There are many signs that age has caught up with me – that I belong to a generation bygone.
For the most part, I’m very cool with these signs.
Aging, after all, is a fair exchange for peace and wisdom.
But riding the busses and subways in this new age that bears witness to:
MEN OF ALL AGES, SHAPES AND TYPES LOUNGING WITH LEGS SPREAD WIDE (ACCOMMODATING what!? FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE!!) GAZING AROUND THEMSELVES AT WOMEN OF ALL AGES, SHAPES AND TYPES (INCLUDING PREGNANT!) STANDING, BALANCING, SHIFTING FROM FOOT TO FOOT.
This is just too hard to take.
It offends my old-lady sensibilities beyond endurance!!
Did you know that the pursuit of peace and happiness was going to take this much work and wisdom?
We thought that it just meant finding the right people to pay us attention.
To provide us with true love, acceptance, understanding, fame, admiration, some money – and some more true love.
Turns out – at least as far as I can see – that the pursuit has more to do with a “me, myself, and I” focus than anything.
Do I love, accept, understand, admire and share myself? Hmmmm.
“The best mirror is a true friend.”
A truer Chinese cookie fortune was never written.
When “friend” is true -- not Disney or Hallmark.
(My father used to say that anyone who can boast three real friends in a lifetime is a rare and lucky person.)
By the time we know what a true friend is…
By the time we learn to be a friend to another… (which has to happen before we can have a friend, according to The Word)…
By the time we become our own best friends...
Oh my. So much to learn, so little time.
Nevertheless, progress is made.
Realizations are made, lessons are learned, work pays off.
The rhythms, the ebbs and flows are accepted and appreciated as life defined.
And everything is OK just as long as I avoid
TIRED.
My great undoing and un-doer – TIRED.
I get TIRED like a 2-year-old -- suddenly and totally.
Getting rest is just a function of finding uninterrupted time and space.
But I don’t yet know – and I thought you might help:
What are we supposed to do with the toxins?
We absorb rhythms, vibes, stress, angst and negativity from colleagues, bosses, fellow commuters, family and friends.
We take hits to the mind, body and spirit on the regular -- day in and day out.
Where do the toxins go?
I’m looking now for a regular masseuse or spa or acupuncturist or something.
My health insurance won’t cover – so I can’t go crazy.
But I do have to dump this stuff somewhere.
Got any suggestions?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Tender Bar
The book I just finished was on the Times' Best Seller list last year for a while.
I recommend it.
It's called The Tender Bar -- a funny and well-written memoir by a journalist who spent much of his fatherless childhood hanging with the men in a neighborhood bar.
Aside from being well-written, it offers yet another reminder that the minds, perspectives and logic of children is spectacularly different from ours.
That reminder helps us to remember that any hope of raising, training, helping and/or teaching them lies in learning them.
My favorite phrase from my all-time favorite song --
"....Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
Give them a sense of pride
To make it easier....."
I recommend it.
It's called The Tender Bar -- a funny and well-written memoir by a journalist who spent much of his fatherless childhood hanging with the men in a neighborhood bar.
Aside from being well-written, it offers yet another reminder that the minds, perspectives and logic of children is spectacularly different from ours.
That reminder helps us to remember that any hope of raising, training, helping and/or teaching them lies in learning them.
My favorite phrase from my all-time favorite song --
"....Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
Give them a sense of pride
To make it easier....."
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Hope Chest
I’m feeling like I want a box to store the dreams, plans and preparations I have for this my last home.
I’ve had homes before – Muirkirk Road in Maryland, Unionport Road in Parkchester.
But this will be the first real home I’ve created with me in mind.
No husband, no children (love y’all), no parents, no job, no practicalities – just me.
Not a waystation where I go to prepare for my responsibilities – not a place to reload ammo between battles – not a place to get ready.
But hopefully a place to repair to at the end of days.
A place where everything I see, hear, taste, feel and smell creates “Gale pleasure.”
I can’t quite imagine the storage box.
