"one part of me just wants to give you everything. one part just needs the quiet. and if i'm lonely here, i'm lonely here. but on the telephone you offer visions dancing. i will not take these things for granted.. anymore."
gphillips

photo: jP 2010

a pile of sticks

adding to a blog is like adding to a fire. you look around and there's a small pile of last years wood. when it runs out the newspapers go next and then the linens and old photographs find use. soon you are left with earth. you collect fallen branches and limbs like frantic fuel but as you gather they become careful comrades, and you pile them in specificly tight little bundles to burn slow. nothing sacred is sacred when you've found that heat and that light, save the provisions named "just enough."

past past erected to its memory even in floods and timelessness are all washed away. i would burn a fire if i only had logs. i would burn a fire if i only had paper. i would burn if only linens and photographs. i would burn only if i were content.

a pile of sticks will make you dream of a single chair, and a single book and a single bed, a tepid room and a candle, a slow burning fire, and a friendly neatly bound bundle of earth.

jP 7.24.10

photo: jP july 2010

prides come knock

open. are we ever really open? humility is hearing the advice from a dunce in our very own area of expertise. one never knows. the mouths of babes speak often the wisdom of kings past. perhaps they once were. one never ever really knows.

photo: jP summer 2010

bless your water

water.
water, water, water, water, water. we don't get enough. so here's the tip of the week: this is a picture of my watch. its a timex ironman. go get one. set the timer to go off every hour. when it goes off, drink 6 ounces of purified h2o. don't sip it for next ten minutes, drink it all right there!! (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT). at the bedtime hour drink 12 ounces. wait for it. now, when you get the urge to visit the restroom, please do. voila!! time for bed. tomorrow? repeat! you'll be up very early.. :) commit to this and you'll be glad you did. this simple regimen WILL change your life.

note: if you are thirsty in between hours, feel free to drink more h2o, BUT don't sip!!
pour a glass 4-6 ounces and finish it. no don't gulp it but do finish it. concentrate.
bless the water as you drink it and start listening to your body. it'll tell you how much it needs.
this IS the first step to tuning in to what your body is telling you. its saying, "i need water!"
more to come.

tip for ..

a blog should be helpful. so i'm gonna be helpful. 1 health-
diet tip a week, or month or... no results jargon, thats for you to come up with and i hope you'll share the results with me. these are lifestyle choices i've made with regard to diet, wellness... follow my lead, give it a whirl, might be helpful you know? a blog should be helpful. did i say that already? stay tuned..

photo jP 2010

never take on the offense of someone else without thorough investigation, no matter who it is.. wife, husband, best friend, son, daughter, doesn't matter. just don't do it. if they are wrong, you only support the fantasy they've dreamt up in their minds. are we not here to sharpen each other? why share in the delusions of people aching to support their own bitterness, stubbornness, etc. and for heaven's sake PLEASE play the devil's advocate when i'm itching for a fight. please work to determine the validity of my argument! if you love anyone at all you WILL do this! sure, its hard, but the opposite is seldom love. sure there is room for stepping away and finding silence for a moment, but a loved ones misapprehension is cause for shining a light in the dark place. seriously, the day we stop learning is the day i, you, someone we love dies!

the value in running

there is a value in running. you see the pop fly, its going to land behind you. you turn your back on it and run. you turn back to the ball, look up and your brain has done the math - its right in front of you. when the forrest is thick and dark there's nothing to do but climb out. when the map turns like z's and w's strung together in spaghetti salad you.. not sure. anyway, when conversations gain heat, announce that you are going to get away and then retreat. and in that place of respite let it be just that - respite. there are rules here; do's and don't do's galore. don't fret, don't curse, don't pout, don't drink, don't doubt, don't panic, don't hit things, don't worry and especially don't worry about the other party, just don't. do sing, do work, do hope, do love, do yell but only once and only if no one can hear you, then get back to singing and working. if you think about the other person, think only beautiful thoughts. pray for their peace and understanding, then get back to you. this time is for discovery about YOU. discover if your foundation has been shaken. discover if you are as strong as you'd like to be and then repent. how good are you? how lovely are you? how peaceful, gentle are you? how ugly are you? discovering ones self, its an art form. it is the art form of man. eventually you will die yes but why not live a goodly lovely giving life til then. you are practicing your eternity. step away, grow and come back better. likely, when you turn around, your love is standing right in front of you. your brain has done the math. go to her. catch her with your gentleness. even if she isn't with you yet, she will be, and your kindness does not depend on it. love covers multitudes..