Jelisava

Cousin Page and young friend in Europe, WWII   

This was the day of dad remembering his cousins who had served in the war: Page, Junie, Charlie, Betty . . . 

Straight pin, safety pin, paper clip — can any of these fasteners make order out of the shambles? / Dec. 2009

This was the day of pondering that word . . . shambolic. As in, disorderly or chaotic (it's a shambolic system). It even has an adverb version: shambolically; i.e., “in a shambolic mannner.” Seems like such an apt description for the state of the world and the state of my surroundings. Also a great name for a group of disorderly back-up singers . . . tonight we're pleased to welcome Jake Slake and the Shambolics.

Note to self: stop worrying / New Jersey / Dec. 2008

"Surely the consolation of old age is finding out how few things are worth worrying over."

~ Dorothy Dix

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

~ Howard Thurman

View from the path, on the lookout for fruit trees bending their branches down / detail from a photo by JG

This was the day when the warrior girl resolved to cultivate the habit of embracing the four dignities of the warrior's path so as to become a better warrior (and thus, a better person).

The Four Dignities of the Warrior's Path (via Rob Brezsny):

• The first dignity: Relaxed confidence; being at home in one's body.
• The second dignity: Irrepressible joy. To develop it, a warrior cultivates the habit of seeing the best in everything and works diligently to avoid the self-indulgence of cynicism.
• The third dignity: Outrageousness. The warrior who embodies this dignity loves to experiment, is not addicted to strategies that have been successful in the past, and has a passionate objectivity that's free of the irrelevant emotions of hope and fear.
• The fourth dignity: Inscrutability. A skill at evading the pigeonholes and simplistic definitions that might limit the warrior's inventiveness while fighting for his or her moral vision.

Remembering our cousin Gary / Ocean City, NJ / July 2009

This was the day of reading: “Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different blessing than the waxing” (Rob Brezsny) and thinking that it was exactly the thing that I needed to hear.

Beautiful glasses lined up in rows -- is there a puzzle or a shell under each? / New Jersey / May 2006

“Acquiring problems is a fundamental human need. It's as crucial to your well-being as getting food, air, water, sleep, and love. You define yourself — indeed, you make yourself — through the puzzling dilemmas you attract and solve. The most creative people on the planet are those who frame the biggest, hardest questions and then gather the resources necessary to find the answers.”

~ Rob Brezsny

My hand-sewn birds on their glass-ware perches / April 2010

"Deviate, with all your might, deviate from the rule."

~ an excerpt from To a Young Poet by Mahmoud Darwish