FTWMI: A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “The Stories Behind the Music (or The Vibration Behind the Vibration)” July 21, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Men, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Books, Bret Anthony Johnston, Buchi Emecheta, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, reading, Rebecca Gross, samskāras, Toni Morrison, Writing, writing-tips
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere.

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2025 (with the prompt question was, “If you were going to write a story, what would be the subject of your story?”)

Class details, some links, and some formatting have been updated/added.

“I may be wrong about this, but it seems as though so much fiction, particularly that by younger people, is very much about themselves. Love and death and stuff, but my love, my death, my this, my that. Everybody else is a light character in that play.

When I taught creative writing at Princeton, [my students] had been told all of their lives to write what they knew. I always began the course by saying, ‘Don’t pay any attention to that.’ First, because you don’t know anything and second, because I don’t want to hear about your true love and your mama and your papa and your friends. Think of somebody you don’t know. What about a Mexican waitress in the Rio Grande who can barely speak English? Or what about a Grande Madame in Paris? Things way outside their camp. Imagine it, create it. Don’t record and editorialize on some event that you’ve already lived through. I was always amazed at how effective that was. They were always out of the box when they were given license to imagine something wholly outside their existence. I thought it was a good training for them. Even if they ended up just writing an autobiography, at least they could relate to themselves as strangers.”

— Toni Morrison, quoted from the American Theatre interview “Write, Erase, Do It Over: On Failure, Risk and Writing Outside Yourself — Learning how to fail well is as crucial a part of a writer’s craft as putting words on a page. With other kinds of failure, you have less control.” by Rebecca Gross (dated March 10, 2015)

Writers are often taught, “Write what you know.” Some authors and creative writing teachers think that is the best advice ever. Others, as noted above* and below, think this old standard it is not so great advice. But, have you ever considered that (on a certain level) writers have no choice? Have you ever considered that every writer writes from their own experience — even when they are writing about the experience of others and even when they are writing about places that are not their home?

Storytelling is part of being human. Before we are born, our brains start processing all the sensations/information around us and communicating a story about the present moment. (YS 2.18-20) From an early age, we tell stories about how our day went and how we wish our day had gone. We make up stuff, embellish stuff, and tell lies. Or, we tell stories about things that randomly pop up in our head. Sometimes, those stories can be pretty fantastical. But, every time we tell a story, we are telling the story based on our understanding of the world, which is based on our past experiences and our samskara (“mental impression”).

In other words, we write what we know (and what we understand).

Now, take a moment to consider that much of what we read is available for us to read (and interests us) because of our previous experiences and, also, the experiences and identity of the writer — no matter their subject matter. This is why two writers can tell very different stories even when they are writing about the same things and the same places.

This is also why you may hear about one great author and not another.

Click on the excerpt title below for the very different stories of two writers born on July 21^st.

The Stories Behind the Music (or The Vibration Behind the Vibration)

“Every Wednesday, I teach an introductory fiction workshop at Harvard University, and on the first day of class I pass out a bullet-pointed list of things the students should try hard to avoid…. The last point is: Don’t Write What You Know.”

“The idea panics them for two reasons. First, like all writers, the students have been encouraged, explicitly or implicitly, for as long as they can remember, to write what they know, so the prospect of abandoning that approach now is disorienting. Second, they know an awful lot. In recent workshops, my students have included Iraq War veterans, professional athletes, a minister, a circus clown, a woman with a pet miniature elephant, and gobs of certified geniuses. They are endlessly interesting people, their lives brimming with uniquely compelling experiences, and too often they believe those experiences are what equip them to be writers. Encouraging them not to write what they know sounds as wrongheaded as a football coach telling a quarterback with a bazooka of a right arm to ride the bench. For them, the advice is confusing and heartbreaking, maybe even insulting. For me, it’s the difference between fiction that matters only to those who know the author and fiction that, well, matters.”

— quoted from The Atlantic (Fiction 2011 Issue) essay, “Don’t Write What You Know: Why fiction’s narrative and emotional integrity will always transcend the literal truth” by Bret Anthony Johnston

Please join me today (Tuesday, July 21^st) at 12:00 Noon or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07212020 A Tale of Two Writers”]

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

*NOTE: The Toni Morrison quote (above) is from a section of the interview titled, “Failures In Contemporary American Literature”

### LIVE YOUR STORIES ###

Another Quick Note & EXCERPT: “A Quick Note & Excerpts About Using the Hook…” (the post-practice Monday post) July 20, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Faith, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Carlos Santana, Emily Perl Kingsley, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Four R's, Ian Thomas, Neal Schon, Pema Chodron, Rosemary Kennedy, Santana, shenpa, Shenpa & The Practice of Getting Unhooked, Special Olympics
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone putting together the pieces for peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).

This is the post-practice post for Monday, July 20^th. The 2026 prompt question was, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you deal with the unexpected?” You can request an audio recording of these practices or a previous practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“Don’t rush me, just this once
I wanna make this moment last
Slow down the pace, there’s no hurry
I can’t let another pass me by again
Let me be the one to say when I’ve had enough

Just let me close my eyes, memorize
The way things are this minute”

— quoted from the song “Hold On” by Santana (written by Ian Thomas¹)

The practices over the last week have partially focused on the American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön’s teachings around the concept of shenpa and the practice of the four R’s. One of the underlying truths within these practices is that, when our buttons get pushed, when we get hot, we lose focus on this present moment. Or, more precisely, we lose focus of what is important in this present moment. And, so, the practices are ultimately about staying present, right here and right now.

But, here’s a curious thing: While the Tibetan word shenpa can be translated into English as “urge, impulse, charge, or attachment”, it was first introduced to me as “hook” — which made me think of music. A musical hook, in some ways, draws us into the present moment and, so, it can be a really convenient way to practice using the hook to get unhooked. Since we don’t typically use music during the Common Ground Meditation Center practices, today, I only made a passing reference to the “hooky” music of Carlos Santana, who was born today in 1947.

The music, however, has always been just one little piece of the July 20^th practices. Mostly, today’s practices (over the years) have been inspired by the first Special Olympics games (today in 1968) and the fact that we can get “hooked” when our expectations are not met (i.e., when things are not as we expect them to be based on our previous experiences).

“Rosemary was born September thirteenth at home—a normal delivery. She was a beautiful child, resembling my mother in physical appearance. But early in life Rosemary was different. She was slower to crawl, slower to walk and speak than her two bright brothers. My mother was told she would catch up later, but she never did.

— quoted from a September 22, 1962, article by Eunice Kennedy Shriver printed in The Saturday Evening Post

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.

FTWMI: A Quick Note & Excerpts About Using the Hook…

“Today
Is all I really need to find the answers

I’ll find the constant flow
Of all the harmony”

— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon

There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.

NOTE: In previous years, we have used a playlist available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07202021 Using the Hook”] The YouTube playlist has an extra track in the before/after section.

“…you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice….”

— quoted from “Welcome to Holland” by Emily Perl Kingsley ©1987

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

NOTE: ¹The song “Hold On” was written and originally recorded by Ian Thomas. For some reason, some of the online credits related to the Santana cover (on the The Essential Santana album) list “Ian Bland, Stephen Paul Thomas” as songwriters. I don’t believe these latter credits are accurate; but, I am including them here just in case.

