Tag Archive | love

Unending Love <3

“I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age, forever.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore ❤

This is a line out of the beautiful poem, “Unending Love” by Rabindranath Tagore. Isn’t it beautiful?!

Have you ever met someone, maybe even more than one person on different occasions through the years, and felt an instant connection after talking to the person? It may not be someone you ever saw again, maybe it’s someone you met at a busstop or on a park bench, or it may be a person you eventually became close with. It can be someone online or in person. It doesn’t even have to be in a romantic way. I love meeting someone and feeling a “soul connection.” A feeling like “I have known you forever or in another life” even if you don’t actually believe in other lives. It’s a beautiful feeling.

This is an amazingly beautiful poem that seems riddled with a kind of sorrow along with love. It’s deeply inspiring. Love of any kind can inspire us in general.

“Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.”

What a beautiful concept! Even old love can be like new. Each day, each minute, each moment is another chance to love.

“Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.”

Love can inspire us to do great things!

Let’s all try to be and act more loving!

Check out the poem here!

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/541723-unending-love-i-seem-to-have-loved-you-in-numberless

Much love to you! ❤

Xoxo Kim

Spring is in the air! <3

Mar20

But not really!

Today is the first day of Spring!

And this is what we get!

(this pic showed up by accident but he’s cute so I’m leaving it – he’s my baby, Woody, almost eight months old!)

What a hilarious joke it seems the uni-verse has played on us! 😀

Lol it looks like Winter is milking it for all it’s worth, going to snow and be All frigid until the last second it possibly can!

I love it! I’m so so happy it will be warm soon! And life will
Blossom
all around! Green & flowers and a floral fragrance in the air!

Google flowers! @—}—-}

But I’m so happy for one last snow blizzard until Winter/the end of Fall comes again! Yay!

It’s a Winter Wonderland today and I walked in it to get my mom a coffee! It was beautiful but eventually my head was throbbing terribly because of the cold, I thought I would pass out. Or die. Lol ok, not really die but it was almost as painful as brain freeze when I eat ice cream too quickly!

The quote in my daily quote book for today, March 20th is:

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we’d have a pretty good time.” ~ Edith Wharton

Isn’t this so true?! How often have you heard someone say or have you said or thought yourself something like “when it’s warm/hot outside and I can go on vacation, I will be happier, when I lose 20 pounds I will be happier, this weekend I will be happy, when I have kids I will be happy, when I find true love or get married I will be happy, when I grow up/get older, graduate college, get better grades, I will be happy, when I get a job or another job I will be happy, when I have more money I will be happy, when I have a place of my own I will be happy…?”

I’m definitely not innocent of thoughts like that occasionally, thoughts like “when…..then I will be happier.” While I’m often mindful of and happy right now, there are definitely occasions I begin to think I need more or “should” have more. And then it leads to a very low feeling, negative comparisons to others, or even a full blown depression.

But the truth is, we can be happy now. Let go of the conditional happiness concept and living too much in the future. Let go and allow the beauty and joy of right Now to seep into our essence and soak it all up! Be happy now!

The external things that we think can lead to happiness or can bring us fleeting happiness will not last very long and are not necessarily as purely blissful as we think they are. Warm weather comes then leaves eventually and we’re stuck in the bitter cold, vacations end and we have to come back to reality, people can leave us, we can put weight back on after the hard work losing it, fashion trends eventually end after buying all those expensive clothes, people die of heatstroke and exhaustion in the Summer, freeze to death in Winter, suffer with horrible allergies in Spring & Fall, are used for money and have lots of financial management when they are financially rich, have the pressure of having to keep up their grades when they have a perfect gpa, even great things like kids and relationships and money, a great job,….come with consequences that aren’t always pure bliss, the thing is to practice and learn to be happy NOW or at least in general under any circumstances.

Pay attention to the gifts right before our very eyes. It’s great to have relationships with others, have kids, get a new job, shop for new clothes, experience the seasons, have money, get amazing grades in school…but we don’t need those things to have a sense of happiness or self worth. They can bring us certain joys and a certain kind of happiness and blessings we won’t have without them but we can also have joy and true happiness and blessings without them. They complement our happiness and our self, not complete us.

There are great things and drawbacks to just about every stage and phase and season of life. Let’s cherish them all and appreciate now!

Coincidentally this is what we talked about and meditated upon in class last night. Then today that is the quote for this day!

