Chicks and B*tches … Chirps and Barks ... Envy and Criticism

Human perspective … wouldn't you just love to spread your wings and fly like bird … nothing but the big ole sky and freedom from here to the horizon … I envy birds.

Bird perspective ...

Bird Envy

Do ever think a bird looks down

at a child play in the park

And thinks …

I wish I could run like that

I wish I could climb like that

I wish I didn't have to eat rocks …

Walking weasels it's cold up here

Chirp Chirp

Afterword

Seriously … living on crumbs and sleeping on wire is not the high life

Wow … did you see the buns on that one … I love a chick that talks with her mouth full

If that poem tells you anything … besides the bizarre workings of mind ... is that one can find a reason to envy anyone. 

Inner monologues go … 

She is so pretty … all the boys must love her

                    She is so popular … all the girls want to be her friend

He has so much money … he can buy whatever he wants

                    He has so much free time … he can get full night's sleep

The reverse is true as well. One can find a reason to feel superior to anyone.

She's pretty … but I'm smart and kind … and pretty fades

                She just jealous; she's can't get a date

He has so much money … but I'm spiritually enlightened …ohm

                He's a lazy, hippy bu'um.

Most of us are very talented at this kind of thing … creating and soothing our own sense of inferiority by attacking what threatens our ego or the more insidious … what we do not want to recognize in out own psyche. Whether we'll admit it or not we become jealous, flightless little birds.

senryu

Here's the thing … you all have a creative seed … the ability to build and create. So when you find yourself criticizing or envying someone else … destroying and tearing down ... it is not about them … it is about you. You have lost site of your own potential and have fallen to the fear that there is not enough of whatever you feel you are lacking to go around … usually that means you have fallen to the fear that there's not enough love to go around and you must wrestle it from someone else. You have forgotten that within you there's an endless source of love and happiness, an endless source of creative ability; so much so that your cup runneth over and you have enough to give even to your greatest of rivals … actually at that point you won't have any rivals ... just other co-creators. 

Pie in sky … you say … when pigs fly

No Babe … when you do. But I know … I know ... mud pies are very tempting. I've fallen to their temptation a time or two myself; I'll leave you with a poem commemorating such a fall. I wrote this to a fellow poet … whose talent and beauty was just a little too much for me to handle at the time … not to mention the attention she got from a guy a fancied. I know the nerve, right. 

B*tch 

A Love Poem

(warning there's barking ahead)

Rock n' roll, you beautiful people. See you next week.

Bitch, a Love Poem and Jealous Little Bird are published in Monsters, Real and Imagined … Monsters is available at the link below.

http://goo.gl/1gf0Fc

Descartes Was Not a Mosquito and Other Macrame

Descartes Was Not A Mosquito 

Excerpt

...

pestilence, disease

unseen blight carried by all

ignorance is bliss … 

humans stand apart

with regret and second thought

we are given hope

no fly can think itself clean

human awareness is cure

Descartes … I think therefore I am 

Descartes has received a lot of judgement from us spiritual folk mainly because he appeared to put rational thought over emotion. We've since come to understand that our emotions link us to our spirit. They tell us when we are moving closer or further from our truer selves that underly the bravado that is our ego.

The dark side … you serve … when your emotions … you fight … says a certain space primate. Yep … Yoda was an alien tarsier; google it.

Descartes was an intellectual but also a deeply spiritual man and his greatest contributions to philosophy and mathematics came to him in meditative contemplation … visions. He may well have been the world's first mathematician, philosopher, Jesuit … hippy. That's right … in stillness and with a clear mind he found greater intelligence. Descartes was also a man from Now. I believe when Descartes claimed I think therefore I am … what he really meant is I am aware of myself and as such I exist and since awareness/thought has no physical form … I too exist beyond the physical form. 

Neurons firing are neurons firing; this happens when we think but they did not cause the thought and they are not the thought … anymore than the delivery man is the pizza and you'd better hope … he didn't make the pizza too.

I recently tweeted … no puppet has ever looked back at his strings and asked what are these for … you have agency and you exist. And you do … but you also have strings. Each of us comes into this world with genetic programming. This programming has been passed on and allowed our ancestors  to exist long enough to reproduce and eventually to produce you and me. But humans are social animals; so along with the directions in our DNA ... we have ... since birth … learned certain thought patterns and actions that serve competition between an unenlightened individuals and groups … we've learned an ego. It is this interplay of nature and nurture that makes most of us who we are.

