My Vessel Theory

In simple terms we are mere vessels, the contents of which are subject to change as we move along our journey in life.  Some vessels contain poisons and toxins like hate and fear and their various tangents.  Other vessels are filled with wisdom, justice and love and a host of other valuable ideals. The question one must ask oneself is : "What do I want to put in MY vessel?"  We choose what is in our vessel.  Our choices and our actions determine who we are and how well we interact with others in our life journey.

Thoughts as Wind

Our thoughts are as the wind is. At times they are calm and gentle like a summer breeze.  Other times they are chaotic and destructive as the winds of a hurricane.  We cannot control the wind or where it goes but we can make use of it and its fury.  We also cannot control our thoughts or where they go but we can choose how to act on our thoughts and how to use them to best aid us on our life journey.

Poetry Corner - The Fallen

We the fallen are all that remains,

We are the wounded, covered in bloodstains.

We the fallen are all that remains.

And yet we stand firm despite our pains.

The fight has been long and hard,

Our bodies, our minds, are scarred.

We fought for our rights,

Through endless firelit nights,

Watching our cities burn,

Dreaming of freedom, faces stern.

We the fallen are all that remains

Now is the time to wash away the stains.

We suffered long, our freedom was gained.

We are yet strong, though our hearts are pained.

Now its up to us, our future to mold.

Histories will be written, our stories told.

We are the fallen, today we are free,

We paid dearly for our freedom, don't you see?

We suffered the darkness, now its gone,

Lets look to the light, and celebrate the new dawn.

The Scars of Life

               In simple terms scars are the result of some trauma that you have endured and healed from. Scars can be big or small, they can be old and faded or fresh and an angry red.  In my life I have encountered many situations that left me scarred both physically and mentally/emotionally.  My scars in some cases are quite ugly to look at but they are part of my past and indicate what I have been through, what I have overcome.  I have 3 knife wound scars, one on my back just below my kidney and two large ones on my left forearm. I lost most of the use of my left hand at first and it has been a long road but I have about 99% of the use of my left hand back now. The scars are a physical/visual reminder to me of the life I used to live and exactly why I choose not to involve myself in that life anymore.  Nowadays I steer clear of the type of people who are prone to angry outbursts because of their lifestyle and the state of mind they put themselves in with their drug use.  I very nearly lost my life in the attack that gave me those scars and many of the memories attached to the incident and what happened after are dark and painful.  The ugly scars are the story of an ugly past that I have left behind, where it belongs.  Any time I think it would be exciting to be an outlaw again now I simply have to roll up my left sleeve and look at the scars, think on the things I had to go through during and after that incident, and realize that it may be exciting but the price is simply more than I am willing to pay.  I have good things going in my life now and reasons to want to live another day so I can enjoy more of those good things.  Live for today, keep Hope for tomorrow.  Peace out PPL!

Desiderata

            I will face many challenges throughout my day today and since I have been up since 4 am I have been preparing mentally as I get dressed and get my things together for work at 7 am.  A poem called Desiderata came to mind and it can easily be googled if you care to read it in its entirety.  The line that brought it to the forefront of my thoughts this morning goes something like this

                "Go placidly forth among the hustle and bustle that is life"

           The poem was written by Max Von Sydow I believe and it is an excellent interpretation of how to live a good life among the chaos and corruption that has become our modern world.  As I write this blog a line from a Christian prayer has also materialized in that vault I call my mind.

               "Taking this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it" 

            The world and our society functions, but its level of function leads the cynic part of myself to say it only functions passably on a basic level and that it contains more dysfunction than function.  In my journey to a healthy, happy and whole life I have encountered tremendous red tape from the very agencies designed and mandated to provide help to people in circumstances similar to mine.  Their hearts are in the right place but the system as it is, is broken and the people who want to help do not have the resources they need to provide adequate help to all those in need.  As such many people fall through the cracks of a system that has not been created to deal w/ all circumstance a person faces in life and is reliant more upon human judgement.  The system as it is relies heavily upon rules that do not apply to every persons situation and does not allow any flexibility to deal with changing circumstances and a rapidly adapting society.  Some thoughts of mine that required catharsis and writing is my personal therapy.  LoL

Wisdom, Justice and Love

      These are three basic principles or values with profound implications upon how happy and successfull our life is.  They are also part of an MLK speech that has been adapted to music by Linkin Park on their A Thousand Suns album.  They are high ideals to strive towards that are attainable to the degree we choose.

      I would like to pass on to you my understanding of these three words as a person's definition of a word is based on the context in which they use and understand the word. The context a person has for using any given word is based on their unique life experience and their level of understanding about the simple meaning of the word itself. Sally Forth!

Wisdom - the application of knowledge and personal experience

Justice - the personal understanding we have of right and wrong, consequences for our actions that are appropriate to the brevity of the action in question
          
Love - an abstract concept with many possible types and levels to be practiced in our daily lives, love to me is care, concern, compassion and consideration for self and any others we deem worthy of our love

Poetry Corner - Sunday - To Walk in Darkness

To walk in Darkness,
never having known the Light,
struggling against the unseen,
the unexpected sinkholes that drop us to our knees,
the walls of cold stone stopping us dead in our tracks.
Our path is restricted and chosen for us,
Not by us!
Stay the course through your Darkness!
Pick yourself up when you fall.
Rest when you become weary.
For at the end of the journey,there is a Light!
Let your faith in the Light
and hope for the Light
give you strength in moments of despair
as you go forth searching,
striving towards the Light.
For in the Light lies the freedom you seek
The warmth of the sun,
the beauty of the forest glen
The freedom to run without fear of stumbling 
or hitting a wall we did not see
All this can only be revealed if we walk through our Darkness until we find the Light!