Grasping and Being Here Now, Dear Baba Ram Dass

Moving back to my beloved Michigan,and the year of preparation to sell the house and then move into my new home and unpacking took a toll on me.  The soft tissue weakness from an accident that  occured 25 years was giving me some trouble, yes.  And taught me a great lesson.

A dear friend of so many, Baba Ram Dass passed on recently.  I was just gathering my thoughts to write about life and suffering and freedom while he was already preparing for his journey.

There is something lovely and long lasting when we meet people who are well, who they are.  To have clear discussions about life, simply, is a beautiful thing.  I have had such discussions with several people in my life.  And they remain in my heart and mind.

Years ago one of my dearest companions, Bear, an Akita and caretaker of my soul, passed.  And the grieving I felt was so intense that I would awaken in the wee hours, sobbing, uncontrollably.  I have wept for the loss of a loved one or dear animal friend before.  But this was gut wrenching.  Like a child I called out his name, Bear, I just want you back.  All of my beliefs about life disintegrated in grief.

And then one day, I may have been watching an old movie or just thinking of one.... its too long ago now.  And it was a movie that took place in WWII.  And a lover wrote to her love who had written to her as well.  Their letters crossed.  And even though he had died on the battlefield, for a time their love were carrying them through another day.  And I thought, I am going to try an experiment.  I am going to tell myself, even in knowing the truth, that when I think about Bear I will pretend that he is just in the backyard.  And I would feel that he was still alive and love him.

And then one day I had a thought, an epiphany really.  I can keep on loving even though the one I love is gone.  For love is a powerful thing and it never dies.  It always lives in us and through us.

I thought of my grandparents, and loved them, I thought of Chogyam and loved him and now I think of Ram Dass and I love him.  I don't miss anyone anymore.  Because all of their love and their teachings and with some, even friendship, will continue to live on.

A letter I meant to write but was still percolating in my mind and heart, was waiting to be written.

Now it is written to the ether without any expectation that it will be read.  It is just for my soul to express.

For months after the move I kept trying to unpack and take care of my house but I was in so much pain I could barely hold onto my sanity.  Not always.  Usually, at night.  Even a sheet on my legs and feet and pulling the sheet over me, my wrists had become so weak that I could barely cover myself.  Then I would have a good day.  But soon I was back in trouble, in pain.  And then I realized, I had to stop everything.  I was not allowing my body to hear.  I was continually tearing that soft tissue that was trying so hard to hold my body together.  Yes, I decided to stop.  I stopped striving to finish unpacking.  I stopped everything.  It was so hard to do as next to nothing as I possibly could.  I stopped writing and painting and going for walks.  I have my body time to heal.  I am still doing very  little but I a little writing is fine.

I stopped grieving for the life I used to have.  For my  health.  And then something wonderful happened.  Thoughts and feelings that I thought were completely disconnected came together.  Love was all I could give.  My efforts of any other kind were futile.  So I let my efforts go.

My companion and Service Dog, Coco, another Akita and an amazing friend was aging.  My new Service Dog and another Akita, is on the job, though Coco still takes care of me.  But I can see her failing.  For the past two or so years I have been grieving for her and all the while she is right here, now.

And I realized that all of the pain and suffering I had been going through was in part of my own doing.  Yes, it was true that Coco's health is failing.  As is mine.  I didn't realize that I had stopped playing with her.  I hold her close to me and loved her of course but I was so worried about her I forgot to have fun, to bring love and joy back into our days.  And she is smiling, we are smiling again.  And instead of grasping ahold of sadness and change I let it go.

Ram Dass, I thought you would get such a kick out of this.  For so long I have struggled with suffering.  From the injuries of the accident 25 years ago and from heartache and love lost. And all of the meditating and living in the moment and loving and going on with life was not enough because instead of grasping the beauty of life, I was grasping suffering and wounds of my past.  And then something wonderful happened.  I loved those who had long sense left and continued to love them.  I loved my two ex-husbands.  One of which who had passed years ago, unbeknownst to me.  And I thought, I loved these men.  Honestly and truly with all of my heart.  What they did with that had nothing to do with me.  The pain I felt was gone.  It disappeared in the ether.  And I was free to love them.  And I could breathe.  Most of my life I have had wonderful relationships with people.  Only a few were painful.  Now, who did what to whom no longer mattered.  Love was and is all I feel.  I am grateful for the loves I have felt.

I am healing physically.  My daughter had been an incredible help.  And my son came to visit and he stepped in and helped hang a huge painting neither one of us could lift and hang anymore.  We had visits and meaningful talks and love and all is good.  I am so grateful to be alive today.  So grateful to love and grow and also free to let go.  I am not afraid of what I will lose.  The freedom is exhilarating, yes.     

Hope

Over the past 24 years science has come a long way. We have all come a long way together. My children are grown and they and their loves, fill my heart with joy everyday. All of the friends I have here, Akita people, artists and folks, have all been a part of this journey. And I remembered something that happened that was truly life changing. The first painting I worked on with my Neuropsychiatrist spoke to me. My therapist encouraged me to find something that would help me to get started. An object in the house would be good. I chose the Menorah. I took it out of our own oak hutch and used that for inspiration. I worked on it a little and it took about a year to paint. I had no idea what it meant. And then one day, I was standing there and a little bit of that wonderful magic gave me an awareness. It really had been the story of my life for the past year.

This is called, "Hope." I painted it while in deep despair. The last thing I felt while I was painting this piece was hope. I wondered what to call it. And then all of the sudden, while standing back and looking at it, an epiphany popped into my consciousness. The candles became smoke stacks. The ground beneath them became burial mounds. An eye appeared in the blue sky and the burning fire became a burning bush, to me. the souls in the mountains were in the land and sea and the earth became this muscular embrace. And all of the sudden I felt hope. A kind of hope I had never understood before. At first I thought, God must have so much faith in us, so much hope in us to keep us alive after all of the damage we had done to all He had created. And then I thought whatever God is to us, whatever the energy or power there is here, in our lives and our history, Hope must certainly be the strongest, most life giving and essential motivations for us to continue. Love and Hope, they are pretty important.

And then it hit me. I could choose to have hope. I could choose to see the good in people. I could choose to have a good and fulfilling life and give whatever I could to my family and hope that would be good enough. And my whole perspective changed. I was looking at life for what I expected to see there. I was just being. And appreciating all of it. The heartache, the ignorance, the ignorance.... yes it deserves to be said at least twice. And I realized something. Regardless, whether people get it or not, care for this planet or not, decide to stop killing each other and destroying the planet or not, I am living today. And I choose to Hope. I choose to Love. I choose to love life. To love nature. To love this day. To love without expectations. I choose to have Hope. I could continue to live in despair. I would take as many breaths I figure. But I thought.... Hope, it is pretty sweet stuff. And I decided to partner up with Hope and Love and keep on truckin. We look around us now and wonder what is going to happen. We don't know but there are times when it looks pretty bad. When we focus on love and hope we begin to feel empowered by all of the possibilities we can share.

Life is good. I hope you have an inspired day.
Oh and Hey Chogyam

beat for beat

This understanding of life is a revelation
all simple

all right here to be seen
all ways
Love with clarity is a powerful thing
it has no end
feathers drifting in the wind speak to me
isn't flight a kick

Traumatic Brain Injury and the Terrors

In 1994 a car came speeding around a curve and hit us head on going about 80 mph.

