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Without creative solitude, Democracy remains a passive exercise

 
  “One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover creative solitude.”  Carl Sandburg

 

Many things can be tied to the creative experience, but three are indispensable: persistence, discipline and solitude.  Talent will show itself soon enough if the first three are present. Creativity requires incubation that only solitude can nurture.

 

We have created a culture that defies you to find this kind of solitude. Our culture demands you be active, and then we drop the defining, final word - productive. God forbid that you are not productive. 

 

Of course, creative solitude has none of these direct attributes, at least in the beginning, which immediately makes it suspect. We have to be engaged in some seemingly useful endeavor to be taken seriously. And creative solitude, unfortunately, is not taken seriously.

 

I have often reflected that people  who enjoy fishing figured this out long ago.  As long as they have a pole in the water no one questions what they are doing and solitude is allowed to exist, but only under the cover of useful activity.

 

So as a people we continue to delude  ourselves that we are very creative, and this will continue as long as we willing accept the dumbed downed version of creativity that now exists.  Keep in mind by doing so, we allow ourselves selves to be easily ruled by our elected power structure. A truly creative electorate is an unruly group, and very hard to control.

 

Of course an active and engaged electorate is what our founding fathers and mothers intended. It is interesting that some groups today claim their current beliefs to what the founders believed.  Any resemblance is purely coincidental.  As for the founders - where did they all go?

 

Brother Giovanni

 

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OPD 710

 

 

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DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

 

 As our world becomes more complicated I hear the phrase. “don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.”

 

This platitude has gained in popularity as each day  becomes more demanding.  While this statement at first glance has the ring of truth, you soon realize it is wrong.

 

The simple truth:  It is a collection of small stuff that eventually gets you.  As most of us have learned small stuff unattended soon becomes big stuff, if not individually, then collectively.

 

Small stuff falls into at least three categories.  One, small stuff is the beginning of big stuff; two, the same small stuff repeating itself often is a symptom of an underlying problem that needs to be resolved; and, three, it is really small stuff.

 

So the fact it is small stuff is not the issue.  What is at issue is your judgment and how you perceive the small stuff when it first appears.  And finally, what you do about it when it appears.

 

Brother Giovanni

opd 610

 

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PIZZAONIAN FOLKLORE, For young and old alike

 "Blue perspectives" by Pizzaonian painter, Avelino Perspectoli
 
 

“Bad day? Remember out of the mud grows the lotus.  Just focus on the lotus and see how fast things change.”  Pizzaonian cave dweller

 

"When you can welcome the absurd with a smile you have moved one step closer to accepting your humanity." Supreme Pizzaonian

  

“To see the profound and the absurd coexisting in all human activity is to see God’s sense of humor at work.” Pizzaonian Book of Wisdom

 

“If your life begins to feel like you are in a Woody Allen movie perhaps you should rethink what you are doing.” Pizzaonian folklore

 

“How exciting are your dreams? Most people don’t aim too high and miss, they aim too low and hit.” Bob Moawad

 

“The wise person knows the good life is about making trades. What you give up may be more important than what you are receiving.”  Franco

 

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OPD 310

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Deer grazing at sunset. Meadows adjacent to Monastery

 

 

The monastery is on its holiday schedule to honor the beginning of this sacred time.  Brother Giovanni has asked that during this period, we post reflections from the "Pizzaonian Reflections and Mediations for a New Time" written for our novitiate monks.  What follows is the first reflection given to our new monks:

 

On Beginning your Journey

 

The world or its people will leave its imprint on you. We are the sum total of our experiences and they have left their psychological mark.  Make no mistake about it; it is as true as the coming of death.  The question is what to do about it? First recognize it.  To face this reality with clear and determined purpose is the first step to freedom.

 

Facing the demon will require facing some very uncomfortable truths about yourself  that are very difficult to resolve.  If you believe you are an independent person, it will be even more difficult when you discover that the yoke of this imprint is much stronger than you ever imagined.  This realization will create some self doubt since you believed that you were free from issues that you thought long ago resolved.

 

The next realization is the beginning of strong emotional feelings that begin to reveal the depths of your denial about basic elemental truths about your true feelings – feelings that you thought resolved a long time ago. For a mature person that has not had to deal with deep seated  emotions on this level for a very long time, this can be a roller coaster ride unlike any you have been on before.

 

First the good news:  To have this question and process show itself in your life at this point probably means that you are at the beginning of a new re-birthing  process that can only change you for the good.

 

The bad news is for the good to happen you are going to face some very difficult and trying moments that can bring you down into the depths of despair.  However, if they are faced with determination and courage that self discovery requires, the difficult times will be overcome and you will find yourself at the beginning of a new and exciting creative period in you life.

 

What will your choice be?  Life or death?   Let’s not confuse this death with physical death; however, that might be easier to deal with.  This death is the emotional death of yourself and your special gift that the world will never see because the courage to live it was never obtained.

 

If you live a long life and denied the calling of your gift, and you have time to reflect on this at the end, you realize that a life is defined by quality not quantity. And at the very end, unless you resolve these fundamental truths about yourself - when there is no time to do anything else but die, you will find the true meaning of despair.

 

However, if you choose truth, no explanation is necessary. You have discovered the meaning for your life. Good luck in your journey. 

 

 

Brother Franco

 

opd\1209

 

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Steve Jobs - one of a kind "marketing genius" the creation of a digital community.

 

One of the most amazing events of the past twenty-five years is how Apple created worshippers instead of customers.

Steve Jobs, for all the other things he may have been, was a marketing genius who understood how to create a digital community, and how to mold that community into a cult concept.  No matter how competent his replacement(s) may be - Apple can never be the same without him.

Many will object to the word “cult” but in its broadest sense, that is what the digital Apple community is. 

Jobs became the messiah of the ubiquitous information age and intuitively understood how to set Apple products apart as the symbol of the new age that was dawning.  The concept of symbol is important because understanding how to create a symbol and make it a totem of a new generation is what Jobs did. This was his genius. 

Though it is veiled by the material age we live in you can see the same progression of the Apple experience in many spiritual and religious experiences from the beginning of time. They have existed through the ages and come to us through mythology and religion. Understanding what Jobs accomplished is a Jungian delight.  

In a time when alienation abounds and when technology eliminates the one-on-one experience, the world was waiting for a way to unite the millions of alienated people.  Jobs became that symbol of unification and Apple products became the “digital bread of life” that united Apple users, not only with Jobs, but also with each other. 

Organized religion eat your heart out.  Can you imagine a church where millions wait in line to join and are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to become part of the experience?  Again, that is what Jobs did.  He was truly one of the great minds of his age. 

 

Brother Giovanni, for the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network

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opd1215

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