Whatshot
Through My Eyes
Through My Eyes
Date: 2023-10-26
"A hangover is the wrath of grapes"
By Dorothy Parker
Splendourin the Grass; by William Wordsworth
Whatthough the radiance which was once so bright
Benow forever taken from my sight,
Thoughnothing can bring back the hour
Ofsplendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
Wewill grieve not, rather find
Strengthin what remains behind;
Inthe primal sympathy
Whichhaving been must ever be;
Inthe soothing thoughts that spring
Outof human suffering;
Inthe faith that looks through death,
Inyears that bring the philosophic mind.
It has been a melancholic time for theworld. Regardless where we are. Regardless who we are. Melancholy is the moodtrending on all networks.
Wars,deaths, crying mothers, dying fathers and a world divided and expected tochoose a side between two evils.
Andin this prolonged melancholy we soldier on, put on a brave face and pretendthat the pain of our brothers and sisters in the far away land have norelevance to our existence as we fight our own battles of unabated crime,lawlessness and economic collapse.
Thereis no point of rose tinting this situation any further, however we also cannotexist in a perpetual state of melancholy. We have to find the happinesswherever we can, we have the right to be happy and experience joy, even if allwe want to do is cry. Sometimes the smallest moments of joy are the only onesthat feel possible.
Iguess the first step to achieving some sanity is the importance of staying aspresent as possible in the moment, even when the moment sucks. I have beenpracticing this and it works.
Theysay that if you're open to joy, you have to be open to disappointment.Paradoxically, in terms of experiencing joy, there has to be a willingness toexperience loss and sadness as well.
Manyteachers of suffering have taught us and shown us the way to touch joy in thedarkness. The Buddha wrote a poem about it:
Live in joy, in love. Even among thosewho hate.
Live in joy, in health. Even among theafflicted.
Live in joy, in peace. Even among thetroubled.
Look within. Be still. Free from fearand attachment, Know the sweet joy of the way.
TheZen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has seen a lot of suffering and has had manydecades of practice and teaching. He wrote this poem after the bombing ofBen Tre, a city of 300,000 people in Vietnam. An American military man toldThich Nhat Hanh that he had to destroy the town to save it.
I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm-
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger.
Thereare many ways to feel joy, we have to look inside. Happiness is within us.