Wisdom

On this day six years ago, my father had a heart attack. First responders revived him after 15 minutes of CPR, and then he was flown by helicopter to the Mayo Clinic. There he was put into an induced coma and body cooled to help preserve as much brain function as possible. Nobody knew if he would wake up and if he did, how much of him would wake up. But after days of touch and go, dad came back all of him except swallowing and he had developed pneumonia due to CPR, and this was expected and Mayo began aggressive treatment of it because it turns out if you aren’t breaking ribs while doing CPR, you aren’t pumping enough blood to revive the individual.

Remembering Dad

I wrote all about this in the first anniversary of dad’s death, as well as the reasons why he did not make it.

How Narcissistic Abuse Severely Thwarted my Healing Journey

In addition to dad’s death, the CEO of a small nonprofit I was working for fired me for being by dad’s side. Most probably this CEO suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and she would be fired soon enough for this and a number of other things she did or failed to do during her tenure.

Adding insult to injury, my mother-in-law who is most definitely contorted and warped by Narcissistic Personality Disorder was about to launch one of her most hideous and disgusting campaigns to make herself appear as the victim so she could harvest attention and pity from her flying monkeys. This is what narcissists enablers are called by professionals who try to help family members and people abused by Narcissists heal. The fuel for her campaign of Narcissistic madness was her own children and grandchildren.

It would take me 6 years to understand what my mother-in-law was doing and why. But back in 2018 and 2019 I simply found myself in HELL.

I should not be here today. The only thing that helped me hold on during this time of pain and abandonment was the story I had started writing in 2012. I was reading dad the latest parts of the story when he died with me by his side on August 4, 2018.

Even though dad had slipped into a delirium due to the stress of life-saving procedures such as suctioning the mucous from his airways and reinserting a feeding tube he had worked out with the back of his tongue four times the previous day, he told the nurses caring for him that he was so proud of me for writing this book and that my whole life has been preparing me for it.

So in the dark days of the summer of 2019, with the help of a friend, I returned to my story and began editing the beginning to bring it up to the level of writing I had evolved into after six years of writing. My friend was then editing my edited version of book 1.

Then, Something New Began Coming Through

Not too long into this process, something new started coming through. I argued with myself… it was right around this time in 2019… for I knew writing something new would take more time.

The something new won took 6 more years to write! I finally published the book my father believed in so much on April 24, 2024.

Here is an excerpt of some of the something new that was coming through me after father died. This is from Sapience: The Moment Is Now — What Rain knows.

