RIFF ON A PERFECT WORLD
In a perfect world…..
The days would begin and end with a chant, a wink and a smile that stretches across miles, winding in and around the Milky Way and back again.
There would be outbursts of spontaneous salsa dancing in grocery stores and it would be the norm.
Chocolate would be the new broccoli.
My living room would have cobalt blue walls, a baby grand piano and a vase of stargazer lilies.
In a perfect world….
Live music would pour out of shops and cafes, up and down all the streets of the world. Rhythm would pulse through everything.
We would sit in sidewalk cafes until late in the evening, laughing, howling & raising our glasses to poets, dervishes and mystics.
Vacations would be evenly distributed. Instead of some people getting three vacations every summer and some getting none, we would all get five.
There would be no such thing as pantyhose and business suits.
In a perfect world…
Weekends would be longer. Even better, our vocations would be so joyful that there would be no distinction between work and play.
There would be fewer guns and more yoga mats.
I would drive around in a beat-up old truck, with a big slobbery bulldog riding shotgun.
Dahlias and sunflowers would bloom on every corner.
In a perfect world…
We would gather our tribes and have week-long picnics beneath the watermelon skies of New Mexico or on the pristine beaches of Curacao Island.
Grandmothers would entertain children by playing wild bebop lines on old, squeaky saxophones.
Women’s bodies would not be subject to public scrutiny or approval.
Lovers would skinny dip nightly in the cool waters of secret moonlit lakes.
In a perfect world…
Nobody would have to suffer indignity to earn a livelihood. Ever.
We would have 24-hour hotlines to our superheroes, dead or alive. Mine would be Carmen McRae.
Tobacco companies would be out of business.
All beings would have clean water to drink.
In a perfect world….
We are free to love who we love without judgment or fear.
Our deepest wounds are healed and our hearts are reawakened, blissful and spacious beyond comprehension.
Creativity trumps doubt, insight trumps ignorance and compassion trumps hatred.
We all realize our highest potential.
We are all OK, completely at ease and comfortable in our skin and our lives.
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Awareness of impermanence is encouraged, so that when it is coupled with our appreciation of the enormous potential of our human existence, it will give us a sense of urgency that I must use every precious moment.
– The 14th Dalai Lama