Dreams

The only opinion about your dream that really counts is yours.  The negative comments of others merely reflects their limitations not yours.  ~  Cynthia Kersey

I Touch the Sky


I reach to touch the sky

To ever expand my vision

And reach.

I touch the stars

And gently pull a star

To my heart;

Oh! The dreams within me

Become forever imprinted on my heart

I cradle my dreams within

And nurture them;

They can come true because

I touch the sky.


Copyright (c)  2014  Suzannah Wolf Walker   all rights reserved

Attitude

Source:  www.google.com

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts  It is more important the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company . . . a church . . .a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannon change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our Attitudes."

~ Charles Swindell

www.google.com

Copyright (c)  2014  Suzannah Wolf Walker   all rights reserved

Another tribute to Robin Williams

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O Captain! My Captain!

From the film: The Dead Poet's Society

BY WALT WHITMAN

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

                         Here Captain! dear father!

                            This arm beneath your head!

                               It is some dream that on the deck,

                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

                            But I with mournful tread,

                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

I don't think the death of an artist and performer has ever resonated so much with us  as the the passing of Robin Williams.  I think most Americans felt his passing in their hearts and souls because he made us laugh and he made us think with the dramatic roles he played on the screen.  His photo, articles about him and television news reports about him are everywhere.  Entire magazine editions have been created in his honor.  The last time I remember this much coverage of a death is the death of President John F. Kennedy.  Yes, Robin Williams is of Camelot.  He represents the best of  America.  He represents the best of the gifted and talented.

Probably because I am a teacher, my favorite role of his is as the teacher in "Dead Poet's Society."  His portrayal of the nonconformist teacher who would rather be fired than compromise in his beliefs in his students ability to rise to any heights they wanted to, his strong belief in his unorthodox teaching methods, and his inspiring his students to challenge the notions of what is expected of them, resonated with me as a teacher.

Carpe diem!

Broken Hearts

Source:  www.picshunger.com  

Torn and broken  hearts

within a circle;

Crying out for help.

See me, notice me!

I am human;  I feel

the deep, dark, vacuous vessel

within me more than the light.


Darkness envelops me

as I am clawing, climbing, convulsively

grabbing to reach the light and

propel myself from the dark abyss.

Will it ever happen?


Hearts of shattered glass;

Can they ever really be mended?

Shards of my jagged heart

are scattered about,

I desperately gather them up.

When will I be whole again?

Copyright (c)  Suzannah Wolf Walker  all rights reserved

Robin Williams - Our most favorite and talented clown!

A brilliant star has burned out and the world is the darker for it.  Our favorite clown, Robin Williams, has apparently taken his own life, according to authorities.  He made us laugh, giggle, cry, and howl.  There was no other comedian, past or present, who could tickle our sides quite like Williams did. 

 His performances, because they were definitely great performances, in every movie he made, drew us in to look at the world in a different and unique way and inspired us to look closer for the true meaning and depth of life.  He was not going to let us get away with the superficial meanderings on the road of life.  He forced us to look at love, poetry, romance and laughter in new and creative ways.  He made us aware and mindful of what truly was important in life and did it in such a comedic way, that by laughing at him we were able to laugh at ourselves.

Williams has been described by all as a comedic genius.  And, that he was.  His wit and cleverness hit like lightening and he could improvise on a flash of a moment with anyone he was around.  His brain and thoughts were on overdrive and we could hardly hear fast enough to keep up with his wit.

We know also of his depressive disorder, and his his drug usage to fill the dark hollow vessel within him that he felt, but we knew nothing about.  

The true definition of depression is that each one that suffers from it does so because they have been forced to face reality - sometimes a reality that is sad and painful but real.  They have faced reality up close and personal in a way others have not.  The rest of the world lives happily on in a bubble of illusion, never understanding the hurt and pain in the world, but only a pin prick burst of the bubble away from a reality they might not be able to handle either.

Who is to say, when faced with a brutal reality of life, and the pain of that deep hollow vessel, that the taking of one's life might be the course taken also?

