GuideDog Life Mentoring and Workshops

04/03/2024

Strategies (other than self shame) for getting out of bed on days you just don’t want to?

02/19/2024

I’m going to start posting this kind of thing to my own
Page- the stakes are too high this year. Authoritarianism threatens the world in a way not seen since the 1930’s. This year looks to be pivotal.
It’s time for all friends of government by, of, and for the people to speak out and get active. Tha darkness around us is deep.

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the Russian activist Alexei Navalny, has said that President Putin “killed my husband”, accusing the authorities of deliberately hi...

02/13/2024

Healthy masculinity is resilient, not hair trigger.

11/27/2023

07/13/2023

https://www.facebook.com/606033003/posts/10159543299483004/

06/30/2023

My religion commands me to treat the stranger with kindness, and to love my neighbor as myself. That kind of covers everyone. I like my religión, and the values it aspires to.
Henceforth I reserve the right to refuse service to those who refuse service to others.

The decision, which turned on the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment, appeared to suggest that the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. people are on more vulnerable legal footing, particularly when they are at odds with claims of religious freedom.

06/26/2023

In my 40’s I enjoyed the gray hair emerging, the creases forming on my face, the weathering skin. I thought it made me look rugged, seasoned, well used.

Now in my 70’s, some days I am displeased by what I see in the mirror. What was rugged looks worn, what was weathered looks corroded, what was patina borders on pathetic.

But isn’t this the good story? To age and grow older, to wrinkle, sag, crack, creak, snap, crackle and pop! Sometimes my body sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies in the morning! Still, as the sages of the Talmud taught, an hour of life is still life! We all have friends and family who never had the chance to grow older, who would be happy to have a day of arthritis, weak limbs, declining vigor, fading eyesight, difficulty hearing, stiffness of motion.

For while the body is a passing show, the spirit is an ascendant glory. The everyday joys of blue sky, green leaves, golden sun; the smile of a child who has nothing but possibility ahead; the satisfaction of a new skill learned in our 8th or 9th decade, the earned pride in a project well done, a life well lived-and living.

No, I would not trade, for all my youth, the fire and glory that is in me now. As my body thins, fades, becomes translucent, the light within me shines through ever more brightly, illuminating my face and path forward, until I join with the Light of All Light. For the body is just matter, light slowed down to the point of visibility and touch. As I age, I pick up more speed with every passing year, and more and more of my light emerges, until, eventually, I become invisible, untouchable, and One for the Ages.

06/13/2023

This morning I awoke worried about all the unfinished projects in my barn. I began to slip toward self recrimination, thinking myself lazy and unmotivated.
I began to mentor myself as if I were a client. Reminded myself of how much I get done each day, even through cancer, aging, and the thousand little impediments life gives us each day.
“How can you hold your project list in a way that brings you joy?” I asked myself. This is what I came up with.
My to-do list is a treasure chest of gems and precious metals, thinly disguised as creative projects. I have an abundance of riches patiently waiting for me. I don’t have to spend them all at once, I can pick up the next one that calls to me, and when complete, the next and the next, and so on. I have riches to last me all of my days. My barn full of projects is a treasure chest.

What’s your treasure?

Joelaur.com

I'm a father, husband, naturalist, woodworker, mentor, facilitator, and student of The All.

06/13/2023

🙂