Ffolkes,
“I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.”
~~ Henry Vaughan, “The World” ~~
At 2, the world is full of wonder….
Hajime…. We begin today with an observation on Life:
“In any given set of circumstances,
the proper course of action
is determined by subsequent events.”
~~ McDonald’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law ~~
Don’t worry, I’m not going to hare off into yet another complaint against Murphy’s trepidations; I only bring it up in order to give me an excuse for not having been writing much of late. The excuse part is realized when one considers the corollary lesson implied by this, to wit: “the hard way is always the easiest way”…. Essentially, taking the hard way is just what I’ve been up to, though, to watch, that might not be readily apparent. But, trust me, at my age, making changes of ANY kind is the hard way….
I’ve found, in achieving this age, remembering to assert one’s will to taking the most difficult choice is important to the process of finding happiness, which in the final analysis, is what being human is about. It may seem counter-intuitive, but, trust me, it’s as true as anything you will ever hear or know, at least for us humans. As a modern philosopher once noted….
“Happiness is the only sanction of life;
where happiness fails,
existence remains a mad and lamentable experience.”
~~ George Santayana ~~
Finding our bliss, as Joseph Campbell has noted in his work, is, possibly, the most important thing any of us can do in our lives, for the quest to find it, and to follow it, is what makes us what we are. Our lives are a form of poetry, the most singularly human activity in which we engage, for poetry is our reaction to life, our expression of our inner being as it makes its way through the cloud of perception into the depths of Reality, seeking that which makes us what we are, a child of nature, part of the whole, and complete thereby…..
Part of my search has led me away from posting very often; it has not eliminated the need to do so. So, to fulfill that need for now, I think we’ll cease and desist any further discussion of how, or why, & just get on with what I’ve put together for today’s mess. I’ve even called in our old pilot, Luigi, who will now take us directly to the oyster beds of imagination, where we may gather up the pearls earmarked for this Pearl…. Hang on, ffolkes; it’s been a while, & Luigi is probably a bit out of practice….
Shall we Pearl?….
“None can love freedom heartily but good men;
the rest love not freedom but license.”
~~ John Milton ~~
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Carly Rose
Image from Soundcloud via Google Images
In today’s musical selection, you will be treated to one of the finest performances you’ve ever seen by a 13 year old girl; this is followed by watching her turn into a star quality performer time after time, as she goes on to shine in the competition on the X Factor TV show in 2012, ending as the runner-up to the winner. She has continued to grow as an artist, and a quick Google search will bring you to her home page. For now, please enjoy a number of most excellent performances, by one of the big stars of tomorrow….
***************************************
Carly Rose Sonenclar
X Factor, All Performances
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***************************************
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Pensive early and late…
Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.
Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.
Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.
I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/26/2013
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Passage to eternity….
*******
“To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion.”
~~ Albert Camus ~~
*******
“A heart is not judged by how much you love
but by how much you are loved by others.”
~~ The Wizard of Oz ~~
*******
“The more you love, the more you can love—and the more intensely you love.
Nor is there any limit on how many you can love.”
~~ Robert Heinlein ~~
*******
“There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
*******
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
~~ Zen proverb ~~
*******
“Tomorrow never comes! It’s all the same fuckin’ day, man!”
~~ Janis Joplin ~~
*******
Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there… I did not die.”
~~ Prayer of the Makah Indians ~~
*******
***************************************
Though I cannot say it is the best effort I’ve ever made, it’s not bad for a Pearl that took four days to complete. As such, it fits our regulatory paradigm, & will serve nicely as the latest in a long series of similar posts. Though this may seem as if I am denying, or avoiding the concept outlined in the introductory discussion, it’s not; finding an ending is NOT as easy as it might seem, nor is it an easy thing to ‘settle’ for less than perfection, especially for those of us who strive for it on a regular basis. But, I digress (go figure, eh?)….. Since I am here at the end, let’s end it. See y’all in a day or two, when I’ve again spilled my guts onto another screen. I would advise y’all to stay strange, and alert; both are of value in today’s uncertain world…. Ta, then….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 
Interesting. Decent poetry. No talent in that department.
When I was a boy, I enjoyed Robert Heinlein’s books. I have a brother who tried to get me to take Joseph Campbell seriously. So I read some of Campbell’s books. Fortunately, I had already studied the Bible. Did so late in life, in my 50’s. I regret getting around to it so late, but I finally got around to it. I suppose that is what matters, and I can’t change it.
It is difficult to get into the head of another person. We never get it right. Instead, because we can only know so much about anyone we try to fit people, especially those we know little about, into category with a label. That is just about the best we can do. That’s why it makes little sense for us to judge another person. We can judge what we know of another person’s actions, but we can only guess at what motivates someone else.
We have a limited ability even to know our self. You seem to be old enough to know what it means when someone says: “I am trying to find myself”. We spend a good proportion of our lives trying to figure out just what kind of person we are and just what kind of person we want to be. Even at 65 I am still doing that. I suppose you are too. Hence, we are the dubious.
When I first started reading the Bible, I found it very difficult. I suppose I still do, but I have learned I will always discover something. The world is full of distractions. Yet through the Bible I have discovered the importance of desire. It is what matters most, desiring what we should desire. Desiring what we should not desire is just a way to waste away our lives. Hence, my desires take me back to the Bible.
