A Will for the Good

"Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est oderit curare et amara lento temperet risu.  Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.
Joyful let the soul be in the present, let it disdain to trouble about what is beyond and temper bitterness with a laugh.  Nothing is blessed forever."
-  Horace

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action.  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course.  Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you.  Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
-  Albert Schweitzer  

"The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness."
-  Michel Montaigne  

"All our moments are last moments.   We abide in the forever leaving of our own coming?  We can put our hands together, palm to palm, settling here on the last leaf of our brief flight, and bow to the wonder of it."
-  Jen Jensen, Bowing to Receive the Mountain, 1997 

Ten Positive Energy Prescriptions
"1.  Awaken intuition and rejuvenate yourself.
2.  Find a nurturing spiritual path.
3.  Design an energy-aware approach to diet, fitness and health.
4.  Generate positive emotional energy to counter negativity.
5.  Develop a heart-centered sexuality.
6.  Open yourself to the flow of inspiration and creativity. 
7.  Celebrate the sacredness of laughter, pampering, and the replenishment of retreat.
8.  Attract positive people and situations.
9.  Protect yourself from energy vampires.
10.  Create abundance."
-  Judith Orloff, M.D..  
   Positive Energy, 2004 

Cheerfulness and Gratitude

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

The Good Life: Virtues

Positive Aging Principles

"Through processes embedded in valued subjective experience we have learned that disciplining how we think and feel about ourselves and our health is as important to well-being as any physiological markers of disease.  Positive Aging describes a process whereby we take control of our own late life experiences by discovering meaning in growing old that transcends the deteriorative processes of aging.  Positive Agers posses four characteristics: (a) mobilizing resources to meet the challenges of aging, (b) making life choices that preserve well-being, (c) cultivating flexibility to deal with age-related decline, and (d) focusing on the positives (verses the negatives) in old age."
-  Robert T. Hill  

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging
1.  You can find meaning in old age.
2.  You're never to old to learn.
3.  You can use the past to cultivate wisdom.
4.  You can strengthen life-span relationships.
5.  You can promote growth through giving and receiving help.
6.  You can forgive yourself and others.
7.  You can possess a grateful attitude. 
-  Robert T. Hill, Ph.D., Seven Strategies for Positive Aging, 2008

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging.   By Robert D. Hill, Ph.D..  New York, W.W. Norton and Co., 2008.  Index, references, 63 pages.  ISBN: 978-0393705232.  VSCL.   

Making Aging Positive by Linda P. Fried 

Aging Well:  Recommended Readings, Quotes, and Resources

Living the Good Life: Principles, Recommendations, Wisdom

Virtues: Quotations, Sayings, Recommended Reading, Resources

Happy Thanksgiving Day

(This Post was made in November of 2017.  Families enjoy gathering in the warm kitchen area on cold November days in North America. We look forward to Thanksgiving Day.)

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

T   hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H  for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A  for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N  for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K  for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S  for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about.
    That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.       
-   Aileen Fisher, All in a Word

"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty.  For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion.  All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc.  Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”-   William Bradford, 1621 

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday of November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving.

November: Quotations, Saying, Poetry

Months and Seasons

Neo-Pagan Holidays

The first photo shows part of our family in 2012, at our home in Red Bluff, on Thanksgiving Day.

Photos of families enjoying a Thanksgiving Day together.  

What a Wonderful World

“I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and for you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying
"I love you" 

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah."

Recorded by Louis Armstrong, Satchmo, 1967 

Cheerfulness

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

I Resolve This Day

Daily Resolutions

"I am a seeker of truth on a spiritual journey.  I believe life has sacred meaning and purpose.
May my behavior today express my deepest beliefs. 
May I approach each and every task today with quiet impeccability. 
May I be a simple, humble, and kind presence on the earth today. 
May I see the Divine Nature in all beings today. 
May I be grateful today to those who came before me, and may I make the roads smoother
     for those who will travel them after me. 
May I leave each place at least a little better than I found it today. 
May I truly cherish this day, knowing that it may be my last. 
May I remember, remember, remember, not to forget, forget, forget."
-   Bo Lozoff, It's a Meaningful Life: It Just Takes Practice 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Remember the Songs and Become Alive

"However that may be, I now wish that I had spent somewhat more of my life with verse. This is not because I fear having missed out on truths that are incapable of statement in prose. There are no such truths; there is nothing about death that Swinburne and Landor knew but Epicurus and Heidegger failed to grasp. Rather, it is because I would have lived more fully if I had been able to rattle off more old chestnuts — just as I would have if I had made more close friends. Cultures with richer vocabularies are more fully human — farther removed from the beasts — than those with poorer ones; individual men and women are more fully human when their memories are amply stocked with verses."

