I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren't actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply until every natural resource is consumed, and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. And we are the cure.

--The Matrix

"Love crosses its islands, from grief to grief,
it sets its roots, watered with tears,
and no one––no one––can escape the heart’s progress
as it runs, silent and carnivorous." 
--Pablo Neruda

"Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me."

"Do you remember when we were 18 and free, and we spread what we thought were our wings and flew into what we thought was the sky and ran straight into each other and fell back down again into what we thought was love? I do, and it was so wonderful."

--B Bailey
Nov 13 2012

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” - Paulo Coelho

‎"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shh'ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah Blah. Don't let someone steal your tenderness. Don't allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it's a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all -look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love." 
--Zooey Deschanel.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. 

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full..

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes'.

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed..

'Now', said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car..

The sand is everything else--the small stuff.'

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. 

There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter.

Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked. The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend.'

‎'I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particuarly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is almost indestructible.' John Steinbeck, East of Eden

‎"People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave."

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows.  Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul  If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.  Authenticity is invaluable - Originality is non existent.”     - Jim Jarmusch

AFRICAN ASTROLOGY
June 5 to July 4

"The Ancestor"

This rich African symbol consists of a solid base upon which two forces lie supporting a figure striving to raise itself. Originally "The Ancestor" was a sign of power. Yet, as the symbol indicates, individual will has no more energy than it can derive from a strong support and the more noble a force is, the greater will be its compelling foundation.

Those of you born under the sign of "The Ancestor" invariably sense the joy or sadness in the lives of those around you, though you may have a tendency to become immersed in their more melancholic attitudes.

The favorite maxim of this sign would be "One must be fair." From this derives a propensity to use will power magnanimously which demonstrates your capacity as leaders of initiatives and champions of and projects.

It is the domain of "The Ancestor" to govern to govern and to guide. Difficulties and opposing forces can at first cause some discouragement, but due to strong self-knowledge, natives of this sign are informed by the wisdom of ancestral Africa and you recognize that you are often the cause of your own disappointments which you are quick to remedy.

As "The Ancestor", you must learn to detach yourself from natural egoism and reach toward a disinterested attitude. Take care not to lose yourself in utopian schemes, but stay true to your ideals.

By ridding yourself of all will to influence and impress those around you, you will be able to realize the sweetest of your dreams.

"Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars,
you have a right to be here
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should

"Plato believed in the pre-existence of the soul, which tied in with his innatism. He thought that we are born with knowledge from a previous life that is subdued at birth and must be relearned. He saw all attainment of knowledge not as acquiring new information, but as remembering previously known information. Before we were born, we existed in a perfect world where we knew everything. "

Letter from a Mother to a Daughter: "My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”... Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep. When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl? When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way... remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day... the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If I occasionaly lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you. And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad... just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you... my darling daughter. "

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

― E.B. White 

“I have never yet met a healthy person who worried very much about his health, or a really good person who worried much about his own soul.”

J. B. S. Haldane

"The fundamental message that the Existentialists hoped to deliver to us is that we have many more options for living our lives than we typically acknowledge, that we have the ability to be much more than we typically choose to be. In making their case, the Existentialists sought to push us out of the ruts into which our lives so often fall, if for no other reason than the security those well-worn paths often appear to offer. But the Existentialists ask us not to be satisfied with taking the easy route, urging us instead to confront our fears and opt for those less-traveled paths we may have to hew for ourselves. After all, this is the one shot you have at life. Why not live it as an Existentialist?"

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.” 

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

‎'Creativity is a blameless process. That to exist at all it must function unselfconsciously and without guilt. The primary ingredient in this tranquility might be to pardon ourselves in advance for any real or imagined inadequacies and approach the work with the attitude that we will see what happens.'

‎"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." -CS Lewis

"A work of art is one through which the consciousness of the artist is able to give its emotions to anyone who is prepared to receive them." --Muriel Rukeyser, American Poet

Both of my parents came to greet me with the morning while I was still in bed. Dad kissed me on my forehead and Mom opened the blinds. What a kind reality

April 9, 2011

I suppose I could create many justifications of why I could be right in my way of thinking and take pride in that, but it seems more of a challenge to find how I could be proven wrong. Thus, we proceed.

"Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within; 
Opening to my loss,
I am given unimaginable gifts;
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.

Each condition I flee from pursues me.
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game;
To play it is pure delight,To honor it is true devotion."

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography, in lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

“Whatever this becomes,
Whatever words I say, we are the fortunate ones,
And when the days are done I won’t forget.
All I see in you and me,
is a light in the dark of humanity.
And when the days are done, I won’t forget.

Timid steps, come walk with me, yeah.
And with your useless words, come talk to me.
There are broken hearts now on your stereo,
but the broken beats are just too slow.
You’ll cry, it doesn’t change a thing.

Kill the lights and let the rain fall.
Recall the memories of yesterdays and better ways
And know the innocence is gone, move on.
From this day on we’ll never be the same.

The saddest songs make sense to me, yeah,
so with your sunken eyes come look for me.
2 hour drives are 2 hours alone
but 2 hour drives are better than home
You’ll die, it doesn’t change a thing.

You will
Kill the lights and let the rain fall.
Recall the memories of yesterdays and better ways
And know the innocence is gone, move on.
From this day on we’ll never be the same.

Faster words and faster kids
Faster songs and faster ends
the one thing that’s stayed the same.
I’ve lived through days
And I’ve lived through nights
I’ve had my loves
and I’ve had my fights.
You’ve got to know, you have my heart.


Faster words and faster kids
Faster songs and faster ends
the one thing that’s stayed the same.
I’ve lived through days
I’ve lived through nights
I’ve had my loves
I’ve had my fights.
You’ve got to know (you’ve got to know), you have my heart.”