Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

It's never been about pushing yourself
as hard as humanly possible, not ever
beyond the efforts of what makes us human,
it's always been about balancing the scales
of creative living, and so the black sheep tag
fits you like suede gloves that have molded
to the size of your heart

you seem to always be able to calibrate the measuring devices
with an innate precision that belies any rational explanations

when to stop the madness of mindless work
and start the spiritual clocks ticking with pounding rhythms,
you know that its too easy to forget that step in the process,
too convenient to jump from chore to chore
like children swinging on monkey bars, one rung to another
for the hell of it, too busy to consider the beauty
one knows exists beyond the mundane footprints of the walking dead

you always understood we have the capacity to work ourselves to death

prematurely, without accomplishing much at all, but killing time
you've helped me awaken, you told me one day quite emphatically
THIS IS NOT YOUR PRACTICE LIFE !
there will always be more work than you can ever dream of,
you told me you spoke to end-of-life nurses that enlightened you
that number one on everyone's list of regrets as they lay dying
is I Wish I Hadn't Worked As Much....NUMBER ONE

so I jammed a monkey wrench into the grinding gears
took my grandson to the park, called on a lonely friend
volunteered at the soup kitchen, learned how to
do absolutely nothing with no remorse, you taught me
how to embrace the silence that creates works of art
you taught me to love quiet as much as I once loved
work. errands, responsibilities, expectations.....noise

idle compared to what?

my Dad worked at an aircraft factory, I hardly remember anything he ever said
except to tell me to get a hair cut and get a job, mostly it was get a job.
The best talk I had with him was after he retired right before he dropped dead
of a heart attack at the ripe old age of 62. Oh, and he singed away his pension.
So he could look like he could keep up with the Joneses better. Lot of good it did him.
Well at least he died doing something he liked, he was playing soft ball when he
keeled over. I was hoping to get to finally to get to know my Dad, maybe go fishing
or something, I never got the chance. My poor Mom.

yes rev R,...my dad worked every double shift Bethlehem steel ever offered him...a work ethic etched into his DNA from living through the Great Depression....its too bad so many guys didn't really get to know their dads....very sad for you, and others.....my dad is 90, even though I see him once a week now, we are like strangers...I buy his groceries and he thanks me....and that's the best it will ever get....his generation was not touchy feely...WW II guys
were tough at an early age, worked on the farm, then in the army at 19 years old....yes your poor mom....and you

it's a struggle for me to not follow that path....but it's gotten much better, had to train myself that it was OK to do nothing if I wanted to....watch paint dry, and fantasize about all the possibilities that come to you when you allow yourself to be still