With love❤️
This is a genuine quote from the Buddhist scriptures. It is from a scripture called the Itivuttika, here in translation by John Ireland:
"One should train in three deeds of merit - generosity, a balanced life, developing a loving mind - that yield long-lasting happiness." - The Buddha
Good, sweet, and precious people,
I wish you, today and always, an unbroken line of reasons to smile.
I wish you also and as well, love, joy, peace, prosperity, and sooooul😎 (for that last one, I thank the late Don Cornelius of Soul Train fame😊).
As I round the "last quarter pole" of this/my moment of "recalibration" while away from my post😊in the Haskin, I am reminded of a broken youth and a time of being angry for being born.
My father drilled into me, with his fists of fury and words designed to wear down my spirit and cancel my ambition, that I would one day regret being born. "One day" was THAT moment; in the blink of his mistreatment of me.
I was a thoughtful and loving child, which made it more than very difficult for me to figure out which was up. "Down" had a chokehold on my ability to, with any consistency, negotiate the path that my mother's impeccable love set me upon.
For 6 years, even though I witnessed my father's innate "ugliness" on many occasions, my mother's love was "mouthwash enough" to steer me around the foul taste that experiencing the coldness of my father left in my mouth.
In my formative years I imagined every other child's parents, at least in my small to tiny world, to be a model of love and excellence.
Wrong though I was, I had to think that way, to survive.
I remember at the age of 12 being overjoyed at the prospect of ending my life as a means of escaping the hatred that I simply didn't understand, delivered on the wings of my father's cruel intent.
But the love of my brother and sister and a few very precious others was all of the impetus that I needed to sidestep a premature ending to my "possibility."
Even as a child, I never thought "perfect" to be a part of my "imagined model" for a really decent life. I figured that "love consistent" was all that it would take to get through life, not unscathed, but most definitely victorious🏅.
It is so important to lead with love in every thing that we do, say, think, and feel. At least INITIALLY. Our journey demands of us that we "tread with intelligence."
Realistically not all that we encounter in this same journey will merit being "met with love," still, don't leave home without it. At the very least, don't leave home without it🤗.
This blog was inspired by two forces:
One: every day that I am at my post in the Haskin, I have an opportunity to interact with some very incredible, no, yeah, incredible people. People from all walks of life who have some of the most interesting things to say and share. I realized just the other day how much of my life has been on lockdown and for so many years. Now, don't misunderstand, as my life is currently fashioned, I am very happy. "Simple" is my signature style and I don't apologize for that in any way, shape, or form. But I do realize that the canopy of darkness that was hung for me years ago, stayed in place for an unreasonably long time.
I've "contributed and achieved," but when I listen to the marvelous recollections of my constituents🤣🤣🤣in the park I realize how much I value traveling their many, many victories, vicariously.
Two: my thought that maybe this tiny expression of my life in the past might provide motivation to any who require it to be mindful of what they do and say to others. Expressing care, concern, and love "lights the way." While cruelty in all of its hideous forms darkens the path, sometimes forever.
Remember this from the late Maya Angelou:
"People may forget what you said to them, they may forget what you did to them, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Special note:
Please know that I know that I am NOT unique as an "untold many" suffer the same indignation and worse than I did.
And I am super-blessed because the love of my mother, though expressed only briefly, bested my fathers dismissal of me as a human being and aimed me in the direction of wanting to be a really good dude🤗. I know, I know, yes, I'm still working on that😊.
Please know that I am a fan of you, you ... and you.
I wish you any and every good thing and all of the love and blessings that you can manage🥰
Your friend, Joyce's boy, aka "Fast and Thankful Binky"🤣
❤️🎉❤️🎉