“Art Basel” Daring Display Of Love

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
— Vincent Van Gogh

Any visit to Miami evokes a nostalgic flow of my emotions these days. During a difficult, thirteen year tenure of teaching disadvantaged, middle school students in inner city schools, there, from 1982-1995, I often lacked awareness of how stimulating this unconventionally modern city really was. Yet in my infrequent visits to downtown, now, I see both sides of the extremes of human condition. Witness now the stark contrast of glittering skyscrapers and luxurious mansions overlooking pristine, Biscayne Bay with the heart-wrenching poverty of Overtown and Liberty City further inland.

Miami also casts another flair for the extreme as winter-weary tourists and freedom-seeking immigrants flock to this magic land of subtropical fantasy to experience the good life of the “American Dream.” One would not be surprised to know then that the internationally renowned, Art Basel Exhibition would find an ideal home for its eclectic collection of bold, modern art here. Since its Miami inaugural in 2002, Art Basel now showcases over 200 of the world’s leading international modern and contemporary art galleries with eclectic artworks by over 4,000 artists, including paintings, sculptures, as well as installations of photography, film, video, and digital art.

Recently, my wife and I fortunately obtained free tickets to two, major exhibitions at Art Basel: “Context” and “Art Miami” in early December, thereby avoiding the normally the steep rate of $50.00 for daily admission. Our mid-morning arrival at the fair that day would allow us to saunter freely amidst the relatively uncongested aisles at our leisure. Having no desire to purchase art pieces that exceeded our income, we quietly reveled in the multifaceted spirit of “Embrace Love in Life” that pervaded this year’s collection. Several art pieces “caught my eye” to exemplify my own perceptions of this underlying theme..

1. Find Empathy For Oppressed Condition

2. Appreciate the Friendship Of Animal Life

3. Find Serenity Of Inner Peace

4. Arouse One’s Sensory Addiction Of Food

5.Embrace Political Differences

6. Feel Groove For Oldies Music

7. Be Curious To Travel

8. Arouse Sexual Pleasure

9. Conquer Mental Distraction

10.Lighten Up And Enjoy A Childhood Spirit

December 19, 2017 4

We Can Do Better As Americans

“Politics is an act of faith you have to show some kind of confidence in the intellectual and moral capacity of the public.” — George McGovern

Every morning, I wake up to a firestorm of doubt as to the direction of my country’s future. How can an alleged child molester be endorsed as a policy maker on the national scale in this country? Does a physically violated woman have any reasonable recourse to fight sexual harassment here? Why does Twitter allow our President to continue his personal attacks on others on a daily basis? Is fake news the law of the land? Why do conspiracy theories distort truth so that facts cannot be fully trusted? Is our country’s security being well served when our intelligence agencies become Presidential targets of blame?

Amidst this crisis of values, I do recognize that there are a several signs of hope. I am encouraged by the election of Democrat Doug Jones in a traditionally red state electorate as a mandate that our country has begun to heal from this confused malaise of values. I also believe that the emerging, open discussion of sexual harassment today bodes well for a fair resolution to this issue. As the Russian collusion investigation methodically continues, I finally take heart that justice will prevail without political obstruction/interference.

What actions will elevate my own principles to foster respect for “e pluribus unum”? I want to speak proudly of my country when I travel overseas. I desire to stand with all Americans at sporting events to salute our flag. I yearn to march in protest against acts of prejudice that sever our commitment to human dignity of any race, color, or creed. I will vote only for those who honor the spirit of my Constitutional rights and freedoms. I will stay readily informed about timely issues in my spare time with foremost respect for fact.

I cannot imagine that our country can wait three more years until new elections resume in our current state of ethical decay. An angry tweet, self-centered, photo op, or divisive campaign rally will not solve America’s crisis of human decency. If we are living in a reality show Presidency , understand that this TV show can be cancelled due to low ratings. Realize also that when this moment occurs, others will mightily fall. We can do better as Americans.

