In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Psalms 15

Lord, who can be trusted with power,
and who may act in your place?
Those with a passion for justice,
who speak the truth from their hearts;
who have let go of selfish interests
and grown beyond their own lives;
who see the wretched as their family
and the poor as their flesh and blood.
They alone are impartial
and worthy of the people's trust.
Their compassion lights up the whole earth,
and their kindness endures forever.

(A Book of Psalms, translations by Stephen Mitchell)
www.panhala.net/Archive/In_Memory_of
_MLK.html


My dear friend Don Doorn shared these amazing links with me. Please take time for them...they're all worth it --

In His Own Words:
www.democracynow.org/2012/1/16/speci
al_dr_martin_luther_king_jr

Gifted NYT Op/Ed writer Paul Krugman:
www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/opinion/k
rugman-how-fares-the-dream.html?_r=1

Washington Post Op/Ed:
www.truth-out.org/dream-came-true/13
26637252

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The truth about trees....

Sunday, November 27, 2011

THE TREES

Do you think of them as decoration?

Think again.

Here are maples, flashing.
And here are the oaks, holding on all winter
to their dry leaves.
And here are the pines, that will never fail,
until death, the instruction to be green.
And here are the willows, the first
to pronounce a new year.

May I invite you to revise your thoughts about them?
Oh, Lord, how we are all for invention and
advancement!
But I think
it would do us good if we would think about
these brothers and sisters, quietly and deeply.

The trees, the trees, just holding on
to the old, holy ways.

-- Mary Oliver, from Evidence

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End of Year Challenge

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Morning view from the window at my computer

It stormed heavily last night, with an amazing light show thrown in to add to the drama of pounding rain and strong wind. This morning the sun is blazing on the earth and in my soul, the nip in the air is pleasant and I am "holding out my thanks" (see the Merwin poem at the end).


I've somehow dredged up the space within my psyche to work on myself in a special way between now and December 31, 2011. This blog of Coach Nicole's, 8 Amazing Goals You Can Achieve in the Next 8 Weeks, was just the shot-in-the-arm I needed:
www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=wha
t_goals_will_you_reach_before_the_end_
of_the_year
From the goals Nicole listed I have selected these to assist and hold me accountable for the challenge:

~~ track food and exercise (I've been relatively consistent in tracking exercise, but I've resisted tracking food -- hmmmmm, could that have *anything* to do with the 10+ pounds weight gain since my mid-August return from South America???)

~~ exercise 10 minutes every day (instead of fretting about how to add daily aerobic exercise to my life, especially during winter, I'm committing to Just.This.Much -- by walking, a DVD, going to the fitness center, hopping on my bicycle when the weather permits, or *whatever!*)


My trusty wheeled steed is my first choice for aerobic activity. Friend and inspiration DDOORN included this image in a recent blog...and I loved it!

~~ master a new fitness challenge -- 100 push-ups by New Year's Eve is my aspiration; I'm also adding sit-ups to my every-other day strength training regime

~~ aiming to keep SAD at bay by chasing the sun, being jolly (fake it 'til I make it when necessary), practicing turning negatives into positives, etc.

Now...CAN I GET A WITNESS???

November 12, 2011
Not only did I get witnessed, but some wanted to join me, so...WE CREATED A TEAM! This will help us rally together to Make This Happen...for real!

Lightening Up As the Days Grow Darker:
www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_i
ndividual.asp?gid=53936



A couple more morning photos:


The sun will soon warm up my beloved Dolphin


Can you see that the screened porch door is open, welcoming you to visit any ol' time?


I read this wonderful poem as the first rays of the morning sun lit up the day and I think it started the inner process,the inner storm having also blown away, that resulted in being able to offer this gift to myself:

JUST NOW

In the morning as the storm begins to blow away
the clear sky appears for a moment and it seems to me
that there has been something simpler than I could ever
believe
simpler than I could have begun to find words for
not patient not even waiting no more hidden
than the air itself that became part of me for a while
with every breath and remained with me unnoticed
something that was here unnamed unknown in the days
and the nights not separate from them
not separate from them as they came and were gone
it must have been here neither early nor late then
by what name can I address it now holding out my thanks
~ W.S. Merwin ~

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November

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Embrace the core sadness of life without toppling headlong into it, or assuming it will define your days. The real trick is to let life, with all its ordinary missteps and regrets, be consistently more mysterious and alluring than its end.
-- Gail Caldwell, from Let's Take the Long Way Home: a memoir of friendship

Thank you dear SparkFriends for noticing my gloom and showering me with your loving thoughts. I continue to struggle. I'm oddly resistant to using the resources I've learned over the years of spiritual practices -- of being kind to myself -- though I WILL slosh through this. Please, please excuse my dearth of SparkParticipation.

This morning I completed preparation of a bountiful vegetarian stew, as well as sauteing a big skillet of kale and turnip greens in olive oil with onion and garlic. I also cut up a late-harvest watermelon a friend grave me from her garden. I have lots of salad fixins' in the frig as well. So I'm set with wonderful "medicine" for the body. I struggle with consistency in aerobic exercise which I still have to figure out, but have managed to continue my strength training streak.

I have also been remiss in feeding the mind via meditation, which I will slide back into easefully and gradually.

As for food for the spirit, Billy Collins lights up my "November heart" with the days growing darker.


Tahquamenon Falls, Lake Superior


NOVEMBER

After three days of steady rain -
over two inches said the radio -
I follow the example of monks
who write by a window, sunlight on the page.

Five times this morning,
I loaded a wheelbarrow with wood
and steered it down the hill to the house,
and later I will cut down the dead garden

with clippers and haul the soft pulp
to a grave in the woods,
but now there is only
my sunny page which is like a poem

I am covering with another poem
and the dog asleep on the tiles,
her head in her paws,
her hind legs played out like a frog.

How foolish it is to long for childhood,
to want to run in circles in the yard again,
arms outstretched,
pretending to be an airplane.

How senseless to dread whatever lies before us
when, night and day, the boats,
strong as horses in the wind,
come and go,

bringing in the tiny infants
and carrying away the bodies of the dead.

~ Billy Collins ~
www.panhala.net/Archive/November.htm
l

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Twigs

Friday, October 28, 2011

The inner landscape of my heart and mind has been bleak of late and I don't have the inclination to share the current struggles. But share beauty in words and images...ALWAYS!

So here is an excerpt from the work of the late Taha Muhammad Ali, who defined art as taking "from life something real, then to build it anew with your imagination."



TWIGS
(excerpt)

And so

it has taken me

all of sixty years

to understand

that water is the finest drink,

and bread the most delicious food,

and that art is worthless

unless it plants

a measure of splendor in people's hearts.

-- Taha Muhammad Ali
So What: New and Selected Poems, 1971-2005, translated by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi, and Gabriel Levin

Joe Riley, who publishes the poetry site www.panhala.net/Archive/Index.html was privileged to hear Taha Muhammad Ali present his poetry, saying of Ali, "on hard soil, he keeps on planting hope...." www.panhala.net/Archive/Index.html

Here is a wonderful PBS article and interview with Ali: www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/1
0/weekly-poem-taha-muhammad-ali.html

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