Poetry and Prose by #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Co-Author of #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and Jan/Feb 2022 Spillwords Press Author of the Month
Alright, we’ve now entered February and are approaching the 1-year anniversary of the pandemic outbreak here locally. Phew. Hard to believe, and, yet, not. Why?
Well, in some ways this past year has gone by really quickly, and, in others, not so much. Time is an interesting construct. One I will not go into right now, promise, though if you are interested in more of my thinking on time, please take a look at, The Social Construction Series Part 5: The Social Construction of Time.
Alright, the hope elfje poem was a response to Sadje’s weekly WDYS prompt, and I loved writing it. There are times when I write a poem, and all the words just flow out of me and onto the page. There are other times, where it flows out of me, and then I sit with the poem a while, and make minor, and sometimes major adjustments.
The hope poem was of the latter variety. I originally conceived of this poem as a poem about fright. Yet, as I played with the words in my mind, and looked at them on my whiteboard, it occured to me that the poem was really about hope.
That, at times, we all feel like the darkness is enveloping us, and then when we are least expecting it, a ray of light, or hope, shines upon us. Beautifully fun.
Well, what do I say about the poem shy. Hm. First, I wrote this poem two months ago probably, and just left it. I would occasionally go back to it, read and reread it, and then still leave it for another day.
Well, this past week, I read it again, made a couple minor changes, and thought, let’s post this this week. And, so that’s exactly what happened.
I was shy growing up, and was called shy and sensitive a lot. In the early 1980’s being shy and sensitive as a young boy was, well, difficult. And, I know for many young boys and girls this is still the case today in the US.
In the United States there is a fixation on being unemotional, which is, as we all know, quite toxic and unhealthy. Emotional balance and stability is needed and necessary, yet, when we shut our emotions away, we are ultimately harming ourselves and those around us.
Anyway, the poem shy was about me stepping into the light of my shyness and sensitivity. For me, they go together.
One of my blogger friends asked if the poem was about being shy or being introverted. And, well, I am actually quite extroverted, yet also have a very important introverted part of my life. A paradox? No, not at all.
Shyness, sensitivity, extroversion, and introversion, all live on a continuum, or spectrum. And, they can actually change over time and between contexts.
Looking ahead, I see more poems, and an article on time and energy, which is almost complete. And, then one, I think, on patience, something that I struggled with for a very long time.
In the coming weeks, I will also be working on the Leadership From Within Series. The posts in this new series will be shorter, and will be about the many things I’ve encountered the past 4 years in my role at the community college. Will be fun.
I will also be trying out some new poem forms, such as the Hexastich. Should be a lot of fun. And, movies? Alright, let’s take a look at a couple I’ve watched over the past two months.
Movies
I’ve always enjoyed movies, and though I don’t watch as many today, I still love to curl up with a blanket and take in a good movie.
The end of January. Wow. It’s been almost a year since the pandemic broke out here locally. What a year. And, within 2.5 months of starting to work at home, my first blog post was published. Since then, I’ve created 295 posts, began following so many amazing blogs and inspiring people, and have now over 450 followers. Awesome, and so much fun.
Alright, let’s get to the writing part.
My 2 Favorite Posts This Week
I want to do something different this week, and for a few weeks. Instead of simply recapping all that I wrote, I’m going to choose my favorite 2 or 3 posts each week and provide some of the inspiration, thinking, and reflecting that went into the post. Ready? Good. Here we go.
The reminiscence poem was created as a multi-reflection on my marriage, my childhood, and having two beautiful boys. All three reflections combined in unique ways to create a poem about pain and joy, and recollections about simpler times.
One of the things I love the most about writing poetry, outside of the sheer exuberance I get when an idea flows through me, is looking back, reflecting, and putting on paper some joyous, and yes, sometimes painful life events.
Tanka #2
Tanka #2 was created as a reflection on my meditation practice, and the chasing we sometimes do as humans, trying to get to the next thing, and then the next. Reflecting on meditation and then the concept of chasing after things is a paradox, just like all of life.
