Why Oh Why Go Anywhere?

flies waiting at the john

flies waiting at the john

Stuck here at JFK airport for friggin hours, on our way back from Carter’s 50th HS reunion at Phillips Exeter Academy the last four days. It’s madness here in delta wing. Flight now delayed and maybe we’ll remain vagabonds wandering the aisles forever and ever and ever.

Plus we had a sleepless night when, after returning from a great Evening out with old time friends to find a next crises surrounding our daughter’s newly-divorced situation. All is well in that category now but carter the consort Had to expend great deal of energy to rectify. We’ll be home Past midnight — and it’s times likes these that one feels like never Going beyond ones own comfortable palace. Oh, did I mention the airport colds we’re nursing? The delayed-by-9 hours flight (never fly anything but direct!), and … the lost luggage we’ll no doubt shortly discover (yes, we did!). But Lucky Us to have such palaces, our homes! I’m rushing back to my desk and drawing board, anxious to finalizE my book — and have plans for the next and the next ones as well.

While in Exeter I got to visit my old
Cambridge-pal, the artist who lived on top floor of me when I was barely 20 — where I first met you. We hardly ever see each other but when we do it’s sweet. She still smokes pot every day and admittedly is a daily 1-2 glass wino, and I can tell she’s stuck in that lack of direction because of that. Last time I saw her she said the same things,”why do I keep doing this?”.
I didn’t wanna tell her she’s an addict, even though she has a sweet house In the country, a pothead-environmentalist husband, an well regarded following and active-with-students studio And extensive organic garden. Makes me appreciate my sober life even more Than ever. Besides, traveling consumes energy. Sustainable living means staying put. I’m planting myself next to my tomatoes. Except for that occasional fling in Costa Rica.

Couldn’t get good internet in Hampton inn we stayed at so
Will check out that video you sent me
Tomorrow. Big hug from
Tired teZ aka Lordflea
Ps. Remind me never to go thru
JFK
Ever
Again. Amen. Helpme
Not
Kill the
Next
Screaming
Kid.
Ha fucking ha

Listen to your Inner Wisdom

Sing the praise of Oneness

a slice of stewardship

dear friend,

 here is an excerpt from “More Than Dust,” the book i’m writing. enjoy!

brunfelsia, "yesterday, today, and tomorrow"

brunfelsia, "yesterday, today, and tomorrow"

 

Timote and I traveled to Jamaica, our trip funded by a grant to discover a feared-extinct medicinal plant that researchers desperately needed, for a possible cancer-killing alkaloid they’d isolated from an old specimen, in a lab. Tim and I arrived in the blue-green island and drove to a mountainous region, a tiny hamlet called Bamboo. From there we made day trips all over the region, scouring the land around the site of the last known sighting of Brunfelsia Americana. In the 40s specimens had been collected from there, and none from any other location on earth ever since. Because of botanical information-gathering sources, called herbariums, dried and pickled specimens of every plant gathered by botanists are available for research, and that is how the cancer-experts discovered a near-magical ingredient found only in this particular species, that Tim and I were now hunting for.

Brunfelsia americana...the near-extinct species

Brunfelsia americana...the near-extinct species

Extreme strip mining, for the mineral bauxite, had changed the lay of the land in that part of Jamaica, drastically affecting the natural plantings. Still, Timote was not discouraged, because as we talked to native people we found that some old-timers remembered seeing the plant, called by various local, patois names. After a week of bush whacking our way through one red-herring lead after the next, we climbed an isolated plateau of land we were directed to, in a hidden valley, of sorts, a place where one small bit of land rose above the desolation below like a living altar, which had miraculously survived decades of destructive bulldozing by bauxite miners. We were elated to find one lone stand of this rare species of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, brunfelsia’s common name, and even more thrilled to find seeds and seedlings among the shriveled, deformed, last remaining group, anywhere, of this precious plant.

Live and love and laugh a lot, today and everyday,

we are All One on planet Earth

moon flower: plants, minerals, humanity: we are All One on planet Earth

your pal, lordflea

Dare to be Spiritually Correct … huh?

