So this was some awesome drumming at the Renaissance Festival today.
The beating of the drums was powerful and in a sense mesmerizing.
It moved the people to sway, to dance, and to feel the power of the moment.
In life, as they say, we all sort of move to a different beat--our own beat!
Recently, I had the experience to meet someone who was a truly wonderful person, but who came from a very different geographical, religious, and cultural background.
There just seemed to be so many misunderstandings as a result, and it wasn't because anyone was being hurtful or a bad person.
Rather, we were dealing with good people, who just had very different expectations of each other and of life.
The beat was there--like a heartbeat, but the beat wasn't in sync, so in the end, everyone decided it best to go their own way in blessing, and find the life that would met their needs and where the beat was going to be in tune for them.
In a sense, while we are all the same, yet we are all subtly different whether by nature and/or nurture, we come to situations and to each other with different viewpoints, distinct needs, as well as specific ways to satisfy them and grow us.
Good and bad is beyond the point.
Two hearts beat as one and that is a miracle when it happens.
At other times, two hearts beat each other in their differences and maybe in exasperation and finally in sorrow.
I really liked this T-shirt.
So in the center is ONE!
When we give of ourselves, we shed our billions of individual selfish natures to be one--with humanity and with G-d.
These days, seeing from how shattered and fractured this nation and world is, it is just a dream again for unity.
This reminds me learning in yeshiva from Zechariah 14:9 (when the destroyers of Jerusalem will themselves be destroyed)"
"And the L-rd will be king over all the Earth. On that day, the L-rd will be one and his name one."
Oneness--unity--peace is a vision and a goal.
With unity we recognize our ONE true maker and guider of all creation.
And with unity we seek and find solutions to the world's big problems (global poverty, disease, war and so on).
Fractured and fighting among ourselves, we are small, petty, selfish, and weak.
What I like about it, aside from it's cute, is that I see a message here about good communications and conflict management skills.
Notice the eyes are different (one is green/yellow and the other is orange/blue)...like it's two people.
This speaks to that while we may be talking to each other and even think we are saying the same thing ("violently in agreement"), we need to make sure that we are listening, understanding, and working through our differences--so at the end, we are both really "seeing eye to eye."
While each of us is different, and we may never fully agree (and cabn "agree to disagree"), we can also negotiate and come to terms on a win-win course of action.
I took this photo to show something "paper thin."
"No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides."
I think of the two sides in terms of peoples opinions.
And it's true, no matter how thin you cut the differences, there will always be at least two views about it--usually more!
Not sure why I like this, but I do.
What comes to mind, is "the crazier, the better!"
- The people have no clothes (but in a modest type of way).
- The men are covering their privates (with handbags), but why not the women?
- They people are sort of gray, yet have different colored ink blots over their feet, hands, eyes, mouth, and hair--almost like they are stymied or perhaps, the opposite, free to be whatever they want.
- They are similar, but yet all different, like us.
- Why these different colors--we don't know; it is muted, but it is ALIVE.
It's a deer and it says "Please Don't Kill Me!"
It's interesting that often we don't look at things from the perspective of others.
In this case, the deer just wants to be free and alive--and is begging for his life.
As people, we don't really think of what the deer wants or for that matter often what other people want--we just care about what we want.