The seeking peace and joy dictionary 5W?

 

THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY — — W — —

W is for 

Taking some liberties....

The “5 Ws”

5Ws...nouns sort of

Throwing in “how” we have who, what, when, where, how, and why.”  These are the elements of a story and seeking peace and joy is the story of us... It is the  experiencing of things and people in places and at times.  It is what happened and why.  So in seeking peace and joy we are building a story that we can understand and share.  We can also explore change by modifying any of the 5Ws and the how.  The other thing about the 5Ws is that  while each is important. On its own they are all related in a variety of ways.  For example if one of the “who’s” is a proctologist then we have a real clue  as to where we are talking about—somewhere  near Washington D.C.  because there are a lot of sick assholes there... yep I went there... lol...

Seriously the elements are related and so we have the chance to experiment with any of them and bring a change to the world.  Also we often make it difficult to approach peace and joy  when we focus on one element and define it  in a singular way... you see.   If the The Who is always you it is less likely wou will get  to experience someone else’s how and thus miss out a new way to discover one of your gifts.  If you stay in the same “where” it will limit the “what’ you might see and the  meanings given to things in the “why” arena.  

So the 5Ws are a tool in the seeking of peace and joy and in the  ability you may have to create and experiment with. The process.  

Water

Water...noun

Seeking peacer and Joy for many is  enhance by the experience of water.. seeing it, hearing, it feeling it,and letting it flow over  you.  Water  can take the form of steam, mist, rain, drinking water, snow, ice and ice cubes for your favoridte drinks... Water provides life and yet it takes  valuable forms to meet your needs or the needs of the. World  around us.   It seeks the place of least resistance in so many ways but when it works together. Like in a flood it is one of the most powerful forces ever.  So if one is seeking peace and joy consider water.   Consider  changing your form to fit in the  space available and to keep flowing and changing as time and space. Make that possible and  also you can dive into water which is something that seeking peace and joy requires from time to time.  

Wax On—Wax Off

Wax -on —Wax Off....action

Well ...this is a phrase from that cinematic  classic The Karate Kid and it’s spoken from teacher to student as the instructor has the student polish up his prize car.  However, all is not what it seems.  In the process of learning to  make a car shine the student is  training  his muscles to perform a very valuable  defensive  technique.  That’s how it is with seeking peace3 and joy at times... we learn to find something  just a little  relaxing and interesting in some odd area of our lives or in some relationship and lo and behold if we become aware... all the sudden we have the tools to experience peace or share joy in an entirely different context in a very natural and effortless  way.  So.. to summarize be present in almost every experience you can and build up the skills it takes so when some anxiety or disaster sneaks up...well you have the process ready to turn and roundhouse kick its butt by seeing the peaceful elements in the chaos...by having the confidence to find the lesson in the failure and the magic in the mistakes or misfortunes that life tosses your way.  Enjoy  the first piece of chocolate as if it were the last and best piece you will ever taste and each time. You have chocolate it will be a source of immense joy and every time you share your chocolate  you  will be doing so knowing that you are offering something  of tremendous  significance to your fellow human.  Then do the same with a kind word and that brings us to our final entry for today...

Words

Words... Noun

Take care of your words...they are buckets  you can use to hold your thoughts and feelings and connect your ideas.  They are the bricks you can use to build the support or houses you all offer to those you love and to strangers.  Words also can be weapons and they can steal peace and joy.  It seems that. Words have meanings, however, I sometimes refer back to the song lyric...”lately I just judge the distance not the words I hear”. Writing these entries  has been a composer’s pleasure with words being the melodies and the orchestra that fills the page.  If you ever need a sneaky fun activity take a minute or ten to write down the list of  ten words you might use to describe your  mortal enemy (no swearingK) and then pick someone or something you adore and do the same thing.   Play with your words and make them rhyme or stick in your mouth or provide as many questions as answers.  Collect new words and like  Dr. Seuss  when there isn’t the right word out there simply build a new one.  You see part of seeking peace and joy is always  experiencing what is there and then building a meaning... Words put the language. In your dreams.  Now  it’s time to  use one more word...

Goodbye

 (Well at least until  the next entry?

The seeking peace and joy dictionary. Y.

