Category Archives: Social

Peace and Love Award

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Posted by on in collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

April 7, 2018, Prescott-

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Although I don’t do awards, I will thank those who award me and answer their questions, on this site.  Thanks to- https://wordpress.com/post/patrickrealstories.wordpress.com/1190, for this nomination.  I am not good at hyperlinking, but do visit Patrick’s Stories.

 

What is your earliest childhood memory ?

I was two, and my sister, then an infant, was crying in our shared crib.

What is your favorite social media site?

This one (WordPress)

Where would you spend your Christmas, if you have a million dollar offer from BILL GATES ?(funny)

Tuscany

What is your best musical instrument?

None, actually.  I am a tiny bit okay, playing a flute.

What is your favourite cartoon?(weird)

Arthur

More Than That

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Posted by on in distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Social, Striving

April 7, 2018, Prescott-

It’s been 6.5 years, but I remember:

He- “Your life has been one disappointment, after another.  Your delivery has been horrible.  You SEEM to expect others to carry you along.”

I (Thinking)- “My life is far from over.  I may not have my nose to the grindstone, but I am NOT letting one person condemn me to the scrap heap.  I may or may not amass the fortune he seems to expect, but I am going to get back to a quality life-on MY terms.”

The uncomfortable morning passed, and I’ve held my own.  There has been no fortune amassed, but there is a decent life.  I paid the above person back, every cent owed at the time.  We have a strong bond, again, and a mutual respect has been rebuilt.

I write this, in response to a young correspondent expressing a high level of self-directed anger, in the midst of a rough patch.  Some of us, indeed, hit more than our share of speed bumps, and some are imposed by other people- or by institutions, including governments.  There is no limit, however, on how many times one can get back up and continue onward.  Remember, Mohandas Gandhi, before he was Mahatma, and when he was a supporter of the South African government, was knocked down, repeatedly, for voicing a difference of opinion with that government.  Each time, he got back up, and eventually earned a meeting with the Prime Minister.

This resilience is true, for each area of our life.  I am known in my family to be nothing, if not as stubborn as an ox- and this has been the deciding factor, in keeping me alive and well.  There is no reason why any person can’t climb out of a hole- despite the depth.

Each of us is more than that.

Questions Answered

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Posted by on in collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

April 1, 2018, Prescott-

I rarely post twice, in the same day and do not, as a rule go in for the online awards activities.  I have, however, promised the lovely Syllabic Symphonies that I would answer her questions.  So, here goes.

1.What is your blog about and what made you to decide to share your work?

My blog is about my life, primarily:  My Faith, my work, my travels and my take on things, large and small.

2. What is your dream ?

My dream is to explore my world, near and far.  More broadly, I dream of a world where everyone feels included and is productive, based on their interests and skills.

3. What is love to you?

Love is seeing God in all things.

4. What do you think should be a very crucial change in today’s society?

People of all ages and walks of life need to actually be included, in the overall planning and execution of civic affairs.

5. What is poetry to you?

Poetry is a versified means of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings.

6. What is your view on reincarnation?

I do not believe we continuously re-inhabit a physical form, after death.  I do believe our consciousness enters the Greater Field of Consciousness, and keeps in contact with those souls to whom one is close or to whom one is drawn.

 

7. Who is your inspiration?

Children and teens, because of their energy and because these generations will have a unique role in replenishing our planet.

8. What will you do if you’ve got only a week to live? ( Assuming everybody and everything remains exactly the same, I mean alive)

I would walk in the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff.

9. What was the most depressing incident in your life?

My late wife’s second head trauma, which set in motion her decline and eventual death.

10. If you are to choose between, living an eternity and spending a year with a person who can never be yours, what would you choose?

I believe my soul is eternal, but I would not want to live in this body forever.  If THAT was the choice, I’d spend a year with someone who can never be “mine”.

11. In one word, how would you describe yourselves?

Loving

 

And So On

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

April 1, 2018, Prescott- 

Happy Easter, and Passover, one and all.  I have spent much of today, fighting with my WP feed, trying to go back to those posts I missed, last flipping weekend and onward.  I have hit upon keeping one window open for my Reader- and one for this side of my site.

This laptop will need to go in for repair soon. To do that, I will finally re-open my account with Geek Squad, the Best Buy Technical Support arm.  This will do one of two things:  Either my 7-year-old laptop will continue to support my photo posts, or it will need to be replaced.  Either way, it’ll be a week before I post any photos on these pieces, as Windows File Explorer is constantly in buffering mode, which tells me my old friend is very sick.

I haven’t done much today, but then again, yesterday found me in Phoenix, walking with three other people around a neighbourhood called Sunnyslope, which is an important place in the annals of Penny’s and my last ten years together.  I am glad to have helped install 13 smoke detectors, in 7 of the 25 houses we visited.  6 went in one house, alone. The most important were those placed in the bedrooms of youths.