Maybe in past lives too … but like I said with regards to reincarnation I will have to get back to you on that and you will be waiting awhile.

I see Ego as a collection of fear-based thoughts that leads us to scramble to make our mark, eliminate the competition, and seal the deal before its too late and we croak. Ultimately ego comes from the fear of death and the fear that there is not enough time and resources to do what you need   to … which is to reproduce as much as your DNA as you can in short time that is your life. Ego serves evolution and as such serves creation but it does not serve to make you happy. That is not what it is there for. Despite it sweet nothing whispers and victory cries to the contrary … it offers no happily ever after. Your ego cannot defeat death.

Sports update … death ∞ -; ego 0

But don't worry ... happiness comes with strings attached. Each and everyone of us is connected and as such forms a whole and when we pull against the whole with ego …  the strings get taut … our bodies and emotions lets us know. We begin to suffer.

Pain is not suffering. Suffering and pain are linked but suffering requires thought. Pain is an intense pressure … some intense pressures are actually thought as pleasure … for example massage and the burn of a physical workout. It is all about the mindset. 

So where does that leave you when you're in a weeping mess or messy rage … you're pulling with ego with all its worth. You're suffering and probably causing other egos to suffer around too. Don't worry you can pull as hard as you like … those strings can stretch to eternity and rest of us couldn't let go if we wanted to. But if you're aware or becoming aware that you're doing this … you are ready to let go of the suffering … the fear.  

Do as Descartes … still your thoughts, enrich your mind, and free your soul.

There's no lasting fall as you travel through time, space and eternity. There are too many strings holding you up. So you might as well fly.

Learning to Fly

reach up for meaning

elusive high planes

grasp at an eternity

flight slips through your fingers

gather feathers all the same

Happy soaring, rock and roll stars … see you next week. Love ya:)

Learning to Fly and Descartes Was Not a Mosquito are published in Tattoo, Calling All Soldiers Home and available at the following link … http://goo.gl/1gf0Fc

Sisyphus and Siddhartha under the Dark of the Moon

lol … youtube has given me a bird nose

In greek mythology King Sisyphus was punished by the gods for his deceitfulness and greed. He was given the task of pushing a boulder up a mountain only to have it fall back down and his job to begin again … for eternity.

Sisyphus was the first rock and roll star

To my mind the boulder symbolizes ego. With tremendous exertion and/or aesthetic denial of self Sisyphus is able to arrive at the summit each and every time. But such a position is always precarious and ego supplies no stability and eventually he plummets back down again.

Sisyphus guided by ego maintains the circular rise and fall of suffering and pleasure … similar to certain concepts of karma.

But the moon has no karma … your poem doesn't make sense, Pryde. 

No the moon has no karma … but you do.  Let me explain what I mean by karma. I do not mean that somewhere there is a list kept by the higher powers of all the good and bad any one person has done … and payback awaits. That is not Karma's job … Santa Claus does that. Rather karma is about the quality of energy you carry around in your body and as such the energy you put out into the world. This is not metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. Remember what keeps you alive is biochemical reactions … a scientific fact … in other words energy. How we influence the quality of our biochemical reactions is with what we consume, activity, and thought. Your thoughts … whether they come from a place of awareness or not … influence the energy going on in your body … your mood ... and your mood … how you act onto the world.

Voila … karma is born. You go out into the world with a boulder on your shoulders and eventually you are going to get crushed. You out into the world with a spring in your step, looking to be delighted and you find cause to be delighted. You will also attract to you similar people. Angry people have no problem finding other angry people to throw stones at. Happy people like to hang with other happy people. Your mood and actions are contagious

So where does that leave us with moon … 

Well, mon petite chou, you are the moon and you become Sisyphus when you agree to carry your ego  around… or more to the point the suffering it causes … for eternity. 

Can one drop her ego completely … some say they have; I have not … at least not completely. But I do know that with more awareness of thought the suffering load can be significantly lightened; so there is no cause to get lost in what St. John of the Cross called the dark night of the soul. 

How do you know when you're lost … when you keep going around in circles.

Get to know your body and learn to sense when it's in emotional distress. This is sign to you to stop what you are doing … which is usually thinking in way that does not serve your karma. Step off the wheel, throw off the boulder, and you will reach new heights.

