Sunday, October 31, 2004

Oneness
By Don

One we seek,
One we never know,
One we hope for,
One is how we really are.
~ The Invitation ~
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your sorrow.
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own.
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own self.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty everyday,
and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
On second thought...

Sann-ya-sin

"One who . . is dedicated to the life of spiritual growth and values, and to their teaching to others." Source: "Serving Humanity", Alice Bailey

"A Sannyasin cannot belong to any religion, for his is a life of independent thought, which draws from all religions; his is a life of realisation, not merely of theory or belief, much less of dogma".
Source: Swami Vivekananda
Sunday Thought: Change

"The art of progress is to preserve
order amid change and to preserve
change amid order."

--Alfred North Whitehead

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Real Learning
By Don

Sharing
learning moments together,
Connecting
across boundaries,
Making
new connections,
Creating
new openings,
Challenging
what we know,
Discovering
what we believe,
Letting go
of parts of ourselves no longer needed.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Autumn morning,
ripe berry-filled tree,
scores of robins feasting
Haiku Moment
By Don

Choose life
choose love
choose the real you
On second thought...

"When you choose to
see yourself as incompetent,
you create experiences of
incompetence.

Focusing on what you cannot
do instead of what you can do
creates a picture of yourself
that is narrow and incomplete."

--Mind of the Soul, by Gary
Zukav and Linda Francis
Saturday Thought: New Take on Work

"Personally, I have nothing against work,
particularly when performed, quietly and
unobtrusively, by someone else. I just
don't happen to think it's an appropriate
subject for an "ethic."

--Barbara Ehrenreich

Friday, October 29, 2004

On second thought...

"Choice equals creation. Each choice
you make creates experiences for
you and others. Your experiences
are dramatically and intimately
connected to your choices. In fact,
the way you perceive yourself is
a choice."

--Mind of the Soul, by Gary Zukav
and Linda Francis
Friday Thought: Linking to the Future

"In every conceivable manner, the
family is link to our past, bridge to
our future."

--Alex Haley

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

All really good questions
outlive any answer
we can provide
Haiku Moment
By Don

Grasp the question
that stirs the heart
and escapes the mind
On second thought...

"Lying is done with words
and also with silence."

--Adrienne Rich
Thursday Thought: Love

"I hold it true,
whate'er befall;
I feel it,
when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."

--Alford Lord Tennyson


Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Wednesday Thought: Politics

"Politics is not the art of the possible.
It consists in choosing between the
disastrous and the unpalatable."

--John Kenneth Galbraith
On second thought...

"October is a symphony of permanence
and change."

--Bonaro W. Overstreet

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

On second thought...

"Study nature, love nature,
stay close to nature.
It will never fail you."

--Frank Lloyd Wright
Tuesday Thought: Nature's Inspiration

"The richness I achieve comes from
Nature, the source of my inspiration."

--Claude Monet

Monday, October 25, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Wishing
there was
more than there is


On second thought...

"Self-respect is a question of
recognizing that anything worth
having has a price."

--Joan Didion
Monday Thought: Happiness

"You will never be happy if you
continue to search for what happiness
consists of. You will never live if you
are looking for the meaning of life."

--Albert Camus

Now that is one I need to remember!

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Tiny specks of gold,
mining the truth,
bit by bit within
Haiku Moment
By Don

Lessons abound,
teachers everywhere,
open yourself
On second thought...

"If we could see the miracle
of a single flower clearly, our
whole life would change."

--Buddha
Sunday Thought: Cats

No not the play, the frisky,
cagey animal.

"There are no ordinary cats."

--Colette

Saturday, October 23, 2004

By Our Presence Alone
By Don

Inspire me,
don't lead me,
show me by example,
don't tell me,
let me hear you laugh,
let me see you cry,
let me hear your questions,
not the answers you find,
give me room to grow,
in the sunlight outside your shadow,
reassure me with your presence,
not your intervening thoughts or actions,
just be there and be who you are,
then I can find myself.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Listen
past yourself,
the winds of change summon
Haiku Moment
By Don

You are
who you are,
not who you think you are
On second thought...

Leadership: "It's hard to lead a cavalry
charge if you think you look funny on
a horse."

--Adlai Steveson
Saturday Thought: Identity

"It doesn't matter who my
father was; it matters who
I remember he was."

--Anne Sexton

Friday, October 22, 2004

On second thought...

"You know what they say:
if God had been a Liberal, we
wouldn't have had the ten
commandments. We'd have
had the ten suggestions."

--Christopher Bigsby
and Malcolm Bradbury
Friday Thought: Conservatives

"Conservative: a statesman who is
enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished
from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them
with others."

