Life, Thoughts & Coffee

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www.healingsounds.com

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Sometimes a situation snowballs out of control, and, in the blink of an eye, one’s life is changed. And I wonder whether it’s a push from the universe offering counseling as in “No, it’s not the right time,” or whether the people involved are perhaps not properly prepared for the plan to continue – maybe both. But something happens, and the ease and joy that once was at the beginning of the plan are no more.

It’s written that the sages, through deep meditation and a falling away of the “I,” came to understand that all experiences are not good or bad, that they are just that – experiences.

Ahh, if we could live our lives with that thought and not add fuel to the fire with other thoughts, balance and joy would no doubt prevail – as the sages have said since ancient times. If only we could.

Tucked away in a small journal (unfortunately I didn’t jot down the author’s name), I found these words:

“If someone with a wand took away your ability to think, all of your problems would go away.”

It’s about the negative nature of thinking that is easy to fall into, of thoughts that repeatedly come to mind unless an awareness of what’s going on quiets the mind.

And tucked away in a small journal are words of another, and again, unfortunately the author’s name was not jotted down:

“You will never find the answer by dwelling on the problem. You find the answer by dwelling on the solution to the problem.”

“Third Man is the pseudonym of Blues singer Dana Gillespie. . . .” www.dana-gillespie.com Two weekends ago I discovered that moving, unpacking, and cleaning is easier when listening to Dream On, her CD. www.thirdman.com And when she begins singing “Amazing Grace,” well, I’m compelled to drop everything to join her (for once and for all it’s time to learn all the lines to that amazing song that has captured so many ears and hearts throughout the decades). The word “soul” is substituted for “wretch” which seems to ring nicer for all of us beings. Although when “Amazing Grace” was composed it’s easy to understand the reasons for the use of the word “wretch” by the composer. www.amazinggracemovie.com

As of yesterday, three lovely creative women, and a wonderful creative cast are in full force on Long Island working on The Retreat film www.theretreatfilm.com.

Lately I’ve been witnessing “the flow” and this is another story of its operation. The serendipitous meeting of the producer, writer, director who all seem to enjoy being “extras” in movies (I think they try to snatch every opportunity to be where the creative action is, no matter where it is – poetry meetings, writing workshops, books, movie sets, acting, studying, researching, imagining – following the creative path wherever they find it), and their discussions during that first meeting somehow flowed into creating the Sag short film, The Retreat.

Watching its inception has been an enormous treat, and knowing that they come from the heart makes it a joy to watch. The motivation, the talent, the belief, and, let’s say the enjoyment of it all, has taken them from their first meeting to where they want to be.

To all of you on the set, and to your big imaginations, keep on letting it flow.

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“Don’t play for safety – it’s the most dangerous game in the world.” – Hugh Walpole

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” – Rumi

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” – Josh Billings. a 19th century American humourist

“To live intuitively is to live fourth-dimensionally.” – Claude Bragdon

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. . . .” – Albert Einstein

I just moved. Whew! The only good thing about having to pack every single thing one owns is that we get to sort out all the “stuff” that’s not being used. All the things that if someone were to come and take – none would be missed. I know there are a lot of different reasons for keeping unused things. But. . . .

Peter, “Speedy and Reliable with a Positive Attitude” efficiently moved my things. He’s located in Philadelphia. He’s accommodating; he’s nice. From the first phone call, he eliminated any anxiety that was trying to push its way to the surface. Support is a big Must Have when moving. otherwise it can get quite overwhelming.

Speaking of moving, I’ve been noticing many moving trucks in front of buildings, and also the unusual number of people in Philadelphia pulling suitcases around. What’s going on I wonder. I know there’s a large student population in Philly, but it’s not only students who are moving and pulling. So I think Philadelphians like to move and pull. And I want to be excluded from that moving and pulling list.

It’s good to share, so here’s Peter’s number: 267 974 7577.
www.movingspecialistinc.com

Once in awhile I read some of the crazy spam that finds its way to this site (thousands over a short time), and I press delete. In the process, I wonder in absolute amazement why people would want to spend their time thinking of, writing about, and sending what’s called spam. Often it’s possible to glimpse the intelligence and creativity that produced it, and I’m thinking that if whatever effort it took was used in a positive direction, the energy of the sender would change, and the person receiving it would benefit also. Imagine that! That’s all I have to say about spam.

For decades the well-loved book The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn has been read the world over. The following sentence is lifted from The Power of the Word:

A person knowing the power of the word, becomes very careful of his conversation. He has only to watch the reaction of his words to know that they do “not return void.”

