Setting things down part three

 Setting  Things Down Part III

In the previous section (dedicated to John R.)  it was important (for me anyway)  to explore  what  questions for the day  his death and my interactions  with him would  have.

This post  in some ways extends  that one and in another way departs from it.  I did leave it up  as the front page of the blog for a couple  extra  days out of respect and due to the fact  I wasn’t  quite done processing  some of the lessons from my experiences with  John.  I want to thank everyone  who sent a comment  my way either  through the blog or  the Facebook link.  These comments were  both  thoughtful and food for thought.  

Okay  time to focus on “setting  things down”…The term ghosts  is what i use to label all the  residual emotions and thoughts  you carry  around  as you experience every day.  I am convinced  that it is hard and necessary  to set some of these ghosts down intentionally  when possible.   My technique  is to meditate/pray first thing in the morning and form three questions  that I will  concentrate  on the day no more no less… some other questions naturally flow in and out, however, I try to stick  to this  and  stick to another  rule of three that I am going to explain right  now.  I believe in planning—-however have  you noticed that universe doesn’t  always seem to have a copy of your master plan?  So I used to  plan about three  years  in advance when I “valued”  things… and by that  I mean evaluated things because  of course  to see if my plan was working I needed to judge my progress (and  how everyone else  in the universe was assisting  my effort or not).  

Well after experiencing  some fairly significant  events in life (we almost  all get one or two of these to  chew on) I moved my  three years of thinking ahead to about 18 months.   I found that  this aligned pretty well with  my workplace planning cycle too…and maybe that’s still okay for that environment.  However then life  convinced  me that 18 months wasn’t practical  either.  I had too many variables, misjudged the level of control I though  I had, and quite frankly increased my level of frustration  by thinking the universe  would even  align with areasonable 18 month plan?  

Well skipping to the conclusion…. my time frame now is  about three hours at a time.  Oh sure I have the daily questions  and  they help, however,  I am finding  worrying too much  that is more than a couple hours out  (at least emotionally) is just a prelude to  making useless assumptions and creating  expectations  that are distractions  to actually experiencing  what is going  on right now.  

So how does this  tie together?  Well I spend about  three minutes every three hours reframing  what experiences  or lessons (ghosts ) might be needed  for the next three  hours and  set the rest down.   I also  now visualizing  the world creating some answers  for me in the next  three hours so that I don’t  need to carry around every   ghost  forward if I’m not  95%  it will be helpful.  In other  words  I will get some gifts in the next three hours that will allow  me to  move forward or maybe more  important allow me to pay attention  got what is happening right  now.   

So here;s how I will wrap this up..

Start the day with  3 questions  and if tmorrow  or the next day  you have  them  again it’s okay..however three days is enough and if the questions are still there  consult  all your ghosts (memories of people and things that have happened  to  address these questions  one last time… at that point thank the ghosts for all the wisdom they  have provided… and if they aren’t providing  any more wisdom… I simply visualize  setting them  down or setting them free.   That removes  the burden of  carrying  every  mistake  you have ever  made forward  every day and it also  allows you to have some faith and expectation that the answer doesn’t lie behind …it lies ahead.  

Next I put my  time into  much smaller  windows because this limits the way  expectations  create assumptions that get in the way of actually experiencing  things for what they are.  I use  a three hour  window with  a three minute reflection and refocus  space  overtime in that three  minutes.  

For me this has helped  focus and  increased optimism… 

So that’s what I have to say about  setting things down.  

Now Saturday andSunday look for  posts that are far “lighter”  than this … because it is time for  my brain to go there.

again thanks for  all the  great comments… and for reading along…  Some day soon I’m going to take  “the best of this blog and put  them into a book form…(probably electronic and digital  so I can include  some music… etc.. So the blog might go to two  fresh  posts a week  for a bit starting  after Easter.  

Again  thanks for being part  of my journey and more soon… but  not in the next three hours…..LOL  

. 