--Ambrose Bierce

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Inside You
By Don

Boundless beauty,
honesty to the bone,
ageless truth,
wisdom untold,
unending love,
your heart.
On second thought...

"Character cannot be developed
in ease and quiet. Only through
experience of trial and suffering
can the soul be strengthened,
vision cleared, ambition inspired,
and success achieved."

--Helen Keller
Thursday Thought: Character

"The best index to a person's
character is (a) how he treats
people who can't do him any
good, and (b) how he treats
people who can't fight back."

--Abigail Van Buren

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Appreciate,
share,
don't accumulate
Haiku Moment
By Don

Stand tall,
look in the mirror,
believe in yourself

Wednesday Thought: Poetry and Life

"There is poetry as soon as we realize
that we possess nothing."

--John Cage
On second thought...

"Life is the art of drawing without
an eraser."

John W. Gardner

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

On Friendship
By Don

Friends are wonderful living reminders,
they help us take off our blinders,
they fill us with good cheer,
and tell us not to fear.

Friends wake us when up we're sleeping,
they keep our love from seeping,
they show us the way when we are lost,
and give us their love at no cost.

Friends sit by our side when we're sick,
never a fight do they pick,
they tell us the things we need to hear,
even when we don't want to look in the mirror.
On second thought...

"Fear is not the natural state
of civilized people."

--Aung San Suu Kyi
Tuesday Thought: Beautiful Solutions

"When I am working on a problem I
never think about beauty. I only think
about how to solve the problem. But
when I have finished, if the solution is
not beautiful, I know it is wrong.

--Buckminster Fuller

Monday, October 18, 2004

On second thought...

"One who asks a question is a fool
for five minutes; one who does not
ask a question remains a fool forever."

--Chinese Proverb
Monday Thought: Einstein the Buddhist

"A human being is a part of the whole
called by us universe, a part limited in
time and space. He experiences himself,
his thoughts and feeling as something
separated from the rest, a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion
is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to
our personal desires and to affection for
a few persons nearest to us. Our task
must be to free ourselves from this prison
by widening our circle of compassion to
embrace all living creatures and the whole
of nature in its beauty."

--Albert Einstein
Haiku Moment
By Don

Meaningful work,
work we love,
not necessarily work that pays
Haiku Moment
By Don

Jobs available,
jobs we want,
a gulf between the two

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Arizona sunset,
autumn colors fly,
letting go of what holds us back
Haiku Moment
By Don

Lurking hawk,
small birds scatter,
our daily fears in life
On second thought ...

"We don't see things as they are,
we see them as we are."

--Anaïs Nin
Sunday Thought: Autumn

"Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower."

--Albert Camus

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Late Night Autumn Muses
By Don

Distant voices,
inside,
touch us
with the muffled silence
of the night.

Autumn leaves
whisper change,
giving birth to
new dreams
we must follow.

Voices,
whispers,
silence,
dreams,
everything changes.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Lonesome dove,
worn out traveler,
the path takes it toll

On second thought...

"I believe that we are solely responsible
for our choices, and we have to accept
the consequences of every deed, word,
and thought throughout our lifetime."

--Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Saturday Thought: Love as a Choice

"Love is a choice you make from moment
to moment."

--Barbara De Angelis

Friday, October 15, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Towering buildings,
busy streets,
not necessarily a city
Haiku Moment
By Don

Red, yellow, and golden leaves
cornstalks, pumpkins, and gourds,
images of autumn's ascent

On second thought...

"The thing always happens that you
really believe in; and the belief in a thing
makes it happen."

--Frank Lloyd Wright
Friday Thought: How to Have an Impact

"To put the world right in order, we must
first put the nation in order; to put the nation
in order, we must first put the family in order;
to put the family in order, we must first cultivate
our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."

--Confucious

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Autumn Day in Cleveland
By Don

Noisy rambunctious bluejay,
bouncing frantically limb to limb,
golden sunlight streaks through treetops,
warming my inquisitive face
pressed against the window,
a single red maple leaf lets go
of her need to hold on,
Autumn day in Cleveland,
happiness is comfortably within reach today.
On second thought...

There are some things
in life that just don't mix.

"Never hold a dust buster
and a cat at the same time."

--Kyoya, 9 Advice from Kids
Thursday Thought: Simple Pleasures

We always seem to think we need so
much in life to be happy. Not so. Take
a cat for example:

"No one can have experienced to the
fullest the true sense of achievement
and satisfaction who have never pursued
and successfully caught his tail."

--Rosalind Welcher

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Shadow Truths
By Don

In ancient shadows find,
the sacred and sublime,
where darkness reveals the light,
the heart sees with perfect sight,
without the one, there is no other,
seek the truth without cover,
walk the path where shadows fall,
learn to walk it very tall,
the shadows tell what sun light hides,
for there too truth abides.

