“A good sequence is like a good story. There is a beginning (an introduction), the middle (the heart of the story), and the end (the conclusion)”

— Maty Ezraty

People often tell me that one of the things they like about my classes are the stories, as well as the way the poses and the music tell the stories. They may even wonder why I tell such stories. Bottom line: I come from a long line of teachers who think the practice is a way to tell our stories and also a way to process our stories, every time we inhale, every time we exhale. It’s a way to go deeper into our stories.

But, since we all have different stories, we need to get on the same page — and I just happen to have the privilege of turning that page.

Today is a day when I normally tell the stories of four very famous storytellers born on March 22^nd. These storytellers tell/told their stories in different ways. However, the storytellers themselves have something in common — other than the fact that they are all, as it turns out, the same gender and race and share the same profession and birthday. They all know/knew how to tell a good story.

Regardless of if you read the adult novels or children’s books of one of my parents’ favorite authors; the poetry of one of my favorite poets; or listen to the brilliant lyrics and music of the two composers on the list, you will find that they follow a simple structure. It is the same structure we follow in the practice; a structure containing the three parts highlighted by Maty Ezraty and, also, a Chekhovian promise (which we’ll get to in the end).

As I said before, today is a day when I normally tell the stories of four storytellers. (I have shifted, once or twice, to tell holiday stories.) However, this year, I feel compelled to start with the story of a fifth storyteller — and his story comes with it’s own Chekhovian promise.

“I would like to either pick up the mantle or stand next to my partner and hold the torch as we, you know, run into the Olympic arena of this society and discourse. Because aren’t we losing, Kelly, discourse? It’s black or it’s white, and that’s not the way the world works. We live in a gray world, and I want to tell gray stories.”

— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (July 13, 2017) NPR interview entitled “‘You’re Never Too Old To Screw Up’: Keegan-Michael Key On ‘Friends From College’” by Kelly McEvers, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek

Born today in 1961, in Southfield, Michigan, Keegan-Michael Key is an award-winning comedian, actor, producer, and writer who has said, “I have always, or for the most part, identified myself as a biracial person.” So, already, he is a little different from the other storytellers. Also, while some of the others believe in comedy — and include comedic elements in their work, Mr. Key is the only comedian on my list (this year). He’s also the only one of these storytellers that uses his whole being (mind and body) to tell a story, especially when he is impersonating someone (like Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Phylicia Rashād, or Eva Longoria’s Desperate Housewives character Gabrielle Solis)

In addition to starring in movies, television shows, music videos, and video games, Keegan-Michael Key co-created and co-starred in the sketch comedy series Key & Peele (with Jordan Peele, the aforementioned partner). The Shakespearean-trained actor appeared in the musical comedy Schmigadoon! and onstage as Horatio in the Public Theater’s 2017 production Hamlet and as Gerald in the 2017 Broadway premiere of Meteor Shower (by Steve Martin). During the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he brought his Key & Peele character Luther (then-President Barack Obama’s “anger translator”) to life. He has also appeared as an actor during the annual fundraiser for Young Storytellers [Foundation], which features work written by elementary, middle, and high school storytellers.

“Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you’d want what I want
Sorry, my dear
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns
Don’t bothеr, they’re herе”

— quoted from the song “Send in the Clowns” from the musical A Little Night Music, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler

For Those Who Missed It: The following four profiles have been slightly updated since 2020.

Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930, in New York City, NY) was a legendary musical theater composer and lyrics, as well as an award-winning film composer. His accolades include 8 Tony Awards (more than any other composer), 8 Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. In all my time working in theater, I can’t say that I ever worked on any of Sondheim’s musicals (or the musicals of our final birthday composer), but I’ve seen my fair share of both their works — and can definitely sing along.

Also born in New York City, NY, in 1941, poet Billy Collins has been called “The most popular poet in America” and has served as United States Poet Laureate (2001 – 2003) and New York State Poet (2004 – 2006). Collins considers “humor a doorway into the serious” and started his poem “Picnic, Lightning” by quoting Vladimir Nabokov. In Lolita, the protagonist says, “My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning)…”

The poem’s title is also the title of a collection of poems which my friend Mimi gave me in a moment when I was overwhelmed by grief. Fast forward almost a decade and, as if in a poem, I was dancing with Billy Collins on Nicollet Island and giving him a piece of Collins-inspired poetry. Even now, I can feel it…I can feel it…the joy of the moment, the joy of being alive; which fits in with his secret theory.

In a 2001 interview with The Paris Review, Billy Collins said, “I have a secret theory that people who are addicted to reading are almost trying to recreate the joy, the comfortable joy of being read to as a child…. Being read to as a child is one of the great experiences in life.”

Our second birthday composer is Baron Lloyd-Webber, or more properly styled, The Lord Lloyd-Webber…better known as the EGOT Andrew Lloyd Webber (no hyphen). Born today in 1948 (in Kensington, London), he was originally knighted in the 1992, given a life peerage in 1997, and appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of Garter (KG) in 2024. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, 2 film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He is an EGOT because he has won an Emmy Award, 3 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award (Oscar), and 6 Tony Awards — as well as 4 Laurence Olivier Awards and a plethora of other awards.

James Patterson (b. 1947, in Newburgh, NY), is a bestselling novelist and children’s book author whose books can always be found in my parents bookshelves. Doesn’t matter if it is mystery, suspense, romance, or science, Patterson keeps you in the moment and keeps a Chekhovian promise (which is fast approaching). One of his protagonists is a 12-year old orphan named Max Einstein. Like her namesake, this Einstein is a genius with wild (in her case red) curly hair. She is told that her story combined with her emotional and intellectual quotients are why she is considered the world’s “last great hope.”

“‘When you convinced me not to quit, you said, and I quote, “If we are to help save the human race, we must recognize the humanity in all, no matter their station in life.”’”

— Charl speaking to Max and Isabl in Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

The “Season for Nonviolence” principle of the day (for March 22^nd) was “advocacy” — and all of the aforementioned storytellers have been advocates for literacy and storytelling. For his part, James Patterson has donated over 300 million books to school-aged children and the military, over $70 million to support education, and endowed over 5,000 scholarships for teachers. In 2020, he renewed a partnership with Scholastic Book Clubs and pledged $2.5 million to help teachers build their classroom libraries.

At one time, James Patterson was also seen as an advocate for diversity — in part because he insisted that a Black actor play one of his most popular characters, Alex Cross (who is African American in the novels). However, people’s perceptions changed a little, in June 2022, when Mr. Patterson was quoted (in the United Kingdom’s Sunday Times) as saying that “he and his fellow ‘white males’ were subject to ‘racism’ that prevented them from getting writing jobs. ‘Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes.’ He continued by saying, ‘It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males’ in film, theater, TV or publishing.”

The award-winning author apologized and issued a retraction two days after the interview was published; however, both came after significant backlash and factchecking that showed there were no gray areas here: his claims just didn’t match reality.

“According to the 2022 Hollywood Diversity Report, out of the 251 screenwriters for top box office feature films in 2021, nearly 68% were white; 47% were white men, specifically. A 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report showed that during the 2019-2020 season, out of the 1,214 broadcast script writers, only 26.4% were people of color, and white men made up 46.1% of the total. A similar trend extends across the scripted cable and digital industries.

In theater, according to the most recent Asian American Performers Action Coalition Visibility Report, nearly 90% of shows produced on Broadway and 76% of the shows by major New York nonprofit theater companies — which collectively set the theatrical agenda for the rest of the nation — were written by white playwrights. And multiple reports have highlighted the issue of men outnumbering women playwrights. For the book publishing industry, the numbers by race are just as staggeringly imbalanced, as a 2020 New York Times report showed. In 2018, nearly nine out of 10 books published by major houses were by white writers — which, based on the relatively even gender divide among authors, suggests that about 45% of the white writers published by major houses in the U.S. are men.