Close Call

The doctors didn't know much about Traumatic Brain Injuries back then.  Most people didn't survive them.  Tests that can now quantify injuries didn't exist back then.  Recently, I was at a train station and a very long and loud, fast and bright train went by my Service Dog, Kumo and me. I fell down full force on the ground and into the wall and at that point I was told to get to the hospital.

While the Neurosurgeon was explaining about my concussion and how I needed to be careful.  She said and we saw the amount of shrinkage we would expect to see from someone who has brain injured like you.  I said what?  Wait.  She explained that the areas of my brain that were not functioning anymore, they atrophied.  I can't even express what seeing that area of my brain being a deadzone did to me.

At first I was devastated.  I was numb.  Quietly, the hopes that had been sitting on my shoulder for the past 24 years; that one day I would wake up and I would be all better, were dashed.  I went to sleep pretty shook up.  And then in the morning I realized something wonderful
I was
as is
true
but there was a comfort in understanding just what that meant.  And to be able to accept life as it is too.  And to be able to

I took all of my doctors advice and after several months of Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy and a my intuitive and brilliant Neuropsychologist and a genius neuro-optometrist who is amazing, my life started to improve!!!!  He made me some prism glasses.  Now the blind areas that used to cause so much fatigue, dizziness and confusion have become manageable.   My brain was constantly creating what it thought should be in those empty spaces which took its toll on me.

Turns out, the sonic blast from the train going by and the station wall blocking that air from moving through behind us gave me a concussion and recovery was going to take some time.  I was in trouble.  Maybe permanently.  I was so close to losing my sense of self and being one of those people who just sat in a chair and stared out the window.   

Now that my mind and emotions have calmed down, I want to write about it.  In case I forget, I can read it later and remember.

Inspired by a recent Baba Ram Dass postI began to realize
that I was spending a lot of time
connected to what had happened to me in the past
and I realized
The reality was that My Traumatic Brain Injury.
Wasn't just mine
It was ours

The concussion was also ours.  My grown children, my family, their loves and  my dearest friends all have gone through this brain injury and concussion stuff together.
It's funny, how life is
when we keep our minds open
our teachers will leave us with precious jewels of inspiration and understanding in all kinds of ways.

There is a program on NetFlix called Queer Eye. The brilliant cast
gotta drop some names
Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk and Jonathan Van Ness
I started watching it and watched it again
I watched the next episode and watched it again
It was beautiful to see people loving each other for who they are
for their compassionate hearts and creative genius
And then one episode got me
Karamo was helping someone to overcome his fear
I remember how strong this hit me
How vulnerable and wrapped up in fear I have been since the accident
25 years and I have been mummified
the joys and spontaneity of life had diminished
After the second concussion
which happened this year
took its toll
I nearly lost that sense of self
I did lose it for awhile
and this more than any other injury
caused me the greatest concern
once I could think about it
and I realized how close I came to being one of those people
that sits in a chair
looking out
muted and non
reactive to life
and yeah
that scared the hell out of me

I listened to all of my doctors and we were making some headway.  And then this wonderful man was on the screen and helping someone who had been tied up in frear spoke to my heart
though we had never met each other
this man had been that person
Many times in my life I had thought when the student is ready
the teacher will appear
in all sorts of ways
well my defences were down
and I wasn't expecting it but WOW
it hit me
I don't have to be afraid anymore
I can let it go
I can be free to be who I am

I cried my eyes out at the next part
Karamo shared his thoughts on being able to be who he was around his family
with everyone
everywhere
and how liberating that was and how important family was
and my family is amazing
my children and those they love
bring sheer joy into my heart everyday
But I was holding back
I was still trying to be the strong one
to make sure they were taken care of and knew I would take care of them
when they were young
and to know how to get through difficulties and setbacks
in all the ways
and mend
and I wasn't sharing any of that part of me with my children.

not really

I opened up to them and it has been so beautiful
I don't have to be stronger than I am
I can talk about what is hard for me to do
and what I am afraid of
and we can all be real with each other
on another wonderful level
The kids came up with great ideas for me when I was feeling
stressed and confused
and they could share their stuff and we are all supportive of each other
each making their own decisions about their own lives
and each taking responsibility for the own lives
and yet
all appreciating the freedom of being
here
now

What a great gift these complete strangers gave to me this year.
How cool is that

Here is love

Sisters

Election Results 2018

The kids and I were talking about the election and America and changes and I watched a Trae Crowder video about the election and then listened to something Nancy Pelosi said and all of the sudden my own thoughts and ideas and those of others came together in something I have never really put into words before.

The reason we need to have an inclusive government is that we the people do have different points of view. Our cultural experiences and beliefs and traditions and knowledge and love and delicious recipes and celebrations. When we share our traditions and thoughts and humanity with each other hatred falls away and understanding and empathy grows.

There are so many groups of people who point the the person or group of people and say.... its their fault my life is shit. And some of that to some extent is true. But even when it is true, it doesn't change anything. The only time our lives change is when we decide to take responsibility for our own life. When we take a good look and say, what can I do next to get me closer to living the life I want to live.

If only one group of people is deciding what a good life is and how much we earn to live what we the people consider to be a good life then the predominant group is making uninformed decisions. It is still a slave or oppressive or conqueror mentality. This is where so much hatred festers away at the beauty of the type of people we can be.

It is crucial for us to care of each other and our environment. There is no planet B. If we don't stop polluting the planet and drying up its natural waterways and stop cutting down forests; we will suffer the consequences. But no-one is talking about this because the big moneyed oil and gas folks are greedy takers. Are there good people working for these companies? Of course there are. But those people who can talk intelligently about the possible repercussions of depleting our natural resources aren't even sitting at the same table.

Once our natural resources are gone, that's it. We need to consider that maybe, just maybe, our natural resources do not belong to companies or corporations or countries to exploit. We need to care for them and protect them. We can own a piece of land but we should be taking care of it instead of polluting it. But how do we get there when we don't even have reasonable discussions about these issues? We get there by listening and being willing to explore the best ways for the planet and for each other to survive and thrive.

If only men are making the decisions about what a woman can decide for herself about her own body, then that is still the slave/master mentality that used the buy and sell women like possessions, in order to increase their wealth. We need women to give their own opinions about these things so reasonable approaches to solving problems can be implemented.

There are so many of us with differing opinions on just about everything. Over the holidays you will find this to be true during your family dinners.

We have great potential to work together and come up with reasonable solutions to the problems we face. Superstition and extremism won't get us anywhere.

If we share our thoughts and perspectives we can come up with creative and innovative ways to live symbiotically with this beautiful planet and each other. We need to honor each other and listen, really listen to each other and then come up with reasonable approaches to problem solving that make sense.

It's important.

What the Hell do I Know

I couldn't sleep last night.  What little rest I did have was unsettled at best.

There was another mass shooting at a school on Valentine's Day by a white supremacist.  17 people, students, teachers, tutors, were murdered.  

Facebook was filled with chatter.  It is a terrible thing.  It is a gun problem.  It is a people problem.  It is a problem.  It never happened....

