Do Talk with Strangers

One day, almost a year go now, while continuing my journey to explore and build a life full of mindfulness, compassion, and mind-body-spirit balance, I opened myself to a new experience. I went to a SGI-USA Buddhist service with a old friend and a new friend. The latter friend attends these services regularly. This was not my first Buddhist experience, as I had been to the The Zen Temple of Pittsburgh for seated meditation several years ago. Nor would it be my first place of spiritual awakening as I have also experienced The Kabbalah Center , and have been to an Eckankar meeting and even a summer solstice Pagan retreat too. Unfortunately, on this day, I was late arriving and finding seating was difficult. The usher made a fuss about where we were sitting and the commotion of it clearly disturbed the woman praying next to me. She looked at me as well as the usher and said 'this should not happen during chanting' (which I fully agree). So when there was a break, I mindfull...

Last night I met Tommy, a 65 year old first generation Irish-American born and bread on the streets of NYC. Tommy offered his chair at the bar to me so I did not have to sit on a backless stool. With white hair and aging skin, I still was surprised when he started telling me his story. He said his formal education came from the streets, only had a 3rd grade education. He started working at a bar as a teenager, was married before he was 20 and held his job at the same bar as a bartender for over 30 years. He retired when 'the fancy drinks' started to come into vogue. He could not learn how to make them because he could not read. The business owner was shocked he did not even want to try. Tommy's outlook was " I made what I made and it was good, and great while it lasted. " He told me about coming home with $500 in tips weekly, and that did not include his salary earnings. He felt rich from his people skills and his tips. To this day, every month an envelope is se...