EXPERT EYES

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EXPERT EYES

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What does an expert see?

They see things much differently than you and me

They see problems, possibilities and patterns

They can sort out the chaff from the grains that matter

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How did they get these expert eyes?

To be so astute, to be so precise

Who were their teachers along the line?

Their teachers were experience and time

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If we do not know how to proceed

What to ignore, what we will need

We will learn through struggle and strife

We become an expert on our own life

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CALM-AMITY

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CALM-AMITY

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I've tried many things for anxiety

Everything from tranquillizers to piety

But the best thing for nerves I have found

Is to drink water and walk fast until I calm down.

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INNER CONFLICT

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INNER CONFLICT

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When we have an inner conflict

We don't know what to do

When two people can't agree

But both of them are you!

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We can't just ignore it

Or let fickle fate decide

We are tugged one way then the other

Oh it's a bumpy ride

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The solution is within the conflict

Clearly define each case

You might need more information

You might need a broader base

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If you are on the One Hand, 

Then you are on the Other

You can feel around with both hands

See what the Whole of you might discover.

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BARNACLE DREAM

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BARNACLE DREAM

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When I have a problem in a dream

(And my dreams do seem to involve a lot of problem solving)

Dreaming-me worries and frets over the problem

No matter how ridiculous or ludicrous that problem might be

For example, last night I dreamt I was trying to get the barnacles off my yacht

Which is passing strange because I have never set foot on a yacht

Plus I wouldn't know a barnacle if one came to the door

I was worrying about the cost of dry docking my yacht

When the alarm went off

POOF! The yacht was gone, the barnacles were gone

The entire problem was gone

I cheerfully realized I didn't have to deal with any of it

I was glad to start a new day yacht and barnacle free

But I want to hang on to that feeling

That instant when I realized that the problem was just a dream problem

That expanding peace when poof the problem wasn't real

I want to hold on to that release and peace

Because I feel this is an important glimpse into

Enlightenment

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AHOY

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AHOY 

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When the lifeboat starts sinking

We jettison the extraneous

We immediately start thinking

Of the disposable miscellaneous

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Like the slings and arrows of the past

A ton of old regrets

The opinions and fads that didn't last

They are no longer assets

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As we hurl stuff overboard

We try to find the leak

Between plugging the holes and lightening the load

We can safely reach the blessed shore we seek

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NASTY HABIT

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NASTY HABIT

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I speak English, the language I was taught as a child

It is a habit so deeply ingrained that I think in English words

It is not a habit I wish to change, although I could

But so far English is fine

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I have emotional responses I don't like

For example panic

It is a habit for me to feel panic when the smallest thing goes wrong

I immediately feel the effects; racing thoughts, upset tummy, pounding heart

This is an emotional habit, learned from childhood

Where the slightest misstep caused dire consequences

Where I was under constant scrutiny and criticism

So, I lived in a perpetual state of fear and dread

But this is not my normal state of emotion

I have worked to create a life of calm and peace

My panic was learned as a child, developed as a habit

This is a habit I am working to break, I want to remain calm

Use my ability to reason, to talk myself down from

This very miserable and nasty habit

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LAST MEAL DINER

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LAST MEAL DINER

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At first we eat the pretty words and dessert of lies

But the more we eat, the emptier we feel

We keep hoping something will come along

We can sink our teeth into, that will nourish us

But we get nothing, at best, and slamonella poisoning

At worst

We mustn't hope until we starve to death

We must learn how to forage for ourselves.

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PROOF OF PROOF

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PROOF OF PROOF

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We have bullet proof glass

Now we need lie-proof earmuffs

Fakery proof eyeglasses

Scam proof money

Trip proof shoes

And an unbreakable heart

Unquenchable spirit

And a bottomless goblet of courage

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MANTLE OF PEACE

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MANTLE OF PEACE

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My public self has eroded

While my private self has grown

The mantle of peace I have gathered around me

Is one of the best things I own

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THE WATCHER

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THE WATCHER

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Nobody knows what you do in private

Nobody knows what I do either

When the worm is picked up from the hot sidewalk

And placed in the cool damp shade

When the food wrapper is wadded up and placed in a pocket

Until a trash recepticle is found

When the apple that has fallen from the pile in the grocery store

Is picked up and placed back on the pile

When the door is held open, the shopper with two items let in line first

These are private moments .... yet

Someone is always watching

Someone knows exactly what you do and what is in your heart

Someone who judges every private act and develops an opinion 

On your integrity and honor

That Someone is you

So, catch yourself doing something right

Notice how well you handled a situation

Think of the trouble you could have caused but didn't.

