Something
changes when I genuinely let go and ask for help. The challenge is
maintaining this openness, rather than grasping at solid forms or quick
solutions to feel safe.
—Rob Preece, “The Solace of Surrender”
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Sunday, January 3, 2021
Via Daily Dharma: Challenge Yourself to Stay Open
Via White Crane Institute // Today's Gay Wisdom
2018 -
After researching and writing this collection now for more than a decade, it is a pleasant surprise to discover some new bit of Gay history. Listening to All Things Considered on a drive home to upstate New York from Connecticut on New Year’s Day, we listened to author and biographer Mosette Broderick discussing her book, Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age (Knopf ISBN-10: 0394536622), a multiple biography of the three architects who shaped the American architectural scene well into the 20th century (the firm still exists, though under a different name, now).
I nearly drove off the road when she dropped this little tidbit into the conversation. “It’s quite clear from their letters that something happened between them while they traveled in Italy.” The “them” she refers to is no less than architect Stanford White and his longtime collaborator – and now it would seem lover – August Saint-Gaudens. Yes, Stanford White was eventually (and now one might suggest “ironically”) shot by the irate cuckolded husband of actress Evelyn Nesbitt, Philadelphia plutocrat Harry K. Thaw. And yes, August Saint-Gaudens was a married man.
As the French say chacun à son goût!
And as we say: Whatever.
In the book Broderick goes into great detail about the relationship, but some particular things jump off the page to the careful reader. Though Saint-Gaudens was, indeed, married, it seems that this was a classic marriage of convenience, particularly for Saint-Gaudens for whom the marriage meant financial security found in the wealth of his wife and her family. When she attempted to make “an arrangement” for White with her own sister, White wrote to friends protesting,
“’I am sure that she – or any other girl – is not for me.” Broderick goes on, “White’s remarks about women and marriage seem to indicate a lack of interest in any serious relationship. Indeed, beyond a generic reference to “pooty” girls, there is little other indication of ending his bachelor status.”
Oh those bachelors! “Pooty” girls. Indeed.
But perhaps the most telling…and dare we say romantic...story Broderick relates is of the two men’s sojourn together in Italy.
“While in Italy alone with Gus [August Saint-Gaudens] who had been in Italy twice before and could act as a guide, something happened between the two of them that cannot be fully ascertained. White’s letters, which were carefully edited by his son in the Depression years, contain references to an incident that almost cost the men their friendship. With an ocean between them in the following months each writes the other admitting blame and urging the other not to be too serious about what happened. Gus seems to do the bulk of the apologizing for his behavior. The language used by the two—who address each other as “beloved” and even “doubly beloved” and sign their missives as “ever lovingly thine”—indicates a possible pass made at White by Saint-Gaudens. Although probably the act was rejected, an ambiguity toward homosexual moments appears in their letters from this point forward; both words and drawings seem to indicate a shared experience, and their old motto Kiss My Ass, used as an ending for letters, becomes more serious when signed with graphic cartoon drawings.”
Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - January 3, 2021 💌
It’s only when caterpillarness is done that you become a butterfly. That is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process over which you have no control.
- Ram Dass -
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Via Lion's Roar // May you live with Peas
How to Practice Metta with Children
You’re never too young to practice loving-kindness. Gail Silver on how to teach metta to your kids.
Illustrations by Tomi Um.
When I returned home after attending my first silent retreat, I was overflowing with loving-kindness and found myself spontaneously reciting certain phrases of the Metta Prayer aloud:
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be strong.
May you live with ease.
“Did you just tell me to live with ‘peas’?” my littlest one asked me. “No, honey,” I laughed. “I said, ‘ease.’ May you live with ease.”
Via Lion's Roar // A New Year's Blessing
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How to Establish a Daily Practice of Almost Anything, in 6 Steps |
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| Whatever new leaf you’re thinking about turning over for 2021, Anne Cushman has some smart advice to help you succeed. | ||
Going to a retreat or program is a wonderful way to deepen our
meditation practice. But how do we stay connected with these waking-up
practices when we go home to the myriad projects, emails,
responsibilities, and distractions waiting for us?
This is a question that applies not just to meditation, yoga, and other spiritual practices, but to any creative art we want to commit to, such as painting, writing, or playing an instrument. |
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Via Daily Dharma: Go to the Edge
Go to the edge of your practice, where you step into what you do not know.
—Ken McLeod, “Beyond Question”
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Friday, January 1, 2021
Via Daily Dharma: Use Your Precious Human Life
May
myriad beacons of goodness overpower the dark shadows of the past year,
and may their resplendence inspire us to acknowledge and make good use
of this precious human life.
—Pamela Gayle White, “A New Year’s Wish for Light”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Via White Crane Insitute // This Day in Gay History
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December 31Born 
1908 -
SIMON WIESENTHAL was born on this date in the small Ukrainian town of Buczacz. Trained as an architectural engineer, Wiesenthal survived the Nazi concentration camps losing over eighty members of his extended family and dedicated the rest of his life to seeking justice for all those who died by bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. He was later celebrated as a "Nazi-hunter" and portrayed by Laurence Olivier in "The Boys from Brazil," but for many years, as Cold War governments had forgotten about Nazi atrocities, Wiesenthal was a veritable prophet in the wilderness, tirelessly working in the memory of all those who had died. He wrote a number of bestselling books including "Murders Among Us," "Justice, Not Vengeance," and "The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness." Through his efforts countless Nazi criminals stood trial. Without Wiesenthal's activity and vision, there would not have been war crimes hearings about Rwanda, Bosnia, or a permanent War Crimes tribunal in the Hague. For the sake of this Gay Wisdom listserve, we would point out that Wiesenthal spoke for all those who had lost their lives and was an early outspoken activist for the thousands of homosexuals who died in the holocaust, pointing out that they had all been buried together in mass graves and should all be acknowledged. Wiesenthal died of natural causes in 2005 at the age 96. Recent events remind us that we are still not out of the woods with respect to facsist politics and that we must all remain as vigilant as Wiesenthal. | |||
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