Happy Soul Food Friday!

Your Soul Food for the First Week of April 2026 with Invite to Joy Jam: May 9th: What the World Needs Now, Is Joy, Sweet Joy- The Antidote for “Collective Heart Failure”

April 3, 2026April 2, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food for the First Week of April 2026!

If you are local…

This Friday is the last day to secure your tickets for NCPC Volunteer Awards Celebration

April 10^th from 2 to 5:30pm at the Rancho Bernado Inn!

Come celebrate the organizations and volunteers that uplift our community, commune with kindred spirits and enjoy a live music post party with Strange Crew…

Volunteer Awards Celebration – North County Philanthropy Council

This week:

Join Joy Jam May 9^th. Our Antidote for “Collective Heart Failure”

Friends, San Diegans, Country-(Whoa)Men,

Lend me your ears and let me connect with your heart…

I just started another circle around the sun and am delighted to share this upcoming opportunity with you.

If you are in town on May 9^th and need some joy in your life and your community, I strongly encourage you to sign up for this one-of-a-kind family-friendly experience. (read on for the impetus and intention)

The antidote for ~~Congestive~~ Collective Heart Failure is our community gathering in presence with love, joy, and care. Chance may favor the prepared mind, but Joy favors the prepared heart, and we must exercise that emotional muscle to counteract man’s inhumanity to man, shift from combat to love, and create the world we want to see and be!

Data suggests that it only takes about 3.5% participation to create a movement (1995 book: The Rebel’s Dilemma: Econ, Cognition and Society)

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could co-create a JOY MOVEMENT to offset the compassion fatigue and current malaise and state of affairs we are experiencing?

Let’s give Father Profit a break and Mother Earth a chance!

Ideated and funded by a dear friend, our band Strange Crew providing the musical experience, my son Arman coordinating the musical elements, and Monette my original drum teacher providing the drum circles, along with wellness modalities including sound baths, massage, acupuncture and more, available thanks to Niki and The Bridge, this is going to be one heck of a joy-filled afternoon at the perfectly situated Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Cardiff.

Before we actively promote this completely donation-based (pay whatever you choose) event more broadly, we are sharing this with our friends and loved ones, so they have first right of ~~refusal~~ refuge all.

If the spirit behind this intention resonates (see below), do sign up pronto, as attendance is limited and we have already sold 70 tickets and raised $2,000 with no promotion.

https://joyjam.communalspaces.org

Let’s bring the joy!

Love,

Neville

—

Join me at the Joy Jam. What? A joy fest in these stressful times? Yes! A joy fest because of these stressful times.
This is something a bit different – it’s called Joy Jam. Happening May 9 from 3pm to 7pm in Encinitas.
It’s a few hours for us to come together to generate a shared experience of joy. Music, rhythm, connection, and just being human together. Live band, drum circles, some light healing work if you want it. And a very open, welcoming atmosphere. No spectators or pressure – just enjoying energy and one another at whatever level feels right.

Each of us knows someone in crisis or illness or may be that person ourselves.
For this day, we are inspired by Shayna’s journey from terminal cancer to full remission.
Shayna embodies a spirit of joy, hope, and faith. And she’s not quite done. So, proceeds from this all-donation-based event will go toward her ongoing care and full recovery.
Shayna will share more about the powerful role joy played in her healing journey.

Please join us, I’d love to have you there. It feels like one of those simple, good things – being outside, with good people, tapping into the simple joy that’s available when we slow down and tune in together.
And special deep gratitude to Peter Davis and Serge (Divine) Solomon for inspiring this Jam, and to Neville Billimoria for directing this into being!

Bring yourself, your loved ones, a measure of joy to share, and an appetite for more joy. God knows, we need this!

And please share the JOY! Facebook and Instagram

Joyfully 🙂

Eric

—

Have a Joy-filled week!

Love,

Neville

Subscribe to the Free Weekly Blog Here: Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“God made the world for the delight of human beings.”—Mother Teresa

Your Soul Food for Friday March 27, 2026: Life Lessons from a 92-Year-Old and Warren Zevon, Sleep Hygiene and Winners of the Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest

March 27, 2026March 25, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

3 Things to Learn from 92-Year-Old Shen Yu
The ‘7-1’ Sleep Method That Could Add Four Years to Your Life
Enjoy Every Sandwich- Powerful Life Lessons from Warren Zevon
+ Winners of the 2026 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest

3 Things from Shen Yu:

I am ninety-two years old .

If I could pass on just three things, it would be these:

Move your body every day. It does not need to be hard. A walk is enough. The day you stop moving is the day your body begins to forget how.

Feed your body with care. Not with perfection. Eat real food. Eat slowly. What you put in today becomes how you feel tomorrow.

Rest your body well. Sleep is not laziness. It is where your mind clears, your heart recovers, and your body repairs what the day has worn down.

