I want to quickly follow up my first blog, because it was written as a test, and without much consideration of the structure and proposed mission that I will be considering while writing these.  One of my main goals is to explain how we can cope with day to day life, including both short term and long term goals.  I intend to draw on my poetry collection to help me with this.

My description of awareness, and taking time to think about surroundings and the environment is reflected in the previous blog.  It is often a way to relax and work out problems, by considering the experiences of a day.   Here, I also maintain that in order to find success and progress we often have to challenge our perception of the world and really analyze  what our senses bring us – to get more out of life than what we notice at first glance, or initial experience.  The poem below was written in a few stages (around 2003-2005), but the core of the lyrics were written in about ten minutes.  Bridges, chorus and guitar were added later.

Pathways

Ever-present desire to succeed and challenge,

Fragments of time hang on the nervous door hinge,

In the skies there is a fiery orange,

In the brain, in the mood, in the path,

*

Confirmation of an intriguing notion,

Visions that lure an unreal emotion,

Diligent work spent on devotion,

Such a waste, fail to cross, to a new path,

*

In the rising travel to find what dreams yield,

Synchronicity is uplifting (a plain thing),

In the vast expanse of this energy field,

The ground is ever-shifting,

*

Shifting shapes in the rain, rising up to the sky,

Misty memory reflects all that you think,

And I think if I fail I will surely . . .

Dive deeper, into this massive mental landscape,

*

Border dreams, real as rock, where’s the path?

Gridlock,

Shaking heads, shaking thoughts,

Can’t get through,

Gridlock,

*

Consequential change of the integrated feeling,

Brings a far-fetched mood that sends me reeling,

Enduring trance set by the cosmic dealing,

Just from proof, of a move, in the path,

*

Saturate the idol with a figment of power,

And you will find a fate-changing flower,

Iridescent lights in the sixty-watt shower,

Creating strength, in the groove, in the path,

*

In minute thoughts we process and explore,

Infinite possibilities passing,

With immaculate balance I reach for the door,

But still I find myself grasping,

*

Grasping leaves as I run, as fast as I am free,

Factual forest, reflects all that you think,

And I think if I fall I will surely,

Dive deeper, into these firmly grounded beliefs,

*

Waking dreams, real as rock, there’s the path,

Gridlock,

Shaking hands – shake in shock,

Must get through,

Gridlock,

Peace of mind from lucid talk,

Flowing through,

Gridlock,

Gridlock

**

From this, the elements of Challenge, Awareness, and Perseverance are noticeable.  What we come to believe through our experience and perception can often change.  We often have to challenge our awareness.   We have the potential to make progress through perseverance.  This can be encouraged through the dialectic and discussion.  Nothing comes easy, but by challenging problems that confront us, persevering with a deep awareness of our world – and looking for ways to make the next step we may in fact find peace of mind.  One of my components is outstanding: basic Love of others.  It is not expressed dramatically here, but it could definitely act as a catalyst to promote the peace of mind found in lucid talk.   Life sometimes seems like a traffic jam.  It helps to draw on our own resources of reason, and also, if possible: to have someone that can join in the dialectic (such as family, friends or other trusted person) to get a person through tough times.