Category Archives: Inspiration

Dribs and Drabs, On A Final March Morning

12
Posted by on in Inspiration, Literary criticism, Personal goals, Striving

March 31, 2016, Prescott- I woke this morning, to an insistence from the Universe, that I not move too quickly, at first.  So, the shower was leisurely, a “hit the ground running” job request was declined (Throwing myself together, for a forty-five minute drive, at the last minute, would not have ended well, this morning.)

Some readers think I’m too self-centered.  I guess it can look that way, from a distance.  Truth is, not an hour goes by, that thoughts and prayers aren’t with someone less fortunate.  My thoughts right now are with a young lady whom I regard as a niece, dealing with her second severe loss, in less than a year, and with three young people, in different parts of this continent, whose financial woes are presented as intractable.  While I wish I had the resources to get several people straight, my inner Dave Ramsey gets channeled and I can best send them the spiritual energy to make do with what is, and build from there, as I have made myself do- thanks to two men named Dave.

The March lion is a bit tamer today.  It’s a bit cool, but that will change, drastically, as April arrives.  We’re anticipating temps in the mid-80’s here, next week.  Water conservation, at least in my apartment, continues unabated.

My Reading List for April is,at present:  Continuing, and finishing, “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself:  How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One”, by Dr. Joe Dispenza ( This is a “get out of your comfort zone” book, lent me by a dear friend); “Atlantis:  Insights From A Lost Civilization”, by Shirley Andrews (This one relies on actual science to extrapolate how things were, in that fabled place.); “Marco Polo:  The Journey That Changed The World”, by John Man (also relying on historical records to tell the story of the man who helped get Europe out of its medieval doldrums); “The Billionaire’s Vinegar”, by Benjamin Wallace (This is the last of the books given me, by my paternal uncle, and weaves a classic tale of fraud, perpetrated on a naive and greedy man of means); “All The Light We Cannot See”, by Anthony Doerr (This is a tale of two young people, in the Brittany of World War II, who are brought together, in the most harrowing of circumstances.)  These, and study of a Baha’i text, will take up my reading April.

The rest of today will be getting errands done, and catching up with friends in town.  The lamb is rearing its head, so I must get going.

Out Like A Lion

8
Posted by on in Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Striving, Uncategorized

March 30, 2016, Prescott-  I’ve been pretty busy this week, with work, and a brief foray into the “after work” social gathering scene.  I find it still as shallow as it was when I frequented such gatherings, before Penny came along.  People have their closed groups, and no matter that one or two might invite a newcomer, out of courtesy, it doesn’t take long for the body language to stiffen and the eye contact to move to those familiar faces.

My thoughts went today to the places where, and the people with whom, I feel at home.  Not all are my ever-agreeable supporters.  Some are critics, but they are honest critics, and are often quite helpful.  As my beloved always said, “The opposite of love is indifference”.

In this hour of a March that is headed out like a lion, after treating us to icy wind and a dusting of snow, I want to honour the places that are homes to me, in the West, since it’s been a while.

Prescott and vicinity, Flagstaff, Marana, Tubac, Bisbee, Thatcher, the Sunnyslope area of Phoenix,  Holbrook, Hopi land, Pine Springs, Reno and Carson City, San Diego and vicinity, Dana Point, San Clemente, Lomita, Santa Barbara, Ojai, Ashland (OR), Portland, Spokane, Anacortes, Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Afton (WY), Cortez, Boulder, Colorado Springs, San Luis (CO), Socorro, Albuquerque, Truth or Consequences. I can go to any of these places, and there will be a welcoming presence.

I will talk further about my homes in the Midwest, the South, the Northeast, and the rest of the world, in subsequent posts.  The point is, I am ever grateful for all who have reached out, kept faith in me, and not abandoned me out of difference of opinion, hurt feelings, or convenience.

Let’s see whether the March Lion gives way, willingly, to the April Lamb.

Light of the World

11
Posted by on in Inspiration, Poetry, Spiritual, Striving

March 25, 2016, Prescott-

The Light spoke:  “I came unto you, and offered Myself unto a crucifix,

upon the Plains of Ganges,

and you slumbered.

Later, I showed you Light and Darkness,

and you made them into caricatures.

I then showed you the Eight-Fold Path,

and you found it too complex.

When I came to you, as a Carpenter, a Fisher of Men,

you asked for Barabbas, and worshiped Mithras.

So, I again let Myself be crucified, that you might be saved.

You responded by quarreling, as to which of you heard Me correctly.

I came to you, in a time of darkness, and showed you the ways to

nationhood, and the gathering of knowledge.

You were  most interested in the battle techniques of My generals.

Still, each time I came, there were those who heard the truth.

Their genetic memory was strong enough, that I came yet again,

and through a life of great heartache and sacrifice, I have brought

you the way to unity, a path towards reaching the Day that shall not

be followed by Night.

As you commemorate My prior sacrifice, will you listen to Me now?”

(This is offered as testament to the Truth, which sacrificed Its

Messenger, on this day, some 1,983  years ago.  It has never left us

alone.)

 

Embered Waves of Brain

11
Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration

March 12, 2016, Prescott-   I have often wondered why my mildly autistic brain will start crackling and popping, often at the worst of times.  It is usually when I figure myself to be alone, and not accountable to anyone else.  I never am alone, in such circumstances.  There is always an outlier, or two, around, to observe, and shake their heads.  Because of them, I have a better awareness of my surroundings, and control over my thoughts and attendant behaviour.

Baha’u’llah teaches to not be the cause of sorrow to any soul, nor to be the plaything of the foolish.  We are, essentially, to be good in groups, and seek the unity of the human race.  The basis for all this is scientific, as well as social.  So, when reading, today, of the types of brain waves that human beings experience, a lot more made sense to me- about my own behaviour, and that of anyone else.  My thanks to Dr. Joe Dispenza,  (Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself) for the refresher on this topic, which I first learned, in 1974, from Dr. Saul Balagura, at the University of Massachusetts.

It goes like this:

Delta waves-These are the lowest frequency brain waves, occurring in infants and those in deep sleep.  They are also the default waves of one who is in deep meditation.  I’ve had a few people in my life who would swear, on a stack of Holy Books, that I am in permanent Delta mode.

Theta waves- These are found in toddlers and people who are in a hypnotic state. When one is drowsy, neither totally awake nor asleep, Theta waves are in control.

Alpha waves- Children between ages 5-8 experience these waves.  So do adults and youth who are in a light meditative state.  One is concerned primarily, in this state, with the inner reality.  I often lose track of where my car is, in a large parking lot, if I go into Alpha mode, when headed for the building without making note of my location.

Beta waves- These are the waves that are most commonly experienced by “tweens”, teens and adults.  You guessed it, there are three levels of Beta.  People with high level Beta waves are spring-loaded, tense, in a hair-trigger mode.  There is intense analysis of even the most mundane of events.  It is exhausting to be in constant High Beta mode.

Gamma waves-  These are the highest frequency brain waves, limited to Scarlett Johansson’s character, in the film, Lucy,  Jim Carrey’s character, in Bruce Almighty, and those who use hallucinogenic substances.  Gamma people are at the highest level of sensory awareness, which is likely not maintainable for any appreciable length of time.

My interest in this area stems from both a desire to better understand my own occasional lapses and to use brain waves to formulate deeper behavioural change, which I am told is possible, with proper meditation.

Shedding Self

8
Posted by on in Inspiration, Spiritual, Striving

March 9, 2016, Prescott- I have finished reading a few books this year, most notably “Keep Moving”, by Dick Van Dyke, “The Witches”, by Stacy Schiff,  “Terra Incognita”, by William Barnes and “Extreme Ownership”, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.

Current reads are “The Dinosaur Heresies”, by Robert Bakker, “Sphere”, by Michael Crichton and “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself”, by Dr. Joe Dispenza.

This last was loaned to me by a friend, so I am making finishing it a priority, out of courtesy, since she is also making reading it a priority.  There is a wealth of food for thought and for self-transformation, in this fascinating book.

As many of you know, I am investing in self-healing, through careful use of Certified, Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils and, by and large, avoiding fast food and beverages laced with processed sugar.  Regular exercise, in the forms of hiking, and hitting the treadmill three times a week, has also been beneficial.

Dr. Dispenza advocates these practices, but goes a step further.  The “self” he wants people to leave behind is the self that regards attachments to limiting physical and mental habits as unavoidable.  I will be incorporating his recommendations into my own meditation practices, as my reading of this book progresses, and will post on my findings.

One change in my behaviour that is already in place is that I will refrain from making grandiose schedules of travel and visiting, well ahead of time, overextending myself and then changing things up.  My journeys will still happen, when I am off work for the summer, or on breaks during the year.  They will, however, tend to be more spontaneous, and “out of the box”, in terms of where and when.

I am also finding myself being more sensible in managing resources.  This, oddly, derives from being more detached from needing those resources.  Thus, I can step back, look at a given situation, and make the correct choice, for me, whether it be frugal or generous.

Being more relaxed and engaged with people is another bonus I have taken from this book. The notion of totally letting go of past hurts, minor slights and misunderstandings is something that could benefit all of us.  It will actually result in better sleep, more energy during the day and faster metabolism.  I am looking forward to further learning what he has to say about personal resurgence.

