“Like Someone Who Matters”

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 29, 2019 in collaborating, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

October 29, 2019-

I will be writing two posts today, and tomorrow, as these are the Twin Holy Days, the back-to-back commemorations of the Births of al-Bab (The Gate) and of Baha’u’llah, respectively. So, my post this afternoon will focus on al-Bab, Who was born 200 years ago, today (reckoned by the Badi (Lunar) Calendar.

First, let’s look at the second rule for living outlined by Jordan Peterson: “Treat yourself like you are someone who matters.” Baha’u’llah teaches: “Be fair to yourself and others.” Many parents teach their children to put others first. That’s a good enough way to discourage selfishness, as far as it goes. One of the wisdoms of having 2-3 children, in a family which can support such numbers, is that it is most likely to train a human being in sharing and altruism. Those families like that of my birth, who struggled with the stresses inherent in being a family of seven, nonetheless impart a sense of belonging and of being a key part of something far greater than self. My son, being the only child, was encouraged to make a wide circle of friends, and to regard the closest of them as if they were his siblings.

Thus, a good many of us are taught well, with respect to others. Where we tend to drop the ball is with how we treat ourselves. It is therefore best to look at how one wants to be treated by others, and to look at this regularly, with a view towards treating ourselves as we want to be treated by those around us- a corollary, if you will, to the Golden Rule.

In a practical sense, then, partaking of those activities and other things which enhance one’s well-being is essential. Neither asceticism nor overindulgence result in a healthy self. Hypercriticism of self is, likewise, as bad as narcissism. An honest self-accounting, each day, with the follow -up of self-improvement, shows a resolve to regard oneself as “Someone who matters”.

Another Cusp, and A Lobster Tale

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 28, 2019 in animal and plant life, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 28, 2019-

Today begins yet another cusp, of another revolution around the Sun. This coming year is significant, in that it is the last year of my seventh decade. People warned me that 68 would be the year that health challenges would surface. They haven’t. Maybe because of my personal regimen, and open-mindedness to the suggestions of friends and family, the overall state of my physical frame has actually been better this year, than last.

When a cusp begins, the month before my birthday, I start to think of goals, and changes I might make. One change is the way I sit, and for how long. Someone has suggested using 135 degrees as good posture, when having to sit at length. A thirty minute limit to any one sitting session has also been suggested-which works everywhere except in a theater or on a long road trip, or flight. In those cases, every 1-2 hours works better.

Another change is to think even more out of the box than I have been. This, of course, will give my critics fits, as they already roll their eyes at unconventional things I do and say, but no matter. I will need to be even more flexible, with regard to my schedule and commitments, over the next several months, than has been the case in the past several years.

Now, let’s get to the lobsters. In his work on “Twelve Rules for Life”, the psychologist Jordan Peterson begins by describing the behaviour of lobsters. The crusty crustaceans have a hierarchy. There are ten levels, with the alpha lobster having a high level of serotonin, which leads the animal to maintain an erect, well-balanced posture and the low creature in the hierarchy having low serotonin, but a high level of octopamine, which leads it to splay its limbs and slump around- in other words, to be a low-achieving lobster slacker.

The implications for us human animals is fairly clear. Seratonin is huge, for those of us who want to feel strong and be taken seriously. If it affects posture, then let’s have more of what the singer John Mayer calls “a serotonin overflow”. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81yl_76s7jA.

I would prefer not to depend, though, on a romance, or a respite from daily life, to provide me with the juice that affords me with respect from self and others. Towards that end, as with other health-related matters, let food be my medicine, as has been said by wise men, from Hippocrates (and probably the ancients who preceded him) to ‘Abdu’l-Baha. https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/foods-that-could-boost-your-serotonin. More attention to posture is also in the offing.

I will have more to say about Jordan Peterson’s “Twelve Rules”, over the next several days.

Equity/Equivalence

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 27, 2019 in children, Community, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 27, 2019-

There is no inherent tie, between being in touch with femininity and emasculation.

On a visit to one of my best friends, here in Home Base, I enjoyed another of her unfailingly fine meals, followed by plenty of food for thought. The fare, this evening, included a thorough look at the effects of excessive social policing on the male psyche.

I am a fairly sensitive soul, who notices people’s feelings and reactions to their surroundings. As such. weighing my words and actions has been a much higher priority, in my life, especially these past ten years. Yes, I have had relapses, during the low water marks of grieving and recovery, not so many years ago. Said friend has had much to do with the movement away from that low state, as has my personal faith.

I thoroughly enjoy the company of peaceful people, especially of women who have arrived at a state of personal peace. The higher goals of one’s existence are far more achievable, when one is not pre-occupied with a set of self-conscious, other-imposed expectations.

