My Farewell

My Farewell

I sat around a fire and thought 
- of you. 

Take your greatest moment of pleasure,

and multiply that by a millionfold,

then you might barely 

conceive what I am talking about. 

Has your life been so restrained 

that you never collaspsed onto the floor

from ecstasy? 

As for me, nothing of me will survive,

so these poems are my farewell. 

To my readers, 

       What does it mean to lead a life in which you take this mantra to heart "nothing of me will survive"? Does it mean to use up every gift you have been given, to pass on every blessing you have received, to burn passionately the full width and breadth of yourself?
       When I graduated high school (June 2010), I asked my close family members and friends to write me letters for a “Time Capsule” that I would open upon my college graduation (May 2013). I asked them to reflect, to offer advice, and to emanate Love. The reason I have chosen to end with this post is because that is the poetry of Life, the hallowed words of the ones you love, the enriching spirits of those who love you. You won’t always feel connected to the words of Hafiz, though I hope within them you find gems and treasures and immeasurable worth. Conversely, you will often draw upon the encouragement of those near and dear to you. Hold close to these jewels, they are such gold to carry.

In closing, I would like to share some of the pertinent advice my father wrote to me in his letter:

“Dear Arden,

      As you start the next chapter of your life (or is it really a new road), it is appropriate to offer advice. As you know, I love poetry and I have often found wisdom to guide me in the short verse of poetry. We have both enjoyed reading the poems of Mary Oliver – “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” What will your answer be to this question? What will be your “credo”? – best translated as, “I have given my heart to”.

      You are an individual, trying to fit into this world. Treasure your achievements, find the joy of learning, and thrill in the discovery of not only new things, but also old things seen in a new way. You will meet many people and this is the best way to grow and change. Try to find something you love and you will never need a job. Try to find someone to love and you will experience all the emotions of joy, hurt, beauty – but it will make you have experiences that will fulfill your dreams.

     It is not important to measure the number of years that you complete in life. More importantly, you should measure the moments that make us human, that connect us to a spiritual place, or that enrich your soul.

So this is what I would like you to take with you into the future:

• Strength – to persevere against the mountains 
• Passion – to explore and question 
• Courage – to continue when hope seems to fail
• Honesty – to yourself
• Love – for your family 

You are a great person. You will probably do great things.

           Love always,
                           Dad

P.S. I am also including a diagram for an origami 5-point star. Who knows, one day, it may be all you need.”

       That's just it, who knows what you will need one day? It may be Love, it may be Courage, it may be Laughter, it may be a kind word, a soft touch, a caring smile, or it may be a 5-point origami star. I will leave you all with this final line from Hafiz: "Laughter is when the spirit, like an arrow, takes flight above the hour's concern." 

      Thank you for taking this journey with me, it's been a great year!

      Wishing you all a life full of laughter!

                                        Arden 

A River Understands

A River Understands

I think a river understands me,
I used to know my name,
and now I don't. 

For what does a river call itself
when it starts emptying into the sea?

Opening itself wider, until it is one 
with the ocean? 

I am like that with the world,
and in my union with all
you were there,
because you read this page. 

        Poetry often provides us with the words that voice our innermost feelings. From The Ballad of Ladies of the Past by Francois Villon: "Where is Echo, beheld of no man,/Only heart on river and mere, -/She whose beauty was more than human?/But where are the snows of yester-year?"
         Poetry implores us to question ourselves and in doing so, to understand ourselves. To know ourselves deeper than we might have, but entirely, like we should. Today I came across the poem Poetry, by Pablo Neruda, for the first time. It is beautiful and it illuminates the gift that poetry is to the soul.
       

Poetry by Pablo Neruda 

And it was at that age ... Poetry arrived

in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where

it came from, from winter or a river.

I don't know how or when,

no they were not voices, they were not

words, nor silence,

but from a street I was summoned,

from the branches of night,

abruptly from the others,

among violent fires

or returning alone,

there I was without a face

and it touched me.

I did not know what to say, my mouth

had no way

with names,

my eyes were blind,

and something started in my soul,

fever or forgotten wings,

and I made my own way,

deciphering

that fire,

and I wrote the first faint line,

faint, without substance, pure

nonsense,

pure wisdom

of someone who knows nothing,

and suddenly I saw

the heavens

unfastened

and open,

planets,

palpitating plantations,

shadow perforated,

riddled

with arrows, fire and flowers,

the winding night, the universe.

