[Bruce.]

[phoenix7]

Wow that is beautiful -thankyou for sharing it with us

[Bruce.]

Hi Phoenix, how are you, and how did I know you would be the one to respond to this?
I think I'm psychic!... Just kidding.

I'm not sharing this, it's a tribute, it's a gift, it's for you and Fuzzybear, and Muffy and Elysium3006 and Malady156 and all the others who somehow manage to just drop all your own problems and reach out to someone in distress. I named the five of you because you're all different “some more than others” so between you, you manage help people in so many different ways.
It is pretty beautiful, but it didn't come from me. I just made a patchwork of letters and images that manage to reflect my understanding of this place and the feelings that you people create in it.
It's a reflection, your the image. You're the spirit, the looking glass is my computer monitor. Did notice the border, it's a window frame.

I see you troopers get so down on yourselves, it makes me so sad, and I don't like it. So I think right here and right now, you should close your eyes and take a deep breathe and smile at yourself,
“Cause You're Special”

[Tumnus]

Pretty amazing perspective, Bruce. You made me smile, which is quite a feat when I'm this tired!

[Younuh]

AWESOME POEM!

[Younuh]

Originally Posted by Younuh

AWESOME POEM!

Very inspired and inspiring. You speak for many, I'm sure.

[Bruce.]

Originally Posted by Tumnus

Pretty Bruce. You made me smile, which is quite a feat when I'm this tired!

Nice Hope the feeling lasted a little while. I used to do that to people all the time when I was little, then I witnessed a robbery when I was nine and that kid was gone.

Originally Posted by Tumnus

Pretty amazing perspective

Sometimes it hard to see the forest for the trees. It's different when your on the outside looking in.
Somebody wrote this in a post today “there are people who see us for who we really are - even when we cannot”. What a way with words.

I wrote this in an email to my sister.
There's an unwritten theme behind this community. Did you ever see the movie Pay it Forward? It kind of works like that. Somebody gets helped or supported and then they want to return the favor, they can't usually do it directly so they look for an opportunity to help somebody else. Well, when you get several thousand people doing that in close quarters it makes for a pretty special community.

I see how much everyone appreciates each other here, but I think it's important to take minute every once in a while to appreciate yourselves. I wish I had this place to come to when it was so bad for me.

I got over my problem before my sister sent me a link to this place. So I feel a bit like an outsider, but I read I watch and I learn. One thing that I've learned so far is that having yourself back and being yourself are two different things. You know what else I just realized? I wrote the poem about avatars and I don't even have one.

Don't stay up so late tonight, it's not good for you.

[Bruce.]

Originally Posted by Younuh

Very inspired and inspiring. You speak for many, I'm sure.

Hi Younuh, pleased to meet you

Hey, these are you’re first two posts, and you wrote them to me, that makes me feel kind of special. I must seem like a veteran to you with my whole 14.

It’s a little intimidating at first when you look to the left and see someone who’s posted hundreds or thousands or twenty thousand times Yikes!!! Makes you wonder if your thoughts will be good enough to share with theirs. Hmm … “good enough” where have I seen that thought before?

Wait a minute… You’ve been registered way longer than me. Hope you don’t mind, but that brings up a very good point. I always see more guests on line than registered members. Albeit some people “like me” are just too lazy to log in, but I wonder how many people out their are watching and learning, but are still too scared to participate. How many unknown soles look to these open hearts for hope? I don’t know how many, but I do know that their out there.

I sent a link to my sister and she emailed this back to me, “Hope she doesn’t mind”

The poem was a lovely tribute to the few and many who offer support and encouragement. I have no idea how you did that!! You should print up posters! I think Psych Central must be, literally, a life saver for so many people. I'm sure many people who would never call a help line or consult a therapist, start their journey to mental health here. As you say, just to know that somebody else has walked in your shoes is immensely comforting and an eye opener. A person can learn so much from another person’s journey.

How’s that for a pat on the on the back?
Another view from the outside looking in

She’s pretty special too,

If you feel anxious about posting, here’s a little exercise I learned from my nephew.
Deep breathe in… hold… exhale, relax. Deep breathe in… hold… exhale, relax. And remember what ever you type “it will be good enough”

Bruce ((ty))) a wonderful poem. A beautiful window
As you know i think a window and the light which is always there is our spirit.
Or spirits way of letting us see we can be ourselfs.

you said ((It's a reflection, your the image. You're the spirit, the looking glass is my computer monitor. Did notice the border, it's a window frame.))))

and it reflected back on you which is good.
Life is good, breathing is very good. relaxing is important as is everyone here including you.

