“The feelings of powerlessness that often accompany failure start with those all-too-familiar ‘could have’ or ‘should have’ self-inventories. And our fear grows in tandem with the strength of our belief that an opening has been forever closed. Pervasive feelings of powerlessness eventually lead to despair. My favorite definition of despair comes from the author and pastor Bob Bell: Despair is a spiritual condition. It’s the belief that tomorrow will be just like today. My heart stopped what I heard him say this. man. I know what it feels like to be under that rock and to believe, with all of my heart, that there’s no way out and that I’ll be in that exact same spot tomorrow. For me, that feeling is absolutely a spiritual crisis.
In my work, I’ve found that moving out of powerlessness, and even despair, requires hope. Hope is not an emotion: It’s a cognitive process–a thought process made up of what researcher C. R. Snyder called the trilogy of ‘goals, pathways, and agency.’ Hope happens when we can set goals, have the tenacity and perseverance to pursue those goals, and believe in our own abilities to act.”
–Brene Brown
enclosed in your fist
i was safe
what if
i feel abused
and then you sigh
and you carefully open a space between two fingers
and i peer out
and i see
that I am being
held
up
close
in the light
of the sun
there is no ground beneath me
there is no where to run
there is not yet
any safe space
to be put down
–elisabeth connelley
I forgot somehow to run and to play around and around, up and then down laughing at you watching me as the flame rises and I float off in union. Maybe I can remember how. Please forgive me. I cannot forgive myself. At least…not yet.
“The belief that humanity makes moral progress depends upon a wilful ignorance of history. It also depends upon a wilful ignorance of oneself – a refusal to recognise the extent to which selfishness and calculation reside in the heart even of our most generous emotions, awaiting their chance. Those who invest their hopes in the moral improvement of humankind are therefore in a precarious position: at any moment the veil of illusion might be swept away, revealing the bare truth of the human condition. Either they defend themselves against this possibility with artful intellectual ploys, or they give way, in the moment of truth, to a paroxysm of disappointment and misanthropy. Both of these do violence to our nature. The first condemns us to the life of unreason; the second to the life of contempt. Human beings may not be as good as the shallow optimists pretend; but nor are they as bad as the prophets and curmudgeons have painted them.
In order to see human beings as they are, therefore, and to school oneself in the art of loving them, it is necessary to apply a dose of pessimism to all one’s plans and aspirations. I don’t go along with Schopenhauer’s comprehensive gloom, or with the philosophy of renunciation that he derived from it. I have no doubt that St Paul was right to recommend faith, hope and love (agape) as the virtues which order life to the greater good. But I have no doubt too that hope, detached from faith and untempered by the evidence of history, is a dangerous asset, and one that threatens not only those who embrace it, but all those within range of their illusions….” (see remainder of this most excellent article here)
“The power in freedom is that it allows the mind to be capable. The curious mind is engaged by change, not overwhelmed. The free mind is powerful because it is energetic and confident that it can solve whatever problem it encounters. A mind full of wonder does not seek to make others struggle because it does not struggle. It does not seek to enslave others because it has no use for enslavement. It strives instead to instill hope and a spirit of exploration in others. The only order the curious mind can tolerate is a world where we are all our own masters, doing what we love to do.”
– Za Rinpoche and Ashley Nebelsieck
The Backdoor to Enlightenment
This came up in the creative bubbles this morning and then some more urgent creations over rode it. I finished the book I wanted to read and came downstairs to look for Kathy’s trains, over on Lake Superior Spirit.
And now, since I’ve typed some story and some thoughts into it, this has become an Inside Upside Down and Backward Blog. One that seems to be having a lust/ love affair with the Morning Trip, enough to encourage her to dress up and go out on the town for an Evening Trip.
If we get stuck in labeling, however will we get on, to the good stuffs?
I’ve been waffling in despair. I have called it feeling sorry for myself. I have called it being afraid to fail. I have called it denial. I have even looked within it and smiled for a teeeeny-tiny moment and called it knowing what feels good and right, and knowing what I want. And then, I ran me over and called it rationalizing! Seeeeeeeee…I want a prize for expert label name alternatives! I am very good at it! I am also good at distraction away from my own ouchie places. The distraction statement simply leads away from the hot seat to a safer seeming area, which it really is NOT, but YOU(the reader) doesn’t know this! Maybe my halo-ed weinie costume is an OSTRITCH?!?
Ok so now follows what I was thinking. I liked the lyrics so much, that I’m simply posting them below the video, rather than getting other supporting ponderish-type materials. Pre-PS. I would like ginger candy and white tea with raspberry for treats.
“Sometimes my visions are distant and vague Down at the base of the mountain Once in a while I am weak and afraid Tired and sick of it all
I don’t believe that my story is set Nothing is destined or blatant Bound to this body a world full of hate No one will heed if I fall
No one can see it but you know that it’s there Guiding the steps of your soul Holding the truth in the cross that you bear Die with a heart that is bold
Fly on the wings of despair No one is holding you back The call on the wild is internal Conquer the silence you bear Tomorrow will not fade to black A new day is dawning remember No one can save you today
The questions are more than the answers I know That doesn’t mean you are lonely Searching for more Consecutive goal’s Making it worth to go on
No one can see it but you know that it’s there Guiding the steps of your soul Holding the truth in the cross that you bear Die with a heart that is bold
Fly on the wings of despair No one is holding you back The call on the wild is internal Conquer the silence you bear Tomorrow will not fade to black A new day is dawning remember No one can save you today
You, and you alone is forging the path Leave your sorrows with the past
Never believe that the story is set Nothing is destined or blatant Bound to this body a world full of hate No one will heed if you fall
No one can see it but you know that it’s there Guiding the steps of your soul Holding the truth in the cross that you bear Die with a heart that is bold
Fly on the wings of despair No one is holding you back The call on the wild is internal Conquer the silence you bear Tomorrow will not fade to black A new day is dawning remember No one can save you today
Fly on the wings of despair No one is holding you back The call on the wild is internal Conquer the silence you bear Tomorrow will not fade to black A new day is dawning remember No one can save you, no one can save you today“
Elisa's Spot 