And one more thing – never stop having something to look forward to.

A place to visit. A person to see. A small dream you have not given up on yet.

The moment you stop dreaming, you stop living. It does not matter if you are thirty or ninety-two.

Keep moving. Keep eating well. Keep resting. Keep dreaming. That is the whole secret.

Speaking of Sleep…

The ‘7-1’ Sleep Method Could Add Four Years to Your Life

“Even if one in four poor sleepers were to shift to this sleep pattern, the potential gains would be substantial.”

The ‘7-1’ Sleep Rule Could Add Four Years To Your Life | HuffPost UK Life

Enjoy Every Sandwich:

In August 2002, a doctor handed Warren Zevon a death sentence.

Inoperable mesothelioma. Maybe three months. Possibly a year if things went well. He was 55 years old.

For most people, that news ends everything — plans, ambitions, the ordinary forward motion of a life.

Warren Zevon made a phone call instead.

Not to a lawyer. Not to a therapist.

To his collaborator Jorge Calderón. And he said four words: “Let’s make a record.”

Here’s what made that remarkable. Warren had spent four decades as rock music’s brilliant cynic — the man who wrote about werewolves, mercenaries, and lawyers with guns because dark humor was easier than honesty. He was Hunter S. Thompson’s friend, Stephen King’s favorite songwriter, one of the most literate voices in rock history.

And he had never once made a truly vulnerable album.

Until now. Because when you have nothing left to lose, the armor comes off.

He reached out — not through a label or management, but simply as a friend — and one by one they showed up. Bruce Springsteen. Tom Petty. Don Henley. Ry Cooder. Jackson Browne. Emmylou Harris. Legends who had admired him for decades, coming to help him say goodbye.

The recording sessions were extraordinary. Warren was visibly weakening between takes, sometimes needing oxygen, sometimes barely able to stand. But when the microphone was in front of him, something shifted. His voice carried the weight of a man who finally understood what he wanted to say.

The song that became the album’s heart was called “Keep Me in Your Heart” — a simple, quietly devastating farewell with no clever wordplay, no ironic distance. Just a man telling the people he loved not to forget him.

“If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less. Keep me in your heart for a while.”

Around that same time, David Letterman — a longtime admirer who had championed Zevon’s music for years — invited him back for one final television appearance. The conversation, watched by millions, eventually landed on the question everyone wanted to ask but no one knew how to phrase.

Did Warren have any wisdom to offer? Anything he’d learned?

He paused. Then smiled.

“Enjoy every sandwich.”

The audience laughed. Then went quiet. Because they understood it wasn’t a joke. It was the most honest philosophy imaginable — condensed into three words by a man who finally had the clarity that comes only when time runs out. Pay attention. Be present. The small things are the big things.

The Wind was released on August 26, 2003.

Warren Zevon died on September 7, 2003 — thirteen days later.

He had outlived his prognosis by nearly a year. Long enough to finish his work. Long enough to say everything he’d spent a lifetime avoiding. The album won two Grammy Awards, reached audiences who had never heard his name before, and produced a farewell song that has since been played at thousands of funerals around the world — for people who never knew who wrote it, but felt every single word.

The Wind now stands alongside Johnny Cash’s American IV, David Bowie’s Blackstar, and Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker — a small, extraordinary collection of albums made by artists who looked directly at death and responded with their finest work.

But here’s what stays with me.

Warren Zevon spent forty years hiding behind wit and cleverness. And then, given a deadline no one asks for, he finally let people see who he actually was. Not the cynic. Not the dark humorist. Just a man who loved his friends, feared being forgotten, and wanted desperately to matter.

He already did. He just needed to believe it.

We’re all on a timeline we can’t see. Warren’s just became visible.

And instead of spending those final months in fear or bitterness, he gathered the people he loved, walked into a studio, and told the truth for the very first time.

Three words for the rest of us, from a man who earned the right to say them:

Enjoy every sandwich.

Winners of the 2026 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest

A collection of honored images from this year’s competition celebrating “photography beneath the surface of the ocean, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools”

Winners of the 2026 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest – The Atlantic

Keep Moving and Eat and Rest Well!

Love,

Neville

Subscribe to the Free Weekly Blog Here: Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“Let us therefore decide both upon the Goal and upon the Way, and not fail to find some experienced Guide who has explored the region towards which we are advancing, for the conditions of this Journey are different from those of most travel.” — Seneca

Your Soul Food for the Spring Equinox and Nowruz 2026: The only way to save yourself from the darkness is to light a candle for someone else!

March 19, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Love this “permission slip”…

This week:

“The only way to save yourself from the darkness is to light a candle for someone else!”

