The Melancholic Euphorian

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[melanchorian]

Alan Watts, Why Your Life Is Not A Journey (17 Sep 2016) via Thinking Minds

: On why it’s dangerous for us to get tunnel vision in terms of our destination in life:  

“The existence, the physical universe is basically playful. There is no necessity for it whatsoever. 

“It is best understood by analogy with music. 

...

“We thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, and the thing was to get to that end. Success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. 

“But we missed the point the whole way along. 

“It was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing, or to dance, while the music was being played.”

[catastrophepins]

Armistice Day

Armistice Day is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, and coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day.

[melanchorian]

The Cave

: But Friend, where are you going? Why do you venture so deep into the cave – aren't you afraid you'll never find your way back?

: There are some things I crave more than safety and comfort. My sanity kind of depends on it. :

[melanchorian]

via Thinking Minds 

“I drank to drown my sorrows, but the damned things learned how to swim.”

Frida Kahlo 

[melanchorian]

Beautiful paintings by South Korean artist Yongsung Kim via Taemen

[melanchorian]

“After a while you learn the subtle difference Between holding a hand and chaining a soul, And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning And company doesn’t mean security. And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts And presents aren’t promises, And you begin to accept your defeats With your head up and your eyes open With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child, And you learn to build all your roads on today Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight. After a while you learn… That even sunshine burns if you get too much. So you plant your garden and decorate your own soul, Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure… That you really are strong And you really do have worth… And you learn and learn…

With every good-bye you learn.”

Jorge Luis Borges, You Learn via The Love Journals

[indieteen]

[melanchorian]

Animation by Ryan Woodward: Thought of You (2010)  Song by Coldplay: Gravity from album X&Y (2005)

Can you hear my heart beating? Can you hear that sound? 'Cause I can't help thinking And I won't stop now

And then I looked up at the sun And I could see Oh, the way that gravity pulls on you and me And then I looked up at the sky And saw the sun And the way that gravity pushes on everyone

: I first heard this song during my ‘Coldplay phase’ years ago, but this short film is kind of special. 

[melanchorian]

Cartoons by Leunig

[melanchorian]

An Old Cherokee Tale of Two Wolves

: So the story goes: 

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’

via wizdompath

[melanchorian]

Casey Stengel via Thinking Minds

“The trick is growing up without growing old.”

: Living through our children, making better lives for them, delighting in them as we observe their spirit and remember what it’s like to be young. For youth makes life timeless.

[melanchorian]

via Bizarre Art

[melanchorian]

"We feasted on love; every mode of it, solemn and merry, romantic and realistic, sometimes as dramatic as the thunderstorm, sometimes comfortable and unemphatic as putting on your soft slippers. She was my pupil, my teacher, my subject and my sovereign, my trusty comrade, friend, shipmate, fellow-soldier. My mistress, but at the same time all that any man friend has ever been to me."

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (1961)

[melanchorian]

The Serpent

“There is a serpent by the wayside watching those who pass by: beware lest he bite thee with unbelief. He sees so many receiving salvation and is seeking whom he may devour.”

The great American writer Flannery O’Connor added that whatever form the serpent may take, “it is of this mysterious passage past him, or into his jaws, that stories of any depth will always be concerned to tell, and this being the case, it requires considerable courage at any time, in any country,” not to turn away from God’s story or the storyteller.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. , Remembering who we are and the story we belong to (19 Oct 2016)

: It's like the mystery of God and how people long for that idealistic version of reality. They feel optimistic about what lies beyond the known world, relishing in the prospect of encountering something even more amazing than what we have now. Except it's the irresistible mystery of Satan. Perhaps people confuse pleasure with happiness and they feel that consistent pleasure can lead them to joy. But sometimes futility can look damn promising.  

[melanchorian]

23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 16: 23-24 (NIV)

[melanchorian]

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8: 38-39 (NIV)

[melanchorian]

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29: 11-13 (NIV)