This gallery contains 16 photos.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
World Kindness Day, The Golden Rule and ShelterBox
1 Today is World Kindness Day. Being kind to each other must be one of the most important attributes of the human.
World Kindness Day
2 I wrote a few weeks ago here of the Golden Rule, treat others as you wish to be treated. These words of Arthur Dunn ask an important question and one that is partly answered in the work of ShelterBox below. If only we all (including our governments) could live by this philosophy, the world would indeed be a kinder place.
Why should the Golden Rule be so difficult in business and foreign relations? The happily married treat each other as they wish to be treated. They treat their children better than they wish to be treated themselves. Unless we do unto a friend as we do unto ourselves, we lose a friend. In an emergency we rush to the aid of our…
View original post 207 more words
I Finally Ventured into Soap Making
I have been wanting to try making soap for years but two things held me back. Firstly, working with lye – my first husband had a bad accident with caustic soda so I wasn’t keen to use it myself. Secondly, alot of the recipes I had read looked to be quite expensive, I didn’t want to spend alot of money to make something that may not turn out.
A couple of weeks ago one of my sisters gave me a bar of her homemade lavender soap and it’s such a treat to use! I adore nice soaps but rarely get them, just using commercial brands instead. Natural soaps are quite pricey, handmade ones even pricier. So…I decided to just get over myself and make some of my own. I read heaps on the net and found a couple of good recipes to start with. I also found some helpful tips…
View original post 521 more words
I Finally Ventured into Soap Making
I have been wanting to try making soap for years but two things held me back. Firstly, working with lye – my first husband had a bad accident with caustic soda so I wasn’t keen to use it myself. Secondly, alot of the recipes I had read looked to be quite expensive, I didn’t want to spend alot of money to make something that may not turn out.
A couple of weeks ago one of my sisters gave me a bar of her homemade lavender soap and it’s such a treat to use! I adore nice soaps but rarely get them, just using commercial brands instead. Natural soaps are quite pricey, handmade ones even pricier. So…I decided to just get over myself and make some of my own. I read heaps on the net and found a couple of good recipes to start with. I also found some helpful tips…
View original post 521 more words
Cleansing Conflict
Cleansing Conflict
— poem by Rumi, taken from The Soul of Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
What is a saint? One whose wine has turned to vinegar. If you’re still wine-drunkenly
Brave, don’t step forward. When your sheep becomes a lion, then come. It is said
of hypocrites, “They have considerable valor among themselves!” But they scatter when
a real enemy appears. Muhammad told his young soldiers, “There is no courage before
an engagement.” A drunk foams at the mouth talking about what he will do when he gets his sword
drawn, but the chance arrives, and he remains sheathed as an onion. Premeditating
he’s eager for wounds. Then his bag gets touched by a needle and he deflates. What sort of
person says that he or she wants to be polished and pure, then complains about being
handled roughly? Love is a lawsuit whose harsh evidence must be brought in. To settle
the case, the judge must see evidence. You’ve heard that every buried treasure has a snake
guarding it. Kiss the snake to discover the treasure! The severe treatment is not toward
you, but the qualities that block your growth. A rug beater doesn’t beat the rub, but
rather the dirt….
When a mother screams, “Get out of here!” she means the mean part of the child.
Don’t run from those who scold, and don’t turn away from cleaning conflict, or you will
remain weak. Also, don’t listen to bragging. If you go along with self-importance, the work
collapses. Better a small modest team. Sift almonds. Discard the bitter. Sour and sweet
sound alike when you pour them out on the rattling tray, but inside they’re very different.
Rumi
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Soul and the Old Woman
What is the soul> Consciousness. The more awareness, the deeper the soul, and when
essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around. It’s so simple to tell one who
puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real thing. We know the taste
of pure water. Words can sound like a poem but not have any juice, no flavor to
relish. How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse wall? Soul is what draws
You away from those pictures to talk with the old woman
who sits outside by her door
in the sun. She’s half blind, but she has what soul loves to flow into. She’s kind; she weeps.
She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily. —Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
Wordless Wednesday – Welcome back
The Chautauqua Experience
I wanted to share some more of my experiences at Chautauqua with you. It truly is like walking into another world. A world that is quieter and beautiful. Fragrance fills the air. Faintly, from the direction of the lake you can hear laughter and giggling.
My first thing to do is to take pictures. I took over 600 photos. No you won’t have to look at all of them. I allow the energy fill me and take me to my calm space. We walked down the main street, which is brick, and found ourselves at Bestor plaza. I released a sigh of contentment.
After the big band performance, we went down to the lake for the fireworks. I sat on a bench while Amy video taped them. Chautauqua has a bell tower and it played patriotic songs while we watched the July 4th fireworks. We left about eleven to go back to our motel. The next day was filled with walking the streets and looking at the great old homes, a little food, going to the lake and seeing the opera, Madame Butterfly. It was a fantastic performance. I have seen it before but this one had perfect music, every note was precise and the voices were angelic. We had run into friends and we all ended up going to the opera together.
Amy did an internship for the opera almost thirty years ago and she went to visit her old haunts. I went to the bookstore and noodled around and went to the bookstore. Complete happiness descended upon me and I moved slowly through the shelves. They touch all subjects with their inventory and promote Chautauqua authors.
We went to a poetry and prose reading. I love to go to readings anywhere. Here the readings took place on a wide porch which wraps itself around two sides of the house. Authors can stay there if they wish. We sat in wicker furniture, feeling the gentle breeze on the cheek and words sailing through the air to your heart. A really good experience. Then we went to an art show in the park. It was fun to wander around enjoying the beauty and immersing ourselves in all of the talent and beauty that filled the park.
St. Elmo’s Door. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Inspiration stump at Lily Dale. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Flowers photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Lily Dale, NY. Spiritualist community
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
All-women’s big band from Buffalo NY. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio
Hall of Philosophy. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Day Lily. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Clematis. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Art show. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Art Show. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Father and son. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Bats the official night visitors on the grounds. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Fourth of July fireworks. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
You had me at~Beautiful Mind
Art by MichelleMarie
Whatever your “Beautiful Mind” thinks…you had me at Beautiful Mind!
eyes are windows of the soul
I feel the bombing must end. No excuses.
Bigotry
Striking words!
(Originally posted on this blog April, 2013)
“The Lynching Tree”
Illustration from home.earthlink.net
you squirm with the worms
in your cankerous
craters of ignorance
deep in its damps
where sunlight can’t cleanse
your arbitrary filth
yet somehow you thrive
with your burgeon
of slithering isms
you now and then scrabble
up and over the rim
don your sheets
mount your dragon
and visit our civilized
precincts to peddle
more unctuous bilge
until someone like me
kicks your pustulant ass
back down that black hole
where your mortified
parents abandoned you
idealisticrebel 