No Ones Laughing at God

a guide to being human

I just finished reading Joseph Burgo's

Why Do I Do That, Psychological Defense Mechanisms & the Hidden Way They Shape Our Lives

and I can't recommend it highly enough. 

A super, potentially life changing read for anyone who's human, and maybe even for those who aren't!

Definitely worth your time.

:) 

hear no evil...

end of life quilt

     It's hard to know what to give someone who isn't well for Christmas but I think my sister came up with the perfect thing for our Mom. She's made her a quilt with photo's of everyone in our family. Each picture is labeled with the person's name in case Pat needs help remembering who we are. It is the perfect gift. My mother has never been the sentimental type, but I hope that she will wrap herself in it, and that it will capture her attention and comfort her. What a beautiful gift. 

Some individual shots from the quilt:

My Mom's Mom.

Her Dad.

My Mom and her siblings.

My parents wedding.

Me and my sisters wearing outfits my mom made for us. 

She was always so proud of having taught herself to sew 

after her high school home ec teacher told her she sucked. 

My three little brothers who my parents adopted when we were teens. 

A fairly recent photo of my parents with some of their grandchildren.

more words worth reading...

... “and then it was just quiet and all you could hear was the shooting.”

It is the silence that seemed particularly haunting. The methodical silence of the killer. The unnatural silence of children. Even the apparent silence of a bystander God.

One way we try to beat down death with a stick is by turning helpless horror into a familiar cause.

It is discrediting to any cause when its advocates steal someone else’s grief for their own ideological use. But in this case, the search for the political implications of tragedy is unavoidable.

...The first, necessary response to the unacceptable is not to accept it.

-Michael Gerson, The Washington Post

Tim Flach's Photography is the best I've ever seen...

timflach.com

click on portfolio and then on "More Than Human"

foci

Placebo singing "I need a change. I need a change of skin."
is running a loop in my head right now. I can't seem to shake it. It won't even play correctly, it should be "I need a change of skin. I need a change"  (not that that matters). Anyways, whatever's in my brain hitting repeat over and over again is absolutely right. I do need a change. I am so sick of myself. I am the long overstayed guest. And while I can't literally shed my skin, I really do need to reorient myself and my energies. Somewhere along the line I became distracted by the idea of becoming more independent, a contributor, pulling my own weight. What a joke! Materiality has never been terribly important to me and it makes no sense to pursue it now in the name of self enforced autonomy; especially at the expense of living mindfully, happily, and in the present. That being said, there seems little point in continuing to pursue priorities so clearly outside of myself. Perhaps just being aware of, and accepting my vulnerabilities in this area is enough. 

Walking in the Air