-  Richard McKay Rorty, 1931-2007  American Philosopher
   The Fire of Life, 2007


Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature: Thirtieth-Anniversary Edition


"We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea."
-  A. C. Swinburne, "Garden of Proserpine"


Last night, Karen and I watched a fascinating and touching documentary about the efforts of Dan Cohen to bring music to persons in nursing homes.   "Alive Inside: Music and Memory", 1 hour and 20 minutes.  A worthy cause!!  A fascinating discussion about how music effects our minds from infancy to old age.  How is it that you can remember the verses to songs you learned when you were three years old? 

As for Tai Chi Chuan and music ... I recall only T. T. Liang recommending you play music while practicing Taijiquan and timing your moves to the music as if dancing.  Maybe Sophia Delza also advocated doing Taijiquan to music since she was an expert on Asian dancing.  Now, in 2015, you can use an IPod or Sony Walkman or other devices to play digital music and listen on ear phones or ear plugs while practicing Taijiquan or Qigong.  I have also purchased and listened to prerecorded music especially designed for specific Taijiquan forms or Qigong which are timed to match a proper performance of the form.  I know that the Tai Chi Kung Fu fan form is specifically timed for performance to a specific piece of music.  I am not particularly fond of the tuning and twanginess and lively pace used in traditional Chinese music, but anyone can find music they favor to suit the ambience desired for Taijiquan or Qigong practice.  I like a lot of New Age music or Japanese Zen flutes. 

Take Nothing for Granted

"Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est oderit curare et amara lento temperet risu.
Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.
Joyful let the soul be in the present, let it disdain to trouble about what is beyond and temper bitterness with a laugh.
Nothing is blessed forever."
-  Horace

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action.  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course.  Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you.  Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
-  Albert Schweitzer  

"The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness."
-  Michel Montaigne  

"All our moments are last moments.   We abide in the forever leaving of our own coming?  We can put our hands together, palm to palm, settling here on the last leaf of our brief flight, and bow to the wonder of it."
-  Jen Jensen, Bowing to Receive the Mountain, 1997 

Ten Positive Energy Prescriptions
"1.  Awaken intuition and rejuvenate yourself.
2.  Find a nurturing spiritual path.
3.  Design an energy-aware approach to diet, fitness and health.
4.  Generate positive emotional energy to counter negativity.
5.  Develop a heart-centered sexuality.
6.  Open yourself to the flow of inspiration and creativity. 
7.  Celebrate the sacredness of laughter, pampering, and the replenishment of retreat.
8.  Attract positive people and situations.
9.  Protect yourself from energy vampires.
10.  Create abundance."
-  Judith Orloff, M.D.. 
   Positive Energy, 2004 

 

Cheerfulness and Gratitude

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

The Good Life: Virtues

Nothing is Blessed Forever

"Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est oderit curare et amara lento temperet risu.
Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.
Joyful let the soul be in the present, let it disdain to trouble about what is beyond and temper bitterness with a laugh.
Nothing is blessed forever."
-  Horace

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action.  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course.  Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you.  Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
-  Albert Schweitzer  

"The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness."
-  Michel Montaigne  

"All our moments are last moments.   We abide in the forever leaving of our own coming?  We can put our hands together, palm to palm, settling here on the last leaf of our brief flight, and bow to the wonder of it."
-  Jen Jensen, Bowing to Receive the Mountain, 1997 

