"Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind"
This title alone is enough to be mentioned here because of my passion for all living things...and that includes US. But on top of that, it happens to be a groundbreaking book from the 90's on how much our mental, physical and spiritual health is tied to the health of nature. One of its authors is Dr. Theodore Roszak...a leader in the Ecopsychology movement...which has inspired me since my first awareness of it and was part of the inspiration for me creating The Spiritual Earth Coalition www.spiritualearthcoalition.com/.
I will be speaking more about these things here, because they are very much a part of what I am passionate about: The Arts, Nature, Beauty, and Truth.
You can find out more about Ecopsychology at http://ecopsychology.org/
Also, today, go to Robert Stribley's "Hitched to Everything" blog http://stribs.blogspot.com/ and read some lines of a poem "The Waking", by renowned poet Theodore Roethke, that reminds us to pay attention to what nature has to tell us.
Deepak Chopra's New Book Has Just Come Out!
Peace Is The Way: Bringing War and Violence To An End
He says "We must not bring one war to an end, or thirty...but the idea of war itself."
"You aren't asked to be a saint, or to give up any belief. You are only asked to stop reacting out of fear, to change your allegiance from violence to peace."
"Violence may be innate to human nature, but so is its opposite: love. The next stage of humanity, the leap which we are poised to take, will be guided by the force of that love."
I'll be getting my copy ASAP!
The Problem With The Rat Race
"The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."
~ Lily Tomlin
"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."
~ Plato
"We are what we repeatedly do."
~ Aristotle
The Opposite of Simplicity Is Clutter
When society changes
from its natural state of flux,
to that which seems like chaos,
the inner world of the superior man
remains uncluttered and at peace.
By remaining still, his self detached,
he aids society in its return
to the way of nature and of peace.
The value of hisinsight may be clearly seen
when chaos ceases.
~ Tao-Te-Ching
"Time in the wild reminds me how much of what I ordinarily do is mere dithering, how much of what I own is mere encumbrance. The opposite of simplicity, as I understand it, is not complexity but clutter."
~ Scott Sander
As Of Today...
As of today, you will be seeing a lot more written here regarding this precious earth on which we all dwell and are meant to be interacting with; and this will be in direct relation to my actual website www.spiritualearthcoalition.com . Anyone who wishes to make a comment or contribute in their own words to this project ~ may often find themselves duly noted because of their own inspired work. I look forward to having contributors as this is a non-profit site which is for myself and others to keep the hope that we can heal ourselves and our planet.
Since this is NOT a religious site ~ going in the direction of speaking of a Creator on a regular basis would not be acceptable. This is meant to be a place of inspiration, learning, and healing our damaged relationship with nature.
Peace and Harmony
~ Patty Ann Smith
Since this is NOT a religious site ~ going in the direction of speaking of a Creator on a regular basis would not be acceptable. This is meant to be a place of inspiration, learning, and healing our damaged relationship with nature.
Peace and Harmony
~ Patty Ann Smith
The Incredible Mastery of Johnny Carson
I would've loved to have been able to know him. What could I have "learned" from such a Master of Humor...a follower of stars (both figuratively and literally). I found out upon his death that he was an Astronomer and...considering his other fields of excellence...I could easily believe that he was a "scholar of the heavens" as well!
Whatever happened to "Striving for Excellence" ~ even if we don't actually achieve it? Overwhelming mediocrity has taken over so many of our lives...and there are so few Masters left! Where are the Astronomers? Where are the Anthropologists? Where are the Fishermen?
How are we ever going to find our Way again...if all of us "potential masters" waste our seed on being "wanna be's" instead of becoming "all we're capable of being".
When you get a chance, find and enjoy some of Johnny Carson's work ~ and get a glimpse of what a "Master" is.
A Master makes everything look easy ~ but is actually a "genius at work".
Whatever happened to "Striving for Excellence" ~ even if we don't actually achieve it? Overwhelming mediocrity has taken over so many of our lives...and there are so few Masters left! Where are the Astronomers? Where are the Anthropologists? Where are the Fishermen?
How are we ever going to find our Way again...if all of us "potential masters" waste our seed on being "wanna be's" instead of becoming "all we're capable of being".
When you get a chance, find and enjoy some of Johnny Carson's work ~ and get a glimpse of what a "Master" is.
A Master makes everything look easy ~ but is actually a "genius at work".
Jazz Funeral For Democracy
Today in New Orleans: "...1500 Patriots gathered and marched to mourn for a country gone astray, and to make a beginning for a better tomorrow... The Jazz Funeral For Democracy showed the true spirit of peace and hope..."
those of us who could use a little sympathy today can find some comfort here:
Dignity, Equality and Freedom
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-ccntered can build up. I still believe that mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land."
Martin Luther King
Nobel Peace prize Acceptance Speech
December 10, 1964
It's Time For A Little Beauty...from Plato and Iris Dement
"Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet." ~ Plato
"My life, it don't count for nothing.
When I look at this world, I feel so small.
My life, it's only a season:
A passing September that no one will recall.
But I gave joy to my mother.
And I made my lover smile.
And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting.
And I can make it seem better for a while..."
~ a song by Iris Dement
"He Who Brings Trouble To His Own House...Shall Inherit The Wind"
The question in 1925 with the Scopes Monkey Trial was: "Who will dominate the American culture...the modernists or the traditionalists?"
Some dialogue from a 1960 movie based on the Scopes Trial..."Inherit The Wind" starring Spencer Tracy and Fredric March:
March: "We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing!"
Tracy: "Then Why did God plague us with the capacity to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one thing that sets us above the other animals?....What other merit have we?....The elephant is larger, the horse stronger and swifter,....the butterfly more beautiful,....the mosquito more prolific,....even the sponge is more durable....Or does a sponge think?"
March: "I don't know. I'm a man, not a sponge!"
Tracy: "Do you think a sponge thinks?"
March: "If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks!"
Tracy: "Does a man have the same privilege as a sponge?"
March: "Of course!"
Tracy: "Then this man wishes to have the same privilege of a sponge, HE WISHES TO THINK!!!"
Some dialogue from a 1960 movie based on the Scopes Trial..."Inherit The Wind" starring Spencer Tracy and Fredric March:
March: "We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing!"
Tracy: "Then Why did God plague us with the capacity to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one thing that sets us above the other animals?....What other merit have we?....The elephant is larger, the horse stronger and swifter,....the butterfly more beautiful,....the mosquito more prolific,....even the sponge is more durable....Or does a sponge think?"
March: "I don't know. I'm a man, not a sponge!"
Tracy: "Do you think a sponge thinks?"
March: "If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks!"
Tracy: "Does a man have the same privilege as a sponge?"
March: "Of course!"
Tracy: "Then this man wishes to have the same privilege of a sponge, HE WISHES TO THINK!!!"
Bless The Child Of The Working Man
"...Bless the hands of the workin' man
He knows his soul is his
So...it goes like it goes like the river flows
And time keeps rollin' on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone."
from a song entitled "It Goes Like It Goes" (from the movie "Norma Rae)
sung by Jennifer Warnes
The Earth Connects Us To Each Other
In the beginning, our original faith was in nature, because we had a natural relationship with the Earth. Now, our personal and planetary recovery depends on getting back to basics and renewing that relationship.
Politically speaking, we must be entwined with the spiritual Earth or we lose our Humanity.
read more at www.spiritualearthcoalition.com
The Unbribed Souls
"Live simply so that others may simply live."
~ Gandhi
Voluntary simplicity and the unbribed souls are the hope for mankind.
"The Anthem of Humanity"
"...I soared
into limitless space
and took wing
in the imaginal
world,
approaching
the circle
of exalted light;
and here I am now
mired in matter.
I listened
to the teachings
of Confucius,
imbibed
the wisdom
of Brahma,
and sat
beneath
the tree of insight.
And now
I am here,
wrestling
with ignorance
and unbelief..."
~Kahlil Gibran
from
The Vision
Reflections on the Way of the Soul
translated by Juan Cole
Let Our Memory of Them Be A Prayer In Action..."Humanity for Humanity"
The conditions that so many of us have seen and heard with our own eyes and ears first-hand recently (via the media and/or being there) exists on a regular basis everyday on this Earth. And, only by making sacred what we've started now can we make it preventable in the future. What kind of a world do each of us really want when we think about it? I personally hope it's one with a decent human existence for all. And, as my friend, AnonyMoses, alluded to on another post: Let's not let over 100,000 deaths be in vain. Let our memory of them be "a prayer in action" for as long as it takes to vanquish starvation, poverty, and disease throughout the world. Let it be our life purpose, and pass it on to our children and grandchildren...this great honoring of "Humanity for Humanity". And, let there be music, and singing, and dancing, and joy as we do it.
Read "Disaster Relief: Overfunding Is Impossible" by AnonyMoses at http://oneworld.smartcampaigns.com
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