From the Book

"You cannot sell wisdom, nor can you buy it. You must earn it by living fully, living unself-consciously but not unconsciously. Wisdom is a group activity. Wisdom is kind. Wisdom shares its last morsel of food simply because that is what wisdom does. Wisdom knows that everything is connected, and what you do to someone else, you have done to yourself first. Wisdom is a baby crawling and giggling with its newfound mastery of getting around. Wisdom is an old man falling and laughing at his misfortunate mishap, knowing perfectly well everyone falls sometimes and it doesn’t mean a darn thing.
Wisdom knows sometimes you are going to win. Wisdom knows sometimes you are going to lose. Wisdom knows winning and losing doesn’t mean a darn thing because that is part of being alive. Wisdom knows navigating the ups and downs, the wins and losses, are much easier and mean so much more when you share it with the people who care about you and who you care about… this is love... caring and sharing, celebrating and mourning, feasting and fasting together as ever as one.
Wisdom is the joy of sharing life with the ones you love. Wisdom is the bliss of partaking equitably in the ups and downs of life. Wisdom is tolerating in another the things that annoy you most. Tolerance is a blessing, and wisdom knows this. Tolerance and wisdom are essential because life is complicated, too complicated for one insignificant human being to know everything it must to make a good decision.
A wise person knows this. A wise person knows a single individual can never consciously gather enough information to make a wise decision: so, stop trying to fool yourself and others that you can. A wise person understands action must be taken without foreknowledge of the results, but if the action is grounded in mutuality, respect, compassion, dignity, love, and a huge heaping of tolerance… mostly the results will reap good outcomes. And when they don’t, a wise person knows it is important to try again. Failure is simply the process of success.
Tolerance is an anti-gravity force to fear. Tolerance requires a person to broaden their bandwidth of consciousness rather than narrow and restrict it as fear does. Tolerance allows an individual to sit in discomfort, to sit in not knowing, to sit in the darkness of what is not clear yet and to wait for understanding of what is right action.
Timing is everything when it comes to action. Right action done too soon quickly turns into wrong action. Right action done too late will also not produce desired results. Action done outside of its proper time or beyond what is necessary to complete a task is easily twisted and corrupted by thinking that tries to justify it. Such action grows fat with inaccurate, incorrect, false, untrue, and mistaken attributions ladled onto it to get people to act. This sort of propped up action becomes more and more improper and unsuitable for the circumstances.
Such artificial action awakens the most wicked and sinful parts of a person, because acting outside and beyond the bounds of right action requires an angry mind, a brash, conservative, intolerant, mean, merciless, unfriendly, unsympathetic, biased, disapproving, narrow-minded, and prejudiced mind. People acting in this manner are cruel, brutal, savage, bloodthirsty, vicious people driven by narrower and narrower justifications loaded with fantastical and fraudulent fancies.
Wisdom knows this and knows tolerance is the only way to slow down enough to sense and see what is really going on inside and outside of one’s own mind and body. Only by sensing and seeing more of what is actually going on in the present moment can a person produce right action at the right time.
Right action does not inflict harm unto oneself or another without a really good reason why violence is required. Isaac Asimov got it right when his character, Salvor Hardin, says: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” This is true because it is so easy to lose wisdom when one is racing inside their mind, thought after thought conceived by lies, half-truths, or half-baked ideas and silly beliefs.
A person acting in such a way utilizes the narrowest bandwidth of consciousness possible yet still able to remain conscious. Any narrower, and the person would fall into a dumb, zombie-like stupor. Wisdom knows this. Wisdom knows thinking is a result of the constriction of consciousness due to fear. Wisdom knows thinking trumped up with false facts and fantastical beliefs is going to make a lot of mistakes due to its failure to grasp reality. So, like any good toddler, a person who thinks all the time and falls out of phase with right action will make more and more mistakes and will act in more and more rageful ways trying to cover up and hide all their blunders, miscalculations, gaffes, and ignorance."                                            -- Pages 128-128

Note: the link to Sapience is supposed to be a universal link that will open to the book in whatever browser and language from which you operate; however, it has not seemed to be working, so you can also search by the ASIN: B0D2LM5B6K.

I am an Oracle… Didn’t You Know?

The oracle is an ancient role that a wise woman or wise man played in society. Ancient man understood balance is essential, but finding the right balance can be tricky, especially when confronted with lots of divergent opinions, ideas, gossip, agitprop, spin, hype, propaganda, indoctrination, misinformation and disinformation on top of more spin.

In today’s modern world, life is even more chaotic and nerve wracking. This is why finding peace and quiet to dream is more important than ever before, and thus the inspiration for this plush, comfy comforter and its simple words of inspiration to invite delight into the night.

“I am an Oracle.
Didn’t you hear?
My wisdom’s like magic…
… mystic and clear.
I’ll lead you to places…
… free from pain, fear, and hate.
So, ask me your questions…
And dream into being your destiny tonight!”

— by Deborah

Oracle Collection

The oracle collection is a reminder wisdom lies inside of all of us. And it is closer than we think. Wisdom’s light is soft, gentle like the moonlight that makes night a magical time. To hear our inner oracle, we must find outer calm and tranquility, even during the worst of times or the hardest trails life throws to us. This is not easy to do when one is feeling pain, fear, or hate. The oracle helps to soothes away the blocking feelings and traumas, so we can all find our way to our inner pool of peace and tranquility where our wisdom waits to rise like a full prescient moon.

