Building Blocks 4

USING  THE BLOCKS TO  BUILD A BELIEF

Well as it happens I rounded off the last. Building. Blocks in a series yesterday and. Slapped the lyrics into a somewhat jumbled chord progression.  Because change happens the first building blocks of a song change a bit over. Time and most times when I write something bleak or pessimistic, I make some attempt  to offer the reader/listener a choice that I feel  exists in the real world whether or not it’s my path in the end.  

Having said all this here are the lyrics that have captured me  at this moment.  I recorded the song and slapped it into the video at the bottom.  I haven’t  “performed” this song. Nearly enough for it to be in its final form, but the soul of it Is alive and kicking.  Thanks for coming with me on this little journey.  When do I start the next set of blocks?  Three...two.... one....you got it now is always the best time to start.  

Soak in the  words and enjoy a Marvelous. Monday

Block  (verse). One

Every now and then peace and joy drift from your routine

Confusion rushes in filling all the spaces in between

Humbling Numbing chaos crashes into what was once serene

That’s when you must name your torments and learn much later what they mean

You must name your torments and learn much later what they mean

Block (verse) Two how.it how.it

as you stand there in the rubble  you hear the ancient bell begin to chime

Is the cathedral going to open or  does the bell mean it’s. Closing time

The poet’s pen starts screaming knowing not who will hear the rhyme

That’s too cryptic for the scholars and far too loud for the passive  mime

Block (verse 4/chorus) 

Oh brothers and sisters we’d better  make it snappy

Give hope.room to breathe and resilience  to be a bit more scrappy

Treat each other better or a little less crappy

Because more than one out of seven dwarves  should be happy

Blink your eyes clear to find your truest vision

Say  so long to the ghosts of regrets and indecision 

The  stanzas  of change are incredibly near

This peace and this joy is right now and right here

Block (verse) Three

If we  don’t hear the poet the egotists  will take the field

To test the sharpest  sword and use the strongest  shield 

The  results of these battles are signed and thy’re sealed

No one wins wars once again  is revealed

Repeat  Block 4/chorus

Now  here’s my challenge. To you...pick  one of your  best  features and write a four line verse about. It..maybe how.it grew in you or how you use it often...this is always a good way to start your week or strengthen any day.   

More  soon 

Reflections on mirrors

reflections on  Windows and Mirrors

As we  stare into the night sky we see  stars.  They are millions of  miles away  and millions of years ago.  The light you see  started out so long ago that it’s source may no longer exist as we know it.  even the sunlight of our days takes 8 minutes to get here, however, the energy that produces  that light takes a couple years to  get from.the center of the sun to the  outer surface where we see it about 8 minutes later...so even sunlight we see is not  the sun as it is.  

What does this have to do with  Windows and  mirrors?  Well  to be quite frank we often say “seeing is believing” and yet if if it requires light to see we are never seeing what  exists in any given moment no matter. How fast the speed of light is.  Maybe that’s a really good. Argument for  praying and meditating with ones eyes closed.  Also maybe most the time we see what. We believe we are about to see  and believing is seeing instead.  

So now let’s move along to mirrors.   The objects we think of  as mirrors today—you know the silvered-glass we hang in our  houses and on our  cars, are not all that old historically.  In fact they were the  brain child of a German named Justice Liebig and their invention  is dated at 1835.  What in the world did  egotists do before then?  Is that?  I think. That’s. Why wealthy. Folks hired  lady’s servants/maids.  The lady of the house  had someone they trusted to ask “Does this  dress make my  hips look big?”  The  men of the house  were  able  to dodge that question only so often.  Anyway...did the  restricted availability of mirrors lead to less  self-judgment?  Did we worry less about aging?  Well  let’s grab some perspective on that too.  You  know that 110 years ago  the average life expectancy was still far less than 50 years old...so who needed a mirror?  We were always Looking good, right?  Another. Thing about mirrors that have come to make me wonder is do we use them to determine  what we look like to ourselves or what we look like to others?  How much  does this matter to each of us?  How well can a mirror tell us about  how our outsides match our insides?  The irony of mirrors is that  we can get an idea of what we looked like in them and we do that  so we think we can control what others think of our and how we look.  The reality is  people  look at their fellow human  beings  through so many sets of lenses that trying to control  that is  not the most efficient use of time.  If a woman prefers a tall brown haired  dancing partner there are no amount of times a short blonde can look in the mirror to determine how  to look good  for that person.  If a guy will only go out with a  Cubs fan then no mirror will change  the person looking. Into from bein a Cardinals’ fan.  Then  regardless of. What the mirror cannot reflect, there is always. The possibility it reflects things in a distorted manner.  This wouldn’t  be a problem, however, the mirror  has the reputation of reflecting things accurately or even  better magnified.  There’s a mirror I see on a fairly  regular  basis that have a slight  bend in it so from across a room the image is always distorted.  Oh and  your car maker will tell you objects may be closer than they appear—just saying.  

So stand and stare at yourself in the mirror if you insist... just know. You can only see your past and what lies behind you.  

Oh  before we  make a brief comparison. Between mirrors a and windows.. a bit more about the history of mirrors.  The  first. Mirrors were designed using  water placed in a dark container or just using a deep pool of water somewhere Now can’t you see this 7500 BC  when Fiona  sends her hubby  out to get dressed for a formal toga party and tells  Marcus to  go out to the pond to get dressed and  pick between a couple of. Tunics.  Then about. 30 minutes later Fiona. Goes out only to  find Marcus with a fishing rod in hand trying to catch the big one that got away when he was dressing for  breakfast?  

Well of course these first mirrors were.designed by  ancientEgyptians or so they say...because  they wrote down that they discovered. Them.  Then again Columbus discovered America where people. We’re waiting.for his ships when they came ashore.  I’m not sure we have. This discovery concept down quite in western.society.  

Windows

Well I talked about. These things earlier this week.  Windows.allow you. To see some of what exists outside right now and. Possibly  see what is oncoming if what we see is moving toward us or we are moving toward it.  However, windows only offer  a limited arc of vision even the windshield of an AMC Gremlin had a huge span and yet the driver’s view was not limitless.  

the point of all this?  If  knowing yourself is needed to get to peace and joy and having an accurate picture of what that. Looks like externally at given. Minute is critical....to you... you may have a bigger problem than you think.  

Maybe it’s a good. Idea to start with some internal silence and reflection in order to  see what we believe in instead of external means to believe in what we see?  Do we even  need mirrors...yes... but maybe we need the  kinds of.mirrors that friends can be.  Friends will tell you their honest. Views on  your thoughts if you invite them too and return that favor.  If you don’t like  what you see friends and sometimes family (they aren’t the same thing) will help you change the internal picture  you have of yourself and yourself indeed.  Just remember the thing about  friends and others is that you can wander around enough (just like wandering around in the “house of Mirrors”  to find those mirrors that  reflect just what you want to see.  Be aware that. There are. Many. Other. Perspectives of you and tthat you can’t control  many of those.  

I am certain I’ll have more to say about mirrors  in the future, however,for now that’s about enough.   I’ll wrap this up with a little  song about  mirrors and speaking of that... building block  number four and the chorus are  nearly forged for the weekend.  

Till then  know that your past  is in the mirror and your present and your possible futures exist within.  With that ..go out and create some peace and. Joy

What’s outside and inside your favorite window?

Change the Window Every. Few Days?

It’s late afternoon and the sunshine is blazing through the full-length window connected to my deck door.  It’s almost annoying...except that I love the sun and in the winter the daylight is far too brief.  So if this sun is annoying why am I looking out that window.  Well...any of us who stands and stares out a window collecting or avoiding thoughts—-you have a favorite window—I know you do.  This one is mine.  I like the one above the sink too.  There is a moment each morning and each evening when the sunlight reaches the horizon and comes to join us or says “good night.”  

Earlier today, I looked out that. Other window and pondered how different the view might be if those two windows  were in other places or in opposite places?

You see, I choose the windows I use to provide my picture of the world.  Sure some circumstances have placed a limited number of windows in front of me from time to time, yet still I choose these.  Through these windows I  can only see part of the world out there.  The rest of the.universe is only evident  through my memory or my imagination.  So while staring out I have  this little slice of “real” and the rest is my construction.  Now my construction is just as real because I don’t stop and say to myself—“Jim you only see the river—your thinking of  tomorrow’s or yesterday’s

 dinner is not being required of you...you are choosing it .  You are  giving it the window in your mind and it is through that window you seek peace and joy.  

 So from my favorite window I See the river flowing in front of me and then I move my focus to the river as it comes toward me.  I have no need to see it after it passes. Yet, I don’t try to look too far upstream either.  Maybe that’s why this is my favorite window.  The best views  from there  remind me about  what is a healthy state of mind for me.  I can do very little about  what is past and the time is not quite  here for the future, but it will come. In it’s own time and pass before me and I won’t miss it.  I see the sunset through this window and it’s often  the time when the  Western sky is  at it’s most beautiful.  If it’s not the western  sky where the sun is setting, we’re all in a bunch of trouble.  

Even if this is my favorite view on things, I’m reminded by other windows that it’s not the only perspective.  Sometimes it is good to find a new perspective.  This can. Bring a different set of realities into focus or allow me to see better what someone else is seeing when they look outside and inside for that matter.  It also reminds me to invite people to look through my window and ask to look through theirs from time to time.  

How often  do we need to change the view?  I’m not sure, yet I know I find. More peace and joy when I do it.  So in the spirit of experimentation why don’t we all do it a little more?  Maybe if we  switched windows  we could. Get a sense for. What looks the same no matter what window you see it from.  I think sometimes we. Forget the similar things and focus on the differences.  By looking out. A different window and talking about it  with someone you might find out that you are  both calling  something a cloud, however the clouds you see are nothing. Like the clouds they see, in fact, you are talking about  the same word  but two entirely  unique  things so arguing about  clouds isn’t k at all helpful.  

Okay... become aware of your favorite windows, change  your view or imagine what would be in your world if you used a different window.  Know you choose the windows you look from most of the time.  Invite others to look out your window and ask them what they see after they look.  There’s no real need to  tell them what they are looking at or what they might see until they’ve taken a good look.  

Well it’s the night outside my window now and time to close the windows. To my soul—if that’s what your eyes really are.  

I

Maybe tomorrow we talk about the  difference between. Windows and mirrors?  

?  

And the blocks just keep on falling

THE BLOCKS JUST KEEP ON FALLING -BB 3

Building on the first two verses or stanzas from last week wasn’t incredibly straining, however, it  created a train of thought for this. Song/poem that has me a bit perplexed.  I’m looking  at the direction this is taking, however, when you create things they. Go where they go and maybe you mold them later and maybe you don’t.  It’s the chance the creator takes.  

so again, I want to address the peace and joy  stuff and let the words cap off the entry .

Seeking peace and joy for me means not getting stuck in the  past with the torments of the meanings in your life that you want to change.  In order to move forward, it is critical that I work on  moving. And pulling the lessons from these torments I into the present when they apply.  It is not  necessary to carry the whole past along as long as you believe the lessons from the past will be there when you need them to. Problem solve—you don’t need them to be the problems to be solved.  Aso what in the world does that have to do. With this song?  Well ladies and gentlemen and kids of all ages it feels like this verse pile is a place where I’m depositing thins for a while...mostly feeling or images of feelings that I have. To place in a parking lot and know the lessons of them will be there later.  Carrying these feelings around  isn’t going to help me look at each day with a fresh set of eyes or a “new mind,”  so I’ve got to clear the path a bit by writing these things down in a song that I can. Sing and flush from my present when I want to.  Having. Said all that  here’s the third block with a few slight changes to the first  two: 

EEvery now and then. Peace and joy  slip from  your routine

Confusion Rushes in filling all the spaces in between

Humbling numbing chaos crahes down into what was once serene 

That’s when you must name your torments and find out much later what they mean 

Building Block 2

 As you stand there in the rubble somewhere in the distance there’s a chime

The cathedral may be open or maybe the bells are tolling for it’s closing time

The poet’s pen starts screaming knowing not who  will hear the rhyme

It’s too cryptic Thor the  scholars and far too loud for the passive mime

Block 3

If no one’s there to listen then the egotists will have to take the field

To test. The sharpest sword and the hardest  shield

Before the battle starts the results is signed and sealed

For war never has winners and once again that is revealed  

Block 4 and the music..next weekend! 

Pills please enjoy why the sequel is rarely equal

PILLS, PEACE AND JOY

Why as equal is rarely equal

Well...my intent was to. Move away from the box office or  streaming the movies we all know and love yesterday, it became  evident to me. Last. Night that I had done made one  unthinkable error  in my entry and had one additional  thought to share.  First Star Wars was an interesting science fiction adaptation of the. Psychological ideas of Campbell, but  not Erikson...I am embarrassed to note that in my haste I  credited the wrong classic  psychological theorist.  Star Wars has the Arctypical  characteristics of  a Jungian  flavor.  So my apology for that.  It’s  like calling a liberal and a Libertarian  the same thing... not true.  

Anyway that’s not the main. Topic for today.  

While  choosing my top five movies and offering a list of  “others” I left one Movie off intentionally—THE MATRIX.

In my view the. Movie has as much to  do with seeking the truth vs false  happiness or success as any  movie ever made and  like most of the movies I like there is a decided internal and external world. Battle.  If you want to seek peace and joy you must take the red pill and sometimes the rabbit hole gets quite deep.  Real events often aren’t really that real and can be reframed instantly.  Once you reach a certain sense of. What makes you real you  do have  significant  control over the external world where a lot of people  have not chosen to be as aware as they. Could be.  

At the end of the movie (the. First one)  Neo states quite truthfully  he  didn’t  do this to tell  folks how this is going to end, but  to show  people  where. To restart so to speak.   

He  simply says. This is where we begin.  

Obviously, I love all these concepts, and yet, the movie isn’t. On my list.  Why?  

The Sequals

The sequals for this movie we’re ridiculous and completely discounted the spiritual and existential aspects. That were so strong in the first movie.  The two  follow-ups turned. This into a science fiction  war/mystery techno fest.  They  pretty well wiped out the. Richness. Of the first film because the lesson in the first  film was that we need to wake up and change... the other moviewas were simply about fighting and I think they ruined the value  of the  whole conceptual  underpinnings of the original.  

Okay... I have said all I need to about this....if you  are seeking  peace and joy take the red pill and free your mind—tha’t my bit of wisdom  for today.   More soon..but it won’t be a sequel. 

And the winner is top-five peace and joy movies of all time maybe

....and the winner  is...

The last couple of entries. Have. Incorporated some of my favorite or at least some popular  movie quotes.  When  I tried to bend the message to fit in a line it seemed to come out  sort of lame from time to time.  Truth be told if prizes were. Given for this sort of things there are times when I could have been a contender—but probably. Not this week.  In a perfect universe or in a galaxy  far  far away these. Cute. Little things always work out heaven but. Is this heaven?  No it’s Iowa or a mindset that. Ggrew up there and lived there for half a century.  

Anyway getting  to today...It’s a Thursday and in honor of. The little segments when  the movie people get their award and. Give a. Little. Speech...it’s “Thank You  Thursday.  In keeping with. This notion I thought I’d  say thank you to the  folks (and the messages in five of my favorite. Films of All time.  When I started to narrow down my list it became evident that this was. Going to be hard because  my list changes depending upon my mood...I almost gave up, but did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  

So  Starting at  number  5...

JAWS

Who doesn’t like a good fish story?  Well given the fact that. The Old Man. And the Sea is one of my favorite. Books, it. Probably goes to reason that.Jaws  in on my list.  The ideas in this movie that  are keys in finding or seeking peace and joy and  strike me are the idea that ego and money will often warp  our sense of  what does and does not constitute  the “public good.”  The mayor really believed for a moment or two threat he was doing. What was best for the people in his community especially the economic welfare.  A second theme was that  of an unlikely  crew getting together to  try to save the day.  The “drinking” scene showed how  people  can eventually. Come together but there is always some sort of  posturing involved and in terms of peace and joy it is sometimes necessary to  recognize that and either account for it or ignore it.  Of course there. We’re some humorous  moments including  pulling a license plate  out of a shark’s gut and determining it might have. Come up from  a gulf state.  finally the survivors  ended up humbly  using barrels to kick their way back toward shore.  The movie didn’t end with.a hero having a parade.  If you are seeking a parade...well...peace and joy are probably. Going to be elusive.  

Number. 4.

STAR WARS

Which One?  The concept mostly.  The first one was  this quirky little  zen cowboy in space love story and since it  had this. Focus on  a spiritual power  (the force)  it fed my sense of  inner strength and  that’s always a big thing for me in the movie arena.  The family dynamics  in the movie were interesting and the Campbell/Ericksonian psychological themes were  very well demonstrated.  Again the inner war and the outer. War and the methods of  influencing the  situation were  the most critical elements and the special effects for the time were of course fabulous...Oh and one more thing about Jaws and Star Wars...the dramatic music was of course priceless.

The Top Three...now is when it gets tough because  like. I said. These things are so mood dependent.  Here are some that didn’t make the top five...but would appear on the list sometimes.  

Caddy Shack

The Blues Brothers

It’s a Wonderful Life

Forrest Gump

A Few. Good Men

The. Quick and the Dead

TheWizzard ofOz

Ghost Busters 

Back to the Future

Cool HandLuke

And there are a few more

Now  back to my list.

Number. Three

 The Princess  Bride...

It’s a story. Within a story and life is often just that way... a story within a story.  It’s a boy meets girl boy connects with. Girl boy loses girl. And then boy almost doesn’t get girl but  does in the end love story....  The sarcastic sense of humor. Displayed throughout reminds me that seeking  peace and joy often means  poking a. Little fun at conventional wisdom or at least reframing. It and keeping a sense of humor is critical.  Again, an unlikely band of heroes  saves the days and the fact that they were respectful  foes at one point and then ended up working together to avenge injustices also makes me smile.  The grandfather reading to the grandson is a wonderful inner generational touch and the  fact that there was a noticeable.change in the. Little. Boy about relationships (okay mostly kissing)  was pretty well done and of course that because this was a fairy tale sort of the happy ending was nice.  One asapect of the film that  I believe gets missed is the treatment of the whole. Dread. Pirate. Roberts “swap.”  What. A nice way to point out that it is so often what  really. Exists that people  get to know and understand.  It is the appearance that counts.  

Number Two

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Well you’d better get busy living  or get busy dying.... okayI do like the idea that we need to pursue peace and joy and collect  positive experiences as often as possible.  In this film we once again have one of my favorite themes.  We have. External barriers to choice and moving forward, however. Brewing. Below the surface  “freedom and hope are internal and need to be self-directed—again much like  peace and joy these are only things your internal compass can point you toward.  The injustice in our systems and the redemption or payback of course is appealing  to my sense of fairness.  Red (the man who can get things)  realizes that. His learned skill. Of using the prison system has made it hard to work in. The ‘free world.”  The movie also shows us how willing some  folks are to exercise power over others.  Hard work and patience is rewarded in this movie in several scenes and in the lives of many characters.  The symbolic nature of crawling through a sewer adds to the joy felt by those cheering on Andy and reminded me that often  some really uncomfortable. Stuff happens  right as you reach another stage or part of your growth.  

AND MY  FAVORITE  OF ALL TIME...

If you spent much time. Reading  this blog you know. Certain things.  My favorite bat as a kid wasn’t named.Rosebud, however I do have a thing for baseball and I am from Iowa.  I undersatand farming and family dynamics around farming.  I went to a school where some books were  “banned” and  so... of course the winner  is..

FIELD OF DREAMS

Baseball is a complex and intricate game that takes specific skills to  play very well and yet its a backyard  sport that almost anyone can play at some level.  There are individual battles between pitchers and batters and  the batter  stands alone against a whole field of folks much. Like we do in life sometimes when we deal with complex situations that are changing constantly.  There is  a lot of failure in baseball, yet at the end of a game someone has “won” and it’s. Not a  player it is a team.  Oh and I’m just getting started.

The movie is about  a guy that  wanted to make. Amends with his father who loved baseball, but  never  got the chance to see how much his son really. Loved. The game.  The plot was about making something happen because you believe in it no matter. What. Others may choose to. Believe.  The  James  Earl Jones speech about Howe baseball has been a constant in our country and  how people will come always strike me as  beautiful because  he is telling his new friend Ray that he has backed the right horse and reminds all the  witnesses that Americans have belie3ved in the sanctity  of the sport for  a very long time.  Ray, the farmer,son, baseball nut is rewarded for his beliefs and yet  misses the point until.Shoeless Joe Jackson asks “did you build this for you?  That  reminds me that  a lot of good deeds get done. Because the doer wants to be seen as doing good things not because  they are something that matters to our fellow man (or in this  case the ghost of a  missed parent).  Finally...and you really have to watch these films. Because  I don’t do them justice here...the simplest aspect of the game—playing catch— as a bonding experience between father and son becomes a perfect final scene becauseit’s a baseball thing anyone can do with any other person but you can’t really do it  by yourself.  Maybe that’s  something we  overlook from time to time.  There is not  much we can do without connection with others and one of us has to believe in that strongly enough to make it happen and invite the others to  join in.... but not Ty Cobb. 

Well...to summarize I want to thank you all for reading this far down and. I want to thank all the writers, directors, popcorn makers, actors and  whoever attempts to clean.  the sticky stuff off the theater. Floors for  giving us these and all the other films  you love.  Creating our own realities is. Hard work and. Sometimes we need to spend an hour or two in someone else’s. Reality to gather the  strength to keep at it... However, rest assured that if you work. For an environment where. Peace  and joy. Are pursued and. Prized—well if you build it. People will come yes if you build it they  will come.  

Look for a podcast tomorrow at

http://peaceandjoy505.libsyn.com/dr-martin-luther-king-a-symbol-of-peace-and-joy

Or go ahead check it out today and come back tomorrow for more new content LOL

Oscar previews the sequel already?

So  in honor of the OSCAR nominations  coming out and the little gratitude speeches that will be given tomorrow I’ll  make this  entry all about gratitude.  However, this morning I woke up pretty cranky so when  I started to look through some Valentine’s Day. Bling my daughter is crafting and wondered what shade of red I should. Get I thought. To myself—what’s the coolest?  The Answer of course was. Frankly—scarlet but I don’t give a damn.  So I’m not running to  the front of any boats and shouting I’m on top of the world this. Morning but I. Will try to focus as the  universe stares me in in the face and asks if I’m feeling lucky and I’m thinking I’m not controlling today so much so I just shook my head and thought okay Tuesday make my day.   

Well if you read yesterday’s rant  you know   The promise was made to talk about the magic of memories.  Let’s start out making a distinction in the world of seeking peace and joy.  When I’m talking about memories I’m talking about the collection of experiences not a list of facts about. The past.  So often we set goals that we hope to make part of our future, president, and eventually  our past.  When I was very young I made some of these  goals about. Cash and getting  more of it.  Well from time to time I’ve done okay with that but  if you asked me to recount my  best memories the answers might disappoint some of you  because I can’t show you the money.  I also can’t show you a bunch of trendy. Fashions or  new dangled stuff because I didn’t need to have what. She’s having or he’s having for that matter.  Some of the best memories are those I built with  friends over time and really  when I was  with some of them it felt like home and. Of course there’s no place like home.  Whenever I’ve  felt  like I was on extremely shaky ground in later years, I’ve pounded my brain for a minute and admitted this is not where I expected right now and in order to  move forward I recognized  that fact by qwuoting from OZ  hey...what would you do with a brain if you had one?  Then I just looked  for a yellow brick and headed out on the road to a new experience.  Since I’m a human, it is impossible to leave all the bad experiences and memories of them. Behind although I’d  like to  tell them haste la vista baby.  So I stare them in the face and  ask...you talkin’ to me...are you talkin’ to me?  If I don’t figure out why these memories. Exist in a place and time. When I’m facing  something I have been known to lash out claiming  hey memories you  think I’m out of order well you ‘re out of order, this whole situation is out of. Order and remind them that I’m not afraid of no ghosts.  

I guess what I’m saying here is  don’t drag  the memories around if they are. Not helpful.  You are not in Kansas anymore for a reason so here’s a tip.  Think of three great memories and one not so great.   Notice where you were, who you were with and remember  any conversations. You had...  Ask yourself which of these things you can ever reconstruct and then if your memories still get in the way explain to your spirit of exploration and experimentation and growth that what we have isn’t much to worry about... What we have here is a failure to communicate. That is to say recognize your memories as lasting lessons and determine whether  those  memories are really the tools you need  for this specific. Situation.  So often we let our memories dictate our beliefs about our current identity when  very often they just don’t apply.  What  you do when you. Allow  your memories to dictate instead of inform is  giving up the ability of. Your current. Self to seek peace and joy right now in short you have no chance to carpe diem.  So work with your memories a bit after you meditate or before you do, but not when you are in the flow of your day.  One of the best days of my life is when I realized that these memories I treasured weren’t always  my friends and  while it works for The Godfather  it’s not always to hold my friends close and my enemies  closer.  So I made my memories a  deal they couldn’t refuse and  said —I’ll always respect you and value your lessons, however you’re not going to get me and my little dog too.  

In short, in seeking peace and joy make memories your magic toolboxes and teachers but pay no attention to the  man behind the curtain who is trying to. Rule you with the fear of your past or scare you. Out of moving  forward.  remember your best past at a ratio of  about three to  one it’s easy if you try.  Don’t be at all afraid to interrupt a bad memory and say that’s enough and visualize yoursaelf destroying the fear...heck even use  Dirty Harry’s 44 Manum and ask  the fear if   It feels lucky bunk?  Then tell it say hello  to my little friend and  pump  that memory full of lead.  

Why. Treat your memories this way?  Well. Plutonium  might  be  old  on every street corner in 2025 but it’s. Pretty  hard to come by here... so you can’t hop in your DeLorean and go back  to fix the past and you can’t let the  space time continuum keep repeating  itself...Your life is not  Ground Hog’s Day although  I’m not sure it’s ever too early for flapjacks. 

Well pilgrims ... my fingers are getting tired and  I need to. Go quietly into that good night.  I’ll put together one  more segment of this. In the morning when I open my eyes  wide and I breathe in  the air outside after all I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.  for. Now cherish the good memories and swear as God as your witness that you’ll never let the rotten ones. Make you go hungry for peace and joy again.  Tell your  doubts that your  name is Indigo  Montoya and while bad memories  killed your father they  can prepare to die.  

Yo Rock cue. The theme song because I Gotta Fly Now , but tomorrow I’ll be back.

Hasta la vista  Baby  

  in honor of the OSCAR nominations  coming out and the little gratitude speeches that will be given tomorrow I’ll  make this  entry all about gratitude.  However, this morning I woke up pretty cranky so when  I started to look through some Valentine’s Day. Bling my daughter is crafting and wondered what shade of red I should. Get I thought. To myself—what’s the coolest?  The Answer of course was. Frankly—scarlet but I don’t give a damn.  So I’m not running to  the front of any boats and shouting I’m on top of the world this. Morning but I. Will try to focus as the  universe stares me in in the face and asks if I’m feeling lucky and I’m thinking I’m not controlling today so much so I just shook my head and thought okay Tuesday make my day.   

Well if you read yesterday’s rant  you know   The promise was made to talk about the magic of memories.  Let’s start out making a distinction in the world of seeking peace and joy.  When I’m talking about memories I’m talking about the collection of experiences not a list of facts about. The past.  So often we set goals that we hope to make part of our future, present, and eventually  our past.  When I was very young I made some of these  goals about. Cash and getting  more of it.  Well from time to time I’ve done okay with that but  if you asked me to recount my  best memories the answers might disappoint some of you  because I can’t show you the money.  I also can’t show you a bunch of trendy. Fashions or  new dangled stuff because I didn’t need to have what. She’s having or he’s having for that matter.  Some of the best memories are those I built with  friends over time and really  when I was  with some of them it felt like home and. Of course there’s no place like home.  Whenever I’ve  felt  like I was on extremely shaky ground in later years, I’ve pounded my brain for a minute and admitted this is not where I expected right now and in order to  move forward I recognized  that fact by qwuoting from OZ  hey...what would you do with a brain if you had one?  Then I just looked  for a yellow brick and headed out on the road to a new experience.  Since I’m a human, it is impossible to leave all the bad experiences and memories of them. Behind although I’d  like to  tell them haste la vista baby.  So I stare them in the face and  ask...you talkin’ to me...are you talkin’ to me?  If I don’t figure out why these memories. Exist in a place and time. When I’m facing  something I have been known to lash out claiming  hey memories you  think I’m out of order well you ‘re out of order, this whole situation is out of. Order and remind them that I’m not afraid of no ghosts.  

I guess what I’m saying here is  don’t drag  the memories around if they are. Not helpful.  You are not in Kansas anymore for a reason so here’s a tip.  Think of three great memories and one not so great.   Notice where you were, who you were with and remember  any conversations. You had...  Ask yourself which of these things you can ever reconstruct and then if your memories still get in the way explain to your spirit of exploration and experimentation and growth that what we have isn’t much to worry about... What we have here is a failure to communicate. That is to say recognize your memories as lasting lessons and determine whether  those  memories are really the tools you need  for this specific. Situation.  So often we let our memories dictate our beliefs about our current identity when  very often they just don’t apply.  What  you do when you. Allow  your memories to dictate instead of inform is  giving up the ability of. Your current. Self to seek peace and joy right now in short you have no chance to carpe diem.  So work with your memories a bit after you meditate or before you do, but not when you are in the flow of your day.  One of the best days of my life is when I realized that these memories I treasured weren’t always  my friends and  while it works for The Godfather  it’s not always to hold my friends close and my enemies  closer.  So I made my memories a  deal they couldn’t refuse and  said —I’ll always respect you and value your lessons, however you’re not going to get me and my little dog too.  

In short, in seeking peace and joy make memories your magic toolboxes and teachers but pay no attention to the  man behind the curtain who is trying to. Rule you with the fear of your past or scare you. Out of moving  forward.  remember your best past at a ratio of  about three to  one it’s easy if you try.  Don’t be at all afraid to interrupt a bad memory and say that’s enough and visualize yoursaelf destroying the fear...heck even use  Dirty Harry’s 44 Manum and ask  the fear if   It feels lucky bunk?  Then tell it say hello  to my little friend and  pump  that memory full of lead.  

Why. Treat your memories this way?  Well. Plutonium  might  be  old  on every street corner in 2025 but it’s. Pretty  hard to come by here... so you can’t hop in your DeLorean and go back  to fix the past and you can’t let the  space time continuum keep repeating  itself...Your life is not  Ground Hog’s Day although  I’m not sure it’s ever too early for flapjacks. 

Well pilgrims ... my fingers are getting tired and  I need to. Go quietly into that good night.  I’ll put together one  more segment of this. In the morning when I open my eyes  wide and I breathe in  the air outside after all I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.  for. Now cherish the good memories and swear as God as your witness that you’ll never let the rotten ones. Make you go hungry for peace and joy again.  Tell your  doubts that your  name is Indigo  Montoya and while bad memories  killed your father they  can prepare to die.  

Yo Rock cue. The theme song because I Gotta Fly Now , but tomorrow I’ll be back.

Hasta la vista  Baby  

OSCAR Preview peace and joy

How About Some Hot. Buttered Peace  and Joy?

In honor of the  Oscar nominations coming out this week (I think) I’ve decided that then next. Three  entries will include a liberal sprinkling. Of lines from some of my favorite movies.  Not all of these will be from. OSCAR. Winners because. I don’t  know that much movie.Trivia.  I don’t know  if it would be Sophie’s  Choice to read these entries,  but I’m pretty sure  they would land somewhere near the  bottom. Of.Schindler’s list of things to read this week.   All that I can say is that like always  I’ll try to avoid trite. Terms of endearment and stick to the truth even if you can’t handle the truth.  I hope you will enjoy and learn from the same posts and it doesn’t just feel like  consuming them is rearranging. Deck chairs on the Titanic where the captain. I believe yelled out to the first mate “find me a life boat and tell all the passengers that our. Cruise is offering free ice this evening.”  Okay that’s a little over the top.  Anyway there will be some serious thoughts in these posts and I hope a lot of grins and moans.  Come along  on our trip and I hope. Enough of you do so that. We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Well as some of you know by my facebook post  I live in a fairly scenic spot and a river runs through it.  We got a lot of  Rain Man and for the first. Time since we have lived here the water  left the banks on our side.  For about. Two solid days Raindrops keep fallin’ on our heads and then  it stops so the water  is deep enough to jump into if the law is chasing. You and don’t  worry if you jump  from the bridge and you can’t swim the fall will probably kill you.  Okay let’s  row over to the shore and reset a second to get into topic one.

Watching. The river. Reminds me that life and nature have a flow and that. I can fear it, or. I can marvelcontrol it at least not all the time and maybe not much of the time.  The water level reminds me that. Change can come  quickly or slowly and either way it can be powerful.  Like this river that has been here for  thousands of years, change  has always been with us and like like this river sometimes change fundamentally  alters the world, and sometimes it just shows us that  we can accept our role in building  aa living landscape that accepts the likelihood of change.  So I’m glad my humble abod is  probably  60 feet away from the water and several feet higher so there’s.little chance of. Running into. Captain Nemo or even Finding Nemo in my yard.  We do have. A huge post lodged against  the docks in. Front  of us and it remains to see what happens  with that.  I’m going to  call someone to.let them know. If it’s still there come morning.because. I’m not Ishmael and Idon’t need to risk my hide trying to. Free Willie.  

Anyway things have a flow and  change and  always will which is why setting a particular goal that is to happen at a particular time and in a particular place and  hoping that it will remain a permanent  treasure in your search for peace and joy is  not necessarily going to work out. Like  Lt. Dan  investing  in some fruit company.  

Well if the weather. Reports are correct things will improve life will be like a box of chocolates again and there  will be no need to  tell anyone in  Lansing,  Madison, New York New York. Or Houston we have a problem.  

No matter  what happens it’s. Mid January and. Spring training is just. A few weeks away so  no matter how wicked. The weather. Gets there will be no  crying because  there’s no crying in baseball—season.  I am looking  forward to  spring so. I can spend my time differently and  a little more of it. Is just a bit outside.  

Tomorrow —when the sun will come out—I’ll  provide  some thoughts about turning memories into magic powers for the present because  like Harry you’re a wizzard and the force is worth you... but that’s  enough sugar for  today and a spoonful will nearly always help the medicine. Go down.  

And in the immortal words of. Porky... at least for today... That’s all folks