January 8, 2020

Good Day, Dear GNUUC!

First: In the interest of integrity… a correction: It was not Walter Middy who lived a little distance from his body! It was Mr. Duffy in A Painful Case, a short story in James Joyce’s Dubliners.

Here’s the paragraph:

Mr. Duffy abhorred anything which betokened physical or mental disorder. A medieval doctor would have called him saturnine. His face, which carried the entire tale of his years, was of the brown tint of Dublin streets. On his long and rather large head grew dry black hair and a tawny moustache did not quite cover an unamiable mouth…. He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances. He had an odd autobiographical habit which led him to compose in his mind from time to time a short sentence about himself containing a subject in the third person and a predicate in the past tense. He never gave alms to beggars….

Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/964/

The point was (and is) that most people of European/ Caucasian descent live less in our bodies than in our heads. We tend to over-think, over-analyze, and over-worry. On the topic of Integrity, we practiced some easy chair yoga, and I hope those who were there felt some of the benefits of simple yoga postures. Besides those I mentioned, yoga can help with sleep, digestion, and anxiety. It’s all about mind/body integration, a word closely related to integrity.

As I write, we are on the precipice of war with Iran.

We (the American people) have been lied to and/or had the truth hidden from us throughout history, but this phenomenon has been exacerbated by the omnipresence of social media and “news” streams that enable and disseminate half-truths and outright falsehoods. Lying and deceiving has become the accepted norm for many.

There is much we can not control. But the endeavor to be truthful and courageous in our own lives is something we can manage, and it’s more vital than ever.

The courage it takes to live from our own truth is evoked by the Mary Oliver poem I shared on Sunday:

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting their bad advice – – –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.‘
Mend my life!’
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations – – –
though their melancholy
was terrible. It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do – – – determined to save
the only life you could save.

We will continue with our study of Integrity next Sunday, by focusing upon honesty. You might try going through an entire day being truthful. It’s a great exercise to notice how often we bend or stretch the truth, often because we want to be liked, get approval, or not hurt someone’s feelings. 

Have a good week! I’ll be back in town starting Thursday morning.

With love and hope for peace,

Cynthia