The oracle is part of my book: Sapience: The Moment Is Now. It is an archetype, which is an idea developed by Carl Jung around the turn of the 20th Century to talk about how people use consciousness. Being self-aware and thinking are things we do every day, but rarely do we think about how we do it. Jung proposed there are body parts for the mind just as there are body parts for our bodies. Archetypes are the body parts of the mind. To visualized this, the colorful women-harps. If you look closely, the woman and harp are one entity.

Rainbow Women

I created these lovely rainbow women and harps for a blog I wrote about consciousness and arches of consciousness. I used Genolve via Midjourney to create rainbow arches of consciousness that the AI displayed to me as women and musical instruments playing the chords of consciousness inside of us. This is what the AI imagined, and I really liked it. One of the cues I gave to the AI was arches of consciousness, which is short for archetypes or an idea.

If you are interested in consciousness and archetypes, they are thoroughly explored in my book as well—Sapience: The Moment Is Now (on Amazon).

Merch & Book

These are just a few of the Oracle Collection items available now on Etsy at The Quip Collection

And go to Amazon to check out Sapience: The Moment Is Now

2024… the year Earth falls… join the story to SAVE Earth; the journey begins with you; your voice is your vote–the choice is fate or destiny?  

Return Back To

Drumming Out Destiny

Choice by Choice, Consider All Pathways

It is easier to carry an empty cup.

shallow focus photograph of clear glass mason jar with fairy lights
Photo by Burak The Weekender on Pexels.com

Then one that is filled to the brim.

unrecognizable person with cup of ice coffee
Photo by Charlotte May on Pexels.com

The sharper the knife.

kitchen knife
Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

The easier it is to dull.

pomegranate and bread knife
Photo by Badulescu Badulescu on Pexels.com

The more wealth you possess.

bullion gold gold bars golden
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The harder it is to protect.

close up shot of two people wearing robber mask
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Pride brings its own trouble.

mad formal executive man yelling at camera
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

When you have accomplished your goal.

girl in red shirt and black shorts kicking a soccer ball
Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

Simply walk away.

woman wrapped in blanket walking on sandy shore
Photo by Spencer Davis on Pexels.com

This is the pathway to Heaven.

photo of a woman sleeping near fluffy clouds
Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

Chapter 9 | Tao Te Ching by Laozi

What is fate? What is destiny?

Fate * Destiny * Choice | Music: Caddyshack — Various Artists | [1] I’m Alright – Theme from “Caddyshack”    3:47

It seems especially important to understand fate and destiny since a person’s circumstances can be greatly impacted for the good or for the bad by the roll of the dice of either one.

But do we even have a choice? Can we stack the decks of fate and destiny so we get more paradise and less hell in life? Is this even possible?

Laozi believes it is and chapter 9 shows us further how to drum out our personal destiny day by day by being conscious of the choices we make and actions we take that are determined in a large part by how much we consider. Laozi suggests considering all pathways of action, especially possible opposite actions.

A deeper dive into Chapter 9 by Laozi is provided by DAN CASAS-MURRAY in his podcast-blog: The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe. When wealth and honors lead to arrogance, this brings its evil on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.
Taking things too far: Lao Tzu is wonderfully clear in this verse - it’s easy to understand that a knife that’s been sharpened too much loses its edge.  Or that a vessel that is at capacity is overflowing.  
So why is it so hard for me to see that I already have enough?  Why do I need to keep getting more and more to feel accomplished in life?
I don’t know about you, but there have been times when I’ve felt that it’s never enough - and I’ve actually thought, “yeah, I like this - this means I’m driven!  Let me keep this feeling and I’ll always be achieving!”  -- To read more, see The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

Feature Archetypal Animation

Blending Modern Images and Music With Ancient Wisdom

Tea Cup Drink Dishes Hot Porcelain Household | Nile | Deutschland  •  Member since Nov. 21, 2014

 Kitchenknife Sharp To Cut Knife Blade | Silberfuchs | Walter Bichler  •  Austria  •  Member since July 26, 2011

Tax Consultant Files Pile Of Files Country Office | Alexas_Fotos | Alexa  •  Steh über den Dingen/und finde DEINEN Weg  •  Member since Jan. 6, 2015