All this underscores that emasculation, depriving boys and men of their pursuit of meaning, in the name of gender equivalence, is the source of much of the violence and aimless behaviour, which we see increasing in some quarters of the populace. It cuts across all sectors of society, and its fingers may be found in the areas of drug abuse, domestic violence, unemployability, and general listlessness.

Emasculation does NOT proceed from giving women and girls the wherewithal to process their goals and pursue their dreams. It does derive, though, from making gender equity a societal seesaw. When Penny was alive, there was no time when her pursuits meant that mine did not matter, and vice versa. My son’s dreams and goals matter no less than do those of my daughter-in-law, and vice versa.

Equity of opportunity and encouragement under the law does not mean equivalence of function, any more than any group of men or women must all do the same things.

Jordan Peterson calls for less political correctness, in the overall course of civic life. To the extent that one group does not actively work to diminish another, I see his point. I don’t really believe that there are all that many women who wish to emasculate the men and boys in their lives. There is, though, an urgency that people attend to those who feel cut off from their hopes and dreams- regardless of the social inequality that led society to turn aside from their needs. Again, gender equity is NOT a social seesaw.

The Missile of Truth

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 26, 2019 in distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 26, 2019-

I got where I am now,

not through glad-handing

and sweet talk..

There have been

times that I needed

to learn from setbacks,

and course corrections.

The Universe made sure that

those things happened.

The lessons were learned.

There were times when

I could have fudged

the truth, but didn’t,

and took the heat

for it.

There were times

that I left things

unsaid,

and just made

matters worse.

So often,

the road to solace.

is manned by

the vicious.

So often, one

must get past

those of unsound mind,

who see things

that are white

and pronounce them

black.

The surest way past them

is to stay one’s course,

and not bend,

in the face of illogic,

no matter how loudly

or brashly

it is expressed.

The surest weapon

remains the missile of truth.

(These thoughts came to me, upon watching a program about a man who reminds me of myself.)

I Care Not; I Care

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 25, 2019 in children, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Poetry, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 25, 2019-

The year, of which I thought as a pinnacle,

when it was approaching,

now seems a plateau of focus,

as it begins to recede,

into the alpine mists of history.

Here and now have become

more urgent.

Past is a glimmer,

whose lessons impact

the present stage.

Future is “that time”

of promises,

which only I

can bring to fruition.

Twenty-twenty

appears in my

mind’s eye,

like yin and yang.

In the heat of the now,

I care not for the culture

which glorifies drug use.

The mantra,

“This is better than crack!”,

is the cackling of the ignorant.

I care not for the powers

that pretend to be,

sending their tanks,

flame throwers and

armor-piercing bullets,

against unwitting defenders

of freedom.

I care not for the puppet masters,

who order the innocent

to stand down,

to step aside,

that the purveyors

of death,

may present their wares,

to the foolish and

the deluded.

I care not,

for those who

cry foul,

at being told

that an infant

has the right

to life,

the right

to be adopted,

instead of killed.

I care not,

for those who

start wildfires,

in the hopes

of returning later,

and building

cookie-cutter,

gentrified living resorts,

affordable only to

the favoured few.

I care,

for the struggling,

for the lost children,

kept in a prison box,

with no resources,

save the cement floor,

which they share,

with hundreds,

and with their reluctant

guards,

who are themselves

pariahs.

I care for those

who are beaten,

chased down,

hunted like animals

and then,

treated like filth,

by the jurists,

who look first

at the well-being

of those

who beat, menace

and hunt the innocent,

like so much prey.

I care for those

who have given

their all,

and end up

as footnotes,

in the journals

of narcissists.

Give us your tired,

poor, innocent,

that we may find room

in our hearts and

in our diminishing spaces.

The Myth of Beyond

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 22, 2019 in Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 22, 2019-

No one is truly an outsider.

In a recent online discussion about a purported conflict, between two public figures, one of the participants made the valid point that the whole thing is contrived. Many public spats, and not a few private ones, are indeed straight out of WWE.

I am what is known as an ambivert. I live alone, though that is likely to change, if a relative shows up, in December, for a month’s stay. I live alone, mostly hike alone and, when I go to a restaurant for a meal, I usually sit alone-unless I’m at the counter. I do, for the most part, travel alone, preferring to set my own schedule.

I do not, however, regard myself as an outsider. True, I am not in very many “inner circles”- my Baha’i community, groups with which I volunteer and a handful of friendships being the exceptions. Camaraderie, with both men and women, is important in my life. If I am at an event, conversation with those around me tends to be organic and fluid. If I am in nature, I also find myself speaking, quietly, to animals, plants and even the elements. The reason is, communication is a thing of joy.

My sense is, even a hermit needs to interact with some humans, every so often. So, to say a person is an outsider is something of a chimera. We can be isolated by circumstance, and that is temporary. We can be isolated by choice, yet sooner or later, there will be a knock on the door, a phone call, a postal letter or a message of some kind on an electronic device. People in institutional settings are a serious concern, yet even they face multiple interactions with staff, volunteers and, hopefully, loved ones.