Threshold

5
Posted by on in Family, Inspiration, Social, Spiritual

March 4, 2016, Prescott- Today marks the eve of two anniversaries of import in my life. On March 5, 2004, a child was born, in a country far from here.  He became my sponsored child, in 2011.  On the same date, also in 2011, my long-suffering and beloved wife cast her burden, and became my spirit guide.  One is now 12 years of age, the other, a spirit gone beyond time.

As I write this, there is a stirring, outside.  A door opens and shuts- most likely my ephemeral neighbour, poking about, catching the night air.    On the morning  that Penny went to the realm of stars, son and I were detoured by a street renovation project.  We got to hospice about three minutes after she had passed over.  We did see, however, a stirring of leaves and debris, spiraling upward, on an otherwise still morning.  We went inside, and found her body, still warm to the touch, but sans pulse.  She had indeed left, three minutes earlier.

When one is at the threshold of something entirely new, there is an individualized level of trepidation.  There is also an individualized level of hope and joy.  I generally face the day with more of the latter.  March 5, 2011 was an exception, because my beloved’s spiritual energy, dense energy, filled the room, as I awoke.  Nothing before or since has made its presence known, in quite that extraordinary a manner.  I knew what was in store, and moved along through the day, in a very heavy flow.

She will be with me, always.  I fully intend to visit my sponsored child and his family, in the summer of 2017.  If all goes well, I will also pay a visit to one of our friends, in a nation that faces the challenges of climate change.  I know Penny would approve, as she sent me messages about my earlier journeys, well in advance of their having transpired.

Standing at a threshold, my soulmate wraps me in confidence and blessings.

Leap of Faith

5
Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Spiritual

February 29, 2016, Prescott- This is one of those days when a person, who is actually 40, can pretend to be 10.  Leap Day is a quirk of Earth time, but has become quite fun to observe.  Some traditions allow women to ask men to dance, to go on a date- even, to marry, on “Sadie Hawkins Day”- something that derived from the country lore of the Appalachian region.  I think that would be enjoyable enough, as it’s taken in a gentlemanly manner.

I waded through a fair amount of criticism, once I cam home from work today, and turned on the computer.  Many people seemed in a nasty mood, for one reason or another.  I did feel rightfully chastened, in one instance, and said so.  In other cases, I felt the frustration of the complainant and in others, I sensed obfuscation in the wind, and called the person out on it.  She gingerly walked her complaint back, and “agreed to disagree.”  That’s fair enough.

There will be some tough choices ahead, for many people, and for our nation as a whole. I won’t get into the politics of it, but most of you will get my drift.  Those of us who have a personal credo will sense that we need to act, based on the precepts of what we say we believe.  I certainly have been, and will be, in that frame of mind.

We Baha’is begin our Nineteen-Day Fast, tomorrow at sunrise.  For all of us who are in good health, not undergoing physical stress (including pregnancy, Aunt Flo and nursing, as well as doing heavy labour), and between the ages of 15-69, the abstinence from food and drink goes from sunrise to sunset.  As with other spiritual fasts, ours is intended to purify the body and cleanse the soul.  What that means to an individual is strictly a personal experience, and personal business.

I know those areas on which I need to work, so I hope this season will set the tone, in that regard.  Stay tuned, and Marvelous March!

One Wednesday’s Window

7
Posted by on in animal and plant life, Fiction, Inspiration, Travel

February 17, 2016, Prescott- I sense a false Spring, which nonetheless has given me good vibrations, and a fair amount of fresh energy.

#23.  tea, tiger, night, train, television, tie

It was on the night train to Amsterdam, that Jean Corneille tucked a napkin into his brocade shirt, and looked out the window of his closed compartment. He enjoyed a light repast, followed by a cup of tea.  Monsieur Corneille, descended from French literary royalty, had no interest in the writer’s craft.  He was a television director, true, but his interest was in the action on the set.  Scripts bored him.

As he watched the passing night scenes of various villages in Picardy and Flandres, Jean began to concoct his own scenarios.  He viewed a series of railroad ties, dimly lit by the overhead lights, outside Lille. His mind wandered back to the ridiculous American melodramas of the 1920’s, in which snickering, one-dimensional villains, with curled mustaches and a banker’s business dress of the time, would tie up similarly one-dimensional young women on railroad tracks.  The ladies would ever be rescued, just ahead of the thundering train, by a one-dimensional, muscle-bound hero.  The villain invariably muttered, “Curses, foiled again!”

Nothing M. Corneille put forth on TeleParis was one dimensional.  He was determined his program’s viewers would have to think about what they were watching. His mind focused on making a three-dimensional, thought-provoking update of the Hero-Damsel-Villain triangle.

