Allowing Joy

 

I have a fascination for how quickly people seek to suck the joy and celebratory spirit from others. They justify it through some cause or another as if in competition to see who can take life more seriously.”
– Randall Wolfe

 

I find it puzzling. Last week the United States Supreme Court made a ruling that recognized gay marriage throughout the country. People celebrated in many ways. After all, for many of them this represented recognition of their lives and their loves that they had previously not had. Many tho while not opposed to the ruling reacted in a way that saddened me a bit. They went on social media decrying the celebration because they disagreed with the idea of government sanctioned marriage. While I saw their point part of me was wondering why they would wish to quell another’s happiness.
Since then I have noticed that this phenomenon extends to almost every form of celebration. We shouldn’t celebrate the Fourth of July because the people of the United States are far from free and independent. We shouldn’t celebrate a new relationship because it might end in pain and celebration. How dare you honour THOSE people, look at what they’ve done?
Don’t get me wrong. Causes are important and their is a lot wrong with the world. People should seek to fight injustice and leave the planet just a bit better than they found it. Yet at the same time, very little gets accomplished by being joyless. If there is something that we enjoy that brings us pleasure, let’s do it. If it means close time with family and friends even more so.It is not paradoxical to fight the evils at the world while taking the pleasure and joy that we can. Taking it from others seems to be a crime in itself.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

The HostThe Host by G A Rosenberg

 

Gods and MonstersGods and Monsters by G A Rosenberg

 

Father and Farther

 

“I knew my father had done the best he could, and I had no regrets about the way I’d turned out. Regrets about journey, maybe, but not the destination.”
― Nicholas Sparks

 

“My face keeps changing. There are times when I shave off my beard that I see my father looking back at me from the mirror, At other times I see my mother’s. Most of the time tho I see myself, an odd fusion of the two with much that is original. I find much the same happens with my perceptions of myself every time I use the razor of introspection”
— Randall Wolfe

 

Yesterday was my father’s eightieth birthday and my family threw him a surprise party with over one hundred and thirty people attending. My father is a rather amazing man who has helped many over the years in ways both large and small and has inspired many more.
A family friend is helping my father write a book about his life and his career and has been interviewing many who know and we had a few interview sessions together where I was asked many questions about my past and present with my dad. It felt pretty therapeutic and the give and take between the interviewer, dad and myself was pretty amazing as memories and emotions flowed freely. My sisters both said in their interviews that I of all of my father’s children am the most like him which I found surprising as a keynote for me was how different we are and how one of the qualities I admire the most in him was how he has given me the space and support to become myself and to learn who that is. My father is seen by many (including myself) as being a great man where I see myself as being content to be a good one. Still his values for much of my life was one yardstick (among many) for me that I would measure myself by and there are many ways in which we are similar. There is much there that I shall continue to consider.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Succeeding  the PlanetSucceeding the Planet by G A Rosenberg

 

Travels Along the Dimensional MazeTravels Along the Multidimensional Maze by G A Rosenberg

 

Pagan For the Holidays

 

“To be pagan and claim personal affront at the idea of Christmas more so than at Ramadan, Yom Kippur or any other Abrahamic or Eastern religion is not an indication of free thought. Indeed it indicates that one is still a slave to one’s upbringing.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the idea of holiday celebrating this past few weeks. I tend to find much about this time of year questionable. Roads and stores are crowded. People seem a good deal crankier and less likely to smile as they look for the perfect way to express to their loved ones in a material way how they want to be perceived as caring about them. People try hard to maintain their roles in each year’s extended family drama. Kids seem more anxious and stressed about what they are getting and whether they have lived up to some perceived standard of behaviour and will be thus rewarded. The list can go on and on and that doesn’t even touch on some of my religious objections.
I freely admit that I do not subscribe to the Jewish, Christian or Islamic faiths. If I had to describe my beliefs at all it would be as wildly eclectic with strong pagan and thelemic leanings. As most who read this blog know, when it comes to faith and universal understandings I have many many questions and relatively few answers. This is not from lack of knowledge of the different options out there, indeed I have studied many of the world’s religions in farther depths than most of their adherents. Thus the questions arise.
Still I try to find meaning in every day I am alive and I applaud others who do the same. If they do this by connecting within a cultural framework and it means something to them that is awesome. Thus I have no problem exchanging “Merry Christmases” or “Happy Chanukahs” or “Joyful Kwanzas” with those who celebrate and I do not trod on their traditions. It is not my business what anyone else chooses to believe and any reason is a good one to celebrate. I graciously accept presents as tokens that someone thought me worthy of their time and I give such tokens as I have because for some a gift at a particular time of year means “I love you too” in a language that they can understand. If this is hypocrisy than it is a small one that I can live with.
The Northern Hemisphere is about at Solstice. The time of least light and greatest darkness. Many cultures celebrate the return of the light and the progress of the seasons no matter what mythology they attach to it. I wish all a pleasant Yule and solstice and a wonderful re-manifestation out of the dark in whatever form it takes.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Lord of the GladeLord of the Glade by G A Rosenberg

 

Drifting through the Fractal SpacesDrifting Through the Fractal Spaces by G A Rosenberg

 

Tuning Ourselves to Our Lessons

 

“To be in harmony with all things would be a wondrous thing, tho just as we learn best when we are outside our comfort zones, it is the points of cacophony from which our lessons come.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

Many of us strive so hard to feel at harmony with life, with ourselves and with all things. We dislike feeling out of harmony or out of balance with our loved ones or our surroundings. Yet quite often it is in the areas where we feel disharmonious that we can learn the deepest lessons and grow the most. If anything those points of disharmony are our shadows given form. Sometimes in order to feel that harmonious flow, we have to find the disharmony and discover in what way it has taken us out of balance. Sometimes just like tuning the keys of a piano or the strings of a guitar we have to play around with the point of imbalance until the flow is repaired. Sometimes to do this we have to go more out of balance first one way and then another until it feels just right. If we try to force it the string might break so instead it is a gentle tuning.
Take for example if we feel anger towards another, first we have to identify the feeling and see what may be causing this. Perhaps in doing this we may become overly permissive towards the person or behaviour that made us upset in the first place. We have to recognize we are doing that until we come to the realization that either the behaviour was ok and we were overreacting or it was not ok and we communicate this and work out the problem. We tune too high, then too low and fiddle until eventually harmony is restored.
Understanding where we become imbalanced can bring a truer harmony than we had before.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

From the SeaFrom a Distant Sea by G A Rosenberg

 

An Alien NatureAn Alien Nature by G A Rosenberg

 

Everybody Wants To Save The World

 

“Ask yourself who will save mankind and then go look in the mirror for the answer.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

In thirty years of making myself as open as possible to other people and their beliefs and stories, I have come across an interesting phenomenon. I have met many people who believe that they have a calling to save the world. Many see themselves as being the chosen one, the one who has been given the answer to life, the universe and everything if other people would just fall in line. Oh it manifests in different ways. Some believe that they are a manifestation of the Christ spirit, others that they are reincarnations of Aleister Crowley or the manifestation in physical form of one god force or another. With these friends I always try to keep an open mind. Maybe they are right after all. In this world of infinite possibilities talking to a universal avatar is not out of the question.
There are worse things than believing that you are meant to lead mankind out of his darkness. It involves ambition, altruism, hope and a willingness to look outside the self after all. As long as it does not involve drinking poisoned kool aid or killing people its all cool. Still many of them from my early cult experiences onwards have told me in some fashion that if I ignored their teachings or didn’t stick with them in some way that I would be damned or doomed or left in the lurch. Funny thing is that my life has been a pretty great one, filled with much love and some challenges and my spiritual growth and interests have been a constant. If I am doomed to reincarnate or be destroyed, I am pretty comfortable with the fact that both the life of my spirit and the growth of my spirit will continue as I feel those are constants.
Still anyone who has that much compassion and drive that they wish to make the world a better place for all has my support. If everyone was to believe deep down in their hear that it was up to them to make things better for all, the world would be in much better shape. Perhaps each of us is meant to do that according to our knowledge and perceptions. So I will take that challenge of Mr. Wolfe and I will look in the mirror and then of course the next question is how?
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Faceless in The Outer RealmFaceless in the Outer Realm by G A Rosenberg

 

Lying Awake Containing WorldsLying Awake Containing Worlds by G A Rosenberg

 

Choices Informed

 

“No matter what choices we make in life, we still carry our beginnings with us. Perhaps its in something as simple as our choice of breakfast or how we wash our hands. But if we choose to be truly free than we ignore the influence of our beginnings at our own peril.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

I have been stumbling across a certain meme a lot lately. I have even used variations of it myself. It says something along the lines that we are not composed of where we came from but of choices we have made along the way. Now I do believe that our choices contribute a lot to who we are but do we choose freely? Are our choices dictated at least partly by the environment we grew up in and the way we watched our parents do things? Perhaps we have chosen to reject everything about our homes as many who have come from far less than ideal environments have. Does our rejection of our past mean that we choose our futures free of their influence or does choosing the opposite of something in rejection still mean that we are influenced by it? Are we perhaps programmed by our childhood influences in ways that we might not even realize?
It is only when we look deeply at our pasts and its programming that we can make conscious choices and know that we are choosing not out of blind acceptance or rejection but out of the people who we truly are. Even then our past influences can turn around and bite us when we least realize it. But then perhaps on a deeper level we made the choice of where when and to whom we were born in the first place. It is food for thought for sure.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Wandering Through Lunar TidesWandering Through Lunar Tides by G A Rosenberg

 

Crystal MeshCrystal Mesh by G A Rosenberg

 

Bearing Witness to the Pain of Another

 

“One of the most loving things you can do for a friend is give them space to be broken without trying to fix them.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

Humans are problem-solving beings. When someone, especially a loved one, comes to us unhappy and bereft it is a reflex to try to solve their problems. In my experience this is not always either the best or the most loving thing to do. Some hurts are too big and so wounds to deep to think that a kiss and a bandaid of words will help. Sometimes the best and most compassionate thing we can do is to bear silent witness to their pain and give them space to grieve. In the long run this aids their healing process. If they are feeling victimized or delusional about their own culpability in the situation, it is much better to give them a chance to realize it themselves rather than either agree and foster their victimhood or point out their own responsibility and cause resentment. If they are wounded, even by themselves, it is better to let the wound heal a bit before discussing anything of that nature. Listening and being present is often the most compassionate thing we can do.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

She Walked Through a DreamShe Walked Through a Dream and the Dream Returned the Favour by G A Rosenberg

 

Meeting at the TorMeeting at the Tor by G A Rosenberg

 

An Echoing Kiss…

 

“Disapproval of others is as good a reason as any for self-reflection. This can be avoided by finding others who disprove and forming a group (or mob).”
— Randall Wolfe

 

A kiss
A simple thing to celebrate and share
A sign of affection, passion and emotion
Sweet
yet seen by others
as divisive
they form their opinions and choose
to champion and degrade
ripples echoing the tide of the moment
yet how can something shared
to bring two together
force others apart?

 

In my wanderings through the web today, I came across quite a few reactions to the ESPN broadcast of NFL draft choice Michael Sam kissing his lover upon getting signed. The fact that people reacted to it amuses me more than it puzzles me. What puzzles me more is that people are more interested in defending their reactions, good and bad, than they are at reflecting on them and seeing them as the gift of self-knowledge they could be. I would rather gain understanding of my own biases and opinions than I would judging those of others. This understanding may lead me to growth. Yet few seemed interested in gaining this understanding. Instead, they would rather either justify their opinions or incite others into expressing the same. It puzzles me.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Debut PerformanceDebut Performance by G A Rosenberg

 

Night WalkNight-Walk by G A Rosenberg

In Darkness

 

“Anything that stands out in darkness becomes beautiful”
— Randall Wolfe

 

In pitch blackness I awoke
no sound no movement
a disquieting peace
broken by the sound of your breath
and the beating of my heart.
Still, I was still
yet blind and then
turning towards you
I saw your eyes and the curve of your face
and was enraptured
I felt your smile
as it mirrored mine
In moonlight or daylight you shine like the sun
but in the kiss of darkness
you become my world
— G A Rosenberg

&nbsp

Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Spherical AwakeningSpherical Awakening by G A Rosenberg

 

Reaching Through to Make the Abstract RealReaching Through to Make the Abstract Real by G A Rosenberg

Gifts of the Past

 

“Often it is the gifts of our past that allow us to see our way into the future”
–Randall Wolfe

 

Sometimes when we find ourselves facing self-doubt or lack of confidence about the future we think of something from our past and it gives us the momentum to go forward again. It maybe something a beloved relative or friend told us. It may be a favourite song or story or toy that reminds us of a happier and more hopeful time allowing us to once again move forward. Just the memory whether it pops into our mind or has some sensual stimulus (the aroma of apples and cinnamon cooking or the feel of an old stuffed animal) can install in us the will to move forward.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Endlessly Falling
forgetting what brought me here
I wonder where I’ll land.

Journey DownJourney Down by G A Rosenberg

 

Firbird, renew me
burn my fears away
restoring my soul
making me whole

 

FirebirdFirebird by G A Rosenberg

 

Worlds and Stars I offered
yet she was not impressed
for she wanted my universe
and would take nothing less

 

In the end I settled
for giving her my heart
Not realizing it was
what she asked for from the start

Offered the WorldOffered the World by G A Rosenberg