So, across these creative fields, white men — about 30% of the American population — consistently receive nearly half of all writing opportunities.”

“Out of the 44 co-authors I found in his front-line novel franchises — the ones aimed at global bestseller status — I only identified one woman of color: Rachel Howzell Hall (a bestselling crime queen herself and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America). Nine others were white women.”

— quoted from the (June 16, 2022) NBC News “Think: Opinion, Analysis, Essays” article entitled “James Patterson’s carefully worded apology after ‘racism’ claim is an eyebrow raiser: The author said that he strongly supported diversity of voices, but that would be hard to tell looking at many of the co-authors he’s chosen to work with.” by Jeff Yang

Which brings us back to those Chekhovian promises.

It was Anton Chekov who said that if there is a rifle (or a pistol) hanging on the wall in the first chapter/act, it must go off in the second or third. He told another playwright, “It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.”

Whenever we step on the mat, there’s a part of us that is making a promise. Whenever, I put together a sequence there’s a part of me that thinks about that promise, as well as about that second Sondheim song (“Putting it together…bit by bit…piece by piece”) and Maty Ezraty’s sequencing advice about the middle (the heart) of the story. I consider how can I build up to a big heart opener and how we each need to process our own personal story in order to not only lift and open our hearts, but to also support our lifted and open hearts — especially in a time when it is so easy to close off.

When I think about the fact that the practice is always a way to tell our stories — as well as a way to process our stories, I think about the music (and how I can use the music to tell our stories). The (original) March 22^nd playlist not only tells the stories of some great storytellers celebrating birthdays today (as I intended) and is a way to process our current life-plot (as I intended), it also reflects my story as a lover of stories. At some point, I plan to remix it to include a little Schmigadoon!. In the meantime, however, the absence of a specific track for Keegan-Michael Key just highlights the fact that the original list was all the same sex, gender, and race.¹

“A poet can feel free, in my estimation, to write a poem for himself. Or a painter can paint a painting for himself. You can write a short story for yourself. But for me, comedy by its nature is communal. If other people don’t get it, I’m not sure why you are doing it. I think the same can be said for being offensive, for no other reason than being offensive. Me personally, it boggles my mind.”

— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (Feb 1, 2012) MovieWeb interview entitled “Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Talk Key & Peele Series Premiere [Exclusive]” by
B. Alan Orange

In some ways, practicing yoga is simultaneously like writing a poem, painting a painting, writing a short story, and writing comedy. You do it for yourself and — especially in a group class — it is also communal. As Maty Ezraty said, “Practicing yoga is a privilege. And with this privilege comes a duty to be kind, to share a smile, and to offer yoga from the mat into the rest of your life.”

Here is a mini-practice (5 minutes) which you can use it as your whole practice as the beginning/introduction portion of your practice and finish with a deeper back bend (even if it’s the same back bend — just with more awareness, more breath, and more smile.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03222020 Storytellers”]

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 a new 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).

NOTES:
¹Just to clarify, since someone asked after class: While there are other storytellers I could have highlighted, the original focus was always the last 4 storytellers referenced above. I didn’t replace anyone, just added a storyteller and adjusted the narrative accordingly. Similarly, the playlist has room, time, and space, for another song (or two).

### Enjoy Your Story & Share Your Stories ###

EXCERPT (s): “… some Powerball® thoughts” & “Another New Year, Another New Season” March 19, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, New Year, Nowruz, One Hoop, Poetry, Ramadan, Twin Cities, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Andy Greene, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Beecher, Dave Van Ronk, Ecology, Feast Day of Saint Joseph, Nowruz, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Spring, Tony Glover
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who were celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, Lent, and/or the Feast Day of Saint Joseph!

“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating (tonight and tomorrow) and Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox (tomorrow) to those in the Northern Hemisphere.

Peace, ease, and (the best) ecology to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

“When Bob Dylan‘s self-titled debut LP hit shelves on March 19th, 1962, it didn’t sound anything like the popular music of the time. It was the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including ‘Dear Lady Twist’ by Gary U.S. Bonds, ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, ‘Hey, Let’s Twist’ by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, ‘Twistin’ Postman’ by the Marvelettes and ‘Alvin Twist’ by the Chipmunks.”

— quoted from the 2012 Rolling Stone article “50 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Released His Debut Album – Album was recorded in six hours for $402” by Andy Greene

The following is an excerpt from a 2023 post:

“[Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan,] was recorded on November 20^th and 22^nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (‘Talkin’ New York’ and ‘Song to Woody’), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… ‘borrowed’ (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.

The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time….

In addition to ‘Peppermint Twist,’ also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ is its own ‘lottery’ cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, ‘To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.’ Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan — as well as his voice and his style — to Elvis Presley.

Which is weird to me.”

Click on the excerpt title below for the entire post about how Bob Dylan hit the metaphorical lottery (and why I think it was weird that some people compared him to Elvis).

FTWMI:… some Powerball® thoughts

“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”

— quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan

Please join me today (Wednesday, March 19^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 (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05242022 Bob’s Poems”]

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR CELEBRATIONS RELATED TO TONIGHT & TOMORROW!

FTWMI: Another New Year, Another New Season (a “renewed” 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 a new 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).

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.)

### “How does it feel?” ~Bob Dylan ###

EXCERPT II: “The Grace of Kindness & God’s Silence” March 18, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Disarmament, Franz Wright, kindness, lovingkindness, Season for Nonviolence
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. Many blessings also to all, and especially to those celebrating and/or the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, and/or Lent!

Peace, ease, and disarmament to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

“What is the meaning of kindness?
Speak and listen to others, from now on,
as if they had recently died.
At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”

— “Solution” by Franz Wright

The poet Franz Wright was born today in 1953, click on the excerpt below for more about him and his work.

NOTE: The 2023 post includes references to mental health and features embedded links to other sites.

The Grace of Kindness & God’s Silence

Please join me today (Tuesday, March 18^th) at 12:00 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.

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

“I am here to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else

Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the

bells tolling
underground”

— quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright

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 a new 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).

### BREATHE IN LOVE, BREATHE OUT KINDNESS ###

EXCERPT: “The wings of ‘some kind of bird’ are not unlike a ‘face’ over ‘weft’” February 22, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Art, body prayer, Books, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Writing, Zitkála-Šá
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Many blessings to everyone, and especially those celebrating Carnival and Maha Kumbh Mela!

Peace, ease, and prayer throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!!!

“Having gone many paces ahead I stopped, panting for breath and laughing with glee as my mother watched my every movement. I was not wholly conscious of myself, but was more keenly alive to the fire within. It was as if I were the activity, and my hands and feet were only experiments for my spirit to work upon.”

— quoted from “Impressions of An Indian Childhood – I. My Mother” in American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends by Zitkála-Šá

Click on the excerpt title below for more about Edna St. Vincent Millay (b. 1829) and Zitkála-Šá (b. 1876).

FTWMI: The wings of “some kind of bird” are not unlike a “face” over “weft” (a Twosday post about movement and expressions)

“I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
Penelope did this too.
And more than once: you can’t keep weaving all day
And undoing it all through the night;
Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;
And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,
And your husband has been gone, and you don’t know where, for years.
Suddenly you burst into tears;
There is simply nothing else to do.”

— quoted from the poem “An Ancient Gesture” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Please join me today (Saturday, February 22^nd) 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 myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “022222 An Ancient Gesture”]

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 a new 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).