Also, I read that today brings with it a Super New Moon, a Total Solar Eclipse, and the Spring Equinox! All of which symbolize new beginnings! A perfect reminder that no matter what happened, no matter how stuck or depressed, or broken we are or have been, there is new hope and a blank slate to turn around and begin again! And we can begin right Now! ❤

Much love to you! ❤

Xoxo Kim

The simple, unidentified moments <3

Mar17

“‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘what I like best,’ and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”~A.A. Milne ❤

This is a very thought-provoking quote and concept! I love it! I wonder how many little pleasurable and joyous, unidentified moments we experience

and never even consciously realize it!

Eating Honey and taking pleasure in it is one of the simplest pleasures in life. Just sitting and savoring the delicious sweetness. But there’s even simpler and more overlooked/taken for granted moments that surround the joyous simple moments. Like the sweet anticipation right before something amazing (like eating honey) happens. And the warm afterglow of something

we experience.

The rattling of a vehicle on a cobblestone street before getting to the destination, the yellow brightness and calm just before a storm, the warmth that permeates after receiving a sweet compliment or word of encouragement, the feeling of walking to a beach before running into the ocean, that moment in a restaurant before the mouthwatering food hits the table, the days before Christmas, the moments unwrapping gifts and watching someone else open a gift, walking out of a restaurant laughing with friends/family, the thrill of looking at an ice cream sundae just before eating it, sitting in a movie theatre when the movie just begins and the names and things are flashing across the screen and the thrill for the movie about to begin, the moments before getting a body piercing (I used to love getting them) and the scents of the place, the moment just before eating a lemon or blueberries and my mouth feels sour before even tasting the fruit, the incredible joy of getting a new book, the fullness & emptiness when it ends, the way the mouth waters before eating something delicious,
The feeling of helping someone,
the days just before Fall when the first slightest chill hits the air, the feeling of the first warm days after the Winter comes to an End, the chills an amazing song can provoke…

The simpler moments surrounding the “actual thing” can be just as amazing, even more amazing than the actual thing!

Some moments can’t be reconstructed.
One day in the Winter I was at work on a cold, slow night and my lips were very dried out and hurting. I put lip medicine on and was drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and eating a bag of chips. The salt hurt my lips more and the taste blended with the taste of my lip medicine. So it was like a medicine-y saltiness. With a little sting in my lips.

I realized that I actually liked the experience. It seemed so simple, so accidental, something I can never “make happen” and would just be weird if I tried. I don’t want my lips to be dried and hurting (it’s super annoying) and I’m not masochistic so I’m not going to bring it on myself. I also don’t want lip medicine mixed with my food but it just happened that way. What a pleasant memory.

Many of my most pleasant memories involve the feelings of the unidentified moments but I never realized it like this.

This quote awakens me to the fact that there are so many, many moments we love, feel joy, or pleasure about, incredibly simple moments that are so fleeting, we may completely overlook. We can come to cherish these moments, not just feel the thrill, savor them, acknowledge them, give thanks for them, honor them. ❤

Thanks Winnie the Pooh! 😀

Xoxo Kim

Wherever you go, go with all your heart <3

Mar16

“She’s got a light around her
And ev’rywhere she goes
A million dreams of love surround her ev’rywhere” ~ Billy Joel

On Saturday I attended a three hour workshop at the Buddhist center I go to and we made Buddhist malas! I’m going to write about those in another post. The workshop inspired me in so many ways.

Mala beads are beads on a string (similar to Catholic rosaries and ones found in other religions). They are used for recitation of positive mantras to calm or quiet the mind and just to get us in the habit of positive thinking/feeling and stillness.

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” ~ Rumi ❤

😀

One of the things that struck me and is the inspiration for this post is the instructor’s passion, wonder, and love for the topic of her teachings.

I met her before, her name is Eve, she’s a Buddhist. A lay Buddhist teacher/student. She’s very loving and friendly and funny too, and a musician!

Her love for her work or the way she conveys her love, to me, seems very rare. It’s like at every second she’s conscious of it. It reminds me of a professor I had in college, Dr. Ward. All of my professors/instructors, that I remember in college, showed interest, many even passion and love, for the work they were teaching and studying. That’s very likely why they were teaching and studying it. They have some sort of interest in or passion for it. Love and passion for work isn’t rare; there are many people who are absolutely in love with what they do. And unfortunately there are too many people who feel that their work is life draining and like it’s just a dead end job.

But Dr. Ward, a neuroscientist and my professor for some class about the brain, expressed her passion and love in a different way than I have ever seen before. It actually wasn’t even “expression” necessarily, what I remember is her BEING. Light. Her whole state of existence in the class was love for her subject.