Ten Positive Energy Prescriptions
"1.  Awaken intuition and rejuvenate yourself.
2.  Find a nurturing spiritual path.
3.  Design an energy-aware approach to diet, fitness and health.
4.  Generate positive emotional energy to counter negativity.
5.  Develop a heart-centered sexuality.
6.  Open yourself to the flow of inspiration and creativity. 
7.  Celebrate the sacredness of laughter, pampering, and the replenishment of retreat.
8.  Attract positive people and situations.
9.  Protect yourself from energy vampires.
10.  Create abundance."
-  Judith Orloff, M.D.. 
   Positive Energy, 2004 

 

Cheerfulness and Gratitude

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

The Good Life: Virtues

Grateful for the Books

“The man who has not the habit of reading is imprisoned in his immediate world, in respect to time and space. His life falls into a set routine; he is limited to contact and conversation with a few friends and acquaintances, and he sees only what happens in his immediate neighborhood. From this prison there is no escape. But the moment he takes up a book, he immediately enters a different world, and if it is a good book, he is immediately put in touch with one of the best talkers of the world. This talker leads him on and carries him into a different country or a different age, or unburdens to him some of his personal regrets, or discusses with him some special line or aspect of life that the reader knows nothing about. An ancient author puts him in communion with a dead spirit of long ago, and as he reads along, he begins to imagine what the ancient author looked like and what type of person he was.”
-  Lin Yutang (1895-1976), The Importance of Living

"There is so much to love and to admire in this life that it is an act of ingratitude not to be happy and content in this existence."
-  Lin Yutang, Pleasures of a Nonconformist 

How to Live the Good Life

  

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes to everyone.  

May we enjoy peace, prosperity, and freedom.

Thanks to all the decent, hardworking, kind, and broadminded people all around this beautiful earth.  

"One cannot wonder at this constantly recurring phrase "getting something for nothing," as if it were the peculiar and perverse ambition of disturbers of society.  Except for our animal outfit, practically all we have is handed to us gratis.  Can the most complacent reactionary flatter himself that he invented the art of writing, or the printing press, or discovered his religious, economic and moral convictions, or any of the devices which supply him with meat and raiment or any of the sources of pleasure as he may derive from literature or the fine arts?  In short, civilization is little else than getting something for nothing."
-  James Harvey Robinson

"The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people goin' by
I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do"
They're really saying "I love you."
I hear babies cry, I watch then grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know;
And I think to myself, What a wonderful world;
Yes, I think to myself, What a wonderful world.
Oh yeah!"
-  Louis Armstrong    

Gratitude: Quotes, Sayings, Poems

The Good Life

Bow to the Wonder of It

"Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est oderit curare et amara lento temperet risu.
Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.
Joyful let the soul be in the present, let it disdain to trouble about what is beyond and temper bitterness with a laugh.
Nothing is blessed forever."
-  Horace

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action.  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course.  Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you.  Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
-  Albert Schweitzer  

"The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness."
-  Michel Montaigne  

"All our moments are last moments.   We abide in the forever leaving of our own coming?  We can put our hands together, palm to palm, settling here on the last leaf of our brief flight, and bow to the wonder of it."
-  Jen Jensen, Bowing to Receive the Mountain, 1997 

Ten Positive Energy Prescriptions
"1.  Awaken intuition and rejuvenate yourself.
2.  Find a nurturing spiritual path.
3.  Design an energy-aware approach to diet, fitness and health.
4.  Generate positive emotional energy to counter negativity.
5.  Develop a heart-centered sexuality.
6.  Open yourself to the flow of inspiration and creativity. 
7.  Celebrate the sacredness of laughter, pampering, and the replenishment of retreat.
8.  Attract positive people and situations.
9.  Protect yourself from energy vampires.
10.  Create abundance."
-  Judith Orloff, M.D.. 
   Positive Energy, 2004 

 

Cheerfulness and Gratitude

Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

The Good Life 

Married to Amazement

"Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much.  For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life."
-  A. J. Cronin   

"When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms."
-  Mary Oliver  

"The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people goin' by
I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do"
They're really saying "I love you."
I hear babies cry, I watch then grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know;
And I think to myself, What a wonderful world;
Yes, I think to myself, What a wonderful world.
Oh yeah!"
-  Louis Armstrong   

Thankfulness, Gratitude: Quotes, Sayings, Poems 

The Good Life