Point Of View

I keep hearing Grateful Dead songs in my head...not a bad thing, actually. Matter of fact right now it's
downright pleasant!  I am a little giddy, as are many who've been watching the Gulf tragedy unfold....giddy because there's a little bit of good news; the oil is not leaking right now.

In what can only be described as a disaster of biblical proportions, this ecological nightmare has overshadowed almost every other news story on every network.  Now with the announcement of possible (if limited) success, we can sigh a prayer of gratitude...and keep a close eye on what happens next.

Tarot- The Fool   rcw 2008

With everything going on in the world, sometimes I feel downright ancient!  It's exhausting trying to make sense of it, so for today I'm just not going to bother. I'm just going to be happy with the bit of good news we've gotten today and see it as a sign that maybe there are good days ahead.

A lot of people are apathetic...they don't want to see anything beyond trouble and tribulation.  They delight in seeing the glass as not only  half empty, but leaking as well. I fall into that chasm too; impressing myself with just how negative a picture I can paint...but what good does it do anyone?

So for today, and for as often as is humanly possible, I am going to try to find something positive, even if only one thing, in each day.  And yes, waking up and breathing count!

When thinking along those lines, today Fifty Five Is The New Point Of View....believing that good things are still possible is the only way to make them so.

Bread And Circuses

Red Remembers  by rcw

Sorry it's been a few days.

I am frightened....for the first time in my life I am truly frightened, and am not sure what to do about it. There’s no where to run, and running never does any good anyway; but with disaster after disaster, political game after political game nobody can tell me they haven’t scanned the room for the nearest exit.

For most of my life I’ve been a Democrat. I dabbled in the early ‘70s with the Worker’s Party but it didn’t last long. Been Independent, spent a season as a Republican....been Green, too.

Today, I’m officially a Decline To State...fast approaching None Of The Above.

Never in my life have I felt so manipulated...so pulled in all directions by forces that claim to known better than me but don’t.

It used to be easy. Red was red, Blue was blue....they seldom hit below the belt and often worked together to create the most beautiful Purple. But these days everything is ugliness and scandal. Going back to Clinton, our Political Chatter has been more Tabloid than Truth, more Smoke than Mirrors.

Meanwhile behind the scenes, the marionettes from all sides sit writing new scripts, pulling more strings...advancing their game on the backs of those who’ve placed them in office. This is madness.

I am not sure who’s at fault for everything and quite frankly am not sure that it matters right now. Name calling and finger pointing is so old school, and school yards are no place for bloodshed.

What does matter is that the superfluous sniping and convenient deafness that passes itself for leadership comes to an end now on all levels. Unions do not have the right to dictate how their membership conducts themselves in the sacredness of the voting booth. Governments do not have the right to dictate how the governed conduct themselves every waking minute...and no one has the right to take advantage of the trust that has been given them.

We are the People, not the Sheeple and we’ll have no more of Bread and Circuses.

Search

Lhasa  by rcw

We've all had times when we've question the validity of our lives. It seems only natural to want to have our existence be about something....a cause, a goal, a desire or destination; we are a driven species. And of course, when one hits their fifties they're bound to start taking stock of  what they've done and how they've managed.
As they used to say at the beginning of the old serial movies, "the story so far."

My story has been checkered with success and failure, good and bad times...sounds like everybody else, eh?
As a path it's been steep and rugged, but the views have been fantastic! Definately not a trail for the faint at heart, but at the same time it's been easier than it could have been.

For what ever reason, no matter how close these feet got the the cliff's edge, there's always been some force outside of myself holding me back. Even at my craziest, I knew, point blank, there was a force or power keeping me from literally going off the deep end.  Some people call this force "God."  Some people aren't allowed to even utter the word "God."

I call this whatever it is The Maker....and to me its' not a bearded man on a throne behnd some golden cloud.
The Maker is.  Just is.  To me, there's more of  God to be found in Physics and Quantum level sciences than in catechisms.

Personally, I'm not much in need of signs and wonders.....although Charleton Heston parting the Red Sea was pretty nifty!  Some people need that sort of thing, and that's fine. It's nice to know somebody's there to bend the rules of nature when needed. And I'm not denying some pretty miraculous occurances in my own life....because there have been many.  And I think they're far more spectacular than anything Cecil B. DeMille could have ever imagined or produced.

The biggest miracle in my life was meeting my birthson...miracle number two has been that he is still in my life. Nothing will ever top those two blessings, no matter how long I may live.
  

 Lately I've been trying to re-establish my life purposes. Creativity is an essential ingredient. So's helping people. Jack doesn't want me to get deeply involved in volunteering like I was at the Co-Op...in many ways he's right; it did take a toll on my health and almost took a toll on our relationship.  So for now I do little bits here and there...in between the music. 

For today Fifty Five Is The New Search...the search for the next new adventure.

Amends and Renewals

We all have things we regret and people we've hurt through the years....unintentionally or not, we've all had our moments. Our lives are rugged paths, not smooth highways...that includes the things we bring on ourselves.

No joke, a lot of our misery is self-inflicted. What we do to one another is just as bad.

My screw ups have been unintentional; usually the culmination of my own stupidity combined with mitigating circumstances...but it's still no excuse.  Really, I don't know a good one for hurting others and could ever only offer apologies. Sometimes that helps....sometimes it doesn't.

What's a person to do in those situations?
How can amends be made when the offended person is inconsolable?

I don't know...but have been thinking about things like this lately...hoping some day to make things right.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Amends and Renewals... and like bathing in the Ganges, it is a spiritual cleansing that brings forgiveness...and most important, forgiveness begins at home.