### BIG, Big Hugs ###

FTWMI (repost): A Quick Note & Excerpts About Practicing the R’s July 14, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Meditation, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Anushka Fernandopulle, attachment, Buddhism, compassion, compassionate abiding, Elephant Journal, loving-kindness, lovingkindness, Matt Caron, meditation, Metta, Mindfulness, non-attachment, Pema Chodron, shenpa, Shenpa & The Practice of Getting Unhooked, spirituality, yoga philosophy
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone practicing peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted today in 2024 (and reposted in 2025 with the prompt question was, “Who (or what) pushes your buttons, gets your goat, and gets you fired up like nobody’s business?” Class details, some formatting, and some links have been added/updated.

“Somebody says a mean word to you and then something in you tightens — that’s the shenpa. Then it starts to spiral into low self-esteem, or blaming them, or anger at them, denigrating yourself. And maybe if you have strong addictions, you just go right for your addiction to cover over the bad feeling that arose when that person said that mean word to you. This is a mean word that gets you, hooks you. Another mean word may not affect you but we’re talking about where it touches that sore place — that’s a shenpa. Someone criticizes you — they criticize your work, they criticize your appearance, they criticize your child — and, shenpa: almost co-arising.”

— Pema Chödrön

For the record, I am not going to say, practice, teach (or preach) anything I haven’t been teaching, practicing, and saying (or preaching) for years. Maybe I will tweak the phrasing. Maybe you will hear/see/understand things in a special way — thereby gaining new insight. Either way, regardless of all that is happening in the world, it still comes back to this: Sometimes the only thing you can do is not make it worse.

Yes, sometimes we can do things that make our life and the lives around us better. Sometimes we can write legislation, vote for legislation, and/or vote for people who write and/or vote for legislation that creates more opportunity for peace, freedom, prosperity, and wisdom. Sometimes we can create organizations or work, volunteer, and/or donate to organizations that cultivate peace, freedom, prosperity, and wisdom. There are, however, times when we are too poor — in spirit, heart/courage, skills, and/or material resources — to do anything other than send “thoughts and prayers.”

All that being, I am of the mindset that we can not know what we are able to do and/or what is the best way to respond — rather than react — until we sit down, get still, get quiet, and get honest about our intentions. Once we are grounded and centered, then we can act accordingly. In other words, practice the four R’s:

RECOGNIZE (that your buttons have gotten pushed and you have the urge/impulse to react).
REFRAIN (from doing anything, especially that knee jerk reaction).
RELAX (maybe breathe peace in and breath peace out, or do use a centering prayer).
RESOLVE (to move forward with mindfulness and intention).

This is the practice taught by the American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön, who was born today in 1936. I often add another R (or two):

REMEMBER (your intention and why you are doing the thing you are doing).
RECOGNIZE (again, that sometimes the only thing you can do is not make it worse).

You may be thinking, I don’t have time for all that “navel gazing” and introspection. And, yes, there are definitely times that require a quick response. At the same time, if you make this practice a habit, it only takes a split second to engage when you really need it.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE!

Compassion and Peace for Pema

Curious About… You (the “missing” Wednesday post)

“By trying this, we learn exactly where we are open and where we are closed. We learn quickly where we would do well to just practice abiding compassionately with our own confused feelings, before we try to work with other people, because right now our efforts would probably make a bigger mess. I know many people who want to be teachers, or feed the homeless, or start clinics, or try in some way to truly help others. Despite their generous intentions, they don’t always realize that if they plan to work closely with people they may be in for a lot of difficulty—a lot of feeling hooked. The people they hope to help will not always see them as saviors. In fact, they will probably criticize them and give them a hard time. Teachers and helpers of all kinds will be of limited use if they are doing their work to build up their own egos.”

— quoted from “Unlimited Friendliness: Three steps to genuine compassion” (Winter 2009 issue of Tricycle) by Pema Chödrön

Please join me today (Tuesday, July 14^th) at 12:00 Noon or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07142020 Compassion & Peace for Pema”]

“Prince Guatama, who had become Buddha, saw one of his followers meditating under a tree at the edge of the Ganges River. Upon inquiring why he was meditating, his follower stated he was attempting to become so enlightened he could cross the river unaided. Buddha gave him a few pennies and said: “Why don’t you seek passage with that boatman. It is much easier.”

— quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI OM ###

FTWMI (repost): What (and How) Do You Recollect? / A Strenuous, Deliberate Life Photo (w/excerpt) July 12, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Books, Eastman Kodak, Florence McAnaney, George Eastman, HBCUs, Henry David Thoreau, In Search of Lost Time, Life in the Woods, Marcel Proust, Nature, Philosophy, Remembrance of Things Past, Sinners, Swann's Way, The Captive, thoreau, Walden, yoga philosophy
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those completing the the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast on 6^th Sunday after Pentecost and/or beginning the month of Kalimát (“Words”)!

For Those Who Missed It: The following compilation post containing was originally posted in 2023 (and posted with revisions in 2025). Class details and some links have been updated/added.

“When from a long distance past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, still, alone, more fragile, but with more vitality, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unfaltering, in the tiny, and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.”

— quoted from “Overture” in Swann’s Way, Volume 1 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

You’re probably familiar with that old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but what’s the value of a thousand words that paint a picture? For that matter, what of a million? As I mentioned a few days ago, Marcel Proust wrote over a million words about memories and reflections — and, also, about how we recollect. He wrote about the very human thing we all do: look back over our days.

Sometimes we do it intentionally, deliberately — like the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who would end each day by reviewing what he had done between rising and retiring. The stoic emperor’s practice is a good reflection meditation, which can help us be more productive and (sometimes) can help us to sleep better. It’s a way to literally put to bed unresolved issues that might otherwise keep us awake. Unfortunately, sometimes, we find ourselves in bed regurgitating memories that no longer serve us.

“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”

— quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

Memories can also pop up, unexpectedly. We can be eating a madeleine or a biscuit, sitting by a moonlit lake, reading a book, listening to music, sitting down to take off or put on our shoes, or practicing on our mat and suddenly — out of nowhere it seems — we are bombarded with a very visceral memory. It seems as if it comes from nowhere, but it actually comes from inside of us. It is visceral because we not only feel it all the way to our bones, it comes out of our bones, out of our tissues, out of our minds and bodies.

So, how do you show up, in the present, when your mind-body can — at any given moment — transport you into the past? How do you make remembering useful? How do you very deliberately, very intentionally, harness the power of your memories and your ability to reflect?

What I’m really asking is: How do you remember with the intention of Thoreau and the eye of Eastman? (And, if you have that “eye of Eastman” how do you use it without (metaphorically) losing focus of the present moment?)

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”

— quoted from a journal entry dated August 5, 1851, as printed in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Walden Edition by Henry David Thoreau, compiled and edited by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn and Bradford Torrey

Born today in 1817, in Concord Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau was a teacher and a writer, who is remembered as a writer and naturalist. He is also remembered as being very close to his brother John. I have heard that the brothers were close despite having different temperaments. Henry David was introverted and all about the books; John was out-going, extroverted, and fun-loving. Additionally, John supported Henry David’s every endeavor — helping him pay for tuition at Harvard and even started a new school when Henry David was fired for objecting to corporal punishment. They shared a lot of memories.

When John died, unexpectedly, in his brother’s arms, Henry David floundered. He lived with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s family for a period of time and served as a teacher to the Emerson children. Along with Edward Hoar, he accidentally burned down several hundred acres of Walden Woods. Not long after the fire, Emerson allowed Thoreau to retreat to a cabin located on 14 acres of land, about 1.5 miles from Emerson House.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau lived in the cabin, on the banks of Walden Pond, for two years, two months, and two days. He spent that time writing his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, which he self-published on May 30, 1849. The book was a memorial for his brother and it related the story of a trip the brothers took in 1839. He also wrote the work most people associate with the name Thoreau: a collection of essays entitled Walden, or Life in the Woods.

