Saturday, November 28, 2015

Literary Visions?

By Karen Nelson

November 27, 2015


What u C is what you get

“They” so say

And what u C can keep you here

On solid ground around

The strangling vines

Or the confining lines

From where u mustn’t stray.


But close your eyes

And hear my grace

Above the raucus din

That only serves to

carry u here

through the grind

of empty space.


Listen…

And feel the tug of sound

That grabs your heart

And steels your mind

Like the forged metal of a spine

Or hear the joy of beingness

That moves us from being less.


Knowing where u stand

Is just as important

As standing where you “no.”

And listening for the rain fall

Or the muffled silence, please,

Of snow on land and the

Winter, good-bye call of geese.


Be here now from where u r.

Listen closely to feel the mood.

Trust all the senses you have to use and

Keep in mind the cold-wet of snow

Differs from the wet-cold of rain

Mostly through sound and touch

The eyes don’t always reign.


The eyes can be tricked

(as much as we’d like to deny)

While the brain complies

With what u tell yourself u C

Listen, touch, smell or taste,

(If need be) to fully get

What u miss with just ur eyes 2 C.

Friday, July 17, 2015

No Excuse, Just Explanation


By Karen Nelson, M.A.

In this day and age of instant communications either online through social networking, on television or through texting, people are tending towards knee-jerk reactions and statements which seemingly reveal a desperate need to be heard or noticed without thinking about what it is they want to say or of the ramifications of mis-speaking or over-sharing or telling “little white lies.”

For example, today (7/17/15), on The View, Raven-Symone revealed a common misunderstanding of the definitions of jealousy and envy. She said that she often expresses “jealousy in a good way” about other people and added that it is a good way because it makes her a better person. She expressed her feelings that jealousy and envy are different, envy being worse. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines these two words in this way:

Jealous: feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions or perceived advantages.

Envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities or luck.

This dictionary defines,

Resentment: bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly.

How can one have bitter indignation “in a good way?” How does resentment about being treated unfairly make one a better person?

These “bitter” feelings are toxic and can lead one to act out against the object of those feelings, hence the idea of “jealous rage” which stems from the resentment and discontentment. I gently refer Ms. Symone to a stanza from the Desiderata (Max Ehrmann, 1927), “If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

From Ms. Symone’s conversation, I suspect she meant to say that she admires some people for their achievements, qualities or possessions and desires to improve herself as a result. “Admire” sounds milder because it is…no where in that definition will one find the words, “bitter,” “resentment,” “indignation” or “discontented.”

Now, this example, of course, is not that big of a deal. There are other examples where the ramifications can be devastating to all concerned such as “mean tweets” leading to a loss of friendship, loss of a job or, even, death by suicide (a loss of self). Then, there is terrorist activity inspired by and fueled by this need to be heard or noticed. This need to be heard might just be the root cause of many negative actions. Not being heard or otherwise noticed can lead to envy and/or jealousy in the true sense of those words. Obviously, there are other emotional and psychological factors that come into play which make the need to express one’s dissatisfaction more or less pathological.

We all have a need to be heard or noticed in our lives. This is why the worst punishment George Orwell could posit in his book 1984, was the elimination of a person’s personhood, the erasing of the person’s name, birth, life and death from all records.

Many years ago, I heard a TV psychologist talking about neglected children say that such children learn from this neglect (whether or not it is malignant or benign) that “Bad breath is better than no breath at all.” (John Bradshaw) These children learn to act out in order to be heard or noticed. I maintain that people who were raised in this way and who have not corrected the negative effects, never quite grow up. They tend to be intolerant of people who receive a lot of attention (warranted or not), or who don’t share their world view or who are people in positions of authority who neglect others (intended or not).

If you know me, then you know that I write this thesis NOT to excuse such negative behaviors but to explain them so that it can be understood and, hopefully, prevented in the future. Socrates wrote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If I met you and asked you, “Who are you?” what would be your response: your name? Your title? Your work history? Your salary or net worth? Your religious affiliation? All of these are pieces of the puzzle that describe a human doing, not a human being.

I am: a work in progress; a journey; process; I look backwards to see where I’ve been and I look forward to see where I’m going. My history is WHO I am; I am here, now. Who will I be tomorrow? I don’t know. I can only guess. Have I been heard or noticed? To the extent that you have read this blog post, yes. However, I have no control over how you experience it. That depends on who YOU are, on how you view your history, your world. That does not mean that I am not responsible for posting it, for thinking the thoughts I have chosen to express.

Who are you and have you been heard and noticed? Think about it. Feel about it, Choose how to express it.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Rest

Rest
By
Karen Nelson
June 5, 2015


Rest
Assured of your place in
Heaven

Wherever
And whatever that may be

You decide
As you move away from
Time

Know
Your peace

Is as much a
Dissemble as it is
Assembled

Entropy
within
Gestation

Gestation
throughout
Entropy.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Buried Fear

The Buried Fear

Karen Nelson

June 1, 2015




The human brain is hard-wired

To see the different against the known,

The known patterns of our lives

And to distrust that different regardless

Of where in the world it’s grown.



This is a primal, animal response

More suited to our distant forebears

Who lived in jungles or savage savannahs

Where seeing, hearing, feeling a threat

Was pre-saged in a foreshadowed affair.



Apex predators are all alike, they say,

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

Sharks and Orcas and Crocodiles

But one could argue the most successful

Are the ones who look most like us, no lie!



Today, in sub and urban towns,

A hallmark difference could just be

Something as harmless as garb, skincolor or curly hair

Accented voices or accented food choices

Or, oddly, how one chooses to leave.



But I maintain the most insidious and

Non-conscious response is to what cannot be seen

How the visually impaired and blind must feel

Not having or losing that powerful sense

A survival perception, held in highest esteem.



Sighted people are not aware of how dependent they are

On those two orbs and the occipital lobe,

Using twenty-five percent of the brain’s wattage

To place one in space, to keep one’s balance,

To assess the color tinting of one’s robe.


Hard to imagine a bigger threat than not seeing

The predator, the bike, the car or the priggish walker

Staring at his eye phone instead of where he goes

Walking fast in your direction, in your path,

Neither of you aware of the watching stalker.



Of course, there are the blind or visually impaired

Who expect the clouds, the seas and the crowd

To part before them as if entitled to unconfronted space.

Ain’t it a shame, ain’t it a shame. I wonder who’s to blame.

“Oh, poor me,” with self-bigotry cry they outloud.



Most, however, don’t want your pity,

Just want you to understand

How it is that YOU relate to your buried fears

Around this different ability to see ahead,

To make the twists and turns on uneven land.



It’s just survival as they say, humans will always find a way

Thick glasses, or white cane, a dog who knows

His eyes, ears and nose are better than yours

Who leads without taking the lead from you

Allowing your brain to adapt and grow.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

People come and People go



People come and People go

Their shadows close behind.

While we walk along our paths

We are alone and totally blind.

Never seeing, as we trek,

Other souls eternally, only on their own.

“Can you help me,” people cry

As they try…

To understand the meaning and

The purpose of their lives, of their loves.

Nihilists claim there is but one: none.

This, the darkest shadow of all, wears gloves

Wrapped around the necks of doves.

People come and people go.