The last two lines are a reflection upon creating the future from the present moment, with the knowing that already living inside of me, all of us, are the past, present, and future. As, they are one.
Alright, that’s my reflection on the reflections that inspired the two poems above. That was fun. Let’s now turn to one of my other favorite topics, music.
I’ve posted about my love for music before, though it’s been a while. I grew up in a household where music was always present. Whether that was through the TV and MTV, my dad playing his guitar, or sisters, mom, or myself playing the radio, cassettes, or an 8-track.
Yes, I did just reference the radio, cassette tapes, and 8-tracks in the same sentence. I did grow up in the late 70’s and 80’s though.
In this entry on music, I want to do two things. Show you the guitar I bought today, and embed a youtube of one of my favorite songs.
Alright, first, here is a pic of the guitar I bought today. As I mentioned, my dad played the guitar. Though I tinkered with the guitar as a child, youth, and young adult, it’s been years, and I am excited to take some lessons and begin to play.
Corvallis, Oregon 2021
Pretty, yes? Yes, I think so too.
Alright, now here is one of my favorite songs. I am present to it, because my oldest son played it on the guitars we looked at on Saturday. Was so beautiful.
Here you go.
YouTube
I just adore this song. Always have, and always will.
Alright, friends, that’s all for this week.
Remember, to keep breathing and take time for yourself. It’s important.
I’ve been thinking and reflecting upon writing an article on the law of attraction for a while now. Though some people may consider the law of attraction a metaphysical topic, which it is, it is also quite scientific, and, well, quite frankly, part of how the Universe works.
Why is this important?
Well, if you are interested in achieving goals in life, then the law of attraction will be important to you. And, I’d say most people are interested in achieving the goals they have for themselves.
Furthermore, if you are interested in getting outside of a loop of negative thought patterns, understanding the law of attraction, in a very practical way, is also important.
Before we get into our discussion, let’s define the law of attraction.
The belief that positive thoughts are magnets for positive life experiences and negative thoughts (i.e. the very cynical definition previously provided for this term) are magnets for negative life experiences.
Alright, in this article we will take a look at the law of attraction from three perspectives. All of which, combine to form a unified whole. Ready? Good. Here we go.
It is factual that how we think creates our reality. Let’s do a quick example to show how this works. I want you to think about a time when you were really frustrated about something, and that frustration lasted for at least a day, maybe longer. Many of us have experienced this type of frustration.
When you were frustrated in this way, how did the world look, feel, and function to you? Likely, it functioned in a frustrated way. Meaning, that you saw and experienced people that seemed frustrated to you. And, you likely blamed them for your apparent frustration. The issue?
Well, no one outside of ourselves is responsible for how we think and feel. They are not. Therefore, when we experience frustration in the world, and it affects us in some way, we are likely, on some level, frustrated ourselves.
Knowing this to be true about ourselves is not a demerit. It’s not. It just happens. And, happens often for people that are unaware of how their thoughts and feelings affect their actions.
You can conversely think about a time when you were joyful, again for a sustained period of time, and I bet you saw and experienced much more joy. Right? Yep. Same.
All of this simply means that it is how we think and feel that creates our reality. And, if we are stuck inside of negative thinking patterns, as I once was, we will experience our beautiful world through a lens of negativity. And, conversely, if we are “stuck” inside of positive thinking patterns, we will experience our beautiful world through a lens of positivity.
And, whether we see the world negatively or positively matters and manifests throughout our body. Why? Because human beings have a tendency to hold onto their emotions. Therefore, if we are seeing the world through a negative lens, we will experience more negative emotions, and holding these emotions within ourselves will cause pain and suffering.
Further, when we see the world through a negative perspective, or cynically, we will typically make justifications and excuses for our negative behavior. Meaning, abusing our body in ways that will end up causing us more pain and suffering. An example here may help.
For many years I saw the world through a very cynical lens. It’s not a demerit. As a matter of fact, I understand this time in my life as a blessing today. Yes, it was painful, yet it was how I knew how to live in the world, and, therefore, has, upon much reflection and internal work, given me many insights.
