FootprintsintheWind.com

When I die
To myself
Free, I fly

Dying before I die
Flying before I fly
Into the wind, leap!

:- Doug.

What do I mean by spiritual? Opening, Inviting, Oceanic. The wind pulls me along, I fly, I float, I sting, I splat. Whatever happens does not matter, and it matters a lot. Fight spirit, fight each other: not. Flow, shift shapes, meet. Meet. Be opened. Be raw, vulnerable, met. Intimate with infinity. There is another, there is only one. We have met the friend, and he is us.

:- Doug.

For me, this is a spiritual book
The question is, What do I mean by spiritual,
Now?

:- Doug.

We
Play together
Learn each other
Frustrate
Make demands
Get angry
Want to pull away
Stay together
Reopen
Respond
Play gently
Let go expectations
Embrace
Take time out
Take turns
Change sides
Change rules
Become new again
Vivid
Fun
Unanticipated
Syncopated
Hand in hand
We

:- Doug.

O save us from conflict
Battles and wars
Competitors, rivals, enemies everywhere
But the root of all challenges
Is with one another: our connection

:- Doug.

Are you
Whom you want to be?

:- Doug.

How’s that job?
Are you allowed to be you?

:- Doug.

Got to be in control!
Take me seriously—
I know the score
Buy my product, elect me,
Hire me, because I’m in
Control!
And if you do,
You too can share
My disease
For it’s control
That robs me of
Life
Control that forbids
Spontaneity
Movement
Creativity
Play
Boundlessness
Juggling
Hide and Seek
Fun
Surprise
Laughter
Love

:- Doug.

We become more creative when our heads are open. And hearts.

:- Doug.

Different is different
nothing more
in our heads we add
don’t let it metastasize
to your heart

:- Doug.

I’m on the trail of parent and child finding new ways to care for one another.

:- Doug.

Our society specializes
In seeing the separation
end of the spectrum
When do we make effort
To see the other end
—Or the whole compass?

:- Doug.

Are you infinite?
Like Walt, do you contain universes?
Either way, you can be you,
Infinitely

:- Doug.

How can I know about G?
My mind cannot comprehend
Everything I read
—or write, for that matter!
And here we have a shape-shifter G

:- Doug.

Papa has “a touch the dementia”
Mama knows better than the doctors,
The financial planners and the lawyers, all
Daughter’s emotions have static electricity
Social Security says son’s intellect disables him
The other daughter is overwhelmed
By the financial numbers, the
Complexity of the family dynamics,
And the distance she lives apart
They may seem to pull in different directions
They may harden their opinions
Even fight
But might it be that
Sometimes people just don’t know
How to agree
And a good heart and a good head
Might be the logjam loosener?

:- Doug.

The slope:
Narrow your aim
Focus your attention
Analyze
Separate
Like what’s inside
Hate what’s outside
Hate novelty
Hate difference
Hate them
War!
Terror!
Constrict imagination
Strangle life

:- Doug.

We’d hoped 2000-2009 would be
The ooh decade
We got
The Y2K whimper
9-11
Dot com bubble bursting
Enron
War in Iraq
War in Afghanistan
Bernie Madoff
Pandemic influenza
Tsunami
Maybe we got
The ow-ow decade

:- Doug.

Questions we can ask our children to start the conversation:

Do you remember when X died? What did you think of the decisions made?

How would you like to be treated then?

To what age would you like to live? Why?

Help me figure out where to draw the line

Help me figure out when to say when

:- Doug.

Am I a palliative care lawyer? Alleviate pain, find wholeness where the old paths are no longer open….

:- Doug.

What is the environment that person brings with him or her? What is yours? What feelings come with this person? See.

:- Doug.

If the money part of life were easier, something else would be more difficult. I’d rather have this than some of the other challenges I see people confront.

:- Doug.

Let us call a demonstration
In the center of town
In favor of life!

:- Doug.

I’m no bigger
than anyone else
still, oceans surge within

:- Doug.