Category: reflections

What makes a poem a poem?

When I was writing this,I could feel myself as a bird  up in the sky looking down at the earth,the hills and the lakes.And I still feel that now.However in my opinion it is not a real poem unless other people also feel something of that when they read it.I find it’s so easy to think you have written something good because you feel  so good  during or after the writing.But that does not mean it is good,objectively.I might feel good mixing up eggs, flour,sugar and butter but if I don’t know how to bake it will  probably not become a cake however good the making feels.I know it’s not exactly the same but I hope you can grasp the point.I suppose it might be true of love as well…Feelings alone are insufficient.

Here is a useful website

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/telling-a-good-poem-from-a-bad-one/

THE LARK

Freed from her trap
Bird soared into air,and hovered
And floated, resting;
And flew higher, singing as she flew,
And higher again,
Till there was only her song,
Left in the silence,
Trembling.
Up on the wide,stump topped hill,
I felt the lark inside my heart
And heard her singing.
And flying up with her,
I saw gold sun and silver moon,
Moors of heather ,and sheep grazing
Green hills,
And shimmering lakes,
Clouds ,sun and sky in watery mirrors.
And sang ,and dipped,and dropped,
And curled
Up the blue
Bright heaven, and rested
On the wind.
All that day
I was a lark singing.
I shall always have a vision of
A bird
That flew upwards,
Rejoicing and free
Into a deep blue sky, and high
And higher
Beyond high
Into a place, beyond eye even,
But music still sending.
I wish I were back on that heathery moor,
With the nibbling sheep and the bees sweetly humming,
Hearing again
The poignant song
Of the skylark,
A prisoner,freed by a magician,
From her trap,
So happy to be free,
So wonderful to see.
Do it again,
For me,

The Always and Never Life of Sylvia Plath

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http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/02/the-always-and-never-life-of-sylvia-plath/272707/

http://www.psychological-observations.com/key-concepts/ambivalence

I suppose she loved him for always

until he unpeeled his banana for another woman

Then she never loved him at all.

Perhaps fifty shades of beige might have been better

but then again

Some folk will always

prefer the high wire.

Trust begets perception

tWeeds or flowersI have become interested in virtue and perception.It began when I read  a littleAristotle about virtue being a habit.That was quite recent.Before that for many years I believed virtuous acts would follow from being able to perceive well.But when we are fraught our minds and eyes tighten up and so we perceive only what may be a danger to us.To perceive others well we need to be in a position to trust others and we need to feel secure.How is this possible?From my studies I read that our ability to trust begins with a trusted caregiver in infancy,[See” atttachment and loss “by John Bowlby reference to come] We may be able to become more secure later by good fortune,friendship and love.If not,I seem to get the idea that if we are insecure and nervous we cannot truly perceive others and they may be in the same position.If we are very afraid then virtuous acts may be hard to accomplish. The reason is obvious… when. we are concerned with  mere survival as a person , in that state what we do to others  may be impossible for us to consider.We cannot truly see them and so we cannot act well towards them except by good luck.Or if we are able to tolerate great anxiety,we may see better…. if not we are incapable…. Those whom we cannot see properly we cannot truly consider with feeling  and act on this feeling.We see them partly or mainly in terms of the fearful fantasies in our minds and cannot see them as  other and interesting.When we make a friend online we may feel safer but in fact we are more likely to misperceive them. When we are from a sad a or difficut background it may help greatly if we have some friends who might point out our errors if we trust enough to tell them.Or we may pretend to be hard and tough.Neither leads to virtue.If we trust God it may help but I believe we see God through the lens of our parents.. which is not good…depending on the parents. When we live in fear,we cannot see what is there before us.We cannot let go.We cannot accept grace and love nor give it.We will try to live by will power.Ironically people who are fearful inside can develop a shell of toughness and pride and so are not seen as vulnerable  and/or lovable.Tbey may seem frightening to others. This account may help to explain why politics is the way it is and also  we see that arguing is not persuasive when the other is not able to open up and see things more broadly.Arguing makes us tighten up and see less well.And it can be frightening too though some cultures find it more acceptable than others.

Here are some relevant blogs and articles

This author had a lot to say about perception…http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-marion-milner-1163951.html   http://susannanelson.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/happy-go-lucky/

http://glimpsejournal.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/the-real-bees-knees-stunning-micro-view-of-the-workers-behind-your-mothers-day-flowers/

We can control our reactions if we decide to do BEFORE an event.

  • Young_Woman_Sewing_1870
    Thomas Couture painting

    I have discovered I can control my reactions to something irritating or bothersome but only if I decide to do so before I begin.t’s not a tight holding on to tension but a refusal to become tense/ or a way of avoviding becoming tense.
    The easiest illustration is that owing to my vision I can’t thread a needle.But I am unwilling to give up mending my clothes,sewing on buttons etc.I
    I got some so called Easy Threading Needles.They have a little opening at the top through which you pull the thread into the eye of the needle.But it’s harder than it sounds.When I pull on the thread sometimes instead of going into the eye the thread snaps.So I begin again.It usually takes me about 15 minutes but I always stay calm.I find it a tiny bit annoying when I am doing what I did last week.

    I was wearing a skirt which is very full.I like it because it has 2 pockets which is very ,unusual nowadays.I realised the hem was coming down.But not how much!
    When I took it off I found the entire hem has become undone.I began to hem it and as it is so full the circumference was large.I guess it took me 2 hours because I had to keep rethreading the needle…I felt peaceful.
    Now I have some darning to do but it’s a smaller job.I find sewing by hand soothing.I know I have more sewing but I can’t remember what it is now!No doubt I shall go into town and then realise I have something undone…
    When I was walking down the road one day I realised my coat was inside out!!It’s fun like this and my other odd habits like singing  songs in the street unknowingly that keeps me going.Normal,bah!
    I am hoping to extend my refusal to let annoyance or distress get to me to a wider sphere than just threading needles.

Sex and the Christian religion

Quotation-Mehmet-Murat-Ildan-fear-friend-Meetville-Quotes-166754

http://www.cybercollege.com/history.htm

" It’s regrettable that St. Augustine’s influence and the negative appraisal of sexuality, based on his own struggles to be chaste has so impacted negatively with Christian tradition.

" It has been alleged that the early Church made illicit sex a grave sin, and even at one point made married sex a sin in the majority of circumstances, because they knew most people would still have sex and they would then have to depend on the church for forgiveness and paid indulgences."

.

Father Thomas Raush, Chair of
Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University

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What is sin,anyway?

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The word sin is not used very much now in our society.As sin  is defined as “a transgression against God’s law then since many folk no longer believe in  God we use other words like wickedness,evil ,bad or naughty
https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=tHUVVOefGKfA7AaJq4CQAg#q=what+is+sin
sin1
sɪn/
noun
  1. 1.
    an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.
    “a sin in the eyes of God”
    synonyms: immoral act, wrong, wrongdoing, act of evil/wickedness,transgression, crime, offence, misdeed, misdemeanour, error, lapse,fall from grace; More
https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=tHUVVOefGKfA7AaJq4CQAg#q=what+is+sin
verb
  1. 1.
    commit a sin.
    “I sinned and brought shame down on us”
    synonyms: commit a sin, offend against God, commit an offence, transgress, do wrong, commit a crime, break the law, misbehave,go astray,stray from the straight and narrow,go wrong,fall from grace;

    archaictrespass
    “I sinned and brought down shame on us”