 

THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY — —  — —

B IS FOR

VACINE

VACINE.... NOUN

 In seeking. Peace and joy we often look for the “one time miracle solution to challenges.  This is okay, and yet we  can easily ignore or discount the process of learning from the challlenge if  we think that one shot  will do it for a lifetime.  Like most vacines one of two things is pretty likely.  You will need a booster or you will find out that  the side effects for some are far worse than the challenge itself.  For example , we may face  something we fear and use a substance to live through the fear or pass out through it only to have a very similar challenge come again or even worse spend a lifetime of fear wondering  if our one-time solution really worked.  In our culture...not having happiness...peace and joy seems to be a constant  challenge and unfortunately  we almost always turn to security and most notably  economic  security as the VACINE that will get us to the state of happiness we  are looking for.  Lo and behold when we discover money isn’t the universal solution and is sometimes the cause  of further disaster...it’s a tough pill to swallow.   In short  it’s not always beneficial  to go looking for the happiness VACINE ... and it’s good to be aware. That the cure for you. May not be the cure for others and ironically you may be the cure for someone else  but not yourself.   Oh and to carry this a bit further we sometimes find that if we use strong curiousity and learning  beliefs we often don’t  get ourself “ego sick” in the first place so we never need the VACINE.   I guess when it comes to the riches of the soul I’m an “anti-Vaxer.

Value

Value...noun (or verb)

This term was included  for one reason only... I know a really good  lesson that can be relayed in one line...

Don’t be someone who  learns the price of everything and  fails to be aware of the value of anything.  

Okay I said it was one line and I meant it.... 

Volume

Volume...noun

Turn it up.... in seeking peace and joy we sometimes hit the grooove..fall into the glow and  have an opportunity to share and yet... for some reason we don’t sing it from the mountain top.  Is it that we are unsure  about. What others will think or  unsure  how long we can be at the peak?  The thing is in seeking peace and joy we often  come across a wonderful experience like. A strong and steady rhythm and if we don’t play it  with some volume the violin and the trumpet can’t join and the dancers won’t let it rip.  so if you are seeking peace and joy as walking with others don’t be afraid to turn up the volume or turn it down so that you can hear the gifts of others.  Just don’t assume  one volume will ever  be all you have and all you have to offer.  Oh but always remember that sometimes silence. Is louder than any nhoise and  that it is important to be wise enough to know  that while  they are matched in decibels ...a whisper nearby is not the same as a shout in the distance.   Okay that’s all  about volume ...go out there and be your music and play it loud enough for your neighbors. To listen to whether they want to or not..—just kidding—but don’t be afraid of letting people know th extent of your  joy by singing  loud and don’t pass from this life with your beautiful song. Still waiting to be sung.....

Vulcan 

Vulcan...noun/adverb

“Live long and prosper.”  Come on Mr. Spoc is that the best you could do with that radical hand sign?  Do you have a wise younger brother  who mad a peace sign and said...”seek Peace and Joy?”  After all we could all boldly go to places in our soul that we hadn’t been before and discovered new ideas  from new people that might further  our experiences and make more choices about meanings possible.  Unfortunately sometime we elevate the importance of logic and rationality to the point  where spiritual meanings  get stunted and rarely shared.  In these cases seeking peace  and joy by ourselves or with others becomes difficult and it’s sometimes hard. To find someone  to mind our soul “meld” with and to have strong bonds.  Logic is one of the valuable tools in your cognitive  toolbox so don’t  turn your oven up to 800 in order to cook you dinner faster, however perhaps  consider that you are a whole being with a body, mind, and soul.  

So i offer this as a new mantra from Spoc...

Live Well and Share Peace... oh and definitely go boldly bed use if you just sort of go you’ll end up like Wylie Coyote  just part way across the gap but all the way off the cliff...  

Be a Vulcan for Peace and Joy Live Well and smile Bones... 

With that the rest of my ideas.for now have “banished” and it’s time for us to “(sp) vamenos”  time to “wind our Way  to the whimsical wisdom of W...

 ”

Why you should be thankful that 2020 sucks some thanksgiving thoughts

   2020 Thanksgiving  Thoughts

This entry interrupts your “regularly scheduled” Seeking Peace and Joy Dictionary to bring you a special message—the more you buy the more you save...Oh wait that’s the message I’m hearing from the TV.  

Seriously 2020 sucks and there is enough blame going around to  choke a horse.  Unfortunately it’s the gift horse and we have spent a lot of time looking it in the mouth.  

By the way did you know that the saying “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” was related to the practice of looking at a horse’s teeth as an indicator of it’s health and age?  So if you were buying a horse it was a good thing to look into it’s mouth, but considered very bad form to look a gift horse in the mouth and there you have it....

