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Sunday, December 18, 2016

Floating Thoughts

Any thoughts that float from my mind at this moment seem to drown (dead man's floats, obviously) on the way to the page.

 

And in the middle of that sentence a bubble of an idea emerged from my brain but I continued writing the sentence, ill-advisedly, and the bubble popped, its substance expanding microscopically into space, into the Universes, known and unknown. But now suddenly there appears a topic to consider: chi (qi).

 

We could contemplate the effect of sound on chi; the universal Ohm resonating through us all; and following on that the role of toning, of one's own individual sounds working on one's own individual energy system. This way of looking at sound suits me.

 

We form our world views, each of us, from rejected ideas (teachings we were force-fed as children) and from bits and pieces of truth, faith, and ideas that arrive from many sources. We spend our lives experimenting, winnowing, moving on, returning to the agglomerated wisdom that comes into our purview. Each of us develops a creed that determines how we live. It may not always be the optimum yet we continue, continue, changing and growing and (if we are lucky enough or wise enough) heeding the signs that will lead us to the next stage. And throughout this we are full of gratitude for the glorious opportunity to continue on in a life that includes robins, lilacs, linden trees, and snow angels.

 

 
Copyright © 2016 Ann Tudor
Blog1: http://www.fastandfearlesscooking.com
 
 

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Lost and Found

What I see

and what passes through my mind

must be captured on paper

or be forever lost.

Simply forming mental descriptions

is not enough.

Images disappear,

no matter how vivid.

Thoughts turn to vapour,

no matter how insightful.

Unless they are inscribed with pen or pencil

onto a bed of paper,

they might as well not have happened.

 

Is there somewhere in the folds of my brain

a cranny that stealthily stores

these seemingly lost images?

I'd like to think so.

I'd like to know that in darkest days

I might be allowed

to retrieve the moments

that once afforded me joy.

 

I'd like that.

And if wishes were horses,

my mother always said,

beggars would ride.

 

 
 

Sunday, December 4, 2016

My Christmas Reminder

I send out this piece every year in mid-December, mainly as a reminder to myself. (You might want to admire the way I reduce my own list of things-to-do by recycling this Scene from the Journey instead of writing a new one.) Here's the message:

 

 

This is such a time of list-making for me. The list I made this morning includes "make lists," proving that the high-tension time is well on its way. So I decided to make a new list for myself. Here it is:

CALM DOWN. If it doesn't get done, will the world end? Don't get frantic about trifles (or truffles, either, though I wouldn't mind having one right now).

SIMPLIFY. I envision a Christmas dinner made up of X number of dishes. Well, how terrible would it be if I served X minus 1? Or X minus 2? Or even X minus 3? (But I suppose Chinese take-out is out of the question.)

SMILE.

Bring an OPEN HEART to every encounter.

GIVE to those who are less fortunate. Whether it's time or money that I give, and whether it's a lot or a little, giving will help everyone, including me.

And as a gift to all of you, I offer this prayer from the Dalai Lama:

May the poor find wealth,
those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find new hope,
constant happiness, and prosperity.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
and those bound be free.
May the weak find power and
may their hearts join in friendship.

Copyright © 2011 Ann Tudor
Blog1: http://www.fastandfearlesscooking.com

Blog2: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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