Category Archives: Inspiration

The Road to 65, Mile 295: Where I Stand, Part 1

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Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals

September 18, 2015, Prescott- One thing about transitions, there are small stretches of time when money is tight, communication gets garbled and difficulties ensue.  I was raised to work through them, and so it is, right now.  I have had a few confrontations with people, both online and in real time, over the past three days.  In each case, rather than start World War 10,000, I have chosen to rely on my intuition, as to what the other person(s) was/were getting at.  One is simply a snarky, and somewhat abrasive, individual who enjoys a good comeback.  A few of those have defused that mess.  Another wants to know whether I have just moved on.  That is really up to that person.  I am still here, and as said earlier, I will not impose myself on anyone who seems to want to be left alone.  Another individual doesn’t want anyone who doesn’t drink, and doesn’t seem to have much money, in his establishment. (It is a restaurant, not a bar, per se, so the clientele ought to be mixed).

I sense the mood in this town is changing.  Hipsters tend not to like anyone who isn’t strutting their cash, and I see more hipsters around, over the past few months.  I haven’t had much money, over the past six years or so, though that is about to change, albeit gradually, and modestly.  I will be EARNING a living wage, starting next month.  Life will be more on an even keel.

I’m not going anywhere, though.  My son is in San Diego, until the end of next year, at least, and I have a growing number of friends in Los Angeles. Prescott is six hours from San Diego, seven from LA, and proximity rules.  I still have a good many friends here, even those with whom I seem to be having misunderstandings.  I am also very much enamoured of a place where I can walk just about everywhere that matters, and drive to the rest of the places, in a half hour or less.

In the next several posts, I will be commenting on points made by Chief Phil Lane, Jr., who heads up a spiritual retreat in Surrey, BC, as to the development of a spiritual community.  His heartfelt and well-considered tenets could be applied in a good many settings.  I stand in a circle, where heart, patience and intuition matter.

The Road to 65, Mile 290: The Soup of Good Fortune

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Posted by on in Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Service Activities

September 13, 2015, Prescott-   I spent three hours today, in one of the most worthwhile of endeavours.  The Empty Bowls Project is an annual event in Prescott, on Courthouse Square, where so many of our great community events take place.  I was given the job of Gazpacho Ladeler.  Each of us ladelers gave a contributing patron 6 oz. of soup in either a ceramic bowl, which they had purchased, or in a free Styrofoam bowl.  Patrons could come back for second helpings, so one or two of the more popular soups (i.e. lobster bisque) ran out.

Various restaurants in Prescott and nearby Prescott Valley sent a plenitude of soups, most of them hot.  The gazpacho seemed to be the only one that wasn’t.  Even so, there was just about a bowl left over, when we stopped at 2:10, and the chef came to get her materials. My tangible reward for this effort was two 16 oz. cups of soup, one minestrone and one coconut cauliflower curry.  Far greater, of course, is knowing that a substantial amount of money was raised for the benefit of local food banks.

I went back to the house afterward, and finished reading “Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior”, which recounts Dan Millman’s experiences, whilst on Oahu and Molokai.  I sat, totally concentrating on the last fifty pages of the book, and journeyed with him through various dimensions and states of mind.  He did not use hallucinogens, and I can identify with that, since my own mind can make its way to worlds that hardly make sense, in a tangible context.  This afternoon, I only followed his lead.

After my reading was finished, I was given the message to prepare a certain soup of my own.  I first peeled the rind off a butternut squash, after cleaning out its seeds and slicing off the ends.  Then, I did the same with an eggplant and a red pepper, adding lean ground beef and a few figs, with various seasonings.  Turmeric was put in there, for some reason.  I don’t usually add it to a vegetable soup, but there it was.

The scraps and seeds were then buried in the backyard, in an impromptu garden plot.  I’ve never heard of planting so close to Fall, but that was the message I got- and well, trust the journey.  We’ll see what transpires.

