Seasons of the Day. We need health, metaphor and humour?

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(Potato Flowers, added 2020)

2013 (with a few updates).

As I enter into my third blog, I want to make a statement.

What is that statement?  Well in a capsule: “Finding good physical and mental health is both an art and a science.”  It requires a good diet, exercise, proper sleep habits and stress-management.  There are so many other factors affecting health, like:  life events, social network, genetics and medication – to name a few.  And where is mental health without a little humour? Goals? To combine all these factors in so many different ways and proportions to yield physical and mental health for so many people and the majority of the time – This to me is art.

My idea of taking a poetry collection from the last twenty-five years and trying to squeeze health tips out if it is a bit bold – especially when many of the lyrics were written when I was emotional 🙂 Still, I think it is useful – to draw ideas from the writing and try to make them work, in my own understanding – to promote health.  Moving forward with my ideas that frame the themes of Challenge, Love, Awareness and Perseverance might be a bit clichĂ©, but where I can, I will apply these thoughts. This poem was written last year and really discusses my quest to promote health in modern life.  The ideas of plants, fruit from trees, vines and vegetables as human life are key metaphors here.

Seasons of the Day

Awoken by rays and rain breathes life in me,

Underground sleep just until the light is seen,

The planted crops grow and feed all of our life,

Resembling the rows where we live and subside,

*

Incandescent glow is on and I greet myself,

This existence that covets material wealth,

The rows of the houses, people just waiting,

For a chance to advance towards escaping,

*

I don’t want to be dying on the vine,

Dropping off the tree,

Rotting in the ground,

Never to be freed –

*

Just to share in the vintage – impassioned potential sparkles at the brim,

To give years of health in places where it is seldom seen,

We all must wait, for generations to succeed,

*

The sharing of moments is not allowed here,

To our fever and fret the end is always near,

The cold leaves in the autumn shake and then fall,

Through the wet ground below, seeded rivulets crawl,

*

In the ice in the end with our hopes frozen cold,

The thoughts glisten and may drip pointedly bold,

No excuse for children not to go out and play,

Even the vast silence is buried today,

*

Soon the subtle sun reaches up to the branch,

Pulling down expression dormant in the plants,

Grasping at the sprouts, felt clear down to the roots,

A new growth begins – the transition is never smooth,

*

I just want to be growing on the vine,

A strong part of the tree,

Rising from the ground,

Providing what I need

To Succeed and Challenge

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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.

Everyday New Beginnings

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This is an introductory note, and a test in some ways as well…

Just like any other day there has been a number of transitions and challenges.  One of my main concerns, as it likely is for the majority – is to make money and put food on the table, a roof over my head, etcetera. I have a normal income as an electrician.  Problem is:  I am out with an injury and on top of that I have ambitions to go back to university and find new ways to make money.  It is not that I am not making money in my current career, but that I am gravitating to my interests in psychology and philosophy – and to finding more purpose in my goals.  I want to help people with psychological issues.  I find myself having insight that may be useful to others.  This has been consistent.  Optimism has been a mission of mine as far back as I can remember.

I have recently assembled a collection of lyrics and poetry which I am going to post. I will post piece by piece, with some descriptions and many pictures that I have taken (a few pics from my dad). I hope that this will be helpful, or at least allow me to share about ways that I have coped (and found successes) in my life.

In this first note, I will tell a bit about the collection.  I have the approximate date for a number of the poems, also having many recent entries.  However, a lot of the poems had no dates, but were in my attic, garage or in my attachĂ© case, which I recently entered into my laptop.  There are a number of poems which have still to be entered.  We will see how long this blog continues…

The introductory poem here, was just on a random piece of paper:

Turn me into ice water cold

Gently,

Quietly I walk across the floor

A sound outside, a car rumbles far beyond the door,

Given night beside the day, I couldn’t ask for more,

With everything in motion, silently I wait,

Isolated showers trickle past the window pane,

And almost softly I think about the day…

This is about awareness, and influenced by the rainy climate that I live in.  I am also considering how close we are to the outside world – even in our own homes.  We can find ourselves facing the elements at any given moment. Awareness is one of the main themes of my collection, and I have identified four themes to start off with:  Challenge, Awareness, Perseverance and Love.  These are the tools towards progress and recovery as I will address in my next blogs.  Optimism definitely fits in there.