mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Willful Blindness and Inertia
May 4, 2016
sundial
As individuals and as groups we all have blind spots. We accept beliefs without knowing all the facts simply because it is impossible to know all the facts. Especially in institutional settings we excuse resistance to change as part of keeping to tradition. If we look back in history we will notice that over time what was at one time considered to be true is now regarded as folly. Tradition is one thing and resistance to reality is quite another matter. Institutions protect dysfunctional operations not out of pride, but out of lack of awareness. The set it and forget it attitude runs strong in institutions and government agencies. It takes some tragic outcome to bring about change in some cases. It is impossible to observe one’s own actions if one is willfully blind. Thus, the blindness begets more blindness, becoming contagious.
What would Sir Isaac Newton think about the conditions that prevail?
- The body at rest is our culture, willfully ignoring our real situation
- The forces at work driving our society to move are all profit motivated
- Every profit has an equal and opposite loss to the environment/humans
No matter who wins the scary American presidential election now taking place, the financial and environmental imbalance will be rampant around the world. Balance can only be restored through awareness and planning. Without a plan we will careen ever closer to entropy. The solution is pre-political. Our awareness needs to cover all the people places and things with which we have contact. This energy drain, or misappropriated energy, is needed for the good of the entire planet in order to restore some kind of equilibrium. Plug the leaks in your own boat today. We are taking on water and listing to port.
door in the darkness
Find Your Bossiness
May 3, 2016
— 4 Comments
The Judge
I was born with ample bossiness, and raised to rebel. I entered professions in which people paid me to tell them what to do. In travel (in the old days) clients planned trips with the advise of agents. I was an outside sales travel agent, meaning I worked for and found my own clients outside the agency. It was a perfect job for me because I have travelled extensively and don’t mind at all sharing my opinions. Agencies were full of very well-travelled agents because the suppliers used to treat us like royalty. If I had not been to a destination I had only to ask around the office to find someone who knew the place. It was a very cosmopolitan place to work. Everyone was very jolly until the airlines cut commission, signaling the end of supplier/agency relationships. It was very good while it lasted, and I am glad I was there for the gravy train.
I taught fitness and swimming in fancy spa settings. This required a different kind of bossiness, which required very little encouragement to bloom. The guests relinquish entirely too much power and responsibility in the spa atmosphere. The real key is not making them mind you in your presence (which they are paying big bucks to do). Success can only be measured after the student has returned to home/work/family and all the habitual triggers that exist there. When they try to integrate what they learned at the spa into real life, if they whip out the hand out you provided and do something (anything) they learned, you have succeeded in the mission. If they mind you back at home, then you are a boss.
I like the current fad to label things done with confidence “like a boss”. I agree that taking charge and speaking one’s own mind can be the difference between success and failure, and even between happiness and depression. Finding ones voice as a boss is valuable and must be done with respect and caution. Do not surprise unsuspecting members of your family or workforce with your newfound authority. Practice safe bossiness with appropriate subservients. Use your head.
- Take control of all the political calls/posts/real life discussions
- Evaluate your use of free time to find more for yourself/eliminate waste
- Polish the rhetoric used to ask for services in daily life/be particular
- Identify the areas in which you do not care to boss/make sure they are covered by a qualified and enthusiastic boss
- Focus your attention and education on the areas you intend to rule
- Explore new areas of conquest with respect to current sovereigns
Remember the fall of Rome when Caesar obviously just took on WAY too much dominance over the Romans. Don’t let things get out of hand with your bossy self. Use discretion as you boss your way around this world.
It Could Be Verse
May 1, 2016
— 3 Comments
NaPoWriMo2016
I am a happy graduate of National Poetry Writing Month, 2016. This, my third time participating, taught me some good lessons. The best part of the month is always reading and discovering other poets. Here are just a few wonderful poems I found written during April:
- Water Nymphs by Lillian the home poet
- to fetishists (to hunters) by poems and doodles
- Delicious Delirium by Musings of a Blueberry
- Sour Grapes by Michele Vecchitto
There are more poets than I can possibly mention that show great talent and unique perspective. I hope you will investigate to find some poetry you like to read in this group or at the library. People take this 30 poems in 30 days challenge for different reasons. I find it stimulates my vocabulary as well as my visual sense because I always use an image with my poem. Sometimes I draw it. Each year I tell myself how therapeutic it is to create poetry and that I will continue the craft on my tumblr, which is linked for #NaPoWriMo with my wordpress for poetry month. This could be the year, gentle readers. The consistent lesson I have learned from these three years of participation is that other people like the poems that are not my own favorites, and vice versa. Later when I read some of my work I am kind of surprised it came from me, but there it is. These are a few of the reasons I urge you to write some verse:
- The process reveals the subconscious
- Words and dream images have powerful connections
- Poems by others stimulate the muse
- Once a poem has a concept the mind works on it in the background
- Poetry clears the soul of repressed feelings and notions
You don’t have to show anyone what you write in order to benefit from trying your hand as a poet. You might be one…and don’t know it. Don’t wait until April 2017 to start. If you start now you will be sufficiently warmed up for the next round.
Sawing Logs
April 30, 2016
— 3 Comments
trees
trees
trees
Just as every tree may eventually become lumber
The daily tasks and stresses will fall into deep slumber
Blindness is blind to the spot that bears its name
It knows no visionary leaders willing to take the blame
Articulation of the truth is followed by group contemplation
Unconscious shared ideas of perfection enter dreams in symbols
Clashing ideas of black and white lead quickly to confrontation
In dreams as in waking life there are many obvious signals
NaPoWriMo2016
This is the last poem in my 30 out of 30 for #NaPoWriMo. I had a very good time this year and the time went quickly. I used a very zen approach this year..less might really be more. Thanks for sharing the experience with my fellow poets around the globe!!
Narrow Vision
April 29, 2016
— 1 Comment
the city
Blind to either side, the galloping force chases the scoundrels with intent
Misses the ongoing story, producing poverty, lowering standards for life
Hunger, insecurity, pessimism, lack of healthy enviornment, to a growing extent
Contribute to a downward spiral for those already sinking in economic strife
Streams and creeks full of excuses mixed with social work are clogged
Water is evaporating above the ground while we sink the drills deeper for the prize
NaPoWriMo2016
Join poets around the world for #NaPoWriMo this April. Find new meaning in words.
Fluid Forrest
April 28, 2016
— 1 Comment
Lazy floating clouds float over the roaring river in the canyon deep and steep
Rushing rapids, fishing birds, pine forrest covers the hillside where strangers sleep
Enveloped in dreamtime full of predictions, curses, spells, natural magic double
Sifting through remnants of vanishing memories found by picking in the rubble
Of abandoned relationships, casues, philosophy, belief, loyalty learned by rote
The current of memory is swift, rocking and shaking the flimsy leaking boat
Carrying karma back to the tributaries, evaporation lifts moisture toward the sky
The cycles are eternal never breaking the contract first to float and then to fly
NaPoWriMo2016
Join the poets of the world at #NaPoWriMo in April to read, write, and indulge in poetry.
Skeleton Prism
April 27, 2016
— 1 Comment
figure
The key fits the opening of the light between the refracting colors swirling down
Slipping the skeleton into the rainbow takes precision, sophistication and heart
Careful with the riptides, the pirate crew left roaming the beach next to the town
The connection must be complete or the inertia of lazy innacuracy will start
To erode the memory and history of mankind leaving the core of the matter exposed
To elements corosive, destructive, mind numbing, passively aggresively confused
With foundations and structure built on mendacity that has been politically superimposed
The atmosphere, the liquids and all the thoughts, have been examined and excused
NaPoWriMo2016
April is National Poetry Writing Month, aka #NaPoWriMo. Join the fun reading, writing and living the poetic life. Try something new!!
Charting the Way
April 26, 2016
— 1 Comment
sand mandala
We find our place by reading the stars, following the charts to the destination
How far must we travel to reach our destiny and our eventual demise?
We loose our way while we become distracted and consumed by hesitation
Does this road lead us home or to a different universe where questions arise
About the nature of this well worn system we have followed blindly into hell?
Escape will be a struggle without the navigation tools we used to get here
It will be impossible to see how we fit in, our belief has fallen under the spell
Of false prophet pretenders telling stories designed to make us shake in fear
NaPoWriMo2016
This month of poetry writing is soon to end. This year it has gone quickly for me. Find poets to read and enjoy at #NaPoWriMo in April every year. Consider writing some for submission. Join the poetry party.
Hushaby Street
April 25, 2016
— 1 Comment
Curandera
She slipped in through the open window, the Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby Street
Her curls were tangled around her face, her countenance was calm, quiet, and sweet
Her work revolved around the delivery of deep dreams to answer life’s questions
She drew vivid images, symbols within ancient stories containing characters I must meet
Her home is with the Mother Moon, a place where fairies dance, sing, hide, and play
Dream flowers, colored fountains of jasmine scented liquid fill the air with a spray
Intoxicating transforming bolts of light shine out from behind dream boats at the dock
This harbor is a shelter in the storm, granting time to the mariner who may have gone astray
NaPoWriMo2016
This poem is built around a line I found in another poem, The Rock-A-By Lady, by Eugene Field. In Mr Field’s poem she is covered head to toe in poppies, each of which brings a fleet and tiny dream to her patrons. I like that image very much. Find poems you like this month at #NaPoWriMo where you can find other poets who used this same prompt to write today.
The Feline Monastery
April 25, 2016
— 1 Comment
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- Monastery
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- Monastery
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- Monastery
Sitting pretty on the seat of orthodoxy the cat clergy ties the knot
Between radio-active caliche under the surface and the litter box
Declawed surrealism flows down the drain thickening the plot
Like a hairball flushed surreptitiously past inevitable paradox
Plunger of monasticism, spigot of liturgy turned on full blast
Jungle cat spirits haunt the souls of the monks praying for lost power
Canonization conflicts with basic instincts consistent with the past
Sainthood and survival exist as an experiment in imagination’s tower
NaPoWriMo2016
This poem needed to be left overnight to simmer. I took the prompt yesterday to make separate lists of words that are too fancy to be in a poem and others too mundane. I made the list of words yesterday but the poem did not percolate. The combination, after sleep, is the poem above..kind of a surprise. Surprise yourself this April at #NaPoWriMo where you will find an abundance of poetry.
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