What you may not know when you read on is Billy is what my school friends in India called me (short for Billimoria) before we moved to the States. My Parsi name (Parsis are the Zoroastrians of India that migrated from Persia hundreds of years ago) is Navroz, and I was born just 9 days after Navroz or Nowruz. That said,

Nowuz is timed not to a fixed date, but to an astronomical event…

Enjoy a little bit about each of these events and traditions, along with a soulful story to follow that should lift your spirits!

BTW, if you are local-

Friday March 20th is the last day to nominate your volunteer for NCPC VAC.

Please consider nominating an amazing volunteer that invests their time and talent to make our community better and see you on April 10^th at the Rancho Bernardo Inn from 2 to 5:30 with our live band Strange Crew playing after the ceremony!

Volunteer Awards Celebration – North County Philanthropy Council

The Spring Equinox from Billy S:
Aloha Friends,

The Spring Equinox is on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 7:46 am PDT
This moment begins the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Translated literally, equinox means “equal night”. On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. Twelve hours of each, because the sun is positioned above the equator.
It is also known as the vernal equinox, “vernal” means fresh or new, and is from the Latin word for spring, which is “ver.”
On this day the sun rises precisely due east and sets due west.

The Spring Equinox signifies a rebirth. The duration of light is about to overtake the darkness.
After the Spring Equinox, the days become longer and the air warmer.
The soil becomes fertile and all hibernating life is re-animated. It is a time to plant seeds of growth.

The Spring Equinox is a time of renewal – in nature, the home, and in us. More than just physical activity, “spring cleaning” removes any negative energy accumulated over the dark winter months and resonates with the positive growing energy of spring and summer.

The Spring Equinox is a time where there is a special quality of energy – to plant, grow and renew our lives. Energy is emerging from the ground where it has been dormant in the earth since the Winter Solstice.
Wishing you a special day, symbolic of balance in our life and with the environment.

Stay in tune with nature and wellness,
Billy

Nowruz 2026: Persian New Year Dates and Meanings:

300 million people around the world celebrate this tradition.

Nowruz 2026: Persian New Year Dates and Meanings Explained – Newsweek

And finally, the heartwarming soul-filled story I promised to warm your heart and stir your soul:

The entire line was furious at my 89-year-old father for stalling the bank queue—until he made the teller weep.

The groan from the guy behind us was audible. It was a heavy, “it’s Friday afternoon and I just want my paycheck” kind of groan.

My dad, Frank, didn’t seem to hear it. Or maybe he just didn’t care.

He stood at the counter of the credit union, leaning heavily on his cane, while the line snaked all the way back to the vestibule. People were checking their watches. A woman in scrubs was tapping her foot so hard I could feel the vibration through the floor.

I was mortified. “Dad,” I whispered, leaning in. “Please. Let’s just use the ATM next time.”

He ignored me. He was focused entirely on the young woman behind the glass. Her name tag said “JASMINE.” She looked like she had been crying on her break. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she moved with the heavy, robotic exhaustion of someone working a double shift.

“I need to withdraw $100,” Dad said, his voice gravelly but loud. “And I need it all in five-dollar bills.”

Jasmine blinked, her customer-service smile faltering. “All in fives, sir?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I felt the collective blood pressure of the room spike. The guy behind me muttered something about “wasting everyone’s time.”

Jasmine sighed, opened her drawer, and counted out twenty bills. She slid the stack under the glass. “Here you go, sir.”

“Thank you,” Dad said.

And then, he started counting them back to her.

One. By. One.

“Dad!” I hissed. “Come on!”

“One moment,” he said calmly. “Five… ten… fifteen…”

He counted all the way to one hundred. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. When he finished, he paused. His hand, shaking slightly with a tremor he usually tries to hide, slid two of the bills back toward her.

“This one,” he said, tapping the first Lincoln, “is for you. Go to that coffee place next door when you get off. Get one of those frozen drinks with the whipped cream. The ones that cost too much.”

Jasmine froze.

“And this one,” he tapped the second bill, “is for the security guard by the door. He’s been standing there for four hours and hasn’t shifted his weight once. That takes discipline.”

“Sir, I can’t take a tip,” Jasmine stammered.

“It’s not a tip,” Dad said, looking her dead in the eye. “It’s a prescription. You look like the weight of the world is sitting on your shoulders, young lady. For five minutes, I want you to put it down and just eat the whipped cream.”

That’s when she broke.

It wasn’t a graceful single tear. Her face crumpled. She covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking, and let out a sob that silenced the entire lobby.

The angry guy behind me stopped checking his watch. The woman in scrubs stopped tapping her foot. The room went dead silent.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I… I really needed that today.”

Dad just tipped his VFW cap at her. “We all do, kid.”

When we got back to my minivan, I didn’t start the engine right away. I looked at him. He was staring out the window at the strip mall parking lot, looking smaller than usual.

“You held up the whole bank,” I said softly. “Just to give away ten bucks.”

He didn’t look at me. “It was selfish.”

