Water Balance

While growing up, I thought I would live in California all my life. At the time, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Then in my mid-twenties, I became bolder and itchy for change. I decided to uproot myself from comfy, familiar Southern California and journey to the East Coast and begin the next phase of my life in Washington, DC.

All of the cities I was considering for this move -- DC, Seattle, Boston, New York, and Chicago -- were within driving distance to large bodies of water. It was one of my prerequisites. While I was open to living in a new place where I might not know anyone, I was unwilling to give up proximity to water. Whether it was an ocean, great lake or mighty river, I needed to be able to near enough to see it with little effort. Watching the waves in Kauai earlier this year was one of my favorite activities during the trip.


DC definitely meets that requirement. I enjoy seeing the Potomac River on my way to work each day. Being near water is calming and therapeutic. I may have been spoiled by my California beaches, but the idea of living someplace where I can't marvel at the power of an ocean's waves or the strength of a quick river current is unfathomable to me. I don't know how people who live in the middle of the country or in deserts stand living without them.

Closer Look at Apple Tribute

Here's another look at the memorial to Steve Jobs at my local Apple Store.

I wonder if Apple came up with the format of this tribute or was it organically developed by customers. Either way, it is beautiful. Even with Sunday's bright sunlight washing out some of this image, the color of the Post-It notes are so bright that most of its color was not altered.

It would be nice to think that creativity led grieving fans to this memorial concept, instead of Apple marketing or PR executives.

Apple Tribute

In my last post, I shared a tribute to Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of Apple who passed away last week due to cancer.

When walking by my local Apple Store this weekend, I came across this interesting memorial to Jobs on the store's windows. Hundreds of Post-It note messages of love and appreciation lined the windows. Grieving fans also left real apples etched with messages to Jobs near the entrance of the store as well.

It was quite a sight, seeing not only this colorful display but onlookers with their iPhones taking photos of the makeshift memorial. Perhaps that is the greatest tribute to Jobs -- his devotees using the technology he shepherded to capture this memorial honoring his contributions to the world.

Learning from a Crazy One

I'm a PC person. It's in my genes (thanks Dad). However, I love great innovation more. Steve Jobs -- the former CEO of Apple who passed away yesterday -- was the king of great innovation. He defied convention and created new technologies and devices that have revolutionized my life and quite frankly, the world. Not a bad dent to leave in the universe in only 56 years, right?


I use Steve's innovations at work, at home and at play. I even use his camera technology in the iPhone to take photos I've featured on this blog.

In 1997, Apple launched the "Think Different" advertising campaign, one of my favorite ad campaigns during my lifetime. It beautifully summarized what set Apple apart from its competitors, but also defined their leader as well.

Steve Jobs thought differently and looked at the world differently. Instead of stifling or conforming his vision, he took risks and followed his gut to creative genius. As he shared with the 2005 graduating class at Stanford University in his commencement address, change only happens when we dare to be bold and follow our intuition. Thank goodness for the world, Steve Jobs listened to his.

"Think Different" by Apple Inc.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Painted Sky

It's been stormy here in Washington, DC. Since Hurricane Irene in August, it seems like we have had more rainy days than sunny ones. Even though it was a lousy way to end the summer season, the powers that be tried to make up for it.

Once afternoon thunderstorms passed through the area, DC dwellers would be treated to these spectacular sunset skies. Light from the setting sun would reflect and cascade colors upon the lingering storm clouds left in the sky. During this evening spectacle, commuters on sidewalks stop, look up and marvel at the sight.

While hustling to meet friends for dinner after work recently, I paused to take this photograph of the Smithsonian Institute American Portrait Gallery building in Penn Quarter with the brilliant sunset sky as its backdrop. What a beautiful city to live in!

Wild Abandon

Did you know that the word "abandon" is both a verb and a noun? Frequently in conversation, people use abandon as a verb, meaning to give up a course of action, a practice, or a way of thinking completely.

I like to use the more strength-based noun definition of abandon -- the complete lack of inhibition or restraint.

As a documented control freak, letting go is not an easy thing for me to do. I'm a planner, especially well-known for contingency planning and for looking 5-10 steps ahead all the time. While this kind of thinking can be very comforting to me, it can also add stress to my life. In the long term, I don't think that it is very healthy for me or any of us for life to be so pre-planned and orchestrated.

Instead, we should act with abandon occasionally, leaving life up to fate and unforeseen circumstances. We shouldn't try so hard to see around blind corners and just be more trusting of what we can't see.

I'd like to be more like this Richard MacDonald sculpture, arms and legs thrown in the air and body in a posture of wild abandon. Abandon doesn't need to be a permanent condition or always wild. It can be a more tolerable and occasional reprieve from the inevitable stresses of a too structured life.

The Juggler

The first day of October. Only three months left in the year 2011. Unbelievable! People aren't kidding when they say how time flies as you get older.

I have no idea what the name of this sculpture is, so I named it "The Juggler." Its form is so balanced. It is how I hope to balance my life's balls of personal and professional lives. I need to work on the gracefulness depicted here in this balancing act.

Journalist Barbara Walters once said: "Most of us have trouble juggling. The woman who says she doesn't is someone whom I admire but have never met." I admit juggling is a struggle. Over time, I hope I become better at juggling relationships, work and my pursuit of happiness. Not perfect, just better.