Source: Tahlequah Kiwanis Club
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Friday, July 29, 2005
One to ponder...
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
--Frank Herbert
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
--Frank Herbert
Thursday, July 28, 2005
One to ponder...
"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both."
-- -James A. Michener
"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both."
-- -James A. Michener
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
One to ponder...
"You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows.
And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.
Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store
makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.
And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.
I'll never reach my destination if I never try,
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away.
To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides."
-- Garth Brooks, song "The River" co-written with Victoria Shaw.
"You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows.
And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.
Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store
makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.
And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.
I'll never reach my destination if I never try,
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away.
To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides."
-- Garth Brooks, song "The River" co-written with Victoria Shaw.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Interesting Find
A newly found poem by Sappho, acknowledged as one of the greatest poets of Greek classical antiquity and seen by some as the finest of any era, is published for the first time. See below.
Written more than 2,600 years ago, the 101 words of verse deal with a theme timeless in both art and soap operas; the stirrings of an ageing body towards the nimbleness, youth and love it once knew.
The poem was found in the cartonnage of an Egyptian mummy, the flexible layer of fibre or papyrus which was moulded while wet into a plaster-like surface around the irregular parts of a mummified wrapped body, so that motifs could be painted on.
And here it is...
You for the fragrant-blossomed Muses' lovely gifts
be zealous, girls, and the clear melodious lyre:
but my once tender body old age now
has seized; my hair's turned white instead of dark;
my heart's grown heavy, my knees will not support me,
that once on a time were fleet for the dance as fawns.
This state I oft bemoan; but what's to do?
Not to grow old, being human, there's no way.
Tithonus once, the tale was, rose-armed Dawn,
love-smitten, carried off to the world's end,
handsome and young then, yet in time grey age
o'ertook him, husband of immortal wife.
The poem's translation is by Martin West of All Souls, Oxford.
A newly found poem by Sappho, acknowledged as one of the greatest poets of Greek classical antiquity and seen by some as the finest of any era, is published for the first time. See below.
Written more than 2,600 years ago, the 101 words of verse deal with a theme timeless in both art and soap operas; the stirrings of an ageing body towards the nimbleness, youth and love it once knew.
The poem was found in the cartonnage of an Egyptian mummy, the flexible layer of fibre or papyrus which was moulded while wet into a plaster-like surface around the irregular parts of a mummified wrapped body, so that motifs could be painted on.
And here it is...
You for the fragrant-blossomed Muses' lovely gifts
be zealous, girls, and the clear melodious lyre:
but my once tender body old age now
has seized; my hair's turned white instead of dark;
my heart's grown heavy, my knees will not support me,
that once on a time were fleet for the dance as fawns.
This state I oft bemoan; but what's to do?
Not to grow old, being human, there's no way.
Tithonus once, the tale was, rose-armed Dawn,
love-smitten, carried off to the world's end,
handsome and young then, yet in time grey age
o'ertook him, husband of immortal wife.
The poem's translation is by Martin West of All Souls, Oxford.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Looking for Meaningful Work?
Read this book: Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar. I did some time ago. It was a big help.
A related question to explore is: "How can I bring greater meaning to the work I do now?"
Read this book: Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar. I did some time ago. It was a big help.
A related question to explore is: "How can I bring greater meaning to the work I do now?"
Ponder this...
Are you considering seeking therapy, but are unsure whether it's the right choice for you? The Psychology Today website has an online survey to help you decide. Note: It does take 10+ minutes to complete.
Are you considering seeking therapy, but are unsure whether it's the right choice for you? The Psychology Today website has an online survey to help you decide. Note: It does take 10+ minutes to complete.
Monday Thought: Do No Harm
"Every physical, emotional, or mental symptom gives us a particular message, and we need to acknowledge these messages. every true healing process is an affirmation of our wholeness . . . and any condition should "first do no harm."
--Dr. Dori Luneski
"Every physical, emotional, or mental symptom gives us a particular message, and we need to acknowledge these messages. every true healing process is an affirmation of our wholeness . . . and any condition should "first do no harm."
