Holding the Attention — A List

 

“Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.”
— Jose Ortega y Gasset

 

My attention tends to shift amidst many different areas and I never know which facet of my being will come into play. Here are some of the things that tend to capture it these days:

 

      • Whispered words and Loud conversations
      • How the light falls on the leaves – Light in general and darkness and the interplay between the two
      • People’s hearts – People’s eyes, spirits and stories as well.
      • My Family
      • Art- Both creating my own and enjoying that of others. Favourites: Dali, Escher. Alex Grey, Austin Osman Spare, Caravaggio, Vincent Van Gogh, Bosch, and lots of others including that of many friends on Tumbler and Face Book.
      • Bad Jokes and Good Wordplay- I love playing with language and making it dance.
      • Books- Favourite writers are Charles deLint, Spider Robinson, Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, Michael W. Ford, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Wilber,Neil Gaiman and an almost endless list of others.
      • Archetypes-Myths, Legends, Songs and of course Comics.
      • Music– Of all kinds. My tastes tend to change and evolve. Some favourites currently and perennially: ELP, Queen, Behemoth, Metallica, Neil Young, Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), Watain, Bob Marley, Animals as Leaders, Walk Off the Earth, Acherontas, Postmodern Jukebox, Emme Ya and again I could keep going endlessly
      • People’s conceptions of the universe. I prefer to hear people’s unique takes on spirit as opposed to prepackaged ideas that they gained either at their parent’s knee or their latest conversion. I want to hear the kernel of truth that I believe each of us carries within.These days my studies have taken me more towards the goetia and left-hand path topics tho I am always interested in hearing and discovering truths as each person knows them.

I am always interested in learning more about the people who read this blog. Feel free to share what captures and holds your attention these days
Blessings, G

 

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Questions Asked and AnsweredQuestions Asked and Answered by G A Rosenberg

 

Galactic Building BlocksBuilding Blocks Towards A Cosmic Fractal by G A Rosenberg

A Life Set to Music

 

“Music really did mean something to him, he realized, and it always had. It called to him, although there were no words to describe what it promised. It was like a secret language he never forgot how to speak, a hometown he could always return to when he tired of what life was throwing at him.”
― Tad Williams

 

As I write this I am listening to Chasing After Shadows by the band Hammock. I find something about Hammock’s music to be fantastic to write to. Even when there is no music playing externally tho, my life has always had a soundtrack. Whole periods of my life represented by different bands. The Doobie brothers, Lynard Skynard or the Who are my high school years. Listening to Teenage Wasteland energizes me with a flavour of angst… Early adulthood is represented by Rush, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Bob Marley and the police. Jean Michel Jarre and Metallica played out through my thirties. Of course there were many others, a list wouldn’t do it justice. I hitch hiked down the road singing Willie Nelson and Neal Diamond and Cat Stevens. I had sex to the wild bass of club music and serenaded lovers to the Beatles. I found self-expression through the words and melodies in an ever expanding repertoire provided by others that has brought me to equanimity. Friends and family have been there (more often than not) but music has been my most constant companion.
Blessings, G

 

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The GateThe Gate by G A Rosenberg

 

Masked in ShadowsMasqued in Shadows by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – August 15 2012

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Sometimes we can’t hear the music that others dance to. We see them go through the motions and wonder at the rhythm or lack thereof in their movements and become puzzled. So often the temptation is to diagnose, to remedy, to try to bring them to the point where they realize that they don’t hear the music that we can’t here. Would that we could listen with the heart. We may catch the strains of an ineffable tune with beauty that we have denied ourselves before. We may even wish to dance ourselves if only we could bring ourselves to break free of the fear of being misunderstood by those still denying themselves the song. Perhaps we continue to hear nothing but with open hearts we realize that that is not the loss of the dancer but ours. Love brings faith that the music is there whether we hear it or not.
Blessings, G

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Shining Through by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – July 1 2012

“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

 

I left off yesterday talking about the Canadian custom’s questions. Who are you? Where are you going? and What do you have to Declare? as being story prompts. Of these questions we build our life.
Tonight my story got hijacked in the nicest way possible. I was responsible pet owner and I was taking care of the dogs needs and I had little to declare. The moon was almost full and showing through and against the backdrop of white clouds that broke up the line of the sky. The temperature was about 23 C with a slight breeze and the dogs on good behaviour. The soundtrack provided by the universe and what I had on my iDevice playlist seemed designed to and succeeded in combination with the other things listed above to give me a blissed-out good time…
Soundtrack for an early summer’s evening bliss upliftment

 

Animals as Leaders – Soraya
 

Shpongle – Before the Big Bang

 

Luminaries-Kambucha

 

Joshn-E-Bahaara from the Indian film Jodha Akbar

 

Seal-Kiss From a Rose on a Hill

 

All in all I’d declare it a pretty amazing half hour. Each one of these songs struck my spirit in a different way. One of the small magic’s that I’ll take any day of the week. More reasons to feel grateful. =)

 

Blessings, G

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Flowing Plant Mandala by G A Rosenberg

 

Advising Flames by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – February 16 2012

““Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”
Berthold Auerbach

When it comes to music, I could just write a page of quotes. Harry Chapin might have said it best- “Music’s been my greatest friend my fiercest foe. Music can take me so high or it can send me so low”. Music has been there for me even at times when I wasn’t. I define different periods in my life by what i was listening to. My high school years getting into complicated lyrics, ELP, Genesis and Led Zeppelin. Then my first exposure to Bob Marley, The Police and The Clash followed by just about anything and everything at one time or another. Singing folk music while walking in between rides made long days of hitchhiking easier. The Answer my friend is blowing in the wind but i don’t want to work on Maggie’s farm no more cause I am a Rock I am an island girl, sure do shine glad I found you glad you’re mine.
Music doesn’t need words and sometimes the right music can replace words, lifts my spirt, lifts my soul. These days I listen to lots of trance and classical tho the old favourites still find their way onto my play list. Music helps me transform my emotions. I find it impossible to stay sad through certain songs. Music helped get my son to sleep (still does at times) and helps me to wake up. Yes. It helps me to wake up in more ways than one. 🙂

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Riddling by G A Rosenberg

Stream of Consciousness Rambling

Words flowing
not knowing
a bit uneasy but that’s ok
disquieted what a strange term, i am dising my quiet and why
when i have searched for it for so long..
tho be careful what you ask for
happiness peppered through with anxiety
not about holding on but how to play
and how to be
just be and the how takes care of itself…
feel the mood pass through
music tunes it out as i tune in
all flowing through the consciousness stream
loving, comes easier, the more I practice
Love is my practice

Teachers appearing
so many
i learn from each one
teach myself?
perhaps
after all who else is there?
My spirit has come home
yet that word’s meaning changes…
I have learned to walk in the beauty i perceive
and yet have barely perceived at all.