SURPRISE CONTINUES

9.28.2019

Update

My refugee friends have not been able to get their Apartment back yet. Back to court again on October 7th!

They have to find money;

A LOT OF MONEY.
$2700.00
No money in the bank.
Credit cards empty.

Meanwhile the mother (X) is in the loft bed here and the son (Y) is being housed indefinitely in Queens with a 'friend' who just came through  and might take the cats too sometime this weekend freeing my 1st floor neighbor of the responsibility.
Another hope.

Sleep disturbed I'm stumbling on day three;
Grace of 'Windthread' commented
"this is the perfect moment for practice"
PRACTICING

 Outside three flights down to the street I listen to morning commence in scant birdsong. They too are practicing just being.

I have found out details one at a time over the last two days. They leak information a bit at a time.
If they lose the apartment entirely, which is a distinct possibility since they got a switch from the judge they were hoping for to one that is less helpful, then what? There's no plan, only a speculation to get 'someone' they kind-of-know who is a real estate owner and broker to let them have an apartment in Queens and allow them just to be there until they have the where withal to pay. Yet another pie-in-the-sky notion I fear.

 

I have fallen into their black hole and become a refugee myself.
 I want my life back.
~*~
Backstory
https://mscomfortzone.blogspot.com/2019/09/surprise.html 

ESCAPE?

STEAMY HOT

NEW YORK CITY

AFTER

A 24 hour full-blown Anxiety Attack

(at least I'm conscious enough to recognize it)

I'm packed and ready to Travel.

*

I Pray for Sleep

*

Hope I hear the Alarm

*

If I post this, I'm Gone for a week

Without Internet

*
However, though I'm posting,
I 'm not Gone.
Anxiety dissipated and was replaced by aching limbs
So,  I rescheduled for July.

I'm inside with the A/C on 77 Energy Saver to cut humidity, much more comfortable after a five hour nap, while outside the storms continue to arrive with severe flood warning for the rest of the night and into tomorrow and Thursday.

  ~*~

THROWN BACK

Stacks of paper...that's what I've been going through this past week (for the umpteenth time). The ongoing effort seems endless and is, but lost gems do resurface.

A Message from the Dalai Llama

(not dated)

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. Make a loving atmosphere in your home the foundation for life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

I also know that dreams really do come true and you have my best wishes and my best efforts in those.

Regards 

~*~

I remember having strong reactions way back whenever this was first received and similar ones this time around; judgments on how far I fall short and how unlikely any more improvement might be considering my age, habits and general disposition. What I've learned from all my practices over the years however, is how to soften, how to consciously exercise that 'let go' muscle, how to forgive, how to go on as sincerely and truthfully as possible knowing change is inevitable.

(At my Zendo)

Where there's breath,
there's hope.

HOPE for the NEXT YEAR

12.31.2018
"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning"
(Sailors Wisdom)

" Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage. Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are."

-St. Augustine of Hippo-

 
Imagine
 
...To be continued.

WORSHIP

 Like the lilies of the field

Saturday

I toiled not.

 However, I did virtually attend the many rallies and protests here on my laptop, while sipping homemade lemonade in the adequate cool of my third floor walk up, thanks to my new Air Conditioner, fully aware and grateful for my good fortune and privilege of the moment:

Farewell June.
 ~*~

Sunday

~*~

Hello July

Hope the electrical grid holds up through this heat wave.
Hope the powers that be have a spontaneous awakening.
Hope the dear children survive and are freed to heal.
Hope the parents prevail and find sanctuary.

~*~ 

HOPE and HISTORY

OLYMPIC HISTORY

"According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such 'pagan cults' be banned. Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games, is in the western part of the Peloponnese which, according to Greek mythology, is the island of ;Pelops', the founder of the Olympic Games. Imposing temples, votive buildings, elaborate shrines and ancient sporting facilities were combined in a site of unique natural and mystical beauty. Olympia functioned as a meeting place for worship and other religious and political practices as early as the 10th century B.C. The central part of Olympia was dominated by the majestic temple of Zeus, with the temple of Hera parallel to it."

"THE GAMES"
A Global History of the Olympics
By David Goldblatt

"Because sports are a religion, it’s difficult to imagine a world without the Olympics, and to be sure, they have given us many glorious moments. It would be easy to conclude that the Olympic 'movement' has lost its way since the time of Coubertins lofty vision, but that, as Goldblatt demonstrates, would be to rewrite history, since the idea of a clean and easy way to achieve peace through sport was a benevolent myth in the first place."

OLYMPIA

The opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, taken from the film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl.

https://youtu.be/dVlaIJVAUq4

LENI RIEFENSTAHL
 "In 1978, Riefenstahl published a book of her sub-aquatic photographs called Korallengärten ("Coral Gardens"), followed by the 1990 book Wunder unter Wasser ("Wonder under Water"). In her 90s, Riefenstahl was still photographing marine life and gained the distinction of being one of the world's oldest scuba divers. On 22 August 2002, her100th birthday, she released the film Impressionen unter Wasser ("Underwater Impressions"), an idealized documentary of life in the oceans and her first film in over 25 years. Riefenstahl was a member of Greenpeace for eight years.^"
(1 hour)

https://youtu.be/xjgYS8uXwFk

PYEONG-CHANG OLYMPICS
9-25 February 2018
I watched the entire four hour extravagant opening broadcasting live on Channel 4 Friday night till nearly 4AM (with captions so as not to disturb neighbors). I've since read criticisms of some of her commentary, but Katie Couric did a great job of translating and explaining the Korean symbolism of colors, designs and meanings for some of the set ups! It was way over the top and I thought of our Mr.Ts competitive leanings, like his current desire for a BIG military parade...thought of people starving all over the planet in relation to the actual cost of these theatricals...thought back through the decades to that infamous German Olympiad moment. Non the less, I was touched by the tiny countries in the line up, those with one or two competitors and by the individual athletes with their amazing dedication. It was a perfect propaganda event and the message of peace and unity was undeniably effective irregardless of the reality of differing agendas and life as it's actually lived at ground level.

HOPE
It's addictive. Not naive hope for some fairy tale future, but hope as a tenacious belief in the goodness we wish for. Hope as a shield against the easy out of cynicism. After all, how did some people survive the horrors of events? How did some live to forgive?
I think, not by cynicism.


KOREAN HISTORY
 This morning I asked myself
"What do you know about Korea?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Korea
Then
When was Korea divided?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_Korea
 Then
 "What do you remember about the Korean war?"
As I recall, war was never declared and the conflict was considered a police action throughout 1950 to "1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and according to some sources the two Koreas are technically still at war."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
    Then
What is a Frozen conflict?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_conflict
~*~

OLYMPIC LINKS

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/books/review/the-games-a-global-history-of-the-olympics-david-goldblatt.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl#Books_and_final_film

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2018/02/09/584368072/winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-pyeongchang-welcomes-the-world?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20180209&utm_campaign=breakingnews&utm_term=nprnews