Haiku Moment
By Don

Truth,
walking a noble path,
one cleared by a happy heart
Wednesday Thought: Health Tip

"The secret of health for both mind
and body is not to mourn for the past,
worry about the future, or anticipate
troubles but to live in the present
moment wisely and earnestly."

--Buddha
On second thought...

"The defining function of the artist is
to cherish consciousness."

--Max Eastman

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Plunging the depths,
seeking answers,
finding the right question
On second thought...

"The arts are an even better barometer
of what is happening in our world than
the stock market or the debates in
Congress."

--Hendrik Willem Van Loon
Tuesday Thought: Dreams

"All men who have achieved great
things have been great dreamers."

--Orison Swett Marden

Monday, October 11, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Swan-like grace,
dancing on tip toes,
summer gives way to fall
Haiku Moment
By Don

River of passion,
freely flowing,
wildly engulfing all I am
Haiku Moment
By Don

Soft, supple,
willing, eager,
life in the moment
On second thought...

"The universal brotherhood of
man is our most precious possession."

--Mark Twain
Monday Thought: Good People

"Good people are good because
they've come to wisdom through failure."

--William Saroyan

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Being in the Night
By Don

Soft, gentle breeze,
faint Autumn scents,
quiet late night moment,
awaiting the rising sun.

Silver moon sliver,
dangles from the sky,
twinkle stars delight,
lonesome crickets cry.

Somehow,
always we are here,
never late for today,
sitting on life's front porch step.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Empty within,
but never without,
opening to the moment
Haiku Moment
By Don

Without,
we find truth,
in the absence of having
On second thought...

"Character is like a tree
and reputation like its shadow.
The shadow is what we think
of it; the tree is the real thing."

--Abraham Lincoln
Sunday Thought: Forgive Your Enemies

"Always forgive your enemies;
nothing annoys them so much."

--Oscar Wilde

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Things We Need
By Don

Laughter,
like butterflies in our garden,
touches us lightly,
but ever so deeply.

Caring smiles,
in a time of need,
cut gently,
but sharply into our despair.

Love,
given unconditionally,
captures us,
but ultimately sets us free.

Brilliant sunsets,
following long days,

help us lose ourselves,
just enough to find ourselves.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Golden opportunities,
ripe fruit,
times to grow
Haiku Moment
By Don

Long live,
not the king,
but love
On second thought...

The price of greatness is responsibility.

--Sir Winston Churchill
Saturday Thought: Infamy

"If all else fails, immortality
can always be assured by
spectacular error."

--John Kenneth Galbraith

Friday, October 08, 2004

On second thought ...

"What moves men of genius,
or rather what inspires their
work, is not new ideas, but
their obsession with the idea that
what has already been said is still
not enough."

--Eugene Delacroix
Friday Thought: Color

As you inhale the colorful
leaves of Autumn, consider
this concept.

"The color of the object illuminated
partakes of the color of that which
illuminates it."

--Leonardo da Vinci

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Early Morning Haiku
By Sharmagne Leland - St John

In the silver dawn
rivers of chrysanthemums
flow past my window


On second thought ...

"Creativity requires the courage
to let go of certainties."

--Erich Fromm
Thursday Thought: Self-Discovery

"Each must discover his own way in
life, and that way lies in his heart.
Let him delve deeply into the depths
of his being; his true centre is not far
from there."

--N. Sri Ram

Haiku Moment
By Don

October,
rust, orange, and yellow
Fall moments across Pennsylvania

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Autumn Leaves
by Tom Hyland

I sit here at my window,
staring out into space.
My mind is a-wandering,
searching for your pretty face.

A gentle breeze caresses the trees,
bristling and whistling your name.
When I hear those Autumn leaves,
I breathe a quiet sigh — what a shame!

The golds and reds and oranges,
twirl and twist within the mist,
whispering of a Love once known,
and I miss those lips once kissed.

The olive greens and browns and limes,
these leaves perceive as they intermingle,
reminding me that I have myself to blame,
for once again being single!

But pause a moment, consider this,
these falling, dying leaves are not in vain.
For they will rot, decompose, and re-fertilize,
with each droplet of gentle rain.

So is there a lesson here for me to learn,
as I ponder Nature’s course?
What is the bond ‘tween these leaves and me,
perhaps old nourishment for a New Love’s force?

Would you suppose, like Nature’s clothes,
we have to shed the old to become quite bold,
and frolic amidst the Holly and the Ivy,
or is this Ode just — one man’s Lovelorn Folly?

On second thought ...

"Dare to be naive."

--Buckminster Fuller


Wednesday Thought: Words

"If words come out of the heart,
they will enter the heart, but if
they come from the tongue,
they will not pass beyond the
ears."