It’s difficult to explain in words. And what I remember is a quiet but fierce kind of love for her work and the topic of Neuroscience. I would see her warmly smiling to herself often as she was writing on the chalkboard and just her movements displayed a kind of awe of her work and the topic.
Sometimes she would even shake her head and chuckle in wonder even over the bland-est of details and tasks.
A topic she was teaching over and over, studying year after year after year. It never got old.

I sensed that she loved/loves not just what she was teaching and studying but the very process of teaching and studying it, every word she wrote on the chalkboard, she wrote carefully, as if mindfully loving the process itself, not merely writing to get to the end, out of an obligation to teach us, or to get out of class as soon as possible. Not even like she was so into what she was doing, like some people can get writing quickly and passionately, she would write and teach as if she was mindfully taking in every moment and loving it.
She was cherishing everything involved. It is beyond just passion. It’s like complete adoration.

Almost the way a mother feels for her child. Have you ever seen a mom gently stroke her child’s hair or cheek and warmly smile? It’s a passionate, fierce kind of love but also very gentle. And everyone witnessing can feel that love just oozing into the breath of the world around. Or have you ever seen a photo of people, family, a parent/child, lovers, best friends, people and their pets and the photo captures love so well, it just IS love? The people/animals in the photos just ARE love…

In Dr. Ward’s class, I often felt that the topic of Neuroscience itself was almost something tangible to be gently and lovingly stroked by someone who completely adores and loves it.
It was like she brought it alive. Like her love for it manifested it into tangible existence. She seemed to regard it with reverence.

Neuroscience is definitely interesting in some aspects but it’s not my absolute favorite topic.
It can be kind of dry. I can hardly remember the details of nerves, synapses, brain parts and stuff.
It’s awe-inspiring for sure, the way the body works. I love to think and read about it. Some aspects are fascinating.
But I won’t be reading about it very frequently.
This subject is just not at the very top of my list of favorites, the way Philosophy as a whole topic is. Philosophy is my passion. My love. Not necessarily as a career/job goal but as a hobby to read and write about. And neuroscience involves philosophy.
Everything does. Philosophy is everywhere.
Omnipresent.

Also, the doctor and her colleagues did tests on animals, mostly rats, and sometimes they had to kill them, which they claimed was “humane” in the killing method they chose. And she said they weren’t suffering as a result of the brain experiments they did on them, they made sure they were as “comfortable” as possible.
Experimenting on and killing innocent rats, It’s not my cup of tea.
But I liked the class and her.

One of the only things that stands out to me about that class all these years later is the professor’s love for her work. Not just her love, like I said, most of the professors seemed to love their subjects, it was the way I noticed her love it. The way she would embody love. Just the way she loves. (This isn’t to say other people do not love their work and subject the same way and just as much, it’s just that some people’s existence just emits love & light either in general or for a specific thing, in a more noticeable way to some people. I was more receptive of hers for her work, maybe someone else would be more receptive of someone else’s. And there’s other aspects of life to be loving with than work, I meet many loving people in various aspects! )

That and the fact that she had/has a human brain collection in her basement and brought one in, along with a spinal cord, for us to hold. She’s a brain researcher, studying brains and the nervous system. I wrote about her and her brain collection here before. When they were through with the brains, she would keep them for her own amusement. Lol

The brain I held in my hands was beautiful in every way. In the way it looked, felt, in the way it worked when it was alive, in the way it still had purpose even after the woman’s death who once lived with that brain. And the spinal cord was beautiful as well, the color, the texture, the feel, the purpose it served to the living person and the purpose it served after the death of the person. I am extremely blessed that I got to hold them in my hands. Some students refused to touch them. It wasn’t required as part of the class, it was just for our own pleasure.

Dr. Ward’s love for her work seemed to me to go beyond mere interest, beyond passion, even. Like I said, just utter adoration and awe. It wasn’t the words she spoke but the way she moved, her tones, her gestures, and expressions. Her state of being. Her light.

The teacher we had Saturday displayed that very same kind of love during our workshop and it took me back to those days in Dr. Ward’s class all those years ago. The teacher, Eve’s, love is so uplifting and powerful just to be in the presence of. It reminds me to be love in everything I do.

In Dr. Ward’s class I learned a lot of facts. Some incredibly interesting that I still remember, with wonder and pleasure today, some not so interesting, most which completely escape my mind today.

