That is the amount of time left until the 2012 London Olympics begins, but hey who’s counting. As some of you know I’m a Professional Track & Field sprinter training for the 2012 Olympics for Trinidad & Tobago. My physical training started in October, my emotional and mental training began in 09′, my track career began in 4th grade an my destiny to be a great track athlete began at inception. The changing of the clock has only narrowed my vision towards the games. I have some amazing goals in mind that I can feel erupting in my bones and squeezing at my heart. I am obsessed with manifesting this feeling on the track. My passion is an appendage that I must an intend to put to use.

This new year if there’s something you are meant to do, then know that IF YOU BELIEVE IT WILL COME TO PASS.

As I continue to keep my eyes on these Summer Games, I work to train not only my body but my heart, spirit and mind, to believe in the vision that I FEEL inside. To go beyond others ability to see what and who I AM.

In the end, when I’m  on that track, at that line, kneeling, with my head hanging down and my heart holding its breath in anticipation for the gun, it will be left to my guts to act as the propeller to my engine. It’s all about MAXIMISED COURAGE & MINIMIZED FEAR. As I rev my engine & look forward to this 2012, I will stop at nothing to surpass any mental, spiritual, emotional or physical deficiency that may impede upon me leaving EVERYTHING on the track.  Outside of Track I am a writer so this year my other great endeavour on the side of  the Olympics is my Indie Film Script getting produced. The ball is rolling and I am feeling thankful for what is now and what will be.

HOW GREAT I AM!

(It’s not a question, it’s a state of being)

HOW GREAT YOU ARE!

TO HAVE THE WILL & BOLDNESS TO DARE TO DEFY GRAVITY & EXPAND PASS OUR BODY’S & OTHERS EXPECTATIONS.

HOW GREAT WE ARE!

Impossible you say?

Well,

“I’M  GUNNA’ SHOW YOU HOW GREAT I AM! “

In the words of Ron Burgundy, “Let the games begin. Wey-ho.”

I spent a train ride today trying to hold back tears over how grateful I feel for who I am and where I am  now, and for the courage, ability & most importantly the support to, simply put, pursue whatever, which just so happens to be my destiny. But above all, I’m grateful because I know what’s in store for me. I can FEEL it and it’s goosebump and tear inducing, as it is greater than me.

I mainly wrote this to alleviate some pressure and also because I have some friends & family, who like me, are working to manifest this feeling this gift, with honor, dedication, integrity, goodness and solid, honest hard work. Together we have to work every day in believing and acting solely upon the rhythm of a feeling, ignoring our minds fragmented limited perception of “reality,”and “boldy go where no man has gone before.” (Yes I stole a line from Jean Luc Picard..yes from STAR TREK…so vhatt!) It’s going to be a New Year, so lets get inspired, shall we!

So here’s my internal contemplation expounded & painted in letters:

(Inner voice..Ehe eh ehem!)

 Man, you better do EVERYTHING YOU CAN and then some to become what you are meant to BECOME, and once you do, let good be not good enough, be GREAT! And then OOOZZE your GREATNESS on to every walk of life you come across and even those you may never meet. And never mind the naysayers including yourself sometimes; they/you are only afraid of greatness. If you want to hear something moving, change the channel and dance to the beat of your own soul. There is no tomorrow, there’s right now and that’s all that exist, RIGHT NOW, DO it Now, FEEL it now, THINK it now,  and most importantly BELIEVE  it now. Do EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO BELIEVE IN YOU RIGHT NOW. Do not wish for it or hope for it, you don’t have to, IT ALREADY EXISTS INSIDE OF YOU.  It is kinetically bustling in you, above you, around you; the world breathes in and out in anticipation for you to soar. This kind of power was not meant to be contained but UNFOLDED, EXPLODED, SCREAMED and TRANSMITTED via SELFLESS INFECTIOUS pathways that leave the world a little or a lot better than it was before you came. Mediocrity is not comfortable; mediocrity is the break that leads to the death of an infinitely expanding soul. Do the best you can and when you feel you can’t, take a breather, a kindergarden drink milk and eat cookies just because breather, and then start again and do the best you can.

