Daily
Occasionally, I will provide something to respond to for daily personal journal entries. New topics will be posted to this page as comments. Topics can take any of the following forms: quote, song, poem, narrative passage, persuasive passage, drawing, painting, sculpture.
If you are one of Mr. Moshé’s students, your responses must be recorded manually in your personal journals. In addition to that, posting to the Daily Ponderance Online Discussion is worth extra credit toward your grade in class. Posting online is NOT required.
If you are not one of Mr. Moshé’s students, posting to the Daily Ponderance may not be worth anything to a grade you may be getting in any class, HOWEVER, you are welcome to comment and gain personal insight as you may.
The Guidelines I am requesting you adhere to can be found here: Guidelines/Allowances for Daily Ponderance Comments.
So, here goes. Check out the topics below, and do your best to search deep within yourself for an answer to the material put to you.
As for TODAY . . . Scroll down to the last post, then respond as you see fit to relative to the Guidelines/Allowances for Daily Ponderance Comments.
31 responses so far
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The topic for March 5th, 2008 asks that you take a look at what causes the negative effects in your life.
“Through my inability to accept personal responsibilities, I am actually creating my own problems.”
—–Anonymous
Enjoy and reflect.
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The topic for March 6th , 2008
“If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?” And for what benefit?
—- from If…Questions for the Game of Life by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell
Enjoy and reflect.
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Topic for March 7th, 2008
If you had to choose a single most valuable thing you ever learned, what would it be? Why?
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Topic for March 11th, 2008
“The idea, the hope, is that everything will illuminate you. Everything will open you up. Everything will surprise you.”
—Norman Fischer – poet, essayist, Zen Teacher
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I’d have to say that this should mean something for me. I should get to the point where great things are inspiring to me, as are aweful things. That all things lshould be taken as greater than they may seem to me to be. I should be amazed at the slightest of experiences such as the smallest bug silently passing me as I should be at the thickest snowstorm I find myself within. I should marvel at the everything that is. In my work on a daily basis I should be in awe of the opportunities that offer themselves to me no matter what the basis of the moment. Each moment should be wonderous. Each student I have contact with no matter the need or not. Each colleague I work with o matter the circumstance or position. All is wonder, and full of wonder.
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The topic for March 11th, 2008 touches on opportunities, responsibilities, and the inability or unwillingness to accept them for what they are.
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
-Anais Nin
Reflect and Enjoy.
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I’ve heard many different versions of this idea. I am feeling compelled to list some of my streaming thoughts here and now. Like . . . .
—If nothing changes, nothing changes.
—When the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain of change, things must change.
—When the pain is great enough . . .
The greatest thing about going through something is that you have to come through it.
I’ve found that when confronted with the prospect of change, it is my own expectation of a certain outcome, upon entering into that process, that most often causes me the most discomfort (or pain in these terms).
That, to bring it back to the Nin quote, while the flower, in my mind, may not feel actual pain as sentient beings know it when confronted with remaining closed or opening full-blossom, I can imagine myself as the bud . . .
The bud that to remain closed when it should open to blossom would certainly meet death. A painful notion even though no suffering as I know it would occur. Painful in the sense of loss. I guess. Lost potential.
To resist opening is to meet death. In this sense, I must open to full blossom. But for what? for Who? and When?
For what?
For happiness. To relieve the suffering and dissatisfaction that I and others feel that I become aware of. You see, for me to get through the suffering or maybe to lessen the suffering is directly proportionate to enlarging or expanding the happiness.
For who?
For those that surround me and those I serve that I might never meet. The happiness I create has no limitation. It does not care who it effects. It grows of itself.
And When?
Now, is that simple enough? I must open now. If I did not open yesterday, I was not supposed to, or better yet, it was yesterday, I needn’t think over that. The me I was yesterday is for all discussion and analysis dead. I am anew today from yesterday, this morning from last night, this moment from the last one.
Now, and not wait ’till tomorrow. Especially if I know the time to open has arrived.Tomorrow will take care of itself.
Now. Blossom now. As I should today.
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The topic for March 12th, 2008 brings us to bear on our own behavior.
“Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.”
-the Dalai Lama
Enjoy and reflect.
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The topic for March 14th, 2008 asks the big question about purpose:
“Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.”
- Richard Bach (novelist)
Enjoy and Reflect.
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So if I’m breathing then there must be a purpose for me, something I am supposed to be doing; there may be a goal I am focused on, working toward, striving for. I could view a mission, not as something that must be accomplished as if to imply an end to it, rather something of a process to be in, constantly, evolving.
What then could it be? That is the underlying question. Especially if I do not know what my mission is. In order for me to be ready and able to commit to the mission I am set to be in, it is implied that I know what my mission is. What happens when I do not know what my mission is? What then?
I could try to find out what my mission is. So, if I’m not sure of my own mission – on earth, here and now (as if it would be somewhere else -, the mission is to find out what it is. What is my primary purpose? And how am I supposed to work at that?
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The topic for March 17th, 2008 asks you to consider others.
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
– Charles Dickens
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The topic for March 18th, 2008 is a field study task. You will have to do some research to get what I want you to respond to.
HERE is the research assignment:
Go to the eldest person in the house, and say the following:
“Explain your life to me, I would like to understand it. I may ask you questions when you’re done.”
——======——
You will want to record the material you get from this.
–Make sure you have time to sit.
–Use a video camera, audio recorder, PC (whatever you can) to record what you get.
–Take notes.
–Listen actively (without judgment).
