I’m happy to let you know that my book, Feeling Fortunate but Awful, is now available on Kindle and at a very reasonable price. Besides the subject of depression, the other topics I write about are: the value of authentic friendships, the importance of self-care, the role trials can play in our growth and development and the importance of creativity and spirituality in our lives.
Tag Archive | Poetry
The spiritual climb
Our body is an external shell
Our spirit what animates it
Our body matures and eventually declines
But our spirit in on a never ending journey
The delight we take in beauty and art
The creativity that flows from us
The compassion we feel for others
Our patience and perseverance
These qualities of our spirit never age
If anything they flourish in time
Experience polishes them
And makes them shine
Age is an expression of the days we’ve lived
But as far as our inner attributes are concerned
Age does not lead to decline
On the contrary
We can continue to climb
August 29th, 2016
Collage of me
Collage:
Different colors , textures, and shapes
Put together in harmony to create beauty
My life is a collage of sorts
Various countries, languages
And cultures have shaped me
The base of this collage is created
With earth tones
Colors that stand for the desert, the valley and
The bare mountains of Shiraz
The city of poets, roses and nightingales
The city I come from
Over the earth tones are other colors
That represent the rest of my life
The countries I’ve lived in
The languages I speak
And the different cultures that have influenced me
And though these parts seem distinct and disparate at times
They create whole that is the collage of me
A collage in which
Eastern and Western culture are intertwined
Its hallmark is diversity
Its message, love
August 2016
Bitter medicine
Sometimes we see pain as an anomaly
As something that gets in the way of our ‘happiness’
Or we see periods of pain as lost time
As a detour on the way we were headed
We don’t want to be in pain
Or see others in pain
I think that’s normal of course
But pain seems to be unavoidable in this life
And even necessary for our growth
Pain, like a violent force
Shatters the ego
Our image of ourselves
As in control and self sufficient
Breaks down
Sometimes we glue the broken pieces together
Only for it to break one more time.
Pain is a teacher as well
It helps us learn to reach out to friends
To trust in them
Pain shows us we need each other in our lives
Pain helps us better understand the suffering of others
The depth of their despair
It causes us to try to find a way to help
Those in distress
We were created to endure pain
That’s the mechanism by which we grow
Some soul searching is required of course
We need to play our role in this growth
Like bitter medicine
Pain has good results
And in any case
There is no way around it
In our lives
August 22nd, 2016
Tidying up
Papers, papers everywhere
Some on the couch, some on the floor
Some on the table in front of me
Some in the dining room
Keep, recycle, file
Recycle, file, consolidate
Then, find proper places for them
Faded files
Empty files
Files that can be gotten rid of
Files that have grown thick over the years
With papers going back more than ten years
Paper clips
Old binders
And oh, the note book I thought I had lost!
This kind of work needs concentration
The right mood
And perhaps certain stars need to align
That’s why I don’t do it often
I like to blame it on the stars!
And once you start in one area
You end up in another one and another one
Tidying up things
You were not even going to touch
After a couple of hours
My brain feels on fire
And my eyes feel like they are crossed
I decide it’s time to stop
This is not one day’s work
But I’ve made a good start
And will I be cooking tonight?
I think not!
August 21st, 2016
Easier said than done
Emotional upheavals come our way
There is no way to avoid them
Then we have to put long term serenity
Over short term happiness
This is a difficult proposition
Status quo and temporary joy
Have great allure
The human spirit has to rise to the occasion
Flex its muscles
And accept the pain
Of course, all of this is easier
Said than done
August 11th, 2016
Connection
You need to extend a hand
Before someone takes your hand
There is risk involved
Courage is required
But almost always
If the intention is right
People are waiting for an extended hand
The barriers are mostly in our own minds
We create them and give them shape
Our insecurities get in the way
Most often, kindness begets kindness
A smile is returned with a smile
And beautiful connections are made
Because someone took the first step
And reached out
July 22nd 2016
Questions
When the doors close
Turn around
When the road is blocked
Choose another path
But what about perseverance?
What about persistence?
What about that?
The line between attachment
And detachment
Becomes blurry in an instant
What is stubbornness?
What is persistence?
When should one let go?
When should one move on?
Life’s a puzzle
And sometimes a maze
With big question marks
Around each bend
Give up on the idea
Of an easy life
Where things are straight forward
Where answers are found
September 20th, 2007
It is what it is
It is what it is
Stop fighting with yourself
Accept the moment, as is
You feel change is happening slowly
That might be
But worrying about it
Won’t speed things up
If anything
It will create roadblocks
Sometimes it’s two steps forward
One step back
Others have gone through this
Take a deep breath
And get back on track!
It is what it is
It’s not bad
Even when it’s hard
It may lead you
To something new and grand
When it’s difficult
Persevere
Perseverance separates the weak
From the strong
It is what it is
This phrase frees you from worry
From disappointment
From questioning and doubt
Lida Berghuis
January 31st, 2011
Enough!
Do you sometimes feel like
You’ve heard enough bad news?
Enough crazy talk on TV
About how the solution to everything
Is to build a wall and isolate ourselves
Enough disturbing talk about ‘the others’
Those who are ‘evil’
Those whose parents come from somewhere else
Enough news of people
Dying needlessly
And no one being able to
Change anything
Because of big money and greed
I’m at that point
Don’t want to hear the negativity
The attacks
The counter attacks
The spin
Answers that don’t say anything
Statements that come out of nowhere
And are paraded as truth
I know I’ll listen to the news again
But for now, I need a break
June 14th, 2016
lida's musings 