Let's Address That "Yearnache"

"An 'aching' what?" you will now be asking. To which I point to your own sense of Yearning. Yours, mine, all of ours. Our Yearnings. How seldom it is that we hear (if, indeed we ever hear) any mention of yearning. The word conjures the absolute sense of that always present yet silent and unassuming vacuum within that wants, endlessly, for filling. David Keirsey in his wonderful work "Please Understand Me" (particularly the book 2) artfully presents, in his explanation of our "“values", the YEARNING facet of our total BEING.

"“Why" you may ask "“is this attention to individuality so important that you continually insist that we are repeatedly revisit it?" I am so glad that you asked. The importance (in part) lies in the necessity of avoidance of a malady that plagued me through my first forty years. Here I will present, for your consideration, the idea of preventing the debilitating nemesis: YEARNACHE. That'’s right! The all-encompassing aching that has its roots in the absence of fulfillment of Ones individual aspect ... Yearning. Hence, I am, hereby and forevermore, coining the never-before-known Yearnache to establish an identity for a naturally recurring reality in my life (and, I might add, something that I have recognized in the lives of many, many others all about me over the years.)

You see, each of us has, as a major influence on our inborn value systems, a knowable and predictable Yearning element. The fact that such a consideration is not a part of our daily transactional vocabulary (nor is it something that we even know how to address inwardly) leaves the matter unaddressed (most often for the entire duration of our lifetimes.) Thus, it is my absolute conviction that we are, most likely, apt to live lives of, not only unsatisfied but also, unidentified Yearnings. We are presented with social, cultural, religious, family, and moral standards by which we are taught to establish and measure our Desires. But far too often we are left (after satisfying those commonly accepted and recognized Desires) with an empty and sadly unsatisfied sense that we are not, somehow, complete.

Most often the answer to our sense of dissatisfaction is provided in the assessment of that 'wonderful' (NOT), guilt inducing charge of "Self-Centered-ness." "“So you are feeling unhappy, then just get over yourself"” I oft hear repeated. Herein lies the rub. Your Self is just exactly who You are supposed to be. Your Self is the individual identity with which you were wondrously created. And, my dear Reader and all-enduring Friend, your Yearnings are a valuable, integral part of the completeness ... the totality of ... You. (And the same is most assuredly true of each Child, whose development and nurturing, is the responsibility of each of us, with whom that child has even the briefest of contact.)

We can be attuned to each other'’s yearnings and make an effort to encourage and strengthen or, by default, leave that Yearning to wither and produce a 'Yearnache' in the Spirit of the other. To the end that we do not do that ... please allow me to introduce you to the four basic Yearning Identities. From there it is my hope that you will; first, recognize and honor your own Personal Yearning ... then grow to respect and edify the yearnings of those presented, by Life, to You.

Where do yearnings play in the business of the orderly stratagem of providence? I understand it to be generally accepted that the seventy-six percent majority of all of us humans are fairly equally divided into two camps.

Thirty-eight percent of the Concrete Thinking world yearns to make an impact while seeking constant stimulation. The other half of this empirically functioning group yearns for belonging and is motivated by a quest for security. The former were referred to, by Aristotle, as the Hedonics (Artisan). The latter he called the Proprietary (Guardian).

Of the equally divided Abstract Thinkers (the remaining twenty-four percent of the Population), one half Aristotle knew as the Ethicals (Idealist) while the other half were, to his thinking, the Dialecticals (Rational). The Ethicals (Idealists) are driven by a yearning for idealized love best defined as romance, while seeking Identity in their lives. Dialecticals (Rationals) yearn for Achievement and are compelled to seek it in knowledge. While the labels for these four (the Hedonic, Proprietary, Ethical, and Dialectical) have been revised by many who have studied them over the millennia, there has been a consistency of definition and a concurrence in the interpretation of their respective natural traits.