Both of Thoreau’s books are full of words that painted pictures. He was, after all, a “mental picture” taker. After his brother died unexpectedly, Henry David Thoreau was undoubtedly comforted by the images formed by his words, but think of how he might have felt (or might have written) had he and John been born decades after George Eastman.

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.”

— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

George Eastman, born today in 1854, in Waterville, New York, was an entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist who founded the Eastman Kodak Company. He and two older sisters (Ellen Maria and Katie) were initially raised on a 10-acre farm his parents purchased shortly before George was born. Unfortunately, their father — a successful entrepreneur himself — died of a brain disorder when Eastman was almost 8 years old. By then, the Eastman family was living in Rochester, NY and life on the farm was but a memory.

George, who had been self-taught until his father’s death, was sent to private school and his mother took in boarders in order to survive. By the time he was 15, the youngest of his sisters (Katie) had died of polio. Soon after her death, George left school and started a photography business. By the time he was 30 years old, he had patented the first practical “roll of film”. Before the age of 35, he had developed the Kodak Black camera, designed to use roll film. Eventually, his company became the first, and the leading company, to supply film stock. Along the way, George Eastman changed the way people remembered — and he incorporated what would become a billion dollar company (all with a made up name).

“What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.”

— George Eastman

While some of details of their lives are very different, Henry David Thoreau and George Eastman were both very private men, who lived very solitary lives, and who believed in community. They also believed in serving the community — albeit in slightly different ways.

Henry David Thoreau was a transcendentalist and an abolitionist who read the Bhagavad Gītā and believed in civil disobedience. He was criticized for a number of things throughout his lifetime, including the decision to live alone with those regulated to the fringes of society (which some viewed as “unmanly”). His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led a student revolt at Harvard in 1766 (the first recorded in the United States) and Henry David spent a (very) short period of time in jail for “tax evasion” — which was not the first time he had refused to pay something he thought he should not have to pay. It is possible (and probable) that he also helped others escape tax liens.

“Some have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I was not afraid; and the like. Others have been curious to learn what portion of my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have large families, how many poor children I maintained…. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience.”

— quoted from “Economy” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

George Eastman also lived a solitary life (in that he never married or had children). He was considered a progressive in the social and political sense. He fought the labor union movement by offering worker benefit programs, which included employee profit-sharing for all employees. He also promoted Florence McAnaney to the top position in the personnel department — establishing her as one of the first women to hold an executive position in a major U. S. company. He also founded “an independent non-partisan agency for keeping citizens informed” in Rochester, which continues to this day.

“If a man has wealth, he has to make a choice, because there is the money heaping up. He can keep it together in a bunch, and then leave it for others to administer after he is dead. Or he can get it into action and have fun, while he is still alive. I prefer getting it into action and adapting it to human needs, and making the plan work.”

— George Eastman

Henry David Thoreau was not a financially wealthy man. However his contributions to the world are priceless. His philosophy and viewpoints regarding “unjust laws” (like the Fugitive Slave Law, which he frequently attacked in lectures), influenced Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. His legacy to the modern world includes over 20 volumes worth of articles, essays, journals, and poetry.

On the flip side, George Eastman was a philanthropist, who donated (often anonymously, as “Mr. Smith”) millions of dollars to a variety of organizations including the University of Rochester (which was also the beneficiary of his estate); the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT); and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He established the Eastman School of Music and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester, as well as the Eastman Dental Hospital in London, England. Low-income residents of London and other European cities also benefited from Eastman’s generosity as he provided funds for multiple clinics across the pond. Additionally, donated millions to Tuskegee University and Hampton University — historically Black universities.

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth….”

— George Eastman

Please join me today (Sunday, July 12^th) at 2:30 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07122020 Strenuous, Deliberate Life Photo”]

An “Interesting” Development (especially considering the new film created for the 2025 movie Sinners)!

If you’re interested in another look at how things “develop,” click on the excerpt title below.

A Strenuous, Deliberate “Photo” of You (the “missing” Monday post)

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### YS: 1.36 VIŚOKĀ VĀ JYOTIŞMATĪ ###

FTWMI: Introducing… You [and Your Style] (a mini-post with links & excerpts) July 11, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Charles Darwin, Cicero, Diogenes, E. B. White, Herbert Spencer, Jhumpa Lahiri, Socrates
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Peace and many blessings to everyone!

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2023. The excerpt, class details, and some links have been updated/added.

“67. This species of composition which the law of effect points out as the perfect one, is the one which high genius tends naturally to produce. As we found that the kinds of sentences which are theoretically best, are those generally employed by superior minds, and by inferior minds when excitement has raised them; so, we shall find that the ideal form for a poem, essay, or fiction, is that which the ideal writer would evolve spontaneously. One in whom the powers of expression fully responded to the state of feeling, would unconsciously use that variety in the mode of presenting his thoughts, which Art demands….”

“68. That a perfectly endowed man must unconsciously write in all styles, we may infer from considering how styles originate. Why is Johnson pompous, Goldsmith simple? Why is one author abrupt, another rhythmical, another concise? Evidently in each case the habitual mode of utterance must depend upon the habitual balance of the nature. The predominant feelings have by use trained the intellect to represent them. But while long, though unconscious, discipline has made it do this efficiently, it remains from lack of practice, incapable of doing the same for the less active feelings; and when these are excited, the usual verbal forms undergo but slight modifications. Let the powers of speech be fully developed, however—let the ability of the intellect to utter the emotions be complete; and this fixity of style will disappear. The perfect writer will express himself as Junius, when in the Junius frame of mind; when he feels as Lamb felt, will use a like familiar speech; and will fall into the ruggedness of Carlyle when in a Carlylean mood. Now he will be rhythmical and now irregular; here his language will be plain and there ornate; sometimes his sentences will be balanced and at other times unsymmetrical; for a while there will be considerable sameness, and then again great variety. His mode of expression naturally responding to his state of feeling, there will flow from his pen a composition changing to the same degree that the aspects of his subject change….”

– quoted from the “iv. The Ideal Writer” in “PART II. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE MENTAL SENSIBILITIES” of The Philosophy of Style by Herbert Spencer (pub. 1852)

At least two or three times a year, I mention Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (or, more completely, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life). When I do so, I include a footnote, a reference to The Philosophy of Style by Herbert Spencer, because some people believe that Spencer’s treatise on writing introduced Darwin to the idea of writing about science in a way that would appeal to the masses. There is no denying that the way Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species caused the work to be debated in parlours and scholastic circles, as well as in courtrooms and on lawns.

The way he wrote – the style in which he wrote – that was the overcoat.

“Saepe est etiam sub pallĭolo sordĭdo sapientia.

[English translation: Wisdom often is under a filthy cloak.]”

– Latin proverb (associated with Socrates, Diogenes, and Cicero)

Click on the excerpt title below to learn about Elwyn Brooks White (born today in 1899) and Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri (born today in 1967) – and about why you probably know them by different names.

