Fascinating discussion of the Tang versus Song dynasty in China on Reddit. I've been posting about Tang dynasty poets here. 

Feel guilty I didn't connect with Shams yesterday. Busy with my daughter and fell asleep. I think guilt is a positive emotion about friendship, but alas you can't change the past, and you can't steamroll yourself completely with friendship. It exists in the comfort paces, not in the struggle spaces, except when you're struggling in school, or sports. I guess meditation is a struggle space of sorts, although with a lot more relaxing and not trying. The urge to do more for your friend shows the connection. I'm trying to redirect him to writing in his journal, and doing the other coping skills to deal with insomnia. He has insomnia and basically didn't sleep last night. 

Today is the 46th anniversary of the 16th of January, 1979. This was the day Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and the rest of the Imperial family boarded a plane at Mehrabad Airport and left Iran, with the Shah spending the rest of his days in exile.