These are some thoughts that came to mind, after reading the above-mentioned participant’s rebuttal of the public figure’s claim of being an outsider.

The Round and Square of It

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 20, 2019 in Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Matters of Faith, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 9, 2019, Aneth, UT-

Any illusion that Native Americans are somehow all cut from the same cloth, or are otherwise a uniform group, was hopefully dispelled, some tome ago. This is as true, with regard to various aspects of culture, including architecture, as it is to language and physical appearance- just as it is with people of any large subgrouping.

Hovenweep, a Paiute name meaning “Deserted Valley”, is the site of a large number of mud brick structures, both atop and just below the rim of, Cahone Mesa, in southeast Utah-about 15 miles northwest of this small Dineh settlement.

I last visited this area in 1979, about a month after summer break began. There has been an expansion of the National Monument since that time. For this visit, though, I focused on the Main, or Square Tower, Group of structures. Outlying ruins will be the focus of a future visit.

The trail around the Main Group is 2 miles long. The terrain is similar to that of Natural Bridges and other nearby canyons. A short walk across the table of Cahone Mesa leads to a short, but rugged, canyon crossing, then around to Twin Towers and the Square Tower triad, before snaking back towards the Visitor Center.

As you will see, the Puebloan architects variously used square corners and round construction, depending on the function of the building. Squared structures appear to be more for dwellings and the rounded buildings either as kivas or as observation towers of some sort.

The descent and ascent of Little Ruin Canyon is the most rugged part of the hike around Square Tower Group. I would rate it as moderate, in difficulty.

A small heart-shaped rock is visible, towards the rear of this small cavelet.

Remains of several small homes, on the mesa top, precede one’s arrival at Twin Towers.

As I approached Twin Towers, a girl of about twelve passed by me, cheerfully in her own experience of the area. Her grandparents called her back, not so much out of fear, as to ask her to carefully pull a discarded plastic water bottle out of this crevice! She gingerly did as asked, and had no trouble getting out of the fissure.

Here are the remnants of Twin Towers.

Just a few paces from the round towers is another rectangular tower, likely an early apartment dwelling.

There were several people at Square Tower, as I approached, so care was taken to honour each one’s quiet investigation of this central area of Hovenweep.

Checkdam is a building where the caretaker of an earthen dam spent his duty hours.

These are the structures of Hovenweep House.

Square Tower is in the midst of the main kivas.

Below, is a small single family dwelling.

This is Eroded Boulder House, an example of the effects of the climate change of that era (1200-1300 A.D.)

There are four areas of Hovenweep National Monument that are accessible by high-clearance vehicles. One of these days, I will get to those outliers.

Today, though, I had two other visits to make. I headed out of Hovenweep and made it to this oil and gas-producing community, in Utah’s southeast corner. Here, I visited for about 1 1/2 hours, with two Dineh sisters, who are caretakers of this small Baha’i Center. Members of our Faith have lived in Aneth for about fifty years.

After visiting with the ladies, I am headed to The Farm Bistro, in Cortez, for an early dinner, then will likely drive back to Prescott. It’s been a fascinating Fall Break!

Glen Canyon’s Legacy

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 14, 2019 in animal and plant life, Hiking and Nature, Social, Striving, Travel

October 7, 2019, Page-

Leaving the pleasant Utah border town of Kanab, after a good night’s rest and getting myself a neck pillow (replacing the one left behind in Pennsylvania, last summer), it seemed like a good time to stop a few places in the basin of Glen Canyon. The area is now best known for the resorts and water-based recreation of Lake Powell.

Just shy of the Arizona state line, lies the former polygamist community of Big Water, UT. It is now an industrial zone and a research center for the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM has an interesting Visitor’s Center there, with much research on the fossil remains found in the cliffs shown below.

Ceratopsians, and their close relatives, are a major focus of the paleontology that has been done here. There is a well-illustrated display, which explains quite clearly the various members of this group of dinosaurs. As is commonly known, what is now the Great Basin was once a large inland sea, separating large peninsulas of present-day North America. Ceratopsians, Mosasaurs and Icthyosaurs, along with giant crocodiles and sea turtles, were abundant here.

Note that there are three types of Ceratopsians, distinguished by the length and breadth of their snouts, as well as the complexity of their cranial armor.

Centrosaurs had narrow, short faces and simple armor. Chasmosaurs had broad, long faces, with elaborate armor.

After examining the details of the paleontology being done at Big Water, I headed a few short miles to Wahweap, a resort area long Lake Powell’s western shore. The lake views are refreshing, but strangely, Wahweap’s restaurant is closed for the season.

A good zoom view of Navajo Mountain, some thirty miles northeast, is available from Wahweap.

