Megan....the genius...

Megan has announced that she is finished with all her schooling...she has learned everything she needs to learn for the rest of her life and 1st grade will not be necessary. Whew! I guess her mother and I are slow....it took her mother, Rodina till age 15 to realize she knew everything...me...I never did figure I could get out of going to school!

What makes us afraid...

Sent to me by my friend PB when I was encouraging him to 'write his story'...this is all I got him to write but I will keep asking:

What Makes Us Afraid?
It is the same for each of us, although what makes us afraid – what makes us forget whom and what we are – may be different. There are many ways to describe the factors that shape our fear and influence our behavior: past trauma and conditioning, inherited tendencies and learned responses, past-life karma, and current pressures, human biology, psychology and spirituality. We can develop some useful self-understanding by considering any or all of these, but I do not believe we can ever claim to have a definitive explanation of all of our behavior. We remain, like so much of the universe, something of a mystery to ourselves… the useful question if we want to live our soul’s longing is, How can we expand the opportunities and increase the probabilities of living consistent with this nature?
If I want to live my ability to be fully present and compassionate, my ability to be with it all -- the joy and the sorrow -- I must find the ways, the people, the places, the practices that support me in being all I truly am. I must cultivate ways of being that let me feel the warmth of encouragement against my heart when it is weary. I must be fiercely and compassionately honest with myself about those choices and actions that are inconsistent with my deepest nature and soul’s desires. I must find the song lines that run though my life, the melodies that remind me of what I really am and call me gently back to acting on this knowing. For me….that song is..."The Dance", by Garth Brooks........I cannot help but cry every time I hear it for reasons I shall not elaborate on here, it touches my very soul like no other song, except maybe "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers. Crying heals wounds and opens new ones for me, and I believe makes me a better person....Never be afraid to love or tell someone you love them. There is another song, also by Garth, that touches my soul..........."If Tomorrow Never Comes".........please friends......always tell that special person you love them.......because, life is short, and you never know when you may reach your end. As for me.....I am very tired of wrestling with my own mortality, my life in general the past three years has been for the most part, unenriched. There is an exception here, known but to a few....I have a light in my life, one that burns brightly and sustains me on a daily basis. Were it not for that loving, caring, giving light, I fear that one of my alter egos would have done away with my existence by now. I shall evermore remain your friend..........Kodiak

Your Song

A friend sent this to me. I think it's absolutely beautiful.


YOUR SONG

When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child.
They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.

When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.

Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.

In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.

The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity.

When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not.

When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well.

You may feel a little wobbly sometimes, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you'll find your way home.
Unknown