Summer's End

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ Summer's End ~

"We carry within us all the wonders we seek without."  ~ Sir Thomas Browne

  

Summer's end always sets me on a familiar path; tender shoots of late summer grass beneath my feet, sunlight that plays on my face and warms my toes, cool breezes dancing through the trees, fire smoke on the air, and the promise of time to come shared with friends and family. Already well acquainted with autumn's glory, though having grown unaccustomed these last miserably hot months spent indoors; still the question is raised in my mind... am I living a meaningful life? If I am to believe 'to everything there is a season' then why do I always find myself contemplating my failures, rather than applauding my successes?

I, in fact, did plant my garden this summer... only to stand by, feeling incredibly lazy in my helplessness, as the fruits of my labor shriveled in the harshest drought these parts have seen in a long time. (Fail.) 

I did weep over my losses, and mourned as long as mourning was acceptable in the normal order of things. (Success?)

 I did refrain from smothering embracing my children when my needs exceeded their own. (No wait. I got this one. Suc-cess!... *High fives everyone.* I think.)

I do did, I occasionally, inflict self-loathing onto my sometimes delicate voracious psyche. 

(I suck.)

And I did, in fact, not speak when I should have cried out from the top of a mountain. I may have taken some liberties with this one a bit. Though still true. (Complete and utter failure.) 

I suppose one could argue (me) that I did, in theory, succeed at something. I did contemplate my failures, while at the same time basking in my success(es)... that I had, at the very least, truly contemplated my failures. So there's that.

"A time for every purpose under the sun" right? Perhaps the answer, interwoven deep within these failures of mine, is where I will triumph at last. At the moment, I think I may have forgotten what I have failed and or succeeded in to begin with. So the point is moot.

***

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under the sun.

A time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill and a time to heal...

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance...

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to lose and a time to seek;

a time to rend and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ~

 ***

A meaningful life? 

Ahhh, September! 

How do I love thee? 

Let me count the ways.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

  ***

On a good day, a day like any other, a day when searching for and accepting balance into my life is my heart and mind's sole purpose; I suppose that is a day lived in the pursuit of meaning. That is a day when love and wisdom take charge, watching over my successes and correcting my failures. And that is more than 'good enough'. That is a force for good. Though it always helps to be reminded, every once in a while. We learn through repetition, after all. And it all started...

Well, very close to kindergarten.

"All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"

~ Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things ~ 

By Robert Fulghum

"All I Really Need To Know about how to live and what to do and how to be 

I learned in kindergarten. 

Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, 

but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life ~

...learn some and think some

and draw and paint and sing and dance and play

and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world,

watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup:

The roots go down and the plant goes up

and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice

and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup ~ they all die.

So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books

and the first word you learned ~

the biggest word of all...

LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. 

The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. 

Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

And it is still true,

no matter how old you are ~

when you go out into the world,

it is best to hold hands and stick together."

Love My Friends

... and happy learning!

“The best way out is always through.”

~ Robert Frost

 

"And they lived happily ever after!"

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ "And they lived happily ever after!" ~

 

 

Let's see if I have this right. The prince wanders too far from the castle one night seeking good deeds to be done and a good time, inadvertently crossing paths with a witch of a woman (it's always a woman) that's just stumbled out of crazytown looking for a wayward prince she can undo (in the philosophical sense). Calling on her extensive knowledge of the black arts and the widely accepted truth that amphibians are a buzz kill in the bedroom, she promptly turns the young, impulsive, wet behind the ears prince into a toad. When asked why all the hostility, she grumbles, "...because, Dearie, I can." 

Cue the dewey-eyed, virginal prin-cess: merciful, sincere and a free spirit. This trusting, but clever young thing too big for her britches, strays too far from the watchful eye of those who practice common sense (her royally wary parents) searching for true love in the form of anything-not-resembling-a-toad... and a good education. 

The prin-cess falls head-over-heels for the toad.

The prince/de-cursed and reformed toad is humbled by his good luck.