Her writings are simple, clear, and powerful. Because they’re simple, they’re hard to ignore. They have a way of reaching the subconscious mind. Her timeless book is a gift you give yourself. She was a mentor, and still is. Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life said: “The Game of Life and How to Play It, by Florence Scovel Shinn, helped me crystallize my own thinking and moved me forward on the path to where I am today.”

www.mitchhorowitz.com/yolanda-king.html

www.louisehay.com

A friend of mine and I exchange books. Last month when she offered a book to me; I looked at it and thought to myself, “I don’t think so.” I accepted it though and after reading a few pages, happily continued. Soon I realized that the author is a world-class thinker. The 565 -page book is titled The Ascent of Humanity The Age of Separation, the Age of Reunion, and the Convergence of Crises that is birthing the transition. At first glance it looks like the kind of book many of us would pick up and put right down, -as in I don’t think so. True, it’s as serious as the title suggests, and It could have been boring and dry. But it isn’t. There’s a wanting to read more because it becomes obvious to the reader that Charles Eisenstein is a person who is compassionate and dedicated to understanding all that brought the world to its present condition. On page after page his easy style of writing connects the reader to the world and all that it’s been through, and all that it can become. And we begin to know and to understand how it’s accumulated the many, many problems facing it today. Don’t worry, it doesn’t leave the reader “down in the dumps.” On the contrary, reading it opens the mind, and the reader is able to see the world’s problems with clarity, and also its solutions with an equal dose of clarity. Now I’ll stop attempting to explain a book that covers a vast number of important topics that touch our every day lives.

If you click on to Charles Eisenstein’s website, I think you’ll be pleased that you did:
www.RealitySandwich.com

Until last year I hadn’t read the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Not because I was too busy, too busy is never the case when it comes to good books. The truth is that until last year I hadn’t even heard of the book. People I mentioned it to said, Oh, that book. Yes, I read it a long time ago. Two things surprised me, the number of people who’ve read it, and their response to the book.

So, because I was late jumping onto the bandwagon, I intensified the feeling by watching the movie which was written, produced, and directed by Conrad Rooks and shot in Northern India. To watch the movie is to bask in beauty. Really! And to listen to Conrad Rooks speak about the making of the movie, and also about his life in Greenwich Village in the 70’s, is as wonderful as a pistacchio ice cream cone on a sweltering summer afternoon.

When body, or mind, or spirit is feeling frazzled, and you just want to bathe in tranquility, pick up a copy of the 122-page book Siddhartha, or watch the movie, or do both. If you’ve read it, you can read it again. There’s always a passage or two or three that will sing to your heart.

It’s said that laughter heals. And that laughing for 15 minutes every day offers many benefits to our health. It doesn’t matter whether the laughter is coming from something that’s caught our attention, or from simply wanting to laugh. Laughing feels so good. I wonder, has any one researched when exactly our ability to laugh began?

Laughing dissolves stressful and awkward situations. Laughing keeps us in the present moment. It makes problems seem less troublesome. When we put our heart and soul into laughing, any problems we have take second fiddle. Laughing refreshes the mind. Children love to laugh; we can learn from children – they know what we’ve forgotten. Laughing changes our energy to a higher vibration.

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Laughter Therapy -Introduction
“Healthy, non-ridiculing and connecting laughter provides physiological, psychological and spiritual benefits you probably never realized or imagined. We are born with the gift of laughter – it’s being serious that we learn. . . . Why laugh? And how will it help you? Here are just three reasons to laugh and keep laughing:”
www.teehee.com/Reasons.html

This week in a Brooklyn magazine I read a column in which people write in for adivice on how to handle sticky situations. For instance, a couple bought a house with a much needed garage because they live in a busy community where parking is not always readily available. The husband works long hours, they have three children (one has special needs whose school is a distance from their house), another child is on the way, and the car is used throughout the day. This is the sticky situation: one or two neighbors often park in front of the couple’s garage “for a few minutes.” The owner has to go knocking on the door; the offender apologizes when caught. Then the same thing happens again, and again. Once it took 20 minutes for the neighhor to answer a knock because she was taking a shower. Geez!

Many thoughts came to mind when I read about this particular situation: lack of manners, no common sense, using what’s not theirs, inauthentic apologizing, bringing stress into another’s life, etcetera. The advice given by the writer of the column was to have the neighbor’s car towed. She said the complete inconvenience of getting the car back, plus the elbow grease needed to remove the sticker from the car, would stop the illegal parking. I agree; it would do that, however. . . . There’s got to be a better solution for all involved.

The above advice reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein on the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And it reminds me of a wonderful passage I read, and I wish I’d kept because it rings true for just about any situation we encounter. Mankind is evolving, every person will eventually be in the folds of the Divine – no matter how long it takes. Evolvement requires that we move beyond the way things have always been done. A quick look at what’s going on in our world suggests that it’s time to do things differently. We need to begin to understand that there are other ways of handling sticky situations, no matter how small, no matter how big, and it’s up to every individual to find that way. It’s not something that can be handed to us on a silver platter. Going to the next level requires the attention of our whole self because it comes from within. If the above garage situation advice is followed, it’s likely that other stressful situations will follow on its path.

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To know how to live is my trade and my art. – Michel De Montaigne

When we allow ourselves to exist truly and fully, we sting the world with our vision and challenge it with our own ways of being. – Thomas Moore

You are not a beggar at the table of life. You are the honored guest. – Emmanuel

Before you die, dare to walk the wildest unknown way – Bryce Courtney

Always look for creative solutions to every day challenges – Deepak Chopra