More Than Horrified … I Am

February 17, 2018Leave a comment

the Journey of Life, Complicated

Amid all the turmoil and hardships, challenges and tragedy, assimilating (or denying) the violence of gun-happy Amerika — I continue to still be amazed by the glory of this journey we share together: life. I can say this after I’ve dried my tears.

Not even the latest mass school murder can plunge my heart back into the stony block it once was set in, long ago. Before I learned to accept that so-called “bad things” are part of life, and shouldn’t be denied, rejected, or feared. I won’t let one crazy kid diminish my trust in humankind’s upward evolution! I won’t let the challenge of living in a violent society lure me back to where I once was: believing there’s no sanity, no reason or purpose to living other than enduring it.

People everywhere, not just Americans, are in shock, disgust, and mourning over this week’s latest school shooting, right here in Florida, my home state. What happened here is a symptom of the dis-ease of fear that’s threatening to spread throughout the world. Fear’s children: mental problems, violence, guns and neurosis are, in my mind, presenting opportunities for more upward growth. Once we get over the shock of murdered children.

The human condition is fragile, always changing. Our instability is revealed, once more, in the current rash of violence in America. Innocent victims’ lives are cut short by … an imbalanced person who too easily got their crazed, itching hands on too-readily available guns.

Are guns the problem? Or the mental instability so rampant in today’s civilization?

My heart bleeds over the insanity of such unfounded craziness as another mass murder of children and their guardians. All decent folk are worried, concerned, getting sick of it all. There’s no turning away from the horror this next heinous act screams the truth: that our society, as well as our environment, is toxic. One person’s derangement punches a hole in the fabric of all our lives, like a contagion of darkness seen in the midst of an otherwise beautifully opening blossom of possibilities.

Evil and ugliness, horror and such violence as child-murder, these aren’t supposed to be one of the possibilities!

Yet — the darkness is part of the light. And, as one songwriter puts it, “You need the crack in the darkness in order to let the Light through.”

let’s let in the LIGHT

Surely, this infection of dark evil doesn’t permeate the entire pattern of humankind. Yet one person’s heartless deed can diminish the overall effect of many others’ efforts toward peace and harmony, making some lose faith that our collective human heart still has a chance of opening wide and fully, like the newly blossoming flower it is.

I try to sense more than what appears to be. I’d like to think the entirety of this existence we’re sharing here on Earth is Good. Evil is, unfortunately, a small part of our human fabric. Just as so-called “evil” in Nature, like the poisonous snakes we watch out for, in forests or whimsical gardens, every landscape is filled with them as well as beautiful blossoms.

Oh a hike or a camp-out, there are gnats whisking about my face trying to take away the feeling of bliss, being connected to All That Is one more easily gets in the Wild. Yet, the prospect of evil lurks behind every wall, under every rock in Nature. We have to watch ourselves, continuously, in order not to fall off cliffs, get mashed by a rock, get bitten by a bumble bee. To make sure we don’t step on the poisonous snake or allow too many gnats to bite our delicate skin — we watch ourselves.

Whenever a gnat appears at one of the wilderness campsites I love so much, attempting to feast on my blood (as gnats are designed to do, like mosquitoes, like ticks) — I have to accept their presence yet I take precautions. Otherwise, they could harm me, infect me with their contagions, and generally make an otherwise pleasant visit to the Wild nothing more than Hell on earth. So I spray bugs away, wear appropriate clothing, and watch myself. Where I walk. Where I put my hands, where I pitch my tent.

Dealing with Nature is part of the experience of going into the Wild. To be open to Her glory, but also to protect ourselves from Her dangers. You can’t expect to have the comfort, sanitation, and predictability of sitting in one’s living room, watching a TV-special about Nature when you decide to actually go into Nature. When we accept Nature for what it is, natural, and unpredictable, just as gorgeous as it is dangerous — that’s one way how we can better elevate our senses. We become One with the essence of our environment. We accept the dangers, as well as the glory of our natural existence.

So as I prepare knapsack, supplies, tent and hiking shoes, I always remember — bug spray to ward against insects; and knife, don’t forget the knife! I know the bugs will be there. And the knife is for, well, just about everything else. There’s no getting away from irritating insects (unless an unforeseen phenomena of weather, wind, or seasonal, unknown hatching rhythms happens to align with my camping plans, like a cosmic event similar to the recent Blue-Red Moon, in which several rare celestial events lined up, ones which won’t simultaneously occur for another 150 years).

