Posted by anonymouse on: Wed 7th Mar, 2012

Charles Schultz once said, "I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."

There are hard times. I have been feeling an overpowering anxiety abroad. Some might call it 'free floating anxiety'. I think that there is a great cloud of difficulty hanging over the heads of many in our country. There are people losing their houses, people who are getting diagnoses, fighting diseases, some are winning and some are losing.  Bankruptcy, wars and rumors of wars. Politicians are doing what they do best. Pandering, lying, dissembling. And it all seems to go on. Forever.

There is enough misery coming into the life of any one person, that it might be well to heed Charles Schultz advice. One day's misery is enough.

I learned in Sunday School, that we should 'take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.'  Not only should we 'dread only one day at a time' but also draw the remedy against daily dread, by cherishing the same day at the same time.

You will meet your misery quotient, whether you want to or not. You don't have to look for it, it will find you.The trick is to build your happiness quotient. It is harder to meet. For this purpose, you may have to spend some time 'in the moment'. Take some pleasure in what is and what is, now. Zen Buddhism says that there are 10,000 sorrows and 10,000 joys. Not 10,000 sorrows and 850 joys. The sorrows will come to you, but you may have to seek out the joys yourself.

Limit any day's misery to that day. It may be there tomorrow, but you don't have to suffer today for tomorrow's.

It is Spring in Santa Barbara. The Pittosporum and Acacia are blooming. Breathe in the perfume. The sun is out. Warm your face in it.

Find joy at every opportunity. You will find it if you look for it.

Tags: santa barbara spring, misery quotient

Posted by anonymouse on: Wed 8th Feb, 2012

A 'Thank You' video from Japan to everyone who so generously helped after the earthquake and tsunami.  Arigato! 

Watch this video!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SS-sWdAQsUg&vq=medium

You may have to cut and paste the link.  It is worth it, have a tissue or two ready!!

anonymouse

Tags: thank you from japan, arigato, japanese earthquake

Posted by anonymouse on: Tue 10th Jan, 2012

The task we must set for ourselves is not to feel secure, 

but to be able to tolerate insecurity.           

Erich Fromm

"The more one studies attempted solutions to problems in

politics and economics, in  art, philosophy and religion,

the more one has the impression of extremely gifted people 

wearing out their ingenuity at the impossible and futile 

task of trying to get the water of life into neat and 

permanent packages." 

                  Alan Watts - The Wisdom of Insecurity

These are obviously, uncertain times.  People are losing 

their houses, their retirements, there are wars and rumors

of war.  People are uncertain.  Above all this we know, that 

there is no way to really know what we want to know.  

And if we did know, we might not be pleased about it.

We have to  continue to put one foot in front of the other, 

to do the best in each moment.  As my old Daddy says, we 

have to 'expect the worst and hope for the best'. 

We can't contain the water of life in 'neat packages'.  

As for me, in any one moment, I will try to be grateful for any

reasonably packaged unit of the 'water of life'.  

If it doesn't drown me, I am going to try to be grateful 

and take pleasure in it.

I am thanking myself for the photo of the miraculous forms 

water takes by itself on our Santa Barbara coastline.

Tags: wisdom of insecurity, beautiful santa barbara

Posted by anonymouse on: Fri 23rd Dec, 2011

I saw this sign while tailgating on State Street yesterday.  

Slow down Santa Barbara! (and that means me.)  I have seen every sort of craziness on the streets and in stores.  Pepperspray, notwithstanding, we are getting our knickers in a knot over the pressure of the holidays. Let's slow down, look the other driver (whether it be a car, bus or shopping cart) in the eye.

Thank you to the driver of the anonymous car with the sign on the back, for tailgaters like me.  I saw it just before I honked.  Then I thought better of it. Let someone go first, wave thank you, even if it is slightly insincere.

You will feel better for it.  I did!  

Tags: slow down santa barbara, christmas hanukkah in santa barbara, traffic in santa barbara

Posted by anonymouse on: Tue 6th Dec, 2011

The sun is going down and is lighting up the wall.  Even in Santa Barbara, a kind word can warm the winter months.

One kind word can warm three winter months.

Japanese proverb

I thank my mousie-self for the photo of the sun on the wall.