It quickly became envelopes, index cards and color-coded tabs in my mind.
So I fell back on my default of a pretty notebook that might hold it all.
I began jotting here – which will have to do until I find a notebook worthy of this most exciting journey.
Halfway through this page, it occurred to me that what I am seeking is a HOPE CHEST.
I think I might fashion links of colored paper clips or something – that will represent my progress.
How many more payments before I own my acre outright (with yellow clips)?
How many more payments before I can use my car payment money toward my Hope Chest (with green clips)?
Dare I try to identify a retirement year and count those down as well?
Sure, why not?!
It could be how many more years until I’m eligible to collect Social Security (with blue clips).
There are things around me now that I hope to have around me then.
Do I want to list/identify these things?
Or do I want to see what is missing from such a list so I can window shop?
I’m not sure – but I do want to begin to imagine houses.
A log cabin? A double-wide trailer? A pre-fabricated cottage?
I guess I want to begin collecting research, information, ideas.
I want to take the next step from soft dreams and imagined possibilities to plans, timetables, budgets and tasks.
Will a pretty basket do?
It doesn’t matter what the future holds –
Whether or not my hope becomes reality one day.
This HOPE brings me help, hope and peace today.
So I want it to live in a visual, tangible, and pretty CHEST.
I’ve had homes before – Muirkirk Road in Maryland, Unionport Road in Parkchester.
But this will be the first real home I’ve created with me in mind.
No husband, no children (love y’all), no parents, no job, no practicalities – just me.
Not a waystation where I go to prepare for my responsibilities – not a place to reload ammo between battles – not a place to get ready.
But hopefully a place to repair to at the end of days.
A place where everything I see, hear, taste, feel and smell creates “Gale pleasure.”
I can’t quite imagine the storage box.
It quickly became envelopes, index cards and color-coded tabs in my mind.
So I fell back on my default of a pretty notebook that might hold it all.
I began jotting here – which will have to do until I find a notebook worthy of this most exciting journey.
Halfway through this page, it occurred to me that what I am seeking is a HOPE CHEST.
I think I might fashion links of colored paper clips or something – that will represent my progress.
How many more payments before I own my acre outright (with yellow clips)?
How many more payments before I can use my car payment money toward my Hope Chest (with green clips)?
Dare I try to identify a retirement year and count those down as well?
Sure, why not?!
It could be how many more years until I’m eligible to collect Social Security (with blue clips).
There are things around me now that I hope to have around me then.
Do I want to list/identify these things?
Or do I want to see what is missing from such a list so I can window shop?
I’m not sure – but I do want to begin to imagine houses.
A log cabin? A double-wide trailer? A pre-fabricated cottage?
I guess I want to begin collecting research, information, ideas.
I want to take the next step from soft dreams and imagined possibilities to plans, timetables, budgets and tasks.
Will a pretty basket do?
It doesn’t matter what the future holds –
Whether or not my hope becomes reality one day.
This HOPE brings me help, hope and peace today.
So I want it to live in a visual, tangible, and pretty CHEST.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Blood -- or Sap -- is Thicker Than Water
The fun thing about reading science news -- is that it SO lacks the arrogance of pundits.
Nature ALWAYS provides surprises for folks.
All these degrees and still so much that we don't know!!
This week, scientists report that a particular plant can actually tell the difference between its relatives and other plants.
AND -- it can give its relatives preferential treatment!
Ha!
The plant is called a sea rocket.
"If the sea rocket detects unrelated plants growing in the ground with it, the plant aggressively sprouts nutrient-grabbing roots. But if it detects family, it politely restrains itself. The finding is a surprise, even a bit of a shock, in part because most animals have not even been shown to have the ability to recognize relatives, despite the huge advantages in doing so."
I always wonder why are they always surprised when they "discover" something about Nature? And I wonder why they always "discover" rather than "learn" -- as if things don't exist until they know about them.
Nature ALWAYS provides surprises for folks.
All these degrees and still so much that we don't know!!
This week, scientists report that a particular plant can actually tell the difference between its relatives and other plants.
