You want it darker.

[embed]https://youtu.be/v0nmHymgM7Y[/embed]

Listening to this, it felt like I was sitting directly across from him having an intense, somewhat frightening conversation.

I am just completely blown away.

Full lyrics HERE.

Worst. Year. Ever.

The essay below was written by Jef Mallet, creator of the comic strip Frazz:

I’m hearing a certain amount of chatter about how bad 2016 was. I may even be participating in it at times. But after a while, the complaining comes off a little spoiled and amnesic, like when people howl about gas prices going up 20 cents while forgetting how recently they dropped by two dollars. But I’m fine with that. I have to be. I participated in it.

I’m a little more concerned about the worst-year-ever talk. For some folks, on a personal level, hell, yes. I lost some very good friends this year; I can’t imagine the pain of people even closer to them, but I can easily imagine this being their worst year ever. And I’m sorry. So sorry.

But in the wider picture, especially if you remove anticipatory or imagined badness — i.e., fear and worry — I don’t know, it’s just hard for me to picture someone in 14th-century, plague-ravaged Europe looking at 2016 in some kind of time machine and thinking, “well, at least I won’t have to go through that shit.”

I’m not naive — quoting Todd Snider yet again, I was born yesterday but I was up all night — and I’m well aware we as a species haven’t been on our best behavior this year. We’ve made some decisions and continued some neglect that could make for very dicey future years indeed. But we did a few things very well, too, even nobly. And tonight, I’m not even going to look at the whole burnt slice. I’m tossing away the charred bits and enjoying every bit of the warm, chewy, yeasty crumb. Tomorrow I’ll adjust the finicky knob on the Sunbeam and try again.

Parachutes

"Just because nobody complains doesn’t mean all parachutes are perfect."  ~Benny Hill

Side-Kick

"The mind wants the world to return its love, or its awareness; the mind wants to know all the world, and all eternity, even God.  The mind’s side-kick, however, will settle for two eggs over easy."  ~Annie Dillard

Birds

When a flock of birds is startled and flies away, there's always one bird that lags behind, looking about with a confused, quizzical look on his face.

I call this the Cat Food Bird.

No.

 “And every day the world will drag you by the hand yelling, “This is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day it’s up to you to yank your hand back and say, “No. This is what’s important.”  ~Iain Thomas (via)

Who Has No Home

In this passage from The Bhagavad Gita 12: 13-20, Krishna lists the qualities good men should strive for:

One who bears no hatred, who is a compassionate friend to all creatures, who is not possessive or selfish, equal in happiness and distress, and forgiving,

Who is dedicated to the spiritual path, always satisfied, self-controlled, and determined, whose mind and intelligence are fixed on me-- this devotee of mine is dear to me.

One who troubles no one and is troubled by no one, who is unmoved by happiness, anger, fear, or distress-- is dear to me.

One who is detached, pure, skillful, without cares or troubles, and selfless in all endeavors-- this devotee of mine is dear to me.

One who does not grasp joy or hatred, grief or desire, good or bad-- this devoted soul is dear to me.

One who looks equally on friends or enemies, honor or dishonor, heat or cold, happiness or distress, praise or blame, who craves nothing, is silent and satisfied in any situation, who has no home, who is even-minded and filled with devotion-- such a person is dear to me.

Those who faithfully follow this eternal path of devotion, making me their Supreme God, are dearly beloved to me.

This translation is by Ranchor Prime, and it's one of my favorites.  It's very simple and easy to understand.  There is an older, more poetic translation by Sir Edwin Arnold that can be downloaded free from Project Gutenberg, HERE.

Here Comes The

In this excerpt from The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, translated by John Addington Symonds, Cellini has been imprisoned in a dark, damp jail cell for months:

To him (his Guardian Angel) I made but one request, and this I urged most earnestly, namely, that he would bring me where I could behold the sun. I told him that this was the sole desire I had, and that if I could but see the sun once only, I should die contented. All the disagreeable circumstances of my prison had become, as it were, to me friendly and companionable; not one of them gave me annoyance. Nevertheless, I ought to say that the castellan's parasites, who were waiting for him to hang me from the battlement whence I had made my escape, when they saw that he had changed his mind to the exact opposite of what he previously threatened, were unable to endure the disappointment. Accordingly, they kept continually trying to inspire me with the fear of imminent death by means of various terrifying hints. But, as I have already said, I had become so well acquainted with troubles of this sort that I was incapable of fear, and nothing any longer could disturb me; only I had that one great longing to behold the sphere of the sun, if only in a dream.

It has been weeks since we've had a full day of sunshine here.  I understand.