December 17, 2017 4

Lessons Of A Worldly Walker

Let’s add up the numbers on our latest adventure abroad. In twenty three, consecutive days of independent travel to Paris, Dublin, London, and Rome, my I-Phone pedometer recorded that my wife and I had walked over 80 miles total distance. That’s around 3.5 miles or over 10,000 steps in daily exertion. Clearly, we continue to prefer traversing major sights on foot in our European travels. Yet, on several occasions, during this challenging journey, our will to “hit the streets” regularly had been severely tested.

1. The Complexity Of Stuff

The essentials of conducting city walks for us in densely populated areas in Europe requires considerable planning. Since heavy backpacks no longer suit us, we economized on what we included in in our smaller day packs for both space and weight purposes. Our most important essentials for daily storage would as a result include bottles of water, backup chargers, emergency snacks, and lightweight umbrellas/jackets. Bulky maps and travel guides had now been rendered obsolete as we downloaded information about desired places to visit beforehand using apps like “Triposo”and “Maps + Me.” Wearing well cushioned walking shoes seemed equally important as well.

2. Europe Often Designs Vertically

European infrastructure designs present a formidable pedestrian challenge. When traveling by “Metro”in the Chatelet stop in Paris or the Victoria Station “Tube” hub in London, for example, we typically traversed challenging distances into the depths of the underground to reach our designated point of departure. While escalators did exist at a selected stations, we often faced a stampede of busy commuter foot traffic along these pathways in reaching our departure points. Additionally, navigation around sights like “The Spanish Steps”in Rome or “Sacre Couer” in Paris, dictated that we ascend steeply by foot to obtain the panoramic views that we desired. Surprisingly, public access to restrooms in museums, restaurants airports and transit stations required several floors of laborious stairway travel as well.

3. Time Travel Matters

Tourists in major European cities today can easily be enticed to take snappy, tour bus excursions to view famous destinations. Yet our insight reveals that much of the old continent today remains best accessible on foot along cobblestone lined streets, narrow, pedestrian alleyways, and statue lined open plazas. For instance, a casual tour of the ancient Forum walls in Rome or a morning wander through the exquisite gardens of Versailles Palace outside Paris provided invaluable insights of his historical interest . On our pub tour of Dublin, as well, patient meandering through the Temple Bar corridor or a lazy stroll along the river Liffey induced a proper feel of “Old Town” medieval Dublin.

4.Security Clearance Matters

On our city tours, Europe seemed to be on “high alert” for the threat of terrorism. The crowd control measures along physical barriers near the Roman Colosseum and the Twickenham Football stadium near London, for instance, made us more vigilant to check our surroundings as we walked. By thinking beforehand about where/when to walk safely, anticipated trouble could thus be largely avoided.

Walk today and then trod some more tomorrow has thus demonstrated our independent spirit as we savor its physical challenge in our latest European travels. We could now return on our reposition cruise back home to Fort Lauderdale with a more restful frame of mind. A warm whirlpool, a comfy hammock or an easy chair on deck sounded enticing for sure. We had certainly earned these luxuries.

December 13, 2017 3

A Test Of Diversity Will Fulfilled

We must think differently, look at things in a different way. Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.”
— Yitzhak Rabin

Cruise ship journeys have always been surrounded by acts of global kindness in my life. On our recent journey from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, Ruth and I started our day routinely with the words “washy, washy”from a friendly hostess from Eastern Europe or perhaps Southeast Asia, reminding us to sanitize our hands before breakfast. Often, these brief moments with our amiable host began with an exchange of pleasant smiles followed by an informal conversation of more personal interest.

