Well, a Good Gracious Good Day and a belated but heartfelt Happy New Year to you all… Jan 18^th and my 1^st Blog of the   year. Seems I have been hiding out from this entire “Social Networking Hullabaloo”! Living a low key Holiday profile in Palm Springs Ca.  Just a “Ho Ho Ho Homebody-Nobody” in contrast to my usual normal stance of Out-Loud-Uber-Overachieving-Pollyanna-on-Prozac! Comparatively I have been positively indulgent to whimsy for a brief respite.

Yet, instinctively, when I get on a plane I begin chatting to “The Universe” ( It looks better to do this on my lap-top than out-loud to myself), Especially on this “little” jaunt across the pond- a mere 17 undisturbed HOURS on ONE Frickin’ PLANE with ZERO connections from Los Angeles to Bangkok- Yeah… 17 (are you serious?) Hours?!! This is pushing the limits of fathom ability, this airship will be sucking nothing but vapors of fumes when it lands in Thailand.  It is probably prudent if I don’t look like I have been doing the same talking to the Universe out-loud!

An outright assault (Our World  Outside) while encased in a familiar frame it’s displaying a unnatural Ghastly picture. The only other pictures I’ve seen in my past weeks are made for my Latest Mistress & Muse and Adolescent Obsession (just seeing if your reading the words, not just moving your lips!) My Art- it has been an entire year now, I still feel like I have been locked inside Willy Wonka’s Wondrous Warehouse overnight without a chaperone…nothing is off limits or out of reach, I have complete run of the Mill.

Settling into window seat 14-A seeing the newspapers headlines that drain color from reality gently being wheeled down the aisle on a tidy silver trolley with festive splashes of purple Orchids which only enhances the garish grim shades of grief and gray that have cleaved Haiti’s heart in two… o m g what the?? The pictures and prose paint an abomination of numbers that strike me right across my chocolate stained face…7.0 (I am a California native, I know the gravity of that number 7).

60,000 + lives LOST… that is a “low ball figure”.  Take an entire Olympic Stadium, fill it to the rafters with living vibrant people and now take them out of the Game in an instant, just gone faster than I can type this sentence.

I sit here after take-off trying to calculate just the sheer scale of that number.  If I wanted to be respectful and give just one second of time to every individual soul lost to the quake, only one second to personally acknowledge every Man, Woman, Child, Mother, Father, Son and Daughter who each was a unique individual before they became a rising death toll figure left on the side of the road to be a sound bite for international news. but…

One second of time for each person from our planes graceful take-off in LA… ‘tick (1) ‘tick (2) ‘tick (3) during our 3 hot meals served…tick- countless hot hand towels…tick-Holly & Bollywood features…tick- mind numbing silence…’tick-to our gentle landing… 17 non-stop counting HOURS later, nearly halfway around the globe…’tick- as wheels touch down…’tick -I am at

61,200 individuals-

just one brief second to honor a person and people I will never know or recognize, people making their way in the world like we are doing today… -‘tick… -‘tick…-‘tick this is not a trick of Apocalyptic movie magic or of Pure Imagination, -‘tick  wow…no frame could ever contain such a vision.

Legendary Composer Leonard Bernstein- quoted for having  said (not about this event mind you, but)…

“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan and not quiet enough time.”

I think this expressive man, in his one lifetime left us an aural image of time and place, an eternal voice of humanity.  I know he would agree he was 100% Correct.   Great things were not achieved, as there was not quiet enough time and certainly not a plan… that could explain this…‘tick…’tick.

Haiti believe we cannot understand, believe we cannot expect you to, believe that we believe in you.  Go Gently Haiti… Go Gently…

Namaste.

This is an exciting “Best of Reel” from the Torino Winter Olympics 2006

A Night of Magic and Wonder created by myself and a brave band of buddies for your enjoyment!

“Thinking brand new thoughts that you’ve never thought before Doug

is wildly more conducive to creating big life changes than just thinking different varieties of the same old thoughts you have everyday.