As the train left Tournai, and headed into Belgium, he spotted a cage being loaded onto one of the freight cars.  He heard a faint, but distinct, purring.  Jean figured it was another of those contraband pets, rescued from some drug lord or money launderer, headed to a major zoo:  Brussels, perhaps; Amsterdam, or Berlin.  His mind went back to the melodrama.

The train had proceeded uneventfully through Belgium, and had just crossed into the Netherlands, when Jean, who had nodded off, was awakened by a series of shouts, coming from the third class car, behind his.  “Mon Dieu”, he sniffed, “what on Earth are those peasants mewling about, this time?”

His upturned nose was brought a bit lower, when the conductor ran into the first class car, followed by ten frantic, screaming passengers- and the tiger, who had escaped from his cage and managed to leave the freight car, as well.

Jean, seeing a true opportunity for a ratings smash, raised himself up into the top berth of his compartment, edged over to the door, and opened it- drawing the tiger’s attention.  The big cat abandoned his chase and warily entered the compartment.  After initially trying to stand on hind legs and sniff at the well-concealed Jean Corneille, the beast lied down on the floor and rested.

Dutch authorities tranquilized the tiger, at Rotterdam Central Station, and took him off, back into a cage.  Five months later, Jean Corneille won several awards for his televised account of the Wednesday Night Ride.  He has visited his co-star, twice, at the small zoo of Utrecht.

 

A Bit About Frugality

5
Posted by on in Inspiration, Personal Values, Striving

February 12, 2016, Prescott-  Today’s prompt calls for using a quote from a famous diarist.  Who better for this, than the great Samuel Pepys?

“He that will not stoop for a pin will never be worth a pound.”
― Samuel Pepys, The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A Selection

Ben Franklin, William Shakespeare and W. C. Fields all had things to say about pinching small coins.  So did my father, God be with him.

Hon. Pepys, Member of Parliament in his time, looked a tad like William Shatner, and spoke like Mr. Franklin.  His mantra, and mine:  “Waste not, want not”.

I use things to their fullest, and though generous when I have it to share, I really don’t like throwing money in the air, so to speak.  Some regard me as profligate.  That is their entitled opinion.  I honour my commitments and live by the advice of the great financial consultant, Dave Ramsey.

What has this to do with Samuel Pepys?  He, too, was a man of limited means, who wasted nothing, and expected less.  He got to travel a bit, as he served in the Royal British Navy.  I have traveled, more than a bit, because I seek to serve my Lord and because I have wanted to pay homage to my late father-in-law and to the plans my late wife and I made, years ago, which never came to fruition, while she was on this Earth.

Frugal?  Not in substance, but definitely in spirit.  Don’t believe me? Visit my home sometime, and look at my wardrobe. 🙂

This Living Dream

7
Posted by on in Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social

February 4, 2016, Prescott- It’s been nearly three weeks since the nation took time to honour the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It’s been three weeks, since we heard this year’s iterations of the speech he gave, sharing his dream of a nation whose people were at peace with one another.

I have thought, long and hard, about the years that have passed since then, and the years that have passed since his slaying.  We no longer, thankfully, have full-on urban riots, at least not since Los Angeles, and 25 other cities, in 1992.  We no longer tell people of colour that they cannot live in certain neighbourhoods, or parts of the country. We have, on the one hand, made an attempt to include people of colour more fully in the outward cultural fabric of our world-with HipHop and rap becoming de rigeur, worldwide.  On the other hand, there is so much unfinished, and even some progress at risk of being undone.

I have to say this, sans hard hat:  There are still several areas of daily life, mostly involving how I, and people who look like me, are perceived by law enforcement, especially on the road at night, that are not experienced the same way by people of colour.  As a nation, we buy too easily into stereotypes, still.  It was not so long ago that I would lapse into a lilt, when speaking with African-Americans.  That had to rankle the people with whom I was speaking and I apologize, profusely.  It said volumes about my own gap in self-identity and deficit in self-confidence.

I am over that personal roadblock.  The Dream that Dr. King shared with us, while speaking at the National Mall, those 53 years ago, was meant for all of us.  It was meant for Blacks, Native-Americans, Latinos to claim a place in the true life of the nation.  It was meant for women to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with men.  It was meant for Caucasians to recognize that sharing the full life of the nation with people of colour, in no way diminishes who we are as a dynamic force in the progress of mankind.  It was meant for those of both sexual orientations to be afforded the opportunity to share their God-given strengths and talents, in making the world a better place.  It was meant that the Dream be truly universal. I believe the Dream is alive.  I believe that this is truly the Day that will not be followed by Night.