Clear the Mirror Rhyme time

 When we compare our “peace and joy” with what we  think we should have or what we think others  have or should have….we walk through clouds of self-produced anxiety compounded by others convinced that comparison works….  

This eight line rhyme time… sort of speaks to this.

In a world  of compare

Every standard is unfair

No light exists just glare

Words all tinted by despair

Then we heard the trumpets’ blair 

Saying we are Here not There

Living NOW and giving care

Breathing present and aware

Breaking Mirrors

Gutenberg goes green?

IF THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD…GUTENBERG INVENTED NUKES?

History—if we can believe  all that  mythology cluttered with facts tells us that it was on this day in 1456 Gutenberg completed the first  book printed with a “press” and of course it was the Bible.  I don’t want to throw shade on this but what if that’s just the story.  What if  the first book was really 

How to relieve yourself wearing  a full suit of armor “.  Or maybe it was really “101 Uses for Sheep?”   Well let’s move on because we can’t verify anything like this really….. Let’s say he printed this one book and it was the Bible and so it began.  Just like the auto workers and warehouse  workers of today do you think there were a bunch of monks wondering what isn’t the world they were going. To do with their  quill pens now?   

Anyway this is the first seeking peace and joy  point today….don’t worry about  your job become infected obselete or changing…because  it will and learning is your answer.  

Second, let’s imagine that books are  more than something that college bookstores charge a king’s ransom for and maybe conceptualize  them as the place where we go to get ideas.  Maybe the printing press was like the first oil wells pumping fossil fuels out  of the earth and at first  we only had a limited quantity.  Now about 2.2 million books are published each year and let’s not even try to calculate how much  information is now being shared electronically …. What  we have now is a reviewable  fuel source for ideas and although some folks are temp ted to control these ideas and refuse to admit how these ideas impact the overall learning environment….other folks are all for the research and development of new and innovative concepts and ideas.  Seeking peace and joy seems to fit.better with the idea of renewal and innovation.  There may be great value in taking the used  oily notions produced by McFries and using it to heat a pre-school classroom where we are teaching kids to draw “the cities of the future” or “what. A space ship might look like.”  

Anyway… here’s to Gutenberg and his repurposed  wine press…We might notice  that Jesus turned. Water into wine and then Gutenberg took a wine press and turned paper into a Bible…Coincidence?  

 

 IF THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD…GUTENBERG INVENTED NUKES?

History—if we can believe  all that  mythology cluttered with facts tells us that it was on this day in 1456 Gutenberg completed the first  book printed with a “press” and of course it was the Bible.  I don’t want to throw shade on this but what if that’s just the story.  What if  the first book was really 

How to relieve yourself wearing  a full suit of armor “.  Or maybe it was really “101 Uses for Sheep?”   Well let’s move on because we can’t verify anything like this really….. Let’s say he printed this one book and it was the Bible and so it began.  Just like the auto workers and warehouse  workers of today do you think there were a bunch of monks wondering what isn’t the world they were going. To do with their  quill pens now?   

Anyway this is the first seeking peace and joy  point today….don’t worry about  your job become infected obselete or changing…because  it will and learning is your answer.  

Second, let’s imagine that books are  more than something that college bookstores charge a king’s ransom for and maybe conceptualize  them as the place where we go to get ideas.  Maybe the printing press was like the first oil wells pumping fossil fuels out  of the earth and at first  we only had a limited quantity.  Now about 2.2 million books are published each year and let’s not even try to calculate how much  information is now being shared electronically …. What  we have now is a reviewable  fuel source for ideas and although some folks are temp ted to control these ideas and refuse to admit how these ideas impact the overall learning environment….other folks are all for the research and development of new and innovative concepts and ideas.  Seeking peace and joy seems to fit.better with the idea of renewal and innovation.  There may be great value in taking the used  oily notions produced by McFries and using it to heat a pre-school classroom where we are teaching kids to draw “the cities of the future” or “what. A space ship might look like.”  

Anyway… here’s to Gutenberg and his repurposed  wine press…We might notice  that Jesus turned. Water into wine and then Gutenberg took a wine press and turned paper into a Bible…Coincidence?  

 

Heard the news? Beam me up

 BEAM ME UP?