The gnats of life are always with us. Thus too, killers will always be among our human population. As well as rapists, adulterers, and every other sort of aberration known to the human species, Dumb shit asshole people! They’re a dime a dozen. Mentally ill? Or evil? Seeds of the Devil? Or … just part of the natural balance of the human experience? Nature has dangerous killers, too. Tsunamis, typhoons, wild fires, floods, over-the-top unfair, yet natural horrors of everyday life here on our floating ball in space.

lift ourSELVES UP: we are ONE

Hardships are always going to be around, no matter what. We have to accept that life is filled with bad as well as good. And really, these labels, what are they? Just ways of defining which events hurt, called “bad” and which feel “good.” Is a hurricane “bad”? Is an earthquake? Simply because … it exists?

When we read of another catastrophe, we breathe a sigh of relief it didn’t happen to us. But all these evils, the “bads” of life, they’re as much a part of our collective story as the joy, the bliss, the “goods”. Crazy people are, sadly, naturally occurring events. People do go nuts, or are born with incredible handicaps that push them toward insanity. Massacres and mass killings have taken place since the beginning of recorded history. Just as Earth’s weather patterns goes berserk and kills. Rains ruin crops, cause droughts and starvation, Nature causes children to sometimes be born lifeless by even the healthiest of mothers (my own mom). In a certain perspective, Life is a seesaw of opposing events, a balance of goods and bads, rights and wrongs. Is it any wonder that humans call “the Devil” that name with its “D” in front of evil?

Yet, for every eruption of a volcano the planet has, every eruption of a madman’s gun pointed at innocents — we endure. We heal. We pick ourselves up and wonder at the shocking drama that continuously unfolds before us. Most days, the play, the interaction is filled with more marvel and mystery than misery. But this past week, with another school shooting — the drama has taken a very sad turn, once again.

Every single one of us has had our share of tragedy. Some of us accept it, some of us can’t. Simply can’t. Some of us spend precious time complaining, protesting — or worst of all — denying. Some unfortunates decide to off themselves because life seems too damn hard. Too awful. Too hopeless, and helplessly evil.

But today I want to share with you how I see the balance of life, in life of the role tragedies play, as necessary, unfortunately. Painful things happen, and we must learn from them, take action, and make sure we combat the negative energies they produce with sufficient positive forces to counterbalance, and conquer the demons of evil. Or else — evil may override the beauty of this creation.

Just ask yourself: How many good things do we hear about? How many times do we hear in the News about the number of people who are achieving great things? Awakening to the Light of Higher Consciousness instead of how many were murdered by an imbalanced person?

I’m happy to report that in this morning’s NYTimes I read the “Good News Column.” Wow! And I hear from other sources that more and more news sources are including a special section for those who are sick of the bad news, and want to fill their minds with at least some good news. But let’s face it: bad news is more sensational and … bad news sells.

The News goes for sensational, period. Yet everyday there’s scores of people who do great and wonderful things. Inventing new ways to celebrate our humanness. Researching new sources of energy, discovering cures for debilitating diseases. Dreaming solutions to what used to be unsolvable, hopeless predicaments. Taking on new and more difficult challenges.

Our species is awakening, in a grand and unprecedented fashion. We have embarked upon the next step of evolutionary heights that we have, step-by-step, been taking in our human journey together. Some of us, unconsciously, choose to focus on what mainstream media dishes out. Others (more aware of outside influences) look within, and search the goodness that’s spreading throughout the world one person at a time. Social media fans the flames of humankind’s robust metamorphosis as much as it’s accused of hampering with the 2016 election.

choose your life’s focus, Light or Dark

The internet can do anything! If you’re a News junkies, glued to the latest Breaking News report, or social media gossip feed, or ever present Amber- or sex-offender screen-alert, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But people who operate away from the internet’s ubiquitous influence, can create the kind of goodness they want, just by staying away from the News. So we think, we become. If you want to be happy, try substituting happy thoughts instead of watching/reading the News.

That’s why I’m proclaiming some good news today instead of joining in with the national mourning over the recent killings. Yes, I’m upset but I do not despair. My focus is on other things besides atrocities and negative outbursts of insane people, young or old.

