despair, sadness icon @ http://www.iconfinder.com
Eagerly looking forward to a special day and then life intervened; plans upended. So, now what?
Today’s senryu: Let Me Not Despair
life sucks then I’ll die
or let go and practice love
let me not despair
Reality has a way of “robbing our joy” but we don’t have to surrender to pessimism. Here are four references that informed the senryu above:
First is the continuation of Matthew Fox’ message on how to “move from pessimism to creativity“
“Where true self-love is meager, our love of the world will be meager. “Love others as you love yourself,” advised Jesus. But if our love of self is shallow, the love we put into the world will be also. And the world is so strong in its various misdirected loves that our weak and shallow love will be easily drowned in the energies of that world.” from Rank and Rich on Moving from Pessimism to Creativity, Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox, May 26, 2023 (https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2023/05/26/rank-and-rich-on-moving-from-pessimism-to-creativity/)
Second is an Al Jazeera video on how advertising sells us through low self-esteem.
“We are told 3500 times a day how deficient and lame we are.” quote from Jonah Sachs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urny4oFBbto)
Third, a motivational quote from JFK.
https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/john-f-kennedy-quotations
Finally, a favorite album.
Life Matters 