February 12, 2023
The Worst Curse
(Credit Photo: Kindel Media via https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-elderly-man-behind-the-glass-window-8172602/)
March 29, 2022
Wheels of Fortune
Especially together as a series.
Blue, green, Red.
Cycle of life.
To everything: Turn, turn, turn. ;-)
Wheels of Fortune
March 10, 2022
Stand Up!
All the greedy and corrupt power players at the table with their fancy suits, money, gold, and properties around the globe.
And their game is sustained up on the bent backs of the simple people with nothing (not even clothing).
But a Seeing Eye (and a Hearing Ear) in Heaven is watching the evil perpetrated.
Eventually, faith tells us that the game will be over and the simple hard-working people will be fully restored and the corrupt will suffer their just desserts. ;-)
(Source Photo: Facebook)
Stand Up!
November 28, 2021
The Plan Amidst The Pain
In life, not only do we have to be determined and work hard, but G-d throws us curveballs and challenges all along the way that can often make us drop to our knees or throw our arms up in despair. However, we need to be faithful like Jacob and Joseph, knowing that it’s all a part of G-d’s plan and mission for us, and through these we learn and grow and become better versions of ourselves.Moreover, if we but open our eyes to the miracle of our creation and our sustainment every moment of every day by Hashem, and remember that He put us all here for a purpose, then we can pay the daily price for what G-d puts in front of us and how we choose to handle it.We can do this knowing that it’s all really just a small price to pay in the end for so much that we gain in this world and that we will carry forward to the hereafter. In the end, nothing is free, but the price and the reason is always just what G-d wants it to be.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Plan Amidst The Pain
August 27, 2021
Cycle of Life - From Birth to Death
Amazing representation of the cycle of life.
How we start and how we finish.
Everything in the universe (G-d) is one! ;-)
(Credit Photo: via Facebook)
Cycle of Life - From Birth to Death
August 13, 2021
Shabbat Shalom Flower Painting
So glad for Shabbat tonight.
Rest, relax, refresh, rejuvenate - soul, mind, and body.
It's what we work all week long for! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Shabbat Shalom Flower Painting
April 20, 2021
Demeaning Candlestick Holders
It figures that an extremely rich person would have candlestick holders like this.
They think it's ok to have your "personal servants" bring you and hold your lights.
Even as they are in spiritual darkness enslaving their fellow human beings.
No, their not helping people by giving them a (shitty) job even as they routinely mistreat them.
Where are people's (screwed up) brains?
The wealthy often actually believe they are entitled to their grossly extravagant lifestyles.
Wait they they come back in the next life and they'll see what they are entitled to! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Demeaning Candlestick Holders
April 16, 2021
Life Is A Big Blue Circle
Blue world.
Blue oceans.
Blue skies.
I'm feeling so blue! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Life Is A Big Blue Circle
April 2, 2021
Climbing Up, Falling Down
All paths up are different.All paths down are the same.
Climbing Up, Falling Down
March 16, 2021
@Lake Needwood
Lake Needwood last Sunday.
Seems so calm and peaceful.
And unfortunately then comes the storm. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
@Lake Needwood
September 4, 2020
Shabbat Shalom From DC Duck!
Shabbat is something to look forward to ALL week long.
Time to stop everything.
Look heavenward.
And inward!
Remember why we're here.
Rest and rejuvenate for the next week.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Need to balance and get our lives right.
It's what we do! ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Shabbat Shalom From DC Duck!
February 7, 2020
A Cool Shabbat Shalom!
Congratulations on another week of hard work and accomplishment.
Now it's time for a day of spirituality, mindfulness, thanksgiving, and much needed rest and relaxation.
Heal and rejuvenate your body, mind, and soul.
A time for Hashem, self, family, and community.
Shabbat is a true gift from G-d. ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
A Cool Shabbat Shalom!
January 30, 2020
Your Expiration Date
And they said something that really hit a chord:
You never know what your expiration date is!
What an interesting way to say you never know when your time is up.
They used the phrase "expiration date" like we so commonly see on food and medicine products.
You know when you read the label and it tells you to discard after a certain date.
So people are like all these other goods that have a date stamped on them.
We have a date stamped on us (maybe it's on our forehead or some other less conspicuous place), and we just can't see it.
Yet, we need to live every day as if that expiration date is coming due.
Because like that stale food in your fridge or the old medicine in your cabinets, everything and everybody has a shelf life.
So you better live every day good and meaningfully before your expiration date comes due. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Your Expiration Date
October 19, 2019
Get Over It
"Sh*t Happens So Get Over It."There are no perfect lives out there.
I reminded again this week how everyone has something: Mark Herd, Co-CEO of Oracle, died at 62 and and Elijah Cummings, elected to 12 terms in the House of Representatives, died at 68.
All the success int he world on the surface doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of schlimazel (misfortune) under the surface.
Unfortunately, sh*t definitely happens in life and we can get all spun up over it or we can take everything in faith and stride.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
What does kill takes us to the next phase of existence.
All you can do is your best, the rest is in the hands of the Almighty above. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Get Over It
August 29, 2019
Go Years of Retirement
There are three phases:
1) Go-Go: You retire and are eager to enjoy your newfound freedom, and you spend the time and money to really do the pursuits and travel that you always wanted.
2) Slow-Go: After the initial adventurism and spending, you settle in some more and spend your time on quiet activities, socializing, and relaxing.
