Life Strategies - For those with one hand tied behind their back: May 2022

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Immortal Child

You can march to the music of the world of time

Or you can waltz to the music of eternity

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums.

Mesmerized, you get in step with the beat

Moving your feet

To the beat of now

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums.

It's all you can hear

Tarum Tarum

It fills your ears

Tarum Tarum.

And so magnetic and hypnotic is the sound

The music of eternity is all but drowned

Tarum Tarum.

You want to stop marching

But you don't know how

Tarum Tarum

And though it doesn't make you proud

You just keep marching

Tarum Tarum

You just keep marching to the beat of now.

But MLK and Du Bois had it right

Whatever your birth

here on earth

You are an Immortal Child

An Immortal Child.

And the goal of your soul

Is to discover your destiny

As an Immortal child

Everything else is a lie

A terrible, horrible, abominable lie.

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums

Tarum Tarum

Go the drums.

It's up to you to not let reality drown

The beauty, compassion. and goodness

Which is to be found

When you take yourself to a silent place

And become immersed in reverence and grace

And between your thoughts, find the space

To hear the beautiful transcendent music

of eternity.

And to discover the Immortal Child you are.

The laughing, dancing Immortal Child you are.

For you are nothing less than that.

An Immortal Child.

Inspired by (and in honor of) recent online readings of MLK and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Sunday, May 22, 2022

The Nursery Of Life

I was at the Nursery of Life to buy some seeds.

A Customer Service representative came to assist me.

"Can I help you?" she said.

" I would like to buy some seeds I said, "but I have no clue what to buy."

"Let me show you our most popular seeds," she said...

"Come right this way."

I followed her to a glittering section with advertising posters on the wall.

"If you want to go for something extremely trendy," she said, "I would buy these".

She plucked a packet of seeds off the shelf.

The packet was marked "Seeds of Divisiveness".

"I see" I said.

"They are real popular right now" she added.

"These are popular too" she said, plucking another packet of seeds from the shelf.

The packet was marked "Seeds of Conspiracy".

"I see" I said.

Eager to make a sale and get her commission, she said, "how about this? You might like this."

I looked at the packet she placed in my hands.

"Seeds of Nationalistic and Religious Fervor".

"Are they easy to sow?" I asked.

"Real easy, I'm told", she said, "just plant them and up they come."

We walked down the shopping aisle.

Past Seeds of Negativity.

Seeds of Jealousy and Envy.

Seeds of Injustice.

Past all the eye-catching posters, advertising how wonderful this or that seed was.

Noticing a section of the store which was marked "Discounted, Discontinued & Clearance", being curious and frugal, I said...

"What's in that section over there?"

"Our discounted stuff" she said.

"Do you want to see what we have on sale?" she added.

She continued to be enthusiastic, which I thought was wonderful, because she probably would get no commission if I bought anything from there.

We walked to that section of the nursery.

It did not have any posters, the seed packets were dusty, and some were past their expiration dates.

There was a BOGO sign (Buy One Get One Free).

"Why are these so much cheaper?" I said, "Are they hard to sow and grow?"

"Yes extremely hard to sow and grow," she said. "That's why they're on discount. In fact, we've had them permanently on BOGO.

I looked at the dusty seed packets.

Seeds of Love.

Seeds of Compassion For All Living Things.

Seeds of Simplicity.

Seeds of Cooperation.

Seeds of Love of Nature.

Something in my heart told me that my road back to Eden, in fact the road back to Eden for all human beings, lay in sowing, growing, and transplanting the seeds I was looking at.

In fact, it was our only hope.

"I'll take one of each" I said.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

Just When The Sun Shone So Bright

Just when the sun shone so bright

It slipped behind a cloud

I wondered where the light had gone

And I began to cry soft, not loud

Where are you light?

Gloom enveloped me

It seemed like I would never be myself again

I was looking at a darkness as endless as the sea.

The gloom persisted

The clouds persisted

In vain, I hoped the sun would shine again

The gloom persisted

The clouds persisted

The beads of darkness were a never ending chain.

I said my prayers and I worked, played, and ate

I applied myself to the business of my days

The gloom persisted

The clouds persisted

The darkness was a never-ending maze.

And then one day the clouds parted

Breaking the spell the darkness had cast on me

And I hesitantly took a step forward into the light

Into a new hope and a new destiny

I was filled again with the inner uncorrupted child's sense of wonder

Which the darkness had all but tried to take away from me

Now the cloak of darkness was torn asunder

And my spirit was once again light and free.

The gloom had lifted

The darkness had lifted

The sun had again begun to shine

I wrapped myself in my shawl of promise, hope, faith, and purpose

And told myself, "Minoo, you will be fine".

Yes, the gloom had lifted

The darkness had lifted

And I could say and believe the thought, "Minoo you will be fine"

And it taught me that promise, hope, faith, and purpose awaits anyone who is suffering

When the journey is complete, and the dark night of the soul has been left behind.

Dear Reader - On the other side of an experience of suffering and the dark night of the soul is light. Not just the light of a candle. But a huge crackling fireplace radiating both warmth and light. There will be times in your life, perhaps maybe even at this very moment, when you feel lost, depressed, and down. Your life is enveloped in darkness and you cannot conceive of a time when your life will be radiant again. At such a time, you must look for the flicker of the smallest flame of hope, light, and life in your life - look for it in a bird, in the sunrise, in a beautiful work of art, in a simple gesture of kindness. Don't ask yourself the question, "Am I finished with life?". Instead, ask yourself "Is life finished with me?". "Is life finished with me?" The answer will always be "No". The answer will always be "No". So in a dark time, your task is then to take care of yourself, put one foot in front of the other, imagine the warmth and light of that crackling fireplace, or a thousand Diwali lamps, and hold onto every flicker of light and warmth in your life. Life is not finished with you. It will let you know when it is.

P.S. Posted in honor of International Day of Light, which is tomorrow 5-16-22.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Mostly Mostly

How I live

Allows me

To eat the right things

To eat the correct amount

To eat more consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me

To exercise my body

To exercise within my limitations

To exercise the right way

To exercise consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me

To sleep right

To get enough sleep

To get quality sleep

To sleep consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me to

Engage right

Engage enough

Engage with quality

Engage consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me to

Detach right

Detach correctly

Detach sensibly

Detach consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me to

Think right

Think more

Think correctly

Think consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me to

Create right

Create correctly

Create just enough.

Mostly, mostly.

How I live

Allows me to use things right

Use things correctly

Use things sensibly

Use things consciously.

Mostly, mostly.

How do you live

And what does it allow you to do?

Mostly mostly.

It's a special day today. Happy Mothers Day to all moms reading this, and to the most special mom of all, Mumsie Wumsy in heaven.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Who Am I? What Am I?

Who am I, what am I?

What decision should I make?

Study, join the workforce?

What decision should I take?

The choice is never easy