 I ask to not be taken from this feeling filled place, no matter how painful it may seem at times in my misinterpretation of events, but for the courage to transfix the world with my brilliant, noble, gracious and honorable gifts.

When in doubt DECLARE to yourself & to the world:

 It’s done, even bigger & better than I imagined, It’s done. As I believe it, as I picture it, in all its beauty and graceful perfection and splendor, it’s done!   I am grateful for the undulating waves that I brave every day, as I become one wave closer to the palpable manifestation of my prodigiousness.

…..and then just take a breath, smile & relax in the grate/gracefulness of KNOWING.

____________

NOw Raise your glasses…..ok well since it’s not New Years quite yet, maybe just raise the nearest item next to you…yessss a pencil will have to suffice.

To: My bud bud & Professional Athlete Melanie Hardy- It’s DONE….YOU HAVE ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR 2012 IN THE 800 & YOU ARE ONE OF THE TOP RUNNERS IN THE WORLD. You work so hard and deserve the best. Your light shines, you can and will  feel it and others are warmed by your glow….oh and um you did it all with a funky too cool for school hairdo. I  dear say the mohawk is gonna’ see a comeback after this Summer Olympics.

To: Estrella,  your ‘simply marrrveelous darling’ fashion company, BerqclÉ LLC “It’s a household name.” (Forrest Gump …Oh soo wiseeee:) You inspire me. And yes, EVERYTHING you have worked for and then some is a comin’ so brace yeself wee laddie’.

To: My wonderful parents,  supportive siblings(cespes-patcat), ENMA (Starpar, Alpalzi- Epitome of Man’ & Nolpolzi -my partner in crime;), my cousin JBaxter (it just doesn’t get any  better than you!), Juanee Cilliers(see you on the track at this Summer Olympics:), Jessica Branker(Olympics opening ceremony crazyness Oh and Viva Mexico!:),MacKenzie Hill, Greg Nixon, Mr. Comissiong, past coaches Harley Cooper, Dave Rodda, Wayne(from health to hippie), current coache & track wizard Darrell Smith, musical poet Frank the Bodega Man, close friends, random friends and my London Crew (Stephen Burgoyne…Stepho my love, Lady Fiona, Andre Shiiii ;), Amina, Robin, Sir Simon) and my weekly unplanned ”random” encounters with some of the awesome blossom (it rhymes leave it alone haha) people the world has to offer.

And finally…

To: The BELIEVER, DOERS , SUPPORTERS, MOVERS & CORE SHAKERS out there! Here’s to you, here’s to us!

A New Year is a great excuse to begin to do what you ought to be doing!

Retching complete.

Happy (a few days before) NEW YEAR!!!

- Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

If you are still rummaging through your closet to find the perfect New Years Eve dress here are four to wrap some ideas around. I know, I know it’s sota’ fluffy and ‘all dolled up’, but hey we can all use a little ’all  dolled up’ every now and then. Besides, although getting dolled up is fun, beauty lies in the woman and is merely drawn out by the dress so fret not when picking your frock.

The Red

The WhitE

WiLdCaRd 

And when in doubt

THE BLACK

By: Charles Bukowski

                                                  Your life is your life

                                   don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.

               be on the watch.

                                               there are ways out.

                   there is a light somewhere.

                         it may not be much light but it beats the darknes

 be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances

   know them. take them

you can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes.

                      and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be.

 your life is your life.

                 know it while you have it.

                             you are marvelous the gods wait to delight in you.

Mazel Tov! The first late night same-sex marriage was officiated on the 3rd of November  in the Beacon Theatre in New York City by Conan on the Conan O’Brien Show. Long time partners Scott Cronick, costume designer for the Conan show,  and his partner David Gorshein, a UCLA Professor,  officially tied the knot  on the shows  one-year  on TBS anniversary.

The News Media outlets around the states, as always, engaged in their usual practice of delivering up-to-date and original news feeds on the story.

Eat, Chew, Spit, Eat, Chew, Spit Out, Eat, Chew, Spit……..

