“Meditations for a Better Life:
1. Get the self-monitoring habit
2. Question your thinking
3. Remind yourself that "it's a cup"
4. Don't get hung up on status and reputation
5. Radiate goodwill
6. Don't be too optimistic
7. Think about death (but not too much)
8. Consider the bigger picture
9. Use common sense
10. Be quiet"
- Antonia Macaro, More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Secular Age, 2018.
One Picture of Me
By Mike Garofalo
When Laurence asked for poems on the theme of "Self-Portrait" I though of a long philosophical poem I wrote about the interrelated subjects of Picturing and Describing.
One set of examples I used in that long poem was the human skull. I spoke of memories of Halloween in East Los Angeles, where Mexican Skulls, calaveras, filled displays on El Dia De La Muerte. Meaningful from artistic and religious perspectives.
The brief poem I'm sharing today is a excerpt about my own skull as Pictured by medical imaging, and described by me and interpreted by the oral surgeon.
"This bony skull of mine
electrified
pictured onscreen for me.
Doctor recommends
some oral surgery.
The brain disappeared,
an empty space
sliced from
X Ray images retraced.
Eyeless in inner space.
Monkey nose holes,
bony eye glasses,
teeth glowing in the dark.
Inner spaces never seen
underneath my very being.
Skinless, noseless, earless,
a shape, a form—
the images informed.
Stripping away the unneeded,
revealing my inner core."
So, as we all know, a single picture or image can cause a flow of ideas, interpretations, and feelings in our minds.
Or, just two words can please, excite or inflame our minds. Our lover's name can explode our feelings.
But, just two other words can frighten our moral being.
For example,
Donald Trump ...
[pause, raise your elbow]
Kick Him Out.
See you on the street next Saturday.
The above "brief poem" will be printed in
The SkullCrushing Hummingbird
Zine #7, in Portland, Oregon,
on 10/12/2025.
Commentary: Off the Cuff
So, considering, have you ever seen
a picture or a video or a drawing
of a Skull Crushing Hummingbird,
crushing an insect's Skull
with its tiny beak or flashing wings?
No, you have not,
and that is just one reason why,
you don't believe
that Skull Crushing Hummingbirds
are really alive.
However,
Words, context, technical knowledge,
and intent claim meaningfulness,
even truth,
in addition to any pictures viewed.
The surgeon and I see differently.
Sometimes, though, we reader's prefer
fantasies and fictional
Skull Crushing Hummingbirds
to any ho-hum boring beings-
a moniker for fun memories.
***********************
Pictures mirroring things
displaying aspects of reality
uncovering hidden realms of being
pointing to more clear correspondence.
Show me a good picture - Please!
We drew pictures in caves
Heroes pictured in statues
Books illustrated pictured facts
Drones picture our towns from above
Hubble sends us clear pictures of Space
Our brains are
Picture processing ... Machines-
and you can picture mindfulness
you can picture your intent verbally...
picturing is a form of meaningfulness.
Science and technology have
invented new ways of picturing
so we can see into Reality
and open our ordinary eyes
to new ways of seeing.
Picturing - Defining
Planning - Imagining
Painting - Photography
Reflecting - Mimicking
Do I see what I mean?
Wittgenstein in the Tractatus of 1921
Used Pictures and Picturing as the
criterion of meaningfulness and truth.
Wittgenstein in the Investigations of 1953
changed to talking about our talking
about, in ordinary words, aspects of Picturing.
The best pictures, the best descriptions,
how we talk in everyday ways,
point to correspondence, mirroring,
a theory of epistemology.
Richard Rorty disagreed.
**********************************
Bundled Up, Volume 1
Quintains, Pentastichs, Tankas
Highway 101 and 1: A Docu-Poem
California, Oregon, Washington
25 Steps and Beyond
The Poetry by Mike Garofalo
Peace on Earth and Good Will to People
May family and friends have continued happiness.
How to Live a Good Life: Advice for Wise Persons
In 2025 I plan to, intend to, and will apply effort to:
Continue to enjoy playing and learning about making music with my harmonica and electric keyboard.
Write and study poetry, e.g., At the Edges of the West.
Walk over 5,000 steps per day for three months, then increase.
Go on a 4 day Yurt Camping trip each month.
Eat under 150 Grams of Carbohydrates each day.
Practice Yang Style Tai Chi Chuag each day for 30 minutes.
The Fireplace Records, Chapter 46
Waves of Reflections at the Bandon Jetty
Caught on the Edges of the West: Highway 101
By Michael P. Garofalo
When young I climbed mountains;
Now old I walk beaches.
My heart has new limits;
My mind explores inside limits.
I saunter effortlessly;
I struggle to understand The Root.
Reading the Vegetable Root Verses; (1)
I fell asleep and dreamt I was awake.
