“There are no short cuts to any place worth going.” — Beverly Sills

A writer tosses away more words than he keeps.

An artist paints over countless canvases.

A dancer falls a thousand times.

A pianist does scales every day, a skater skates every day, a singer sings, a teacher teaches.

As my friend Linda Brady says, “There’s no room for perfection on the road to excellence.”

If you have a dream, a hope, or a wish, know that not only are there no short cuts, there are also no guarantees. You might fail.

Or succeed.

Or maybe it was practice.

Maybe it’s ALL practice, all of it, everything you do each day.

Maybe there is such a thing as becoming “an artist of being alive.”

And maybe that’s a place worth going.

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Here’s a place I found worth going: a Seuss-inspired poem on which I’ve been “working” (it was a joy) for five years: How Deep Is Today? a bed-time story for grown-ups.

A bit of history

Through a metaphor of diving deeper into life, rather than snorkelling on the surface, this poem was always intended as a spoken word presentation, and indeed, I presented it many, many times as it was refined it over the years. It never occurred to me to publish it. Until…it did. Vividly and whimsically illustrated by Daina Valiulis, the poem comes to life in print. Our intent is to inspire, inform and uplift.

I’ve lost all objectivity after so many years of reciting this 1000+ word poem, but my friend and best-selling author, Maureen Fisher, sums it up beautifully.

The message I took away [from How Deep Is Today?] was that the deeper we dive into the ocean of life, the more we will conquer our fears and come to believe in ourselves, and the more we trust ourselves, the more willing we are to reach out to others in kindness. I believe that if we all absorb the lessons in this little book, we can make the world a better place.

It’s funny where practice will take you…places laced with delight and deep gratitude.

I hope you’ll visit with me there.