-| Random Thoughts |- 

1. The older I get the more comfort I find in the things I don’t understand about God. When I was younger I wanted all the blanks filled in. The pages full of explanations. But as my hair grays, I am content with mystery. Not knowing reminds me now that I am not God and my frustration at not understanding is a kind of reaching for the wrong  fruit in a garden full of what is freely offered. This is a kind of sober worship, I think

2. I just finished Henry David Thoreau's book, Walden. It is a truly wonderful book. The writing is superb. But what I can’t get over is how unique it is. 

3. Our culture creates enemies out of every opinion. It makes love harder than ever. True Sadness by Avett Brothers is an album of profound insight – seriously, really profound – throughout each and every song. But the song “No Hard Feelings” is a song I needed to hear over and over. I’ve included the video below.

4. Last night we watched an old black and white movie and there were no gross scenes, no explosions, and no gritty language and it was exceptional. Weird how that’s possible.

5. I have basically given up on reading music critics. Amazon reviews are worth far more. I care more about what housewives and plumbers think than experts.

6. I miss sitting in a swing under badam tree. 

7. Leisurely enjoying a good meal makes us more human.

8. Stars are prone to fall.

9. My neighbour's kid was wound up as he talked about going backing to school and I felt for him because of Sunday nights.

10. Applause is addictive and deadly. Especially when you receive it in one area of your life but not in another. 

Happy 2017

-| Nothing worth saying|- 

This is one those mornings when I feel like I should say something but have nothing worth saying. So, I go looking through my piles of books looking for inspiration. I come across this statement by J.P Morgan stated back in 1901: "I owe the public nothing."

Robert Bly would call him an uninitiated man. A man stuck in adolescence. Donald Trump would simply bow. 


Time for me to finish my sketch! 

It was my neighbour's sons first day of first standard. He was super excited about it and came dashing into the room to show off his new school uniform and school bag. After a short excited and animated conversation about minions and school buses he asks -

-| An Unschooling Reflection|- 

It was my neighbour's sons first day of first standard. He was super excited about it and came dashing into the room to show off his new school uniform and school bag. After a short excited and animated conversation about minions and school buses he asks - 

"What do you think I'm going to learn in school today?"

Without pause I answer, "You're going to learn how to sit still in a desk for long periods of time and watch the clock."

Months later I still find myself wondering if I should've or shouldn't have been so direct and honest.

-| Fooling |- 

"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled."~ Mark Twain

-| Prayer |-

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."

~ Soren Kierkegaard

-| Living Sincerely|- 

I recently was reading about  how Thoreau had changed his name from David Henry to Henry David. I wanted to find a passage where Bly talks about the name change but like usual I was sidetracked and read this passage instead. It is about what it means for a human being to 'live sincerely'. I hope we all remember it in times of need. 

"To live sincerely is to live your own life, not your father's life or your mother's life or your neighbors life; to spend soul on large concerns, not to waste your life on your neighbor's life; not to waste your life as a kind of human ant carrying around small burdens; and finally, to live sincerely is to 'live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,' as Thoreau declares in "Walden." (Pg.25)

I hope I remember it in times of need.

-| Two Monks Story |-

"In a famous Zen story two monks are walking together and come to a river. A beautiful woman is standing there trying to figure out how to get across. The older monk offers to help and picks her up and carries her. Later, as the two monks resume their stroll, the younger says, 'I thought we weren't supposed to have contact with women.' The older monk replies, 'I put the woman down long ago, but you're still carrying her.'

"The lesson usually drawn from this story is, do what you have to do and move on. From a typical spiritual point of view, the monk picks up the woman and then lets go. No attachments, no complications, no worries.

"But disturbing reflection can be a good thing. Even inner conflict and worry inspire the need to sort things out. In my interpretation of the story, the young monk who can't stop thinking about the woman would become the teacher. He's more human and has the capacity to carry his experiences for a long time and worry about them. In a way, the story contrasts spirit and soul, and I favor the soulful young man."Thomas Moore, Pg. 115

It was a refreshing and a relief to read this excerpt this morning. I've heard this story a few times and I've always looked at it from the spiritual point of view. I'm glad Thomas Moore gave us his perspective from the soul's point of view. I spent a lot of my childhood worrying and full of inner conflict, and to have a licensed psychologist acknowledge that this it isn't a genetice defect or something that needs to be fixed is a huge relief.