The Weight of Human Gravity

December 7, 2017 / Penny L Howe / 7 Comments

We (all of us) prejudice our thinking processes with our human expectations. Consciously or not, our lives revolve around personal perspectives of how things should be or how we would like them to be, individually or socially speaking.

This is most definitely a part of the human condition. “Human Gravity” is the predilection (guided by various emotions) to weigh ourselves down with the “how comes“, “what ifs“, and “why nots” and the ever popular “it’s not fair“. But then most of us know that life isn’t intentionally unfair or fair.

The ability to reach fulfillment of our hopes, wishes and desires absolutely resides within each of us. What might be of assistance is recognizing we are in complete control of the degree of human gravity we chose to allow.

And perhaps human gravity might not become so heavy and burdensome if our view of freedom came from an expanded viewpoint. That being:

“Freedom isn’t only a thought, an ideal or an expression. Freedom is allowing the manifestation of all our human being/senses to open completely to life experiences, witnessed by and with full and complete cooperation from heart & soul! Now that’s freedom, unfettered and released. There is no gravity. None what-so-ever!” ~Plh

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season. One with a minimum amount of human gravity.

With sincere affection,

~ Penny

Beauty and Wisdom …

January 18, 2017 / Penny L Howe / 11 Comments

… is there to be found in our every day lives.

There for us to view, if we take the time to see.

There for us to appreciate, if we remember to be grateful.

There for us to love, if we know and believe that we are in control of our thoughts, emotions and actions.

And remember too … truly, there is always time for love!

May your New Year be filled with blessings of every kind.

Thanks for stopping by,

With much affection,

~ Penny

I Cannot Bring You Peace, But This I Can Do –

June 13, 2016June 13, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 29 Comments

♡

As one person to another I can share love and peaceful intent – pass along calm, caring words that can give rise to positive thoughts and actions for bringing us all just a little bit closer to each other.

This I can do with openhearted expression and understanding. One person, one day at a time.

THIS I CAN DO AND SO CAN YOU!

♡

With sincere love and affection,
~ Penny

The Freedom of Your Thoughts … Illusionary?

March 11, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 6 Comments

Does the mind wander? Be cautious, there is flotsam – impregnable, polluting, and ever enticing – floating nearby, sometimes successfully pulling one inexorably toward the shores of inevitability.

Is there true freedom in thought? I wonder?

Grains of truth and hope do sparkle along the shoreline and can be found clinging in shallow tidal pools of awareness, even as the currents of existence ebb and flow.

Away from these imponderable shores, one can be found being concerned with futures. Wandering thoughts venture into the Mountains and Valleys of Uncertainties where contraindications often lead to the Cliffs of Lemmings where – located at the extreme edge – is the precipice of one’s known reality. If not careful our thoughts can morph into a herd-like mentality.

I know we do not desire for conscious thoughts to be distorted from the natural order of things, nor do we willfully choose to be persuaded, influenced or lulled into a condition contrary to who we are.

Yet there are outward influences that often subjugate our understanding and desire for a thing. Often insidious and unequivocally mind altering.

So I shall ask again. Are our thoughts really our own? And if not – I promise that I – for one – will escape the shores of my own Inevitability!

Thank you, may your weekend be a pleasant one.

~ Penny

What Rabbit Hole …

February 27, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 10 Comments

You know the one I mean. The one too many people aren’t seeing or pretending they’re not seeing, as if it’s just a fantasy in some fairytale book. But I’m speaking reality here. The one where we (humanity) have fallen down into Alice’s rabbit hole – for real! Not many words needed since you know of what I speak. In fact, lately there are too many words and not enough positive action and therefore I would like to suggest the following:

Love while you can.

Love who you can.

Love when you can.

Love all you can!

Whether large or small

doesn’t matter at all!

No blaming game

It comes out the same.

when all is said and done,

We are all One!

Period!

♡

With much love and affection,

~ Penny

Our Real Enemy

February 25, 2016February 25, 2016 / Penny L Howe / Leave a comment

“A child understands fear and the hurt and hate it brings.” – Nadine Gordimer

FEAR

So obvious when one really considers. After all, fear is the true opposite of love, not hate. Hate doesn’t happen unless fear is already there first, inside one’s mind.

Fear manifests in many forms: Fear of the unknown, fear of the different, fear of the future, fear of the past, fear of bullies, fear of being thought different from, fear of …. the list is endless and once fear exists, it is all too easy for an entire host of negative emotions to become fear’s companions and they do.

Recognize this: A sense of feeling less than, or do you recognize perhaps these fellow companions of fear; separating yourself from some by going with the crowd to be accepted (even if you disagree with what the crowd is saying or doing) or prejudice, disdain, scorn, hate, becoming superior to overcome insecurity, being dismissive and probably the worse one of all – indifference. You know, that comfortable place where you dwell because it’s safe (or so you believe).

If you are alive there truly is no such thing as safe. There are however amazing opportunities to thrive in an unsafe world made so by the “fear factor”. Believing in yourself is one. Caring for others is another. There is a tangible strength in a community of caring & sharing, loving people. Power brokers use fear as a weapon, often used to separate people – one from the other – and they do it well. They always have … because it works. History records this fact for those who would see.

In our world of today Fear is alive and well and running rampant around the planet and power brokers are still utilizing this weapon skillfully and to an advantage.

