I ran into an artist at my local Starbucks last night. He invited me to join him and two other artists to exhibit in a show. We agreed to discuss the details later.

“What are you trying to say in your art?” he asked.

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In “The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka shocked readers with a grotesque fable about a man who wakes up one morning to discover he has been transformed into an insect, which dovetails with the Buddhist world view of rebirth, or transmigration of the soul.

Is this possible? 

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The late Bruce Lee deserves much credit for standing by his vision. He questioned dogma, invented himself, and created a new way of seeing martial arts.

In the 1973 film, Enter the Dragon, Lee instructs a young student on how to improve his skill: “Feel, don’t think.” Lee also tells his student about the Buddhist allegory about truth called: fingers pointing at the moon. If you watch the fingers, you can’t see the moon.

Four years later, in the George Lucas film, Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Luke Skywalker the same advice. “Trust your feelings.”

What they are both saying is that you can’t go wrong if you listen to your intuition.

Feel, don’t think is also the source of great art.

For more about fingers pointing at the moon, read Character Answers All Questions inside the main site gallery.

"It’s better to be the bottom of the top than the top of the bottom.”

—so said the master

If you think about it, it makes sense. If you’re honest, it opens doors.

Have you had a defining moment in your life? I’m not talking about the moments or occasions designed for you and everyone else.

A moment when you could say, aha! A moment that made all the difference.

A moment that was yours eternally. A moment that you didn’t need anyone else to confirm.

The moment and you existed and that was the sublime.

With that said, Happy Valentine’s Day in the spirit—and that is the heart and art of the matter.

If you would like to read about such a moment in my life, see Divine Fire inside the main site gallery.