When it rains, it should be raining
In the Saturday mailbox this 25th day of 2023 February
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. – Alan Watts
As long as we’re meeting the world’s rage with our own rage, more rage is guaranteed. . . It’s not that we are always going to have the capacity to engage in tremendous acts of generosity and kindness. It’s that we’re open and available to realizing that things [and people] are different than they seem. . . how to keep calm in a raging world: to examine ourselves deeply, to remember that everything is temporary, and to try and cultivate compassion for ourselves and others – Mindy Newman
Today is the 80th anniversary of George Harrison's birth. The former and youngest Beatle was born in in 1943 Liverpool, England. He died in 2001 from cancer. In addition to his music, his adult life was also dedicated to Asian mysticism, especially Hindu. About death, he remarked “Death is when the suit you are wearing falls off and take on a new one [for the journey ahead].”
. . . even a raindrop falls. – Ryōkan
Visionaries Visiting
In Freya's mailbox this morning . . . I keep falling behind the mail, distracted by the flostsam and jetsam . . .
Yesterday was the 338th anniversary of George Frideric Handel. The Baroque composer born in 1685 Halle, Germany. What's he doing here among all the possible composers? Well, in addition to The Messiah, he also wrote the famous Water Music for King George I, performed by 50 musicians on an accompanying barge on the Thames … three times.
Also, yesterday, Woody Guthrie, one of my homies, wrote This Land Is Your Land on the back of an envelope while resting in NYC after his cross country travels. He was tired of listening to Kate Smith sing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on the radio. He thought there were a whole lot of people he'd been meeting who weren't being blessed by either God nor America. Here in Tulsa we've actually installed a museum dedicated to Woody. It's right next door to one that houses the memorability of Bob Dylan, who may thank God for Woody . . . and, no doubt, whisky.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Jane Hirshfield's birth in 1953 New York City. She now lives and writes in San Francisco (last I heard). A Princeton grad, and certified in Soto Zen, her poetry has been described as sensuously philosophical. If you've not read her, you are missing a gift for your spirit.
And it's the 237th anniversary of the birth of one of the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm Karl Grimm. He was born on this date in 1786 Hanau, Germany
Today, I'm looking forward to reading my just arrived copy of Mark Hyman's new book Young Forever. Dr. Hyman is a functional medicine M.D. who is a leading advocate of the philosphy and practice of “food is medicine.”
We have a new image of society … and out of this we have . . . the basis for a new universalism … – Abraham Maslow
The Way is a Verb
In Thor's day's mailbox this 23rd day in 2023 February . . .
Catching up on the mail …
Yesterday's birth dates included George Washington, the first President of these United States of America.He was born in born in the 1732 Colony of Virginia, 291 years ago.
And, among the best of our poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in 1892 Rockland, Maine, 131 years ago. In her time, “Vincent,” as her friends called her, was almost a pop star.
Pop culture has become so diverse, subdivided, stratified, overpopulated, that famous people are famous to only a few. They may have millions of followers on TikTok but nobody is following them down Columbus Avenue [ in NYC ] – Garrison Keillor
There is a journey you must take. It is a journey without destination. There is no map. – Meister Eckhart
On this mapless journey . . . all is movement. There is no destination, only the enveloping presence of love. The “Way” is a verb, not a noun. – Richard Rohr
First Fig
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends —
It gives a lovely light!
– Edna St.Vincent Millay