Visiting a friend in Superior, and finding her working alone, on a Saturday afternoon, was bothersome.  I stayed long enough to enjoy a nice lunch and to help her just a bit, with tidying up and offering moral support.  This person is going through something similar to what I endured, with a spouse suffering debilitation.  I hope her co-workers will get a grip and start pitching in more.

Today, though, I am thinking of someone,  very far away, whom I have never met face to face.  Something about her, though, has drawn me in.  Like anything else of this nature, we’ll see.

I watched a short video about the Sumerians.  It challenges conventional wisdom about our origins as a species.  I have one question, though:  If there are some beings that are responsible for our intelligence, and they “civilized” us, then left, why aren’t they back?  Perhaps, they know better.  I think I will stick with my God, and the God of us all.

My Memorial Day to Independence Day travel schedule is mapped out- Nevada, Colorado, eastward through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, Montreal, New England, Pennsylvania, down the Delmarva, Hampton Roads, across Virginia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, before an I-40 zip, back to Home Base and Prescott’s fireworks.  Most of this route is to see friends and family-some of whom I have not seen in a very long time.  Good Sam Parks and hostels will be well-researched and penciled in, beforehand.  There will be a birthday party or two, a family wedding and a Xanga/Facebook gathering.  If this sounds like a lot, it’s because it is.

In the meantime, we have a month of standardized testing at our high school, which means unusual schedules.  Then, there is Graduation Month.  In both April and May, I will also be occupied with Baha’i activities, to boot.  I would not miss any of this, or rush through it, for all the world.

Harold, Maude and What Makes Friends

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Posted by on in Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

March 29, 2018, Prescott-

Bud Cort turns 70, today.  He is best known for his role as the death-obsessed young suitor of a spry elderly woman, in the 1971 May-December black comedy, “Harold and Maude”.

After I moved to Prescott, following Penny’s passing, I provided transportation to out of town activities, for  a long-time friend of ours, a woman my mother’s age.  This led to another local acquaintance snarkily referring to us as “Harold and Maude”.  There was no similarity, except in his jaundiced mind’s eye, though it ranked me a bit.  Then, and now, I have no romantic interest in anyone, least of all a person many years my senior- or junior, for that matter.

Friends, I have found in all ages, shapes, sizes and walks of life.  It’s always been that way.  As a child, I would on occasion, visit much older men and women, and ask their views on a variety of matters.  Not having the presence of my grandfathers contributed to that, perhaps, but I have always been a soul who does not identify with a specific time element.  It’s been all about commonalities of interest.  Young, old and in-between will remain my friends.

So, being neither “old” nor “young”, in that regard, I go on, and wish Bud Cort a most happy entry into the dignified strata of Septuagenarian-hood.

Flautist

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Social, Spiritual

March 25, 2018, Burntwater, AZ-

Kevin Locke is an accomplished flautist, a master of the flute.  He is also one of the Great Plains people who popularized the Hoop Dance, a Native American traditional dance which illustrates the oneness of Creation.  A complete, properly executed, Hoop Dance will produce a sphere, representing the Earth.  Kevin demonstrated this, in an afternoon presentation, after having taught several of us how to make and use a flute.

(Presently, I am unable to access my photo stock, due to a problem with File Explorer.  Please bear with me on this.)

Getting back to the flute:  There is a base, of either hardwood or plastic.   Six sound holes, and one air hole, are drilled into top of the flute base. A couple of sound pieces are fitted together, then placed inside the base, using a light dowel.  Then, an arrow-shaped fitting is tied to the top of the base, near the air hole.

Playing the flute requires a fair amount of dactyl dexterity (co-ordinated fingers), which is a challenge for someone like me, but I will practice a bit, as a means to produce a calming sound.  It will be a good stress reliever.

Finally, getting back to the Hoop Dance, Kevin invited several people to join in the dance.  I sat it out,as my right shoulder is being treated by a chiropractor, and I want to get this matter finished, before subjecting my faithful friend of 67 years to any more difficulty than necessary.  The recovery is coming along nicely, by the way.

We ended the afternoon with a Friendship Dance, in which everyone begins holding hands in a circle, then winds their way around in a spiral, eventually shaking hands with every other person in the circle.

It was a long day, and a long drive back to Prescott, but well-worth the visit with an old friend.

 

 

 

Rising

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

March 26, 2018, Prescott-

I attended a gathering, yesterday, at the Native American Baha’i Institute, which is 4 1/2 hours’ drive from here.  The occasion was an intensive flute making and playing workshop, by a long-time flautist, who is a friend.  Kevin visited our home, years ago, when Penny, Aram and I lived on the Navajo Nation.  His work is always worth supporting.

I will have more to say about the flute, and about the event, in my next post.  Today, though, a brief word is in order about the rising of those who have been subservient.