Back to 2020... which has tested the limits of those who value certainty and security.  If you experience stress, PTSD, general anxiety, or are empathic this year has been like trying to sip from a fully cranked fire hose So if you feel the strain  it ain’t a shame. And give me the beat boys and free my soul and t try to get lost in the rock and roll and don’t be afraid to drift away a bit..... 

On the other hand it might be possible to  find some gifts here.  Like  many of us have become aware of the work  we put in on building routines and  how much fuel these routines. Provide.  On the other hand when the routines stop we get to feel the raw experiences again and understand just what “everyday” life feels like whether or not we have been paying attention.  We have been able to find out how much the “water cooler” and happy hour  connections  really meant to us on a regular basis.  We have found that some of us can work from home and some of us really need that as a sanctuary.  We’ve discovered. That some folks will try to take advantage of us economically regardless of the  product including toilet paper.    The black market “White Cloud” really put a Sharmon-like  squeeze on some folks.  So these changes  in life have strongly suggested a higher level of awareness.  For some it has opened our eyes to the value of being grateful for  little things and that is a real hammer in the building of the seeking peace and joy process.  

So even in the crappiest parts of this year so far. There are some lessons to be thankful for and then there’s this...

We may be learning that none of us does really well alone and when we aren’t able to choose  and own our connections with others and the world.  I don’t think  300 expert sociologists could have  devised  a social isolation or political diversity experiment  the likes of which we have experienced... and we should be thankful for the potential lessons  even though the path forward  isn’t very well lit in some places and will be harder to find than an aspirin in a blizzard at times.  There’s a little something for every problem solver on your list so dig in.   

If you went to a traditional catholic  school you already know this...but  nobody said  every lesson was going to be fun....

Ok  let’s get back to some “thanks”.stuff....

I looked at the number of views this blog has had in it’s  two-year run and at the number of downloads for the related podcast.  For the following  I am incredibly grateful... Thank you all for sharing  your time because 

Some 17,800 people have  viewed the blog

https://youtu.be/Jk2D4dofhPgthe podcast has been downloaded nearly 1800 times and in a staggering 29 countries on every continent except Antarctica.  (I guess I had better  include penguins and insulated  underwear in  the title  someone in the next  year or so... 

Seriously I thank you all for listening, reading and more than that stopping just a second to think about a few things.  To use a technical  phrase about audience engagement ..

“I’m freaking blown away dude.” I thank each of you....

So I am going to wrap up with a link to a song and YouTube video...The lyrics are in the description...spoiler alert I posted this on facebook already and I said you didn’t need to listen to the song if you read the lyrics that are listed  in the description.   You do however,  have to know that  I appreciate nearly all of you more than you will know...especially  because like 2020 I stink at expressing my thanks as often as I should...

Have a great day and add some light to Black Friday so so that it’s  just a little dark grey.  

Bless you. https://youtu.be/Jk2D4dofhPg

The seeking peace and joy dictionary U.

 THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY — — U — —

U is for ....

Umpire

 Umpire...noun

An umpire is the primary rules interpreter and enforcer in baseball and is generally  charged with making decisions that  nearly half the game’s  players are not  wanting to know or agree with.  However, this is not tot suggest he or she only brings peace and joy to some (although our expectations should not be that everyone. Will be a source of peace and joy all the time;.  The “peace and joy part about an umkpire’s role for me is in how what the umpire decides and states. Brings meaning o an experience.  An old veteran umpire was once asked...”in this era of 100 mile an hour pictches how do you know if a pitch is really a ball or strike?  He just winked and said that’s easy... it ain’t nothing till I say it is”.  And so seeking peace and joy and experiences... each person has a choice about. Bringing meaning to many experiences and it matters how that person presents that meaning to others.  

Unique

 Unique...adjective

It’s a very human thing to compare ourselves with others to determine how we are doing.  It would take volumes and days to describe the pitfalls of comparison, however it is enough to say peace and joy often comes easier for those who look for the unique gifts they have and the unique ways they might be grown and shared.  You can choose to  express your unique gifts in big ways like having pink hair or in little ways like having a special handshake with a friend or your brother.  The point is.that honoring the unique things others have grown in a spirit of seeking peace and joy and sharing your own whimsical wonders is also important.  

