Allan G. Hunter's Blog, page 71
July 9, 2012
Blueberries
I have a splendid blueberry bush beside my house. Usually it provides plenty of luscious fruit. At first I thought the loopy old lady two blocks west had done the sort of garden-raid she’s notorious for. But I think this year the various other creatures got there first. The bush stands all but bare, and I miss its bounty.
Except that it has provided me with another kind of plenty. Over the past days I’ve made the close acquaintance of blue jays, mockingbirds, cowbirds, some finches, a pair of cardinals and three young, plenty of robins, two squirrels, a chipmunk and even (briefly) a hummingbird.
I know I’ve been more than recompensed.
July 8, 2012
The Site Is Back
And thank goodness it is, too. I have my angel of tech (Matthew Higgins, genius of the first order if you want to keep his name on file) sorting it all out.
But here are the questions: why would someone bother to mess with my site, insert code for prescription drug sales, and then arrange to have 1000 pieces of spam arrive each day (at one point)? Where’s the gain for anyone in that? I just don’t see it.
But clearly I know nothing…..
July 6, 2012
Site undergoing some repairs
Profuse apologies to those of you who like to check into the site. It was being sorted out because some malicious ads had weaseled their ways into the code, and I was tired of being a posterboard for Zithromax, whatever it is. Alas, the fixing has caused me to lose the home page. Is anyone out there able to access it? I have a message in to my tech guy….
Sigh.
July 5, 2012
Innocent Archetypes: and Laughter
I was at a delightful July 4th party - lots of people, a pool, tons of kids running around, and sunny weather. What was really lovely, though, was the way (almost) everyone played in the pool, got silly, laughed, and splashed around until close to exhaustion.
Which brings me to the point; laughter is probably the very finest thing for blowing away the cobwebs and refreshing the mind. Laughter’s easy, too, once you allow it.
July 4th is a birthday, of sorts. As such it’s a commemoration of all the youthful hopes and aspirations of a new nation. It’s a day that honors the Innocent archetype. And laughter is at its core.
June 27, 2012
Things in the pipe-line
A few people have wondered what I’ve been up to, so in case you’re interested, this is an update. I have two writing projects on the go just now. One is a collaboration and, for me, it is centered on the desire to build on “The Path of Synchronicity” and clarify how manifesting works. It feels as if we need some more clarity about this important topic.
The second project is a book I was working on last year and earlier this year, until my mother’s illness and death put everything on hold. It has to do with the way we look at death and Near Death Experiences. So you can see it has some resonance just now.
I’m delighted - relieved? - to say that both texts have come to find me. That is they have arrived and like terriers they’ve tugged at my trouser legs demanding attention. These little terriers only calm down when I’m actually writing. When I’ve written enough for one day they look up at me, release their teeth from the cloth, and let me leave my desk. For now.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
June 20, 2012
Recent Mail
I recently received a copy of a magnificent book: “Against The Odds” by Robert Laplander. It’s on a topic I know something about through my father - it’s the story of the most successful escape by allied officers in WW2, from Germany. I know about it because my father forged the papers of one of the escapers.
Laplander’s book isn’t just good because he’s done extensive research and done it with deep intelligence. It’s good because he’s passionate about what he writes. Anyone can enjoy this book, because it burns with the spirit of inquiry. Quite simply the author’s passion envelopes the reader. We reach the end of the book having felt the emotions in our bloodstream, but more importantly we have a profound sense of one of the well-springs of human motivation, that uncrushable desire to reject anything that could cage us in.
We, all of us, need to be aware of this, because we all, at some point, step into a self-made prison every bit as confining as Stalag Luft III. To get out, to become truly free, we have to mobilize that exact same courage that Laplander describes so precisely. We have to test our souls and lend our hands, even if it’s our fate to be simply one who helps others to get free.
This looks like a story of WW2. In fact it’s about the human struggle for dignity. It’s a war-story only in the same way that The Odyssey is a war-story.
June 19, 2012
Looking for love in all the wrong places
This morning I awoke with some recognitions in my mind. When my mother died I rushed to her hospital bed, hoping for some loving recognitions, some understandings, perhaps some wisdom from her. That was my hope, fueled by my poor sad ego.
I didn’t get what I wanted, although I did some some loving moments. My mother remained substantially as she had so often been of late - a little too remote to ever get real in the way I wished for, or felt I needed.
Yet I did get what I wanted, and more. The staff at the hospice were unconditionally loving of everyone (as far as I could see) in a way that moved me, and which I shall never forget. It was a magnificent demonstration of loving kindness, right before my eyes.
The love was there, all along. It just wasn’t quite where I’d expected to find it.
June 15, 2012
Yard Sales
Yes, I’m doing one this Saturday. I like to recycle stuff I don’t use to new owners, but I also like to clear the decks, physically and mentally, every so often. The Dalai Lama suggests that it’s possible to get over-attached to people, places, and things. In fact it’s astonishing just how many of us have meaningful relationships with things rather than with sentient creatures. One can, after all, love one’s possessions fiercely. Sometimes loving things is easier than loving people, of course.
My task for today and tomorrow is to let go of that over-attachment to things. And to make sure that people get a bargain.
June 10, 2012
The Big Lesson
There’s only one lesson, although some people claim there are more. That lesson is to stay in the place of love, complete and unconditional love, that we had when we were children.
Sure, we can get there and be in that space from time to time. But staying there — that’s a whole different challenge.
We can do it, but it requires us to be ever vigilant until, at last, it comes as second nature. No one said it would be easy, though….
June 8, 2012
Life Lessons about Love
Difficult people are our teachers - or so it is said - and I believe this to be true. Yet there is a more profound lesson that I have just begun to learn with the death of my mother.
The approach we all hear so much about is that we have to love those people who hurt us in the sense of “love thine enemies”. Yet when that comes to parents there is an added wrinkle. I found I was sending them love, but in a corner of my soul I was still hoping that the fact of my sending them love and understanding would cause things to change. In a confused backwater of my mind I hoped that one day there would be a breakthrough.
And this is where hope steers us wrong, because thinking that way is like giving a present and expecting a certain type of response for oneself. It is, in one way, a bribe. The essence of real love is that it is given with no expectation of any return at all. You do it because it’s what you do; not because it’s “right”, or will earn karma points, or bring about change, or impress the neighbors.
We love because, at bottom, if we are true to the best part of who we are, we cannot do anything else.
Getting to that point is the hard part. But we have to try.
