Shobna provides a beautiful images and Thich Nhat Hanh‘s quote about silence. Parker Palmer says that community and solitude form a paradox. They do not exist without one another.
It is in moments of solitude I find meaning in living in community. What I share in common with others far outweighs what makes me different although the differences are essential to what makes each of us unique beings.
It is in moments of silence I look at my life as if it were a mountain revealing its story through the striations it formed throughout its existence. In silence, my life takes on meaning. It is there that my relationships take form and mean more than they did in the busyness of the day.
One of the first classes I took in my doctoral journey introduced me to Viktor Frankl‘s work and finding meaning in one’s life, which is the primary reason we live.
In his post, Kevin shares a quote from “Man’s Search for Meaning.” We search for and discover meaning in ways unique to each of us. That search/quest is not someone else’s, even though there may be shared characteristics.
Frankl survived the horrors of Auschwitz believing his wife was alive, often hearing her speak to him. As it turned out, she died during her internment, but it was her daemon nature that gave him reasons to live and press on. Many of us would say our spouse/partner gives us reasons to live and that would be true, but it is in different ways than Frankl and others.
I enjoy Kahil Gibran’s quotes. Long before we had words and phrases like mind set and frame of mind, he spoke about these things as part of how we might greet each day and live life to the fullest. It is essential to be in the present moment.
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
—Kahlil Gibran
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Enjoy today. Achieve today. Tomorrow is promised to no one!
Mary Oliver is one of my favourite poets. Even when she writes lines in declaratory ways, there is a profound question being asked.
In this wonderful quote shared on Rethinking Life the question is what happens next. Even under the best and most controlled of circumstances, we do not know what will happen in the next moment.
Living is a leap of faith filled with mystery we can embrace. When we believe we control the next moment, the next instance, we fall short. Mindfulness can help us embrace the mystery. Being grounded in each ensuing moment is the only place we can be.
Matthew posted this poem in response to my pressing of an earlier post. I included a video by John Lee Hooker of a song called One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.
Matthew wrote a poem that embraces how a blues singer might go about writing a song. I find blues songs are never complete. I listen to one version of a song, even by the same performer, to find it is slightly different. Sometimes it is quite different.
Although he is not a blues singer per se, I enjoy Jimmy Buffett, as well. He does a Lord Buckley song called God’s Own Drunk. It is funny, charming, and Buffet does his version as a kind of talking blues.
I tried several times to upload the video, but failed. I held my mouth just right and it did not work. Here, is the link to God’s Own Drunk.
I am in Spokane now, reading, writing, and preparing for two presentations at the end of the month. It is unseasonable here, but it is at home, too. Rain and snow go with the low temperatures.
I wrote this about the paradox we experience in spring. It is a time of rejuvenation and resurrection, literally and figuratively, yet it is not always easy to see, unless I watch closely. Each day, as I walk, I see signs that contradict each other: sullen skies, a glacial wind, flowers showing, and robins gathered to feed.
Leaden, sullen rain-heavy skies,
The wind glacial;
Absent a lover’s warm touch,
With precision, it cuts through cloth,
Touches skin with icy fingers.
Have faith the calendar counsels
Nature speaks in other ways;
Daffodils reach through the earth,
Robins find food washed up on the sidewalk,
I hear spring is here.
I took this picture of the first robin I saw last spring. There was still snow. The robin posed for me, more interested in finding food than fearing me.
I have not posted for some time. This seemed like a good way to begin again, afresh. When I was growing up, we listened to a wide variety of music, including Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald. I thought it was the norm and grew into a die-hard blues fan, attending concerts by Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, and King Biscuit when they traveled to Canada.
As an adult, I saw BB King, John Mayall, Etta James, Ruthie Foster, Taj Mahal, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and others. An American friend told me this was not the norm in the US. He did not have the same opportunities to see these performers as I did or, if he did, it was long after they were in their primes.
The Hans Christian Anderson quote fits well “where words fail, music speaks”. Music breaks down barriers without realizing they are coming down. As a Canadian, I had freedoms I took-for-granted, like the music I listened to and the concerts I attended. When I taught, I played a wide variety of music each morning. It ranged from the blues to jazz to country to folk to old rock and to more contemporary music. Students enjoyed it and it surprised them when they heard me play old Johnny Cash, the blues, and rock-a-billy.
Music is colour-blind or, better yet, music is blind to colour.
I like this particular John Lee Hooker song, which I first heard in the early 1970’s. George Thorogood plays it in most of his concerts in tribute to John Lee. Enjoy.
If I were still in the classroom, this post would provide considerable teaching material for a unit on Dr. King. I found students are inspired by the work fo great people, including Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, etc. Hans-Georg Gadamer suggested we need images for our imaginations. These people and many others provide such images in times when we do not readily see them.
Why do the good men and women die young? Martin Luther King Jr. knew his death was near. He stood his ground till his last day. The world knew. A man of peace was gone.
King speaks out on the Vietnam War and forms the Poor People’s Campaign, designed to prod the federal government to strengthen its antipoverty efforts.
During the less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December, 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced. Dr. King is widely regarded as America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history.
Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings…
I wrote this poem several years ago about the magic provided by the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and Christmas. What message was in those celestial colours and sounds? As a child, I thought the sky talked to me and told me a creation story.
I grew up in Northern Alberta and Christmas was a special time. I recall cold winter nights. I mean they were cold–almost minus 40 at night. Our windows upstairs were almost completely frosted over. On moonlit nights, the light kept me awake or that is what I told others.
During Advent, my mom and older brothers walked across the street for evening Mass. The younger ones, including me, went to bed. I did not fall asleep right away and would watch out the window for them to come home. I thought no one saw me, but my Mom would come up and tell me to go to bed.
At that time of year, I recall is the Northern Lights and how you could hear them as well as see them light up the sky as they danced across the sky. We don’t see them very often in Edmonton with the urban light.
When we spend time at the farm at Christmas, we hear and see them again. On cold nights we hear the train (about a mile away) and it sounds like it is coming through the house.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 