Insights which help me tremendously today as a parent, friend, coworker, and leader. Immensely helpful.
When I was stuck in these negative thinking patterns, I held onto my anger. And, therefore I saw anger everywhere. And, I mean everywhere. Yet, I had no conception at the time that the anger I was seeing was my own. And? It was.
It was my anger, because I was the one thinking about and feeling anger, thus I gave out anger often, which caused others to be angry. Further, I could sense anger very easily, as I was in a more or less constant state of anger.
Fast forward 4 years, and my experience of life today is completely different. And, it has everything to do with how I think and feel; and, how those thoughts and feelings bring more of the same into my life; and, that, in essence and practicality is the law of attraction.
How we think and feel affects our perspective, as we’ve just discussed, thus affecting our experience of reality. I’ve written before that there are over 7 billion worlds, or realities, on this one planet. It’s true.
Each of us has a different experience of life, based on, yes, how we were raised, the life experiences we’ve had, and how we currently think and feel.
How we think and feel brings more of those same thoughts and feelings into our life. There are some that say that thoughts are just like any other thing on this planet; meaning that they are made of matter, just like we are.
And, when thought and feeling matter are manifest in our day-to-day experience we get back more of that same matter.
As simple as all of this may sound and read, it is not necessarily easy, or simple, to create new thinking and feeling patterns, or habits. Human beings like to stay in their comfortable patterns, even when those patterns are likely hurting themselves and those around them.
Because habits are hard to change, let’s take a look at a few strategies I use daily to continue to iterate my thinking and feeling.
Meditation – a meditation practice, when guided by an expert, can be transformative. When we learn to sit in silence, we get to see and experience our thoughts and feelings in a whole new way. And, in seeing and experiencing our thoughts and feelings in new ways, we create the possibility of working through these thoughts and feelings, and eventually releasing them.
Writing – I’ve been journaling in different ways for years now. I find the experience very therapeutic. There is something about actually seeing your thoughts and feelings on paper that creates a space to dive deeper into why you are thinking and feeling as you are. It’s like a thread, which you can use to trace thoughts and feelings back to their origins.
Talking – finding someone to talk to about how you think and feel is another way to open yourself up to new ways of thinking and feeling. As I’ve mentioned many times, I’ve been seeing a life coach for 4 years now, and inside of those conversations, I get a whole different perspective on why I am thinking and feeling as I am. And, with a different perspective comes new possibilities.
Reflecting – one of my favorite parts of the process of getting to know yourself on a deeper level is reflection. I reflect often, and use the knowledge gained in my reflections to continue to move myself forward as a human being. Insights from reflecting can come at any time, however, creating quite time for yourself throughout the day, so you can reflect is important. If we are continuously plugged in and receiving stimulation, there is less time to reflect, and therefore less insight will come.
Alright, that concludes this post on the law of attraction.
Remember, we truly are what we think and feel. Our thoughts and feelings shape our perspective and thus our reality; and , it takes time and practice to begin to create new thought and feeling patterns, or habits, for ourselves.
Therefore, as you walk through your day today, begin to question your thoughts and feelings. And, make sure to create quiet time for yourself so you can begin to see why it is you think and feel as you do.
Once you begin to create time for yourself to reflect, you will get insights about yourself, which will create new possibilities for your life. And, it’s inside of these new possibilities, where you can begin to create new thinking and feeling habits, which will create new experiences of the same world you lived in before.
And, through the law of attraction, you will begin to attract a whole new reality into your life.
Well, next week we enter the fourth week of the winter term, and tiredness has become even more present for myself and the team. More on that in a moment.
Let’s first take a look at the writing from this week. Here we go.
Look at that, two My One Thing entries this week. That’s fun.
Alright, and what about next week?
Well, as we discussed in my last entry, I am continuing to write ahead, so have two posts for next weekend almost complete, which are.
The Leadership Series Part 3: Developing Teams
The Law of Attraction
I am also working on several more haiku’s, tanka’s, and poems. Fun.