See how important your smallest acts are in forming an identity.

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BOTH WAYS

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BOTH WAYS

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When you don't know your own strength it is easy to see

Doors ripped off hinges, glass cracked from a forcefully closed window

Not a shred of self-pity, no excuses, carrying on no matter what

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But what if you don't know your own weaknesses?

Are there signs? Yes indeedy do

The person who does not know their own weakness

Will be inundated with requests for goods and services

Will be hit up for money that is never repaid

Will go far out of their way to help someone

That would not cross the street to help you

You know people who would not repay a kindness

Or appreciate your good heart

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Just as it is important to know our strengths

It is equally important to know our weaknesses

To shore up and protect those vulnerable places 

That the sketchy, the predators, the exploiters

Zero in on like you are their pot of gold

At the end of their rainbow of scams and lies.

We must be gentle as doves, but wise as serpents

To successfully navigate in the world as it is today.

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CHILLING OUT

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CHILLING OUT

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Back in the days of the Beatniks

It was all daddio and sputniks

Once the beatniks went over the hill

They took with them Nowheresville

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Nowheresville is far out in space 

It's where uncertain things have a place

If you're neither here nor there

You might be in Nowheresville

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Right now you are not able to decide

Or form an opinion or plan in your mind

That's when you go with the flow

Because until we know, we don't know

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Whether you're hip or a square

Nowheresville is neither foul nor fair

It is the grey area we pass through

On our journey to somewhere new

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SINGLE MINDED OF PURPOSE

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SINGLE MINDED OF PURPOSE

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Sometimes motivation is effortless

We know what we want to do, we figure out how to do it

We even do research to hone our skills

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But sometimes motivation is lacking, or hit and miss

We have a vague and hazy idea of what we want

A nebulous cloud of fuzzy ideas

Like watching a movie through a shower curtain

This will not do

We need the great motivation enhancement

A Plan

The more richly detailed the better

Outlined in tiny baby steps

So ask yourself "What is the first thing I need to do

To head toward and reach my goals?"

If you can know this first thing you can do it

Unless

There is a log jam from indecision caused by an inner conflict

With goals that tug against each other, stalemate

This inner conflict can be stated by using the Handy Method

"On the one hand ..., but on the other hand."

And then pick a hand, pick the one that holds the future

The hand that can reach for your dreams

And pluck them from the Universe.

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UNCERTAIN BEGINNING

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UNCERTAIN BEGINNING

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I didn't know I was leaving

The day that they sent me away

They were skilled at deceiving

Though I never wanted to stay

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Out into the world I traveled

Ill equipped to thrive or succeed

My identity coming unraveled

I didn't know what I would need

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BUTTON BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON

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BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON?

When a problem creator

Meets a problem solver

They can go round merrily

Round and around

In a lively game called "Yes, but"

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HOW CAN I HELP ME?

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HOW CAN I HELP ME?

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Self pity weakens the will

We want something but can't get our fill

A heartbreaking tale of woe

Will not take us where we want to go

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Self Compassion, on the other hand

Is an approach that can expand

Nurture and support from within

Is where healing strength begins

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PITCH FORK

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PITCH FORK

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Scammers selling hope

Dealers selling dope

Lenders selling rope

Me buying nope

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One has a great speil

A crypto-nifto deal

To an account they can steal

I know it's not real

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Mr. Fancy Pants

Looking for romance

An eye on the main chance

To reroute my finance

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I wish them all bad luck

While they dodge and duck

Cause scammers really suck

Running here and there amok

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THE CATERPILLAR'S DREAM

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THE CATERPILLAR'S DREAM

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The Sun touched his leaf

Dazzling the caterpillar

Waking it from its digestive doze

For a split second

Jarring loose a reoccurring vision

Of having magnificent brightly colored wings

Flying light as air above fields of flowers

Free as the blue sky and clouds above

A glorious dream

But only that, a dream ... a dream ...

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OVER AND OUT

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OVER AND OUT

If someone lived in a remote jungle

Wearing leaves, face painted with mud

Body scarred in elaborate designs

Teeth filed to points

They would have no idea that radio waves

TV transmissions, WiFi connectivity or electric lights

Even exist

Because they don't have receivers, no technology

Beyond poison darts and  the ability to make fire.

