Another day in mild day Florida and the sun is doing its Dance of the Seven Veils behind layers of fog and cloud. I think it should burn off by noon to make it another fine riding day here. I will be riding again with a new friend I just made and I look forward to the chance to learn more about them and about me in the process. That’s the really cool part of taking the time to listen to someone else and to get to know their story.
My story becomes clearer to me when I talk with someone else. Just articulating my thoughts and feelings requires digging down below the surface level of the conversation and requires a level of honesty with myself to keep it all real.
Last night I was enjoying a post blog completion libation and responding to the comments and messages I was receiving from friends and strangers who had read that days posting. While I was doing that pleasant activity I was watching the Eagles Hell Freezes Over tour DVD. I was soon swallowed up in listening to the lyrics of “The Heart of The Matter” written by Don Henley, JD Souther, and Mark Campbell. The powerful 12-string intro by Joe Walsh was the musical cue that pulled me into an intense listening state.
I got the call today I didn't wanna hear,
But I knew that it would come,
An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone,
She said you found someone,
And I thought of all the bad luck,
And the struggles we went through,
And how I lost me, and you lost you,
What are these voices outside love's open door,
Make us throw off our contentment,
And beg for something more?
But I knew that it would come,
An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone,
She said you found someone,
And I thought of all the bad luck,
And the struggles we went through,
And how I lost me, and you lost you,
What are these voices outside love's open door,
Make us throw off our contentment,
And beg for something more?
The song could have been written about me! The sign of a great lyric is how readily we see ourselves in the story that is being told. I was especially struck by the phrase:
And how I lost me, and you lost you,
What are these voices outside love's open door,
Make us throw off our contentment,
And beg for something more?
What are these voices outside love's open door,
Make us throw off our contentment,
And beg for something more?
A beautiful rendering of the sense of estrangement and call of the sirens of discontent that lead us to seek more out of our lives.
As often happens these days, in the midst my reflections on the song’s meanings, I received a message from a good friend who is going through a very hard time in their lives including a very trying divorce. The message was one of exasperation and anger with a spouse who has spent much his adult life gazing fondly on his own reflection in the pond of life. Talk about serendipity:
I've been tryin' to get down to the heart of the matter,
But my will gets weak,
And my thoughts seem to scatter,
But I think it's about forgiveness,
Forgiveness,
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore,
But my will gets weak,
And my thoughts seem to scatter,
But I think it's about forgiveness,
Forgiveness,
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore,
Anger and resentment can sneak in the open door so easily when we go through life’s trials. It does not serve us well. Now, this person that wrote me is a generous, compassionate soul yet even the strongest and most compassionate of us can get sucked into the vortex of the emotional turmoil and become in the moment just who we don’t want to be. Little did she know that was reading these lines while digesting her message! My response was the tell her to let the anger slide away (easy for me to say) But, it is all about forgiveness even if the object of our angry feelings and resentments is someone we no longer love. True forgiveness frees us from the anarchy of anger and makes us stronger.
There are people in your life who've come and gone,
They let you down,
You know they hurt your pride,
You'd better put it all behind you, baby, 'cause life goes on,
You keep carryin' that anger,
It'll eat you inside, baby,
They let you down,
You know they hurt your pride,
You'd better put it all behind you, baby, 'cause life goes on,
You keep carryin' that anger,
It'll eat you inside, baby,
Anger and resentment do eat us inside. How powerful a message is that! Let your own disappointments, resentments, and anger fall away from you so they are just an echo down the road.
I just received this wonderful quote from a friend back home who read yesterday’s blog:
"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil the day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself." Ernest Hemingway"
From the as yet untitled new book:
I held the broken necklace in my hand
How had I torn the link in my haste
Taking my sewing kit I threaded the clasp
And mended the result of my eagerness
Oh that in life we could so simply heal
The commitments of our hearts
And also from the new book written on the eve of September 11th 2001 as I watched my American Brothers and Sisters struggle and suffer.
I saw you standing alone my Brother
Isolated in your sorrow
Your family shattered and reduced
A smoky pallor rising
From your cities senselessly ravaged
Your grief raw, visceral
Fold your wings my dear Brother
And come near me
And take solace in the comfort
Of my thoughts
KPW
Ajax, ON
Sept 11, 2001
No comments:
Post a Comment