24 July

So This Is Life, Really. On My Deathbed.

by Jon Katz
Dahlia Garden
Dahlia Garden

When I woke up this morning, I was disappointed to see that it was raining, the farm was shrouded in mist. I am a color and light guy all of the way so I thought it would be drab, but I remembered what a photographer told when I started taking photos, it isn’t what the camera sees, it’s what the photographer sees. I went outside, shivering in the damp and wet, no sign of light, and there were the Dahlia’s, proud and dignified.

And I thought this is life, you see what you wish to see, what you need to see. Beauty is everywhere, if you look for it, and I thought standing in the garden that on my deathbed, my love, one regret I would not have is that I did not kiss  you enough.

And one regret I will not have is that I did not look for beauty enough, or filled my cup with laments and one regret I did not have is that I turned people against one another rather than to one another.

24 July

Cold Front: Squeezing Drops From The Sun

by Jon Katz
Squeezing Drops From The Sun
Squeezing Drops From The Sun

Good friends, listen to me,

I know the grip of depression still has you by the throat,

I know that fear has a grip on your heart,

and won’t let go,

I know you are hungry for encouragement,

and instead hear silence and selfishness,

But you are with your Friends now,

you look stronger already,

you can stay happy,

and bloom like the brightest garden.

Here is the secret:

Squeeze drops of the Sun,

from your hopes and words and works,

from the sweet rush of creation,

to the quiet outside your window and the most

insignificant steps of your own body.

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun,

from your thoughts and words and images and music,

from the laughter and love around you, and in your dreams,

until the cup of full of shimmering gold.

And drink it.

Be wise.

Cast all your votes for joy.

24 July

Two Teachers, One Hour. A Dog.

by Jon Katz
Men's Story
Men’s Story

When I told Maria that I’d begun my Tai Chi lesson reading a Hafiz meditation on men to Scott Carrino, she said it was a good thing he wasn’t a women, or she’d make me stop spending time with him. I guess I never read a poetic meditation to a man before, with Scott I didn’t give it a thought. We always begin our Tai Chi lessons with some talking, catching up. Scott began talking about his struggles with writing, his love of writing music, his wish to start a blog and before we knew it, our hour was  up and we had not done any Tai Chi.

Scott reached into his pocket and returned my check for the lesson, and he proposed this: that we become one another’s teacher, that we split our hour in half, that I teach him about writing in the first 30 minutes and he would teach me Tai Chi in the last 30 minutes. He said we could pay one another, but I said that was a waste of paper, and so we agreed to teach each other for free. It was an exciting decision, both of us were excited about it, it felt good, not only in terms of friendship but our own personal development. I get help Scott get going again with his writing and music lyrics, he can help me embrace Tai Chi at a time in my life when I know it could become important to me. It was a very mutual thing, a bounded thing.

Scott was honest enough to recognize we were spilling into new terrain, and we trust one another and communicate so well we can help one another. This is especially important to me, who so rarely take the time and trouble to do this, to find friends, to make friends, to help them in a bounded and healthy way. I love the image of the two teachers, splitting an hour to share what they know. As I left, I remembered it was really three men. Red is always there.

Scott feels powerfully connected to Red, as do I. Somehow, his spirit is in this mix, I’m not sure how, but I feel it there.

24 July

Lilies Of The Field, Cont.

by Jon Katz
Lilies Of The Field
Lilies Of The Field

I loved this lily garden so much I came back this afternoon, when I started out it was cloudy, but then the sun popped out and was string and it touch the lilies with a magic want and suddenly I was in a world of shimmering color and feeling. The lilies are fading now, in a few days they will be gone. I’m glad I got to meet them with the right lens.

24 July

Rural Life: Come With Me On My Morning Walk, Lots Of News

by Jon Katz
Lilies Of The Field
Lilies Of The Field

The big news here is not about Royal Babies or Sexting politicians but about my adding a long morning walk to my spiritual  practice. As always, I brought my camera, a big lens and was rewarded by the sight of my beautiful Town Hall, a former schoolhouse, a vast Lily garden with the light behind it, three donkeys in a Pole Barn, my Dahlia garden silhouetted against the sky and homemade garden next to an old barn. These are the sights and stories of my walk, where I gather myself, loosen up for the day, find some solid ground to stand on. You can come along on  Facebook where I am posting an album and I will post some here as well.

I am committed to making my own news, and not becoming a slave to the corporate visions of information-peddling that are labeled the news. A friend told me yesterday he feels he has to watch the news because he is afraid he will miss some danger to himself or his family, some catastrophe or attack. This, of course, is a profitable construct. I rarely watch the news, I consider that a seminal part of my healthy practices, and there has never been a story I needed to know about that didn’t find me in one way or another. I make my own news.

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