» by flahute in: Word Play on August 30th, 2008 at 19:14:56 UTC |
Kind of wish I had received this before posting recent reactionary blog posts … but will be something to keep in mind going forward.
THE POWER OF AN AUTUMN LEAF
In working with the setting sun or confused world, the attitude of the warrior is like an autumn leaf floating down a river. It doesn’t change its color, and it doesn’t struggle with the river. It goes along with it. This has a natural effect, because the brook or the river has never carried such an autumn leaf before. The setting sun world will be uncertain what to do with this leaf. So by simply being there, you make people think twice, automatically.
It puts people on the spot when you don’t react to them. You don’t fight back when they attack you, but you just remain as an autumn leaf, whatever they do. This is the gentle way of working. If there are hundreds of thousands of autumn leaves coming down a small brook, then the appearance of the brook will be changed by them altogether. The joke is on the setting sun people, and they have to think twice. They might smile and pretend to laugh, but really they will be crying, weeping. So you see, an autumn leaf has a great deal of power over the world of the setting sun. Such little leaves could stop the flow of water altogether. If there are enough powerful autumn leaves, that is possible. It has been done in the past.
From CONQUERING FEAR: THE HEART OF WARRIORSHIP, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications in 2009.
» by flahute in: Music on June 3rd, 2008 at 14:02:26 UTC |
STREET DOGS - BACK TO THE WORLD
I got to go back to the world
Back to my girl
Back to my family and kids
Have to go and see my home again
Don’t want my life to end
Before my time is due
And the kids are big
Just got the postal package from my wife and kids
It brings me comfort while I’m stuck in this desert mess
But don’t get me wrong, perform my mission
Just sounding off on my homesick condition
Got to get out, a short timer, my heart it begs for home
I got to go back to the world
Back to my girl
Back to my family and kids
Have to go and see that town again
Don’t want my life to end
Before my time is due
And the kids are big
Seen many a firefight since we deployed out here
Learned how to survive with my friends
Their focus, adrenaline and fear
But the odds haunt me, hope I don’t get hit
Be that body with a flag adorned to it
I’m gonna make it, the short timer, hellbent on going home
I got to go back to the world
Back to my girl
Back to my family and kids
Have to go and sing that song again
Don’t want my life to end
Before my time is due
And the kids are big
I’m not a policy maker
Just a sworn-in order taker
Doing my best to stay alive
I’m gonna make it
To CONUS real soon
Hope some days still lie ahead for me
I got to go back to the world
Back to my girl
Back to my family and kids
Have to go and see my home again
Don’t want my life to end
Before my time is due
And the kids are big
I’ve gotta go back
Too short to turn back
Gotta go back
Back to the world again
» by flahute in: Life on May 24th, 2008 at 05:15:42 UTC |
A friend of mine told me today that “Confidence is sexy. Self-deprecation is not. Choose sexy.”
Life is about making choices … some are easy; but most are not.
That’s been my dilemma for most of my life … what choice to make. Most of the time, I get so paralyzed with fear that I make no choice at all, and I get stuck; mired in a funk of my own making.
And yet, I know that I have the capacity to make choices; strong choices, hard decisions. And generally they’ve been the right decisions. So why do I lack the confidence to continue to make choices? Why do I make fun of myself? Why do I put myself down? And why should I expect anyone else to care about me and want to hang out with me, which I don’t even want to hang out with myself?
Not all choices are easy … but in its own way, even indecision is a choice that people make … and much to my detriment, this seems to be the choice I make the most often.
Right now, I think I’m going to choose to go to bed … maybe my head will be a little more clear in the morning, and I can better articulate what I’m thinking and feeling right now.
There are things that used to make me smile
One of them was you for just a little while
You left me for dead so far away
I replaced you with fear and shame
You’ll be happy on the day I die
There are things that used to make me laugh
But now they’re deeply buried in the past
I left them there so far away
Replaced my humor with my pain
I’ll be happy on the day it dies
Remember when I said I love you
Well forget it I take it back
I was just a stupid kid back then
I take back every word that I said
There are things that used to make you cry
One of them was me for just a little while
Why is it that you had to say
Goodbye in your special way
You slashed the tires on my car
Remember when I said I love you
Well forget it I take it back
I was just a stupid kid back then
I take back every word that I said
Remember when I said I love you
Well forget it I take it back
I was just a stupid kid back then
I take back every word that I said
of the day will be
calm and gentle,
a stumbling, messy
easing in,
fingers gently on the typer,
becoming familiar with
the shape of the keys,
the sound of the hammer
and the form of the letters,
it will be a chance to breathe,
to gather some momentum,
to look at the blackbird
outside the window
and the sleeping cat
who care less for poetry
than the blackbird,
without fear of screwing up the
best poetry I have written.
the fingers will slowly gather speed
and the words will start to flow,
although they say little,
until the sound is hammer, hammer, hammer
and a dog barks to distract me
and I remember other things to be done
so I leave the first poem as it is
and it will also possibly be the last poem
of the day because life will not
always allow space for poems
and another day will pass without any
immortal remains.
NEW YORK — In a dramatic move Friday, JPMorgan Chase Co. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York stepped in with emergency funds to keep beleaguered investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. afloat.
The move, during a week of worry about whether Bear could continue to meet its obligations, took the credit crisis to a new, more serious stage and was a reminder of how quickly an erosion of confidence can undermine even leading financial institutions.
The involvement of the Fed — coordinating with the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission — made clear authorities were concerned about the risks to the broader financial system. Bear is the smallest of Wall Street’s big five investment banks, but it is a significant player in markets for debt, particularly for securities backed by mortgages.
My reaction?
It’s just a start, and I hope to flesh it out further as the day goes on.
To the tune of “The Bare Necessities” from Disney’s The Jungle Book:
Look for the Bear Stearns equity,
The simple Bear liquidity,
I’m talking ’bout debt instruments and cash.
I mean the bare necessities,
Like J.P. Morgan’s sympathy,
‘Cause the Fed ain’t always gonna save your ass.
Whenever they go long, whenever they short,
The hedgies are wond’ring if they should abort.
Investors are running on the bank,
To make some money before Bear tanks.
When you see all the traders retreat,
It’s time to examine the balance sheet,
Then maybe sell some more.
The Bear’s liquidity and strife will affect you,
They’ll affect you.
Look for the Bear Stearns equity,
The simple Bear liquidity,
I’m talking ’bout debt instruments and cash.
I mean the bare necessities,
That’s why Bear Stearns can’t rest at ease
‘Cause the Fed ain’t always gonna save your ass.