I laughed. “Selfish? Dad, you made that girl cry happy tears. That’s the opposite of selfish.”

He turned to me then, and his eyes were wet.

“You don’t understand,” he said. “I sit in that house all day. I turn on the TV, and it’s just people screaming. They scream about politics. They scream about the economy. They tell me my neighbor is my enemy. They tell me I should be scared to leave my front door.”

He gripped the door handle with his spotted, papery hands.

“I feel invisible,” he whispered. “I’m just an old man that the world has moved past. I can’t fix the economy. I can’t stop the wars on the news. I can’t even drive myself to the store anymore.”

He took a shaky breath.

“So, I act selfish. I force a moment of connection. I buy a coffee for a sad girl because for those thirty seconds, I’m not just a statistic. I’m not just a burden. I’m a human being affecting another human being. I made the world stop spinning for a minute, and I made it a little bit softer.”

He looked down at his lap. “I do it because it makes me feel less lonely. It proves I’m still here.”

I drove home in silence, tears stinging my own eyes.

When we pulled into his driveway, I grabbed the bags of groceries from the back. “I got you that frozen lasagna you like,” I said.

“Good,” he said, taking the box. He immediately turned and started walking across the lawn toward the neighbor’s house.

“Dad? Where are you going?”

“To the Millers’,” he called back. “Mike lost his job at the plant last week. I saw him sitting on his porch steps with his head in his hands this morning. They have three growing boys to feed.”

“Dad, that’s my dinner for you!”

He stopped and looked back, a mischievous glint returning to his eye. “I know. But giving it to them makes me feel like a provider again. It makes me feel useful.”

He winked. “Like I said. I’m a very selfish man.”

I watched him walk away, his cane tapping against the pavement.

We live in a world that is constantly trying to isolate us. It tells us to fear each other, to hoard what we have, to look out for Number One.

But my father taught me something today.

Sometimes, the only way to save yourself from the darkness is to light a candle for someone else. Even if it costs you your dinner. Even if it costs you ten dollars and a few angry glares in a bank line.

If that’s being selfish, I think we could all afford to be a little more selfish.

Please light a candle for someone else this week and enjoy these events of astronomical proportion!

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with a love like that
It lights the whole world.”–Hafiz

Your Soul Food Honoring International Women’s Day 2026: Boy, do we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality

March 13, 2026March 12, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Boy, do we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”- Gloria Steinem

“I think it takes men being vulnerable to be part of the solution,” “It cannot be just women fighting for their own rights. I think men have to step up and fight for women’s rights, too. … I think we have to unlearn the patriarchy.”

Allyship, Advocacy, Agency. Allez Allez!

International Women’s Day (IWD) has a long and powerful history of collective action going back over 100 years!

Here is some history going back to Abigail Smith Adams, first lady to President John Adams in 1776, all the way to today with each generation building on the courage of those before them.

IWD: What’s the timeline of International Women’s Day?

Celebrating San Diego’s pioneering women on International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over a century, and this year marks 115 years of the movement, honoring San Diego’s own noteworthy women.

Honoring San Diego’s women on International Women’s Day 2026

But 115 years later, we still have a long way to go…

Hundreds March On Trump Tower For International Women’s Day: ‘We Aren’t Just Fighting For Ourselves’

31% of Gen Z men believe wife should ‘obey her husband,’ study finds:

The study surveyed 23,268 adults in 29 different countries, including about 1,000 from the United States.

1 in 3 Gen Z men believe wife should ‘obey her husband,’ study finds

And here’s exactly what to do when someone is disrespectful to you:
Communication expert and CEO Michael Chad Hoeppner shares his best advice for how to handle disrespect with grace and composure

Expert: The No. 1 way to respond when someone is disrespectful to you

Allyship, Advocacy, Agency. Allez Allez!

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

NCPC Volunteer Awards Celebration: Doing Good is Good for You! Celebrating All San Diego’s Volunteers in Global Volunteer Month 2026

March 7, 2026March 7, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Do you know that 40% of San Diego households volunteer and understand the importance of this essential form of philanthropy (love of humanity)?

This week’s post speaks to the importance of volunteering both for our community and for ourselves!

As President of the NCPC I’m delighted to spread the word about NCPC’s Volunteer Awards Celebration (VAC) coming up on April 10^th from 2 to 5:30pm. Please spread the word and nominate your volunteer for 2026!

If you are not familiar with it, VAC is our annual event now in its 39^th year, dedicated to recognizing the outstanding volunteers who support nonprofit organizations across our region. We encourage every organization to nominate one volunteer for recognition. Submitting a nomination is free, though we do ask nominating organizations to cover their nominee’s ticket ($125 per seat; tables of 10 are $1,200) to attend the event. All nominated volunteers are recognized on stage by name and organization and will receive a trophy and a certificate from the County Board of Supervisors in appreciation of their service.

