I want to go to there…

Surf North Shore

Selection from “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery

What is this war we are waging, when defeat is so certain? day after day, already wearied by the constant onslaught, we face our terror of the everyday, the endless passageway that, in the end – because we have spent so much time walking to and fro between its walls – will become a destiny. yes, my angel, that is our everyday existence: dreary, empty, and mired deep in troubles. The pathways of hell are hardly foreign; we shall end up there on day if we tarry too long. From a passageway to a pathway: it is an easy fall, without shock or surprises. Every day we are reacquainted with the sadness of the passageway and step by step we clear the path toward our mournful doom.
Did he see the pathways? How is one reborn after a fall? What new pupils restore sight to scorched eyes? Where does war begin, where does combat end?

The White Stripes – Little Room

Awesome song for the day. Remember where you came from.

Polite Dance – The Bird and The Bee

I recently discovered this song and am in love with it. Then when I found this music video it completed my love for the song as well. The best was the way it got my roommate to dance. I wish that I could have recorded that. There was some pretty hardy laughing going on that night.

Way to go “The Bird and The Bee” for putting out such a great song and video.

Now if everyone would be so kind as to clap their hands, it’s such a crazy kick-ass beat.

Solace or Lonely?

Last night I had a long converstation once again about being single. Then today I stumbled upon this video. Conclusion? Life is still good and when you can learn to enjoy every moment of your life, whether they are lonely or full of companionship, that is when you will be able to give yourself to a healthy relationship.

By finding we know;

By knowing we savor;

By savoring we share;

By sharing we love.

The sorrows of Teaching

Teaching can be very painful. You work so hard preparing and then when time comes for the lesson your students are far less excited than you about the subject matter.
This is what makes teachers feel like failures. You forget to distance yourself personally from what you are teaching and how the students are accepting it.
In reality you can only do your best to get through a lesson, after that it is up to the other person to accept that knowledge. No matter how excited you are, some students will never accept what you have to give them.
But knowing you have the ability to love them despite the pitfalls is what makes a masterful teacher.
It is all about how much love you can give.

Passing Thought

Oft times when you pursue something you had once thought you wanted, you come to a realization that it isn’t the prize or comfort you once conceived. It has changed; it’s glitter is gone and your heart doesn’t begin it’s quick motion that love intertwined with addiction can bring.

That’s what over coming is… The ability to see things as they really are.

Passing Thought…

We never live our life the way we want, so instead we paint pictures, sing songs, dance dances, and write to express the reality we wish to have. But every now and then you find someone who lives their art, these are the people who add real beauty to the earth. Confict is to life as dissonance is to music, or contrast is to painting, or antagonists are to writing; you truly can’t live without some resistance.

Desiderata

by Max Erhmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Adam, Eve, and some Forbidden Fruit

We all know the story; the serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, Eve then tempts Adam to eat the fruit. Both are cast out of the Garden of Eden and out of the presents of God.

But what I am curious about is what the fruit tasted like?

Eve describes it as sweet. More sweet than all the other fruit of the garden. Okay, it’s sweet… I guess.

I love the Michelangelo depiction of Adam receiving his soul from the Sistine Chapel. If you look Adam is alive, but there is no “life” in his eyes. If you watch the progression of the paintings, Adam and Eve’s eyes change dramatically. They become ever stronger after they have both eaten the fruit.

So what did they eat? They ate life. They ate pain, happiness, love, joy, disappointment, loss, peace, etc. Even today we are still eating this fruit. They didn’t just eat fruit they ate life. They ate the think that we experience everyday, and thus by them eating, we too are eating this fruit in every waking and dreaming moment. Everything that gives meaning to this world that we “endure” everyday. Because of this we can see and understand the light and dark. We know sweet and bitter; essentially we know opposites and we can being to manipulate them.

The fruit is described as sweet, and isn’t life sweet? Even with all it’s bitter moments? One of the most common mistake in making bread is leaving out the salt. Most feel that a savory flavor doesn’t need to be there. Without the salt to balance the bread it becomes bland and boring, distasteful. So is life if we don’t sink out teeth into the bitter depths of life. Christ even drank the bitter dregs of humanity, this bitterness is essential. It makes the complexity of our happiness that much more intense, it makes life purpose of life much more apparent.

It makes us Children of God.