Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots

Recently, I discovered one of the benefits of growing old...beyond mere longevity. Age has forced me to think more intensely. In the past year, I have traveled to Scotland to research the Scottish independence movement and then traveled to Myanmar/Burma to study the human rights efforts in that country. I loved the trip to Scotland. It was nice to return to where I did post-graduate studies 45-years ago, however the trip to Myanmar changed my life. I am a different person than I was before spending a month in Myanmar.

When I returned to the States, I had a routine appointment with my cardiologist, Dr. Marchand. My heart issues are fine, but I asked him why I was so driven. He paused for a moment and then said, "You have seen the light."

In the past four months, I have spent a great deal of time writing about seeing the light and attempting to flesh out the next question. Why? Why have I seen the light? In the process, I have looked back on 7-decades of events in my life. Steve Jobs calls these events, dots. I have danced with death a couple times, in which I learned that I was finite. I have become more left of center than I was even back in the 60s during the civil rights movement. I think about the legacy that I will leave the world. I want to use my experiences in my life to help those who are younger to enjoy life. And the list goes on....

Then it dawned on me. That is precisely what Steve Jobs said was the reason for my seeing the light...I was connecting the dots. This is part of his commencement speech at Stanford.

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Who I am today is based upon having the wondrous vantage point of connecting many dots over the years. The connecting of those dots as I look back reveals a wondrous revelation of seeing the light...a light like I never imagined as I was experiencing the dots. As the events or dots occur, that is not the time that one can see the meaning of the dots. Nevertheless, hindsight is.


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The Value of Travel: thumbnail The Value of Travel: Education 01/13/17
We Don't Have a Democracy... thumbnail We Don't Have a Democracy... Yet Either 01/06/17
A Lesson of Life thumbnail A Lesson of Life Learned from a Cockroach 01/04/17
Ginger, the Dances, and the Lady thumbnail Ginger, the Dances, and the Lady It Is All About Determination 01/02/17
Step Beyond the Impossible Wall thumbnail Step Beyond the Impossible Wall Learning from the Mongols 12/28/16
The Great Value of the Philosophers' Stone... thumbnail The Great Value of the Philosophers' Stone... To Me 12/21/16
Accomplishing Things in Life... thumbnail Accomplishing Things in Life... Even Long Shots 12/16/16
Teach Your Children, Part 2 thumbnail Teach Your Children, Part 2 But When? 12/12/16
Mentor Tell You Something About You thumbnail Mentor Tell You Something About You The Value of Post-it Notes 12/09/16
Only Those Who Dare to Fail... thumbnail Only Those Who Dare to Fail... Can Achieve 12/05/16
Deplorable... thumbnail Deplorable... Defining the Definition 11/25/16
Chimps or Bonobos thumbnail Chimps or Bonobos From Whence Did You Evolve? 11/21/16
Roll Me Up thumbnail Roll Me Up I Am Free to be Me at 73 11/18/16
The Lady, Bobby, and Bagan thumbnail The Lady, Bobby, and Bagan Triangulation Process 11/14/16
Teach Your Children... thumbnail Teach Your Children... To Dream 10/28/16
Moby Dick Found thumbnail Moby Dick Found But Not in a Book 10/19/16
Resurrecting Dashed Dreams thumbnail Resurrecting Dashed Dreams By Continuing to Dream 10/17/16
Himmler and His Quest for the Holy Grail thumbnail Himmler and His Quest for the Holy Grail Remember the Past 10/05/16
I Challenge the Trim Trump thumbnail I Challenge the Trim Trump To Test His Stamina Against Mine 10/03/16
The Fighting Téméraire thumbnail The Fighting Téméraire Explained My Nostalgia to Me 09/21/16
Why Do I Care? thumbnail Why Do I Care? More to the Point, Why Doesn't Everyone Care? 09/16/16
