted roof in that portion of the PNW where we have a lot of drizzling rain – Seattle.

Well, here we are with the roofing answer – Orca!

Again, Orca roofing’s whale tale is an echo of the roof itself, or is it the other way around?

One should hope that Orca is able to provide an adequate solution.

But, if the original design is faulty, well then how much can Orca really do?

It would seem that builders that place inverted roofs in the rainy northwest certainly assist roofers to stay in business.

Point here is to take care of the small details because they represent over time in a big way.

Again, the micro and macro meet!

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

[1] Amazingly, this post of the old house is 2 days off of being 5 years to the day!

Below is my note recently sent to the Seattle Men’s Book Club advocating to review this book this April 2024.

I had volunteered to host the club’s January meeting next Monday, but have bowed out because I decided to take a woodworking class which conflicts. Enjoy!

Gentleman –

I have received the Draft 2024 Selections list and wanting to (a) express my contrition for pulling out on hosting this month’s meeting; (b) soon reschedule in lieu; and (c) host the month that we will be reviewing my favorite book – The Ox-Bow Incident …

I would like to propose hosting review of Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s “The Ox-Bow Incident” on Monday, April 15.

April’s draft book selection is The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman (320 pages).

That’s a compelling choice because big changes happen in the Spring … and it would be able to think ahead about the future implications of AI.

Yet, I would argue that Tilburg’s classic (288 pages) is an even better choice for April this year.

The book explores “mob justice” and I have come to understand it as the crucifix story provided in the form of a western.

Notably, “The Ox-Bow Incident” was published in 1940 and demonstrated the need for people not to get caught up taking on the passions of the crowd … as was the case in Germany.

I believe that the timeless message of stopping to think as to what is the truth, instead of just allowing the crowd to passionately sway opinions, would be a great idea to discuss well ahead of the election season.

As a final not incidental aside, our discussion date would fall in between Easter (March 31) and Passover (April 22), so though I am a gentile … I would like to attempt to make our meal something on the order of a seder – and in doing so remember that the Last Super was the Passover Seder.

Regarding dinner preparations, I would be willing to take advice. If my enthusiasm is misguided, please advise … we may in addition/in lieu consider how to make the meal suitable for review of a Western novel.

Perhaps you all could discuss this on Monday when you meet and advise if my offer is acceptable.

Sincerely, BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

Long before Simon Sinek beseeched us to “start with why”, Napoleon Hill declared identifying one’s “Major Definite Purpose” as paramount in the development of sustained desire and all the benefits that flow therefrom.

According to Hill and his myriad immediate and derivative follower’s, success is largely defined by the clarity of one’s vision and faithful and persistent action to achieve the same. Yes, it is true that organized planning is important. However, between it and the clarity of one’s purpose, vision, and goal(s), the set of the later are far more important. Why?

Because a clear, meaningful vision is what gets people to come together to do the hard, dirty, and sometimes damnable work required to get a job done.

The question then becomes, who is the one to do this job of creating the vision? Answer: EVERYONE! True, it is the leader’s overarching master vision which must be clearly communicated. But, then each contributor – from the “bottle washer” straight to the “head chef” – must also have a vision of that which they want to accomplish … and how it serves as an integral part of the whole.

My personal and professional experience includes work as the only non-Chinese member of a real estate development firm. That was an incredible experience in which I learned about group dynamics. Believe me its business expression is not a panacea.

The problem encountered is that all decisions appeared to be made at or very close to the top. And so, while the team was willing to work much closer together than a Western team, any benefits which may have been gleaned from that advantage were more than dissipated by the perceived need to micro-manage.

What a clear master vision and integrated individual professional visions does then is to ALLOW the company to progress as quickly as possible. But, is this where it stops?

Not, if the start-up wants to not only get off the launch pad, but also out of orbit and fully on mission. See, it is the identification of roles and future goals which allows this along with attendant procedural documentation.

And this often for the true start-up entrepreneur can often be not only the most difficult and painful part. Start-ups by their very nature are flexible. They seek to provide maximal value in new product and service arenas. But, building and certainly scaling will not come without clearly cutting out that which is not most viable.