--Dr. Dori Luneski
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Central High School, 1909, Martins Ferry, Ohio
Spent Eighth Grade There, 1963-1964
Source: Vintage Images
Saturday, July 23, 2005
The Light By The Barn
By William Stafford
The light by the barn that shines all night
pales at dawn when a little breeze comes.
A little breeze comes breathing the fields
from their sleep and waking the slow windmill.
The slow windmill sings the long day
about anguish and loss to the chickens at work.
The little breeze follows the slow windmill
and the chickens at work till the sun goes down--
Then the light by the barn again.
By William Stafford
The light by the barn that shines all night
pales at dawn when a little breeze comes.
A little breeze comes breathing the fields
from their sleep and waking the slow windmill.
The slow windmill sings the long day
about anguish and loss to the chickens at work.
The little breeze follows the slow windmill
and the chickens at work till the sun goes down--
Then the light by the barn again.
Saturday Thought: Kitchen Feng Shui
"Nourish the body, nourish the soul. The kitchen is the heart of the home and in Feng Shui (the Chinese art of placement) this key room represents nourishment and prosperity. It's important that the food we eat be prepared in an environment where there is good chi (energy). Therefore, a clean, harmonious kitchen is important to our physical health and our spiritual health."
Read more here.
"Nourish the body, nourish the soul. The kitchen is the heart of the home and in Feng Shui (the Chinese art of placement) this key room represents nourishment and prosperity. It's important that the food we eat be prepared in an environment where there is good chi (energy). Therefore, a clean, harmonious kitchen is important to our physical health and our spiritual health."
Read more here.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
What is Spiritual Growth?
Source: Self Realization.com
"As religious people, we are involved with a certain amount of traditional, ceremonial, and dogmatic behavior. We do it automatically, because when we were children, we were simply told to behave and even think in a prescribed way. But, do we really experience Spiritual Growth when we visit a church, do a good deed, pray a lot, believe what others told us to believe, belong to any particular belief system, grow beards, meditate, get circumcised, wear turbans, etc.? To answer that question, we have to know first what constituets spiritual growth.
Perhaps, all these traditional ways are important things, but Spiritual Growth simply occurs when the Spirit grows and the ego shrinks. Any Spiritual Growth happens only in direct relationship to a shrinking ego: without a shrinking ego, there is no Spiritual Growth. Through continuous Meditation, eventually, we experience our Self in its natural pure state. It is then that we realize that our Self-awareness is never born and never dies. To find that Pure Existence is the purpose of all Spiritual Exercise and one of our best tools is Meditation.
Like many Spiritual concepts, Spiritual Growth is a misnomer. In reality, the Spirit does not grow or shrink: it is always the way it is. What is a Spirit anyway? It is that which knows that it exists. Other names for Spirit are Life-force, Soul, Awareness, or Beingness.
If we do a good deed selflessly without the slightest consideration of the rewards or fruits, as a result, we grow spiritually. If we do that good deed and feel proud or even simply good, we strengthen the ego. Tricky but logical, is it not?
Likewise, if we meditate and reduce our thinking, we uncover more of the Spirit. But, again, if we feel proud of our accomplishments as a result of otherwise proper Meditation, we have not really accomplished anything at all.
Spiritual Growth has to continue until we rest without remaining wishes, attachments, dreaming, and thinking in pure Awareness. Pure Awareness (God) is where we rest in eternal peace and bliss. Once this is understood, the mind will still resist and state that it is not yet ready for such a permanent condition. That might be so, but such thinking is simply the result of having lost awareness of this superior condition of the Soul."
Source: Self Realization.com
"As religious people, we are involved with a certain amount of traditional, ceremonial, and dogmatic behavior. We do it automatically, because when we were children, we were simply told to behave and even think in a prescribed way. But, do we really experience Spiritual Growth when we visit a church, do a good deed, pray a lot, believe what others told us to believe, belong to any particular belief system, grow beards, meditate, get circumcised, wear turbans, etc.? To answer that question, we have to know first what constituets spiritual growth.
Perhaps, all these traditional ways are important things, but Spiritual Growth simply occurs when the Spirit grows and the ego shrinks. Any Spiritual Growth happens only in direct relationship to a shrinking ego: without a shrinking ego, there is no Spiritual Growth. Through continuous Meditation, eventually, we experience our Self in its natural pure state. It is then that we realize that our Self-awareness is never born and never dies. To find that Pure Existence is the purpose of all Spiritual Exercise and one of our best tools is Meditation.