True genius, really, is just a sword's edge or a hanging thread from depression and mental disorders.  If Williams had not had the depressive disorder, would we have had the comedic genius that he was?  Would we be able to have the genius without the depressive disorder?

In true genius and brilliance, are the highs and lows necessary for the genius to be revealed.
And, once revealed, wouldn't  the genius be enough to satisfy Williams?

Robin Williams was a round peg everyone tried to push through a square hole as he was growing up.  Fierce and quick comedic wit is what kept the round peg from being pounded into a square shape.  Williams beat and won out over conformity with his comedic talent.

But, throughout his life and his brilliant career, the deep dark hollow vessel remained deep and empty inside.  He put on the clown's face and never revealed to us his pain time after time.  As he grew older and matured, he did stop to discuss his drug rehab experiences, always assuring us with a joke that he had conquered his demons.

By his sixth decade, Williams was exhausted from the cycle of depression, working through therapy and comedy to briefly conquer it, only to have it return, and the cycle continue.  How much longer would this go on?  

He put on his clown face and had us convinced he was fine - successful and strong.  The mask hid the fear, the terror, the anxiety, and the panic of the deep empty vessel that always rang hollow and seemed to question his talent and confidence.  

Robin Williams was exhausted.  Sixty years of facing life's realities and trying to make fun of it all.  He needed to finally rest from it all.

The song, "Be a clown, be a clown . . ."  echoed through his ears as he pulled the belt strap around his neck, hanging himself, and finally feeling peace flood his body instead of pain.

Update:  August 15, 2014.  When someone takes their own life our first question is always "why?"  Williams' wife has provided a clue as to why.  She has announced Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.  To a comic who used facial expressions and physical pratfalls as part of his comedy this must have been devastating to him. To know that  he would slowly be turning to stone as Parkinson's disease slowly petrified his body was most likely more than he could bear.  Anyone would be depressed with this diagnosis.  His body eventually would become a hard, empty stone vessel.  That would be a living death to a comedian.   Hopefully, Williams is in a better place and finally at peace.

Copyright (c)  2014  Suzannah Wolf Walker

I am tired of war!

Destruction of Gaza City and Palestian lives.
Source:  www.google.com

I am tired of war! 

 I only state what the rest of Americans feel at this time.  Americans are exhausted from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and now in Israel against the Palestinians.  We are all worn out.

 I look at the photo above and my heart goes out to the Palestinians.  But, on the other hand, they are allowing Hamas to use them as human shields.  The Palestinians need to run for the hills and depopulate Gaza City.

The Israeli's and Palestinians really have been at war all my life.  This is a religious war - the Jewish religion vs the Islamic religion - and religious wars never end.  This is really just a continuation of the medieval Crusades.  

Once the Jewish people were granted a land and built a state in 1948, the Palestinians have been crying how unfair that is.  Well, when the Palestinians had the land to themselves, they did nothing to build a state of their own.

The Israeli's did do something with the land, building the great state of Israel, and so now the Palestinians want to destroy and wipe out Israel and all the Jewish people.  There will not be peace in this area of the world as both sides incite the other into war.

Hamas and the Palestinians lob missiles into Israel whenever they feel like it, trying to pound Israel out of the ground.  They have taken much needed concrete and building materials to build tunnels into Israel so they can kidnap, kill and torture Israelis.   They hope the Israeli's will give up at the guerrilla tactics they use against them and voluntarily leave.  That's not going to happen.

 Why aren't they building schools, mosques, industry, companies and stores with their building materials?  Because they are devoted only to destroying Israel even if it means the death of so many Palestinians.  It is not just the Israeli's killing Palestinians, it is Hamas who seems to control the PLO that is also killing their own Palestinians through these fruitless wars.

Israel, on the other hand, has a right to defend themselves against these missiles from the Gaza strip and from the Hamas constructed tunnels into their country.  But, on the little land the Palestinians have, the Gaza strip and the West Bank, the Israelis won't leave them alone.  By the Israeli's harassing the Palestinians,  the Israeli's hope the Palestinians will give up and voluntarily leave.  That's not going to happen.

