This morning I suppose, that I was mourning. But really, I was not - more: Looking and listening. And thinking about the passage of others. And Matt. But deer (dear) came, instead. To re-mind me, of the life lived now. And that she was hungry. And looking. At me, doing -- to her little mind, some thing. With candles, my scent, light the breeze. I could hear her breathing. And she was scenting Me. And the flickering and candle sputter. And, in this re-minding, I thought Of Matt. And of course,...

the lonely window... the last one lit; therein, the enthusiasm of the committed? sometimes I feel like this is me -- wherever I am. but I will leave this meditation, this notion of the committed to merely focused. as it was, I shot this from my office, in NYC - late in closing one night...prepping for another day...

There were a number of madrona that reached out, over the house on the island -- and given the winds, we cut out the riskier encroachments. Seeing all the sheared limbs, we thought to make some offering arrangement of their passing, from one life to another. And this ritual expression, on the lower bluff, was to capture that spirit. And to stride into the new year. We found one large rock, that probably weighed upwards of 600 pounds. Beautiful, pyramidal and nicely variegated -- with lifting,...

It is the day before Christmas. I acknowledge the nature of the season... I'm on the island again, merely for a day -- a whole day. I suppose that I've been up, wandering, since about 3.30am; it's been blowing, howling -- in advance of celebrations I suppose -- like a banshee, but lovely...to my reckoning. Candles are wafting their light, flickering in the occasional breeze, which comes in from somewhere, forced, perhaps, in the galeforce. I've stood out there. And felt the stinging rage of...

on the herald of the full moon, sun arising, star glimmering, crisp iced cold...

In meditating on the practice, the work that I do, it's about The inspiration of the Ten Keys. 1. Acknowledge the spirit, the force in all things. 2. Watch and embrace the flow of energy -- the ch'i. 3. Every gathering of people, in audience, business or community, is about flow and energy. 4. In speaking with them, you must sense them first. 5. In offering something, there must be resonance: the vibrations must be clear and reflected. 6. In telling the story of the proposition -- the...

of course, there are many things in this city that I cannot, and shall not, explore. I'm really staying on the western side of the Bosporus, as well. I visited more places, in the driving rain, wandering in the glooming darkness. Topkapi Sarayi, in the wintry dark; the Blue Mosque, more Han -- the burrowing rabbitways of warehouses and bazaars, the Roman cisterns...pillars standing below ground in the theatrically illuminated undercarriage of the city. While I've got maps, I still find that...

weather worsening -- but of course, it's really like Seattle. Seattle in winter. Driving rains, driving winds - and chilled. I feel like I'm barely prepared for such inclemency, to clothing. But I'm used to it. I've wandered in to Agya Sofia -- and circulated in the great caverns of that space... And further into other markets and warehoused bazaars. These, for the people -- not for tourists. Wandering deeper and deeper into the warrens; and it's clear that much of this space is ancient,...

I did go back to Sofa and selected, with care, some calligraphies. These are more like the wabi sabi objects that I love, from Japan. Or from that matter, anywhere. These rusted and weathered articles speak to me of people, of time past, of beauty expressed and deepened. This is the kind of thing that I found, there. You can see what I'm talking about -- it's like old signing, held in homes and sacred places, brimming with energy of those...past.

It was a long day of wandering. And I learned quickly that fast befriending Turks, even those that are innocuous in their gestures of friendship, are, in all likelihood, drawing you to their carpet casbahs. Exiting is challenging. So, you simply go. That works. I met with a art dealer who struck me from the very opening of the encounter. I found his shop walking into the Old Bazaar -- but more interestingly, I connected with his little display in the hotel lobby. It's sophisticated offerings...