A Quiet Moment
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Hey, dear friends:
It is a quiet moment
Over here.
No topic
Is
Screaming
For
My
Attention.
No
Wild
Insight
Is
Hollering
To be
Unraveled.
Are you tired?
I am
So
Very
Tired.
Pandemic
Exhaustion?
Who
Knows.
Oh, wait.
Is the
Pandemic
Over?
What’s the
Next
Budding
Crisis?
Are we
Exhausted
From
Watching
The
Unraveling
Of
Things
That
Appeared
To
Be
Un-Ravel-able?
From
All
The
Many
Uncertainties?
And/or
Are
We
Just
Getting
Older?
Just—getting
Older?
(I certainly am.)
~~~
This blog
Appears
To be
One
Of
Returning…
Returning
To
That
Which
Touched
Me
Earlier,
Before.
When some
Of this
Shit
Was
Newer,
Breath-taking
In
A
Different
Way.
Now?
There
Is
Exhaustion.
Disbelief
Calls
For
Too
Much
Efforting.
~~~
First, I keep returning to this article from the Washington Post.
Can you locate yourself in it?
From the Washington Post, March 10, 2022—
Pandemic Life, Two Years Later: Where do You Fit In?
Another returning; again and again in my head, I keep hearing lyrics from this song by Paul Simon, written 50 years ago:
Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m alright, I’m alright
I’m just weary to my bones…
~~~
Here is Paul Simon, performing the song, American Tune, in 1977, honoring President Jimmy Carter. Yes, I posted this before. I imagine I will post this again.
I believe that this might be life’s best song, ridiculously relevant for 2022, even though it was written in 1973, FIFTY years ago:
~~~
And the lyrics, too, are worth repeating.
An American Tune
Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m alright, I’m alright
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home
And I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it’s alright, it’s alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we’re traveling on
I wonder what’s gone wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what has gone wrong
And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying
We come on the ship they call The Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune
Oh, and it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest
~~~
One more return—Listen to this again! Please!!
I must offer again this glorious celebration by Playing for Change:
Peace Train by Cat Stevens/ Yusuf
~~~
Here is what Playing for Change says about it:
“Peace Train” – Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ timeless anthem of hope and unity – was originally released on the classic album ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ in 1971 and was Stevens’ first US Top 10 hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
This Song Around The World version features more than 25 musicians from 12 countries and unites Yusuf / Cat Stevens, singing and playing a beautiful white piano in a tranquil open-air setting in Istanbul, Turkey, with musicians such as five-time Grammy Award-winning blues/americana artist Keb’ Mo’; Grammy-nominated Senegalese artist Baaba Maal; Silkroad’s Rhiannon Giddens—also a Grammy Award winner; Ghassan Birumi playing the oud in Ramallah, Palestine; musicians from the Silkroad Ensemble in Rhinebeck, New York; Pat Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) and James “Hutch” Hutchinson (bass player with Bonnie Raitt) performing in Maui, Hawaii; and bringing together conflict regions with Tushar Lall playing the harmonium in Delhi, India, and Joshua Amjad playing the Kartaal in Karachi, Pakistan.”
~~~
Dear Friends,
Swami Kripalu
Said,
The whole world
Is
One
Family.
He also
Taught
That
The
Key
To our
Hearts
Lives
In
The
Hearts
Of
Others.
Please—
Show us
The
Way.
Blessings,
Aruni