Think about it -The Universe

I shot back a reply- “Pardon my glibness oh great Devine Miss U. but I beg to differ…just a wee bit about what you just said!

The Universe (only mildly surprised) replies- “Excuse me Douglas, what is this your saying? Are you disagreeing with Moi?

Do you wish to stay locked on the same level of the game, NEVER achieving more?

Is this yet another excuse to not be all you want to be? Cuz, I have heard them ALL before trust m Bro!”

Trying to be insightful, I continue with – “No, your great U-ness not at all, what I am eluding to is, I do not think you need the to be so radical in your approach; going out seeking a brand new vocabulary to have “thoughts you’ve never thought before” to achieve these great life changes.

I believe you can approach this from a different angle and the same life-changing outcome will be afforded you. By taking bits and pieces from tried and true thoughts you already know, stringing them together in a different order and using a new line up to glean the benefits of a Brand NEW THOUGHT process.”

Like dormant DNA just waiting to be activated, all the raw materials needed for change come from the past, which will create the present.

The Universe raises an eyebrow- “I am intrigued, my undivided attention Douglas is all yours, enlighten me!”

(Palms sweating and typing too fast)-“Well for instance, you can choreograph a brand new “never seen before” Change or if you indulge me my vernacular; a new Dance into your life… you can use old dance steps you already know, individual steps you are already comfortable with to create a New dance, it’s the order in which you place and choose to use them, or ones you may not have used in quiet a while that can truly CREATE CHANGE.

So may times the IDEA of making a “BIG LIFE CHANGE” has the added pressure that you have to do something Revolutionary, or Radical, something “Never been tried before”. Which will undoubtedly require schooling, or a “guts for glory” type of change like moving, or a new job, or perhaps a quest to seek enlightenment that requires you to learn a completely NEW language to go with this New lifestyle.

These ideas are usually followed by the slew of great reasons “Why” you cannot or should not begin to go there.

New is not easy; it is disruptive, expensive and scary, and it is not always better!

Then the Mother of all reasons “Why” speaks up…telling you “ Cha Cha what are you crazy? You don’t know how to Cha Cha silly!” Safety in guise of the dull and ordinary to the rescue.

WAIT but…“Of course you know how to Cha Cha! Why the power of ‘Cha Cha Choice’ is inside of you right now! No need to seek for outside tutelage, the building blocks to want to Cha Cha are just waiting the change in the music!

Go back to basics, your databanks: your permanent hard drive. Search through saved files, and open up some you may have forgotten.

Unlike learning a new language or new physical discipline where everything is foreign to you and you need to be taught from the beginning through a rigorous rhetoric of rules, repetition, you feel unsure, unstable and undeniably humbled, and at your age this is not a flattering color for you, you feel frustrated at every new lesson needed, the thousands required to lead you too THIS NEW CHANGE??? It’s an exponentially daunting ride.

“Hell, it is enough to blow off the class all together… giving yourself every excuse why it was just to hard to do.

You’re OLD; too busy; and really not ready for this kind of humiliation.

You can’t teach this old dog a new trick, or change this tiger’s stripes!

However, if you approach the challenge knowing you know this language, these “dance steps” already, it’s just that some steps are rusty, or been coupled to others which changing their original intent, you’ve forget the power of possibility they contain as unique stand-alone expressions.

Your obviously stuck in this “Cha Cha-free routine”; like a performer in a chorus line, doing the same show every day of every week for years on end. Just a cookie cutter dance, a perfectly safe self contained shuffle along.

Perhaps this Cha Cha will get you fired from your line-dancing life in the Chorus allowing you to be the budding Ingénue or dashing Leading man you once dreamed of.

The STAR, of your very own SOLD OUT SMASH HIT SHOW,and yes this could be a co-staring role shared with your significant other -as long as you take individual bows.