But the most valuable thing I learned in that class isn’t something academic or intellectual. It’s not about neuroscience. I got like a C or C – in that class and had to do extra credit work just to get basically the lowest passing grade, which is C-. What I was awakened to in that class is wisdom, not intelligence.

The most valuable lesson I learned in the class is to love in everything I do, and not just love and express love but be that love. Be in the state of love. Be mindful of the love coursing through my veins even if there seems to be nothing and no one before me to bestow it upon. Just bask in my own loving presence.

I want to be that kind of love not just for my work but in everything I do in this life.

“Be love. Be so much love that when others are with you they are love too.”

Be mindful of the journey and not in a hurry to get to the destination. And not just be loving in our work but loving in everything we do even if we would prefer to be doing something else. Even if it’s a task that doesn’t hold our interest. Be mindful of the fact that whatever it is, it’s likely leading to something necessary or good. A boring long drive is getting you to where you have to go. A boring class or stressful day at work is getting you paid or credits you need.
A seemingly pointless hassle may be teaching you a lesson you will later come to realize. Maybe patience or strength or love…
Experiencing even unpleasant things is an indication that we are alive. Cherish it.

And be loving and mindful of the love with people we are around, whether we know and like them or not. Be loving with pets, friends, family, strangers, all sentient beings, all living things. Love to love, not merely to be loved. Be loving even through pain, grief, despair, anger. Be loving through happiness and joy.

Be grateful for the purpose that things serve.

“Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.” ~
Markus Zusak

Even if we feel that we can’t or won’t BE love everywhere, then it’s good to BE love in certain aspects of life, if you won’t be loving at work, be at home. If you won’t be loving at home then be at work or with your favorite fun activity or in general. Be love in your relation to your own self. We all have love in us but it’s not always at our surface, readily available. Sometimes other things are more prominent at that moment, like anger, boredom, exhaustion, agitation, grief, depression, anxiety, fear, the desire to be right, tiredness, numbness, wishing for something else, jealousy, ignorance, just a lack of passion, a feeling of monotony…

But we can learn to tap into that love more often, summon those loving feelings when we realize we are currently not consciously experiencing it.

Be love in the most simplest and mundane tasks. Washing our clothes, brushing our teeth, shower….and we will become even deeper love. We will train our brains to be even more loving and happier doing things we would prefer not to have to do. And just doing everyday tasks that are usually no big thrill.

Dr. Ward’s love for her work and Neuroscience inspired me and still inspires me. Not to love Neuroscience. This isn’t one of those amazing stories where a teacher inspires a student to fall in love with a subject she never had one ounce of interest in then she grows up and becomes a teacher herself for that very subject.

I’ll never be a neuroscientist.

This is my story of how a teacher’s (whether the person is a school teacher, college professor or instructor, or a religious teacher…) love can inspire love in general. And not just a teacher but anyone. You, me, a child or a very old person, a homeless person, a rich person, your neighbor, friend, or sister…anyone.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” ~Confucius

I will be love everywhere I go.

Doesn’t this lesson seem even more valuable than any school degree? I think so! It took me a while to learn to apply and practice this life lesson. Sometimes we experience something but do not process it or realize it for many years later. I noticed back then her awe-provoking love for her work and I was inspired but I did not always try to emulate it consciously in most of the things I do. I’m very thankful for the Buddhist teacher’s reminder on Saturday. She reminded me not in what she said but in all that she IS.

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”

Sometimes the best reminders and examples are not verbal ones. We are influencing and inspiring and teaching each other in the ways that we live, move, talk, and just in the way we are.

Much love to you. ❤

Xoxo Kim ❤

p.s. I have/have had other professors/teachers/people who inspire me just as much in similar/various ways and they will be in some of my future posts! 😀 ❤

Blessings to Come

Mar15

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” ~ Native American Proverb

❤

I recently read a fictional book (book number two in a series) called “Tribal Court” by Stephen Penner, a legal thriller. I love legal thrillers! Many of the books in the series are already out so I don’t even have to wait! I already read book one and book two and am about to purchase book three (on the Kindle app).

“Tribal Court” is a fascinating book. The series takes place in Seattle and this book takes place on a reservation near Seattle. When a Native American man is murdered by another Native American person in Seattle close to their reservation, their governments sort of clash. The reservation is a sovereign community and doesn’t necessarily have to follow all of the laws of the state government. And if one of their members kills or is accused of killing another member on state ground, the person can be tried in the Native American Court, which isn’t very accustomed to things like murder in these circumstances and they aren’t completely prepared or familiar with the whole process, especially with unfamiliar state laws thrown in. The main character in the series is Seattle prosecutor, Mr. David Brunelle, who is sent to the reservation to prosecute the accused man, which he isn’t thrilled about. He’s not welcome there because he’s not a Native American person and is there to impose state ways upon their close – knit community.