A Tribute to John D. Raschendorfer—Why You Live Today and then Set Things Down This will be the second part of what will now be a three part post on setting things down. What do I mean by setting things down? Well in the simplest way I can put it we all carry our past around with us somehow thinking the answers to our unanswered questions are “buried in all the learning and experiences we have had. Well I guess the only point I made in my post yesterday was that we can’t carry all the same questions forward every day and (the memories and lessons that i call) ghosts we allow to tag along and haunt us just aren’t all that helpful many of the days. But back to my point for today John Raschendorfer passed away yesterday morning (reportedly from a massive heart attack) and so when I heard of this my mind shifted to my memories of him. He was a classmate of mine and part of his family lived down the street from my family. So I wanted to honor his ghost and its lessons today and maybe even understand what I needed to carry forward. John was not interested in women in that sort of way—-which is the only description that was allowed at that point in time and he was not particularly athletic which sort of put him in the “misfit”category. Well for many reasons I sort of felt like a misfit in my youth and around John when he would wander up the alley to “play basketball” or just chat a bit… he seemed pretty comfortable and was always smiling. We talked a little about school but mostly like introverts do…. we just talked about the news of the day and the next thing mother nature was going to hand us…which in Iowa was a popular topic because the weather in our town changes about every 13 minutes. Anyway there never seemed to be anything of importance said but there wasn’t discomfort either. Now John’s family to me was a different story. I mostly knew his grandfather and his uncle (who happened to be our mail carrier). Yet my memories specifically of his entire family was how gentle they were. I don’t want to insult my parents here…or anywhere for that matter, however these people seemed like the most gentle people I knew when I was a kid of 13-15 and I often wondered how they managed to be that way. Which brings me to my question for today and tomorrow …the one I wil be looking to answer… How does one stay forceful and remain gentle? So over the next few days I’ll be asking myself that and learning from my gosts and watching the world around for answers too. That’s the gift of a question John left me….Thank you John He also seemed from all reports to most always have a smile on his face…… I rarely smile….I’m not that unhappy so I have a second question….why don’t I make it a habit to smile more often? How hard could that be…. apparently pretty hard for me so far LOL. That leads me to my final little section for today…. Abpit a year ago or 15 months ago I had a “messenger” chat with John because he had posted something on Facebook I found humorous and then a little later posted a picture of his mom… and somehow I figured I should reach out just to say I was sorry for not actively including him in things at high school (not that I initiated all that much and I hope the statute of limitations has expired on some of my minor pranks). I don’t know if I was afraid to ask him along or I just didn’t thing he belonged, or even if he might have wanted to ride around town and which over 300 political candidate signs into the yards of people supporting the other candidate—-or plant that huge for sale sign in front of our school because after all it was not really getting all that much attention where it was planted and it hardly seemed fair for a sign of that magnitude to just be in a vacant lot. But the reality is… I never asked him if he wanted in and I wanted to apologize if that made him feel more like a misfit. He gracefully accepted my apology and assured me that I had never done anything intentionally to make fun of him or make him feel uncomfortable. He did however state that we could have placed the sign a little differently in the school lot so that everyone driving up to school could have gotten a better look at it…. and that if we ever planned to do that again we should also try to find a lighted sign. Our conversation ended with a “keep in touch and an LOL from both of us. So here’s what I learned from John that day—-he could have handed me my hat and said go away… why should i want to talk with you? He did not. When could have spent most of our chat talking about how hard it had been to have his parents pass away …he could have talked about 100 painful things and I would have listened to every one because I figured I owed him that. He didn’t go back over old ground except to follow me there and maybe that’s a way to stay gentle…not picking at your scars all the time. That’s something we all might learn from John and when I say “we” I mean me. I alos think he looked for reasons to smile or set it as his default . Well I am pretty sure I won’t be able to do that every day (how’s that for optimism?), but maybe for one hour out of every three I’ll set a timer on my phone and give it a shot…what do I have to lose? So two questions that John has given me for tomorrow—How do Istay forceful and gentle? How do I smile more—because I am really not that unhappy? and a third question is this…. How am I going to honor John by making sure I invite someone into the “inner circles” that I do have in my life? That will be the hardest I think and some of my other ghosts will have to help me with that. Well if any of my classmates or others who knew John happen upon this and have anything to add —Please do… I want to learn what other lessons he would have had for me if I had asked…. and that leads me to the other secret of laying things down every night…. make sure you ask for help in seeking the answers for today…because there is wisdom everywhere and a little in almost everyone. Tomorrow I will wrap us this little tribute to my ghosts and how to set them down… for now John —i think you have already shown me how to set my past with you down… Rest in Joy and thanks John My tribute to John

