I enjoyed meeting you and your fellow men in blue during our visit to San Quentin today (March 17, 2016). I was impressed by the level of consciousness and eloquence you and your peers had developed. I was touched by the experience and felt inspired to help make our world a better place by supporting prison reform to enable more growth and rehabilitation for the millions of people we have incarcerated in our county for the benefit of the prisoners, their families, and broader society. In many ways your work at San Quentin provides a model for the positive progress that men behind bars can make.
I was struck that many of us on the outside including myself struggle with our own past and our own demons and desire for more. Although our actions and impact were not as severe, we all face our own internal struggles. I am also working on experiencing a higher level of consciousness by being in tune with my own feelings and authentically communicating with fellow man from a place of presence.
Thank you for sharing authentically with me and others in our group and wish you the best as you progress further in your education and towards spiritual and physical freedom.
Godard
p.s. Glad that my alma mater MIT is playing a significant role in give you and others behind bars a voice in the outside world
Funny - inside I feel as I did when we first met - it's only when I try to do certain things or when I see myself in a mirror that I realize how much time has passed. Just a passing thought for today :)
Shawn, you are right. Power is very subjective. There is only so much actual power a person holds... all the rest is perceived. There is power in memories. There is power in regrets. There is power in love and in hate. There is power in a mere object. I own an object that belonged to an old friend and to me it still holds memories and power. It is an unassuming object found in almost every household. To most it means nothing beyond it's usefulness. But to me it holds the memory of a friend. Somebody who had power over me. Somebody who was kind and listened. Somebody who I still don't know the whole truth about. Somebody who even after 13+ years, I'm not sure how I feel about. I have read through your writings on here and in the boxes at home. You have power through your pen Shawn. Keep using it. And know that I keep an old blow dryer just because it holds some memories. I hope this finds you well. Your old friend, Shea
Hello Jennifer, I just read out your "Preconceived, But do you really know who I am?" and trust me , I became a fan of yours. First of all , the title itself is capturing. I was searching for some motivational blogs and articles about life & motivation. But now i think i can't able to find as much best as it is yours.
You mentioned all those lines in your article that i used to think everyday about people.
I know that you are facing hardships of life. Now just want to pray for you that you will be free from these hardships as soon as possible.
You are just tremendous, as you are so positive with your heart. You are a pure soul. God Bless you !
I will pray for you and tell others to do the same. Please do not lose hope. you are so positive
Thank you so much for your replies to my messages. It made my day to read them and to know that my brief words helped you in some way. I wish I could do more than send words, as I know you need packages but unfortunately I live in England so sending anything would be difficult. I also don’t have email so it’s easier for me to use this website as you don't need email to log on.
I always enjoy reading your posts and have so much admiration for your positive mindset, especially when you have experienced so much pain in your life. To still have compassion and love for others and to want to inspire people is amazing because so many others in your position wouldn't have the strength to feel that way. I agree with what you say in your recent post about the world not being the same as it used to, and people not having compassion for each other anymore and judge each other. I think this is true, but at the same time we should never lose hope because there are beautiful things happening around us all the time. Here are just 2 things I heard recently. One of them is about a young hairdresser in New York who works each day in his salon then spends every Sunday cutting homeless people’s hair for free around the city. And a couple of years ago a kind police officer made a homeless man’s day a little brighter by stopping his car and getting out not to give him a ticket or move him on, but to give him a brand new pair of shoes. There are so many things like this which happen every day but they don’t always get reported in the news so sometimes we get disheartened and forget that there are many wonderful people in the world doing wonderful things. Just remember that when it feels like everything is bad.
As always I wish you strength as you go through your storms of life – and sadly it seems your storms have been worse than most people face. But we know that God works in mysterious ways. I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before as it is very famous, but I always find it comforting and hope that you will too, even if you’ve read it before:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized this was at the lowest, saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord.
"You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me." He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never ever leave you during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.”
RSS
I enjoyed meeting you and your fellow men in blue during our visit to San Quentin today (March 17, 2016). I was impressed by the level of consciousness and eloquence you and your peers had developed. I was touched by the experience and felt inspired to help make our world a better place by supporting prison reform to enable more growth and rehabilitation for the millions of people we have incarcerated in our county for the benefit of the prisoners, their families, and broader society. In many ways your work at San Quentin provides a model for the positive progress that men behind bars can make.
I was struck that many of us on the outside including myself struggle with our own past and our own demons and desire for more. Although our actions and impact were not as severe, we all face our own internal struggles. I am also working on experiencing a higher level of consciousness by being in tune with my own feelings and authentically communicating with fellow man from a place of presence.
Thank you for sharing authentically with me and others in our group and wish you the best as you progress further in your education and towards spiritual and physical freedom.
Godard
p.s. Glad that my alma mater MIT is playing a significant role in give you and others behind bars a voice in the outside world
Just a passing thought for today :)
I own an object that belonged to an old friend and to me it still holds memories and power. It is an unassuming object found in almost every household. To most it means nothing beyond it's usefulness. But to me it holds the memory of a friend. Somebody who had power over me. Somebody who was kind and listened. Somebody who I still don't know the whole truth about. Somebody who even after 13+ years, I'm not sure how I feel about.
I have read through your writings on here and in the boxes at home. You have power through your pen Shawn. Keep using it. And know that I keep an old blow dryer just because it holds some memories.
I hope this finds you well.
Your old friend,
Shea
You mentioned all those lines in your article that i used to think everyday about people.
I know that you are facing hardships of life. Now just want to pray for you that you will be free from these hardships as soon as possible.
You are just tremendous, as you are so positive with your heart. You are a pure soul.
God Bless you !
I will pray for you and tell others to do the same. Please do not lose hope. you are so positive
Sending love and prayers from India.
Love, Ankit
Thank you so much for your replies to my messages. It made my day to read them and to know that my brief words helped you in some way. I wish I could do more than send words, as I know you need packages but unfortunately I live in England so sending anything would be difficult. I also don’t have email so it’s easier for me to use this website as you don't need email to log on.
I always enjoy reading your posts and have so much admiration for your positive mindset, especially when you have experienced so much pain in your life. To still have compassion and love for others and to want to inspire people is amazing because so many others in your position wouldn't have the strength to feel that way. I agree with what you say in your recent post about the world not being the same as it used to, and people not having compassion for each other anymore and judge each other. I think this is true, but at the same time we should never lose hope because there are beautiful things happening around us all the time. Here are just 2 things I heard recently. One of them is about a young hairdresser in New York who works each day in his salon then spends every Sunday cutting homeless people’s hair for free around the city. And a couple of years ago a kind police officer made a homeless man’s day a little brighter by stopping his car and getting out not to give him a ticket or move him on, but to give him a brand new pair of shoes. There are so many things like this which happen every day but they don’t always get reported in the news so sometimes we get disheartened and forget that there are many wonderful people in the world doing wonderful things. Just remember that when it feels like everything is bad.
As always I wish you strength as you go through your storms of life – and sadly it seems your storms have been worse than most people face. But we know that God works in mysterious ways. I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before as it is very famous, but I always find it comforting and hope that you will too, even if you’ve read it before:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized this was at the lowest, saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord.
"You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never ever leave you during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.”
Love, Emma