AND -- it can give its relatives preferential treatment!
Ha!
The plant is called a sea rocket.
"If the sea rocket detects unrelated plants growing in the ground with it, the plant aggressively sprouts nutrient-grabbing roots. But if it detects family, it politely restrains itself. The finding is a surprise, even a bit of a shock, in part because most animals have not even been shown to have the ability to recognize relatives, despite the huge advantages in doing so."
I always wonder why are they always surprised when they "discover" something about Nature? And I wonder why they always "discover" rather than "learn" -- as if things don't exist until they know about them.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
We Know Better
It is my belief that we come originally from a healthful society that existed in harmony with Nature – a society that taught respect for the human body as well as for other forms of life. I believe we come from a society where sickness was rare and (I know) cured or treated with some combination of Nature’s gifts. (Even after hundreds of years, I know of no one who doesn’t know at least one home remedy passed down through the family.)
But we don’t live in that society anymore. We live in this one. And we’ve been living in this one for a long time … long enough to have forgotten the health habits of the old and picked up the habits of the new.
And we know better.
We know that survival is about adjusting to Nature’s ways as they ebb and flow. We know that survival is not about attempting to triumph over Nature. There is no such thing. We know, in other words, that a species’ survival is determined by its ability to adjust to the rhythms of Nature and not by a species’ ability to conquer Nature.
We know. Ask any grown person (and most children, for that matter) whether it is better to take tea, honey, lemon, rest and orange juice for a cold … or a 12-hour cold capsule (all of the former being Nature’s gifts and the latter made by man in chemical laboratories). Common sense says that Nature is better qualified to tend the human body than is man.
Common sense … the one tool that Nature has given each of us to ensure our survival … the tool that this society sneers at because it doesn’t come with an endorsement that can be bought or signed or affixed with a seal … the tool that we have given up because acceptance in this society means more to us than does survival. We all are convinced that to be smart, one has to have degrees – not common sense.
Common sense tells us to improve the nourishment with which we feed ourselves – mind, body and spirit – so that our bodies, made strong with health-giving foods and habits, can resist the invasion of illness and decay.
Our new society tells us to feed ourselves -- mind, body and spirit -- with “success-oriented” but illness-causing foods and habits … then cure our resultant illnesses with the “wonders of medical science” which, of course, have (known or guessed-at) side effects.
The values of this society decree that we spend time and talent locating, defining and researching the diseases that this Western way of life has created – so that we can conquer the diseases with chemical medicines, radiation and surgical procedures (just about all of which also cause illness).
(This all, by the way, fits in well with the All-American Rule of “make money, make money, make money.” I mean, if we were to suddenly begin to listen to our own bodies and our instincts and lead healthful lives, think how many members of the medical, research, and pharmaceutical professions would have to find something else to do!)
Common Sense. When it tells us to give our bodies rest when we are tired, we ignore it to give ourselves the All-American and well-advertised entertainment offered by late-night television.
When common sense tells us to go outside at lunchtime to partake of fresh air (since new office buildings have been designed, for our safety, with windows that don’t open [???]), we ignore it to remain at our desks – the rigors of the All American Work Ethic.
When common sense tells us that home cooking is healthier than chemically processed or preserved foods, we ignore it to preserve what little time and energy we have for more important (?) pursuits.
When common sense tells us that we need some type of exercise every day, we ignore it to slouch in front of the television.
When common sense tells us that putting chemical substances in or on our bodies is dangerous, we ignore it, light up a cigarette and straighten our hair with lye products.
We have actually learned to ignore our ancestors, our heritage and our own common sense.
And we do the same for (or to) our children – giving them fast food during the day, television and home permanents at night, and good-tasting children’s aspirin in between. Oh, the shame of it.
Why? Why is it that we would rather remain entrenched in the crazy Catch-22 of living an illness-causing existence while relieving ourselves with illness-causing cures than learn (or re-learn) to live a healthful existence?