He can be quite an asshole (especially to his girlfriend/sort of girlfriend, the medical examiner he often works with in court and homicide scenes) but he’s a likable character. He doesn’t try to be an asshole, he just does, selfishly, whatever he feels he has to do to get what he wants, even uses people. I like how the author conveys the character’s human side and not just his professional side.

Anyway it’s all about Native American culture, some non fiction facts and some fictional details thrown in to fit into the story. The author makes a statement at the end to explain what is and is not fact in his book.

I read the end today. Then later I looked in my “Daily book of positive quotations” for today, March 15th and coincidentally the quote is a Native American proverb:

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.”

This really is a great idea! There are so many great things coming to all of us, things we don’t know about and would never even imagine! So why not be thankful for them already? We don’t know what they all are, have no clue about some of them but we can still give thanks. The life we have provides us with the opportunity to experience many great things.

If we live in a state of gratitude for not only what we already have but all that is to come, it can allow us to be happier than if we aren’t mindful of all the opportunities we have to experience amazing things. It’s so uplifting to think about!

“Always believe something wonderful is about to happen.”

Developing, strengthening, or maintaining an attitude of gratitude and a conviction that we have many future blessings that haven’t yet occurred, can really shift our minds to a much happier or more joyful place even if we’re already happy/joyful. And if we’re not already happy and full of joy, that attitude can really help.

I hope you’re having a beautiful day/night!

😀

And don’t forget to count your blessings! There’s too many to count (even if we don’t always feel that way) but you can list a few!
There’s always something to be thankful for even in the worst situations. Even if you’re as low as you can possibly be, there’s something to grasp to be thankful for. Some sliver of light. ❤

Xoxo Kim

Service to Others <3

Mar14

“May I become a protector for the protectorless,
A guide for those who travel on the road,
And, for those who wish to cross the water,
May I become a boat, a ship, a bridge.
May I become an island for those seeking dry land,
A lamp for those who need light,
A place of rest for those who desire one,
And a servant for those needing service.” ~ Master Shantideva ❤

Xoxo Kim ❤

Friday the 13th & Alice Cooper <3

Mar13

” Did you hear that voice
Did you see that face
Or was it just a dream
This can’t be real
That only happens, babe
On the movie screen
Oh, but he’s back
He’s the man behind the mask
And he’s out of control
He’s back” ~ Alice Cooper (He’s Back)

It’s Friday the 13th again! If I recall correctly last month the 13th was also Friday! In honor of Friday the 13th I’m posting some of my favorite Alice Cooper song lyrics! His song “Man Behind the Mask” can be heard at the end of Friday the 13th part 6″ and Alice sings amazing other songs as well, most of which are very dark, about mental illness, insanity, stalking, homicide and being suicidal. Many of his songs are inspired by his real life, his own experiences, people he met. He struggled with alcoholism and mental health conditions. I loved him since I was a little girl and his is the only concert I ever been to! I saw him a few years ago when he came to NJ! ❤

I don’t think there’s one song by him I don’t love! I usually don’t like songs about violence but his, I can’t accept because he’s Alice! Lol

He doesn’t actually promote violence, he even has a couple songs bringing awareness to violence against women. He just likes to sing about creepy and horror stuff.

Lol

Here are some of the song lyrics I love so much!

“Now maybe someday
The sun’s gonna shine
Flowers will bloom
And all will be fine” ~ Alice Cooper (Pick Up the Bones)

This is a very dark and sad song but it has this small sliver if hope in it.

“I may be lonely but I’m never alone.” ~ Alice Cooper (I Never Cry)

No matter how lonely we can sometimes be, we aren’t really alone.

“Small town debutantes and queens
Every woman has a name
Cocktail waitresses with dreams
Every woman has a name
And every girl who’s loves survives
A broken heart to stay alive
You signed your picture in the frame
Every woman has a name” ~ Alice Cooper (Every Woman Has a NAME)

I love this song! It’s about how every woman is someone. Someone important, no matter what her life is like or what her job (or no job) is, rich or poor, waitress, housewife, or debutante, no matter how broken she is. Every woman has a name. ❤

“While you’re in work I’m alone
In your room, on your bed and you’ll never know
I like to go through your things
The touch, the smell, the joy it brings
I know where you live
I know where you hide
I know what keeps you alive
I know where you go
I know who you know
I know where your spending your nights” ~ Alice Cooper (Prologue / I Know Where You Live)

This is just a creepy song about a stalking serial killer.