But whatever the case … don't worry … because you'll get there eventually … each and every one or you rock n' roll stars are meant to reach the top …. but then you will find there are even higher mountains to scale. Blessings.

Bengal Tigers Like Bacon Marinated With Rage

Leviathan of Fire

In response to last week's blog I received the argument that anger is natural and being that it's natural we should should let it be. First off … I am a natural woman and I have experienced anger on more than a few occasions. I couldn't write poems like Leviathan of Fire and Where's the Cream if if I didn't have insider information; so I agree … anger is natural and being that it's natural one should never chastise herself for feeling it. Even among the most practiced, controlled and spiritual people it arises. 

But does that mean we need it …. 

When we talk about needing anger there is a tendency to confuse unpleasant emotions and sensations with anger … pain for example. We need the physical pain sensation. It tells us to take our hand out of the fire, change positions when seated for too long and to change our stilettos before our feet fall off. It prevents us from doing the same physically dangerous thing twice or at least to take more care the next time.

For example with hammering a nail … 

The pain we experienced when we hammered our finger the last time tells us to proceed with caution. We may have become angry in response to that pain, used it to dissipate energy but the anger was secondary to the pain and one could have just as easily jumped up and down, cried, or even laughed it off. There is a reason why we talk about hitting our funny bone.

We certainly don't work ourselves up into a fugue when we go to hammer a nail. No construction worker has ever been told that he was too calm to work on a job site, go home, have a fight with the misses, and come back tomorrow in a right ole funk. 

But certainly we need anger for the Fight and Flight response … you know if a Bengal Tiger is chasing after you. 

No what you need is adrenaline … a hormone released when one becomes angry but it is not anger. You can have an adrenaline rush without anger. Anger needs a thought. What you feel in response to the Bengal tiger is instinctual fear. It requires very little thought. Fear releases adrenaline that diverts energy to your muscles so you can run or if you have no other choice fight. Hint though … I do not recommend you convert the energy to anger … do not think who hell does this tiger think he is … doesn't he know who I am ... that you stand your ground ... and tell the tiger to bring it on. 

Best practice for tiger taunting … never taunt alone. You will not be able to outrun the cat but you may be able to outrun your friend. Your friend is faster than you … put bacon in his backpack when he's not looking. Bengal tigers love bacon marinated in rage.

The only time I have ever observed anger play a prosocial role … ironically ... is in the prevention of violence. That is one walks the line between cuckoo-nut and peacock bad-ass and the one who has not succumbed to anger goes … I don't want none of that ... in other words in the act of posturing.We see this kind of behaviour in the animal world during mating season as males compete for  females or when the gorilla pounds his chest to exhibit dominance.

The problem with anger-based posturing is at some point the posturing won't work and violence occurs; so the utility of anger as deterrent is very unreliable and in a world where we can kill so many with the pull of a trigger or a push of a button … not worth the risk.

So where does that leave us with anger...

We're human and so for the foreseeable future most of us are going to feel anger from time to time. You don't need to feel guilty about this. Anger has evolved … it is what is. And feeling guilty is likely to inspire more anger. But given its lack of utility and its tendency to cause harm, anger is something we should learn to prevent it and move beyond.  

It is something we can learn to prevent and move beyond.

Reverse Chameleon

Anger is a secondary emotion … that is the pain, the fear … the grief ... came first. So much could be avoided if we agreed to feel the primary emotions. But we tend to be afraid of our emotions and the energy needs to go somewhere ... be it depression or anger. Remember emotions are thought plus energy … thoughts are controllable and energy dispersible. We give ourselves the time to feel and the permission to turn off our thoughts and/or guide them a very wonderful thing can happen.

But there is no changing human nature you say. 

Everything … that includes nature … human nature ... is changeable. In fact there is no stopping change. But we are in the unique position as humans to become more aware of ourselves and begin guiding that change. You are wonderful, unique part of the whole. Anger makes enemies. We all get there together or don't get there at all. Blessings.

(The media and politicians already know this … they use our human nature and mould it for their advantage. It is happening already.)

I'll Take My Anger White Hot

The following contains an unpaid product placement. 