Upload

Upload...verb

In this era of sharing of all types some of us are  downloaders and some are uploaders.  That is some folks seem to take all life has to offer and consume it without really working on transforming information into wisdom and putting it back out there or uploading it.  It seems in seeking peace and joy  it is valuable to upload things so that others may either benefit from them or others may transform them so that you can benefit. More from the raw materials you offered. The universe.  Uploading is an act of purposefully  engaging with others in a building process and doing so without  having to have control  of all the experiences  your contribution becomes a part of or the meanings that  happen as a result.   

Utensil

s

Utensils...noun

So not many people  today know that while knives and spoons were in use for a long time, forks weren’t commonly used until around 1850.  Why?  Forks were frowned upon by the church. Leaders of all varieties  of the  Christian religions declared that God had given mankind hands that performed the function of a fork and it was an offense to 

God to try to improve upon it.  I have been to fancy dinners where there were about 7 different options by the side of my plate and I agree — hands are just fine.  

Having made this observation it is probably  time to note that we have utensils to generally  make things easier to  digest and  a bit more pleasant  to handle.  Sometimes  when you are walking with someone on the journey of seeking peace and joy you may want to consider  what utensil is needed and try to  fulfill that function.  Like sometimes you will need to be the knife to help someone  cut through red tape and sometimes you will need to be  the fork so you can help someone latch on to something and hang on.  Oh and I can’t think of the descriptive  phrase suited for spoons right now, however a spoon is always good for Jell-O and there’s always room for Jell-O

Well this isa short entry and it could have used ‘unto” for an entry...but  I wanted to save it till the end here... it’s the ultimate. U word... because it’s part of one of the pillars  that support seeking peace and joy in nearly all instances.  Yep.. it’s part of the 

Golden 

Rule which is a sentiment that appears in nearly every spiritual text ever  constructed... and so in this season of Thanksgiving ...please. Remember

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO  YOU

Tomorrow we will have a special Thanksgiving  entry and then  we will “venture” on.   

The seeking peace and joy dictionar T. y

 

THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY — — T — — 

T  is for.... 

Tang

Tang....noun

What ever happened to Tang?   All kids of a certain age know what Tang is or was... it was the drink  that astronauts drank...and most kids knew all the astronauts too.  These things were so important for a while and dominated  our culture.  Someday  we may be saying “what’s Microsoft?  You see in seeking peace and joy it can be  important to remember that no matter how  permanent (and sometimes depressing) something might seem it may not last forever and sometimes it just disappears quietly.  At times it will be important to notice the fading away of things and just to let them go even if they were greatly traumatic or hurtful.  Forgiveness is one of those tricky things that happens when we are able to let significant stuff go the way of Tang.

Teach

Teach...verb

Teaching is  one of the most valuable  endeavors in the search for peace and joy.  Teaching allows  you to develop  sets of questions designed to build curiosity and to offer building blocks that students can choose from to construct solutions and wisdom.  When you reach out to teach something you are sharing  the energy of your  past and current efforts and saying “hey come walk with me for a minute and we’ll see what we might discover.   Teachers  offer the chance to learn together.  They create  environments for safe and interesting experiences and observe that others are working toward developing useful meanings for those experiences.  It also seems the more you teach the more you learn and the more you learn the more you have in your teaching toolbox.  Yep.. I’m saying if you want to learn more—teach and if you want to teach more—learn.  Instead of the vicious cycle of some things teaching creates a riches cycle.

Thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving ....noun and verb

A day to overeat==prepare to overspend—and hopefully be overly  aware of all the gifts shared with you by others.   Since this particular holiday  is coming soon this entry will end here but wait for the podcast on Wednesday .

Transcend 

Transcend ....verb

Sometimes we think of  seeking peace and joy as a transition  from our current state of mind and emotion to a different  state.  Unfortunately transitions and transactions  are exchanges and  so often we trade the frying pan for the fire.  Just as often we transact which is just reacting instead of really  transforming  or transcending.  

Seeking peace and joy is the processs of elevating awareness, embracing  awakenings, encouraging artistry and creativity and growing.  These are not transactional activities based upon what someone else does to you.  These are  not the stuff of an environment  impacting you.  Transcending is acting upon and rising above the traditional  temporary  tragedies and changing obstacles into opportunities and “failures” into lessons.  Transcending  is tapping into your. Glow and sharing it so that others can join with your energy beyond a one to one trade off.  

