Shout-Outs and Gratitude

 

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
― John F. Kennedy

 

So often it seems we blog in a vacuum. I send out these words and pictures in the hopes that someone will enjoy them but especially at the beginning had no idea whether this was the case. Gradually the numbers of views climb and the numbers of subscribers and it becomes a rather heady feeling. People are looking at what I’m doing and they wish to see more of it. People start liking posts and leaving comments and that is very cool indeed. There have been few things as gratifying for me then the fact that something I have created has brought about interaction. The people who have commented on my blog have been thoughtful and appreciative and often caused me to think further about what I write about. Many of them have amazing blogs of their own that make me think and smile and generally blow my mind with the talent that they show.
John Clinock at Art Rat Cafe (http://johnclinockart.com) is an amazing writer, artist (in many different media) and poet. To visit his blog is to walk in beauty and thoughtfulness.
Dale Cooper (http://diaryofaninternetnobody.com/) writes amazingly thought provoking blogs and has amazingly creative and interesting videos.
Agnes Khooschwenk (http://dawnofdivinerays.wordpress.com) is a one stop-shop of modern spirituality. Her coverage both in her own blog entries and her reblogging of others casts a wide and wonderful net.
JK (http://thesecretkeeper.net) also has a far-ranging blog that consists of her own writing and art and media reviews of others. She brings amazing insight to the subjects she covers.
Kalabalu (http://kalabalu.wordpress.com) has a fun and fascinating blog.
Lori Buff of Future Relics Gallery (http://networkedblogs.com/TiBkl) is an amazing potter, humorous and talented writer and the friend who has known me the longest. Please check out her blog and her art.

Once started, it is difficult to stop giving shootouts to those who have encouraged and inspired so much in me. Not to mention those who’s blogs have given me hours of thought and diversion. For those not yet mentioned here, I will shortly be doing a sequel. You are appreciated beyond measure.
Blessings, G

 

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Hewn From StoneHewn From Stone by G A Rosenberg

 

ArchwayArchway by G A Rosenberg

Shadows and Shoutouts

 

“Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow”
― T.S. Eliot

We conceive things so perfectly. We have an inspiration, a moment of clarity where something we wish to manifest is perfect. Then we go about creating it and it never quite fits that conceptual vision. Some line noise gets in along the way. This could be from moment to moment distractions or it could be that the concept does not quite fit our notions of ‘how it should be’ or even that we doubt our ability to actualize our concept perfectly and the doubts become self-fulfilling prophecies. Our own shadows get in the way. Of course the more aware we become of our shadows, the more we can take them into account and the better we can manifest. These shadows are never anything to fear. In many cases, it is our shadows that inspire us to have the concept in the first place.
Blessings, G

 

In the last few weeks, I have had two lovely shout-outs that I wanted to express my appreciation for and to recommend the blogs of both these men unreservedly.
AdamfromNorway (http://adamangel.wordpress.com) is an amazing poet, writer and artist (he does it all and rather well) and I find something to be inspired by and enjoy (he has great taste in music as well) every time I stop by his blog. His shoutout to me:
http://adamangel.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/shout-out-to-gary-grosenberg/ is much appreciated.
<strongStephen Dillard-Carroll (http://www.travelingtarot.com) has a fantastic tarot site and his explanations of each of the cards are well worth exploring. He used my Eight of Cup image and had some very nice things to say about Waking Spirals in today’s entry (http://www.travelingtarot.com/apps/blog/show/41147233-tarot-the-day-for-wednesday-january-29th-2014).
Thank you both.

More shootouts tomorrow.

 

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Projecting2Projecting 2 by G A Rosenberg

 

Bubble TeaBubble Tea by G A Rosenberg

Pain’s Gifts… A Consciousness Stream

 

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding… And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy”
― Kahlil Gibran

 

Pain has given me many gifts.
Empathy has come from memories of pain shared.
Body awareness has come from Pain’s messages.
Perspective has come when I see those
who’s suffering has cause to be much deeper
yet carried so much lighter.
Also what hurt so deeply long ago
that I thought it unbearable
now has faded to a mere itch
if remembered at all.
(A gift of memory and time as well)
I find little of nobility in my own pain
and dislike the common game of comparing scars.
Yet still for the gifts of pain I feel grateful
and no doubt will unwrap many more.
Blessings, G

 

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Magician (Alt)Magician (Alt) by G A Rosenberg

 

Butterfly Colours obscuring an Idyllic LandscapeButterfly Colours Obscuring an Idyllic Landscape by G A Rosenberg

 

Puzzling

 

“Whoever has witnessed another’s ideal becomes his inexorable judge and as it were his evil conscience.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche

 

“Could I be living better than I do and healthier? Certainly. Do I live up to my own highest ideals? No I do not. Yet hearing your judgements upon my choices makes me wonder whether you ask these questions of yourself as well.”
— Randall Wolfe

 

At times I find myself dwelling on the ways I fall short of my ideals. I have researched diet, exercise and spiritual practice and I make progress in each of these yet in the jigsaw puzzle of my complete self, I am still finishing the border and gradually moving inward attempting to place each piece. It’s not so much that I don’t know how to go about improving my being as much as I slog against a certain inertia. Plus there are those excesses and time wastings that still bring me enough pleasure that I forego the joy that will come of giving them up. I suspect many of those reading this are in the same boat.
Tonight an acquaintance on FB wrote that he found himself wishing that there were more people interested in “what was good and true and right”. I find myself wondering if it is not so much that people aren’t interested, nor even that they don’t care. Perhaps they are working on a different part of their puzzle and have yet to start on those areas which admittedly can be a bit like pieces of blue sky or forest. Such puzzles can be tricky and the only satisfaction is that of completion rather than speed.
Helping others with problem spots can be fun as almost any activity is better shared and it is even better when the help is mutual. I appreciate anyone willing to help yet I have learned that there is little more frustrating than unsolicited help. Some parts of my puzzle I prefer to at least attempt for myself first.
One day after moments or lifetimes I will find myself ready to place those last few pieces. I will have reached a new level in my togetherness and it will be bliss. Then it will be time for the pieces to go back into the box as I go in search of a puzzle with even greater complexity.
Blessings, G

 

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AUGNMN MadeAUGMN (OM) Made by G A Rosenberg

 

Reflecting BuddahReflecting Buddha by G A Rosenberg

Encouraging Candles in the Darkness…

 

“Never discourage anyone…who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”
― Plato

 

To my mind we are all progressing upon our path. Some of us may stay willfully ignorant for weeks, months or possibly even decades but then something happens that shakes their world view and perhaps in the smallest way they open up. Perhaps they are willing to understand a point of view they never have before. Perhaps they (and by they I almost always mean we for I have yet to meet anyone fully free from ignorance. I know that I have my share and possibly more) have found an iota of compassion for someone whom before they withheld any understanding. Funny thing tho how much difference such a change can make. It is something akin to lighting a candle in a dark room as opposed to one with all kinds of sunlight streaming in. The candle may be as bright in most cases but in the darker room it stands out a lot more…
If we are all progressing even at the rate of a candle every thirty years, then how can we discourage anyone in their growth. The realization that we all progress has been one of those candles for me.
Blessings, G

 

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Lava GuardianLava Guardian by G A Rosenberg

 

MarbleGameMarble Game by G A Rosenberg

 

Today You’ve Shown Your Power

 

“We tend to disempower ourselves. We tend to believe that we don’t matter. And in the act of taking that idea to ourselves we give everything away to somebody else, to something else.”
– Terence McKenna

 

So mighty
each one of us
anyone of us
capable of wonder
writing songs,
Planting gardens
wiping tears away
from the face of a child
building bridges
singing songs
that will echo in the throats of many
Never forget we are mighty
you’ve made a difference today
in the words you have said to a stranger
in the heart that you held of a friend
in the wake of something created
you’ve shown your power
rejoice in it
and know it can never be taken away…
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Getting Myself Together Before I Go OnGetting Myself Together Before I Go On by G A Rosenberg

 

HyperSpace AwaitsEntering Hyperspace by G A Rosenberg

Water-Coloured Memories

 

“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
― Marcel Proust

 

Our memories hold the rough outlines. Oh some of us have eidetic memories and they see details but then filter the image of their past through the lens of emotion which changes the colours and bends things in strange ways. A Photographic memory may be fantastic if you’ve taken a clear picture in the first place but that is something most of us seldom do. If all this is true, if I have some control over how my memory gets filtered, I would rather practice remembering things in their best light. After all if people who affected us in the past whom we hold onto are the tenants in our heads than our memories are the architecture.
Blessings, G

 

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Wishing WellWishing Well of Past Beauty by G A Rosenberg

 

Elder Dweller in the Cosmic CaveDweller in the Cosmic Cave by G A Rosenberg