This week’s news provides a playground  for thoughts about seeking peace and joy and we’ll go there in a moment or two, however, first there’s a focus on going where no person has gone before. Okay purists would scream it’s where no “man” has gone before…well the heck with that if there aren’t women most men aren’t going there unless it’s golfing.  A couple days ago marked what would have been the 100th birthday of Gene Roddenberry the creator of Star Trek.  Now thinking back on it here’s a ship that’s going out to explore and learn.  It’s not going out to conquer places or to prove  Vulcans are a superior  life form.   Wow what if we could go out to explore our universe without worrying  all about how we compared to the other life forms we might come across?  What if we could leave our comfort places and travel some mental distances in order to learn. Well we have zoom and FaceTime and we have moved beyond those flip phone communicators yet we haven’t quite manifested the transporter device.  On the other hand we are working on Euronext so we might be able to move our “mind” between locations quickly.  So who knows?  What if we view the transporter as an effort to be with someone in the present moment?  Maybe it’s a  high tech empathy device?  If this is true maybe we can work a little on being with. The people we know in the present moment?  Anyway as Spoc would say “it appears to be a logical alternative Captain.” 

Okay the news… 

The big news is getting out of Afghanistan.  I’m really tempted ot editorialize  about the diplomacy that got us there and  about the politics that demonstrate  a clear misunderstanding  of the cultural factors at play  around the world.  All I will say is this…. Think of one tank….

We will not be building or sending  any more tanks  and while many might think ‘so what’s the difference?  One battle ready modern tank costs an estimated 6.21 million dollars.  Oh in other news… American faces a dramatic  shortage in childcare. Workers.  —-finish the tank story?  Okay…

Given the average salary of a childcare worker and the average cost of a tank….. well you guessed it…

We could choose to pay full time salaries to over 200 childcare workers for a year  instead of deploying. One tank somewhere.  So the next time you see a tank in a parade or in a video clip  of US troops somewhere consider that  we might be providing help for 200 workers and families. .  Oh and a modern bomber?  Well a couple years ago a contract with a well known defense contractor  placed the price of a single completed plane going from start to finish at  just shy of a cool Billion with a B.  So conservatively  speaking we are talking about 32,000  childcare workers.  How many teachers? How many child psychologists?  How many seniors could get the in-home care needed to keep them home instead of nursing facilities?  Well  get out your calculators and hop on google.  Oh and at $5.00 a gallon we could give away 200 million gallons for each plane…. 

So to sum up the news for the week…. 

We could go warp speed toward  being with each other and we can choose to solve our childcare challenges  or we can complain about not conquering  a culture through violence.  Maybe we should  buy a couple planes  and bomb  folks with credit cards. And smart phones and let basic human evolution  do its job then use apple and amazon to bring  our way of life to the world?   

Oh well….  Live long and prosper 

Celebrating strong women and “bad” Habits? Ryan time

 BAD “HABITS?’

Today marks the 101st anniversary of women getting the right and responsibility to  vote.   While  in many ways seeking equality  is a part of my seeking  peace and  joy, I think it’s best to celebrate the strengths of each person on the planet.  I’ve  known a lot of strong women including Catholic nuns… 

So as irreverent  as it may seem/be  this eight line rhyme time is for them.  

 

We all saw the rancid  rabbit

The sweat drops  rolled out we had to dab it

Should we give chase or  try to jab it

Quite frankly could we even grab it?

Who has the guile and guts to nab it?

The Monks all failed complained the abbot

The Ninja Nun hiked up her habit

Let  loose her  dagger and sure did stab it

STRONG WOMEN

Batteries “not” included

 BATTERIES “NOT” INCLUDED?

Well we just went out to  take a quick run to the store, however, the Jeep battery was dead.  Fortunately we have a charger that  we plugged in and it seems like it will get us up and running... Now  the charger  of course has alligator  clips and they are a special connector for a specialized charger.  That sparked a stream a trickle really of thoughts about the number of chargers we have here.  We have two 18 volt drills and they each have a different charger and battery set up.  We have an 18  volt weed-` Eater —again differentbattery, different charger.  

Now we have all types of gadgets and gizmos that have rechargeable and replaceable batteries and because they all do different things in different devices it is nearly impossible. To know how long or how well they will work.  As far as flashlights go... I hope. They work long enough to see  the light so to speak.  

Well this thinking about batteries  got my gray matter popping and then this morning when my phone was on “low battery”  I popped on my wireless mostly charge  headphones so that I could listen to a podcast that  was discussing  the ideas of making a point and making a difference.   Well it seems a lot of folks  today are shining  a lot of light (using a lot of batteries)  on what is different about people and what is wrong with “them” or what “they” do.   I*n short  we are getting particularly  skilled  in using our media in all forms to point out what is our preferred view of things or put more simply we are getting very good about  making a point.  However, in seeking peace and joy I’m wondering if making a point isn’t an exercise in comparing two states of being or two historical viewpoints and further I’m wondering if we are really stressing these difference to make a point.   It’s one approach for sure.  

