Within us

We have -- within us -- the fuel to thrive
and to flourish.

Where is this fuel within us?
We tap into it whenever we feel energized
and excited by new ideas.
We tap into it whenever we feel at one
with our surroundings.
We tap into it whenever we feel playful,
creative, or silly.
We tap into it whenever we feel our soul stirred
by the sheer beauty of existence.
We tap into it whenever we feel connected
to others and loved.
In short, we tap into it whenever positive emotions
resonate within us.

When positive emotions are in ample supply we take off.
We become generative, creative, resilient,
ripe with possibility and beautifully unpredictable.

                        Barbara L. Fredrickson

Act Three

I like what Tennessee Williams said.
He said, ‘Life is a fairly well-written play
except for the third act.
It’s a badly written third act.’
I feel I’m at the beginning of the third act.
By the end of the third act,
which nobody can predict,
it can be pretty hairy.
I just know that life is worth living.

           Leonard Cohen, in Rolling Stone, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

Ace in the Hole

Sad times, may follow your tracks
Bad times, may bar you from Sak's
At times, when Satan in slacks
Breaks down your self control

Maybe, as often it goes
Your Abe-y, may tire of his rose
So baby, this rule I propose
Always have an ace in the hole

                 Cole Porter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More fun

Don't ever become a pessimist …
a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist,
but an optimist has more fun,
and neither can stop the march of events.

           Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love 

 

 

 

 

Poem: Love and Fear

There are only two feelings, Love and fear:
There are only two languages, Love and fear:
There are only two activities, Love and fear:
There are only two motives, two procedures,
two frameworks, two results, Love and fear,
Love and fear.

                             Michael Leunig

 

Overflowing

When the heart is full
it runs out of the eyes.

Sholem Aleichem
Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories
Born February 18, 1959

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lifelong learning

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now

                 Bob Dylan, My Back Pages

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. X

Somebody called me and asked me if I'd chair this meeting, moderate this meeting. So I arrived and Bayard [Rustin] and Jim Farmer were representing integration and Malcolm and Bill Worthy were supposed to speak for separation. Bayard didn't show. So Jim Farmer came to me and said, "I feel that since Bayard isn't here, I would like for Mr. Malcolm and Mr. Worthy to speak and then I could speak last, since I'm only one [representing integration]." So I went over and I said, "Mr. X, Jim feels, cause he's all alone on the platform that he was wondering if he could speak last." Malcolm looked at me and said, "I was born last, and I intend to stay last." Some introduction. So that's the way we did it.

People called him Mr. X?

I called him that. Then I took to calling him Mr. Malcolm. But I think I just said Mr. X. After that I called him Mr. Malcolm.

Did you like him?

Oh immensely. He was just like some sort of ambassador.

I remember before he was killed. I called him. He was burned out. Somebody gave me his number. I called him and I said, "You know I'd love to come hear you speak." He said, "Well you know, we're not encouraging your people, but if you want to come next Sunday, you could sit in the wings, just come and sit." There were some white people there. And then it was Sunday, and I had to do something with [my son] Christopher, so I didn't go. That was the day he was shot.  I was just as glad I hadn't gone. But I remember hanging up, because Malcolm -- he didn't sound like he was scared, but he sounded like he thought he was going to get killed. I was working at the Telegram then [the New York World-Telegram and The Sun newspaper]. I hung up and I said, "You know, this country is crazy. I mean, I think Malcolm X really thinks he'll be shot. Imagine that?" And then he was shot. Shows my judgement.

Peter Goldman [a journalist who wrote The Death and Life of Malcolm X] knew him far better than I did. The longest conversation I had with him was the night before the Liston - Clay fight. It was strange his naiveté and the amount of hope he had for white people. Very strange.

You know, all these guys have it if you talk to them long enough. It comes out. I mean Al Sharpton is that way. Hope that white people will get better. Malcolm said to me, when we were talking, he said, "Well -- Jesse's that way too."  Jesse Jackson.

I was having breakfast with him [Jackson] oh, about three or four years ago, and he always sort of treated me as though I was a government auditor. And we were having a sort of edgy conversation. I always liked him a lot, but I've just never been able to reach him. And he said, "There's something in your voice that sounds Southern." I said, "Well my mother was from Virginia, so there might be a few of those [influences], there can't be many left. As far as I know my voice sounds like Groucho Marx." He said, "No, there's something Southern. I knew there was something Southern about you. I knew that was why I like you."

Malcolm said to me, "You know if you find a white guy who is a Southerner, he's better than any other white guy." He didn't say that to me because he thought I was a Southerner. And I thought to myself, 'If you knew that's part of their fooling colored people.' You know, but I didn't feel I could say that.

               Interview with journalist Murray Kempton 1994
               Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Pisces Anthem

All I ever wanted in life was to make a difference,
be worshiped like a god,
conquer the universe,
travel the world,
meet interesting people,
find the missing link,
fight the good fight,
live for the moment,
seize each day,
make a fortune,
know what really matters,
end world hunger,
vanquish the dragon,
be super popular but too cool to care,
be master of my own fate,
embrace my destiny,
feel as much as I can feel,
give too much, and love everything.

         Rob Brezsny, Freewill Astrology, 2004 

 

 

 

 

You

If only you could sense
how important you are
to the lives of those you meet;
how important you can be
to people you may never even dream of.
There is something of yourself
that you leave at every meeting
with another person.

         Fred Rogers
         Premier of Mister Roger's Neighborhood, February 19, 1968 

 

 

 

 

 

Unplug

Almost everything will work again
if you unplug it for a few minutes --
including you.

