Home Away From Home

if you find a shell

far away from the sea

listen to it closely

it will remind you where it has been

it does not tell you to bring it back

or ask to be used as a home again

it accepts that it has served its purpose

and only wants to sing the songs of the sea

John Lennon ~ Fear and Love

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” 

~ John Lennon, The Beatles ~

Cocoon

Lost in the woods for what felt like decades, he emerged expecting to be a butterfly.

With all the tales he had been told when he was a child about a wide-eyed adventurer plunging into the forest with only bravery and coming out a new person, he emerged into the open field of dead grass. It seemed his fables had failed him.

He shouted to the heavens, "I have struggled for so many years! Overcome so many trials and tribulations! Fought to keep myself alive..." His voice echoed through the forest. He began to cry tears full of anger interwoven with despair while he waited for the butterfly wings promised to him in his fables. As his tears subsided, he murmured to the forest, "then I have truly failed."

Tired and full of self pity, he lay on the dead grass, ignoring the tiny sprinkles of mist which collected in his beard and mustache. A thick fog began to rush though the forest like a phantasm, engulfing it entirely like a down blanket. It spread across the sky and the temperature dropped incredibly quickly, limiting his vision. As he reached into his pack to get his camping jacket, his small reflective mirror fell out and cracked on a rock. "Why!" he yelled again with a sense of renewed passion. As he leaned over to pick it up, he saw himself, after all of these months on his journey.

Shattered glass projects shattered images; this wasn't the case for him. He only vaguely saw the person who first set out on the journey; he was a young, inexperienced teenager, who decided he wanted to have an adventure. It wasn't his beard or his long matted hair, it was the inner strength he saw. He had developed a type of resolve which that boy could have never understood or believed he had inside. A tear welled up in his eye. While he might have not grown butterfly wings, he had become something more than what was promised to him in his fables. That broken image now reflected a full picture of who he had become.

Lost in the woods for what felt like decades, he emerged expecting to be a butterfly, but instead came out a man.

Silence

Talked with Glenn about silence. We came to an understanding that there is a tone, a basic tone that we can tune to.  

Glenn said, “But you have to be still and quiet to hear that tone. It's like music flowing through us.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Let's have three moments of silence.”

“Yes.”

As the moments of silence came, I saw the mind weave in and out of silence for a period of time. That was good enough. Yes, good enough.

∆

Thomas Edison ~ Listening

We have but two ears and one

mouth so that we may listen twice

as much as we speak.

~ Thomas Edison ~

Marcus Aurelius ~ Abundance

When you arise in the morning,

think of what a precious privilege

it is to be alive - to breathe,

to think, to enjoy, to love.

~ Marcus Aurelius ~

Being There

To "be there" fully and simply is the greatest power.

Daredevil

I didn't think I would hear anything profound on a Netflix show about a superhero. I had to transcribe it because it isn't even online. Just goes to show you that wisdom hides everywhere. 

"You get what you deserve"

It's an old saying, one that survived the years because it's true for the most part, but not for everyone. Some get more than they deserve because they believe they aren't like everyone else. That the rules, the ones people, like me and you, the people that work and struggle to live our lives, just live, don’t apply to them. That they can do anything and live happily ever after while the rest of us suffer. They do this from the shadows. Shadows that we cast with our indifference, with a pervasive lack of interest in anything that doesn’t directly affect us, we, in the here and now. Maybe its just the shadow of weariness, of how tired we are, struggling to claw our way back to a middle class that no longer exists because of those who take more than they deserve. They keep taking until all that’s left for the rest of us is a memory of how it used to be before the corporations and the bottom line decided we didn’t matter anymore, but we do, you and I, the people of this city, we still matter.

Still Points

Still points are marked by the absence of mental chatter. Suddenly the ears are softly ringing with the white noise of air molecules beating against the ear drums. A silence comes; and an infinite sense of visual space without content opens up.