Please know I hardly ever look to the left to see the # of posts a person has. As sometimes the most important words may come from one single post.
given as a gift. As life is.
May the light always shine for you and peace follow you where ever you and your family maybe in lifes journey............((ty))) for the kind words

[sunsetsunrise]

Hello,
this is my third post. I am quite new here. Thank you for posting that beautiful poem. I do not know how to logically look at life except from a spiritual point of view. When I am not looking from the point of view, is when I am in disconnect. which is often lately. thank you again. blessings

[Bruce.]

candle candle burning bright

Hi Muffy, thank you for your thank you, and thank you for being you.
I have a stitch for your Windows thread. Looks like your making a quilt. I'm just so busy right now.

When I come here I see many little windows coming together to illuminate this community. Sometimes those little windows are afraid to shine through because they've been hurt so badly. I have a poem “it's about me” but there's a part that I directed at the prosecutors for what they put me through in order to convict a couple of robbers. Like I said it's about me, but it relates to many victims of abuse. I showed it to my younger sister and she related it to her abusive ex husband. What he did to her children and what he did to her. It goes like this.

People you must understand
That when the power is in your hand
Be careful with those lives you hold
Remembering my story told

When seeking justice you are bent
You must protect the innocent
With little children left exposed
Their shattered feelings are transposed

Their fear consumes, they run and hide
And end up on the other side
They hide away from those who care
Their feelings, they no longer share

It almost seems too late for me
All those years, but now I’m free
How many people live my life?
Thank goodness for my loving wife

To all of those who hide away
Be hopeful for a better day
Take shelter with those special few
Who care enough to help you through

Pray one day to be inspired
To reconnect your broken wires
Expose emotions you’re concealing
And open up to your true feelings
That’s the way you’re meant to be
See it through and you’ll be free

I have this way of seeing through darkened windows, maybe from all the years of looking through my own. It's all so easy for me now. I have to be careful. Sometimes I see things in people and I tell them things that their not ready hear. In person I can respond to the immediate reaction in their eyes, but here the only contact is the text that they return. It makes it a little harder to help that way.

Life is good, breathing is very good. The warmth of true friendship is most important.
Relaxing is so much easier in the warm and gentle breeze that you provide.

[Bruce.]

Hi SunsetSunrise

I thought I had overlooked your post, then I saw that you still had time lag when you sent it, then I noticed it at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the delayed response I'm suffering from a little time lag too. I see from another post you were getting a little frustrated, Reads a little bit like the poem doesn't it.

I honor all masters who were sent to different peoples to teach the same thing. Love. Religions were based on these teachings. And many people whom i know thrive and flourish within the religions they are drawn to.

I see that we have a similar understanding. However, I find that many people end up following their religions rather than the words of the master. Often times things get lost in translation and religions fragment and the followers end up walking different paths. I think that there is only one path, I always go to the source. Any altered path strays from the ideal. Moriah “the enlightened” can attest to that. Some people plain old twist the words to suit their own purpose, but that's a different thread and it doesn't belong in this place.

I do not know how to logically look at life except from a spiritual point of view. When I am not looking from the point of view, is when I am in disconnect. which is often lately.

When I was little, I told my mother what I thought about churches and miracles and some great big guy floating out in space somewhere. At five years old, I was a man of science. She tried to explain in so many ways, she got pretty upset. Then one day it was like a light went on in her head and she told me her understanding of the master that she followed. She said: they call him the son of God, but he called himself the son of man, and he said that we're all his brothers and sisters. Then she squatted down in front of me and touched her finger to my chest as she told me: He said the real church is in our hearts, and our eyes are like the windows, your eyes are the windows to your soul. How do you think I know when you've been up to mischief? I can see it in your eyes. I thought: That's how she does it.
She gave me this exercise to try, I call it the balance. She told me to remember the last thing that I did that was bad “can't remember what it was” but I remembered the feeling. Then she asked: How does that make you feel right under my finger? I said: Not too good. Then told me to run outside and do something good for somebody. I asked: Like what? She said anything, but it has to be for somebody else, and then come right back. So I went outside and started wandering down the street, nobody was outside. Then I saw one of the old ladies down the street, looking out her window ”she always looked sad”. I thought: I know what, I'll give her a smile. So I stopped and waved and gave her my best smile. She smiled back this wonderful smile and waved back at me. That felt pretty good. So I ran back home: OK I did it. Then she put her finger back on my chest and asked: How does that feel right here? I said: pretty good! She told me she already knew because she could see it in my eyes. She said: that's what he's trying to teach us. When we do good we feel better and our spirit grows.
That's the foundation of my spirituality. I call it the balance. Light and dark. Right and wrong. The further we balance toward the light, the more our spirit grows. It works for everything. Love hate, care neglect, truth lies, you name it.