Like  the entry said there will be a special “

T” is for 

Thanksgiving  entry in a couple days so let’s  “T”  off and get in our U-boats for tomorrow or just unplug for a few hours.  

The seeking peace and joy dictionary S.

 

THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY  — — S — — 

S is for 

Seeking.... gerund  (verb that acts like. A noun

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...or a couple years back on the other side of the bridge... a couple people  provided me with bits of wisdom.  One said “ Do something that  brings you joy” and another person said “lay down your bloody sword.”  well those things ran around in my mind and in my soul and  eventually it became apparent  that most people don’t  “find” peace or joy.  the peaceful and joyful  people I have come across rarely sit still  just waiting for  these things to come along and they don’t  stumble around haphazardly (goodness I. Like that word) hoping to come  upon happiness —they set out on an adventure and seek experiences that have  peaceful elements and help them create joy for themselves and others.  so I’ve said all that to say that “seeking”  is important because it means you’ve tapped into the power of creative curiosity and are embracing changing and sometimes  creating it.  Will you find all that you seek?  that’s hard to know, however  will you find more than you ever imagined if you keep on seeking—well  if you keep your hooks. In the water who knows what you might catch?   also there is that thing from the Bible that says.”Seek and Ye shall.find”—-so Keep seeking and do it with others for added fun when possible.

sesame 

Sesame...adjective 

Now this blog (of the podcast) has already.explored  “sesame seeds,’ however, that  merits a review.  I’ve seen a lot of sesame. Seeds on buns and muffins and tried to figure out what they actually taste like alone.  so far I have noticed a texture and a little oily essence in some of them  and yet I have never seen them flying. Solo as a food product.  I’ve never seen a sesame plant in the wild and wonder what the remainder of the plant is valuable for?  Maybe we can settle on the fact that  the seed is the one gift that this plant gives and is a highlight. On the main show to speak.  On the other hand it might be great to note that  this role is important snd enough.  After all “sesame seed bun” is part of one of the most repeated quotes of the later part of the  20th century...

“Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese pickles, onions ON A SESAME SEED BUN” The gift you were meant to be  is worth seeking and  feel good. When you realize your glow.

Now “sesame” made the dictionary not just because. Of the Golden Arches  supper club—it’s also  a superstar part of  another two word blockbuster...

Picture a big yellow bird strolling past a trash can holding a grumpy green  monster and then listen  closely.. because you  are tripping down the street...yep you’ve got it ...

It’s a sunny day. And everything’’s A-OK .. and we’re on our way to where the  air is sweet... Peace and joy can tell you how to get... how to get to Sesame Street.  Now here’s a place. Where learning and youth are/were valued and curiosity is rewarded.  It seems a whole series of blog posts might be in order for  Sesame Street and Mr. r’s Neighborhood... so it’s boring added to the list.... for now  we can only hope that the election process  has been positively. Influenced by one of my favorites..the monster  who helps us make the numbers work... “count”  we need you!

Shoes

Shoes...noun

https://youtu.be/QBrzTJuHIXc

Well they help our feet function and our legs work more efficiently most the time.... We can often go along way in seeking. Peace and joy if we can walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and on a crazy  dday in spring you can write a poem that turns shoes into a song  and a chorus goes a little like this

May your sandals  have few scandals and your flip flops keep on flippin’ Your loafers. May be lazy  but your slippers may  keep you from slippin’

May you find some ruby slippers in case you need some wishing 

And put on your old hip waders when it’s time to do some fishing

Songs

Songs...nouns...

See music and  then just hit the link below for a taste of  the latest in the “peace and Joy” collection.

