I Can You Can We Can
All blog posts for "I Can You Can We Can" will now be posted only on this page.
Pj Swink, Author
Pj Swink, Author
<><><><><>
Who Are You?
I love this video: "Who You Are: A Message To All Women"...so I am sharing it.
It can be accessed through the button and/or the youtube link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5iXnguTU
It can be accessed through the button and/or the youtube link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5iXnguTU
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 11/04/2015
<><><><><>
Always and Anyways...
It is good to remember who you are everyday....and be that person. Not saying this is easy, because it is often very hard for me...so I figure then it is hard for everyone...
....but it is also important always that we do it anyways.
There is a story I retell to myself when I feel like just "getting by", being "good enough", and tire of working that extra bit - and doing my very best. When I feel like "oh poor me" and when the adversary and hardship stick their right feet on my back and shoulder and then kick me in the head with their left ones.
When I am feeling battered from without and within.....I need to remember:
It is about being who you are....regardless of where and when life finds you.
And so I tell myself the following story that I was once told, which changed my life forever (because it changed my mind and revealed a truth to me):
It is a story about a slave boy, a fine young man.
Way back when, a long time ago there was a slave boy who worked very hard in the plantation fields. He sang songs of rejoicing as he toiled in the hot sun. He sought to inspire the other slaves to do the best job they could everyday. He did not complain, but did as he was commanded...and even did things before he was commanded if he saw something needed done.
A man came to visit from another plantation and saw the boy working and singing and wanted to buy him. But the plantation owner said he would not sell him. Any of the others he would sell, but not him.
Then visiting man said, "Well then teach the others to be like him." But the slave owner said, "No, it is not possible - he came just like that to the plantation. I have not taught him to be like that."
And then as the visiting man continued to press the plantation owner for answers, because he was very intrigued by the character of the fine young man.....and so the plantation owner told him the secret of the slave boy.
He said he had once asked the young man why he was so happy all the time. Why did he work so hard and never complain? And the young man explained it was because in Africa where he was stolen away from his family he was the Son of the King of the Tribe.
And is father had taught him from a very young age that he should always act like the King's Son, being that he was the King's Son. And although his positioning in the world had since changed and he was now in bondage in a far away land.....it did not matter...he was STILL the King's Son. And so, if he was here or there, in richness or poorness, in charge or in chains....he remained himself, the King of the Tribe's Son.
So that is how he conducted himself everyday.
It was that simple. He knew who he was and he was that person.
Always and Anyways.
------
And so I think about this...
I need to seek excellence within myself everyday.....
no matter where or when I am or how I feel.
Because I am a Child of the King.
Always and Anyways.
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 11/04/2015
<><><><><>
<><><><><>
Redos
When my eyes pop open in the morning and my body is still warm and my heart is still beating....
Hurray! God has given me another day.
-- Every day a REDO.
I LOVE Redos! Why?
Because usually the first time I do anything I mess it up.
I mess up, just because humans mess up.
I AM HUMAN...I MESS UP.
We need redos!
So when I get a chance to try again....
I try to do it better.
And just about anything a person practices and studies they can learn and become skillful to do better.
We just have to try, and then try a little harder, and then try the hardest we can.
My son came home from preschool (nearly 20 years ago now) and told me he learned:
"TAKE CHANCES MAKE MISTAKES AND GET MESSY - KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON." Miss Frizzle (Magic School Bus)
Sounds like a good game plan still.
Have a great day!
Hurray! God has given me another day.
-- Every day a REDO.
I LOVE Redos! Why?
Because usually the first time I do anything I mess it up.
I mess up, just because humans mess up.
I AM HUMAN...I MESS UP.
We need redos!
So when I get a chance to try again....
I try to do it better.
And just about anything a person practices and studies they can learn and become skillful to do better.
We just have to try, and then try a little harder, and then try the hardest we can.
My son came home from preschool (nearly 20 years ago now) and told me he learned:
"TAKE CHANCES MAKE MISTAKES AND GET MESSY - KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON." Miss Frizzle (Magic School Bus)
Sounds like a good game plan still.
Have a great day!
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/30/2015
<><><><><>
<><><><><>
This a a great resource if you like audiobooks,
and free if you are in the USA.
https://librivox.org/hope-by-emily-dickinson/
The words to the poem "HOPE" by Emily Dickinson, and the reference to find it are printed at the bottom of this post.
It has been hard for me to adapt to Kindle Format. There is still nothing like the feel and the smell of paper pages between your fingers. But it has become more time-convenient, more tree-friendly, more space-in-my-home friendly to read by Kindle.