(The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini is in the public domain and may be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg HERE.)

You think/You feel

"When someone tells you, 'I love you,' and then you feel, 'Oh, I must be worthy after all,' that's an illusion.  That's not true.  Or someone says, 'I hate you,' and you think, 'Oh, God, knew it; I'm not very worthy,' that's not true either.  Neither one of these thoughts hold any intrinsic reality.  They are an overlay.  When someone says, 'I love you,' he is telling you about himself, not you.  When someone says, 'I hate you,' she is telling you about herself, not you.  World views are self views-- literally."  ~Adyashanti

My soul has been psychedelicized…

[embed]https://youtu.be/rMGnAEx8v6M[/embed]

Full lyrics HERE.

When dawn flows over the hedge

Any Morning
by William Stafford, from Ohio Review Volume 50 (1993)

Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.

People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can’t
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.

Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won’t even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.

Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.



(via Jules of Nature, a wonderful blog featuring quotes and original photography.)

Honey

[embed]https://youtu.be/NC38-qqiVgg[/embed]

I love the drums.

Changes

Excerpted from The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, translated by John Addington Symonds:

The Pope accordingly sent for him at once; and when the man arrived, he made us both appear before him, and commissioned each of us to furnish a design for mounting an unicorn's horn, the finest which had ever been seen, and which had been sold for 17,000 ducats of the Camera. The Pope meant to give it to King Francis; but first he wished it richly set in gold, and ordered us to make sketches for this purpose.

In the 21^st century, our first impulse would be to ask, "Is this really a unicorn horn?"

In the 16^th century, the question never occurred to him.

This doesn't make me feel superior at all.  This makes me wonder what the 26^th century will think of us.

(The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini is in the public domain and may be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg HERE.)

The Gray Flag

“I don’t act old, and I don’t feel it. I don’t think like an old person, whatever that means…  I am going to unfurl the gray flag, wave it proudly, and declare that getting old doesn’t have to be a dreary weather report.”  ~Dick Van Dyke (via)

Enemy

"Your enemy is not the refugee.  Your enemy is the one who made him a refugee."  ~Tariq Ramadan

Christmas 2016

Christmas at our house:  a wreath over Ganesha.  :D

 

"Nobody knows what it's like / to be the bad man…"

Charles Haley is my third-favorite Dallas Cowboy, behind Robert Newhouse and John Dutton and just ahead of Golden Richards.

There are some players in the NFL who, after making a successful play, insist on expressing their joy through interpretive dance.  That always struck me not just as stupid and self-aggrandizing, but as an oddly effeminate way for a big burly athlete to celebrate.

Haley never did that.  He'd leave a quarterback flat on his back, twitching,  then turn slowly around and walk away.  It made him look like Darth Vader; menacing, invincible, unstoppable.

I had no idea how much he was suffering inside.

Click HERE to read how he came to diagnose and deal with his mental illness, paying special attention to what he asked the journalist to emphasize:  “If you want to call me that I have a mental illness, you put at the end, ‘but he’s happy,’ but that’s because I sought help and I get help and I take my medicine.”

 

Will

Excerpt from The Will Rogers Book compiled by Paula McSpadden Love, ©1971:

Will's mother died when he was ten years old, and somehow he always carried the hurt of this parting.  Instinctively his heart was touched by anyone who was motherless.  His sisters, Sallie, Maud and May, were devoted to him and left nothing undone for their young brother.  His father seldom denied him anything.  To them he was always someone very special.  Neighboring ranchers and all the relatives felt he belonged to them.  Their homes were always open to "Uncle Clem's boy."  It was this love he prized so much that he never grew apart from the "home folks."  In fact, his years of success intensified his love for his people, and it was no wonder everyone in the Southwest claimed kin to him.

If you look closely at anyone who is good and kind, or someone who is evil and vindictive, you'll find the same root cause:  suffering.

Some people will spend their lives doing their best to make sure nobody else suffers as they did, and some will spend their lives trying to make sure everyone suffers as badly as they have.

I think which path they take is a reflection of the compassion that was directed towards them when they needed it most.

Did I ever tell you about the time…

I am currently reading The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, translated by John Addington Symonds.

Cellini was a 16^th century artist of some note, and- to hear him tell it- one of the most remarkable men who ever lived.  My feeling is that there may be a kernel of truth buried under the self-aggrandizement, but I'm taking this more as a work of fiction.  Remember Commander McBragg from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show?  It reads kind of like that, only with more duels and swordplay.

I got my copy for $2 at a charity sale, but it is in the public domain and may be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg.