Tired of thinking outside the box try just underneath the triangle?

 How to live Outside the Triangle (Box?)

This podcast called “Akimbo” by Seth Godin strikes  a chord this morning and the Seeking Peace and Joy Universe needs to use this chord over and over just like CCR uses the same three chords over and over why?… because it worked then and it works now.   

So in the next  four entries  this blog will focus on  concepts that have shaped  our stories so much that we may not even realize they are coloring our world.  But today is just the intro and it will be brief and hopefully a little whimsical.  The four themes to be explored in coming muses are:  (at the bottom so read on)

For now if you can think outside the box and get solutions, what  happens when you do other things in proximation to other shapes?   

For example what happens if you sing outside the triangle?  What results when you write outside the octagon?  Who will fall all over a painting when  we paint just below the parallelogram?  Who benefits if we scribble  above the square?  How lovely would life be if we dialogue inside the diamonds or verbalize adjacent to the ven diagram?Will we fail if we predict beneath parabolas? How many problems get simpler if we share hints amidst hexagons?  

Okay don’t get all bent out of shape— the next four entries will look at seeking  peace and joy in the. Context of  

1. Industrialization 
2. Our current cultural use and stance on science
3. Television and its evolution. And 
4. Dualism in foreign. Relations

Okay… this has been enough rambling around the rhomboid  for now… more soon 

Learning to Read (or fly)

 Learning to Read and Reading to Learn

Just a few minutes ago  aconcept came into my awareness.  You have to learn to read before you can read to learn. In turn, that means someone has to learn how to teach you to read and maybe  someone has to teach you how to read to learn.  Now that means someone  had to learn how to teach you to read to learn and someone had to read about learning  to teach you how to read to learn and you could choose to learn how someone teaches. Others to learn or read in order read to learn.  Confused yet?  So which comes first?—the learning or the reading?   Neither I suspect… maybe it’s the wanting to understand  what others think and say and wanting people to say what they think so we all can think about  what others say?  Oh so.. does that mean we all learn more if we answer some questions and question some answers?   …and

If we learn lessons do we pass them along?  Do we do this often enough?  It seems in the seeking peace and joy universe it’s important to do so… and  there’s this song I wrote a few years back, however  when I was thinking about all the ideas above, I couldn’t remember if I have really ever shared the lyrics to that song and somehow  right now seemed like a good time to pass these lessons along.  So Here we are

Lessons

I’ve learned great lessons from professors and books

Graceful half-drunken women and burned out fry cooks

I thought it was time that I passed them along

So I sat up one night and I wrote down this song….here it goes

The wiser i get the more that I’ve found

Your body just carries your spirit around

And there’s a new circus around every turn

The best thing to do is pay attention and learn

And pass all these lessons to the next passer by

Try to enjoy life and understand why

But if why eludes you don’t wallow in frets

Don’t let your butterfly wings get weighed dow with regrets 

(Chorus so of) 

And breathe and stretch and dance your own dance

And laugh and smile when life gives you the chance

V2

You’ll rarely finish but you’ll often restart

Take your brain with you but follow your heart

And don’t compromise on the things you might change

Understand.normal but celebrate strange

Don’t chase the chaos nor worship control

But run it full throttle when you’re on a roll 

(Chorus)

V3

I’ve heard sermons in bar roooms  and in churches learned  shoulds

But some of the best prayers I’ve ever heard were whispered in woods

And don’t be afraid to believe in forever

But be careful with words like always and never

Don’t shake your fist in the mirror when your patience wears thin

Every dream has its time don’t let apathy win

(Chorus)

V4

You will try to help many but you can’t walk in their place

You can’t battle their  demons especially ones they won’t faceThese are my lessons nearly all that I know

And if you learn half of these well you’ll find your glow

And Once you fink this  well you will go far

To sum it all up…you’ll become who you are 

And you will have learned how to  chorus.. Anyway I’ve asked you read enough today and hope it was to learn… I’ve learned  just buy thinking about  it… Peace.

Making money? with words or just going to the dogs?