### PRAY = SONG = WISH = HOPE = DREAM = SIGH = THOUGHT ###

EXCERPTS (& Stories) That I Hope Make You Smile [the “missing” Saturday post] February 1, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Kumbh Mela, Langston Hughes, Life, Meditation, Music, New Year, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Arun Gandhi, Black History Month, Carnival, Chandraghanta, E. Ethelbert Miller, Gupta Navaratri, Jack Kornfield, Kitchen God, Kumbh Mela, Kumbha Mēlā, Langston Hughes, Lunar New Year, Magha Navaratri, Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace, Martin Luther King Jr, Mayumi Oda, Mohandas Gandhi, Navaratri, Season for Nonviolence, smiling, Thich Nhat Hanh, Year of the Snake
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Magha Gupta Navaratri!” “Happy (Lunar) New Year!” and/or “Happy Carnival!” to those who are already celebrating! Many blessings to everyone, and especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela and/or preparing for .

Peace, ease, smiling, and contemplation throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!!!

This “missing” post for Saturday, February 1^st is a compilation post. It includes some new material, some revised material, and excerpts. You can request an audio recording of this practice 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.

“Meditation is to be aware of what is going on-in our bodies, in our feelings, in our minds, and in the world. Each day 40,000 children die of hunger. The superpowers now have more than 50,000 nuclear warheads, enough to destroy our planet many times. Yet the sunrise is beautiful, and the rose that bloomed this morning along the wall is a miracle. Life is both dreadful and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects. Please do not think we must be solemn in order to meditate. In fact, to meditate well, we have to smile a lot.”

— quoted from “1: Suffering Is Not Enough” in Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh (Illustrated by Mayumi Oda, Introduction by Jack Kornfield)

THE SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE

Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, established the “Season for Nonviolence” (January 30^th through April 4^th) in 1998. Throughout the season, the Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace offers daily practices based on principles of nonviolence advocated by Mahatma Gandhi (who was assassinated on January 30, 1948) and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (who was assassinated on April 4, 1968). The thing to remember is that these principles are not unique to one culture, one philosophy, or one religion. Courage, smiling, appreciation, caring, believing, simplicity, education — the principles of the first week — all predate Gandhi and MLK; they also predate Jesus and the Buddha. One could argue that they are universal.

One could argue that they move through our stories like rivers.

SPEAKING OF RIVERS… (in the new year)

“I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

— from the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

Every day, we are simultaneously living (i.e., “writing”) the story of our lives and telling that story, as our stories overlap with the stories around us. This happens, more often than not, without us thinking about how we do it. However, when we intentionally decide to tell our story (and, in doing so, tell part of someone else’s story), we need to decide on a medium — and there are so many ways we can tell a story. We can use prose or poetry, song or movement, a static visual or animation, or some combination of all of the above — and we can share whatever we create live (e.g., on stage, online, or in a pub), in a document, and/or in a recording.

Langston Hughes, who was born today (February 1^st) in 1901¹, wrote a lot of things in a lot of different mediums. Born James Mercer Langston Hughes, the prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance and the first Black American to earn a living solely from writing and public lectures, wrote poetry (including jazz poetry, which he started writing in high school), novels, plays, essays, and letters…so many letters. He wrote so many letters, in fact, that at one point he was writing 30 – 40 letters a day and, by the end of his life, he could have filled 20 volumes of books with his letters. While he wrote in a lot of different mediums and wrote about a lot of different experiences, many people primarily think of him as a poet… a poet who wrote about the Black experience. He also inspired a lot of poets, including the poet, teacher, editor, and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller.²

“There is much for a writer like myself to learn from Langston. His productivity — and the fact that he wrote for a living — is an inspiration. In many photographs, Hughes is laughing or smiling like the Buddha. I have often wondered what he was thinking.”

— quoted from the essay “The Buddha Smile of Langston Hughes” by E. Ethelbert Miller

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE!

FTWMI: Speaking of Rivers… (in the new year)

STORIES RELATED TO HEAVEN & EARTH

In addition to thinking about stories related to the “Season for Nonviolence”, Langston Hughes, and the beginning of Black History Month, I am also thinking about stories related to other observations and celebrations happening around the world. We are still in the middle of Carnival and people are still observing Maha Kumbh Mela. Plus, today (Saturday) was also the third day of Magha (Gupta) Navaratri and the fourth day of the Lunar New Year / Spring Festival celebrations.

Navaratri, the Hindu festival of “nine nights” celebrating divine feminine energy in various manifestations, occurs four times a year. Magha Navaratri is one of the celebrations referred to as Gupta Navaratri meaning it is “hidden/secret” — again, not because no one knows about it, but because it is not as obvious as the bigger celebrations in the Spring and Fall.

Each day and night is dedicated to a different manifestation of Durga, the divine mother. Some people see the manifestations as nine different women; however, they are also seen by some as the same woman at different points in her story. For instance, her third form is Chandraghanta, whose name “one who has a half-moon shaped like a bell” comes from the image of the newly-wed Parvati. She is depicted as a combination of beauty, grace, and courage, with her third eye open — the result of all the (yoga) preparation performed by Her previous manifestation. That open third eye means that she is always ready to fight evil and demons. In fact, she is sometimes known as the “Goddess Who Fights Demons.”

Here “demons” can be a metaphor for anything that ails you physically, mentally, emotionally — even energetically, spiritually, and religiously. They can be challenges and hurdles that need to be over come. They can even be mistakes… sins… or vows (as I referred to them during the High Holidays) that can be absolved or forgiven. In fact, the faithful of all the different religions believe that there are ways (and even special times) when mistakes, sins, and broken vows are turned away… or washed away.

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR HOW PEOPLE WASH THINGS AWAY.

Auspicious, Holy, & New (the “missing” Wednesday post)

“Fifteen days later, the Buddha gave a Dharma talk on lay life. He told the laity how they could realize true happiness in their daily lives…. ‘First of all, do not let a desire for wealth cause you to become so consumed by your work that you prevent happiness for yourself and your family in the present moment. Happiness is foremost. A look filled with understanding, an accepting smile, a loving word, a meal shared in warmth and awareness are the things which create happiness in the present moment. By nourishing awareness in the present moment, you can avoid cause suffering to yourself and those around you. The way you look at others, your smile, and your small acts of caring can create happiness.’”

— quoted from Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

A KITCHEN STORY (OR 2) ON DAY 4 (excerpt)

For a lot of people who are celebrating the Lunar New Year (see excerpt above), the fourth day is the day when things start going back to normal (whatever that is these days). People go back to work and back to school. People who were able to travel to see family start heading back home (or are already home). Even though those celebrating the Spring Festival for 15 days, will reign in the festivities a bit. However, each day still has significance and special rituals. For instance, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year is not only the birthday of all sheep (in some Chinese traditions), it is also the day when the Kitchen God returns to the hearth.

According to one set of stories, the Kitchen God was at one time a man who, after gaining a certain amount of power and wealth, abandoned his first wife and married a younger woman. Years after the original couple divorced, the man fell on hard times. He lost his wealth, his power, his second wife, and his eyesight. He became a beggar on the streets. One day, the stories tell us, the man’s first wife saw her former husband begging in the streets. She was a woman of great kindness and compassion and so she invited him to her simple home and offered him a shower, some food, and a moment of warmth by the fire.

Remember, the old man could no longer see and didn’t know that this generous woman was the same woman he had treated so poorly. Full, clean, and sitting by the fire, however, he started to talk about his first wife. He lamented about his first marriage and the life they could have had if he hadn’t dumped her. In the process of soothing her now sobbing former husband, the woman revealed her identity and said that she forgave him. Miraculously, the man was suddenly able to see; but he was so distraught that he threw himself into the kitchen stove.

Legend has it, the woman could only save his leg — which became the fireplace poker — and the man became the “Kitchen God”, who leaves the kitchen alter just before the New Year and returns to heaven in order to give the Jade Emperor an accounting of each household’s activities during the previous year. In the final days of the old year, people will clean up their homes — so the alter(s) will be ready for the return of the gods and ancestors — and, sometimes, smear honey on the lips of the Kitchen God so that his report is extra sweet. Then the Kitchen God and other household gods return on the fourth day of the New Year.