Is there anything one can do to change this? This is a question we each must answer for ourselves. Will we be ruled and influenced by fear? Or step out of the fear induced society of today and become our own person, guided by the richness of love that can become disused and lay dormant in the hearts of mankind.

I say once again that in a community of caring, sharing and loving people, whether the community be your immediate neighborhood or one spanning a country or even our entire planet there is no fear that cannot be conquered where love is the ruling state of (well) being.

~ Penny

The Age of Aquarius – Let the Sun Shine In!

February 2, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 2 Comments

Open your hearts and fill with love. There’s room for every living thing on our planet. I am a Februarian, that is to say I was born in February. Most definitely the month of Love. So I agree with the following video ~ completely! (If these folks look a little hippy, consider changing the word “hippy” to “happy” – I’m good with that!) ♡

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

All my love to all of you,

~ Penny

Your Inspiration, Where Does It Come From?

January 27, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 7 Comments

The View From Your Eyes!

“The View From Your Eyes – Infinity of Being is your true inspiration” ~ Plh

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” ~ Patanjali

What inspires …

Love inspires. Beauty inspires. Bravery inspires. The human spirit of never giving up, inspires. Tenderness inspires. Happiness inspires. Caring people making a difference, inspires. Thoughtfulness, inspires.

A smile inspires. A mother and/or father caring for their family inspires. Children Inspire. The aged and elderly inspire. A young adult woman or man just starting to explore their world inspires.

The changing seasons inspire. Nature inspires. Animals inspire.

LIFE!

Life – in all it’s richness and diversity – inspires!

For some unknown reason I’ve had more than a fair share of close calls with death. Up close and personal close calls where I thought there would be no tomorrow. And I’ve dealt with pain, surgeries and months, years of coping with same, before moving on to a better place, because that happens too.

Raising my children as a single mom, messing up again and again, sometimes making very poor decisions in the process. What I’ve learned is that our life experiences mold us. They shape how we are – and who we will become.

Speaking for myself, I am a female who has survived, grateful for each new day I get to share with others. I take nothing for granted, staying hopeful that something I say or do will positively impact others. My way of saying “Thank you” to the universe for allowing me to live another day, sometimes in the face of great adversity. In summation …

Life IS our inspiration and we – through the prism of life, as viewed and experienced by ourselves – can and do inspire others. Inspiration come full circle. How rich we want our life to be entirely dependent on …

… “The view from our eyes!”

♡

Thank you, from my heart,

~ Penny

Just in the Knowing … Haibun of Love

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016 / Penny L Howe / 7 Comments

♡

Just in the Knowing

Just in the knowing you’re somewhere. Not caring where, just knowing you exist is enough for contentment. Alright, perhaps a whimsical slightly lonely contentment, but contentment none-the-less. Were I to have realized love’s nature as we laughed and played during brief interludes of time together perhaps choices would have been a different making.

But nature of things at the time (Ah, time … immutable passage of linear time) spinning out of control, whirlwind of decision making – poorly thought through – emotionally charged and so we are apart … and yet … we are not.

For all that you are and all that I am create amazing realities of “greater than”. This unknown mysterious quality of perception, not understood but realized and so it is that …

Love has no true boundaries: Not time. Not location. Not even cessation.*

*through the physical departure from our current plane of existence

For truly love is existence and existence is love – superseding any boundaries of time. Time becomes timeless and therefore never ending as is ~ my love ~ for you.

timelessness of life

gifted from eternity

never ending love

♡

It’s been awhile since my composition of haibun. I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading, have an excellent weekend!

With sincere affection,

~ Penny

When Did It Become Okay?

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015 / Penny L Howe / 10 Comments

When did it become okay to eat chemically processed food? Food that we know, for a fact is chemically processed, but oh so amazingly convenient – a part of our modern addictive lifestyle and easily available with very little effort on our part.

What is food today in Consumer Land (you know – right here, right now)?

Food (a loose interpretation): Items bought packaged for longer shelf life in megastores and minimarts. Food bought at fast food locations. Food grown and sprayed with poisonous pesticides and processed using artificial methods and mutiple chemical additives for flavor enhancements and longevity.

When did it become okay to make money off of treating and healing sick people? Or worse, not seeing them at all if they haven’t got the right insurance.

When did it become okay to not be able to afford to take your animal to the vet? When did it become okay to buy products (almost everything) with built-in, short term obsolescence … guaranteeing you’ll buy the “new & improved” version?

Not only are too few of us not thinking about cause and effect, even more of us are not seeing beyond our nose, or should I say the view screen of our smartphones, tablets, computers, television, and so on. Not my opinion, just absolutely true facts!

“It saddens me when, as a race, we humans have been given so many advantages and yet our worst emotions still rule us.”~ Plh

Greed (now called profit margins & for us lesser folks, the constant seeking for a “better quality of life”)
Laziness (now called convenience)
Sloth (now called comfort)
Hatred (against anything and everything you don’t like or fear)

And so we’re left with our own personal rationales for why we do what we do, as we each (more or less) contribute to our downfall.

Wake up! Open your minds, your heart and your awareness. We can bring about dramatic improvements, if we want to, or continue to be harbingers of our eventual failure as a human race.

As always – our own individual choice to make.

Penny L Howe