 Are these Words Money or is Seeking Peace and Joy going to the Dogs

So  in a few words I apologize for not writing much lately…. I literally wandered off the seeking peace and joy path and got wrapped up in my ego and greed to be recognized as hurt and right rather than  figuring out how to let the tools I know flow and create  different circumstances.  Well because that wasn’t working so much it was time to twist some concepts around and realize that using words was how I personally bring meaning in the peace and joy universe.  Like people assign the value of work and possessions by giving them a symbol which is money many of us symbolize our meanings and our emotions, and our ideas using or “with words”. So it is time for me to back to using these words starting right now.  Having said this I believe I expressed this better in the spoken word in the podcast that really got this seeking peace and joy train rolling again so click  on the link below to get the rest of the message and please come back soon there will be more to poke your intellect, your funny bone, and maybe your imagination… More soon and remember your thoughts and the words you use have great value and they are  thus Money.   Peace 

https://peaceandjoy505.libsyn.com/are-words-your-moneyhttps://peaceandjoy505.libsyn.com/are-words-your-money please listen

Embrace Balance

• 

  Life today’s a funky gig

Demand folks either zag or zig

Use labels to make small gaps big

Can’t be a Newton AND a fig

Debate lipsticks for every pig

Now change your hair or  find a wig

Play some music  that you dig

Then tango waltz moonwalk  or jig 

Welcome To the Throne -What would you do with a crown if you Had One?

 Good Morning You’re the Queen (or King)

So because it’s the biggest thing in the English speaking world (and I usually don’t  care what most people say or think)  it seems important to muse on the life and times (sort of) of Queen Elizabeth II.   Now she went to the Great Castle  beyond at age 96 after being queen for 70 years.  Let’s unpack that a bit shall we?

She was queen before the Beatles were well the Beatles.  She was queen before Elvis was big.   When she became queen the price of gas was. About 19 cnts a gallon, a loaf of bread was about 16 cents.  A new car sold for around $1,500 and a brand new house went for $9,000 and that was in Boston.  What were people bringing home for pay?  Well about $3,500 a year.  Now you might  be saying people worked  harder back then and the dollar went so much farther.  Not so fast Amos and Andy…

Even adjusted for inflation today’s gross domestic product (what we produce in goods and services)  is roughly 12 times what it was in 1952.  What that means is that the average worker today  makes good and services worth  12 times what their  grandparents did.  Sure technology  has a lot to do with tht, however, let’s not get all high and mighty about the good old days of work alright?

In fact if you use productivity. Data based upon history alone the minimum wage should be more than$23 dollars an hour nationwide.  In most states it should be $25.00 or so.  

Anyway it is hard to imagine  going to bed one night knowing that there is a good chance that in the morning you’ll be king or queen.  But what if….?

So let’s say you wake up one day and have the power to say something that will be heard by millions around the world…what would say?  

Well some royal thoughts haven’t gone over so great…like that “let them eat cake” tweet.  Oh and how about  the strategy taken by King George the third… who figured Americans would always be loyal subjects.   

I’ll offer this as my  royal declaration.   

Dear loyal subjects,

After consulting with the lords and ladies of the realm and my court jester it seems to me that we all need  to remember the following three edicts.

Lift each other because together we sing a better song

Be humble  what we believe now might be wrong

Keep learning if we wish to stay strong

Love each other  and we’ll get along

Oh and if you don’t have one of these fancy crowns… wear sunscreen

Well in reality  I’ll never be King and few folks ever will…. And like. With most things it’s not all that helpful to play the if/then game.    On the other hand maybe if we put together a royal edict and follow it—we might find some Crown Jewels on the road to seeking peace and joy.  

Until you kiss a frog or find the glass slipper… rise and take your seat at the round table who ever you are and where ever  you may roam… the grail awaits. 

Take a sip

Life With No Strings Attached?

 “No Strings attached?”

So in yesterday’s mail there were “special offers”.  You know the kind that are “exclusive” just for you?  Now I’m pretty darn sure VISA and my local cable provider. Didn’t have a meeting one day and say “There’s this guy  in Michigan and we really like him as a customer so let’s get on it and design an offer…you know  just for him damn it!”   Every day we are bombarded with these offers and even more troubling than the fact that they are somehow special is the fact that  at the end of the offer there  lies the caveat… you know “the fine print” the disclaimers.    In other words the “strings that are attached.”  It a way  it makes  one think…I wish there weren’t strings attached” —right?    

