Ever Considered This?

Lemme Think About It...

"There's a really good chance that the thoughts in my head
will eventually exit my mouth."

From Inside The Sane Asylum

Happy Halloween...

Lemme Think About It...really

                                                   "Would mad cow dis-ease be considered the same as moo dis-order?" 

Entry Note To Self..."a lot like people that way"

Denys: [to Karen, whose horse has run away, leaving her at the mercy of an approaching lion] I wouldn't run. If you do, she'll think you're something good to eat. 

Karen Blixen: [staring at lion] Have you - Do you have a gon ? 

Denys: She won't like the smell of you. 

Karen Blixen: Shoot - shoot it. 

Denys: She's had breakfast. 

Karen Blixen: Please shoot her. 

Denys: Well, let's give her a moment. 

Karen Blixen: [as lion comes closer] Oh my god, shoot her ! 

[Lion approaches Karen then wanders off into brush]

Karen Blixen: Just how much closer did you expect to let her come ? 

Denys: A bit. It wanted to see if you'd run. That's how they decide. A lot like people that way. 

Karen Blixen: She almost had me for lunch ! 

Denys: Well, it wasn't her fault, baroness. She's a lion. 

Karen Blixen: Well, it wasn't mine. 

Denys: Doesn't that outfit come with a rifle ? 

Karen Blixen: Ye-ah, uh. 

[looks around]

Karen Blixen: On my saddle. 

Denys: Better keep it with you. Your horse isn't much of a shot. 

Entry Note To Self...journeys

"If you don't change your direction, you may end up where your headed."

Reminds me of something Ole Opossum man told me not long ago... "You know the direction your headed is a lot more important than how fast you get there?" Something along those lines. A little different from  " the journey is more important than the destination," which stands on its own, as just enjoy the journey.  A systemic belief of sorts. Your choice to where you are going and who you want to be are the parents of enjoying beauty along that journey to your destination. It's "all" about the choices we make, don't you think?

I was walking alone the beach the other day looking at the destruction of Sir Matthew. Sad to me...not so much with how Matthew touched and bruised the shore, but of the human garbage that spills from the sea. Was there ever a Humanity to lose? A topic for another time, but it hurts to see something so unnatural.

Speaking of unnatural...each time I walk the beach I look for what "they" call Sea Glass. Just busted bottles of all shapes and colors. When these bottles are broken,  plummeted and scared by the ocean they become an item that gives for many a moment to look down and focus. Focus on something that does not look normal among the sand and char of shells. Something unnatural looking... I noticed that if you are walking along with others, and they are also looking for this fools gold, and one stops and looks down, everyone stops and looks down. That does not mean a damn thing...does it?  Just something I noticed along "that" journey that day. Also noticed this...that every time you find a piece of this Sea Glass... "look harder because there will be other pieces here," will be heard, from someone... It's true, and now I have formed a heuristic belief around that fact. That leads us to some deduction. Is it some physics involved that puts two pieces together or is it the heuristic belief kicks in and you look a little harder for the beauty you are searching? Really doesn't matter...does it? It is a choice of sorts. Playing with both science and spirit, or beliefs if you wish.

It was a beautiful morning. I still recall the cloudless dark blue sky meeting the horizon. Two shrimp boats slowly working the Gulf Stream. The ocean had returned to a more natural rhythm that day. She was more relaxed and wanted to please your senses once more. A few sea birds returning after being hunkered down from a week of strong winds. My mind spoke to them as a kind jester... "I just downloaded an app to identify you by name and your habits and lore. I will get to know you more." Just a way of saying thanks...gratitude for showing up.

As a rule of thumb, (see another heuristic belief), in the warm months I walk downwind first to get the cool breeze walking home and just the reverse in the cool months. That day was in between so I just flipped a coin...damn, another heuristic thought. Down wind as I recall and the journey began.