*Where's The Cream

(Excerpt)

What do you mean …

You don't have any cream

The Starbucks-spoilt princess did yelp

She lamented and let our a scream

Now I know what you are thinking

Our little princess should switch to decaf tea

The problem, our little princess …

                                  our little princess is me

From my dead, gripping talons

Will you get my cup of caffeine

So wipe that silly smirk from your face

Soothe the beast and get me some f**cking cream

Click to hear in its entirety

Well first off … don't worry … I have indeed switched to tea. Decaffeinated … no … that ain't going to  happen … but let's just say I am wake up with an Earl now.

Me and and Jean Luc Picard cannot be wrong … now if only I could get a computer to make mine … hot.

So why did I choose to share with the world a story about me behaving badly. I know you're shaking your head … you being angry … no … not you, Pryde. Yes me and I'm pretty certain you too.  Let's face it; just about all of us experience anger. 

To those of you who have indeed shed your ego and do not experience anger … return to your lotus pad … this does not concern you. I'll let you know when it is over.

So where did my anger come from? In this case hormones had a lot to do with. Being that it was early morning … and I have never been what one would call a morning person ... the hormones that lift my mood were low. 

As we have discussed in past episodes hormones are made in body from neurones firing, resulting in a cascade of events that turn energy into mood.  

The other essential element was thought. I was not thinking … listen Pryde, you are just experiencing a lull because you haven't had your caffeine. You don't really need the cream. Take a deep breath, run around the block, hum a few bars of the Darth Vader theme and imagine the barista is that really annoying general … in other words … laugh it off. No I became Princess Leia when she got mad at poor Chewy because she was really mad at Han. 

You know when she called him a walking carpet. If you haven't figured it out yet … I am indeed a sci-fi nerd. May the force be with and long live the International Sign of the Donut.

I had certain expectations and they were not met. Is not having our expectations met a good reason to get angry? Was my anger justified? Is anger ever justified? Really … It doesn't matter.  A wise man once said that anger is its own punishment and here are the very real reasons why. 

Firstly the reasoning part of your brain shuts down and you respond with the lower parts of your brain and usually end up making things worse.

That's right … you get more stupider and we all know how sexy stupid is.

With chronic anger you face an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. It's not your enemy or the cream that will get you but the anger. 

Oh and did I mention it isn't sexy.

Anger interferes with digestion, can lead to acne and rashes, and over the long-term impairs the immune system. So if you ask me the seeming release of emotion/energy, justified or not, is not worth it. 

Should I hold it in?

No, anger turned inward becomes depression. If you do find yourself angry … stop the thoughts that are fuelling the anger as soon as you can and find a non-destructive outlet for the energy build up. I find just doing some intense contractions can dissipate the built up of energy quite quickly. 

Literally squeeze it out.

But what we really should be doing is looking for ways to stop anger before it happens. In my experience this means getting to know your body and your physical triggers … caffeine drops, sugar drops, lack of sleep, not enough exercise or down time, where you are in your monthly cycle, or  … and boys, just in case you thing I don't mean you … where you are in your daily cycle. If you don't take care of your body you are going to struggle to take of your moods. Get to know you body and get to know your thoughts and what thoughts make you feel bad. Because sometime all anger is a build up of negative thoughts. Give yourself carte blanche permission not to have those thoughts. Anger can be tricky … masquerading as what we might otherwise think of as altruism. But if you're angry then there is nothing altruistic about it. Only the ego gets angry. I know; I know. You want to change the world … make it a better place. So do I. But here's the thing; you can chip away at a mountain of suffering with anger but you just make a bigger mess in the process. 

Are you still angry? Good. Because I am going to talk a little more about it next week. 

May all your lattes be full fat. Unless you like it black … and to that I say … why so bitter;)  

I'll leave you with my apology poem to the Starbucks barista. Blessings.

**Angels of the Morning

* Where's the Cream is published in its entirety in Monsters.
** Angels of the Morning is published in Strays.

Monsters and Strays is available at the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pryde+foltz
Source …http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/anger2.htm

There Are Trees Smarter Than You

Haiku

A cheery little ditty but whether we like it or not winter eventually comes for all of us. I checked it out; I can say without a doubt. Seriously if there is one irrefutable truth this is it. You and everyone you will ever meet , have ever met, will die. 

From what I hear some overachievers have done so many times … can I get a woo hoo for Shirley MacLaine. As Katherine Heigl said  … she is who I want to be when I grow balls. That said … I don't know nothing about no Aliens. Katherine might; she was in Roswell.

