I recently returned from filming an endurance event called the Never Quit Challenge, which this year was a 600 mile jetski ride down the California Coastline, from Morro Bay to Shelter Island, with laps out to Catalina made from Long Beach Harbor. The event was created and led by K38 Rescue’s Shawn Alladio and is a charity benefit fund raiser, but at it’s core, is more of a means to honor the Men and Women who have served in our military, both alive and dead. It strengthens those people and families, testing both resolve and ability to connect to each other, and communicate to a culture that has a difficult time understanding Brotherhood and the ramifications of such a thing.
Here are the Charities we worked to raise funds for. Phoenix Patriot Foundation. MARSOC Foundation. Station Foundation. The Organizations wage war on all the things which would keep our Veterans from leading fulfilling lives post service. Want to help create a stronger Nation? Supporting these organizations can do that.
I saw a lot of beauty in the week long event. Hence this short blogpost on Beauty.
Below is an image of Bo Reichenbach, a medically retired Seal. He is stowing the second of two champagne bottles from the helm of the Kawasaki LX which carried him. The champagne shower was delivered by he and Kyle Butcher, a retired Army Ranger. I see an incredible beauty in it. Maybe it is the tattoo across the back of his hand. Maybe it is the fact that Kawasaki, a Japanese company loaned us the boats and support for the project (a first, as far as I know where a privately held Japanese company has directly supported US Military Veteran related endeavors). Maybe it was the beauty of Bo’s sacrifice this event. Or the one prior, which has him in artificial legs. Or the one prior where post 9-11 he enlisted. Or maybe that this day was 9-11-14 and they rode to honor the memory of 3000 murder victims slaughtered by madmen.
The second image illustrative of beauty, I shot on Bali. Small things sometimes make great examples.
As a species, Man does not truly appreciate Beauty. He goes for Pretty. The embrace and understanding of Beauty is an individually based tenet, related to the condition of the heart. In that delicate balance we find Gratitude.
If we live in Gratitude that Beauty will transform us, and our resultant affect on this world will be a dramatic one, potentially.
It all reminds me of a Bible scripture verse. “Beloved, I wish above all things, that you prosper and be in health even as (in like measure) your soul prospers.”
Why Beauty matters. It connects us through a unified heart. That is Brotherhood.
When we create and unleash the dogs of war to do our National bidding, well, it sort of looks like this video cut to Metallica. It is true, that saying :”War is Hell”. We send our people there. We as a Nation, have a great responsibility to bring them back from that place. It is a vital part of the job. The irony of course is in the beauty we might experience by virtue of the process.
My wife pointed this out to me:
“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Aloha nui loa.
