Auden Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

Tuesday’s Tidbits

+ I read a really good analogy to use when you want your communication to be effective and collaborative and helpful. Do not play ping-pong when you communicate. Play catch. Ping-pong communication is a fast, reactive back and forth, with someone always wanting to cleverly “win the point”. Whereas, catch is a relaxing, cooperative, slower game, where each player is taking their time with throwing out, and then taking in the messages being sent. When you are playing ping-pong, you are feeling highly competitive, whereas when you play catch, you are both playing to win, by seeing how many times that together you can keep the streak of properly throwing (sending) and catching (receiving) the ball (the message).

+ Not too long ago, I found out that I have a high percentage of Welsh in my DNA. Yesterday I saw this on the internet: “The Welsh phrase ‘dod yn ol at fy nghoed’ means ‘to return to a balanced state of mind’ but its literal meaning is ‘to return to my trees.’ “ I love this. This speaks to me deeply. It never hurts to return to our trees, does it? Nature soothes. Nature heals.

“I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth.” – Louise Dickinson Rich

“Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.” – Munia Khan

“The one who plants trees knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” -Rabindranath Tagore

“I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” – Anne Frank

“The trees encountered on a country stroll

Reveal a lot about that country’s soul…

A culture is no better than its woods.” – W. H. Auden

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

2599. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be?

Soul Sunday

Favorite Quotes from Classic Poets - little infinite Poetry for Life

Leave it to a truly great poet, to describe it best. Sundays are devoted to poetry on the blog. Poetry is pure discovery. You start writing a prose piece, and you usually have an outline in mind. When you write prose, you are usually working hard at “making sense”, and being clear and wrapping everything up, in a neat little finish. However, you start writing a poem, and you end up surprising yourself. You discover a delicious, mysterious part of yourself that you didn’t notice before. Your feelings start showing up, in the form of word play. Discover a little piece of yourself today. Write a poem.

Here is my poem for today:

Why is it that I never think about my heart,

Until I pay too much attention to what is stored inside of it?

Everything that is precious to me,

lives boldly and passionately,

bulging with movement and rhythm,

Inside of my heart, creating the beat and the motion of my life.

And in good times, that beating is strong, and vital and fearless.

And in confusing times, that beating feels unguarded, uneven and exposed.

In those times, I remind myself

Of an extraordinary heart that knows how to beat itself,

One vital heartbeat at a time. And I let the drumsticks fall to the floor.

And I stop thinking about my heart.

I trust my heart to keep beating on towards better moments just around the bend.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Name It

There is so much to a name. Ask any “Karen” these days. These poor ladies share a name with a viral meme associated with being an entitled, narcissistic, middle-aged b%tch. When Hurricane Elsa came through a couple of weeks ago, I was honestly relieved by the name. Who doesn’t love Elsa from Disney’s Frozen? I felt instantly safe, knowing that she would not be a very destructive storm. I think that we should be extremely careful to name all hurricanes only with names that have nice connotations. On just one website, I perused a list of 89 names that all have the meaning of “soft, kind and gentle”. Names like Aura, Angel, Clem, Emmie, and Feather are all good choices for names of hurricanes and tropical storms. Don’t ever be alarmed if they ever name a hurricane “Gungun”. Apparently that name actually means “one who is soft and warm”.

When Hurricane Irma came through, I knew that it was going to be horrible, just by its name. Supposedly, way back in my family history on my mother’s side, there was an old, immodest, crass distant cousin named “Irma” who always sat in a bold and brazen and indecent manner. So, if we little girls were ever caught sitting in an unflattering, shameless position, we were called “Irma.” I literally shuddered when I heard about the storm named, “Hurricane Irma”. And sure enough, it proved to be a doozy.

William Shakespeare seemed to think that we place too much importance on names:

Dale Carnegie disagreed:

Name Quotes #20: Joffrey, Germaine, Gust | Name quotes, Business motivational quotes, Country music quotes

I like Auden’s take on names. A name is just a very small part of the essence of any unique entity on this Earth:

They Represent Our Identity: Quotes About Names - EnkiQuotes

When someone says your name, you recognize it, but everyone is saying it in a slightly different tone, accent, and with different feelings attached to your name, because of what you mean (or don’t mean) to them, in their lives. Your name isn’t just one thing. It is a convenient way for people to label “you”, but the “you” that comes to every person and circumstance in your life is completely unique, because of their own distinct perspectives of you, and the isolated experiences and relationship that they have with you. So, in that sense, your name really means an infinite number of people. Ironically, the only part of you that is truly authentic and timeless and changeless, is your nameless and peaceful Awareness that you bring to every person and every situation and every experience that you ever engage in, during your entire lifetime.

Do you like your name? Are names important? Do you any pet names for yourself?

I have a name for you, my dear friends and readers. I call you “Cherished.”

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.