And I find myself feeling sick.  Our country has always been made up of individuals who thought differently about all kinds of things.  Sometimes we kept our thoughts to ourselves and sometimes we shared them.  I have stood in marches and been gassed by tear gas... in America.  And my heart ached for our country.  For the hatred and prejudice that permeated our society.  And my heart was touched so deeply when we swayed and loved each other, though we were complete strangers.  We stood together and arm in arm faced the spital and hatred, "America!  Love it or leave it!!"  What did that even mean?  All of this because we wanted to everyone to be able to vote so everyone was fairly represented by those elected in our government.  It didn't seem like it should be that landshaking of a concept but it sure as hell was.

I've felt the shaking of all that stood strong when the Cuban Missile Crisis took place in Florida, where we were living at the time.  I remember the sonic booms shaking the house and the tanks and carriers in the air and on the ground and sea bringing all manner of weapons of mass destruction through our neighborhood and sitting in our closet in the darkness, listening to a transistor radio and being prepared to duck and cover ourselves into oblivion without even understanding what the hell was going on.  A few years later we moved to the Chicago area and I remember reading that we now had enough weapons to kill everyone and everything on the planet over 300 times and I remember thinking, stop.  Just stop it.  I remember thinking we could build through change.  We didn't have to keep knocking people down or off the planet because somebody said they were different and they had to go.

It was then, when Martin, John and Bobby and Malcolm X and Russell Means awakening all of us to the possibility that maybe, just maybe we could all learn how to respect each other and live in peace with one another.  

I remember that horrendous war, the Viet Nam"conflict" and organizing and marching for peace in Chicago.  I remember the billy clubs and running, just running, gas pouring into the air, clouds of gray and pain.

All we wanted

was to give peace a chance

Let's try going in a new direction.  How's about people can't be drafted into a war on foreign soil?  How's about giving people the choice as to whether or not they want to support a war.  Or conflict or whatever.  This? Was revolutionary?  

The flag and God was the weapon of choice to try to silence us; the press did its part to make us look like fanatics but the truth was we were all kinds of people that understood that when you can blow up the planet maybe it is time to take another look at how we can resolve our differences and learn to genuinely respect and value each other and this planet, our Mother.  Every bit of what we create is dependent on our planet.  Everything.  

And there is a Cause and Effect to everything.  Everything.

Being reckless with our planet and its finite resources is folly.  The worst kind.  

Corporations, businesses and we have polluted this planet.  I mean big time.  And the focus on our country is on a buffoon.

We have some serious work to do.  And to solve these problems we have the most amazing to join together and work together.  We need science and humanitarians and builders and occasional sceptics too.  We need communicators and creative people to make something that never existed before.  We need each other.  We need to plant healthy, unaltered seed, into our planet that grew everything all on its own, without our help or interference and we need to respect that way.

Instead people are spewing vomitous waste from one computer or phone to the next.  Repeating how terrible things are but nobody is doing anything about it.  Yes, this Valentine's Day 17 people were murdered at school for no reason.  Oh the person who did this was a terrorist.  A White Supremacist Terrorist.  Another shooting.  It's a gun problem.  No, it's a people problem.  No, it is an insane people problem.  But nobody says anything about how gun violence has slowly permeated the fabric of our culture through movies, cartoons, music, TV.  Let's just show people reality shows where people act out the lowest common denominator crap people are capable of and call that reality TV?  Really?

Games are filled with violence.  And it isn't just being involved in a survival exercise, no, the player has to totally annihilate the enemy, the one that is different.  Films a d TV follow the same formula.  Identify the difference, that is a treat and destroy it and kill all of it.  And to me, it looks like people are sitting on their hands.  They'll talk about it but where is everybody.

Women need to march with their children and tell lawmakers we want gun laws in place so we as a society can function without stress and terror and fear at the fore of our consciousness.

Some people contacting each other and showing up like a Flash Mob and peacefully making a stand and saying, No more.  And turn off the damn TV.  Watching that crap repeat over and over and over again, everyday; it is propaganda.  Other points of view that express reasonable ideals and approaches to solving problems; without trying to defeat or destroy somebody sure would be a good place to start.  Just go and be.  No leader is needed.  No particular chant needs to be repeated.  People can just join hands and hum and see what happens.  We need to unify to solve the issues that are only going to get more complicated and worse, if we don't start facing them now.  

I mean think about it.  We can learn to share and stop killing and hating each other.  We are not born with hatred in our hearts.  This is something that is spread like a disease.  It is taught and regurgitated from one generation to the next.  Giving more and more people a reason to continue to really hate each other for even more reasons.... and for what?  To what end?  So we can feel justified when we choose to be stubborn and greedy and ignorant?  It's like driving a car and with the engine on just jumping out of it and see what happens?  I mean havoc is havoc.  It doesn't have to have a meaning.  So long as a bunch of people can nod their heads at the same time we are going to really feel okay about destroying the planet, the water, the air and all of life when the last one of us is dead?  How does that even remotely sound viable?

Or we could stop fighting each other and instead of slugging somebody with hatred or words we could reach out and everyone who can could contribute to making this life here amazing.  We are capable of living that way too.

I know this because I have learned a few things.  I am not an idealist.  I am a realist with an imagination.  I can 

Imagine

that we can be different and have different ways of seeing life and appreciating it and all of that is cool

because we can respect each other's traditions and just chill out

We are never all going to see life the same way.  This is never going to happen.  Get over it.  We are never going to all look the same so get over that too.  In our genetic makeup all of our generations before us have left a cellular trace in what makes us who we are.  When we hate each other we are also hating ourselves.  When we don't respect each other we are sadly missing out on how enriching life is when we just appreciate each other.

We can make different dishes and have different holidays and we can go to places where we can share religious or philosophical ideas and we can still love each other.  

I have been very sad lately.

Because so many people have accepted the arguments of extreme points of view over reasoning things out.  We have a Constitution that is truly amazing.  We have had many great teachers on all continents.  We have made extensive rules and tried every different thing we could think of to try to make us all the same way.  We guarded many secrets and coveted many traditions and touted we know the way to God or there is no god until  we are all useless noise.  Or

we could reach out and just smile.  Just acknowledge the life of someone once a day.  Say please and thank you and hold a door open or give one the right of way when you are drying.  Little things.  They don't seem like much.  But these little things form connections.  And we begin to understand that we are all just here.  Even a life long lived is relatively short.  And let's face it, by the time you get old enough to really have something to say, you begin to forget what you have spent a lifetime learning. 

No-one owns righteousness.  We are all ignorant.  We all have thoughts we can contribute to make the world a better place.  We can plant seeds or study at a library and write about ideas and approaches to making our lives here on the planet good or

we can blame guns and people and greed and ignorance

we can do that

but it won't change anything

not one thing

or

we can try

just a little bit

to take one step towards understanding each other

and respecting each other

I mean

isn't that the biggest problem we face?

We can't possibly find our way to each other unless we do this with an open heart.  

I remember thinking

one day I'll know something

one day I'll have the answers to these questions

why do people hate

why do people kill 

why do peoples destroy so much of what has freely been given to them

when will it all end

questions

I used to think I would have the answers to something by now

but the only answer I have is this

I'm ignorant.  I make mistakes.  I don't know everything.  I will never know everything.  Hell, I'm getting old.  I'm lucky if I remember to brush my teeth.