“She’s not perfect
She’s all mine
She can’t sing or dance
She ain’t got a chance
But baby, I don’t mind” ~ Perfect

I love it! He sings about how his girl can’t sing or dance or do much of anything well, she’s not perfect but she’s perfect to him!

“But you and me ain’t no movie stars.
What we are is what we are.
We share a bed,
Some lovin’,
And TV, yeah.
That’s enough for a workin’ man.
What I am is what I am.
And I tell you, sweetheart
That’s just enough for me.” ~ Alice Cooper (You and Me)

Beautiful song! Him and his love aren’t any big movie stars and their life is very simple, he just goes to work and comes home and watches tv and eats popcorn with his sweetheart, but it’s good enough for him. So sweet!

(me at a haunted attraction for Halloween)

“This quiet place
It ain’t so new to me
It’s haunted atmosphere
Has heard so many scream
My home from home
My twilight zone
My strangest dream
My confidant
I have confessed my life
The Quiet Room
Knows more about me than my wife”~ Alice Cooper (The Quiet Room)

This song is so heartbreaking but it’s one of my favorites! He’s in a mental hospital, locked in the quiet room (a solitary room in a mental hospital for people who are freaking out or are a threat to themselves or others) and he’s suicidal and is singing to his wife. He doesn’t know how long he has been gone and he’s remembering his life at home, his lawn, his house, and the life he had with his wife. It’s so sad it gives me chills and I can relate so much.

“The city streets are wet with rain tonight
Taxi drivers swerve from lane to lane
A lonely guitar man playin’ down the hall
Midnight blues comin’ through the walls
I tried to call you on the telephone
I left it off the hook
Just to hear it ring
You told me you were better off alone
I never knew that tears could sting” ~ Alice Cooper (Might As Well Be on Mars)

Another wistful song full of heartache and longing. The person he is in love with doesn’t want to see/talk to him right now and this person is so physically close to him,yet he can’t get close enough. I love the beautiful imagery.

“Baby, I could have been someone
I could have been something
It would have been nothing to die for you
Baby, you’re going to need me
You’d better believe me
It would have been easy to die for you” ~ Alice Cooper (Die for You)

His unconditional love is so obvious in this song! Dying for this person would be so easy to him.

“Bullets repel off my medals
And my men are in awe when I speak
All chaos my strategy settles
My mere presence gives strength to the weak
For me it seems really alarming
I’m really just only a man
With five million sheep in this army
I seem to be the only one fit to command” ~ Alice Cooper (You’re a Movie)

This is a song about extreme self confidence. Very uplifting and inspiring!

“Now I’ve seen class, I’ve seen tact
I’ve seen ’em walking down the street with smoke in their stacks
And pouring into limos, they wake up in millionaires’ bedrooms
I’ve seen their hair cut short, black and sleek
Tied in 20 thousand knots so ultra neat
Swearing by the Harper’s Bazaar, like it equalled the Bible
But you look good in rags
With dirt in your hair
Yeah you look good in rags babe
Aw, I don’t care
Yeah Yeah, you look good
Oh you look good in rags
With dirt in your hair
Ah yeah, you look good in anything
Forget about Vogue or them hundred dollar jeans,
You make a 2 dollar T-shirt obscene.” ~ Alice Cooper (You Look Good in Rags)

Girl is so sexy she looks great in rags and dirty hair! Lol

Here is the desktop link to “He’s Back”
Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPwzzjkp-o&app=desktop

Mobile link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPwzzjkp-o&persist_app=1&app=m

Here’s another video for one of his songs/

Mobile:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LERBv5DSuEc

Desktop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=LERBv5DSuEc

In this video he’s in a mental hospital writing to his wife about how he misses her and wants their life back and about how he messed up and he gets out and runs home to her to find an ambulance taking her away, she overdosed on alcohol.

So, here are some of my favorite songs! A mixture of hope, inspiration, despair, depression, amusement, darkness, and all!

I hope you’re having a great day! I’m watching “Friday the 13th part 8” with my mom and sister. Jason takes Manhattan!

