Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd)

Oh my god, I love it when worlds collide - check out my Free Will Astrology Leo Horoscope for the week of April 17, 2008!!!!

This would be a perfect time for you to write your ultimate personal manifesto. I'm talking about composing a sweeping statement of the core ideas that fuel your lust for life. To get you in the mood, take a look at the following lyrics from Danny Schmidt's song "Company of Friends." "I believe in restless hunger . . . I believe in private thunder . . . I believe in inspiration . . . I believe in slow creation . . . I believe in lips on ears . . . I believe in being wrong . . . I believe in contradiction . . . I believe in living smitten . . . I believe our book is written by our company of friends."

What are the odds, I ask you? - then again, I know I'm living right when it all falls into place like this... :-)

I love my chaotic life - sure, there are dark places which sometimes consume and threaten to drive me to roly-poly mode. Fall down, brush it off, get back up - it can be a struggle, but I force myself to overcome.

I got home from work yesterday and had a lovely walk/chat with M - we took the dog out for another half-block and then I came inside and made a dinner of scrambled eggs with turkey and pepperjack cheese. Returned a few phone calls and then my daughter came over (with a friend) to finish up a Road Trip mix I was helping her with (for her upcoming Key West weekend) - we had a blast finalizing and ordering the selections, and choosing just the right photo for the accompanying cover. Her friend C also provided me with an amazing neck and shoulder rub as I worked at the computer - he and I then got into a passionate but friendly political discussion...

My gardenia bush is blooming like crazy and, before I got in the car this morning, I picked some blossoms for the 90-year-old mother of the man I work for - she is fairly housebound, these are her favorite flowers and I try to bring her some on a regular basis. I fill a bowl with water, arrange the blossoms and place it at the table where she spends a good bit of her day in a wheelchair, taking her meals and reading the newspaper - every single time I set the bowl down and tell V good morning, she says, "thank you - the smell is intoxicating!".

Oh, and on the way to the office, I began test-driving the aforementioned mix - you can bet that after the first three selections (whereupon I pulled into the driveway) of Everyday is a Winding Road by Sheryl Crow, Shiny Happy People by R.E.M. and Smooth by Carlos Santana/Rob Thomas, I was smiling broadly... :-)

For the most part, I believe each day/hour/minute is a conscious choice - I choose joy...

SONG: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun by Pink Floyd

BOOK: The Freedom Manifesto: How to Free Yourself from Anxiety, Fear, Mortgages, Money, Guilt, Debt, Government, Boredom, Supermarkets, Bills, Melancholy, Pain, Depression, Work, and Waste by Tom Hodgkinson

POEM: Last Night As I Was Sleeping by Antonio Machado

Last night as I was sleeping,

I dreamt - marvellous error! -

that a spring was breaking

out in my heart

I said: Along which secret aqueduct

Oh water, are you coming to me,

water of a new life

that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,

I dreamt - marvellous error! -

that I had a beehive

here inside my heart.

And the golden bees

were making white combs

and sweet honey

from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,

I dreamt - marvellous error! -

that a fiery sun was giving

light inside my heart.

It was fiery because I felt,

warmth as from a hearth,

and sun because it gave light

and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I was sleeping,

I dreamt - marvellous error! -

That it was God I had

here inside my heart.

QUOTE: "The philosophy of mine earth can be summed up as this: Sunshine creates happiness, and I create myself. Nights are long and life is predominantly good. Wind is refreshing. Tea is wisdom. Do the best you can, and be good to yourself so that you can above all be good to others." ~ Jessi Lane Adams