I focus on the knowledge, which I know without the slightest doubt, that our human family is healthier than it’s ever been. More people are able to receive education, more of us are free, living without tyranny, capable of choosing our own destinies! We are choosing to awaken to a higher understanding of how to live, accept one another, become more One in reality, not just in name. The number of those already awakened (not brain-washed by mainstream propaganda) persons is beyond the tipping point. Our species is right now changing from fear-based to opened to higher possibilities. What those possibilities are — is without limitation.

I’m not an idealist. I’m simply a chronicler of what’s happening. I look all around me, and I record what I see, hear, and understand to be true. And No, I do not sit in front of a screen to watch others tell me how to think. I know the News; I read about what’s happening elsewhere, everyday, on my iPad. At one time, usually in the morning. I’m aware of other events as they unfold throughout the day, but mainly focus on my work of chronicling the uplifting of humankind’s consciousness via words and images.

I decided long ago that I had to protect my well-earned peace of mind. I choose to not get upset, give up, get outraged, go into despair and accusatory mode.

All my adult life I’ve been concerned with observing my own evolution of consciousness. For those of us who choose to “be as aware as possible” this is a delightful pastime. As an artist and writer I’ve documented my own journey from my early stage of total fright about life, right on up to here and Now. My present state which I call Being-ness, the state of Accepting All That Is.

Awareness is described by others, teachers such as Eckhart Tolle, as allowing that portal of inner comprehension that allows us to feel connected to All — to fully open within us. After facing our blocks, dissolving our resistance, we can go through this portal within, which allows a person to understand how we are all One. It took me a long time to reach this place. And now that I’ve done the work of letting go of fear and fright, ridding myself of the barriers that deflected Truth, and now enjoy my own mind’s stilling … my role as spiritual activist is simply to share it.

That’s why I write and art. That’s what compels me to speak of today’s subject: being amazed more than being appalled over the tragedies of life that we all share. Not a single person, I bet, is untouched by children getting killed at their own school. It is a horror akin to being bombed by a sudden energy attack.

Yet — life continues. The moments, minutes, and hours after the attack — keep happening. Life .. keeps happening. We breathe In, we breathe Out. One breath at a time, we continue living.

Yesterday I discovered that I’ve been sharing my thoughts on LordFlea for ten years now. Without a whisper of celebration, I have already spent an entire decade of making public the journey of awareness I’ve been on. As I plan to continue being on. I’ll share what I can, not giving a care whether anyone listens here or not, believes me or not. Documenting my experience is simply something I must do.

Before I started LordFlea, in December 2008, I used to have a heavy sinking depression — based on the false belief that there was nothing I could do to communicate the amazing and very real sense of Oneness that is, truly, my reality. Sure, I’d been making images about discovering, testing, proving this sensation for many years before I began writing about it. LordFlea has been my chosen vehicle to help me make the transition from image-making artist, solely, to writer/artist who chronicles Beingness. I am happy to serve! It is my pleasure to share what I have experienced with all of you!

I’m happy to announce I’m at the final-edit stages of my next book, which you’ll hear more about in coming weeks. Stay tuned. And here’s the link if you’d like to see my current publication: In the I: Easing Through Life Storms.

Be Love!

Your pal, Lordflea, aka teZa

As Above So Below

February 7, 2011February 7, 2011Leave a comment

Hi Friends,

This morning I awoke with the words “As Above So Below” clearly spoken, calmly reminding me, gently gushing from my mind. Naturally I pondered them, because whenever I “hear” a message I take it to heart, and contemplate what it could possibly mean. It wasn’t obvious, at first. But then my thoughts turned to what’s happening over in the Middle East, and in particular, the current populist revolution in Egypt, and how what’s going on there reflects what’s going on within me, at this very moment. My breath took a punch when I realized it was true — what happens to the world is like a mirror being held up for me to see that what happens to others, happens to each and every one of us, as individuals.

the universal (as in Universe, not "worldly") sign of Peace

Spock, one of my heroes, has the ability to methodically analyze each situation that arises more than we humans do, because he’s Vulcan, an alien race that doesn’t experience emotions. We humans, on the other hand, often get our feelings mixed in with the pure-and-simple truth right before us. Let me try to explain:

