A lovely song by Alela Diane:
Oct 27, 2009
Oct 25, 2009
Tree
photo by Julia Lehman
... A tree is always exactly as big as it can be, living its fullest potential in the environment it has found. It draws from a boundless, ubiquitous energy source and continuously gives of its shelter, its fruits, and its support to the animals who find it. Leaves are open to the light of the sun, but they see in all directions, not narrowing their view like a mammal's eyes.
The tree is therefore a paradigm for spiritual growth -
to be open to boundless energy, to be generous with one's being,
to be constantly unfolding into one's maximum potential, to be reaching upward with one's
own beauty in a gesture of gratitude and devotion to the Source.
When we sit beneath a tree wrestling with the difficult issues of existence, we can ask the tree for help. And in its solidity, with its roots in the earth and arms in heaven, it supports our contemplation and growth...
-by Jason Jay, 2003
Oct 23, 2009
The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination
Excerpt from J.K. Rowling's Commencement Speech at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. June 2008:
...I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.
However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned...
Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008
Click here to watch or read the full speech.
...I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.
However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned...
Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008
Click here to watch or read the full speech.
Oct 21, 2009
A Wide, Round Curve
Changes in attitude never come easily.
The development of love and
compassion is a wide,
round curve that
can be negotiated
only slowly, not a sharp
corner that can be turned all at once.
It comes with daily practice.
-His Holiness, the Dalai Lama of Tibet
quoted in Deep and Simple, by Bo Lozzof
Memory of North Carolina woods—
by M. Hoffman
Crickets’ voices pulsing,
I
Alone, thrillingly,
Silhouettes of branches like fingers fading,
Darkness seeping through,
Trunk
Shooting up
Against my back,
Leaning on me as
I lean on it.
Deep, exotic awareness--
Warm soup washing
My
Throat, softly,
Air in breath like beats beginning,
Damp hair curling up,
Dirt
Sifting
Beneath my toes,
Creeping up my legs, as
I stay still.
…To know, this is happening everywhere.
Oct 20, 2009
Message to Myself
i am going to be the
change i want to see
happen in the world
today and today
and all the todays
of my life
i promise myself and the world
that i will do only work
that i believe in
i will find and support
people who are making
a better world
and i will join with them
educating myself
to be knowledgeable
effective and powerful
i expect to have
a very wonderful
creative
and fun-filled life
in this way
-Sami Sunchild
change i want to see
happen in the world
today and today
and all the todays
of my life
i promise myself and the world
that i will do only work
that i believe in
i will find and support
people who are making
a better world
and i will join with them
educating myself
to be knowledgeable
effective and powerful
i expect to have
a very wonderful
creative
and fun-filled life
in this way
-Sami Sunchild
How to be an entrepreneur
invent a business that smiles on the world
discover what is needed
that you believe in
with all your heart
a service you are really good at
and love to do
let it be your classroom
try new ideas
play with everything
dive in
cherish good people
including yourself
get negative people out of your life
romp on the floor with your dog
make friends with the trees
listen to their stories
believe in butterflies
if they can fly a thousand miles
think of what you can do
earn enough for your need
but not for your greed
leaving a heritage so that
when you die, you will be missed
-Sami Sunchild
discover what is needed
that you believe in
with all your heart
a service you are really good at
and love to do
let it be your classroom
try new ideas
play with everything
dive in
cherish good people
including yourself
get negative people out of your life
romp on the floor with your dog
make friends with the trees
listen to their stories
believe in butterflies
if they can fly a thousand miles
think of what you can do
earn enough for your need
but not for your greed
leaving a heritage so that
when you die, you will be missed
-Sami Sunchild
Deep and Simple Faith
"Faith is the fullness to realize that each moment of our lives is a gift; that the whole of our lives is a spiritual journey, whether in our darkest hours or brightest joys"
-Bo Lozoff in Deep and Simple
-Bo Lozoff in Deep and Simple
From TED talks
Stroke of insight: Jill Bolte Taylor on TED.com
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)
Submitted by Hanne
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)
Submitted by Hanne
Oct 17, 2009
Calm after the Storm
After The Storm
John L. Stoddard
The duel of the warring clouds Hath ended with the day; Their scintillant, electric blades Have ceased their fearful play; The pent up fury of their hate Hath found at last release, And o’er the tempest-stricken earth Broods now the hush of peace. The passing of the hurricane Hath swept the sultry skies; The clearness of the atmosphere Brings jubilant surprise; The mountain peaks are glorified With freshly-fallen snow, And, stealing o’er their coronets, Appears the sunset glow. An hour since, a torrid heat Oppressed the languid frame; The wind was as the khamseen’s breath, The solar touch seemed flame; But now the air rejuvenates, The breeze refreshment brings, The lustrous leaves drop diamonds, The lark with rapture sings. Fear not, dear heart! life’s darkest storms Shall likewise end in light; Behind the blackest thundercloud The sun shines clear and bright; Once more celestial heights shall wear Their sheen of spotless snow, And on the bravely steadfast soul
The smile of God shall glow.
