Perpetual Journey

“I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.”

— Walt Whitman

 

Do you have joy in your journey? What’s stopping you? Are you sure the journey is your own? Oh it is. If you are on it then how can it belong to anyone else? You can say that someone else chose it for you but then in most cases you chose to listen or go along with that other person’s choices. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Perhaps it was. I believe that there is a playful part of ourselves that chooses even the challenges as they are the ones we need. Perhaps the greatest of these challenges is to find the fun in decidedly unfun situations. That is not as difficult as it may seem. Wildly exaggerate your sorrows. Play can you top this with yourself. Today was so hard and I just bet this could happen tomorrow. Make it comical. Anything from falling donkeys in your path (to fecal matter from the donkeys flying in the first place 🙂 Find a way to laugh at just how bad things can get. You might find it surprising how much easier laughter and exaggeration can make it. I hope always that I have the courage to choose joy.
Blessings, G

 

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Rising SpiritsRising Spirits by G A Rosenberg

 

<h5 style="text-align:center;"Another StarAnother Star by G A Rosenberg

Of Limits and Imaginary Lines…

“From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines.”
― Walt Whitman

 

Since I talked about courage last night, tonight I thought for sure I’d be speaking about brains or a heart or even i ride in a balloon but it looks like there is more to say about freedom. Walt Whitman knew of the imaginary lines we draw or have drawn for us out of the good intentions for others, defining who we are and the appropriate paths our lives and or conversations might take. Oh one or two of those lines, we are told, will show us direction and it won’t feel so bad or be so heavy, rather like silk. But then once we allow those first chains (let’s call them the minimum) , those of parents and school / society, it becomes all too easy to start accepting more until what was once silk has become steel or wired ropes that bind and constrain until we end up bound in our actions and thoughts.

What happens when we chafe under these constraints and our lives feel like we’re sleepwalking in a role written for quite a different actor than we find ourselves to be. We can free ourselves but first we need to acknowledge the chains are there and look at each one determining where it came from and being willing to put it aside. The first ones are easy to take off. The hardest ones are the ones that have been there the longest for it is all too easy to confuse them with the free self. Oh they can come off and perhaps our resolution for them to do so is either our truest measure or the measure of our truth.
Blessings, G

 

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Evening FlightEvening Flight by G A Rosenberg

 

Eyewash MandalaEye-Wash by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – December 26 2012

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.”
― Walt Whitman

What kind of verse have I begun to contribute to life? Has my life been a limerick with a few double entendres? How about a sonnet that expresses a romantic love for a nameless other? Shall my life be a haiku short and sweet with memory that lingers on. Tho I guess it would seem silly to wonder about form rather than content. I suppose than that my verse will have depth but not read by many. Of course the ability to contribute and to feel I have and will be read and felt by someone else satisfies my being.
Blessings, G

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The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect by G A Rosenberg
Butterfly CamaflougeCamouflage for Butterflies by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – October 8 2012

“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere – on water and land.”
― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

 

Thinking disjointed thoughts tonight so I might  ramble at you for awhile. As if that wasn’t always the case.  I’m thinking about paths and families , both those of choice and those of birth. After all, for most of us our paths start with our families…habits we learn and habits we earn and yet our paths are our own, at most ours run up alongside others for moments or decades. I can learn from almost anyone, even people i have negative encounters with… perhaps mainly them..its more difficult at times to see the challenge and lesson to be learned from the positive ones..i tend to be too busy basking in them and enjoying them…still the lessons are there. Would a life without challenge be anywhere near as worthwhile? Somehow I doubt it..
Here’s to challenges and gratitude. Here in Canada, it’s Thanksgiving Day, the day when many of us consciously feel the gratitude that the wise make a daily part of their lives. I feel gratitude towards everyone of you reading this and those who have befriended me over the course of my lifetime and for this amazing universe (good or bad, goodies or yikes I find it all amazing) that we all are part of.
Blessings, G

 

 

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Campfire by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 20 2012

“Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul”
–Walt Whitman

In this blog I’ve talked a lot about truth. I’ve discussed truth that is objective and truth that is subjective and truth that is too big to understand. But what about that that doesn’t ring true? Many of us discover at a fairly young age that our government, teachers, religious leaders have lied to us. As we grow older, we start to learn just how extensively we’ve been lied to and sadder yet how many continue to believe the lies and deliberately expose themselves uncritically to a culture that encourages us to stop thinking, go along with things, Pursue things that are meaningless and perpetuate the corrupt system. Eventually we reach the point where we have to say “STOP!” We dismiss the bullshit and try to clean up our own. As nice as it would be to think that by thinking critically, we can remain untouched by the corruption, I know better. However we can clean ourselves up, live the highest truth we can and expose the lies to those willing to listen. All it takes is clarity and courage. I’m sure I have those around here somewhere 🙂
Blessings, G

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Yearning by G A Rosenberg

Patterning Red, Black White and Green by G A Rosenberg