Like many Spiritual concepts, Spiritual Growth is a misnomer. In reality, the Spirit does not grow or shrink: it is always the way it is. What is a Spirit anyway? It is that which knows that it exists. Other names for Spirit are Life-force, Soul, Awareness, or Beingness.
If we do a good deed selflessly without the slightest consideration of the rewards or fruits, as a result, we grow spiritually. If we do that good deed and feel proud or even simply good, we strengthen the ego. Tricky but logical, is it not?
Likewise, if we meditate and reduce our thinking, we uncover more of the Spirit. But, again, if we feel proud of our accomplishments as a result of otherwise proper Meditation, we have not really accomplished anything at all.
Spiritual Growth has to continue until we rest without remaining wishes, attachments, dreaming, and thinking in pure Awareness. Pure Awareness (God) is where we rest in eternal peace and bliss. Once this is understood, the mind will still resist and state that it is not yet ready for such a permanent condition. That might be so, but such thinking is simply the result of having lost awareness of this superior condition of the Soul."
Metaphysics
“The philosophy which is so important in each of us is not a technical matter; it is our more or less dumb sense of what life honestly and deeply means. ...it is our individual way of seeing and feeling the total push and pressure of the cosmos.”
— William James
“The philosophy which is so important in each of us is not a technical matter; it is our more or less dumb sense of what life honestly and deeply means. ...it is our individual way of seeing and feeling the total push and pressure of the cosmos.”
— William James
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Kittens! Kittens!
By William Wordsworth
Kittens kittens everywhere
Kittens chewing on my hair
Kittens climbing up my jeans
Kittens hanging from the screens
There's a kitten on each shoulder
Will they do this when they're older?
Kittens fighting on the chairs
Kittens tumbling down the stairs
There's a kitten on my head
There's a kitten in the bread!
There's a kitten in my shoe
I don't believe we just have two!
By William Wordsworth
Kittens kittens everywhere
Kittens chewing on my hair
Kittens climbing up my jeans
Kittens hanging from the screens
There's a kitten on each shoulder
Will they do this when they're older?
Kittens fighting on the chairs
Kittens tumbling down the stairs
There's a kitten on my head
There's a kitten in the bread!
There's a kitten in my shoe
I don't believe we just have two!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
On animals...
Q. If animals have deep emotional lives, as your research suggests, what are the implications for humans?
A. Animals are sentient; they feel pain and can suffer. I believe they have inherent value just because they exist. Their value shouldn’t be dependent on how well we can train them or how well they perform for us.
Read more here.
Q. If animals have deep emotional lives, as your research suggests, what are the implications for humans?
A. Animals are sentient; they feel pain and can suffer. I believe they have inherent value just because they exist. Their value shouldn’t be dependent on how well we can train them or how well they perform for us.
Read more here.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Saturday Thought: Using What We Got Right
"Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own."
--Henry Ward Beecher
"Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own."
--Henry Ward Beecher
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Friday, July 15, 2005
Friday Thought: Global Soul
"We as business leaders must commit to a new, spiritual-based "response-ability" as we participate in a world transformed by globalisation and technology."
Source: Spirituality/IndiaTimes
"We as business leaders must commit to a new, spiritual-based "response-ability" as we participate in a world transformed by globalisation and technology."
Source: Spirituality/IndiaTimes
To Hope
By John Keats
When by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night,
Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray,
Should sad Despondency my musings fright,
And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,
Peep with the moonbeams through the leafy roof,
And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof!
Should Disappointment, parent of Despair,
Strive for her son to seize my careless heart;
When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,
Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart:
Chase him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright,
And fright him as the morning frightens night!
Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear
Tells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow,
O bright-eyed Hope, my morbidfancy cheer;
Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow:
Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain,
From cruel parents, or relentless fair;
O let me think it is not quite in vain
To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
In the long vista of the years to roll,
Let me not see our country's honour fade:
O let me see our land retain her soul,
Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade.
From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed---
Beneath thy pinions canopy my head!
Let me not see the patriot's high bequest,
Great Liberty! how great in plain attire!
