These are the banners made for a 9 year-old's birthday party back in April. I love that the family kept them up this long. Every year he chooses a different theme. This time he drew from Anime (probably also influenced by the TaeKwon Do he's been taking). I chose to include this as a drivenmessage because often I find our youth blowing my mind these days...some of the children I meet have such levels of awareness and intelligence that I can't help but think what my parents used to say about each generation getting smarter and smarter...children are doing all kinds of things at a younger age, some commendable, and some not so. I don't know if we are "getting smarter," what I do know is that some little children appear to know more than I did at their age.

      Or maybe that's just what happens as we grow older...maybe I did know as much as them back then and somewhere along the way I forgot it or lost it. Or maybe each generation is a little less sheltered...Life seems easier now when I let go of so much that I was told or thought was "right" or I thought I once "knew."    

     Unity, Duty, and Destiny. What does it all mean? Give me your opinions and I'll give you mine, yet it all may change tomorrow. And some feelings or thoughts may stay the same. How are we to know where we will be an hour, a day, a year from now?

     Will this childs' will and principles stay strong throughout the years, and will he retain his pride in what he believes? Will he be knocked down many times and have to pick himself up into adulthood only to strive toward what he onced believed in as a child once again? Only time will tell.

     I find myself uncovering layers that bring me back to what I've always known...paralleled by the notion that I really don't know anything.

     Unity is a beautiful experience, to be had within or with others.

     Duty is doing what I believe to be just and true, as defined by me, though most often involves others.

     Destiny...hmmm...did I choose this life, this family before I got here? Is deja vu a glich in my perception matrix, and/or a sign that I'm on the true path? If it's truly my destiny, aren't I always on my good red road?

     Mystery, what a great thing. What is mystery? 

     Choice. Oh no, not that.

     Trust. In what?