Moving to Hope from Hopelessness (3 ways)

Desert People

 "I think there are desert people and then there is everyone else. It takes something specific to flourish in the desert, to find its beauty obvious, to take root and weather the dry heat, the epic and swift flash floods. Only certain people figure out how to blossom in a landscape that wears its bones on the outside, where scorpions wander in the front door and tarantulas have migrating seasons." - E.A. Hanks

AMORIRI (Official Video)

Shamanic, animistic, primal, intense, and gorgeous. Discovered while at Ecstatic Dance. A shorter version is in rotation on my music service.

 

A Lil Facebook Memory

I decided, at the beginning of January, that I wanted to remove some of my presence on Facebook, and all my photos. FB has a feature where it serves up memories on particular days. I occasionally take screenshots before I delete from the platform. This one is from 13 years ago. I drink alcohol infrequently. This was one of those times. 

To All Those Seniors Soon to Graduate

 

Music Meditation

These are links to songs that, listened to in sequence, are a form of meditation. I'm providing Youtube links because I don't know if you use Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, etc. Youtube inserts ads in the middle of songs (unless you pay), so I recommend using your favorite service that won't impede listening. 

They have been on rotation on my song list this year.

Inspiration Drive: https://youtu.be/qq_V4NY9K24 

Gajumaru: https://youtu.be/qTse2hkPxYU 

Stillness is Waiting: https://youtu.be/KsiQmZWq2j0 

Total time: 12 minutes 24 seconds

True Joy

 “This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw

In Sunlight

Go Outside and Play

A Sterner Sense of Justice

 “Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.”

--Wendell Berry

 

Happy Easter

Making a Mark

“I always had hopes of being a big star. But as you get older, you aim a little lower. Everybody wants to make an impression, some mark upon the world. Then you think, you’ve made a mark on the world if you just get through it, and a few people remember your name. Then you’ve left a mark. You don’t have to bend the whole world. I think it’s better to just enjoy it.”

--Dorian Corey

Children Need Release

Am I allowed to take up space? Am I allowed to ask for your attention? Am I welcome here? May I relax and put my attention to other things? 

Perilous Dark Path

"We seldom go freely into the belly of the beast. Unless we face a major disaster like the death of a friend or spouse or loss of a marriage or job, we usually will not go there. As a culture, we have to be taught the language of descent. That is the great language of religion. It teaches us to enter willingly, trustingly into the dark periods of life. These dark periods are good teachers. Religious energy is in the dark questions, seldom in the answers. Answers are the way out, but that is not what we are here for. But when we look at the questions, we look for the opening to transformation. Fixing something doesn't usually transform us. We try to change events in order to avoid changing ourselves. We must learn to stay with the pain of life, without answers, without conclusions, and some days without meaning. That is the path, the perilous dark path of true prayer."

---Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer

Wishes

 "If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets." 

 - Scottish Proverb 

To Mistake the Footprints for the Animal Itself

"The great curse of fundamentalism, which appears in virtually all religions and ideologies, is to mistake the footprints for the animal itself. The instant a scripture or a doctrine or a dogma becomes more than an indication, and in practice becomes an inflexible external standard, the real problems of religion appear. Fundamentalism... becomes intolerant in its circular reasoning, imprisoned behind its protective barricades, fearful of sincere questioning and honest doubt, and finally abusive and even murderous."

--Addison Hodges Hart, The Ox-Herder and the Good Shepherd: Finding Christ on the Buddha's Path 

The Power of Awareness

 "What is real to me is the power of our awareness when we are focused on something beyond ourselves. It is a shaft of light shining in a dark corner. Our ability to shift our perceptions and seek creative alternatives to the conundrums of modernity is in direct proportion to our empathy."
 - Terry Tempest Williams

Practice, Practice, Practice

"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something." 

- Kurt Vonnegut

River Stones

 

Watercolor Play