On the other hand is it enough to  make a point?  DIf we point out that we have black shoes and we need brown does that make the shoes we have any more brown.  How much battery power do we ne3ed to use showing everyone. We have black shoes?  Maybe we should use some of the battery power. To search for  brown shoes or places. That sell brown shoes, or people that can lend us some brown shoes etc.   It seems in seeking  peace and joy we should use our energy to make a difference instead of being the experts at marking a point.  

Let’s look at it this way.... 

Joe and Jane  have to make it through the forest and in the forest  there are many paths that lead to the exit, however some of them lead to a river that must be crossed in able to get out.  Now joe points to the fastest way. Out of the forest, yet Jane  says she thinks the river is that way.  Now of course Jane can spend the rest of the walk telling Joe this is the wrong way and that they’re doomed...OR.... Jane can spend  time on the path reading about how to build a land bridge using common outdoor supplies.  If Jane  sulks  and moans until they come to the river blocking the way  she certainly can make  her point.  If she. Has spent time learning to builds a bridge...she can make a difference.... 

Well time to go see if  the good old Jeep” fairies are smiling. Upon us...

Peace.

Hey smoky I need help

 ONLY YOU AND OTHER BAD ADVICE FROM A BEAR?

Although it’s a hot topic this entry isn’t designed to spark  a fevered debate about global warming or fan the flames of any other raging controversy.  (Notice any fire related verbiage yet/)…Lol…

Seriously, across  the globe there are wild fires  threatening and destroying  acres and acres of cities and forests and should we be aware that this can be more than nature’s way of finding balance?   Well…that’s your job as the reader to think about…. 

However, there’s  a peace and joy thing here that might be considered.  You see in 1944 the United States started  one of the most  well known and successful  public service campaigns of all time.  We introduced “Smokey the Bear who promoted fire safety for people using the outdoors.  Of course one could wonder  what animals could tell us about other socially valued  notions.  We did  have an owl trumpeting  “Give a Hoot don’t Polute.”  

A lot of folks liked  old Smokey…yet something bothered me about his message and still does in terms of seeking peace and joy and getting  things done.  “Only You”…. 

Only  me???? 

Wow  that doesn’t sound like. A plea to work together to solve challenges… it does. Make you think  one person is responsible and can take credit for getting  it done.  Forest fire…call in the smoke jumpers?…. Nope…. I’ve got this  after. All only I can  prevent a fire here.  It seems like some of our biggest barriers  to seeking peace and joy come when we decide to take on  quests alone.  This  solo gig thing  might get in the way of us sharing  gifts, ideas, and interesting experiences and what they mean.  Maybe Smokey could have recommended the “together we can prevent  forest fires?    Or what would have happened if  he would have said  “let’s work together to prevent some fires and keep our  wildlife healthy.  

Does this really matter?   Well have you ever seen these informercials about getting rich?   Did you ever notice that they. Don’t talk about “you and your friends” getting rich?  No No No. it’s all about you…..Well seeking peace and joy seems to be linked to learning it’s not always all about you and you alone…..

So thanks Smokey for reminding us about  fire safety… however  I’m thinking. “Only I can prevent forest fires?… Come on Smokey give me a break

More soon

Reframe your familiar refrain

HAVE TO HASLE HAUNTED HISTORY

The  ghosts they rose up fast

But soon they stood aghast 

As you gripped your weighted past

Gave a Herculean cast

With the demons gone at last

New sails on their new mast

Forward wise you now can blast

Into journeys  rich and vast

Refrain Reframe 

 