With the base purple of a court oppress'd,
Bowing her head, and ready to expire:
But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings
That fill the skies with silver glitterings!
And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;
Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar:
So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,
Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head!
By John Keats
When by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night,
Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray,
Should sad Despondency my musings fright,
And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,
Peep with the moonbeams through the leafy roof,
And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof!
Should Disappointment, parent of Despair,
Strive for her son to seize my careless heart;
When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,
Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart:
Chase him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright,
And fright him as the morning frightens night!
Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear
Tells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow,
O bright-eyed Hope, my morbidfancy cheer;
Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow:
Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain,
From cruel parents, or relentless fair;
O let me think it is not quite in vain
To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
In the long vista of the years to roll,
Let me not see our country's honour fade:
O let me see our land retain her soul,
Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade.
From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed---
Beneath thy pinions canopy my head!
Let me not see the patriot's high bequest,
Great Liberty! how great in plain attire!
With the base purple of a court oppress'd,
Bowing her head, and ready to expire:
But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings
That fill the skies with silver glitterings!
And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;
Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar:
So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,
Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Getting to Know Your Soul
Points Abstracted From David Zimmer
Here are ten things we should keep in mind to know our soul better:
1. Questions are more beneficial than answers.
2. Everything is constantly changing.
3. You have to stop what you are doing to see what you were doing.
4. Everything serves a purpose or it ceases to exist.
5. You learn what is right by experiencing what is wrong.
6. You are always experiencing what you need to experience.
7. What occurred is not important; what is important is how you respond.
8. You learn from observing and embracing differences.
9. Everyone is doing the best they can.
10. You are not alone.
David Zimmer can be contacted by mail: david@whoisdavid.org. Visit his website at: www.whoisdavid.org.
Points Abstracted From David Zimmer
Here are ten things we should keep in mind to know our soul better:
1. Questions are more beneficial than answers.
2. Everything is constantly changing.
3. You have to stop what you are doing to see what you were doing.
4. Everything serves a purpose or it ceases to exist.
5. You learn what is right by experiencing what is wrong.
6. You are always experiencing what you need to experience.
7. What occurred is not important; what is important is how you respond.
8. You learn from observing and embracing differences.
9. Everyone is doing the best they can.
10. You are not alone.
David Zimmer can be contacted by mail: david@whoisdavid.org. Visit his website at: www.whoisdavid.org.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Failing and Flying
By Jack Gilbert
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.
By Jack Gilbert
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Things like this make you believe in God.
This is a sunset over the Saguaro National Forest near Tucson, Arizona. This is one of our favorite places to hike. I recall a wonderful early morning Thanksgiving hike that Mary and I took in the forest a couple of years ago.
Source: Pierre-Henri FREVOL
Mirror Lake (Near Mount Hood, Oregon)
Source: Minnesota Roses
We were there and saw this exact same view just two weeks ago. A hike around Mirror Lake is absolutely good for the soul. Hopefully you will get this opportunity in your lifetime.
Source: Minnesota Roses
We were there and saw this exact same view just two weeks ago. A hike around Mirror Lake is absolutely good for the soul. Hopefully you will get this opportunity in your lifetime.
Saturday Thought: Our Relations
"What is our relationship to a flower, to a bird that passes by? And what is our relationship with each other - not with the speaker but with each other - with your wife, with your husband, with your children, with the environment, with your neighbor, your community, the government, and so on? What is our relationship to all this? Or are we just isolated, self-concerned, intensely interested in our own way of life?"
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
"What is our relationship to a flower, to a bird that passes by? And what is our relationship with each other - not with the speaker but with each other - with your wife, with your husband, with your children, with the environment, with your neighbor, your community, the government, and so on? What is our relationship to all this? Or are we just isolated, self-concerned, intensely interested in our own way of life?"
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
Friday, July 08, 2005
Economic developers fighting it out over a business investment prospect. Source: Highland Shepherd Website.
Friday Thought: Stop Your Complaining
In a dharma talk called "My Favorite Pastime: Complaining," Thubten Chodron states that our days are filled with dissatisfactions, blame, and judgments about our bodies, our possessions, our co-workers, our political leaders — you name it, and we have it covered with our disapproval.