It’s not easy. But, perhaps the best analogy that I know to illustrate how to successfully navigate the process comes from Jim Collins. He suggests that businesses should start by firing BBs until the target is fully defined and recognized as profitable. Then, start shooting cannon balls.

And here’s the point. Cannon balls can only be produced in mass with procedure.

So, recapping. Identify, the purpose and vision, dial in on the goal, clarify the roles and goals, and then … FIRE AWAY!  

I just got back from my Woodworking class! I had a blast and at this point love every bit about it. As I indicated in a previous post, I suddenly fell in love with wood bicycles and realized that I need to bring this into my life.

Now, this may seem crazy or at least done on a whim. Though, I don’t thinks so. See, I have had it my goal to identify my goal for the last several months of active pursuit and for years prior to that as well.

So, when I found my goal … I decided to quickly swing into action. And one of those actions was to sign up for Wood Working II.

Wait, what? Why didn’t you sign up for Wood Working I. Oh, that’s easy … the class was full.

And when you are on fire, you just will not take “No” for an answer. So, I looked at the next level of class offered and noticed that it seeks people who took wood working I … or have equivalent experience.

Well heck! I built a beautiful canoe paddle back in 7th or 8th grade shop. In fact, you will see it in that picture above.

Not so much of a canoe paddle now though right. You are correct!

Around a month in to my start in personal development back in 2019 with Bob Proctor, there was the first of what would be a series of 3 snow storms that hit Seattle.

Now at the time, I was following a headstrong protocol of running down, up, down, and finally back up Seattle’s Magnolia Neighborhood’s Big Hill – Dravus!

And being the headstrong guy that I am … I went out in the snow, fell down and seriously sprained and possibly broke my left ankle.

Response? I brought it on and did a full 8 circuits of that hill!

That’s right! I don’t allow myself to suffer much pain … but, I seem to be damn good at suffering fools … or at least the fool of me.

Continuing, I ultimately was on my way up to the February consultants training with Bob Proctor and needed a cane … what to do.

Now, spend regular money for something like that … not on your life, that’s “very expensive” … and I certainly didn’t feel that I was worth the expense.

Then it dawn on me that I could use a paddle to make a cane.

Now, as a not incidental aside. My father took over and completed a cedar strip canoe that one of his family members had given up as too difficult.

In fact, I still have that canoe hanging out in our garage.

And with it are several different canoe paddles … all of which are generic.

But, I knew that molesting his property would never do. Solution, I decided to molest my own!

Kind of funny in that I justified it as creating a cane which I could give to my father and a breadboard to my wife as gifts.

Oh, and here I should not fail to mention that this was right about the time that the hammering commenced as to the stupidity of me being ‘hornswoggled’ by the resident Proctologist himself.

I was extremely frustrated that my family was not only not keen with the study that I was doing to be able to improve myself – but actually through several obstacles in my way and gave me hell … until they finally realized that they were not going to break my spirit … the only person who gets to break my spirit is me!

What happened? Well, I felt broken and they felt compelled to pound on my aims.

I liken this to them being the hammer, but I continued as the anvil!

Would I like to have that paddle back in it original form?

No. Symbolically, I decided to break the paddle … instead of allowing my family to break me.

At this point, these items are indications of relational frustrations. But, I now have the strength to not really allow it to bug me anymore.

It took years, but I am finally liberated.

Ok, it’s time for me to liberate myself from this computer and to get up to bed.

I have the Pacific Coast 5:30 AM Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline Boot Camp.

Join us! Our environment will be just what the doctor of the heart would always prescribe …

Love your neighbor as yourself. And be good to one another.

I think the first quote is attributed to Jesus; the second one … I don’t know – Was it Bill or was it Ted?

At any rate, I’m up way past my bedtime. So … Night-night.

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

No doubt, you have heard from someone on life’s journey say that the key to living a good life is to always ask: “What would Jesus do?”

For Christians, of which I am somewhere in the rank and file, I think this is a worthwhile question …. to ask oneself. But, that’s about as far as it goes.

Why? Because I believe matters of faith are to be self-directed and not proclamation as a means of seeking to declare one’s superiority over another.