People are seriously angry over the military-run dictatorship of Mubarak in Egypt, a regime that has purported to be democratic to the outside world yet, in actuality, is far from it. There is no other political party in Egypt besides Mubarak’s, so when there’s ever been an “election” his is the only name people can vote for. This is dictatorship and after 30 years of oppression, economic hardship and other ways of expressing their disgruntledness, people are finally, and violently, voicing that NOW is time for change. Because they’ve gathered in such insistent numbers, a change has indeed already occurred with Mubarak announcing he’ll step down in September, although that’s not as soon as demonstrators would like. Perhaps people will continue their civil disruption on the streets of Cairo until their demands of the dictator’s immediate departure is announced? That remains to be seen. But the important thing here, and that I relate to on a personal basis, and perhaps you will, or do already, is that when it’s time for a change … we need to pay attention to “signs” and then immediately, and courageously take action — before it becomes too late for “gradual change.” Because change will happen. It’s only a matter of whether it’s “sane” and gradual, or “insane” and regrettably violent. The same results will be met either way: change always happens. Of course the optimum method for change is gradual and steady. Even if it’s overnight and shocking (like the Berlin Wall coming down in ’89!) change surely occurs, whether with intelligent foresight and planning, or with violence and sudden force. After the Berlin Wall came down, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany reminds us during this Egyptian crisis, an entire year was spent to create the democratic merging of East and West Berlin after the Communist wall crumbled by force, by a populist upheaval. And so we hope the Egyptians will take care and pay attention to their transition government also. But, no matter how it’s done, one thing is true in this earthly existence:

the only constant in life is change.

surrounded by choices, dancing with change

Okay, I’ll go first. I’ll share the change I now realize I need to make in my own life. And then you might want to take a moment out of your busy day, after reading this post, to contemplate what change you can identify you need to make in your own life. Because we all need fine-tuning; improvement, betterment, evolving, learning, lightening-up and enlightening. Each and every one of us. It’s part and parcel of the journey of being a spiritual being living a human existence: each and every one of us has lessons to learn. First as individuals, and then, as a united family of humankind. As Above So Below. What happens to the individual happens to the collective citizens of each of our towns, states, provinces, countries. And, most importantly, in this day of increased global climate-change awareness — what happens to ALL of us as the united and concerned citizens of planet Earth is the ultimate change we’re all involved with. We are all inhabitants of a planet that badly needs its dwellers to change, for the sake of the future of our world “home.”

we are ONE: what affects one of us, affects us ALL

In my lifelong pursuit as artist and writer, my goal has always been to “help” uplift the human situation, by contributing whatever I could to the collective consciousness, in the form of art, stories and being as compassionate a person as I possibly can. Some of you who have been following Lord Flea Sings know that I’ve recently finished a book, and have been involved in the challenging task of finding an agent or, even better, an editor of a publishing house that can help bring my literary work to the public. The book, a nonfiction narrative entitled Heart Island: tales of an unnatural naturalist is a true story of a spiritual warrior who adventures in the Darkness before finally surrendering to the Light. Like the 3 novels I’ve written before this nonfiction current work, along with numerous stories, essays, and other writings, I’ve been reaching out (querying, it’s called) to the publishing industry to get my contributions into print for a good many years now. I won’t go into numbers here because that’s depressing. Let’s just say I’ve given mainstream publishing my all. I’ve made a good effort, in other words, with Heart Island and the many other projects I’ve assiduously tried to get published. NOW it’s time to change. NOW it’s time to fully grasp that my destiny lies elsewhere besides the “legitimately published” one I’ve always thought was mine. The idea, in other words, of who and what I thought I was meant to be (a legitimately published author not a self-published one, for example) just doesn’t measure up to what I actually am, here and now.

True, I am author and artist of Lordflea, a spiritual blog I’m proud of and receive many stunning compliments about from others. But that’s not what I thought my contribution to humankind’s evolutionary process would only be. I thought: through books and images and spiritually provocative art, that my life’s work could help inspire others’ hearts into taking action, even if that action was simply to go inward. It is my ardent wish to encourage others to contemplate the spiritual aspects of the interconnectedness we share on this glorious planet spinning in space, which we happen to cohabitate.