Hi Friend,

Just back from Boston where we spent a pleasantly gentile weekend attending a gathering of old college friends. 

bridge to nowhere ... crossing the Charles River

bridge to nowhere ... crossing the Charles River

we got to share stimulating thoughts, discussions, symposiums, dances, exhibits, and most importantly, the sharing of life’s sweet laughter.

as i’d mentioned in an earlier post, i’m starting a new awareness about all of us catching ourselves in our tendencies to over-intellectualize and/or over-politicize, and become, more and more, aware of each opportunity to practice, and finally arrive at BEING … more and more … with practice, with joy, even … being SPIRITUALLY CORRECT

instead of being p.c. i suggest we all try to be, and help each other to remember to be … “S.C.” — spiritually correct.

you may laugh, but once you get the hang of this new movement, you’ll enjoy this carefree, “all for others” attitude, even in midst of the worst financial crisis, the most confusing and challenging of political climes.

take our pal Bob, here, showing off his new tattoo.  bob chose the ancient hebrew phrase honoring “Logos”… the “word” of Spirit … in his humble way of proclaiming his own brand of reminding himself to be spiritually correct.  a former businessman, now an ordained minister, bob has branded his love of Spirit into his very flesh.  i kept calling him “reverand biker bob” but … we just laughed, because surely he is not that.  bob’s tat is his own private reminder of his dedication to this new way of being:

Reverand Bob showing his new "logos" tattoo to Carter

Reverand Bob showing his new "Logos" tattoo

so, for the moment, my journey with you that my blog records, documenting my personal lust for art, nature, and adventure, is taking an inward turn as i report more about my most cherished discovery … that among all things people like to share about, the most important journey of all, and perhaps the most unbelievalbe … is a person’s discovering, and then embracing, the Inner Light within.

being Spiritually Correct, s.c., is to acknowledge this Truth (of Spirit) as not only real — but really important to remember.  to call yourself s.c. is to remind yourSelf to keep a heightened awareness ever at the center of all actions, all thoughts, in the rest of all our daily living, whatever that might entail.  being “spiritual” doesn’t mean just now and then.  being s.c. means to live with awakened recognition that we are all ONE.   being s.c. takes precedent over being any other kind of “correct,” be it social, political, intellectual, environmental, groovy, hip, religious, anti-religious, cultural or quaint, material or non-consuming, or … any other ways of being fashionably or unfashionably human.

try something new — be s.c. 

being s.c. means … letting go and letting Spirit into the scene.

Dive into living In Spirit, being s.c.

Dive into living In Spirit, being s.c.

fly from your restraints and you, too, can learn to fly, In Spirit!  let your own Inner Spirit be one with the knowledge that we are all connected, we are all One.  there is a discernible energy that connects us all.  as Chief Joseph said, “we are all connected, in the web of life.”

right now, everywhere i go and you, too, people are buzzing, ranting, non-sequituring, going off the wall (but not jumping out windows–yet!), being passionate about politics, the financial fiasco, the mess our environment is in.  on everyone’s minds is the need for climate change; we’re desperate for conscious, compassionate leadership.  and so it should be, all of us being passionate — right now — at this election time.  because we all must fight for what we believe in, and that includes stating, even fighting for our choices.  each of us must discern from the political pile the best of what is offered.

but come the evening of november 4th, we must all come together as One, no matter what the results of the u.s. presidential election is.

i won’t go into politics here.  this blog is not about that subject.  my thoughts are about art, nature, the environment, and the more important subjects (hey! it’s MY blog, right!) of finding the universal Truth that hides in the heart of all members of the human race, of all living beings, too.  we are all tiny cells in the body of what some call “God” but … it doesn’t matter what you call “IT.”  IT is a mysterious, mystical, but very real, very tappable energy.  IT is a force that is unseen, yet IT connects us all, in more ways than science has yet to discover, but they are quickly on the trail of pinpointing and proving: cellular knowledge, quantum physics, string theory.  stay tuned: michio kaku will explain it all, in all good time.

the IT of plants is the same as ...

the IT of plants is the same as ...

the IT within all … spiritual energy … a person’s chi, also called the kundalini, qi, tao, Great and Holy Spirit … whatever name we choose to call the Divine … is the only reality there is, the alpha, the omega, and … the Logos:

the Force within i call Noname

the Force within i call Noname

this is not serious, no-fun business i’m talking about here. i hope you realize i am reporting on the absolute certain joyousness i feel in my heart, and soul, based on my own experiences of discovering we are all One, all connected.  if you don’t think this is fun stuff–lighten up!  don’t get me wrong or put me in some box marked “weirdo serioso.”  no sirree.  when i speak of living a life based on being s.c. i’m conveying the choice to embrace an attitude, based on personal experience.  but don’t just scoff.   put this s.c. business into practice for yourself, and see your face light up, the smiles barge into your life, and others! 