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If someone lived on a remote planet

Wearing stylish clothes, face painted

Decorated with tattooes, driving cars

Using smart phones, teeth bleached white

They would have no idea that information was being transmitted

On gravity waves, that neutrinos can have vast amounts of information

So, the 100 trillion neutrinos that pass through our bodies

Every second

Are as invisible to us as the radio waves are to our

Brothers and sisters in the deep dark green of the forest

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SURVIVAL

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SURVIVAL 

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Good thing you're as smart and resilient as a pack of wolves

Good thing you have fought your way through fire, water, deception and barriers

Good thing you have coped with abandonment, abuse, neglect and endless nights

Good thing, because it is not over, not yet

You have one more battle to win

Good thing you have these razor sharp skills

Honed on the whetstone of hardship and cruelty

To finally cut through the Gordian knot

That is preventing you from having the life you want

The life of freedom that is the ultimate good thing.

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WHAT IF

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WHAT IF

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What if there is only one atom

But it is everywhere all at the same time

What if everywhere was only one singular point

But it appears whereever there is an observer

What if I am a cosmic receiver of an elaborate broadcast hologram

Who thinks she is here now

But is actually everywhere and everything, always?

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WHAT I ASSUME ABOUT YOU

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WHAT I ASSUME ABOUT YOU  

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You are doing the best you can

When you learn how to do something better

You do it better

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You do things for a reason

Your reasons need only apply to you

I don't need to understand them

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You feel drawn to a higher purpose

Keeping your nose to the grindstone is practical

But adding to the good and kindness in the world

Is your real goal

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Art and nature are vitally important to you

On a daily basis

Music, paintings, forests and clouds

All draw your attention

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You think about the nature of reality

You live the examined life, the only game

Worth the candle

 

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WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO

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WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO

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There are many alarms all over the place

There's a smoke alarm over my bed

But the most alarming alarm of them all

Is the alarm that goes off in my head

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I try to stay focused, I try to stay calm

But nobody's life is perfect and charmed

When problems arise I try to stay wise

And not become hyper-alarmed

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I've gotten good at talking myself down

From a spike in my fight or flight

Because I will never ignore the alarm in my head

That could be warning me something's not right

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EXODUS

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EXODUS

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There are all different ways to leave a place 

As we watch our exit strategy take shape

But the most dramatic way is to suddenly leave 

The unbearable is when we must escape

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The situation can reach a crisis point

A relationship corpse no efforts can resuscitate

If we are in a dangerous horrible place

That is when we make our escape

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Whether it's flight in the dead of night

Or the result of a careful plan

If we must escape, then we will escape

To renew and begin again

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THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED

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THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED

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The prosperity of the wicked is annoying

Because the wicked make their profits from the poor

There must be ways to control the wealthy

We can't go back to the quaint and violent ways of yore

We in the masses have one mighty weapon

Better than a pitchfork and a torch

We can enact laws to make the rich pay

Living wages for those that work

Of course businesses need to make a profit

But this should not be wildly unfair

The cost of fair wages should not fall on the consumer

When the business makes more than its share

Things can and will get better

Once our priorities change

Because a fair wage for every worker

Is something we can enact and arrange

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THE EYE OF THE STORM

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THE EYE OF THE STORM

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When panic arises and reaches a peak

An unsustainable level of fear and adrenalin

A chaos so strident in tone and intensity

That functioning becomes nigh on impossible

That panic undergoes a transition, sets like concrete

All at once, it becomes a deep calm, quiet and sure

In the stillness of this calm

An inner voice, a sure knowing 

Shows us what to do to escape

This peace that passes understanding

Is a gift from Nature so we can cope

With situations that might have overwhelmed us

We don't have to wait for panic

We can visit this calm center of the maelstrom

With practice and visualization

It can become our vacation OM

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COMMUNICATIONISH

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COMMUNICATIONISH

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We were just chilling, hanging out

When all the stuff went down

And certain people turned up

Being all extra

Literally with a big attitude

I was feeling some kind of way

I was all like "WTF dude?"

And they were all like "It is what it is."

So I thought "Whatever whatever"

It wasn't legit or cool

Ya know what I mean? 

Ya feel me?

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