I spent some time this last month with a friend who was living his last few days. He passed away and left me with our final conversation - the duality of reality versus inspiration.

Often we are told that reality and inspiration do not go together. Just as water and oil do not mix, nor do harsh reality and inspiration of the rise above and shine types of hope. Dreams are for those who do not do; reality is where you belong. Do the best you can, but not so good that you would rise above others. Listen to the words of my mouth that smile and speak words of encouragement only for the moment so that I can feel as if I have done my duty, but do not look at the fear or results of the life I have lived. Fit in the box that defines you, and stay there for my comfort.

Why would I start out a piece like this? We need to get jarred out of our complacency sometimes with stark truth. The questions we ask ourselves to move us to another level must first be asked from a vantage point of clarity. Why are we so tired all the time? Could it be that we are struggling so hard to be someone other than the beautiful individuals that we are? Are we struggling not to be out too loud, not be noticed, and to shrink instead of expand? Is it that we are getting older or that we are tiring of fighting to present a false front against unseen enemies, only to find that we are the enemy. What obsession drives us to seek constantly a shinier car, a bigger house, a better body, more money, the right connections, the ideal outward appearance of a family, the mate that will finally understand us, all just to fill a void that will forever be empty until we learn the secret?

The secret is that we are miracles, each and every one of us … not a black, Hispanic, white, or yellow Homo sapiens, but an individual light of possibility. We walk by each other every day into boardrooms and bedrooms, on streets and in buses, in malls and in bars; we crave connection, but accept the facade of the other because we are giving the facade of ourselves. The snapshots of life that capture moments are surface representations of fake and empty connections. The miracle of the person in the mirror and the person in front of you is the miracle of what we are capable of, the sheer possibility of condensed potential. We feel this power and are frustrated by it only because we cannot see past our fears and limitations to embrace this gift.

Jason, how do I overcome the fears of my life? I say the only way is to attack head on those things that would attempt to hold you from your destiny!!!! If you are afraid of rejection, then go get rejected a 1000 times. Then come back and tell me what hold the fear of rejection will have on you then .... NONE!!! If you have fear of not being loved, then love others at a level unfelt before and without the expectation of getting anything in return. If you have a fear of not being accepted, then go accept everyone who needs some attention, the sick, the old, the lonely, the forgotten. We MUST wake up to the fact that nice political correctness is boring us into a sheep sleep that will keep us mesmerized until five minutes before our death only to be realized to late.... Live out loud now, learn to play the piano, go to Europe, dance instead of sleep, make love, kiss, smile, plan for tomorrow - but live right now. Would you take 50 years of playing it safe, or five minutes of passionate living? What if those five minutes of passion turned into a life well lived? What if you didn't save up your energy for a tomorrow that may never come and you found that when tomorrow did come there was more energy and passion than you started with? HMMMMM, something to ponder on I suppose. Or something to gloss over and say geez this guy is crazy. I will ignore him and go back to sleep. Guess what? We all die, how will you live?