Desolation Row, then and now…

https://youtu.be/XyTn1I47ohs scroll to 17.24 to see ‘Desolation Row’

Wow, it was an ordeal to find a halfway great rendition of this song…
SO, for those of you who remember Desmond O’Grady (my stepfather) and an English teacher at the American Overseas School of Rome back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Desmond used to crucify me at dinner over the music that I listened to. The one exception was Bob Dylan, he grudgingly admitted that Bob Dylan was a poet. This song (poem) is incredible, Bob Dylan is a truly gifted poet and will be immortalized by his writings.
Here are the lyrics of Desolation Row

BTW, for those of you who may know who Ezra Pound is/was (mentioned in this poem) he came and stayed with us during those years of chaos, creativity, growth and insanity.

DESOLATION ROW

They’re selling postcards of the hanging, they’re painting the passports brown

The beauty parlor is filled with sailors, the circus is in town

Here comes the blind commissioner, they’ve got him in a trance

One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker, the other is in his pants

And the riot squad they’re restless, they need somewhere to go

As Lady and I look out tonight, from Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy, “It takes one to know one, ” she smiles

And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style

And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning. “You Belong to Me I Believe”

And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place, my friend, you’d better leave”

And the only sound that’s left after the ambulances go

Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden, the stars are beginning to hide

The fortune telling lady has even taken all her things inside

All except for Cain and Abel and the hunchback of Notre Dame

Everybody is making love or else expecting rain

And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing, he’s getting ready for the show

He’s going to the carnival tonight on Desolation Row

Ophelia, she’s ‘neath the window for her I feel so afraid

On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic she wears an iron vest

Her profession’s her religion, her sin is her lifelessness

And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah’s great rainbow

She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood with his memories in a trunk

Passed this way an hour ago with his friend, a jealous monk

Now he looked so immaculately frightful as he bummed a cigarette

And he when off sniffing drainpipes and reciting the alphabet

You would not think to look at him, but he was famous long ago

For playing the electric violin on Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world inside of a leather cup

But all his sexless patients, they’re trying to blow it up

Now his nurse, some local loser, she’s in charge of the cyanide hole

And she also keeps the cards that read, “Have Mercy on His Soul”

They all play on the penny whistles, you can hear them blow

If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row

Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains, they’re getting ready for the feast

The Phantom of the Opera in a perfect image of a priest

They are spoon feeding Casanova to get him to feel more assured

Then they’ll kill him with self-confidence after poisoning him with words

And the Phantom’s shouting to skinny girls, “Get outta here if you don’t know”

Casanova is just being punished for going to Desolation Row”

At midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew

Come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do

Then they bring them to the factory where the heart-attack machine

Is strapped across their shoulders and then the kerosene

Is brought down from the castles by insurance men who go

Check to see that nobody is escaping to Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero’s Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn

Everybody’s shouting, “Which side are you on?!”

And Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain’s tower

While calypso singers laugh at them and fishermen hold flowers

Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow

And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke

When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke

All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they’re quite lame

I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name

Right now, I can’t read too good, don’t send me no more letters no

Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row

Songwriters: Bob Dylan

I SAID YES

Yes to feeling everything—
Every blissful expansion and every excruciating contraction
This isn’t about being swingers, sex addicts, or tantric lovers
We are pioneers
Out exploring the full spectrum of intimacy
Living life on our own terms
Relating in uncharted waters
And co-creating a partnership
That fits the unique shape of our uncaged hearts

Yet, still—I regress
I find myself grasping, clenching, holding on tight
Somewhere beyond ideas of utopic free-love communities,
I am still just a girl surviving inside an animal body
Fighting biological instincts and outdated societal confines
I am not immune to pain, jealousy, or the threat of your beauty
I just choose to be bigger
Than that small version of myself
And, sometimes, as hard as I try—
I am not bigger
I’m terrified to open up this much.

But I said yes—
Yes to swimming out beyond what’s comfortable
Because I can’t bare the suffocating box of possession
I would rather go down in flames.
So we jump
Into the deep sea
To follow the flow
To trust the connection to it all.

I allow my wings to open
We individually reclaim our freedom
All the feelings we get to feel
When he and me
Are free to love
At the speed of love
As big and as many as our hearts desire.