Life really doesn't have to be this hard.  We allow it because we don't know how to stop it.  But we can stop it by reaching out to each other and making a difference.  We can come together and let special interest groups or corporations or big daddies know that sorry, you can't beat people up or kill them for not wanting you to strip their land of its natural resources. 
Especially, since we have the air and sun and movement and Cause and Effect all going in our favor.  I mean, there is so much to do.  All of this destructive stuff going on doesn't solve anything.  We can be sorry when we realize the last bee flew and the last flower blossomed and the last fish was living in the water and the last tree fell or we can just do something.  Marching is good.  Non-violence is important.  We can carry a sign or carry a thought or a kindness and just speak out mind with our presence.  Clearly, the government does not represent all of us.  It seems to be feeding off of hate and furthering its causes.  People can continue to do that.  But it is so short sighted. 

We don't have to wonder if there is a purpose to our lives.  All we need to do is start moving.  And you will find it.  You will trip over it with your immense ego but no worries.... we all do.  We get quite self important when we can make something happen.  Or make a change.

What matters is how we live.  How we love.  What matters is being honest.  Doing our best.  Being compassionate.  Being honest with ourselves about our own flaws and mistakes and we can learn from our mistakes.  We can be humble.  Because no matter how smart anyone is, we all need each other to make this world a lovely compatible place to live.  

Or destroy all of it.  I mean, that can happen too.  Sure does seem to be short sighted, yes it does.  But I have a brain injury.  My whole life has been turned upside-freaken-down and I had to start everything all over again.  And I walk funny.  When I'm fatigued its even worse.  So what the hell do I know.


  

Common Ground

I was talking with a friend a little bit ago and some things have been hitting me. I don't know where this is all going to lead so please bear with me.

As most of you know, I was in a fatal car accident that left me feeling and being vulnerable. I couldn't rely on my senses because they weren't giving me the right information. I could rely on my memory because it disappeared into endless threads of momentary thoughts that ended in complete darkness. I used to describe it this way, I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Everything I see, its like waves of water. Everything I hear is distorted and often scary. Back then doctors lacked the information to get what was happening to me. Not many people with brain injuries like I had didn't live and if they did, it was more of a vegetative state. I was.... a lucky one. Back then the only refuge and safe place I knew for sure was in the hearts of my children. Everything about what was left of who I was, was dedicated to my children. I was a shell, wired wrong and well, not the person my husband married so after about a year he left. I didn't blame him. But if I said I wasn't totally devastated and incapable of trusting my judgment or anyone other than the few people I knew loved me, my sister and her family and our dear friend from back in the day and my kids. That was about it. And I sincerely did feel lucky because the people that stayed in my life were amazing.

We all walked through unknown territory together. Being strong for each other and sometimes feeling incredibly vulnerable and not able to even voice our concerns.

Step by step we healed. Ourselves, each other and the love we have is amazing. Truly.

And part of this, for me anyway, had to do with our first Akita Angel. While the kids were home I tried so hard to be normal. Not complaining about the pain or anything. Doing chores that seemed to take forever while they were in school so they wouldn't see how hard things were for me. I wanted them to have as normal of a life as I could offer. I wanted them to feel safe to be children. I think Angel helped them with this too. Angel and our llamas and donkey and mule. We didn't have anyone around to keep us safe but our animals sure were all that and then some. Our second Akita was crazy huge and loving and he also scared the heck out of people so when the kids friends came over there were certain things that they couldn't do. No running around the Mama. The dogs would actually chase them and our Bulldog would nip at their heels to make them stop. It made me really dizzy and somehow the dingos figured that out. We had so much laughter and just flat out good times. Sitting and listening to the kids play music. Enjoying a cup of tea while watching that big sky sunset. It was beautiful.

When the kids were grown and finding their own lives I wound up selling the farm. That was hard. I moved close to my sister and we figured, all of our kids and we would be able to hold the family together by love and proximity. And I started getting some excellent doctors who helped me with everything. I was learning how to function and understanding what my deficits were and I could read and write again and went back to Columbia College and got my degree. Oh hell yeah!!! And my kids wound up moving to Chicago and we all have a blast.

Still, I was a recluse. I didn't have the confidence that I could see trouble coming or deal with it. I did learn some important things about being self protective and love and all of that good stuff. Most of which I have shared.

Kumo, back to Akitas now, has had some challenges. Whenever you bring a rescued creature into your home, they come with issues, usually. I wondered about my sweet boy. They always do tell us, everything, eventually. My trainer said she thought his behavior, his particular challenges, looked more like he had been victim of the puppy mill system. When he was hesitant it looked to her like it was less about fear and more about not having been exposed to things in life. He was and still is kinda, terrified of stairs. Especially, going down them. We have done a lot of work and he is getting more confident. He also has been hesitant about floors in stores, that are slippery.

You know how I have talked about how important it is for our Akitas to know that we acknowledge their concern and that we are capable of making a good decision about our safety and that we will always keep them safe. This gives them and us a bond of trust and understanding that quite frankly, is rare even in the human realm.

Well, back to the beginning now, remember when I told you I was visiting with a friend about fear and trust and a big idea was coming to me? Hold on. I forgot. Oh, when people are injured, whether physically or emotionally they become more sensitive to whatever hurt them. Could be abandonment or violence or neglect or a lack of love even, but there is a reaction that isn't just isolated with humans. It is also in animals. All kinds of animals. For me Akitas insist on communicating with us until we get what they are thinking or feeling. But in reality, mine anyway, have broadened my awareness to understand we are all living with the bumps and bruises and fractures that we have experienced. Being able to feel safe with people that care, brings us out of that inability to communicate or be a part of the larger group that we long to understand and love and be loved by.... humanity. Fear is a this mask we slap on our own insecurities and the more alienated and scared by by our experiences the harder we can become.

Michael Jackson's daughter picked up a couple of girls that were hitchhikers. She was cool. They ate together. She bought them some clothes to help them out. And got them safely to where they were going. And they stole her credit card. Some people look at those of us who are loving as weak. They see an honest person and think... I can take whatever. And when we get took it freakin hurts like hell. I love people. And I love sharing our thoughts. And this is pretty much a miracle because I have been afraid of those very things for decades. Some of that started way back when I was an activist for Civil Rights and ending the draft so people were free to join or not join in a war that they didn't believe was justified. It was a cumulative reaction to life's experiences.

When we find a common ground that we can share with each other a beautiful thing happens. We can feel safe. We can still be self-protective and know when we are safe. I think this is what Kumo has been going through too. He feels safe with us. Yet he will still sometimes flinch when a stranger pets him. He is almost okay with it all the time now and I think that is because he trusts that I would not have someone who is going to hurt him, touch him.

I hope I didn't ramble too much and that this makes sense. It is personal but something has hit me about rescued animals, and in my case, rescued Akitas, that is reaching me in a way that I haven't understood or seen clearly before. Being self-protective is smart. Having some confidence in our own ability to figure shit out is a slower process because we are not born knowing everything and we will never know everything. Mistakes that we make and mistakes other people make as they stomp through our peace of mind or hearts... we can't keep those things from happening. But we can learn and discern and trust and love too.

Love is a Powerful Thing

For much of my youth I was waiting for love.  Waiting for that one special love.  And for many years I loved my husband and the father of our children.  But he decided he wanted to be single again and walked away.  For decades I wondered about this.  I couldn't figure out how he could leave when he had a family that loved him.  And the pain that scarred my heart lingered.  Oh I went on with my life but it haunted me.  How could I ever give my heart to anyone again?

