Good Morning from Prince Edward Island,

Kettle on? Cuppa ready? Great. 

Thank you for letting me into your space and time today. 

Here is today's' PEI Covid News

Prince Edward Island has a new 'friend' in Dolly Parton. Fantastic news for young readers and their families. Thank you to all involved and to Dolly. Story here.

Todays' thread I am going to pull on is 'friendship.'

Being a friend to someone, I don't know is sometimes easier. Only because I don't layer on what I think this person should do or could do to make their life or my life better.

What does being a friend mean?

"Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honouring of differences, not simply in the enjoyment of similarities." ~ James Fredericks

It saddens me when I see or read people being disrespectful, especially towards those who don't look or sound like members of their own family. And this happens locally as well as globally. We are tribalists, after all.

The unknown scares people.
Which is more expensive; ignorance or education?

The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free. ~ James Allen


When I want to blame others for my lot in life, I see the world through a negative mindset.

Oh, but how my world illuminates in full colour when I choose friendship with myself carefully and intentionally.

When I treat myself with dignity and respect, it reflects in my attitude towards others.

I don't see the world as it is. I see the world as I see myself.

Or as Anais Nin states, "We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are"

James Allen, in his 1907 classic book, As a man thinketh, writes the following;

Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,

And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:—

He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

Environment is but his looking-glass.

There is so much to learn from other cultures.

The top layer of our skin, the epidermis, is only .05 mm thick. It's the only layer that is visible to the eyes. Remove it, and you have 7 billion people who are all the same colour and wanting the same thing.

To love and to be loved.

"There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't yet met.'"

- William Butler Yeats

What little I know. I love learning. 

In the Hindi language, which is one of the two official languages of India, there is there a word, Genshai (pronounced Gen-shy)

Children are taught to never look at, touch, or address another person in a way that makes the other person feel small. You can only become a true practitioner of Genshai when you treat yourself the same way.

Genshai. What a powerful word.


I enjoyed Life at the Frontier: The Conversational Nature of Reality, a Ted Talk by David Whyte.





I recently heard Jordan Peterson state, "examine your resentfulness; it is revelatory." I found it to be a powerful statement worthy of the time given in doing the exercise.

Because.

Revelation Must Be Terrible
by David White
Revelation must be
terrible with no time left
to say goodbye.
Imagine that moment
staring at the still waters
with only the brief tremor
of your body to say
you are leaving everything
and everyone you know behind.
Being far from home is hard, but you know,
at least we are exiled together.
When you open your eyes to the world
you are on your own for
the first time. No one is
even interested in saving you now
and the world steps in
to test the calm fluidity of your body
from moment to moment
as if it believed you could join
its vibrant dance
of fire and calmness and final stillness.
As if you were meant to be exactly
where you are, as if
like the dark branch of a desert river
you could flow on without a speck
of guilt and everything
everywhere would still be just as it should be.
As if your place in the world mattered
and the world could
neither speak nor hear the fullness of
its own bitter and beautiful cry
without the deep well
of your body resonating in the echo.
Knowing that it takes only
that one, terrible
word to make the circle complete,
revelation must be terrible
knowing you can
never hide your voice again.
— David Whyte from Fire in the Earth


Viktor Frankel wrote an influential book in nine days. The book Man's Search for Meaning is favourite reading for millions. A quote from it.

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to chose one's own way."

Attitude is everything.

Your relationship with yourself is and always be directly reflected in all your relationship with others. ~ Vironila Tugaleva

Let's treat ourselves and each other with respect.

We all come from here.



While writing today, I listened to Célimène Daudet. Loved it. Her piano playing is heartfelt and yet, crisp. Sample listen to her new album, Haiti mon amour, here. 


.
Have a nice and friendly weekend.

With love from Prince Edward Island,

Bruce + Millie

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." ~ Phyllis Diller

ps. Your Morning Smile

Two children went into their parent's bathroom and noticed the scale in the corner.

"Whatever you do," cautioned one child to the younger one, "don't step on it!"

"Why not?" asked the sibling.

"Because every time mom does, she lets out an awful scream!"