: swimming in the Sea of Change

There I was, awakening this morning, wondering what the words, “As Above So Below” meant to me at that precise moment (not their original Biblical meaning, which is a whole ‘nother story, un huh). Next, came my thinking of the rioting, the violence, the anger, the dismay, the unpleasantness of Egyptians taking to the streets — and how the result of their revolutionary mass actions is that CHANGE is happening, BIG TIME in Egyptian governance!!! Other methods the common man has tried just never worked over there. Now, after feeling compelled to throw rocks, shout, scream, demand, and staying put in front of soldiers’ threats and rifles, change is beginning to be granted their dire and dismal social situation.

I look at my own life (and you, too, I heartily encourage, can look at yours in the same manner) and realize that we can all make changes, either gradually or revolutionary — but change each and everyone of us must! There is something in each of our lives we need to correct. No one is perfect. Hardly any of us are saints, such as Mother Theresa and those of our brethren who have been designated to have achieved that noble status. Even my own spiritual teacher (see www.siddhayoga.org) speaks of how she’s had to change, and continues to fine-tune, with contemplation-the-action, and how she reflects on each new improvement that enables her to maintain her hard-earned but durably enlightened state.

My need to CHANGE is to “get real” and accept that a publisher just ain’t gonna print my book, period. Or at least I’m no longer going to hold my breath that will happen. Instead, I am exercising my birth right! I have a choice! I can take action! I can figuratively take to the streets, the golden streets of my own heart, and shake my fists at my own little self that hasn’t explored all my other options!

So right here, right now, I announce to the world that I recognize that my Higher Self is calling me to take the next right step. And that is to bring my work — my book(s) and my art — to the world through my own efforts. Self-publication is now on this new agenda. There are other ways, also, in which I can actualize getting my work to the public: by mySelf (I use capital “S” to designate the doer of these new inspired actions, because my little “s” self, my un-evolved, un-spiritual little ego-self, is a real coward, a shivering lily-livered wimp, a can’t-do-anything-unless-forced-to-do-so person! ha ha! can you relate?).

This is my plan: Chapter-by-chapter my book will be available on the new blog I’ve created: Heart Island. My art work and other creative projects will soon be available for viewing, copying, with originals for sale on a new website I’m in the process of designing: inspiring-transformation-story. Okay, sure, I’ll continue contacting the publishing industry, but with a much more detached attitude. I’ll give the “real” publishing world another few months before I pursue self-publishing Heart Island.

With this post I’m declaring a new regime, a freer atmosphere replacing the oppression of my former disillusioned and unhappy mental state. No longer am I waiting to “be discovered.” No longer am I hoping that some “one” will come along and out me by getting my work to the public through normal literary means. I’m no longer waiting for those who have the “power” to bridge my wants of helping the world, taking my desire-to-be over to the other side of actually being heard, being seen, and being a much more active participant in the ongoing spiritually-expanding revolution currently happening to humanity. No longer am I in a holding pattern. From this day forth I declare that I, Lordflea, my own Self, will do whatever it takes to be my own bridge. I even drew a picture about this very subject many years ago….but at that time i wasn’t ready to take this power into my own hands — yet. But today … I Am That!

: “I Am The Bridge” connecting my wishes with my real life

I hope each of you who reads this takes a moment to follow my lead. Close your eyes. Tune into the in-and-out sound of your breath for a few rounds (this process, done even for a few breaths, instantly puts one’s mind into Alpha waves, the meditative state the brain’s activity naturally attunes to in relaxation … trust me, it works!). When you feel calm and centered, and your breath is your only “thought” … then you can ask yourSelf this question: “What do I need to change in my own life? What can I do today to make my life, and the entire world’s existence, a more positive experience?”

Join me, won’t you, dear friends… in the meditation revolution that is quietly, but assuredly, taking place right here, right now! We are all proof of this movement’s existence. You wouldn’t be here at Lordflea Sings, if you didn’t believe That.