August 2 no fireworks? WOW IT’S AUGUST 2ND! A History “Lesson” We hear a lot these days about what the founding fathers intended…Well if you look up the list of adult beverages consumed at George Washington’s going away party you’ll find that they intended to get royally hammered quite often. Also if you take a look at the calendar of summer 76 you’ll also learn a thing or two. That declaration thing for example…. Yep it’s dated the 4th and yet no one bothered to make it a public announcement/proclamation until four days later and the thing wasn’t signed until welll you guessed it…. 56 signers signed on August 2nd. Talk about post dating something. I mean really a month? I think that’s plenty of “we were just kidding” time right? Yet, I think most kids in the US and many worldwide are taught that July 4th was the day— so that sparked some thoughts. How many other bits of history are we fed to memorize that aren’t quite what they seem? I mean did Christmas really happen on Christmas and did the battle of 1812 really happen due to the 1812 overture? Did they really release 99 red balloons… Did the 100 years war last 100 years and did the guy really meet a guy with seven wives when traveling to St. Ives? Seriously did we really learn the correct history? We certainly did n’t learn a complete history. What we learn and teach is watered down version of what men said happened as they used weapons and other disgusting methods of human destruction. Is that something that really helps us seek peace and joy? What history have we left out? Wel here are just a few things we don’t know about. I’ve mentioned a few of these before in other entries so forgive me if you are bored…however these are still food for thought. What about the history of pajamas? Who was the first to have the footies with the plastic bottoms that once warn smooth became speed skating trainers? Oh what about the history of pogo sticks? Did kids just stand in one spot and jump up and down and count to 1253 for a new indoor basement record? What about the unabridged history of clothes hangers which have done as much to preserve period clothing and our knowledge of past culture as any written record? Oh and no real discussion of history is complete without the history. Of medicine. Who was the first certified proctologist? Who stood up in front of the class and said “you know what I’d like to stick my finger right up there dozens of times a day.” Oh and is there anywhere in the annals of history the recorded history of the first circumcision ? I think accounts may vary on that one, however it had to come after the first course in super sales training and the distillation of highly reactive alcohol . Maybe the point being highlighted is that there is a lot to choose to choose from when. It comes to being invfluenced by history and maybe we can think briefly about what histories influence how we approach and reflect upon experiences. Maybe it would be a fun exercise to take a clear memory and then rethink it given a different context like say It would have happened before there were automobiles? Or maybe we could think about. Things differently given how.the human body is shaped generally…like what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way? Okay that’s enough brain teasing for now…just have the guts to be a little more curious and a little more skeptical about how history has written the foundation of some experiences in stone. Tomorrow there will be an eight line rhyme time abou this post…but thanks for reading the extended version….

 WOW IT’S AUGUST 2ND!

A History “Lesson”

We hear a lot these days about what the founding fathers intended…Well if you look up the list of adult beverages consumed at George Washington’s going away party you’ll find that they intended to get royally hammered quite often.  Also if you take a look at the calendar  of summer 76 you’ll also learn a thing or two.  That declaration thing for example…. Yep it’s dated the 4th and yet no one bothered to make it a public announcement/proclamation until four days later and the thing wasn’t signed until welll you guessed it…. 56 signers signed on August 2nd.  Talk about post dating something.  I mean really a month?   I think that’s plenty of “we were just kidding” time right?  Yet, I think most kids in the US and many worldwide are taught that July 4th was the day— so that sparked some thoughts.  

How many other bits of history  are we fed to memorize that aren’t quite what they seem?  I mean did Christmas really happen on Christmas and did  the battle of 1812 really happen due to the 1812 overture?  Did they really release 99 red balloons… Did the 100 years war last 100 years and did the guy really meet a guy with seven wives when traveling to St. Ives?  

Seriously did we really learn the correct history?  We certainly did n’t learn  a complete history.  What we learn and teach is watered down version of what men said happened as they used weapons and other disgusting methods of human destruction.  Is that something that really helps us seek peace and joy?  What history have we left out?  Wel here are just a few things we don’t know about.  I’ve mentioned a few of these before in other entries so forgive me if you are bored…however these are still food for thought.  

What about the history  of pajamas?  Who was the first to have the footies with the plastic bottoms  that once warn smooth became speed skating trainers?  Oh what about the history of pogo sticks?  Did kids just stand in one spot and jump up and down and  count to 1253 for a new  indoor basement record?  What  about the unabridged  history of clothes hangers which have done as much to preserve period clothing and our knowledge of past culture as any written record?  Oh and no real discussion of history is complete without the history. Of medicine.  Who was the first certified proctologist?  Who stood up in front of the class and said “you know what I’d like to stick my finger right up there  dozens of times a day.”    Oh and is there anywhere in the annals  of history the recorded history of the first circumcision ?  I think accounts may vary on that one, however it had to come after the first course in super sales training and the distillation of highly reactive alcohol .  

Maybe the point  being highlighted is that there is a lot to choose to choose from when. It comes to being invfluenced by history and maybe we can think briefly about what histories influence how we approach and reflect upon experiences.    Maybe it would be a fun exercise to take a clear memory and then rethink it given  a different context like say It would have happened before there were automobiles?  

Or maybe we could think about. Things  differently  given how.the human body is shaped generally…like what  would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?  

