The King of Pop Park Place Log

my idea of magic doesn't have much to do with stage tricks and illusions.  the whole world abounds in magic.  when i see the clouds whisked away from a snow-capped peak, i feel like shouting, "bravo!"  nature, the best of all magicians, has delivered another thrill.  ...  every time the sun rises, nature is repeating one command: "behold!"  her magic is infinitely lavish, and in return all we have to do is appreciate it.


what we need to learn from children isn't childish.  being with them connects us to the deep wisdom of life, which is ever-present and only asks to be lived.  their natural wisdom points the way to solutions that lie, waiting to be recognized, within our own hearts.


love is a funny thing to describe.  it's like a bar of soap in the bathtub - you have it in your hand until you hold on too tight.  [mind you,] holding on to love is not wrong, but you need to learn to hold it lightly, caressingly.  let it fly when it wants.  when it's allowed to be free, love is what makes life alive, joyful, and new.


it's easy to mistake [being] innocent for being simpleminded or naive.  yet there is truth in innocence.  a baby looks in his mother's eyes, and all he sees is love.  as innocence fades away, more complicated things take its place.  then life turns into a struggle [and] you miss the freshness and magic of the moment.  learn to be innocent again and that freshness never fades.


do you feel your music?  children do, but once we grow up, life becomes a burden and a chore, and the music grows fainter.  sometimes the heart is so heavy that we turn away from it and forget that its throbbing is the wisest message of life.


it's curious what takes courage and what doesn't.  when i step out on stage in front of thousands of people, i don't feel that i'm being brave.  it can take much more courage to express true feelings to one person.  that takes real courage: the courage to be intimate.  when you have the courage to be intimate, you know who you are, and you're willing to let others see that.  the courage to be honest and intimate opens the way to self-discovery.  it offers what we all want: the promise of love.