Like any good mother, her desire was to have her child grow bright and bold, and to be full of good humor and wit, and to be generous and courageous and kind.
For, being such, how could anyone not have the most beautiful story?
After all, what is the code and concept of life, of living, of humanity, if it is not to find one's calling and to have that calling be greater than one's self; if it is not to pursue that calling and complete it with joyous self-respect?
Between where you are and what you are after is a dense matter, your beliefs. (Your life as lived.) Punto final! True? Let's say true!
For the boy in my skin back when, the whole point of the girl in the red hoodie and of the three little piggies was the big bad wolf. Period. Full stop!
Looking back I get that the intentions of those two horribly delicious stories were probably - even smartly - different than I absorbed. I, however, was not your run-of-the-mill tell-me-what-to-think scrawny little kid. You?Not me!
I get it now that an intention may have been to instill obedience - that kids were to stay on the pointed path, and not be chatty-chatty with strangers - and that curiosity kills the cat. Hmm? Oh, dear.
I get it now that an intention may have been to evoke seriousness - that play-play doesn't pay, hard work guarantees a better day - and that without such gravitas very bad things will happen. Oh dear!
And I received those teachings too - soundly - but not on account of that girl in the hoodie or three little piggies. No-no-nol And definitely not in dosages purported in either of those shares. Oh, dear God, no! Thank you, mommy.
Not possessed then of a language adequate to my disappointment at the stories' outcomes, paradoxically, my assiduous focus was on the big bad wolf: who was this being, why was this being, what possesses a thing so audaciously vulgar that it is left and allowed to eat grannies, destroy creativity, and send folks running to hide behind locked iron-barrs screaming? Not cool. Thus initiating me along a path determined to extinguish such vexing huff-puff from the experience of a distinguished and satisfied life. Yes, joy is sweet.
Welcome to the second episode of Myth Or Mystery - Big Bad Wolf - curated by Neville DeAngelou with outstanding reminders that wild animals are wild; people are people regardless of their level of civility; beliefs and behaviors are the building blocks of society; and no matter how high the gates chickens do come home to roost none too late.
Don't lose diamonds collecting stones.
Enjoy actionable discoveries continuously being shared - smartly - particularly those that uplift, inspire, promote harmony, expand opportunities, exemplify beauty, and reveal wonder, in other words, those proven to strengthen our emboldened exercise of genuine love through all of its fertile dimensions, supplying those of us, who are blessed and inspired to take action, with the necessary skillsets to be awesome in our real world. Namaste. Share.
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M-0-0-N-S-T-R-U-C-K
You probably heard of werewolves, and that the fullmoon turns some people crazy. Well? I heard too. How did they know? And about Rona who dragged a tree as she was being seized by the moon who was displeased with her and that that's how the moon became a symbol of fertility. And about Anningan - the bad Moon God. And about Mawu - the good Moon God.
myth - mystery - revelation
- what's in your cookie -
Cookie Comfort
In the toss of many words few perform sweet puppetry in all of us. God utters this word and that word, and we behold wonders. So is heard. And so is said. The mind of a champion, the soul of a hero, the spirit of a believer, the will of a survivor, are swept and swooned into the realms of greatness on the wings of just a few words. Such words are like mustard seeds.
During
this series we are exploring myths and mysteries to peel away practical wisdom without asserting fact or fiction purely to glean what's usable for enriching relationships, confronting challenges, and producing outcomes worthy of the label well done.
As we share real snap stories of our search and findings (in context with our word of the moment), we will encourage each other to select gems from the scramble, thanks to exceptional creators, influencers and producers.
Occasionaly we will invite you to score a particular disclosure - myth, mystery, awesome revelation, or pure folly - then to re-examine your evaluation after a period of reflection. At the end we will ask you to put it all together. Then voila!
Enjoy.
I'll level a bet you don't offer crumbs to your guests, but who is eating your cookies and leaving you a mess?
This episode's word is diligence : def - "careful and persistent work or effort; conscientiousness, attentiveness." (Which of the world's four most powerful words by virtue of influence would 'diligence' be considered a derivative of? 20 points.)
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"Life isn't fair." Who says this? - the thief? the crook? the bully? the joker? the coward? the victim? the privileged? the favored? the hopeless? the snitch? - Who makes this claim?And at what juncture of their game?
Is life unfair?
Whether one considers this claim truth, balderdash, a bamboozle, or a complete misunderstanding of the nature of life, how one reconciles the experience within the community of exchanges makes for a considerable difference. Beware! Beneath its sound you'll find justice on the altar; peace on the auction block; and hope on the run. Beware! Be VERY Aware!