And I, infinitesimal being,

drunk with the great starry

void,

likeness, image of

mystery,

felt myself a pure part

of the abyss,

I wheeled with the stars,

my heart broke loose on the wind. 

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Poetry

Open The Door or Die

Open The Door or Die

There is an invisible sun we long to see.
The closer you get to the present, 
the brighter and more real it will become,
even at midnight. 

Now take your wings,
wings filled with spirit,
and head into that stratosphere 
of the sun.

"Open the door or die," 
my master would say to me
when I was young. 

          I'm not going to blog about what this poem actually means, instead, I'll mention that this poem reminds me of Halloween because of the Teal Pumpkin Project - a initiative for kids with food allergies (like myself) that encourages people to raise awareness of food allergies by providing non-food treats for trick-or-treaters and painting a pumpkin teal - the color of food allergy awareness - to place in front of their house.
          I'm planning on doing it this year, as are many other people with food allergies, but one of the posts that really struck me is by a mom whose child does not have food allergies, she just wants her daughter to grow up concerned about the welfare of others. You can read their story here.

The Teal Pumpkin Project

What You Really Want

What You Really Want

There is not a waking moment that you are
not trying to savior what you have,
or get closer to what will bring you pleasure. 

Being so preoccupied as we are with needing to be
satisfied, it seems we would be better at it by now: 

that happiness would be our norm, not a rare event. 

No heart can make love to its source
and then can turn its back on the Truth of your destiny
which is -

someday you will never know pain
you will never know loneliness
you will never know sorrow 

instead, you will be the very fountainhead
of all dance, all laughter,
all Light. 

       Today I turned 22, it was great! I love this poem because it is sooooo positive and so hopeful. It transports you to another world, and that's exactly what good poetry, art, and literature should do. Poetry (and life for that matter) is about creating words (moments) that touch you, that challenge you, and that encourage you. I am so grateful for another year!
       I chose to go to Eastern State Penitentiary for my birthday and it was great! I highly recommend the "3D Experiment" section of the haunted house. It was fairly sunny out today, no rain, and I thought as we drove into Philadelphia of the e.e. cummings line: "peering from some high window; at the gold of November sunset (and feeling: that if day has to become night this is a beautiful way)".

Celebrating at Hickory Lane Bistro

There Is A Wonderful Game

There Is A Wonderful Game

There is a wonderful game we should play,
and it goes like this: 

We hold hands and look into each other's eyes
and scan each other's face. 

Then I say, "Tell me a difference 
you see between us. "

And you might respond, "Hafiz, your nose 
is ten times bigger than mine!"

Then I would say, "Yes, my dear, almost 
ten times!" 

But let's keep playing.
Let's go deeper, go deeper. 

For if we do, our spirits will embrace
and interweave,

our union will be so glorious 
that even God will not be able to tell us apart. 

This would be a wonderful game to play. 

        Wow, what a wonderful poem, with such depth. It really speaks to the spirit and the union that we can have with others if we pursue it. 

        1 Peter 4:10 (NIV): "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." 

What We Have Felt

What We Have Felt

They touch us, don't they? 
So many things in different ways. 
And then those feelings can last for years
in varying degrees. 

Are not our days and hours 
our response to what we have felt? 
To what move us? 

We circle inside what we love,
what we fear, what we hate,
what we hope. 

                          Wow, this is such an amazing poem. Aren't we an amalgam of every thought, every feeling, every action, every hardship, every desire, every joy, and every triumph that we have ever faced, fought, conquered, won, endured, experienced? Indeed, these things make up the ingredients of life -  in various portions and amounts - and our response to these things encompasses (and ultimately, defines) our days and hours on this Earth. This is a deeply powerful poem.

Digital Art, Nebula Night Sky 

Because Of Our Wisdom

Because Of Our Wisdom

Because of our wisdom 
we will travel far for love. 

All movement is a sign of thirst,

Most speaking really says, 
"I am hungry to know you."

Every desire of your body is holy;
every desire of your body is holy. 

Dear one, why wait until you are dying
to discover that divine truth? 

                I think in this poem Hafiz is trying to say any passion of your body, any thing that makes you stir, that puts your spirit into seeking mode is worth purusing. All action in our life is chasing what we love, and that's a good thing, as Hafiz puts it, because it is a "divine truth". 

