Reviewer says: Moore Gently Gardens through our Soul

The Literary Addict - Compulsively Experiencing Words

While browsing for reviews of Thomas Moore's "A Life at Work", I believe that I discovered one that Barque: Thomas Moore does not have. The review seemed to be life offering an answer to my emotional comment on Opus Day 2, Living Creatively. The author of Reading Thomas Moore's "A Life at Work", her entry of March 9, 2008, is Lorette Luzajic. Luzajic is, herself, a published author of The Astronaut’s Wife – Poems of Eros and Thanatos, a collection of poetry. She quotes Moore's comment concerning her poetry on her website. Moore said, "Your book of poems is wonderful. I like the style very much. Imaginative, witty, blessedly free of normal logic, surprising, profound, very human, touching, sassy. I like them and thank you for sending them. Looking forward to the next book.”

After beginning with a quotation that I haven't read in the book yet, about the Icarus syndrome, she writes,
"Moore points out the glory of thinkers like Icarus: “…the spirit of Eternal Youth may give rise to idealism, inventiveness, enthusiasm, and a strong urge to be creative.” But the pitfalls are there to smash us mid-flight: “On the negative side, it is often unrealistic and wishful. At its core there often sits a smoldering narcissism- excessive self-regard, extreme self-consciousness….(he) thinks up one project after another and rarely completes any of them.” Later, although acknowledging hurt, she writes,
"While this Icarus spirit seems like an uncommitted madman, my narcissism glows after the above bruising when Moore points out, “Out of all the visionary hopes and dreams may come brilliant ideas. The lives of inventors and artists are full of the struggle to get their novel ideas grounded in real life. A youthful spirit keeps you young and flexible. It may also be the basis of a fervent spirituality…”

After talking about other teachers that she has besides Moore, including her father, she returns to Moore and his treatment of alchemy:
"Moore always finds a way to bring in some of his favourite topics like alchemy, and he illustrates how we mix and temper our past experiences, good and bad, with our hopes for future possibilities. He shows us how to come to terms with our work past- from the mundane to the once glorious and failed. He shows us how to remain open to the opus we may not yet see patterning in our lives. He doesn’t say a word about how to make a resume or impress a corporation we’re hoping to move into. Instead, he gently gardens through our soul and reminds us that whatever we have planted or grown or lost, our life is not over yet."

Finally, An Erotic Dream!

I never dream! Rather, I should say that when I remember, they are never of a remarkable nature. More often than not, I dream of being stuck trying to get help loading my vehicle with building supplies at a Home Depot. With all the problems getting customer service, these days, perhaps that dream is in our collective unconscious. This morning, something seemed different.

Last night, while sharing my remaining awareness with Insomnia playing on the TV in the background, I decided to browse Thomas Moore's book, "The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love". I have been listening again to Moore's audio cassettes, "Thomas Moore on Creativity" and "Thomas Moore on Meaningful Work". In both of those presentations, Moore talks about the importance of Eros in everyday life. He reminds the listener that in addition to sex, is the need of the soul for desire, pleasure, beauty, deep satisfaction. Chapter titles and sub-titles got my attention for deeper consideration: "The Role of the Erotic Imagination", "The Sex Life of the Soul", "The Erotic Life of Things" and, the most appealing to me, "Earthly Pleasures: The Epicurean Life".

The result of this pre-sleep exploration was the most sexually explicit dream I've ever remembered. Although there was no naked bodies, there was playful, seductive conversation and propositioning. What does it mean? My approach comes from my listening to Moore, that is not to take it literally. Since I've been dealing with a heart problem over the past year, I've been focused on diminished expectations about life more than looking for those experiences that bring pleasure and satisfaction. I see it as a reminder to tend to my soul by noticing what brings me pleasure, like our dancing, and satisfaction, like keeping the dining room table clear of that mail that needs attention.

Have you had any dreams that reminded you to tend to your soul's erotic life?

Beliefnet's 10 Ways to Simplify Your Life

from the

10 Ways to Simplify Your Life

By Paul Borthwick

One hundred years ago, "burned out" referred to the campfire. "Chronic fatigue syndrome" occurred only in insomniacs. People described an automobile on ice as being "out of control," but they wouldn't refer to their lives that way. Times change. Our lives get cluttered. As we face an ever-increasing pace of life governed by email, instant messaging, and 24-7 busyness, we may become paralyzed looking at the options. These tips, based off of Christian principles, are designed to help you uncomplicate your life. Click here for the first tip...

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"Adapted from "Simplify: 106 Ways to Uncomplicate Your Life," by Paul Borthwick. Copyright 2007. Authentic Publishing. Used with permission.

Lecture of a Lifetime (update)

Nearly everyone has heard of the Carnegie Mellon Professor, who, at the age of 47 was found to have pancreatic cancer and was given 3 to six months to live. Randy Pausch delivered his Lecture of a Lifetime which has been circulated for all to see over the internet.


ABC News will run an update on this inspiring story on April 9th at 10:00 Dst. Here is a preview. Be sure to set your DVR or VCR.

Quote of the Day

"What usually has the strongest psychic effect on the child is the life which the parents...have not lived" - Carl Jung

I discovered this on Amazon.com's Online Reader. I was exploring James Hollis' book "Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up" and this was the beginning quotation of Chapter 6, The Family During the Second Half of Life.

Learn to Dance in the Rain!

I finally got this Christmas gift from my wife, hung in the kitchen. It sure sounds like Thomas Moore's suggestion for difficult times, "Find some Pleasure in Life". See his video Healing through Illness and my comments on it.

On Soul Life (the cassettes)

Halleluia!
Since I, again, have a working cassette player in my van, I am re-listening to "Soul Life" by Thomas Moore. It's called
"An audio session as spiritual retreat. In six contemplative audio sessions, Moore helps the listener focus on the depth, mystery and intricacy of the life of the soul." From AudioFile.

The six cassette titles are:
1) Introduction to Soul Life
2) Soul and the Family
3) Work and the Soul
4) Art and the Soul
5) Soul and Place
6) Religion and Soul

This set is not just an audio version of Care of the Soul. It is, in fact, Thomas talking directly to the listener in a very conversational style. In case you want to try to borrow them from a library or purchase them online, here are the ISBN numbers:
Oct 1993 1-56455-248-9 and
Jul 1997 1-56455-567-0

I have borrowed the unabridged audiobook (on CD) of Care of the Soul (Narrated by Nelson Runger) from the library and I prefer the Soul Life cassettes over the audiobook. Even if Thomas, himself, would read his book, I would imagine it would be without soul. (Some of his cassettes are of him reading his material and I don't prefer them either).

I don't know that he says anything different than his writings and tapes since, but it's great returning to them, again and again to recapture the freshness of the ideas.

Yet Another Interesting Sounding Book!

Every morning I go through a list of Bookmark links that I have labeled "Daily". No, I haven't yet set up to use a Blog Reader. Crossroads Dispatches's post for today was about a book the author discovered, The Ascent of Humanity, by Charles Eisenstein. What got my attention was the sub-title of the website "The Age of Separation, the Age of Reunion, and the convergence of crises that is birthing the transition". It sure reminds me of Rudolf Steiner's prophecy of the spiritual evolution of consciousness.

So Many Books, so Little Time!

Simple Pleasures

I picked up "Epicurean Simplicity", a book by Stephanie Mills, today. I believe that I discovered it while browsing for websites on living a soulful life. The author writes about the importance of putting experiences of pleasure back into our lives. She speaks about an article by a William Wallace that inspired her to look into the Epicurean Philosophy and I found a website that contains the entire book by that Scottish author and this interesting quote.

Food for thought...
September 14, 2006
"Be an experiential epicure... Find the small things that you know give you a little high- a good meal, working in the garden, time with friends--and sprinkle your life with them. In the long run, that will leave you happier than some grand achievement that gives you a big lift for a while."
- David Lykken

Soulful Simplicity!

Duane Elgin wrote a book in 1981 called Voluntary Simplicity. It became the basic vision for the Voluntary Simplicity Movement. I found a really interesting essay by Elgin, in which he differentiates the "Many, diverse expressions of simplicity of living [that] are flowering."

The one that got my attention was Soulful Simplicity. Elgin says "Soulful Simplicity means to approach life as a meditation and to cultivate our experience of intimate connection with all that exists. A spiritual presence infuses the world and, by living simply, we can more directly awaken to the living universe that surrounds and sustains us, moment by moment. Soulful simplicity is more concerned with consciously tasting life in its unadorned richness than with a particular standard or manner of material living. In cultivating a soulful connection with life, we tend to look beyond surface appearances and bring our interior aliveness into relationships of all kinds."

Each life will be some combination of the 10 expressions of simple living. Do you see any favorites?

An Example of Great Customer Service!

In these days of poor to lousy customer service, I need to share this example that was beyond my expectations. Since I intend to link this site in an email to AppleCare I will be recording some details so that they might locate the great tech specialists that helped me.

On Thursday, November 11th, at around 1:30PM, here in Pittsburgh, Pa (EST), I called AppleCare for help with my home wireless network. The call was answered by an automated system that was extremely useful. After specifying the kind of call I was making and the product involved, the voice reminded me that having the serial number would be necessary. Sure nice to know that up front. Then I was told that the wait would be 2 minutes, which was accurate. Pat answered, introduced herself, and began troubleshooting. Each time that Pat had to go for help, she told me that she would be gone about 4 minutes. I don't know whether she was back on time, but it seemed about right. Certainly, it didn't seem excessive since I was warned.

