Tom Ricciardone |

We are, all of us,

Unfinished Becomings…

Each a creative act, forever unfolding.

Always coming more fully into ourselves.

Not for tomorrow. But today.

Perhaps that is the real fountain of youth.

Damn, how I love that.
For me, that is the most beautiful thing.

HI THERE, I’M TOM

WELCOME. I’M GLAD YOU’RE HERE.

As I near 60, it is so good to be here.

Don’t tell the kids–they wouldn’t believe it anyway–

but life is better from here!

I don’t say that glibly; life is never without its challenges. And making friends with our past has been essential.

But look at us now! Changed, in ways large and small.

Careful now to place the emphasis where it belongs, on the simple joys of today.

Often it’s the simple moments, right in front of me, that are the best.

I hope, whatever your age, you too now find yourself exactly where you need to be, where you are able to finally embrace yourself with some perspective you can trust.

And you know it is time to trust the rhythm of your journey,

and to embrace this wonderful ride for all that it is.

Me? I’m just a guy trying to make his way more attentive, deeper and wiser.

With some laughs liberally sprinkled in for good measure.

Just before COVID became a thing, I decided to take six months off. Heading into 60 this year, it just felt right.

My only agenda was for this time to be an attentive, relaxed, and gentle check-in with myself.

This period has been as wonderful as I had expected. So much so, I’m now in month eight. But who’s counting? And no judging, please:)

I created Unfinished Becomings as a result of this period, as a place to share and connect with kindred spirits.

I hope you will find it of value.

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Or check back from time to time and please contact me via email if you’d like.

Do Your Words Do You?

By now we’ve spent more than four, five or longer decades stepping into ourselves.
Unfolding into a richer, deeper self-awareness.
We have grown. Whether we sensed it or not.

That was then. This is now.
Have your words kept up?

It’s time for our words to embrace us…

On my many trips to Dallas thru the years, this sculpture always spoke to me.
Now, I get it. The body knows all.
It reminds me to lighten up, go with my flow, stay nimble.

Gentler. It just feels better.

Gentler. As my default. It was time.
Time to lose the sharper edges of my younger days. I’ll conveniently blame those on male pattern testosterone if you’ll let me.

Cultivating this gentler stance, with an appropriate spirit of inner-fierceness and strength for what matters, now seems essential to my deepest sense of meaning. And my life has taken on a new warmth. It’s a welcome rebalancing.

And it just feels really good.

Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road, 1975.

Look What We Know Now!

Retreat and stagnation are not options!

We are more fluent in ourselves.
We have to be our own hero. And who doesn’t want to be the hero?
We are lit from within.
We are not afraid to color outside the lines.
We are not trying to be anybody else, just ourselves.
Stay Open. Be Expectant. Expect Surprise.
It is time to come out to play…