In the mid-1990’s, my mother-in–law would insist on the Victorian dictum, regarding children maintaining silence.  She would later come to regret that stance, but at the time, it was her way of keeping our son and his girl cousin in check. I disagreed, vehemently then, and do now. Children should be seen, heard, believed- and properly educated and guided.

Women have largely been relegated to a subservient role, over the centuries- across the globe.  Thankfully, this nonsense started to unravel, as far back as 1965, though people like my mother have never been content to have their voices go unheard.  The presence of so many strong women in my life has made such a state of affairs seem totally absurd to me, forever and a day.

When I was a senior in high school, one of the seminal events was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., fifty years ago, next week.  In my social studies and English classes, I would raise the issue of civil rights, to a largely deaf audience.  My school, at that time, had five African-American students.  I knew two of them, brothers, who were kept at home, the day after the senseless murder.  There were hoots and hollers, expressions of satisfaction, by young men who have long since overcome their prejudice, born, as all prejudices are, by ignorance and fear.  There were tears shed by more enlightened young women, who dared to date young Black men, from the next town over.  My hometown is a more open-minded place, nowadays, and people are increasingly, though not completely, expanding their circles of friends.

There is a new world, a better place, rising from various ash heaps.

Enough

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Personal Values, Social, Striving

March 24, 2018, Prescott-

Great minds think for themselves.

300 people marched in our town

of free-thinkers,

a conservative majority,

and a vocal liberal minority.

Today, the conservatives

liberals,

and folks like me,

who are neither,

walked together,

had mostly civil discussions,

and in the end,

conservatives, liberals

and none of the above

stood together,

in a minute of silence.

There is no one trying

to sell the odious

Victorian-era epithet,

“Children should be seen

and not heard.”

Children should be seen,

taught to think,

and heard.

When what they say

is truth;

when what they  do

is sensible,

they should be believed.

Then, they should be supported.

On the edges of the march route,

there were 3-6 armed civilians.

They were not there to intimidate.

They were there to watch out,

for any crazies.

Ditto for the police

who were present.

One lone man

carried a sign

saying “Abortion is murder.”

He’s largely correct,

but it is not

up to men,

to tell women

how to manage

their own bodies.

It is up to women

to exercise their

consciences.

This is, though,

a topic for another post.

For now,

I need to remain

clear headed.

I need to remain

available to support

these two generations

of children and youth,

who are taking

responsibility

for themselves.

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Yes, there was a Trump supporter standing with the kids on the Courthouse steps.  There is something about people not being killed, that appeals to each of us.

The Fast: Day 19- Clarity

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Posted by on in Community, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

March 20, 2018, Dewey, AZ-

I ended the Fast this evening, taking part in a community meal at Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant, in this small town, east of Prescott Valley.  Whilst I chose to wait until exactly sunset, to eat,  others with different health conditions and needs started their meals earlier.  Catchy tunes got me up and leading a small group of people in dancing around the room.  This continued for about fifteen minutes, then a couple of children and their grandmother  did a mini-Conga, to Gloria Estefan’s “The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”.

It was a lovely ending to a Fast that has provided quite a bit of clarity for my world.  I know that my short-term plans are going in the right direction and that I need to not be distracted by well-meaning, but at times overbearing, folks whose agendas clash with those plans..

So, Spring has sprung, around these parts, as Fall has fallen, Down Under.  My academic  work has 9 1/2 week to run, this year.  My Baha’i work, of one form or another, has the rest of my life to run.  Special events will be fairly frequent, especially on weekends, these next several weeks.  I hope many of you, my friends and family, will be along for the ride.

The Fast: Day 17- Compassion

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 18, 2018, Tucson-

Visiting a good  friend, northwest of here, I found myself invited to a performance by a group of refugees from DR Congo and a few other African nations.  So, on this rainy morning, we headed back into town and contented ourselves, in the on-again, off-again showers and chill, with greeting and making the young singers and dancers feel at home.

They showed an enthusiasm that belies their horrific experiences with the conflicts that stem from tribalism and greed.   The emphasis of their messages, in both song and dance, is on unity of effort and on, thankfully, gender balance.  America’s youth are not the only ones showing the way to a more equitable world.  African young people are taking the Cape buffalo by the horns and setting their elders on notice, that suffering of the common folk is no longer an option of convenience.

Here are some scenes of their performances.

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The songs they sang were of gratitude to the U.S., and Tucson, for welcoming them, and giving them a chance to recover from the horrors of tribal and regional conflict.  These are all young people on a legal path to citizenship, having been brought here by the International Refugee Council, which hosted a “Walk A Mile In Their Shoes” event, following the performances.

It is a central tenet of Baha’i belief, to succor those fleeing from persecution and slaughter.  I was proud to be hugged and called “Brother” by these amazing young men and women.