FTWMI: Introducing….You

Please join me today (Saturday, July 11^th) at 12:00 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07112020 An Introduction”]

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### WHAT’S UNDERNEATH YOUR OVERCOAT? ###

FTWMI: A Little Note & Contemplating Death, Dying, and All the Living in Between July 8, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Women, Writing.
Tags: 988, Death, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, grief, Ken Ross, Life, Loss, meditation, mental health, On Death and Dying, On Grief and Grieving, Philosophy, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh, yoga
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Peace and blessings to all!

For Those Who Missed It: This quick note was originally posted in 2025.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

“Strange though it may seem to you, one of the most productive avenues for growth is found through the study and experience of death. Perhaps death reminds us that our time is limited and that we’d better accomplish our purpose here on earth before our time runs out. Whatever the reason….Those who have been immersed in the tragedy of massive death during wartime, and who have faced it squarely, never allowing their senses and feelings to become numbed and indifferent, have emerged from their experiences with growth and humanness greater than that achieved through almost any other means.”

— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

There are places in the world where people have almost always had to grapple with life and death and dying on a daily basis. However, for many in the world, the last few years have included more struggles with life and death and dying.

These are hard things to contemplate, but they are also important things to contemplate; because, death and dying (and the feelings associated with them) are all part of life.

My condolences to people who are dealing with death and dying, especially when it is an unexpected loss, a tragic loss, and/or the loss of those who were so very young.

May their memories bring you comfort.

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted today in 2020 & 2023. Class details, formatting, and some links have been updated/added. Some quotes were moved in 2025. A quote (with context) was added in 2026.

“I cannot leave out the problem of life and death. Many young people and others have come out to serve others and to labor for peace, through their love for all who are suffering. They are always mindful of the fact that the most important question is the question of life and death, but often not realizing that life and death are but two faces of one reality. Once we realize that we will have the courage to encounter both of them….

Now I see that if one doesn’t know how to die, one can hardly know how to live—because death is a part of life.”

— quoted from The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thích Nhất Hạnh

Today’s post and class will be tricky for some. Today’s theme is always tricky for some. Although, I would assert that it shouldn’t be. After all, death is part of life. That can come off glib and easy to say — specifically because it is a little glib, or shallow, because it belies the fact that loss is hard and that most of us haven’t/don’t really face the concept of death until we (or someone we love) is dying. The statement “death is part of life” is also shallow because it belies the fact that, even if we meditate on and prepare for death, loss is still hard. Yes, death and dying are something that we all have to deal with, but to just leave it at that is what makes the subject tricky.

We have to, as the Stoics did (with the statement “Memento mori”) and as Thích Nhất Hạnh instructs in The Miracle of Mindfulness, go deeper.

“The five stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one[s] we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. But they are not stops on some linear timeline in grief. Not everyone goes through all of them or goes in a prescribed order.”

— quoted from On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Grief by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler

Born in Zürich, Switzerland today in 1926, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was the oldest triplet in a family of Protestant Christians. Despite her father’s wishes, she grew up to be a psychiatrist known for her work on death and dying, life and death, and the five stages of grief. Her ultimate work was in part inspired by her work with refugees in Zürich during World War II. After the war, she participated in relief efforts in Poland and, at some point, visited the Maidanek concentration camp in Poland. As a young woman, standing in a place of destruction, she was struck by the compassion and human resilience that would inspire someone to carve hundreds of butterflies into the walls of the death camp.

Dr. Kübler-Ross originally planned on being a pediatrician. However, she married a fellow medical student (in New York in 1958) and became pregnant. The pregnancy resulted in the loss of her pediatrics residency, so she switched to psychiatry. Unfortunately, she also suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to two children. The loss of her residency and her miscarriages were not her first (or last) experiences with loss. Her marriage ended in divorce and, when she attempted to build a Virginia hospice for infants and children with HIV/AIDS, someone set fire to her home (in 1994). The house and all of the belongings inside were lost to arson.

When she started her psychiatry residency, Dr. Kübler-Ross was struck by the way hospitals in the United States treated patients who were dying. She began to host lectures where medical students were forced to meet and listen to dying people outside of a clinical setting. Her intention was to get medical students to “[react] like human beings instead of scientists…and be able to treat [terminal patients] with compassion the same compassion that you would want for yourself.” As she moved through her career, she continued hosting the series of seminars which used interviews with terminally ill patients. Her work was met with both praise and criticism — most of the latter was because she was so obviously questioning the traditional practices of psychiatry. In 1969, she released her seminal book On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families, which provided a grief model for people who were dying and for those they were leaving behind.

“Those who have the strength and the love to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that this moment is neither frightening nor painful, but a peaceful cessation of the functioning of the body.”

— quoted from On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Dr. Kübler-Ross explained from the beginning that her outline was not intended to be linear and yet, people wanted to be able to step through the stages with grace and ease. The problem with that mindset is… life is messy and so is grieving. A perfect example of the messiness of life and death can be found in Dr. Kübler-Ross’s own life… and death. In 1995, after a series of strokes which left her partially paralyzed on her left side, she found herself confronted with the reality of her own death. Added to her grief was the closing of Shanti Nilaya (“Final Home of Peace”), a healing and growth center which she had established in the later 1970’s (shortly before her divorce) after convincing her husband to buy 40-acres of land in Escondido, California.

Despite a 2002 interview with The Arizona Republic, where she stated that she was ready to die, Dr. Kübler-Ross struggled with the fact that she could not choose her own time of death. He son Ken, Founder and President of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation, served as her caregiver for the last decade of her life. In a 2019 interview with the hosts of ABC Radio’s Life Matters, Ken said, “A few weeks before she passed she said to me, ‘Kenneth, I don’t want to die.’”

“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.”

— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Ken Ross admitted that he was taken aback by his mother’s statement that she did not want to die. It turned out, Dr. Kübler-Ross was not only physically paralyzed; she was also stuck in the anger stage of her own grief model. She caught flak in the media — as if she were somehow above being human simply because she had studied, taught, and spoken so openly and so frequently on the subject of death and dying. She did not stay there (in the anger stage), however, as her family and friends encouraged her to keep living and to keep processing the experience of dying. Her son even literally pushed her out of her comfort zone by assisting her in wheelchair marathons and in visiting her sisters in Europe.

“[She] let herself be loved and taken care of, then that was her final lesson — and then she was allowed to graduate. For years I thought about this and what I realized was that’s exactly what she teaches. [When] you learn your lessons you’re allowed to graduate.”

— Ken Ross in a 2019 “Life Matters” interview on ABC Radio National

“In Switzerland I was educated in line with the basic premise: work, work, work. You are only a valuable human being if you work. This is utterly wrong. Half working, half dancing – that is the right mixture. I myself have danced and played too little.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. in an interview

Please join me today (Wednesday, July 8^th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07082020 On Death & Dying”]

“If we could raise one generation with unconditional love, there would be no Hitlers. We need to teach the next generation of children from Day One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

Revised 07/08/2023 & 2025.

### “People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” EKR ###

First Friday Night Special #69: “A Little Rest for the Weary Working for Freedom(s)” (the “missing” & expanded invitation w/excerpts) July 3, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, California, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Swami Vivekananda, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Ally Boothroyd, Battle of Gettysburg, Caesar Rodney, Civil War, CROWN Act, Franz Kafka, Frederick R. Karl, George Meade, Gettysburg, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Joseph Cinqué, Joseph Cinquez, Kelly Rowland, Max Brod, National CROWN Day, Oskar Pollak, Restorative Yoga, Robert E. Lee, Sengbe Pieh, slavery, Swami Vivekananda, Thurgood Marshall
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It’s National CROWN Day (unofficially, of course)! Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).