As you might recall, at the end of last year NCPC was honored with a Proclamation from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for Exemplifying the Highest Ideals of Public Service.

You can see a short vid of Supervisor Jim Desmond awarding us the proclamation for Outstanding Service, Leadership and Commitment to the Citizens of San Diego County here:

As we prep for Global Volunteer Month, we welcome all of San Diego’s 13,000 nonprofits to take a moment to celebrate their incredible volunteers, without whom so much critical work simply would not get done. And in current challenging times we need them more than ever!

This year’s VAC celebration will take place April 10 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn and promises to be a joy filled experience. Guests will enjoy tray-passed appetizers, a cash bar, and live entertainment from our band Strange Crew. We are also honored to welcome Grant Oliphant, CEO of the Prebys Foundation, as our keynote speaker, Carlo Cecchetto of CBS8 will serve as our MC, and local media will be there to love up our amazing volunteers and the causes they care about.

We are actively seeking sponsors, nominees, and attendees with a March 20^th deadline. Nominations can be submitted HERE, and tickets can be purchased HERE.

Why Volunteer and Celebrate Volunteerism:
As with all nonprofits, a great deal of focus is placed on the “Treasurer’s Report”, but as we all know it takes talent as well as time to achieve sustainable success in any mission driven enterprise. We can tackle ties and testimony separately… Perhaps social purpose organizations should include a Talent Report– tracking and affirming those that share their talents back with its stakeholders, as well as a Time Report– tracking and affirming volunteerism in every flavor.

What you Measure Gets Done, what you Reward STAYS done

Ideally, this will increase strategic volunteerism and talent engagement which in turn will INCREASE monetary contributions as it is empirically proven that those that commit time and talent get MORE anchored to the cause and are more likely to engage others in its collective success.

(First friend-raising then fund-raising)

Interestingly, consumer sentiment supports this notion as we are increasingly values driven! Volunteerism is in vogue and good for you!

Altruism improves happiness and well-being, research finds – The Washington Post

Over the years, several brand attributes have had large up ticks including high quality up 124%, friendly up 79%, socially responsible up 63%, and leader up 40%.

But the brand attribute with the highest lift at 341% is Kindness!

Practicing Conscious Acts of Kindness dignifies the very essence of our humanity and uplifts society.

Most organizations keep score with important metrics.

However, another key metric- from a social purpose standpoint- is our investment of discretionary energy-as expressed in our time

Isn’t it amazing that in our overscheduled, over-achieving, time starved lives we find the discretionary energy to volunteer for those things that really matter?

In the conceptual age, the currency of influence is attention.

Paying bills is one thing

Paying attention is quite another!

Time is more important than money

We can re-earn money, but we never get this time back.

The Japanese have an expression for this:

Ichi e Ichi go (this moment is unprecedented, this moment is unrepeatable)

Attention is the currency of time well spent, where you really get to keep the change

When we give our time with purpose, we give our most precious asset- our energy, applying the law of concentrated attention, “That which we focus on manifests!”

It is true when they say, we are judged by the company we keep!

Hanging out with volunteers is a predictive variable in the quality of YOUR life and those around you

Intrinsically motivated people like you are compelled by different things than basic reward and punishment, or the proverbial carrot and stick
We are powered by autonomy, mastery, and purpose

Volunteers see things differently and experience time differently. In other words, we have a different relationship to time.

Most people consume or spend time; volunteers produce or invest time.

I will prove that we see things differently. Look at the web address below and tell me what you see…

www.opportunityisnowhere.com

Some see nowhere

Some see now here

We don’t see what is; we see what we want to see, or what we are conditioned to see.

Let’s not allow ourselves to become victims of attentional blindness.

Be present, Be involved, Be the difference.

On behalf of our extended community, thank you for your active engagement in causes that matter!

Our world is a better place because of YOU…

Spread the Word about VAC, please nominate a volunteer and Pay it Forward!

Love,

Neville

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”- Cicero

Your Soul Food Friday for Feb 28, 2026: Memento Mori- You Could Leave Life Right Now!

February 27, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Every encounter only happens once and cannot be replicated: Savor every interaction and experience you have as it can never be recreated or relived. Nothing will happen in the same way again.
Every single person you meet can change you: Be open to new people as every other stranger could be a kindred spirit that you were meant to meet. Often the person we least expect can make us feel the most alive.
Be fully yourself with loved ones and friends: Being present is a lifelong challenge and often the hardest to do with the ones closest to us. Put your phone away, be fully with loved ones and friends, and don’t miss out on all the good things in front of you.
All experience stand-alone and will never be repeated in the same way: Trust that every encounter is in fact, once in a lifetime. Say yes to random opportunities and spontaneous invitations that come your way.

Are you ready to meet this moment now, without fear or regret, knowing this is each of our ultimate experience?