WHAT MAKES A LIFE CHANGE SIGNIFICANT?

Who is the celebrity judge allowed to say if this change meets the criteria to be classified a SIGNIFICANT change?

(Hint) it’s not a Paula, Simon, or Randy, certainly not a Ryan, or your parents, bosses, friends or the Church or State (those guys are not even allowed in the theater).

So, Don’t Vote yourself off your island, make that Deal, wish upon that star, unwrap that Golden Ticket, move into the New dance that will SIGNIFICANTLY change your life, no need to change anything except your mind or learn anything new.

Still unsure? OK, Try this- close your bedroom door, put on your favorite “Damn I look Good Outfit”, hit the play button on the stereo, play your “I Am a Rock Star” favorite song up at full volume!

Allow your SIGNIFICANT OTHER TO COME OUT and join you so they can take the lead vocal while you play back-up air guitar, as you get used to the new rythmn.

Your significant other Kicks open your door, leading you into the spotlight turning to you sayng “Hey Dude… Remember this step we used to do?”  And without even thinking you fall into the groove you used to do and BINGO now you feel like a New Rock Star not a Has been Golden Oldie but a Bono-fied Bono. The song feels familiar but sounds totally KICK ASS!

You grab the Mic and just…FREESTYLE IT buddy!  No play-list, no net, just use everything you’ve ever believed, known or wanted to do and just FRICKIN’ FREESTYLE!

You know what? That sure looks like one hell of a COSMIC CHA CHA to me!

Universe- “Hmmmm you got the ‘dance between the lines’ of my challenge after all? You did well Dougger, now if you will, please excuse me while I slip on My Cha Cha Heels…!”

I have found the Ultimate expression that is better than “Going Green”, better than “Animal Safe” and adds color to our environment  too!

I found Robbie the Rhino here in a thrift store looking for a make-over, and as I took him apart and marveled at his clever design I found his makers, Chris and Company at Cardboardsafari.com a clever bunch of wonderful people, and we started to talk about wild Game!

The words Robbie the RainBow Rhino inspired the make-over, all done with my own original crayon technique you can see more on my artist tab, the white calking gave Robbie a frosted look, so once mounted on his sun and circular plaque, my inner child started to think about going on a color safari for the rare- but not endangered “Frosted Rhino”. The trick is to find a cherry big enough for his horn? hmmmm….

My new friends at Cardboardsafri.com Chris and Co. have said they would provide the raw materials for more color safari creatures.  If you should have a desire for one please contact me here on my site and lets see what beauty is lurking to be explored and discovered, help me support the environment and my new buds at Cardboardsafari.com

Enjoy and Go Gently.

Doug

“Days of Significance”

This morning, as I begin to rise and greet the day, I am becoming conscious and alert for the very first time in my life.  I have this beginning of an understanding that gently washes over me, it enlivens my inner being bringing me to a point of blissful alertness. Wow, this is better than Christmas!

Today will be my 1st Day of school & also my Graduation from it, it will be the day I am born (my true 1st Birthday) & my most recent Anniversary of that day. It’s the day where I will fly out on stage (for the first time ever) as that tenacious little bumblebee & the day of my 7^th Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies where I will “Thank” for the last time my 4000 volunteer cast-members. The day that I hear that I am voted “Most Talented” at my High School (a place I thought, thought me invisible) & the day I receive an Emmy Award.  It feels like the day I am going to meet Ron and Judy for the first time ever & the day I know that they are gone from my life forever.  Finally, it feels like the day I “Get it” that I will finally meet the Universe face to face… on even ground…as equals, friends and fellow Gypsies..

In short, (a little too late for that don’t you think), as I wake to consciousness this morning I feel I have reached the day of why I AM HERE, my understanding of the totality of… well, ME! I realize I am at my Being Point.

By derfinition; THE BEING POINT^TM is the always present moment of truth at which we are most fully alive and aware, at which love is chosen over fear, at which humans and organizations take control of their own destinies and give deliberate direction to their own evolution.