 Self Love Man Mirrors Archetypes Awareness | geralt | Gerd Altmann  •  Freiburg/Deutschland  •  Member since Sept. 15, 2012  •  #37

Creation Adam God Man Bible Human Painting Eden | kadumago | Kadumago artista conceitual Kadumago  •  Rio de Janeiro/Brasil  •  Member since Aug. 21, 2018

Footprint Beach Sand Summer | StockSnap | English  •  Member since March 30, 2015

Eye Creative Galaxy Collage Flowers Paint | DanielHannah | Daniel Hannah  •  Age 30  •  Melbourne/Australia  •  Member since Feb. 16, 2018


Drums of Destiny: Moving Energy by Alis Aquilae | Drums of Destiny: Moving Energy    7:08

First Archetypal Animation

Painting: Fate, by Alphonse Mucha from Wiki Destiny

Statue Facial Fate Broken Gemini | szjeno09190 | Jenő Szabó  •  Age 66  •  Pécs/Magyarország  •  Member since Jan. 14, 2015

Fantasy Composing Gruesome Reaper Tombstone Scary | LMoonlight | It is not permitted to sell my photos with StockAgencies  •  MoonlightsArt.de/Germany  •  Member since April 27, 2014

Image: Les Misérables — 2012

Image: Polarization Opposition Conflict Judgment Duality | johnhain | John Hain  •  Age 73  •  Carmel/United States  •  Member since July 24, 2014

Image: Question Unknown Unfamiliar Forgotten | johnhain | John Hain  •  Age 73  •  Carmel/United States  •  Member since July 24, 2014

Music: Caddyshack — Various Artists | [1] I’m Alright – Theme from “Caddyshack”    3:47

Good, Like Water

And Water Like Gold

Tao Te Ching — Chapter 8 |

Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Man… and Woman 😉

Ancient Wisdom | Sapience

The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.

The location makes the dwelling good.
Depth of understanding makes the mind good.
A kind heart makes the giving good.
Integrity makes the government good.
Accomplishments make your labors good.
Proper timing makes a decision good.

Only when there is no competition
will we all live in peace.

Sapience Sense | Where Does It Come From

In this chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 8), Laozi talks about how supreme good is like water.

So, just what is supreme good? Isn’t is our ability as human beings to know that we knowto know that we feel something… to know that we can do good in the world or we can do bad?

This is consciousness, right?

So how do we choose Good over Bad?

Is it entirely an individual choice: Good vs Bad?

Or, is there a collective responsibility hidden in this choice? A collective basin, deep reservoir upon which we all must draw from and upon which we all depend for our sentient sense… for our sentient life.

Song | Sapience | Synchronicity

The song I found for the feature archetypal animation is sublime! There is something very synchronistic going on with this song and this chapter in the Tao Te Ching. But, I can’t quite pin it down.

Can you?

Verse 1 and 2 seem to get close to what/why I feel a synchronistic blending going on… a mixing of ancient wisdom with modern day experiences and feelings (I’ve copied the lyrics to this song below).

How often does competition and trouble arise in our lives from not being understood or being left behind by the group. How often do we simply need others to see who we are for what we are… all of what we are (the good parts & bad parts)?

When we don’t feel seen, heard, or understood… isn’t there a part deep inside of us that wants to fight to be seen, heard, and understood? We need it like water, like air. We need the attention of others, the sense of belonging, the feeling of unconditional love to live… it feeds us deep down inside the part of ourselves that is sentient… the invisible part inside of everyone that feels, perceives… that knows that it’s alive!

"And they had gold like water"
"They wanted to fight"

Maybe the gold like water is consciousness… the sublime boundaries of personal and collective consciousness.

Gold like water = consciousness, knowledge, knowing, kinship, culture, protection, safety…

You tell me what you think is the resonance here?

Images for Feature Archetypal Animation

Marguerite Leucanthemum Composites Asteraceae | geralt | Gerd Altmann  •  Freiburg/Deutschland  •  Member since Sept. 15, 2012  •  #35

Flower Blossoms White Rough Meadow Marguerite | Hans | Hans  •  Deutschland  •  Member since Nov. 24, 2010

Hd Wallpaper Nature Wallpaper Drop Splash Water | qimono | Arek Socha  •  Stockholm/Sweden  •  Member since Jan. 27, 2016

 Earth Moon Flower Daisy Blue Water Droplet | DigiPD | Digital Photo and Design DigiPD.com  •  United States  •  Member since Sept. 27, 2013

Light Bulb Sea Turtle Digital Art Ocean Beach | DigiPD | Digital Photo and Design DigiPD.com  •  United States  •  Member since Sept. 27, 2013

Ocean Girl Walking Atlantic Mediterranean Cliff | DigiPD | Digital Photo and Design DigiPD.com  •  United States  •  Member since Sept. 27, 2013

 Loveourplanet Earth Peaceful Journey Travel | Jordan_Singh | Ajay kumar Singh  •  Age 35  •  Mumbai/India  •  Member since Jan. 23, 2017

Music: Gold Like Water | Constant Smiles | [1] Gold Like Water – Radio Edit    2:52

Gold Like Water — Radio Edit

[Verse 1]
Your voice always calms me down
I can’t explain it somehow
I need you to see who I am
And now that I’m here with you
I can accept what I’ve been through
To watch over the voices

[Chorus]
Oh-oh, Mary
And they had gold like water
They wanted to fight
And they had gold like water
They wanted to fight

[Verse 2]
And everyone you meet is someone you couldn’t leave behind
And now they’re getting close to the people that you know
And you’re still scared that they won’t believe you as much as you do

[Chorus]
Oh-oh, Mary
And thеy had gold like water
They wantеd to fight
And they had gold like water
They wanted to fight

[Breakdown]
They’re waiting for you
They’re waiting for you

[Chorus]
And they had gold like water
They wanted to fight
And they had gold like water
They wanted to fight

[Outro]
Oh-oh, Mary

Lyrics from Genius

Go out and hug someone today! Tell them you love them! And get outside in the warm embrace of our collective loving Mother Earth!

Resting In the Good Hands of Mother — A Love Story | Earth Alive Series

Spirit of Emptiness | Chapter 6 — Tao Te Ching

The spirit of emptiness is immortal.
It is called the Great Mother
because it gives birth to Heaven and Earth.

It is like a vapor,
barely seen but always present.
Use it effortlessly.

Text From:

Microsoft Word – Tao Te Ching – trans. by J.H.. McDonald

Ancient Wisdom | Modern Images & Music

Feature Archetypal Animation Images

Stained Glass Spiral Circle Pattern Glass Religion | msandersmusic | Marybeth  •  Age 35  •  Arlington, VA/United States  •  Member since Jan. 29, 2016

Thành Phố City Sun Nature Beautiful Fantasy Alone | DesignND | ĐÔ NGUYỄN  •  Age 24  •  HÀ NỘI/VIỆT NAM  •  Member since Feb. 25, 2020

Woman Nature Environment Young Female Face | 0fjd125gk87 | Deutschland  •  Member since Sept. 3, 2013

Sunset Sunrise Continents Abstract Graphic | geralt | Gerd Altmann  •  Freiburg/Deutschland  •  Member since Sept. 15, 2012  •  #15

Yellowstone National Park Geyser Usa Nature Hot | cocoparisienne | Anja-#pray for ukraine# #helping hands# stop the war  •  Deutsch  •  Member since Jan. 10, 2014

Other Things to Wonder & Ponder

Throughline’s award winning episode on Afghanistan is well worth listening to and perfectly aligns with the sentiments of Chapter 6 of the Tao Te Ching.

Afghanistan: The Center of the World (2021)

Afghanistan: The Center of the World (2021)

Description: This episode was published days before the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and just weeks after U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan. It is the first part in Afghanistan: The Center of the World, our Peabody Award-winning series about Afghanistan, focused on the country and its people.