The Israeli's won't leave the Palestinians alone and have initiated all kinds of harsh rules and regulations against the Palestinians.  The Israeli's don't want the Palestinians to thrive or lead modern lives.  The Israeli's keep the Palestinians subjugated and from leading modern lives as the rest of the world does.  The Israeli's cry that they are the ones for peace.  But, really they are not or they would ease up on the rules and regulations under which the Palestinians must live, so that hate and resentment does not build up in the Palestinians against the Israeli's.  The Golden Rule would work wonders here.

Will there ever be peace between the Israeli's and Palestinians?  I don't think so.  They play a game of tit for tat and neither side will back down.  I see no common ground between the two religions or between the two countries.  Even a two state solution will not work as both sides will continue to try to destroy one another and/or run the other one out of this area.

For humanities' sake is never taken into consideration between either side.  We also are coming into an era of world politics where the leaders of the U.S. and western Europe have no say and no sway in affecting the war between these two races of people or other wars around the world.   It is frustrating to watch Secretary of State John Kerry so ineffective on his quests for cease fires and peace here and around the world.

Both the Israeli's and the Palestinians have the right to live and thrive in this world.  Both religions are valid.  But, each country must change their mindset of which they want to completely destroy one another.

Until both countries change their mindset and come up with a new paradigm of thinking, there will never be peace.

Copyright (c)  2014   Suzannah Wolf Walker

A Leaderless World on a Day of Mourning

I watched with sadness and heaviness of heart as the Dutch victims of MH 17 returned to the Netherlands at Eindhoven today.  This is a national day of  mourning for all of the Netherlands.  As the coffins were silently taken from the Dutch cargo plane and put in black funeral hearses, this was finally the dignified and poignant honor these bodies deserved since the downing of the plane.

And, where are our world leaders?    Except for the government and royal dignitaries of the Netherlands, none are around.  

The shooting down of and the resulting death for all civilians on MH 17 by Russian separatists backed by Vladimir Putin and Russian arms, is as serious as 9/11 was in the world so many years ago. 

But, where is the outrage?  This is a civilian plane gunned down by Russian terrorists with Putin's fingerprint on the trigger.   Where is the outrage?

For the rest of the world, life goes on as usual.  President Obama is out west campaigning for Democrats and fundraising.  Unconscionable.   For once, the President should be at least in Washington, DC working with world leaders as how to properly respond to this tragedy and debacle.

France is continuing on with their contract with Russia for ship building.  Are you kidding me?
After this has happened?   A civilian airplane gunned down during the Ukranian/Russian war and approximately 300 lives lost because of it?  

With audio tapes of these Russian separatists knowing it was a civilian plane they were shooting down, and gleefully congratulating themselves for their sick action?

The UK and the rest of the European countries remain practically mute over this incident because they have energy contracts with Russia?

The UN - for heaven's sake - the United Nations is taking no action and virtually ignoring this incident has happened?

Tony Blair, we appreciate the words you have spoken against this Russian action, but where is the U.S. and European action?  Actions speak louder than words.

And, the Dutch, for that matter should be taking whatever action it can against Russia and Putin.

But, it is a different world today.  I guess Vladimir Putin, the world bully that he is, has won.  I would think the UN would yank him into International Court and try him for war crimes.  Because, the shooting down of MH 17 is just that - a war crime.  Where is the International Court's indictment of Putin?

Putin is no different than Hitler, Nazi officers of WWII, or Slobodan Milosovic.  These men are monsters and the world just goes on as if nothing has happened.  Oh well, another plane crash, is the atmosphere of the day.

We know that it was the Russian separatists, aided and supplied with military arms by Putin, that did this horrible deed.  There is no doubt about that.  But, today, we live in a leaderless world.

The U.S. and European leaders are burring their heads in the sand.  And, we know what happens when that occurs.  The world situation will only get worse.

Copyright (c)  2014  Suzannah Wolf Walker   all rights reserved