“Empaths naturally struggle to accept the fact that not every issue, conflict, question, or dilemma can be resolved. One strong empathic lesson is to come to terms with the reality that not everything has an attainable resolution or concrete answer, especially in the immediate sense. If the resolution or closure of an issue is truly out of one’s own hands, nothing more can be done and that’s just how it’ll have to be. Not every issue, conflict, or misunderstanding can be resolved; sometimes the best choice is moving on…”
–Raven Digitalis, Esoteric Empathy
understanding
Morning Trip (284)
“When we lay claim to the evil in ourselves, we no longer fear its occurring outside of our control. For example, a patient comes into therapy complaining that he does not get along well with other people; somehow he always says the wrong thing and hurts their feelings. He is really a nice guy, just has this uncontrollable, neurotic problem. What he does not want to know is that his “unconscious hostility” is not his problem, it’s his solution. He is really not a nice guy who wants to be good; he’s a bastard who wants to hurt other people while still thinking of himself as a nice guy. If the therapist can guide him into the pit of his own ugly soul, then there may be hope for him….Nothing about ourselves can be changed until it is first accepted.”
–Sheldon Kopp,If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him
Morning Trip (137)
“But it’s — to me, it’s like teaching. When I’m teaching a class, and I’m up at the blackboard, and I’m having my epiphanic moment in front of some differential equation, and the students are all going — looking at me cross-eyed. But then you can see the one in the back, all of the sudden just got it. Right? And then the one in the front goes, “Oh, I see that too.” In other words, it can be contagious. But each one has to do it on their own. It’s a moment of insight. Knowledge is not something you can just move across the table and the other person has it. It’s an invitation to exploration, to think, to ideate. And then there’s that ‘aha’.”
–Arthur Zajonc, Transcript for Arthur Zajonc and Michael McCullough–Mind and Morality: A Dialogue
Morning Trip (123)
“….the right words for a difficult lesson. To be precise
does not necessitate complication, except that it is so
difficult to pluck the right thoughts from the always moving
branch, and find the words to flesh out what it is they mean.”
–Luisa A. Igloria, The Buddha remembers Miss Sifora Fang,
Here too, is a link to the Official Website of the Poetess.
Truth Appears…Ungrounded
Photographic Art Pieces and Images.
©2014 Elisabeth Connelley & Purple Shoe Photography
To Inquire, email:elisa58t2sugarless@yahoo.com
Morning Trip (113)
“The Zen disciple sits for long hours silent and motionless. Presently he enters a state of impassivity, free from all ideas and all thoughts. He departs from the self and enters the realm of nothingness. This is not the nothingness or the emptiness of the West. It is rather the reverse, a universe of the spirit in which everything communicates freely with everything, transcending bounds, limitless. There are of course masters of Zen, and the disciple is brought toward enlightenment by exchanging questions and answers with his master, and he studies the scriptures. The disciple must, however, always be lord of his own thoughts, and must attain enlightenment through his own efforts. And the emphasis is less upon reason and argument than upon intuition, immediate feeling. Enlightenment comes not from teaching but through the eye awakened inwardly. Truth is in the discarding of words, it lies outside words.”
– Yasunari Kawabata
Morning Trip (110)
“XII.
If we have become a people incapable
of thought, then the brute-thought
of mere power and mere greed
will think for us.
IF we have become incapable
of denying ourselves anything,
then all that we have
will be taken from us.
If we have no compassion,
we will suffer alone, we will suffer
alone the destruction of ourselves.
These are merely the laws of this world
as known to Shakespeare, as known to Milton:
When we cease from human thought,
a low and effective cunning
stirs in the most inhuman minds.”
–Wendell Berry, Leavings: Part Two–Sabbaths 2005
The Thing that Reminded me of Shame, and Joy, and Tears
Sometimes, we need support and it comes from magical places. There are so many things that I teach myself to believe that society expects. Then I convince myself that what I know to be correct, is not correct, and then I am lost and I am hopeless. I love this video and the man to whom I spoke this morning. It reminds me of who I am and what I can do. It frees me to do what works and to use the tools that I know to be effective to help my children. If I share my tools I can bring this joy and release to others. I am so sorry that I allowed me to forget. I do not know how to amend myself and those affected by my error. I can only cry for a minute, grieve for a minute, and stand back up.
Elisa's Spot 