This is “missing” (and expanded) invitation for the “First Friday Night Special” on July 3^rd, which includes new and “renewed” content, excerpts, embedded links to related posts, and an extra video. You can request an audio recording of this Yin Yoga practice (with a little movement and pranayama) via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“… so he said to put an end to all misunderstanding: ‘We parted on bad terms.’

The Manageress seemed to construe this as excellent news.

‘So then you’re free?’ she said.

‘Yes, I’m free,’ said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.”

— quoted from “FIVE / The Hotel Occidental” in the unfinished novel Amerika by Franz Kafka (b. 1883)

It’s not enough to declare something. You usually have to work for it. When I teach (or blog) on July 1^st (as I did on Wednesday) and/or on July 2^nd, we focus on the effort that it takes — has taken and continues to take — to declare, ensure, secure, enshrine, and preserve independence, liberty, and freedom. However, the work does not end on the day it begins. As was the case today in 1776, there is more work to be done. However, people cannot do the work they need to do without taking a break to rest. So, today in 1776, some people rested.

Eventually, people in 1839, 1863, (1908), and 2019, also rested.

Rest is an important part of life. Along with the ability and opportunity to digest what we consume — including media and events — rest is a function of our parasympathetic nervous system. Our ability to rest and digest is also connected to our ability to create (and procreate). Just as a significant growth period in plants happens at night, we plant seeds and get rooted, centered, and grounded when we rest.

When we rest, we can also reflect and review on the work we have already accomplished — which is what people like Caesar Rodney and John Adams were doing back in 1776.

The following is a revised (and expanded) version of an earlier post.

“But on the other Hand, the Delay of this Declaration to this Time, has many great Advantages attending it…. This will cement the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convulsions which might have been occasioned, by such a Declaration Six Months ago.

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

— quoted from letter John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, with the heading “Philadelphia July 3d, 1776”

After riding for two days, in order to cast his vote for freedom, Caesar Rodney rested in Philadelphia for a couple of days. John Adams, who also voted for independence on July 2, 1776, spent today resting and writing letters to his wife Abigail. In one of those letters to Abigail, the future president wrote about how (and why) the “Second Day of July 1776” would be remembered and celebrated for all times.

As he reflected on the decisions that had already been made and anticipated future celebrations, John Adams also acknowledged that the work was not done and that the declaration was just the beginning of the fight. He recognized that there were battles to come — and not just battles with the “redcoats” or “regulars” (as they would have been called back in the day). He recognized that there would be philosophical, legal, and physical battles among the colonists.

He could not have known, however, that his own son (John Quincy Adams) would be involved in one of those legal battles, which came about after Sengbe Pieh (also known as Joseph Cinqué) and the other enslaved Mende, West Africans revolted on the slave ship La Amistad sometime around July 1, 1839. The Mende, West Africans did could not rest, today in 1839, because they were attempting to take the ship back to Africa. A little over a month later, they would be re-captured and their legal battle for freedom began.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE.

Because Every Vote Counted (Part 2)

A Rest for Those Riding, Fighting, and Working for Freedom – An Invitation

“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

— quoted from letter John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, with the heading “Philadelphia July 3d, 1776”

While John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the only early presidents to never own enslaved people and while both father and son legally represented people fighting for freedom within the courts, the elder was willing to compromise his views on slavery when it came to colonial politics. All that being said, today in 1776, as he rested and wrote to Abigail (who was publicly anti-slavery), John Adams couldn’t have known that he and his son would end up as presidents — or that his son would help to secure the freedom of kidnapped West Africans.

John Adams also would have had no reason to think of a Black woman, resting after the birth of her son on July 2, 1908. He had no reason to think about how his actions would eventually (indirectly) lead to a descendent of enslaved people being able to rest — instead of being immediately forced back to work — after delivering her child. Neither would he have been able to imagine that that woman son’s, Thoroughgood (later shorten it to Thurgood) Marshall, would work tirelessly to further secure, enshrine, and preserve freedom, liberty, and independence.

I said indirectly, because (as I stated before) he was willing to compromise his views to appease the Southern states in order to achieve independence. Even as he wanted to avoid conflict, I don’t know that he could have imagined the brutality of the Civil War.

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate we can not consecrate we can not hallow, this ground The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

— quoted from “The Gettysburg Address” (from the Nicolay version¹) by President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

Today in 1863, the Army of the Potomac forces, led by Major General George Meade, defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during the third Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War and its conclusion not only halted the confederacy’s invasion of northern territories, it also marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War (but not the end of the battle for long-promised freedom).

The generals, soldiers, civilians, and enslaved people who survived today, in 1863, did not rest. There was still work to be done, on both sides of the battlefield.

There was, also, still battles to be won off the battlefield.

“(3) Racial and national origin discrimination can and do occur because of longstanding racial and national origin biases and stereotypes associated with hair texture and style.

(4) For example, routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities because they are adorned with natural or protective hairstyles in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.

(5) Racial and national origin discrimination is reflected in school and workplace policies and practices that bar natural or protective hairstyles commonly worn by people of African descent.”

— quoted from “(a) Findings.” of “SEC. 2. Findings; sense of Congress; purpose.” in “CROWN Act 2020 (H. R. 5309)”²

Today in 2019, in America’s ongoing effort to make our ideals make sense (as a reality rather than a theory), the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act (SB188) was signed into law under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (of 1959) and the California Education Code. As I first noted in 2021: “New Jersey and New York adopted similar versions of the bill and other states, including South Carolina, are following suit. But, those laws don’t protect people in all over the country and they don’t apply outside of the country.”

As of today, in 2026, 30 states — including Texas, Maryland, Tennessee, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, and Alaska — have passed a CROWN Act. Some major cities in those states also, independently, passed variations of the CROWN Act. Additionally, cities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have passed CROWN protection laws. But, again, those laws only apply in those cities. So, unfortunately, people are still having their hair cut without consent and/or being told they can’t participate in school or professional events with their God-given hair.

You can click the embedded link (above) for the history and/or click on the excerpt title (below) for more (con)text(ure).

Free To Be You (and Me?), a sequel & a prequel

“(9) As a type of racial or national origin discrimination, discrimination on the basis of natural or protective hairstyles that people of African descent are commonly adorned with violates existing Federal law, including provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). However, some Federal courts have misinterpreted Federal civil rights law by narrowly interpreting the meaning of race or national origin, and thereby permitting, for example, employers to discriminate against people of African descent who wear natural or protective hairstyles even though the employment policies involved are not related to workers’ ability to perform their jobs.”

— quoted from “(a) Findings.” of “SEC. 2. Findings; sense of Congress; purpose.” in “CROWN Act 2020 (H. R. 5309)”²

If you are ~~unfamiliar~~… If you haven’t noticed or paid attention to the ways in which hair has been used to oppress people, some of the information related in the linked posts can be a little surreal.

For that matter, even if you are familiar, it can be surreal.

In some ways, we are living in a realistic, surreal world, not unlike the worlds created by Franz Kafka, who was born today in 1883. Like Kafka’s characters, we find ourselves transformed and/or in oddly transformational situations where we are forced to confront things that just don’t make sense. Of course, in order for things to make sense, we need context… reference points… history. In fact, in a letter to Oskar Pollak (dated 27 January 1904), Kafka advocated reading books that shake us awake. This was a follow-up to an earlier letter (dated 8 November 1903, translated by Frederick R. Karl), in which Kafka wrote, “We are as forlorn as children lost in the woods. When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me and what do I know of yours? And if I were to cast myself down before you and weep and tell you, what more would you know about me than you know about Hell when someone tells you it is hot and dreadful? For that reason alone we human beings ought to stand before one another as reverently, as reflectively, as lovingly, as we would before the entrance to Hell.”