I think it highly unlikely that we will have a natural comfort level with Friend Aristotle's terms of identity in our own day-to-day contemplation's. Being the image-oriented creature that I am, I find it more workable for me to relate the divers types to people who exemplify their types.

Truman (the concrete thinking/ Guardian/ Proprietary) said:
"I never give them [the public] hell. I just give them the truth, and they think that it is hell."
Churchill (the concrete thinking/ Artisan/ Hedonic) gave us:
"“In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity.
In peace: goodwill."”

It was Gandhi (the abstract thinking/Idealist/ Ethical) who said:
"“Freedom and slavery are mental states."”
And the consummate abstract thinker; the Rational/ Dialectical Einstein left us his:
"“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

Perhaps relating your thinking to these so-well-known figures will make the consideration of the four types more agreeable to you ... such is my hope. So, to summarize (I do enjoy the exercise of replaying the '“tape'” to reinforce the image.) We have:

*Einstein - the Dialectical/ abstract thinking/ Rational who yearned for
achievement and was compelled to seek it in knowledge. His happiness came in a life of logical investigation. [12% of us]

*Gandhi - the Ethical/ abstract thinking/ Idealist who yearned for idealized love (romance) in his world while seeking identity for himself and his people. He found happiness in the employment of moral virtue. [12% of us]

*Churchill - the Hedonic/ concrete thinking/ Artisan who yearned to make an impact while seeking constant stimulation. His happiness was derived from sensual (visual, auditory, taste, tactile, and aromatic [cigar smoking not excluded]) pleasure. [38% of us]

*Truman - the Proprietary/ concrete thinking/ Guardian who yearned for belonging as a responsible "“member in good-standing"” of his society while pursuing his quest for security. His happiness was centered on the acquisition of assets (to include honors, position, and authority.) [38% of us]


I take considerable comfort in the obvious significance of each of these types to the history of our world. (You will, no doubt, note my frequent reference to terms of "“comfort" or "“comfortable"” in my writing. For, My Friend, it is to this state that I seek to guide you; first, in your mind, and then in your life. Your recognition of; acceptance of; embracing of; then (ultimately) comfort with ... your SELF.) No credit, acclaim, respect, admiration, or honor can be legitimately taken away, from any of the exampled individuals, for their non-conformance to any set of measures, based on someone else'’s set of "“norms"... nor from You (with your own unique Personhood.) They each played a part of great consequence in the symphony of history.

You and I have our own part to play in this, our life'’s 'composition'. I smile to consider the irreplaceable tone of a singly struck Triangle in the midst of an orchestra'’s performance of a great work. So small the instrument. So limited the time of implementation. Yet the effect on the listening sense of the audience makes the musical experience whole. I encourage you to "strike a note" on the Instrument of your Uniqueness and enhance our shared experience of Life's Symphony with the resonance of ... YOU.

Vive la difference (YOUR difference)



IMAGES Through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

Put Your Boots On

'Tis a rarity that I do this. But I just had a good chuckle, thanks to this piece received from Carole (My Very Dear Elementary School Librarian, Friend of more than forty years.) So, I am sharing it with you. (A good chuckle is not something to be wasted ... or selfishly kept to oneself.) here 'tis ...

If you ever worked with little kids you will love this.

Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as, together, they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren't my boots."

She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?", like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear 'em."

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But she mustered up what strength and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots."




(She will be eligible for parole in three years.)


("THANK YOU Carole!")

Generosity of Spirit

"It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others." ALFRED ADLER

Many years ago, I found myself kneeling at the finish line, on a track with six lanes of “runners” coming toward me … my camera at the ready … cheering the Runner progressing toward me in the lane that I occupied … and feeling the tug at my heart-strings as I saw him falling further and further behind the competitors in the five other lanes. The runner was my son. The event was one of several that he was competing in as part of the annual Special Olympics (a version of athletic competition tailored to the special limitations [all mentally impaired to differing degrees … some physically impaired] of its participants.) My son has cerebral palsy and the portions of his brain effected result in a moderate impairment of his intellectual functions as well as a minimal impairment of his hips, and legs. He was, on that day, the only participant in that race who relied in the services of crutches. And it was due to this limitation that he was losing ground to the other competitors.

My role, in all of this, was to subtly assist him in maintaining a focus on his own lane so that he would not drift off into the adjoining lanes. (That challenge of "focus" being one of the aspects of his impairment.) I accomplished this (without causing him the embarrassment that would accompany an obvious display of my intentions) by appearing to be intent on photographing him as he raced. I could see the growing dismay in his eyes as he recognized the inevitability of crossing the finish line well after all of the others had.

Then a wonderful thing, that (even at this moment, all of these years later) still has my eyes brimming with tears, at the recollection. The runner in the lane to my son’s right looked over his shoulder … saw the sadness and frustration on my son’s face … and stopped … and waited … and ushered my son … ahead of him … across the finish line. And then applauded my son (while also cheering him.)

Need I say anything more? Is there anything that my words could add to the eloquence of that young man’s sermon in demonstrated compassion and self-sacrifice? Can the poetry of one person’s obvious generosity of spirit be enhanced by anyone else’s commentary? I think not! So rather than speak to that young gentleman’s nobility, I will speak to us … You and Me.

Would it take so much for us to step aside and allow the one struggling along-side us to move ahead? Will our position in our own life-race be jeopardized by a spirit of generosity and sacrifice? Is that “finish line” of immediate gratification worth the loss of the higher goal of betterment of our shared environment? Will we be any “better off” as a people if we insist on focusing on our own agendas to the exclusion of a sensitivity to the plight of our neighbors? Did that young man not demonstrate, to all of us, the noble value of assuming responsibility for and taking action to benefit those who (while doing all that they are capable of doing) are falling behind?

No, My Dear Reader, I can not add to, nor do I wish to detract from the beauty of the message delivered by that wonderful Human Being’s behavior. So, in this thought on reaching out and touching others, I will dry my tears of recollection … and send these considerations to your safe-keeping.




IMAGE: Matthew Michael Brown (My Son)

Your Voice

What I have to say
is of no great importance.


My motivation is
to encourage you
to give respect to
what You have to say.

What You have to say
to yourself (in your thinking,
considering, and weighing
all that matters to You.)


This, undoubtedly, being
the first and most important.

Then, with due respect given
your own Inner Voice,


what You have to say
to that world ... that
Life has surrounded You with.

My desire is
to awaken your voice.

“Hey! I think that too.”

Is what I hope to hear You say.

Or even “No way!”





IMAGES (top to bottom) First three: Jon Sullivan, PDPhoto.org; Fourth: My Sweet Italian Daughter

"The Hour of Living Rightly"

Lest we mistakenly believe that this business of living “in the moment” or pursuing the “carpe diem” imperative is something of a “New Age” construct… Please consider these words from Horace.



"He who postpones the hour of living rightly…



is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out…



before he crosses."




Quintus Horatius Flaccus
(8 Dec 65 BCE to 27 Nov 8 BCE)




IMAGE through the gracious courtesy of Jon Sullivan, PDPhoto.org

How It Works ... For Us All

Just this morning ...

I was singing … belting out the music and considering each word to “What a Wonderful World” (Yes, the same one that is playing each time that You visit this site. Though I have heard it many times, I still cling to its truths and the spirit of its melody.) Driving in the comfortable stillness of pre-dawn darkness, I was assembling, bagging, and tossing from the window of my van, this morning’s edition of the Wall Street Journal, and The Tampa Tribune … all the while singing that song … right out loud, and without any reservation.

Then I saw the vehicle coming down the street … and knew from the many times prior, who it was and what his destination was. So, I paused in my routine, and pulled into his driveway behind him. In a moment, he came up to my window and greeted me. “How Ya doin’ Bub?” He opened with his usual brusque yet warm demeanor. "Everything going OK?” (I knew that he asked this because of his awareness that, after twenty years of delivering newspapers to his neighborhood, I have been notified that my delivery route is being merged with another … and I will soon be without work.) “I’m doing well, My Friend. One day at a time … just like they are served up to us … You know.” I replied. “And how goes it with your business?" I asked. “Well, you knew that I retired? Didn’t I tell you?” he asked. “Why no … you didn’t, in fact. How did that come to pass?"

“Well, last June I was getting ready for work, as usual, when the phone rang. It was the son of my best friend, and partner of twenty-six years, on the phone. ‘Dad won’t be in to work today’ he said. ‘Oh, and why’s that?’ I asked him. ‘Because Dad died last night.’ was his reply. Well, after the wake, all the flowers, and all that … I gave it some thought … and decided that there is more to life than all that business and work. I was leaving Her (he gave his head a side-way nod to indicate that “Her” was in the house.) alone every day. And she deserves more than that. So I retired. And now I am here for her and fix her lunch every day.”

I knew some of his “Her” story. She is his drug-addiction-devastated daughter. And this Korean War vintage, US Marine Corps veteran, of battles too horrible to recount … this now-retired Steel Worker, of rugged and severe career background … this brusque and crustily veneered man, who I have never seen in any garb that is not starched, pressed to perfection, and spotless … whose every element is always in ’perfect order’ and ’ship-shape’ … took his daughter in, and adopted her children to raise himself in order that they might have a stable and caring home. I knew this.

This is a man who waved me down from his passing vehicle a couple of mornings ago, and told me that he had phoned “some nice lady at the Tribune” the week before “and told her that she had a great guy on this route.” And that “he (meaning me) is the only reason that I get the Tribune.” And that “if he wasn’t treated right in this route-merging business … well she could take her Tribune and put it where the sun don’t shine.” (He then told me that had this “nice woman” not been so nice … and a lady … he would have told her to shove the Tribune up ____ well you get the idea. I told you … he is a crusty and seasoned man of neither frills nor niceties.)

After a bit of inquiry I determined that the “Nice Woman” who he had spoken so eloquently with was none other than the Publisher/President of The Tampa Tribune. He took this revelation with a shrug of indifference.

So now, Dear reader and Friend, you have the “stage” set. And now I can share with you a bit of how wonderful it is to live in harmony with the Voice of Life … that Still, Small, Voice within … my Lady Muse, so oft referred to. For, as this most-manly of men, Man finished his few words of description of his commitment to “my Little One” (as he referred to his daughter), I said “You have done well, My Friend. You listened to this (and I repeatedly pointed to my Heart … for One does not use words like ‘Heart’ to a man as unsentimental as this), and ‘this’ lasts far beyond the failure of ‘this’” (and I shook with one hand my other arm … indicating ‘the body’ … for One doesn’t speak of physical things to this sort of Man.) “Yeah! You’re right!” he said, “and it matters ‘up there’ (he pointed heavenward) too.” Then he extended his hand to shake mine. It was not a quick hand-shake. It was a firm, yet gentle “hand-hug.” And tears were in his eyes. “I love You, My Friend!” I spoke, “I do really love You.” he nodded, turned, and went into his garage. Then with a wipe of his eyes, entered the door from the garage into his home.

This is how it works, Dear One. How Being available to Life’s leading gives opportunity to Be the One Voice that Life can use to let such a man … One who is so staunchly committed to his habits and rituals … know that He is loved. Life … God … Heaven … Allah … The Creator, The Almighty … whatever identity label suites your place of belief and/or understanding, wants to communicate Love to us … the Created … the individual and wondrously unique Creatures that we so beautifully are. And You and I have the opportunity to do just what Satchmo was singing with me this morning. We can make this … Our World … more Wonderful … by simply Being willing to say what Life wants to have said … “I love You, My Friend. I REALLY do love YOU.”

NAMASTE

When the Time is Right ... Confirmation

How do you know that you are walking “Your Path”? What endorsement … what validation … what affirmation cements your confidence in the right-ness of your elections? Just like you, I had the desire for certainty. My confidence skated on the thin ice of a fragile Belief and wavering Conviction that I was being the person that I was created to BE. I, like you, was challenged by the voices of loving, caring, concerned, and trusted friends who offered their opinions and perspectives on my life choices. And none … absolutely none of them could see the rationale for my determinations. Yet … I persevered on the strength of an inner conviction that I was in harmony with the leading of the Source of all that is true.

Then Life reached out with a steadying Hand and a reassuring Voice in the person of the only individual who (as a consummate human being) could command my absolute confidence and respect. He was a respected and honored Scientist and Educator … and a deeply committed Spiritual Being. Inasmuch as he is no longer with me in physical presence (though certainly still-known in spirit) I can, and will, reveal his identity (want, as he was, to remain invisible, humble, and unobtrusive.) Swaminatha Sundaram, (Professor-Chairperson (Physics), University of South Florida, 1982 [B.Sc.; M.S.; Ph.D., D.Sc., Annamalai University, India, 1960]) became a dear Friend, Confidant, and Joy in my life from the moment of our initial meeting (as he placed his mail in the post-box at the curb, and I delivered the morning newspaper in the pre-dawn hours of the day.)

It was during one of our treasured luncheon visits together, that he (being a man of very few … yet each one valuable … words) said “You, My Friend, are a true Priest. You walk your daily path as lead by The Spirit … minister to each life encountered along that path … asking nothing and expecting nothing save the meeting of your physical and material needs. All at the direction and through the provision, of that controlling Spirit.”

Confirmation! I can tell you, My Dear Reader, that I have never, in all of my life, been more honored, humbled, and moved than at that moment. Life had warranted and authenticated my convictions in terms that I would never have known to ask for or expect. And I can now share this story with you, as my personal testimony to the certainty, that you will know, with sureness, the appropriateness of your life elections ... if you will but exercise that awesome power, of your own Free Will, to follow the Inspiration … the Inclination … the Leading of your own personal and individual “Still, Quiet, Inner-Voice.” Mindful that doing so will often be to the exclusion of all outside "influences."

I cannot promise you riches, fame, glory, or applause as an expectation resulting from such a disciplined and oft-courageous (and sometimes lonely) choice. What I can, and do, guarantee you is Joy, Confidence, Peace of Mind, and Spirit, that gives (in time … and with patience) rhyme, reason, and meaning to all of the conflicts, pains, disappointments, and sorrows of a life so lived. And ... at that time and in that place, when and where you need, and are ready for it ... you can expect, in some form, a confirmation and validation ... from the Creator of all that You are ... from "Life." A confirmation and validation of the reality of your BE-ing that unique and particularly special Individual, that You are equipped (by nature, inclination, and experience) to … BE.

This is, I promise you, My Dear Friend, the greatest reward that can possibly be imagined. To know that you are living in harmony with the intention of your Creator in the world that is your daily walk. That all is Right with You and your place in all of Time and Eternity. And it is to the encouragement, endorsement, and enabling of You, in your personal pilgrimage, that I am committed … as I remain;

Your constant Friend and unwavering Servant.



IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Jon Sullivan, PDPhoto.org

Garnish That View

Even if we cannot change the things that present themselves to us today … we can, certainly, change how we Perceive them.



Whether our personal window on the world is that

of an elegant life,

or a humble one…

a confined and limited view,

or an old, tired, and weathered outlook…








We can enhance our experience of taking in life’s sights today…

by improving the setting through which we take it all in.








The voice of a dear friend…

a cup of our favorite beverage…

the music of a cherished melody in the background…

fresh flowers placed strategically where we have them framing our activities…






All are simple and available garnishes available to us for the enrichment of our view of all that lies beyond our window today.

Look through fresh and enhanced lenses.

We can do little to change circumstances…

We have complete control over how we perceive them.




IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

So ... Life Has "Dumped" on You

When I first saw this photo (back in 2006), I was immediately struck with the feeling that if those birds had not … well, “visited” that roof-top, and "enhanced" the place with their "deposits," the place would be drab, indeed. And Lady Muse began Her whisper. This is the result.

So ... I see that Life has "dumped" on you (again?).

There are some who would say that the resulting effect is quite an improvement.

Once again, it seems that there is another way to look at every Situation.

Remember ... Perspective is the one element that is totally within your control.

IMAGE: Mark Pritchard, BBC

Let's say "Hello" to Annie

Well! The very nerve of me! I am doing something that I have never done before. I am introducing You to someone who has absolutely no idea that I even know of her existence. Yep! Annie Peake will be most surprised to discover that I not only followed her "trail" from my statistics page to her blog ... spent a good while "getting to know her" ... discovered that this wonderfully sweet Lady has been so gracious as to list me on her new blog as one of the two "other interesting blogs" there ... come back to my blog and listed her on my list of "Friends Who Have Honored Me By Listing Me On Their Blog" ... and to top off my audacity, I copied (did a little editing [just had to "get my hand in"]) and am presenting here, a lovely image of this delightful Person.

I am issuing my personal invitation for You, My Dear trusting Reader, to bop over to ANNIE’S BLOG for your very own sample of what I have just experienced. I feel like I have dropped over to a new neighbor's place, had a few cups of fresh, home variety coffee, a slice of homemade pie, and the company of one of the nicest, most loving and genuine of women, and shed all of those irksome trivialities that I went over there with. What a treat!

She uses our favorite four letter word, FREQUENTLY ... and hearing "Love" from her is sweet music. She has no hesitation in loving friends, family, and living life.

Please join me in surprising this Gift of Heaven with a "Hi There" comment when you drop in. I know that your Heart will be blessed as I am certain she will be pleased.

Well ... that's it for Meddlesome Me. I am going back to Annie's to be the first to leave comments on some of the several enjoyable posts that I have already read. I'll see Ya'll there!

Sometimes

I was given this little gem, entitled "Sometimes," a couple of years ago. Though the identity if its author is unknown, I do know the identity of the creator of the images that I have blended into the written work. I gratefully credit him at the bottom. I offer this bit to You, My Dear Reader, in the hope that You will find something in it that has benefit or merit for you. Enjoy!

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be - a roommate, a neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a complete stranger - but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are sometimes the most important ones.

If someone loves you, give love back to them in whatever way you can, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and listen to what they have to say.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make anything you wish of your life. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

And if you love someone tell them, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store.

Learn a lesson in life each day that you live! Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday. Was it worth it?

author unknown

IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

In A Moment of Stillness

When my son was diagnosed as having Cerebral Palsy, I had a lot to consider. All that I was ... all that I understood ... all that life represented to me was, in that moment, irrevocably and eternally obliterated. There was no person to whom I could go to discuss the ramifications of this life-altering circumstance. No Mentor, Guide, Counselor, nor Adviser was present. I could not share my confusion; my dismay; my grief; my fear; nor my ignorance with anyone. I was completely alone in my situation.

The setting that I found for my deliberations and considerations of what I must do; who I must now be; how I must proceed, was a small art shop wherein I allowed my soul to find its refuge and solace through hours spent in the solitary exercise of losing myself in racks of art prints. Here, I began what has been a consistent, comforting, encouraging, and rewarding relationship with my Muse.






In the precious images of those prints, I escaped the pressures of immediate Life demands.












I soared to heights of distant perspectives.



I found a refuge from the cacophony of immediate necessities.








Those images provided lanes and paths of possibilities that I would not have known within the confines of my natural world.






The time spent with those renderings of places, people, environs, and worlds free of the pressing torments of my responsibilities ... gave my Spirit freedom, and I gave it license, to contemplate perspectives beyond my own experience.





And, to carry those moments with me into my natural world, I purchased and had framed several of those works that surround me, in my little cottage, at this very moment of recollection ... and still afford me the gift of moments of quiet consideration.





So ... for the last, approximately, one and one-half minutes, My Dear Reader and loved Friend, I have shared that therapy of refreshment with you. I have structured, for your benefit, all that you have seen and read thus far, to provide a sample of just such a moment of consideration for you. All in the hope that you will recognize the calmness and serenity that lies at your doorstep ... if you will but permit yourself the renewal, of being in a place of apartness from all that demands your attention.

So, for now, I respectfully invite you to "Be still and know" what your own "still, small, Inner Voice" has been trying to whisper to you in this moment. As I remain your faithfully loving Friend and Servant.




ALL IMAGES through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

Showing It All

Perhaps all of this "Tell All," MeMe, thingy has gotten to me. But when I received a message from Silvia (my Spirit-Daughter in Italy), I had "a moment."

In response to a photo sent to her by my Best Bud in the whole world, Dav (from Iceland), in which he showed an image of me with his visiting Dad and Sister [with Dav and his Wife in the center], Silvia said, “… in the pics there where you! first time seeing you in the whole figure...and not posing for the pic so i could grasp your real smiling...and How tall you are!” And it occurred to me that You, Dear Faithful Friend, have been presented the same perspective of me that I had shared with Silvia.

So, in the spirit of "full disclosure" ... Here is what you would find greeting you outside of our favorite Thai restaurant if we could share this moment.



I've shown you mine ... [smile]

Forwarding Love

Now, I must confess ... I do not always open "forwarded" Email messages. And, if I do open one, I have a habit of deleting it when I see that no bother has been taken to even add a bit of a "personalization" in the form of an individualized note. So, when I received this bit from a lovely Friend in the UK, who does share a few "forwarded" pieces ... I hesitated. But my regard for her outweighed my predispositions ... and I opened it . And, in spite of my "delete if no personalization" rule ... I read it. And Life's little Voice whispered a soft message of "Perhaps you might want to see things this way.

So, I did some editing, (you knew that I couldn't just leave it "as is"), made some additions and "improvements." And offer it to you for your own consideration. All in the spirit of respecting, accepting, and endorsing the merits of Another's perspective. (An exercise that I oft have to be reminded of.) Here 'tis ...

(This might explain why some folk forward jokes to each other ... and us.)

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?' 'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked. 'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open. 'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked. 'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. 'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?' 'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.' 'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog. 'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked. 'This is Heaven,' he answered. 'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.' 'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.' 'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?' 'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Soooo.

Sometimes, when we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this will explain . . . When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes. (A little water in a Friend’s bowl to refresh.)

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes. (Sending a silent “splash” to cheer a Friend.)

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes. (A silent “wink” or nod, to encourage a Friend)

Also, to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke. (A “whistle” that says “I’m glad that You are there.”)

So, next time that you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a little smile. (And a Lotta Love!)

I am glad that YOU and I are travlin’ Pals.

(Thank you Denise, for your patient, forgiving, and gentle loving of your Travlin' Companion on our shared journey. I love You, Darlin.')

"Tagged" (Yet Again)

With tear-stained cheeks aglow with the fresh pride of being one of a select and highly exalted group of recipients of NiteByrd's endearingly (in)famous "DUST BUNNY IN THE WIND" Award For "BLOGGERS OUTSTANDING IN THEIR FIELD" ... I bow in all false modesty to the task of responding to the accompanying "Tag" that was bestowed with the Award.

The challenge at hand is to "sum yourself up in 6 words."

And after innumerable hours of meditation, medication, consternation, and contemplative constipation, I can render the much-sought-after and longed-for response (just as soon as the Brass Band completes Trills and Flourishes.) "Ahem!"

JUST WHAT YOU SEE ... IS ME!

(bows and backs into the darkened curtains to peals of thunderous applause)

(Thanks NiteByrd! I really had a fun tyme with that.)