You'll notice that part XI is listed first -- or maybe you noticed the big "Read This First" bit. You may also have noticed that the previous entry, Part X, was written in 2002. Either way, you are not at the beginning, but instead you find yourself reading about a new beginning.

The why of this out-of-sequence post is to provide a little, shall we say, disclaimer. Everything I've written here on this page was real for me when I wrote it. It was visceral, it was present, and it was what was so. It was honest.

On my first visit to China, mid-2002, I heard a new phrase that really struck a deep chord within me. We were at Mount Wudang, at the Fuzhen temple, where the princes of old came for many years to cultivate themselves. Self Cultivation: a concept that spoke to me, entered my thoughts, played around. It would lay somewhat dormant within me as the months went by, suppressed under survival, fixing and changing.

In December 2004 I embarked onto what was to become a journey along a path of self-cultivation. I took a stand for something bigger, and participated in an education that lifted a veil, gave me insights and above all a framework for me to get to know myself and to truly get to know the world as it was. Just over a year later, while I can't say my life is totally unrecognizable vis-à-vis my existence prior to entering this new realm, I have had some amazing breakthroughs and transformed good chunks of my life.

None of this happened in a vacuum. None of this occurred without taking many things on. It took some intention and work.

It's been fantastic.

Which is really all a long-winded way of saying that not all of what I wrote from 1999 to 2002 applies for me anymore; it is no longer my reality. But I will leave it up, a testament to where I've been, a glimpse back. By the same token, neither has everything been discarded. There is much in there that still speaks to me; there is much in there that I strive to create.

What has been stripped away from it all is what was stopping me from accomplishing those things.

[Link to This I Believe]

I believe in harmony. Above all else I hold this principal high. Harmony -- as a concept, as an action, as a way, as a thing and as a state of being -- exists and informs on so many different levels. It has a depth and pervasiveness everywhere and to everyone. It is the golden principle that guides all else.

I continue to believe in and strive towards being honest, being fair, and being kind.

I believe in compassion, and by this I mean true compassion to get into another's world.

I fully believe in the power of self-cultivation.

I believe in being present.

I believe in the amazing ability of true, open communication. Note: do not be fooled by this one. True, open, honest communication is not easy, and really is not the model of communication we are brought up in.

I believe in the ability for anything to be accomplished in and/or with a group of people. Said another way, there is nothing that cannot be done within a group of people.

I believe in the power of acknowledgement.

I believe in intention and I am aware of the villainy of the dreaded 'someday'. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step -- followed by another step followed by another step. Steps that will never be taken without intention.