Who Is Eating Your Cookies?
Once upon a time from Paradise Island word arose and was noised abroad of three emerging cookie-makers so outstanding in their craft they were destined to be rivals producing the best and most succulent cookies ever known to the world.
Lucky Moonphasi overheard this at the Governor's ball, and confirmed it with Munchy, the island's renowned cookie taster. "Tell them I have a deal well worth their best effort," Lucky said to Munchy. "Let all three come to me on the turn of the first moon. I will sign a deal on the best cookie and call it The Moonphasi and build its flagship on Paradise Island. The winner will be the luckiest cookie cooker in all the world, and in four years be worth billions, for four is my favorite number."
Munchy, hardly containing his excitement at the opportunity, flew back to Paradise before the ball was over and delivered the news. But the introvert, Jing Xi, who was aback of the ficus sipping champagne and nibbling cheese, overheard, and slipped away from the ball, and sailed back to the island with a bright new idea and a grand plan to make millions.
Atta Dorylus living in the Western Plains of Paradise Island got the news first. I am not into competition, I just love creating new recipes to see how they'll turn out, he explained. "Four billion dollars," Munchy repeated. Atta took a deep breath then accepted the invitation, saying he'd be there on the turn of the first moon with cookies from one of his granny's secret formulas that is bound to change the pastry industry forever.
Munchy went next Uptown to Dorothy Chitra, and she told him competition was not her usual fare, she just loved baking cookies to bask in their aroma. "But you'll be a billionaire." Well, let's make a secret deal, she said. If I let you share my adjoining cottage will you be my taster and tell me when my cookie is a winner? Munchy's eyes filled his face. "Yes, you have a deal if I move in as your taster and I am guaranteed thirty-five percent of any contract you sign with your investor." Thirty-five percent? "Not a cent less." Realizing another cookie-maker could offer Munchy that much or better, Dorothy said yes - thirty-five - percent!
Tyree Leglat got the news on his way back from the Riviera. I enjoy eating cookies with friends, not competing, he said. "Sounds fun," Munchy responded, "but we are talking wealth beyond measure. I'm sure you've heard of the billionaire goldfinger investor Moonphasi who on three occasions catapulted the stock market with picks for his investments. Four is his lucky number and there will be no deal unless all three of you compete for his signature. Imagine all your friends discovering Moonphasi meeting you with such an offer. What have you to lose?" Nothing, Tyree said, so inform him I'll meet him as requested before the first moon sets.
On the turn of the first moon judges and tasters and voters and contract, all in their right places, were prepped for this memorable tiny little exotic affair when Lucky Moonphasi showed up.
First Atta came in. "All my cookies are gone," he lamented. "I stored them in my basement. I found only crumbs and dust when I went in. I plead for a second chance."
Then Dorothy came in. Also empty handed. "My cookies are not ready yet," she said. "One more little fix and it will be the best cookie you've ever tasted."
Then Tyree arrived, flailing, "All my cookies gone! No more cookie left."
"That doesn't matter," Lucky Moonphasi interrupted. "I require all three of you competing for the best cookie ever. Return on the turn of the second moon and my deal will stand. Make it even better."
Meanwhile Jing XI's portfolio was rising spectacularly quite unexpectedly. Snooping, he verified there was no deal. Nevertheless, he bought more stocks for the essential ingredients of these cookies.
And when the turn of the second moon came, and everything was in place, each cookie maker arrived with the same complaint. Atta's basement was full of crumbs. Dorothy's mix was not fixed yet, and before Tyree could explain, Moonphasi was red again, but he trusted his extinct that cookies would be a huge thing, so he extended his offer to the moon's third phase.
As the third moon was approaching and Munchy was yet to give Dorothy a thumbs-up, she became suspicious and confronted him. "How come no one is turning up ready to compete while you are getting fat off my cooking? What are you doing afoul of me? I swear you will regret it."
"You're being paranoid," he explained. "Why worry when all three of you must compete for the deal? I believe Lucky will raise your offer at the fourth moon, for four is his number. Besides, your cookies are making me fat; you need one that will make me thinner."
So it was - exactly - when they all turned up again with pretty much the same problem as before the third moon came. "Damn it!" Lucky Moonphasi flared, "I've never entertained this much difficulty for a mega billion deal. However, I have a hunch cookie is our lunch. Your final chance: be here on the turn of the fourth moon, whether three or two or one alone is here, a billionaire the winner will be. That I declare on this my seal."