Feeling somewhat famished, I stopped in Page, the town which grew as a result of the building of Glen Canyon Dam, and enjoyed a hearty meal of barbecued pulled chicken, with potato salad, at this fine and popular restaurant.

Rarely does the Lone Ranger share space with a Hopi kachina, but that is what one might expect in Page, a welcoming resort town that makes the most of Lake Powell. Page, Wahweap and about six other marinas reap the benefit of Glen Canyon Dam’s having “tamed” the Colorado River. There are plenty of people who depend on the Dam and Lake Powell, for their livelihoods. There are many others who think, as did the late Edward Abbey, that Glen Canyon was perfectly fine, both ecologically and economically, without any tampering. I think that, had there not been a dam, Page might have become like Moab or Durango, and grown as a haven for the many who enjoy the still formidable canyon.

Resurgence

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 14, 2019 in Arcosanti, Hiking and Nature, Personal Values, Poetry, Social, Spiritual

October 14, 2019, Arcosanti-

The first sentient being to greet me,

this morning, was my friend Pam.

It was a silent greeting,

each of us stretching,

across the courtyard,

of the sleeping area,

known as the Vaults.

There were about twenty of us,

some, like Pam and me,

in our own singular spaces,

and responsible for

our own warmth.

Others coupled,

keeping each other warm

against the early morning chill.

Each of us dreamed,

many lucidly.

I resolved an old conflict,

wondering why fault had been

continually found with me,

all those years ago.

The answer came,

in my lucid dream,

and I was absolved,

set free,

with a new understanding

of why a beloved soul

had been so quick to judge,

back then.

It is always pain,

that brings this on.

When the pain is gone,

so is the blame.

The second sentient being to greet me

this morning,

was a peregrine falcon,

whom I will call Percival.

He perched on the rail,

outside the central kitchen,

and took in our shared morning world.

I sat and did the same,

for several minutes.

This, we can learn from animals.

The morning ever brings resurgence.

The Peak of the Canyon- Part I

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 10, 2019 in distraction issues, Hiking and Nature, Social, Travel

October 6, 2019, Jacob Lake, AZ-

Sitting at the counter of the restaurant, in this gateway community to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I enjoyed a sandwich of “Leftover Jalapeno Meatloaf”-(a tongue-in-cheek expression, as the dish was freshly prepared) and bantered a bit with a somewhat surly young man, who definitely wished I wasn’t there. Once he left, the waitresses seemed to relax and there was a light-hearted rest of my visit. The food was very good.

It had been that kind of day, a blend of dealing with surly people and those who relaxed when the angry ones left. A screaming woman, berating the disabled manager of the motel where I had stayed in Flagstaff, last night was replaced in my view by his head housekeeper, who helped the poor soul get his bearings.

This evening, just before sunset, I was being tailgated, at ten miles over the speed limit, on the narrow road leading to Cape Royal, where I was heading to take a photo of the sunset. Turns out, the motorist with a hair-trigger temper was also heading to the Cape, to take a professional photo or two. Once we got there, and he realized there was still time for his shoot, all was well.

In between, there were genuine moments of peace: A crew of high school soccer players washed my car, as part of their fundraiser. Then, it was off towards the North Rim, via a trio of scenic wonders, majestic in their own right.

Here are a few scenes of Marble Canyon, where I walked around Navajo Bridge, a New Deal project which replaced the ferry across the Colorado River.

Above, is Navajo Bridge, now a pedestrian walkway between Marble Canyon Lodge and a Navajo Artists’ Market. Below, is the Colorado River.

After a Thor Burger, at Marble Canyon Cafe-and pleasant conversations with the mostly Dineh staff, I headed up the road a bit, to Cliff Dwellers, also mainly a place for Navajo jewelry to be sold. It does have an astonishing series of boulders and rock formations, near what once was a settlement of Fremont people, who were mainly hunter-gatherers.

Vermillion Cliffs came next. There are an unusually high number of retired people traveling, this time of year. The warm weather has helped, as has the political tension in the country, which leads people to seek an outlet. We know that travel is one of the best outlets for relieving tension. There was certainly a time in my life, when that was so. Vermillion Cliffs is one of the most popular areas for many seniors to visit. A Road Scholars bus had just left the area, as I pulled in.

Here are some views of the cliffs and of a canyon that has been cut by the Paria River.

This sandstone spire reminded me a bit of Spider Rock-or maybe Darth Vader.

All of this set the stage for my second-ever visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as an homage to the national park’s centenary. Having visited the South Rim in April, it was an equal time matter.

The aspens and oaks are turning colour, so the approach to the Rim, itself, was a treat. The area had been populated mostly with Ponderosa pine, but a fire in 2000 created a swath, into which aspen trees have taken root.

It was now time to take a look at the highest points of the Grand Canyon.

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