I thought three times;
then moved one way.
I took three steps;
then clearly envisioned the next 333 steps.
From confusion emerged distinctions;
Naming points to a way out of chaos.
By words we find new ways to see;
New ways to discover truths or falsity.
Confucius said, Buddha said, Epictetus said,
the Bible said, the Sufi's said, the Yogi's said:;
Maybe they did or did not - it is said;
Kwan Yin did not say, but helped in some way. (2)
The roaring surf, a splashing chorus;
Reflects my inner concerto of words.
Moving with intention and concentration is fire;
Escaping to an excess of quietude is ashes.
Knowing when enough is enough
and too little is too little;
we light a candle in honor of wisdom.
I could not walk down and up the steep steps to the shore;
my legs too weak and wobbly anymore.
I watched the winter surf crashing on sea stacks;
So I just sat and stared, with my mind quite slack.
Booms of thunder, pouring rain, windy, and cold;
Breakfast at a Bandon cafe, warm, out of the showers.
Reading Lama Sura Das on awakening a Buddha mind;
Thinking of New Year, Jade Rabbits, Spring Festival rhymes;
Thankful for the eggs and hash browns - enjoying this time.
Bullards Beach is not Grayland Beach; (3)
They are both the same - out of my reach.
When I move the roaring surf calls;
When still the silent marsh recalls.
At the south jetty's edge, a damp delightful altar on a rocky perch:
The two jetties remind me of the Anjali Mudra, Gassho.
The north jetting is my right hand, the south jetty my left,
The Coquille River is the Qi energy between my Prayer Hands:
flowing Cloud Hands, Namaste Hands, Energized Hands, Promising Hands.
Playing with analogies and Gassho hands; I bow where I stand.
Touching the spiritual memories between my hands; I bow where I stand.
Honored by the good intentions between our hands; I bow where I stand.
Low tide, high tide - the yin/yang way;
Heart tenses, relaxes - the yang/yin way.
My heart's a flutter, I'm out of breath;
I'm content with life,
and accept my death.
The sand blows up the dunes and down;
The seasons follow the sun, round and round.
Between Heaven and Earth the seagull stands;
While I play Taijiquan, slogging over dry sand. (4)
We both come and go, then are no more;
Full then Empty are close to Life's Core.
The immense Oceans are undrinkable, and
in some ways unthinkable.
No fresh water begets death, and
Water is Life.
Words from the Heart Scripture went unsaid, and
the Bodhi Tree flourished in Life's Garden. (5)
Something evolves from Something Else, and
nothing evolves from nothing.
Beings emerge from Beings, and
emptiness disappears into emptiness.
"Nothing" is not a noun-thing, and
"Somethings" are dependent relationships.
Forms are Full, and
Fullness begets Forms.
Somethings created my body-mind, and
my body-mind created somethings.
The Dao marries Yin-Yang, and
some of their step-children are Black Holes.
Chaos is not emptiness, and
the Void provides Space for Somethings.
Somethings are transitory, ephemeral, and
They are Not empty illusions or unreal.
Time is the crux of the matter, and
Somethings come and go, appear and disappear.
"Nothing" is the absence of Something
we desire, and
not the presence of something.
Somethings are Appearances, and
Appearances are Somethings.
Is or is not, true or false, real or unreal,
something or nothing, be Careful, and
sometimes choose the Middle Way of Maybe So.
Pointing to Nothing, and
slogging through a muddy muddle of Mu.
Come Closer, Come Closer, and
Open the Door to Wonderous Beings.
Come Closer, Come Closer, and
Embrace Body-Mind-Spirit.
Cast off emptiness and the void.
Gate Gate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha, and
some Lotus plants died in a drought. Oh No!
Words from the Heart went unsaid, and
the Bodhi Tree flourished in Life's Garden. (5)
(1) Master of the Three Ways. By Hung Ying-ming. Translated by William Scott Wilson. 2012.
(2) The Kwan Yin Transmission Book: Healing Guidance from Our Universal Mother. By Alana Fairchild. Llewellyn, 2019.
(3) Bullards Beach State Park is close to Bandon, Oregon. Grayland Beach State Park is near Westport, Washington. Bandon has many sea stacks, and a small rocky shoreline near the 200 foot high cliffs overlooking the sea. Westport to Tokeland consists of flat sandy beaches, sand dunes, and shore pines, shrubs, and grasses. There are no steep rocky cliffs at Grayland Beach. Totally different coastal terrain types in Grayland and Bandon; except for rolling sand dunes covered in grasses.
Bullard's Beach State Park is north across the bridge over the Coquille River from Bandon, Oregon. A large State Park with many sand dunes and ocean beaches with lots of driftwood and items of interest to beachcombers.