: when you uplift your own Self you uplift the entire world!

with great Respect, with great Love,

lordflea, your pal

Our Great Good Fortune

December 6, 2010December 7, 20102 Comments

Dear Friends,

For the last few nights i’ve been writing a post in my head as i’m falling asleep, because I haven’t been able to visit you for a little while, yet there is so very much to share. So much has happened since my last touch here: where to begin where to begin? I’ll start with what has struck me most closely to the heart in the last few weeks I’ve not been posting.

things are not what they appear to be

I wish to talk about “Things Are Not What They Appear To Be” … For instance, you might look at this drawing and think, “Yipes! it’s a snake atop a person’s head!” Well yes, that’s the literal translation; but no….you’re mistaken. This is an interpretitive rendition of a spiritual axiom, a rendition of a scriptural verse, in fact, in which the snake represents Shakti (spiritual energy), identifiable by the people-like figures (the family of humManity) imprinted on its skin; the object the snake is twisting around, the round-topped column shape called the Lingum, represents Shiva (in the East), the source of consciousness; and the person whose head all this esoteric activity is happening upon—is YOU—and ME—and all of us! So in other words, this illustration is about an awakened life, a spiritual life, and the choice that each and every one of us has of making ours thus so … or not. We DO choose to be more aware—or not.

CHOOSE to be the BIGGEST you can be--awaken to your HIGHER SELF

I have a story to share about “things appearing differently than what they are.”

The other day I was driving, at a street corner about to make a turn onto US1, a major four- lane highway that runs north-south through my town, when I spied a most bizarre woman, all dressed in PINK, with one outstretched hand, slowly waving, langourously, to passing cars, while with her other, laboriously pulling a child’s play wagon upon which a sign was fixed bearing the word, “Thanks” written on paper, also PINK! As I passed her during my zippy turn I noticed she wore a full surgical mask, and this buzzed my detective-activation wonderment. Although I must admit my first thought was simply (oh, our foolish preconceptions, folks!) “Okay, this lady is a real nut case,” as our town has an entire nearby forest-full, where homeless and hobos alike camp out. The traffic on US1 was flowing fast; this unathletic-looking lady-in-Pink was waving to them with effort, her steps slow and sluggish, her mask hiding her intent and features, and her proximity to the cars was hazardous, to say the least. I wasn’t curious enough to wonder much more, other than associating the PINK with her possibly wanting to say “thanks,” because, perhaps, she might be a breast cancer survivor, as the time for honoring that cause had just recently passed. I was rushing on my way to do errands and ended up stopping off at my mom’s.

Those of you who’ve been fans of Lordflea Sings have heard how spunky my mom is. She’s 92 now and filled with vim and vinegar galore. So after I put up her outdoor Christmas wreath by climbing to the tippy top of a fifteen foot ladder (otherwise, SHE would have! I kid you not) I suggested to mom we go for a walk, as she’s been a little shaky on her feet ever since she had a trip or two in the past couple years. Otherwise, she’s a fit as a fiddle. Catches buckets of fish up on the pier on St. Augustine Beach, tells stories at Taletellers, and is working on her fourth–fourth!–book of stories. (Write me and order one! dearlordflea@gmail.com) One would never suspect her age by looking at her.

ma gypsy mama

Anyway, we were walking along US 1 close to her neighborhood when suddenly I spied in the distance—you guessed it—the very same lady in PINK still struggling along at her turtle’s pace along the side of the road, waving with effort to every passing car, and hauling her little wagon with its incongruous message of Thanks. I said to mom, “Uh oh, here comes that nut case.” And explained that I’d passed this lady-in-Pink over an hour earlier. It had taken her that long to walk the mile and a half that a normal person, even someone of my mom’s advanced years, could handle in half that time. Mom and I slowed our pace because we were drawing closer to the woman. And just as we were wondering how we might get past her without drawing this kook’s attention—because the sidewalk came quite close to the swift traffic at that point of interception where she now was—a dark car pulled up behind her.

“Must be the cops,” mom said.

“Or…maybe someone who’s taken pity on her,” I added.

We watched and to our surprise a big burly man wearing shorts and a T-shirt (an off-duty cop, I wondered) got out of his car and spoke to the woman. From our distance we saw him take out a folded chair and offer it to the lady-in-Pink, who swiftly sat down by the side of the roadway directly in front of his SUV. It was a dangerous place to rest and relax for any other than a struggling miles-long walker hauling a kiddie-wagon with an indecipherable message. Mom and I kept walking toward her, now curious beyond measure. “I’ve got to find out what’s going on,” I told mom, and she didn’t try to convince me otherwise as we approached the two beside the busy highway.

“Hi,” I said, “what’s going on? I saw you down the road over an hour ago. You look tired. What are you doing with that wagon?”

