“Nothing that grieves us can be called little:
by the eternal laws of proportion
a child’s loss of a doll and
a king’s loss of a crown
are events of the same size.”
Mark Twain
Saw this doll sitting on the wall on my walk this morning. All I could think of was a child grieving for their missing doll.
Shine On
“Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates.
At the first gate, ask yourself, ‘Is it true?’
At the second ask, ‘Is it necessary?’
At the third gate ask ‘Is it kind?”
Rumi
Looking south from the Esplanade to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
The quote from Rumi I read on a blog I recently was introduced to. The blog is by Pat Cegan at Source of Inspiration. I wanted to give a call out to her. It’s a must read blog with beautiful poetry and words of inspiration.
Shine On
For centuries soldiers die
In the name of freedom
From all around the World
Mothers, daughters, sons and fathers
Mourn from wars death toll
The greatest thing the human race
Must accomplish is right now
To end all wars and live in peace
In hopes that all the lives war took
Were not lives that died in vain
We celebrate on Memorial Day
To honor all the fallen
They made the ultimate sacrifice
For all of us still living
We dedicate this day to say
Don’t forget all the lives that have fallen
By: J R
“People who are homeless are not social inadequates.
They are people without homes.”
Sheila McKechnie
The homeless makeshift homes lining Hollywood Boulevard underpass.
The other day I visited the Hollyhock House. The Hollyhock House is the first house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles in the 1920s.
The house sits high above Hollywood Boulevard on over 26 acres, with views of the iconic Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory.
I’ve been looking forward to this visit for quite some time. The tour was a disappointment. Mostly because you’re not allowed to take photos of the interior and because they only allow access to less than 1,000 square feet out of 5,000 square feet of the house.
But, the most disappointing part of the day was the sight of all the homelessness in and around Hollywood Boulevard. I haven’t been to Hollywood in almost three years and I was saddened and shocked to see the increase in the number of homeless people.
On any given day, at least 800,000 people are homeless in the United States, including about 200,000 children in homeless families. At least 2.3 million people experienced homelessness at some time during an average year. Because more families with children than unpartnered people enter and leave homelessness during a year, families represent a relatively large share of the annual population. As a result, during a typical year, between 900,000 and 1.4 million children are homeless with their families.
What will end homelessness? I don’t have the answer. I know there are organizations in every community to help the homeless. But, until this country decides to take steps to help the homeless, because most cannot help themselves, there will always be the homeless.
Thomas Jefferson had an interesting take on the homeless over two hundred years ago:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
Shine On
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which
enables us to count our blessings.”
Eric Hoffer
Mary Stevenson Cassatt, American painter Born May 22, 1844 – Died June 14, 1926
Shine On
Chronicles of a Blogaholic 