This poem in .mp3 format reminds me of how much I like to listen to someone else read books as I read along.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (314)
BY EMILY DICKINSON
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)
and free if you are in the USA.
https://librivox.org/hope-by-emily-dickinson/
The words to the poem "HOPE" by Emily Dickinson, and the reference to find it are printed at the bottom of this post.
It has been hard for me to adapt to Kindle Format. There is still nothing like the feel and the smell of paper pages between your fingers. But it has become more time-convenient, more tree-friendly, more space-in-my-home friendly to read by Kindle.
This poem in .mp3 format reminds me of how much I like to listen to someone else read books as I read along.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - (314)
BY EMILY DICKINSON
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)
<><><><><>
Reading Along....
I enjoy listening to the poem above, and other writings.
Perhaps it is the link back to the child in me.
I can remember Grandma Summers reading stories to us.
That is one of my fondest memory sets of childhood.
Her house was the older kind that a cherry red wood stove could barely heat. The stove was basically a roaring campfire in a metal box. As winter's wind whistled around the eves the wood would disappear into it like Skittles into a 3-year-old.
You wanted to cuddle up against the metal as closely as possible without being burned. We would slowly bake like human biscuits, one side warming sufficiently and then a turnabout to brown on the other side.
There was always a cool draft meandering along the floor like a invisible icy river. I loved my fuzzy socks.
The plastic farm animals even liked to stand near the red hot black beast, otherwise they became cold to the touch and their legs would stiffen and cause them to fall. They would have to warm up before we could play.
In the summer we would open all the windows and "find the breeze". There was always a pleasantly cool breeze somewhere at Grandma's house. We just had to feel around for it. I was always so excited when I was the one to locate the sweet spot. It was great just to stand there in it and breathe slowly and deeply.
And Grandma would sit and read to us. She always had time. She always had a story. Perhaps the tale was really in the book she held. Perhaps it flowed from her heart and head as she stared at the words on a page we had already read a million times before. I could not read then, so how could I know?
It did not matter anyways.
There were black markings on the pages. They were touchable with my tiny fingers, yet tight and flat to the page containing them. They ran less randomly than the scribbling lines of gibberish that I practice wrote before I could write. I would mimic their linear flow on my own paper, making lots of loops. I found myself admiring the lines and dots that made the words that came alive with meaning for those who could unlock its secret through reading. I was curious about words.
And I still read, and read a great deal...unlocking meaning from paper and screen pages. But it remains more fun to follow along as someone else vocalizes the text. I appreciate still, the lifting of words into the air like the musical notes of a song drifting on a zephyr. Words rising and falling freely and lightly into the atmosphere encompassing us.
The world may rage on in a fight with itself out there somewhere. But the words lifted from pages by a single human voice create an umbrella of peace over listening ears and happy little hearts.
Perhaps it is the link back to the child in me.
I can remember Grandma Summers reading stories to us.
That is one of my fondest memory sets of childhood.
Her house was the older kind that a cherry red wood stove could barely heat. The stove was basically a roaring campfire in a metal box. As winter's wind whistled around the eves the wood would disappear into it like Skittles into a 3-year-old.
You wanted to cuddle up against the metal as closely as possible without being burned. We would slowly bake like human biscuits, one side warming sufficiently and then a turnabout to brown on the other side.
There was always a cool draft meandering along the floor like a invisible icy river. I loved my fuzzy socks.
The plastic farm animals even liked to stand near the red hot black beast, otherwise they became cold to the touch and their legs would stiffen and cause them to fall. They would have to warm up before we could play.
In the summer we would open all the windows and "find the breeze". There was always a pleasantly cool breeze somewhere at Grandma's house. We just had to feel around for it. I was always so excited when I was the one to locate the sweet spot. It was great just to stand there in it and breathe slowly and deeply.
And Grandma would sit and read to us. She always had time. She always had a story. Perhaps the tale was really in the book she held. Perhaps it flowed from her heart and head as she stared at the words on a page we had already read a million times before. I could not read then, so how could I know?
It did not matter anyways.
There were black markings on the pages. They were touchable with my tiny fingers, yet tight and flat to the page containing them. They ran less randomly than the scribbling lines of gibberish that I practice wrote before I could write. I would mimic their linear flow on my own paper, making lots of loops. I found myself admiring the lines and dots that made the words that came alive with meaning for those who could unlock its secret through reading. I was curious about words.