But here is the good news … if you are reading this and able to type a response ... you are at this moment still very much alive. But looming … hopefully in the very distant future … is your death. You don't get a choice. 

You do get a choice how you live.

You can make the tried, tested, and failed choice. Live in fear and feed that fear with anger and judgement. Roll yourself up into a tiny frozen ball of condemnation that eventually explodes on the vapours of its own bitterness, harming you and those around you. Go one further … join up with a bunch of other tiny frozen balls that have a liking for the same brand of bitterness and really make a bang. Chose any ideology of your choice, the misdeeds of another, or any particular individual that gets your ego's goat … condemnation and hate are not picky.

Or you can ask yourself if there is another way to look at things. Think not about what you don't want but what you do want. Don't be against war; be for peace. Don't be against the oppressors; be for those who are hungry and dispossessed. A truly wise man chooses no enemies. Today's enemies are tomorrow's allies. History has taught us this again and again … learn this and be ahead of your time. Time travel made easy with love. Take that Einstein. Actually I think the E-man would approve of this message.

I am not saying that life is easy and without challenges. That we shouldn't make changes. Without change life becomes static and dies. But what I am saying is look for love and delight and grow. 

Long-Lived Sequoia 

Actually you'll grow anyways but one way is a lot more painful and takes a lot longer. And remember when you are choosing one way you are by default not choosing the other. You cannot love and hate at the same time. The thing about those strong, tall, and long-lived trees. They know not matter what to  reach for the light.

As always blessings.

Acupuncture by Fire … Happy Frackin' Valentine's Day

First a Valentine's poem…

Acupuncture By Fire

Falling into romantic love will bring great pleasure but falling out of romantic love … or worse having someone else fall out of romantic love with you … while you still fancy them … brings suffering and tears. But whether or not you have someone to canoodle with on this most forced and expensive day of celebration … Valentine's Day is no cause for suffering.

So if we find you lovelorn and not madly rushing about to find that thing that will prove just how much you love your significant other … I'm here to help.

Actually I can help the shoppers too … flowers and food … yeah that's the big secret that we all know and yet stress over.

But for the lovelorn … First what NOT to do.

Drink … 

Yes for about hour you'll feel great and then the euphoria will drop and you will either have to pick a fight and risk messing up that pretty face or fall into a despair so deep that it will have you rending your clothes. 

I'm not kidding …

Poor Che … he never saw it coming.

And don't do what I did … I did and did some more

Phantom Gestation

Do not think about him or her and worse pray for Mr. or Ms. Didn't-know-how-good-they-had-it to return. If you've been told it's over ... or you know it should be over because the object of your affection is emotionally and/or physically abusive … let the hopes, memories, and recriminations go. Let the thoughts go.

I'll say it one more time let the thoughts go.

I grant there may need for some self-reflection so we do not repeat destructive patterns. Write about the experience or have a talk with supportive friend or counsellor. But there comes the time when self-reflection becomes self-destructive rumination and gains a life force of its own. Don't feed what Eckhart Tolle calls the pain-body with your thoughts. The pain-body cannot be satiated … it's never full … there's only starving it. 

Now I'm talking about thoughts … not feelings.

You have to feel your feelings or they get swallowed up by the body and become disease or escape as anger. Scientist have studied what goes on in the brain when you fall in love. With the hormones produced you are in actuality in an addictive state. You depend on the physical presence of your loved one to feel good. You will need some time for the addiction to go away.

You could throw yourself into another relationship and use transference  … the methadone of romantic healing.

In my experience this is only escapism and does not offer a permanent solution. At some point you will have to finish feeling your grief. But scientist have also discovered that all your feelings at their root are hormones fuelled by bio-electical charge.

That's right … they're just energy. Thoughts plus energy equals feelings.

Don't refuel your grief with thoughts and it will expand and then dissipate. You'll cry … you'll cry a lot. But you will heal and you'll be left with the confidence that you can weather future romantic endeavours and knowing you have the strength to heal.

Heart

We are her to love and learn. Alas the learning can be painful at times. We've all been there or will be shortly; so remember you're in good company and never alone ... even on Valentine's day.

Stupid holiday …

That's it for now … please like, share, and comment. And let me know if there's something you'd like me to look in to.

Remember you heart only gets all the more chic with wear.

Happy Frackin' Valentine's Day. Blessings.