"word"

on the death of four very close friends

bkwmn1 — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:52:42 +0000

bkwmn1 — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:27:20 +0000

To have a good friend is the purest of all God’s gifts, for it is a love that has no exchange of payment. It is not inherited, as with a family. It is not compelling, as with a child. And it has no means of physical pleasure, as with a mate. It is, therefore, an indescribable bond that brings with it a far deeper devotion than all the others.
- Frances Farmer

What made us friends in the long ago When first we met?
Well, I think I know;
The best in me and the best in you
Hailed each other because they knew
That always and always since life began
Our being friends was part of God’s plan.
- George Webster Douglas

definition

bkwmn1 — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 11:41:38 +0000

What is a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better or worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With him you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and, in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no matter. He likes you – he is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands. He understands. You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with him, pray with him. Through it all – and underneath – he sees, knows and loves you. A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself. – C. Raymond Beran

back to school, back to posting

bkwmn1 — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:00:49 +0000

Soon another night will fall…

Come,
Leave today’s world behind.

Light a candle
to read by and
escape into the
Enchanted
World.

welcome Kase

bkwmn1 — Sun, 13 May 2007 11:53:43 +0000

Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud…
William Blake

bkwmn1 — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:38:01 +0000

PEACE
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no
noise, trouble or hard work. It meants to be in the
midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it… always.
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen. –Leonardo Da Vinci

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it.
That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies,
that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer,
and understand, for all that is life.
J. Krishnamurtim 1895-1986

bkwmn1 — Mon, 07 May 2007 01:58:42 +0000

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its’ furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whomever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Jalal as-Din Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian poet and sage

bkwmn1 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:42:36 +0000

The best moments in reading are when you come across something-a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things-which you had thought unique and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours. –Alan Bennett

A great book should leave you…
slightly exhausted at the end.
You live several lives while reading it.
William Styron

Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head. –Paul Auster

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. –Anna Quindlen

Through the use of books, I had the whole world at my feet, could travel anywhere, meet anyone, and do anything. –Benjamin Carson

Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat, or fly into the future. –Jim Bishop

laughter

bkwmn1 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:58:29 +0000

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do. And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. –Dr. Seuss

Laughter can be more satisfying than honor,
More precious than money,
More heart-cleansing than prayer.
Harriet Rochlin

If you’re going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now. –Marie Osmond

He who laughs, lasts.
Mary Poole

grandma?

bkwmn1 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:46:22 +0000

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80. –Samuel Ullman