Afghanistan has, for centuries, been at the center of the world. Long before the U.S. invasion — before the U.S. was even a nation — countless civilizations intersected there, weaving together a colorful tapestry of foods, languages, ethnicities and visions of what Afghanistan was and could be. The story of Afghanistan is too often told from the perspective of outsiders who tried to invade it (and always failed) earning it the nickname “Graveyard of Empires.” In this episode, we’re shifting the perspective. We’ll journey through the centuries alongside Afghan mystical poets. We’ll turn the radio dial to hear songs of love and liberation. We’ll meet the queen who built the first primary school for girls in the country. And we’ll take a closer look at Afghanistan’s centuries-long experiment to create a unified nation.

Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban (2021)

Description: This episode was published days before the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and just weeks after U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan. It is the first part in Afghanistan: The Center of the World, our 2022 Peabody Award-winning series about Afghanistan, focused on the country and its people.

How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and enigmatic forces in the world? The Taliban is a name that has haunted the American imagination since 2001. The scenes of the group’s brutality repeatedly played in the Western media, while true, perhaps obscure our ability to see the complex origins of the Taliban and how they impact the lives of Afghans. It’s a shadow that reaches across the vast ancient Afghan homeland, the reputation of the modern state, and throughout global politics. At the end of the US war in Afghanistan we go back to the end of the Soviet Occupation and the start of the Afghan civil war to look at the rise of the Taliban.


Images for Afghanistan Animation

As Trump doubles down on Afghanistan, Russians shake their heads — The US president’s decision to extend the war, reversing his campaign pledges to withdraw from it, stand in sharp contrast to the lessons that Mikhail Gorbachev and the USSR took from the conflict almost 30 years ago.

Music: A Gift of Love – Music Inspired by the Love Poems of Rumi | Deepak Chopra [1] Valetine To Rumi    0:57 [2] My Burning Heart    1:00

Treat all life and everyone with dignity, kindness, and respect. It is the only way we move forward.

Heaven & Earth Are Impartial… Chapter 5: Tao Te Ching

Heaven and Earth are impartial;
they treat all of creation as straw dogs.
The Master doesn’t take sides;
she treats everyone like a straw dog.


The space between Heaven and Earth is like a bellows;
it is empty, yet has not lost its power.
The more it is used, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you comprehend.

It is better not to speak of things you do not understand.


Text From:

Microsoft Word – Tao Te Ching – trans. by J.H.. McDonald

Ancient Wisdom | Modern Images & Music


Feature Animation Images From:

First Archetypal Image:

Dog Husky Mascot Mammal Animal Straw Field | MilanoNegro | María  •  Soria/España  •  Member since March 30, 2016

Second Archetypal Image:

Sun Phuquoc Island Vietnam Beach Mangrove Plant | Quangpraha | Quang Nguyen vinh  •  Age 61  •  HCM city/Vietnam  •  Member since Nov. 28, 2017

Third Archetypal Image:

Salt Harvesting Vietnam Water Salt Work People | Quangpraha | Quang Nguyen vinh  •  Age 61  •  HCM city/Vietnam  •  Member since Nov. 28, 2017

Fourth Archetypal Image:

 Fishing Fisherman Sunset Sea Ocean Silhouette | Quangpraha | Quang Nguyen vinh  •  Age 61  •  HCM city/Vietnam  •  Member since Nov. 28, 2017

Fifth Archetypal Image:

Background Beach Pretty Blue Cloud Coast Color | Quangpraha | Quang Nguyen vinh  •  Age 61  •  HCM city/Vietnam  •  Member since Nov. 28, 2017

Sixth Archetypal Image:

 Sheep Bleat Communication Communicate To Speak | suju-foto | Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz,  •  Deutsch  •  Member since Feb. 19, 2014  •  #586

Seventh Archetypal Image:

Man Smoking Smoke Cigarette Face Person Tobacco | Sammy-Sander | Sam Williams  •  Italy  •  Member since Nov. 8, 2018

Eight Archetypal Image:

Squirrel Rodent Newspaper Reading Photomontage | Sammy-Sander | Sam Williams  •  Italy  •  Member since Nov. 8, 2018

Music From:

Music: Earth Shine: Music from the Heavens for Sleep and Rest | Cosmic Space Traveler
[19] Orbital Sunrise    2:13