Spelling Father as Mother, or Other



Today is December 29, 2012, and provided that my calendar is correct and there are only 2 days remaining in 2012, I will have successfully kept my New Year’s resolution of 2012.  Here are the highlights of this year, which I will happily forfeit to the coming year, pimples and all.

11)       I started a blog, which I’d been dreaming about for years.  You are here now.  It might be a nightmare, but you will probably wake up soon.  From what I understand, proper sleep is only obtained during the hours of 4am-6am, usually inadvertently interrupted by cell phone alarms and realizations that you haven’t checked your bank account balance in the past 4 days.
22)      I’ve mixed and co-mingled my hearts’ true desires- What began as a Buddhist Peace and Justice League Occupier became a Code Pink Wannabee  ( I’m wearing Purple anyhow) which became a Chef for the Homeless.  Last night, Ken Finberg and I served 43 meals to folks who were cold, starving in various ways, and very, very grateful.   My biggest regret:  not giving both a slice of home-baked pumpkin bread AND a home-baked chocolate/mint-chocolate chip cookie to the 14-year-old homelesss kid.  He was so kind, and the decision seemed a big part of who he was at that very moment.  I let him make it, and I sure as hell hope he enjoyed my pumpkin bread.  I would like to kiss him, but I’m so sick still___ it would probably suck for him for much longer than it would have made me feel really special.
33)      I topped off the year on Christmas Eve, which most are wont to observe with fierce tradition, with a request for Ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order.  If you think that it’s wrong to follow intention #2 with this #3 highlighted intention, you’re perfectly Right.  That is, unless, you know the meaning of the Three Jewels, which I’m still defining in my own right.  Oh, God, please let me be wrong.

14)      I left the tax office – this time for good.  Somehow, being at the right place at the right time, I found the right team of women (and man) to support with my bookkeeping skills.  Forward Together advocates for reproductive justice, gender justice, youth activism, and strong families’ rights in groundbreaking ways.  I couldn’t have landed in a better place, and it has renewed my appreciation for my own work, as well.  It’s about time!
55)      If you’ve never listened to and communicated with birds, you and I are probably from the same planet, and I’m okay with that.  As one sentient being to another, you’re probably hearing a different drummer.  Obviously, I’m a cellist without a bow.  But I do have one of those Wa-Wa  distortion pedals.  I’m still __ just sayin’.
66)      Sit down now.  Pull up a cushion.  It’s comfy and your back could use the break.  Obviously, recognition will follow. . .
77)      I became a library technician in December of 2012.  Finally, I finished a course I set out to complete.  I didn’t drop out.  I didn’t make excuses on my mid-term, my final, my unpaid internship, nor my application for certification.  I deserve this certification like nothing I’ve ever earned before (AND I’ve previously earned NO degrees), and I am the best Library Technician you’ve never met.)   To date, you will still find me struggling with the fact that I’m 46 years old and I dreamed of starting a new career helping people find resources that rock their world, in a library setting.  Um, sorry, can’t pay the bills that way.  So, get used to the fact, please, that because of our incredibly high standard of living in the Western World, NOBODY pays their bills the minute they arrive.  WE postpone – artfully, gracefully, until belief turns into disbelief, and everything is back to normal===cy.
88)       I stopped here, because  I am full of it.  Surly, there is some blog that continues on to 10 .  I urge you to go there now.
99)      Silence, please.  The more you say, the less there is for me to say.

110)   I like to take things slowly.  Except for the fact that ALL WARS SHOULD END AT THIS VERY MOMENT.  I AM SURE ALL SOLDIERS AND SPOUSES AND OFFSPRING AND SECOND-LINE COMBATANTS AND INCENDIARIES WILL ENDORSE THIS.   Whom did you endorse in the Elections of 2012?  (Still asking_________________________________________________+ ?)
111)   A sacred number, according to Pythagoras. 
112)   A baker’s dozen, deserves one more.
113)   I choose 11.  But he’s inherently involved.
No more batter.  Please.
   
Did you know that the number 4 equals Work?  What is work to you?  Is it your life number?  If it were, what would it mean to you?  Is there a difference when there is a personal definition?  If so, I urge you to define each moment with a personal definition, and watch IT take shape.  See the difference?  That is Presence____My Resolution for 2013.

A Tribute to Marshall Davis Jones:
http://www.reverbnation.com/marshalldavisjones

A Tribute to Ken Finberg:
 You Rock!!!!!  And what's more, You Rock On A Bicycle!!!!

Good Morning, Sunshine.



I’d like to wake up and feel all warm and fuzzy and excited to meet the day.  And then I turn on the news.  War. Drone strikes.  Israel.  Gaza Strip.  Hamas.

And what, pray tell, is it that riles the American people up about political assignations and air strikes and the killing of civilians when it’s done by another country, such as Israel, yet we barely raise an eyebrow at our own daily American air strikes on places like Pakistan and Afghanistan?.  In my heartmind, it is the same.  Illegal warfare . . . dead, maimed,wounded and terrorized people everywhere --men, women, children.  Those innocent and those fighting under government orders.
 
Confrontation falls on many fronts.  There's the drone of military aircraft, with its punishingly accurate firepower, there's the drone of those militants who go on about drones, and then there's the drone of silence -- a silent condoning of these actions in our name.  Which is more deadly?

So, no, there’s no honey in the tea this morning ---simply a question – why aren’t more people protesting their government and their military in the U.S. and in Israel today or any day? What pretense keeps us in a supporting role in this power play on our world stage?  Why not now?

Because we’re just too busy working, I suppose.

--
"You cannot be anti-war and pro-Obama."
       David Swanson


                                                                   Obama: "the first Nobel Peace Prize winner with a kill list."
                                                                         (Frontline)

Just Sitting

                                                                               Madras Buddha, 1997. Hydrocal, arylic paint skins, plywood.
                                                                                                                                     by Arlene Shechet 

45 years in this same body
45 years with this same name
28 years with this same diploma
20 years in this same city
16 years with this same daughter
16 years in this same home
15 years in this same office
6 years with this same dog
4 years with these same nightmares
2 years with this same school

2 years with this same Sangha
1 year with this same no romance
1 month with this same resolution
1 day with this same bank balance
1 minute with this same realization
1 second with this same experience

just sitting
with this same passion,

free to roam.






 


Birdsong Blues

It's morning again.  Raining now, but hardly drowning out the sounds of the birds in the trees outside my bay windows.  I've been listening to their birdsong a lot these last few weeks.  Each morning, there is a battle of the calls between the crows and the robins and the blackbirds and the sparrows -- even the random wild parrot, which we have many of in this city.  They speak to me of much -- time to wake, time to check email, time to do yoga, time to meditate, time for housekeeping, time to get to work, time to protest.  Often I find myself so tuned in to their song that it's like I was a winged robin, perched over the passing traffic and looking to communicate without words to the passersby below, trading music for direction.  But somehow all these birds in their wonder and power neglected to pass on some crucial pieces of information.  Lost in translation, I am left to figure these things out on my own as any good human should.  I sit here this morning listening and listing all the things they don't tell you about a protest.
 
They don't tell you that joining an Occupy working group means you're going to work your ass off;

They don't tell you that you're going to be voluntold;

They don't tell you that your email traffic after joining these groups will quadruple, and you will be invited to join more and more subgroups, affinity groups and flying-under-the-radar groups as the weeks go on;

They don't tell you that you will be asked to take notes at meetings when you're just figuring out the lay of the land yourself;

They don't tell you you will be painting banners in unheated, poorly lit warehouses or silkscreening signs in neighbor's garages; posting flyers and prints on unsuspecting walls, bus stop shelters, and light posts for days upon end; dropping postcards at cafes, laundry mats, community centers, pot clubs and yes, even taping them to ATM machines in an attempt to reach people everywhere;

They don't tell you that you will be encouraged to attend training after training:  foreclosure fighting training, non-violence training, civil disobedience training, legal observer training, media spokesperson training, etc., and that to be less than prepared is doing your movement a disservice;

They don't tell you that they will be passing the hat at random meetings to cover unforeseen expenses, such as bailing activist friends out of jail and covering the cost of insurance for base stations during the day of the event;

They don't tell you that you will be asked to perform roles which will pull you off the streets where you want to be for much of the day of the protest, missing actions that matter to you, and keep you indoors performing vital support services;

They don't tell you that the group that allowa you to use their church basement for ground support won't actually notify the parish Bishop or the church manager of that tiny detail, and you will need to play political ambassador for the afternoon;

They don't tell you how often you will be defending your role in the movement, your actions, your opinions and your words, even amongst fellow Occupiers, your friends, your family, the public at large, and most importantly, to yourself;

They don't tell you how to react when you encounter some fellow Occupiers acting in belligerent, erratic and frankly disturbing ways instead of in the non-violent, focused ways that the movement stands for;

They don't tell you exactly how you're going to feel when cops push you out of the way, or when those cable ties drop to the ground as they take their full-riot poses;

They don't tell you that to expect the worst-case-scenario weather the day of the event, and how much more dedicated everyone becomes that braves those conditions;

They don't tell you how much you will be torn by all the ways you can apply your time and your talents towards the causes that call you;

They don't tell you how proud you will feel when you see successes of the day;

They don't tell you how much you will learn about human nature by participating in an event such as Occupy Wall St West;

They don't tell you that you're going to be flummoxed by the sheer intensity of the human lights shining around you, waiting for you to turn on your own light and let it shine;

They don't tell you about the piles of unfinished business that you wake up to;

They don't tell you there is less than one degree of separation between you and the rest of the sentient beings in the universe and that every individual thought or action affects us all;

What they don't tell you never hurts until the days after.  Then, it's like you've been hit by your boyfriend's car . . .

I'm just saying.


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of Buddha. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of Buddha that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 

As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others."

 __ Just Robin quoting Singhashri quoting Nelson Mandela quoting Miriam Williamson

1/11/12

I begin this morning's thoughts with a quote.

"There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with."          -Harry Crews, novelist and playwright (b. 1935)

Really?  You think?  I wonder what the Guatanamo scar will look like, feel like, because right now, 10 years after it opened, it's still a festering, pus-filled wound.  Today, I could put on an orange jumpsuit and a black hood and hit the Federal Building at noon, but I won't.  I could poster the city with flyers that say "Free Djamel" in support of the man detained at Guatanamo since 2002 with no charges, but I won't.  I could call or write a letter to the President to demand that he close Guatanamo now but I won't.  Because he already knows.  He knows and you know and I know what a horrible disgrace this torture-filled prison camp is, and we let it remain open today without storming the damn thing and busting down the walls and freeing those 171 detainees and finding them asylum right here and now.

Just like we let the wars go on and the homeless suffer and the physically and mentally ill go untreated and the hungry eat sub-substances and so on and so on and so on like an Herbal Essence commercial.

Today, the 11th day of January in the year of 2012, I hang my head in shame.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I wonder if, like President Obama, I did the opposite of what I said I'd do (or not do in this case).

That's a CODE PINK to you, Mr. President.  Let's just leave it at that.

For my friend Joanna and the activists friends she's lost this week.



 

Sunday Morning

                      
Morning metta-tation:  Instructions for the Metta Bhavana: A Loving Kindness Meditation

All else that follows is what was intended.

"You’re capable of the perfect living and dying of this moment."
                                           Bonnie Myotai Treace, Spiritual director of Zen Center of New York City,
                                                               Fire Lotus Temple, in Brooklyn

Protest Pics

Photographs taken of today's bank protest and Bank of America shut down.  An action to convey the people's dismay over the predatory foreclosures and evictions by large commercial banks, with a particular focus on Bank of America with whom neighborhood residents seem to be experiencing the most troubles with.   Photos taken by Occupy SF media team photographer Eric Louie.




Armchair Protesting

I'm on my way to a protest.  The website pretty much speaks for itself.  At some point in the day, I will be holding a banner high that I helped to paint, protesting foreclosures and evictions by banks for profit.  I will hear real folks telling their stories of losing their homes and apartments, and I will look upon the faces of my neighbors as we speak out against speculation and illegal measures taken by the banks in the interest of profit.  I also had the privilege to paint and silkscreen signs with an amazing bunch of people, so smart and generous with their time and talents that they make my head spin and my heart sing -- the folks of Occupy SF and the Occupy SF Housing Coalition.
 Occupy Wall St. West Run On The Banks

For those with the time and inclination to join me, there are actions today in the Excelsior, next weekend, January 14th in the Mission District, and on January 20th, we will converge upon the San Francisco Financial District with our points of view, our protest signs and our counteractions against bad banking measures.  Here is a list of actions, a list that grows daily as the date grows closer:
http://www.occupywallstwest.org/wordpress/?page_id=74
Over the course of the 12-14 hour day, I'll be with both the Buddhist Peace and Justice League and the San Francisco Housing Coalition as we both stir things up and peace out.

For those who cannot join us, or cannot find the time to join a local happening, I encourage you to protest from the comfort of your home, your living room, your armchair.  Here's how:


                        A Protest Song
If you're feeling receptive and creative, this may spark other ways you can protest in simple, effective, and yes, lazy ways.  I'd love to hear about them, too!  Happy protesting, folks!

Calling the Shots & Back to Basics

Last night, I was woken by gunfire -- about two rounds going off not too far away.  This is unusual for my neighborhood, so after huddling timidly in bed for a minute, I got up to peek out the window to see if anyone might be out on the street.  My next reaction was to turn off the light and go back to bed.  Well, that’s a pretty crazy and disturbing reaction when what one should really be doing is turning on the lights, calling about the shots, or at least checking things out to know what’s up in the world.  Each time I do, I am completely overwhelmed with how much I want to change it.  There is so much happening right now! We are so limited by these constructs called time and work and money, but they do tend to drive our day.

The whole incident and resulting lack of sleep has left me feeling the need to get back to basics. Throughout the week, I'll be working on assembling some of my favorite sources into links, as I learn the basics of blogging, and try to take it a little slower. This month is already quite stacked for me -- I've got a Buddhist retreat starting this week that will last the entire month, Occupy events happening, it's the beginning of a new tax season and towards the end of the month I start a new semester of Library Tech coursework. And Zoe! Phew!

Today's Back to Basics Picks:

Meditation:  Mindfulness of Breath  

Instruction to improve the quality of your mind and your life. Highly recommended!


constitution:  As in the care and nourishment of the body

The Constitution:  As in a Charter of Freedom
Not a bad refresher course.

News Pick of the Day:  
Paul Cienfuego’s “We The People”  Alternative Radio Podcast

For only $1, you can have your mind blown by someone that one of my clients, the LEEDS certified architect Ross Levy said of him, “This guy makes so much sense, someone’s gonna kill him.”  Thank you, Ross, for turning me onto KALW 91.7 Radio in SF, which broadcast this show yesterday and has some incredible programming.  I owe you one ($1). This show is especially fitting in the wake of the Occupy Rose Parade event in Pasadena yesterday.  Wow!  What an image!