I always imagine that some years the Kitchen God’s report is really, really, wild. Can you imagine? Seriously, imagine what he would say about the way we have treated each other over the last few years. Sure, some of us might not be portrayed too badly; but others of us….

More to the point, remember that the Kitchen God’s report is simply one way that our (lived) stories get told. Just imagine a report from the beginning of 1901 or 1902 (which would have been the end of the year of the rat and the year of the ox, respectively). Imagine, even, the report from the end of 1940 (the year of the dragon). What hard truths would have been in those reports?

What hard truths will be in this year’s report?

“So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”

— quoted from the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Langston & Day 1 2022”]

NOTE: The playlists have been revised since 2025 is the Year of the Snake.

“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.”

— quoted from the poem “Dreams” by Langston Hughes

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 a new 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).

NOTES:
¹According to most printed biographies (that I checked), Langston Hughes was born in 1902. However, many digital sources indicate that he was born in 1901 — and this earlier date is based on research and fact checking reported for the New York Times by Jennifer Schuessler (in 2018). Curiously, the 1940 census listed his birth as “abt 1905”; however, this information would have been given to a census taker by one of the poet’s roommates. (Additionally, we know from one his poems that Langston Hughes didn’t think very highly of the “census man” and the accuracy of census information.)

² E. Ethelbert Miller’s essay “The Buddha Smile of Langston Hughes” was first published in Black Issues Book Review in 2001 (and is quoted here from On Being.

ERRATA: The original post was titled as Sunday, but this is a Saturday post.

### :smile: ###

… (& Stories) That I Hope Make You Smile [mostly the music & blessings] UPDATED w/link February 1, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Langston Hughes, Life, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Black History Month, Carnival, E. Ethelbert Miller, Gupta Navaratri, Kumbh Mela, Kumbha Mēlā, Langston Hughes, Lunar New Year, Magha Navaratri, Season for Nonviolence, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thich Nhat Hanh, Year of the Snake
2 comments

“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Magha Gupta Navaratri!” “Happy (Lunar) New Year!” and/or “Happy Carnival!” to those who are already celebrating! Many blessings to everyone, and especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela and/or preparing for .

Peace, ease, smiling, and contemplation throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!!!

“There is much for a writer like myself to learn from Langston. His productivity — and the fact that he wrote for a living — is an inspiration. In many photographs, Hughes is laughing or smiling like the Buddha. I have often wondered what he was thinking.”

— quoted from the essay “The Buddha Smile of Langston Hughes” by E. Ethelbert Miller

CLICK HERE FOR THE RELATED POST.

Please join me today (Saturday, February 1^st) 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 myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Langston & Day 1 2022”]

NOTE: The playlists have been revised since 2025 is the Year of the Snake.

“Fifteen days later, the Buddha gave a Dharma talk on lay life. He told the laity how they could realize true happiness in their daily lives…. ‘First of all, do not let a desire for wealth cause you to become so consumed by your work that you prevent happiness for yourself and your family in the present moment. Happiness is foremost. A look filled with understanding, an accepting smile, a loving word, a meal shared in warmth and awareness are the things which create happiness in the present moment. By nourishing awareness in the present moment, you can avoid cause suffering to yourself and those around you. The way you look at others, your smile, and your small acts of caring can create happiness.’”

— quoted from Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

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 a new 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).

### ###

A Note & EXCERPTS: “Creating: Music for This Date II” & “En L’Air” [the January part] (the “missing” Sunday post) January 26, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Abhyasa, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, First Nations, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Poetry, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Alicia Keys, Bessie Coleman, Brave Bess, Connie Plantz, Delta Airlines Captain Stephanie Johnson, e e cummings, George James Firmage, Jamie Showkeir, January 26th, Mae Carol Jemison, Maren Showkeir, Margaret J. Wheatley, Queen Bess, Syreeta McFadden
add a comment

Many blessings to everyone, and especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela.

May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong! May you soar!

This “missing” post for Sunday, January 26^th features excerpts from two (2) posts about people born on today’s date. In addition to a slight revision, links and some formatting have been added/updated. You can request an audio recording of this practice 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.

“One could interpret what has been written on these pages as self-help, pop psychology, a collection of great techniques to help people through difficult moments, or steps for getting better business results. In the author’s minds, there is something else that goes much deeper than that, and it is difficult to write about because it is so personal. It has to do with worthiness, purpose, humility, fear, anxiety, and facing the fact that it is up to you to create the world you want to live in, here and now, with the people in this room. It is about letting go of the wish that someone else will make it easier, pave the way, or take responsibility for you and your circumstances.”

— quoted from “Conclusion: Starting the Revolution” in Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir (with forward by Margaret J. Wheatley)

Even though her birthday was yesterday, Alicia Keys (who was born January 25, 1981) shares many things with the people highlighted in the first excerpt below. In addition to having January birthdays, these are people known for being creative, for being uniquely themselves, and for inspiring others, moving people emotionally. Ms. Keys is also one of many people often quoted as saying that we all can (and must) play a part in creating the world in which we live. I mention her specifically, because one of the variations attributed to her instruct us to “Create the world you want, and fill it with the opportunities that matter to you.”

I would argue that some folks are very intentional and deliberate about creating those opportunities; some folks create those opportunities just by showing up in the world as themselves; and some people do both.

Creating: Music for This Date II

Click on the excerpt title below for the 2022 post about people born on January 26th (who inspired the playlist).

Creating: Music for This Date II (the “missing” Wednesday post)

“…the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself.

To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

— quoted from “A Poet’s Advice to Students” in A Miscellany by E. E. Cummings (revised edition edited by George James Firmage)

EN L’AIR (excerpted from a 2023 Black History note)

Born in today in 1892, in Atlanta, Texas, Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman became the first African American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license when she earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921. Her African American and Cherokee heritage also made her the first Black person and the first Indigenous American to earn an international pilot’s license. The woman who became known as “Queen Bess” and “Brave Bessie” would eventually make her living as a stunt pilot. Before that, however, she worked as a laundrywoman in Waxahachie, Texas. She earned enough money, taking in laundry and picking cotton, to attend one semester at the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University, the only Historically Black Colleges or Universities in Oklahoma). When she had to drop out of college, due to a lack of funds, she followed her brothers to Chicago, Illinois, where she trained at Burnham School of Beauty Cultures to be a manicurist at a barbershop. In fact, it was at the barbershop that she was truly motivated to be a pilot.

Since no American flight school would train her, Bessie Coleman used the money she earned as a manicurist to learn French and then travel to France to take flying lessons. Once trained, she became a barnstorming daredevil. She was often criticized for the risks she took — and she was no stranger to accidents and broken bones and bruises. But, her aerobatic stunts gave her a platform which she used to speak out against racism, to promote aviation, and to encourage people of color to pursue aviation as career (or a hobby). Like some other prominent entertainers, she put her money where her mouth was and refused to perform at events where African Americans were not permitted to attend.

“One day John Coleman strutted into the White Sox Barbershop and began teasing Bessie. He started comparing African-American women to French women he had seen during [World War I]. John said that African-American women could not measure up to French women. The French women had careers. They even flew airplanes. He doubted that African-American women could fly like the French women. Bessie waited for the barbershop customers to stop laughing. Then she replied, ‘That’s it. You just called it for me.’”

— quoted from “Chapter 3. Seeking Independence” in The Life of Bessie Coleman: First African-American Woman Pilot by Connie Plantz

Ultimately, being a principled daredevil while also facing racism cost her. At one point, she opened up a beauty salon in Chicago in order to earn extra money so that she could buy her own airplane. Sadly and tragically, the airplane she was able to purchase was poorly maintained. On April 30, 1926, in preparation for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida, the plane spiraled out of control killing Bessie Coleman and her mechanic and publicist, William D. Wills, who had been piloting the airplane.