Why do we complain? Chodron points to our need to have others recognize our suffering and our desire to vent our emotions and our feelings of powerlessness. Buddhists have antidotes to complaining, including meditating on impermanence, cultivating compassion (empathizing with others), and realizing that we cannot control others and have them conform to our ideas or ideals. Read more in Spirituality and Health here.
In a dharma talk called "My Favorite Pastime: Complaining," Thubten Chodron states that our days are filled with dissatisfactions, blame, and judgments about our bodies, our possessions, our co-workers, our political leaders — you name it, and we have it covered with our disapproval.
Why do we complain? Chodron points to our need to have others recognize our suffering and our desire to vent our emotions and our feelings of powerlessness. Buddhists have antidotes to complaining, including meditating on impermanence, cultivating compassion (empathizing with others), and realizing that we cannot control others and have them conform to our ideas or ideals. Read more in Spirituality and Health here.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Seeing the Black Bear
A black bear showed up in our back yard earlier this week. Ok, that isn't a big deal if you live in the Smokey Mountains, but it is a big deal if you live in a Cleveland, Ohio suburb.
I was delighted to see this wild creature show up. To me, it says that Nature is willing to share a gift with us that we have not seen in this area in at least 100 years or longer.
Some of our neighbors were horrified because this giant creature, who was totally outside their definition of what is possible, appeared before their eyes. On one level, I understand they were frightened. At the same time, I wish that their reaction had been one of astonishment. Some people don't want their world to change. I say "good luck, because change is all we really have."
We should be astonished by life. It makes us appreciate it even more. From my vantage point, I hope Mr. Bear comes back. I don't mind sharing the woods with a bear. After all, that would allow us to answer the question "Does a bear _ _ _ _ in the woods?"
Smile and allow yourself to be astonished on this fine sunny Thursday.
A black bear showed up in our back yard earlier this week. Ok, that isn't a big deal if you live in the Smokey Mountains, but it is a big deal if you live in a Cleveland, Ohio suburb.
I was delighted to see this wild creature show up. To me, it says that Nature is willing to share a gift with us that we have not seen in this area in at least 100 years or longer.
Some of our neighbors were horrified because this giant creature, who was totally outside their definition of what is possible, appeared before their eyes. On one level, I understand they were frightened. At the same time, I wish that their reaction had been one of astonishment. Some people don't want their world to change. I say "good luck, because change is all we really have."
We should be astonished by life. It makes us appreciate it even more. From my vantage point, I hope Mr. Bear comes back. I don't mind sharing the woods with a bear. After all, that would allow us to answer the question "Does a bear _ _ _ _ in the woods?"
Smile and allow yourself to be astonished on this fine sunny Thursday.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
A Dream Within a Dream
By Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow:
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
By Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow:
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
One to ponder...
"Many of us grow up thinking of mistakes as bad, viewing errors as evidence of fundamental incapacity. This negative thinking pattern can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, which undermines the learning process. To maximize our learning it is essential to ask: "How can we get the most from every mistake we make?"
--Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan
"Many of us grow up thinking of mistakes as bad, viewing errors as evidence of fundamental incapacity. This negative thinking pattern can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, which undermines the learning process. To maximize our learning it is essential to ask: "How can we get the most from every mistake we make?"
--Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
One to ponder...
"By virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness." Source: James Allen
"By virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness." Source: James Allen
Tuesday Thought: Visualize Self Possibilities
Genevieve Behrend says: "We all possess more power and greater possibilities than we realize, and visualizing is one of the greatest of these powers. It brings other possibilities to our observation. When we pause to think for a moment, we realize that for a cosmos to exist at all, it must be the outcome of a cosmic mind."
Genevieve Behrend says: "We all possess more power and greater possibilities than we realize, and visualizing is one of the greatest of these powers. It brings other possibilities to our observation. When we pause to think for a moment, we realize that for a cosmos to exist at all, it must be the outcome of a cosmic mind."