a person whose life is based on being s.c. is much more prone to laughing and doing silly things like … being in an elevator with or without friends (as happened this past weekend up in Boston) and, for the hell of it, when the doors close and the strangers stuck with you refuse to look you in the eye, or even crack a smile … gently, mellowly start to Ooooooommmmmmmmmmmm.  you’ll feel the energy change, BIG TIME!!!  boy!  you’ll see, as we did, uptight strangers rush out of an elevator so fast you’re practically knocked down!  we laugh and we laugh, and we continue to Oooommmm in the most unlikely places, with or without friends.  this is all good, all great, all unbelievable loosening action:

BE A SPIRITUAL ACTIVIST … be s.c.

help others rid themselves of stiff, old, doesn’t-work, irrepressibly stuffy and unfun thinking that needs to be unwound from the human collective soul.  

let go let Spirit into your heart, and learn to fly!

let go let Spirit into your heart, and learn to fly!

so come on, i dare you!  do something totally whacked-out remindful of Spirit today, and forget being “proper” or “polite” or “afraid to offend”…. just spread the word, of IT, of God, of Spirit, however you sing that song of bliss, whatever the Name is, whatever IT means to you.  

IT may be nature.

allow yourself to become calm, secure enough, just for today, somewhere a wild bird might easily choose to come and rest upon your head.  sit still, and thoughtful, breathe, become filled with s.c. … in your yard, by your window, on a park bench … in a golden autumn meadow.

just allow yourself to feel the goodness of being in tune with the earth, this glorious earth that we are ever-more-consciously stewards of.  your activism starts with remembering the beating of your heart, of listening to your own breath.  your entire life will feel so much better if you invite your busy mind to just stop — for a little while — and merge with your natural surroundings. become safe enough for a wild bird to trust its life to, to alight upon the top of your head.  feel the tender feet of the bird believing you and IT are indeed, the same.

breathe deeply in, pushing your belly out with the in-breath… breathe gently and long out, contracting your belly with the out-breath.  merge with your breath.  why not?  what have you got to lose?

that is what i mean by being “spirituall correct.”

each of us can sit easily by the river of our lives ... in close connection ... being s.c. by just noticing how we breathe

each of us can sit easily by the river of our lives ... in close connection ... being s.c. by just noticing how we breathe

wishing you all a fun, shimmering, serene day, even in the midst of the most tumultuous firey tempest,

in the Light, lord flea

change…the only constant in the Universe

i’m off to cambridge, mass for a fun-filled, information-packed reunion at the revered alma mater of my spouse, and to celebrate life and all its changes with our good friends of many years.

change…the only thing you can count on …

the cycle of life ... consistently changing

the cycle of life ... consistently changing

i’m thinking how i change … my body … where i am … my moods

and i’m thinking of how the world changes … seemingly so unstable, so vulnerable to outside influences.

and then i think of the one constant, besides change, that i’ve found that gives me great comfort in my journey here:

my deep contact with the Oneness of All — that force some call God, but i prefer Great Spirit.

i am a big fan of the I Ching, called the Book of Change, and written down by Confucious about 4,000 yrs. ago.  change has been a familiar comforting essence in my search for Truth.  i trust change.  i honor change.  but i also know that if i’m not flexible, like a young bamboo shoot, and allow change to happen, naturally — i am doomed for diaster.

i don’t know, i just felt like sharing that today.

mom is having a hard time adapting to the change that’s affecting her body.  her state of thinking has been altered by this tiny tiny TIA that hasn’t even registered in a CAT Scan.  but…change is not her comfort zone.

many people are freaking because of the unprecedently change in our financial world.  this is the time for all good people to rely upon nothing but their own Higher Selves.  that is the change we’re all challenged to accept.

the steadiness of eternity's change ... you and i, we are One

the steadiness of eternity

in case you’re wondering, this “down-ward dog” person i’m representing here, in sculpture and in black and white penstrokes, is the ancient egyptian goddess named Nut.  she represented the passage of the sun across the sky.  like the sun, Nut is symbolic of eternal life.  always changing, but always constant, and never ending.

i am here with you, and i wish you all a pleasant change, each and every moment of your lives.

now i change places, from st. augustine to boston!  always something.

in the Light, lordflea