six degrees of separation

so much of my work is helping people to find their path, their Way, and correcting the wavy lines of behavior that hold the pattern in the tissue. first and foremost, as a body worker, we try to balance out that which deviates from what is their "normal" and set the compass on a better heading. in wholistic thought we would say that the lack of balance is a lack of ease, and a lack of ease is simply called "dis-ease" (dys-function, dis-ability, dis-enchanted) . to remove disease we simply have to restore balance.......

now you might say, "what is normal?" it is different for each person and finding that balance takes a lot of introspection, and a bit of exploration - well, maybe a lot too..... it is so easy to just follow the herd and expect that to be your path ( it didn't work too well for the lemmings...). hell, politics has gotten to be so mind numbing that we turn off any thought that might be original for something that everyone can agree upon. the days of revolution we embraced in the 60's has been replaced with "status quo" and a continual slide into mediocracy or even decline.

our health issues are mediated by pills, injections and surgeries long before we try innovative non-invasive strategies and self-balancing practices. perhaps this is also a metaphor for our everyday emotions and actions......... don't let anyone see you sweat, cry, or let go........ i was privileged to watch, on tv, Alexander Vladimirovich (Sasha) Artemev, the american gymnast, compete in the pommel horse finals in the olympics, only to fall and lose a chance for a medal. he had the most original, difficult, and exciting routine of the competition and risked everything for a chance to "do it right". i'm not sure i wouldn't have followed the logical lower risk route, but he had made it to the finals and he wouldn't have been happy to think he didn't give it his best shot........ you have to respect anyone that sacrifices rewards for ideals...... i'm still in awe of his abilities and poetic performance..........

so this brings me to the segue:

Segue (seg-Way) is from the Italian, meaning "there follows," from seguire, "to follow," from Latin sequi. a smooth transition from one thing to the next......

It's the only way that YOUR life is gonna have any value to you. If you're just living the same life that everybody else is living what's the point?

--Todd Rundgren

if you intend to make the transition from this life to the next, you need to figure out how to do it smoothly - and YOUR Way.......

gettin' this thing together..

so how do we find the Way? exploration is a time honored discipline, but how often are we complacent about knowing our surroundings? we go through our daily routine satisfied that the information we receive is sufficient and the path we walk is clear, yet we have that feeling there is something more......

i set a goal four years ago to kayak on all the "big water". not because it was such a grandiose design, but because it had limits and finite expectations........ a comforting feeling for a "fifty something" dreamer. it allowed for exploration, yet didn't encompass risks that were beyond repair.

while paddling toward an island on georgian bay, in canada, i realized that as soon as you reach your destination, "there you are"...... so continuing to set goals farther ahead had some meaning..... last year i finished paddling on the atlantic, pacific, gulf, 5 great lakes, and alaska...... and had accumulated total mileage, over four years, equal to the distance coast to coast. yet, it was only a fraction of the distance i achieved in appreciating life and the journey we have to accomplish by being who we are..... yes, life can be hard but it is an opportunity to learn lessons........ and find resolution to the problems we carry with us.

i flash back often to music i've heard in my lifetime and forget what lyrics used to be, compared with today's style.......... it was protest, it was revolution, it was change....... and it was just joy for life in all it's complexities, but good and bad..... one artist never sold out on his desire to express whatever he felt at any moment, and still is looked at as "wierd", but often had lyrics that caught you thinking......... here's one for the books:

You may not ever get this chance again

That empty feelings just about to end.

Talkin' bout life and what it means to you,

It don't mean nothin' if it don't run through

I got one thing to say, you know it's true

You got to find some time to get this thing together.

--todd rundgren

remember to find some time to get this thing together.......

lower case studies

it behooves me, yes, it moves me, to add a poem from one of my favorite authors, e.e. cummings. my lower case history precludes upper case comments so i continue to write in the diminutive as he might continue to do.... so much of our lives can be stated in poetry and the lyric nature of our being demands a rhythm that can only be contained in verse.

to connect to our friend Pooh we hear him recite:

And you are you,

As you can see;

But when you do

The things that you can do,

You will find the Way,

And the Way will follow you.

so here is a poem from e. e. cummings in his own unimitable Way:

you shall above all things be glad and young

you shall above all things be glad and young
For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever's living will yourself become.
Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
i can entirely her only love
whose any mystery makes every man's
flesh put space on;and his mind take off time
that you should ever think,may god forbid
and (in his mercy) your true lover spare:
for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
called progress,and negation's dead undoom.
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance

the mirror reflection of our lives is often clearer than

our perception and the lyric nature of the clapotis, or

reflection wave bouncing off of others, is becalmed by

the ultimate nature of our purpose......

take the time to learn how to sing......

just for the tao of it......

so why use the title "uncarved block" for this blogsite? recently a good friend in canada added a precious soul to our universe, a son, Tao Atreyu.

Tao, is recognized as saying that the secret to life is ... simply being true to yourself and smiling, looking upon each day with the new wonder it deserves.

in his book, The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff writes about the concept of Pu, the Uncarved Block. a block of wood that is not yet carved has no set form. it is thus infinite in potential and free of desire. "when you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh

"from the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain. along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times."

"... but, no matter how he may seem to others, especially to those fooled by appearances, Pooh, the Uncarved Block, is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded."

as Christopher Robin said to Pooh, "of course. all we need to do is, lean back, relax, and there we are." so my advice to you is "wherever you go, there you are!" if you have experiences in your life that you consider FUN please write and let me know because i am indeed simpleminded and have a desire to know....

our life is often like this kayaker contemplating the sun...... is it a sunrise or a sunset? no matter which, it will be the other soon...

beginnings

beginnings are always difficult because they entail commitment and always lead to endings. i've been privileged to watch brilliant people work, and play, and have been "mike myer'd" with the feelings that "i'm not worthy". back when i started tuning into the "lonely note", and steve's postings on new music, he mentioned that i should start blogging with random ideas and streams of consciousness but i didn't feel compelled to make time. now with energy from the west and east coalescing here in the midwest i think that i'll find time to express a few thoughts on life learned over the past 58 years, even if they are only meaningful to me........... it helps to see the words framed in concrete. mine has been an oral tradition and the book inside of me has been handed down from generations of enlightened beings, and lurking in the recesses of my brain somewhere. i have lived a full life and only wish that others might experience the same joys, so here we go.......... come along if you dare.