"One cannot tell by the results, what the cause is. This is often true. Don’t mistake one for the other. For example, when you are feeling anxiety, that does not mean there are things to worry about. And when you are feeling spiritual, that doesn’t mean what you experience is any more profound than when you are feeling profane. ‘And when you are feeling Rikkity’... CT, put the muzzle back on. ‘What.’ Lock it. ‘O, yes... mmmm.’ Good. CT, how were the cookies? ‘Mmmm.’

“People get cause and effect confused. And even more get cause and affect confused... and don’t even start with effect and affect!

“Just because the stove is hot, doesn’t mean you are cooking. O such pith!” (2/11/2006 - O#68)



"Ah, gracious: Now there’s a word--full of possibilities, coupled with safety and allure. An invitation to the universal YES, with assurance of benevolence. Who could ask for anything more.” (3/10/2006 - O#69)



"I like al fresco. Al’s a great spirit. So, is it different in nature? Where isn’t it in nature.

“People keep assuming it’s nature, but it’s really people’s changed perspectives. I wonder if a forest ranger takes a vacation to Times Square and says ‘Ah, I can relax and see the larger picture.’ To us the sea is the beckoning horizon, but to a sailor it’s work. There is no place in the physical world with more meaning than another... ‘except for that one.’ CT!” (9/27/2007 - O#70)



"Ah holidays, days with a choice built in. We can use them as a time to recollect how much we’ve lost in life--the empty chairs at the table, the storied people from before, how much we miss them, and how life isn’t like it used to be. Or we can choose to celebrate how our lives have been touched by love and meaning, and how--even if we sit down to a table by ourselves--we are never again truly alone. And if we sit down to a table by our elves... well, duh. ‘Hi.’

“I and we... and even they... are amazed, but not amused, by how people take such opportunities to focus on the empty, not the full. Hey, if you have to miss someone on Thanksgiving, miss Stalin or Hitler, but don’t miss the ones who loved and cared and filled, for they and their loving, caring, and filling are not gone--unless you act as if they are.

“Genghis Khan we’re not sure about. The Khan family might find them memorable. 'Hey, set a place for Uncle Genghis... or else he’ll take it anyway.'

“So, I want you should feast and celebrate. Can’t get rid of us with something as trifling as death! That’s my holiday message. ‘Hey, I’ll give you one.’ One what. ‘A holiday massage.’ O, CT, you rub me the right way!” (11/20/2007 - O#71)



"We are all projections of information--both our physical and spiritual elves. Otherwise, this communication would not be possible.

"We are manifested in many ways. But manifestations of what? 'Ectoplasm.’ No, CT! ‘Endoplasm?’ *tap tap tap* ‘Plasma.’ Well yes, at times we are plasma, but plasma is a projection.

“How about anti-jection: You are what you are not. No, let’s not go there. Not shadows; shadows are what you are, too. Anti-jections are the absences in the fabric of being if you are not. But then being is not being in the same way. It’s a Wonderful Life: He was not his absence, nor was his being defined by his absence, but his absence was.

“There is no such thing as no such thing. You can’t point to being and say ‘See, there’s what’s missing,’ like a jigsaw puzzle that has been around too long. Because if you are living in a living matrix of being, then there are no empty spaces. See, that’s what the grieving need to come to realize. If you don’t set an extra place at the table, there is no empty seat. Being is always whole and complete. It is just our perception that it’s not. Careful now, I did not say 'it snot.'

“And anyone who comes out the other side of change knows this. What was would have been different and seemed incomplete with someone or something missing, but they weren’t. And now it is just as complete, but with a changed cast of characters and things and wee wittle whatevers which slowly darken at dusk.

“Reality is always quicker than perception. And Mighty Mouse is faster than Persephone. ‘Here he comes to save the day.’" (3/1/2008 - O#72)



“People who live by the ups and downs of life never realize how far along they’ve traveled.” (9/18/2008 - O#73)



“Laughter is always in the present! Whoa, that’s a big one.” (5/29/2010 - O#74)



“Neutrinos: Can’t live with ‘em and can’t live without ‘em--the necessary intrusion of other existences, so we aren’t isolated. An existence without enigmas would have no future, because it would interact only with itself.

“So, those neutrinos. How come no car has been named a Neutrino. The new Ford Neutrino, essential to your travels but impossible to ticket. ‘Officer, did you see it.’ ‘Yes, it was going very fast but when I tried to pull it over, it was gone. Damn.’

