Don't apply brakes

Skiing on Sunday with my favourite ski guru, T B and company...and all my most favourite new friends from this year's involvement in the ski school at Blue, including PG, MH, and
R R, (as these are not yet famous people in their own right, i'm protecting their privacy) who has inspired me with her artistry and courage to follow her own independent path

i had certain epiphanic moments this Sunday skiing and here's one;

Don't apply brakes
on ice
in bumps
on road
in love
in life

it's simple,
go with the flow
don't resist
follow the river where it leads you
with courage and faith that we are guided to our ultimate destination


and here's one quote i came across recently that i particularly like
"We have art so that we may not die of reality," said Friedrich Nietzsche

appears in Rob Brezsny's weekly horoscope for Virgo, featured in Toronto's NOW Magazine, also available on-line
http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/virgo.html

a special thanks to my newfound parish away from home, St. Mary's and looking forward to seeing Father Pat again next season

The History of St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures.

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/stpatricksday/

Who Was St. Patrick?
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders
It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.) During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. (It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)


Guided By Visions
After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice—which he believed to be God's—spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.
To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation—an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission—to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. (Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.)

Bonfires and Crosses
Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. (Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth. When this is considered, it is no surprise that the story of Patrick's life became exaggerated over the centuries—spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of the Irish way of life. ) Photos: (1) Archive Photos (Kean) (2) Corbis/Michael Nicholson

http://www.celebrate-stpatricksday.com/stpatricks-songs.html

to MP3 or not

taking risks in life, love and on music!

k...i don't have a MP3 player....
i love music
i should get an MP3 player
http://www.ezilon.com/information/cat_index_46.shtml

i never had a webcam before this year...
i enjoy seeing the man i'm talking to...
i'm glad i took the chance and invested in this technology

i never had a cell phone prior to a couple of years ago...
i'm glad i received one as a gift
now i don't know what i would do without text-messaging and
internet access whilst away all weekend in Collingwood


i don't have a bf (yet....although i think i do...he lives far away...in Ohio)
i love being in love, i love loving
i hope Lee and I will be in love for a long time
at the very least we have touched each others souls

see...people are the unknown quotient in this equation...unlike my mp3 to be, my webcam and my cell phone there's no guarantee that whatever ephermal experiences i'm seeking in life will add up in quite the same way...all the same they are valid and worthy pursuits in and of themselves...i feel

i want to be a helpful person to others
i started this blog to offer aide to others
if i don't get constant commentary does that mean i'm not being of any help?
not necessarily

does the end result always justify and rationalize the means
is the result the only reason we strive for things?
should it be?
that whole thing about the "journey"
Juluka once sang "spirit is the journey, body is the bus"

my friend is going to start doing grad work in Anthropology down in Belize this summer...
i was her room-mate on a dig there back in '97 ...i pursued psychology as a 2nd major....
and yet....i'm so grateful for that experience and
i'm so proud of her...
i hope to go and visit her before her work there is up...


i was in Peru in 2003...a friend at work is considering a journey to Cuzco...and to Machu Picchu....i highly recommend it! i'm glad i could be a source of information and perhaps inspiration to the single woman who wants to travel, explore, seek
Others acted in this capacity for me...served as role models...

so ...
travel!
be!
live!
love!
don't always worry about what will or won't happen
just be!
Dream and enjoy your life...
whatever life you construct...it's yours to mould
take chances, try new things...shake up your routine,
get out of your comfort zone, challenge your sense of what ought to be
and merely accept what is!...before you miss it altogether!

Hallelujah

The Essential LEONARD COHEN "Hallelujah"
the baffled king composing Hallelujah! Your faith was strong but you needed proof. You saw her bathing on the roof; her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
www.webheights.net/essential/halleluj.htm
Cached page
see also my post today in http://poeticsonglyrics.blogspot.com/

4 entries found for hallelujah.
hal·le·lu·jah ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hl-ly)interj.
Used to express praise or joy.n.
An exclamation of “hallelujah.”
Music. A composition expressing praise and based on the word “hallelujah.”
[Hebrew halllû-yh, praise Yahweh : halllû, masculine pl. imperative of hilll, to praise; see hll in Semitic Roots + yh, Yahweh; see hwy in Semitic Roots.][Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
hallelujah
n : a shout or song of praise to God
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
hallelujah
praise ye Jehovah, frequently rendered "Praise ye the LORD," stands at thebeginning of ten of the psalms (106, 111-113, 135, 146-150), hence called"hallelujah psalms." From its frequent occurrence it grew into a formula ofpraise. The Greek form of the word (alleluia) is found in Rev. 19:1, 3, 4, 6.
Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
hallelujah
Hallelujah, praise the Lord
Source: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Since December 23rd, Hallelujah has come repeatedly into my life in the form of music...three times....with a special friend on the eve before Christmas Eve (Jeff Buckley version), with my newfound friend this past Saturday night in the basement of Windy O'Neill's (talented young acoustic guitarist) and then on tv on Monday eve - during the Canadian Songwriters music awards.... KD Lang sang it, and whilst chatting with my new love...i was able to share this precious song

i'm struck by the symbolism of the number three - the trinity...the three deer i saw on the shoulder as i went to pick up Rebecca...the three pheasants near Wilson drive on Hwy. 26 Sat. am on my way to Collingwood

last night on the subway a Jewish man was heckled for reading his Torah...in Paris this past month a young Jewish man was brutally slain for his faith...it all makes me wonder

Each Saturday eve in Collingwood i attend mass and the last thing the Trinity lead band singer shouts is "Hallelujah!!"

bless you all and keep you safe...may the God within us guide us... no matter what your faith or lack of faith
as we say in Yoga class Namaste!! ...the God within me praises the God within you

peace people

Don't wait to do the things you really want to!

i'm slow to react and act on dreams....
now i find i want to do some post-grad work and all the profs i had are no longer at the University to provide referral letters!

i love teaching skiing, wished i'd acted on it earlier so i could have taught out west...now i cannot...even though Whistler is looking for instructors at end of season, i have "desk" job i'm committed to in TO...pays my bills you know!

other regrets...not having travelled more...even though i've now participated in an arch dig in Belize, been to Mex a number of times, as well as Peru and other places...there are still many i wish to go....Chile for instance...well there's still time

Also, i love to write...but often don't apply myself enough to it...

k, in defence of myself...i did work at school, despite some people's suggestions i did not...it was hard, i was older, i was working full time and dealing with many emotional issues...(to name some big ones.... a few men who broke my heart, one who left me pregnant...luckily i had spontaneous miscarriage..., the drowning of a friend, the death of people i cared for, including my father....and other stuff...so it's not easy...k people...don't be quick to judge others when you don't know facts...give people credit for what they've done instead of looking at what they have not done

k, i work hard now at staying fit and being active and healthy to combat some other issues (an possible bio-chem imbalance, which rather than take SSRi's for i choose to use natural methods)...i take an active and participatory role in my health and its maintenance

k, sometimes i drink a few too many pints or cider when out socializing.....but i'm also capable of not drinking at all, i don't take any drugs and i don't smoke or toke, although, with regards to latter two... on occassion i've been known to (in the past)

i don't judge people by their vices or weaknesses...i just choose not to associate with those with too many as i'm impressionable and could end up compromising my well being, health for the sake of relationship...and i don't wish to do this anymore (i.e. if i date a smoker i may end up smoking...that happened in the past...it won't again!)....i have more respect for my health, well-being, body and soul now...

k, in the past i "gave myself away"...just to be Loved...i thought this self-sacrifice would ensure its return...all it did was garner me disrespect from others...and anger at myself...you have to learn to draw boundaries...patrol them and not let others dump, manipulate or use you...

k, in defence of myself, i am currently working 7 days a week, no days off....working a desk job, teaching skiing on we's, i'm on two corporate payrolls...i'm not lazy!!

k, in defence of myself, i have taken writing working workshops and i did educate myself, paid for my own education whilst working...

k, in defence of myself, i did not get married at 24 or any other age just to be married /w kids cause i am true to me and did not find the guy who would let me be...in fact some of them were threatened by my continuing education...some were even emotionally and possibly could have been physically abusive had i had not walked away

k, in defence of myself, i've walked away from abusive relationships and people...and chose to lift myself and my esteem to levels i did not previously experience...

k, in defence of myself i travel alone, and have skiied in Whistler and Lake Louise..on my own...plus went to Peru solo (to join adventure travel group)

k, in defence of my self, i realize i have acted on my dreams and set many in motion....

so....don't be hard on yourself...work slowly towards your goals...don't give up...and don't let others put you down or suggest you could be doing better...we all could be doing better...give yourself some credit....

signing out for now,
k

PS, had a great weekend skiing and am grateful for a friend's ear on Sat. pm, whilst listening to a great guitarist i realized more things about myself...
and to my friend...sorry for dumping on you!!...i wanted to offer you counsel and instead it was the reverse...

the trouble with love is...

that's a song Kelly Clarkson however
i don't know why, just as i was starting to write it came to me, so it will be today's song in the poeticsongsthatinspire section ....i have quite the backlog of songs there drafted and ready to go ... the recent one by Nickelback keeps swimming in my head "show me how to....

so the spreading activation of my mind begins and one thought leads to another...until
presto!...i think it's making a little more sense...but then ...does it even need to?
so i begin...

today's post, it just amazes me!...the synchronicity of events in our lives...
continuing along with yesterday's post
i feel we are guided...
this morning i awoke late for my pilates class...darn it, cause i really needed the stretch (btw i've posted on the emotionalspiritualphysicalsite some links for yoga and pilates)
in any case i was also a little flustered...could not recollect my dream and felt it was significant
especially now with the sun, mercury and uranus all in pisces (btw mercury has gone retrograde today @ 26 of Pisces...wherever Pisces sits in your chart you may see some communication hiccups or surprises of a kinda psychic nature)...things may have been surreal on the communication front for the last little while in any case

As Pisces rules amongst many other things, film, music, poetry, spirituality and psychology ... i found is interesting how many bloggers got more into music and poetry over the past month whilst mercury resided in Posoiden's house. Thank you all for that!

well, as usual i digress from my original point about Synchronicity (btw i think the most appopriate musical accompaniment to today's thoughts: Police: Synchronicity
"another suburban morning....
so i was late, but at the Bloor/Yonge interchange where the west/eastbound trains converge with the north/southbound ones who do i see heading up the same set of stairs? my sister!...how cool, now my sister has worked downtown, (at times in the same towers as i, but now a little further away) for some time on and off and rarely do i get to see her.....how "coincidental" that today i should...curiously she is also sun sign Gemini (mercury ruled) with Pisces rising...

and, in conjunction with yesterday's post i did get a very lovely confirmation from my friend that all is swell, just he had to move on, that's how i take it anyways...ok, i'm a slow learner...he delivered likely the same message over a month and a half ago...i just remained hopeful that we might maintain a somethingship...it's odd how that happens isn't it? how two people can meet and one will build attraction/attachment and the other not...happens all the time...i know!...in any case just means it wasn't meant to be and i truly believe more and more in kismet and serendipity and all that stuff...

so running into my sis was great!...i just adore my baby sis, now a mother of three adorable ones all under the age of 6 (soon to be 7!)...we used to spend a good deal more time together prior to 1997,...we travelled ....skied....studying even together at the same university!....how cool it is to have siblings you are close to....in fact my brother and i still work in the same office...and it's been pretty much that way since we both completed university...first working for a family firm and now a much larger one...
things change...and yet...they don't

so another random thought, i'm going to post in the poetry section some cool links for articles i recently reviewed in the Poetry Canada March'06 edition and a poem i saw last night in the subway entitled "Frost" by Ethelwyn Wetheral from Rockwood, On (1857-1940)

i did also find an interesting few articles in the newspapers left in the ladies rooms here....and i think i'll try to scan them and comment another day...

ciao for now, k

ps, are the things which capture our attention, seemingly randomly really just "coincidences" or are we filtering the stimuli which bombards us selectively for what we're "after"?? i wonder...

I just want to ski!...write poetry...

and be in love!!...

ahh....if only...i could, i would....i should fall...yes,
ok, Aaron, you've inspired me...
you're writing...really writing...and i'm just being a lazy ass and posting stuff written by others....
the things which have inspired me...moved me....

today i felt the inexplicable urge to try one last time to contact someone i thought would be a friend...why why why? why do i set myself up for failure and disappointment continually? i ask myself? i know in part the answer, however i'll save you the psycho babble and share this amazing little trinket i just uncovered this moment, at the end of the day, after having read much other stuff, here's an explanation (in part)...let's hope something good actually comes to pass from my spontaneous act of compromised reason

Wednesday, March 1-V
If you're inexplicably motivated to get in touch with old flames, friends, work colleagues, teachers, relatives, etc., ascribe the urge to the connection between the Sun and unpredictable Uranus. Then consider actually following through: This is probably not a coincidence, and there may actually be some benefit, proposition, or showing the love lying in wait for you. Today's star rating: ****
from style.com

note, i'm sun sign Scorp., with AC Virgo...that's why i read Virgo and Scorpio both...as should you (i.e. read your AC and sun-sign...since most astrologers are making their forecasts based on the placement of the planets in the houses and this is predicated upon your AC - i.e. rising sign)

well, now i've thrown a bunch of astro-babble at you....

i must admit if it weren't for my obsession with my last collapsed romantic foray (which only lasted 3 dates and ended abruptly on New Year's Eve) i would never be posting any of this....now i wonder if in fact i've stumbled across a good outlet for some welling creative urges or if i'm just wasting time ....
there's lots else i could be doing for sure...
work for one!!
and as for some poetry...must work at that!
and finish my app. for grad school...
and pay bills....
and...well...there are always lots of "ands" aren't there?
i think the key is balancing our sense of play (even if it entails searching the web for mp3's or writing crazy letters to exes...or....whatever!)

btw i have some commentary on the whole mp3 "free" music download thing...and the whole array of sexual offerings available on the web....as i'm sure we all do...
it's just curious to me how we are constantly bombarded with "sales" pitches everywhere we go...i just hate that....
can't we be immune to some of that at least some of the time? i have a scattered enough focus as it is and i hate the fact that when i'm looking/seeking for one thing i end up distracted and onto something else...
which i guess brings me back to part of my original thought...in a way...it's very circular....are we better off being diverted from our so called "plans"...?

as John Lennon once sang
"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans".

..ha ha...so true!