Rich Words, Event Horizon
May your dreams defy the laws of gravity. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Click Here to View “What Exactly Is a Black Hole Event Horizon?” [12 Minutes] See Also: What if You Fell in a Black Hole? [5 Minutes] What Happens at the Event Horizon [19 Minutes] Succeed and Soar’s first, the 2022 “Words” series explored phrases that could help appreciate and heal human experiences. The 2025 theme is astronomy. Event Horizons border Black Holes. NASA describes them as an, “object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.” While the sun is about 864,000 million miles wide [109 Earths could line up across the center], the Milky Way galaxy, and others, have remnants of stars 100,000 to billions of times larger than the Sun. When huge stars collapse, they become “singularities,” Black Holes bordered by Event Horizons. Inside, time and space is different. A rocket must fly at over 25,000 miles per hour to escape Earth’s gravity. Light travels at at 670,616, 629 miles per hour yet is not fast enough to escape Black Holes. Once crossing an Event Horizon, nothing returns. That boundary separates the known ways the universe works from what is not knowable. Of Event Horizons, educator Patrick Overton said, “When you walk into the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.” Overton wrote Rebuilding the Front Porch of America “Going into the unknown is how you expand what is known,” says Julien Smith, business management coach and author of My Morning Routine. Annette White, author of Bucket List Journeys adds, ““Each time you try something for the first time you grow—a little piece of fear is replaced with empowerment.” The nearest Black Hole yet discovered is “1,560 light-years from Earth.” On Earth, Event Horizons are much closer. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. I’ll be glad to schedule a Zoom chat this topic. COMMENT. Wise Ways shares observations and meditations on how to make the most of each moment. Topics range from time management strategies to handling Sub-Optimal decisions a/k/a mistakes, fearful situations and more. This book is beautifully illustrated, encouraging and offers lots of inspiration. 5×8, 36-page Pocket book $13.00 Preview-Purchase 8×10 64-page Sketch Journal $20.00 Preview-Purchase Through March 26, 2025, all books 15% off with Discount Code INSPIRE15. Additional savings available starting with purchases of 10, 20 and larger quantities. Contact to arrange In-Person and On-Line workshops. Thanks for shopping!
Life Well Lived #3: Tough As Nails
If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud. -Emile Zola Might the one place on Earth with more human diversity than the United States – races, religions, ethnicities, etc. – be the planet itself? Because of all these differences, the U.S. has extraordinary potential. A personal goal for a Life Well Lived could be to ‘live out loud,’ vibrant and enthused as Zola said. Along the way, that individual energy could make the world great [in addition to America]. On Wednesday night, in the first episodes of the CBS TV show Tough As Nails, I saw two challenges which seem like metaphors for how wealth is achieved. One trial was of individuals seeking to win ahead of everyone else. The other test involved people working together to reach First Place as a team. Most heartwarming was how opponents encouraged other’s efforts best efforts. Thank you, Phil Keoghan [also the host], Louise Keoghan and Anthony Carbone for producing a program that reminds what makes human beings everywhere Great. Check out Tough As Nails. NOTE: The videos offered with each post are chosen for visual interest, inspiration, ideas and brevity. This week, enjoy an uplifting and lovely moment from the movie Akeelah and The Bee. Outdoor Movie Theaters A favorite summer memory from childhood was watching movies under the stars. Thank goodness, drive-in movies remain. During these social distancing times, here are ways to find them: 18 Best Drive-in Theaters 7 Drive-in’s [relatively] close to Pittsburgh Create your own theater under the stars An added, special feature: The first time I saw shooting stars was when they kept zoom-zoom-zooming over a drive-in movie screen. Each week, a featured item is offered at 25% off [plus any discounts offered by my Galleries]. This week, “Shasta Daisies” is on sale. Shop here. Thank you to everyone who visits the galleries and for your purchases. They support Succeed and Soar. NOTE The original image was shot with a Nikon Coolpix camera. The jpg was “developed” in Adobe Photoshop Elements 14. In addition to enriching the color saturation and vibrance, the image was processed through a filter that gives the Watercolor effect.
Solstice
Face the Sun, and all your shadows fall behind you. – African Proverb A meditation When hydrogen atoms become helium deep inside the sun, gamma ray photons erupt releasing light and heat. After a 40,000-year journey to the surface, sunbeams are launched. Earth intercepts one in every half billion. On December 21st, the space between this planet and its closest star is ninety-one and a half million miles (147 million kilometers). The distance shortens in the planet’s northern hemisphere as it again tilts toward the sun. Solstice. Winter and a celestial new year begin. Before kindergarten, I knew a sunbeam took eight minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth because of a cereal commercial about raisins. My family lived on Delmont Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. Across the brick lane, McKinley Park was filled with trees. Buttercups grew along the walk. I had a puppy and a tricycle that my mother painted with polka dots and wove ribbons through the big, front wheel. Back then, I believed I could run fast enough to keep up with the sun as it slow-poked across the sky. I also knew not to zoom beyond our neighbor’s yard. So, maybe I’ll try outracing the sun next year. The Wisdoms Collection Shop Enriching and Beautiful Posters Click Here
Circles Guaranteed
Think of the wonderful circles in which our whole being moves and from which we cannot escape no matter how we try. E. T. A. Hoffmann The Nutcracker ballet is based on an E.T.A. Hoffman short story. A Meditation: The Moon travels 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) each hour as it circles Earth. During this hour, Earth zooms forward 66,000 miles (106,217 kilometers) as it circles the Sun. Meanwhile, the Sun hauls its planets, asteroids, comets, etc. 558,000 miles [898,013 kilometers] farther around the Milky Way. Because this orbit takes a quarter billion years, the Sun has had just twenty birthdays. With all of this celestial circling, the universe keeps returning to starting points again and again. The Wisdoms Collection Shop Enriching and Beautiful Posters Click Here