Facing Negative Energy

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on January 9, 2019 in Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

January 9, 2019-

The young boy reacted to a task that was beyond his scope of understanding, in the only way he knew: He threw a fit of self-harm and flailing rage. Two women were able to guide him through the anger and calm him down, without any appreciable damage to himself or anyone else. He spent the rest of the day in peace, and participated in afternoon activities.

The past forty-eight hours have seen a fair amount of negativity, in situations far and near:

A dear friend has seen the person closest to her have to be brought to hospital, in a life-threatening emergency. My prayers, and those of dozens of others, have gone up, that he may survive the night and recover. The spouse, or significant other, of a friend is as dear to my heart as the friend.

There was, yesterday, what turned out to be a minor hiccup, in my son’s and daughter-in-law’s planned ceremony to sanctify their civil wedding vows. We maintained patience and the right thing happened-hiccup cured. Ceremony will proceed as planned, in two months’ time.

I had planned, with a group of co-workers and their friends/family, to conduct a clean-up of one of the National Park properties that is not far from here. This morning, an alert, banning the public from said property during the current shutdown, was hastily posted on the park’s website. While I can see any number of concerns that would bring such a response to the offers of a clean-up, (Ours was not the only such offer.), the shutdown as a whole is extremely negative and counterproductive. Our group could clean up any of the National Forest sites in this area, though the U.S. Forest Service is fully operational. We could, as one person elsewhere told me, focus on local neighbourhoods and not worry about Federal land. These two scenarios can, and should, be a regular part of civic life-above and beyond the present impasse. (More on “local vs. global”, in another post.) Our point, though, in THIS situation, is that the National Park System is suffering, mightily, from ongoing neglect during the present shutdown. It needs its citizens to step up, more than ever.

Negative energy is always around, and as darkness is dispelled by light, it can be countered and neutralized by a stronger positive energy. Fighting fire with fire, or mud with more mud, is a short-term strategy, which usually results in the perpetuation of the very iniquity that one seeks to remove. I have found that either maintaining a stronger stance of love, in the face of hate, or cutting off the flow of negativity altogether, has brought the darkness to naught.

Seared into Community

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on January 8, 2019 in collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, School Gardens Project, Service Activities, Social, Striving

January 8, 2019-

The local Sears may well be closing soon, along with most others of that company’s sites. That fact has nothing to do with the title of this post, though.

Prescott has taught me how to be fully part of a community-actually a lesson that Saugus, and later, the Hopi Nation, tried to teach me, years ago, with varying degrees of success. I guess that now, in my advanced middle age, and with a few knockabouts under my belt, people are more easily understood by me, and vice versa.

There is a move afoot for several of us to go to a National Park Service property (to be determined), and engage in a clean-up, this weekend. This is just the latest of examples of why this community has a commitment from my heart to stay and work for the next 2-2.5 years, before family, and the curiosity about the wider world, take primacy in my life, once again. My Faith community, the Red Cross, a local school gardens group, various individual friends-and my co-workers at Prescott High School have kept me well-occupied and quite happily so, especially these past two academic years.

This evening, I went to a fundraiser for our school’s Future Business Leaders of America. Wildflower Bakery, a regional chain, has a new restaurant, within the shopping mall where it has been a fixture for several years. It is visible from the road, and draws a fair crowd. FBLA thus decided to hold its event here. I support as many of these “club dinners” as I can, just out of love. Teens, in my view, deserve all the support they can get, in finding their way to a solid and sustainable future.
I guess this is the impetus to having all these other elements of community take root in my heart.

Impact

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on December 26, 2018 in Assistance, Community, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

December 24, 2018, Phoenix-

One of the admittedly annoying aspects of e-mail is the constant barrage of “Double (Triple) Your Impact!” pitches for donations. So as not to be misunderstood, I like efficient use of funds and that which increases the likelihood that more people will be positively affected by the contribution is all the better.

A positive framework for the term is Impact Experience, a company that focuses on bridge building, in terms of a network between investors and communities at risk. Founded by Jenna Nicholas, in 2015, this enterprise has worked in communities, regardless of local political culture-the main thrust being reworking the way people see local economies and potential for prosperity. http://impact-experience-dev.squarespace.com/process/

The common attributes noted for a culture whose purpose is prosperity, rather than profit, are:

Distribution of wealth, by partnership, rather than by force.
Consultation as the primary communication model.
Employee development
Sustainability

This culture must undergo change, which occurs in the following stages:

Definition;
Communication;
Reinforcing education;
Integration;
Practice;
Reflection

Where things have fallen apart, in recent years, has been the lack of persistence, often from a skewed perception of the process of change. One, or more, of the above steps have either been omitted or not properly completed.

