Support & Clarity
There are two items on the Human Menu that became important for me today.
Support & Clarity.
The issue of “support” arose, because life is a challenge, period. No matter who we are. Everything from the basics of literal survival to the arrangements and intricacies of relationship, business contracts, living spaces, health struggles … and on and on.
In our societies, we are taught the value of “independence” as a strength. Rely on self only. Be strong. Don’t depend or lean on others. And yet, as human creatures, we are very fragile. In fact, extremely fragile. We break easily. Our apple-carts get upset easily. Because of this “independence” vein that’s programmed in there, and also because of the way societies are structured, we tend to get isolated easily. Alone in our own little room, so to speak.
The point is, we need others. We all need help along the way. When the illusions we protect ourselves with wear thin, we see and feel and know our own vulnerability. We need a hand to help us row the boat in the storm; but more than that, we need the voice to ask. This is the tricky part. Who wants to appear weak? Helpless? Homeless? In dire need?
The beauty of humans helping each other is that so much more can be done. One plus one truly becomes eleven. Two pairs of eyes, four pair of hands, a dozen strong legs … this type of spirit can truly build a city.
Clarity has to do with our purpose, our innate reason to be alive.
Most of us think that being alive has to do with fulfilling the fundamental mundane requirements of day-to-day life, being comfortable and happy due to a protective layer of material “padding” around us. For some of us, this no longer works.
The answer to why we’re here has to be deeper. It has to be more fundamental – it has to resonate with our “core”, our spirit, our true heart. It just can’t be tied to the “fluff”, the packaging, the eye-candy, make-up and gimmicks that propel the market-driven world along day after day.
There’s a voice inside of us that longs to be heard; longs to be listened to attentively; longs to have those deep, silent necessities take wing, be expressed by the heart and to the heart. We need not only to communicate with the deepest pearls inside our own “cave”, but we need also to bring those pearls out into the daylight – to celebrate them, to share them with others, to remind and affirm to our fellow travelers, that there is so much more to life than the mundane; there is so much more to feel, to drink deeply from, to celebrate, to share, to acknowledge. There is a dance to do that we all wait for, long for, pray for.
This “dance” IS the essential reason, the central purpose of human life. We know this in our core. Not because it was part of our educational or parental programming, but because we were born with it, we came into the world with it.
So, how important IS this? We, the weary travelers who come and go. We, who know in our guts that we’re just passing through, that we really don’t belong here, that this is really NOT our true home. How important is it to acknowledge the inner gift, the higher purpose, and to remind each other, so that we’re not lost and lonely in our isolated little rooms of discontent, attempting to “manage” the unmanageable – the meaningless day-to-day trivial pursuits that drain us, frustrate us, and exhaust us …?
Clarity: knowing self, reminding self, reminding others.
Every tiny spark of light helps us all see the way.
Read MoreWe Ride in the Rain
We Ride in the Rain.
We are happy, we seldom complain.
Something about moving, the quenching,
the drenching, the Softness of Nature’s Hand
on our parched linens.
The Gladness of Man
the moving of the Seasons,
the Ancient Rhythm of commerce,
the Hum of the Marketplace Mantra.
Aromas of Humanity sustain us
as we move sideways, vertically
frantically, erratically, measuring carefully
our pace, our dance, our stance.
We Ride in the Rain.
Love captures us once again.
From old withered hearts,
parades of Color will start;
and who knows the Art?
Sitting in the Saddle
of the Smile of Krishna
the Benediction of Buddha
the Mercy of Christ
the Wisdom of Allah
We live for the Color of Love.
the Season of the Dove.
the Warm soft hand of God
inside our Velvet Glove.
Read MoreHello, My Name is Art …
Hello, my name is Art.
You’ve probably seen me, here and there
in your helter-skelter life: bobbing around back alleys,
blowing dandelion seeds in hot summer’s air,
chasing Soap Bubbles across Mystical swamps & Quagmires
in Northern Ireland & who knows where …
Hello, my name is Art.
I’m a Frozen Frame in your Rancid Movie of Old Spaghetti.
I’m a Lame Duck in a Missionary Prison,
a Fragrant Fart in a Sanitary Landfill,
A Raven-God in a house of handicapped Crows.
I don’t wait for anybody – especially you – to approve me,
reject me, exalt me, connect me, destroy me, employ me or bisect me.
Hello, my name is Art.
You’ll see me sun-tanning with Negroes,
Playing Chess with Chinese,
Hanging by my toes in a White Man’s corporate Boardroom,
Leading a Revolution in a Small Latin-American Country,
and all the while Dreaming I’m a Shaman in a Sweat-Lodge.
It’s whatever your careless heart cares to dream,
on this Eternally-Raining Sunny day.
Hello, my name is Art.
You’ll look for me,
but never find me,
until you’ve found
your own Heart.
If my name was Jim
or Sum Dim, or
Cousin Slim, or
a languid Swim in
Designer Lakes …
You’d still make Mistakes
and put on the Brakes
before you’d perfected
the Real from the Fakes
but! for Art’s Sakes!
Do what it Takes
To Love all it Makes
and Caress the Creases out of your War-Torn forehead
before you put the Hummingbirds to Bed
and Instead … make a brand New Start.
Your own journey to your Sweet & Special Heart.
Yes! It’s Valentine’s Day …
Goodbye, my name is Art.