St. Valentine's Day - Reminder to have an Erotic Life?

I've been aware that we should approach all of life as an Erotic Activity. But, everywhere I looked for a poetic description of that kind of life, it seemed to always focus on sex. Yesterday, while exploring a new book by Wayne Muller, "A Life of Being, Having, and Doing Enough." Here, on page 42, Muller says,

"... Vital relationships are, by nature, erotic. They are sensual, in that they are informed by all our senses, our openness to see, taste, touch, smell everything with a willingness to be taken, to be surprised, swept off our feet. We participate in an erotic relationship whenever we engage the world with full sensual awareness - for example, whenever we bite into an apple. By itself, an apple has no taste, no piquant flavor of late summer. Our mouth, lips, and tongue, our taste buds by themselves have no taste of apple. The magnificent flavor of a crisp apple freshly picked by hand comes alive the instant the apple enter our mouth. One small bite, and a sudden eruption of juices, tongue, saliva, taste buds, and apple flesh create the necessary erotic intercourse that sets free the awesome taste, the flavorful wonder of apple."

I urge you to read the excerpt available on Amazon Here:

In addition, I found his observations about how difficult it is nowadays, to feel like we have enough, so very powerful.

"We have forgotten what enough feels like.

... we feel powerless; no matter how strong our hearts, or how good or kind our intentions, each day the finish line seems farther away, the bar keeps rising, nothing is ever finished, nothing ever good enough."

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Mo Anamcara - "my soul friend"

I posted this next paragraph as my Facebook status, and I considered it important enough to post it here, as my first post of the New Year of 2011.

Often, I feel invisible and unheard, by the rest of the world. I'm coming to realize I've had the remedy, very near. When I turn to my wife, say what is on my mind, I feel heard, and understood. She may not agree with me, but she understands. I truly have Mo Anamcara, "my soul friend". Although all Six of These Characteristics are her's, this sentence is truly Her -"They 'do' life as love in action, which comes through the flow of their essential self." ♥ ♥ you Donna.

Our Happy New years Dance Party

My Blessing? - I Hope You Dance!

In Biblical Days, it was expected that the older generations would pass a blessing onto the younger. Although I'm in good health, right now, I'd liked to pass a Blessing onto future generation. So, to my children, that I have contact with, and those that I don't ...
to my Grand Kids, those who I do not have contact with, and those I may never see, ... and to my nieces and their children ....I Hope Your Dance!

Here a video of the lyrics for that Country song by Lee Ann Womack.



... and for those of you, without access to video, here are the text of the lyrics:

I Hope You Dance

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

Promise Me That You Will Dance

A Commonplace Blog

Is this Beautiful, or What!


I'm experimenting with a cursive font for my posts.

Philosophy of Life? Life's a Dance, You learn as You Go!

In his online course, Thomas Moore asks participants to decide on a Philosophy of Life that has room for both the good, uplifting, inspiring times and those difficult times that come to us all, at one time or another. I wrote this as mine:
"Life is a Dance!" (short version) or "Dance to all the Rhythms and Notes of Life, including the spaces in between the Notes" (Long Version.

Of course, there is always a country music song that speaks of real life (especially the downside). Here is a video of John Michael Montgomery's "Life is a Dance, You learn as You Go".


.... and just in case, you can't watch videos, here are the lyrics:
When I was fourteen I was falling fast
For a blue eyed girl in my homeroom class
Trying to find the courage to ask her out
Was like trying to get oil from a waterspout
What she would have said I can't say
I never did ask and she moved away
But I learned something from my blue eyed girl
Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go

The longer I live the more I believe
You do have to give if you wanna recieve
There's a time to listen, a time to talk
And you might have to crawl even after you walk
Had sure things blow up in my face
Seen the longshot, win the race
Been knocked down by the slamming door
Picked myself up and came back for more

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go
Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go

Life's a dance
Life's a dance
Life's a dance
Take a chance on love
Life's a dance
You learn as you go

Keep Dancin'

Our Celebration Dance!

I could understand your complaint that I haven't written much about our dancing, so here, I remedy that. Every other Thursday, we look forward to 3 days off from our jobs: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and sometimes a Thursday and/or Monday. We have this ritual dance to celebrate.

This first video is of our unrehearsed raw joy;


and this is a more refined, performance piece.


This is also a test to see if it posts to Facebook. I hope you still respect us in the Morning. LOL

Thomas Moore interview: Transcending Unconsciousness

I have often been plagued by the realization that I will never do anything "Great" with my "one wild and precious life". After all, my grade school teacher, wrote on my report card, "Kenneth, has the necessary attributes for becoming a great man." How disappointed she would be. But, I am acquiring a vision of what truly would create a "Great" life for me and those with whom I come in contact.

All of you who have visited this blog know that I have a great affection for Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul. In his book, "Writing in the Sand", Moore summarizes the Gospel Spirit this way: "Firstly, you cultivate a deep respect for people who are not of your circle and whom society rejects...Secondly, you do everything possible to deal effectively with demonic urges in yourself and in society. You do something about aggression, paranoia, narcissism, greed, jealousy, and violence... Thirdly, you play the role of healer in every situation.(Elsewhere, he explains that the word for healing can be translated "care".)... Finally, you stay awake and don't fall into the unconsciousness of the age. You also help others wake up to a thoughtful life imagined in fresh, original, and convivial ways."

What a radical challenge and worthy purpose for any life.

In the following interview, Moore expands on that final image of transcending unconsciousness.
Thomas Moore interview: Transcending unconciousness

I hope you find these words leave you wanting to read Writing in the Sand. Remember that you can often read extensive excerpts of the books that interest you, at Amazon(dot)com's "Look Inside Feature" and at books.google(dot)com.

In the meantime, have a "Great" life.

The Bucket List - Letter

For all of us, estranged from our children, maybe it wouldn't be as catastrophic as we imagine, if we did contact them!

The Bucket List - Two Questions

1. Have You found Joy in Your Life?
2 Has Your Life brought Joy to Others?

A Summer's Growth!

I took the first (or top) video on April 22 of this year when we cut our decorative grasses down. If your listening to my comments on the second video, I didn't compute the duration correctly. It was only 4 months, since we cut them down. What a prolific summer for tall grasses, but not, as you can see, for the lawn.

My Everest...Paris Road!

It is Not Length of Life, But Depth of Life - Emerson

I just finished an hour hike through our neighborhoods, so I'm tired and should be eating something but I'm grabbing a quick glass of water and one of soy chocolate milk, instead. I wanted to get some musings on paper before they leave me.

Even family members ask themselves why would Ken be walking for an hour over western PA's hilly terrain. I would answer them today by saying that it's for my health, not just my physical body, but my soul's health. In past years, I've been a runner. In my younger days, I've run 5 or more miles and was surprised to find that during those lonely periods that my mind seemed to be quicker and somehow taping into a different part of my brain because of the interesting connections and observations that I was making. Books and articles have been written about this change in consciousness, and some have called it "Runner's High", possible being produced by chemicals released during exercise. This change of consciousness was so addicting, that I experienced withdrawal symptoms when I wasn't able to run and it was a strong motivation for me to return to running after getting on a medication that has controlled my arrhythmia and allowed me to get back to exercising. My wonderful discover has been that I get the same expanded consciousness by walking or hiking on neighborhood streets that I don't get on the treadmill at the YMCA.

During today's walk, I found words to explain why the first episode of Laura Linney's new show, The Big C, meant so much to me. When I was first diagnosed with the heart arrhythmia, I went through an initiation of sorts. Instead of seening happy celebrating people wavying at loved ones on those early morning news shows, I saw people who are going to die, like me. It's the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. All of a sudden I was taking medication that was making me more and more lethargic and increased my life long tendency to put on weight and of course, my chance of dying. After several years of trying different drugs in ever increasing dosages, I finally changed doctors and found one with a different set of meds in his tool box, one of which allows me to get back to a more normal life.

