Feed My Soul

A  famous definition of motherhood by  Tenneva Jordan is:   
“A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”  
A mother's love nourishes us and so does real romantic love.
The writer and physician Michael Crichton said: 
There are ways to know real love. It feels calm. It's steady, and it can easily last a lifetime. It's nourishing — people grow under its influence. They become who they really are, and not what someone expects them to be. 

 The title track from the album above is the sincerest of love songs. It is a warm, soulful ballad written by Wendell Holmes of the Holmes Brothers.  He lets us know that it was the love of his life who helped pull him through his medical crisis and perhaps other ordeals.
 “You forgave me, baby, when I needed forgiving/You gave me the strength to keep right on living.”  The harmonizing between the brothers and the ladies is subtle and sublime.
Listen to  Feed My Soul.

    The next time I am in a restaurant with the one I love, I will think of the food as only something on a plate, the real love is feeding my soul.

A Pillow I Would Share

When it comes to love, the highest form of love is not possessive at all says the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.  Unlike other things we can possess, the poet looks at his love lying with her head upon the pillow and sees a glimpse of heaven, a shooting star 

( another name for a falling star or meteorite). Real love gives more than it takes. 

No, I'll not take the half... No, I'll not take the half, Give me the whole sky! The far-flung earth! Seas and rivers and mountain avalanches-- All these are mine! I'll accept no less! No, life, you cannot woo me with a part. Let it be all or nothing! I can shoulder that! I don't want happiness by halves, Nor is half of sorrow what I want. Yet there's a pillow I would share, Where gently pressed against a cheek, Like a helpless star, a falling star, A ring glimmers on a finger of your hand. -- Yevgeny Yevtushenko

   How can one  finger of a hand possess so much power over the poet?  One needs only to look at the hand of violinist Julia Fischer as she plays the beautiful Mendelsohn Violin Concerto in E Minor (Movement 1).  Just as she shares her beautiful playing with all listeners, love too must share itself with many others. A star shines its light on everyone in the world. A beautiful flower shares its loveliness with gardeners, birds, bees, the infirm and the romantics. 

    Love is gentle.  It flows like music deep into your body and glimmers like a star.  Listen to Bob Dylan's song Shooting Star.  It is very romantic.

Two Gifts

 Randy Pausch,  a popular Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, wrote an even more popular book, The Last Lecture,  to leave as a legacy to his wife and three children.  He wanted to tell them about his life - the good and the ridiculous-  because he knew that his time was getting shorter, since he had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. He died at the age of 47.
 

Randy Pausch

    In an interview with ABC newscaster Diane Sawyer, he tells her he she has"forgotten" to ask him a very important question.
What question is that?  the newswoman asks
  He answers, "What actor will play the role of my wife?"
  So, Diane Sawyer humors him and asks, "Okay, who will play your wife in the movie about your life?"


            "No one, he answers, is pretty enough to play my wife."


  His answer is a reminder that love outlasts many things in this life and helps us face those difficult moments.
  Another great gift to those who are facing end of life transitions is by Warren Zevon called
"Keep Me In Your Heart"

Warren Zevon

The disease Warren was dying from is called pleural mesothelioma ( cancer ) of the lung.
His first line tells you how hard it was to take a breath. But still he finds the strength to appreciate this life and the people he loved.

Shadows are fallin' and I'm runnin' out of breath
Keep me in your heart for a while
If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for a while

When you get up in the mornin' and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for a while
There's a train leavin' nightly called "When All is Said and Done"
Keep me in your heart for a while

Sha-lalala-lala-li-lalala-lo
Keep me in your heart for a while
Sha-lalala-lala-li-lalala-lo
Keep me in your heart for a while

Sometimes when you're doin' simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for a while

Hold me in your thoughts
Take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes
Keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north up to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for a while
These wheels keep turnin' but they're runnin' out of steam
Keep me in your heart for a while

Sha-lalala-lala-li-lalala-lo
Keep me in your heart for a while
Sha-lalala-lala-li-lalala-lo
Keep me in your heart for a while

Keep me in your heart for a while

Never Alone

    Even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph, seeing it as a growth experience “the defiant power of the human spirit”.  Is this to say that suffering is indispensable to the discovery of meaning?  In no way.  If it is avoidable, the meaningful thing to do is to remove its cause, for unnecessary suffering is masochistic rather than heroic.  If, on the other hand, one cannot change a situation that causes his suffering, he can still choose his attitude.    ~Viktor Frankl

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   Dr. Vilktor Frankl, psychiatrist and  philosopher, was a prisoner in a concentration camp in World War II in 1942. 
He survived the Nazi  death camps and later wrote:


     Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. It is this spiritual freedom that  makes life meaningful and purposeful. 
          For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets - that love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. 
       In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot  express himself in a positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. The salvation of man is in love and through love.
                  That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look.    Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise. 
                                                       ~Viktor Frankl, from Man's Search For Meaning, Part 1


  The song below offers  a sense of hope and an understanding that love is as strong as death.
   