Monday, July 04, 2005
Happy Fourth of July
July 4th Holidays were very special when I was a kid. They were about...lady fingers, cherry bombs, M-80s, sparklers, sky rockets, and this sort of thing, grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and potato salad, baked beans, brownies, cupcakes, Mom, Dad, Diana, Doug, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and best friends, hot summer nights chasing lightning bugs, getting buzzed on cool aid, having so much fun and getting so dirty I had to take two baths in a day, and being so tired at the end of the day I wanted to cry, and wishing that single day would last forever.
July 4th Holidays were very special when I was a kid. They were about...lady fingers, cherry bombs, M-80s, sparklers, sky rockets, and this sort of thing, grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and potato salad, baked beans, brownies, cupcakes, Mom, Dad, Diana, Doug, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and best friends, hot summer nights chasing lightning bugs, getting buzzed on cool aid, having so much fun and getting so dirty I had to take two baths in a day, and being so tired at the end of the day I wanted to cry, and wishing that single day would last forever.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Sunday Thought: Forgiveness
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Saturday Thought: Authenticity
Who am I? Who are you? These are perhaps the biggest small questions we will ever encounter in life. These questions lead us to examine our authenticity as human beings. Who am I REALLY? What is my authentic self?
These questions become even more important to us during transitional periods in our lives: during mid-life, during a divorce, when we face a major career change, when we or our family members face major health issues, when we confront a major ethical dilemma, etc.
These times are "wake-up calls" for all of us. Our first tendency is often to whisk through them (avoidance) or pretend they didn't occur (denial). If we approach them with patience and a desire to truly understand them, we can grow toward our authentic self from the experience.
I ran across this quote, which speaks to me on the issue of authenticity:
"We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity." Source: Barbara De Angelis
Too often we surround ourselves with people and things that fit our "ego self" and not our "authentic self." We need to be aware of this tendency, and learn how to attract people and things into our lives that fit our authentic self. Actually, I believe the shift occurs automatically. That is, when we shift to being our authentic self, we attract the right people and things into our lives, and old things and people attached to our ego self tend to simply fall away.
Who am I? Who are you? These are perhaps the biggest small questions we will ever encounter in life. These questions lead us to examine our authenticity as human beings. Who am I REALLY? What is my authentic self?
These questions become even more important to us during transitional periods in our lives: during mid-life, during a divorce, when we face a major career change, when we or our family members face major health issues, when we confront a major ethical dilemma, etc.
These times are "wake-up calls" for all of us. Our first tendency is often to whisk through them (avoidance) or pretend they didn't occur (denial). If we approach them with patience and a desire to truly understand them, we can grow toward our authentic self from the experience.
I ran across this quote, which speaks to me on the issue of authenticity:
"We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity." Source: Barbara De Angelis
Too often we surround ourselves with people and things that fit our "ego self" and not our "authentic self." We need to be aware of this tendency, and learn how to attract people and things into our lives that fit our authentic self. Actually, I believe the shift occurs automatically. That is, when we shift to being our authentic self, we attract the right people and things into our lives, and old things and people attached to our ego self tend to simply fall away.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Madrigal
By Mary Leader
How the tenor warbles in April!
He thrushes, he nightingales, 0 he's a lark.
He cuts the cinquefoil air into snippets
With his love's scissors in the shape of a stork.
Hear the alto's glissando, October.
She drapes blue air on her love's shoulders,
On his velvet jerkin the color of crows.
Her cape of felt & old pearls enfolds her.
How the baritone roots out in May!
His depths reach even the silence inside
The worms moving level, the worms moving up,
The pike plunging under the noisy tide.
Hear the soprano's vibrato, November,
Water surface trembles, cold in the troughs.
She transforms blowing hedges into fences,
She transforms scarlet leaves into moths.
By Mary Leader
How the tenor warbles in April!
He thrushes, he nightingales, 0 he's a lark.
He cuts the cinquefoil air into snippets
With his love's scissors in the shape of a stork.
Hear the alto's glissando, October.
She drapes blue air on her love's shoulders,
On his velvet jerkin the color of crows.
Her cape of felt & old pearls enfolds her.
How the baritone roots out in May!
His depths reach even the silence inside
The worms moving level, the worms moving up,
The pike plunging under the noisy tide.
Hear the soprano's vibrato, November,
Water surface trembles, cold in the troughs.
She transforms blowing hedges into fences,
She transforms scarlet leaves into moths.
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