Five years later I met my second husband.  And I loved him very much.  We were artists and each of us had studied the genocide of our cultures.  And then one day a car came speeding into our lane and hit us head on.  And life changed.  All of the ways and reasons aren't as important as the lessons my heart eventually learned.  A year after the accident he left.  I wasn't the same person he married.  And I felt incredibly vulnerable.  I focused on my children and our farm and one day led to another day and we moved on with our lives.  I was no longer waiting for love or wondering if vows ever meant anything or if there wasn't something wrong with me.... I wondered in between the pain and confusion of having a Traumatic Brain Injury, among other injuries and as odd as this may sound, I was grateful.  I was alive one more day to hear the voices of my children.  I was alive one more day to watch them grow.  And I was alive one more day to teach them whatever I could, should I not be around the next day.

I lived completely in the moment.  Most of my memory about my life was gone.  I could remember changes but not the specifics.  I could remember I was hurt but I didn't feel the pain of it anymore.  And I was grateful for that mercy in the midst of the pain and determination to read and write and walk and talk and have a vital life again.  It was important to me to set a good example for my children.  To be a good person, yes.  To be honest, yes.  To cherish each other and life, yes.  To read and explore and think.... all of those things I continued to teach my children.  But now there was something even more important.  To teach them how to survive; how to never give up; how to have hope.  The last and most important things I had learned that I wanted to pass on to them was to accept that they were never going to know everything.  Life can be freakin hard.  Your heart can get broken.  And for a little while you might even lose hope.  But in all of that remember this, you are not perfect.  You will make mistakes.  But as long as you learn from them they won't be wasted.  And the biggest mistake you will ever make is to lie to yourself.  Life is what it is.  But we often want to make life or people the way we think they are or the way we think they could be if...  We do this with other people and we do this with ourselves.  I was a very honest person with everyone but me.  The rationales I gave to every disappointment were amazing.  But after the brain injury I could hold those thoughts together anymore.  And this was another mercy.  I had to accept my limitations without giving up growth.  I had to let go of everything I had lost and focus on and appreciate the imperfect reality that I was living.

My first Akita, Angel, was a tremendous help.  I always tried to be strong for my children.  I didn't complain about the pain and chores I needed to do I did when they were in school.  I didn't want them to know I was having a hard time taking care of the house or cooking.  I didn't want them to worry.  They did anyway.  But I did my best to bring music and life and art and possibilities into our lives again and that remained.  There were many hours when I was alone and our Akita took care of me.  All of the ways she helped me are amazing but for now I am going to let that be.  We had a wonderful life and then when she was five years old she was gone.  I grieved so terribly.  A neighbor whose parents had best friends and who bred Akitas had this long haired fawn colored male pup that the people who bought him decided they couldn't take him.  He was paid for.  They didn't want the money back.  And here he was.  My neighbor told me to at least come and see him and when I did my heart skipped.  He had this joy and exuberance that was irresistible.  I met his mom, who was a good sized gal and wonderful.  I met his dad and he stood one his hind legs and was six feet tall and 180 pounds and he gently put his paws on my shoulders and looked down into my eyes and he gave me a sweet gentle kiss right on my nose.  I still wasn't sure.  What if the other dogs, especially our English Bulldog, didn't accept him.  But I couldn't leave him.  He loved me so much, right from the beginning.  He got in the van with me and tucked his head into my shoulder and that was it.  When my neighbor took us home and he met our sweet Mo, she rolled over on her back and they were off running and playing.  They remained best friends their whole lives.  We also had a German Shepherd and a Labmix and a Maltese and llamas and donkeys and a mule and a goat and teenagers.  I'm guessing we had the safest farm around.

Years later, the kids were grown and off finding their way.  I was so proud of them.  I realized I didn't have the physical strength to take care of the farm.  One day I fell over a bale of hay and hurt my leg.  It wasn't bad but I realized that if it had been, I was alone.  I didn't want to interrupt the journey my children were on or influence the way they wanted to live so I sold the farm and moved to Chicago to be near my sister.  We decided at least if our kids lived in different places that we would stay put and we could all stay connected to each other through the years.  I went back to Columbia College and then surprise, surprise; my daughter came back from going to college in London and she decided to go to Columbia too.  It was great.  Then my son came and he went to Columbia College too.  He stayed in the dorm that first semester and he got to know how to get around and work using buses and trains and he and some roommates got an apartment and he and my daughter got their degrees from Columbia College too.  My other son came to live in Chicago and they wound up living in an apartment and working and enjoying life in the City.

Bear was my silent giant.  I barely had to tell him anything.  He was so intuitive.  Every morning I awoke to his beautiful amber eyes waiting for mine to open.  Standing next to the bed he was eye level with my face.  He and his bestgirl, Mo enjoyed life with me and wonderful visits from the kids for several years.  I was painting and published Down the Road and was writing again and life was good.  And the ghosts of abandonment had taken their place and were quietly waiting to appear whenever I missed the love I used to have.  Knowing I would never have a partner again.  Not because of my health or injuries but because of my broken heart.  I couldn't take that again and decided to let that part of my life go.

I had a dear friend, many years ago.  Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.  We met in Boulder.  He introduced me to some wild writers and we had interesting talks.  Neither one had anything to gain from the other.  No-one was looking to take from the other.  We were just spirit clouds moving around a sky of life in a common atmosphere of love and thought and hope.  We remained friends for many years.  I would write him letters and he could call me.  I used to think, that was polite.  For him to call.  And then we would get into these wonderful discussions about life.  He would ask me questions and then our thoughts would communicate wonder and amazement to one another.  Our relationship turned out to be the most significant, loving, friendship I have known in my life.  Well, I know this same wonderful relationship with my grown children now.  But Chogyam was my forever friend.

When Bear got sick I knew I was going to have to get a Service Dog.  I now understood that even though my optical nerves were healthy, my train did not receive or transmit what I was seeing around both of my eyes.  I had significant peripheral blindness.  And because of this my eyes didn't line up what they were seeing exactly right.  I knew it was time.  I put my name on a list.  And some time later, Bear died.  And I lost it.  I would wake up sobbing in the middle of the night.  Crying like a child would, "Bear, I just want you back."  The ache of his absence was felt my Mo and me.  A friend suggested I foster until my Service Dog was available.  And so I did.  Turns out I had a way of reaching traumatized dogs and rehabilitating them.  And then someone saw my artwork and we got to talking and they offered to donate an Akita pup of my choice to be my next Service Dog.  And I lifted Coco up in my arms and she nuzzled her head into my neck and that was it.  Coco is ten now and I have another Akita who is in training to take over for Coco.  She can't walk too much these days.  We go to her favorite park with the pond and I am not grieving for her, anticipating the loss of her.  I am celebrating her every minute of every day.  Two significant moments of awareness moved me along.

The first was from Baba Ram Das's book Be Here Now.  When my kids were getting into their teens I found that I noticed authors I felt familiar with.  I didn't have any memories why I had that feeling.  Before I could even read or hold onto an abstract thought I bought this book, The Sacred Path of the Warrior.  The author's name felt familiar.  It was too hard to read but I left it out for my children to pick up.  I did this with Ram Das's book, Be Here Now.  I still didn't make a connection with Ram Das either.  And then one day I was watching a movie, Seven Days in Tibet and I remembered, I had a friend who is a Lama from Tibet!  I went up to the drawer where important papers and an old address book was kept and I opened it up and there he was.  And I remembered Chogyam.  Joy filled my heart.  I wrote to him and sent pictures of my llamas and pointed out that was of them was named Dolly.  I told him about my children and asked how he was and sent off the letter.  In a little while I received a letter back.  Someone said our correspondence was kept in Canada and my friend had passed away, or along.  But he never left me.  He had passed away and I didn't know it.  And all of those years I loved him, even when I didn't remember him.