Lucky Moonphasi decided to do some personal investigating. Not long before the turn of the fourth moon he slipped secretly onto the island and discovered there was a new owner for the land slated for his newest flagship.
Jing Xi Incorporated
Must be a new-money owner, he reasoned within himself. He then went secretly to Atta's address, and discovered it yellow-lined, destroyed, taken over by ants, practically an ant mound it had become, and Atta hospitalized terribly bitten and out of commission.
He went next to Dorothy's address. Munchy barely saw him arriving and slipped into hiding. Dorothy was shocked when she answered the knock, but recovered her poise, and welcomed him and said, "Mr. Moonphasi, I've got a cookie that will keep the world thin, you happy, and I a billionaire."
"That's if you make it to our signing," he responded. "I spotted someone snooping around your premises. And Atta has already been snuffed out of chances. Games are rough vying for a seat in the billionaire's suite. You have no deal if you are not there with the winning meal: my cookie, The Moonphasi."
Next he went in search of Tyree. The traffic heading there frustrated him. The walk lanes were noisy and long. The bike lanes were like a party. And all cars were moving slowly. When he finally arrived at the address he was given, he found a hefty sprawl with a huge sign:
Oi Oi Oi Cookie-Cookie-Cookie
And was greeted with these familiar words: "Sir, all cookies gone! No more cookie left."
"I-I-I don't care about that. I'm here to see Tyree Leglat."
"Oh. Park there, sir. You'll find him around back preparing tomorrow's batch. Follow the hugs sign: cookies for friends."
"Mr. Moonphasi," Tyree greeted, bright eyed, "What brings you here?"
"The Moonphasi. I have this as your address; I assume you live here."
"I do."
"And what's all this?"
"My new factory. Expanding. Isn't it playfully exciting?"
"I'd say. How is your submission for The Moonphasi measuring up for the big win?"
"Mr. Moonphasi, perfecting a cookie to compete against the finest cookie-makers around, as you can see, really goes off the burner with me when friends are demanding ever much more of what I am offering. I satsify their senses and excite closer friendhips."
"My offer is a flagship and a sure bet to billions."
"Sir, I already have flagships on every continent, and can hardly keep pace with the numbers I am counting."
"Really! Who are eating your cookies? I haven't heard of your flagships. What are they called?"
Tyree smiled. "Sir, they are called the people tasting my cookies, and the ships lining up along the Riviera sun-up to sun-down. I would give you a taster, but you'd have to wait for tomorrow."
"I was right. I am so right. Cookie is the next big thing."
"Not quite, sir. Whatever is the next big thing, my cookies are now! By the turn of the fourth moon, once again, they will be gone. I eat them with friends, but I'll be sure to try The Moonphasi when it is perfected. You are an inspiration."
- this story is being dedicated in honor of a fellow Eagle Scout
Sasedat Lloyd Ragobeer
Granted an unobstructed opportunity to create and deliver your next best thing, how would you go about doing it, when will you begin, and how long will it take you? Make detailed notes.
Be Deligent
"Know what you own. Understand what you claim. Believe you can achieve what you conceive then call it by its name. Mine! The extent to which you have this clarity of mind, this purity of understanding, this strength of belief, you have the fire, the fuel, the impetus, the passion, the determination, the willpower you require to pursue and retrieve your truest desire. But do not claim what does not belong to you. It will not keep you . . . it will suffer you but for only so long."
You are valued. You are important. What you experience is important. Your intention matters. You are a whole being. You are a true wonder. You diminish yourself whenever you pit valued elements of who you are against vital elements of who you are: your intuitive self against your intellectual self, your rational self against your emotional self, your gut against your heart against your head. Don't be put at war against yourself: you are a masterpiece. An intricate being. Human!
Huffing-and-Puffing
Owners rarely feel threatened by the wild animals they groom - no matter how many others are mauled or killed or eaten. Or rarely dissuaded by how nightly others tremble. Or effectively persuaded any by their neighbor's moral courage or length of stay on their knees or breadth of complaining. That's rarely their issue.
There are all kinds of wild animals. And many kinds of wolves. As well, by way of stories we cherish, whether those are rhymes, like Red Riding Hood or the Three Little Piggies, or ancestral stories, or stories from our Holy Books, we are made duly aware of many kinds of morphed breeds, and the likes of wolves in sheep's clothing and sheep in wolves' coats. These all are participants in the unfolding of existence. These are all parties to beliefs and behaviors that create and confine communites. The question for EACH OF US is what must one do in the face of such knowledge?
