Kyle, with the Ponte Veccio in the background (Florence, Italy)

QUICK UPDATE: I just got back from Italy and Canada – see more photos below – and I’m raring to go with a BUNCH of new plans and projects for the season. Stay tuned and/or be in touch at CrystalConcentrics@gmail.com. INTRO: My Blogs can be lengthy. I have things to say. My Tweets are brief – I like them too – you should check them out as well (@CrystalsPower). In Blogs, I stretch out, pursue my thoughts to their conclusions. In Twitter, my thoughts are conclusions themselves. In any case, this Fall is a turning point (as it always is, for most of us). The new season – academic semester, and Hebrew new year (which always begins in September or October) – together provide the perfect opportunity to refocus and prioritize. I will at once be working more on Results and on Process – and I hope to engage you in both, because our connection could accelerate our individual and collective progress (if we let it!). Specifically, I’m going to make my knowledge & services more available, and I’m going to market them in new ways – to groups and individuals – through social networking, presentations, and direct contact. The ad or banner graphic I’ll be placing here – is meant to represent that process – check it out (I’ll share it with you in due time), and contact me if interested, at CrystalConcentrics@gmail.com. Also, this site’s Contact (and Services) section has useful information you may wish to read over. Basically, I’m identifying the What (which is: in person or remote sessions); the Why (benefits to you: groundedness, connection with Spirit, etc.); and the How (by contacting me!) of my work. Most of my other work involves my collaboration with teams – this is more directly expressive – for me and for you. …now for my MAIN BLOG content A Time to Give Back. When I see self-satisfied celebrities thank their fans as they received awards – or publicly donate to charity – I wince at the whole concept of “giving back.” For what, I ask myself. All they have was freely given them. They’ve delivered some benefit, simply by their being. Maybe their beauty provides light, or their acting is of particular interest. If not on stage, maybe they offer some other gift or talent. Ultimately, they’ve touched people with their work. If the exchange is complete – and everybody’s happy with what they got out of the deal – then where comes the surplus or motivation to return anything? Is it just vanity reflecting vanity…a kind of kickback to the audience for their hard work in lifting a star? I have recently ‘gotten’ it, why they do that (at least some of them). I myself feel like I’m at a crossroads, and similarly inclined. It doesn’t have to be a pointless, showy transaction. The calculus – I imagine – is that the ‘successful’ person has gotten what they feel is more than enough benefit from the world – their cup runneth over – and they have something extra to share with others. It’s not about money or fame (though again, it certainly can be). It certainly isn’t for me – having lost as much as I’ve gained – and having fought for whatever recognition I’ve earned. I’ve been lucky in my life, though – in more ways than I can count, and with some consistency – though I continue to have my fair share of tribulations.

Extraordinary Papal resting place, above a door way, with Death plunging through marble fabric, holding an hourglass of time, and passing easily through the veil between worlds! (at St. Peter’s, Vatican City, Italy)

