Some years ago, I bought one of those Taschen books on Symbols and another on Alchemy. In it, there was an illustration by William Blake depicting the forges of Los. The bellows - equivalent to our lungs, and the hammer and anvil of our heart’s four chambers, pumping away - keeping the blood in circulation. The blood that has the same salinity as the sea from which our ancestors emerged millions of years ago - that carries the vital molecule of hemoglobin with its central iron molecule - grabbing oxygen and carrying off carbon dioxide. That any of this works is an absolute miracle.
I was listening earlier today to
on and it occurred to me, as it often does, that the Latin root of Spirituality is “Spiritus” - and therefore, breathing is the essence of a spiritual experience. Now, their topic, as I was to learn, was really focused on the practice of visualizing and manifesting things that we desire using a process whereby we not only imagine our having attained the object of our desire, but also having rehearsed the emotional feeling - the “enthusiasm” - for whatever it is that we desired. All of this seemed to be right in line with the works of Neville Goddard which our friend, , has been writing about lately.To get to the point, while Joe Dispenza was primarily being cited as the proponent of this type of “manifesting,” it was Neville that really nailed the matter, for me anyway - and his story is most interesting. I won’t spoil it for you by recounting it here. There is so much to be gained by doing our own research. I was also put in mind of Kay Redfield Jamison’s work on “Enthusiasm” and Sophy Burnham’s “The Art of Intuition” - all of these are near and dear to me as tomes that I have “shored against my ruins.” The good news? We are still here - my heart is beating and my lungs are exchanging gases with the atmosphere. I am enabled by dint of this breathing/heart beating action to run my fingers over the keyboard and impart something of my experience to you, the readers of this Substack.
We’re all doing the best we can with what we have to work with where we are, I expect. If we knew better, we’d do better. Therefore, it’s possible to accept everyone exactly as they are, where they are, how they are and be grateful for the opportunity to share a few spins around the sun with everyone. That’s kind of what I was on about yesterday when I mentioned that I am grateful for everyone. I’m quite honored and humbled to be followed by more than a few and have somewhere near 500 subscribers, 11 of whom serve as my mostly non-directing board of directors due to having paid a subscription fee. Would that more would support the work monetarily, but I am not about to go begging … or maybe I just did!
No matter, the good news is that we are all still here and we have an opportunity to help one another make sense of the experience of being in the world in 2025. Onward!
I’d love to hear from any and all of you and, if you haven’t already done so, subscribe! Be a part of what makes my world go around.
I like what you wrote about acceptance: "it's possible to accept everyone, exactly as they are, where they are, how they are....". Yes, it is.! And I would like to add that it is the most respectful approach towards another being. And isn't it also how we all want to be met by our fellow human travelers on the Life journey. Many of the inter-human conflicts arise because some people are unable to accept others and instead want to make them into carbon copies of themselves. To feel safe? They then miss out on the joy that comes out of of accepting this beautiful diversity that makes humanity so fascinating. Decades ago, I saw a huge photo-exhibition called "The Family of Man". That was, among other things, a homage to diversity!
Thoughtful and food for thought, too. Thanks