Once upon a time when I felt defeated

ONCE UPON A TIME

Once upon a time not that very long ago

I believed  in Santa Claus because all the elders told me so

I understood that life’s not fair yet thought that we might find that neighborhood

Now instead of helping  others move ahead we just insist  on  sorting bad from good

And once bad once one shall always  be and never be someone like me

And once Judged  once then that’s enough

No need to  hear the facts on stuff

We’ve learned  some things on building tribes but some are really building cults

And acting more like  the school  yard bully than 

thoughtful fully grown adults

I think  inside “what  can  I do? as this challenge just expands?”

What is it that’s expected?  I only have two  hands?

I could scream out from the mountain top—or pray  standing idly by

Or  I could  just  surrender —for is this worth a try? 

Then I use my soul for a tiny little  mirror

And the confusion  seems to melt away the path ahead  gets clearer

As long as I have hands to write and words still leave my tongue

My joy will battle every fear and I’ll stay forever young

I’ll gather all the joy I can and  give what I can away

When shall this start you ponder?  It starts right  now today!

Find some Peace  and Joy  Come What May

Playing around

TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD

Today was a very busy day.  For the first time in a while I was wired and focused  and finally  around 7 PM  I knew it was time to let things go….. to let my mind go play.  I have been experimenting with this concept just to see what  opens up and actually the first thing that roamed  forward was a friend of mine  who I hadn't  seen  in  a while said  on our first  person to person  encounter for a long time….. “let’s Go  Play.”   

So often we are told  “focus on  your passion, stay aligned with your values, plan your work, and work your plan.”  Those things work….and often lead to predictable behaviors and data to prove it.  Fortunately my mind was having little of it by about 8 pM and I was helping my brother from a couple states away set up an email account and my brain was crying “THIS IS NOT PLAYING!”  It is absolutely great to be able to send him things this way now…. and now I let my mind wander free…playtime!

Won’t most of the stuff my brother  and I share be fun things?  Yes… music things….yes…. jokes….yes.   So we were getting  ready to play!    

I let my  mind  drift back and forth in my life and remembered an old Mother Goose book of rhymes. I thought how fun…. and then I thought these poems  were terrifying.  They make  little sense.  One of the things kids love to do is walk on the walls they can because they get a whole  new perspective  on the world—you know instead of the  rear-end or  bellyview on life….

Then there is the brutal   poetry… 

Humpty Dumpty .  Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…. and then he falls off and two liability lawyers show up  ready to file a neglect suit against the owners of the property…. no wait he has a great  fall… and then all the king’s  horses…. holy  goodness when is the last time  you broke something  and rushed to google  your  local stable to see if there were any ponies who could check out this compound fracture in your lower right leg?     All the king’s horses  tried to put something back together again?  As all the kings men… ?  Well this humpty was an egg-type  thing I guess…. and when have men ever rushed  in to clean up  a kitchen mess?  It may happen more in the modern era.. but back when I  was a kid male wasn’t rushing to clean  up or repair anything  that remotely looked like something that came from a kitchen.  

So then I let my mind drift forward in my play career. A memory of “Jarts” popped in.  These were  steel tipped (very pointed megadarts).   Th  Now these  were gigantic  darts that actually  have a metal point on them so if you arched the trajectory they  would stick in the ground  near a target.  or if  your brother’s arm was getting tired  and a dart slipped a little they might  just lodge in the center of one’s back and hang there from the small piercing they had managed to accomplish.  So that was play too?  

All things considered it was probably  a good thing I gave up  the play mentality  for a while….Oh there were sports and and an occasionally interesting game of twister..but this is sort of a family blog so we’d better stay away from those  references.  

The sad thing is  most of us not only put  our balls and games, and jump ropes in their boxes…we jammed our imaginations in the boxes too…and locked them in the closet or put them in the  garage or somewhere… Well I say bring them back… well not the creepy rhymes or the lawn darts.. but  the games and  the chalk and the  rump ropes etc even the twister as long  as you invite a chiropractor  and let’s play …let’s get out the Lego and the blocks and see what we can build together again.  Our minds need the play.  We need to move things around and reconfigure things and  get a new perspective.  

