principles & politics

I am stealing the wise words of this impressive young warrior friend. 

On good days I take in our cityscape - its natural dips and rises, its mix of high rise buildings and tiny houses, its trees, streets and people, its cultures and politics - and my heart is filled to bursting with love and gratitude.

On bad days I take in our cityscape - its natural dips and rises, its mix of high rise buildings and tiny houses, its trees, streets and people, its cultures and politics - and my heart feels crushed by anger and frustration.

overflowing slum

Any city will do this to its residents on any day - but all city leaders owe it to their citizens to ensure there is more good than bad in our lives. Sadly, the world over, our leaders are failing to deliver - the outcome is our quality of life is now at risk. 

quest | pilgrimage | initiation

The phrase "dark night of the soul," [noche oscura del alma] can be traced back to a 16th-century Spanish poem by the Roman Catholic mystic San Juan de la Cruz, Saint John of the Cross. 

Portrait of Saint John of the Cross by Arnold van Westerhout

In an obscure night En una noche oscura,

Fevered with love's anxiety con ansias, en amores inflamada,

O hapless, happy plight! ¡oh dichosa ventura!

I went, none seeing me salí sin ser notada

forth from my house, estando ya mi casa sosegada.

where all things quiet be

liberty, justice, freedom

Any recipient of abuse lives with the consequence of their traumatic experience. Each individual manages their own personal experience - dealing with it through whatever means they have available and are capable of. 

Those who have not been abused live in a different world.  Touched or untouched by the abuse of another, some can relate and others cannot. But never in the exact same way the one abused is forever changed - for better or worse.