Online text © 1998-2009 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Poems | 1913
There is always so much calm, beauty and light after the storm
| Hannah After The Storm by Shelly Svoboda |
Reflection on suicide
Suicide really does shake the foundations for many of the friends left
wondering. It is a mystery why some folks chose that path. I understand
the difficulties we can face and how theoretically it can seem like a
decent option to escape, but it is way too high a price to pay for any
difficulty I've had to deal with so far. Depression is crippling to some
folks and for those of us who do not go that far into it, it just seems
like they should just snap out of it and look on the bright side, but they
can't.
post by Gary Fine
Prisoner Express Founder, Director
http://prisonerexpress.org/
wondering. It is a mystery why some folks chose that path. I understand
the difficulties we can face and how theoretically it can seem like a
decent option to escape, but it is way too high a price to pay for any
difficulty I've had to deal with so far. Depression is crippling to some
folks and for those of us who do not go that far into it, it just seems
like they should just snap out of it and look on the bright side, but they
can't.
post by Gary Fine
Prisoner Express Founder, Director
http://prisonerexpress.org/
Life is Deep- Bo Lozoff
"Renowned teacher/activist Bo Lozoff describes the common threads of all religions and the simple principles they share. Excerpted from "You Can Do This," a 1-hr video available at www.humankindness.org"
http://www.youtube.com/user/bohkffan
Bo Lozoff is the author of my favorite spiritual book: Deep and Simple -- A spiritual path for modern times. Human Kindness Foundation. He has dedicated his life to sharing spirituality and music, particularly with incarcerated people. I highly recommend his books and talks.
The following is an excerpt from the above mentioned book (pg. 24):
...We continue to choose anger over Love, fear over Love, national boundaries over Love, greed over Love, race over Love, self-protection over Love. God has given us free-will so that we can make such choices. If we don't like it the way it's going, then we can begin to choose differently right now. Today. Right here. Waiting for everyone else to change first is a fool's game. Waiting for others to love us first, before we are willing to love them is a fool's game.
Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love... ."
-Saint Francis of Assisi
How much we are loved by others is often outside our power. But what is within our power is our choice to love others. On the cross, hated and mocked, Jesus chose to say, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."
He loved them. He showed us the Way. He provided an example of following the advice of the Buddha: Focus on your ability to love, not your demand to receive it. Very often our immediate environment or circumstances are not under our control, but our choice of Faith and Love always is.
We will not be judged by what others did to us, but by how we responded...
This world, this day
There is always something to work on
there is always something to improve
there is always someone who needs you
If you think there is no place for you in this world
if you think you have no purpose
just breathe, open your eyes
think twice
there is always something to improve
there is always someone who needs you
If you think there is no place for you in this world
if you think you have no purpose
just breathe, open your eyes
think twice
Air, Water, Clouds and Melons
Image taken by me of clouds from a plane.
Pastel painting of watermelons
name: Isaac
age: 23
Occupation: Medical interpreter/student
Oct 16, 2009
Be Here Now
These are lyrics from my favorite Mason Jennings song. There's so much beauty in the present moment; we accept, embrace, and realize "this too shall pass". May we find contentment in each moment and let the rising sun bring beauty to our days.
Lyrics from Mason Jenning's "Be Here Now":
be here now
no other place to be
all the doubts that linger
just set them free
and let good things happen
let the future come
into each moment
like a rising sun
post by Mary M.
Lyrics from Mason Jenning's "Be Here Now":
be here now
no other place to be
all the doubts that linger
just set them free
and let good things happen
let the future come
into each moment
like a rising sun
post by Mary M.
The Northern Lights
This is something worth looking forward to see live at least once in your lifetime:
Live for others
The world may not always give to you, but you can always give to the world. This this 16-yr-old's story is such an inspiration.
Illimited Beauty
When you are creative there are no limits in the world: it's the art of living.
Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
Oct 14, 2009
My gift, my life
My life is my opportunity and responsibility to share my special and unique gift with the world...
-universal thought
American Indian Epitaph
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there
I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle Autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds
In circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there
I did not die
-Author Unknown
I am not there
I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle Autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds
In circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there
I did not die
-Author Unknown
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