Okay well here we  go I need to bring  this back around and put Humpty  Dumpty  back together again.. 

nd here’s  my version of the classic rhyme 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall but then got up to dance where joy filled his feet. 

 And music and dancing then  filled the street 

And all the king’s horses were allowed to  run free and be on the plains where they're  meant to be….

And all the  king’s  men remembered  being a boy

Remembering their hearts were once filled with joy

At last Humpty Fell but it was  not from the wall

It was gently to sleep where  he could recall

Only good dreams of his favorite toy

And a kingdom built upon pure peace and joy.

So sometime tomorrow Remember to play a little.  wad up a piece of paper and shoot the winning shot…moon walk to your car…wink at three strangers because four is pressing your luck  .do something with your opposite hand.  Have  one entire conversation  where you end your response  to someone with a word that rhymes with the last  word they used.. 

The world can be a fascinating  playground… explore it tomorrow.  Add a little piece of  peace and joy….but stay away fromMother Goose where kids are falling down from the plague and  a very well known bridge is falling down and kids are forced to sing about this?  Strange beings we are?

Create Your Own "Day"

CREATE YOUR OWN DAY

Sort of late in the evening (after the  Queen Movie which I am referring  to it by because I can’t spell the real title this early in the morning—-or anytime). I did a check of my social media eempire LOL.  You know my blogs,a quick look at twitter, and Facebook.

Well one of the marvelous  people who belong to “don’t Keep Your Day Job (a Facebook group)  has declared  tomorrow  as “International Sing in Public Day.”  

I know there are national holidays and several of these “international Days popping up all the time.  Like two or three Mondays ago was National Margarita  day and there was just the International Women’s  Day.   

I absolutely  believe  in ALL of these days.  I do want to apply to be on the selection committee because I think we are celebrating  some things too much and some too little.  For example  I would support  the International Day of laughing at yourself first thing in the morning when you look in the mirror day”,  and The National  Day of licking the cake batter  spoon or beater day.  I would  promote the  semi0annual  “give a hug to the person who just leaned over to tie their shoe and the string broke day.’  

Okay  back to the top.  This person who promoted her own day  is/was  a genius… first singing in public even if it’s  in your car with the window rolled down just  a  little sounds like a great way to bring some peace and joy into the world.  If you are a songwriter maybe you could think up just one new verse for tomorrow and post it to  youtube  or Facebook.

As for today make a list of “days” you’d like to celebrate and let’s see if everyday  can become the “intergalactic Day of Personal Peace and Joy featuring (insert your day).

Today  in my mind it is the National Day of getting my crap together  after being gone last week day…”  I might as well celebrate  the things I am doing no matter what they may be in the moment.

Okay get to work figuring out your  National or International Day and let’s share!!!!Hey 

Work rest and peace and joy

SOME WORDS ABOUT WORK ON THE DAY OF REST

In some creeds (not  so much in the retail religions  I’ve  noted) one day of the week has been  designated as the “day of rest.”   I’ve also  heard sayings like  “there’s no rest for the wicked.”  Anyway, today I thought I would share some thoughts on “work.”  

Recent studies show that less  than half  of all employees today are  “fully engaged” in their  current  employment.  That is sad  in many ways and I could write 20 entries  on this topic, however,  I thought maybe I’d just pull some  old thoughts together write about choosing work, on how work chooses  you, and on the odd paths  we find ourselves on from time to time.

Right now, I am transitioning from one part of my work life to another.  It happens a lot these days and for people  who have a deep work/life/identity connection the transition can be a stressful and scary process….therefore  here’s  some ways to bring some peace and joy into either  your  current  work effort or those to come in your journey.

Thirty years ago—that’s before the internet so I’m talking ancient history, I was an instructor  for a class called “Making a Vocational/Educational  Choice.”  This course was  offered at a major  Midwest University and students from Freshmen to Seniors could enroll.  I won’t  go through  all the details, but the course was a fascinating study in  student development and fear of the unknown.  Students had dreams or were looking for them.  They  had  plans and Plan B’s  and as far as being prepared for the work world they covered the entire spectrum from preschooler to  ultra professional.  

After teaching the course a few times and learning of the initial work efforts of some of my  former students I developed a great sense of humor regarding the world of work and  this is the wisdom  I gathered then.