A few months back, I wrote a post about the beach memorial I experienced on one of my morning walks. The fragile lady released the ashes in the gentle waves and placed a yellow rose as the tide carried him to sea...I was about 500 yards from that very spot when I spotted this yellow rose. Was it just the physics of the ocean that put it there that day? Or maybe I was just looking a little harder...to soothe the spirit of my memory?

Did it not begin with a choice and a belief? Why did I choose this journey this day? Maybe to just experience that fragile soul, still on her journey of sensing beauty, expressing gratitude, and experiencing foreignness. Or is it just Life? What a Journey...don't you agree? If you don't change your direction, you may end up where your going...

At play in the field of Now.."just thoughts"...Doc

Entry Note To Self...a week after Matthew

My daily walk...the beach after a storm yields many surprises. Mostly the surprise of human garbage. Seems the sea spits it out as a reminder to care more deeply for our planet. Cool morning, strong east wind from a new Hurricane spinning in the middle of the Atlantic making high tide a tricky walk. My eyes fixed on the litter of plastic. Bottles, storage bags, pvc pipe, bic lighters, caps, sun glasses, and shoes looking for their mate.

Then among the debris and sea weed you caught my eye...you traveled far. The Amazon Jungle or perhaps the mountains of Costa Rica. Your mother is called Monkey Ladder. A sea pod that can grow three feet long, and as they fall to the jungle floor you emerge and float from the streams, to the rivers, then the ocean caught by the Gulf Stream and pushed ashore by Matthew. Were you really the reason Columbus sailed further west in search of your origin?

Legend has it that you bring good luck to the finder and they will have a blessing. Legend also tells, if the finder gives you to another, the other, will live a blessed and full life...Sea Heart they call you...

You as a possession I will not keep,
for you will bless a life,
that may well touch another so deep...Doc

From Inside The Sane Asylum...give me a break

Every language has its own collection of wise sayings. They offer advice about how to live and also transfer some underlying ideas, principles and values of a given culture / society. These sayings are called "idioms" - or proverbs if they are longer. These combinations of words have (rarely complete sentences) a "figurative meaning" meaning, they basically work with "pictures". Like "birds of a feather flock together."

I don't want to pull any wool over your eyes, but to make a long story short and  please take this with a grain of sand, since it comes from the horses mouth and not hearing this through the grape vine. At times I don't play with a full deck of cards. Off my rocker you could say. There are times I go barking up the wrong tree and at the drop of a hat will beat around the bush. I don't think I have ever cried over spilled milk, but I am guilty of adding insult to injury and I have been known to put all my eggs in one basket...

Enough of this bull shit, I need a break before I taste a dose of my own medicine. I don't want to ever be caught dead...what a visual that is...be back soon...your guess is good as mine. Just experienced a blooming idiom...Doc

From The Road...going home

From The Road...

As I recall it was an early Sunday morning headed for Royal Street. It's hard to tell in New Orleans, where there lives a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

His appearance and demeanor was a nicely judged blend of bird man and lucky man. But who am I to judge. He looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "Where you been"?

"Between a little rock and a hard place would be my best guess", I replied. "Where you been pilgrim", I asked?

"Never been called a pilgrim, but guess that will do", as he grinned, and quickly let me know that where you going is more important than where you been. Wished I had thought of that line to say to him, but he was right, just not that important for me to know where he had been. Not sure I really wanted to know for I fear I may not understand.

It is in these moments you just see a man. A man getting along the best he can. He had no interest in Wall Street, Real Estate or a retirement plan. Not the least bit concerned what was on tv. He did talk about family, friends and even disclosed to me where I could buy some chicken necks on special. What we talked about did not matter. He hummed in between our human verse. Hummed a tune that had no melody or rhyme. Sounded like echoes coming from another room. Echoes of his past I presume...after all not that important  for me to know where he has been.

It was a brief encounter on that corner between Decauter and Douphine Street and our parting statement went something like this:

"Well Pilgrim, where you going", I asked?
"I'm going home next Wednesday", he replied.
"Where is home", I asked ?
Says he, "I'm not altogether sure yet, but that's where I'm headed on Wednesday."