https://youtu.be/QBrzTJuHIXc

The seeking peace and joy dictionary. R

 THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTONARY. — — R — —

r is for 

Radio

radio ...noun

A magical device that takes music from somewhere and drops it into your. Soul....oh wait. Maybe that ‘a just me...however let’s go with it.  It was round about 1968 and it was my birthday and with one last gifted quarter from my Grandmother  who worked just up jefferson.st, I had $2.68 which was just enough to  buy the used  converted “stingray from an old guy who sold  used bikes out of his garage.  He was the grandpa of Donny and Ronny the Armstrong twins and worked at the train repair shop so anything he put together was going to weigh  just less than a small aircraft carrier, but it wasn’t going to break and that was just perfect.   Anyway I back to the $2.68...well that was enough to buy a GE portable  radio and the 9 volt battery it required so come just  about dark I could tune in 1490 KBUR and listen to the top ten countdown.  It would be a few years until I became familiar with  Hendrix, but there were some Beatles  songs and some Rolling. Stones and  a Simon and Garfunkel  ditty wafting through the air.  Best of all I could put. In the ear plug and listen to the rhythm  without  hearing  the distracting  noise of any neighbors including our landlord squeezing  every last dollar out of the  working. Poor in our  little town.  With the antenna  up I could reach out all the way to  foreign soil  like Chicago, St. Louis, and every now and then Omaha  wherever the heck that was.  Anyway .. this radio brought me music and this music  played with my imagination and the emotions of  a 9 year-old dreamer and it never. Really quit from then forward.  I met some of my dearest friends ever doing college radio and have used  music  coming over the air to seek a change in a mood so often.  I have tuned in for music to sing, music to make work go by quicker, music to dance and drink to...and yes music.I could play loud  group annoy my roommates and neighbors ...

The point. I want to make is that seeking. Peace and joy  is done better when we connect with an artist who is sharing  experiences. And their  meanings in ways that we can listen to and feel at at once and I am grateful that this thing called a radio exists.  

Redemption Song....Noun

Just find it on the radio or on. YouTube and  listen to it...any commentary  added here would be at best distracting

Rhymes

Rhymes...noun(s)

These are  nice little tools that can help us create  little buckets to hold. Emotions that we might need for fuel later or that hold  barriers. For a minute while we look around for options.  some folks like to read them.  Some people are masters at them like Dr. Seuss, and some folks. Cobble together. Song lyrics.with them.  For me finding a rhyme is like breathing for some folks who meditate.  I can focus on the words needed to  make the rhyme  and find myself right in the hear and now staring  at my soul for a peaceful moment.  

Here are the.rhymes I’m working on....or that are working on me. Right now....

I don’t mind if you may think I’m  an ancient hippy freak

I’m not a greasy wheel but you still won’t hear me squeak

I find. No grace in hate so I’ll turn the other cheek 

Love is my revenge and it’s  peace and. Joy I seek

Here have this laugh And smile  lay down your edgy smirks

Through the quicksand and the quagmires of life’s quintessential quirks 

Leave the jungle of the festers and jealous  little jerks

Go seeking like the wise kings who found peace and joy had perks....

There is some more cooking. However that’s enough for  now.  

Rubik’s  CubeRubik’s Cube...noun... see puzzle except  here’s more..

This hand held colorful puzzle was invented in 1974... I think just to keep  most of the children  of the post flower. P power  generation  confused long enough  so that they wouldn’t read history and get outraged at Nixon  and the Vit Nam cluster mess (insert the proper swear word if there are no children. Around).  

Anyway this is a great puzzle to spend some time solving especially to impress. A girl and to use as a timer for activities  that don’t really require a timer, but you want the audience to place false pressure on themselves so that they can feel proud they could finish their task before you finished the cube.  To make a long story short the cube is a puzzle and if you  focus your attention. You can figure out. How to move parts of it and  like magic other parts will come together.  And like seeking peace and joy...many things are  connected and related and in the end if you consider many more than one thing and isolate and focus. Your attention you will see some patterns.  Then  you can work in conjunction. With other purpose and. In the end most the pieces will fall into place.  Then deity a few more spins you can make other more intricate and interesting patterns if you please.   The key is this.... no matter how jumbled things seem you can move, change your perspective, try different combination of experiences and generally you. Will come up with something cool... Either that or you can have your younger cousins  move the stickers around so it never works out or you can paint the whole thing one color and stay bored... the choice is yours.  ..

Look for a post on this  sometime around Christmas...the cube makes a great stocking stuffer!

Well this Road is  over and  tomorrow will be brought to you by the letter. S and (hint) I see a big yellow bird and the forecast looks promising

The seeking peace and joy dictionary Q

THE SEEKING PEACE AND JOY DICTIONARY  — — Q — — 

Q is for ....

Oh wait—we might  just want to notice the very valuable. “U”—-yes. You or U are  valuable or ewes are valuable or however you’d like to say or spell it—:).

Q is fun to write in cursive which reminds me there needs to be a post on learning to write cursive.... Yet how often.do we see any words  Q without  U?  If the alphabet made sense wouldn’t u come right after.U?   If you are teaching  someone  to read or spell in alphabetical order Q is pretty much just hanging around waiting for  U to become a real player.  Anyway a quick  salute to U —Q’s  partner in a lot of high “quality”  words some of which we’ll see quite quickly.