Here is a post that addresses the subject: https://kingdompastor.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/tamed-and-domesticated-how-sad/. I left a comment you may find interesting too, but the post contains the meat. The post was written by another old guy, one who makes his business encouraging people to desire the person of Christ. Since you seem to find the subject of religion interesting, perhaps you will at least find enough of interest there to peak your curiosity.
If so, perhaps you will find this series interesting: https://citizentom.com/2017/03/30/who-is-this-man-by-john-ortberg-part-7/ and this post too: https://citizentom.com/2008/09/10/deism-and-the-founding-fathers/
Scanning your blog, it appears you don’t have much use for Christianity. At one time I would have shared similar notions. What changed my mind? Ultimately, the Bible, but what induced me to finally study it and to study it with some care? I am something of a history enthusiast and political wonk. Because I had not studied the Bible, I slowly began to realize there existed this gaping hole in my knowledge.
Read pre-Christian literature, and you will discover the ancients had a very different value system. Pragmatism drove them to believe might makes right. The Christian, on the other hand, believes right makes might. That is one reason why when Christians start doing something they know in their heart is wrong they start trying to demonize their enemies. To justify themselves, Christians need to believe evil of those they have chosen to make their enemies. Pre-Christian peoples did worry too much about that. They just separated people into us and them. “Them” existed to be raped, pillaged, and enslaved. Once I saw that I began wondering what had happened that caused Christians to regard “them” as being the same as “us”. How had Christianity altered the human conscience?
Another thing that finally got my attention is that until modern times most Western literature just assumed the reader knew what the Bible said and agreed with it. I especially noticed this truth in one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, The Theory Of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith. He is the same guy who wrote The Wealth of Nations. At first the book comes across like a pop psych book published in 1750. At that point, I was just flabbergasted. It was just totally unexpected. What developed, however, was a fascinating explanation of how we form a conscience. Without the slightest hesitation, Smith defined a good conscience the way any well-instructed Christian would do so. Yet his explanation for how one forms a good conscience was more practical than religious in nature. Because Smith already assumed the reader was a Christian, he had no reason to be preachy.
In his day Smith was most famous for the The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, not The Wealth of Nations. Today, because economists revere The Wealth of Nations the reverse is true. Yet everyone would be well served if they studied both books. Unfortunately, because of the secularization of our school systems, Western literature has become less and popular. Instead of actually reading historical documents, the great literature of past times, we read what boring “experts” want to tell us the people in past times considered the great works of their day. Then we get a few excerpts.
Comment in moderation.
Hello gigoid.. hmm.. i’m particularly
tired tonight could be a ramPage
Writing spree today i’m guessing.. hehe
after being out a long day yesterday in the
Big Blue Room as you say.. necessity of a regular
blood test for normal check-up purposes a day later than
we originally thought it was always celebrating with a bad
for ya Breakfast
at Hardees
’till the next
Cholesterol test
comes as i if it gets
a little high i ain’t gonna
take any drugs no more than
the insistence of high blood pressure
medicine the day my Mother was deathly
ill with normally 110 over 60 something
Blood Pressure when no one
is dying close to me
as such..
we live in
quick diagnosis
quick label and quick
fix society where all is neatly
sorted as science and the greater
arts of life in all the other ways of human
intelligences potential are left to dry out and shrivel
up to dust to dust NoW wHeRe humanity often leaves the room
and yes
the big
blue
room too..
the River is my
Home the Sky is my Breathe..
the Lands are my feet and my Home is alive..
other than that glad to see you feeling up lately.. heaR.. my FriEnd..:)
“I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.”
~~ Henry Vaughan, “The World” ~~
Eternity is a place
with no illusory
fears as
fears
are the
Prison that
shuts life down
into a cLock of illusion outside of NoW..
i only caught short glimpses of this place before age 53..
once in the back yard.. once on a trip to Tallahassee
and often on the Beach after a long walk.. i quit going
for about 23 years and now as i’ve said i am the Beach NoW..
Paradise
in a pocket
with no cultural
clothes at all NoW..
Fearless Free as Love GRoWs
Ocean wHole more waves exPaNSinG
DanCinG SinGinG even more spiral BRiGHT..:)
To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion.”
~~ Albert Camus ~~
i find one is better
for the other and
the other is one for the other better..:)
“A heart is not judged by how much you love
but by how much you are loved by others.”
~~ The Wizard of Oz ~~
i suppose A final
judge IS A
last
blink
of life that loves.. or not..
One thing i FinD out iN life.. best for me..
is it is more important to love than be loved..
otherwise
it’s
just
a given or
forget me not..:)
“There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
Beauty
of Pantheism
when all aRound is FReED
Love without A human dog chain for Dog..
OR
C A T..:)
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
~~ Zen proverb ~~
Unstoppable
and
tired as shit..;)
“Tomorrow never comes! It’s all the same fuckin’ day, man!”
~~ Janis Joplin ~~
Do it
counts
more than
any words NoW…
except
for
stop..;)
Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there… I did not die.”
~~ Prayer of the Makah Indians ~~
Die is relative
to all of existence
whole we are alWays pART.. NoW
Forests or not clapping WitH A LeaF oF FiG..:)
Always a pleasure to see what you’ve added to your poem in response to my pearls, my friend…. This can only be a short note, as Zoe has just arrived, & I’m about to enter the world of wonder with a 2 year old…. Have a good one; I’ll be by soon…
Love ya
gigoid
Love to you too
My FriEnd
A Child’s
EYes GRoW
LoVE HiGHeR..:)