So, basically the self-directed question (for a Christian – or perhaps one of another faith who is able to swing wide as to breadth and depth of their understanding of differing faiths) is perfectly fine.

To seek to ask that question as a means of forcing someone else’s faith … ‘not so much.’

That ecumenical clarity now aside, why the heck would I swap the name “Goggins” in for “Jesus”?

Oh, I’m glad you asked.

The reason for this is because on an early Saturday morning, this is the question that I am using to break the litigation that is going on in my mind?

The question is a very easy one and one that is immortalized by a song of The Clash on their “Combat Rock” Album (no less): “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” LISTEN [HERE].

Yes, that’s right. I was asking myself that very question!

See, last night (as I was finishing off the last of several new habits I am seeking to install all at once in the last few minutes of the 5th day of this new year) I noticed a FaceBook feed indicating that The Green Lake Running Group was having its 17th Anniversary and all runners – present and past – were invited.

Now, I am definitely a past runner; and a quick one at that … at least as a “flash in the pan.” To wit, I was a part of this group for about a couple of years before running the Seattle Marathon in 2019 … and then petered out quite a bit until Covid happened and well, that served as the excuse to let my “running career” go.

Now, I’m not only back to the weight that I was prior to the start of that journey to marathon … and then some, and of course no less than 5 years older.

An “old fart” of my age should take advice like Jack Nicholson’s character – Jake Giddis and …”Just Forget it Jake! [It’s China Town].” SEE my fairly recent blog post on the ‘other channel’ – [HERE].

But no, prior to going to bed a mere 4.5 hours ago, I signaled my intent to go to founder of this running group 17 years ago – Loka Murphy – that I would attend.

I wake up this morning though … because I am habituated to the Pacific Coast Boot Camp’s time and it’s raining outside and my mind of course tries to think of all the plausible excuses to keep me off purpose.

And then the perfect question to break the log jam comes to me …

What would Goggins do?

Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with David Goggins, just know that he’s the guy that went from being a lowly bug exterminator to arguably the word’s “baddest ass!”

David Goggins is a graduating member of (a) the United States Air Force Tactical Control Party; (b) the Navy Seal BUD/S training class 235; and (c) as an Army Ranger where he received a peerless, peer review and was awarded the “Enlisted Honor Man” award. Notably, he is the 36th African-American Navy Seal in US Navy Seal history!

So, by asking myself the question … “What would Goggins Do?” … I immediately have the answer.

Get off your candy-ass, get up, get ready, and … JUST DO IT!

And you know what’s so cool is that I still had enough time to take a pic of myself and bang out this blog post beforehand too!

Ok, I’m off to the Green Lake Runner’s Group Meetup just down the hill at Chinooks. Hell, maybe I should just run down there … that’s what Goggins would do!

Well, maybe I’m not ready to go FULL Goggins quite yet! 🙂

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

That’s right! Don’t Listen to the Naysaying Nellies!

When Master Mentor Gary Glass shared that with us this morning at the Pacific Coast Boot Camp, it really jumped out at me.

Gary then followed up by saying that you should make sure that you don’t share your dreams to anyone but a select few, because most people will scoff at you.

This has definitely been my experience! And unfortunately it has been my experience recently. Did I give in? Hell, no it just means that it’s time to add gas.

Now, of course the scaredy cats that I shared my big idea with attempted an intervention to prevent me from moving forward. As far as they are concerned, any extra effort in the direction of my aim would amount to “Putting out the Fire with Gasoline” … a David Bowie lick used in the erotic fantasy – “Cat People.” LISTEN [HERE].

And to that, I say Hell Yea! I just became further resolved to fire forward along my aim!

And that’s kid of the point now! Their discouragement has actually so engulfed me with a burning white heat of desire that my goal is a fait accompli!

See, all I have to do now is persist!

Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.

Napoleon Hill

Well, the world is my oyster … and it can be yours too! There’s plenty of it to share!

We are still not even a whole work week into the Napoleon Hill Institute’s Pacific Coast 5:30 AM Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline Boot Camp. If you want to glean some incredible information from Gary too, just shoot me an email to bob@justicesmiles.com.

Yesterday’s post spoke about the absence of purpose v. the presence of purpose.