Although Bessie Coleman’s was just barely 34 years old when she tragically died doing what she loved, her legacy still lives. There have been schools, scholarships, and at least one library named after her. The United States Postal service issued a commemorative stamp in her honor in 1995; a Google Doodle was posted on what would have been her 125^th birthday; she has been inducted into numerous halls of fame; and Mattel issued a Barbie doll in her honor in 2023. There are streets and boulevards named after her in the United States and there are airport roads bearing her name all over the world.

Bessie Coleman’s legacy also lives on in the lives of the women she inspires and the people they inspire. For instance, in 1992, Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) became the first Black woman to travel into space. At the time, the African American chemical engineer and M. D. was working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She was making history at the age of 35 (mere weeks before her 36^th birthday) — and she was doing it while carrying a photo of the Brave/Queen Bessie.

There have been also been commemorative fly-overs in her honor and, in 2022, a commemorative American Airlines flight (from Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix) was fully staffed by African American women: from the cockpit and aisles all the way to the tarmac (cargo and maintenance crew) there were sisters of the skies.

“For communities who may not fly often, that outreach and activism from Black aerospace professionals and pilots can combat the unknown and can help show Black communities that being a pilot is a real possibility.

‘A parent comes up to me and she says, “You a pilot?” and I said, “Yes, ma’am.” And she said, “They let us be pilots?” And that really was something,’ says [Delta Airlines Captain Stephanie Johnson]. ‘The parents don’t know what the opportunities are, because they didn’t grow up with opportunities. And so it was even more important, that “OK, this has just got to be my life because I can open people’s eyes.”’”

— quoted from the AFAR article “Where Are All the Black Women Pilots? – Nearly a century after Bessie Coleman first took to the skies, Black women remain a rarity in the cockpit.” by Syreeta McFadden (February 20, 2020)

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE!

En L’Air (a special Black History 2.5-for-1 note)

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “01262022 Creating: Music for This Date II”]

NOTES & CORRECTIONS

NOTE: The playlists are slightly different, because the YouTube playlists includes some additional videos “after the practice” of songs included in the practice portion of the playlist.

2025 REVISION: A slight change in timing/duration & tempo may affect how the playlists work with earlier practices.

2022 REVISION: I remixed the YouTube playlist after the 4:30 practice, because I had erroneously used the extended version of a song. Additionally, As I was closing my browser tabs, I realized that I overlooked a birthday (and I’m kicking myself for it)! I’ve updated the playlist so that the before/after music includes a track for Maria von Trapp, born January 26,1905, in Vienna, Austria.

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 a new 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).

### At some point, you just have to SOAR! ###

FTWMI: Seeking…. (the “missing” Sunday post) January 19, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma, Life, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Poetry, Science, Suffering, Super Heroes, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, Deborah Evans Price, Dolly Lama, Dolly Parton, Moderna vaccine, Queer News Tonight, Robbie Williams (yoga), Robin Roberts, Stephen Smith
add a comment Many blessings to everyone, especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela or Theophany. May everyone breathe deeply and be exactly who you are! May you be safe and protected / peaceful and happy / healthy and strong!

For Those Who Missed It: The following version (of a 2021 post) was posted in 2022. Some biographical information, links, additional information, and formatting have been updated or added. 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. 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.

“When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.”

— Dolly Parton

There are certain puns, specifically homonym puns, that work really well in class but don’t work at all when read. For instance, when you read “the Dolly Lama”, you might think it’s a type-o and that I meant “Llama” — and that I somehow got confused about the animal when talking about the famous cloned sheep. However, when I explain that “Lama” is a term for “teacher” and an honorific specifically used in Tibetan Buddhism things become a little clearer. Hearing it, you might think I’m saying “Dalai Lama”, but, when you read it — and I refer to her as she — there’s no confusion about the identity of this famous teacher. Born January 19, 1946, Dolly Rebecca Parton is a seeker, a dreamer, a reader, a writer, a producer, an entrepreneur, a shopper, a philanthropist, a healer, and a teacher. She has also referred to herself as “A poor sinful creature”. Over the years, I had somehow forgotten that she is also someone who practiced yoga. You might wonder how I could forget something like that; but, in all fairness, the November/December 1984 Yoga Journal article that talked about musicians and actors practicing yoga in Nashville didn’t include a picture of Dolly actually practicing any poses. If you imagine that for a moment — Dolly in Virabhadrasana II — you’re not likely to forget the image. Especially since she continually proves herself as a warrior and a “Hero Friend”.

“As the two of us stretched and shared for 90 minutes each morning, I’d get the strangest feeling that there were four of us there, two teachers and two students: me teaching Dolly yoga techniques, Dolly teaching me the value of laughter, spontaneity, nonjudgement, trust – and so much more. Then we’d slip out of our roles and slip into meditation, the four of us becoming two, becoming one.”

— quoted from the Nov/Dec 1984 Yoga Journal article entitled, “Yoga’s Nashville Connection: Well-being and fame co-exist, say these ‘top 10’ hit-makers from country music city.” by Robbie Williams

Reading my list of descriptors, you might think, “Oh, Myra, you left out that she’s a musician, a singer.” But, honestly, when I read about the life of Dolly Parton — the well lived life of the “Dolly Lama” — I feel like her being a singer and a musician are the least interesting things about her. Saying that her music is one of the least interesting things about her does not, in any way, take away or dimension her accomplishments as a musician. Dolly Parton and her fans have assured that nothing can do that! She has written over 3,000 songs and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. As I update this [in 2025], she has won eleven Grammys (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and received 55 Grammy nominations. She has also won ten out of 45 Country Music Awards (CMA) and is one of only ~~seven~~ nine women to win the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award. (Nine, that is, since you don’t count Taylor Swift and Barbara Mandrell twice and since the Chicks are counted as a single group.) Additionally, Dolly has thirteen Academy of Country Music Awards (including Entertainer of the Year); several People’s Choice Awards; at least three American Music Awards; and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, and a plethora of other hall of fames — including the Happiness Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (after initially turning down the nomination because she thought the honor was only for rock musicians. Her influence has also been acknowledged by Ms. Magazine and Time, plus she has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Nashville StarWalk. Oh, and then there’s that statue in her hometown!

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

— Dolly Parton

While she is not an EGOT (a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), she has been nominated at least once for all four awards. She is also the focus of a podcast, Dolly Parton’s America; however, for anyone thinking she’s just an American Country music star, keep in mind that her biggest audience (170,000 people) was in Scotland. Also, keep in mind that she’s not done yet! She’s still living and still writing. She’s still innovating… which is why I’ll keep updating. She’s also still married, which might be a surprise for people who just know a song or two. Dolly Parton married Carl Thomas Dean on May 30, 1966. He’s not much for the spotlight and, last time I checked, had only seen her perform live once, but they’ve made it work for (coming up on) 59 years… and counting. She has said that he’s very romantic and that it’s their first marriage; then — with her customary twang — explained that it’s also their LAST marriage. And that right there, his romance combined with her humor (and twang), might be part of the reason their marriage works.

“I’m more successful now than I was then, but I still feel like the same girl. I’m just a working girl. I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, ‘A star is nothing but a big ball of gas,’ – and I don’t want to be that.”