OK, I had to tell you all that so that I could tell you this.
I lost balance in a moment when I was nine, just like that. I lost my understanding and I fell inside myself. I had some really bad years. Logic went out the window and I became disconnected. I had family and friends around me but I was alone in a crowded room. I couldn't turn to religion for comfort as I saw my friends do”for reasons explained above”. So I turned to music. “There was a lot of spiritual music happening back then”. I came across a narrative called The Balance. It sounds a little biblical, but it inspired me to regain some semblance of understanding at a very disconnected time. The song was written by Graham Edge and Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues, and it reads like this.

After he had journeyed,
And his feet were sore,
And he was tired,
He came upon an orange grove
And he rested
And he lay in the cool,
And while he rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it,
And it was good.
And he felt the earth to his spine,
And he asked, and he saw the tree above him, and the stars,
And the veins in the leaf,
And the light, and the balance.
And he saw magnificent perfection,
Whereon he thought of himself in balance,
And he knew he was.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it's always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it's always been.
Just open your heart
And that's a start.

And he thought of those he angered,
For he was not a violent man,
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man,
And he understood.
He understood himself.

Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear,
It was because he was not understanding,
And he learned, compassion.

And with his eye of compassion.
He saw his enemies like unto himself,
And he learned love.
Then, he was answered.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it's always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it's always been.
Just open your heart
And that's a start.

It sounds better than it reads and it's not just words. It brushes over a practical exercise in understanding that anyone can do. All you need is a quiet little bit of nature and a little bit of time. If you want a better explanation let me know and I'll post it later.

It would be nice to see you turn that name around.

[Younuh]

No Avatars? Don't be too hasty. Are you thinking it has to be some sage, elderly neighbour or crusty old Aunty Mabel? What about the bully in public school that tortured you daily, the moment your newborn child entered the world, the friend you lost, who was so young. What did you learn witnessing the robbery? In our lifes' journey we are learning from these teachers...all the good and bad experiences leave a lesson. People come into our lives and people go, leaving behind thoughts, feelings, joy and anguish that we ponder or wrestle with. Unless you're sitting in a closet, wrapped in cotton batting, there are going to be Avatars. There will always be Avatars in your life causing us to act in a different way, or to rethink our ways of dealing or giving us the A-HA moments that may change the course of our lives. Sometimes we get stuck dealing with a particularily difficult lesson, but eventually we'll learn and move on, with the help of our Avatars.

[sunsetsunrise]

Thank you Bruce,
that is a lovely story. And the lyrics to the song are quite profound. The post you replied to was written perhaps a while ago. I do not remember writing it. So there is not a problem that it was responded to after a period of time.

You wrote* It would be nice to see you turn that name around.
Ahhhhh but after the sunset and night comes a new dawning..... the sunrise. So why turn the name around? See what i mean? Or maybe i am missing your point. life, even civilizations go through the ending before they come to the new dawning. the sunrise. Still maybe I missed your point of why you think it would be nice if I turn my name around. If so I will be inerested in hearing your explination. Blessings

Originally Posted by Bruce.

Hi SunsetSunrise

I thought I had overlooked your post, then I saw that you still had time lag when you sent it, then I noticed it at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the delayed response I'm suffering from a little time lag too. I see from another post you were getting a little frustrated, Reads a little bit like the poem doesn't it.


I see that we have a similar understanding. However, I find that many people end up following their religions rather than the words of the master. Often times things get lost in translation and religions fragment and the followers end up walking different paths. I think that there is only one path, I always go to the source. Any altered path strays from the ideal. Moriah “the enlightened” can attest to that. Some people plain old twist the words to suit their own purpose, but that's a different thread and it doesn't belong in this place.



