Song Lyric Sunday: For the Record- Kumbaya

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to share a song about respect. My son, Sreejit Poole, recently wrote a blues song called For the Record- Kumbaya. I think his song is both profound and deeply moving. I have been looking forward to sharing it with those who read my blog and the Song Lyric Sunday community.

Sreejit lives at Amma‘s ashram in Amritapuri, India. His blog is The Seeker’s Dungeon

This short introduction precedes the singing.

Why do we call it civil rights instead of basic human decency?
The wings of science and spirituality, or possibility and love, should foster a world where no one has to beg for respect
– but limited is our vision when our intelligence we neglect
or we try to fly with one wing, as the case may be.

Song Lyrics (The lyrics are also written on the video.)

I’ve got a pen and a thought,
I’ve got a story trapped deep in my heart,
I’ve got a freaky little way to start.
but it seems the words don’t want to come out, I’m feeling a little restless now.

Who read my soul, who read my soul and turned away.
Who read my soul and turned away.

Kumbaya My Lord, Kumbaya
Kumbaya My Lord
– but for the record, the words don’t want to come out ’cause I’m not feeling very holy now.

I’ve got a pen and a thought,
but I’m scared to write the words for the power they’d impart.
I’ve got a lot of careless things to say,
I’ve got a lot of minds to mold my way.

Who read my soul, who read my soul and turned away.
Who read my soul and turned away.

Kumbaya My Lord, Kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord
– but for the record, the words don’t want to come out ’cause I’m not feeling very holy now.

Who read my soul and turned away.
because they didn’t have the time for more than just a smile, and a “have a nice day?”

True love it comes from above, and I don’t expect it,
but a little bit would be fine with me.
It would be fine with me.

Kumbaya My Lord, Kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord
– but for the record, the words don’t want to come out ’cause I’m not feeling very holy now.

Lord come quickly ‘cause I’m falling down.
You better catch hold, ‘cause I’m not gonna catch hold.

Lord I’m running never to be found,
unless you catch hold, ‘cause I’m not gonna catch hold.

Lord come quickly ‘cause I’m falling down.
You better catch hold, ‘cause I’m not gonna catch hold.

Lord I’m running never to be found,
unless you catch hold, ‘cause I’m not gonna catch hold.

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Viewing the Seagull Viewing

Last Thursday, as I was coming out of my doctor’s office, I could tell that someone was calling me on the phone, even though the ringer was off. I decided to stand near a window to take the call. When I looked out the window, I saw a seagull standing on the ledge in front of me. The bird appeared to be looking at the building across the street.

I was on the phone for a while. During that time, the seagull stood completely still. When I finished the call, I decided to photograph it. Within moments, the bird began to move. At times I felt like it was posing for me!

This was my favorite photo of them all.

I am aware that if I hadn’t taken the call, I would never have seen the seagull and would have missed out on this wonderful, unexpected, experience.

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Road Taken

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Wordless Wednesday

Letting Go of Suffering- Week Fifteen: Changing Your Suffering Profile

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Suffering patterns often become rigid. Simply thinking about a topic that has brought you pain in the past, might trigger you into suffery behavior. One technique that may be helpful in breaking those patterns is to change your suffering profile.

In Week 2 of this series, each participant identified their personal suffering profile. They did that by examining the following areas:

The time of day I usually suffer (e.g. morning, afternoon, evening).
Where I usually suffer (e.g. home, work, bedroom, basement).
The people with whom I usually suffer (e.g. husband, friend, employer).
The day of the week I usually suffer (e.g. Saturday, Monday).
The messages I usually give myself when I suffer (e.g. Nobody loves me, I can’t do anything right).
Where in my body I usually feel my suffering (e.g. head, stomach, chest).
Time of year I usually suffer (e.g. holidays, birthday).
What I usually suffer about (e.g. my children, my family, work).

If you completed that original assignment, go back and look at your answers. If you did not write down you responses, or if this is the first time you have learned about a suffering profile, then create it now. You can either use the list above, or go back to the original assignment and use the diagram.

Once you have identified, or reviewed, your suffering profile, you are ready to start this week’s assignment.

Each day this week, whenever you are tempted to suffer, go ahead and suffer! But this time, be sure you are suffering in different ways than those you identified in your profile. For example, if your profile is to suffer about work, at home, during the evening, with your husband, an alternative could be to choose to suffer about your yard, with a supportive friend, during the day, on a walk.

If nothing is bothering you, then intentionally find something to suffer about, so that you have multiple experiences of changing your profile.

Take a few minutes each day to journal about your experience.