Oh My Frickin’ Heck!

When was anybody going to tell me it was today?  Ha, I wonder if I am wearing clean underwear!

Ah, Wow, so this is what it feels like to “Be in the Moment” to “Stay in the Now” to “Boldly go where no man (or, no Doug has allowed himself to go) has gone before!”

Shouldn’t there be trumpets blowing a fanfar “Tut Tut Tut Tahhhhhh”- “Fanfareing” or whatever they call it, as I go out of my bedroom to use “The Throne Room”?  Not even a dole of white doves at my loo window? (A dole is what a group or a flock of doves is called), I just learned that…I Googled it on my i-phone from the Throne!  And…Still no doves?

At least I will know what to call them when I see them for they are bound to show up any minute now, maybe they didn’t set their clocks back an hour last week (can birds even fly backwards?) Back to Goggle….

Though seriously trumpets and doves aside, as I wash my hands it does put me to wondering how many “Days of Significance” are we to have in our lives?

How many days of total and complete understanding that you are alive and completely in the right place at the right time? Aware that your Completeness tank is full and your “OH-dometer” and is pointing to BEING POINT!.

We have the obvious “Days of Significance”- the kind we plan and pay for to be this wonderous and OHmazing… for ex;

Births /Deaths /Engagements/ Weddings /Anniversaries /Graduations/ and a handfull of other “Fabricated Milestones” centered around an over marketed glut of over marketed holidays…

But I think it is this type of

SURPRISE  “Days of Significance” , the unobvious, the ones that catch you unawares.

They are the real reason we are Living, the real reasons we try, dream, hope, act on, persevere, fail, try again, want, need, desire, rest, endeavor, seek, allow and begin to comprehend, and then do it all over again.

All in the Quest for a day like I am having today.

That today will be a “DAY OF SIGNIFICANCE”.

I will tell you later about my day, but it is not important in the grand scale of this revelation…

It is the Journey, the Quest, the lesson gleaned that we live for these “Days Of Significance.” This is the Important Bit!

The days that are not flagged, not circled in RED on your Calendar, these quiet simply are the greatest and the most rare kind “a FIVE Leaf Clover Day” the ones that just gently appear in your sightline without any “Tut Tut Tut Tahhhhhhhinggg!”… As easy as waking up.

This, I Now understand, is the true reason for living; It is the Power-Up from our “Days of Significance” that creates LIFE!

Go Gently and Significantly into this day,

Doug!

Being Point Press Publishes The Back Side Of Wonderful by Doug Jack

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Santa Monica, CA

Being Point Press is delighted to announce the publication of The Back Side Of Wonderful, the first book  by Emmy Award winning event choreographer and director Doug Jack.

Doug’s credits include Opening and Closing Ceremonies for Summer and Winter Olympics, Super Bowl Halftime Shows, Miss America Pageants, and a variety of other stadium, arena and large-venue events.

In The Back Side Of Wonderful, Doug tells the story of how he rose to the top of his chosen profession,  Event Theater, even as he participated in the creation of that profession itself.

Doug’s talent and skill have taken him to each of the world’s continents (except Antarctica: He’s open to invitations!) and his work has been seen by global television audiences measured in the billions. By his own estimate he has worked with more than a quarter of a million volunteer performers, creating such unforgettable moments as the giant skier for the Torino Winter Olympics, the ice skating pageant for the Salt lake City Games, and others.

In addition to volunteers, Doug has worked closely with celebrities and stars including Diana Ross, Bonnie Raitt, and Gloria Estefan. Capturing the qualities that make them stars, Doug also celebrates the celebrities’ humanity, recounting stories of the “down to earth” nature, their kindness and openness.

But above all, The Back Side Of Wonderful is Doug’s own story , one that has lessons – and laughs – for all of us.