--Al-Suhrawardi

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

If another
needs your love,
give it
Haiku Moment
By Don

You are,
all you have ever been,
and all you will ever become
Tuesday Thought: Invest in Yourself!

Invest in your physical, psychological,
and spiritual health.

How? Find what gives you joy and does the
same for others you love.
Morning Poem
By Mary Oliver

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches ---
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead ---
if it's all you can do
to keep on trudging ---

there is still

somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted ---

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.

from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver
Memory Mountains
By Don

Drifting across
ancient memories,
piled high,
like mountains,
standing...
between you
and your future.
On second thought...

"It takes a lot of courage to
release the familiar and seemingly
secure, to embrace the new. But
there is no real security in what
is no longer meaningful. There is
more security in the adventurous
and exciting, for in movement
there is life, and in change there
is power."

--Alan Cohen

Monday, October 04, 2004

Letting Go
By Don

Some days your soul seems to wander,
in search of tattered memories and faded dreams,
Some days you long to retrieve your roots,
however twisted and convoluted they may be,
Some days you want your youth back,
the eager spring in your step,
and long days of just play,
filled with honest imagination,
Some days you wish you could go back
and cut the painful ties holding you still
to things buried deep in the past,
Some days you long to be free
of all the addictions, compulsions, obsessions,
and even the dreams that keep you from being truly free,
Some day...
you will care less about your past
and surrender to the stars in the sky,
the contented birds that sing,
and the gentle waves lapping on the beach.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Star-filled night,
uncountable mysteries,
each day something new

Haiku Moment
By Don

Eagerness,
sea breeze gathering,
our youth shines through

Monday Thought: Art

"A work of art which did not
begin in emotion is not art."

--Marc Chagall

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Autumn Morning
By Linda A. Copp

The rarest Autumn morning,
of leaves set all ablaze.
The mildest touch of sunlight,
amid the Autumn haze.
The booted feet of daybreak,
falling to the ground,
The cool clear air a stirring,
God's poetry profound.
Haiku Moment
By Don

Meager surroundings,
inner gold,
signs of the truly rich man
Haiku Moment
By Don

Gentle fragrant rose,
loyal to its beauty,
makes the best of its thorns
On second thought...

Arrogance and conceit in a person
may be recognized by three signs:
When alone does he feel gloomy,

and in company feel happy?
When people praise him, does he

perform more worship? When they
speak badly of him, does he perform
very little worship?

--Al Ghazzali (Essential Sufism)

Sunday Thought: God and Me

"I searched for God and found only
myself. I searched for myself and
found only God".

--Sufi Proverb

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Haiku Moment
By Don

Skies open,
raindrops descend,
wash away all sorrow
Haiku Moment
By Don

Inner gyroscope,
balance and change,
change your balance
Saturday Thought: Reflect

However you do it, allow some
time to reflect this weekend on
where you are and where you're
headed in life. Consult your heart
as your roadmap.

Friday, October 01, 2004

The Child Within
By Don

Don't allow the child within you die,
Brush back the hair
from his questioning eyes,
so he can see you,
and you can see him.

Go for a walk,
take turns showing each other
what you see,
find something new together
that you can both see for the first time.

Listen to that
tiny voice inside,
you're never
too old
to be young again.
Autumn Begins In Martins Ferry, Ohio
By James Wright

In the Shreve High football stadium,
I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville,
And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood,
And the ruptured night watchman of Wheeling Steel,
Dreaming of heroes.

All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home.
Their women cluck like starved pullets,
Dying for love.

Therefore,
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful
At the beginning of October,
And gallop terribly against each other's bodies.
A Poetry Day
By Don

This is a day
when poetry flows,
a day when my dreams
keep me awake,
a day when
i feel connected
to the real me,
who needs not pretend,
to be something different
than i really am.
A Heart's Thanksgiving
By Don

In my heart,
lingers a desire
to be connected,
attached,
to something larger,
more powerful,
more beautiful.

In my heart,
roams a lonely cat,
not everyday but some days,
that longs
to belong,
and be a part of
something with others.

In my heart,
flies a solitary eagle,
who soars high,
where no other
bird would dare fly,
and lives in a world
of high off places.

In my heart,
lives an artist and a monk,
wishing to serve
and create,
from a quiet,
simple place
without expectation of return.

In my heart,
lives and breathes
a silvery dew drop,
sparkling
in the morning sunlight,
hoping for another dream
that carries me far away.

In my heart,
a thanksgiving table
has been set,
around it sits
those who loved me enough
to allow me
to be who i am.
Friday Thought: Small Wonders

They exist all around you. Expect
them today. Stop wondering why
or how. Simply behold them, and
allow them to overtake you with
surprise and astonishment.
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