Day 1

52c

Day 2

52c

Day 3

52c

Day 4

52c

Day 5

52c

Day 6

52c

Day 7

52c

See you next Monday for the sixteenth lesson.

To find the lessons in this series that have already been published, click here.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

DEAR YOU

Neal's Epiphany

Disclaimer – A letter to my former self. A probable epilogue to my “DEAR ME” post.

Dear You,

There is nothing I can say to prepare you for where life will take you in the next ten years.

You will have experiences you never imagined possible or plausible—there will be great heartaches and devastating blows—and you will be taken to places you never knew existed. You will feel like you can’t go on, and you will feel like you will explode.

Your greatest fears will come to reality and you will never be the same, but you will fumble your way through.

I want to tell you specifics, I want to tell you where you should try harder and hold on more and not give up; I want to tell you where you should give in and let go and how to take care of yourself when the unthinkable…

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Weekly Photo Challenge: A Good Match

Every time I thought about “A Good Match,” my mind went back to a 2013 photo. I felt a sense of fascination when I first saw this tromboncino squash…. and I am still fascinated by it. To me it is the epitome of a good match.

squash

Tromboncino squash are considered summer squash and are used in the same way as zucchini.

What I find most interesting about this form of squash, though, is that if you allow it to continue to grow, it will turn into a winter squash. In that process, it changes color and the skin becomes hard. The inside becomes sweet and reminds me of acorn squash. I really love eating it at that point.

I also love how big the squash grows. This one was five feet long!

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(I took the photo above by taking a picture of myself in a mirror. My arms weren’t long enough to take it facing me. Besides, in 2013, I probably didn’t even know what a selfie was!)

Wordless Wednesday

The Will to Live

I used to have repetitive dreams of being in a house that had a lot of secret rooms. When I walked down one hallway, I would inevitably discover a new hallway that led to rooms I hadn’t seen before. The house went on and on and provided me with a never ending adventure.

That is what it has been like for me to work in the Greenbelt. I enter one area after another that is covered by blackberry vines, ivy and bamboo. I never know what I will find on the other side of them.

One day my adventure started here.

As I cleared a path, I saw many downed trees.

Soon, I came across this tree. It looked as if a maple tree that had fallen had birthed a new tree.

I discovered that another part of the tree had traveled north and it too had become a maple tree.

Other parts of the tree had traveled to the west and to the south. There was a new tree at the end of the western portion. I haven’t reached the end of the southern part yet so I don’t know what I will find there.

It is mind-boggling to me that a tree which has been so beaten down by the environment has such a strong will to live, and due to that will has accomplished what seems impossible. I look forward to the day when all of the invasive plants have been removed and the trees can reach for the sky without being hindered.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Against The Odds

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Letting Go of Suffering- Week Fourteen: Making It Bigger

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Dr. Ed Beckham, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City, once developed a series of tips to aid you in ruining your day.

Plan twice as much as you can get accomplished.
Don’t be flexible
-demand others do everything your way
-know it will be a catastrophe if you don’t get your way
-view everyone who disagrees with you as an obstacle
Worry about anything that can be worried about
-think a lot about anything that is going wrong even if you can’t do anything about it
Take things personally
-think about how others aren’t treating you fairly
-ruminate about how others don’t have the right to do what they do to you
-brood about how you don’t deserve what is happening to you
Don’t be humorous about anything
-take everything very seriously
-consider everything to be a life and death situation

(Source: Stimulate Your Stress, US Air Magazine, p. 10, July 1991.

Paradoxically, these same tips can be used to help you stop your suffering.

Your assignment this week is to make everything BIGGER:

For 15 to 60 minutes a day
-plan twice as much as you can get accomplished
-don’t be flexible
-worry about anything that can be worried about
-take things personally
-don’t be humorous about anything
Pick a specific time period to complete the assignment, i.e. do not do “10 minutes here and 10 minutes there.” If possible, do the assignment the same time each day.
Do NOT set yourself up
-don’t do this assignment at work
-do not do this assignment around people who are not supportive of you
-let the people who will be around you when you are doing the assignment know what you are doing
If you are tempted to suffer at any other time during the day, tell yourself that it is important for you to wait until the assigned time.
Each day, after you complete your assignment, spend a few minutes journaling about your experience and about your day in general.

Day 1

52c

Day 2

52c

Day 3

52c

Day 4

52c

Day 5

52c

Day 6

52c

Day 7

52c

See you next Monday for the fifteenth lesson.

To find the lessons in this series that have already been published, click here.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow

I was just lounging on the carpet in my living room. When I glanced towards the dining room, I saw that shadows had formed a beautiful design on the ceiling.