Some of  my brightest chemistry  students didn’t go out  into the  world  and find  cures for the illnesses of the day.  Instead they  spent time  making mouth wash just a little more  wintery fresh.  Some of the graphic artists and other “serious artists  found themselves in what one of them called  the “bowels of hell.”  One of them was  working as a creator of designs  to adorn  paper plates, napkins, and the printed masterpieces that used to be found on  many kinds of toilet  paper.  I received  a note from one  of these students who asked…..”One of my designs just got turned down for 2-ply toilet paper—can  you tell me how to get inspired about  work tomorrow?  I gave him a call and  we had a short conversation and I asked if this was the worst day of his life?  He said …..”well it was till I ran into Ryan.”  I said did  Ryan remind  you that you were still using  your skills to make a living?  He said —“hell no….Ryan works in the urinal cake sector and just  got  one of his  chemical formulas  rejected —not because it wasn’t effective but because it  didn’t  really match  the concept of pure spring freshness the company was looking for.”  Well I don’t know where either  of these people ended  up… I hope in a happy places.,..but what  it taught me  was money  couldn’t talk to my soul at that point in my career and I am grateful for that.  

Now which  is always the only time there is…. I am looking at  a few work options and money might have a little more pull in my decision making, however, learning and serving, and when  possible teaching (giving back what you have  learned)are my priorities   Helping  people  have  more choices in life and taking responsibility  for those  choices is critical.  Will things still happen because of chance in careers and work?  Well I hope so—-and I hope I always  will have the courage  to learn and serve some more.  

Okay… enough of that I am going to end with a little rhyme that hit me  on the train ride I took the other day.

May  your  work life bring you closer 

to knowing  your best self

Be that  putting letters  in a box or canned peas upon a shelf

Before your  work life’s over  you’ll  have gaps and stops and turns

But the value of a person never equals what  one earns

Sometimes  you’ll work to live and sometimes  you’ll live to work

For a boss who is a princess, a jester,  or a jerk

Work days last  eternities and vacation days are brief

You’ll reach  some lofty goals and  smile  but sometimes  think “good grief”

Some  days you will be calm and others you’ll be boiling

I hope you get a chance to serve some others  with  your toiling

Remember always that you’re worthy and that it’s your gifts you’ll employ

Then wherever on the journey you may be  there can be found  peace and joy

With gratitude for the lessons I’ve learned and  the grace to  learn  more… .  I wish all the best adventures in the work lives you’ll explore

And if this job does not quite fit  wipe the dust  off— go ahead and  try  one  more …

Do your best to  always  know your  soul keeps  track—the bank  does not  keep score

Have a great day of rest..

St. Patrick's Day Peace and Joy

I'm  promising  nothing sublime
But I won't  take too much of  your  Time
Since my mind's growing  dimmer quick
I'm just writing  this limerick 
So I hope you enjoy this small rhyme

First sit quietly  for just a while
Put  some happy thoughts all in a pile
drop all that are hateful
Highlight all that are grateful
Then  go out into the world with a smile


So it's the day for  shamrocks and all
for Leprechauns  tiny and tall
Make  your day  both lovely and risky
That's  why the good lord gave  us this whiskey

And let his grace upon  all of us fall

How to Cope With Writer's Block

Leaping Over Writer's Block

Well here you sit with writer's bloc

Your brain's a mess and your pen won't talk

Your keyboard waits and laughs quiet silently

You'd like to take  and throw it violently

Yesterday the thoughts were flowing 

Paragraphs and word  count growing

So what happened when you  went to sleep

Did demons into your  mind creep?

Did  Shakespeare  have these  Moments Too

Did Hemingway say  "hell I'm through?" 

Did tthe Bronte sisters say let's just go shopping and 

Did Steinbeck say 'let's all go bar hopping?

So how  does a poor soul like me then cope? 

I focus on  one  happy thought to use'

And then put o my confy shoes- because if my feet can't breathe ,

There would be no  muse.  

Then I take that concept and try to find all rhymes

To which  it might connect at least a couple times

Then I dream of childhood days my buddy Dr. Seuss

And start weaving words in patterns and some completely loose

Before I know it words are springing  from my mind

You'd be surprised  about the ideas that I find

The train of words that  rumbles through seems to go  on and on

The writer's block that once  was there is now completely gone

The product that i soon have is a semi-poem draft

But as we all know the first one is the hardest of our craft.