They are wedded, bedded (in that order) and wake to a Whole New World where they all too soon stand facing the true meaning of marriage, parenthood... and, as is the way of the world and gravity,  inevitably a mid-life crisis in the halls of an empty castle, no longer ripe with their own youthful, wide-eyed optimism and the sweet anarchy which their children so generously delivered. But, glory be, if their luck has held out, they still have each other and all is well enough.

The witch still creeps about wreaking havoc on unsuspecting travelers, and kids with candy . The murky depths of the swamp still  shelters a toad or two. And dewey-eyed prin-cesses continue the search for themselves in fairy tales. Life goes on. The world still holds its place, inexplicably, in the universe. A moral can still be found in a good story.

"And they live happily ever after!"

Here's what boggles my mind, and disrupts my calm. The closer I inch toward the end of my life... Married: check. Babies: check. Empty castle: looming... the less infinite it becomes. (Why yes, I am married in my mid-forties with babies who are all grown up with one foot out the door. Why do you ask? ) 

People, please... for argument's sake:  If any point in an infinite universe, whether real or imagined, is in fact the center of that universe, does the fact that I recognize my own mortality, in my shriveling womb, somehow explain why I no longer feel like the center of my own universe? And if so, why'd I have to go and have a mess of kids that are, ultimately, just going to fly the coop ( the castle, in which, I live ) with their little royal tail feathers dancing in the winds of their own storybook universes, following dreams of their own making in search of their own happy endings? Is this circle of life thing meant to leave us doomed-to-be-empty-mortgage holders floating aimlessly in one gigantic, but limited, universe wishing for our carefree toad and prin-cess days again... and not merely as the victims of the stereotypical characterization and plot?

Searching for the answers to nonsensical questions like these keep this forty-something year old prin-cess up at night. I find the most reasonable path to sanity is to simply take a deep breath, place my head on my pillow, and try to think happy thoughts.

Like this one.

 

When my little prin-cess was still a little girl, I tucked her into bed listening as she, in her still infinite universe, stalled her bedtime with her own questions.  


"Mom," she asked, "what would you do if you were adopted by aliens?"

"I guess I'd ask 'em for a new spaceship," I answered. Why not, I thought. Isn't that what any prin-cess might ask for when presented with their new storybook alien parents?


She looked relieved. "So, you could come back to Earth then... anytime you wanted," she asked.
 
I realized then, of course, what she'd meant was "abducted". What would you do if you were abducted by aliens... not adopted. Not taken in by those who would give you your very own spaceship, dote on your every prin-cess need or whimsy, but rather those who might tear you from this world of castles and toads and fairy tale endings, thereby introducing you to real terror. 

And... there it is. The answer to my question. The very meaning of life all wrapped up in a little girl/prin-cess poised, ever so delicately, in the center of her infinite universe on the very edge of reason. 

Frightened by what tomorrow might bring, it is in our very nature to try to predict what may happen next week or next year or when we're old as dirt... as our light in this Great Big Universe passes on. Will evil ("the nasty old witch") reign? Will someone ("the strong and handsome prince") come to our rescue? Could I ("the equally strong and lovely prin-cess") summon the strength to rescue him right back? As children we are in constant motion, exercising our bodies and our senses, observing our world around us, asking questions... writing our own stories and our own endings. 

How often I do find myself lost in a fairy tale of my own making, and asking this question... Is my life a comedy or a tragedy? Well, I guess I'd better get busy writing!

Peace My Friends

... and happy writing!

“The best way out is always through.”

~ Robert Frost

 

*Life is in the journey!* ~ The Wings of Life

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ The Wings of Life ~

 

 

 

 

"A Love Story That Feeds The Earth"

We, in our attempts to keep our children safe, 

our own bodies relatively free of painful venom and mad dashes to the ER, 

our lawns immaculate,

and our homes, literally, from falling in around us,

have become accustomed to guilt-free, justifiable extermination.

 

I will be the first to admit,

 my number one priority on my Spring Cleaning list is 

to stock up on Wasp, Hornet and Ant spray!

There is no love lost there, nor really, blink of an eye. 

I'll step over an ant hill in my front yard...

"Live and Let Live", I preach to my kids,

taking a knee for further investigation and awe.

