While I still can

It may be a kind of last "hurrah," but I've noticed that the older I get the younger I become.  I dare say that I've taken to dressing in a way unlike most women my age.  I've even started talking like I'd never talked before using risque' words like you-know-what (only with close friends and after a glass or two of wine). When one reaches a certain age, occasional acts of defiance are like candy treats to a child!
 

I've realized that time I have to indulge myself  may be limited.  Eventually, I may no longer be able, for example, to dance with the same abandon I apply myself to currently. I may not be able to dance at all. Period (as I knock on wood).
 

The skepticism and cynicism that often accompany aging just might worm themselves into my psyche and rein in my sense of adventure and wonder.
 

So I've decided that I would as much as possible....
 

- Sleep naked.

- Savor the wonderful and comforting feeling of skin touching skin.

- Cast aside my timidity and enjoy the excitement and surprises of letting my hand explore under the table.

- Drive on roads I avoid most of the time. Heck, I will not let fear rule.

- Promote kindness and love where people fight and are hurt, angry and cynical.

- Use my hands to catch all the good energies from dancing and the music and spread them to all the people in the room.

- Shift my consciousness when I'm upset or disappointed from dwelling on perceived transgressions to focusing only on love, because Love is all there is. Everything else is illusion.

- Strive to keep whatever marbles I have left.

While I still can.

 

 

 Here's a  short music clip I'd like to share with you. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFzJ94eJS7o 

 

 

 

 

 Posted with Aloha!

- ARIEL MURPHY

The road

The road to love can be long and rough, even scary. All sorts of monsters show up along the way.  The most formidable is an adroit shape-shifter called the Ego.

Like a dragon spitting fire, the Ego spews globs that target your eyes and turn them blind.   A small bit of goo on your skin can quickly numb your whole body.  Its sting is a potent drug that causes illusions of grandeur and, like plaque, hardens the aorta and transforms your heart from a blood-filled life-sustaining organ to a potentially fatal coronary.

Only a Medusa-like stare can trump the ego.  You see it never really dies. It lays low after losing a battle and when you’re not watching, its treachery rises again. The ego is everyone's phantom sniper.

Once you are able to best the Ego you’re on your way to love. You’ll know that you’re in the right direction when you reach the Forgiveness train station.   Be sure to take the train going to Acceptance.

But it’s a tricky track that loops a lot. Most times you end up right where you started and are again confronted with the Ego, whether or not you are aware of  its many camouflages. The trip is a never-ending constant struggle. 

You walk the walk  until you know, with your whole being, that you're either in love or in perdition.

 

Ariel's note: This blog is dedicated to a close friend, with whom I've lately been having  some pilikia.

Posted with  Aloha 

- ARIEL MURPHY

Her very own demon

Always, it's a toss up

Between the stars of the heavens and the dirt of the earth

Between illusion and spirit

Altruism wins

And  fruits serenity sweet and fragrant

Expediency gains upper hand

Building glass houses

While maimed bodies twitch by the wayside

Spurting dark red blood

Pleasure feigned and temporal

Success wafts acrid smoke

Peace flees

Only agony reigns

As a faithful mirror reflects

Her very own demon.

 

The devil as portrayed in the movie, The Ninth Gate. Photo credit: Deviantart.com

 

- ARIEL MURPHY

A menage-a-trois

 

Yesterday, a friend and I decided to treat a lady birthday celebrant- mutual friend to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We had a crispy fish dish, a seafood salad, and two Thai curry dishes.  I had asked for fish sauce on the side and my date asked for Thai hot chilli sauce.

 

The restaurant does not charge a corkage fee for alcohol brought in by guests. My date brought a white and a red.

 

We started with the white wine and then went on to the red.

 

Maybe it was an effect  of both the wine and the hot chilli sauce but for some reason after opening the Merlot, my date deliberately placed the bottle  in front of the birthday celebrant with the label purposefully positioned right where the other lady wouldn't miss seeing it. 

 



Photo from honestwinereviews.com

 

No dishes flew. No chairs were broken.

 

Men (as I roll my eyes) Sigh!

 

They sure make hilarious blog material! :)

 

 

Posted with aloha!

- ARIEL MURPHY

Mamihlapinatapai

 

Yesterday, I learned many new words.  One of them was mamihlapinatapai (noun), which is "a look shared by two people,  each wishing that the other would initiate something they both desire but which neither wants to begin."

 

In an attempt to use my newly discovered word in a sentence, I came up with this: 

 

Maria has been  in mamihlapinatapai with Jose for the last 5 hours during which nothing momentous has happened except that she has become cross-eyed.

 

I don't think I like mamihlapinatapai after all.

 

 

 

 

 Link to new words:

 

http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/theres-a-word-for-that-20-awesome-words-you-should-have-in-your-vocabulary/

 

 

- ARIEL MURPHY

Odors

There are smells that one just cannot forget. They may not be particularly fragrant. But neither can they be said to be very odious. 

They are simply odors. Interesting ones! 

One of my favorites is Asparagus Eau de Toilet. 

No misspelling there. 

Like  Dr. Juvenal Urbino in Gabriel Garcia Marquiez’ Love in the Time of Cholera, I take  secret pleasure in the smell of my own urine laced with asparagus.

 

I usually like them grilled. Photo credit: seriouseats.com

 

- ARIEL MURPHY

Roots

In Hilo, on the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a park fronting Hilo Bay called Liliuokalani Park that is frequented by residents and visitors alike.  The Park's attractions include Koi ponds and Japanese gardens.

In one afternoon I spent there I was attracted by the many Banyan trees in the area and decided to take the pictures shown below.

The roots of the Banyan tree are aerial (versus underground) and look like twisted and interestingly textured trunks.

Banyans grow from a host tree which eventually dies and the Banyans take over and flourish.

Out of death,  new life. Nature is truly fascinating.

For more information about Hilo's Liliuokalani park, please click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani_Park_and_Gardens

For more information about Banyan Trees, please click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan

 Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

Slow dance

 

 

Just because the music is slow doesn't mean the dance has to be boring.

 

 

 

 

Please click here if the video does not load: http://youtu.be/Bdxde-G1sLA

Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

A HUGGY NEW YEAR!

I guess I was not resolute enough.  An important New Year's resolution I made for 2013 never happened!  My house still needs to be organized.

Having learned my lesson, I decided that this time I'll take a modest step and make a more "doable" resolution.

Call me silly. Call me crazy. I'm both so it doesn't matter.

I'm going to give and receive as many hugs as needed!

Posted with Aloha!
- ARIEL MURPHY

Loud and clear!

I imagine that being invited to join a bloggers' community  called "Mental IIlness?! for Poetic & Artistic Expression" says something loud and clear.

 

- ARIEL MURPHY