This method rarely fails me so I'm passing it to you

Have fun  with  "red fish, blue fish, the grinch, green eggs and ham

They'll get you out of  nearly every language jam

This was  my helpful  hint to bring  peace and joy  to mind

If you discover others tell me what  you find.  

A difference between a trip and a journey

So on a trip you watch the map  and you check the miles  you cover

On a Journey you check the world out  to see what you'll discover.  

On a  trip  you  worry more about  the starts and where it ends While on a journey  you concern yourself with new sites and old friends.... —Or old sites and new  friends if it's what the journey brings It's not about the t-shirts  that prove that you did things.

On a trip you often take a plane so you can get there fast 

Except through TSA  where the fun can last and last 

As you remove your belt and shoes and put them in a bin then stand and raise your  arms and let the search begin

Then they put  you in a tube  and shoot you through the sky If it all works  you get  there fast and if not you'll just die

On a plane  your trip can be ok or a misery complete 

If you happen to get assigned the dreaded middle seat

For on one side theres the one who'll talk your ear off like a fool 

and on the other side the one who coats your sleeve with drool

But  some plane rides are not all that bad and sometimes time is key 

So I'll buckle in  and takeoff 

To get where I must be.  

Just remember if you're flying and  you see on-coming boats 

Just pull off your seat supposedly it floats

Next week I'll take the train with whatever speed it lacks

They have seats that are  comfy  and they rarely  jump the tracks

And you can see the world passing by see some buildings see some faces

And imagine  what has happened  in all these rural places.  How many cows have crossed this roadHow many dear have dodged near misses

H

ow many teenage  couples  have drank  tonics and fumbled through first kisses.   

You see places from the train  that you just don't see every day.  I suspect to take a journey tis' my favorite way

I don't mind  a car or a pick up truck Till a traffic jam and then you're stuck

And then inside I scream oh.......

And wish that I'd  had different luck

In the end I guess it's about control

Over how things fly or how they roll

So if I had the time I'd nearly always bike and stop as often as I'd like

Or even use my feet to hike and wave at every  girl and boy

On my daily little journey— the one towards peace and Joy

WHOINVENTED DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME?

DDAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME?

WHAT A CONCEPT!!!

Look at your phone.... it probably has the right time on it and maybe your computer.... but your  microwave, stove, and any of those old clocks that  have numbers and those little  pointy things that go around and around if you put batteries  in  it from time to time are all out of synch with reality this morning.  Well maybe... I have never really understood this daylights savings time.  Yes.. I know was thing  Benny F --Oh you know  the kite flying bifocal guy who went overseas during revolutionary time and had himself a good old time-- invented the idea to help farmers by having their kids home from school to work while it was still light during planting season... You know  just another way to get a return on your investment with kids LOL.   So I know conceptually where it comes from.  The question is about the "saving time"  part.  I don't  know what that means.  The seconds still tick away like that annoying  clock  on 60 minutes and thousands of time still fall through  your personal  hour glass.... so someone please explain this to me.

How exactly or where  exactly  do you save time.  I've never seen the "First National Bank "Time Savings"  account Or The Jefferson County Time Savings and Loan or Even the 45Second Community Credit  Union.  

Even if you could save time what would  you save it in?  Well I'm not exactly sure how much space time  takes up but  Einstein (sp)  had a space/time formula maybeI should look  it up.  Myabe you can save  this time in a shoebox or  if you really save a lot of time maybe you need a big rubbermaid  tub?  I know one thing  for sure  you cannot save tin any Tupperware  container because  it would take you so long to find the right lid (if it even exists)  that all the time you were  saving would now be lost while looking for the lid.  

But  on the other hand maybe people really do believe they can save time.  They  like to go through the self-check out at many stores.  Let'tslook at that a second.  How many times a week do you go through  the U-scan or whatever it's called at your local stores?  I bet  you go through  twice maybe three times a week tops.  Now on the other had you have a usually friendly cashier standing there who  checks people out thousands of times  a week--week after week.  Do you really think you are faster at this than they are?  Let's get real.  Oh and even if you save all that check out time how do you know  that you aren't going to get into your car and get to the stop light just as it turns red and then  you wait for the minutes you just saved--nice work.  

