Through the fog stumbling blindly,
With only the road in front to guide me,
The regions above providing light,
Shed upon the soul’s dark night.
Chasing bread crumbs on the ground,
Truth and madness, faith unwound,
The magic I seek comes from within,
Trust the heart’s compass to draw me in.
Finding balance and staying true,
Not an easy thing to do,
Science can give us one hundred years,
But it’s God who then allays our fears.
Up above, the stars so right,
Memories of other worlds shine bright.
The key to clearing the mists below,
Through our own essence, ebb and flow.
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozrkclckr/2059742282/
In the beginning,
Beyond space and time,
Rose glimmering consciousness,
From Love so Divine.
With freedom to wander,
And creation Our creed,
We raised many a temple,
To house all Our souls’ needs.
Igniting this vision,
Through fire and Light,
We made a home in the ethers,
Our dreams forged from the night.
Image: http://www.astronet.ru/db/xware/msg/apod/1999-12-06
Join in the fun: Compose a short story in 55 words and report back to the G-Man at http://g-man-mrknowitall.blogspot.com/ …every Friday.
“There's a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable. You can see this even in insects and animals and birds. All of us are the same.
A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet. To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is, how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is.” – Pema Chodron
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melodie Beattie
In honour of Thanksgiving today, I have come up with a list of some of the things for which I am grateful. There are, of course, many more, but for now this will have to do:
• my boys, who bring a smile to my face whenever I think of them;
• my friends and family, who appreciate me for all my peculiarities;
• my little cairn terror, who is the inspiration of so much joy;
• my home, which is my refuge;
• my new dehydrator, which will help me stay away from all those dangerous treats I was once so grateful for;
• time enough to do many things that make life so enjoyable;
• the abundance of great books and blogs that regularly keep me up long past bedtime;
• good wine, which I can apparently still drink on my new raw diet;
• too many TV shows I am embarrassed to admit being addicted to;
• and all the events in my life, good and bad, which have had a hand in creating the stronger and wiser person I am now.
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nctarheelnurse/2054341498/
“Change is the only constant” according to Greek philosopher Heraclitus… so we might as well embrace it!
For the last year or so, we have all witnessed the dismantling of the economy and most of us have feared being pulled under along with it. In Canada, we have not experienced the effects of the downturn quite so harshly as our friends in the U.S. and other parts of the globe, but for those who have been hit, that hardly matters. It’s always personal. And when it’s your world that’s being blown apart, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine how and when things will ever be right again.
I work in the marketing department of a large retail corporation, and over a span of about nine months, my colleagues and I have watched our employee ranks dwindle to about half, never knowing when or if it will be our turn. At the start of the cull, there were approximately 2400 people employed by the various departments within our head office and now there are only 1200. And last week marketing, which had been spared for so long, took a blow.
I am one of the lucky ones (for now). While the writing job I have held for the last five years will be eliminated seven weeks from now, I will have the opportunity to do something different within the company. Many other “creative types” also still have jobs, albeit with the independent specialized organization to which they have been outsourced. But they too, I am certain, will be fine.
That leaves a handful of freelancers – some of whom have been with the company for longer than I have - who are now being left to their own devices. Dedicated and hardworking people who have no social safety net. So what are they to do?
I have heard a lot of people remark about how sorry they feel for these individuals and each time I hear it, I have to cringe. Yes, losing a job in this way is harsh, but these are some of the most talented and hardworking people in the business and I know each of them is fully capable of coming through this situation better off than they were before. They had the guts to accept their current positions knowing full well they could lose them at any moment. And now they are faced with a challenge… not unlike any other challenge we all go through periodically.
Wait long enough, and eventually everything changes. Whether we choose to ignore what’s happening and push it away or tackle it head on, either way life is not static and we will absolutely have to deal with the consequences one way or another.
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cedarkayak/2459507485/
“There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way” –Christopher Morley
I am certain, we arrive on this planet exactly the way we are meant to – precisely programmed in order to play our very specific roles. As Shakespeare said it: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” Sometimes we are teachers and most of the time, we are students – regardless of whatever level of mundane success or stature we think we have attained.
The definition of success must not be a narrow one, yet when aspects of our lives are not enjoyable or fulfilling, then we do need to consider the changes necessary for improvement. And while the idea of material success is certainly grand, to my mind being able to live my life on my own terms is quite simply Divine!
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinliland/3763681324/