As was said earlier, real change is messy. People stumble, are embarrassed, get discouraged or cave in to pushback. It helps to realize that few of those who question change are, in the real sense, reactionaries or “knuckle draggers”, just as few of those wanting drastic change are wild-eyed revolutionaries, or “bomb throwers”.

Change is messy, trust comes hard, but both are necessary, in order to bring about the economic justice, for which so many pine. Listening, with both ears, and action, with all one’s attention and effort, are imperative.

Service Is Its Own Reward

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on December 10, 2018 in Poetry, Service Activities, Striving

December 8, 2018, Prescott-

Service is its own reward,

It’s not hard to pay it forward.

The quarterly seed exchange

took from me two hours,

and gave dozens of families

a healthy means to power.

A dozen or so volunteers

gathered at a Red Cross party,

taking photos with Santa and his missus,

eating hearty,

and looking back on fulfilling their donors’ wishes.

Today was very well spent,

and in serving others,

I promise to not relent.

NEXT: A Long and Peaceful Journey

Gratitude Week, Day 7: The Finest Fruits

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on November 24, 2018 in collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Uncategorized

November 24, 2018, Prescott-

I have decided to end this week of gratitude, by looking back at the ten best choices I ever made. I am grateful to the Universe for having placed these in front of me and I have a measure of self-gratitude for having made them.

10, Serving in the Army– At 18, I had little to show for my life. There was no discipline, of which to speak and my world consisted of drooling over girls and imbibing too much alcohol, too fast. Other-imposed discipline gave me a regimen, which I could add to the work ethic that my parents instilled in each of us and it set me on a course of self-reliance, which I still need and use.

9. Studying Psychology- It didn’t make me wealthy and barely got me a job, but knowing something of what makes the human mind tick has given me insight into myself and has made me more understanding of others.

8. Living on the Navajo Nation- I have a strong genetic memory of the Indigenous. I am not much, in terms of blood quantum, but my nature fairly burns with the feeling that I belong in the woodlands; that I am a gatherer and a sharer; that I am one with the Universe. Being on the same page, day to day, with Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi people reinforced that unity.

7. Blogging- Writing is a skill that three of my four high school English teachers saw as a talent that I needed to sharpen. They gave me the tools to keep on sharpening that talent. College brought it up another notch. As a caretaker, and then as a widower, far from extended family, blogging gave me an outlet, one step up from journaling (which I also still do) and a wider appreciative audience.

6, Returning to work, full time- In 2016, having been a substitute teacher, with a couple of other jobs, whilst being Penny’s caretaker, I found a niche at Prescott High School. My place there was, more or less, secure and I was urged to return full-time, for the years leading up to my retirement from education. That work has been fulfilling, and will remain so until I reach 70, two years from now.

5. Working as a counselor- As a school counselor, I was able to impact thousands of lives, over the span of eleven years, between Tuba City and Keams Canyon/Jeddito, and some of those lives were saved. I am haunted by a few lives that weren’t and by those I couldn’t reach. The majority, though, learned life skills and resilience, and knew that someone had their backs.

4. Settling in Prescott- The job aside, moving here after Penny’s passing was a lifesaver. I had the anchor of a house, for the time I needed it, and of a Faith Community with whom I was already familiar and who were not intimate with Penny’s suffering. That last was important. I could not have the constant reminders of all that we had endured together. Since then, I have made many new friends and branched out in several directions-all healthy.

3. Widespread travel-Besides going back and forth from Arizona to the East Coast, for family visits, my wanderlust has taken me to western Europe, Hawai’i, the Pacific Northwest and southeast Alaska. I took in a small swath of eastern Canada, last summer and am likely to cross our northern neighbour again, in the summer of 2020. California, Nevada and Colorado have also seen a lot of me, these past seven years, as have the South and Midwest. This is an essential part of who I am.