I stand – even as I perceive the extreme fragility of life and circumstance – at a mid-life OASIS (as opposed to a mid-life crisis). At least according to the averages – I have lived half my life – and am looking “over the hill,” but I’d like to think: from its top! Rather than lamenting what I haven’t done (or achieved), I’m relishing the opportunity to use my remaining time to reflect myself even more fully into the world…sharing more aspects of myself – hoping to reach a place of expression I can feel great about later – when all is said and done. I’ve been around – literally – to 3 continents and probably 100+ cities…and have walked amongst many different types of people. I constantly feel like my work is never done – like I could always do (or have) – more…most of us solopreneurs do suffer from this angst. Yet I do have the basic attributes of an American Dream fulfilled: home, spouse, children. I don’t have a lot of material possessions (maybe stones, I do have lots of them), but I’ve pretty much been able to get by and have what I need to get through. My immediate and extended family have been generous, and I’m not lacking for connections there. For someone who had cancer, as a young man (and thought living past 30 was unlikely), I’ve had a full life. I’m grateful to be approaching my 25th year of self-employment, still pursuing my Muse, and daily unearthing new and fulfilling revelations about Life, Body, Mind, and Spirit. To that end, I’ve always collected amazing stones, whenever I could: at gem shows, hikes, gift shops. My collection is substantial – and rivals, for my own practical purposes – what I’ve seen for sale at any given display ‘out there.’ It may not be worth – on the open market – what some minerologists have going, but energetically, it can do more for the world than I have it doing for me alone…and it ought to! That’s why now – and stretching back into earlier 2012 (which makes it 25 years since I was turned on to crystal power) – I’m writing a book to capture the philosophy of my belief system. In it, I explore how this work is not about Science, or even Health, per se – but per my graphic above (to show a cycle of Earth, Body, and Spirit) – it’s about bringing in Spirit from the Earth, and allowing both to more fully participate in our daily life experience. In addition to my main site: www.CrystalConcentrics.com, I have the Twitter account mentioned above (@CrystalsPower), and both a Profile (Crystal Concentrics on Facebook – using the name Crystal Powers – at http://www.facebook.com/CrystalConcentrics) and a Page on Facebook (Crystal Concentrics Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crystal-Concentrics/149848836492). I flood these with semi-daily pithy insights, as well as with posts from my new Crystal Concentrics Pinterest profile there: http://pinterest.com/crystalspower/.

Outstanding Argentine Rhodocrosite, from my Pink Stones board on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/crystalspower/pink-stones/

I like Twitter for its simplicity – and how it forces us to convey only the basic – most important things about how we feel. I like Facebook because I think I can reach more people that way, and more substantively (because it integrates Shared links really well). And Pinterest is unrivaled for image sharing…I’ve even created a not-just-stone oriented KRucialArts profile on Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/krucialarts/. Now quickly, I’d like to share with you the What‘s and Why‘s of Crystal Concentrics. The What is Sessions – individual or with groups (live or long distance) – meditative, instructional, and/or intentional. The Why are the list of Benefits you can expect from this work: increased Awareness, groundedness, connection with Earth and Spirit; a way to think about the condition of your body and health, as well as methods for interfacing with illness; release of untapped energies and the elevation of your imagination, to experience a natural high without medication. The How is ME – this modality – just give me a call or email CrystalConcentrics@gmail.com, so we can set something up and explore these possibilities together.

North African marble, on felled column (Pallatine Hill, Rome, Italy)

Lastly, I’d like to share with you some pertinent Boards I set up on Pinterest, since my return. First there’s ‘Archi-Texture in Stone’ (http://pinterest.com/crystalspower/archi-texture-in-stone/) where I share the MANY different ways in which stone shows up fascinatingly, not just visually, but in shape and contour…providing you a sense of the energy of rock in daily life (through the ages). I found a particularly large number of examples of this in Italy, where the use of stone has (also) preserved ancient civilizations for millenia. From tall and ruined structures to steps and bridges, even hand railings were made of stone…and all had such an amazing look and feel, possible only in such a well traveled nation. Worked Stone is another Board I’ve just begun to build up: http://pinterest.com/crystalspower/worked-stone/. It’s more about the interesting and functional things people have done with rock through construction and ornamentation.

Stone of organic source and appearance, Creemore center (Ontario, Canada).

In closing, I’d like to share with you this image taken in Canada – where (north of Toronto) – there is what is called ‘the escarpement:’ an area that was once covered by seas, and has a lot of organically sourced stone. I like it because it’s not only clear that it was made up of living material at one point (you can sometimes find fossils), but the stone itself takes on organic shape, like a sponge, or some other living thing, here contrasted with some living succulents. It isn’t about the Stones alone, though. They’re pretty and interesting – whole industries have arisen out of their aesthetics (gems & jewelry) and functionality (Architecture, construction) – but it’s the energy of particular pieces…the Power Stones, that are of interest to me…and I will endeavor to have them become increasingly of interest to you!