Category Archives: distraction issues

The Whole Package

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Family, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 23, 2022- The strong woman winced, just a bit, as she recounted the story of her husband’s struggles. A few minutes later, fortuitously, he called and said that he was finally feeling symptom-free. I felt relieved for both of them, as she did a bit of Happy Dance.

It has been a long and not always comfortable struggle, but I have reached the point in my journey of growth, that the turmoil faced by those of even casual acquaintance is of deep concern to me. Listening with genuine, not just passing, interest has become a daily occurrence-and it strikes me as being high time. Once upon a time, it was my job, and one I did quite well. Now, generating healing energy is a feature of daily life.

It is a relief to me, that the people dearest to my female friends are, without exception, my friends, too. Recognizing that a person’s whole circle is deserving of unequivocal support is actually energizing, not debilitating-as I used to tell myself. So, I look out for the husbands and significant others, as well as the children, of my nearest and dearest; listen intently when an interesting stranger opens up about topics that I have only considered in passing; and ponder decisions that are run by me, a lot more deeply than I did, even six months ago.

Part of this may be due to age. It may also be that knowing more keenly that we are all part of the same team has become de rigeur, not just a personal goal or buzzword. I am comforted by this thought, while preparing for a second night of supervising a fire shelter. Even in crisis, life is sweet.

Everyone’s Earth

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

April 22, 2022- It’s been fifty-two years since environmental activists gathered, en masse, to protest the policies that contributed to the Santa Barbara oil spill, which happened less than a year earlier.

We have, as a species, gone back and forth on the environment vs. economics issue, over these past many years, and a relative handful of entrepreneurs have engaged in “greenwashing” practices, which look like they are contributing to the improvement of the environment, but do little or nothing to actually help things along. There is also the microplastics aspect, to say nothing of their larger refuse, which has considerable long-term validity, in that the residue of plastics does settle in the stomachs of people and animals, finding its way into the bloodstreams and tissue, of those who ingest it. We can be more discerning, in dealing with the former. The latter, by contrast, will take much more research, as to how to safely capture microscopic plastic residue, store it, reverse engineer it into a usable fuel, and so on.

In the meantime, we have many tasks ahead, in saving both the Earth and ourselves. Alternative sources of energy are in their relative childhood, as electric cars are still prohibitively expensive for a good many people, disposal of spent batteries for such vehicles needs to be addressed-as does the safe disposal of the rare metals that go into such batteries. Every innovation that helps relieve one problem has its drawbacks that need to be addressed, preferably before the innovation becomes a mass-produced item.

That said, there is no place for throwing up our hands and just continuing down the road that we’ve been bumping along, for the next century or more. Every energy-wasting practice needs to be evaluated, and either reformed or discarded, based on the availability of viable alternative practices. Thankfully, there are solutions, some yet not articulated or made practicable, which will go along way towards alleviating the distress of the planet once the bugs are worked out.

Tonight and tomorrow night, I will man a shelter for those fleeing a sizable wildfire, southeast of town. During the day tomorrow, it’ll be time to help man a couple of booths at the community’s Earth Day event. I will cat-nap my way around these and have time to rest afterward.

As a one-time psychedelic band advised in the late ’60s: “Wake up, it’s tomorrow.”

On Playing God

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 19, 2022- Over the past few years, a philosophy has re-emerged, whereby individuals who are somewhat versed in philosophy and theology have revived the concept of Holy War. Originally this was mentioned in the Quran, as a personal struggle to overcome the desires of the flesh and the ego. It is my understanding that this does not mean a war against other people, per se.

There is, however, an appeal to the ego that brings about the very war against others that the Holy Scriptures disavow. We see this most recently in the call for Holy War against Ukraine, by one Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, known more formally as Patirarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. Mr. Gundyayev has a history of active service in Russian intelligence, going back to the KGB, so it is no great surprise that he would take a nationalist stance.

Therein lies the stumbling block, of a good many, if not most, members of the clergy, in any given Faith of long standing. A human being cannot entirely overcome personality, political leanings, emotional baggage or even prejudices. Most clergy are decent people, with a sincere desire to serve. As one moves up in a hierarchy, however, the temptation, the urge, to assume one knows the Mind of God must surely rise along with that advancement. Only the very strongest can resist this urge, to a degree.