Antonio Canovas

Discover the sound of my lips upon your open heart

And let it be though these portals of heaven that my sentiments be made

Wrinkled in pleasure and smoothened by the dawdling steady touch of your hand

Beyond navel to nose your lips are fluent in me

And I in you

Like two twines in prayer my heart is crossed and pointed upwards against your
beating chest

The rhythm of your eyes engrave tunes

Useful and poetic

I am lulled to sleep by the gentility and hope of a million tomorrows that feel like today

Cocooned in silk we face life and death and we are one

In the same and lost and found, here then gone

A wave scrapes shore, a rose takes its bow, and the stars blanket the sun, as you have blanketed my heart

You’ve surrender, happily, as I’ve surrendered

And as it was in the beginning, I pray, let it be in the end

Your lips embroidered to my Zen fully polished skin.

By: Magnolia

By: Magnolia   

From inside the belly of the earth

And in-between the thorns

The salts and seas conjured up

One of the most beautiful, still and moving forms.

Between the bosoms of life and death

And underneath this fleshed pealed skin

There spawns and breathes a life form, imploding from within.

With wings that fear no measure, and beats that know no ground

In hope it dives and swims and flies and through the universes it’s found.

Surrendered and surrounded   by the electricity of the invisible touch,

The bite of the lip, the grit of the teeth,

The wind that howls and the water that seeps,

Between the fractured earth and pores of decaying skin,

 Is where one cracks and discerns a polyphone buried deep within.

Effortless bleeding while knocking down doors

Bursting with life as the earth humms and roars.

We were meant to rattle and roll

To stir up the universe while most moan and snore.

To breathe with the lungs of space and speak through the dongs of purposeful vigor

With one finger holding tea and the other one on the trigger

Aimed at time and all that binds us

To fustian ties of the nothingness that dwells inside must

Fester away and rancorously die

Allowing for re-birth to fiercely be, free, create & fly.

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? 

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

–Nelson Mandela, 1994 South African Presidential Inaugural Speech, quoting spiritual leader Marianne Williamson of the Church of Today in Detroit.

This past, Friday, March 11 there was a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit northern Japan, generating a tsunami that has caused extensive damage.  My brother, who has been living near Tokyo for over five years with his wife and kids, was caught in Tokyo the day it happened.  A few days ago he wrote this note on Facebook about his experience. I wanted to post it on my blog because I admire his ability to embrace a moment while still being proactive. It’s not that everyone should or should not feel this way; it’s just a different way of looking at things. It’s difficult to have a light heart in the midst of chaos and when everything looks and feels grim, but I find the ability to be able to grab light-heartedness from anywhere you can, an amazing ability. I appreciate his perspective and hope that when faced with traumatic events, I can too, be calm and embracing all whilst being steady, focused, and proactively determined.

I have posted this with LoVe to Japan.

28 Kilometers….

By Cecil- on Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 6:54am

….That is the distance that I walked from Tokyo (Roppongi) to Yokohama (Aobadai).   The quake hit about 245 Tokyo time while I was in a meeting with a client.   I felt it first, ignored it, kept feeling and called his attention.  We stopped, waited…listened…and felt.  The ground swelled.  We went outside and found a bunch of people kind of meandering about, looking at each other for confirmation of what everyone was thinking, “is this the big one?”  The ground kept shaking for about 6 minutes, with intermittent ground swells.

People started screaming.  I made my way to the highest ground I could find with no electric cables around and just enjoyed the ride.  I figured if this was the big one, it would be my only chance to participate in this AWESOME experience….so I might as well enjoy it.  Hahaha.  Every time I felt the ground swell, I was like “Yeah! Baby!”…and then I looked over at this huge office building and stopped cold, watching it sway back and forth as if rocked by a breeze. The quaking stopped.  I stood for awhile and just enjoyed the moment.  I had tried calling my wife, but line was totally dead.  Although the biggest I had ever felt in my 10 years in Japan, I did not feel it was big enough to inflict major damage in Tokyo.  Also, the way it built up gradually, it provided enough warning for people to move and get to safety, if they had a clear head.   In any case, I simply did not FEEL (in my spirit) that my family was in danger.

