LIVING

When Death Comes

by Mary Oliver

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

From New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver

About the video~
Brenton Point State Point on Ocean Drive, in Newport, Rhode Island. This is a popular place to fly kites on Sundays, which it was on October 10, 2010. Across the road, Ocean Drive, from Brenton Point State Park is a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

DESTINY UNFOLDS WHEN A HEART EMBRACES IT

Sunset at Sachuest September 2009
Middletown, Rhode Island

meditate

Photo credit: Sandra Hammel

I love to write in my journals. I only have 3 blank pages left, so journal number 21 is about to begin. I write a lot to gain clarity, process personal pain, write about social injustice, the needs of children. And my son. Many books from past years are full of relationships that now as I read those pages, I realize I tried too hard to make something work that wasn't destined to work.

Today I wrote to my son in my journal...

September 20, 2009

1:45 p.m.

A stray sentence once in a while in the times we have been together over the years, I have heard you say or merely mention your saxophone, your clarinet, heard you recently read your own poetry that you obviously felt drawn to do –

Please bear with me so I can say to you – it seems to me to be apparent that your playing music, your writing, is a way for you to feel more yourself, lets you feel your soul in a way that is uniquely you.

Be aware of this specialness. Always be aware, the gift of doing these things, where art can be a “home” for your spirit, your heart, your soul. Don’t let the busyness of life cheat you out of being in your art, whatever it is – music, writing, drawing, creating. “Being” in these art moments will bring you more joy, peace, depth of feeling than the business of life can ever mimic.

You are your destiny. The universe is unfolding you and for you. Be mindful of it. It will be a source of joy, contentment, sustenance and freedom from anxiety.

Always be listening for the destiny’s voices. The destiny happens when we let it.

In a way, it is our job to be happy, to be kind. All else is a form of waiting for these moments.

End of Journal entry

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 4 - 8:15

At 4:13 " Eastern philosophies fundamentally say that ... human beings are stronger if they embrace their destinies. They believe that destiny is given. And therefore, your strength, your honor, your dignity, your purpose in life lies in your embracing your destiny." Shekhar Kapur, Director of The Four Feathers

Uploaded by springrose147

I encourage my son to follow his dreams. I hope that he will.

I haven't always followed mine front and center. But I have always been nearby the dreams. Never completely off the track. I have followed my heart, confused as it has been, at times. I have been honest with myself.

Recently, I had a "SoulProfile" done. A Soul Profile lists lifetimes lived before, where my soul originated and other places I have visited and the gifts that I have gained from those places. Whether others believe in such things, is a personal thing, like other beliefs. When I was in my early twenties and taking a required course in philosophy at an extremely conservative fundamentalist Christian college, it came to me that believing is a personal thing, in that, where we choose to draw the line of what to live by is arbitrary for the most part. As someone who was raised to be a fundamental Christian, including the dos and don'ts of my parents' beliefs - I was searching for my own principles of what to live my life by.

I threw out the don'ts of don't: dance, wear make-up of any kind, go to movies, wear jewelry, conservative everything... and the limitations of what a female should and shouldn't do. The don'ts of what is acceptable got a major overhaul by me. In my family, I am the odd one out. I am okay with that because I have no other choice. I have followed my destiny. I am at "home" with my music, my writing, my creating. I am most alive at times that I am in touch with my rawest and deepest parts of my spirit. It is a time of communion with my destiny, my universe.

We are breathing energy and the fact that the universe is like a big complex energy field, makes it acceptable for me - to believe we are part of the universe of energy. And just because we are life forms as human beings, that doesn't mean that there aren't other life forms that manifest differently from our physical forms.

The centering thought for me

I think the most important thing is to be kind. Kind to ourselves and kind to others. Kindness is always welcome.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I have found pretentious people repelling. Always.

People who are closest to being themselves are the ones I want to be in the presence of.

I like this story...

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

Excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Read the full story: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html

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The Four Feathers is probably my favorite movie with Heath Ledger. And that is saying a lot. Although he lived a short life, he played his roles with such realness. Such authenticity. He let the characters come through him as he was their vessel. This movie's story has such depth. It is about destiny and finding yourself with the willingness to do what it takes to do so.

I highly recommend The Four Feathers and watching its special features. Below are some of the special features uploaded by springrose147.

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 1 - 7:50

Uploaded by springrose147

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 2 - 8:03

Uploaded by springrose147

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 3- 7:58

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Embracing more than western religion

Click on post title to go to Joseph Campbell talking with Bill Moyers talking of Faith and Religion - Perspectives. Included there, is text as well as audio.

"I DREAM THINGS THAT NEVER WERE AND SAY WHY NOT"

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I was called in by the principal for teaching this song to my students in my first few years as a public school music teacher: Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream. From then on, I was forbidden to teach this song to the children.
Above it is sung by Simon and Garfunkel. Uploaded by JudeOrEleanor
Sung here by John Denver

The lyrics

Last night I had the strangest dream,
I never dreamed before,
I dreamed the world had all agreed,
To put an end to war.

I dreamed I saw a mighty room,
The room was full of men,
And the paper they were signing said,
They'd never fight again.

And when the paper was all signed,
And a million copies made,
They all joined hands and bowed their heads,
And grateful prayers were prayed.

And the people in the streets below,
Were dancing around and around,
And swords and guns and uniforms,
Were scattered on the ground.

Last night I had the strangest dream,
I never dreamed before,
I dreamed the world had all agreed,
To put an end to war.

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Text at youtube by the singer derkman:
Recorded in 76 languages, this has become one of the most enduring and treasured peace songs. Possibly the very best anti-war song ever...a strong argument presented sweetly and with reason. This song was written in 1950 by Ed McCurdy and has been recorded by many artists over the years including The Weavers, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks.

"My brother (Robert F. Kennedy) need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be rememberd simply as a good decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. "Those of us, who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world. "As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'" Edward Kennedy