Baha’u’llah tells us that: “O Seekers for the Kingdom of God! Man all over the world is seeking for God. All that exists is God; but the Reality of Divinity is holy above all understanding.” God, in toto, is unknowable, so for Vladimir Gundyayev, even in his official capacity as Head of a Church, to claim to know that God wants Russia to win its war, seems to me to be erroneous. It is equally ludicrous for any given creature to claim to know the Will of God, on any matter. All we ever have are relative snippets of guidance.

We are told that playing with fire is dangerous. Playing God is just plain lethal. I hope and pray that Mr. Gundyayev, and all who follow him, have a good, old-fashioned epiphany, very soon.

Back To Trailside

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, distraction issues, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

April 18, 2022, Sedona- The focus today was to be on Bell Rock, and it was, just not in the way my hiking buddy and I had thought. It was a harbinger earlier, when I turned right, on a green arrow, only to face the loud blaring by someone who had run a yellow and thought she had the right of way. Small potatoes, at the time, as I don’t pay any mind to people who make feeble attempts at pushing me around.

There is, though, the reality that there are few spaces in the trailhead lots closest to the actual landmark trails. This is a matter of both design and land allotment. The idea is to let fewer people use the trails, to minimize congestion. That’s a noble sentiment, but it doesn’t really work. We ended up going to a large parking area, across Hwy. 179 from Bell Rock, called Yavapai Vista Point. There are several short trails, each with amazing views of the great landmarks. Here are five such scenes.

Bell Rock, at 10:40 A.M.
Sandstone Bench, Coconino Trail, Sedona
Seven Warriors, from Slim Shady Trail, Sedona
Closeup of Seven Warriors
Hedgehog Cacti in bloom, Made in the Shade Trail, Sedona

The hordes did not obstruct the day, at least for us. We later had a marvelous lunch at Pago’s, a fine Italian eatery in Oak Creek Village. There was one waitress serving over 50 people, of whom we were among the last ones, for this point in the lunch rush. A second wave was coming in, as we left. Hats off, and a hearty tip, to the lady who was obviously tired, but keeping a brave face!

One last reminder: To brighten the photos, just click on them.

Under The Big Moon

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Inspiration, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 16, 2022- The first thing that came out of my mouth, this morning, when asked “What’s up?” was “The Moon!”, which was still true, even if the orb in the western sky was a Luna of chalk white. She’s big this month, which just means closer to Earth, in terms of visual perception.

Often in the past, I have noticed an uptick in strange or unanticipated behaviours during the period of full moon. That was not so tonight, at least in the places I visited-Rafter Eleven, where a four person Country & Western band played a couple of sets, with a few couples dancing, and Raven Cafe, where a jazz ensemble was in full swing-again with brave souls getting up and swinging their partners round and round. It was a rather mellow, but still enjoyable affair. The closest we may come to looniness will be on Monday night, when I will click on an Ecstatic Dance session-but that’s on Zoom, and I will have my shades drawn, so no one will be the wiser.

Today was itself full of civility- from breakfast at Zeke’s, through a morning Zoom call, and a visit to the rather windswept Farmers’ Market. Yep, if anyone was getting into the loony groove, it was Mother Nature. Gusts were up to 40 mph, and those present were helping hold on to the tarps shading several booths.

Perhaps all the spiritual energy coming from those observing Easter, Passover and Ramadan is helping put everyone else’s energy into focus. We Baha’is will be contributing our fair share, when Ridvan starts on Thursday-and there will be plenty of help from Wiccans and other Naturists, when Earth Day is observed, next weekend. Of course, by then, the Moon will have largely waned. The eclipses are coming, though, in the first half of May. There’s rarely a dull moment.