Any person can easily drive, bicycle, or walk to the south and north jetties at the conjunction of the Pacific Ocean and the Coquille River. There is an old lighthouse at the north jetty side. There are many miles, on either side of the river, of rock dykes and dirt packed dykes to control the flooding Coquille River. There are many dramatic sea stacks that are south of the two jetties.
Further east from the coast at Bandon, on road 42S, east to Coquille city 42 and Myrtle Point city, was extensive flooding in January of 2023. The entire valley floor farm fields were covered in water for miles on end. Low lying fog made driving the winding country road a bit dicey.
(4) Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan by Michael Garofalo, Vancouver, Washington.
(5) The Heart Sutra and The Threefold Lotus Sutra. Experiences of "emptiness" are often a case of not finding something we desire in the complex world of Somethings. Something desired seems or is missing. We want a drink of water and the glass is empty. Mu,
Poetry - Bibliography, Links, Resources, Guides
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Meetings with Taoist Master Chang San-Feng
Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way
Light Makes No Sounds?
By Michael P. Garofalo, 9/30/2020
Mano y Mano, Face to Face, a Fight
The Gunfight, Two Dudes, in Spokane (one dead, one critically injured)[i]
A fistfight in the Bandini barrio de ELA, City of Commerce
Two girls fighting at a Middle School in Corning …
Quick, Exhausting, Brutal, Injurious
Two US Presidential candidates debating on TV in 2020. Refereed.
Roberto Duran fist to fist against
Sugar Ray Leonard
at the Brawl at Montreal in 1980. Refereed.
Lakers vs Celtics, 1985 or 2010, Los Angeles. Refereed.
OR
“No mas.” And/Or "No quiero pelear con el payaso"
("I do not want to fight with this clown.”); and,
back
to the more immediate and important daily realities of people
getting along peacefully with one another, and me.[ii]
Quieter, calmer, restful, safer, friendly, peaceful.
Memories
can make bad sounds or not.
Many dreams, I suppose, are so silent, I can’t remember them.
Light
makes no Sounds?
Too
much light can make us cry or scream in pain.
No light is scary and dangerous.
Lights Out, We Are Closing, Day is Over, Closed, Someone Dies.
Sunset
is Silent, aside from the takeoff roar of jets overhead,
heading northwest from Portland’s PDX.
Daybreak is Silent, aside from the chatter of birds in the garden,
or the drone rumble of autos and trucks on Interstate 205 nearby.
The
Summit of Baden-Powell is bathed in 1979 light;
I’m warm and tired from the climb,
falling asleep in the silence of the light.
Things
are all wrapped up, interconnected, intertwined, in love.
But,
it maybe true, nevertheless, that light makes no sounds.
[i] Right-wing white supremacist gunman killing 32 at a Fort
Worth Texas Mall.
65,000 or more dead US soldiers from Vietnam War, millions of others
60 Million Blasted to Bits in World War II
Possibilities of annihilation in thermo-nuclear war
[ii] I now (2020) walk in our 50 year old Vancouver
Orchards suburb,
with many beautiful homes and landscaping,
with many big trees in this Evergreen State of WA.
A rich old man, rich in peaceful and beautiful memories,
lucky, unique, with a managerial/administrative talent,
helping hundreds of thousands of readers and viewers,
a book and media distributor,
and, hopefully, an educator as well as a librarian.
Lately, I have enjoyed rereading the interesting essays by Michel de Montaigne. I read the essays for the first time in 1963, and now, as an old man, I still appreciate their insights, skepticism, readability, humanism, range, humor, irony, ideas and opinions, and their relevance for me. Montaigne's writing style is conversational, engaging, and enduring.
I have never visited France. However, I have watched the Tour de France bicycle race each summer on television for the past 15 years. The television coverage is outstanding with beautiful helicopter and ground camera visuals. It is like taking an actual tour of different areas in France every year. This year, the tour started later in the summer, and all the spectators are wearing masks because of the cronovirus pandemic.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592, French Essayist)
How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne; In One Question and Twenty Attempts at
an Answer. By Sarah Bakewell. New York, Other Press, 2010.
Index, bibliography, notes, 399 pages. An outstanding biographical and intellectual history study. VSCL.
The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne. By Charles Cotton. Translated from the Latin into English in 1685. I prefer the Kindle Edition. 1981 pages. 2018. VSCL.
The Complete Works of Michel de Montaigne. Translated by Donald M.
Frame. Everyman's Library, 2003. 1392 pages. Unfortunately, this translation is only available in a heavy hardbound volume with smaller print; with no e-book options. Originally published in 1957. VSCL.
Me, Myself, and I: What made Michel de Montaigne the first modern man? By Jane Kramer.
Virtues and Vices: Notes, Quotes, Sayings, Links, Good Reads. By Mike Garofalo.
