#wisdomseeking

actually PLEASE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy shit that sounds so amazing!!!!!!!!! I feel deeply honored and if you do I would love to see the result!!!!

While making it I did actually think about how transferable pixel art is to a lot of textile art (I have made knitting patterns in excel in past haha). I am happy others have had the same thought!

Until recently, I was living in India literally under a rock since 2013. Things in the "modern" world just stopped making sense to me and I came to accept my inability to understand...until last night.

I just helped my friend R moved into his new home in Texas. It's a rental home and there are few things we can legally do to the fixtures in the place. We need to install a doggy door for his beloved beagle so we set off looking for one. Most of the doggy doors available on the market required cutting a hole in the existing door or wall, which we simply cannot do. The other pet doors are to fit into sliding patio doors or even windows, which also don't work for us, since we do not have sliding patio door and our windows are too high off the grounds. Naturally, I thought of buying a cheap door, cut a hole and install the pet door panel, and replace the existing door to the back yard with this new door. The pro is that R will be able to take this door with him wherever he goes next.

However, doors are NOT cheap! They run from high $500 to over $1000, with the average somewhere in the middle. This is just for a door (and doesn't include the cost of the pet door nor the installation fee). I thought to myself, how can doors be so expensive?

One can purchase a whole dining room set for that amount and that includes chairs and table which I would assume require much more workmanship and labor to produce than making a single door. This is where I need my tribe to explain to me why doors are so expensive. Is this simply the cost for the feeling of security? If so, isn't this a bit of an extortion? While you are at it, perhaps you can share your idea of how we can come up with a working solution to pets door needs for renters.

 I asked my Sifu for guidance in my taiji practice to which he responded to practice like I’m solving a puzzle.  Today it occurred to me that I have always loved puzzles. Vocabulary.com defines puzzle (v) “to be uncertain about, to think about without fully understanding...Be a mystery.”  I love the mystery in puzzles and seeking the answer.  I love to ponder things I don’t fully understand: ancient wisdom, healing practices, sacred geometry, astrology. I LOVE the process of seeking, there is self-propelling motivation, like a constant burning flame to light the journey. A puzzle provides the container of curiosity and the encouragement to look at things from different angles. Opens us to a vibration of unlimited possibilities, suspending our habitual limitations of mind. I am filled with gratitude for the wisdom and guidance from Sifu Ko, and the passion of inquiry he inspires.

In light of everything going on in my country, I find myself tonight meditating upon the runes and the verses of the Eddas for guidance.  I bare the mark of the Hammer on my breast, and with this I have sworn to protect those who seek my aid.  I am reminded of the words written by long passed bards, and their words give me conviction.  I meditated upon the runes for wisdom, for strength, for guidance and I have found my answer.  Just as Thor, son of Odin, protects Midgard so too shall I protect those in my charge.  I shall give wisdom to those who seek it, I shall raise my fists only to protect those who seek my help, and I shall raise a toast with those who celebrate with me in victory or to sing the songs of the fallen.  

My dear friends, tonight I am reminded what it means to be a Son of Odin.  It is not always glory we seek, but wisdom and understanding.  But when wisdom is not enough, it is at this point we will raise our fists, our horns and our voices against the injustices of our world.  Though Valhalla awaits the bold when they fall, her gates will not open to those with hatred in their hearts.  Those who claim to bare the sign of the Gods and speak with the venom of Jormungand shall no peace they gain.  Do not be silent, my dear friends.  If you hear venom in the voices of fools, to not ignore it.  Speak against it, give wisdom but do not stoop to their level.  They seek to divide us, yet I feel they have woken a sleeping giant in all of us.  United, in wisdom and understanding, we shall persevere.  We will endure the hardships to come, because we stand united, by the strength in our hearts and given to us by our ancestors.