I am currently writing the biography of an AMAZING individual.  Below are the first few paragraphs from the introduction.  I stand in gratitude of this incredible opportunity.  I hope to write a book that is honest, inspiring, uplifting and honoring.  Let me know your thoughts.  Thanks!

Everyone reaches a point in their life when they have to decide whether to rise to their potential or fall into mediocrity.  For some, these moments pass by without notice or thought until retrospection brings clarity.  For others, these moments are monumental.  Often, we are given ancillary opportunities to chose to ascend to our promise or opt for mere survival.  It is a rare individual that faces multiple such junctures and continually chooses to strive toward greatness, to follow an inner drive to be the best version of themselves, to fill “the gap between what one is and what one should become.” 

Gary Lee Price is one of those exceptional beings.  He has faced many challenges in his 57 years, like most of us on this earthly plane.  What separates him is not so much his suffering, but what he has done with it, and his continual determination to progress and evolve.  He has found what Viktor Frankl maintained was our purpose for living, he has found the meaning in his suffering.

Gary is a gifted sculptor, altruistic humanitarian and the artist commissioned to create the Statue of Responsibility.

  His life is remarkable in the art he has created, and yet his mastery in artistic pursuits is paled by his proficiency in the craft of inspiration.  Though it would be easy to conjecture that art is the essence of Gary’s life, upon examination and assessment, one will find that Gary’s life is the essence of his art.

The value of a broken heart

We have all felt it . . . the pain that seems unbearable, the ache that cannot be assuaged, the collapse that feels cataclysmic.  If you are like me, a great deal of time is spent cursing the events, people and things that bring it about . . . heartbreak.  But I have come to find gratitude for the thing I have despised most in life.  I have grown to relish the comments, slights, misunderstandings, and rejection that bring about insufferable pain.  Why?  Because without the overpowering grief; without the unendurable sadness, I would not know the height of joy that comes from the love that cultivated the soil such immense pain could thrive in.

And so, the next time my heart is broken, I will curse and wail and cry and feel as if death were a kinder path.  And then, I will stand in gratitude for whatever or whomever has brought it about, because in the tattered remains of my heart, I will know that I am better off for having loved deeply and lost greatly than to have guarded myself against such turmoil by holding back.

I cannot measure the torment my heart has felt, and I cannot measure the value of having endured it.  I can only know that I am better for having loved . . . deeply . . . honestly . . . vulnerably.

Responsible party

The Price of Greatness is Responsibility (Winston Churchill)

There are countless quotes from brilliant masters of literature, philosophy and politics that drive home the importance of responsible action.  The aforementioned quote, attributed to Winston Churchill, is one of my personal favorites.  I love it both for its simplicity, and for its truth.  There is no greatness achieved without payment of responsibility received.  And in ascribing greatness in his declaration, Churchill covered all of the important bases; freedom, success, victory, knowledge, purpose, etc.  Responsibility is essential to all of these achievements.

Who is responsible? Where is my responsibility?  Where is your responsibility?  Does it begin and end at our front doors?  I take care of “mine” and you take care of “yours?”  Responsibility, I contend, begins and ends at our fingertips.  It is an endless energy extending from our outreaching hand, and coming right back to ourselves.  We first take responsibility for our own actions, non-action and reactions, then we take responsibility for our fellow man.

When we inhale, we fully trust and expect that there is sufficient oxygen to fill our lungs.  Just as the Universe assumes responsibility for our capacity to breathe, so must we assume responsibility to be there for our compatriots.  It is in embracing our responsibility with compassion and gratitude that we will find our own greatness, as well as our communal greatness.

The real deal

Authenticity . . . it is something that is becoming far too rare.  I am so grateful for the people in my life who show up authentically.   I am even more grateful for the times when I am able and WILLING to show up as my authentic self.