Well……….HOLD YOUR HORSES…

 Before we go make generalizations about strings let’s stop a second and  imagine.  

What would a guitar sound like with  no strings attached?  How limited. Would shoe design be with no strings attached?  How dark would the basement be if you couldn’t attach a string to that simple  light and would your vintage ceiling fan work?  How  about a kite?  Let’s say you somehow got it in the air…good-bye kite!   Oh and that. Yo-yo?    

What  reason would you have to visit Cawker City Kansas?   After all no string (twine). Would mean no ball of string that measures. Over 40 feet around.  

What’s the Seeking Peace and Joy Connection?

Well you see it pays to give. Some attention to the nature and utility of  the things that connect. You to others and the nature of these connections.  Personallly I have a bunch of friends and followers on social media platforms and most of the time the effort it takes to stay connected and the headaches caused by these apps. Is more than a fair price  to pay for the support I get.from these relationships and the lessons I learn from the experiences  of so many good folks.  Sometimes I am able to use my strings to connect others and sometimes I am able to just let the string  lay there awhile and then pick it up just when I need to be connected again.     

Oh.and thoughts string together too…. For example just now when I was thinking about pulling together  some friends  I thought about casting a line and fishing  well…that would be different without  strings or a a nylon line wouldn’t it.  What are you going to do hold a worm in your hand and lean off a log while trying to sit in your lawn chair and drink a beer?  Good Luck!  

 In short, maybe we need to pay some attention to which strings we choose and who is pulling them and to take special care of the ones that have goodness  at the end or can help us or help us help others.  Maybe we could be aware of those times when strings  are attached and why and chose to hold on to some and choose to cut others and let them float…. Oh and what about the string on a helium balloon.   You can hold it for a while and when you want to set that balloon free to see how far it will go and let many people share it and see it then you can let it go….    

Well…. I’m not going to wind  40 feet  worth, however,  I’m wrapping this up for now… I’ve strung this out far enough.  

Reading between the lines part three it’s a comic but not a comedian plus a bonus rhyme

 Time its value folks debate

Time in days we track by date

Time goes fast when we are late

Time move slow  when we must wait

Time so cherished  when life’s’s great

Time used well we celebrate

Timeshall pass and seal your fate

Time too short to waste on hate

Tick Tock  

So the beginning of this is a literary appetizer I shared  it on some other social media a couple days ago, however  I wrote it for all the readers  that dare consume my idle ramblings.    Okay now pack to the “library  “reading” arena. Part 3

If you’ve been reading along and remember if you don’t read along the teacher might skip the person in front. Of. You or they may pull the old “I have to use the bathroom” ploy  and thus you’ll have to read aloud today and not tomorrow.  Oh come on now don’t tell me. You weren’t one of those people who tried to guess just when your turn would come or  at the very least you knew the kids who had a hard time reading and felt crappy for them.   So anyway if you’ve been reading along you know we have been chatting up the Library of Congress a bit.  I thought for now we could put a bookmark. In the discussion by giving a nod to one of the least respected  sections  in most libraries  including the good old loc.  The comic book section.   

Now you might think that geeky  Melvin  who lived down the block and always wore black socks with his shorts had a big comic book collection, but alas …. The goood old Library. Of congress holds the world’s largest publicly held  collection of comics.  We’re talking issues from more than  12,000 different comic series and a total of over 140,000 unique issues.  Since these issues have not been graded for quality and there is no plan to ever sell them at auction, it is hard to estimate the value of this collection but it goes  far beyond  the dime a piece that many of these gems have marked on the cover and probably  even well beyond the $4.00 each that most of these pint-sized paperbacks sell for now.  

So how many of these comic books. Do I own?  How many have I ever owned?  Why does the library of Congress own them?  

Well I own zero and have never owned any.  It would have been fun to be in the room where it happened—no not the Hamilton song—the room where somebody said…yep the Library of Congress needs to have comics.  Okay, maybe  many of our lawmakers can only digest short books with lots of pictures written for junior high boys?   I could see that given some of the other things congress folks have done.   