Resting can help us make sense of things that have gotten surreal. Resting can help us open up our hearts and minds to the griefs of others — without (or especially if we already are) feeling overwhelmed. Resting allows us to continue the battles we need to fight in order to say, “Everyone!” when asked:

“Who is free?”

— quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.20 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

This Restorative Yoga practice (inspired by Ally Boothroyd) includes a body scan and some pranayama.

It is accessible and open to all.

(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)

Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07032026 A Little Rest for the Weary Working for Freedom(s)”]

NOTE: This playlist is a Friday remix. You can start with any of the first 6 tracks. It is still slightly different on each platform, but mostly with regard to the before/after class music. The biggest difference is that certain contextual videos (including the one below) do not appear on Spotify.

Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice and I will suggest having a strap and wall or bolster (as well as a blanket) for this practice. **CLARIFICATION: I used the fitted sheet so I could do the sequence in bed**. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.

You may also want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

“Who is free? The free must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I shall say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall with each other. These are our notions of bondage and freedom. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we see we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find a willpower, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas come to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, and if one is true, the other also is true, because both stand upon the same basis — consciousness. The Yogi says, both are true; that we are bound so far as intelligence goes, that we are free so far as the soul is concerned. It is the real nature of man, the soul, the Purusha, which is beyond all law of causation. Its freedom is percolating through layers of matter in various forms, intelligence, mind, etc. It is its light which is shining through all.”

— quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.20 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

NOTES:

¹In the other four versions of the Gettysburg Address, the words “have consecrated it” are used.

²The CROWN Act of 2020 (and a subsequent variation in 2022) passed in the U. S. House of Representatives, but has never been voted on in the U. S. Senate.

### FEEL FREE ###

A Quick Note & FTWMI: In The Middle of “The Wild Things” (revised) & EXCERPT: “Here Be The Wild Things” June 10, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Loss, Love, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous, Anne Smith, Bill Wilson, Bonnie Taylor-Blake, Christopher Walken, Dr. Bob Smith, Joseph Campbell, Maurice Sendak, mental health, PRIDE, Quote Investigator, Sandra Razieli, Sir Austen Chamberlain, Terry Gross
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Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or the 2^nd Week after Pentecost & the Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast.

“The earliest strong match known to QI appeared in a March 1936 newspaper report in ‘The Yorkshire Post’ of West Yorkshire, England. The expression was used in a speech by an influential British statesman.

Sir Austen Chamberlain, addressing the annual meeting of Birmingham Unionist Association last night, spoke of the ‘grave injury’ to collective security by Germany’s violation of the Treaty of Locarno.

Sir Austen, who referred to himself as ‘a very old Parliamentarian,’ said:—”

“‘…. We move from one crisis to another. We suffer one disturbance and shock after another.’”

— quoted from the December 18, 2015, Quote Investigator post, “Quote Origin: May You Live In Interesting Times” (with credit to “top researcher Bonnie Taylor-Blake”)

I think we can all agree that we are “living in interesting times” and surrounded by “wild things”. All of which activates our nervous systems. To paraphrase my yoga buddy and fellow teacher Sandra Razieli, we need/want to cultivate a resilient nervous system. A yoga practice is one of the many ways we can do that.

For Those Who Missed It: The following (slightly revised) excerpt is from a 2025 post. Some links, a quote, and class details have been updated/added. Links connected to outside sites are identified accordingly.

~~The other day~~ In 2025, I asked a question — “What are we doing?” — and noted that intonation (and adding a few choice words) can change the context. So, today, I am very much asking with a certain tone (and some choice words): “What in the ever-loving world are we doing?”

People might use the old adage and say we are “living in interesting times”. I’m going to say that we are in the middle of wild times and in the middle of wild things. So, the next question I want to ask you is, “What do you do when you’re in the middle of wild things”?

That last question, like my other questions, can be taken in different ways and will have different answers depending on how you react when your sympathetic nervous system is activated. Some people immediately fight (and that means different things to different people). Some people freeze up or collapse. Some people flee. While all of these very natural reactions are activated by our sympathetic nervous system, they can manifest in different ways. For instance, some people fight with joy or other positive emotional expressions (like a little bit of random fun and silliness). Some people use prayers, mediation, plus rituals and traditions to battle whatever plagues them or those they love. Bottom line: People do what they need to do to survive.

“I only have one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?”

— Maurice Sendak (b. 1928)

It is important to keep in mind that our sympathetic nervous systems can be activated when we are physically in the wild space (where wild things are happening), and/or when we mentally and emotionally find ourselves in the wild space, from viewing wild things on television, hearing things on the radio, or reading and/or viewing something on social media. All of our nervous systems are being activate.

So again, the question is, what do we do when we’re in the middle of the wild things? What do you (specifically) do? What allows you to respond more like Wayman Tisdale than Cole Porter?

And, don’t take this as me being flippant; because, I am absolutely serious when I suggest that you go a little deeper into your knee jerk response(s) and notice what you do when you find yourself “where the wild things are” — and what it takes for you to be like Max (and become the “most wild thing of all”).

“‘And now,’ cried Max, ‘let the wild rumpus start!’”

— quoted from Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Today is the anniversary of the birth of children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak (b. 1928) and the anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (in 1935).

The excerpted post includes passing references to mental health issues and addiction.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.

FTWMI: Here Be The Wild Things (a post-practice Monday re-post)

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again. You really don’t have a sacred space, a rescue land, until you find somewhere to be that’s not a wasteland, some field of action where there is a spring of ambrosia—a joy that comes from inside, not something external that puts joy into you—a place that lets you experience your own will and your own intention and your own wish so that, in small, the Kingdom is there. I think everybody, whether they know it or not, is in need of such a place.”

— quoted from A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell

As noted in the excerpted post, it is important to have a sacred space when battling things and people that push you off center. For some people, a sacred space is on the outside; for some it is on the inside; and for some it is both. For some it is all of that mixed in with tradition, ritual, and intention. Ultimately, to go back to the words of Joseph Campbell and Maurice Sendak, it is a place where everything falls into place — where we have good “luck”. It is a place we have to find and/or cultivate, as we do in our practice.

“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen.”

— quoted from Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Please join me today (Wednesday, June 10^th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06102020 Here Be The Wild Things”]

MUSIC NOTE: YouTube is the original playlist and includes the video below.

My all time favorite rendition!

2025 Practice Note: I changed the narrative for the 2025 practice and did not include the story about Maurice Sendak’s correspondence with a young fan (courtesy of the child’s mother). You can find the story (and a little history about the story) on the Truth of Fiction? website.

“GROSS: Well, I’m so glad you have a new book. I’m really glad we had a chance to talk.

SENDAK: I am too.

GROSS: And I wish you all good things.

SENDAK: I wish you all good things. Live your life, live your life, live your life.”

— quoted from the NPR Fresh Air interview “Maurice Sendak: On Life, Death And Children’s Lit” with Terry Gross and Maurice Sendak (originally aired September 20, 2011)

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### “I’LL EAT YOU UP!”• “I LOVE YOU!” ###

FTWMI: A Third Poem [for the poets born today] w/updated excerpt June 7, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Healing Stories, Life, Love, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 1st Sunday after Pentecost: All Saints, 988, Gwendolyn Brooks, Louise Erdrich, Nikki Giovanni, PRIDE, Prince Rogers Nelson, the Eve of Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast, Yoga Sutra 3.15-3.16
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating PRIDE and/or observing the 1^st Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints, & the Eve of Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast.

