An owl's feather
A tip of the hat to Blog Against Racism Day. All I can say is, it seems to me we're all in this together.
"Very shortly after my father died, which was three years ago now, I felt like I received a very strong message from him. And the message was to use my writing and music the best I could on the positive side of things. And I am still trying to figure out exactly what he meant by that, because I know he didn't mean for me to write a bunch of Hallmark cards or something. I paid attention to that, and I think he was telling me something very important. But I know something: In these times we do have to pay attention. There's the love pile and the hate pile, is the way I look at it, and we've got to try and put as much stuff as we can in the love pile, however we can do that."
— Greg Brown, quoted in Heron Dance, Issue 38.
posted by MB at 12:42 AM
13 Comments:
I'm not sure what your intention was with the owl's feather and the quote, but I see it like this. Different shades of the same thing. Love or Hate. Choose the color in the spectrum.
I agree with Mr Brown.
Hooray for the love pile!
Nicely done, Moose. Me, I couldn't think of one intelligent thing to add to the discussion, so I stayed away from it. But I think this quote and your line about all of us being in this together pretty much sum it all up.
Diversity is delightful and worth celebrating. Variety is part of why life is at all fun. Now, if we can just remember at all times that we're all also essentially the same, just poor blind travelers on the same road of unknown destination, maybe we can enjoy each other's company a little better and stop throwing up hate piles and other barriers.
Cheers!
I get one life, gonna live it full of love and joy, not squander it in bitter hatred.
I think that fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?-Douglas Adams.
Very nice. I agree.
Nice place... first time here... I think i will be back more often...
Great quote, moose. Whenever I want to read some news from the "love pile," I come here.
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
Mermaid, if I'm understanding you right, you've pinpointed a shortcoming in the notion of "love pile/hate pile" — too dualistic. Just as there are gradations of hue in the spectrum of color, there are shades of emotions between love and hate. My point here was pretty simple, that all of us (like those multiple layers of sedimentary rock in the photo) are together in this life all jumbled up next to each other like it or not (I mostly like it!), and therefore our job is to be with one another. Secondly, that we all do better when each of us is doing what we can to contribute to the love pile end of the spectrum in whatever way we can. I rather like how Greg Brown described it in general and vague terms, because each of us as an individual has to come to terms with all this in their own way.
Mary, RDL, thanks for reading. And yes, hooray for the love pile!
Sara, you make a good point that we would do well to not only recognize differences but also recognize the essential similarities. Like most other things in nature, biological diversity is a wondrous display and source of joy, but when you get down deep, we're perhaps not so different.
Zhoen, your quote made me smile. And your point, that we experience things differently is well taken.
Shyloh and Alien, welcome! Thanks for visiting, I'm glad you stopped by.
Patry, you comment's got me grinning. It's true, if I could live completely in/from/around the love pile, I would. xo!
Oh, and by way of further explanation, I post "an owl's feather" (my label for a quotation I find inspiring) at the end of the week. I figure if my poems are dropped by the bluebird I'm searching for, then the others must be dropped from owls.
Better late than not at all, Ken, for your comments are always welcome. I am amazed by the way my sense of time changes over my lifetime. I remember how eternally long a year — or even a few months — seemed as a child, and now they fly by. (Though if I stop and think of all that's happened, it does seem like a lot got packed in.) So yes, life's short, let's dance!
Great quote. Something to keep in mind in our own creative work as well.
Leslee, absolutely! This is something I think about frequently: how can I contribute, doing what I do? I'm afraid I have few answers to that question except perhaps through individual interactions, which doesn't seem like much. But then I guess we each must only do what we can. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about that.
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