Now what’s the “Seeking Peace and Joy”. Point?

Like so many of you books have been and will always be  an important part of how I engage in learning and no one can read. Every  book of any type let alone every book of every type.  I would hazard a guess that there are some morals to the stories in comics and that they spark the imagination of some people…. If so, then they are the fuel. For thought that runs some mental engines and for that I salute the 1938 introduction of truth justice and the American Way… Imagine what one word  could mean… What if the saying were “truth, justice,  “OR” the American way?   What if the Man of Steel was the Man of Plastic and was stickier than a speeding taxi?   Anyway…. We have this Library of Congress and you can use it to answer questions and raise some others.  Seeking Peace and Joy is a trip through the learning library of life and every library. Has its place.   The only thing to do now is leave you with my favorite quote. About books and reading    

According. To Groucho Marx….

Outside of a dog a book is man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read…

Live and Learn —reverse and repeat

This library? A big deal? For Congress?

 Read?— Between the Lines? Part Two

The Library of Congress What’s the Big Deal?

Well it’s not just a library for congress, however, what if…. Every member of congress checked out  100 items from the library a year?   How long would it take  for each member  to get through the entire collection held as of right now?  Well …. Here’s an argument  for term limits… It would take  just about 2000 years or 1,000 freaking elections for members of the House.  Now  if the average  American (reading an average of 12 books a year and lives about 80 years  started reading just the books and left the “media” collections behind it would take 260 or so lifetimes  to get from the table of contents to the acknowledgements or index so to speak.  Yep..if you then included the media… let’s round that off to a cool millennium per person.  If you read a book from the library  every day. It would take you over 68,000 years and that’s without listening  to any of the recordings or browsing the incredible digital image collection.  

Just one more bit of info to give folks a perspective on the size of this library?  If you take the “average” size of a library for a city of 50,000 th 100,000  the Library of Congress is 1,000 times that size.  How many librarians would that take to be walking around telling kids like me to be quiet….wow!

If you want to know more about this library of congress or if you are wondering if most of our elected officials even know how to read…well you can find out a whole lot more by going to the website http://www.loc.gov and digging in.  

So what’s exploring the scope of this massive collection have to do with seeking peace and joy?  It would seem  there are two lessons that you can pull from the shelf without even using the card catalog.  What’s a card catalog?  If you are a pre-Netscape  Navigator  person try explaining that to a youth… 

Anyway the two lessons

The first is that you can learn something new every day and in the never ending  adventure we call life gaining new knowledge to overcome fear of the unknown and to solve problems/challenges having access to information sure helps.  

Second… there is a good reason to honor humility.  So you think you know a lot?  Do you know people who think they know it al?  Well… given the above facts  it would seem evidence  proves just how little  everyone might know.  Maybe we need each other to help fill in the gap and maybe the gap is like the Grand Canyon rather than the little crack in the corner of your phone screen?  

Let’s face it the Library of Congress has been collecting  information for a couple of hundred years and has materials that date back centuries including a Gutenberg Bible (which I think I used in Catholic grade school).   Yet, that’s just one collection of knowledge and even if it is the largest library in the world it’s a literal drop in the bucket.  so take some peace and joy in the notion that you can always find new clues to the mysteries of life and that you will never  be searching alone.  Know that there. Will always be wisdom to be had each day and that no one can claim to have it all.  

And speaking of “all”. This is about all I am inspired to write today… I have a book to listen to and a walk to take and encourage you to do the same.  Peace

Reading—Between the Lines (part one)

 A Nod of Gratitude to Writers, Books, and Libraries (Part One)

So at around 10:30 this morning I finished listening to a third book in the past 24 hours.  Okay “come on” you sigh “how can this be?”  Well I didn’t sleep well last night and  I listen to books at about 200-225% of normal listening speed.  So I spent about 12 hours listening to what would be approximately  750 pages of mystery fiction (3 books worth.  Now this is somewhat normal behavior for me and I listen to all sorts of things of varying lengths.  IIt’s usually a little later in the year when I start tallying up  my reading/listening, however I decided to do this today just for fun and because  I came across some interesting information about books and libraries I wanted to share  over the next few days.  Stacking the three books on the pile of other things I have consumed the total  read as of today is 407 books read for the first time this year.  I have reread  a sparse 23 titles so this puts the total at 430.  Now there are about 62 books I have started without finishing and I will eventually finish  about half of those.  

