On the Wings of...

“Each book is Lazarus, yes? And you the reader, by opening the covers, bid Lazarus to come forth. And he lives again, it lives again, the dead words warmed by your glance.”

I came upon this in Ray Bradbury’s book Somewhere a Band is Playing, and it struck me that there I was raising Lazarus, just as he stated in his book. I could see him, hear him, his words swam, circled, soared. I was riding a Pegasus. Visions came, lessons too.  

"The great ‘medicine’,” he wrote, “was finding that we were alive and loving it. We have celebrated every day of our lives. The celebration, the exhilaration, of worshipping the gift, has kept us young. Does that sound impossible? By simply knowing you’re alive and looking at the sun and enjoying the weather and speaking it every moment of your existence, this ensures our longevity.”

I know someone such as he is describing. She is 92 with a phone message that says, “I may be here or I may be out in the Universe having fun.” It’s hard to get her on the phone for normally she is out in the Universe having fun. She takes painting lessons, and has a weekly movie date day, and walks her dog, and drives her car.

I think of a story I read told by Deepak Chopra. A man wanted a son more than anything. God gave him two choices: one the son would be healthy but not too bright. The other, a bright son, but the son would die on his 21st birthday.

He took the bright son.

He never told the son about the agreement with God. One the son’s 21st birthday the father told his son to stay by his side, but in fairy tale fashion, the father was called away for a few moments.

The son, as was his honor to do so, went to the church to thank God for his life. Unbeknownst to him the angel of death was behind him and ready to throw a noose that would snare him and thus take him to the other side.  As the angel threw the noose, the son bowed, thanking God for his life. The noose feel upon his back and slipped off.  In that manner, thanking God for his life, the son cheated death.

And the people in Bradbury’s story, with their celebration of life, stayed young.

And children sit by on the stone floor

And draw out their lives in the sand.

Remembering deaths that won’t happen

In futures unseen in far lands.

Somewhere a band is playing

Where the moon never sets in the sky

And nobody sleeps in the summer

And nobody puts down to die;

--Ray Bradbury

Why Did I Start Blogging

Why Did I Start Blogging?

I was asked that question this morning, and now I’m stuck.

Why did I?

Who wants to read me anyway?

And why am I doing this?

When I was fresh out of high school, or maybe still in high school, it was so long ago my memory has rusted; I took the Famous Artists correspondence course. In the course someone spoke of “The Painter with the Pen.” They were speaking of pen and ink drawings, and although I loved oil painting, and even more water color, this painter with a pen idea stuck. That’s what I wanted to be.

In college there were a slug of artists more skilled than me—and taking biology I made more drawings of various microbes, cells, and plants than you could shake a stick at. I really didn’t care if I made drawings anymore. Good thing I didn’t fancy myself as a writer then, but it was then I found I liked writing papers. You figure.

It took me years to get a psychiatrist’s words out of my head, “Writing is self-aggrandizement,” he said. With that statement he wiped literature into an ego trip. And I suppose he could have said the same about any other artistic endeavor.

And then there is that other fellow (Bulwer-Lytton 1839) who said, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

I think I’ll go with the second fellow.

Why do we write, paint, garden, make mud balls, beautify our homes, play a musical instrument, sing, build, carve, sculpt, go fishing, do calligraphy, write letters, cook fantastic meals, perfect our sport?

We are all artists at heart, we just need to find our venue.

So why am I blogging? I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I like to write. I wanted to reach out to people. I want to make a difference.

When my second daughter was in the first grade I asked myself what I wanted to be when I grew up.

“A writer,” I said. “If I had anything to write.”

But I began. I put words on a page…and blogging seemed natural since I am a cryptic sort, who likes to make black splotches on paper.

You will never Find the Time—Make it

The Magic of Believing--http:www.thebestdamnwriterbloggerontheblock.com

Success is...

Two blog posts in one day? One here, one on that other site. http://www.thebestdamnwritersblogontheblock.blogspot.com  

There I shared a link that totally inspired me. Jon Morrow’s blog, “How to Quit your Job, Move to Paradise, and Get paid to Change the World,” went viral.

Sounds like a plan.

Yep, change that dead-end job into something you love. What if we could all do that? What if it is really true, “Do what you love and money will follow?

I consulted the oracle. The oracle is opening a book and reading whatever page exposes itself. Earlier this morning I pulled David R. Hawkins book Power vs. Force from the shelf and thought I would look at it later on.Well, now is later on. I opened it and found this: “True success,” he said, “enlivens and supports the spirit; it has nothing to do with isolated achievements, but instead relates to being accomplished as a total person, and attaining a lifestyle that benefits not only the individual but everyone around them.”

I am a fan of #Pinterest, for I see that most of the people there are upbeat. They post what they love. They post quotes that inspire. See how people want to share and uplift?

"When I opened Hawkins book it dawned on me, I was writing about success.. If we think about what the tabloid world considers to be success, it is a success that often erodes the successful person’s health and relationships. Drugs are rampant, marriages and divorces are in serial. Spiritual collapse is common in the lives of the rich and famous.

According to Hawkins, it is not the wealth and success or the fame and attention that causes the erosion. It is the “small self” vs. the Big Self.” The small self is vulnerable to flattery. It feeds on accolades and applause. The big self is more evolved. It is humble and grateful for its success.

It is striking to see how many powerful figures of our world, captains of industry, presidents of co-corporations, Nobel Prize winners and members of legendary families are open, warm, sincere, and view success as a responsibly or a ‘noblesseless oblige.”

Long ago In college I read Theodore H.White’s Pulitzer prize winning book, #The Making of The President. It is the story of #John F. Kennedy’s rise to power. One thing that struck me was that the family had money-- that was not an issue, the issue was that the kids were expected to carry out the family mission. And that mission was to serve.