"During a quiet time a while ago, I was suddenly subsumed by the feeling, peace and knowledge of 'Trust It.' "
-----excerpt from an email from a special man
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Junkyard Quote # 3 - Week 4
"Where you stumble and fall, there you will find gold."
----- Joseph Campbell
----- Joseph Campbell
Junkyard Quote # 2 - Week 4
"Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy."
-----Joseph Campbell
-----Joseph Campbell
Junkyard Quote #1 - Week 4
"How does the ordinary person come to the transcendent? For a start, I would say, study poetry. Learn how to read a poem. You need not have the experience to get the message, or at least some indication of the message. It may come gradually."
----- Joseph Campbell, Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor
----- Joseph Campbell, Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Reading Response to "I Am Twenty-One" - by Mary Robison
I remember my twenty-first year. Although I had not lost my parents, I lost the love of my life, Jeff. He had reconciled with his high school sweetheart over Christmas break. I had believed that we were destined to get married, and now I felt I had nothing to live for.
Boolean algebra made no sense, and I was failing it. I cried all during the last test. I worked part time as a cashier in the snack shop, and sometimes my relief was late. This made me late to my sociology class, and the cruel professor always made some catty remark about my tardiness.
My self-esteem was shattered, and I developed an anxiety disorder. I scheduled an appointment with a professor in the psychology department, hoping for help. Instead of listening, being empathetic, and offering help, he had the audacity to tell me that he was sexually attracted to me.
I ended up talking to Dean Georgia Martin. When I told her that I thought I was having a nervous breakdown, she heard me. She listened as I told her of my plans to drop out of college and train to be an airline stewardess. She wisely counseled me and encouraged me to work hard and stay in school. Telling me that she was available to talk anytime I needed to provided a huge safety net.
Somehow I survived that year and being twenty-one, but it was definitely one of the most difficult years of my life.
Boolean algebra made no sense, and I was failing it. I cried all during the last test. I worked part time as a cashier in the snack shop, and sometimes my relief was late. This made me late to my sociology class, and the cruel professor always made some catty remark about my tardiness.
My self-esteem was shattered, and I developed an anxiety disorder. I scheduled an appointment with a professor in the psychology department, hoping for help. Instead of listening, being empathetic, and offering help, he had the audacity to tell me that he was sexually attracted to me.
I ended up talking to Dean Georgia Martin. When I told her that I thought I was having a nervous breakdown, she heard me. She listened as I told her of my plans to drop out of college and train to be an airline stewardess. She wisely counseled me and encouraged me to work hard and stay in school. Telling me that she was available to talk anytime I needed to provided a huge safety net.
Somehow I survived that year and being twenty-one, but it was definitely one of the most difficult years of my life.
Response to Debra's Journal - Free Entry - January 22
I like how you explained the aging process to your 5-year old son.
Those visits to your mother are probably as hard for you as they are for
him.
It was difficult watching my once big, strong, virile father begin to age. His strong back became stooped. Macular degeneration robbed him of his pleasure of reading. I bought him a Kindle DX so that he could enlarge the font, but the technology was too difficult for his brain to master.
Dementia stole his ability to express himself clearly and make sense of his environment. Once I found him looking for his Depends in the dining room. I led him gently back to his bathroom,
His heart was the same, but his body failed him and wore out. Life became too challenging. Death restored his peace.
It was difficult watching my once big, strong, virile father begin to age. His strong back became stooped. Macular degeneration robbed him of his pleasure of reading. I bought him a Kindle DX so that he could enlarge the font, but the technology was too difficult for his brain to master.
Dementia stole his ability to express himself clearly and make sense of his environment. Once I found him looking for his Depends in the dining room. I led him gently back to his bathroom,
His heart was the same, but his body failed him and wore out. Life became too challenging. Death restored his peace.
Free Entry - "September 11, 2001" - Week 3
Although I had watched World News Tonight with Peter Jennings for years, I had never focused so much on him as much as I focused on the news of the day. But today, 9-11, I was seeing him through new eyes. He displayed an authenticity and vulnerability that I had never perceived. Today he became a real live, seemingly approachable man. In my shock and distress, his comforting tone of voice touched me and offered me reassurance that our country would survive this egregious attack.
As he gestured with his hands, sleeves casually rolled up, I merely observed that he was not wearing a wedding band. I wondered if he were still single. I remembered hearing on Entertainment Tonight once that he'd taken Barbra Streisand to some celebrity function. The TV ceased to exist as his calm demeanor in the midst of chaos drew me to him by pure magnetism. I was unable to pull myself from him and his conveyance of the news. He was there, in my family room, talking to me personally, telling me all he knew. As long as he was there, providing balm for my angst, I felt that everything would be all right, somehow, someday.
The towers were shown being bombarded and tumbling to the ground repeatedly all day. Peter got somewhat emotional when he told us that we must call our children. I found the prints of our last family vacation to New York and pulled out those of The World Trade Center. While standing on top of the South Tower, we never imagined that these massive towers would lie on the ground in ruins in fewer than five years.
**********************************************************************************
It had been an emotionally exhausting day, and it was late when I turned the TV off and went to bed. Crazy dreams revolved in my brain and disturbed my sleep. The only one that I remember vividly involved Jeff and Dan flying their small Cessna planes toward the Statue of Liberty with intentions of destroying it. Just then, Peter Jennings miraculously appeared, armed with a machine gun. Just before the moment of impact, Peter aimed, fired, and shot them both down.
----- excerpt from Dinner With Peter by Beverly Smith
As he gestured with his hands, sleeves casually rolled up, I merely observed that he was not wearing a wedding band. I wondered if he were still single. I remembered hearing on Entertainment Tonight once that he'd taken Barbra Streisand to some celebrity function. The TV ceased to exist as his calm demeanor in the midst of chaos drew me to him by pure magnetism. I was unable to pull myself from him and his conveyance of the news. He was there, in my family room, talking to me personally, telling me all he knew. As long as he was there, providing balm for my angst, I felt that everything would be all right, somehow, someday.
The towers were shown being bombarded and tumbling to the ground repeatedly all day. Peter got somewhat emotional when he told us that we must call our children. I found the prints of our last family vacation to New York and pulled out those of The World Trade Center. While standing on top of the South Tower, we never imagined that these massive towers would lie on the ground in ruins in fewer than five years.
**********************************************************************************
It had been an emotionally exhausting day, and it was late when I turned the TV off and went to bed. Crazy dreams revolved in my brain and disturbed my sleep. The only one that I remember vividly involved Jeff and Dan flying their small Cessna planes toward the Statue of Liberty with intentions of destroying it. Just then, Peter Jennings miraculously appeared, armed with a machine gun. Just before the moment of impact, Peter aimed, fired, and shot them both down.
----- excerpt from Dinner With Peter by Beverly Smith
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