Where is your home?

Oasis Reflection: Obstacles are a matter of perception...

La Ventana "Windows" Park in Condado. San Juan, Puerto Rico

What is your view?


Recently, I've been reading On Moving: A Writer's Meditation on New Houses, Old Hauts, and Finding Home Again by Louise DeSalvo. the author addresses the topic of "home"and the strong desire people have to choose the perfect home. I started to think about how often people move and how most of us hope that a new location will solve most of our problems.

However, I am sure that we bring our problems with us wherever we go. What I mean is that the cause of our dissatisfaction is often not external, but internal. It's part of our personality and/or is shaped by our attitude.  I admit that like DeSalvo, I love to travel.  I love to imagine my life in those new unknown places; nevertheless, it's healthy to remember that our disturbances come with us wherever we find ourselves.

What do you see in the photograph above? Do you notice the rock in the center? The water flowing over the rocks to form a small pool of water in the right foreground? Or the deep blue ocean in the distance? Our perspective informs what we allow ourselves to see and experience. The rock can be seen as an obstacle to blocking access to the water or an interesting formation to scale up and over - an opportunity to see the unobstructed ocean from the top. However, what we see remains with us no matter where we go.

I believe that we have to be bravely curious about our obstacles in life and learn from these ever present rocks.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no hiding place down here.

Excerpt from "On the Pulse of Morning" by Maya Angelou

Simon and Garfunkel "I am a rock"
© 2014 Cynthia Pittmann

Work and Inspiration

Change/ I’m organizing people, tasks, plans at work and in my dreams. I’m living my work life twice, once awake and once asleep. Let me out!/ Walking down the street, I’m shucked as new corn – Exposed, raw, open. It’s New York City in the fall Curtains blown through - caught, held, pinned. (Muse refuse?)/ Outside the box walking through Washington Square in clear air Green corners filled out In secret places rendezvous and parlez-vous “Bonjour mes amies!”/ Feeling life, living, alive Holding together, letting go Convex, concave light and loose … willpower? – it’s now or never./

  © Cynthia Pittmann 2014

Letting Go on Lot #70

 

Life and Letting Go

Sitting on the porch step perplexed and

Pondering wherefore, whence and whatever! 

However, how come, hence and finally,

What goes around, comes around.

Return,  depart and what happened? 

My little boy is growing up, 

Just the way he should. He's 

Moving out and becoming 

All that he wants to be. 

I'm happy-sad, spilling over 

Confusion and curtailed honesty.

Must be strong. Be well. Be better

But my boy is moving out. Starting

To fly (I almost pushed him 

Out of this house-nest)

So say it loud!

Say it clear! Deep breath:

Be well! It's time. 

Bye hon. Bon voyage! (and 

Buck up, Mom.)

PS.

Sending love and hugs! 

#70 Walks through Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

 Cats are everywhere!

Taking an early morning walk in Old San Juan last Saturday,  I noticed the cats on the sidewalk grooming and gently curious. I fell in love with a little kitten who wanted to chew on my big toe! When I reached down to play with her, she reached up and with two paws together, she grabbed hold of my glasses. Such a friendly kitten and so much trust towards a complete stranger! I worried about her safety. 

However, I discovered that caring local community has come together to help these cats. If you would like to read more I've posted two links below, which provide information about the cats in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Cats in Old San Juan

"The cats are a part of the Old San Juan experience, much like the cats and chickens that are a part of the Key West experience. Some of these cats are said to be descendants from the original cats that arrived on the ships when the first Spanish settlers came to the island. But the cats need help to stay healthy and alive. That is where the Save a Gato (Gato means cat in Spanish) organization comes into play."




"The problem is that cat populations will explode without intervention. Save a Gato  is a volunteer organization that manages the feral cats in Old San Juan by providing food and water. They also have a trap, neuter, and return (TNR) program, during which they also give necessary vaccinations." (Read more here.)

(Click on the title for more about this organization and how you can contribute.)



I'm Only a Cat

I'm only a cat,
and I stay in my place...
Up there on your chair,
on your bed or your face!

I'm only a cat,
and I don't finick much...
I'm happy with cream
and anchovies and such!
 
