Posts

How to Love

After stepping into the world again, there is that question of how to love, how to bundle yourself against the frosted morning— the crunch of icy grass underfoot, the scrape of cold wipers along the windshield— and convert time into distance. What song to sing down an empty road as you begin your morning commute? And is there enough in you to see, really see, the three wild turkeys crossing the street with their featherless heads and stilt-like legs in search of a morning meal? Nothing to do but hunker down, wait for them to safely cross. As they amble away, you wonder if they want to be startled back into this world. Maybe you do, too, waiting for all this to give way to love itself, to look into the eyes of another and feel something— the pleasure of a new lover in the unbroken night, your wings folded around him, on the other side of this ragged January, as if a long sleep has ended. - by  January Gill O’Niel For D, ... this poem, chanced into my mailbo

Spirits of the Dead

Thy soul shall find itself alone ‘Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone; Not one, of all the crowd, to pry Into thine hour of secrecy. Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness—for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still. The night, though clear, shall frown, And the stars shall not look down From their high thrones in the Heaven With light like hope to mortals given, But their red orbs, without beam, To thy weariness shall seem As a burning and a fever Which would cling to thee for ever. Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish, Now are visions ne’er to vanish; From thy spirit shall they pass No more, like dew-drop from the grass. The breeze, the breath of God, is still, And the mist upon the hill Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken, Is a symbol and a token. How it hangs upon the trees, A mystery of mysteries! - E

Protected

Written yesterday, in another context, to another person: "I saw a movie with my parents earlier today called Enough Said . It was a pretty good film. A few lines in it stayed with me though. It was one of those moments that something holds you, because you're open to it, and perhaps you need to hear it. The female protagonist in the movie is symptomatic of our generation. She's single, divorced, a wonderful person, searching for a partner, smarting still about her past, trying to live her life fully... but in her effort to protect herself, and a few bad miscalculations, she fatally undermines a very promising relationship. (I'm not a movie buff by any measure, but I wanted to give you a bit of context.) After the she's messed up their relationship, her now-former love asks her "why?" [she acted out the way she did] "I wanted to protect myself", she replies "and what about protecting us?" he asks back and therein lies the heart of the

Rest in Peace our beloved Maya Angelou

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on my fridge door A selection of Maya Angelou's quotes, collated by The Guardian . "Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option." "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." "I do not trust people who don't love themselves and yet tell me, 'I love you.' There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt." "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." "Try to be a rainbo

My Normal Heart

I just got back from a screening of the film adaptation of The Normal Heart I'm staggered, by how we (as in people) can let so much come in the way of something as simple and honest as love. The purity of grief, the honesty of tears, the willingness to love. We are our worst enemies, just as we are our best friends. I'm sitting with these feelings. Aware of age, of time, of stories that are being told, and of my own. This will have to hold them for tonight....

Sea and Rain: Lake Michigan

There is a dance at water’s edge, a movement between the lake, its sand and the horizon where lake becomes cloud. Between those lines our world’s a thin wash of muted tones, beige and gray with a hint of white, almost abstract, until the dancer steps out into the pool. She makes the whole thing real. - Keith Taylor in  after James McNeill Whistler, 1865

Wherever a lamp goes

Wherever a lamp goes it sheds its light. Wherever a flower goes it sheds its fragrance. So also spread your love wherever you go. Try to live your life like that. Just love. Wherever you go, just spread your love. Just keep your candle of love going. Wherever you find a candle unlit,light it up. Get it going everywhere. There's no other way than that. Remember this principle. Hold on to this principle. All answers lie with love. Suffering is all that's left after losing love. - Swami Kripalu

Our deepest fear...

"Our Deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." - Marianne Williamson (Shared with me by Ryan A)

Lighthousekeeping

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Read Lighthousekeeping -- yet another one of Jeanette Winterson's wonderful books and wanted to share a few excerpts from it that moved me. I try not to seek out her books, so that from time to time I might chance on them, and always feel like I haven't yet read them all. "Try and put your finger on the solid thing and it scattered into separate worlds." "... this past would have to be dragged into the future, because the present had buckled under me, like a badly made chair." "... a man may know himself, but he prides himself on his character, his integrity -- the word says it all -- integrity -- we use it to mean virtue, but it means wholeness too, and which of us is that?" "He doubted her. You must never doubt the one you love. But they might not be telling you the truth. Never mind that. You tell them the truth. What do you mean? You can't be another person's honesty, child, but you can be your own. So w

On security, and the absence of it...

The sun is in the sky in LA, and have just read excerpts from Alan Watts' meditations on being present. Sitting here in a ubiquitous Starbucks, very much present and at peace (or what passes for it), I want to share one of those excerpts.  "To put it still more plainly: the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet."