Pulling my Feet from the Mud
Sometimes it is time
To do
Not want I want
But
What needs done
Like
Pulling my
Feet from the
Mud
Giving time
To the
Existential
Beingness hounding my
Exo-stential
Nothingness
In other words
Pulling my
Feet from the
Mud
Straining to
Remember the time
I couldn't see
Father than my
Nose
Having no
Inner or
Outer
Picture of
Pulling my
Feet from the
Mud
When I thought
That way
Who was I
The distance between
Here and
There lies
Folded over like
Ribbons
Back and Forth
Colors blur
Sun tucks
Behind the horizon
I watch
Tugging
Pulling my
Feet from the
Mud.
coypright 2012 sajamaka publishing
sunset.4.13.12
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
This Morning 4/13/12 Healing Music
The ability of music to help the world sits in the receptivity of the heart to sound waves. Sound waves integrate within the physiological map of human cell-soul pathways through love. The heart recognizes the heart of music.
Healing is a natural process from this point of entry.
Healing is a natural process from this point of entry.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
This Morning 4/12/12 Trusting Your Car Mechanic
Car Repair Stations
I'm sitting in the car service station getting my annual
inspection - or not getting it. My 2002 Subaru with 150K miles is in
great shape, but the "check engine" light is on. This is a
common thing for Subaru's. We'll see how it turns out with this new place
I'm using for my inspection.
I used to go to another station, upon the recommendation of a
friend, but there were a few situations which made me wonder
about the owner's integrity, and I withdrew my business. It happened over
something unnecessary I suppose. He charged me for something I felt he
shouldn't have. If I would've questioned him, he might have changed his
mind, but I didn't give him the chance.
The car repair shop I used before that was also recommended from a friend. When they charged me $20 to replace a gas cap, I hit the
roof. I inquired about it and they didn't budge, so I said bye-bye!
Entrusting your car to someone is really an intimate matter.
There is a common prejudice about mechanics that they will try to get as
much money from you as possible. It makes sense. They are in
business for themselves, and they are responsible for safe operation of
specific, necessary mechanical parts during an inspection. If they fail
at their job, the results could be catastrophic. Why shouldn't they try
to fix everything they can?!
If I were to create my perfect car repair man - yes, that is a
stereotype - I suppose I would have to throw together the knowledge of my
original Volvo guy, the personality and compassion of my former boyfriend, the
honesty of my former drummer-turned-judge, the mechanical instinct of my former
husband, the humor of my former father-in-law, and the good looks of this
drop-dead gorgeous Navajo musician I know! Yes, that would do it
perfectly!
With that combination, I do believe I could trust my next
mechanic!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
This Morning 4/11/12 Cloud Mood
Clouds take hold of days
Blocks and unblocking sun rays
Rules mood, cursed and praised
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
This Morning 4/10/12 Eating Bitterness
Chi Ku: Eating Bitterness
In Chinese culture, the expression "eating bitterness" is attached to the concept of enduring grueling, monotonous, hard work. Although it is the stuff of our ancestors - the many who lived without running water, snow plows, Giant food stores, or Apple - it is a difficult pill to swallow in present American culture (or Chinese culture for that matter).
I find it a curious expression because of its blatant acknowledgement that survival is not, often, a happy experience. This contrasts starkly to the pretentious claims by NewAgers and other Fundamentalist-type religious or psycho-babble proponents who blame your own "bad" thoughts for your difficult lot in life. By "bad" thoughts, I'm addressing a sense of complete awareness of the drudgery involving acts of habitual, demanding activities, day-in and day-out, with a "can't wait till this is over today" anticipation. I have to wonder if Walmart workers really can love their jobs.
The question is this:
Does "eating bitterness" detract from the overall valuable experience of life?
The answer, from my perspective, comes down to acceptance:
Can we accept the bitterness without feeling bitter?
This brings me to one of the most important, and overlooked, guides for living. Although attributed to a Christian minister, Reinhold Niebuhr, it is called the Serenity Prayer, but can easily be called the Path of Acceptance:
God,
Grant me the
Serenity
To Accept the things I cannot Change
Courage,
To Change the things I Can
And Wisdom
To Know the Difference
Of course, then there is also the Mother Goose Rhyme:
For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.
It seems the Chinese must have had something like these verses in mind when the phrase, chi ku, was acknowledged.
I live a good life. I am fed, clothed, and sheltered adequately. Acceptance of a certain amount of hardship to have the privilege of living upon this beautiful earth does not harm my sense of balance. It, in fact, creates it.
There is nothing wrong with chi ku.
There is nothing right about it either.
It just is.
I accept it.
In Chinese culture, the expression "eating bitterness" is attached to the concept of enduring grueling, monotonous, hard work. Although it is the stuff of our ancestors - the many who lived without running water, snow plows, Giant food stores, or Apple - it is a difficult pill to swallow in present American culture (or Chinese culture for that matter).
I find it a curious expression because of its blatant acknowledgement that survival is not, often, a happy experience. This contrasts starkly to the pretentious claims by NewAgers and other Fundamentalist-type religious or psycho-babble proponents who blame your own "bad" thoughts for your difficult lot in life. By "bad" thoughts, I'm addressing a sense of complete awareness of the drudgery involving acts of habitual, demanding activities, day-in and day-out, with a "can't wait till this is over today" anticipation. I have to wonder if Walmart workers really can love their jobs.
The question is this:
Does "eating bitterness" detract from the overall valuable experience of life?
The answer, from my perspective, comes down to acceptance:
Can we accept the bitterness without feeling bitter?
This brings me to one of the most important, and overlooked, guides for living. Although attributed to a Christian minister, Reinhold Niebuhr, it is called the Serenity Prayer, but can easily be called the Path of Acceptance:
God,
Grant me the
Serenity
To Accept the things I cannot Change
Courage,
To Change the things I Can
And Wisdom
To Know the Difference
Of course, then there is also the Mother Goose Rhyme:
For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.
It seems the Chinese must have had something like these verses in mind when the phrase, chi ku, was acknowledged.
I live a good life. I am fed, clothed, and sheltered adequately. Acceptance of a certain amount of hardship to have the privilege of living upon this beautiful earth does not harm my sense of balance. It, in fact, creates it.
There is nothing wrong with chi ku.
There is nothing right about it either.
It just is.
I accept it.
Monday, April 9, 2012
This Morning 4/9/12 The Stereotype
Foxconn
This company, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Ltd. which trades as "Foxconn" has been in the news for the last few months regarding its manufacturing factory working conditions, especially in Shenzhen, China. Included in the reports and investigations are outrageously low pay scale, required overtime, and a slew of suicides by jumping from the top of the factory. Foxconn has plants on four continents - North America (Mexico), South America (Brazil), Europe (Czech Republic), and Asia (Malaysia, China and India). They make the beloved Apple IPads, AppleIPhones, and many parts for other companies like Dell, HP, Motorola, Microsoft, Amazon, Nokia, Acer and Sony. The U.S. accounts for 31% of Foxconn's business. This is a company with hundreds of thousands of workers per factory living in dormitory-style settings.
Last year, I hosted 11 students from China for two weeks. We spent almost every day together, learning English and going on field trips. They were from Guangzhou, southern China - about 2 hours north of Shenzhen. These kids were from single-child families and most were used to a certain standard of living which didn't include going to parks, or for that matter, touching the Earth, where they encountered things like spiders and ants. I took them to a Native American tipi and we passed around buffalo horn rattles and turtle rattles, which they were reticent to even hold.
The common element of these two seemingly unrelated issues is this:
When the teenagers were here, the most important thing they were assigned to do - from home - was to purchase IPads and IPods. Neither are available for sale in China. Even though workers are dying, separated from their families, and living in unimaginable conditions for any American worker, in China, their own homeland, they cannot obtain these very items they are responsible for providing to the rest of the world. According to an article posted at PCMag.com, it takes 5 days and 325 sets of hands to put together your IPad.
The conditions at Foxconn being publicly exposed first by Mike Daisy on This American Life (NPR) and then subsequently by The New York Times, BBC, and others, has created some changes in the way in which its workers are treated. However, the sterile nature of the factory and the sterile nature of these children I worked with leaves me completely confused about the Chinese culture.
Is the regimentation of Communist party-line politics an integral part of the personal standards of the People? Is having everything environmentally-controlled, from sanitary factory conditions to fear of touching natural objects a culturally-ingrained psychological compulsion?
I don't like stereotypes. I have friends of Chinese descent whom I love and admire. Cultural tendencies are identifiable sometimes, but what about those tendencies which are not flattering to one's culture?
Fighting Native American stereotypes is an ongoing issue. I suppose it is no different with the Chinese.
This company, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Ltd. which trades as "Foxconn" has been in the news for the last few months regarding its manufacturing factory working conditions, especially in Shenzhen, China. Included in the reports and investigations are outrageously low pay scale, required overtime, and a slew of suicides by jumping from the top of the factory. Foxconn has plants on four continents - North America (Mexico), South America (Brazil), Europe (Czech Republic), and Asia (Malaysia, China and India). They make the beloved Apple IPads, AppleIPhones, and many parts for other companies like Dell, HP, Motorola, Microsoft, Amazon, Nokia, Acer and Sony. The U.S. accounts for 31% of Foxconn's business. This is a company with hundreds of thousands of workers per factory living in dormitory-style settings.
Last year, I hosted 11 students from China for two weeks. We spent almost every day together, learning English and going on field trips. They were from Guangzhou, southern China - about 2 hours north of Shenzhen. These kids were from single-child families and most were used to a certain standard of living which didn't include going to parks, or for that matter, touching the Earth, where they encountered things like spiders and ants. I took them to a Native American tipi and we passed around buffalo horn rattles and turtle rattles, which they were reticent to even hold.
The common element of these two seemingly unrelated issues is this:
When the teenagers were here, the most important thing they were assigned to do - from home - was to purchase IPads and IPods. Neither are available for sale in China. Even though workers are dying, separated from their families, and living in unimaginable conditions for any American worker, in China, their own homeland, they cannot obtain these very items they are responsible for providing to the rest of the world. According to an article posted at PCMag.com, it takes 5 days and 325 sets of hands to put together your IPad.
The conditions at Foxconn being publicly exposed first by Mike Daisy on This American Life (NPR) and then subsequently by The New York Times, BBC, and others, has created some changes in the way in which its workers are treated. However, the sterile nature of the factory and the sterile nature of these children I worked with leaves me completely confused about the Chinese culture.
Is the regimentation of Communist party-line politics an integral part of the personal standards of the People? Is having everything environmentally-controlled, from sanitary factory conditions to fear of touching natural objects a culturally-ingrained psychological compulsion?
I don't like stereotypes. I have friends of Chinese descent whom I love and admire. Cultural tendencies are identifiable sometimes, but what about those tendencies which are not flattering to one's culture?
Fighting Native American stereotypes is an ongoing issue. I suppose it is no different with the Chinese.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
This Morning 4/8/12 Out of The Pause
Out of The Pause
I am officially out of The Pause.
That place where all we do is just remain
Still
In anticipation, preparation or suffocation
Of and from one thing or another
Surrender
But not.
It's a good place to know how to survive.
We have no help there
No allies to stand beside us or
Stick our fingernails into as we clutch and hold
Tightly hoping not to fall or drop or lose control of
Some semblance of sanity.
It is between the in-breath and the out-breath
It is the space which is occupied by nothing
Except presence.
The Pause is the place where we live
To know how to die.
It is the standing Rainforest tree watching the bright yellow
Caterpillar D8T Bulldozer on a one-way, straight line trajectory
To itself.
It is not the bracing against the coming storm;
It is the surrender to the calm after the storm.
It is not the fight.
Not the victory.
Not the loss.
It is the presence of it all.
It is knowing
Presence is all there is.
There is no emotion.
No Thought.
No forward.
No back.
I am not there now.
I am officially out of The Pause.
That place where all we do is just remain
Still
In anticipation, preparation or suffocation
Of and from one thing or another
Surrender
But not.
It's a good place to know how to survive.
We have no help there
No allies to stand beside us or
Stick our fingernails into as we clutch and hold
Tightly hoping not to fall or drop or lose control of
Some semblance of sanity.
It is between the in-breath and the out-breath
It is the space which is occupied by nothing
Except presence.
The Pause is the place where we live
To know how to die.
It is the standing Rainforest tree watching the bright yellow
Caterpillar D8T Bulldozer on a one-way, straight line trajectory
To itself.
It is not the bracing against the coming storm;
It is the surrender to the calm after the storm.
It is not the fight.
Not the victory.
Not the loss.
It is the presence of it all.
It is knowing
Presence is all there is.
There is no emotion.
No Thought.
No forward.
No back.
I am not there now.
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