Tilly’s last day – 3.31.23
Remembering Tilly
only thing that lasts
the only thing that matters
memories of love
Rescued from a puppy mill, we were blessed with nearly 8 years of life with Tilly. RIP sweet girl. We look forward to meeting up with you again someday.
When times are tough, the most vulnerable seem to struggle the most. Below are highlights from a recent AP article on how this is impacting Pet Shelters. For the full article see https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/no-rescue-why-animal-shelter-euthanasia-is-rising
“As they stay inside the shelter longer, it’s not great for them mentally or physically, and many of them will break down,” said Katy Hansen, director of marketing and communications at Animal Care Centers of NYC. “They’re stressed, so they’re not showing well to potential adopters that come in. We went from an average length of stay of eight days pre-pandemic to now we’re at 13 days.”
“I think this is a great time to reach out to your local shelter and see how you can help,” Caceres-Gil said. “Even if you cannot adopt an animal right now, there are many resources, there are many other ways that you can help, volunteering in becoming a foster parent.”
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Closing senryu: How You Can Help
Make a difference!
If you can’t adopt a dog,
adopt a shelter.
Virginia Woolf @ Pinterest
On this day in 1941, Virginia Woolf committed suicide by drowning in the river behind her house. She was feeling the return of massive depression. She wrote a love letter/suicide note to her husband. Her writing was often controversial and, so it might be expected, that even her suicide note would be misquoted, misinterpreted and misjudged.
Today’s senryu: Those vs. These Terrible Times
life can be cruel
inside and outside our mind
stop judging – be kind
There’s an excellent piece by Maria Popova on The Marginalian website that provides an explanation of how “self-righteousness is the enemy of compassion.” And, as might be expected, the “self-righteous” ones include so called “Christians” and “journalists.” This piece also recommends the book, Afterwords – Letters on the Death of Virginia Woolf, edited by Sybil Oldfield, (c) 2005, Rutgers University Press
See https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/03/28/virginia-woolf-suicide-letter/ and http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813535603/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/virginia-woolf-suicide-note-death
http://www.dictionary.com/e/emoji/red-heart-emoji
“As Catherine of Siena said, ‘It’s heaven all the way to heaven, and it’s hell all the way to hell!’” Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation–Heaven-Is-Both-Now-and-Later.html
Today’s senryu: All the Way to Heaven
anticipation
eager to visit loved ones
hearts all a flutter
Nervous excitement can be exhilarating. Our positive energy can enlighten those we meet; showing how much they mean to us. I’m thinking positively today.
Re-reading Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., (c) 2012 Author’s Official Authoritative Edition, I was reminded that it was time to “raise my sights” from choosing joy to choosing enlightenment.
While both joy and enlightenment are in the “extraordinary outcomes” pinnacle, why stop at joy when there are still two higher vibrations levels available?
Today’s senryu: Levels of Consciousness
getting past my self
we perceive a greater truth:
interbeing Self
May we all be happy, productive, without stress and synchronistically extraordinary.
“Compassion is an extension of metta.” Thank you, lynnjkelly, for sharing this and other Buddhist principles. _/\_
Sometimes people find compassion practice the easiest entry to practicing mettā more generally. As Thanissaro Bhikkhu said, compassion is an extension of mettā that we feel when we encounter suffering. When we are confronted with suffering, especially in person, compassion (karunā) is a natural response, and if we give it space, it will grow. This can be experienced in every day life, but also if we seek out situations to support those in need: incarcerated people, support groups for people with mental challenges, people in aged care or hospice, even animal rescue and rehabilitation. All of these can inspire us to set aside our own petty concerns and listen patiently to others, with an open heart, whether they are talking or not.
The sense of presence that we can develop with mettā or karunā comes from devoting ourselves to observing and listening to others in a complete way…
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Some days my mind jumps from one thought to another so quickly it’s hard to connect the dots. Today is like that for me.
nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/soliloquies/whats-in-a-name/
Today’s senryu: What’s in a Name?
a whore’s spaghetti
so tainted by love apples
childhood favorite
(See https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tomato-called-a-love-apple.htm)
Today’s poem: Numbers Comfort Me
one, two, three: numbers comfort me
I watch them parade with perfect symmetry
I love how they add, subtract and multiply
consistently predictable, enough to make me cry
with tears of joy and calm security
numbers so reliable; perfect harmony …
(From my poem Seven Figures in I Am Furious (c) 2009)
“Parker J. Palmer is an American author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has published ten books and numerous essays and poems and is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage and Renewal.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Palmer
Only 117 pages, Palmer’s small book, Let Your Life Speak, (c) 2000 by Jossey-Bass, is filled with candor and wisdom about his (and our) search for right livelihood, for a meaningful vocation.
A couple of quotes from this book inspired by his Quaker practice are:
“there is much guidance in what does not and cannot happen in my life as there is in what can and does – maybe more.” p.39
“If I try to be or do something noble that has nothing to do with who I am, I may look good to others and to myself for a while. But the fact that I am exceeding my limits will eventually have consequences. I will distort myself, the other, and our relationship – and may end up doing more damage than if I had never set out to do this particular ‘good’. … It took me a long time to understand that although everyone needs to be loved, I cannot be the source of that gift to everyone who asks me for it. There are some relations in which I am capable of love and others in which I am not. To pretend otherwise, to put out promissory notes I am unable to honor, is to damage my own integrity and that of the person in need.” pp.47-48
“We can make choices about what we are going to project, and with those choices we help grow the world … Our complicity in world making is a source of awesome and sometimes painful responsibility – and a source of profound hope for change.” p.78
“Spring teaches me to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility, for the intuitive hunch that may turn into a larger insight, for the glance or touch that may thaw a frozen relationship, for the stranger’s act of kindness that make the world seem hospitable again. … if you receive a gift, you keep it alive not by clinging to it but by passing it along.” pp.104-105
Today’s senryu: Let Your Life Speak
I can do myself,
I cannot do you – that is
yours to make happen.
http://www.target.com/p/let-your-life-speak-by-parker-j-palmer-hardcover
Today’s senryu: St. Patrick’s Day
drive the snakes away
bring good luck – we need it bad
on this near-Spring Day
Life Matters 