Let it Be Love, Family Force 5

The Prayer Upon My Lips

The Prayer Upon My Lips

It is the Beloved who is revealed
in every face,
sought in every sign,

gazed upon by every eye,
worshipped in every object
that is adored,
pursued in the visibe
and in the unseen.

Every single one of His creatures
will someday find the divine
the primordial and glorious,
the forever and the Infinite.

To be united with that
is the prayer upon my lips. 


          I love how Hafiz always speaks of being united with the Ultimate Truth, how he seeks to understand that we are all one, that we are all interconnected, that we are all divinely and perfectly made! And it's so cool to think about what happens if you go beyond your own little world, if you're willing to pursue the invisible. The song "My Own Little World" by Matthew West challenges us to think about the question, "What if there's a bigger picture?"

My Own Little World, Matthew West

Out of Great Need, We Are Holding Hands

As we climb the mountain of life, out of great need, we are holding hands. Loving is never letting go.

        I think this is such a beautiful sentiment, "out of great need". Sure, love and loving, are elective gestures in our life, but they are so necessary. We need someone to walk through the raging waters of life with, just as we need someone to celebrate with on the mountaintop. We need someone through the valleys and the peaks, we need someone. And it is this simple truth that is so universal, the act of holding hands. The act of claiming someone as your own. Culturally, we will not grasp the hand of a stranger. We will not reach out and say "come walk with me". But to those we love, our hands are there, never letting go.
         Tim Keller spoke about this need well: "To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us."

Is Each Creature

A holy infant, taken from God's womb, is each creature.

            There you have it, in God's eyes, everyone is worthy. Everyone is a King or Queen.

Kings and Queens, Audio Adrenaline

Contemplate For A Lifetime

There's enough here to contemplate for a lifetime. 

         Maybe you should repeat these words to yourself if you are ever feeling bored. In fact, can you think of a question you may spend your entire life contemplating?

Listen to the song lyrics of "Overwhelmed" by Big Daddy Weave.

I see the work of Your Hands

Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God...

Captivated by Your beauty

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

Overwhelmed, Big Daddy Weave

Rising Up Like a Thousand Suns

In my world all that remains is the wondrous call to dance and prayer, rising up like a thousand suns, out of the mouth of a single bird. 

      Wouldn't it be interesting if everyone lived with God as the focal point of their lives? And all that remained was this joy, this triumph...and all of it, every last drop, from the mouth of a single bird, since that's what loving God first gives you - everything. Yet, we acknowledge, and quite regularly, how difficult that is to do. How difficult it is to completely surrender our human concerns, our annoyances, our grievances, and just dance and praise. For most it is impossible, but I am convinced for the certain souls capable of achieving this, it is probably like receiving the light of a thousand suns.

A Thousand Suns, Crooty on DeviantArt

My Heart Holds Within It

My heart holds within it a pasture for gazelles and children, a meadow for music, dance, and dreams. 

         Rumi said, "Let yourself become living poetry" and Whitman said, "Let your very flesh become a great poem". But how many do you know who make this their credo, who give their heart to this message? How many people do you pass in the street and on the way to work whose hearts hold pastures, meadows, sunshine, dancing, music, and dreams? And moreover, can you honestly say your own heart holds these things?
         One person who seems to have left that kind of legacy is Walt Disney. "When You Wish Upon a Star" has, over time, become the iconic anthem for the Walt Disney Company. It’s used in the opening logo sequence of all Disney films and during parades and shows at Disney’s theme parks and cruises. It's message? Dreams are for everyone, no matter who you are. Now that's something to keep in your heart!

When You Wish Upon a Star (1940), Pinocchio

Really Hear

When she began to sing, there was no one who really heard her who was not then glad to be alive. 

        Does the "really" Hafiz wrote in matter? As in, those who "really" heard her, being those who took the time to listen? Those who paused? As in when we "really" hear people, we usually see goodness, quality traits, and talent? But if we don't "really" hear someone, it is all too easy to discard their words, and even worse, their lives.
       In our community, another life was lost too soon to teenage suicide. More awareness needs to be raised about depression, bullying, and most of all, hope and a place to reach out to. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 for "hope".

Kahlil Gibran On Self-Knowledge (from the Prophet)

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.

People Loving People (2014), Garth Brooks

The Most Magnificient Season

The most magnificient season is existence. 