So just as Laura Linney's character, is allowing herself to try things that she has never done before; telling a student, the tough truth or spilling the wine herself on the sofa, I want to live my life, somehow in a "deeper" way, and try to discover what that means. I have a plaque on my mantle. It's by Ralph Waldo Emerson and says, "It is not length of life but Depth of life". Another writing informs this exploration, too; I remember, perhaps Thoreau said it, "most men get to the end and find they have never really lived". Please let me know if you have the actual quote and author.

I'm really grateful that the new heart doctor has allowed me to escape, for now, from the valley of the shadow of death. With the help of my wife, swingdancer Donna, I've been able to loose 30 plus pounds and take 6 1/2 inches off my waste. I want to live my life, remembering how precious each moment is, discover each day, how to live more deeply.

Namaste

The Big C - Season 1, Episode 1

Sure hope you can take 29 minutes and 12 seconds to watch this first episode of the new Showtime series. I suspect Showtime will make a few episodes available in hopes that you will want to subscribe. I may be tempted or just wait for the first season DVD. I have liked Laura Linney in everything that I have seen her act in, and this doesn't disappoint.

Our Day Trip to Coopers Rock.

I really do want to write about our vacation to Asheville, NC, but as a direct result of the fabulous time that we had on that trip, we decided to take a one day trip to a local place with sights similar to what we saw on our vacation. Coopers Rock is a State Forest of West Virginia. It's located just south of the PA - WV border on Interstate 68, a fast 2 hour trip from our home in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. Heading down Interstate 79, we were able to see beautiful green forests as attractive as anything we saw in the Smoky Mountains but with some breaks of view into rolling hills and sometimes farmland.

In addition to the beautiful interstate drive, I found the Washington, PA country music radio station that is unique in this era of satellite-delivered uniform music. WKZV 1110 AM plays old time country music like done by The Bellamy Brothers and The Forester Sisters. As we drove by, where their station signal was strongest, we sang along with our all time favorites and as we entered the park, we finished our 2 hour drive, singing "I Love Beer" with Tom T. Hall.

This picture is of the Cheat River, know for it's whitewater kayaking and rafting. It was taken from the overlook at the park.

We took a picnic cooler and came prepared to do some "easy" bouldering, a novice approach to rock climbing. During our hiking, we met 3 groups of serious climbers who had installed climbing ropes from the tops of the rock formations they intended to climb. We, also, met a couple from the Pittsburgh area who where carrying folded foam pad that they placed at the base of rock that they would free climb, without any ropes, the more intense kind of bouldering.

Although you can pick up a map of all the trails, if you want to see rocks, up close, I recommend taking the Rattlesnake Trail that begins just to the left of the concession stand. It leads to Rock City, a collection of rocks and boulders that you can walk among, stand on, and trip over. Although I had taken my tennis shoes, I insisted on wearing my open toed sandals and stubbed my toes a number of times.

Just want to wet you appetite for this wonderful location. Hope you can make it, and enjoy it as much as we did. If you would like to see more pictures of our adventure, CLICK HERE!

My Wife's Variation of a Vacation Salad!

My wonderful wife makes us a salad like the one we had at a restaurant near the Biltmore Mansion.

Kissing You Goodbye!

From the sublime (see the previous post) to the ridiculous; I always tell people that this is my favorite country song (Listen at 1 min 24 sec in), but I really didn't know it was an actual song before. Enjoy!

How to be Alone.

I found this so inspirational and found it first at 37Days.

Just For Fun, Again!

While cleaning out some paper work, I found some writing of mine that I dated -Dec. 2, 1993 and the answer is:

I write like
H. G. Wells

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

...and I know, I'm no H. G. Wells......

Just For Fun!

Just for fun, I used this WEBSITE to find who I write like -

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

And before you think to post it - "You, Swingdancerken, are no Dan Brown" - ;-)