This is a good question. It is a question with no solution to any who'd ignore it. Perhaps one place to begin our own understanding is to always establish exactly what entity we are dealing with: animals or human? And where! And when! And to recognize that huffing and puffing is always huffing and puffing. And to know that some puffs pollute the air others must breathe in. We'd do ourselves well to throrougly understand such things. And to know ourselves well. The question for EVERY COMMUNITY is what to do in the face of such intrusions?
In every instant, it is good to be of good courage, to build the strength and forthrightness needed to thrive in your environment. There are many ways we do this. How do you do it?
The power effected by any community is the power members and influencers of that community grant it. No community is a collection of individuals. Each and every community (ergo a society) is the bonding of the individuals within it; the collective results of its beliefs and behaviors (none excepted). Such cannot be wished away or imagined into play. Every act impacts it.
How do you create bonds in the community in which you live and breathe and have your being? One does itself wisely to understand this. For huffing-and-puffing is always huffing-and-puffing.
mentor
coach
advocate
sponsor
Life: it is a dance. It gets better with practice; its music is in your heart and in your soul and in your blood and in your bones. Life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. You have a partner – your spirit. You can have a party if you like, but choose smartly who you invite, for life – your life – is a dance. It gets better with practice, unless you stop the music or so crowd your dance floor there is no space to move or be moved within it. Explore. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice until the dance becomes the dancer and the dancer becomes the dance and life and all of existence becomes a singular flow. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. Dance.
Masterpiece
a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.
tour de force
Home Building: Where are you? Where do you live? Where is home? Are you in the territory of the wolf? Is the wolf in your territory? Are you and the wolf on open land? No territory changes the nature of its wolf; it can facilitate it. No wolf changes the nature of a human, it can expose it. It is good to know such things and what to do in order to create a satisfying existence. Or, may God be your helper. Regardless, let peace that passes all understanding be with you always. If so privileged, how do you personally and communally sustain it? No animal is human, even when possessed of such noble characteristics. And no human is animal, even when displaying such instincts. A human is a human. And an animal is an animal. No matter how otherwise we rationalize it. How is it where your home is?
Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
. . .
live laugh love
. . .
let your light shine
Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.
Across the nation and around the world there is a long rumble.
It is a rumble so loud it strikes ready ears as a distant clap of a fierce thunder. It is a rumble so low, it rides beneath the noise of a thousand human fears; it can no longer be heard. Fear of flight, fear of heights, fear of sand, fear of snow, fear of monsters in the closet, fear of bugs in the pillow, fear of cats, fear of bats, fear of strangers at the door, fear of being lost, fear of being laughed at, fear of being stuck in the toilet bowl, fear of whites, fear of blacks, fear of browns, blues and yellows, fear of nakedness, fear of the unknown, fear of being hurt.
Smile. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn. Be awesome. You are powerful beyond measure. You are not alone. You can do all things. I am you. You are me. We are one. Keep Sharing.
May our light shine on sprinkled seeds along The Journey.
"Live Your Life - Live it well. You are worth it."
Listen. Learn. Lead.
Note Well: 1) If huffing-and-puffing is distracting you; are you being suckered? 2) If huffing-and-puffing is threatening you: are you being suffered? 3) If huffers-and-puffers are guiding what you do; who are you? 4) These are not light matters: what must you do?. 5) Are there others who have journeyed through before you? You may well also have the option of becoming more wolfer than the wolf, of wolfingbadder than the big bad wolf, of bringing more huff than the huffer, or out-puffing the the big bad puffer. Choices have their prices. You best know what's in your pocket. You may well be able to afford it. 6) We can let our myths turn us into stones or permit them to inspire us to create new wonders. 7) Never forget: wonders never cease. Always remember: wolves are wolves and chickens are chickens, even in a world of spectacular experiences!
Something to Consider: When the dust settles you may find your orientation to every imbeded concept of home is what gets you up or puts you to sleep. Wake up. And when you are out and about do not lose your diamonds picking up stones nor ignore the snake wiggling at your feet.
Breathe.
We are accompanied.
Balance - Focus - Rhythm
Love is alive in fertile dimensions, where it lifts you up, never puts you down, and is always real! Love heals.
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Lead. Learn with us. Get your FREE AUDIO of 'Sven: The High Achiever's Journey'. You'll be glad you did. Share the experience.
ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) 