Tags: winter in santa barbara, kind words, japanese proverb

Posted by anonymouse on: Tue 29th Nov, 2011

I am caring for my 'Old Dad' with my sister, since our mother died.

He has never been a very social person, but his social world, which was narrow anyway, was highly dependent on my mother's talkative nature.

Now he talks to a few family members, but not too much.   When we go out to do shopping, which is his favorite thing to do, he tries to engage cashiers and other patrons of the markets we visit.  I notice, with great sadness for him, that people don't pay attention to the elderly.  He will try to engage with folks and the response ranges from an attempt at a quick getaway to a rude rebuff.  People actually ignore him.  I know he feels it, I can see it happen.  It looks like he is on the final stretch of his life, and it is like he is already gone.  I am sure he feels invisible.  

C'mon folks, let's have some feeling for the oldy-folks among us. Give them a smile and a word. Let your eyes meet theirs, so they know that they still exist.  

Thanking Vincent Van Gogh for the painting. 

Tags: old age, old age in santa barbara, loneliness

Posted by anonymouse on: Tue 8th Nov, 2011

This is what you shall do

by Walt Whitman

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."

Tags: walt whitman, love the earth, give alms in santa barbara, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, santa barbara elections

Posted by anonymouse on: Wed 2nd Nov, 2011

A man, who was trying to help an animal in Hope Ranch was bitten by the cat, who later tested positive for rabies.

The cat was taken to an animal hospital where it later died. There it was discovered that the cat was rabid, and the man is now being treated due to the infection.

Be aware and cautious when approaching an animal you do not know, and which is perhaps exhibiting signs of illness. According to web.md the advice concerning questionable animals and symptoms of rabies in animals are as follows:


It is important to observe the animal when possible in order to provide proper and timely preventive treatment to any person who may have been exposed. An animal that shows any of the following signs may have rabies:

• No fear of humans shown by a wild animal

• Shyness in a usually friendly pet

• Restlessness, excitability, aggression, or sudden mood changes

• Excessive drooling

• An animal that is normally active at night (such as bats, raccoons, and skunks) being active during the day

• Eating substances not normally eaten (pica)

• Paralysis, which is sometimes the only sign

Thanking 'the truest sentence you know'  for the mean kitty photo.

Tags: rabies in hope ranch, rabies in santa barbara

Posted by anonymouse on: Tue 1st Nov, 2011

Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him.
Douglas Horton

A legal definition of EXCESSIVE FORCE says, 

"A law enforcement officer has the right to use such force as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances to make a lawful arrest. An unreasonable seizure occurs when a law enforcement officer uses excessive force in making a lawful arrest."

"Whether force is reasonably necessary or excessive is measured by the force a reasonable and prudent law enforcement officer would use under the circumstances."

I am imagining the mental disposition of a member of the police department when they make a routine traffic stop. In this world, we all know, that unexpected things happen at unexpected times. A routine stop can potentially result in a shooting or a uneventful arrest. The officer has to be ready for any eventuality.

I have known one or two police officers in my life and I have noticed that they have, perhaps after a career spent dealing with the most difficult situations with unruly citizens, these officers have had what seems to me like a very negative view of human nature. They see the worst and expect the worst.

The adrenaline rush one surely experiences at the outset of an event with an unknown player with an unknown course of events, must be a considerable challenge for the officer. Given that, and given the uncertainty of interpretation, I can understand how misunderstandings or misapprehensions can sometimes result in mistreatment of the person who is being stopped and questioned. For this reason, police personnel need to be trained to evaluate while under a great amount of pressure. Being human, there will be mistakes.

About the 'routine' stop at Gelsons and the accusation against the SB Police Officer of 'excessive force', I think that the conversation we are having and the investigation that is taking place, are both good things.

Given that, the fact that these citizens took the time to investigate and pay attention is also important. Even though it is human nature to be curious about car wrecks and extreme events, we need always to be holding those with power over us, to some kind of standard.

Knowing someone is watching should be a deterrent to abuse of power. Sometimes adrenaline, anger and power are overwhelming impulses.

I commend the police for doing a difficult job and I commend these citizen-witnesses for paying attention and holding those in power accountable for their actions.