Xoxo Kim 😀

Authentic Self <3

Mar9

“By choosing to be our most authentic and loving self, we leave a trail of magic everywhere we go.” ~ Emmanuel Dagher

Xoxo Kim

The Vinegar Tasters

Mar8

“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”

Within the last month I have experienced quite a few profound losses. I lost a human friend as well as two of my pets to death all in a month. All very shockingly and very unexpectedly.

It’s seriously like the worst emotional pain imaginable. The deepest kind of sadness.

Then I lost my job, unexpectedly, because the owner is selling the business(i knew it was happening but not so soon). I don’t have much work experience other than years at a store and some work in college I did as a peer educator so it’s not easy finding another job. Not because I wouldn’t be good at it but the employers are wary of taking on employees without experience for whatever the job is. I don’t have much experience for exactly what I want to do but I am very confident I will do a great job and I’m also quite confident someone out there somewhere will give me a chance one of these days! 😀

Then I lost my Temple University system account (e-mail and things) because someone hacked it or tried and it showed suspicious activity so the University suspended my account and since I cannot yet pay back the student loan, they can refuse to talk to me when I call Monday and not restore my account. I use my account for everything even though I’m no longer a current student there.

Then the media card in my phone broke (it keeps working then not working because my phone itself is too full of files and stuff which I need wifi to transfer it all to a computer, which I will do when I get wifi) and I lost all my pictures and all my songs and everything else on the media card. I think it’s all still there, just can’t be accessed yet. This is very trivial next to the deaths of my friend, Diane, and my pets, Dylan &Lizz , but it is very distressing, especially on top of the other losses.

A few days ago while getting a shower and experiencing raw grief over the losses of my friends(human and animal), it doesn’t go away but the severity and rawness fluctuates – acceptance to seemingly unbearable, back and forth, I began thinking more about the seasons of life and how pain and loss are inevitable. Whether it’s a very tragic, devastating, senseless, unexpected loss or a natural but still devastating loss to old age or a loss of a job or place to live or something, these are all stages and phases and seasons of living and we can learn to accept them. Acceptance doesn’t mean not experiencing pain or not trying to make things better. It doesn’t mean not speaking up against something we disagree with, not taking action. It just means acknowledging that painful things are part of being alive, whether they are fair, unfair, unjust, happen to most people or are rare…., and working along with these painful circumstances and seasons of life. Not denying them, not wishing them away, they won’t go away. Just soaking up every horrible emotion and also the beauty that comes along with it. Using it to our advantage, to strengthen us and our empathy for others, to deepen our wisdom. And knowing we can be happy and filled with joy along with the grief and any other pain.

Grief and missing someone and happiness in life can reach a point where they are not mutually exclusive. We can feel both, grief/sense of loss & happiness/joy. It’s the same with physical pain and happiness and even with having a depressive disorder. We can have struggles with these and other things but ultimately be happy.

The more I ponder this, the more I see the beauty in it and accept it.

“More is a man of an angel’s wit and singular learning; I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness, and affability? And as time requireth a man of marvellous mirth and pastimes; and sometimes of as sad gravity: a man for a seasons.” ~ Robert Whittinton

I’m reading a book called “The Tao of Pooh” written by a man who finds deep and ancient wisdom threaded throughout the Winnie the Pooh series, Benjamin Hoff. I had this book for a while but never read it yet and coincidentally, I picked it up to read at 4:00 in the morning, not completely sure what it’s about, and I realize it’s about just what I was thinking about during and after the shower that day, accepting and working along with, and even cherishing, all of life, painful and happy, good and bad, joyful and sorrowful. How comforting! How beautiful and inspiring.

In the book, the author tells a little story of “the vinegar tasters.” A painting of three men, said to be Confucius, the Buddha, and Lao-tse, the author of the oldest existing book of Taoism.
These three masters are standing around a vat of vinegar. Each man has dipped his finger into the vinegar and tasted it. Each man’s reaction to the taste is different and each of their faces displays a different expression.

Confucius has a sour look on his face. The Buddha has a bitter expression. And Lao-tse is smiling.

This painting is not to be taken literally but allegorically. Each man is a representation of “The Three Teachings” of China and the vinegar they are tasting represents the Essence of Life.

So the painting is an allegory for our reactions to life. Confucius, in the painting, views life as sour. He believes that the present is not properly aligned with the past and that the government of man on Earth is out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of the Universe. He has a thing for long ago and reveres the Ancestors and ancient rituals and ceremonies in which the emperor, or Son of Heaven, acts as an intermediary for limitless Heaven & limitless Earth.