— Dolly Parton’s response when asked how different she was from 1964 when she first arrived in Nashville, in an October 24,2014, billboard article entitled, “Dolly Parton Q & A: The Country Legend on 50 Years in Nashville and Why She Supports Her Gay Fans” by Deborah Evans Price

Another reason behind her successful marriage might be that Dolly Parton has never forgotten where she came from and has a heart that is, metaphysically speaking, bigger than her whole body. In that previously referenced Yoga Journal article from 1984, Robbie Williams noted, “Dolly Parton is very clear on her beliefs, priorities, and loyalties, and she seems to have identified her divine assignment in this lifetime.” In fact, the article goes on to describe signs and encounters that indicated Dolly knew at an early age that she had a great mission. That mission, in her own words: “channeling love energy ’so I’ll stay happy and loving, and, hopefully, make other people happy, too.’” Through her Dollywood Foundation, she has raised money and awareness for disaster relief (close to her home in Tennessee, in other US states, and overseas); HIV/AIDS related charities; cancer treatment; the ethical treatment of animals; and bald eagle conservation. She has also donated her time, energy, and considerable talent to these causes. Not to mention the fact that she has used her considerable wealth and clout to create jobs in economically-depressed areas. In 2020, she donated $1 million towards COVID-19 research and encouraged others (if they could afford it) to do the same. A few months later, Vanderbilt University announced that her donation helped fund the research that produced the Moderna vaccine. Dolly Parton reads about 50 books a year and promotes literacy through her foundation. In fact, one of the biggest ongoing Dollywood Foundation programs is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which gives each enrolled child a book a month, from birth until they reach kindergarten (age 5). As of today (as I update this), 3,197,250 children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland have received 264,181,752 books! Can you imagine the imagination that is driven by so much reading?? Can you imagine how so imagination changes the world?

“It was [ahead of its time]; and it did a lot of good. But, it evidently didn’t do enough good because we’re going to always have the same problems in the workplace with women and men….and there’s still work to be done. I still believe that women should get paid equal and should be treated with respect. I’m all about that, you know, and I don’t get out and have to preach it or march in the streets, I write about it.”

— Dolly Parton talking about the importance of the movie 9 to 5, in a 2019 ABC News Special entitled “Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again!” with Robin Roberts

It is Dolly Parton’s imagination and hard work that have driven her to create so much wonder, beauty, and fun in the world. In addition to everything else — including helping to raise several of her 11 siblings (she is the fourth of 12) — Dolly Parton has written thirteen books, including her first novel (in 2022), several children’s books, and two cookbooks (one of which she wrote with her sister Rachel Parton-George in 2024). She has also been a featured actor in nine films (including one that was animated); made cameo appearances in four films (one of which was animated); and created a theme park, a water park, multiple entertainment centers, and a production company. That novel (Run, Rose, Run), which was co-written with James Patterson (and released on March 7, 2022) has it’s own soundtrack — consisting of 12 original songs by Dolly Parton — and is slated to be a movie (which she will produce, at the very least).

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

— Dolly Parton

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

— Dolly Parton

In 2011, when I was blogging as I practiced a Yoga Journal challenge for the new year, I mentioned celebrating the Dolly Lama’s birthday, as I do. In that post, I admitted, “I can’t exactly call myself an uber-fan when it comes to Dolly Parton, but I like her and I can’t imagine being in a room with her for two seconds and not smiling. I also can’t imagine being a room with her for two minutes and not laughing. Plus, she’s inspiring. She is unapologetic about where she comes from, what she looks like, or how she sounds. There’s a lesson in that. She believes in having fun and being passionate about something. There’s a lesson in that. She’s also a lesson in giving and in looking within for the answers we seek. That last part is key, because (again) we are our own ultimate teacher. We just have to take the time to do a little self-study.” I stand (and stan) by all of that. (Although, in hindsight, maybe I’m more of a fan than I thought. But, honestly, it’s hard not to be — even when I disagree with her about something.) Given all of the above — not to mention the fact that I’ve left some things out — you may be thinking, “What hasn’t Dolly Parton done?” Well, glad you asked. She has never posed nude for Playboy (or anybody else) — despite being asked repeatedly. She did, however, appear on the October 1978 cover… completely covered by a Playboy bunny outfit. A bunny outfit that reappeared for Carl Dean’s birthday in 2021! She has also, as I previously alluded, had a cloned sheep named in her honor: Dolly, because it was created using the breast tissue of an adult sheep.

“You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!”

— Dolly Parton

“People say, ‘How you stay looking so young?’ I say, ‘Well, good lighting, good doctors, and good makeup.’”

— Dolly Parton in a February 2019 BBC “Newsnight” interview with Stephen Smith

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “01192021 The Dolly Lama”]

NOTE: The playlists are slightly different, because the YouTube playlists includes some additional videos “after the practice” of songs included in the practice portion of the playlist.

“If you see someone without a smile today, give ’em yours.”

— Dolly Parton

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 a new 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).

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

— Dolly Parton

“When the big things in your life get messy, you need to get up and get out. I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. I re-read passages from my favorite books. I hold the little treasures that somebody special gave me. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.”

— quoted from Dream On: Celebrate the Dreamer in You by Dolly Parton

CORRECTION: I misspoke during the 2025 practice and referred to the wrong news program when referencing a “Queer News Tonight” segment about current events.

### DREAM ON, DREAMER ###

FTWMI: Searching…. January 18, 2025

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 9-Day Challenge, Art, Books, Healing Stories, Life, Love, Mathematics, Meditation, Movies, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, A. A. Milne, Alan Alexander Milne, Christopher Robin Milne, E. H. Shephard, Ernest Howard Shephard, H. G. Wells, John Donovan, Maurice Sendak, Robert Cormier, Zena Sutherland
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Many blessings to everyone, especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela. May everyone breathe deeply and savor the richness of having your dreams come true!

May you know you are and be safe and protected / peaceful and happy / healthy and strong!

For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2022 and 2023. Class details, links, and some formatting have been updated or added.

“As soon as Rabbit was out of sight, Pooh remembered that he had forgotten to ask who Small was, and whether he was the sort of friend-and-relation who settled on one’s nose, or the sort who got trodden on by mistake, and as it was Too Late Now, he thought he would begin the Hunt by looking for Piglet, and asking him what they were looking for before he looked for it.”

*

— quoted from “Chapter Three, In Which – A Search is Organdized, and Piglet Nearly Meets the Heffalump Again” in The House at Pooh Corner by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard

Similar to The House at Pooh Corner (published in 1928), this post begins with an end note; but, let’s not call it that. Let’s call it a Side Note. See, when I’ve used quotes in class in the past, I don’t always cite chapter and verse. That’s not the point of the practice. However, now that I’m blogging more, recording classes, and posting a video or two, I feel that due diligence is required. Ergo, I make an effort to search for precise sources. It takes some time and effort, but the internet makes things easier than when I was doing such research in school and it’s super nice when I actually have hard copies (and/or paperback or electronic copies) of the source material. However, things can get complicated when something takes on a life of it’s own — outside of its original incarnation. This is even more true when that something is beloved… and the Walt Disney Company is involved.

Because sometimes people are quoting Disney productions, but citing the author.

“‘It means just going along, listening to all the things that you can’t hear and not bothering.’”

*

— Christopher Robin defining “Doing Nothing” to Winnie the Pooh in “Chapter Ten, In Which – Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There” of The House at Pooh Corner by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard

Many books begin with a prologue or an introduction, however, as I already mentioned The House at Pooh is different from most books. It begins with a “Contradiction”, which the author explained was the opposite of an “Introduction”. Some of us might think of it as an epilogue, which it was… and also wasn’t, because it was coming at the beginning of the book rather than at the end. But, it was the end of the series — that was never intended to be a series. Of course, the author, A. A. Milne, understood the differences and the nuances of the words; that’s why he picked the one’s he picked.

Born Alan Alexander Milne on January 18, 1882, the famous children’s book author was the youngest of three boys that grew up in a household dedicated to learning. His father, John Vine Milne, ran Henley House School, a private school for boys that famously boasted teachers like H. G. Wells (who taught science there for one year). A. A. Milne reportedly taught himself to read at age two; attended Westminster School in London and Trinity College in Cambridge. It was at the latter that he edited and wrote (with his brother Kenneth) for The Granta, the student magazine now known simply as Granta. It was also at Trinity that he decided to pursue writing as a career even though he was graduating with a degree in mathematics. He started working for the humor magazine Punch not long after he graduated.

