Quote of the Day

"Somewhere,
something incredible
is waiting to be known."
Carl Sagan

Immensity of the Purpose

I don't think life is absurd. I think we are all here for a huge purpose. I think we shrink from the immensity of the purpose we are here for.

Norman Mailer

Quote for the day: Courage

"Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear." Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon

For to wish for a hand on one's hair is all but to feel it.......

For need can blossom into all the compensations it requires. To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know any thing so utterly as when we lack it? And here again is a foreshadowing - the world will be made whole. For to wish for a hand on one's hair is all but to feel it. So whatever we may lose, very craving gives it back to us again. Though we dream and hardly know it, longing, like an angel, fosters us, smoothes our hair, and brings us wild strawberries [152-153].

Marilyn Robinson, from her Pulitzter nominated novel, Housekeeping.

Atlas Winks: I would turn on the TV but it's so heartbreaking ....

I would turn on the TV but it's so embarrassing ....

I made the linked post above on April 2nd without any comment so the lyrics could speak for themselves. The words are even more relevant today after the horrible violence at Virginia Tech. In an I-Tunes interview, Jack Johnson talks about his song Cookie Jar and about how he wrote it after Columbine and how everyone was pointing fingers and blaming all these different factors, when in fact, we are all guilty to some degree. It is a powerful song and I can't say it often enough that I think Jack Johnson is a Genius.

He takes such a soft and calming sound, adds suprisingly simple lyrics and somehow he says the things I have been thinking, but haven't found the words to really talk about. The incongruity of how he says what he says and its ultimate message make his music even more powerful and profound. A lot of his songs - like Traffic in the Sky, Fall Line, Cookie Jar, Times Like These and Gone - share similar ideas about how the materialistic underbelly of our society causes a spiritual disconnect, especially with our most vulnerable of citizens. Such a lovely melody and such simple words to indict us all - that we are all to blame, sneaking a cookie from the cookie jar and then insisting that "It wasn't me." We all share in the blame when we watch the sensational journalism instead of finding intelligent news media. We are all guilty when we let the not yet 17 year old see the R rated violent movie. We all are culpable when we buy the tabloid. We enable pandering to the lowest common denominator by not insisting on better or nothing at all. Yes they are small sins, like driving a gas guzzler or not turning off the lights, but when massive amounts of people let their apathy cause them to do small acts of evil, the ultimate consequences can be devastating.

"It was you it was me it was every man
We've all got the blood on our hands
We only receive what we demand
And if we want hell then hells what we'll have"

God Bless all the people that are grieving the losses from the Virginia Tech Massacre. And God Bless Jack Johnson.

Quote of the day:

"Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard."
Coach Bill Restler in Heart of the Game

"He wears the world like a loose garmet." (Quote of the Day)

"He wears the world like a loose garmet."
--Kris Kristoferson describing Willie Nelson's unflappable nature.

I really want to be like this. I know I worry too much -- even though I know fretting and emotional teeth gnashing are a waste of energy, I still do it. I yearn for the zen acceptance that Willie Nelson wears like a loose (and comfortable) garmet.

I have always been a fan of Mr. Nelson's, but the past year I have really come to appreciate to a much deeper level his music, his life philosophies, his activism, his way of being in the world and the myriad and complex aspects that make up his uniqueness. I like the way he fits into his life and I love the way he accepts whatever comes his way.

Do you think there is a place I can get a "What would Willie do" t-shirt?

If not, I can at least check out his new songs and ask to be a new friend at his myspace....

QUOTE OF THE DAY-- Epictetus

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to
do.

-- Epictetus (55-135 AD) Greek Philosopher

Losing a Mountain

The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

-- Chinese proverb




I need to lose weight. I need to lose a LOT of weight. The quote above I found today and it is going to be my new mantra. Little steps, lots of little steps can take me long distances. Right?

One of my secret dreams is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but until I get in much much better shape, that is not possible. So starting today, I am going to attempt again to lose a mountain of weight and as a reward I will treat myself to one of the trips of my dreams. Don't you think there is a wonderful symmetry to this goal and reward?

I have been dreaming about this for several years. I started thinking about it after seeing the wonderful documentary, Kilimanjaro - To the Roof of Africa.  I have even picked the company I will probably use - Tusker Trails.

I have done almost everything except the actual work of losing the weight and getting in shape. Wishing for it won't get me there. Dreaming of it won't get me there. Praying about it won't get me there. It is time I take to heart the African prayer, "Pray with your feet."

The glacier at the top of Kili is getting smaller every year and so I need to act now. I feel a new urgency - for the glacier and for me as well. I feel the weight of time lately. I feel more of a pressing need to act. Life flies by us at such accelerated speed these days and I can't procrastinate any longer. I need to do the hard work now, because I deserve a healthier and lighter life! The time is now to pray with my feet.



Feet get a' movin'!