The Voice

It speaks for itself. From the book "Falling Up" by Shel Silverstein.

Empty Your Cup

"Empty your cup so

that it may be filled;

become devoid to

gain totality."

- Bruce Lee

Buddha Drank Tequila ???

Don't expect "perfection" from your teachers and rock stars. Allow yourselves to relax enough so that you too can write, draw, play a musical instrument and sing. Even Buddha and Jesus did things disapproved of by friends and others. Their "imperfections" were part of their wisdom.

Conclusions

The sound at the end of sound is silence; so much is said without saying a word.

Lantern

I tried to do this on my own.

I tried to guide others

When I could not guide myself

I tried to see

Through eyes that were closed

I gave my heart recklessly

Yet, I could not love myself

I see so much light around me;
Why then am I left in the dark?

Let me grieve entirely
Let me see through my tears
Tonight, show me a brighter way

Long Distance

Age is just a
stop

watch

counting
life

as we run 

laps 

around a field

A track of 

time

going in
circles

as we
play 

the same 

game

Lighter Than Air

As we age, it becomes harder to cry. The vulnerability we experience can be too frightening to reveal to ourselves let alone others. Instead, our subconscious mind reads the writing on our heart and we become heavy. Whether we notice it or not, our breath begins to weigh us down. It starts with the heavy sigh and if left unresolved, a broken breath surfaces. We've all experienced this breath after crying and now it is trapped inside. It's only when we notice where that weight comes from can we face it and return our breath to normal. 

Breath easy today knowing that freedom is only a breath away.

Defrost

There is a heightened awareness of the piercing cold as the snowfall numbs your senses. The wind violently reminds you that you are in its icy tundra, away from all of the comforts which previously kept you warm. The ability to see ahead has begun to slowly deteriorate as the arctic realizes your intention to free yourself from its grasp. It needs to keep you afraid to stop you from progressing; it needs to stop you from finding truth in its dark and solitary waters. As the snow crunches beneath your boots, you become aware of the fatigue which has set in; just a few more steps to the cliffs.

Approaching the summit of your journey forged in tracks now unseen due to the storm, you look down towards the water. It is savage and unwavering. The crashing of its waves are fierce to send a simple message.

You cannot conquer us. Fear us. We will destroy you.

Holding onto the edge in fear, doubt creeps into the mind. Do you really need to face that which terrifies you even though you know it is best for your growth? You've been told you will survive. You know in your own heart that it is truth. The choice is yours now.

Succumb to frigid fear or jump knowing there is warmth inside

there is courage in the grass

every

winter the

grass wilts and dies

not once does it curse the sun

for giving it life

then taking

it away

i pray

for a courage 
like this

~Rich Pauloo

The Present

Like a virus the heartsting spread throughout her body. It's an interesting thing, the heart. It can ache like an injury or sting like a gash through the arm. It did not ache today. Her body came to the rescue and shut down without her consent like a computer virus. She went numb to the pain. Better than the alternative she thought. As she laid in bed, she began to think of a future she could not see clearly. The contagion had quickly infected her eyes and blinded her with fear. There was no diagnosis for heartache. She knew she could not treat the pain she felt with medicine. She remembered all the moments which once brought her happiness and shuttered as it now only brought pain. She needed something to bring light to the darkness, a nepenthe for the past.

It was time for her to heal her own heart; she needed to love herself now. There was no nepenthe. No quick fix that wouldn't just mask the pain and hide it away. You can put feelings in box and pretend it is not there but these boxes begin to breed monsters. To be strong she needed to start moving on and begin to grow without him. This virus could be cured she realized. She needed to let go of her old life, her old self, and be reborn. The pain which once infected her started transforming into passion. Like a phoenix, she could become a flame and light her world on fire once again; she became the light that conquered the darkness. 

It's an interesting thing, the heart.

Day Light Saving Time

The shadows on the ground reach
across the black top

Like a hand

on a clock

The sun begins to set
on a silent tick toc