The following post was taken from an email thread of ongoing correspondence between George Stiehl, publisher of Citizen LA, and myself:

“…
That single night in LA when we met was very educating to me - In a city notorious for its fake facades, plastic angels and tinsel devils, that night, indeed my entire week long visit, gave me truer insights than much of the rest of my life. I have already left LA but I would like to share with you a thought that I have had ringing in mind ever since our meeting. It relates to our brief discussion about the power of being an unknown innocent, and it takes us back in time over 300 years so buckle up…

more?

In 1697 Tsar Peter the Great, arguably the greatest ruler Russia has ever had, traveled through Europe for a year and a half on a journey he hoped would give him insights as to how to advance his backward homeland. This epic and unparalleled journey has since been come to be known as “The grand embassy” and is probably one of the most incredible stories about leadership, humility and wisdom, that mankind has ever witnessed…

What is unique about Tsar Peter’s trip is that he elected to make this journey incognito, traveling not as the Tsar of Russia, but as a low ranking nobleman…

There was a method to Peter’s madness that proves just how great this leader truly was.
Peter instinctively sensed that a traveling Tsar was bound to be presented with a warped, beautified, and tinsely version of reality. By electing to travel incognito he was granted unique opportunities for learning that would never have been accessible to him as a touring Tsar:

Peter studied shipbuilding in Holland, gaining hands-on practical experience in the largest shipyard in the world of his day, he even helped with the construction of a vessel he himself had commissioned there. He learned trades and crafts from skilled workers, locksmiths, shipwrights and seamen. He was taught how to draw teeth, quench fires and even how to catch butterflies…

On his return to Russia Peter embarked on implementing all he had learned for the betterment of his nation, and though he had inherited an uneducated, untrained, uncivilized and superstitious country that had till his day excluded itself from European society, economy, and politics, during the 42 years of his reign Peter modernized Russia to such an extent that by the time he died it was a superpower not to be trifled with ever again.

For his efforts, while still in reign, Tsar Peter was honored with the title “the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias”.

Far from me to compare myself to a figure of Peter’s magnitude, I simply offer his inspiring story as validation to the idea we discussed while waiting to pee. I would also dare to suggest that the citizens of your city of angels might benefit from having they’re finely crafted images reflected back at them once in a while in an innocent and undistorted mirror, perhaps one traveling incognito
…”

: )
Mike