I'm only a cat,
and we'll get along fine...
As long as you know
I'm not yours... you're all mine!

Author Unknown

Also published in Oasis Writing Link

"What is essential is invisible to the eye."

Questioning Success?

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wise words of the fox in The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What if all that you dreamed possible 
were within your reach? 
Would you allow life's geyser to flow?
Or would you cap the steaming pressure 
and remain, determinedly, contained? 
Would fear stop you from accepting 
everything that is coming your way? 
How can we feel worthy enough to accept 
and open up to the life we've always wanted?
How can we know that this gift is not only possible,
but here?

Interrogating reality...

A re-post from Oasis Writing Link

A Hen-pecked Poem

Point of Inspiration Chicken/Cock

Chickens Were Once Chicks

Chickens have wings but don’t fly.

Chicks are baby chickens.

Chicks are small, soft, and make a gentle peeping sound

And are found in Easter baskets wearing

baby colors; powder blue, pink, yellow and green.

Chickens are domesticated and designed for consumption,

often cultivated with large breasts and small brains.

(He’s a thigh man. I like breasts.)

Chickens cross the road, chicks follow and flatten.

Do you want to play chicken? It’s game where

we drive toward each other at high speed,

the one who wants to survive the most? What a chicken!

Chicken soup, a healing broth,

Chicken Soup for the Soul, a sweet comforting story,

A chick flick, movies made for girls with predictable plot lines,

paint-by-number characters, mostly pink.

Chick lit, not solely romantic, empowering

Jane Austin and Bridget Jones.

And Hen Lit, matrons wearing red hats

and hot flashes. We're no spring chickens!

Chicken Little?   

Walking around like a chicken with her head cut off!

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Crazy chick disease, it’s a softening of the brain.

Chick magnet/chicken coop

Many chickens but only one

Cock, a member reference, substantial,

Cock-a-doodle-do!

He’s no chicken, nor is he a chick.

Chick, an American slang term for a young girl.

Cynthia Pittmann


Audio Recording  (Does the recording play on your computer?)

Published on Oasis Writing Link as a Magpie

Bird Verses - Poetry from 53A

Egret's regret
Couples pecking and sharing
Looking. Waiting. Confounded male

Poetry from 53A

Poetry from 53A - Outrageous

In she walks, slow and aloof.
Ignoring the looks cast her way,
she stalks, a red-tailed devil tat her escort.

Corseted and pierced, with high high-heels,

She's a heat-seeking missile in the flesh.

Glanced at, stared at, secret looks pry,

So young and so outrageous.

She knows the stir she causes,

indifferent, she neither pauses

nor apologizes for her look.

I read her like I would a poorly written book,

scanned and sketched, details dismissed.

And yet, she makes an enduring impression,

a memory of persistent outrageousness.

Poetry from 53A

"C" is for Cookie

"C" is for Cookie

It's also for the corn that

I don't know why I bother chewing

Now, I have placed a picture in

Your mind that will remain

For a long

Long

Time.

I can be cruel, it's true

But I hope you still

Love me

Even

After

That picture.

The Magic Land - Blogland Lane

I don't write poems or anything like that... But the community of Blogland Lane did make me write something close to that... It's kind of funny I guess... I don't know how it sounds.... LOL... But I definitely hope my sweet neighbours will enjoy it.... :)

The Magic Land - Blogland Lane

All that glitters are not gold
When I was a child... This is what I was told

Never been so bold to unfold what I was told
When I came to know this beautiful land, my thought got a new mold

That's how the old belief came to an end
Because of this magic which suddenly happened

This is a mystery land I'm talking about
You get all things possible here, no doubt

We have magical people live around here
You will see us smiling with joyful tear!

Amazing places, magnificent shores
Sunny sky with little rain drops
Land of gold with countless crops
Isn't it the best of all stops?

It is our sweet home Blogland Lane
We all are attached here like a chain

I'm putting a new thing on your brain
Here you can gain whatever you like without any pain!

You just make a wish, we will make it true
You get it all here, no need of 'to and fro'!

It's about believing that you CAN
Whatever you wish becomes true in Blogland Lane!

Don't forget to visit me at #602! I'm looking for tea partners as usual... :) Have a nice day buddies... Cheers!