          Anne Lamott, 2017 TED talk

Lent begins

 May God bless you with discomfort,
At easy answers, half-truths,
And superficial relationships
So that you may live
Deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression,
And exploitation of people,
So that you may work for
Justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears,
To shed for those who suffer pain,
Rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand
To comfort them and
To turn their pain to joy

And may God bless you
With enough foolishness
To believe that you can
Make a difference in the world,
So that you can do
What others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness
To all our children and the poor.

A Franciscan Blessing 

The sky

You are the sky.
Everything else –
it’s just the weather. 

         Pema Chödrön, Your Spacious Self

Good advice

When something dominates the national news, it’s common to feel highly engaged but also mostly, if not entirely, helpless. We feel it, but we can’t fix it. So our very normal, healthy impulses to do something start to wander around, looking for a place to go.

And like any entity with a lot of energy and nothing to do, these impulses start to cause trouble around the neighborhood. Namely, we can feel very tempted to judge, correct, fixate on, fume at and try to micromanage what we see, or rename it Karen. Our friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, that guy behind us in the checkout line.

Sometimes bystanders must get involved, of course, as the last line of defense against bullies, abusers, even terrorists.

But most of the time, and especially when the impact of the person we’re correcting is drop-in-the-bucket negligible — or when the stakes are highly abstract — we risk doing more harm by butting in than by a strategic choice to look the other way. Our affectionate ties to others, after all, are the most potent, underrated weapon we have against just about every threat we face as people.

So when you catch your sense of righteousness loitering outside the minimart, looking for trouble, please call it home and find it something constructive to do.

                  Carolyn Hax, Washington Post advice columnist, February 14, 2021 

A Valentine wish and blessing

Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am,
and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope,
and though I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams,
teach me to be thankful for life
and for time’s olden memories that are good and sweet,
and may the evening’s twilight find me gentle still.

                        An old Irish blessing

 

 

 

 

 

Kung hei fat choy!

 “O great and mighty Master Li, pray impart to me the Secret of Wisdom!" he bawled.

"Take a large bowl," I said. "Fill it with equal measures of fact, fantasy, history, mythology, science, superstition, logic, and lunacy. Darken the mixture with bitter tears, brighten it with howls of laughter, toss in three thousand years of civilization, bellow kan pei — which means 'dry cup' — and drink to the dregs."

Procopius stared at me. "And I will be wise?" he asked.

"Better," I said. "You will be Chinese.” 

                      Barry Hughart, Bridge of Birds
                      Chinese Year of the Ox began at sunset February 12 

 

 

 

 

 

The better part

The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.

           Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Joseph Gillespie
           Born February 12, 1809

 

 

 

 

 

A feast of Julia

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.

The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.

This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook – try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.

If you're afraid of butter, use cream.

How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?

Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.

I believe in red meat. I've often said: red meat and gin.

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it.

Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?

Life itself is the proper binge.

People who love to eat are always the best people.

Nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should.

Remember, 'No one's more important than people'! In other words, friendship is the most important thing--not career or housework, or one's fatigue--and it needs to be tended and nurtured.

My, I get so depressed after a poor meal; that's why I can never stay in England for more than a week.

There are only four great arts: music, painting, sculpture, and ornamental pastry – architecture being perhaps the least banal derivative of the latter.

Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake.

You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.

You are the butter to my bread, and the breath to my life

I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give.

I think every woman should have a blowtorch. 

         Julia Child
         Television premier of The French Chef, February 11, 1963

 

 

 

 

Wonderful

How wonderful to be alive, he thought.
But why does it always hurt?

        Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
        Born February 10, 1890

 

 

 

 

Bad publicity

There's no bad publicity
except an obituary.

       Brendan Behan, The World of Brendan Behan
       Born February 9, 1923 

 

 

 

 

 

Blossoms and thorns

The thing about happiness
is that it doesn't help you to grow;
only unhappiness does that.
So I'm grateful that my bed of roses
was made up equally of blossoms and thorns.
I've had a privileged, creative, exciting life,
and I think that the parts that were less joyous
were preparing me, testing me, strengthening me.

          Lana Turner, Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth
          Born February 8, 1921 

 

 

 

 

Giving your word

You don't understand what it means to give your word.
When you give somebody your word,
it is like taking your life and holding it in your hands.
You are cupping your life in your hands
when you are giving them your word.
And should you let that word fall through,
you will look down and not find yourself there.

                Sir Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons

 

 

 

 

 

The purpose of life

I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around,
and don't let anybody tell you different.

Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

 

 

 

 

 

Poem: Weathers

This is the weather the cuckoo likes,
And so do I;
When showers betumble the chestnut spikes,
And nestlings fly;
And the little brown nightingale bills his best,
And they sit outside at 'The Traveller's Rest,'
And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest,
And citizens dream of the south and west,
And so do I.

This is the weather the shepherd shuns,
And so do I;
When beeches drip in browns and duns,
And thresh and ply;
And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe,
And meadow rivulets overflow,
And drops on gate bars hang in a row,
And rooks in families homeward go,
And so do I.
                

               Thomas Hardy
                February 5th is Weatherperson's Day 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing your very best

I do the very best I can
to look upon life with optimism and hope
and looking forward to a better day,
but I don't think there is anything
such as complete happiness.
It pains me that there is still
a lot of Klan activity and racism.
I think when you say you're happy,
you have everything that you need
and everything that you want,
and nothing more to wish for.
I haven't reached that stage yet.

Rosa Parks, Standing Up for Freedom

 

 

 

 

 

The day the music died

A long long time ago
I can still remember how
that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The Day the Music Died

                Don McLean, American Pie
                Today is the anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly in 1959

Goundhog Day again!

Phil: What would you do
if you were stuck in one place,
and every day was exactly the same,
and nothing that you did mattered?

Ralph: That about sums it up for me.

            Dialogue from the movie Groundhog Day

 

 

 

 

 

America

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed —
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

             Langston Hughes, Let American Be America Again