When the going gets smooth,
Suddenly I think of you
Of what evaluation you may surmise,
Suddenly my inspiration dies...
Should I look to you to justify,
The movement of my soul,
Whether wordly, kinetic, or musical?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Left-Handed Empiricism
Light as feather
A few simple words, strung together,
Thicker than night, coursing in my veins,
Where the shadows reign,
Here the true terrors lie,
Near the muse, her sigh
Whispering through my mind,
Clearing the muddied air,
Here I search and find,
Words that are neither yours nor mine,
But taken and woven,
Borrowed or stolen,
These streets are my own,
Not paved, but grown.
Like a vagabond, I roam.
In this place, this city, this forest of lies,
Myth and tales come alive,
From which certainty could never be derived.
Thieves on rooftops,
Couples working coffee shops,
Flutes singing,
Bodies swinging,
And truth is being excavated,
But mystery elevated always above, always
with a shrug, of doubt and skepticism,
Left-handed empiricism.
A few simple words, strung together,
Thicker than night, coursing in my veins,
Where the shadows reign,
Here the true terrors lie,
Near the muse, her sigh
Whispering through my mind,
Clearing the muddied air,
Here I search and find,
Words that are neither yours nor mine,
But taken and woven,
Borrowed or stolen,
These streets are my own,
Not paved, but grown.
Like a vagabond, I roam.
In this place, this city, this forest of lies,
Myth and tales come alive,
From which certainty could never be derived.
Thieves on rooftops,
Couples working coffee shops,
Flutes singing,
Bodies swinging,
And truth is being excavated,
But mystery elevated always above, always
with a shrug, of doubt and skepticism,
Left-handed empiricism.
In The Falling of a Grain of Sand
Ponds are stirred
Truths and lies unfurled,
Questioning constraint and capacity
Balancing victory and tragedy
Thrown about, but it's by my own hand
Opening my mouth to shout, but drowning in sand
The sands of time, pouring with such pressure
I submit, suddenly what such pleasure!
To see death unfold in every instant,
Opposing the persistent nature of creation,
and entropy... a mathematical derivation.
This world, inherently without reason,
Countless languages giving it rhyme,
And death heralded by the passage of the seasons,
A single moment is extended in time,
into en eternity, intended to contain,
The quantum mystery of uncertainty,
In a single grain
And the band marches on,
So we dance, we dance, we dance till we die.
Truths and lies unfurled,
Questioning constraint and capacity
Balancing victory and tragedy
Thrown about, but it's by my own hand
Opening my mouth to shout, but drowning in sand
The sands of time, pouring with such pressure
I submit, suddenly what such pleasure!
To see death unfold in every instant,
Opposing the persistent nature of creation,
and entropy... a mathematical derivation.
This world, inherently without reason,
Countless languages giving it rhyme,
And death heralded by the passage of the seasons,
A single moment is extended in time,
into en eternity, intended to contain,
The quantum mystery of uncertainty,
In a single grain
And the band marches on,
So we dance, we dance, we dance till we die.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Short video about world-wide refugees from the IRC: "Journeys"
http://www.theirc.org/journeys-video-flashhigh.html
"42 million refugees are on a journey
A journey of life or death
Safety or suffering
Freedom or oppression
A journey they were forced to take
By war and persecution
It begins in an instant
of violent threat
or devastation
It may take many years
Over countless miles
It spans countries
And generations
It has taken so much from them
Their homes
Their loved ones
Their most basic necessities
But what cannot be taken
Is their courage and will
To keep going on
To regain all they have lost
To reunite with family
To rebuild their communities
To reclaim their human rights
The right to learn
The right to speak
The right to work
They struggle and survive
Against all odds
Because they are strong
Because they are proud
Because dignity is never destroyed
Because even in the worst of crises
The best of humanity arises
With hope
And help
For 75 years
We have led the way
With a fierce commitment
Unswerving effectiveness
Bold compassion
Action
And advocacy
With skill
Care
And Daring
We come to aid
We stay to guide
Wherever needed
For as long as it takes
In 42 countries
and 24 US cities
Because the journey
Is not traveled alone
Or without help
Someone shines a light in the darkness
Another finds a way
On the greatest human journey
From harm to home
The journey starts with you."
