Sun and Seeing (vol. 6, no. 6)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month:

1. Question(s):

• “Every day I examine myself on three points. When I worked to benefit someone else, did I do my best? In my relationship with my friends, did I fail to be trustworthy? Did I pass on my knowledge I myself had not put into practice?” – Master Zeng (The Analects) (ht Phillip Hope)

2. Quote:

• “Freedom is a radical sense of letting be and being let be. As Antonio Machado said: ‘An eye is an eye not because you see it, an eye is an eye because it sees you.’ Freedom is found in granting life to people and things other than ourselves that creates a mutually nourishing sense of seeing and being seen.” – David Whyte (Consolations II)

3. Poem:

From Advice to Myself #2: Resistance, by Louise Erdrich

Resist outrageous charts spelling doom.
However you can, rely on sun and wind.
Resist loss of the miraculous
by lowering your standards
for what constitutes a miracle.
It is all a fucking miracle.

4. Something inspiring:

• My longtime friend Shin Fujiyama released his first book Green Oranges: A Journey into Honduras to Find Redemption, Hope, and Transformation. It’s an incredibly inspiring read about Shin’s growth, determination, and commitment. I have been witnessing Shin’s work in Honduras since 2007. I am on the Executive Board of Directors for One Thousand Schools. And let me tell you, the heights he climbs and distances he goes (like running from Mexico to Honduras to raise over a million dollars) to realize his vision is jaw-dropping.

5. Project Update:

• My Football is… project is on track for a September 1, 2025 book release. I’ve got 41 essays and 10 speeches. Now, I’ve got to decide which essay to let go of in order to adhere to my constraint of only 40 essays.

Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn