Second Chance Dance: Leap Day Humble Intentions

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Leap Day Humble Intentions

"No Mud , No Lotus"

The Inspiration

Does having an extra calendar day

in a Leap year make a substantive difference in a day in a life?

Sometimes it rains and sometimes it seems that the frozen

wild whipping wind of winter will never cease.

Just as the darkest hour appears to be infinite

a sweet sounding song of the solo thrush who

journeyed in advance in community

to welcome in celebration the crack in from

the heavens letting in the light.

Sometimes the universe just nudges those

who worry or forget .

If seekers listen closely ,with eyes closed , their souls

know that song , that illumination, that hopefulness and faith.

Sadness comes and goes. Tides come in and out.

Creatures of all sizes have no say in their arrival.

Yet, there is a secret awakening to how all

creation is of an abundant unconditional love

and how all things do pass.

In between the the falling sands of time

there is a positive power in how

the universe responds to intentions

of the desire to let go , just being , hopeful ,

humble and grateful.

Many mystical traditions understand the interconnectedness

of everything . Is it a coincidence that one seeker discovered

the commonality of how the gleam responds to humble intentions?

One practice that has helped wandering spirits....

is known as " Metta Meditiations."

(The author has been practicing forms of Metta meditation for years

in his daily journals and contemplations)

(Loving Kindness Metta Meditation

https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/meditation/loving-

kindness-meditation-script-and-7-reasons-to-use-it )

The Writing

Leap Day Humble Intentions: A Metta Meditation

(For myself , you , our families, friends, neighbors , mentors,

those who suffer and those in need , those we met and will meet)

May this space, this moment , this time, this day , this journey -

Be joyous , filled with - love - peace - hope - mercy - selflessness

- holiness - good health - mindfulness - gratitude - humility and

authenticity , free from worry , pain , suffering and harm.

May we have the strength , wisdom , courage and faith

to stay the course that we are meant to be on - letting go .

May we all love one another without judgment about

our own worthiness and the worthiness of others.

- JF Sobecki

---------

______

"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive consciousness.

It knocks on the doors

of the heart and the heart opens"

- Mirabai Starr

"Poetry is an Act of Peace .

Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda

"Ring the bells that can still ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack , a crack in everything

That's How the light gets in"

- Anthem, L. Cohen

Spring

In the north country now it is spring and there
Is a certain celebration. The thrush
Has come home. He is shy and likes the
Evening best, also the hour just before
Morning; in that blue and gritty light he
Climbs to his branch, or smoothly
Sails there. It is okay to know only
One song if it is this one. Hear it
Rise and fall; the very elements of you should
Shiver nicely. What would spring be
Without it? Mostly frogs. But don’t worry, he

Arrives, year after year, humble and obedient
And gorgeous. You listen and you know
You could live a better life than you do, be
Softer, kinder. And maybe this year you will
Be able to do it. Hear how his voice
Rises and falls. There is no way to be
Sufficiently grateful for the gifts we are
Given, no way to speak the Lord’s name
Often enough, though we do try, and

Especially now, as that dappled breast
Breathes in the pines and heaven’s
Windows in the north country,
Now spring has come,
Are opened wide.

- Mary Oliver

The Music

Anthem - L. Cohen

https://youtu.be/c8-BT6y_wYg?si=QLyTHexF3RoLs79B

Your Got the Love - Retrosettes Sister Band

https://youtu.be/vANd9o22j5Y?si=HcB4GQ-rDTaAJ-Hz

Love and Happiness - E.Harris/M. Knopfler

https://youtu.be/qlPR11Ke2II?si=Osi9OOV7vfV39vAb

Happy - P. Williams

https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs?si=kGtIi--NTPCXqllp

Peace on Earth - U2 Live at the Sphere

https://youtu.be/MWwOK5p1ArQ?si=J-DaFHo0j6JVYFtN

Love and mercy - Brian Wilson

https://youtu.be/PISkFEzC5XE?si=56gKU8mTyM8QtmAu

Meditation time:

Sit Listen/Watch

Being Here - B. Murray

https://youtu.be/o9TvFkiLLMo?si=iTUsPzUS7GZZkG7t

Gabriel's Oboe - The Mission

https://youtu.be/fiCX4w1BCVQ?si=WLv_jJNIVtZgi10a

"Everything that we preach is what we

need to hear."

- Bono

"One day I will find the right words ,

and they will be simple."

- Jack Kerouac

"The most important thing is not why we

write but how we write.

Write dangerously , Beckett.."

- James Joyce ( From the new biopic on

S. Beckett " Dance First.")

AMDG

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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

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Leap Day Humble Intentions

Spring

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