Ways to Nurture Resilience

Ten Ways to Nurture Resilience

"1. Boost your physical vitality, with exercise, nourishment, and rest.

2. Boost your mental vitality with quiet time, adequate sleep, and time in nature.

3. Practice coping with small things so you can better cope with the big things.

4. Set yourself a series of small goals and work toward them.

5. Grow something. Pay attention to the difference your care makes.

6. Make regular notes of the things you do well, to remind you how capable you are.

7. Seek out community and build a support network.

8. Seek our resilience role models and learn from them.

9. Support yourself with inspiring quotes.

10. Look for reasons to be positive every day.

- Beth Kempton, Wabi Sabi, 2018

Computer Tablet

I have used a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017 Tablet) for 7 years. I have all my favorite MP3 or WAV music on this Tablet, with many backups. Tab A has a viewing screen of 6.75 inches high and 4.15 inches wide. The Tab A is on the heavy side alone, and a bit heavier with a sturdy Braecn rubber protective cover with a swivel back grip.  Functional running Android software, I use Kindle Ebooks for reading. Comes with 32 GB internal storage, and I use 40 GB of a 150 GB SD Card. I get OK connectivity with the Tab A at home using WiFi from my XFinity cable services. This old Tab takes longer to charge, and faster to discharge.

Time to upgrade. So, I purchased a ....

Kadybe, Android 14 Tablet, 2024, 10 inch Tablet with 128GB Storage 1TB Expandable, 14GB RAM, Dual 4G Cellular Tablet with keyboard Support 5Ghz WiFi/Bluetooth 5.0/GPS, Octa-Core Processor, FHD IPS Screen, $173.00 Amazon. It comes with a compatible Blue Tooth connected standard keyboard.  

We shall see if I am satisfied.  I worked Thursday night and Friday morning and afternoon on getting the new Kadybe Android Tablet running the software I need and like to use. 

I purchased the FL Studio Mobile software for the Tablet, $29.00 once, for use in music recording, musical studies, harmonica recordings, learning to read standard musical notation for melody lines.  I also purchased a condenser lapel microphone and a 4 channel audio mixer.

Ten Commitments of American Humanism

 

The Ten Commitments

Alturism
Critical Thinking
Empathy
Environmentalism
Ethical Development
Global Awareness
Humility
Peace and Social Justice
Responsibility
Service and Participation

- Humanists of Greater Portland, Oregon, 2023

- American Humanists Association, 2023

I am a member of the American Humanists Association

Outline of Humanism

Virtues and Values of Humanism

• Common good
• Compassion
• Creativity
• Empiricism
• Experience
• Experimentation
• Freethought
• Human dignity

Supports

• logic
• scientific skepticism
• scientific method
• rationalism
• empiricism
• humanitarianism
• human rights
• Naturalism (philosophy)
• secularism

I have a number of webpages with my notes on Humanist philosophy:

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Pragmatism

My Views on Religion

Free Thought

Sensual-Organismic Awareness

"Organismic awareness is what we - on the Ego Level - ordinarily, but clumsily, refer to as seeing, touching, tasting, smelling and hearing.   But in its very purest form, this "sensual awareness" is non-symbolic, non-conceptual, momentary consciousness.  Organismic awareness is awareness of the Present only -  you can't taste the past, smell the past, see the past, touch the past, or hear the past.  Neither can you taste, smell, see, touch or hear the future.   In other words, organismic consciousness is properly timeless, and being timeless, it is essentially spaceless.  Just as organismic awareness knows no past or future, it knows no inside or outside, no self or other.  Thus pure organismic consciousness participates fully in the non-dual awareness called Absolute Subjectivity."
-  Ken Wilber, Spectrum of Consciousness, 1977, p. 115

The Five Senses

Time and Processes in Philosophy

A Repost from the Cloud Hands Blog from 2017

Band in a Box Software

I downloaded the 2024 Windows version of Band in the Box Pro on June 20, 2024.

Started viewing Henry Clarke's Band in the Box Tutorials on UTube.

PG Music Website, Band in a Box, Software 

Using Ebook: Band in a Box by Peter Upclaire

Band in a Box 2024 User Guide PDF

Harmonica Playing

My Musical Objectives

June-July 2024

Study The Idiot's Guide to Harmonica Playing for 30 minutes each day.
Attend an online class at Harmonica.com with Luke twice each week.