                                            Never Alone  Lady Antebellum


How does a human being go about finding meaning?  All we can do is study the lives of people who seem to have found their answers to the questions of what ultimately human life is about as against those who have not.

Only Time

The  time  we have together with the ones we love is never truly known. Time can be measured in a a lifetime of special moments that last into our old age or it can be shortened inexorably by a miscarriage, an illness, or the hateful acts of 9/11 in New York City or the senseless murders at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado.
  While there are no words that bring immediate healing, this song by Enya called Only Time was used in many tributes to remember those who lost their lives in that horrific tragedy in New York.  Listen to it now. It still brings comfort for all the love that is lost too soon.

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Songbird

"If I keep a green bough in my heart, perhaps the singing bird will come." 
                                -Chinese proverb  

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This proverb teaches us some of the secrets of enjoying a full life.
    - Keep young or at least active.
    - Never lose hope
    - Experience the pursuit of  joy and beauty.
    - Strive to grow or become something greater than what you are today.
    - Hold only those things in your heart that are fresh, new or encouraging.
 
Remember, a green bough is hard to break and may eventually produce a delicious red apple.

This melodious song from Christine McVie, called Songbird, her poetic symbol of love,  describes the story of a songbird that has come to her. Love, when it brings beauty and joy into your life, is unlike anything that has ever come before.

Something Beautiful

A beautifully illustrated children's book called Something Beautiful  written by Sharon Dennis Wyeth and illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet has this Author's Note: 

Author's Note

    When  I was eight years old, I asked my mother, whose name was Evon, for "something beautiful." She gave me one of her wedding gifts: a small white china pitcher with a gold handle and a golden rose embossed on it. I put the pitcher on my windowsill so I wouldn't have to look at the alley outside. I called the pitcher my something beautiful. When Mommy gave me the gift, she cautioned me not to forget that I already had something even more beautiful -- the something beautiful I had inside. I still have the little pitcher. I keep it next to my bed. It helps keep alive the memory of childhood and my mother's love.  ~Sharon Dennis Wyeth ( from Something Beautiful)

       In her book, a young girls learns that the definition of "something beautiful" is different for each person. It may be the beauty of friendship, community, culture, giving, food, or having a child. 

    There are other worlds besides our own, like Saturn,  that  have many beautiful things to explore. 

Saturn - NASA Photograph

   The astonishing photographs and unforgettable images of space exploration remind us that there is beauty in other worlds. The website link Something Beautiful  invites us to appreciate the whole, vibrating world around us on a daily practice.  You can discover something beautiful in this movie of Saturn.
    Love  also creates a new world and overwhelms us. We feel a powerful desire to give thanks to the one who shares our soul. 

We remember a mother's love.  We are grateful for the love of another person.  When we love someone or something deeply, we feel connected to our divine nature. We love them with an eternal connection that is both timeless and universal.

Feel the Wind

Love makes you feel many things, but especially, love makes you feel the wind. This wind is the kind that lets you glide with your sailboat across the lake. Or the kind you hear whipping past your face. Is the wind of love calling your name?
    The power of the wind can make you sail or dance.
I like this song by  Beyonce called "Love On Top".  I can feel the wind when I listen to this song.

Come on baby
I can hear the wind whipping past my face.
As we dance the night away.
Boy your lips taste like a night of champagne.
As I kiss you again, and again, and again and again.

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing… 

'The Invitation,' by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Read the rest of this poem!      