In it I indicated much of the hardship that I had been going through in the pursuit of my own purpose – to help bring people together in peace!

Why exactly that is my purpose, I don’t know. But, it is one of those things that if I don’t pursue, then I feel as if I have failed.

I feel that this is best likened to the story of Jonah and the whale. If you are familiar with the story … you may understand, if you don’t, well then you certainly won’t. Regardless, Jonah’s Wale of a tale is for another time.

Now returning, my vision was to help neighbors to be able to “see the law” and as a result be able to prevent the entering into needless conflict, which in turn would greatly assist to bring about peace.

Did it work? Not very well as I had it originally formulated. You see, lawyers are paid for time in conflict. And while, my skill is to get people out of conflict, I like to do it quickly.

And guess what … lawyers are paid on time in conflict! Big problem.

So, with all my might, my attempts to change the system through the generation of my “Legal Geometrics” and “Legal Data Visualizations” has not (yet) generated adequate results.

And this is where it gets tricky. Do I stay with it as if “perfecting sealing wax” and risk a ’20th nervous breakdown.’ See [HERE]. Or, do I put it on the shelf and come back to it later?

Now, that’s a very interesting question. It would be incredibly awesome if I had been in the place of Steve Job’s decision to put the iPad on the shelf to first go after the iPod. Listen [HERE].

The reality though is that kind of decision quite likely would end up being a path choice akin to that of Robert Frost’s “A Road Less Traveled” … which in this post from my other channel I explained with considerable aid from other’s research means almost exactly the opposite of what everyone believes it to mean. …

To wit … the path is the right choice, because the path chose was the choice! See [HERE].

The result? I was stuck at that crossroads for a long, long time!

I’d take a bit of work here and a bit of work there to have some sort of income, but was my heart in it? Hell no!

But, I couldn’t walk away from the idea … this was my purpose, and my vision was to be able to bring people to peace through it so I had a vision too.

The problem though was that I didn’t have a goal.

Now, perhaps it would have been great to have the goal to completely change the Real Estate Broker/Title Insurance/Mortgage Lender slight of hand that allows these errors to exist virtually everywhere … but what would that do?

At this point, forcing that issue would bring good neighbors into conflict where non currently exists … and does that serve my purposeful vision? No it does not!

So, again stuck, stuck, stuck, years on end past, years on end future … until my soul is spun off this planet or falls in to it.

And then something happened. I found out that I might be able to get involved with a bicycle company. Well, now I have always loved bicycles.

  • I learned how to ride a bicycle the very first day that it was finally given to me at age 6 – instead of age 5 as all the other kids in the neighborhood with the starter bike given to me.
  • I converted my second bike … a cherry red, original banana seat and “Easy-Rider” handle bars “Schwinn” to a motorbike when that original style’s “wheels [culturally] came off” metaphorically akin to that movie’s end. See [HERE].
  • I worked my tail off – though no doubt my father thought was candy-ass – at a sub-standard rate one summer by any normal kid’s assessment in the neighborhood in which I grew up digging out garden pilings to make enough money that I could buy a 12-Speed Kabuki bicycle which was my last real bike.

See, we moved to Santa Fe, NM where because of the size of the narrow and generally dirt streets, it’s appropriate to have a mountain bike.

One big problem! Where to get the money? For a kid, Santa Fe was not nearly as easy to earn money as a kid as it was up in Minneapolis.

In the former, in addition to summer caddying, there was (and to the best of my knowledge still is) always grass to mow, or leaves to rake, or snow to throw. Santa Fe didn’t have that … and money didn’t otherwise flow.

My Kabuki did make it with me to college and then up here to Seattle. In fact, that reminds that one of the things that I wanted most when I came up here after graduating from school were 3 things I could straddle: a motorcycle; a snowmobile; and a horse!

These haven’t happened, though I did purchase an ride a motorcycle when I lived in Taiwan. That was like running was akin to “running with the bulls in Spain!” And again, that’s a story for another day.

The fact of the matter is that I just forgot about how much I love to straddle these modes of transport … it’s freedom!

But, what the heck does this have to do in any respect with purpose and vision.