For so long, my biggest concern was showing up as others "expected" me to (or, more accurately, as I thought they expected me to.)  I have, for so many years of my life, wanted to be what others wanted me to be.  I am so happy - and so frightened to be - showing up as who I am . . . as my authentic self.

I have long thought that I should be what others want . . . and it is so much of who I am, but contaminated by what I think others need or desire.  Isn't it laughable how we are, indeed, our own worst enemies?  I am ready and anxious to be my own best friend.

When I am not being authentic, I find that I want to stay away from those who see me in my brilliance, who see my core, my authentic self.  When I am trying to please, I end up ostracizing the people who love me the most.  Counter-intuitive, don't you think?

To those of you who know me personally, thank you for being patient as I discover who I am without the story of who I think I should be.  And, thank you for being my teachers of what it means to show up as authentic.

Bittersweet symphony

I love those perfect days, the ones where everything just seems to go your way.  I had one of those yesterday.  And, this morning, as I contemplated over my gratitude for the day, I realized that the sweetness I experienced yesterday was made so much more enjoyable by the bitterness I have encountered on previous days.

I am in a very introspective period of my life, and I am finally learning to embrace some of the things about myself that I have been at odds with.  The "faults," the imperfections, the shadow, the darker parts of my being.  I am learning that the more willing I am to embrace and accept my own darkness, the easier it is to love and accept others when they are in theirs.  It is the bitter components of us humans that make our brilliance that much sweeter.

I am not advocating or experimenting with dwelling in or focusing on the shadow, but my observation is that the more aware I am, the more forgiving I am, the more accepting I am of the shadow, the more I am able to embrace and recognize the light.  In acknowledging the negative, I am able to begin the enterprise of healing it.  It makes Oprah's advice possible, "turn your wounds into wisdom."

I am grateful for the "bitter."  It is the tears, sleepless nights, doubts, fears, and pain that make the joy more intense and meaningful, and take me closer to fulfilling my soul's purpose.

New York minute

It only takes seconds for a few words to fall on your ears . . . words like "I never want to see you again," "I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do," "You have cancer," . . .  And in those seconds, your world can turn upside down.  In a moment of chaotic clarity, you become well aware that life, as you now know it, will never be the same.  There is no turning back.

It only takes seconds for everything to change.  However, it also only takes seconds for words like, "I can do this!" "I've got your back," "I forgive you," "I understand," "I love you," "You are not alone" . . .  to fall on the same ears and land in the same heart. 

In these moments, these monumental instances, is where we have the opportunity to truly know ourselves, to face our fears, our weaknesses, our strengths, our shadow, our light.  This is where we learn what we are capable of, and we grow or we wither.

In a New York minute, everything can change . . . and through gratitude, love and an open heart, it can always be for the better.  Adversity can be our greatest teacher, or crippling enemy, it is always our choice.

This is your life

I have been privileged to serve on a staff for a training for 20 teens over the past three days.  It was an amazing, uplifting and inspiring experience.  I find, at times, that I fall into the trap of invalidating the opinions, concerns, insights and voices of children, especially teenage children.   I am so clear, in this moment, that I am totally ripping myself off when I do.

These teens came from all different walks of life, and yet they had one thing in common - a desire to be accepted.  Sadly, many of them also shared in common a belief that they would never be accepted for who they are.  They walked in Thursday afternoon as strangers -fairly closed, mostly untrusting, a little frightened and somewhat resistant.  They walked out on Saturday night as a group of friends, trusting themselves and each other, knowing who they are, and having an idea of their worth.

Over the three days, these kids dug deep and showed up huge, for each other, and more importantly, for themselves.  They stepped through fear and found their demons.  Watching them conquer the things that hold them back in life was an incredible inspiration to me.  I walked away a better person for having witnessed their transformation.

There was a song played during the training, the lyrics of which were very significant: "This is your life, are you who you want to be?"  We have one life, one shot to be who we want to be.  In the end, they were each seeking to be loved, respected and accepted for who they are.  Isn't that what we all want?  This is YOUR life . . .