Happy Pride!

For Those Who Missed It: The following was previously posted in 2025. Class details, some links, and the excerpt have been updated/added.

Here is a third poem
for the poets born today
[in 1917, 1954, 1943, and 1958]
because I have just a little, tiny bit
more to say.

A good writer moves you and makes you feel
cool, beautiful, and strong / And also warns you.

A good writer moves you and makes you feel
love and anger (at strangers) and grief and more.

A good writer moves you and makes you feel
gratitude for the history within every part of you… including your feet.

A good writer moves you….
And makes you move.

©MKR 2025

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR THE OTHER POEMS.

First Friday Night Special #44: An Invitation to “Poets & The Poems of Their Hearts” / FTWMI: Ode to a Poem about Poets, Born Today (the “missing” invitation)

NOTE: The original poem is embedded in the second poem (and contains links to the poets’ poems).

Please join me today (Sunday, June 7^th) at 2:30 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06072020 Birthday of Poets”]

MUSIC NOTE: There are some slight differences in the before/after tracks and the YouTube playlist includes extra videos related to three of the four poets. The poem linked here is interactive and also includes one of those videos.)

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### REMEMBER: DON’T WASTE ANY SWEETNESS ###

First Friday Night Special #68 — Invitation for “The Journey Continues…” Continuing with Excerpts (the “missing” invitation) June 5, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Loss, One Hoop, Philosophy, Suffering, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wisdom, Writing, Yin Yoga, Yoga.
Tags: 988, abhiniveśaḥ, avidyā, Betty Sue Flowers, Bill Moyers, David Grubin, Death, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner, George Lucas, grief, healing, Healing Stories, Hero's Journey, Jason Stephenson, Joseph Campbell, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, lojong, monomyth, mythology, Star Wars
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Happy Pride! Many, many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Afterfeast of Pentecost.

This “missing” (expanded) invitation for the “First Friday Night Special” on June 5^th, includes related excerpt. You can request an audio recording of this Yin Yoga practice (with a little movement and pranayama) via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“Ironically, to Campbell the end of the hero’s journey is not the aggrandizement of the hero. ‘It is,’ he said in one of his lectures, ‘not to identify oneself with any of the figures or powers experienced. The Indian yogi, striving for release, identifies himself with the Light and never returns. But no one with a will to the service of others would permit himself such an escape. The ultimate aim of the quest must be neither release nor ecstasy for oneself, but the wisdom and the power to serve others.’ One of the many distinctions between the celebrity and the hero, he said, is that one lives only for self while the other acts to redeem society.

Joseph Campbell affirmed life as adventure.”

— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)

If you were to pause a moment and share the story of your life, there would be fine points and details that would make your story very different from mine and my story very different from someone else’s story. However, there would be common elements. There would be stages, encounters, challenges that are a part of every life, every story…and every journey.

“GEORGE LUCAS: What happens is that no matter how you do it, when you sit down to write something all other influences you’ve had in your life come into play. The things that you like, the things that you’ve seen, the things — the observations you’ve made. That’s ultimately what you work with when you’re writing. And you — you are influenced by the things that you like. Designs that you like, characters you like, moments that you remember, that you were moved by. It’s — it’s like trying to compose a — a symphony in a way.”

— George Lucas responding to a question Bill Moyers asked about the creative process, quoted from the transcript of “The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas”

Bill Moyers, who was born today in 1943, spent a good portion of his life exploring and reporting on life and the way we live life — especially here in the United States. He did this, in part, through conversations with poets like Robert Bly, Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Adrienne Rich, and Gary Snyder; as well as with politicians like John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; visionaries like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jane Goodall; filmmakers like George Lucas; and writers like Joseph Campbell. In fact, two of his most famous conversations occurred, eleven years apart, on Skywalker Ranch and centered around the “the power of myth” and idea of “the hero with a thousand faces”.

“[Joseph Campbell] agreed that the ‘guiding idea’ of his work was to find ‘the commonality of themes in world myths, pointing to a constant requirement in the human psyche for a centering in terms of deep principles.’

‘You’re talking about a search for the meaning of life?’ I asked.

‘No, no, no,’ he said. ‘For the experience of being alive.’”

— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)

Death is part of being alive — and, so, Bill Moyers wrote and talked about death. In the book and the series, Healing and the Mind, he explored the ways in which we experience grief, loss, and the fear of loss, as well as how there is sometimes a disconnect between what we are taught and what we experience. He also discussed the ways in which how we cope can lead to more suffering or great healing.

“When my brother died in 1966, my father began a grieving process that lasted almost twenty-five years. For all that time he suffered from chronic, debilitating headaches. I took him to some of the country’s major medical facilities, but no one could cure him of his pain. At one point during that ongoing search for a help, a doctor tried to teach him that his headaches were somehow related to his grief. But my father persisted in treating his pain exclusively as a medical problem, and the headaches continued to torment him.”

— quoted from the “Introduction” of Healing and the Mind by Bill Moyers (Editor, Betty Sue Flowers; Executive Editor, David Grubin; Art Research, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner)

Click on the excerpt title below for the 2023 post related to Bill Moyers and discussions about life and death.

The Last Appointment (a “long lost” Saturday post)

“I never met anyone who could better tell a story. Listening to him talk of primal societies, I was transported to the wide plains under the great dome of the open sky, or to the forest dense, beneath a canopy of trees, and I began to understand how the voices of the gods spoke from the wind and thunder, and the spirit of God flowed in every mountain stream, and the whole earth bloomed as a sacred place — the realm of mythic imagination. And I asked: Now that we moderns have stripped the earth of its mystery — have made, in Saul Bellow’s description, ‘a housecleaning of belief’ — how are our imaginations to be nourished? By Hollywood and made-for-TV movies?

Campbell was no pessimist. He believed there is a ‘point of wisdom beyond the conflicts of illusion and truth by which lives can be put back together again.’”

— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)

Click on the excerpt title below for the 2024 post which highlights the monomyth/Hero’s Journey (and includes some elements from the previous post).

FTWMI: The Journey Continues… (with an excerpt)

“[Joseph Campbell] was, of course, criticized for dwelling on the psychological interpretation of myth, for seeming to confine the contemporary role of myth to either an ideological or a therapeutic function. I am not competent to enter that debate, and leave it for others to wage. He never seemed bothered by the controversy. He just kept on teaching, opening others to a new way of seeing. It was, above all, the authentic life he lived that instructs us. When he said that myths are clues to our deepest spiritual potential, able to lead us to delight, illumination, and even rapture, he spoke as one who had been to the places he was inviting others to visit.

What did draw me to him?

Wisdom, yes; he was very wise.

And learning; he did indeed ‘know the vast sweep of our panoramic past as few men have ever known it.’

But there was more. A story’s the way to tell it. He was a man with a thousand stories. This was one of his favorites. In Japan for an international conference on religion, Campbell overheard another American delegate, a social philosopher from New York, say to a Shinto priest, ‘We’ve been now to a good many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your shrines. But I don’t get your ideology. I don’t get your theology.’ The Japanese [delegate] paused as though in deep thought and then slowly shook his head. ‘I think we don’t have ideology,’ he said. “We don’t have theology. We dance.’

