"Why have I writt en this book?First, it made a lot of sense to mark down my life events for my own reconnaissance. Besides being an acknowledgement of my very existence,these refl ecti ons serve as a testament to some of my experiences to date. Much like a farmer planti ng his crops, I have been able not only to select the seeds, attend to how they are planted, nurture and sti mulate them to take root, germinate and grow, but I will hopefully be around to reap the harvest. Second, I am able to share all of this, not only with those who have shared in my personal development,but with anyone who can relate in a meaningful way, directly or indirectly, to the ti mes, places and events that transpired. Finally,I feel it is invaluable to share these thoughts for the generati ons to come, so that they have an historical context upon which they can draw to defi ne who they are and whence they came. When you combine all of the above ingredients with an inner child that needs to be heard,you have the enti re sti mulus I required to spawn my fi rst volume,Planti ng Seeds - the Early Years."