Well, I see as a vision using these wooden bicycles as a means of bringing families together with a woodworker who can teach and oversee them building their own bicycles during a time while the family goes “off grid” and with it has a chance to cut out the discord that our fractured world and the tech within it has generally afforded most families … and in doing so, not only would these families have a memorable experience, they would have a memento afterward of the time that they had spent together … and could do so again on bike outings in the future.

See, that’s my vision! So, what’s the goal? Well, that will come in due course.

For now, after an incredibly long period of my soul’s drought, I have essentially found my wellspring … fresh water again flows!

A number of years ago on my original channel, I published my blog post “A Space Oddity.” SEE [HERE].

In doing so, I described the Audi Super Bowl 2016 Commercial which serves as tribute to David Bowie through it’s incorporated use of his song “Starman.”

This ad [RIGHT HERE], perfectly identified my mood at the time … I was spent and had no purpose!

My dream had been to go to work in China. And, I achieved this goal. I became International Sales & Legal Counsel for a huge real estate developer located in China’s most beautiful city – Hangzhou!

But my dream, while far from being a nightmare, WAS – like all jobs – NOT PERFECT!

So, now well over a decade and a half ago, when my contract came up, my Chairman and I both knew that renewal was just not going to happen.

My wife and kids returned to our stateside home of Seattle and we got our eldest enrolled in kindergarten, I foolishly sought to yet work in China. [And on another day, I might share some of the “Laverne and Shirley” chicanery that entailed.]

The fact of the matter was that I came back hope and I had no idea what to do for several months. And then, when I figured out that “hell, I have to do something!” … I opened up my own law firm.

Ladies and gentleman, that’s not something that is easy to do. What’s more, those who do this often will do so only so long as they need to until they find more suitable work.

Well, headstrong as I am … and not wanting to be under anyone’s thumb, I continued to stick it out.

Curious thing about entrepreneurship though, … when you no longer have “a” boss, every single person in your life is a boss.

  • First and foremost, All of your clients.
  • Of course, opposing counsel attempts to boss you around as much as they can.
  • Every once in a while when you actually get into court? The judge? Check!
  • Your vendors? Well hell, you don’t have any negotiating power. Yay or nay pal.
  • And then there is your family, hey your job is to produce!

And, when you are so incredibly clever as to pick one of the most emotionally hostile. And quite likely the most inane arenas of law – boundary dispute law – well, it just wasn’t pretty!

What kept me going for all of that time though? PURPOSE!

My purpose is to help people to come to peace with themselves and their neighbors.

Now that is a lot different than my vision though.

VISION, for me, was to democratize the law and promote peace by visually depicting the law.

Now, that’s heady stuff, and I am not going to go into the details of it here … unless you want me to? No, just kidding!

The fact of the matter is that my purpose and vision are what sustained me in my absolute hell.

And hell it was! I got to the point that I needed to go to 3 different church services on Sunday to raise my spirits enough to go back to the trenches on Monday mourn. (yeah, you got the pun!)

Finally, it became too much and one night I finally had enough and pulled my office apart and out of its tenancy and returned home … totally dejected!

What did this do?

Well, it helped me start to get out from under a purpose which was auguring me further and further into hell.

But, that just meant that I was without any purpose … complete and absolute nihilishm!

Folks, I do not recommend it. If suicidal ideation had been part of my life previously, it certainly was not gone now!

Mentor Bob Proctor identifies well (though without reference to biblical chapter and verse) the notion … ‘Without a Vision, the People will Perish!”

So, and here we must resurrect the spirt of Chris Farley’s Matt Foley …

“For the love of God …” get in touch with your Purpose and get clear on your Vision.

My friends, if you don’t have this … you are not being Wise!

Photo Credit: Molly Hashimoto [a Wise Owl] from “Winter Birds: A Holiday Card Assortment.” I just posted this one down to the Napoleon Hill Institute’s resident, rocket scientist Gary Glass.

He just started the Pacific Coast’s 5:30 AM Self-Confidence Boot Camp this morning. Ground control: “WE HAVE LIFT OFF!”

Contact me if you want to also be part of the “PAYLOAD!”

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc