You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength and say, "I'm proud of what I am and who I am, and I'm just going to be myself."
Mariah Carey
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Hello Sandy
*********************
Knowing yourself is often a hard task and quite tricky, particularly if you've been surrounded by people who have pummeled into a pulp your self respect by constant criticism and harping on your faults. On the other hand it can also be difficult for one has been constantly and inappropriate approved of. In either case self knowledge is one of life's direst necessities.
Mariah Carey has spelled out 5 rules for the journey of self discovery and personal self approval.
1. Look inside yourself. We can spend a lot of time, a lot of wasted time, worrying about how we appear to others. The effort involved in that expenditure is strong enough to take our thoughts completely away from how we do look to others and how we appear to ourselves. When you look in the mirror what do you see? Is my make up on right? Is my beard trimmed? How does my hair look? Should I wear this tie? Next time look at yourself in the eyes and work to see the person behind the hair and the tie. That person is there, waiting to be your friend.
2. Find your inner strength. I recently had a conversatin with a woman who was trying to research the causes for everything that she felt was wrong with her. I suggested that instead she should look into the reasons behind everything she felt was right about her and develop those. We can waste more time and effort facing our faults day after day. You're not perfect? So what? It's the good things, the right things, that keep us going.
3. Be proud of what your are. What are you, a scientist, an artist, a teacher, an athlete, a builder, a cleaner, a mother, a husband, an astronaut? Whatever it is you have a right to be proud of your place in the world. Shakespeare wrote, "There's place and means for every man alive." Take your place and perform your tasks with self satisfaction and pay no attention to the negatives.
4. Be proud of who you are. Now that you have become acquainted with the being in the mirror, groomed yourself to your own specifications and learned to proudly take your place and perform with pride your functions in the world, you realize that you are more than the face, more than the clothes and bigger than the job, no matter what it is. You are a remarkable creature, a human being, like no other on Earth. As time goes by you discover more and more about yourself. Ignore the regrets. John Cage said "We need not destroy the past. It is gone." Today is the day to live, and the future is the day to think about. The more goodness, success, fulfillment and joy you can find about yourself the more you have to be proud of.
5. Be yourself. In my unfortunate childhood I was the subject of resentment for being who I was. I learned to put up a front, a facade, in order to minimize the criticisms and scorn I was getting. There was no looking earnestly at myself in the mirror until years later. Succumbing to the world's opinions or even what you think those opinions might be robs you of the freedom to be yourself. Picking off of yourself all the false labels and cleaning yourself of the left over glue of a life of pretenses and avoidances is one of the healthiest things a person can do for themselves. Of all the freedoms we have a right to one of the mightiest is the freedom to be ourselves.
Thank you Marih
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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Showing posts with label John Cage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Cage. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Stream
All things flow, nothing remains the same.
Heraclius
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Hello Ernie
***********************
In ancient times one of the questions that occupied philosophers was about the stream. If you put your foot into a stream and then remove it. Is it the same stream or a different stream when you put your foot back into it? The shape of the stream, its banks and its bottom may be the same but the water is different because it flows. It was finally concluded that it is a different stream.
Every day someone's clock says high noon. But is it the same high noon as it was yesterday? Of course not. It's a new day, a different day.
I think it was John Cage who said that he didn't understand why people were frightened of new ideas, that he was frightened of the old ones.
There are those who expect and anticipate change. (I hope I am always one of those.) We know that things are going to change, that they are in fact changing all the time and that it's constant change that keeps life vigorous and interesting. There are those who know that things change and try to adapt to it even though they may not like the fact. There are those who resent and attempt to ignore the changes going on around them. There are those who adamantly try to prevent any change from happening. But worst of all are those who flagrantly refuse to accept the fact that things have changed. All things flow. The world must progress. If you try to stop it from progressing it will put a ring in your nose, attach a rope and yank you into the future.
There must be some government officials and large corporation officers who are bewildered and astonished at what is going on world wide with the Occupiers. I heard one American politician ask "What do they want?" The fact is if he doesn't know what they want then he has no right to be in a position to ask the question. Bill Moyers said "Sometimes standing up for your country means standing up to your government." John F. Kennedy said "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." And that is precisely what Occupy Wall Street is all about.
It took over 100,000 people of all races to convince the muddy minded American Congress to write and pass Equal Rights legislation. How many millions will it take to convince the power holders of the world that the human race means business, that the sordid circumstances of our oppression are no longer acceptable, that new levels must be reached in the ever flowing affairs of the common man and that the world, as we have known it, is changing.
The Occupiers will be killed, beaten, tasered, tear gassed, arrested, tortured, infiltrated, lied to, lied about, scorned and humiliated. But they will keep coming back because "All things flow, nothing remains the same."
DB, Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
**************************
AUTUMN QUESTION
What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?
Only 4 answers so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
I await your answers.
DB
********************
Heraclius
**********************
Hello Ernie
***********************
In ancient times one of the questions that occupied philosophers was about the stream. If you put your foot into a stream and then remove it. Is it the same stream or a different stream when you put your foot back into it? The shape of the stream, its banks and its bottom may be the same but the water is different because it flows. It was finally concluded that it is a different stream.
Every day someone's clock says high noon. But is it the same high noon as it was yesterday? Of course not. It's a new day, a different day.
I think it was John Cage who said that he didn't understand why people were frightened of new ideas, that he was frightened of the old ones.
There are those who expect and anticipate change. (I hope I am always one of those.) We know that things are going to change, that they are in fact changing all the time and that it's constant change that keeps life vigorous and interesting. There are those who know that things change and try to adapt to it even though they may not like the fact. There are those who resent and attempt to ignore the changes going on around them. There are those who adamantly try to prevent any change from happening. But worst of all are those who flagrantly refuse to accept the fact that things have changed. All things flow. The world must progress. If you try to stop it from progressing it will put a ring in your nose, attach a rope and yank you into the future.
There must be some government officials and large corporation officers who are bewildered and astonished at what is going on world wide with the Occupiers. I heard one American politician ask "What do they want?" The fact is if he doesn't know what they want then he has no right to be in a position to ask the question. Bill Moyers said "Sometimes standing up for your country means standing up to your government." John F. Kennedy said "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." And that is precisely what Occupy Wall Street is all about.
It took over 100,000 people of all races to convince the muddy minded American Congress to write and pass Equal Rights legislation. How many millions will it take to convince the power holders of the world that the human race means business, that the sordid circumstances of our oppression are no longer acceptable, that new levels must be reached in the ever flowing affairs of the common man and that the world, as we have known it, is changing.
The Occupiers will be killed, beaten, tasered, tear gassed, arrested, tortured, infiltrated, lied to, lied about, scorned and humiliated. But they will keep coming back because "All things flow, nothing remains the same."
DB, Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
**************************
AUTUMN QUESTION
What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?
Only 4 answers so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
I await your answers.
DB
********************
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Just Journey 7/02/09
Every generation needs a new revolution.
Thomas Jefferson
********************
Greetings, interesting one.
---------------------------
Search for ventures and adventures. Revolutions are not made from inventing an entirely new way of life, nor creating a world that doesn't exist, but from exploring the realities of the world we live in and discovering new things about it. The seeds of a new world are already in the ground and putting down roots. It is necessary and well worth it to observe the growth, care for the tender shoots and pull up the old, perennial weeds that would choke them.
Revolutions come from exploring, discovering, adapting and correcting mistakes. ":What ever happened to the good, old days?" They're gone, and these are the good, new days. Or thay can be if we don't try to hold on to ideas that have had their day and are ready for the museum. John Cage said that he didn't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. We should be afraid of the old ones, he said.
There are great things to be learned form the past, to be sure. But why round up a bunch of old cattle and try to sell them as the only healthy herd when you've got calves in the barn. Lyndon Johnson said "We can draw lessons form the past, but we cannot live in it."
And now, here we are, a mere decade into a new century, and we have the opportunity to revolutionize the world into a place with no war, no killing and no development and proliferation of earth destroying nuclear weapons, with the majesty, magnificence and magic of outer space scratching at our door, and the International Space Station doing its arabesque around the globe.
My country, one of the greatest achievements of the human race, though flawed and frustrating, is about to celebrate another year of survival. That is a miracle, considering those who would like to back it up, divide it and deprive it of its essential vitality. On this birthday it's a time to regenerate and revolutionize our thinking , no matter how old we are.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Smile for me.
********************************
Thomas Jefferson
********************
Greetings, interesting one.
---------------------------
Search for ventures and adventures. Revolutions are not made from inventing an entirely new way of life, nor creating a world that doesn't exist, but from exploring the realities of the world we live in and discovering new things about it. The seeds of a new world are already in the ground and putting down roots. It is necessary and well worth it to observe the growth, care for the tender shoots and pull up the old, perennial weeds that would choke them.
Revolutions come from exploring, discovering, adapting and correcting mistakes. ":What ever happened to the good, old days?" They're gone, and these are the good, new days. Or thay can be if we don't try to hold on to ideas that have had their day and are ready for the museum. John Cage said that he didn't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. We should be afraid of the old ones, he said.
There are great things to be learned form the past, to be sure. But why round up a bunch of old cattle and try to sell them as the only healthy herd when you've got calves in the barn. Lyndon Johnson said "We can draw lessons form the past, but we cannot live in it."
And now, here we are, a mere decade into a new century, and we have the opportunity to revolutionize the world into a place with no war, no killing and no development and proliferation of earth destroying nuclear weapons, with the majesty, magnificence and magic of outer space scratching at our door, and the International Space Station doing its arabesque around the globe.
My country, one of the greatest achievements of the human race, though flawed and frustrating, is about to celebrate another year of survival. That is a miracle, considering those who would like to back it up, divide it and deprive it of its essential vitality. On this birthday it's a time to regenerate and revolutionize our thinking , no matter how old we are.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Smile for me.
********************************
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