This week:

I have been reminiscing about how different cultures practice present moment mindfulness in the context of being present in the here and now, as well as, addressing and experiencing the imminence of death.

Nothing morbid or macabre here, just a reminder that everyone one of our lives are undoubtedly finite, none of us get out of here alive, so simply a reflective opportunity to be fully present, as well as make the most of each and every day, and each and every moment.

This is not a new idea…

In the East, the Japanese concept of Ichigo, Ichie (一期一会) reminds us that each moment is unprecedented and unrepeatable.

As I shared at an NCPC Meet the Funders event this week, you can over time, get your money back, but you can never get your time back.

This concept is nicely contextualized in the Zen cup of tea experience,

The Japanese have a way of doing things – it is slow and measured, with everyday gestures being undertaken with reverence and intimacy.

The phrase ‘ichigo ichie’ was coined by Ii Naosuke, the Japanese tea master who lived from 1815-1860.

The story goes that he was constantly threatened with assassination and so he made his tea each day as if it were his last. Every time he made it, he said the tea was unique and more beautiful than the time before. He knew that he would never have the chance to drink another tea exactly like the one he had just made, and so ichigo ichie is a way to understand and embrace the impermanence of life.

In the words of the beloved Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh who I had the privilege to meditate with many moons ago:

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”

Ichigo Ichie: Intense Presence In Cup Of Tea | Life Curator

Rest assured, this is not some Eastern woo woo. In the Western traditions there is a similar counterpart:

Memento Mori-You Could Leave Life Right Now!

A motif of a skull, reminiscence of death, an hourglass reminding us of the inevitable passing of time, and wilting flowers, reminding us of the impermanence of life.

This is neither morbid or negative, just a rejoinder to be present and meet the moment to the best of our ability.

A Biologist Reveals What Elephants Do When a Herd Member Dies:

Elephant societies respond to death in ways that look uncannily similar to our own reactions. Here’s why it has researchers describing them as “compassionate.”

A Biologist Reveals What Elephants Do When A Herd Member Dies

Are you ready to meet this moment now, without fear or regret, knowing this is each of our ultimate experience?

Serendipitously, In the same vein if you are local-

See if you can get tickets to Beetlejuice the Musical playing at the San Diego Civic Center over the weekend:

In the West we clearly don’t “do death well” and this comedic revisit of this evocative piece of art, delivered with wit and courage (and some irrelevance) is worth the price of admission and then some!

Beetlejuice – The Musical San Diego Tickets

Ironic that the musical itself had its own near death experience and now is a freakin’ Gen Z hit!

It is kind of like the Rocky Horror Picture Show so if you are faint of heart, caveat emptor!

How the ‘Beetlejuice’ musical beat bad reviews and became a Gen Z hit – San Diego Union-Tribune

Thanks, this week go to Craig Mc for the Memento Mori coin to keep me grounded in being fully in the present and to Aysha S-B for taking us to Beetlejuice the Musical.

Make today count! Who knows what tomorrow brings…

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

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“Sometimes fear of dying is the cause of death” – Seneca

Your Soul Food for the week of Lunar New Year 2026: “A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”

February 20, 2026February 18, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday,

With the year of the Fire Horse, here’s to major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth!

This week:

Happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse! 11 things to know…
A Poem for People in Pain from Robin Sharma
Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales
You Can Double Your Deep Sleep in 4 Minutes thanks to Dr. Tim Patel

Happy Lunar New Year, year of the fire horse! 11 things to know:

Cultural Significance: In East Asia, Fire Horse years are seen as both auspicious and challenging — bringing transformative opportunities but also requiring careful guidance and wise leadership.

Symbol of Transformation: The Fire Horse is believed to bring about major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth.

Chinese New Year begins Feb. 17, year of the fire horse

A Poem for People in Pain

From Robin Sharma:

We all have hard seasons.
Stages where the ground on which we stand seems to crumble, nothing seems to be in our favor and the winter seems endless.
To know pain, to endure suffering and to feel as though the trial will never end is to be fully human. And to become most intimate with life itself.

“A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”, though.

From what I can tell—and who truly knows the way the world works—that which appears to unmake us is the very season that rebuilds us.
Our pain, in truth, becomes a purifier. Difficulty softens us, unmasks us and opens us—allowing the gifts of wisdom, humility and patience to become our new way of being.

As I listen to a precious song called “For My Little Man” by Cody Ray, on a stormy day on the farm, I write you this poem. So that you remember your winter will pass. Your luminous Spring is coming.

The Dark Woods Season:
There are times in a human life.
Of hurt, hardship and hollowness.
To meet them is not to fall.
These times are times of our rising.
Dissolving for rebuilding.
From a young age we are trained to run.
To escape from seasons in the wilderness.
To betray our growth. To neglect the needs of the soul. So, we prosper in the world.

