Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Graffitti on My Life Wall

I joined Facebook and was invited to write on my “wall”, anything at all! Apparently everyone I tag can see what I write, and then comment if they choose. It’s rather like standing around in a room full of people, all talking at the same time. Occasionally you hear (read) some interesting thought, but not often enough! I wrote my favorite quotes on my “wall”.

On MY wall I wanted to write something worthy of being there. These sayings have a way of affecting one’s life deeply. I think they are all true and worthy wisdom.

My father said: “Act, don’t react.”
My mother said: “It’s your job to go to school, and mine to take care of this home.”
A high school teacher said: “You could do anything. You could be an artist.”
Jane Eyre and her inventor were people who lived out steady values, regardless of the consequences.
Fr. Mackin said: “Chaos is brought into order with one fixed point of reference.”
Joseph Campbell said: “You are the hero of your own life. Follow your bliss.” He also said to promote your own spirituality, “travel and learn to meditate.”
Thomas Merton said: “Find a good place and go there often.”
Jesus said, “Love God, love others as yourself, and you will fulfil all the laws.”
Buddha said, “The necessary skills of life are to wait, to fast, and to pray.” In other words, meditate.
My grandmother Ruth said, “Keep your women friends. You will always need them.”
My husband said, “The Catholic church never really changes.”
Reiki Principles say: “Just for today, do not anger. Do not worry. Earn an honest living. Honor your teachers and elders. Show appreciation to all living things.”

I have often felt like an “observer” in life, so it was a comfort to know that my personality profile if XNTJ (Meiers/Briggs) or #5 The Observer (Enneagram), has significant value and makes a contribution to the whole, for which alone time is very necessary. It’s no wonder now that I am a writer, rather than an actor! I no longer apologize for wanting to be alone for a while every day.

These pieces of wisdom have served me well, and deserve to be on my “wall”. Of course there were a few bad things said to me to, which really weren’t true, but I believed them for a while, and they had a negative effect. They were all wrong. I was called “graceless” and told not to cry. I was made to think I should stay in my “place” as a women, by both women and men including my mother. The medical community told me I had fibromyalgia and it was incurable. The hierarchical Catholic church ignores me now, which is how they deal with any issue or fact that doesn’t fit their agenda.

Only one piece of life rules have I gotten that turned out not to work well. Fr. Mackin said, “Choose your friends. Do not let them choose you.” That caused me to project an attitude of judgmentalism that got in the way of many potential relationships, which then could not happen. I have no friends really from before age 32 for that reason. Therefore: “You will choose some friends, and others will choose you. Each has a part in your life.”


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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Short Story about Life

WAKING UP DEAD ON NOVEMBER 11, 2010.

“So where ARE we?” Dr. Jill blinked and addressed the group she was with now, looking like a crew in nightgowns.
“Well,” chuckled Jackie, “it’s sure not Alaska!” She shrugged her shoulders, turned her head far to right and then to left, looking as far as she could. “No trees, no mountains, no water.” She shook her head as if to clear it, then looked down towards her feet.
“I think I am dead, in fact, I am sure of it. I want to see my husband.” Doris has a set look to her face, making this demand. She crossed her arms on her chest.
“What do you think will happen now?” asked Richard, “I mean, if we really are dead that is. I mean, where’s St. Peter or whoever greets the newbies?”
“You know,” mused Lee, yesterday was my birthday. Ninety-seven years young! And today I could have been in the Vet’s parade, you know.” He paused. “Only I didn’t feel up to it this week.” He laughed. “No wonder!”
Dr. Jill looked around, past the group, to the white walls that looked more like thick clouds. She reached out to touch one, which just receded away. She encountered nothing.
“This must be some kind of foyer or waiting area. Hmm.” Dr. Jill then just disappeared!

