Life is a Path

Life is a path. A path of which you cannot turn back on. A narrow, long, ever on-going length, that of which you cannot see the end. It may have hills, It may cross water, It may even be straight and flat.

Lining the path is every moment in your life, but as you walk down the path, it crumbles behind you. The rose bushes, thorn bristles, wild flowers, toadstools etc lining the path stay, but you cannot get back to them.

This is life.

As you walk, a thorn may cut your ankle, but you cannot stop walking.

If you see a beautiful flower, you cannot pick it. Only enjoy its aroma for the second you pass it.

It will be there always. But as a memory. Enjoy it. Do not forget it.

Your cut will heal. Your olfactory system will always be there. Just appreciate everything you have in life while you have it.

Religion

It's all lies.


Argue that bitches.

Give 'er the high hard one

Randomness is bliss.
Bliss is that of which we cannot describe with words but with a gratitude and multitude of emotional confusion which herein leads our minds into a downwards spiral of upward ecstasy.


Herein we find what?
Nothing but that which is only definable by a word not yet known to man.

Enjoy what you have when you have it.
Dwell on that of which you do not have.
For thinking about it constantly is the only way to achieve it.

Stabat Mater

Stabat mater dolorosa
iuxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.

Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.

O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta,
mater Unigeniti!

Quae maerebat et dolebat,
pia Mater, dum videbat
nati poenas inclyti.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?

Quis non posset contristari
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.

Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.

Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.

Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.

Iuxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.

Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.

Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.

Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria.

Amen

In the Moment

When things happen in the moment, those things are what quantify the meaning of life.

Randomly waking up to a good morning text today has helped me realize, that the things in life that matter are not the ones that leave a profound effect, but those which lead slowly into a much greatly, larger story.

Human must realise the power of their minds. And how their actions may effect the minds of those around them. Our emotions are our minds.

An Understanding

Researchers are always seeking answers to fundamental questions about illness: "What is the cause of cancer?" "How does stress damage your cells and organs?" "What causes plaque to build up inside your arteries?"

The flip side of such questions is "what is the mechanism by which love and affection positively affect health?" The answer to this question is oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter. Once believed to confine its effects to inducing labor and milk ejection, oxytocin actually has far-reaching effects on both sexes. You could not fall in love without it. These days it goes by nicknames such as "the bonding hormone," "the cuddle hormone," and even "the love hormone."

The primary conscious behavior or thought process that increases oxytocin is caring for another. Appreciation, generous touch, gratitude, and emotional connections with others also raise oxytocin levels. In addition, oxytocin appears to be behind many of the health benefits from meditation, massage and acupuncture. We see one of oxytocin's most powerful effects at birth--when the mother and father bond with their child. At that moment, oxytocin surges causing a rewiring of both parents' brains so that they will do anything for their little screaming creature. Under ordinary circumstances they remain permanently in love.

We all form similar connections with friends, lovers, cats, gurus, or even God. And the benefits to us of these deep connections are great. Oxytocin is the reason why people with pets tend to recover more quickly from illness, why married people tend to live longer, why support groups benefit those with cancer, addictions and chronic disorders, and why care-giving primate parents, whether male or female, live longer than the non-care-giving parents.

"...the key seems to be oxytocin's ability to counteract the effects of stress."

How can oxytocin produce such tremendous health benefits? The exact mechanism is not clear, but the key seems to be oxytocin's ability to counteract the effects of stress. To state this differently, if you listed all the conditions and diseases related to stress or aggravated by stress, you'd have to list nearly every known condition. By easing stress, oxytocin helps to heal them all.

In addition to oxytocin's powerful effects on the body, it strongly affects your mind and behavior. It is nature's antidepressant and anti-anxiety hormone. It creates feelings of calm and a sense of connection, so it actually shapes how you view the world. The whole universe looks like a better place when you feel tranquil and loving. Oxytocin also reduces cravings, which makes it the key to healing addictions of all kinds. For example, rats addicted to heroin used less of the drug when experimenters raised oxytocin levels in their brains.

Have you heard the saying, "the more you give, the more you get?" Well, it applies to oxytocin, too. The more you nurture and connect with others, the more responsive your body and brain become to it. This makes it an unusual neurotransmitter. Compare it with substances like alcohol or caffeine. The more you use them, the greater the quantity you require to attain the same effect. Oxytocin is the opposite. The more you give and nurture, the more strongly you respond.

You can't take a pill to obtain these benefits because oxytocin would swiftly breakdown in your stomach. Not even an injection would work because the body gets rid of it so quickly. The only artificial way to keep oxytocin up would be to receive a continuous IV, and still that would have no effect on your brain.

Yet it is within your power to release oxytocin within your brain and body--short of having a child or an orgasm (see below). Consciously stick to behaviors that promote its production in areas of the body and brain that yield beneficial effects. Meditate, nurture others, reach out to connect with people, and make love in a way that keeps your heart open.

Because of oxytocin's roles in bonding and reducing cravings, we believe it is the key to authentic monogamy and, of course, peace between the sheets. That is, if you want to stay in love, you need to sustain the production of oxytocin. This happens effortlessly…until some point after conventional sex enters the equation.

"If you want to stay in love, you need to sustain the production of oxytocin."

Here's why. Falling in love calls forth a soup of neurochemicals, including oxytocin's bonding effects. However, conventional sex tends to over-stimulate the pleasure/reward center deep within the brain. Over time, this leads to subconscious defensiveness and emotional distance between partners. Once uneasiness enters your intimate relationship, the bond between the two of you tends to weaken. That is, you produce less oxytocin. So you can see how biology's agenda unravels your relationships over time despite oxytocin's bonding properties.

The situation is confusing, even to scientists, because levels of oxytocin (at least in the bloodstream) rise sharply in most of us at the moment of orgasm. However, research suggests that this surge of oxytocin may have little to do with emotional bonding, and more to do with inducing the contractions associated with orgasm (to move the sperm along). Oxytocin, remember, also produces birth contractions. Even if there is a corresponding surge of oxytocin in the brain at the moment of orgasm, it is obvious that people can have sex without bonding. Some get up and leave; others roll over and snore.

The best plan? Consciously encourage oxytocin production with caring behavior. In this way you protect and strengthen the bonding connections in your brain and tap the health benefits discussed above.

Sadly, the normal relationship pattern is for couples to get together, think they will love each other forever, and then end up fighting and splitting up, or simmering in resentment and stagnation. This roller coaster of passion-followed-by-separation is behind the decline in oxytocin. The result? The honeymoon ends.

Our experience, making love without orgasm, has been just the reverse of this typical pattern. Our relationship stays light-hearted and romantic and has grown closer with time. We believe this positive trend is the result of consciously avoiding the behaviors that create subconscious uneasiness between partners. In this way we maintain our initial levels of oxytocin. And, as we've become increasingly responsive to "the Big 'O'," that is, oxytocin, our connection grows stronger and healthier. It will work for you, too!

M Robinson, G Wilson (et al) Circ 12/04/06

Acer

Everything is a test.
Everything is a lesson.

The mind is a puzzle box. The heart is the key.

Never the other way around.