Fluency with C Chords: 
I     C Major   CEG  (Blow Holes 456 or 789 or 123 or any 3 adjacent holes)
IV   F Dyad    FA     (Draw 56 and Draw 9 10)
V   G Major   GBD  (Draw Holes 234 or Draw Holes 1234
     G7   GBDF        (Draw Holes 2-5)
     Dm  DFA           (Draw 456 and Draw 89 10)


Playing, Jamming, Learning, and Practicing with
various C Major Diatonic 10 Hole Harmonicas:

Hohner Special 20 Progressive
Hohner Crossover Marine Band 
Suzuki ProMaster MR 350
Seydel Sohne Blues Session 
Lee Oskar Tombo

Learning how to play 5 simple folk music tunes properly all the way through:
Streets of Laredo, Annie Laurie, Marine Corps Hymn, Michael Row the Boat Ashore,
Blues Piece in C.

Intermediate Objectives (June-Dec 2024):

Find a good harmonica teacher in Portland, Oregon, or Vancouver, Washington.
Learn how to use the Band in a Box computer software ($160) 
Purchase Novation Launchkey 49 MIDI Keyboard Controller
using seamless Ableton Live DAW software ($240).
Learn how to use DAW software.
Continue to advance my understanding of musical theory and history.

My Musical Goals

Playing the harmonica daily.
Learning how to play better chords on the harmonica.
Learning how to play harmonica rhythmic patterns better.
Listening to harmonica music.
Learning some harmonica musical theory each week.
Learning to interpret standard musical score notation for a harmonica.
Learning how to play easy popular tunes. 
Learn how to use Band in a Box software.

My Musical Mission

Listening to all kinds of music over a lifetime.
Enjoying the pleasures of music over a lifetime.
Seeking positive, uplifting, spiritual, and mystical experiences via music.
Enjoying playing the harmonica.
Sharing good sounds with others.
Encouraging and supporting musicians.

Background, Introduction

I have owned various harmonicas since my childhood days.  

I have enjoyed playing various harmonicas by myself.

I have used various books, CDs, MP3s, charts, and online learning resources to learn 
how to play the harmonica.

I now focus for 30 to 60 minutes each day in learning and practicing with a harmonica.

Purchasing good quality harmonicas in different Keys, books, CDs, MP3s, online resources, online video instruction (Luke), and paying for a personal harmonica instructor can be costly for serious intermediate harmonica students and lifetime enthusiasts.

Good education and ongoing learning are essential for steady improvement and more fun.

From January to May 2024, I used a Hohner Crossover Marine Band Key of C and a Seydel Sohne 1847 Key of Low C for daily practice. I was learning the chords on the C Key harmonica, learning the hole notes and playing single notes more clearly.  Most basic instruction books for the harmonic focus on using a diatonic harmonic in the Key of C.  I have gained some fluency in properly playing single notes and chords, in blowing techniques, and I can entertain myself with some improvising.

"The Slow Pacific Swell" by Yvor Winters

The Slow Pacific Swell

By Yvor Winters (1902-1968)

Far out of sight stands the sea,
Bounding the land with pale tranquility.
When a small child, I watched it from a hill
At thirty miles or more. The vision still
Lies in the eye, soft blue and far away:
The rain has washed the dust from April day;
Paint-brush and lupine lie against the ground;
The wind above the hill-top has the sound
Of distant water in unbroken sky;
Dark and precise the little steamers ply--
Firm in direction the seem not to stir.
That is illusion. The artificer
Of quiet, distance holds me in a vise
And holds the ocean steady to my eyes.

Once when I rounded Flattery, the sea
Hove its loose weight like sand to tangle me
Upon the washing deck, to crush the hull;
Subsiding, dragged flesh at the bone. The skull
Felt the retreating wash of dreaming hair.
Half drenched in dissolution, I lay bare.
I scarcely pulled myself erect; I came
Back slowly, slowly knew myself the same.
That was the ocean. From the ship we saw
Grey whales for miles: the long sweep of the jaw,
The blunt head plunging clean above the wave.
And one rose in a tent of sea and gave
A darkening shudder; water fell away;
The whale stood shining, and then sank in spray.

A landsman, I. The sea is but a sound.
I would be near it on a sandy mound,
And hear the steady rushing of the deep
While I lay stinging in the sand with sleep.
I have lived inland long. The land is numb.
It stands beneath the feet, and one may come
Walking securely, till the sea extends
Its limber margin, and precision ends.
By night a chaos of commingling power,
The whole Pacific hovers hour by hour.
The slow Pacific swell stirs on the land,
Sleeping to sink away, withdrawing land,
Heaving and wrinkled in the moon, and blind;
Or gathers seaward, ebbing out of mind.

The Selected Poetry of Yvor Winters. By Yvor Winters and R. L. Barth. Swallow Press, 1999, 176 pages. VSCL.

California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present.  Edited by Dana Gioia, Chryss Yost and Jack Hicks.  Santa Clara University, 2004, 376 pages. VSCL.