And so did Joseph Campbell — to the music of the spheres.”

— quoted from the “Introduction” to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (edited by Betty Sue Flowers)

This Yin Yoga (with a little movement and a little pranayama) is accessible and open to all.

(NOTE: There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.)

Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06052026 The Journey Continues”]

NOTE: You can select Track #1-#4 for this practice. Track #2 (the Jason Stephenson track) is different on each platform. I will probably remix this playlist, but the primary tracks will remain the same.

Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice and I will suggest having a chair, sofa, coffee table or bolster (as well as a blanket) for this practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.

You may also want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### LIVE YOUR STORY! TELL YOUR STORY! DANCE! ###

« older posts

A Joyful Practice

FTWMI: A Quick Note & EXCERPT: “The Stories Behind the Music (or The Vibration Behind the Vibration)” July 21, 2026

“I may be wrong about this, but it seems as though so much fiction, particularly that by younger people, is very much about themselves. Love and death and stuff, but my love, my death, my this, my that. Everybody else is a light character in that play.

“Every Wednesday, I teach an introductory fiction workshop at Harvard University, and on the first day of class I pass out a bullet-pointed list of things the students should try hard to avoid…. The last point is: Don’t Write What You Know.”

— quoted from The Atlantic (Fiction 2011 Issue) essay, “Don’t Write What You Know: Why fiction’s narrative and emotional integrity will always transcend the literal truth” by Bret Anthony Johnston

September 25 — 27, 2026

### LIVE YOUR STORIES ###

Another Quick Note & EXCERPT: “A Quick Note & Excerpts About Using the Hook…” (the post-practice Monday post) July 20, 2026

“Don’t rush me, just this once I wanna make this moment last Slow down the pace, there’s no hurry I can’t let another pass me by again Let me be the one to say when I’ve had enough

Just let me close my eyes, memorize The way things are this minute”

— quoted from the song “Hold On” by Santana (written by Ian Thomas1)

— quoted from a September 22, 1962, article by Eunice Kennedy Shriver printed in The Saturday Evening Post

“Today Is all I really need to find the answers

I’ll find the constant flow Of all the harmony”

— quoted from the song “All the Love of the Universe” by Carlos Santana (b. 07/20/1947), written by Carlos Santana / Neal Schon

“…you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice….”

— quoted from “Welcome to Holland” by Emily Perl Kingsley ©1987

September 25 — 27, 2026

### BIG, Big Hugs ###

FTWMI (repost): A Quick Note & Excerpts About Practicing the R’s July 14, 2026

— Pema Chödrön

RECOGNIZE (that your buttons have gotten pushed and you have the urge/impulse to react).

REFRAIN (from doing anything, especially that knee jerk reaction).

RELAX (maybe breathe peace in and breath peace out, or do use a centering prayer).

RESOLVE (to move forward with mindfulness and intention).

REMEMBER (your intention and why you are doing the thing you are doing).

RECOGNIZE (again, that sometimes the only thing you can do is not make it worse).

— quoted from “Unlimited Friendliness: Three steps to genuine compassion” (Winter 2009 issue of Tricycle) by Pema Chödrön

— quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal

September 25 — 27, 2026

### OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI OM ###

FTWMI (repost): What (and How) Do You Recollect? / A Strenuous, Deliberate Life Photo (w/excerpt) July 12, 2026

— quoted from “Overture” in Swann’s Way, Volume 1 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”

— quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”

— quoted from a journal entry dated August 5, 1851, as printed in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Walden Edition by Henry David Thoreau, compiled and edited by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn and Bradford Torrey

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

— quoted from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

“What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.”

— George Eastman

— quoted from “Economy” in Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

— George Eastman

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth….”

— George Eastman

If you’re interested in another look at how things “develop,” click on the excerpt title below.

September 25 — 27, 2026

### YS: 1.36 VIŚOKĀ VĀ JYOTIŞMATĪ ###

FTWMI: Introducing… You [and Your Style] (a mini-post with links & excerpts) July 11, 2026

– quoted from the “iv. The Ideal Writer” in “PART II. CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE MENTAL SENSIBILITIES” of The Philosophy of Style by Herbert Spencer (pub. 1852)

“Saepe est etiam sub pallĭolo sordĭdo sapientia.

[English translation: Wisdom often is under a filthy cloak.]”

– Latin proverb (associated with Socrates, Diogenes, and Cicero)

September 25 — 27, 2026

### WHAT’S UNDERNEATH YOUR OVERCOAT? ###

FTWMI: A Little Note & Contemplating Death, Dying, and All the Living in Between July 8, 2026

— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Now I see that if one doesn’t know how to die, one can hardly know how to live—because death is a part of life.”

— quoted from The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thích Nhất Hạnh

— quoted from On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Grief by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler

“Those who have the strength and the love to sit with a dying patient in the silence that goes beyond words will know that this moment is neither frightening nor painful, but a peaceful cessation of the functioning of the body.”

— quoted from On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.”

— quoted from Death: The Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“[She] let herself be loved and taken care of, then that was her final lesson — and then she was allowed to graduate. For years I thought about this and what I realized was that’s exactly what she teaches. [When] you learn your lessons you’re allowed to graduate.”

— Ken Ross in a 2019 “Life Matters” interview on ABC Radio National

“In Switzerland I was educated in line with the basic premise: work, work, work. You are only a valuable human being if you work. This is utterly wrong. Half working, half dancing – that is the right mixture. I myself have danced and played too little.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. in an interview

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D.

September 25 — 27, 2026

### “People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” EKR ###

First Friday Night Special #69: “A Little Rest for the Weary Working for Freedom(s)” (the “missing” & expanded invitation w/excerpts) July 3, 2026

“… so he said to put an end to all misunderstanding: ‘We parted on bad terms.’

The Manageress seemed to construe this as excellent news.

‘So then you’re free?’ she said.

‘Yes, I’m free,’ said Karl, and nothing seemed more worthless than his freedom.”

— quoted from “FIVE / The Hotel Occidental” in the unfinished novel Amerika by Franz Kafka (b. 1883)

“But on the other Hand, the Delay of this Declaration to this Time, has many great Advantages attending it…. This will cement the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convulsions which might have been occasioned, by such a Declaration Six Months ago.

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

“Don’t rush me, just this once
I wanna make this moment last
Slow down the pace, there’s no hurry
I can’t let another pass me by again
Let me be the one to say when I’ve had enough

Just let me close my eyes, memorize
The way things are this minute”

— quoted from the song “Hold On” by Santana (written by Ian Thomas¹)

“Today
Is all I really need to find the answers

I’ll find the constant flow
Of all the harmony”

— quoted from “The Gettysburg Address” (from the Nicolay version¹) by President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

— quoted from “(a) Findings.” of “SEC. 2. Findings; sense of Congress; purpose.” in “CROWN Act 2020 (H. R. 5309)”²

— quoted from “(a) Findings.” of “SEC. 2. Findings; sense of Congress; purpose.” in “CROWN Act 2020 (H. R. 5309)”²

FTWMI: A Third Poem [for the poets born today] w/updated excerpt June 7, 2026

Here is a third poem
for the poets born today
[in 1917, 1954, 1943, and 1958]
because I have just a little, tiny bit
more to say.

A good writer moves you and makes you feel
cool, beautiful, and strong / And also warns you.

A good writer moves you and makes you feel
love and anger (at strangers) and grief and more.