Down to Earth In A Sonesta

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 3, 2022, Atlanta- I left Heart of Dixie Motel, the fixer-upper that did not even have its own towels. (I had my own, for just such an eventuality.) It was mid-morning and I had plenty of time to get up here, to mid-town Atlanta, by the time I was to host a Zoom call. So it went, and the two paradigms of life in America stood in contrast to one another. Rural Dadeville, with mostly comfortable single family homes and a motel or two to house migrant workers, just up the road from the aspiring surrounds of Lake Martin-a fishing and boating mecca that gives east central Alabama a much-needed boost, versus Atlanta, the symbol of the South that rose again, with every amenity that one could call upon.

I find myself in a Sonesta Hotel, one of those which have become part of the system first established by A.M. Sonnabend, a Boston-based entrepreneur, of whom I heard as a child. Mr. Sonnabend lent the first three letters of his name to the brand-“Son”esta. I worked in a Sonesta, in Bangor, Maine, for a few months, in 1976-7, while simultaneously feeling my way in the newly-emerging field of educating the emotionally-disabled. I held my own in that motel job, and may actually have been better off sticking with the field, at least until I got my head on straighter. Things happen the way they should, though, and here I am, 46 years later, glad to have reached equilibrium in my life and impacted a fair number of children and youth in a positive way.

The next day or two will find me bidding farewell to the Hyundai Sonata, which safely took me to Miami Beach and back, via Brunswick, Amelia Island, Kennedy Space Center, Key West, Big Cypress, Naples (FL), Lake Okeechobee, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Spring Hill, and the Carter Country of southwest Georgia. Thinking things through, in the safety of a comfortable hotel room, is not hard. I have Celtic music gently playing and the knowledge that, although the faith-based activities I hoped to have included in this journey were eclipsed by lingering pandemic-related restrictions, I did right by family members along the way and made new, if fleeting, friendships-with people I may very well encounter again in the future. I kept the online meeting commitments I had, that either did not conflict with family engagements or get rendered cumbersome by lack of a proper venue at the time they were scheduled.

Above all else, I did not fold, did not collapse or get shaken by either aloneness or by the ignorance of others who did not honour my presence, even though I did theirs. March was both a hard energy month and a stage filled with opportunities for growth. April, May and June will bring more of the latter-mostly around Home Base, but with another likely journey of observation and service, towards the end of Spring.

The flutes and strings are telling me to be gentle with self and re-group, in any way that such is needed.

Cognitive Dissonance

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 30, 2022, Weeki Wachee, FL- The hapless individual, wearing a health agency tee shirt, began to clutch the area just below her rib cage. Her nurse friends got a chair and had her sit down, while they summoned a team to offer a higher level of care. Those in the waiting area made sure that she did not fall out of the chair, in the interim. Her pain did not abate and within twenty minutes, an ambulance arrived and took her to a larger facility.

The psychologist Leon Festinger offers the theory that much disbelief that interferes with a person acknowledging what is clearly taking place in front of him, is the result of cognitive dissonance-the distinction between normative unfolding of events (“business as usual”) and a drastic, wholly unexpected changed sequence of events, which is nonetheless real.

It took me a few seconds to look past the tee-shirt and see only another human being in acute distress. Yes, my guard was up for her safety until a proper team gathered around her and off they went to hospital. I relayed the gist of this incident to others without, of course, identifying so much as the location of the facility. My presence there was only to get a few stitches removed, from a procedure that was done two weeks ago. That matter took mere minutes. The poor lady’s husband arrived on scene and was likewise driven to her hospital by a close friend of theirs. Their ordeal may well have taken hours, perhaps much longer.

The cognitive dissonance that is vocalized by “It can’t happen here!”, is again and again being tossed in our faces, by a system that is collapsing, in one way nor another-and is being replaced by a structure that is both ground up and side by side. There is a top down element, but it is not the sort that the once dominant forces think they want. Those whose mantra is the above statement cannot but be increasingly confused by all that seems to be happening around us.

I am more certain that many of the changes we see will redound to the betterment of the human race. Those that don’t do so will likely bring changes in other ways, that will be to our betterment over time. We could discuss this all night, but it’s time for this one to rest.