I went back to my meeting, excited and even a bit…disappointed…that the big one was not so big.  And then, about 5 minutes later, another one.  We darted outside again, and met the same group of neighbors, this time a bit more panicked.   The lady next door came out in her bathrobe.  I was like, “Cool.”:)   hahaha.   This time was not as strong but combined with the experience of the first, it felt just as big…standing on the ground, like I was surfing on a wave. Kawabunga dude!

After this quake, we decided to head to safer ground and walked to Aoyama cemetery.  I thought to myself, “Best place to go if we are going to die”…laughed to myself and then thought, “that’s not funny” hahaha.  (Actually, i said it to the lady next door who had changed from her bathrobe into jeans and was heading the same direction. She laughed as well, but then kind of stopped and gave me an odd look…hahahaha! I deserved it.  ANYHOW….)

When we got to the cemetery, people were gathered there and in the street, talking, texting, being scared and surprised.  My client and I finished our meeting standing…and took a snap shot to commemorate the event:  ”3/11/11 at 3pm – The big one”

My next meeting was at 4 pm in Daikanayam.  I was still thinking to go but was going to be late; Trains were not running and all the phones were still dead.  I had about 5 meetings that day and was just going to stay in the city and have my meetings and hope that the trains would be running when I was ready to head home at night. I realized that I could still text, so I text my wife to see if she was ok.  She was fine and went to pick up my son, Cecil Jr., from pre-school.

But, then I stopped and thought for about 4 minutes…”what if this was just a warning?…What if this was NOT The big one and it was coming tonight?  Then it hit me, I need to get home ASAP because I have no idea what will be coming tonight and if I will be able to get home.  Then I started to survey the damage, and it occurred to me that in the worst case scenario, I might not be able to make it back home and my wife would be stuck with the kids.  That single thought was the trigger.  I decided to go home.

I thought to take a bus, but the line for the bus was about 1hr long.  Shibya was 20 min away on foot.  Decision: walk.

When I got to Shibuya station, it was flooded with people, lines everywhere and nothing was moving.  I did not know what I was going to do, but waiting in those lines was not the solution.  So I started to walk in the direction of home, thinking that I would catch a taxi…then I SAW the traffic; no movement.  I was walking pretty quickly and noticed that I was passing busses…and taxies.   And slowly it dawned on me, there was only one way to get home: Walk.

So with my PC (actually Mac Book…do I get money for the product plug?:) on my shoulder and my Alberto Rossis (plug plug) on my feet, I pounded the pavement for about 30 kilometers (about 20 Miles) to get home.  I left Roppongi roughly around 4pm and delayed about 20 min to buy water and 2 pieces of bread, so the total trip took approximately 5 hours.  I walked mostly along the 246 highway at an average pace of 6 kilometers per hour.  I got a helluva’ workout, wrote some DOPE rhymes, got to walk ON the 246, and was able to grab some quality thinking time – all good!

When I got home, all was fine with the fam.  One room was pretty bad, but all in all, not a disaster at all.  My feet were swollen and blistered, ankles were out….but I was home and my family was together.  Can’t complain at all.

I heard that a friend’s dad made a similar 18mile walk in about 11 hours!  And a friend of mine who lives in the area, made roughly the same drive on the 246 in about 8 hours…and another friend walked about 20 Kilos in 7 hours!  I wonder if I set a record!?

Right now, as we have now prepared sufficiently for another quake and have a kit ready, clothes next to the door, ready to jam on a dime, I am trying to discern fact from fiction and decide when to get out of emergency mode.

Now, after seeing the news and seeing the magnitude of what has happened, I really feel for those who have lost everything.  At the same time, I am all the more grateful that my family is safe and aim to them this way.   Once I decide what the next move is, I will inform my network of the facts that I have gathered and the decision that I have made.

TO HELP CLICK HERE: 

Food for all people

This is the perfect blend of poetry and art dipped in yogurt:)