One day I must have been having a rough time.  I was missing Bear something fierce.  And I wondered if I would ever be happy when I thought of him.  We had so many good years together.  I wished I could feel the joy I had when he was alive.

And then one day, I must have been watching an old WWII movie and a soldier had died on the field and he had sent his love a letter.  And she had written to him and loved him even though she didn't know he had died.  That love, even though they were continents and seas a part was strong.  And I thought.... hmmmm.  I think I will try an experiment.  Whenever I think about Bear I will add to the thought a little trick with my mind.  He is outside.  He is in the backyard. And I would think, I love you Bear.  And the loving feeling lingered.  And then it hit me.  The greatest pains in my heart were due to one thing.  I tried to understand why and tried to understand what was true and I tried to figure out love and life but what brought the pain was that I wasn't ready to stop loving them.  I loved my first husband with the innocence and pure love this wide eyed child in me felt whenever I thought about him.  He was the love of my life.  And so I decided that I didn't care what the reasons were anymore.  I was going to keep on loving him, even though he had passed away too.  I had recently found out my second husband had died a couple of years before this new realization took hold and I let go of wondering why and did he ever and all of those thoughts and I decided to keep on loving him too.  Because I loved him.  By this time my Mother had also passed.  She was a dynamic woman and complex and unfortunately the drink took her mind and she got really mean.  I had studied a book called The Dance of Anger and parts of the title came back to me and I found it again and bought copies to share.  And I realized that I wanted to love my Mom.  It didn't matter if she was ever going to understand this or feel this or be nice or love me back.... none of that mattered.  I loved her because she was my mom.  She didn't have to deserve it.  She didn't have to appreciate it either.  It was in my heart for her and that was where it is now.

I am glad I don't remember details anymore.  I am glad the specifics flew away.  And I am very grateful to love.  And now I don't feel pain when I think of a loved one.  I feel grateful.  See, I figured out that Love is a powerful thing.  You don't have to get it back.  It isn't something you can buy or trade or even earn.  It goes beyond life and death and limitations of time and space.  Love is.  And we can choose to love and hope and have faith that somehow humanity will rise up and appreciate this precious life we share with all of it, always.

I keep self-destructive or deceitful people at arm's length.  It isn't about judging people.  It is about knowing my limitations.  Our lives are filled with hops skips and jumps.  And prider certainly does goeth before every fall.  I don't think of reincarnation like I used to.  I know our egos would like to consider that we are worth of living through eternity but I think it is more about the energy we give that lasts.  When I see someone struggling I think, I have felt that way.  That's is a hard thing to deal with.  I don't judge them because I have been a fool.  I have been ignorant and will always be ignorant.  I will never know everything.  I will never get everything right all of the time.  But this I do know.  I know love is limitless.  Hope is essential.  And faith that we will one day all be able to appreciate this great gift of life is eternal.  Because the energy of all of that good stuff, it is part of all of it.  Amidst the dust of history it is there.  Amidst the swirling activities of daily life, it is here.  It is now.

And that is the bees knees.

The Wall - First Reaction

Here is a video of The Wall when I realized it was finished. I've been working on this piece for three years.During the time when I was creating The Wall, where I started and where I ended up were influenced by what was happening in the world.  From terrorism to great acts of heroism, all of these things made there way into The Wall.

Originally, I wanted to do a large piece and I wanted to do what I wanted to do.  A completely stream of consciousness piece.  I decided to create eight canvases and just go for it.

I always give myself an assignment.  I like learning new things and doing this also helps me to focus. The idea was to have a horse and a turtle in the painting.  They were going to be part of a large landscape and that was about as far as I got with it.  I wanted to use any and all techniques and I wanted to go with the flow.  

The terrorist attack that happened in Paris in November 2015 was devastating.  My heart broke for Paris that day.  As I listened to NPR this sadness came into the painting.  And I thought... how long? I wondered what it is about people that they just feel justified to kill people who think differently? This has been going on for so long.  

And then I asked.... what is it?  What makes that sudden stop before a person decides to react to a situation with violence or compassion?  And that sudden stop made its way into the painting.

The nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida happened in June of 2016.  

Terrorist attacks took place in London and Manchester and I stopped thinking and just felt so much pain and suffering and that made its way into the painting.

The people at Standing Rock, being intimidated and brutalized because they didn't want the gas pipeline to run under the water they depended on for a healthy life sickened me.  How could these private militias treat other peaceful people who just don't want their land and all that rely on fresh, unpolluted water, destroyed was unconscionable.    

I had started the painting listening to Kenny Chesney and Trisha Yearwood and the last year and a half or so I listened to Robbie Robertson and Schindler's List and Leonard Cohen.  Because of my Traumatic Brain Injury I can't really plan or remember what I was doing or what colors I was using when I stop painting.  Everytime I face the canvas it is like I am looking at it for the first time.  I discovered that listening to music could take me back to where I was emotionally and find my way back into the canvas.

And then something happened.  Hope began to stir in my heart and I realized, hope and love, these are life choices.  How we live and the choices we make are a direct reflection of what we value.

It took three years to save up the money for the canvases and paints and brushes and do studies and paint The Wall.  The Wall is a 6' x 9' Oil on Canvases. And now it is finished.

I'm Not Finished Yet

Here is a picture of The Wall tonight.
I've been working on some watercolor studies and I'm clear on what I want to do next.
It isn't finished and neither am I.

Before the accident I was all
I can do that
I was fit and bright and hell on wheels when it came to computers
I loved working and raising my kids
I experienced my share of pain and heartache and challenges
And while life certainly was not what I thought it would be
And most of the suffering I went through
Was because of my own ignorance
Which made me a little bit crazy for while
With
Good reason
Still, I was okay

However, some times a whirlwind of shit happens and there is just no
Controlling it
And that I had no control over
At times I wasn’t sure my own mind and body was going to be able
To carry me through it either

Imagine
I was an artist and suddenly couldn’t paint
My imagination was left
Out there somewhere on
Blue Star Highway
The experiences and observations
That used to inspire me were also
Gone

I was surviving in the Nothing
Well not exactly nothing
There was terrible unspeakable pain
That had become my constant companion
Every breath
Every movement
Everywhere
Through me
Everywhere pain lived

There was no reprieve.

I mean I was gone man
And nobody could reach me
And though my heart was filled with love and
Such a strong sense of spirituality
It was indescribable
I was left without reference
Without context

I was gone

Thoughts were fragmented
Random
Appearing briefly out of the darkness
That revved on
With the a constant high pitched ringing that also
Never left
That one made me want to slam my head into the wall
Just so I could crack it open and make it quiet

Now add to that I was a writer and
A poet
I had been working for five years on a book
Filled with stories of people who survived the Holocaust.
Writing poetry and reading and thinking had been a part of who I was
From the time I was a very little child I was reciting poetry
My grandmother read to me

I couldn’t figure out how to use my computer
All of those stories were in there but
I could bring them to life anymore
Not on my computer
And not in my abilities to read or reason
That project was gone too

My head hurt so bad when I tried to read
That I couldn’t read
And even when I tried
The letters were swimming on the page
I couldn’t comprehend what I was reading
And couldn’t remember what I read
I would keep on reading the same paragraph because
When I looked up I had no idea where I was
Or what I had just read

I couldn’t tell how far down the ground was
Or where I was going
Or what I was supposed to do when I got there

When I tried to paint I got lost
From the time I looked at a canvas to the time
I tried to find a brush or a tube of paint
I was lost

I walked all wobbly and it was nearly impossible to do
Ordinary tasks.

But some how
This thread of hope that was intertwined with the love
From my family and friends
Got through
It was so powerful
I could feel it
It
Was all that kept me together

I worked very hard
It took years before the doctors and technology and discovery
Physical therapists had the tools they needed
To help me find new ways to interact with a new old world that
Had become
Faint and some how foreign

I became determined to find a way to live one more day
I put my energy into living purposefully
With
And Without
What ever faculties remained
I needed to set a good example for my children
I needed to not be a victim of life
But to figure out a way to turn around
And kick it’s ass
Despite the pain
With the confusion that overwhelmed me and
Some times
With wanting to give up

Those first few years the pain was so horrible
I don’t think there was any time greater than 15 minutes
When the I wondered
How much can this body take
When I thought
This could be the last day
This minute could be the last minute I look into my daughter or my son’s eyes

And then
Suddenly all I didn’t have
Didn’t matter
Because out of all the suffering and fear and confusion
I received a gift
It was wrapped in love
It was called hope
And my perspective on everything changed
I would think
I lived through that hour
Maybe I can live one more
Maybe I can see the kids after school
Even though every minute was
An excruciating struggle
I couldn’t wait for that moment when the side door opened
And I heard their footsteps and heard them call out
Hey Maaaaaa

There were times when
I cried out to a God I didn’t believe was there anymore
A God that I didn’t understand
A God that I wasn’t sure listened
And eventually I began to open my mind to other possibilities
Maybe what I thought had been God was a little askew
Maybe

And this is what I came too
We are here once.
That we know
There are lots of theories and religions and traditions
That try to answer these simple questions
What happened to me
Why did it happen to me
What did I do wrong
How will I get through this
I know
It’s grueling
But out of all of that
Turns out
There was a
Bonus

I had been longing to
Live in the present and appreciate life
And what’d’ya know
Be Here Now
Was my new and very real
Separate reality
Now was the only place I could be
Everything else was forgotten or would be forgotten soon enough

I stopped grieving over the memories of my children I couldn’t find.
I stopped grieving over the life I could have had
I stopped grieving over accomplishments I would never know
I stopped grieving over love lost
And I just started to live
And love
And give of myself
To the garden
To Nature
To the dingbat dogs and cats
My precious children and friends
There was always more love in these deep pockets
I reached into
There was joy in knowing I would see their loving eyes looking back into mine
Loving me
Hoping for one more day too

I will tell you true
There is no one answer
We are all imperfect
We all err in our ways from time to time
We are all learning
And hopefully along the way
We do learn a thing or two
But we will never know everything

I learned that life is precious
Every second of it
And while I was learning this
Through tears and despair
Roots of hope began to take hold

I learned that
Our bodies are terrible things
They can rage on
Without our consent
And cause us so much pain
That we just want to give up
And I learned
There is also more than pain
There is more than loss too because
There is love
There is hope
There is one more precious moment
Some times it’s a freakin nightmare
And some times it is so precious it
Fills our heart with an elation we can only know through
Experiencing it
Gratitude filled my heart and body and for a moment
I slipped away into something
Wonderful
Pain may have grasped my body and was holding on tight
But it couldn’t steal the next moment
My focus changed
Because I was filled with this grateful tranquility for every minute

From that time on
I did more than exist and trudge through the pain
I did more than survived
I began to thrive

You see the thing about love is
It’s endless
You can give it without speaking
You can send it without a stamp
You can love your family and friends
And dingbat animals
And you can love
Every one
Every where
All of the time
The birds
The beauty of trees and leaves blowing in the wind
Watching the sun flickering through them
And it is always a wonder
That I appreciate

Solitaire at Night

I play solitaire at night
I try not to make mistakes
The red goes on the black
The black goes on the red
I don’t skip any numbers or face cards

Worked on The Wall
 And emptied every thing on the canvas
Maybe no-one will see it
Maybe it will go up in flames
Maybe it will last forever
Under another name

I want to know how to get through all of this
Coco didn’t come into the studio again today

Deleting Hatred

I read the post below this morning and have been thinking the same things. Last night I got tired of seeing all of the negative and mean posts that have been showing up on my FB page. I started deleting them and wow what a difference. I have decided to cut off the hatred from my page. Not the people, but all of the political meanness and bullying and lies and even mean humor, whatever, I don't even know what to call it all anymore but a sickness that has invaded my home and peace of mind.

I know bad happen. I know it. I'm in my sixties. My grandparents and my parents told me stories about the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Viet Nam War. There are no winners in war. It leaves scars that are passed down from one generation to the next. I began studying the geocide that happened during WWII (actually reading history books and biographies for more than thirty years) and interviewing Death Camp Liberators and victims of the Holocaust into geocide has made me keenly aware of where cruelty and hatred leads. And you know what I found out? Every continent has been a victim and a perpetrator of violent genocide. Including America, where millions of Native Americans were murdered over the course of about 20 years. Ironically, I didn't know about most of this until I was married to a man who was Potowatomi. We were studying this terrible phenominon that has occured in our own cultural history and I was dumbfounded by my ignorance. I studied different religions. And I believed in a few until I saw so much hypocracy I let go of the organized religions completely but held to the teachings that were profound. I do believe there is something that connects all of us with nature and life but I am no longer arrangant enough to pretend that I have the answers.

I will say one thing and if there are mean comments, I will delete them.... all of my life people have always had different opinions about politics, religion and society. In fact, all of my research into history and religions over the course of my lifetime has shown me this is nothing new. Indeed, as King Solomon said, There is nothing new under the sun. There is wisdom in every society. There is honor in every society. And there is also a need for people to respect each other and each other's differences without intimidating and bullying people into some sort of submissive existance.

That's all I've got to say. I don't give a shit about conspiracies or he said she said.... there is no excuse for the behavior and the media hype that is distorting just about everything and I'm done with it. So, I will be deleted anything negative from now on. Again, not the people I love so much but I need to stop this flow of negativity in my life. I know a lot of amazing people. Giving, caring, loving, honest people. Some are gay some are not; some believe in God, some are religious and some are not; some have families and some do not and they are all sorts of genetic combinations of wonderfulness.... that is my reality. Are there bad people in the world who do bad things? Yes. Clearly. But until the media balances out that with how many good people there are who also do good things and are honest; I'm done with the media and the movies that pump hatred and killing into our lives like it was candy. I'm going on a diet.

My words to live by are these, show respect, to everyone. Burn the measuring stick and just show respect because it is a life choice not because you deserve it or anyone else does either. Show compassion, because none of us have all of the answers and we all have blind spots and none of us knows everything. In fact, that would be impossible, our brains aren't that big. So try to have a little humility and try to figure out how you can make something better and then do that one thing. None of us can solve all of the world's problems but that doesn't mean we can't do something positive today.

People can go on hating each other and finding all kinds of reasons that this is justified until we are all so disheartened we can't breathe, we can't function. People can go on killing each other and try to stamp out anyone who sees things differently or we can actually work on solving problems that don't include cruelty and killing each other. If we don't get our shit together and we just run along and believe whatever and continue to pollute the planet and use up its natural resources like little pigs, well we will pay for it. We won't have to spend millions, billions of dollars going to Mars because that's what this planet will be like. If we were so smart, we'd figure this out and work together to take care of this planet and each other instead of destroying the one place we can live and destroying each other.

This article is good. Not that people read that much anymore. I think most of us look at the pictures and read the captions and don't go much further but it's time to help an Akita find its way home and I'm going to do something about that.

Facebook post by Dakota Meyer

I’m tired. I’m tired of seeing my country divided and fighting itself. It has been tricked by the media and by this administration thinking that the enemy is us. Hitler used the common enemy approach prior to World War II to unite a splintered and struggling Germany. We used the common enemy of communism to unite our country for the 40 or so years that followed the end of that war. Then the wall came down and we lacked a true common enemy until September 11, 2001. But then that faded and America was in a lull of sorts lacking unity. Then 8 years ago “Change” was brought to the White House and over the past 8 years I have seen that change. The media and the Obama administration have worked tirelessly and we are just about there now. We are not a nation as much as we have become groups of people fighting amongst one another because the enemy is us.

When did we become so ugly as a nation? Why are we ok with not being better human beings? I’m tired of watching people dying. I’ve seen too much of it. I’m tired of the anger over things that aren’t even understood. Just stop. We know better than to act like this. Guns are not evil. Police are not evil. It is people who have become ugly and cruel to one another. It is people who have accepted the easy way out. They’ve chosen to be afraid and angry. They’ve chosen to blame other people for their problems. It is easy to be angry and blame someone else than to take responsibility for yourself. We need to just stop. Stop blaming other people and start now making ourselves better as human beings.

It is time to be done with being bound by a common enemy and instead be bound by the commonality that we are all Americans. I am saddened by what happened this evening and the events leading up to it. My heart and my prayers go out to the families of the officers who were shot in Dallas tonight. This isn’t what I want to leave for my daughter when I die and I will be dammed if I am going to sit here and do nothing.

The Longer I Live

The Longer I live
the less I see things as either or
and the more I find the most reasonable answers
are often all about
and

I don't know why but when I was young
out there
seemed to be more interesting
more tantalizing than
what I took with me everywhere
that bein
my heart

Should I go to school
Should I become a part of the system
Should I graduate
Should I give a shit
My heart mulled these evaluations
endlessly

Somewhere along the way I realized
the middle of the road gets more sun
it stays the warmest longer
well, unless there is a mountain in the way
then it could be in shadow most of the day
life isn't fixed
but thinking about the journey we are on
the road we are traveling up
or down
its more about finding the warmth
and appreciating it

When people get hung up on either or
they tend to get rigid
it's my way or the highway
and this affects our
the way we ultimately decide to live
each moment
each day
of our lives

Should I get married
Should I get divorced
Should I take that next step
Is stability every thing it's cracked up to be

How do I apply all of the wonderful lessons I've learned
into day to day living so I am equipped to make
good decisions

I can consider lessons I've learned from my past
experiences and emotions and consequences
and I can make plans for the future
I'm going to the grocery store
better get my keys
or I need to decide whether or not to sell the farm

I can trudge up things of the past
oh I remember grieving or feeling so all alone
but going over detailed re-enactments of what happened to me
just ain't runnin on the wheel anymore

I have found considering the past is a good thing
because we learn from ours and from other's experiences
And having a plan without any expectations is actually
pretty reasonable
but in order to have balance
it is important to live right now
in the moment
yep
being in the moment is definitely where it's at

lucky as shit about that
I used to have a hard time falling asleep
because I would think about
everything
tomorrow
yesterday
it seemed like all of the questions
and conundrums of the world
would flutter through my subconscious

Should I sell the farm
Should I open up the house to travelers
or artists and poets and musicians who needed a getaway
who needed some times to just feel the earth between their toes
and get a few calluses on their hands
I've been a hermit for most of my life
And then I thought
What if someone came and didn't want to leave
What if I tried to take care of the farm alone
what if
I fell down in the haybarn lost my balance
it already happened once
had it been any worse my leg might have twisted the wrong way
and then
nope being alone isn't viable
and without knowing people
I don't think I could keep up with their coming and going

I didn't want the kids to have their own flow
interrupted
they had their own life to create and follow
the most reasonable decision was to sell the farm
I needed to change my perspective
it wasn't a loss
it had been a great way to raise the kids
it had been a great place to heal
and while I would have wanted to stay there
for the rest of my life
it was time to finally learn
to let it go
let go of my expectations of life
and instead
look at it realistically
there is another phase for me
another place to live
it it time to stop resisting change
and to go with it
not to grieve over it
but to celebrate it

I asked my sister to help me with this decision
After two years of struggling I still wasn't any closer
to knowing what to do

We figured that if we lived closer
than at least we would all see our kids if they wound up
living in other places too
it was time to sell the farm
it was time to move
on
so I had an auction
packed up
found homes for my much loved
llamas and donkeys and mule and goat
and my stinkin cats
and my Akita and Bulldog and
got a little house my sister found for me
with a wonderful yard
I was close to my sister
and it was absolutely the best decision
our kids grown and growing
were close and my sister and I loved each other
and enjoyed being able to see each other
and funny thing about it was
my adult kids all wound up in Chicago
living together
making friends
having a life
working
going to Columbia College
learning how to take public transporation and
learning how to take their country
sensibilities with them to
Chicago

it was great
I went back to Columbia College
and finished what I started back in the early seventies
and I even graduated on the Dean's List
30 years after I started there
Two of my children graduated from Columbia College too
what a great experience that was

moving to this area
and going to college in Chicago
and the kids living together in an apartment
and working and going to school and
making friends
creating a life there
that probably wouldn't have happened
had I not sold the farm
Their lives opened up tremendously
from having lived in the City

Turns out
the decision to sell or stay wasn't about
should I move
or should I stay
or should I live on the road
it was about
family
and being in contact with each other
it was about cherishing those times we had together
it was about celebrating life
and celebrating each other's lives too
yeah
none of this would be happening
if I sold the farm and kept a few acres and
put a tiny house on it.
taking that next step
is how I got here
right now
it's how I got to peace
and understanding
in the one City that decades ago I hated
Yeah
Chicago
who knew

cool
huh

Perfection Is Highly Overrated

being
out in the gardenyard
soon it will be warm enough
to take my shoes off
and feel the mud squooosh up through all of those
inbetween places

it grounds me

after a few good thaws
and a few good rains
the good earth
is ready to receive its seed and root

planting and transplanting
moving moss and flowers and saplings around
and the warmth of the sun on my back
is exhilarating

Put some garden tools
into the old Radio Flyer and up the driveway we
crackle and roll

broke'n gloves hang out my back pocket
I'll use them for awhile and then
refuse them
something about dirt under my finger nails
brings me closer to Grandma
think we'll spend a morning together

I need to top off some buds from weeds that have clearly
been improperly categorized
and put those seeds out'ta searching
for a place that is just right
my garden
is unpredictable

Ooooo those clouds are coming in
quicker than I thought they would
think I'll go put on my rubber boots just in case
wait a minute
they need mending
no worries
I know where some neon pink duct tape sits
waiting to be taken off it its roll
to find something useful to do

ahhhh
perfection is highly overrated