When I was little, I told my mother what I thought about churches and miracles and some great big guy floating out in space somewhere. At five years old, I was a man of science. She tried to explain in so many ways, she got pretty upset. Then one day it was like a light went on in her head and she told me her understanding of the master that she followed. She said: they call him the son of God, but he called himself the son of man, and he said that we're all his brothers and sisters. Then she squatted down in front of me and touched her finger to my chest as she told me: He said the real church is in our hearts, and our eyes are like the windows, your eyes are the windows to your soul. How do you think I know when you've been up to mischief? I can see it in your eyes. I thought: That's how she does it.
She gave me this exercise to try, I call it the balance. She told me to remember the last thing that I did that was bad “can't remember what it was” but I remembered the feeling. Then she asked: How does that make you feel right under my finger? I said: Not too good. Then told me to run outside and do something good for somebody. I asked: Like what? She said anything, but it has to be for somebody else, and then come right back. So I went outside and started wandering down the street, nobody was outside. Then I saw one of the old ladies down the street, looking out her window ”she always looked sad”. I thought: I know what, I'll give her a smile. So I stopped and waved and gave her my best smile. She smiled back this wonderful smile and waved back at me. That felt pretty good. So I ran back home: OK I did it. Then she put her finger back on my chest and asked: How does that feel right here? I said: pretty good! She told me she already knew because she could see it in my eyes. She said: that's what he's trying to teach us. When we do good we feel better and our spirit grows.
That's the foundation of my spirituality. I call it the balance. Light and dark. Right and wrong. The further we balance toward the light, the more our spirit grows. It works for everything. Love hate, care neglect, truth lies, you name it.

OK, I had to tell you all that so that I could tell you this.
I lost balance in a moment when I was nine, just like that. I lost my understanding and I fell inside myself. I had some really bad years. Logic went out the window and I became disconnected. I had family and friends around me but I was alone in a crowded room. I couldn't turn to religion for comfort as I saw my friends do”for reasons explained above”. So I turned to music. “There was a lot of spiritual music happening back then”. I came across a narrative called The Balance. It sounds a little biblical, but it inspired me to regain some semblance of understanding at a very disconnected time. The song was written by Graham Edge and Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues, and it reads like this.

After he had journeyed,
And his feet were sore,
And he was tired,
He came upon an orange grove
And he rested
And he lay in the cool,
And while he rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it,
And it was good.
And he felt the earth to his spine,
And he asked, and he saw the tree above him, and the stars,
And the veins in the leaf,
And the light, and the balance.
And he saw magnificent perfection,
Whereon he thought of himself in balance,
And he knew he was.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it's always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it's always been.
Just open your heart
And that's a start.

And he thought of those he angered,
For he was not a violent man,
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man,
And he understood.
He understood himself.

Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear,
It was because he was not understanding,
And he learned, compassion.

And with his eye of compassion.
He saw his enemies like unto himself,
And he learned love.
Then, he was answered.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it's always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it's always been.
Just open your heart
And that's a start.

It sounds better than it reads and it's not just words. It brushes over a practical exercise in understanding that anyone can do. All you need is a quiet little bit of nature and a little bit of time. If you want a better explanation let me know and I'll post it later.

It would be nice to see you turn that name around.

Originally Posted by Bruce.

candle candle burning bright

Hi Muffy, thank you for your thank you, and thank you for being you.
I have a stitch for your Windows thread. Looks like your making a quilt. I'm just so busy right now.

When I come here I see many little windows coming together to illuminate this community. Sometimes those little windows are afraid to shine through because they've been hurt so badly. I have a poem “it's about me” but there's a part that I directed at the prosecutors for what they put me through in order to convict a couple of robbers. Like I said it's about me, but it relates to many victims of abuse. I showed it to my younger sister and she related it to her abusive ex husband. What he did to her children and what he did to her. It goes like this.

People you must understand
That when the power is in your hand
Be careful with those lives you hold
Remembering my story told

When seeking justice you are bent
You must protect the innocent
With little children left exposed
Their shattered feelings are transposed

Their fear consumes, they run and hide
And end up on the other side
They hide away from those who care
Their feelings, they no longer share

It almost seems too late for me
All those years, but now I’m free
How many people live my life?
Thank goodness for my loving wife

To all of those who hide away
Be hopeful for a better day
Take shelter with those special few
Who care enough to help you through

Pray one day to be inspired
To reconnect your broken wires
Expose emotions you’re concealing
And open up to your true feelings
That’s the way you’re meant to be
See it through and you’ll be free

I have this way of seeing through darkened windows, maybe from all the years of looking through my own. It's all so easy for me now. I have to be careful. Sometimes I see things in people and I tell them things that their not ready hear. In person I can respond to the immediate reaction in their eyes, but here the only contact is the text that they return. It makes it a little harder to help that way.