I'll shoo a wasp out the back rather than swat them into oblivion

as they stumble indoors, effectively dazed from the Spring thaw.

I'll even show the appropriate amount of respect for the tenacity of a yellow jacket,

having arrived at the watering can first, waiting patiently for him to move on.

But...

(and Behold the Underlying Truth)

 by the time the dog days of Summer arrive

and the little tiny ant army has set up camp on my kitchen counters,

and those confused little wasps have begun an all out attack

on any human body part waving about the water's edge of our pool...

and that lone, thirsty, insignificant little yellow jacket

has laid claim to that hole in the ground beneath the Redbud tree,

all jacked up on hummingbird nectar 

and hanging out on the corner with his no good warrior-ing friends...

Well then, the kid gloves come off!

 

Even those pesky little honey bees are obnoxious

with their cute little fuzzy butt stingers,

 and their super sweet golden honey,

and their unnaturally industrious work habits.

 

I mean, whichever one of those little over-achievers

 came up with the genius marketing ploy 

to Save The Earth One Flower At a Time...

well, maybe they should rethink their strategy of World Domination.

  

Who needs flowers anyway?

And all-natural sugar in a cute little plastic bear... who needs that?

And pollination, 

And protecting 1/3 of our world community's food resources...

Yeah. Who needs that? 

 

Why should I have to wear shoes in my own backyard?

I'm hopscotching my way, barefooted, around the clover

to get to the clothes line and the garden and the mailbox!

It's a wee bit ridiculous, don't ya think, 

worrying over mowing twice a week,

and all to save the cute little bees and the cute little environment?

Who needs the environment?

Ummmm... yeah.

 

I'm having to think twice about spraying my roses and my lawn with pesticides.

And now, 

in addition to feeding the hummingbirds and songbirds, 

and keeping the squirrels busy with ears of corn on a stick,

I have to be picky about the plants I choose to plant in my flower garden.

Why should I care about planting 

to conserve our water resources or feeding the starving bees? 

It's just not right.

Right?

 

Now... C'mon.

( I remind my bad habits, my melodramatic tendencies, my inborn traditions...)

Where's the love for our planet, for our future?

Seriously, how hard can it be 

(pun intended)

to pour a little milk on your roses to cure black rot and other mildew,

or soapy dish water on aphids and Japanese beetles and slugs and spider mites,

or to simply ask to see the *Native* flowers section in your local nursery

to cut down on the need for watering, 

while also providing the most beneficial flowers for your bees?

Where's the hard in that?

 

We can all stand to take a closer look this year at how we're harming... or helping.

The simple truth is... 

We *Need* Bees

and

Bees *Need* We... The People!

So, look into your heart and your garden sprays

and see what you can do about saving the little Bees knees!

 

Want to Build a Bee House?

 

Want to Plant for Pollinators?

 

Want to join your world community in doing your share?

Well then, take a look at:

 

The White House

'Do It Yourself Pest Control'

 

Louie Schwartzberg,

the award-winning, cinematographer, director and producer of 

"Wings of Life"

and see what he has to say about "rediscovering your sense of wonder".

     

And when you've found it...

Don't stop there. Please. 

What's "Easy", isn't always what's Right.

*YOU* 

Can make a difference!

Wisdom, Honor & Passion 

My Friends!


"The best way out is always through."
~ Robert Frost ~

 

 

*Life is in the journey!* ~ Poetry In Motion

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ Poetry In Motion ~

A Brave and Startling Truth

We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.

Love costs all we are and will ever be.
Yet it is only love which sets us free.
A Brave and Startling Truth.

It is possible and imperative that we discover
A brave and startling truth.

When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
And without crippling fear

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it. 

~ Dr. Maya Angelou ~

Dr. Maya Angelou will celebrate her 84th birthday 

on April 4th, 2012. 

A woman of great wisdom, beauty and courage, 

she is a most beloved poet and spiritual teacher of

love, family, humanity, hope, peace, and joy;

she who believes... 

"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. 

Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. 

