Casa DelaRosa and the Four Elements

22/11/2024

22/11/2024

Embrace joy with every fiber of your being! Life won't suddenly become a smooth, easy ride. It's a complex journey, full of twists and turns. So why wait for perfect conditions?

Find happiness in this very moment, messy and imperfect as it may be. Time is fleeting, and each day that passes is one you can't reclaim. Learn to dance in the rain, to laugh in the face of challenges, to find beauty in the chaos.

Your joy is a choice, a rebellion against life's hardships. Make that choice now, loudly and boldly, arms wide open to embrace whatever comes your way. Because at the end of the day, it's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to live fully and joyfully even when you're in the eye of it.

~ Etheric Echoes ~ Etheric Echoes

~ Art by Des Brophy

21/11/2024

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21/11/2024

One for my smarties 🧠

21/11/2024

In the wake of an election won by candidates who have plans to bring down democracy (but not the price of eggs), I’m one of millions of contrarians who are trying to get clear about the most responsible way forward.

This much I’m clear about: of those who cast votes, a majority of my fellow citizens voted for this outcome, so unless I want to flee from them or duke it out—which I don’t—“forward” means (among other things) trying to find creative ways to relate to at least some of them.

Relating well to those I disagree with means listening with care to the stories they tell about who and how they are, in hopes that they might be open to hearing my story, too. Learning each other’s stories makes it harder to demonize or dismiss one another, and sometimes makes the inexplicable at least understandable.

Here’s a poem full of good counsel about the two sides of that street: speaking your truth and listening to the truth of another. As the fallout from this election continues, I have a sense that a lot of stories will be changing over the next couple of years, which means there will be a lot of interesting listening to do.

Memo to Self: Speak up and listen up!

P.S. The latest counts from 2024 show the (R) candidate received 76,537,938 votes, while the (D) candidate received 73,922,971 votes. But about 36% of the voting-eligible population did not vote, which means that about 89,000,000 people sat this one out. Sad, but par for the course. These figures are from The Associated Press, which reputable journalists regard as the gold standard in such matters.

[My 10 books are at https://tinyurl.com/mt4sbe7t.]

17/11/2024

Yes, this !

"I started calling that girl back. The girl who loved living, the girl who danced instead of walking.
The girl who had sunflowers for eyes and fireworks in her soul.
I started playing music again, hoping she would come out.
I started looking for beautiful moments to experience, so she would feel safe enough to show herself, because I knew she was in there.
And she needed my kindness and my effort to come to the surface again."

(✍️ S.C. Lourie -- 'Butterflies and Pebbles' )

Art : Aaditya Shrirang Bhat