Life is good, breathing is very good. The warmth of true friendship is most important.
Relaxing is so much easier in the warm and gentle breeze that you provide.

Hi Bruce
sorry it took me so long to answer.
Your poem is well written Im sorry things were so hard when you were young. I pray you are working threw it now as you seem to be. ANd yes thank god for your wife. It sounds like god sent her to you as a angel.
Your own ...
((ty)) for what you said about my window thread its near and dear to me.
You said ((I have this way of seeing through darkened windows, maybe from all the years of looking through my own. It's all so easy for me now. I have to be careful. Sometimes I see things in people and I tell them things that their not ready hear.)))
Most ppl I think it depends on where they are in thier healing imo....
For me the truth sets me free

[Bruce.]

Hi Muffy.

sorry it took me so long to answer

Me too

I'm sorry things were so hard when you were young. I pray you are working threw it now as you seem to be.

You know; a couple two bit thieves trying to get some quick cash ruined the lives of three people directly “The owner sold the store shortly after that”, and how many other people, indirectly, can't even take a guess.

As for me now? I closed the curtain on somebody many many years ago. Then a couple of years back I found out something awful happened to them ten years earlier. It was too late for me to do anything at all. I got so mad at my darkened window that I kicked that thing right out on the lawn. That's when I realized that “friends are forever”. I learned a valuable lesson “never turn your back on a friend” no matter what the circumstance. Not for their sake, for your own. Regret is a horrible cross to bear.
I don't mind the weather blowing in through the open window anymore, I'm fine.

It sounds like god sent her to you as a angel.

Every now and then she gives me a big hug and says: I'm so lucky to have you. I tell her that we're lucky to have each other. I told her once that if it wasn't for her there would be no me. I expected to hear: what do you mean by that? But she didn't say a word. She gave a look of: What's he talking about? / I don't want to know. "True friends are living angels"

Speaking of angels

“Windows” “Did you know”. What would this place be without them?

For me the truth sets me free

Truth flows freely through an open heart

Hi Younah,

Nicely put. If it weren't for some very special real life avatars I wouldn't be the person I am today. One in particular is noted above.
As for having no Avatar, what I meant was: I have been reading the threads for a while now and I've come to recognize people by the avatars that they use to represent themselves. That's why I put the faeries in the picture. Didn't want to play favorites so I found some on the internet . After I posted the poem I realized that I was just a name. As you can see I have one now. 1959, I was six years old. "Ideals intact"

Hi SunsetSunrise

You wrote**It would be nice to see you turn that name around.*
Ahhhhh but after the sunset and night comes a new dawning..... the sunrise. So why turn the name around? See what i mean? Or maybe i am missing your point. life, even civilizations go through the ending before they come to the new dawning.

Between sunset and sunrise is the dark of night. Between sunrise and sunset is the light of day. Why sit and wait in the dark for the sunrise. Why not make your own, and spend your days in the sun. that's what people here are trying to help each other to do. Wouldn't it be nice to be happy?

As for the explanation, I want to get it right and I haven't had much time to focus on it lately. I will get it done, just not sure when. Sorry.

For now: The first verse is about opening your heart to nature and understanding you are nature and nature is you. It allows you to set aside your obligations, step outside yourself and let you look at yourself as you would a friend.

Catherine2 made a statement in Rhapsody's “Spiritual Awareness” thread that captures the feeling.

A five year old once taught me the absolute joy of watching a grasshopper at rest...I was outside of myself, my worries, and for those minutes of Wow, I was renewed.

[phoenix7]

Bruce you are a gentle spirit and I am glad you are here

[Miracle1986]

Thank you for sharing that "Spirit in the Looking Glass" Bruce.

Hi Bruce
Just saw this sorry again . Also I am really bad at quoting lol
You said (((As for me now? I closed the curtain on somebody many many years ago. Then a couple of years back I found out something awful happened to them ten years earlier. It was too late for me to do anything at all. I got so mad at my darkened window that I kicked that thing right out on the lawn. That's when I realized that “friends are forever”. I learned a valuable lesson “never turn your back on a friend” no matter what the circumstance. Not for their sake, for your own. Regret is a horrible cross to bear.
I don't mind the weather blowing in through the open window anymore, I'm fine))))

I want you to know friends always forgive as spirit does not want anyone to have regrets. I am so happy your window is open.

((ty)) for what you said about did you know and windows. God breezes ...

your wife is a true angel and i have a feeling you are one to her too.

Did you know god plans it that way ..................he always has a path
tc of you and your wife sorry it took so long to see this