"42 million refugees are on a journey
A journey of life or death
Safety or suffering
Freedom or oppression
A journey they were forced to take
By war and persecution
It begins in an instant
of violent threat
or devastation
It may take many years
Over countless miles
It spans countries
And generations
It has taken so much from them
Their homes
Their loved ones
Their most basic necessities
But what cannot be taken
Is their courage and will
To keep going on
To regain all they have lost
To reunite with family
To rebuild their communities
To reclaim their human rights
The right to learn
The right to speak
The right to work
They struggle and survive
Against all odds
Because they are strong
Because they are proud
Because dignity is never destroyed
Because even in the worst of crises
The best of humanity arises
With hope
And help
For 75 years
We have led the way
With a fierce commitment
Unswerving effectiveness
Bold compassion
Action
And advocacy
With skill
Care
And Daring
We come to aid
We stay to guide
Wherever needed
For as long as it takes
In 42 countries
and 24 US cities
Because the journey
Is not traveled alone
Or without help
Someone shines a light in the darkness
Another finds a way
On the greatest human journey
From harm to home
The journey starts with you."
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Injuries
I have recently come upon several injuries that have severely altered my training. I have only recently begun to take this as a lesson. It is one that I am intensely grateful for.
The first injury within this series occurred as the result of a bicycle accident. On my way to Breakthrough early one rainy morning, my bike slid out. I was in the right lane of the road at a turn, and was hurtled forward into the left lane, directly in front of an oncoming car that thankfully stopped before colliding into me.
I quickly got up and went on my way, checking for injuries only after arriving late to work. I hurt my knee a bit, but more disabling, although I did not yet realize it, was the injury to my left hand. It was intensely bruised and swollen. It would prevent me from almost any training for a few weeks.
Soon following came the accumulation of unrelenting stress on my right shoulder. In my conditioning, I began too quickly putting inordinate burdens on my shoulders: handstand presses, pikes, hollow-backs, rais, ponte, walkovers, etc. I noticed a clicking in my shoulder but refused to relent. One morning I awoke to sharp pains restricting the range of motion in my right shoulder. Diagnosis: torn rotator cuff.
As I begin to recuperate, with elastic band rehabilitative exercises, I attempt to compensate by intensifying my leg training: parkour, pistols, jumps, kicks, etc. I begin to notice a slight twinge in my right buttock, especially when throwing kicks. I assume the injury is a bruise (wondering when I might have taken such an injury). Two days ago I am trying to fall asleep, when I notice the twinge has become more intense. This morning I rose to find the pain quite debilitating: I am unable to walk, sit, stand, or climb stairs without pain. Tentative diagnosis: periformis tear/strain.
Now I sit, aware of an upcoming batizado, wondering if I will be capable of performing...
So what do I take from this?
My training is unbalanced and inflexible. I try to fit in as many hours of training as possible into the day, and I am suffering the accumulated strains, wear, and tear.
The most salient mentality is one of rushing to attain a lofty vision or goal. Time is limited, I am aging. Regardless, it is of no benefit to rush. Take it slow. I realize now that in order to have a physiologically and psychologically sustainable practice, I need more balance and less rigidity.
I look forward to experimenting with this new approach.
The first injury within this series occurred as the result of a bicycle accident. On my way to Breakthrough early one rainy morning, my bike slid out. I was in the right lane of the road at a turn, and was hurtled forward into the left lane, directly in front of an oncoming car that thankfully stopped before colliding into me.
I quickly got up and went on my way, checking for injuries only after arriving late to work. I hurt my knee a bit, but more disabling, although I did not yet realize it, was the injury to my left hand. It was intensely bruised and swollen. It would prevent me from almost any training for a few weeks.
Soon following came the accumulation of unrelenting stress on my right shoulder. In my conditioning, I began too quickly putting inordinate burdens on my shoulders: handstand presses, pikes, hollow-backs, rais, ponte, walkovers, etc. I noticed a clicking in my shoulder but refused to relent. One morning I awoke to sharp pains restricting the range of motion in my right shoulder. Diagnosis: torn rotator cuff.
As I begin to recuperate, with elastic band rehabilitative exercises, I attempt to compensate by intensifying my leg training: parkour, pistols, jumps, kicks, etc. I begin to notice a slight twinge in my right buttock, especially when throwing kicks. I assume the injury is a bruise (wondering when I might have taken such an injury). Two days ago I am trying to fall asleep, when I notice the twinge has become more intense. This morning I rose to find the pain quite debilitating: I am unable to walk, sit, stand, or climb stairs without pain. Tentative diagnosis: periformis tear/strain.
Now I sit, aware of an upcoming batizado, wondering if I will be capable of performing...
So what do I take from this?
My training is unbalanced and inflexible. I try to fit in as many hours of training as possible into the day, and I am suffering the accumulated strains, wear, and tear.
The most salient mentality is one of rushing to attain a lofty vision or goal. Time is limited, I am aging. Regardless, it is of no benefit to rush. Take it slow. I realize now that in order to have a physiologically and psychologically sustainable practice, I need more balance and less rigidity.