Four Days at Grayland by Michael P. Garofalo  Pacific Coast travel and camping adventures in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. Guides, Links, Bibliography, Research, Photographs, Commentary, Notes, Travel Information, Hiking trips, Outdoor Fun, Natural History. A special emphasis on Native American People of the Pacific Northwest.  Focus on US Highway 101.  Yurt camping tips and techniques.

Happy Father's Day

A day to say "Thank You" to all the good fathers in our lives, our communities, our nation, the world.  Their hard work, generosity, kindness, courage, and steadfastness have helped us all lead better lives.  The good men who have supported, nurtured, raised, and properly educated their children (their own offspring or children they have adopted) are very important in our lives.  These good fathers (past, present, and future) deserve respect and praise. 

For those men who have been poor, bad, absent, or evil "fathers" we shake our heads with disapproval and disdain.  They squandered their opportunity and left the challenge to other women and men to do good towards their children and our communities.  Their irresponsibility is so shameful. 


So, to all these good men, "Happy Father's Day!"  
You deserve the praise. 
Three Cheers to You All !!! 

My own father, Michael James Garofalo (1916-1997) provided well for his family, was very hard working, and was very reliable.  He stressed giving a full effort as a worker, fulfilling one's duties, obedience, and respect.  He was a hard taskmaster at times, but I learned a lot from living with him.  He was a decent man, and a fine grandfather. 
After he retired as the Chief Piping Engineer at the Fluor Corporation, he and my mom enjoyed traveling in their trailer in the Southwest.  

My father-in-law, Delmer Eubanks (1912-2002) was a good father, grand-father, and great-grand-father.  He worked as a Union Millwright in Los Angeles. He was a decent man and friend of many.




The above family portrait was taken around 1987.
Yes, being a good father and grandfather was and is important to me.

Father's Day, 2018, Vancouver, Washington.



Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Indexing by Michael P. Garofalo
Tenth Version, December 28, 2023. PDF, 
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington

Blue Cliff Record 100 Koans (BCR)
Book of Serenity/Equanimity 100 Koans (BOS)
Dao De Jing 81 Chapters (DDJ)
Dogen's Shinji Mana Shobogenzo 300 Koans (DSMS)
Dogen's Shobogenzo 95 Essays Buddhist (DSE)
Entangling Vines 272 Koans (ENT)
Fireplace Records 30 Chapters (TFR)
Flock of Fools: Parable Sutra 98 Koans (OHPS)
Gateless Gate 48 Koans (GB)
Iron Flute 100 Koans (IF)
Opening A Mountain 60 Koans (OM)
Philosopher's Garden (PG)
Record of Empty Hall 100 Koans (REH)
Record of Linji 50 Koans (LIN)
Rinzai Zen Buddhism (RINZ,SOG)
Samurai Zen 100 Warrior Koans (SAM)
Suzuki D.T. 10 Books (SUZ)
Transmission of Light: Keizan 53 Biographies (TOL)
The Whole World is a Single Flower 365 Koans (WWSF)
Zen and the Ways (ZWAY)
Zen Echoes 43 Koans (ZE)
Zen Flesh Zen Bones 100 Koans (ZFZB)
Zhuangzi 33 Chapters (ZUAN)

Zen Buddhist Koans and Discourses:
https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/koansdup1.htm

Starting in June, I resumed my daily reading, studying, and indexing of Japanese Zen Master Dogen's (1200-1253) "Shobogenzo 95 Buddhist Essays." I have already studied and indexed Dogen's 300 Koans Collection.

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans (PDF 578 pages):

https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/NewSubject3.pdf

Here are the translations I am using: https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/koansdup1.htm#SHOBO

Recuperating from COVID 19 Flu

 Karen and I were both were infected by the COVID 19 Flu virus on May 21st., 2024.

We have both had 2 basic COVID flu shots and a third; plus, the regular annual flu shot in 2023.

We both stayed home alone, rested, stayed warm, drank plenty of fluids, and regained some appetite.  Both of us are coughing frequently with yellow sputum, no fever, fatigue, tired, weak, aching muscles, having sinus infections, etc.

Tiresome, frustrating, disappointing, unstoppable.  So it goes.  

Reading, napping, Smithsonian Aerial America episodes, map reading, resting.

Unfortunately, my heart flipped back into AFib on June 2nd.  

Sadly, over 1,140,722 have died from COVID 19 and 1,147,399 have died from pneumonia.

Was I scared, worried, anxious ... yes, seriously at times.

We did not visit our physician or the hospital emergency room. We did get advice and medicine by phone from our physician.  

Not much energy or interest in writing, blogging, research.  Mostly reading, watching television, sleeping, harmonica playing,