Pi in the Sky

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Posted by on in Assistance, distraction issues, Education, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

March 14, 2022- It is noteworthy that the ancient Greeks recognized pi, the number that is the basis for determining the ratio of the diameter to the circumference of a circle and pie, the normally circular pastry shell that has been used as a container for honey, nuts, chopped meat and fruits, since the Neolithic Period in Egypt. Pi, which is 3.14 when rounded to the nearest hundredth, was first defined by the mathematician Archimedes, though the civilizations of India, Babylon, Egypt and China each made use of the concept. Welshman William Jones clarified its usefulness to circular measurement, in 1706.

Today, 3/14, is recognized unofficially, as Pi Day. That it is enthusiastically embraced by bakers and sweet-toothed people around the globe does not detract from the mathematical awareness brought about through this light-hearted embrace of a key geometric construct. Pizzerias have gotten into the act, with even the makers of rectangular pizzas claiming to have finally “squared the circle”. Along with chess, fun events like this have helped math-phobes get a grip on their aversion to numerical sciences.

I used to be one of those who hated math, mainly because of the overly serious way in which the subject was broached by so many teachers. I was fortunate to have been flashcarded to distraction by my mother and one of my father’s aunts who would come by almost every week. In time, the cosmic jokesters had me serving as a mathematics teacher, to the dubious benefit of three years’ worth of middle and high school students.

Over time, pi has ceased to be a concept lost in the ether and math has found its way into my treasury of skills. Happy Pi Day, sweet-tooth or not!

The Winter General

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 25, 2022- The message on my computer was unequivocal: “The Russians are in Ukraine to cleanse the area of human trafficking groups and other unsavory entities.” Others have told me that the Far Right’s new “White Knight” is merely seeking to de-Nazify eastern Europe”. These are certainly interesting, unique perspectives on the current situation in that long-suffering region. They have yet to convince me, however, that Ukraine is unique, as a center of human trafficking, or that Russia is squeaky clean in that regard.

There is a widespread attitude, across eastern and central Europe-and in many other parts of the world, that life is cheap, that women and girls are “useful commodities” and that masculinity is affirmed when females are “kept in their place”. Besides that, I know of no country on Earth that is free of human trafficking or other forms of exploitation. Assuredly, our own country has its challenges in that area.

Any time a human being becomes messianic, regardless of the issue at hand, demons appear in his/her mind. For those on the Far Right, anything progressive or to do with the Democratic Party in this country, or Social Liberals elsewhere, is to be rooted out and extinguished-because of reports that so-and-so committed incest or that that certain people in that category are engaged in Satanic rituals. Those on the Far Left do much the same, in disparaging their opposite numbers.

The president of Russia has targeted some questionable entities, in his war of conquest-but they are red herrings, diversions. His true aim seems, to these eyes, to be a wall-building exercise- whose long-term aim is to “restore the greatness of Mother Russia”, by taking one country at a time, as Alexander of Macedon, Chingiz Khan, Napoleon and Hitler did before him. HIS messianic fervour is astonishing in its breadth, but underwhelming in its depth. Those placing their hopes for moral cleansing, in the hands of that particular Winter General, are bound to be disappointed.

The Day of Six Twos

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

February 22, 2022- Today was given the moniker, “Twosday”, for the numerical palindrome and ambigram it serves up. A palindrome, of course, looks the same when written either frontwards or backwards. An ambigram, on a calculator, looks the same whether right side up , or upside down.

Astrologers find shifts in energy happen on such a day; scientists, not so much. Today did not seem to bring any of the seismic events that similar palindromic days have in the past-such as the deaths of Napoleon Bonaparte and Josef Stalin. Then, too, this year has a distinct feminine energy flow to it, the behaviour of Vladimir Putin aside.

My day was also quiet- gathering forms for my tax return, and missing one key part, which will be retrieved tomorrow; exercising and getting laundry done, followed by two Baha’i gatherings on Zoom. It was said there would be snowfall by evening. We await that to come to fruition, and thus I refrained from taking on any work for tomorrow. Arizona weather is noted for two things: Sameness and occasional last-minute surprises. Either one could define tomorrow.

There does seem to be a slight energy shift, however, and it would do my heart good to see a boomerang effect, back towards peaceful resolution of geopolitical wrangling.