I will regard the resulting concoction as a soup of good fortune- celebrating what appear to be doors opening for me, even as a door of friendship, of two years’ duration, seems to be closing.  Everything happens in its time.

The Road to 65, Mile 289: Breathe In Bliss

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Posted by on in collaborating, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals

September 12, 2015, Prescott- Several things happened today.  One of my brothers turned 60.  I made my usual morning visit to the Prescott Farmer’s Market, and had my usual cup of coffee with a sweet treat.  After buying a few vegetables, I encountered my good friends, Happy and Johnny.  Since they had a booth at the Market, with foraged goodies from a nearby forest, I spent close to an hour, talking with them, nibbling on things like manzanita berries, sweet acorns and prickly pear fruit.  I even peeled and sliced a prickly pear fruit- if you ever get the chance, first double check the rind for small spines.  I caught a  tiny nub of spine in my finger, but got it out, without any hassle.

This afternoon, lunch was a grilled hot dog, courtesy of a Recovery Group, so I gave them a small donation.  Soup from Shannon’s Deli also filled the bill.  I went to a memorial service, in mid-afternoon, for the parent of a friend.  So many elders have left this year- and many babies are coming, to take their places in this world.  I was pleased to see at least seven infants and toddlers, in various places.  They are all so busy.  I wonder, at what do we start to lose the focus we had as infants, mastering mobility and as toddlers, absorbing so much data about the world all around us.

Happy says, “Breathe in bliss”.  I notice that, no matter the constraints put on me, I can do that.  Breathing mindfully clears a lot of tension and confusion.  It can have an effect on those in one’s immediate surroundings, as well.  I am as at peace, right now, as I was when at Tuileries, in Paris, or walking a trail in El Dorado Springs, Colorado.

Sadly, it doesn’t affect everyone.  I lost a friend, this evening; but as I heard her voice fading, over the phone, and said my goodbye, a strange calm came over me, and I sat, in perfect stillness, for several minutes.  A message came to me: “You are a threat to no one, and if they perceive you as such, perhaps it is a reflection of their own view of the Universe.”

Breathe in bliss.  Doors are opening.

The Road to 65, Mile 287: Shakra Shuffle

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Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Spiritual

September 10, 2015, Prescott-  The day found me back at work with a disabled boy, and my mother turned 87, a fabulous age, in my book. She went line dancing, which does my heart good.

Mom has always taught us to show compassion, to put others first.  So it has gone, and it has been to my benefit also- because of the Shakras.  Indian medicine tells us there are seven shakras, or regions of energy concentration, in and around the human body.  The first, in the genitalia, deal with personal survival.  The second, in the lower viscera, focus on sexuality and creativity.  The abdominal region focuses on personal power and discipline.

Most of us fond ourselves going back and forth from these “lower” areas of focus, even while priding ourselves on “higher” pursuits.  A couple of years ago, I set out on a spiritually-focused journey, only to fall apart at the seams, midway through, and had to regroup and move forward, once again.

In 2014, whilst in Europe, I found myself more and more focused in the area of the fourth shakra- that of transpersonal love. You guessed it: The fourth shakra is in the region of the heart and lungs.  This is said to feel like the most satisfying, because it is here that service is the main focus.

There are three higher shakras, however, and I was reminded of them, whilst reading a couple of other chapters of “Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior”, which recounts Dan Millman’s experiences in Hawaii and Japan.  A Native Hawaiian healer reviews the shakras with him, calling them floors in “The Tower of Life”, a term first used by Sallie Nichols, in the book “Jung and Tarot”.

The fifth shakra, centered in the neck, is focused on pure inspiration and spirituality.  I’ve been in that state a few times.  Perhaps you have, too.  The sixth, focused in the cerebrum, is called “Pure Light”, communion with the Spirit.  It is no surprise to me, that my messages from the Spirit Realm have come either in dreams, or in waking visions, when I am not concerned with the business at hand.

