Harley King

"Nothing stays the same and nothing changes.  What is old today will be new tomorrow.  What is new today will be forgotten tomorrow."

— Harley King

American Writer/Speaker

1949 -

We humans love to measure time and to reflect on where we have been and where we want to go.  If we have not published our first book by the time we are thirty, we may never publish a book.  If we live to be sixty, we are suddenly over the hill and unemployable.  Unless, of course, we are running for President.

My time on this planet has taught me that as much as things change they still remain the same.  What once was old comes back in fashion.  And what we believe to be new and exciting will soon fade away.  The story you are writing has been written before.  The painting you are painting has been painted before.  And yet each of us must believe that we are the first.  That no one has done this before.  

Yesterday, I quoted Gladys Taber who in her lifetime published more than 60 books.  Yet, until yesterday I had never heard of her.  We may be celebrated in our lifetime but forgotten after we die.  Or we may be unknown in our lifetime and remembered for hundreds of years.  Time has a way of playing tricks on us.  We think we have mastered it and it sneaks a way from us.  

As you reflect today on what happened to you in 2011 and dream about what will happen in 2012, remember that nothing stays the same and nothing change.  Don't worry about the passing of time.  Be happy with who you are and whom you have become.  Celebrate the new year with open arms.

Maria Shriver

"Poetry can startle you, awaken you, make you fall in love, take your breath away.  When those words sink in, you'll never look at your life or your journey the same way again."

— Maria Shriver

American Journalist, Author

1955 - 

When you find the right poem, it can open up new worlds and change the way you look at life.  And so can a painting, a novel or even a play.  That is the power of art.  Planted within each story, painting or poem are the seeds of awareness that when they sprout in the heart of the reader or observer will change his or her life.

Unfortunately, in the American society, poets and poetry get the short end of the stick.  Fewer and fewer people read it while the number who claim to write it continues to grow.  I am amazed by people claim to write poetry but have never picked up a book and read any.  

One of Maria Shriver's favorite poets is Mary Oliver.  Maria's interview of Mary appears in the April 2011 edition of the Oprah Magazine.  If you haven't read it, you should.  Here is a poem by Mary Oliver that Shriver keeps on her desk. Very inspiring.

The Journey

by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save. 

Here is Maria Shriver reading The Journey in 2010.