3) No-Go: This is the wind down phase, where you spend most of your time at home and at a certain point, may need some assistance to do everyday activities.
Obviously, the last phase is sort of depressing, but it too is a part of life.
Like a bell-shaped curve, we are born, grow, mature, and then decline.
This is the cycle of life for every living thing.
It takes maturity and courage to face it and to make the most out of every single moment that we are blessed with. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Go Years of Retirement
July 18, 2018
Rain From Heaven
It is the first time that I was actually able to see the rain almost in a slow motion.
They weren't drops, but literally streaks of water zipping down from the sky.
The feeling was so pure and refreshing to clean the air and the ground.
To replenish our reservoirs, ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans.
To nourish the fruit of the Earth and make it grow.
We use up and make dirty, but G-d replenishes and makes clean! ;-)
(Source photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Rain From Heaven
June 1, 2018
Expect Less <> Appreciate More
"Expect Less, Appreciate More."
Many people in their late 30s and early 40s become disillusioned with life.
They have been on the treadmill chasing love, fame, and fortune for so long.
But reality sets in and they don't get everything they think they have coming to them.
Hence some level of mid-life crisis sets in.
However by the time people reach their 50s, things seem to shift again, and a happiness or peacefulness sets in.
People start to expect less and instead appreciate more from the blessings they do have.
The treadmill becomes a long walk along the beautiful beach or park trail.
We don't need to chase success, but rather just see the great lives in so many ways that G-d has already bestowed on us.
The U-shaped curve of life--where we start all bright-eyes and bushy tailed in our younger years and which descends into disappointment and disillusionment in mid-life, comes up once again to happiness and a fulfillment in our later years.
Over the course of our lives, we learn that life does not ask, but rather it tells us.
And if we just listen, we can find meaning and contentment amidst it all. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Expect Less <> Appreciate More
March 16, 2018
Homeless DC
And aside from all the prestigious institutions and people of great power that formulate the policies and rules and keep us abiding by them.
This is what I see in D.C.
The plight of the poor, homeless, and downtrodden.
Those that have fallen by the wayside.
People who are down on their luck.
Human beings--that's right human beings--that need and deserve help or even just a chance.
Why does anyone have to live--if you can even call this living--like this a couple of blocks from the White House.
I know there are people all over the world who are hungry, homeless, sick, and abused.
Yet, nowhere is this more stark an example than in the U.S.A where there is such an enormous divergence between "the haves" and "the have nots" and where our values are supposedly bound up with equality, human rights, charity, and kindness.
Yes, we are supposed to be equal in treatment and in opportunity, but we all know that is not really the case.
Sure, some work hard and others are perhaps lucky/blessed, but then are those that are born with a "silver spoon in their mouths" and excel through a tight weave of corruption, narcissism, nepotism, and abuse.
Yet a real chance for everyone, a living wage, and basic dignity and respect should be afforded to all.
Money and power is ephemeral.
Those with it, that abuse it, shall see it pass between their fingers ever trying to clutch unto it with dear life.
Only the way we treat others will last in this world and in the world after.
Everything goes around and comes around.
This is the cycle of life and the lot of those who abuse their good fortune as well as those that harness it.
G-d will judge with His mighty hand and bring to bear the deeds and intentions of those that mock His holy will.
Because His children lay in rags and heaps, while others dance their folly jig. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Homeless DC
December 17, 2017
Failing Forward
One spoke about how he got sick soon after starting college with a serious vascular disease, but despite numerous hopsitalizations, treatments, and falling behind his peers, he persevered and was graduating today and in very good spirits.
Another women spoke about her many failures leading up to the success today of her graduation. She described how her father used to ask her:
"What did you fail at this week?"
Why?
Because even though we don't like to admit it, most people have many, many more failures in life than successes.
Even Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb is said to have failed 1,000 times before getting it right.
This women explained how failure is actually something to celebrate--does that sound crazy?.
But it's really not, and here's why?
"To fail is to learn.Now, I had heard about failing up, but never failing forward.
To learn is to grow.
To fail is to grow forward."
Many who fail still manage to advance themselves in the process.
But failing forward is different.
It's not taking advantage of the failure, but legitimately learning from the experience so that you can grow yourself, and advance yourself, by becoming a smarter, stronger, and more capable person from it.
Sure, it hurts to fail.
Who would normally want to celebrate failure?
But if we understand life as a journey and not a specific destination, then we enjoy every blessed moment that we have to become better today and tomorrow than we were yesterday.
In this case, failure is not the opposite of success, but rather is part and parcel of achieving it. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Failing Forward
December 15, 2017
Slow Build - Rapid Demise
Or as they say:
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
But it's not always easy to have patience.
We all have to start somewhere and usually it's at the bottom.
And then we have to claw our way up (like Rocky).
Unless of course, you're one of those people born with a "silver spoon" in your mouth.
The funny thing about building and climbing is that it can all be destroyed in a split second.
One silly mistake, one stupid word, one indiscretion, one lackadaisical moment, a turn of bad luck...or a series thereof.
It takes so much time and effort to build as we lay one brick of success upon another.
And it takes just a split second to destroy it all.
So watch-watch-watch your steps, because they can so easily turn into a rapid, spiraling, and even most deadly a fall. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Slow Build - Rapid Demise