“Whoa!” said Larry, “Where did she go? She was right here, and now she’s
gone! Geez, this is kinda scary.”
Dr. Jill reappeared in the group, near Jackie.
“Oh, you startled me!” Jackie took a step back. “What happened?”
“I just wondered about my family, my girls, and then I was right there, seeing them both. Something’s different with time now. I think I was in a future time. They both had little kids with them. I didn’t see my husband anyplace, but I know he does fine when I am away.”
“So you just wondered about them, and you went there?” asked Jackie.
“I guess. That’s what happened.” Dr. Jill looked a little puzzled herself.
“Why are you back here?” asked Larry.
“Well,” she thought, “I guess I was satisfied that they are OK. And here I am. I didn’t think of wanting to be here. No offence.” Dr. Jill smiled.
“I am going to try that,” said Lee. “I wanted to go to that parade.” Lee closed his eyes, and promptly disappeared.
“Well, do tell!” snapped Doris. “I want to see my Clyde.” She closed her eyes tight, clenched her fists, and remained where she was. So she opened eyes again.
“That’s not fair! Clyde misses me too!”
“Maybe he came around to see you when he died, and went away happy,” offered Richard, smiling knowingly. “You know, maybe he saw you were just fine without him?”
“Humph.” Doris turned her back on the group. “It’s just like you, a stranger, to tell me what for,” she grumbled.
“Maybe, since he’s been dead so long, you can’t follow him. Wasn’t there someone alive with you whom you’d want to see now?”
“Hardly! Just a bunch of old people in that rest home and my son. All half-dead anyway. They didn’t both me, and I didn’t bother them, including my son.” Doris looked sideways at Richard.
“Well, I am going to try this too. See you later, maybe.” Richard disappeared.
Larry shook his head slowly, looking down. “There are so many I would like to look in on, it will take an eternity. Some of my students had such promise, but it’s the others I worry about and hope the caught on to some threads in life, married well, or found work that kept them in groceries anyway.” He wagged his head again. “Maybe I don’t want to see them after all. I probably could have done more than I did, when I had the chance. Although I don’t know what. I always thought people made their own beds, created their own lives, you know? Got what they deserved? Did you think that too?” Larry addressed the group.
“You bet they got what they deserved!” Doris spoke sourly.
“I never thought about at all,” responded Jackie. “I was too busy, I guess, working and all, to think about too much. God made me to be a mother, and that’s what I did. That takes all your life!” She laughed quietly with her whole face in a smile. “I saw the birds every day until they went south for the winter. It was so exciting to see them come back. In the spring I would just be excited all the time, like my sap was rising!”
Dr. Jill held her left elbow in her right hand, thoughtful now. “A lot happens to people that isn’t their fault, you know. Especially sickness. Of course, some people endanger their health with life style choices, but a lot is crap shoot, from what your grandmother ate when she was pregnant with your mother, to who coughed in the same room with you yesterday.”
Then Richard and Lee both reappeared!
Richard sounded a tad annoyed as he reported: “My family and friends are having a good lunch on me now. I was always a good provider. I hope they all remember that at least.”
“WELL! That was a fun parade! I love seeing those armoured trucks and all the flags waving, and the little kids scrambling for candies!” Lee waved his arms to illustrate.
“So now what?” asked Richard, impatient for something to happen.
“I am going sailing,” said Larry, and promptly disappeared.
“I think I will go to Haiti,” said Dr. Jill, and she disappeared too.
“I am going to ride one of those Humvees in Iraq,” said Lee. Gone.
‘I wish I was an Arctic tern,” was the last thing Jackie said.
“Well. I am going to stay right here until Clyde comes for me.” Doris gave a stern look to Richard, the only one left with her now.
“Guess I will go hang out with my wife and daughters. I might learn something.”
And then Doris was alone there.




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Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Labyrinth Looking East at Equinox



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Labyrinth Reflection

Fall 2010

A labyrinth
Is a metaphor for life
A twisted path
Full of turns upon itself
With obstacles along the way
And places of rest
With witnesses who may watch from the perimeter
Or walk along for a time.

Life
Isn’t just about survival
Getting old, older, or oldest
Gathering money or other things
Because every individual dies eventually
As the stuff we are made of
Recycles itself
Releasing the spirits within
But the whole persists.

Each human life has an objective
Of the spirit
To learn
To be compassionate,
To love,
Which is the sign
Of a successful life
Seldom accomplished in one incarnation.

The question asked then is:
Who did you love?


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