Q is for....

Quagmire

Quagmire... noun

Quagmire... a sticky wicket, a mess that is complicated and full of mystery.  So many times  we start seeking peace and joy due to the notion that our life or our current situation  is a sticky mess and we don’t quite know  how we got there and where we are.   We are not sure  what we are really dealing with and that my friends means you and I find ourselves in a classic quagmire.  The cool thing about quagmires is that if we breathe and sort out one thing it often  breaks the spell of the quagmire and the quagmire becomes a series of adventures, trials, and solutions.  It is often easier to spot. Someone else’s quagmires than your own and thus it is possible to throw someone.a rope or a solution that helps someone  through a quagmire.  Have I written quagmire enough?   I really like  writing the word and the sound of it... I think it will have to become. A song lyric soon. 

Question

Question ...noun and verb

The question is the tool of the curios.  To be curious is  to approach  experience in a learning and not a fearful mode.  Seeking peace and joy is the process of experiencing  reality and creating meanings and these meanings are the answers to give to the questions you have.  It has been said often, but not often enough that there are no important answers. Unles we ask important questions.  It is an interesting life if the questions you are answering somehow balance with the answers you are questioning.  The great east question for a musician is how do I connect these sounds  and words with the reality I experience and. Want to express/. For the writer it’s how do I offer a story full of words to do the same thing.  In oreder to attempt this we all put  the unknown out there and start  chipping away with questions much like the sculptor  chips away at the big block of stone to reveal what  is in iit.  

In seeking peace and joy most people  are tempted to start with “why” type of questions and forget that there are.who, what , when , and how tools in the box.. We also often forget the most important  question...why not?  

Questions... is a topic that needs a whole  week of  posts so for now...can we move ahead?

Quiet

Quiet ...verb

In seeking peace and joy it is sometimes valuable to halt, take a breath, and quiet your mind.  Some folks do this through prayer and some through meditation.  Others use music and some use dance etc.  A lot of people use gardening. And yard work.  Some people use drinking or other substance to attempt to quiet  themselves.  Just now I felt the need to quiet my body and get over some pain.  I did this with breathing .  Now I am no guru, yet life has taught me that focusing on breath makes it more possible. To shift attention to something other than pain.  If you are a parent you know that you have tried to shift the focus of your. Kid from something at the  store to something in your purse or pocket.  Anyway becoming quiet allows  for a reset and a going  back to a solid state.   Oh and being quiet... well it allows you to do one of the  greatest things in all human. Nature.  If you are quiet you can 

LISTEN!!!!

With listening you can connect more fully with others and your surroundings.  Quiet is the place you connect with the universe...If two of the best “quiet” activities are  meditation. And prayer then it must be valuable.  It seems  reasonable to  me that being  quiet allows  both and that prayer is making your visions clear to God/The Univers and asking questions, while meditation is listening for the answers back.  

Quiz

Quotes

Quotes...nouns

Seeking peace and joy can’t be summarized in a simple quote, and yet quotations can be a platform to stand on to  see what others are telling us about  a whole bunch of situations that have been. Happening in the course of lives both now and in the past.  It can be interesting to see  what quotes get attributed to folks.  If Einstein  actually said all the things  people have said he did  it’s not clear how he would have. Had time to come up with any  complicated theory.  So many of the  quotes we remember were not penned by the folks. Who  get credit.  Quotes can capture a lot of wisdom like when Abraham Lincoln  said “... I’ll  have that tall hat there. In the corner...”. Oh you don’t think he ever said that... Well the pope at one time  in history must have said...yep that  cool pointed hat is djust the thing that people will. Need to see me wearing to think I’m. The leader of  the church. On earth.... Oh why didn’t these catch on?  They didn’t have meaning for others.  You see in seeking peace and joy we put together meanings and if we express these meanings in words we may want to use quotes that already have some meaning for others.  On the other hand  we may choose not to piggyback our meanings on the quotes of others.  The value in picking out quotes to use is  in the paying attention to the impact they have on the listener and bingo... quotes are not about the speaker..they are about the listener and caring about the lisatener.... so maybe seeking peace and joy has much to do about the people we are connected to  or those we wish to connect with?  

Well... to paraphrase that great  philosopher  Marx or Marks as in Groucho... 

I’ve had a great morning  writing  this blog.... but this wasn’t it...

R you ready  for tomorrow?   R U?