Yet the dark woods are the gateway into light.
The light of your wisdom, art, and magic.
You have magic in you, you know. You do.

So, while the many stay busy. Trust your season of pain has fortune. It is here to wash away that which limits you.
From the brilliance, awe and wonder.
That in your own true way. Is all you truly are.

Love + respect,
Robin

Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales

With the world moving at the speed of light I’ve wondered how best to describe our moment in time. Like many of you, I’ve too often been at a loss for words.

My mantra – what drives my work and life – is to help people find their power, their voice. This has led me to reconsider what leadership is; or what we assume it to be.

With this exploration I’ve developed a framework, available for anyone to practice, create community and generate momentum. I call it Frontier Leadership.

The basic tenet of this practice is that dignity is non-negotiable.

Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time

You can double your deep sleep in 𝟰𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 thanks to Dr. Tim Patel:

Not with supplements.
Not with gadgets.
Not by going to bed earlier.

By telling your nervous system the day is over.

Most people don’t have a sleep problem.
They have a 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

They go from: Slack → phone → bed
And wonder why they’re “tired but wired”.

That state kills deep sleep.

Here’s what actually fixes it.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦.𝗟.𝗘.𝗘.𝗣 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 (𝟰 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟)

This is a 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 from stress to recovery.

𝗦 — 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘, 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬
↳ Start the ritual at the same time every evening
↳ Consistency trains your nervous system faster than duration

𝗟 — 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚
↳ Lower lights. Warm tones only
↳ No light control = no melatonin. Full stop

𝗘 — 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 (𝟮 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦)
↳ 4-7-8 breathing. Inhale 4. Hold 7. Exhale 8
↳ This flips your nervous system into rest mode

𝗘 — 𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
↳ No work. No news. No scrolling
↳ Boring is a feature, not a bug

𝗣 — 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗫𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (𝟵𝟬 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦)
↳ Tense and release muscles from feet to head
↳ Your body can’t stay alert if it’s physically letting go

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬
↳ Cortisol drops instead of lingering
↳ Core body temperature falls (required for deep sleep)
↳ Melatonin rises naturally
↳ Deep sleep expands instead of getting compressed

Sleep labs see this pattern consistently when pre-bed routines are applied.

Same bed. Same hours.
Different signal.

Deep sleep isn’t luck.
It’s what happens when your nervous system gets a clear off-ramp.

Four minutes is enough.
If you make it non-negotiable.

♻️ Most people try to sleep harder.
The ones who recover best shut down earlier

💾 Save this for the next night you’re lying awake, wired, and exhausted.

Happy Lunar New Year and please pay it forward with purpose.

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.

Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” -Rumi

Your Soul Food for the Week Following Super Bowl and the Launch of the Winter Olympics 2026- Reflections on Those that Help Us Make the Climb

February 13, 2026February 12, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

“The champion wins first, then walks into the arena. Everybody else walks into the arena and then tries to figure out what to do.”— Jim Fannin

Our roles are not our identity.

The role I love, as much as being a student of life, is growing others.

With the Superbowl behind us and the Winter Olympics underway, we all inevitably focus on the athletes, often failing to recognize that behind every great athlete there is a great coach.

Those that launched us in the early innings of a practice, sport or passion are often forgotten, but this program (below) makes that important intellectual and emotional connection.

This will warm the heart of anyone that has pushed the limits of their potential and been in turn pushed by a committed and caring coach!

Launching Legends:

Olympians stand alone on the podium, but there are many others who helped them make the climb.

Athletes competing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics were asked to name someone from their childhood outside their family who first believed in them before the world knew their name. The Olympians and the heroes they named then had a surprise reunion in the NBC Local series “Launching Legends.”

“It definitely takes a village for anyone to make the Olympic team,” said Renee Hildebrand, a speed skating coach.

Launching Legends: Olympians get surprise visits from mentors – NBC Boston

The Superbowl Game was not that great, but the Half Time Show was an opportunity for National Self-Reflection:

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was many things: a time-traveling journey through the history of Puerto Rico, a statement of Pan-American unity, and a masterpiece of cultural expression. Co-hosts Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre are joined by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento — who brings on-the-ground reporting from San Juan — to unpack the symbolism embedded in Bad Bunny’s performance.

Puerto Rico takes the field at the Bad Bunny Super Bowl : Alt.Latino : NPR

A Counterpoint-

$8 million for a mere 30 seconds of airtime during Super Bowl LX!

What would the transformative real-world impact that same investment could achieve if placed in the hands of nonprofits?

Kicking Off for Good: What Nonprofits Could Do with the $8m Cost of a Super Bowl Ad

Here’s to the champion within and to the champions you are creating, both on and off the field!

Please pay it forward with purpose.

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“Winners practice until they get it right,

while Champions practice until they can’t get it wrong!”

