Whatever you can do, or think you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. – Goethe
Boldness. I like this. It helps me to keep plowing ahead… radio show, book, subscription service. Never know what might be the breakthrough. My Real Joe Radio show demo has been rejected now by four different public radio organizations, but I’m undeterred.
Every good thought you think is contributing its share to the ultimate result of your life. – Grenville Kleiser
This is a little new agey for me, but I do seem to derive benefit from regular reading of my FRQs – Frequently Read Quotes. I hate affirmations in general, but for some reason, rereading quotes that resonate seem to sink in.
Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth. – Susan Taylor
My seeds started sprouting ten years ago, just out a general yearning. They were there to help me through my marriage turmoil about six years ago and more so last year when the the family medical problems shit hit the fan. I wonder what’ll be next?
Tears welled up in my eyes this morning as I listened to the news of the plane crash in Queens, NY this morning. My emotional reaction surprised me, as I never have this reaction to distant tragedies. I guess Sep. 11 has affected me more than I thought. If this turns out to be terrorist related, it’s going to be a really bleak holiday season. I wonder if my son in Dallas will change his mind about coming home for Thanksgiving? Or my mother-in-law for Christmas?
I heard a piece on NPR’s Morning Edition today on the poet Rumi, and was surprised to learn that he was born in the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif… captured recently by the Northern Alliance from the Taliban. His full title: Mevlana Jalal-e-Din Mevlavi Rumi.
I generally don’t find many poems/poets that resonate with me, but several months ago I came across one of his and I put it in my list of FRQs (Frequently Read Quotes) that I keep in my Palm.
This being human is a guesthouse.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and attend them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture, still,
treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Welcome difficulty.
Learn the alchemy True Human Beings know;
the moment you accept what troubles
you’ve been given, the door opens.
Welcome difficulty as a familiar
comrade. Joke with torment
brought by the Friend.
Sorrows are the rags of old clothes
and jackets that serve to cover,
and then are taken off.
That undressing, and the beautiful
naked body
underneath,
is the sweetness
that comes
after grief.
I think I’m going to get this new book of translated poems of his titled, The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems by Coleman Barks. The Harper Collins web site has chapter excerpt, and here’s another interesting one… though I don’t get the last line about the pearl.
The Husk and Core of Masculinity
Masculinity has a core of clarity, which does not act
from anger or greed or
sensuality, and a husk, which does. The virile center
that listens within takes
pleasure in obeying that truth. Nobility of spirit,
the true spontaneous energy
of your life, comes as you abandon other motives and move
only when you feel the majesty
that commands and is the delight of the self. Remember
Ayaz crushing the king’s pearl!
My grandfather froze to death in the Armistice Day Blizzard, 61 years ago today. My mother was 17 at the time, living in a messed up family situation, made only messier by his tragic death. It reverberates unresolved to this day.
I’ve never been poor–only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation. – Mike Todd
I like this. I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about being poor. Broke, sure. I suddenly feel grateful for having that feeling of confidence. And sad for people who don’t.
We find it hard to believe that other people’s thoughts are as silly as our own, but they probably are. – James Harvey Robinson
This only occurred to me a couple years ago, but I’ve still not come across anyone who’s written up a transcript of the noise and goofy thinking that goes on in their heads sometimes. A two-minute transcript… how hard would it be, I wonder?
My wife pointed out this article to me. Seeing a beautiful woman triggers a pleasure response in a man’s brain similar to what a hungry person gets from eating or an addict gets from a fix, scientists say… Researchers showed a group of heterosexual men in their mid-20s pictures of men and women of varying attractiveness, while measuring the brain’s responses through computer imaging. The beautiful women were found to activate the same “reward circuits” as food and cocaine do, study author Hans Breiter said. Breiter said evidence that beauty stimulates these primal brain circuits has never been shown. He said the findings counter arguments that beauty is nothing more than the product of society’s values. “This is hard-core circuitry,” Breiter said. `”This is not a conditioned response.”
I’m going to have to ask my wife what she makes of it. It explains, in part anyway, our fascination with nudie mags and strip joints, I suppose.
The Satellite Sisters has a segment last week (Nov. 3) about men who listen to their show. It’s at the 27:30 mark via Real Audio. Satellite Misters: Men listen to Satellite Sisters, though many preface the admission with disclaimers about their military service, their wife and the numerous children they’ve sired. The sisters riff about who is and isn’t a Satellite Sister, i.e. Marv Albert, not a Satellite Sister; Bob Costas, Satellite Sister.
Maybe I’m just too culturally clueless, but I don’t quite get the rationale behind their selections:
Isn’t……………………..Is
Marv Albert…………….Bob Costas
Rolling Stones………..The Who
George Washington…John Adams
Jerry Springer…………Jerry Seinfeld
Eugene McCarthy……Merv Griffin
Sid Vicious……………Sid Cherise
Snoop Doggy Dogg …Snoopy