The Meltdown of the Donald thumbnail The Meltdown of the Donald As America Watches 09/12/16
Moh Moh Spoke thumbnail Moh Moh Spoke And She Sounded Like Don Quixote 09/09/16
thumbnail Return to Myanmar Dream Big 09/02/16
Trying and Failing... thumbnail Trying and Failing... Is Better than Failing without Trying 08/26/16
Listening to My Mentors thumbnail Listening to My Mentors And Dreaming Impossible Dreams 08/19/16
The Terrorism Trifecta thumbnail The Terrorism Trifecta Three More Dances with Death 08/12/16
Bobby Kennedy thumbnail Bobby Kennedy Still Reaches Out to Us. 07/29/16
The Queen's Haunting... thumbnail The Queen's Haunting... Bohemian Rhapsody 07/27/16
My Love Letters thumbnail My Love Letters They Must Be Written 07/22/16
We Shall Overcome thumbnail We Shall Overcome A Belief Amid Darkness 07/18/16
Prediction of Clinton's Running Mate thumbnail Prediction of Clinton's Running Mate And Her Running Mate Is.... 07/08/16
Last Words thumbnail Last Words Or Don Quixote's Joists with Windmills 07/04/16
Bloody Hands and No Backbone thumbnail Bloody Hands and No Backbone What a Legacy 06/20/16
My Sherpa Statue Spoke thumbnail My Sherpa Statue Spoke A Valuable Time Spent Listening 06/17/16
The 5-Things Test thumbnail The 5-Things Test Seeing Yourself as Others See You 06/15/16
The Angel Spoke... thumbnail The Angel Spoke... And I Listened. 06/10/16
The Thinkers Three thumbnail The Thinkers Three Jack, Owen, and Me 06/06/16
The Donald thumbnail The Donald The Relationship Between Ignorance and Knowledge 05/20/16
Mr. Turner thumbnail Mr. Turner The Dualism of Feelings 05/06/16
Morphing of the Flu with Polio thumbnail Morphing of the Flu with Polio A Strange Juxtaposition 04/29/16
I am Don Quixote thumbnail I am Don Quixote But I Am Not from La Mancha 04/15/16
thumbnail Maude Adams Found Somewhere in Time 04/13/16
In My Life thumbnail In My Life I'll Never Lose Affection for People and Things 04/11/16
Don Quixote and Albert Einstein thumbnail Don Quixote and Albert Einstein The Two Dreamers 04/04/16
Learning from My Mentor thumbnail Learning from My Mentor A Knight-Errant On His Deathbed 03/28/16
On Seeing the Light thumbnail On Seeing the Light Chuck, Paul, and Me 03/04/16
Two Roads in the Wood thumbnail Two Roads in the Wood Choose Wisely 02/26/16
Grave or No Grave thumbnail Grave or No Grave That is the Question 02/22/16
Best of Times, Worst of Times thumbnail Best of Times, Worst of Times It Is Your Choice; Choose Wisely 02/19/16
Buddha's Strange Parable... thumbnail Buddha's Strange Parable... Which We Need to Understand 02/15/16
The Value of Dreaming thumbnail The Value of Dreaming About My List of Dulcineas 02/12/16
Another Dancer thumbnail Another Dancer David Hume 02/01/16
Revitalizing My Brain thumbnail Revitalizing My Brain After Winding Up in ICU 01/25/16
"I'm Dying, and I'm Having Fun." Randy Pausch is Correct 01/15/16
The Little Match Girl thumbnail The Little Match Girl And The Golden Statue 01/11/16
The Very Strange Year of 2008 thumbnail The Very Strange Year of 2008 A Year to Remember 01/08/16
The Gift of an Angel thumbnail The Gift of an Angel It is More About My Feelings 01/06/16
Pathatique thumbnail Pathétique Moving Music 12/16/15
Doing the Dance Again thumbnail Doing the Dance Again How to Address Both New Dances 12/11/15
I Decided to Support the Emperor Donald thumbnail I Decided to Support the Emperor Donald Starting with His Red Tie 12/07/15
I Know Who I Am... thumbnail I Know Who I Am... And Have Found Two People Who Understand Me 12/04/15
Take Your Passion and Make It Happen thumbnail Take Your Passion and Make It Happen Flashdance Follow-up 11/27/15
Responses to Paris thumbnail Responses to Paris Both Are Vital 11/25/15
What a Feeling thumbnail What a Feeling And It Is a Great Feeling 11/20/15
Want to See What I'm Wearing for Halloween? thumbnail Want to See What I'm Wearing for Halloween? A Profound Question 11/16/15
The Campbell Cookie Jar thumbnail The Campbell Cookie Jar The Tie In Between the Past and the Present 10/28/15
Doubling Down... thumbnail Doubling Down... To Make Dreams Come True 10/19/15
The Old Pine Table thumbnail The Old Pine Table An Object of Renewal and Rebirth 10/14/15
It's Confession Time... thumbnail It's Confession Time... And It Isn't Sunday 10/09/15
The Mahogany Bench thumbnail The Mahogany Bench A Place for Dreaming.... 10/07/15
The Little Wooden Box thumbnail The Little Wooden Box An Updated Pandora's Box 09/30/15
A Great Dancer with Death thumbnail A Great Dancer with Death A Sobering Experience 09/21/15
Putting the Pieces Together thumbnail Putting the Pieces Together The Joy of Coming of Age 09/18/15
The Tulip Pitcher thumbnail The Tulip Pitcher A Picture of Springtime 09/16/15
Songs Can Make the World Go Around... thumbnail Songs Can Make the World Go Around... Peacefully. 09/11/15
The Felt Picture thumbnail The Felt Picture A Picture of Hopefulness 09/09/15
A Second Look at Life thumbnail A Second Look at Life Toward the End of Life 09/07/15
The Japanese Surrendered... thumbnail The Japanese Surrendered... But Why? 09/02/15
From Whence Does the Spark Come? thumbnail From Whence Does the Spark Come? The Creative Act of Pondering 08/24/15
The Value of Pain thumbnail The Value of Pain Or How to Retrieve the Torpedo 08/21/15
Discovery of Terracotta Warriors thumbnail Discovery of Terracotta Warriors... And Nessie 08/14/15
A Man with a Mission... thumbnail A Man with a Mission... Sinking a German U-boat 08/12/15
Intelligent Life on Other Planets thumbnail Intelligent Life on Other Planets Is there anyone there; does anyone care out there? 08/10/15
Riders on the Streetcar Named Desire: thumbnail Riders on the Streetcar Named Desire: Elizabeth and Rosa 08/03/15
The Pied Piper of Hamelin thumbnail The Pied Piper of Hamelin A Strange Tale 07/31/15
What Matisse Taught Me Years Ago, thumbnail What Matisse Taught Me Years Ago, Which I Finally Fully Understand 07/10/15
Alan Seeger thumbnail Alan Seeger And His Dance with Death 07/04/15
What I Learned About Life... thumbnail What I Learned About Life... From Facing Down the Dragon 06/29/15
Wading Through the Water of Life thumbnail Wading Through the Water of Life Advice by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 06/24/15
Career Opportunity... thumbnail Career Opportunity... Being a Gladiator 06/19/15
The Benefit of Problems thumbnail The Benefit of Problems Or the Only Means to Success 06/08/15
Cancer and Crabs thumbnail Cancer and Crabs Strange History that They Both Share 06/05/15
Milky Way and Andromeda's Dance with Death thumbnail Milky Way and Andromeda's Dance with Death Parallels Our Dances with Death 06/03/15
Slaughterhouse-Five thumbnail Slaughterhouse-Five Vonnegut's Dance with Death 06/01/15
thumbnail Dancing with Death Allows You to Live 05/22/15
It Has Been Seven Years Since I Fell... thumbnail It Has Been Seven Years Since I Fell... And Cracked My Head 05/18/15
The Puzzle of Life Solved By... thumbnail The Puzzle of Life Solved By... Jack and Owen 05/15/15
Steve Jobs and Charles Dickens thumbnail Steve Jobs and Charles Dickens How to Avoid the Ghosts 05/08/15
It is a Choice between Excitement and Desperation. thumbnail It is a Choice between Excitement and Desperation. Choose Wisely 05/04/15
Nepal Then thumbnail Nepal Then And Now 05/03/15
We Get Old Too Soon... thumbnail "We Get Old Too Soon... And Wise Too Late" 04/27/15
Booth Died 150 Years Ago Today thumbnail Booth Died 150 Years Ago Today How Has America Changed? 04/26/15
Fertilizing Daffodils thumbnail Fertilizing Daffodils But in the Meantime.... 04/24/15
How Do We Learn? thumbnail How Do We Learn? The Lessons in Learning 04/13/15
Two Crazy Captains Chasing Moby Dick thumbnail Two Crazy Captains Chasing Moby Dick Then and Now 04/03/15
Ode to Joy thumbnail Ode to Joy In the Midst of Pain 03/27/15
Lead Death as You Dance with Death thumbnail Lead Death as You Dance with Death It Will Change Your Life 03/24/15
Reliving Many Bloody Sundays thumbnail Reliving Many Bloody Sundays Rebirth of the Civil Rights Movement 03/07/15
All Mankind is Divided Into Three Classes... thumbnail "All Mankind is Divided Into Three Classes..." Some Aren't Buried Until They Are Seventy-five 02/23/15
Obama's Golden Opportunity thumbnail Obama's Golden Opportunity On Leaving a Legacy 02/13/15
Suffering Yields Success thumbnail Suffering Yields Success Worrying Yields Warts 01/14/14
Every child is an artist. thumbnail "Every Child is an Artist." The Question is What Remains in Adulthood? 01/12/15
Ozone to Ferguson thumbnail Ozone to Ferguson A Journey That Never Seems To End 01/05/15
It Was the Best of Times thumbnail It Was the Best of Times It Was the Worst of Times.... 01/01/15
A Hand Is Put Into Theirs... thumbnail A Hand Is Put Into Theirs... And the Hand May Be a Little Child's 12/29/14
Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream thumbnail Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream The Disconnect Between Dreaming and Reality 12/26/14
What Einstein Taught Me About Riding a Bike thumbnail What Einstein Taught Me About Riding a Bike ...Keep Moving 12/22/14
Joe Hill Died November 19, 1915 thumbnail Joe Hill Died November 19, 1915 "I Never Died," Says He. 11/19/14
Death is the Best Invention of Life thumbnail Death is the Best Invention of Life Breathing Is Not Living 11/14/14
From Witches to Marrying Monkeys thumbnail From Witches to Marrying Monkeys Conservatives Have an Answer 11/10/14
To Thine Own Self Be True thumbnail To Thine Own Self Be True... An Ethical First Step 10/24/14
A Lesson of Life from Alexander the Great thumbnail A Lesson of Life from Alexander the Great "Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal." 10/17/14
My Dots in Life Get Connected thumbnail My Dots in Life Get Connected With the Singing of Pete Seeger 10/06/14
Nothing is Secure thumbnail Nothing is Secure Which is a Great Blessing 10/03/14
Christopher Robin is Correct... thumbnail Christopher Robin is Correct... However, You Must Believe It Before It Is. 09/29/14
Wolverton Mountain thumbnail Wolverton Mountain The Place Where Dreams Occur 09/26/14
Pushing Oneself... thumbnail Pushing Oneself... What I Learned from T. S. Eliot 09/14/14
Articles as a Living Legacy... thumbnail Articles as a Living Legacy... Why I Write 09/12/14
Darkest Before Dawn thumbnail Darkest Before Dawn A Logical Disconnect that Is True 08/15/14
Come Alive... thumbnail Come Alive... Before You Die. 07/24/14
Orwell and Scottish Independence thumbnail Orwell and Scottish Independence Or Smell the Heather and Vote for Independence 07/18/14
Burma-Shave... thumbnail Burma-Shave... And Seeing the Light 07/07/14
The Chilling Reality of Global Warming thumbnail The Chilling Reality of Global Warming Where Does Lying Get Politicians and the Rest of Us? 06/28/14
Connecting the Dots... thumbnail Connecting the Dots... For Scottish Independence 06/24/14
Moravec Evolution thumbnail Moravec Evolution or the 21st Century Scopes Trial 06/21/14
Old Men Should Plant Trees... thumbnail Old Men Should Plant Trees... And They Should Be Planted Now. 06/16/14
Connecting the Dots With Jack and Owen thumbnail Connecting the Dots With Jack and Owen Teaching Them To Be Steve Jobs-esque 06/14/14
Changing the World... thumbnail Changing the World... The Story of My Struggle 06/10/14
Jack and Owen thumbnail Jack and Owen Novice 21st Century Johnny Appleseeds 06/01/14
Leaving a Legacy... thumbnail Leaving a Legacy... A Concern of a 71-Year Old. 05/18/14
Orwell and Kipling and the Battle of Burma thumbnail Orwell and Kipling and the Battle of Burma Or Why I Care 05/12/14
Learning to Play Chess from a Master thumbnail Learning to Play Chess from a Master What Jack and Owen Will Learn from Me. 05/02/14
Faulkner's Lesson of Life... thumbnail Faulkner's Lesson of Life... Even When the Last Ding-dong of Doom has Clanged. 04/17/14
Connecting the Dots... thumbnail Connecting the Dots... On Your Way to Eldorado 09/09/12