The use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases all add up to an incredibly complex system of rituals, under Confucianism. Each ritual is used on a certain occasion for a specific purpose. A quote to convey the gist of this concept is “If the mat was not straight, the Master would not sit.” This shows the extent and rigidity, and a kind of perfectionism, of the ideas and rituals of the school of thought of Confucianism.

As for Buddha, the second man in the painting, life on Earth is bitter. It’s filled with attachments, illusions, and desires that lead to suffering. To him, in the painting, the world is seen as inherently full of traps, a generator of illusions – a revolving wheel of pain for all sentient beings. According to this Buddha in the painting, we must overcome “the world of dust” to obtain inner peace and reach Nirvana (complete liberation, zero suffering), which translates literally to “no wind.” We must eliminate all the unpleasantness in life, all our struggles, to be truly happy.

The author explains how the optimistic attitude of the Chinese altered Buddhism, making it more positive, after it extended to China(it originated in India). But the devout Buddhist often viewed the “bitter wind of everyday existence” as an interruption to the process of reaching Nirvana.

To the last man in the painting, Lao-tse, the one pleasantly smiling, there is Heaven on Earth. The harmony that naturally exists between Heaven & Earth and has always existed can be found by anyone at all in almost any circumstances, during any occasion, as long as the strict rules of Confucianism, which leave no room for diversity and imperfection, are not followed.

According to Lao-tse, in his Tao Te Ching, , the “Tao Virtue Book,” Earth is essentially a “reflection of Heaven.” It’s run by the same laws which are not the laws of humans. These heavenly laws are said to affect the spinning of distant planets as well as the activity of the birds in the forest and the fish in the sea.

Lao-Tse in the painting story, believes that the more we interfere with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the more difficult it is to reach harmony. The more we interfere with the natural seasons of life, the more forcing, the more trouble.

The author, Benjamin Hoff, states

“Whether heavy or light, wet or dry, fast or slow, everything had its own nature already within it, which could not be violated without causing difficulties. When abstract and arbitrary rules were imposed from the outside, struggle was inevitable. Only then did life become sour.”

(pp. 4)

Lao-tse sees life, in all its pain and beauty, as an opportunity to learn valuable lessons. Life is our teacher, our chance to awaken to deep wisdom. Unlike the Buddha in the painting who advocate for turning away from “the world of dust,” Lao-tse advises us to “join the dust of the world.” He speaks of Tao, the Way, the “law” or essence governing everything in Heaven & on Earth.

Tao cannot be explained in words. It must be lived, experienced. It’s acceptance of life as it is. It is basically and simply working with our life circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant, appreciating all of life, life itself, letting our experiences teach us, working with every single thing that happens in everyday life, going with the flow.

As I have mentioned, it’s not about not working to fix problems that can be fixed for the better. It’s not about never experiencing pain. It’s about acceptance of life, both beauty and pain, and not denying our emotions or circumstances. Acknowledging what is and just flowing with it.

Lao-tse believes this naturally brings us happiness.

We can experience great happiness even in the midst of imperfection, struggles, pain…but when we work in harmony with these circumstances, “Taoist understanding changes what others perceive as negative into something positive.” (pp. 6)

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin

According to Taoism, bitterness and sourness are results of being unappreciative and interfering with the essence of life. Life itself is sweet if we understand it for what it is. This is the message of The Vinegar Tasters.

This painting or story is not really about religion or debates or disagreements;it’s a metaphor for life that can be incorporated into any of our lives irrespective of religion or absence of religion.

I find this concept to be deeply inspiring and very helpful to remembering during difficult and painful situations such as depression, grief, loss, stress….anything.

You can find different versions of the painting in Google images. I found none worth sharing here. In most of the images I looked at, all three men look miserable. Lol

I’m wishing you lots of love & happiness! ❤

Xoxo Kim ❤

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in….March?!

Mar6

Coca Cola…. It’s the real thing!

;-p

Lol!

I’m very amused.

My sister and me bought boxes of Coca Cola cans, ordinary boxes but when I opened them I was in for a (pleasant) surprise!!

Santa is on all of the cans! In March! Lol!

The Coca Cola company is out to trick us all! It’s catastrophic! ;-D

Putting old holiday cans in a regular box! Probably knowing people wouldn’t be buying Christmas cans in March. And not on sale! Over five dollars! I would have still bought them anyway because I’m just easy going like that and anything with a Christmas theme is totally alright with me! Even when it’s in March.