Every week, man invents a new medicine. Every doctor you know has an office full of free manufacturers’ samples … of every conceivable type of chemical medicine and some that are not so conceivable. And one considers oneself lucky when the doctor gives us these samples free of charge. Every week, too, man makes a surprise discovery that such-and-such a medicine (or some other manmade phenomenon) has been found to cause cancer (or whatever) – in laboratory animals. Meaning that rather than restrict one’s diet and lifestyle to life-giving, natural substances, it is preferable to fill one’s body with cancer-causing substances until it has been proven (on laboratory animals) beyond a shadow of a doubt that this stuff will make you sick, sick, sick. And, or course, by then, your body is stuck on the stuff (everything that is bad for you is also addicting in some way) and, even though they know and tell you that something is cancer-causing, they continue to allow it to be available to anyone with the price of it in their outstretched hands.
Dogs chase their tails – Western man creates illnesses and then creates cures for them. Maybe that makes him think he’s smart. And we, from other cultures, already think he’s smart (because he told us so) and we seem only too willing to follow him in order to benefit from his knowledge and to prove to him and to ourselves that we are as good as he.
It is my believe that, in our ongoing quest for freedom and equality in this society, we must readjust ourselves to Nature’s rhythms, re-develop a reliance on our God-given instincts and re-learn long-forgotten health habits and life philosophies. It’s time to pay serious attention to strengthening ourselves – as individuals, as families, and as peoples. Money is the bottom line decreed by this society, but survival is the bottom line decreed by something older and greater – and we know it.
But we don’t live in that society anymore. We live in this one. And we’ve been living in this one for a long time … long enough to have forgotten the health habits of the old and picked up the habits of the new.
And we know better.
We know that survival is about adjusting to Nature’s ways as they ebb and flow. We know that survival is not about attempting to triumph over Nature. There is no such thing. We know, in other words, that a species’ survival is determined by its ability to adjust to the rhythms of Nature and not by a species’ ability to conquer Nature.
We know. Ask any grown person (and most children, for that matter) whether it is better to take tea, honey, lemon, rest and orange juice for a cold … or a 12-hour cold capsule (all of the former being Nature’s gifts and the latter made by man in chemical laboratories). Common sense says that Nature is better qualified to tend the human body than is man.
Common sense … the one tool that Nature has given each of us to ensure our survival … the tool that this society sneers at because it doesn’t come with an endorsement that can be bought or signed or affixed with a seal … the tool that we have given up because acceptance in this society means more to us than does survival. We all are convinced that to be smart, one has to have degrees – not common sense.
Common sense tells us to improve the nourishment with which we feed ourselves – mind, body and spirit – so that our bodies, made strong with health-giving foods and habits, can resist the invasion of illness and decay.
Our new society tells us to feed ourselves -- mind, body and spirit -- with “success-oriented” but illness-causing foods and habits … then cure our resultant illnesses with the “wonders of medical science” which, of course, have (known or guessed-at) side effects.
The values of this society decree that we spend time and talent locating, defining and researching the diseases that this Western way of life has created – so that we can conquer the diseases with chemical medicines, radiation and surgical procedures (just about all of which also cause illness).
(This all, by the way, fits in well with the All-American Rule of “make money, make money, make money.” I mean, if we were to suddenly begin to listen to our own bodies and our instincts and lead healthful lives, think how many members of the medical, research, and pharmaceutical professions would have to find something else to do!)
Common Sense. When it tells us to give our bodies rest when we are tired, we ignore it to give ourselves the All-American and well-advertised entertainment offered by late-night television.
When common sense tells us to go outside at lunchtime to partake of fresh air (since new office buildings have been designed, for our safety, with windows that don’t open [???]), we ignore it to remain at our desks – the rigors of the All American Work Ethic.
When common sense tells us that home cooking is healthier than chemically processed or preserved foods, we ignore it to preserve what little time and energy we have for more important (?) pursuits.
When common sense tells us that we need some type of exercise every day, we ignore it to slouch in front of the television.
