Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thank you Theresa for this forwarded email - it's for us all

Pass it on-not sure who wrote it but it's powerful!


It’s your life.
Are you living boldly?
Or are you playing it safe?
Safe is risky. Safe is an illusion. Safe is death.
Whose life are you living? Yours or someone else’s?
It’s your life. Not your parents, brothers, cousins, friends or neighbors.
We are constantly bombarded by the media and sold the lie: “Who you are is not enough!”
We are taught to fit in. To play it safe. To seek approval. To be realistic. This process begins from the moment we are born. We are told who we need to be in order to get love and survive. We learn to play “The Game.” But ironically the better you play the game; the more you lose … YOU.
 
Conform: Don’t make too many waves. Hold back your full self-expression and authentic truth, so that you can be popular.
Settle: Staying in relationships that don’t light you up because it’s safe and comfortable, so that you have security and won’t be alone.
Be practical: Don’t pursue your dreams and true passions. Be realistic and responsible so that you don’t look like a fool in society’s eyes.
Don’t be too happy: If you’re too happy (especially for no reason) people get irritated, so only allow the minimal amount.
 
Life is short and before you know it, it is over. The real question is not “When will I die?” but “How will I live?”
When you get to the end of your life will you be able to say that you lived fully, and did all you dreamed to do, or will you be filled with regret?
Did you lick every ounce of bliss out of life?
 
We glorify saints, but they live in remote lands. We glorify the angels, but their feet do not touch the ground. We glorify superheroes, but they’re not real. It takes true courage to be in this life, with all its mess, it’s ups and downs, light and dark, sweetness and bitterness. It takes courage to be who you really are. Perhaps this is why so many of us turn away, and settle, opting for safe lives of soul-numbing superficial satiation. It’s easier to stay skeptical, be jaded, live in the mind, hide behind sarcasm and erect walls of defensiveness. Sadly, it’s easier to play small and protect ourselves from the disappointment of living full out, with all its risks.
 
Even to the extreme, my friend, when you display great feats, it doesn’t take real courage to firewalk, skydive or climb a mountain. It really doesn’t. It takes courage to be honest with yourself and speak your truth to those around you.
It takes courage to face your addictions, and get help.
It takes courage to reach out and risk vulnerability in love.
It takes courage to pick yourself up off the floor after rejection or failure.
It takes courage to humble your ego, give up defensiveness, and simply say, “I’m sorry.”
It takes courage to open your heart and love, after your heart has been broken or betrayed.
It takes courage to forgive, even when you know that you’re right.
I say it takes real courage to be who you REALLY are.
What is it you really want to be, do, say, live and express?
So:
Dive in.
Do it.
Dare.
Climb it.
Kiss more.
Say it.
Travel it.
Let it.
Laugh.
Commit.
Forgive.
Ravish.
Seize it.
Love.
There comes a moment in your life when you just have to say the 2 magic words!
Be bold. Be you. Go for it.
Say it. Loud……………..
“F&%k it!”
 

Monday, August 15, 2011

The Flood - a poem by me

Funny little anecdotes that people say when you're having trouble,
small things, meant to give some relief or acknowledgement to what is ailing,
sometimes wholeheartedly and sometimes flippant, but intention is there for something.
Like, when it rains it pours, or this too shall pass, or take comfort in the small things
all meant to benefit the receiver with some form of comfort.
But what I would say to you is
"I'm going to build you an ark"
because you, my friend, are in the midst of a flood of biblical proportions
and there is nothing that I can give you to hold back the waters.
Moses, get your fucking ass here now and part the seas!
Noah, get to hauling some trees up in here
cause the sky isn't falling but filling with this water
and unless you've got gills this isn't gonna be pretty.
Forget about the morter and the paste to hold the foundations
the sails, the weather vane to predict when it's all gonna be over
hell, just make it float. 
We just need it to float.
No need to find some way to phrase it pretty or make it make sense
it has no sense at this point
Wild, wicked endless water is pouring in from all directions
and it's dirty, useless and good for nothing,
except maybe for us to all label it definitively,
it's a whole lotta fuckin' water.
Let's not have them drown with our anecdotes and smart things to say.
Make some floatation devices with kind choices of words
because in this kind of weather, I can't build you an ark
I can't give you anything that can bring a relief to what is ailing you
not even a wise word of wisdom because in biblical proportions you have received that water that drowns the whole earth,
been swallowed up whole by a whale,
locust have invaded your lands and killed the crops,
and the tide keeps taking you out way beyond the shore.
But I can still see you out there in the horizon,
dog-paddling, sometimes floating on your back,
sometimes swimming against the riptide,
and that's when I realize
you are your own ark.


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Other people's poetry

Mary Oliver 
her poetry is a gift
here is one of them




Photo: Unique Photography Concepts dot com

The Uses of Sorrow
(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)
Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.



A Poem




Flock of Birds by Giedrius Varnas @ Deviant Art
There are all sorts of ways that we can bond:
we can like the same sport or team, tv show or talk show host,
we could have watched the same cartoons growing up,
or loved the same movies.

But most of the time
you are you
and I am over here,
and we bond over failed suicide attempts,
or loved ones who were successful the first time,
or senseless acts of violence we experience.


If we could only remember daily the strangers eyes we look at
could simply reflect our own soul
and maybe we would try harder to bond over a shared smile
an experience of happiness for no apparent reason.