To the streets

The little statue in the light jutting out of the dark street under a highway is Dr. Sun Yat Sen. He appears to be standing on top of the walkway just above the red holiday flowers.

For me the feeling of rising above the mundane is mixed with the need to dance in the streets (another popular song with a street theme from 1964). The Doobie Brothers song from the 70's which Take 6 covered on their "Beautiful World" album is exactly how I feel this year.

On January 1, 2013 (last year) I remember panicking that nothing had taken off yet. Seemingly out of the blue an old friend asked if we shouldn't catch up over coffee soon only to disappear (perhaps forever) on hearing my new company was looking for funds.

This year, I woke up knowing who loves me, whom I love, what I wanted and now where it would take place: the street. I'm not talking about rioting or demonstrating. I'm thinking about something outside our falsely secure glass metal temples to corporate power and funding whose luxury offices many still aspire to. For me, these buildings are the new "emperor's new clothes": naked, empty and impressive by name only. 

Instead of creating the facade of work and productivity like the invisible clothes the emperor wore only to be called out by a small child. Our clothes, towers, schedules and power are ostentatious, obvious and screams out for attention. But like the imaginary emperor's clothes, their substance is but a dream.

My office is anywhere my working partners are, be they colleagues, clients, partners, friends... Satisfying relationships and service that leads to creating value for us must be the substance, adornment and proclamation. Value must be more than money or glitz. It is about a joyful moment, a realization, some improvement, a new discovery, a new view point, a fresh thought... things that throwing money at cannot achieve. 

The missing element to all of life's treasure is the act of going outside ourselves, in the streets of humanity to make something out of the mundane, something that refreshes ourselves and those we relate to. These moments are often to be found in the streets, outside, in the unknown, among strange places, on unfamiliar faces... I want to be "takin it to the streets: Take (6) a listen....

I also found a live performance in 1996 by the original Michael Mcdonald....