I look forward to experimenting with this new approach.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Violin strings superimposed on hip hop rhythms
Doodles on loose sheets of scrap paper-
Leaves falling from the skies,
Like tears drift from your eyes
Action potential to reach out and connect
Resurrect humanity
From the depths of tragedy
Contained in monetary obsessions
When it comes to love we remain taciturn,
Afraid to return,
To that which we've yet to become
The song goes unsung
I sit back and wait
My fatal flaw
Staring into the maw of self-induced fear
of getting too near.
I'm sick of sitting still but uncertain on how to stand
Feeling rather ill in this strange and foreign land...
The pathos of the world brings me to rise in the morning
Growth, progress, peace, pull me through the day.
Leaves falling from the skies,
Like tears drift from your eyes
Action potential to reach out and connect
Resurrect humanity
From the depths of tragedy
Contained in monetary obsessions
When it comes to love we remain taciturn,
Afraid to return,
To that which we've yet to become
The song goes unsung
I sit back and wait
My fatal flaw
Staring into the maw of self-induced fear
of getting too near.
I'm sick of sitting still but uncertain on how to stand
Feeling rather ill in this strange and foreign land...
The pathos of the world brings me to rise in the morning
Growth, progress, peace, pull me through the day.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Humanistic and Existential Psychology
Were it not for theories that resonate with Rollo May, Cushman, and Maslow, I would consider giving up on psychology entirely. The idea that we would fix somebody so the could re-enter the pathological realm of the conformist functioning individual disgusts me. I would rather let a person be sick than provoke them to adapt to something so inherently unhealthy and contradictory to the things I personally and inherently value: creativity, spontaneity, humor, freedom, anxiety, awareness, authenticity).
Today in class I picked up a few thoughts I found significant and generated a few ideas of my own. I don't know if I intend to keep them for fear of losing ideas (which I associate with the self) or whether I sincerely think I will ever use them. But here I leave them in case I need to return to them:
1. It is not the job of the therapist to know what is right or wrong for the client, but to help them discover this for themselves.
2. Our ethical values are removed from the experience and reality of the client.
3. A shitty job can be recontextualized/reconceptualized as a way of supporting self and being in pursuit of something great. You may not find your job to be perfect, but so long as you are on the path of growth, there is no regret.
4. Challenge yourself. Every moment. Every decision. Let it be a battle
in the war for growth, a war waged against self, that ends up being just a game in the roda of life.
5. Absolute safety detracts from the ability to actualize.
6. The fear of freedom is not just the burden of responsibility, but borne in the fact that at any moment, I can annihilate myself physiologically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and socially. Having walked that line and nearly falling off but to be saved by the mercy of this universe and the love of others, I realize how easy it is to kill ones' aspects of self.
Axiom to 6 - In reflection of these aspects, I recognize the ways I have nearly killed myself.
7. In accepting the freedom to make a choice, the freedom to commit one of these suicides becomes a possibility
8. There is no "not being" but we must be aware of our being, of our potentials. We must be aware of this act of being that is our "patterns of potentialities." This authenticity reminds us of our humanity.
9. Existentialism denies the inherent nature. But the internal capacity to grow is an inherent aspect of our nature. In this sense, there is an absolute to each individual that cannot be clearly defined, but is more real than any abstract concept.
Today in class I picked up a few thoughts I found significant and generated a few ideas of my own. I don't know if I intend to keep them for fear of losing ideas (which I associate with the self) or whether I sincerely think I will ever use them. But here I leave them in case I need to return to them:
1. It is not the job of the therapist to know what is right or wrong for the client, but to help them discover this for themselves.
2. Our ethical values are removed from the experience and reality of the client.
3. A shitty job can be recontextualized/reconceptualized as a way of supporting self and being in pursuit of something great. You may not find your job to be perfect, but so long as you are on the path of growth, there is no regret.
4. Challenge yourself. Every moment. Every decision. Let it be a battle
in the war for growth, a war waged against self, that ends up being just a game in the roda of life.
5. Absolute safety detracts from the ability to actualize.
6. The fear of freedom is not just the burden of responsibility, but borne in the fact that at any moment, I can annihilate myself physiologically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and socially. Having walked that line and nearly falling off but to be saved by the mercy of this universe and the love of others, I realize how easy it is to kill ones' aspects of self.
Axiom to 6 - In reflection of these aspects, I recognize the ways I have nearly killed myself.
7. In accepting the freedom to make a choice, the freedom to commit one of these suicides becomes a possibility
8. There is no "not being" but we must be aware of our being, of our potentials. We must be aware of this act of being that is our "patterns of potentialities." This authenticity reminds us of our humanity.
9. Existentialism denies the inherent nature. But the internal capacity to grow is an inherent aspect of our nature. In this sense, there is an absolute to each individual that cannot be clearly defined, but is more real than any abstract concept.
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