The seventh shakra is not even in the body. It is in one’s aura, directly above the head, and features Pure Spirit, with no ego left.  This, to me, is the meaning of the Zen teaching that nothingness is the highest state which one may attain.  Being one with the Universe is its manifestation.

As I said earlier, most of us go back and forth, between the first four or five shakras.  I’ve been blessed to have experienced #6, and I know many others who have, as well. To be in one of the higher states, most of the time, is fulfillment.  To handle the lower urges, and get back to spiritual progress, is the norm for me, more and more often.  That said, I think I can wait a while for Shakra #7.  There are too many people about whom I care deeply.

The Road to 65, Mile 285: Kombucha and Quixote

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Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Literary criticism, Personal goals, Slow Food Prescott

September 8, 2015, Prescott- I have a couple of pieces of starter for kombucha.  It is a sort of fermented tea that, combined with organic, unrefined sugar, and mixed with the starter, will be a very strong digestive aid. Penny and I made it, around 2006-7, and used it for both of our abdominal well-being.  I will do this again.

This, and milk-based kefir, were the topics of a Slow-Food Prescott gathering, this evening.  Of course, there were a wealth of GMO-Free and organic dishes, as part of the festivities.  Given the pressure that our U.S. House of Representatives, and various conservative judges, around the globe, are putting on us to force the public to buy Genetically-Modified products, I think we need to have more events like this, to safeguard our health.  Someone asked, not long ago, if I would go to jail for my beliefs.  This is one area where I would do so.  No one tells me what to eat.

I heard on the radio that this year marks the 400th Anniversary of the publication of “Don Quixote de la Mancha”.  Miguel de Cervantes wrote of the consequences of a belatedly examined life, and of how a man’s not living his dream, until late in life, leads to so many bouts of foolishness.  Don Quixote’s idealization of the chivalrous life is not so different from the modern day fascination with Super Heroes. I was surprised, as an adolescent, when none of the Classics Illustrated comic books, which I relished, included a version of “Don Quixote”.  I didn’t read the novel until my third year in university, and I read it in Spanish.

I wonder at times, whether all we do to counteract the power structure in this world is actually a tad quixotic.  My heart, though, tells me “No, keep going.  Our children deserve a better, less materialistic system.”  So, onward I will tilt my lance.

The Road to 65, Mile 284: Treasured Hearts

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Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals

September 7, 2015, Prescott-

Mild goes the day,

With grilled meats and light rain.

Friends’ hearts beat loudly,

From both near and far.

Some happy, others forlorn,

I treasure all, for none have I scorn.

The wish I have,

To be there for all,

Sits like a chimera,

Fleetingly, atop the wall.

The Road to 65, Mile 279: The Sky Is No Longer A Limit

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Posted by on in Inspiration, Personal goals

September 2, 2015, Prescott- Wayne W. Dyer passed to the Spirit Realm on Saturday.  In my early, and some fitful, attempts to make sense of my then-tortuous life, I read two  books recommended me by a paternal uncle:  Thomas Harris’s “I’m Okay, You’re Okay”, and Wayne Dyer’s “Your Erroneous Zones”.  I might have done well to re-read the latter, during the decade 2000-2009.  It would have saved a lot of erroneous behaviour.

Dr. Dyer never gave up on humanity, or on himself, purging his body of leukemia, via natural toxin-flushing diet and exercise, and a regular meditation and self-accounting, leading to needed changes in his daily routine.  It didn’t hurt that he lived for many years on Maui, but no place is perfect, and everyone needs to take responsibility for him/herself.  Wayne Dyer did so, with a most intense elan.

I choose to remember him with a particular quote: 2. “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t you will see obstacles.”  This has been the driving force of my life, over the past four years, starting with the moment that I was seemingly left with next to nothing, in September, 2011.  He was right; it worked out, and will continue so.

Wayne W. Dyer approached his impending death, early last month, by saying he was looking forward to the journey.  May he shower us all with waves of opportunity-recognizing energy.