2. Getting married- I have always been crazy about girls and women. There isn’t much about the opposite gender that I don’t like, though I am proud to be male. Self-dislike got in the way, though, when I found myself drawn to one young lady after another. Penny didn’t fall for any of that, and we built a solid foundation, by which both of us were able to tame most of our demons and raise a fine young man, who has taken his full place in the world.

1. Recognizing Baha’u’llah- I received a solid spiritual foundation, having been raised in the Roman Catholic faith. As I matured, though, the rituals and practices began to feel automatic to me, and I have always known that there is a continuity to Divine Revelation, superseding any one of the faiths or denominations that are commonplace. In 1972, I heard of Baha’u’llah, and the Baha’i Faith, for the first time. Nine years later, I embraced Baha’i as my own. I have found its precepts teach everything in which I already believe, and the teachings regarding health are exactly what I needed, to tame the demon of alcohol dependence. Far beyond those, however, are the vision of planetary and human unity-dispelling the darknesses of racism, nationalism and excessive materialism.

I am sure I will have other choices to make, in the coming days, months, and years. Perhaps a life-changer will be among them, as well.

Gratitude Week, Day 4- Those Who Serve

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on November 22, 2018 in collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Personal Values, Service Activities, Striving

November 21, 2018, Congress, AZ-

I’m enjoying dinner here, at Nichols West, a small but elegant restaurant, on the north side of this tiny ranching and mining town, itself at the western edge of Yavapai County. The place is the love-work of an English-South African-New Zealander couple, and has not once left me wanting for a fine meal.

I came here, after setting myself the challenge of re-training my knees to work together, whilst paying respects for a second time, to the nineteen men who perished in the Yarnell Hill fire, on June 30, 2013.

I know members of four of the families of those who gave their lives that day. Their collective sacrifice is typical of those families who give us their finest members, each and every day, never knowing whether their child, spouse or parent is going to return home, safe and sound.

This sacrifice has been written large, in the 9/11 attacks, in the mass killings of military and first responders of less celebrated, but equally compelling, disasters, and in the wildland fires, and other natural disasters, that continue to ravage locations across the country and across the planet.

So, I walked to the circle of gabions, in a quiet valley below the boulder-racked ridges of Yarnell Hill, the southern tip of the Santa Maria Range. There were several others, enjoying the bright blue sky and rugged trail, whilst paying their own homage to the brave. It is always worth the trek. 20181121_121343[1]

I took my time, and was nearly the last one out of the park, with fifteen minutes to spare. The day began with me befriending a frightened woman, who is caretaker to the love of her life (Yes, we also serve, who sit and wait), and listening/counseling her to keep on loving and cherishing the man who has been everything to her for decades. It is now ending, with my knees no worse for the wear and a restorative meal, having honoured those fallen men, whose memory is indelible.

The Flow of Consciousness River

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 6, 2018 in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Inspiration, Personal goals, Service Activities, Spiritual

October 6, 2018, Prescott-

Today, and for the eight days that follow, I will be on Fall Break from my place of work. As ever, much of this break will be spent in service (today, tomorrow and Monday), dealing with the details of life (Tuesday) and focused travel (Wednesday-next Sunday).

I woke this morning, in a focused, but rather detached state. Going through the regular grooming routine and dealing with news of the outside (more of the same back-and-forth, between right and left; the stock market, once again, dealing with good economic news by imagining future bad stuff; the Navajo Nation dealing with yet another collapse of its western lifeline road).

Nothing earthshaking has happened in my little world, overnight, and I have much to get done in the next hour, before a long, freely-chosen, day of service activities, so I will be brief about this: I am now in a very detached, almost surreal state of consciousness. No substances have been involved, I just woke up this way and am still in a very aware, but unusually calm, state of being.

This will work in my favour, through a Baha’i gathering, two hours hence and the Convergence at Arcosanti, where I am serving for the second year, at a gathering of various groups to ponder and discuss the direction of society. Hopefully, there will be no disruption of a meditation session, which I hope to join. Last year’s session was obliterated by a loud and pushy group, who represented the antithesis of meditation.

I will have more to say, in snippets, over the next few days, but will be mostly offline, until Monday night.

Love to all.

Aged-Out?

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on September 24, 2018 in collaborating, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Striving

September 24, 2018, Prescott-

I have heard, from a well-meaning person, that a man my age cannot handle intense romantic relations, of a physical kind. I guess it depends on the man. Unless I find another woman who makes her way into a marital situation, I will not know as that applies to me. So, there is one moot point.

