Tag: gratitude journal

Make It – 17th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

Yeah, we’re gonna make it
But only by the skin of our teeth
Possibly we’ll break it
But somewhere we have to find belief
Maybe we’ll mistake it
For an eternity all too brief
Probably we’ll fake it
Wallowing in an illusion of relief

The more you have to lose, the more fragile you are.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for an extra day off school. I could get a lot of writing, reading and guitaring done. Bonus.

The Week That Was – 15th July 1979
The Week That Was – 22nd July 1979

Perfect Image – 16th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Caught in my first impression
Trapped by a spider’s smile
The tail-wagging dog bites
The hand after a while

Escape at the realisation
Is never a pretty sight to behold
Be better to live with the mess
If the truth be told

From Eric Barker’s newsletter:

How do we make love last? A lot of people fear that if they raise issues with their partner it can lead to arguing and that will end the relationship. So they stay silent…

But it is doubleplusungood wrongthink to believe that complaining is a problem. The research shows bottling up actually ends more marriages than arguing. Complaining, in the big picture, is actually a positive – it gets issues out in the open where they can be resolved. What leads to divorce isn’t complaining; it’s criticism.

From Plays Well With Others:

Complaining is actually healthy for a marriage. It’s criticism that predicts divorce. Complaining is when I say you did not take the trash out. Criticism is when I say you did not take the trash out because you’re a horrible person. The first is about an event, the second is about your fundamental personality. To keep your relationship solid, turn your criticisms into complaints. Address the event, not the person.

To say that criticism is bad for a relationship is like saying “The Grand Canyon is kinda big.” True but insufficient. Researcher John Gottman found it was one of four things that predicted divorce 83.3% of the time.

So don’t be afraid to raise that issue — but don’t make it personal. Address the problem, not their character. This leads to conversations that actually make your relationship stronger.

Whilst I’m inclined to agree with the above sentiment, I thought about how this has played out in my life. Another factor that came into play for me was low self-esteem. So that when my partner may have been complaining, I took it personally as criticism. This is particularly what ended my marriage with Bronwyn, along with a whole bunch of other factors that added up to become too much for me to deal with.

I’m much better with this these days but it can still rear its ugly head from time to time, though I’m usually aware of it even if I can’t put my finger on it.

He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that.

John Stuart Mill

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to see Hayden starting to do some rewarding work this week. I hope it makes him feel fulfilled and happy.

Fatman report

Smug – 15th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Shake yourself out of smug satisfaction
Are you perfectly formed? Happy and disgraced
Apply the training beyond your aspiration
The destination always remains misplaced

True action, food and radiant action…grows out of the suffering which you have not yet learned to suffer.

Hermann Hesse

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the tree-cutting tool Amy’s dad brought yesterday. making it easier to hack away some branches that needed doing.

Really Mean – 13th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A phone for every boyfriend
Separated sections of the brain
Keeping it all in order
Is starting to show the strain
Pity the sad deceiver
Left crying tears in the night
So much time to practice
But never getting it right
Settle for the simple
Focus on the strength to grow
Making better decisions
Make them proud to show
One day time catches up
The past will seem a dream
The clouds of doubt will part
Revealing what they really mean

Congratulations to ‘the rich’ for continuing to be rich.

Brad Esposito

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for tokay-catcher Tigger, delivering one to the kitchen last night. Thank you, Tigger.

Clickbait Title – 12th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

7 easy steps to success
Satisfaction guaranteed
Get everything for nothing
The truth you really need
300% for four hours a week
Click through for the gold
Everything is for sale
Until everything is sold
Eternal happiness waiting
It’s easy if you know how
Follow the shiny things
Be sure to click here now

Far too many good brains have been afflicted by the pointless enthusiasm for useless knowledge.

Seneca

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be kept aware of every small detail, by the lizard that was in my bed last night as I pulled the sheets back. I couldn’t catch it.

Death By Laundry – 11th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Who wants to watch the world a-tumble?
Turned on by private words now shared
The world, a worthless judge and jury
A cult of celebrity being compared

Wars aren’t felt when kept abroad
Out of sight and out of mind
Every channel, a meaningless opinion
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Rewind.

People are strange; they are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.

Charles Bukowski

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to watch and hear all the birds in our garden each morning.

N.C.O – 10th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Those secret deep-state meditations
Held complicit by dollar motivations
Data collection and manipulations
For narrative control operations

What people want, above all else, is not to be happy; they want to devote themselves to something, to give themselves away.

Tim Kreider from We Learn Nothing

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the mango sauce Amy’s dad made. Even though it’s supposed to be jam, it goes well with yoghurt.

Time Of The Gypsies – 9th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I’ll take my shoe and crush you
What will my spirit do without wings?
He takes and he smiles
The tap is left running

A sheep led through mud
The house will be white like milk
The working man gets the turkey
Talking to the turkey

What did he do to my daughter?
He ruined my daughter!
Winged sunny bird, winged sunny bird
Follow my lead, what trouble brought you here?

Special lime for the girl brings a smile
Who will carry such a sack?
Fire is the basis of everything
Do you know how to kiss?

Mother of the forest, mother of the rock
White as milk
Like Richard Gere
A turkey tied to a foot

I can hold my breath
And then the curtain comes down
The turkey makes a run
You’ve got a magnet on your lips

There’s a ghost at work
A mirage, take the case and run
The smoke came out his ears
No money, no faith, you army bastard
I’ll pull out your eyes

He wants to slaughter me and left me hanging
Is there a place for me?
The moonlight smiles and I cannot jump my shadow
And I cannot die

The bells are ringing, that I cannot die
Who are you to hang yourself?
Love will hang us all
Bring me home and tell my story

A crying donkey
Play another song, too old to dance in the park
Dinner is a scene and the night a dream
Burning in bed, a mountain fairy mother

God gave, God took, what can I do?
I am an army bastard
The water spirits swinging fire
Blood risen floating desire

A slap in the face for the seeing
Angelic baptism
The champion is here, the protagonist in a white feather fanfare
Money for the madhouse

How does this hang together?
Your love is not worthy of my daughter
Look upon her beauty, all-white
Trouble is coming, you’ll kiss my feet

A ride initiated, even lost my shoes
Mother save me
For the last time – money or life
Do you want my soul?

A turkey on the table
Damn all you dead and living
I’ll lift up your walls until the rain comes in
Don’t cry, mother

Can you separate the earth from the sky?
Bloodletting to save a life
Exorcise the demons with its power
Where are you hiding?

You should be kissing my feet
The journey is just starting
There are angels and devils in my house
Unsure which is witch

Best enjoyed whilst watching the first thirty minutes of Emir Kusturica’s ‘Time of the Gypsies’

When choosing people to associate with, do not be mesmerised by their reputation or taken in by their surface image they try to project.

Robert Greene

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to give our limes to Auntie Sue when she needs them, asking over the fence.

5th Sept 2023 – Both of the lime trees next to the fence have since died, eaten away inside by some bug. The other lime trees around the garden in various spots are still doing well though.

Space Invaders – 8th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Give us a great galactic invader
Intent on total human destruction
Forget past indiscretions and focus
Efforts toward united instruction
Now imagine there was no invader
But we treat each other with that in mind
Remove hunger, poverty, crime and corruption
Everything that has made us unkind
Is it just too much to wish for?
Something that we can never achieve
Put our faith in the love of each other
The one truth that we need to believe

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

Robert Frost

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to offer help to people by picking them up with our car.