Second Chance Dance: April 2019

Monday, April 1, 2019

A Scent of Paradise

“All Children are born artists.The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.”

- Pablo Picasso

“If all the insects were to disappear from earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all other forms of life would flourish.”

- Jonas Salk

"The Element: How Finding Your Passion Means Everything"
If You Watch or view anything on this blog - Please View This!

https://youtu.be/03v_UScdLQY

“I think it is ok to think about what you want to do …until it’s time to start doing what you were meant to do.”

- The Rookie (Movie)

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A Scent of Paradise

Birds of Edith sing of no regrets or desires

Sun rises, sun sets

Winds without known origin blow

Carrying tired pilgrim sailors who dare to be-

Odysseys unbound.

The great manipulative pedagogy sucks and

Spits out bots to support the needs of the one percent

A few unfit or unprepared are squashed;

Some shake free and head out for Robert’s Road.

The seed of that magnanimous source

Wisely conceived diversified Promethean spirits

With gifts to be discovered and flourish.

Even the great teacher knew where treasures lie

And that teacher was tortured , humiliated and put to death.

And the expectation persists that energy for freedom

And creativity should end at puberty.

Standing on the shoreline

The essence of the divine incense of salted air,

The silence augmented by sweet soft lapping waves

Onto the ever patient beach

Receive the light and warmth of the risen sun

Emboldens souls who are ready to wake up and

Be precisely who they are intended to be.

—- JF Sobecki

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Don’t Forget April is National Poetry Month

Why Do We Read and Write Poetry?

Dead Poets Society.

https://youtu.be/R_zsMwCOoEs

O Me! O Life!

Oh me! Oh Life! Of these questions recurring.

Of these trains of the faithless, of

Cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself,

(for more foolish than I, and who more faithless ?)

Of eye that vainly crave the light , of the objects mean,

Of the struggles renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding

And sordid crowds see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the

rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question , O Me! So sad recurring _

What good amid these, O me , O life?

Answer.

That you are here — that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.

—- Leaves of Grass, W. Whitman

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A fun visit might be to check out this web site were average everyday people and a celebrity or two read their favorite poems.

http://www.favoritepoem.org

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The Cloths of Heaven

Had The heaven’s embroidered cloths,

Enrought with golden and silver light;

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

I would spread the cloths

Of Night and half-light;

I would spread the cloths under your feet;

But, I being poor , have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W. B. Yeats

For the Anniversary of My Death

Every year without knowing it I have

Passed the day

When the fires will wave to me

And the silence will set out

Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer

Find myself in life as in a strange garment

Surprised at the earth

And the love of one woman

And the shamelessness of men

As today writing after three days of rain

Hearing the wren sing and the falling

cease

And bowing not knowing to what

— W. S. Merwin (d. 3/15,2019)

R.I.P. W. S. Merwin

I am not sure what to say

I think I know what I feel

Another sacred piece has been untethered

From its earthly home…

Lack and gratitude

- JF Sobecki

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A few random factoids to reflect on

Freud once suggested that the most important aspects of life in the western world are “work” and ‘love” and in that order - he was not being complimentary
In the US 27 % of college graduates work in the field of their major
70 % of working Americans are dissatisfied with their work
College graduates historically change their careers at least 3 x
Only 2% of young Americans follow their dreams in terms of work and the type of life they desire
Young people are expected to make life long decisions at age 19 and the choices for the most part are usually college(major), a trade or military service
A Majority of heart attacks occur first thing Monday morning
The ONLY indicator of longevity of a person’s life is stress and stress is known as the primary indicator for cardio vascular disease and other significant physical maladies

__________________

Follow Your Dreams - J. Messina

https://youtu.be/HOMypivzLns

Non, Je Ne Regrette - E. Piaf

https://youtu.be/t6wjCcWC2aE

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Sometimes you need a good a song just because

Boots and Hearts - Tragically Hip

https://youtu.be/6OKHwnkaU5Y

Forty Light Years - K. Osmond

https://youtu.be/gQ2Pq3o3X5s

amdg

“One day I will find the right words and they will be simple”

- Jack Kerouac

“The only truth is music”

- Jack Kerouac

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New Blog - Rain and Rivers Revisited: A Journey of a Lost Weekend

Well you may recall I have been working on a piece of fiction for a while now. It is still a work in progress. However, I decided

to release drafts of the first few episodes ( chapters.) Much of the work is completed but I am always cutting and editing.

http://rainandriversrevisited.blogspot.com/

It is difficult to release just pieces at a time as they are created as independent episodes they are also all parts of a larger piece (and picture .) I could share more but I am curious to read or hear your feedback.

I want to thank those friends and supporters who have already provided feedback ...and of course all the folks who have been following my Second Chance Dance Blog ( by the way that will continue.)

The material in the Blog is all copyrighted and cannot be reproduced in any form. Though, I welcome you to share the link and this blog with others .So please when you have a few minutes take a read and let me know what you think. I expect to be posting a series of subsequent episodes shortly.

Thanks....

News of Death

(This is for Coach)

Last night they came with news of death
not knowing what I would say.
I wanted to say,"The green wind is running through the fields making the grass lie flat."
I wanted to say,"The apple blossom flakes like ash covering the orchard wall."
I wanted to say,"the fish float belly up in the slow stream,stepping stones to the dead."

They asked if I would sleep that night,
I said I did not know.
For this loss I could not speak,the tongue lay idle in a great darkness,the heart was strangely open,the moon had gone,and it was then when I said, "He is no longer here"
that the night put its arms around me
and all the white stars turned bitter with grief.
- David Whyte

What Work is

We stand in the rain in a long line

waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.

You know what work is--if you're

old enough to read this you know what

work is, although you may not do it.

Forget you. This is about waiting,

shifting from one foot to another.

Feeling the light rain falling like mist

into your hair, blurring your vision

until you think you see your own brother

ahead of you, maybe ten places.

You rub your glasses with your fingers,

and of course it's someone else's brother,

narrower across the shoulders than

yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin

that does not hide the stubbornness,

the sad refusal to give in to

rain, to the hours wasted waiting,

to the knowledge that somewhere ahead

a man is waiting who will say, "No,

we're not hiring today," for any

reason he wants. You love your brother,

now suddenly you can hardly stand

the love flooding you for your brother,

who's not beside you or behind or

ahead because he's home trying to

sleep off a miserable night shift

at Cadillac so he can get up

before noon to study his German.

Works eight hours a night so he can sing

Wagner, the opera you hate most,

the worst music ever invented.

How long has it been since you told him

you loved him, held his wide shoulders,

opened your eyes wide and said those words,

and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never

done something so simple, so obvious,

not because you're too young or too dumb,

not because you're jealous or even mean

or incapable of crying in

the presence of another man, no,

just because you don't know what work is.

Philip Levine

On Marriage - Kahil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love:Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loafSing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.And stand together yet not too near together:For the pillars of the temple stand apart,And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A favorite "Journey" poem from a favorite poet

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-- Mary Oliver

Send or post one of your favorites! They can be lyrics to a song!

Playing For Change

Please see the current music video from "Playing for Change" at the bottom of this page. It is a movement. Enjoy!

"Playing for Change" is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world

Fall in Love

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” --- Pedro Arrupe SJ