I still hear his humming in my ear and I often wonder where he lays his head. Home I suppose. Always more important to know where your going and not where you have been...

His name is Ronnie...still holds that corner spot between Decauter and Dauphine Street

Home

Just beyond your imagination
There is a place called home
A place where everything is nothing
And nothing is everything

There is a place where peace exist
It's a place visited by few noted men
It's a place where one magnifies the vision of all
It's a place that we call home... Thank you Ronnie, my friend, for the lesson...Doc

The Wayfarer ...

by Stephen Crane

The wayfarer,
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
"Ha," he said,
"I see that none has passed here
In a long time."
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
"Well," he mumbled at last,
"Doubtless there are other roads."

Going to take some time away, enjoy the fall and family...hope you do the same...see you down the road...be well and kind...Doc

From The Far Side Of The Glass...anxiety

One important source is shedding light on anxiety: Google. As reported by economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, searches for anxiety have doubled in the past eight years. Certain terms are typed more often: ‘anxiety at night’ is skyrocketing, while ‘anxiety in the morning’ is also on the rise.

A second factor is opiate withdrawal. Stephens-Davidowitz notes that searches for that term are climbing even as prescription rates are falling, which could be accounted for by the black market and increased heroin addiction.

Interestingly, memory plays an important role in both addiction and anxiety disorder. With addiction, positive reinforcement creates an insatiable urge to revisit the experience. An addict’s aggressive nature partly depends on recalling the feeling of the experience. Soon this spirals into negative reinforcement, where a potential inability to return to that state keeps the user focused not on pleasure, but fear of withdrawal.

Front Porch Psychology...anxiety

Anxiety can be thought of as the workings of a strong healthy brain that’s being a little overprotective. It’s not crazy and it’s not troubled. It’s overprotective. 

From Inside The Sane Asylum...Who Dat Whodunnit

You remember Who Dat post? Well just received this correspondence from Who Dat and wanted to share with you his tale as he saw his behavior this past weekend and my response...

Dear Doc.

Well yes I am a part of the  Who Dat Nation!! and Whodunnit  will try and break this down for ya'll. First the large juice jar is pretty appetizing after a couple of them. And yes my middle name is Hurricane with experience!! 

Moving on, yes I did have the lucky socks on my hands, but it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. But with that being said, I don't remember screaming, must have been the juice jar, yea it was the juice.

This Saturday I will need more than socks on my hands to win, maybe one LARGE GRANDE SOCK to cover my body!!  That's a great idea Whodunnit, yeah that's the ticket!!

With all that being said, thank you Doc for keeping your word and making me my first post!

See you on my next appointment Doc.

Peace, I'm out,

Who Dat Whodunnit

My response...

Dear Who Dat Hurricane Whodunnit...

Always a pleasure making someone a first. I'm not sure about the juice jar elixir evoking primal screams but if that's the way you experience it we will explore that during your next appointment...seems you may have been potty trained much to early, but we will leave that for another discussion. Maybe it was those long trips you took to the out house growing up in Tennessee. I say that from experience. I remember well in the deep woods of Louisiana, hearing similar screams. Usually when the Sears & Robuck catalog was all used up...you may have those experiences blocked in your deep subconscious...a topic for another session. We have made a few changes in our office so when you come for your next appointment the meds will be on the left and the straight jackets on the right. We also need to revisit your day passes and curfew times.

At any rate, just forget the grande sock. You might just try a full body orange spray on. Glow in the dark stuff. The color goes well with the juice jar elixir and hell it makes it easier for us to find you in the dark should you be late for curfew...

Lol...good write Who Dat Hurricane Whodunnit..you are showing great promise...did you really eat those rum pickled eggs?

Kind regards,

Dr Ego Prozac...Underground 

Primate Zoo Keeper

The Sane Asylum

Discovering Ourselves...hold space

What does it mean to “hold space” for someone else?

It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control until they can fly.

Here’s the deal. The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is. When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.