Okay.. I think I've  beaten that dead horse....there's a different concept--quit beating horses dead or alive..

No what I want to talk about  now is not the time  you have  to save---but the time you have to spend (or use).  No matter what time your clock says or how many  you move the hands of it--you only get a certain amount of  time to spend on this  planet (or maybe another planet someday) and so don't worry  so much about how  you save it-worry about how you give it away.  Do you give it to efforts that you believe will make things better  for others?  Do you give  your time to teaching other folks how t do things they want to learn?  Do you spend time thinking about how  to make someone smile everyday?  In short, do you try to bring  a little more peace and joy into the time we have?  So that's most of what I have to say  about this "savings time" except for this little rhyme.

I'm going to do my damn best to die empty 

which means  I'd given all I had to give

For how long I stick around is not for me to know

My concern my friends is how I choose to live

I'll  use the gifts  I have  to do some hard things

And from time to time each  of you I shall annoy

But with every trip around the sun  that this old life brings

I'll be grateful  and seek some peace and joy. 

space is NOT the Final Frontier

Space-while Amazing and a place where we can "boldly go where no one has gone before..."  is something to  think about and possibly  a place to live one day--but don't we live in space right now?   Oh, you say you mean outer space... well point well taken, however, let's introduce a  different  context and see what launches  so to speak.

When (and  notice I didn't say "IF"  we check all the scientific  boxes and  wind up living on  some other rock in the sky we will do one thing for certain.... take us with us.  So I submit for your approval (twighlight zone reference I know)we will still have the final frontier to explore---that "inner" space" called our soul.  Okay, if you need to stick to biology because of your  beliefs thats okay and if you make a mind/soul distinction that's okay too.  The point  is we still have  so much to discover about the mysteries that are us that going somewhere else can only play second fiddle to the journey it will take  to truly understand what  collection of cells and meanings make up the human spirit.

The good news is... evolution--not in the biological  or religious context--I don't have a million pages to present all the  facets of that grand debate.  No what I'm  talking about in evolution is  in the basic  pattern of human living and making sense of themselves in the world.  So we were  hunter-gatherers, and then farmers, and then we built a lot of machines to do stuff and that takes us to the industrial revolution.  Wouldn't I make a fine world history  instructor?  In one sentence I'm already  up to about two centuries ago.  Then not so long  ago we entered the "information age."  That's where  many folks  still imagine we are and our brain is the ultimate  computer (sometimes assisted by Google)) .. however, I would argue otherwise.  We are in the evolution of turning all this information into  knowledge and then into wisdom and finally into meaning.... and that is the final  frontier.  Right now we are  still producing  information at a pace never before imagined possible so converting that into  usable knowledge is a daunting task and then making applicable and morally relevant which is the development of wisdom is still only in its infancy.


Oh and that's where Peace andJoy come in.

You see Finding Peace and Joy is in the "meaning" age which evolution-wise (which English language-wise is a made up thing but if you 're  still reading  I promise we're near the end.   For a while now people have preached that it is not  what happens  in life --it's what  you make of it.  That's the meaning part right?

These folks are pretty much on target.

So.. here's where I get to the point of this whole thing.

We have nab explorers spirit in us... we seek  new places  and we are willing to travel  a long way to find them.  We  solve  difficult math problems and  build new machines and i for one applaud  all of that and yet I applaud  even more those who sometimes  sit  quietly  and explore all the information they have gathered and turn it into wisdom (little pieces of  information  that might be applied) and then  go where few  people try to go... taking that wisdom and  going to a place where they own the  meaning it has for them.  We  often sit alone and  make that journey.  I am proposing  that more of us make our journey at least a little public with our peace and joy network and go on this meaning  journey together from time to time.  We  might not  end up on the same planet, but we may all learn something  about the process of seeking peace and joy.  Yes I'm saying take the inner journey with each other and be glad where  it takes you because you have boldly dared to go where few  have gone before.... and who knows  many  you'll meet intelligent life out there or maybe  even more  important  you'll meet a beautiful being inside.



)

As our fried mr. Spoc would say   Live  long and Prosper.  )