I'm a practical person. I'm a certified planner, which means I am a bastion of the public process and advise local political leaders and executive staff on decisions, draft legal documents and negotiate development deals, policies, intergovernmental agreements, present cases to public boards and commissions, etc. Infinitely practical, logical, analytical. Therefore, my artistically creative side gets exercised outside of work --through Ki and Ki-Aikido training and teaching, drawing (when I get that rare moment without my son needing my attention...), jewelry design, writing -- heck, I am a veritable mediocre Renaissance man!

Anyway, back to the limb I am about to crawl onto. The week prior to the very dark Tuesday, now known as September 11, 2001, I kept getting this feeling about that day. During my Ki breathing, at work, home, with my son, on the phone with my wife... there was something about the date. I checked my calendar dozens of times... ran through all the dates of my projects and cases.... nothing leapt out at me to tell me about that day. Still I felt uneasy. Like I had forgotten something. Something very important. I wrote it off as a knee jerk reaction to having my wife out of town, very little sleep, working a lot and preparing my fledgling dojo for its first seminar and testing. That didn't help either.

I had several very intense dreams. Ones that literally woke me. Not out of fright but out of concern. Concern for something I could not put a finger on. Images that were unclear but clearly disturbing. This continued until I was feeding my son breakfast and casually listening to NPR. It was 6:00 AM left hand coast and Arizona time. Then I heard one of my favorite commentators actually stumble through his words. Clearly Mr. Bob Edwards of NPR in Washington, DC was distressed. The second plane had hit. Instantly I start calling my wife's cell number, trying to reach her. I find her on the third attempt. She had just started to get the news. Tearful on the inside, I smile and feed my 13 month old son on the outside, trying to hold back my mix of rage, horror and shock. Then I took a deep breath. Exhaled and relaxed. This, for whatever reason, and I now firmly believe this, is what my body and mind were trying to tell me. It was something I sensed in my awareness, but I was unable to give voice to it. It was as though I could touch the darkness of the Ki of that date a week before. Yet, helplessly, time marched forward to that day, and unwillingly we all went through it. I only wish I were truly omnipotent and all powerful. That the feeling I had would have been something more than just an awful feeling. But, thankfully, everyone I know personally is safe. I can't imagine what it is like for those who are not in my position. And I now know this: I have learned a valuable lesson or two and I pledge the following to myself:

1. I will trust my feelings and awareness. This has always paid off.
2. I will not to give into hate or let anger and bitterness taint my mind.
3. I will remember that peace is painful, but it is the most noble path and the highest ground. I will always strive for the high ground.
4. I will remember that I am human and will make mistakes. I will be forgiving of my mistakes but not of my poor intentions or rash actions.
5. I will help where I can, heal where I can, create where I can. The only true power we have is over ourselves.
6. I will strive for only positive speech, action, and intention.
7. I will never doubt that Ki is real and reinforce my connection to it. Its not magic, its not all powerful, it won't end what I now believe will be world war unlike we have ever experienced. But it is a tool, a gift, a part of nature, a part of existence. A part of me, you, us, them, all. Use it. Use it well. Use it positively
8. I will learn, train, teach, create, Be. And I will find beauty in a dark time.
9. I will raise my children with peace in their hearts, awareness in their minds, and relaxation in their bodies.
10. I will extend Ki and know that Ki is extending. Extend through fear, through ignorance, through violence, through darkness. Extend Plus KI.

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