Your Soul Food for the first week in February 2026: The Importance of Smaller Steps

February 6, 2026February 5, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Martial Arts Begins and Ends with RESPECT!

As some of you know I am a student and practitioner of the wisdom traditions, (martial arts, yoga and meditation) inspired by being born in India to an Indian Dad and British Mum, and living there until I was 14 years old, when we transplanted to California with one suitcase apiece, inspired by the values and opportunities for a better life here in the United States.

At that time, America was the exemplary for meritocracy, opportunity, inclusiveness, and modeling values the whole world wanted to emulate.

Not sure that is the case today, but that is a separate matter…

I have been teaching traditional karate at UC San Diego for 43 years, rounding out an academic curriculum for bright minds with a whole-person embodied practice that fosters competence, confidence, and character.

We might think values like respect, honor, humility, benevolence, etc. are ethereal.

This video might invite you to revisit that belief in the context of a mind/body/emotions/energy system:

How to Transform Your Body Through Bowing [Naka Tatsuya’s BUDO KARATE ]

Take a minute to embody respect in your being and with others, and see what happens…

Driven to Distraction?

The 1-Minute Trick to Calming Down Your Nervous System
‘Active noticing’ is an easy way to reclaim your thoughts.

The 1-Minute Trick to Calming Down Your Nervous System | TIME

Empathy for All Sentient Beings:

Scientists Finally Understand How Animals Experience Joy
Scientists have known for a while now that animals feel pain. When it comes to other emotions, like joy and happiness, they weren’t so sure. Pain makes sense. Everything feels like it would wince when you pinch it. But to say an animal is experiencing joy felt a bit too close to anthropomorphism, as if we were projecting human qualities onto an inhuman creature. So, the scientific community largely ignored animal joy.

Scientists Finally Understand How Animals Experience Joy

To your wellbeing!

Love,

Neville

Welcome to Soul Food Friday: A weekly blog to feed, grow and energize your soul – Happy Soul Food Friday!

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“LOVE is our Soul Purpose”

Your Soul Food for the Last Friday in January 2026: Seizing Control and Making the Most of What YOU Have. LISTEN Up and SPEAK Up!

January 30, 2026 by Soul Food Friday, posted in Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday

This week:

Listen Up and Speak UP!

In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then… they came for me. ..And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
–Rev Martin Niemoller, January 1946

In current divisive times, I pray we all appreciate the importance of a free and independent press and the criticality of hearing diverse voices and different perspectives, if we are going to counter man’s inhumanity to man (I use male pronouns deliberately here).

With a degree in Mass Communications from UC San Diego from many moons ago, and a high degree of angst from current conditions from as recently as a few hours ago, I prompt engineered AI about the benefits of a free and independent press, given my frustration with how media voices are being silenced or kept out of the broader community conversation, at our own peril.

This was the unfiltered response:

A free and independent press serves as the “Fourth Estate,” acting as a crucial check on power and a cornerstone of a healthy society. Its benefits reach beyond just delivering news—it fosters accountability, protects human rights, and empowers citizens to participate in self-governance.

1. Holding Power to Account

Watchdog Function: An independent press monitors the actions of government, corporations, and other institutions to expose corruption, fraud, and waste.
Investigating Injustice: Journalists conduct deep research to uncover facts that powerful entities might prefer to keep hidden, such as human rights violations or environmental damage.
Encouraging Transparency: By utilizing public records laws and FOIA requests, the press ensures that official actions are open to public scrutiny.

2. Strengthening Democracy and Civic Engagement

Informed Electorate: A free press provides reliable information that helps citizens make informed decisions at the ballot box, from local school board elections to national leadership.
Platform for Dialogue: It creates a “marketplace of ideas,” fostering public debate and allowing diverse perspectives—especially from marginalized groups—to be heard.
Connecting Communities: Local journalism helps communities “know themselves” by telling their unique stories, which strengthens social bonds and local dialogue.

3. Promoting Public Health and Wellbeing

Addressing Crises: During emergencies like COVID-19, independent reporters provide life-saving information, explain complex risks, and counter disinformation.
Stigma Reduction: A free press can bring awareness to sensitive health issues (such as HIV/AIDS or mental health), driving policy changes and reducing social taboos.

4. Protecting Individual Liberties

Safeguarding Freedom of Expression: Press freedom is inextricably linked to individual rights; it ensures that the government cannot control the mindset of the country by manipulating information.
Empowering the Voiceless: By documenting the stories of those without power, the press acts as an advocate for human rights and personal liberty.

Global Impact

The World Press Freedom Index regularly tracks how these benefits correlate with national stability. Countries with a free press often enjoy higher levels of prosperity and more resilient social structures compared to those under strict state censorship.

What can I do about it?
For decades, both personally and professionally, I have been a fan, supporter and endorser of many media channels including local public media -KPBS San Diego and NPR.