We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

Her triumphs make me proud, 

her beginnings bring tears to my eyes, 

but it is the resounding spiritual vibration of her voice 

carried through to the center of my being 

which stirs my soul.

True poetry in motion. 

"We have to cease the polarization and include ourselves. 

If somebody draws a line, a circle

and it excludes you...

You draw a bigger circle

and you include him."

Join Maya's Email List

Courage My Friends!
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer,
it sings because it has a song."
~ Dr. Maya Angelou ~




"The best way out is always through."
~ Robert Frost ~

*Life is in the journey!* ~ A Dream Is A Wish!

 

♥

Life's Inspirational Valiant Endeavors

~ A Dream Is A Wish! ~

 

 

Thanks for the wish come true, Babe!

Some luck lies

in not getting what you thought you wanted

but getting what you have,

which once you have got it

you may be smart enough to see

is what you would have wanted

had you known.

~ Garrison Keillor ~

When I was young I spent hours sitting in the clover. Soft, cool grass pricked the underside of my bare legs and tickled the tops of my feet, while I searched through a small green patch for four leaves, not three. A journal lay beside me; its pages opened in the shade of our maple tree to neatly pressed rows of little green wishes. Luck seemed to be just a bit too chancy for my tastes. Wishes, on the other hand, well they were perfectly attainable as long as I believed in them.

Four-leaf clovers, shooting stars, eyelashes and wishbones; a full moon, dandelion puffs or pennies in a fountain. Perhaps it's not the totem you choose, after all, that heeds your wishes and answers your prayers. I believe the magic we are searching for is of our own making, even in times of darkness and despair... Especially in times of darkness and despair. When good fortune seems to skip right over your head, without so much as a "duck, duck, goose", and your wishes leave you feeling a bit like Cinderella's ugly step-sister... perhaps it's time to get busy with a little spring cleaning. Clear out the cobwebs. Open a few windows. Sing a gay little song out loud for all of the forest animals (and the neighbors) to enjoy! After all... a dream truly is a wish your heart makes. Why not dream big!

Listen to your intuition. 

Open your eyes, and your mind, and your heart to possibility. 

ACCEPT responsibility, 

IMAGINE good fortune and...

EXPECT happiness. 

The secret to Life is no secret. 

It is simply to SHOW UP.

 Where luck is random,

and lacking ambition;

a WISH,

made in earnest...

is fearless,

resolute,

and undeniably

of your own making.

The world is a big place, ripe with compassion, charity, and good will; as it is also with anger, greed and general discontent. And though it is, oftentimes, a very scary place to try to live and grow and prosper, our wishes be damned, it is all we have for now. Despite the capacity for resiliency and beauty residing inside each of us, we humans tend to cling desperately to those attitudes and beliefs which we've convinced ourselves to be safe havens, forgetting that it is this very determination that sets us apart from the vegetables. No offense to carrots and broccoli and Brussels sprouts! (Well, maybe to Brussels sprouts.)

It has been almost six months since my return to this blogging community ~ a world in and of itself, dedicated to searching for the answers to Life's most difficult questions in the name of Peace. In that time, I have been introduced to so many beautifully creative, funny, talented and loving spirits. It may be only a small piece of the pie, but it is abundant with fresh perspectives, clean sparkling ideas and enough optimism for us all to turn over a new leaf. And if that leaf happens to be of the four-leaf variety, then let us close our eyes and make a wish... quickly now; for as much as wishes never run out, and never expire, they do have a tendency to wilt when our imagination is out of focus. 

There are really so many of these individuals who open up a space for me, and others, to share in their dreams and wishes, and fears and insecurities ~ mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters ~ Life's students of all ages really, who want simply to be happy and to always follow a path of Peace. All of them wishing. All of them taking charge of their dreams. Stop in and say, Hi. You won't regret it.

♥ 

 My Friends

Catherine@ Catherine Denton

Em@ 35 Jupiter Drive

Intricate Knot@ My Blog & Role Fantasy

Mark@ Aloha! Mark Koopmans says hi from HI

*(4-leaf clover photo: Rick Stokes)

Peace My Friends!

“The best way out is always through.”

~ Robert Frost