This past week, I’ve also been reflecting upon growing up in Los Angeles. I don’t know if I’ll actually live permanently in LA again, however, it is a future possibility. Anyway, because of these reflections, I thought I’d share just a few of my favorite places in LA.
Here we go.
Wow, well I could fill several posts with all of the places I love to visit in LA, however, that will do for now. Alright, so quick descriptions, starting from top left, and working our way around clockwise.
Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium
Hollywood
Santa Monica
Big Bear
Huntington Beach
King Taco
Now, as some of you know, I also spent a lot of time in Orange County, CA, and will have some pics of OC in one of my future diary entries.
A New (to me) Podcast
I’ve been listening to a new to me podcast lately called, Invisibilia. The show explores the invisible forces, such as thoughts and feelings, that drive our experiences. As you can imagine, I fell in love with it immediately. It is well done, and, well, quite frankly, excellent. I highly recommend taking a listen.
Being Tired
I’ve been feeling more tired lately, and, as such, have been reworking my schedule. Taking off from work a little early each day, coming home and taking a nap, and then proceeding with my day. I don’t do this everyday, yet am doing it more often than ever before.
It occurs to me that we all need to continue to find new ways to get the rest we need. Whether that rest takes the form of a nap, meditation time, a walk, or some other form matters less, than we create the time, and take the time to replenish ourselves.
The important thing is to check our body and mind often for tiredness. And, when we feel depleted, to take the time needed to recover.
When we ignore our own tiredness, we, in a way, run right over our own intuition. And, our intuition is an important part of the human beings we are.
My invitation to you, as it is to myself everyday, is to pay attention to how your thinking and feeling. And, when your thinking feels skewed, or you just feel tired, to rest in a way that will replenish your body and mind.
It was great to put a period on the lengthy second installment of the Leadership Series. In installment 3, we will look at creating and developing teams. Will be fun.
Alright, and next week?
Well, I already have another Haiku scheduled, as well as a Tanka poem. I also have an article on intention and the last installment in My One Thing: Creating Alignment in Our Lives.
I also have some new ideas, which I’ll get to writing about in the next month or two. Here are a few of those ideas.
The Leadership Series Part 3
A new series on leadership, called Leading from Within
An article on the law of attraction
And, of course, I’ll have new entries in both the developmental moments and reflection series in the next few weeks.
Alright, how about birthdays.
Birthdays
Well, my oldest son turned 21 this week, and my youngest will turn 17 in May. Phew. It is hard to believe, and then not, that these boys are so grown.
I am so impressed with who they are becoming as young men, and am so proud of them both. A lucky father, am I.
Alright, Justin’s birthday was this past week, so he was over Saturday night, and I made a spinach salad with baked tofu (breaded with panko and slightly fried), and brown sugar butternut squash bread.
Both were super tasty, though I will write that the bread was a little sweet for my tastes. Here is the recipe for the bread, and a couple of pics.
Corvallis, Oregon 2021
Fun!
Overwhelm
As I already mentioned, last week we had our busiest week of registration since the pandemic started. Of course, this also means that the team was super busy, and, each of them, at different times and at different levels, experienced overwhelm. Yes, me included.
On Wednesday it occurred to me, though not for the first time, that we are all inundated with stimulation, and it occurs differently inside of the pandemic. Meaning, many of us are on technology more than ever before; and it is needed and necessary to move our work forward.
However, being aware of creating quiet space is also needed and necessary. I think it is needed more now than ever before, and necessary to keep us centered and in balance.
Thus, I sent the team the following message on Wednesday. Subject line: Please read today: Taking the time needed.
Hi all, Phew, what a busy week! I am so impressed by each of you, by the work and possibilities we continue to create for our community. A record number of registrations continue to come in! And, just as our record number of registrations is a beautiful thing to see and be a part of, we have all felt, in some way this week, overwhelmed by the work we are engaged in. I’ve said what I am about to write, in just about every meeting this week. We all need to create time to put the work down, and just be. Be outside in the sun, if it is sunny as it is today, be in a quiet space in our homes, be, well, wherever you can create time for yourself that is away from technology and stimulation. I am asking each of you to continue to create this time for yourselves when needed. You will see on my calendar today at 1 pm, a walk scheduled. I will be away from my computer and phone for 45 minutes. Please do the same when you can. It can be 10 minutes, 20, or longer, just take that time, and be. Great work this week, team!!!!! Jeff
CORVALLIS, OREGON, 2021
Now, I’ve written before about being overstimulated, and being overwhelmed is similar, and, in fact, can function the same way.
