The Impedimenta of Daily Life March 11, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Blogging, Humor, Spirit & Ego, Writing & Writers.comments closed
There’s been a great uproar this morning. Did you hear it?
Someone, hiding behind a mask of anonymity, posted some unwarranted and unkind words on a writing site causing writers to stop dead in their tracks, and hurl a few unkind (though not entirely unwarranted) words back in the direction of the anonymous inkslinger.
In an effort to stop the carnage, I posted the following feedback:
His opinion isn’t worth absorbing into your being. Let it go.
Later, as anger continued to swirl around wounded psyches, I added:
Just remember, his poison can only damage us if we absorb it. If we let it roll off our backs . . . it will drift away into the nothingness that it is.
As the day wore on, with no sign that the writers in question (or their ardent fans) had been able or willing to let the hateful words go, I tried again:
Let’s not let the impedimenta of his hurtful words impede our progress or hold us back. Write on!
Still nothing.
Well, not nothing . . .
One writer challenged the rather obvious redundancy of using both impedimenta and impede in the same sentence, but did so without commenting on the intended import behind my words.
My rationale for the intentional redundancy:
The “impedimenta” in this case will only impede our progress if we choose to ingest the anonymous inkslinger’s poisonous words.
If we spit them out, their power immediately dissipates.
When we refuse to let go of anger, hurt, or jealousy at the earliest possible opportunity, we are the ones impeding our own progress on the journey through life.
In contrast, as soon as we choose to let go of anger, hurt, and jealousy, the imaginary impedimenta of hateful words in our path immediately evaporates. As Dale Carnegie once noted:
When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness. Our hate is not hurting them at all, but our hate is turning our own days and nights into a hellish turmoil.
Betrayal by others is a gift which allows us to grow in forgiveness. We betray ourselves by hanging on to every slight, real and imagined.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Quote: Failure to forgive is like swallowing poison and hoping your adversary will die. It rarely works.
The saga continues: A Quick Detour
Flying Fish and Leaping Lizards March 11, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Animals, Magick & Mystery, Nature.comments closed
We love where we live – always a fascinating bit of nature to observe. Even on days when the skies are pouring down in buckets, and the birds are nowhere to be seen, we are still entertained by the other animals who live in close proximity to us.
I just stepped outside for a moment and saw a small fish, probably less than twelve inches in length, fly up out of the water to land a good fifteen feet away from where it exited the lagoon.
An amazing sight to see.
How do they manage to propel themselves Up, Up and Away from the watery confines of their regular habitat?
What motivates them to soar through the air with the greatest of ease?
Are they just anxious for a quick look around? Or are they escaping from an unseen predator lurking outside my view?
Turning my attention to the deck, I saw one of our ubiquitous lizards resting against the deck posts, stationary in the morning showers, puffing out its neck as if blowing a huge orange bubble.
Then, with the ease of an acrobat, the three-inch-long lizard leaped from the deck to the trunk of a palm tree, located at least 30 inches away from the deck railing.
How do they manage to leap such great distances – ten times farther than they are long – from a standstill, at that?
For the sake of comparison, imagine getting down on all fours and leaping forward at ten times the length of your trunk – somewhere in the range of thirty to forty feet – without a running start.
What type of sports contract would you be able to negotiate (with or without an agent) if you could cover those types of distances in a single bound?
What type of super-hero costume would you choose to wear?
Mother Nature . . . always a magical, mysterious, miraculous marvel to behold.
No rules. Just write!
Spirit Lights The Way 