“Just love what glues existence but isn’t really there. Sort of like reason. And in some other iteration, the neutrino world is perplexed by electrons: ‘We know they have energy, but we can’t figure for what. They’re just there.’ And so, Bob slowly drifted from existence to existence, hardly noticing when electrons replaced neutrinos. But give him a burger with mustard on it and he would rail against astrology. That’s it, folks.” (10/18/2010 - O#75)



Question from Matt: Has the choice of another lifetime come up?

“I get many offers--some of them about spending lifetimes. I refuse them all. I like surprises. A bird in the hand is worth a fistful of shit... and tiny little bones.

“And don’t accept any doors that open themselves for you, but wait for the ones to which you have the key.” (1/3/2011 - O#76)



“All loss is composed of three elements: that which was lost, that which abides, and that which becomes possible. Most people focus on the loss of the loss, not the other elements. And in doing so, they inhibit possibility, and deny that which abides and is sustained and sustaining. Yes, something is lost, but not everything. If everything were lost, you would be beyond comprehending and feeling it. It would be too big to fit into recognition, because it would swallow everything up, including you. So, be aware in loss that not all is lost!

“If all were lost, you couldn’t even remember that something had been. So, yes, something is lost and you need to move through grief to recognize what it is. And most people get it wrong. They think in physical terms with spiritual implications. The body is dead, so the person is gone. Why extend the physical metaphor to the spiritual? Because we have an impression that permanence is physical--like the ever-changing mountains. Right, sure, that’s the ticket. So, something has changed, and what was lost is the field of supposition and projection. But what abides is the sense of what has been. Lose a photo, but you can still see the image in your mind. All that was lost is the ability to make copies.

“Most that matters abides. Can’t lose it, unless you ignore or deny it. And focusing on loss is a totally great way to ignore or deny!

“Even after the fire is out and the heat gone there are ashes, if you aren’t stuck in bemoaning the lack of warmth or the diminished woodpile. And those ashes washed by rain water can begin to make soap. Yep, things lost and things abiding. And things coming into possibility not possible without the loss.

“A person grows up in a house, and then they take out the home loan, but they can’t afford the payments so they lose the house. And then, suddenly a whole new world of possibility opens, but only if they are not stuck back in the old house. And the recognition of new possibilities opens one to see what abides. ‘O, I didn’t lose that. I know, because in my new circumstance I still have it.’

“Possibility always waits just out of sight on the other side of any perceived loss.

“And that’s my spiel. You could still be bitterly grieving, with pilgrimages to places of the past, but then you wouldn’t see the sunset over the Gulf of Possibility. Always there, abiding, waiting until things that obscure your view seem lost." (8/20/2012 - O#77)



"Physical existence often tweaks the trivial into seeming essential. I’m not talking about obsession, I’m talking about essence--that which illumines and enhances the very spirit of being. As in, ‘O, now I get it!’

"Most people fill gaps and resolve deficiencies, but that is not carried on. It’s what enhances that is made part of the entity. Lives are not meant as repair shops. Remember I, long ago or just a moment ago, said 'God is not a repairman.' Remember? So, life must not be a repair shop. Nor a second-hand store. But when life adds to the equation, the added part stays. ‘Like fungus.’ CT, ugh.

"It becomes essential, not decorative. You would feel deficient going ahead without it... and you would feel deficient going without your head. But, extrapolate. If it would feel deficient to go without your head, what else would feel the same. Being mindful helps... and keeping a good list of missing body parts. ‘Haven’t got a leg to stand on.’ However, if something in life brings relief, that’s not it! If it is more about ‘wow!’ or ‘ah’ instead of ‘phew,’ then we’re moving in the right direction. And if it is deficit reduction, you retain some fear of a return to the previous state. But when it is enhancement, you can enjoy the plus without any worry of its demise. A subtle, but essential, difference. Cattle prods don’t help.

"On our spiral, this is the difference between Stage 2 and Stage 4. That uneasiness that, while the loss has been understood, it might repeat in new ways, until one sees that one can claim a new and more inclusive self informed by the loss, but not shaped by loss.

"Atomic states are fluid, so why not selves. I bet you have met some people who are just like they were. Clueless. If you stay the same, you are either sheltered or oblivious. Every moment is inviting and challenging change. If you are too busy making up for what you think is missing, you never see those invitations. I know of folks who stopped reading their mail because it was full of bills, and so they missed the checks.

"Lots here if you read it carefully, not to solve a problem, but to see a possibility." (10/10/2013 - O#78)



“In many cases, the solution is as simple as one more try.” (11/27/2014 - O#79)

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