We all need time away from everything and everyone.
As you move throughout your week, I invite you to create this time for yourself. Create time for yourself, to be with yourself. Just for you.
And, take that time to breathe, witness all that surrounds you and is within you, and just be.
Well, we’ve now just about completed our first full week of the new year, which means, well, many different things for people. For me? It means that I’m back at the College, and we are continuing to move our work forward. I’ll talk more about that in a minute. For now?
Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve been scheduling posts in advance, so I already know some of next week’s posts, which include a few poems, haiku#2, and two more articles on development. One of the articles is on having difficult conversations, and one is the last entry in part 2 the Leadership Series.
I am also working on two new articles, which will not be posted for a couple weeks. One is on creating intention, and the second is on the law of attraction. They should be super fun.
Alright, as it was my first week back to work in a week-and-a-half, let’s take a look at how that went.
I’ve been in this current position for almost 4 years now, so the break was, well, awesome, and different. Different in that, there was more time. I didn’t work as much, so had more time for writing and other endeavors. Was nice.
However, by the last weekend of the break, I was ready to see the team. We had a great first week back, registrations are stronger than they’ve been since the beginning of the pandemic, which means we are serving more and more people each term. Amazing.
The team is well. They are continuing to use both their heads and their hearts to move our work forward, which is, well, essential.
I’ve written before about making sure we use both our heads and our hearts in our lives, well, actually recently, so will simply state here, that it is super fun to see the team’s growth, our collective growth, and the growth of each individual. Super fun.
I am happy to write that the remote book club is alive and well. As you may recall, we are reading, Killing Commendatore, by Haruki Murakami.
Now, I’ll admit my bias, as I have before, I am a huge Murakami fan, so I love this book. Thus far, the book is about journeying. Journey’s that occur inside ourselves and outside ourselves. It is quite fascinating.
We are only about half way through the 700+ page book, which means we will not finish it until sometime in February.
I look forward to the discussion we will have in about three weeks from now, should be pretty amazing.
This past week I was more present to the word, or concept of, difficulty. For many reasons, one of which is, yes, the article I wrote about difficult conversations; and, also the continued difficulties due to the pandemic.
I am leaving you this week with the Monday message I have scheduled for the team, which will go out tomorrow morning.
Here we go.
This past week, I’ve been reflecting upon the word, or concept of, difficulty. Why?
Well, the entire world has experienced many difficult things this past year. And, whereas, yes, we are beginning a new year, it is part of my everyday practice and work to recognize that more difficulties lie ahead.
However, understanding that there will be difficulty does not mean that there will only be things that are difficult.
One thing, of the many, I’ve learned this past year, is that it’s actually inside of life’s experiences, which are difficult, where we learn more about, well, everything. More about the world, the nation, the state, our local community, the college, our team, and, yes, about the human beings we are today.
I’ve also learned that no experience, or concept, such as difficulty, is free from their conceptual counterpoint. In this example, we can use the word, or concept, easily, as the counterpoint to difficulty.
When we experience something that is difficult, we know it’s difficult because we’ve also experienced things in our life that are easier. They go together. Always have, and always will. It’s how life works.
My invitation to you?
To remember, when life is giving you things that are difficult, that they will pass, and that, in some ways, when we get life experiences that are difficult, they make us appreciate the easy stuff that much more.
Corvallis, Oregon, January 2021
Wow, I’ve never used the “pull quote” function in WordPress before. That’s fun. Alright, back on track.
We will always get things in life that are difficult. It is inevitable. However, we will also get things in life that are easy, also part of life. They are, in fact, one. Inseparable. Meaning?
Enjoy them all, as you are able, my friends, and live your life to the fullest extent possible.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 