Peace comes from within
-Buddha
Peace has always held a pretty high place of importance for me .
Maybe it started as a kid in church. No longer particularly religious, I was raised in a strict Catholic household, so weekly Sunday Mass was a must (along with catechism). As a squirmy kid with energy, one of the highlights of mass was when you got to shake hands and offer a greeting of "Peace" or "Peace be with you" to anyone nearby. It was one of the few informal, genuine and non-scripted moments (stand up, sit down, kneel, mumble prayer, repeat) so other than some of the songs and, of course, the end of mass, Peace was the best part. (some feel that communion is the best, but I was never that crazy about the whole "body and blood of Christ" thing)
As a young adult, letting my freak flag fly, I was more of a general "Peace, dude" kind of guy. Especially having come of age in Reagan's Cold War 80's (You can't hug Children with Nuclear Arms-bumper sticker sported on my very own VW bus) and being a draft eligible man as the Gulf War broke out made me more of a "Peace, Not War" kind of guy. Still am.
Now being certifiably middle aged (OK, slightly past middle age) the peace I want most, the peace I search for, the peace I need, is inner peace. With time, reflection, work and meditation I am starting to find it. Mostly, I have found it within me. Turns out Buddha was right (about many things). Smart guy, that Buddha.
Peace to the Planet, and Peace be with You...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Trying too hard/trying to make sense
Had a great time in DC a while back, chaperoning a group of middle schoolers, including my daughter, on a trip to our nation's capitol. We packed a lot into three full days-several Smithsonian museums (musea?) Arlington National Cemetery, most of the memorials and monuments, the Capitol building, the White House, National Zoo, National Archives, and more.
So much to see and do, but what I liked best was lunch with my daughter the first day there. Not the food itself-an overpriced burger and a bag of chips-but the fact that she chose to sit with me (though at the suggestion of her friend). For the rest of the trip both before and after, she pretty much avoided me. Silly me for thinking we might have some fun, you know...together. After we got home I pressed her a bit about it and she admitted that she probably would have had a better time had I not come along. Bruised ego aside (again) I understood. It wasn't that I was embarassing her, it was more that I was simply cramping her style, with her kind of looking over her shoulder for her Dad on what would have otherwise been a carefree school trip with her friends.
File this one under trying a little too hard maybe. When I really stopped to think about it, I couldn't blame her for feeling the way she did and I was glad she was at least honest with me about it.
I still had a great time-it just wasn't exactly what I had hoped it would be as far as sharing it with my daughter-although I do hope that in the future, having gained perspective with time passing, that she will eventually be glad that I went on the trip.
Peace to the Planet...
So much to see and do, but what I liked best was lunch with my daughter the first day there. Not the food itself-an overpriced burger and a bag of chips-but the fact that she chose to sit with me (though at the suggestion of her friend). For the rest of the trip both before and after, she pretty much avoided me. Silly me for thinking we might have some fun, you know...together. After we got home I pressed her a bit about it and she admitted that she probably would have had a better time had I not come along. Bruised ego aside (again) I understood. It wasn't that I was embarassing her, it was more that I was simply cramping her style, with her kind of looking over her shoulder for her Dad on what would have otherwise been a carefree school trip with her friends.
File this one under trying a little too hard maybe. When I really stopped to think about it, I couldn't blame her for feeling the way she did and I was glad she was at least honest with me about it.
I still had a great time-it just wasn't exactly what I had hoped it would be as far as sharing it with my daughter-although I do hope that in the future, having gained perspective with time passing, that she will eventually be glad that I went on the trip.
Peace to the Planet...
Summer's memories
The first day of Summer. The last day of school. It's days like this that make me want to be a kid again, with a summer full of adventure and carefree days ahead. Hot sunny days, long cool evenings, and a little thunder and lightning to liven things up.
For me summer was primarily spent at the town pool, the town's social center back then. Other than an occasional weekend (or the annual week long) at my Grandparents house at the Maine shore, I was either at the pool, at a neighborhood friend's house, or riding my bike somewhere in between. (no camp or grand vacations for me and my seven siblings) Simple times. Good times.
There was nothing like those summers when I was 9-12. Old enough to be independent (back then) and too young to have a job, girlfriend, a car or a care. If you didn't find any change in the deep end of the pool, you could round up five bottles or cans and the 25 cents would get you a candy bar or a soda. Life was good.
Summertime and the livin was easy....
Looking back I remember being anxious to grow up and experience all life had to offer. But looking back also makes me realize that in many ways (not all) that was a nearly perfect age and time, not exactly all downhill from there but, in so many ways it was a pinnacle of sorts. (Coincidentally {or is it ironically}the rec area where the town pool was located was known as "The Pinnacle" {on Lover's Lane no less}).
How does that quote go?-if only I knew then what I know now...no, even better the line from the Bob Dylan/Byrds song-My Back Pages--I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.
Just looked up some of the #1 hits of 1977 and had a few laughs....some definite classics like Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" (didn't know for the longest time what it was the night for...) and the Eagles' "Hotel California" but then there's Shaun Cassidy's "DaDooRonRon", David Soul's "Don't Give up on Us" and a couple of Andy Gibb's bubblegum classics. A crazy musical era that was punctuated by disco (ABBA and the Bee Gees), country rock (Eagles, Glen Campbell), funk (KC and the Sunshine Band and Rose Royce) Soul/R+B (Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder), crap (Mary McGregor and Debbi Boone) and utter crap (Barry Manilow, Cassidy and Gibb). Thankfully there were a few nuggets that still stand the test of time.
Here's the link for all the #1 hits of 1977 so you can look, laugh and reminisce for yourself...
Peace to the Planet....
For me summer was primarily spent at the town pool, the town's social center back then. Other than an occasional weekend (or the annual week long) at my Grandparents house at the Maine shore, I was either at the pool, at a neighborhood friend's house, or riding my bike somewhere in between. (no camp or grand vacations for me and my seven siblings) Simple times. Good times.
There was nothing like those summers when I was 9-12. Old enough to be independent (back then) and too young to have a job, girlfriend, a car or a care. If you didn't find any change in the deep end of the pool, you could round up five bottles or cans and the 25 cents would get you a candy bar or a soda. Life was good.
Summertime and the livin was easy....
Looking back I remember being anxious to grow up and experience all life had to offer. But looking back also makes me realize that in many ways (not all) that was a nearly perfect age and time, not exactly all downhill from there but, in so many ways it was a pinnacle of sorts. (Coincidentally {or is it ironically}the rec area where the town pool was located was known as "The Pinnacle" {on Lover's Lane no less}).
How does that quote go?-if only I knew then what I know now...no, even better the line from the Bob Dylan/Byrds song-My Back Pages--I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.
Just looked up some of the #1 hits of 1977 and had a few laughs....some definite classics like Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" (didn't know for the longest time what it was the night for...) and the Eagles' "Hotel California" but then there's Shaun Cassidy's "DaDooRonRon", David Soul's "Don't Give up on Us" and a couple of Andy Gibb's bubblegum classics. A crazy musical era that was punctuated by disco (ABBA and the Bee Gees), country rock (Eagles, Glen Campbell), funk (KC and the Sunshine Band and Rose Royce) Soul/R+B (Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder), crap (Mary McGregor and Debbi Boone) and utter crap (Barry Manilow, Cassidy and Gibb). Thankfully there were a few nuggets that still stand the test of time.
Here's the link for all the #1 hits of 1977 so you can look, laugh and reminisce for yourself...
Peace to the Planet....
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