–Write down questions you need answers to
—-things you don’t understand,
—-things that are unclear.
–Ask your questions if you have any.
–THEN, stop the recording.
——======——
You are not to submit the actual answer you get.
Re-view, Re-listen; check it out after you’re done.
——======——
Respond to the answer you get.
Enjoy and reflect.
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The Topic for March 19th, 2008 helps us to realize the true nature of our frame of mind.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
–Budha
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The topic for March 20th, 2008 touches on inner identity for some of us.
Here’s the quote to respond to:
from Our Greatest Fear . . .
“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?”
—Marianne Williamson from her book “A Return to Love”
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The topic for March 24th, 2008 touches on the freedoms we give up sometimes to get what we want. What are we working for? Who are we working for? Why work at this or that?
Here’s the quote to respond to:
“I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, for the money – has turned himself into a slave.”
–Joseph Campbell
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How do we play a part in the creation of our own reality? Think about this for a while.
“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.”
—Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta
—the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.E.
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This quote asks you to look at your relationships, what they are, how you see them, what they are to you.
March 25, 2008
“Have no friends not equal to yourself.”
-Confusius
from Analects IX, 6
c. 520 B.C.E.
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This quote asks you to consider your motivations, and your intentions, and your integrity.
“Courage without conscience is a wild beast.”
-R.G. Ingersoll
from a speech in New York on May 29, 1882
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The topic from April 7th, 2008 comes after a short break, so consider it lightly if you need to. Otherwise, look deep for this one. It takes us into the past, through the present and toward a possible future. Consider . . .
“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.”
-Hindu Prince Gautama Siddarta (563 – 483 B.C.E.)
–founder of Buddhism
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The topic from April 8th, 2008
“We must recognize the self-centered attitude as our sworn enemy and not let ourselves be overpowered by it.”
-HH The Dalai Lama
-from Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart
For April 10th, 2008, I offered two quotes on the imagination; both by Albert Einstein.
“Imagination is more important than Knowledge.”
“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”
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The topic for April 11th, 2008 is short and sweet, yet packs a walloping punch if you don’t heed its truth.
“Desperation is an excellent teacher.”
-Third-person omniscient narrator from The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood
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The topic for April 14th, 2008 offers a proposition . . .
“If you could have a secret listening device in any room in the world, which room would you like it to be in?”
-from If . . .Questions for the Game of Life by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell
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Today, I am catching our web participants up on a bit of what we’ve been thinking about in class:
4/16 – We focused on fine art of Caravaggio. We looked at his Medusa (1595, oil on canvas).
We took the opoportunity to get to know how to consider the basic points of fine art. We used the ArtsEdge 10 Questions for Viewing worksheet. Then we took a look at the painting, and other works briefly.
4/17 – “You cannot shake hands with clenched fists” -Golda Meir & Mahatma Ghandi
4/17 – “An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind” -Mahatma Ghandi
4/18 – “There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience” -French Proverb
4/19 – “Laws control lesser men. Right conduct controls the greater one.” -Chinese Proverb
4/22 – “You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you.” -Rwandan Proverb
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And here is the thing to ponder over today. It asks you to consider all that has gone on in your life or other’s lives and to allow for the process of change, I think.
Here ’tis:
“Water that can be spoilt (spoiled) can also be purified.”
- Shona Tribe Proverb, Zimbabwe, Africa
I actually see the truth in this figurative phrase every year, every day, all the time.
Enjoy, Reflect, Grow!
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4/28/08 – A brief visit to the museum.
We looked at The Battle of Trafalgar by J.M.W. Turner (1822-1824) oil on canvas. We used the Artsedge 10 Questions for Viewing again.
4/29/08 – On The Point of Honor.
“Honor is not measured by words; it’s measured by deeds.”
-The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood
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4/30/08
Our focus today is on the Holocaust, the historical event.
Take a look at how you can integrate one or both of these ideas into your being. Both are by Tim Holden:
“The Holocaust also shows us how a combination of events and attitudes can erode a society’s democratic values.”
or this one . . . .
“The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on a society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction.”
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5/2/08
The topic for today expresses the thought that it is better to take the harder, more difficult way to get things done.
“The best way out is always through.”
- Robert Frost
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5/5/08
This quote suggests to spread the love, man. Keep it peaceful.
“A baby is born with a need to be loved and never outgrows it”.
- Frank A. Clark
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Non-fiction I’m reading:
Ethics for the New Millenium by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The Universe in a Single Atom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
These books make me want to be a better human.
Fiction I’m reading
Tales of H.P. Lovecraft selected and edited by Joyce Carol Oats
Flow my Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
I can see how Poe comes through in his writing. I love the craft of H.P.
What I read in the Newspaper today – Rasing of the Canes by Chip Alexander in the Charlotte Observer.
What I think of it: I’m a Florida Panther fan, so I could care less about the Carolina Hurricanes. Maybe if they were a Charlotte-based team I’d care more. I’ll keep up on them, and hope for the best. It’s nice to read of a team that pulled themselves together to make it into the playoffs. I think I remember seeing Hurricane games on Versus (the channel). I’ll have to check the listings.
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I found this article compelling. Who are we really anyway? What makes people feel like it’s OK to hurt someone or something else for any reason?
Check this out: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1034170.html
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Here’re the things I’ve been reading:
-Tales of H.P. Lovecraft edited by Joyce Carol Oates
-The Universe in a Single Atom by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
-Ethics for the New Millenium by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
-Dracula by Bram Stoker – a discussion as such
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