Okay that’s enough brain teasing for now…just have the guts to be a little more curious and a little more skeptical  about how history has written the foundation of some experiences in stone.  

Tomorrow there will be an eight line rhyme time abou this post…but thanks for reading the extended version….

Here & Now ELRT

 Relocation

Fearing future ill-defined

And the ghosts of what’s behind

No clear map and no rewind

It’s not the deal  I thought I signed

The path swerves becomes a grind

Not the journey I designed

Then breathing deep I clear my mind

And search for goodness which I find

Here and Now

Lake Geode: lessons learned and marvelous memories

 GEODE: The Sand and The Rock Remembered?

We’ve all eased our eyes open in the morning and found those little bits of matter clinging to the edge.  They are commonly known as “sand” from the  “sandman” who has “entered” and deposited these specs unless of course you sleep with one eye open gripping your pillow tight (Metallica Rocks).   Anyway we wake up with sand in our eyes and that started  a train of thought leading here today.  Did you ever wonder how many grains of sand get left in your eyes over the course of a lifetime?  Me too…but we’ll talk about that later… First let’s look at where else we often find sand on our body.   Well now that I think about trips to the beach and believing that this is generally a family blog, we’d better skip a description of where sand ends up although it’s fascinating how  it might get there.  Maybe we had better dial this back to memories of the first time we discovered where that sand can get to and for me those first memories seem to be tied to a state park lake near  Burlington and Danville or Middletown called Lake Geode.   It was a funky little beach on a lake dedicated to fishing and  camping.  There were boats for rent and a little snack shop or bait shop which in my case often turned out to be a snack shop for  the bass and blue gils .  Well in that shop on the counter there was  almost always an actual “geode”.  What’s that?  Well a Geode is a rock or a rock formation that due to geological  reasons became hollow enough in the  middle so that a crystalline structure could over thousands and sometimes a million  years could develop.  These centers are just brilliant and beautiful  things and you can still find a few geodes at the park today.   

Now it seems to me that as I grow wiser many people are like Geodes…. They are hard on the outside and seem unremarkable for a long time. And then something  comes along and they crack.  Now instead of just crumbling they reveal what’s inside  and we find that inside they are dynamic, shining, beautiful, and able to amaze the world.   So does that mean we should want everyone to crack?  Maybe not, however, maybe we should look carefully to find the brilliant features of people when they get their lives disturbed in radical ways.  Maybe the best facets of their spirit will become evident if we accept their new form.  

Okay back to the beach  and the sand…. One of my favorite memories of Geode was  a camping night when a couple of us  long-haired  freaky. People  (about 16) years old) went down a side  trail to the beach for a slightly illegal swim.  We swam a while and then sat on the sand looking at the night sky.  There were tons of stars in the sky and the age old question came to mind.  Are there more grains of sand  on earth than there are  stars in the sky?  Well there are 41, 900 or so grains of sand in a pound of sand.  Yet, the science tells us  that there are way more stars in the sky than grains of sand it’s just that we can’t see them all.  I’ve always wondered how much other stuff  that could amaze us  and yet we can’t or won’t see it?   Now the other day I was looking  at a chemical formula for DSMO (you can look it up if you want)… and started thinking about  things at an “atomic” level.  My mind drifted back to the sand vs. stars thing and I added in the molecules concept  to the contest.  Well after  a bit of research it became really evident that  it wouldn’t take a whole Lake Geode full of H2O  molecules to surpass the estimated. Number of stars and in fact after a rough calculation it would’ve probably  only take about ten drops of water atoms to equal the stellar count.  So there I cat in my memory thinking people may have inner beauty that I will never see, yet I’d better look for  and be aware of.  Also I thought. About what we count and what we use our numbers for.  You see ten drops of water. In my swim trunks  would be a large number of atoms and yet the thought of grains of sand  in my trunks or a star up my backside would be far more disruptive.  So what did my memories of Lake Geode teach me…. Well it’s important to  look inside and that numbers are important to understand for what they are and for what you might  want  to use them to say.  

I understand that right now you can’t swim at Geode….but someday you will be able to and when  you can… think of the sand, the stars, and the water and enjoy the experiences  possible in a little state park in Iowa.  

Dreams may not be a banded yes you’re mine can be expanded

 ABANDONED STRANDED OR WXPANDED?

You will find the finest sand

Where the big lake meets the land

But try to hold it in your hand

Then you may start to understand

That you can spend an extra grand

To have the latest brand

But if don’t let your mind expand

You won’t  land where you planned

Listen to the drums  from a distant marching band