The woman with the surgical mask, who up close and from her eyes alone and her brightly dyed plum-red hair and youthful complexion appeared no more than early forty-ish, immediately told my mom and me: “I’m raising awareness for organ donations. I just had a new heart, a transplant, three months ago. I’m walking all the way home, to Titusville (a hundred miles away!) to show everyone my appreciation, thanking them for making it possible for me to be alive today.”

As the woman gulped big breaths of air through her mask (three months! a new heart! was I hearing correctly? the pollution of the road was enough to make my immune system squeamish) mom rushed up to her. “Oh, can I touch you?” and did, touching the woman’s arm as if she were a good-luck charm sent from the Buddha of Longevity itself. And truly—she was a miracle.

the miraculous heart, the True Center of our Lives

Then we heard the REAL story of the lady-in-Pink, right from her own mouth. Her name is Debi Bair and her husband, Wade, was following her at a safe distance all the way home to Titusville from a little town north of St. Augustine. Debbie wanted to duplicate the walk she had done BEFORE her transplant, during which she’d raised enough funds to enable her heart transplant at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. Otherwise she might not have been able to receive one because she had no funds and no insurance. Even though she was tired, and you can bet would have been better off just resting at home after such recent and complicated surgery, she was determined to show the world her thanks, and raise awareness of the need for people to sponsor organ donorship. Either by donating money—or their organs.

I told Debbie that I was a designated-organ donar. All who are have that marked on our drivers license. And then proudly I announced to Debbie and Wade that Mom is a donor for her entire body when she decides (if ever) to leave this glorious planet for the next realm. Mom beamed with joy and pride as we discussed how important this is, the gift of her remains, that she has bequeathed to the University of Florida after her passing. Wade, the tattooed, bearded, kind-hearted and ever so patient champion of Debbie who was following her at a snail’s pace all the way home, and whose car bore on its rear the more informative sign of: “Debbie Bair, New Heart Donated. Stop her for donarship information” said to mom, “A lot of people will be glad to have different parts of you,” and my mom laughingly agreed. She’s a good egg. Then added, “You’d be surprised how many people object to what I’ve done when they find out. They say, ‘you can’t do that!’ You need to get buried’ or some such nonsense. I don’t even bother explaining to those kind of people, what my real intentions are,” mom said.

As we stood chatting, keeping Debbie company while she rested for the next excruciating length of her long journey home, I thought how this walk-for-awareness of hers was one with a purpose as wide, as deep, as meaningful and profound as some peoples’ entire lives are. And then I thought how I was pretty much, “one of those kind of people” my mom just scoffed at, by the way I’d so quickly dismissed and classified Debbie in the “nut case” category when I first spied her, quickly labeling her as some queer lady-in-Pink only interrupting traffic and trying to get noticed. I decided then and there that I have to practice being even more open minded than I am (and boy! I usually pride myself of being very open-to-all)..

expand your thinking, CHANGE your thinking, dear ONE---glooww bright

expand your thinking, CHANGE your thinking, dear ONE---glooow brightly

Last night I saw Stevie Wonder speaking to Larry King. Stevie has been blind since birth. Larry asked him “Stevie, how do you think you’d feel if you could ‘see’ for real—with your eyes—your piano, your TV, your audience, your children’s faces?” and Stevie’s answer reflected so well what I’ve been thinking about since bumping into Debbie, the lady-in-Pink. “I don’t think I’d be surprised, because I pretty much see them already, Larry,” he said. He went one to say (and I’m paraphrasing here) that too often people have pre-conceptions about things and they think they “see” something but they don’t really, because they approach things with already made-up minds, instead of each time approaching something fresh and new, as if for the very first time. Only then do we really ‘see’ what something actually is. Thanks, Stevie, for that reminder!

This is my thought for today. I’m going to work on changing my thinking. I’m going to remember what Great Good Fortune it is to be ALIVE! to feel my heart beating in my chest, to run into people like Debbie and Wade Blair from Titusville, FL and to fully sense the wonder, the excitement and the gratitude they themselves have, just to be breathing air that day, today, this moment—together.

And so it is…. the wonder …. the MYSTERY! …. life!!!

Sir Wonder, a Spiritual Warrior, a very real part of you and me, and all of us

I’m glad to be back sharing my thoughts and images with you, dear friends. Will I ever be able to create short posts? I dunno. Doesn’t seem to be my style. A twittering tweeter, i’ll never be.