Then World War I broke out and — even though Mr. Milne didn’t believe in war — he served as an officer for at least five years, first as a signaling operator and then (after recuperating from an illness that sent him home) as a writer of military propaganda. He finished his service as a lieutenant and started writing articles and books denouncing war. He also started writing plays and poetry, some which appeared in Punch magazine. He had married Dorothy “Daphne” de Sélincourt just before the war and, within a year of his discharge, they had their son, Christopher Robin.

Mr. Milne was in the habit of making up little verses for his son, including one called “Teddy Bear”, which appeared in Punch when Christopher Robin was three years old. About five years after their son was born, the Milnes bought and moved to their country home in East Sussex. The woods around their East Sussex home — as well as Christopher Robin, his toys, and the games they played — became the inspiration for more poems and, ultimately, the stories about Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, and all their friends. Those stories, however, were little more than divertissements to A. A. Milne and he was a little astounded (and latter appalled) that those little entertainments were earning more accolades than for his plays, articles, and adult novels. Later, he was also concerned by how all the attention affected his still young son — who, it must be said, kind of hated the attention.

“Every child has his Pooh, but one would think it odd if every man still kept his Pooh to remind him of his childhood. But my Pooh is different, you say: he is the Pooh. No, this only makes him different to you. My toys were and are to me no more than yours were and are to you, not different to me. I do not love them more because they are known to children in Australia or Japan. Fame has nothing to do with love.”

*

— quoted from “12. The Toys” in The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne

There are a lot of reasons why people still love the characters created by A. A. Milne, but why are Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Eyeore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Tigger, the Heffalump, and (even) Small more beloved than any of his other characters? We can, of course, point to the loveliness of an ideal childhood and those lovely “decorations” by E. H. Shephard. Of course, there is also the fact that the books are all about friendship. Then, too, there is the fact that we all know people like all of the characters. In fact, if we take a moment to turn inward, we may even recognize ourselves as one of the characters. Finally, there is just so much wisdom in the books. Yes, we can say it is wisdom for children; however, the best advice we receive as children, serves us as adults.

The children’s poems and stories by A. A. Milne remind us to slow down, savor our “honey” and our friends, and to soak up the moment. There are stories that remind us to play a little (Pooh Sticks); keep in touch (even when we are physically far apart); that sometimes we need a little help from our friends (in order to get out of tight situations); and that there is something to be said for being in the present moment. In fact, I think of the poem “Halfway Down” as a meditation on the liminal, or “threshold” moment that is this present moment.

“Halfway Down” is the thirty-fifth poem in When We Were Very Young, first published in 1924. It appears just a few pages before the aforementioned “Teddy Bear” and has been turned into a song sung be people as different as Robin the Frog (Kermit’s nephew) and Amy Lee. The children’s book reviewer Zena Sutherland called the poem a “juvenile meditation” — which was a ringing endorsement from an expert on children’s literature who would go on to teach “Children’s Literature” and “Literature for Young Adults” at the University of Chicago Graduate Library School; serve on the committees that award the Newbery and Cadecutt Awards, as well as the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction; and highlight the emotional benefits of books by Maurice Sendak, John Donovan, and Robert Cormier. She was the expert, but in my humble opinion, it is a great meditation for anyone, regardless of age.

“I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
*
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:”

*

— quoted (from halfway down) the poem “Halfway Down” by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard

In some ways, The House at Pooh Corner was like that stair “halfway down the stairs”. It marked a transition. As A. A. Milne explained at the beginning, Christopher Robin and his friends needed no introductions — the readers already knew and loved them. What he also explained was that The House at Pooh Corner was a goodbye — he just didn’t tell his young readers why. And, in the end, maybe the why didn’t matter. Because…

“…they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”

*

— quoted from “Chapter Ten, In Which – Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There” of The House at Pooh Corner by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard

Please join me today (Saturday, January 18^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 myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08212021 An Afternoon of Just Knowing”]

Feel free to check out this 2016 post to discover someone who likes to explore enchanted places.

“Christopher Robin came down from the Forest to the bridge, feeling all sunny and careless, and just as if twice nineteen didn’t matter a bit, as it didn’t on such a happy afternoon, and he thought if he stood on the bottom rail of the bridge, and leant over, and watched the river slipping slowly away beneath him, then he would suddenly know everything there was to be known, and he would be able to tell Pooh, who wasn’t quite sure of it. But when he got to the bridge and saw all the animals there, then he knew that it wasn’t that kind of afternoon, but the other kind, when you wanted to do something.”

*

— quoted from “Chapter Six, In Which – Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In” of The House at Pooh Corner by Alan Alexander Milne, with decorations by Ernest Howard Shephard

Searching for Small and little things? (Part of the Nine Days series)

### “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ~ A. A. M. ###

Here’s A Little “something, something” for the Holi-daze (the “missing” Sunday post) December 22, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Life, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Robert Frost, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 988, A Christmas Carol, Dave, essential workers, holi-daze, holidays, It's A Wonderful Life, mental health, Richard Rohr, Robert Frost, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter
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Happy Holidays! Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone cultivating kindness, friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, gratitude, and wisdom (no matter how much you struggle).

May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong! May you be nourished!

This is the “missing” post for Sunday, December 22^nd. It contains some re-purposed (previously posted) content and a couple of excerpts. 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.

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.

I will offering in-person classes during January 2025. Click here for more details and to reserve your spots now. Let’s start the 2025 together!

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes (and holiday cancellations).

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

— quoted from the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

There was a time, not too long ago, when we were acutely aware that things were different. We had to adjust almost every ritual, every tradition, every practice, and every habit. For some, that meant that there was less hustle and bustle for some. For some, however, it was just as busy or — in the case of essential workers like parents, delivery people, people in groceries, and/or people in health care — that time was even busier and more chaotic than normal. Either way there was an extra layer of stress and uncertainty.

Maybe you are someone for whom it feels like things are “back to normal”. Maybe you are someone for whom things will never be the way they were. Or, maybe you are someone somewhere in between. Either way, you may be feeling a certain kind of way this time of year — and that certain kind of way may involve stress and uncertainty. You may feel like you are never going to get everything done in time and/or that the only way you can get everything done is to not do the things that you usually do to take care of yourself — all of which just creates more stress.

Bottom line, this time of year can often be stressful, exhausting, and draining regardless of our individual and collective circumstance (and that’s even before we throw in grief). While some of those feelings can be attributed to the fact that it is colder and darker in a lot of places in the Northern hemisphere, some of what we’re feeling can also be because we are going against our natural rhythms: rushing around when everything (and everyone) else is slowing down to rest for a bit.

If you’re a feeling any of these things, you are no alone. In fact, feeling out of sorts (especially this time of year) is so common that it is a common motif in some of our favorite holiday classics.

Click on the excerpt titles below if you’re feeling like Scrooge and/or like life is less than Wonderful.

For Those Who Missed It: “Bah Humbug!” & Other SAD Sayings

For Those Who Missed It: Living “A (SAD) Wonderful Life”

If you are feeling a little bit of holi-daze, this is a good time to put your legs up, relax, release, and rest. Sure, you may need a little bit of movement (plus some extra hydration and light) in order to get to that place where you can let go of all the busy-ness and settle into the moment — even if it is just for a moment — but it will be worth the effort. Consider for a moment that there is great power in letting go (i.e., surrendering) and being still in the silence. That power is restorative, healing, and can be exactly what you need to keep going forward.

Ironically, we really face and recognize that power when we are struggling to still the body and quiet the mind because…. [insert whatever you think/feel must be done RIGHT, RIGHT NOW]. The struggle is why this is also a good time to remember a wise bit of advice from yoga buddy Dave: You don’t have to do everything to have a happy holiday.