And I still read, and read a great deal...unlocking meaning from paper and screen pages. But it remains more fun to follow along as someone else vocalizes the text. I appreciate still, the lifting of words into the air like the musical notes of a song drifting on a zephyr. Words rising and falling freely and lightly into the atmosphere encompassing us.
The world may rage on in a fight with itself out there somewhere. But the words lifted from pages by a single human voice create an umbrella of peace over listening ears and happy little hearts.
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/27/2015
<><><><><><>
<><><><><><>
Your Own Truth
Dear Readers:
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “Your Own Truth” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “Your Own Truth.”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “Your Own Truth” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “Your Own Truth.”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/26/2015
><><><><><>
><><><><><>
Water
Dear Readers:
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “Water” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “Water.”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “Water” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “Water.”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/23/2015
><><><><><>
><><><><><>
I Can See Clearly Now The Rain is Gone
Dear Readers:
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “I Can See Clearly Now” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “I Can See Clearly Now”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Thank you for your attention to my blog. I appreciate you.
Also, I am happy to tell you of some recent success. The post “I Can See Clearly Now” previously occupying this space has been added to a collection of published poems and prose entitled “31 Scraps And A Couple More.”
The eBook “31 Scraps And A Couple More” is available FOR FREE DOWNLOAD for a limited time via Amazon’s KDP SELECT Program…starting January 1, 2016.
By choosing to enroll this eBook in the KDP SELECT Program, I agreed to make the digital format available exclusively through KDP, and for free, for a limited time to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
That would, of course, include this post “I Can See Clearly Now”
Please Click on THIS LINK at AMAZON for your FREE DOWNLOAD.
I am sorry for any inconvenience… And Again, I encourage you to download NOT ONLY this post, but the complete collection at the Link noted above.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Have a very good day.
Pj Swink
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/22/2015
><><><><><>
><><><><><>
Believe it every day.
I CAN.
You CAN.
We CAN.
Every day I make an effort to be a better human.
And yes, it takes effort.
We live on a spinning globe in a moving galaxy.....change is not only inevitable, but happening regardless.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”― Mahatma Gandhi
Since change is happening anyways....
we might as well be pro-active in our changing and every day change for the good.
And yes, it takes effort.
We live on a spinning globe in a moving galaxy.....change is not only inevitable, but happening regardless.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”― Mahatma Gandhi
Since change is happening anyways....
we might as well be pro-active in our changing and every day change for the good.
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/22/2015
><><><><><>
><><><><><>
Why?
I was born wondering "why?"
Why What? You say.
Why? .....Everything.
Why are we here? Today?
Why Today?
Why does this happen,
and/or why does that happen?
Why Everything?
?
And so I am still searching for the answer or answers to the question(s).
Am still defining the answers I have already acquired as to WHY?
And WHY? Well Because.....
Why What? You say.
Why? .....Everything.
Why are we here? Today?
Why Today?
Why does this happen,
and/or why does that happen?
Why Everything?
?
And so I am still searching for the answer or answers to the question(s).
Am still defining the answers I have already acquired as to WHY?
And WHY? Well Because.....
Of Course.....
I Can.
Because I must.
Of Course.....
You Can....
Because You Can and Might Want to.
Of Course....
We Can.....
Accomplish so much more when we work together in peace.
Work together searching for the truth.
Work together as we wonder Why?
Not necessarily in harmony,
but in peace.
I have all kinds of friends,
some agree, some disagree.
But we all respect each other and learn from each other.
And we are kind and respect ourselves, and others.
It may not fix everything,
we may not find out everything,
but then again we may be surprised.
I Can.
Because I must.
Of Course.....
You Can....
Because You Can and Might Want to.
Of Course....
We Can.....
Accomplish so much more when we work together in peace.
Work together searching for the truth.
Work together as we wonder Why?
Not necessarily in harmony,
but in peace.
I have all kinds of friends,
some agree, some disagree.
But we all respect each other and learn from each other.
And we are kind and respect ourselves, and others.
It may not fix everything,
we may not find out everything,
but then again we may be surprised.
Posted to: I Can You Can We Can 10/22/2015
><><><><><>
><><><><><>
If You Want to Make the World a Better Place -
Look in the Mirror and Make the Change...
Remember the Lyrics to Michael Jackson's Song?
There is a lot of truth in those words.
"I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself
And Then Make A Change"
From: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html
There is a lot of truth in those words.
"I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself
And Then Make A Change"
From: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html
© Pj Swink and Pj Swink, Writer, 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pj Swink and Pj Swink, Writer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.