In the Light, with much love, your pal lordflea

click here to read Debi Bair’s remarkable walking journey: Debi’s Heart-Walk make a contribution, and find out more about the National Transplant Fund

www.DonateLifeFlorida.org for more information on donating organs in Florida

In Spirit: New Ideas a-Tremblin’ in the Wind

October 28, 2010October 28, 20101 Comment

Dear Friends,

I was inspired to download on my iPhone a drawing app after seeing last week’s New Yorker cover by David Hockney, who does a drawing on his iPad or iPhone everyday. I’d never even thought of that! Wow, so rush rush to the app store, find a freebie, and voila! Here’s the first drawing of the new graphic season of content, a la Lordflea Sings:

thoughts on new life

Within the female form new life stirs.

Within our own minds, new thoughts arise.

Within the social fabric, change and newness cause a-stirring.

And so I pondered all these things, as I drew with my new drawing tool, so cool, so hi-tech, so easy and accessible. I’ll be sharing more of these drawings with you in the future. You can even draw on top of photos, like this one of friends (not minding the ears and moustaches I’ve given them):

making something else of what is

And that brings up what I have in mind to speak about today. This post has been hatching in my thoughts for quite a while during the last few weeks, as i’ve been busy taking workshops (one about the spiritual meaning of the great pre-Christian era scripture, The Bhagavad Gita, “The Song of God” a many weeks-long course I am still in the midst of; and … another nine-weeks course on how to build, maintain, and publicize a website…coming soon!).

I’ve noticed a lot of people are on edge lately. Yeterday, for instance, I had two people who ought to have known me better, completely blow my mind by acting as if they didn’t understand the good intentions from which I operate. In short, I felt attacked by their accusations. In one case it was an outright blast of vitriolic unfairness, directed at me for who-knows-what reason. The other was a more indirect, but none the less aggressive swipe at my rootedness in being a kind, giving, self-less person (to the best of my ability). So these actions yesterday, compiled by a lot of tension i generally see going on among so many others these days, has led me to want to share about this subject:

What I do when I get confused by things

I make a list of Pro’s on one side of a piece of paper, and on the other side I make a list of the Con’s, and add to both sides until I exhaust the subject that confuses me. It always makes me feel better, and adds to my understanding, even giving me glimpses as to how I may have caused some of my own discomfort. Wow, now there’s a thought. So…let’s take my present unpleasant-people situaion as an example (with the idea that you can apply this method to anything else that intrigues you, or confuses or challenges your peace of mind, and it will help enormously, to clarify your beliefs about any subject).

My issue is, simply put: I live my life for the spiritual connection I intrinsically feel and have spent my entire life developing, yet some people doubt that, challenge my belief in the existence of Spirit or its validity over geopolitics, environmentalistm, mundane nitty-gritty living, or simply don’t give this flavor of living (In Spirit, I call it, an incredibly flavorful, bouteous, and diversified lifestyle) any merit.

So here are my columns with some items I’ve been thinking about listed beneath them, for this particular introspective exercise:

PRO (living a spiritual life) CON (living a material life)

I live in peace………………………………Others challenge my motives

I feel at One with Great Spirit…………I believe fundamentalism separates

I care to live In Spirit…………………..Many could care less and ostracize me

Spiritual is the new world order……The old order is cracking, people getting weird

I trust that all will be well……………Many are fearful, angry, depressed

Spirit comes from the Heart………Needing things come from Head

Heart/Spirit is pure feeling…………….Unquenchable wants are from thinking

Spirit reaps abundance of all things……..Material always lead to bankruptcy

the Reward is inner peace………………the Reward is things, status quo

Being guided by Spirit is object……….Acquiring stuff and domination is goal

I sometimes feel alone, but am not…..This time is a shift of beliefs

others share Spirit more and more…..I must appear like a freak to many

I love life! am not scared, sad, mad….I notice many others are just that

take a breather---agree to re-think, and maybe, re-birth yourself!

take time to reflect before jumping off the edge...you can change!

We all have choices. Here’s a drawing I’ve used many times before in my sharings with you, but…hey! it says a million words, so here it is again!

we all have CHOICES

I’m always happy to share my thoughts with each and every one of you who comes to visit Lordflea Sings. Thanks for making time for something special in your life, and in mine.

in the Light,

Lordflea, your pal