I do, however, manage to complete even a lengthy, and vigourous, physical job, to its completion, as I did on Saturday, whilst helping on a school garden project. There is a major faith-based project, next Saturday, in which I will take part, and another, the following weekend, at Arcosanti’s Convergence, which dovetails with a Baha’i event and a nearby Pancake Breakfast. I feel good, after vigourous work, so I don’t anticipate issues there.

I get the sense, from my building supervisors, that maybe I am occupying shoes meant for a younger person. My immediate supervisor may well resist that, and I think I just need to stay the course, for as long as my stamina remains as it is now.

In a nutshell, I intend to keep on working, as I have said before, for at least two more years. December, 2020, would be a good time to bid adieu, but there would have to be a younger person ready to finish out the academic year, at that point.

Tangential, Part 2

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on September 13, 2018 in collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

September 13, 2018, Prescott-

There are two kinds of events that impact anyone’s life. Scheduled and anticipated occasions tend to get most of my attention. My niece’s wedding, earlier this year, was the centerpiece of my scheduling the entire road trip, with a gathering at a friend’s house, two weeks later, being the climax of the journey. My mother’s 90th birthday, this past Monday, entailed careful gifting and a pleasant early morning call. Another family event, of which I will speak closer to its happening, will take place in mid-November. There are numerous faith-based and community events here, between now and December, that will take on an urgency, either in the minds of their organizers and/or in terms of their real impact on our community.

The second kind of event, of course, is the random, serendipitous happening. Spontaneity is common to our species. So, a late night message from a friend or loved one will also take on a certain urgency. A chance encounter with a good-hearted soul, or with an opposite number, will do likewise. Dealing with miscreants, in Montreal, during the above-mentioned road trip, was certainly an example of this last. Connecting with U.S. Federal and Canadian provincial authorities was an example of dealing with good-hearted souls. Then, there was the run down to Florida, out of concern fro my mother-in-law’s fragile health, especially after the losses of her last-surviving sibling and one of her cousins, earlier this year. Here at Home Base, numerous things happen, almost daily, that are either on a whim or the results of several prior events-but somehow are not anticipated.

I deal better with the random and sudden, than I used to. People’s individual concerns and events seem to be hyper-urgent, these days, so I feel the need to keep myself sharp. Even across the country, as dear friends and extended family prepare for yet another “Storm of a Lifetime”, or maybe four such storms, I keep ready for whatever might be needed.

Spontaneity is becoming routine.

The 2018 Road, Day 27:The Flow of Kindred Souls

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on August 5, 2018 in Community, Family, Matters of Faith, Service Activities, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 21, 2018, Hemingway, SC-

I did accomplish a goal of three years’ running: A simple dinner with a young woman who is like a daughter to me. C and I met up at Jenna’s Cafe, Virginia Beach, after I negotiated a busy, but peaceful causeway from Williamsburg to V.B., via Norfolk.

After a couple hours of encouragement from me, it was time for her to head back home and prepare for another day’s work. She has the wherewithal to go far in her field, and to continue doing a fine job with her children.

I found a reasonable motel in Newport News and rested well, preparing for a southward journey. My next goal would be Louis Gregory Baha’i Institute, Hemingway. The center is used for spiritual education and gatherings. It is named for an early African-American Baha’i, who was a prominent attorney. He chose to move to the South, in the midst of the Jim Crow era, and whilst abiding by the laws of the time, he worked behind the scenes to gradually ease the discrimination, which hobbled oppressed and oppressor, alike.

On this summer solstice, I chose to bypass Richmond, and drove a straight shot through North Carolina, to which I will return, next week. A leisurely drive into South Carolina’s pine woods brought me to LGBI,

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES just in time to meet the caretaker, before he closed up for the night.G generously gave me accommodations for the night, for which I offered a nominal contribution, this being a place that operates on a shoestring budget. LGBI was established in 1972, to assist the large number of people in northeastern South Carolina, who had shown interest in the Baha’i Faith.

Here are some scenes from around the small campus. The first three are from the Main Hall. The patchwork quilt was made by junior youth, ages 11-14.

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Mr. Gregory is shown below, with his English-born wife, Louisa. Theirs was one of the first interracial marriages performed legally in the United States.

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