Doug’s far-ranging and insightful memoir was prompted by a semi-mystical incident that set his thoughts free to rove back and forth through time, revisiting cherished memories, discovering unsuspected truths, celebrating a life lived throughout the world, and in the company of talented, giving, joyous friends.

For all of its backstage glimpses of the Olympics, of Disney, of television and stadium productions, The Back Side Of Wonderful is also nothing less than a love song from one man to the Universe—and the story of how he learned, with both smiles and tears, to hear the message the Universe has for him.

And for all of us.

ABOUT BEING POINT PRESS  this is my publisher, go to this web site and place your orders,  again YOU ARE IN THE BOOK!!

BEING POINT^TM PRESS publishes fiction and nonfiction promoting higher understanding among human beings – advancing the causes of love, peace, responsibility, joy and harmony for our planet.

visit:

http://www.beingpointpress.com/backsideofwonderful/

While most people like to Power-Up for Monday, I think today I will power down a few gears and try and focus my energies on one thing and not Cosmic multi task which is what I am so used to doing, so much so that it seems normal to me. Until I start to see the people in my daily life begin to flinch when I speak to them, or they start to lag behind and are too tired or fatigued to have the desire to keep the pace with me, saying that they will catch me on the next lap just as soon as they catch their breath.

My “day-Job” requires such a 24/7 Power-Up pace, however, the lesson I am learning as I am now walking beside the Divine Miss U… a.k.a. The Universe. She is no longer a storm that is calling to me from off shore, but instead she is a trusted friend and confidant who is reminding me today that even the man in the circus who does the “Plate Spinning Act” with 100 plates in the air at a time… does not spin plates 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

There needs to be time for you, for the Universe to have a chat while you sit idle at the stop light on the road of life laughing about simpler things, things that do not need to save the world, save the planet or even save time. Just spend a day laughing at the nonsensical things, journey into new parts of your city, get lost in your thoughts, or close the door put on some music and “Dance Like the Whole World is Watching”!

Yes… the world will be there tomorrow, the hustle and bustle the dreams and the hopes all ready for your fresher outlook and your clear clean eyes to gaze at it. You say out-Loud , “Wow! I have never seen that before!” and your friend the Universe says:

“Don’t be silly, that has always been there just like it is now. I should know, I put it there. You just needed to downshift and see it at a slower pace instead of whizzing around like some NASCAR car driver of life with everything blurred except what is in front of you!”

A downshift to a Power-Up will always lead you to a victory…however if you were to run your life at a continuous break neck speed you will never arrive at the finish-line because you will have never seen the life lessons that she intends you to see.

So slow down and Go Gently and Power-Up to tomorrow.

And that’s why my Monday blog got posted on Tuesday — and it, like me, is the better for it!The

There is an intense storm off shore.

You know it because you can see the clouds appear in the early evening sky, backlit by electric energy, and then instantly disappear into blackness.

Moments later a deep rumbling greets you, borne on the salt-swept wavetops of the surf. You are captivated by the storm’s size. Its sheer bulk encompasses your horizon.

It calls to you like a siren of the sea, it touches every pore of your being, and the ache to be engulfed in her turbulence is unlike anything you have ever felt or imagined possible in your lifetime.

The storm moves in to shore. Fear, anxiety, the fight or flight response is activated in you.

You chose Fight.

Standing your ground squaring your shoulders holding the line it hits. Not with gentle rain but with a BLAST a wall of water SLAMS into your body with such an intensity it is like a hit from 100 linebackers plowing into you.

Somehow you stand your ground. Your soul is drenched, cleansed. Your spirit rejuvenated, your body empowered.

Open your eyes to quiet… the beach is gone, the storm has dissipated, your clothes are dry, nothing is as it was except, wait…

Nothing is as it was because something has joined you the storm brought you to the X on your treasure map, to the point of being you, with every hope sent out with every dream wished and every desire fanned. You have called her and now she stands beside you.

Say hello to the Universe, she is right next to you…

FEEL THE POWER OF “U”