          Some would say that the most magnificient season is Fall, or Spring, or Winter, or Summer. Take your pick, but Hafiz says the most magnificient season is today. How powerful is that?!
          In theme with "seasons" (and thus the environment) and the power of one, I encourage everyone to watch The Lorax, especially 22:49 until the end of the film.

The Lorax, 1972

Dr. Seuss 

All Acts Enrich Us

All acts enrich us, though be careful in this realm of thought, of freedom. 


       I would argue that all acts do not necessarily enrich us, but they do define us, transform us, create us, etc. Anything we do becomes who we are and in this "realm of thought" there is a certain degree of freedom and truth, but also of steadfast responsibility.
       If you had to consider the amalgam of actions that you have become, what would you look like?

 The 7 Billion Others Project by Yann Arthus Bertrand

Heart Lifted Into the Sky's Oasis

You can invent galaxies if you allow your heart to be lifted into the sky's oasis. 


            What causes the heart to swell, to strive towards some unnamed calling? Or said more romantically by Hafiz, lifted into the sky's oasis, such that you can invent galaxies!

            Another poet, Pablo Neruda, talked about the heart flying in his beautiful poem, "Your Hands":

Your Hands

When your hands leap

towards mine, love,

what do they bring me in flight?

Why did they stop

at my lips, so suddenly,

why do I know them,

as if once before,

I have touched them,

as if, before being,

they travelled

my forehead, my waist?

Their smoothness came

winging through time,

over the sea and the smoke,

over the Spring,

and when you laid

your hands on my chest

I knew those wings

of the gold doves,

I knew that clay,

and that colour of grain.

The years of my life

have been roadways of searching,

a climbing of stairs,

a crossing of reefs.

Trains hurled me onwards

waters recalled me,

on the surface of grapes

it seemed that I touched you.

Wood, of a sudden,

made contact with you,

the almond-tree summoned

your hidden smoothness,

until both your hands

closed on my chest,

and there like two wings

ended their journey.

Tus manos, Pablo Neruda

Life Went On

Weeks went by, then months, and life went on, admist the ten thousand other wonders. 


            Have you ever given thought to how life always goes on? The day you die the mail will still come, others will celebrate birthdays, and life will continue, "admist the ten thousand other wonders". It makes me sad at times to contemplate this, but I rejoice in knowing that the legacy you leave with the ones you love is legacy enough.

Linwood Bike Path at Dusk

Photograph: Arden Gewirtz

September 2014                

This Sweet World

Have much desire to play in this sweet world. 

        There is probably no better poem than "Ode to Life" (Neruda) to illustrate the idea that this life is about taking chances, about recognizing the sweetness of this one opportunity, about loving every gift (because every day is one), and about soaking in as many treasured blessings as you can.

Ode To Life by Pablo Neruda

Slowly dies he who becomes a slave to habit, 

repeating the same journey every day, 

he who doesn't change his march, he who doesn't risk 

and change the color of his clothes, he who doesn't speak to he whom he doesn't know. 

Slowly dies he who makes of the television his guru, 

he who avoids a passion dies, he who prefers 

black on white and dots on i's rather than a togetherness of emotions 

exactly those that make the eyes shine, 

those that make the heart beat 

before error and feeling. 

Slowly dies he who doesn't overturn the table, 

he who is unhappy in his work, 

he who doesn't risk certainty for uncertainty 

to follow a dream, 

he who doesn't permit himself at least one time in his life 

to flee sensible counsels. 

Slowly dies he who doesn't travel, he who doesn't read, 

he who doesn't listen to music, 

he who doesn't find grace in himself. 

he who destroys his own love dies, 

he who doesn't allow himself to be helped. 

He who passes his days lamenting 

about his own misfortune or the incessant rain dies. 

Slowly dies he who abandons a project 

before beginning it, 

he who doesn't ask questions about topics he doesn't know, 

he who doesn't answer when he is asked something that he knows. 

Let's avoid death by small doses, 

remembering always that being alive requires a much larger effort 

than the simple act of breathing. 

Only burning patience will bring within reach a splendid happiness...

The Girl In The Sunset, Rani Bajaj

Invisible Thoughts

How is it that invisible thoughts can lift heavy matter and build cities and armies and altars? 


      Contemplate this today, the day we remember the lives taken too soon in the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001. Extend kindness to others, do "good works" before you're asked, and live with gratitude.

Annual memorial lights of the Twin Tours