I said yes—
Yes to embarking on this journey
With you too—sister and brother.
And when I say yes
To open my heart to include you
It’s an all-encompassing yes!

From the bright field of our expansive love
To the caves of our darkest shadows
Beware: the ocean here is deep
The bottom can’t be seen
Infinitely unknown, terrifying.

I yearn for you to feel the intensity of my vulnerability
I ache for empathy for all the work I’ve done to get here
I passionately desire for you to know how much this love means to me.

I don’t know a more raw, infantile, exposed version of myself
Than this version—
On my knees
As the tears rush over my entire body
At the shoreline of fear and excitement
Be gentle with my heart
This gift I am opening for you and me
The gift of we
A mirror image
Where worlds collide
And bodies meet
In breath, sound, touch, and sight
We find intimacy
I discover the entire universe.

The more I let go—
The deeper I see
Into me.

I said yes
Yes to more love
Yes to space
Yes to the mystery
Yes to share my most precious gift
All the tiny pieces of my throbbing heart
With you, and you, and you
Yes to you
Yes to we
Yes to me.

Author: Rachel Rickards 

A Twinkle in your Eye…For Bryan

A Twinkle in your Eye…For Bryan

Our worlds collided

Our bodies united

And enveloped each other

As we fell into surrender

Allowing ourselves to be intoxicated with love,

Our souls reunited

Into a space, familiar

Alive and yet calm

There’s an understanding

From one being to the other.

*  At the Core *

I am moved by you Bryan

You have a way of making everything

Feel Okay in my world.

I see the twinkle in your eye

You are alive

You are connected

With your nature

You inspire me

In gratitude I await with anticipation

The next unfolding of the moments

We spend together.

Each one is cherished and felt as

We deepen into the mystery.

~Lucia Nicola Evans

WHO AM I?

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
― Dr. Seuss,

Do you know who YOU ARE?

The Song of the Soul

I Am Not Old

I Am Not Old
I am not old…she said
I am rare.
I am the standing ovation
At the end of the play.
I am the retrospective
Of my life as art
I am the hours
Connected like dots
Into good sense
I am the fullness
Of existing.
You think I am waiting to die…
But I am waiting to be found
I am a treasure.
I am a map.
And these wrinkles are
Imprints of my journey
Ask me anything.
– Samantha Reynolds
Photo: Riitta Ikonen and Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth

~Ying & Yang: The Unity of Opposites~

~Yin & Yang: The Unity of Opposites~

“In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, and male and female) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang.

Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts.

Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity, and nighttime.

Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime.

Everything has both yin and yang aspects, (for instance shadow cannot exist without light). Either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation.

The yin yang (i.e. taijitu symbol) shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section.

In Daoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole…

Yin and yang applies to the human body. In traditional Chinese medicine good health is directly related to the balance between yin and yang qualities within oneself.”

Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being.

Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being.” Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self-discovery and reflection.

The word “ikigai” is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s life worthwhile. The word is also used to refer to mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable. It’s not necessarily linked to economic status or daily state of things.

Even if a person feels that today is dark, but has a goal, he may feel ikigai. Behaviours that make one feel “a reason for being” are not actions which individuals are forced to take – these are natural and spontaneous actions.

In the culture of Okinawa, ikigai is thought of as “a reason to get up in the morning”; that is, a reason to enjoy life. In a TED Talk, Dan Buettner referenced ikigai as one of the reasons people in the area had such long lives.

The 4 Qualities Of A Conscious Relationship

by Shelly Bullard

We are approaching a period of time when relationships are ready to go through a major redesign. The current paradigm isn’t working. People are unsatisfied in love; people don’t know how to make relationships work.

And, believe it or not, this isn’t a bad thing. Because when systems break-down, that’s when they change. I believe that’s what’s happening in the area of intimate partnership. The break-down is forcing us to move towardsconscious love.

So what exactly is a conscious relationship?

It’s a romantic relationship in which both partners feel committed to a sense of purpose, and that purpose is growth. Individual growth. Collective growth as a couple. Growth that makes the world a better place.

As of now, most people get into relationships to satisfy their own personal needs. This might work for a few years, but eventually the relationship fails us, and we end up unsatisfied as a result.