Finally, this is a good time to pause and practice a little gratitude. Express gratitude for those people who were essential to your well-being four years ago, as well as to those who are still taking care of all of us. Appreciate the people with whom you choose to spend your time (and maybe even some of those family members, master teachers, and precious jewels with whom you feel forced to spend your time). Give thanks for anything and anyone who brings meaning to this season.

Now, offer a compassionate moment of peace and ease to everyone, everywhere.

After all, all of the winter holidays being celebrated this week are ultimately about light and peace.

“I know because it’s Christmas, you’re surely hoping for some very special sermon. I don’t think I have one, really, [because] there’s really only one message. And there’s nothing new to tell you. It’s the same message that if you’re praying (and that isn’t always true of Christians), it goes deeper and deeper and deeper. If you’re quiet once in a while (and that isn’t always true of Americans), it goes deeper and deeper and deeper.”

— “Christmas 2016: Really only One Message” homily by Richard Rohr, OFM (delivered on Sunday, December 25, 2016)

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “12222020 Winter Holidays”]

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 a new 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).

### STILLNESS & CHILLNESS ###

« older posts newer posts »

A Joyful Practice

More Stories and Music [the 2025 version] (the “missing” Saturday post) March 22, 2025

“A good sequence is like a good story. There is a beginning (an introduction), the middle (the heart of the story), and the end (the conclusion)”

— Maty Ezraty

— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (July 13, 2017) NPR interview entitled “‘You’re Never Too Old To Screw Up’: Keegan-Michael Key On ‘Friends From College’” by Kelly McEvers, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek

“Don’t you love farce? My fault, I fear I thought that you’d want what I want Sorry, my dear But where are the clowns? Quick, send in the clowns Don’t bothеr, they’re herе”

— quoted from the song “Send in the Clowns” from the musical A Little Night Music, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler

“‘When you convinced me not to quit, you said, and I quote, “If we are to help save the human race, we must recognize the humanity in all, no matter their station in life.”’”

— Charl speaking to Max and Isabl in Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

So, across these creative fields, white men — about 30% of the American population — consistently receive nearly half of all writing opportunities.”

— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (Feb 1, 2012) MovieWeb interview entitled “Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Talk Key & Peele Series Premiere [Exclusive]” by B. Alan Orange

### Enjoy Your Story & Share Your Stories ###

EXCERPT (s): “… some Powerball® thoughts” & “Another New Year, Another New Season” March 19, 2025

— quoted from the 2012 Rolling Stone article “50 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Released His Debut Album – Album was recorded in six hours for $402” by Andy Greene

Click on the excerpt title below for the entire post about how Bob Dylan hit the metaphorical lottery (and why I think it was weird that some people compared him to Elvis).

“I walked down there and ended up In one of them coffee-houses on the block I get on the stage to sing and play Man there said, ‘Come back some other day You sound like a hillbilly We want folksingers here’”

— quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan

### “How does it feel?” ~Bob Dylan ###

EXCERPT II: “The Grace of Kindness & God’s Silence” March 18, 2025

“What is the meaning of kindness? Speak and listen to others, from now on, as if they had recently died. At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”

— “Solution” by Franz Wright

“I am here to learn to bear the beams of love, what else

Bells through the leaves, I am here to endure the

bells tolling underground”

— quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright

### BREATHE IN LOVE, BREATHE OUT KINDNESS ###

EXCERPT: “The wings of ‘some kind of bird’ are not unlike a ‘face’ over ‘weft’” February 22, 2025

— quoted from “Impressions of An Indian Childhood – I. My Mother” in American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends by Zitkála-Šá

— quoted from the poem “An Ancient Gesture” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

### PRAY = SONG = WISH = HOPE = DREAM = SIGH = THOUGHT ###

EXCERPTS (& Stories) That I Hope Make You Smile [the “missing” Saturday post] February 1, 2025

— quoted from “1: Suffering Is Not Enough” in Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh (Illustrated by Mayumi Oda, Introduction by Jack Kornfield)

THE SEASON FOR NONVIOLENCE

SPEAKING OF RIVERS… (in the new year)

“I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

— from the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

“There is much for a writer like myself to learn from Langston. His productivity — and the fact that he wrote for a living — is an inspiration. In many photographs, Hughes is laughing or smiling like the Buddha. I have often wondered what he was thinking.”

— quoted from the essay “The Buddha Smile of Langston Hughes” by E. Ethelbert Miller

STORIES RELATED TO HEAVEN & EARTH

— quoted from Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

A KITCHEN STORY (OR 2) ON DAY 4 (excerpt)

“So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”

— quoted from the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes

“Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.”

— quoted from the poem “Dreams” by Langston Hughes

### :smile: ###

… (& Stories) That I Hope Make You Smile [mostly the music & blessings] **UPDATED w/link** February 1, 2025

“There is much for a writer like myself to learn from Langston. His productivity — and the fact that he wrote for a living — is an inspiration. In many photographs, Hughes is laughing or smiling like the Buddha. I have often wondered what he was thinking.”

— quoted from the essay “The Buddha Smile of Langston Hughes” by E. Ethelbert Miller

CLICK HERE FOR THE RELATED POST.

— quoted from Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

### ###

A Note & EXCERPTS: “Creating: Music for This Date II” & “En L’Air” [the January part] (the “missing” Sunday post) January 26, 2025

— quoted from “Conclusion: Starting the Revolution” in Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir (with forward by Margaret J. Wheatley)

Creating: Music for This Date II

“…the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself.

To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

— quoted from “A Poet’s Advice to Students” in A Miscellany by E. E. Cummings (revised edition edited by George James Firmage)

EN L’AIR (excerpted from a 2023 Black History note)

— quoted from “Chapter 3. Seeking Independence” in The Life of Bessie Coleman: First African-American Woman Pilot by Connie Plantz

“For communities who may not fly often, that outreach and activism from Black aerospace professionals and pilots can combat the unknown and can help show Black communities that being a pilot is a real possibility.

— quoted from the AFAR article “Where Are All the Black Women Pilots? – Nearly a century after Bessie Coleman first took to the skies, Black women remain a rarity in the cockpit.” by Syreeta McFadden (February 20, 2020)

### At some point, you just have to SOAR! ###

FTWMI: Seeking…. (the “missing” Sunday post) January 19, 2025

“When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.”

— Dolly Parton

— quoted from the Nov/Dec 1984 Yoga Journal article entitled, “Yoga’s Nashville Connection: Well-being and fame co-exist, say these ‘top 10’ hit-makers from country music city.” by Robbie Williams

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

— Dolly Parton

“I’m more successful now than I was then, but I still feel like the same girl. I’m just a working girl. I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, ‘A star is nothing but a big ball of gas,’ – and I don’t want to be that.”

— Dolly Parton’s response when asked how different she was from 1964 when she first arrived in Nashville, in an October 24,2014, billboard article entitled, “Dolly Parton Q & A: The Country Legend on 50 Years in Nashville and Why She Supports Her Gay Fans” by Deborah Evans Price

— Dolly Parton talking about the importance of the movie 9 to 5, in a 2019 ABC News Special entitled “Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again!” with Robin Roberts

“Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you’d want what I want
Sorry, my dear
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns
Don’t bothеr, they’re herе”

— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (Feb 1, 2012) MovieWeb interview entitled “Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Talk Key & Peele Series Premiere [Exclusive]” by
B. Alan Orange

“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”

“What is the meaning of kindness?
Speak and listen to others, from now on,
as if they had recently died.
At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”

“I am here to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else

Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the

bells tolling
underground”

“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.”

… (& Stories) That I Hope Make You Smile [mostly the music & blessings] UPDATED w/link February 1, 2025

“I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
*
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:”