The third time that she had to go for help, Pat told me that when she came back, again in about 4 minutes, she would continue to work with me, or transfer me to a Product Specialist, a higher level of technical expertise. While I was waiting this time, the phone connection was interrupted. Since it was now about 2:05PM and I had to get ready for work, I decided not to make a follow up call. Guess what? The phone rang and caller ID showed a number from Texas so I answered. It was Pat calling me back. She ask if I hung up or got disconnected, gave me a Case #54795216 so I could call back and get that tech specialist.
I told Pat that I would have to call back and she ask whether the call met my expectations. I told her that when she called back, she exceeded my expectations. I did get my problem fixed on Sunday after a 1 hour call with Carey. He carried on the excellent experience. I told them both that they were the reason that I will be staying a MacAddict. Apple says that It's support is award winning. I don't know what award, but it sure gets mine.

A new favorite James Hillman quote

I only subscribe to two magazines right now. One is The Sun and it's November issued arrived yesterday. There is a Sunbeams quotation page at the end of each issue to which I turn immediately. This month it contains a James Hillman quotation. I usually find any I find to be insightful.

"For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we first stop imagining." James Hillman

The Sun Magazine Link

The Clowning Aspect of Soul Life

Friday night, was the Halloween Dance at the Country Dance Hall, my wife and I visit. We dressed up as Gentleman and Floozy. Of course I was the Floozy. I'll see if I can learn to place a photo here, but until then let me tell you, I was beautiful!

Donna and I threw our outfits together in a couple hours. Doesn't that mean that we have to much stuff that we should throw out? When my wife gave me a choice of two purses to carry, she got concerned. I had a strong preference for one of them. The pink one with the gold-like clasp. Although we lost to the couple that went as doctor and patient. (the wife had a fleshy looking butt sticking out of the back of her hospital duds), we were not known for quite a while. Good disguises.

Last night we visited the new dance hall, Saddle Ridge, at Station Square here in Pittsburgh. For real country dancers (line dancers, swing, and 2-step), we discovered that the best time to dance is between 7-9 PM. Although the $8 parking rate seems ridiculous, getting there before 9 gets you in without the $5 cover charge. The spacious dance floor had only a few "real" dancers and no non-dancers that will come out after 9:30 or so. During this early time, dancers are left to themselves to remember a line dance that will go with the music. Periodically a song is played that doesn't sound county, more like hard rock, just a foretaste of the music saved for the college age drinkers, standing all around the dance floor.

It was great to have a bouncer and the DJ enforce dance floor etiquette, preventing drinks from being taken on the dance floor and even herding the "non-dancers" from running into the real dancers. A couple minutes before 10, the Saddle Ridge dancers got on the bar, dancing to one of those Rock songs and boy were their costumes provocative. With the playing of the Harder Rock, non country songs, it seemed like an invitation for the college drinkers to access the dance floor. Time for us to go.

On the way out, my wife Donna, a friend who came with us, and I stopped to watch the girls riding the mechanical bull. The operator allowed the girls to ride, Debra Winger style (from the Urban Cowboy movie). Then a couple quick, jerky moves would knock them off into the rubber air inflated floor and railing. All in all, a great couple nights for the clowning soul.

Asking Opah for Help!

As you can see, I've experienced some blocks trying to write this blog. I will return to talk about those, but for now I want to tell you about an interview I heard on NPR, National Public Radio. There is a great interview show, Fresh Air by Terry Gross that I try to hear as often as I can because of the relevance to our culture. On Oct. 27, she was interviewing Cam Simson, a Chicago Tribune journalist who had been reporting how Halliburton sub-contractors have been luring Nepalese workers to Iraq through contacts in Nepal. When the workers get to Iraq, after their families have gone into debt to send them for the high paying jobs, they find they have been deceived.

With their families in debt for the jobs, they can't return and find benefits and protections promised to those workers by US law are not enforced. I was so incensed by the story and felt so powerless that i decided to write the only person that I know who might publish this story to a larger audience. I emailed Oprah.

On Oprah's website, there is a great contact page. One of the ways to contact Oprah's producers with potential show stories. I know it isn't much, but it's someting!

Link to these for reference:
Terry Gross's Interview
Cam Simpson's Articles
Oprah's Ideas Submission

The Search for Soul in Modern Life

Welcome,
I'd like to use this forum to explore some ideas about Soul. For me, it is an attempt to find meaning in the hectic, complex and often chaotic aspects of modern life. I've attached the metaphors of "dancing" and "clowing" to the idea of soul just to remind me not to take myself too seriously.

Two authors whose writings inform my ideas about soul are Thomas Moore (author of "Care of the Soul") and his mentor James Hillman (author of "The Soul's Code"). I find explanations and ideas from a number of authors that seem to square with my experience so you will be seeing a lot of references to a variety of books.

I hope that you will want to share your experiences and will post a comment to provoke deeper thought than we are able to see in most media outlets.