But when two people come together with the intention of growth, the relationship strives towards something much greater than gratification. The partnership becomes a journey of evolution, and the two individuals have an opportunity to expand more than they could alone. Deep satisfaction and long-term fulfillment arise as a result.

So if you’re someone who feels called to take your experience of romantic love to the next level, below are four qualities that characterize what being a conscious couple is all about. Welcome to the path of the conscious relationship. This is next-level love …

1. The conscious couple is not attached to the outcome of the relationship – growth comes first.

Not being attached to the outcome of the relationship does not mean you don’t care what happens! It also doesn’t mean that you don’t have fantasies about how the relationship will turn out.

What it means is: you’re more committed to the experience of growth than you are to making the relationship “work.”

The reality is, we’re here to grow. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When growth stops, we automatically feel like something’s gone wrong. Because it has. Without growth, we aren’t fulfilling our soul’s purpose.

Unfortunately, relationships today tend to stifle growth more than enhance it. This is one of the main reasons we’re failing at romantic love.

We want our partners to act in a certain way, we repress ourselves to please to others, and soon enough, we feel small, oppressed and puzzled about who we’ve become. This, inevitably, makes the relationship feel like a cage that we want to break out of. But the unfortunate truth is: we’ve caged ourselves.

The conscious couple values growth more than anything else because they know this is the secret to keeping the relationship alive. Even though growth is scary (because it takes us into the unknown), the couple is willing to strive towards expansion, even at the risk of out-growing the relationship. Because of this, the relationship maintains a natural feeling of aliveness, and love between the couple does, too.

2. Each person in the relationship is committed to owning their s#*t.

Conscious couples know that we all have wounds from the past, and they understand that these wounds will inevitably be triggered, especially in a relationship. In other words, they expect to feel abandoned, trapped, rejected, overlooked and any other shitty feeling that arises when we bond closely with another person.

Most of us still believe that relationships should only feel good, and when bad feelings surface, something has gone terribly wrong. What we fail to see in this situation is that these shitty feelings stem from our own faulty patterning! These issues are not caused by our partners; they’re caused by our beliefs.

The conscious couple is willing to look at their past and current issues in relationships because they know that by facing these beliefs systems, they can evolve into a new relationship-reality. Dysfunctional patterns will dissolve, but only when we take responsibility for them, first.

3. All feelings are welcome and no internal process is condemned.

In a conscious relationship, there’s room to feel anything. Not only that, there’s room to express those feelings and fantasies to your partner. This is edgy territory… it’s not easy to do. But it’s also one of the most healing things we can experience in a partnership

It’s rare to be completely honest about who you are, and to stretch yourself to let your partner do the same. You may not like what you hear; in fact, it may trigger the hell out of you. But you’re willing to be triggered if it means your partner can be authentic.

Like I already said, we’re used to molding and changing ourselves to please people we love because we don’t want them to stop loving us! This stifles the love out of our connections.

The only option is radical honesty: revealing parts of ourselves that are hard to share, and letting our partners do the same. This leads to feeling known, seen and truly understood — a combination that will automatically enhance your love.

4. The relationship is a place to practice love.

Love, ultimately, is a practice. A practice of acceptance, being present, forgiveness, and stretching your heart into vulnerable territories.

Sometimes we treat love like it’s a destination. We want that peak feeling all the time, and when it’s not there, we’re not satisfied with what the relationship has become. In my mind, this is missing the whole point of love.

Love is a journey and an exploration. It’s showing up for all varied nuances of your relationship and asking yourself, What would love do here?” The answer will be different every time, and because of this, you’ll get to grow in ways you never have before!

The conscious couple is fiercely committed to being the embodiment of love.And through their devotion and practice, love shows up in their lives and relationship in ways they would’ve never imagined before.

 

Yield and overcome…

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight;
Empty and be full;
Wear out and be new;
Have little and gain;
Have much and be confused.

Therefore the wise embrace the one
And set an example to all.
Not putting on a display,
They shine forth.

Not justifying themselves,
They are distinguished.
Not boasting,
They receive recognition.
Not bragging,
They never falter.

They do not quarrel,
So no one quarrels with them.

Therefore the ancients say,
“Yield and overcome.”
Is that an empty saying?

Be really whole,
And all things will come to you.

~Lao Tsu,
Tao Te Ching