Now how is it  that I decide to read /listen to all this stuff?  Well that’s easy…. I don’t like to be afraid and the easiest  way to fight fear is to kick it’s literal butt by craving curiousity.  Of course  is there a bunch of things to be afraid of once you learn about them?  Sure, however the unknown  is what most people are afraid of most the time and gaining knowledge is  one way to turn a cowboy wearing tin foil int a knight in shining armor.  

In addition to this curiosity… I tend to surround myself with friends who are also relentless learning machines.  Some people call us nerds but oh well.  

But you have to have to have stuff to read and so the other part of the equation is that people keep writing  combinations of words that form thoughts and stories worth reading and that prompt thoughts worth having.  

Where do I get  the books? 

Well from all over…but since I qualify for the National Library Services  for the blind and physicallly disabled  I get a lot from there and I also get digital books from a paid source and I buy some from all sorts of places.  Do I have an andvantage over others?  No way… Everyone has access to millions of books in fact it’s probably millions and millions and we’ll go into  that tomorrow when we talk about. The world’s largest  library… The library of congress.  

So..a teaser about this…. Most people know. That the library was established in 1800 (well no most people don’t know that) and that Thomas Jefferson gets credit for restocking the library with his collection after  the British burned the  original library  during the war of 1812.  Jefferson gets credit for  parting with his personal colllection, however before standing to applaud you should know that he sold his books at a top dollar price allowing him to pay off  most of his personal debt at the taxpayers expense.  So the whole revolving door of politicians cashing in after “public” service started  a long long time ago and will probably be with us a while……. 

Anyway. To sum up read for knowledge and to feed curious minds that hammer back against all the fear the world provides on its own plus all the fear that people try to use to convince of things they’d rather have us believe than offering real evidence for us to think about..    And… thanks to all the writers who have the  courage to put something down  for us to take in, think about, form meanings with, and share.  

And having written that… stop and think until tomorrow. -

What’s the “tooth Worth These Days?

Now that’s. A mouthful….

Today is National Tooth Fairy  Day and since this blog has featured  theTF and other fictional children’s heroes we won’t go into the origin story.  This is more or less.a parental and grand parental update provided just protect your “cool quotient” by making sure  you are slipping the right reward. Under the pillow.  

According to Delta Dental the large dental insurance corporation the nationwide payout per tooth has risen to an all-time high of $4.70.  As with most things the cost is higher on the coasts averaging nearly a dolllar higher on the East Coast and about 75 cents higher in California.  It’s about a quarter and a nichel cheaper for tooth fairies who eat a lot of grits and whistle Dixie and nearly a dollar cheaper for tooth fairies  who know that dear is really spelled Deere and that you don’t pronounce the s in either Des or Moines.  

So…other than making sure we pay up for these markers of childhood what does the tooth fairy have to do with seeking peace and joy?   Well  just this

We should all pay some attention to what comes out of. Our mouths—-when seeking peace and joy

You see. If we would be willling to say “this is why I’m afraid of change”. Then those around us might be able to encourage us to make the leap and build the world we seek.  If we  were honest and the words “I just don’t understand, but explain your observation to me again” could come from our mouths instead of automatically closing our ears and our minds maybe  we could experiment and find lots of solutions to the complicated  obstacles that the universe  hands us…. In short if we become aware of our messages and their meanings we might find magic in what comes from our mouths and $4.70 would be the smallest of possible rewards…. For now let’s tie a string to out ignorance so the next time we are slamming a door a reward of wisdom might be had…..

Where Stories Come From? 8 Line Rhyme Time

 Life takes strangely twisted trails

We race like cheetahs crawl like snails

Through sweet success and  epic fails

We hear the chalkboard scraped by nails

Leaks from roofs drop into pails

Spirits break from concrete jails

As Karma nods and evens scales

And gives the world it’s poets” tales

Life Stories?