Love

"For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. That is why young people, who are beginners in everything, are not yet capable of love: it is something they must learn. With their whole being, with all their forces gathered around their solitary, anxious upward-beating hearts, they must learn to love. But learning time is always a long, secluded time, and therefore loving, for a long time ahead and far on into life, is solitude, a heightened and deepened aloneness for the person who loves. Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person (for what would a union be of two people who are unclarified, unfinished, and still incoherent?). It is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in himself, to become world, to become world in himself for the sake of another person." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
That loving is, in great measure, a solitary experience, goes against our desire for it to be a union of spirits. No doubt Love calls us to become both more human and more divine. Though we may hear its call, we too often rush to the comfort of the merging, instead of bravely facing that aspect that urges us to learn by, for and with Love in and of itself, and often by ourselves. When we meet others on our way, we can each respond to this higher calling, or we can respond to the wounded parts, in ourselves or in each other, that keep us from getting to the true harvest.

Pumpkin

"Pumpkin," who was a pumpkin, came to live with us in the autumn. This was the mid-1970's, and I am not sure which year...some of them kind of blend together in my memory. It must have been a lean year, because the house was cold enough that winter for Pumpkin to stay fresh and clean. We were amazed by how long Pumpkin stayed, well,pumpkin-like. We grew quite fond of Pumpkin the longer Pumpkin stayed. It was not until late the next spring that Pumpkin finally began to show signs of decay. We gave Pumpkin a decent send-off at Camp Columbia in Litchfield. We left Pumpkin beside the big tree there. I did keep the seeds of Pumpkin inside a wooden box. All these years, the box has been inside a storage container that I have lugged hither and yon. Once in a while, I have come upon the box, opened it and smiled. Today, I did just that once again. It was so good to see Pumpkin's remains, and delight in the good memory of Pumpkin.

Peace Prayer by Lama Gangchen Rinpoche

Peace to the inner and outer environments.

Peace to the five elements within and without.

Peace to this body.

Peace to this mind.

Peace to this huge ocean of emotions and feelings.

By the power of the truth and for the happiness of all beings,
may we have a culture of peace,
a society of peace, a world of peace,
where we can have days of peace,
nights of peace, sleep with peace and dreams of peace.

By the power of the truth and for the healing of all beings,
may we have peace in all moments
and in everything.

Starts with an "H."

With our thoughts and our actions, we can shape our destiny. I think destiny is only destiny in hindsight anyway. It is in our power to change our destiny at any time. In the end, there really is only one true destiny. That is our ultimate destination, the home of our hearts.

Progress, Not Perfection

Sometimes it is enough to just show up. If we honor the progress, we cannot at the same time expect not to make mistakes. Perfection is an ideal, a goal perhaps, but it is not the be-all and end-all. There is plenty of room for progress, and perfection would just get in the way of progress in any case.

Ten Happy Memories from Childhood

By request. In no particular order.

1) Backyard barbeques with my family.
2) Long, lazy summer afternoons playing and picnicking at the Duck Pond in Milford.
3) Buying Devil Dogs and Coke (in a bottle) and Bazooka gum at Frazier's Market.
4) Going to the Saturday matinee at the Capitol Theatre.
5) Falling asleep to the sound of the buoys in the harbor, with an occasional boat chugging in to its slip late at night.
6) Playing in the swamp across the street from our house.
7) Getting to have the cherry from Dad's evening cocktail.
8) Grandma's closet full of Christmas cookies.
9) Going around to all the windows in the house, to see the little numbered plaques on them.
10) The time Mr. Frost gave Laurie and me a whole carton of vanilla ice cream!

An Ideal Day, through the Decades

When I was a child, an ideal day would be:
-wake up to a sunny, warm, pleasant day
-have a breakfast of Maypo
-play outside in the yard all day: make forts, have a picnic lunch, play, play, play
-barbeque dinner, with roasted marshmallows AND ice cream for dessert
-hide and seek after dark with all the neighborhood kids
-fall asleep with the windows open, listening to the buoys out in the harbor

In my teens, a ideal day would be:
- wake up to a warm, sunny, pleasant day
-have a breakfast picnic at Camp Columbia, then go for a hike in the woods
-visit the Heseltines or Polly (time spent with family friends)
-watch burning plastic drop from the ceiling into a bucket of water (who thought of this??)

In my 20's an ideal day would be:
- wake up to a warm, sunny, pleasant day
- spend the entire day at the beach, preferably on Cape Cod
-out to dinner and a movie with friends

In my 30's an ideal day would be:
- wake up to a warm, sunny, pleasant day
- spend the day in New York City, exploring, eating, whatever
-take in a play or concert

In my 40's an ideal day would be:
- wake up to a warm, sunny, pleasant day
-spend the morning with my kids, and have them be happy and well-behaved
-massage, facial and pedicure in the afternoon
-barbeque or dinner with friends and family
-lots of laughter

Now, as I begin my 50's, an ideal day is:
-wake up.

(Ha ha just kidding.)