Heart and Soul

The Chinese character for the verb "to listen" has on its left side the symbol that represents an ear. The right side represents the individual- you. The eyes and undivided attention are next and finally there is the heart.  The Chinese Verb "To Listen"

This symbol tells us that to listen we must use both ears, watch and maintain eye contact, give undivided attention, and finally to listen with your heart. This makes listening more than the use of one sense.  What do you hear when you listen to the one you love? Are you engaged in active listening?  An emperor in the court of the early Tang Dynasty once asked:

      "What should an emperor do to understand the real-world situation and what makes an emperor out-of-touch with reality?"
    His advisor Wei Zheng replied, "Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; listen to only one side and you will be left in the dark."
     If you are walking on the path of romance, it eventually leads you to the smooth jazz sounds of Kenny G.
  The essence of Kenny G is his passion and melodious playing.  Listen with your ears, mind and heart.

Heart and Soul by Kenny G

Storyteller

"The Voice" is from this book

“The Voice"

There is a voice inside of you                                        
That whispers all day long,
"I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you--just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.” 
― Shel Silverstein

You came into this world with a voice—a voice to laugh, to cry, to scream, to sing, to tell the world what matters. Listen to the sound of your heart, above all other voices.  Listen to the glory of your story.

    Your life is filled with Wonder, sings the talented voice of  Natalie Merchant. She has a rare gift of voice, deep feeling, intelligence and passion. She makes the world a little better with every note, with every word.

A Moving Sea

    The fun part of summer is to ride the waves at the beach. You can surf the waves or ride in boats
or just watch the waves crash on the shore.  The waves are the moving sea and they bring life and joy to so many people. They can also be powerful and destructive. Still, the beautiful waves of love are meant to be enjoyed and to refresh our souls.
   Love is a time to look out into the big ocean of life and feel the water that surrounds us.
Love exists in the movement between our bodies and when we Crash into each other's souls.

"Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." - The Prophet by Kahil Gibran The Wave Japanese woodblock

Love For Things Unseen

"Do you believe only in the things you can see?

It is the thing not seen that is the most important -- a house is a thing seen, but a home is a thing unseen; a brain can be seen, but a mind is unseen; you can see a mother's face, but not the love behind it; you can see a word, but not an idea; a church, but not God; flags, but not patriotism. " ~Shawn Bremner  

  

 Love, joy, peace, and laughter surround us just like the invisible atmosphere we breathe, but sometimes we lose our faith. Sometimes, we are unaware of the invisible ripple of hope in the outstretched hands.

Sometimes we forget the love for things unseen: for the baby in the womb, for the memory that comes at night of a sweet romance,  or for the dream of peace.

Love is not an easy feeling to put into words, said Bobby Kennedy. Listen to his eloquence here.

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Dawn

“Not knowing when the Dawn will come I open every Door.”

Emily Dickinson

Not knowing when the Dawn will come,

I open every Door,
Or has it Feathers, like a Bird,
Or Billows, like a Shore—

      

Dawn is the first light to break the darkness of night. I think therefore, the word Dawn symbolizes some great revelation or event that can happen in your life. Who knows from what direction that great opportunity will come or when?

So to be prepared for that moment when someone special will walk into your life, open every door.

Open every window. Open your arms. That special moment may be as small as a weightless bird's feather or as strong as a wind. 

None of us knows when the right individual  will walk or fly into our lives, but if we are as smart as Emily,
 we will be ready to welcome that person.

Lift

When we take care of our infants, there is a sign on the crib that says: To Raise Bar, Squeeze Together And Lift. We lift up the latch and protect the baby we love from falling.
  When we become older, love lifts us again.  It pulls you into a turbulent flow and you fly through the world as if you had wings.
  There are no straight lines to the travels of love, says the singer Darden Smith, in his album Sunflower.  But there is a Perfect Moment, when the "stars align".

    You feel your body lift  and you soar.  When you are flying,  sometimes it feels like a hungry eagle, sometimes like a gentle dove.  Always, it feels incredible.

All the Ingredients

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You carry all the ingredients
To turn your existence into joy,
Mix them, mix Them!   ~Hafiz  (excerpt from "To Build A Swing")


       I remember when the kids were young, we erected a swing from Little Tikes in the backyard. When we opened the box, all the pieces we needed to assemble the swing were already inside.
   Love is like that. When you find the one you love, everything  you need is already inside the other person.  Everything.  All the experience, skill and beauty is within that person and complete.
    It is like making a pumpkin muffin and opening your pantry to find everything you need to completely bake that muffin. There is no need to add anything extra to the mix.
     Our human  bodies are made of about 30, 000 different genes and when we mix them and cross them we get over 7 billion different specimens of humanity. So when you find that unique person in your life,  it is wondrous. You have found the perfect mix to bring you joy.


Recipe for Pumpkin Muffins