Thanks to http://www.albiapd.org/id5.html for the image 

Tags: santa barbara police, excessive force, santa barbara police excessive force

Posted by anonymouse on: Thu 22nd Sep, 2011

Tags: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Sansum Clinic, Pueblo Street, kindness of strangers, bath street

Posted by anonymouse on: Sat 10th Sep, 2011

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.  ~Basho

After what happened on September 11, 2001, I was sad for a long time.  I felt as though, we lost our collective 'innocence', the mistaken belief  that terrible things don't happen here.  The belief that we are exempt from some of the more tragic things that happen out somewhere else, in the rest of the 'world'.  

We know that terrible things happen every day, but September 11, was a spectacular event that was impossible to ignore, or explain away, even though there are those who have tried to do that in the last ten years.  I was reacquainted with the  idea that actions have real-world consequences.  Actions in the world arena, have natural consequences, even though it is impossible to trace the exact line of causation.

I remember feeling sad and hopeless for a very long time.  I had an old orchid plant on the sink in my bathroom, and I was too depressed to even throw it away.  Some months later, I came into my bathroom, and there on an otherwise naked and barren stalk, was one perfect white orchid flower.  I must have needed a sign of hope, a symbolic reason to resume hoping for the best, even while expecting the worst.  The single exquisite white bloom on that woody stalk provided me with a reason to begin to be cautiously hopeful again.

Collectively, we have had ten years of days to reflect on September 11, 2001.  One day, for those who lost loved ones, is not any more meaningful than any other.  But with the special dedications that will made on September 11, 2011, I hope that their hearts may be comforted like mine was when I saw a white flower on what seemed to be a dead plant. 

Thanks to a public domain for the orchid photo...

Tags: September 11 in Santa Barbara, Basho, white orchids

Posted by anonymouse on: Mon 29th Aug, 2011

Craig Ferguson has famously said,

"The three things you must ask yourself before you say anything, which are:

'Does this need to be said?'

'Does this need to be said by me?'

Does this need to be said by me now?'

Three f*%#ing marriages it took me to learn that.." 

In the book, Lying, by Sissela Bok, there is, under the heading, Truthfulness at What Price?, the author says about 'white lies', "...it is fallacious to argue that all white lies are right because few are.  As a result, those who undertake to tell white lies should look hard for alternatives."

She says that there are situations in which "..even those lies which would generally accepted as harmless are not needed....If the purpose (in any human interaction) is understood by both speaker and listener to be one of civility and support, the full truth in such cases is not called for."

And for those who believe they know what the real truth is, remember what Albert Einstein said..

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

This is where a mental shift might be useful and very much more important than concerning ourselves with the IDEA of 'truth.'

"It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come."  Dalai Lama

Thanking Frans Hals for the painting of the Happy Couple!

Tags: truth and lying in santa barbara, white lies, craig ferguson, albert einstein, dalai lama, frans hals

Posted by anonymouse on: Thu 25th Aug, 2011

Our best moments are secrets, and sometimes we don't even know them ourselves, so none of us can ever be honored appropriately.  Honor is private.

Our public reputations depend on the opinions of the uninformed.  Each one of us is a book reviewed by critics who only read chapter headings and the jacket flap.  We're all a mystery.  We should all respect each other on that basis.

Garrison Keillor

Life Among The Lutherans

Thanks to Rembrandt for the painting!

Tags: respect in santa barbara, honor, public reputations

Posted by anonymouse on: Sun 31st Jul, 2011

Pierre Beaumarchais says, and our representatives in the government know that....

It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.

Angry Pig courtesy of ExpressYourself@FOS...

Tags: government dysfunction, corporate greed, not paying their fair share, boehner, republican members of congress, congress, senate

Posted by anonymouse on: Sat 30th Jul, 2011

"It is said that every people has the Government it deserves.

It is more to the point that every Government has the electorate it deserves; for the orators of the front bench can edify or debauch an ignorant electorate at will.

Thus our democracy moves in a vicious circle of reciprocal worthiness and unworthiness."

George Bernard Shaw

Three Blind Mice!  Credit: zhouxuan12345678!

Tags: government dysfunction, tea party, republicans, boehner