When we felt like lounging in private at the aqua spa, a dutiful pool man from India would arrange our comfy lounge chairs as needed as we bowed in Namaste prayer mode to thank him for his thoughtful efforts.Throughout the day, our hard working, cabin steward from the Philippines tuned in to our daily routine and knew exactly when and how to make our room most comfortable. As a consequence, we spent considerable time listening to her keen observations to make our cruise more enjoyable. On the last eve of the cruise we thus felt it appropriate to gift her at cruise end with one of my wife’s homemade bracelets.

While some might expect we are pampered elitists who expect to pay top dollar prices for a luxury cruise experience, that has never been the case. We affordably live in a Fort Lauderdale condominium as early retirees from teaching where casual cruising at affordable prices lies literally close by our doorstep. So our global-friendly experiences as middle class voyagers contradicts so much politically negative talk in our country today about building walls, limiting immigration, and fomenting distrust of foreigners.

Quite frankly, as white supremacy surrounding the Trump Presidency breeds xenophobic distrust today, we make extra efforts to proactively study the differences of other cultures in any place we travel. Consequently, we make behavioral adjustments to bridge language/cultural gaps as needed in unfamiliar places. For example, our experience teaching English Second Language students has taught us that in cases where a foreigner might have difficulty to understanding us, several actions can be used for fostering clearer communication: (1) speak slowly, (2) allow sufficient time to respond, (3) write down your verbal response, (4) respect body space distance and (5) observe behavioral taboos in the local custom.

Wherever we go in any form of transportation , a diligent attempt is thus made by us to tear down walls of difference and find common ground for peaceful engagement. As we enhance our cultural awareness in travel with yoga and meditation practice at home, our judgmental egos can be trained to remain silent. We thus realize that such inner peace fuels the essence of our traveling mind.

December 9, 2017 5

Better To Cruise With Mermaids

Cruise Observation – Why waste time looking for sharks in the blue waters ahead when a beautiful mermaid make a more enjoyable contemplation?

For many, finding a way to cope with the media spun lies, threats, and hypocrisy of the Trump Presidency can be very challenging. For this sensitive blogger, however, the stage seemed to be set on our recent tour of European transcontinental cruise back home to South Florida to reassess this menacing presence of POTUS lurking close behind. Such an eventful moment would this take place as the tranquil, island setting of Palma de Mallorca captivated my view on the outside deck at breakfast. For the first time since that fateful Presidential election, I would successfully engage in conversation with an avid Trump supporter with a clearer state of mind.

On this momentous occasion, I succeeded to connect with my chosen Trump adversary, Avery, as we initially exchanged honest impressions of our chosen careers. As she and I had both described our past careers in helping individuals in the teaching and health care and teaching fields respectively, our shared sense of empathy for the poor/underprivileged clients we had served seemed evident.Yet, when the subject turned to politics, we fiercely defended our differing voting rationales in the 2016 Presidential election.

Notably, Avery would take aim at Barack Obama as a weak President who did not deliver for all Americans what his eloquent speeches professed. Similarly portraying Hillary Clinton as the wrong choice for our nation, she would go on to defend Donald Trump’s election as the stronger choice for our country now. I noted then how she seemed “fed up” that our country had gone soft about rampant street crime, entitled welfare abuse, and ominous foreign tensions.

In my counter reply, I calmly asked Avery whether she felt today the same about Donald Trump as she did on Election Day. Sensing her tenuous yes answer, I noted how Donald Trump had built his entire election platform on a “divide and conquer” mentality that has continually devolved to bitterly disunite our country. Patiently listening to her dissatisfactions as a health care administrator, I similarly shared my inner city teaching challenges leading to teacher burnout. Setting our obvious political differences aside, our serious conversations would soon “lighten up” and thus end calmly with little fanfare.

I thus have reason to believe that if you want to get along with someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum, your chances increase dramatically if each party takes time to find “common ground for an honest relationship with each other. Being nice rather than nasty seems to also yield greater dividends then as you become willing to listen to alternative points of view. You might even imagine them under such trying circumstances agreeing with you that “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.”

December 5, 2017 4