Heaven can wait

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Global Consciousness

You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch. - Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Farewell Mr. Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon,
poses for his NASA portrait ahead of his historic
Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

Neil Armstrong, the first human ever to walk on the surface of the moon, died Saturday, August 25, at age 82.

Armstrong was catapulted onto the world stage on July 20, 1969, when, as commander of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, he stepped on to the moon's surface for the first time and said words that will forever be remembered: "That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

Armstrong died due to complications from recent heart surgery. He was a Navy test pilot before joining NASA's astronaut corps in 1962 and was one of a handful of pilots to fly the X-15 rocket.

"We will never forget that one small step you took so the rest of us could take a giant leap toward the stars."

Information and image source NASA

Thursday, August 23, 2012

My Sisters the Stars

My sisters, the stars
Are overwhelmingly radiant tonight.
I am interpenetrated by their glow.
I feel a shiver creeping along my spine.
Was I one of them? Is the pulse of my heart
A part of the cosmic beat of the rhythm of the stars?

I don't have an urge to dwell in the stars
Because I am there already. They are in me.
Smiling with joy when I write poetry
Thinking through my mind when I think philosophy.
As I look into my destiny I ask the stars:
What do you want me to become?
They tell me to transcend all human measures
And promise a life beyond human horizons.
Is this the cause of the shiver that runs along my spine?

Oh, my sister stars, how beautiful you are!
May I bask in your inexhaustible energy?
May I live to the promise
Contained in the radiance of your glow?
May I redeem you
By helping to redeem the human race?
May I continue the cycle you have started
From the cosmic dust to the Cosmic Christ?
May I glow to enlighten the path of all beings?

By Henryk Skolimowski

Henryk Skolimowski (1930-2018) - Polish philosopher and important figure in the eco-philosophical movement that puts emphasis on the human relationship with nature..

Heaven can wait...

Welcome to my eclectic blog. I am absolutely thrilled that you stopped by.

There are so many things to be done, so many places to be explored, so many emotions to be experienced, so much beauty to be created, that heaven can simply wait till we are done. Or can it?

One of my favorite movie directors, the fabulous Federico Fellini, believed that heaven was not a place, but a feeling. I agree as it is really up to us to create heaven in our hearts and minds and to experience bliss every single day no matter what our circumstances may be. Simple pleasures are often the most gratifying ones...

My only hope is that this blog will promote cultural curiosity and a sense of discovery in my readers.

With Love, Light and Laughter - Dominique Allmon

Delight in the little things • Rudyard Kipling