August 27th, 2017

August 27th, 2017


Affirmation:  I choose to create peace in my mind, my body, and my world. All is well.

I love and accept myself and others.

I succeed where I put my efforts.


Word of the Day: slyboots (n):

1. an engagingly sly or mischievous person.

iatrogenic (adj):

1. (of a medical disorder) caused by the diagnosis, manner, or treatment of a physician.

Ex: The pill entered the market in 1996 and quickly became an iatrogenic disaster.

alliaceous (adj):

1. having the odor or taste of garlic, onion, etc.

The Great Untying

We search this world for the great untying

of what was wed to us at birth

and gets undone at dying.

We sleep beside a stream, thirsty.

Cursed and unlucky his whole life,

an old man finishes up in a niche

of a ruin, inches from the treasure.

Out of Stillness

I was happy enough to stay still

inside the pearl inside the shell,

but the hurricane of experience

lashed me out of hiding

and made me a wave moving into shore,

saying loudly the ocean's secret

as I went, and then, spent there,

I slept like fog against the cliff,

another stillness.

Our Caravan Bell

Do you hear what the violin says

about longing? The same as the stick.

I was once a green branch in the wind.

We are all far from home.

Language is our caravan bell.

Do not stop anywhere.

The moment you are attracted a place,

you grow bored with it.

Think of the big moves you have already made,

from a single cell to a human being.

Stay light-footed and keep moving.

Turkish, Arabic, Greek, any tongue

is a wind that was formerly water.

As a breeze carries the ocean inside it,

so within every sentence is,

Return to the source.

A moth does not avoid flame.

The king lives in the city.

The Polisher

As everything changes overnight,

I praise the breaking of promises,

Whatever love wants, it gets,

not next year, now.

I swear by the one who never says tomorrow,

as the circle of the moon never agrees

to sell installments of light.

It gives all it has.

How do stories end?

Who shall explain them?

Every story is us. That is who we are,

from the beginning to no-matter-how-to-it-comes-out.

Those who know the taste of a meal

are those who sit at the table and eat.

Lover and friend are one being,

and separate beings too,

as the polisher melts in the mirror's face.

_____

Writer vs. Author

The power of words, thoughts, and messages can hardly be overstated. What we hear, tell ourselves, and believe has the ability to dramatically impact our lives - for better or for worse. One example of this is the things we tell ourselves about ourselves - the identities we create for ourselves and believe about ourselves. 

Consider somebody who sees themselves as an author. They introduce themselves as an author and consider being an author as part of their identity. How might this be different than somebody who considers themselves to be a "writer"? The difference is subtle, yet it can be powerful. If someone believes that writing is something that is just "done on the side," or a flippant hobby, they may be inadvertently feeding into low self-confidence about what they do. 

To use a more common example, consider the way we talk about people with certain illnesses. Rather than saying "a person with diabetes," we say "a diabetic." A person with schizophrenia is simply a "schizophrenic." Yet, we would never call someone with cancer "a cancer." We wouldn't call someone with Lyme disease "a Lyme disease." 

What we tell ourselves we are is often a self-fulfilling prophesy. Labels are powerful. Labeling ourselves boxes us into a rigid identity. And if we want to think outside the box, we must live outside the box.