When common sense tells us that putting chemical substances in or on our bodies is dangerous, we ignore it, light up a cigarette and straighten our hair with lye products.
We have actually learned to ignore our ancestors, our heritage and our own common sense.
And we do the same for (or to) our children – giving them fast food during the day, television and home permanents at night, and good-tasting children’s aspirin in between. Oh, the shame of it.
Why? Why is it that we would rather remain entrenched in the crazy Catch-22 of living an illness-causing existence while relieving ourselves with illness-causing cures than learn (or re-learn) to live a healthful existence?
Every week, man invents a new medicine. Every doctor you know has an office full of free manufacturers’ samples … of every conceivable type of chemical medicine and some that are not so conceivable. And one considers oneself lucky when the doctor gives us these samples free of charge. Every week, too, man makes a surprise discovery that such-and-such a medicine (or some other manmade phenomenon) has been found to cause cancer (or whatever) – in laboratory animals. Meaning that rather than restrict one’s diet and lifestyle to life-giving, natural substances, it is preferable to fill one’s body with cancer-causing substances until it has been proven (on laboratory animals) beyond a shadow of a doubt that this stuff will make you sick, sick, sick. And, or course, by then, your body is stuck on the stuff (everything that is bad for you is also addicting in some way) and, even though they know and tell you that something is cancer-causing, they continue to allow it to be available to anyone with the price of it in their outstretched hands.
Dogs chase their tails – Western man creates illnesses and then creates cures for them. Maybe that makes him think he’s smart. And we, from other cultures, already think he’s smart (because he told us so) and we seem only too willing to follow him in order to benefit from his knowledge and to prove to him and to ourselves that we are as good as he.
It is my believe that, in our ongoing quest for freedom and equality in this society, we must readjust ourselves to Nature’s rhythms, re-develop a reliance on our God-given instincts and re-learn long-forgotten health habits and life philosophies. It’s time to pay serious attention to strengthening ourselves – as individuals, as families, and as peoples. Money is the bottom line decreed by this society, but survival is the bottom line decreed by something older and greater – and we know it.
I was afraid of this. :-)
My will to write comes in fits and starts.
My creativity, if you will, ebbs and flows.
I find that the ebbing can be attributed to stress of any kind --
Physical, psychological, spiritual or emotional.
(And trust me -- "tired" is nothing more than physical stress.)
But the flowing -- as a plumber can confirm --
Resumes naturally when the stress (clog) is removed.
When I was considering starting this blog,
I hesitated for many reasons.
My ebbs and flows -- made one of them.
My son's most recent posting on his blog reads:
"Apologies for the lack of posts, but I'm MOVING!!!
So much to do... so we're doing that. I'll be back soon."
I thought that considerate of him. Don't you?
I'm gonna hesitate to go there, though.
I'll just be apologizing over and over again.
What I would like to do here
Is to assure you that I'll do my best
To steer clear of stress and clogs...
And to keep writing.
In the meantime,
While I'm recuperating,
I'm gonna post something I wrote a while back.
Enjoy!
And holla'!!!!
My will to write comes in fits and starts.
My creativity, if you will, ebbs and flows.
I find that the ebbing can be attributed to stress of any kind --
Physical, psychological, spiritual or emotional.
(And trust me -- "tired" is nothing more than physical stress.)
But the flowing -- as a plumber can confirm --
Resumes naturally when the stress (clog) is removed.
When I was considering starting this blog,
I hesitated for many reasons.
My ebbs and flows -- made one of them.
My son's most recent posting on his blog reads:
"Apologies for the lack of posts, but I'm MOVING!!!
So much to do... so we're doing that. I'll be back soon."
I thought that considerate of him. Don't you?
I'm gonna hesitate to go there, though.
I'll just be apologizing over and over again.
What I would like to do here
Is to assure you that I'll do my best
To steer clear of stress and clogs...
And to keep writing.
In the meantime,
While I'm recuperating,
I'm gonna post something I wrote a while back.
Enjoy!
And holla'!!!!
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