Tattoo, a mark to regret?

A memento, a photograph or even the written word can just as well record an event, or celebrate a moment; giving importance and meaning to a person, place or time. No matter that they become tarnished with age and yellowed with time, they can be brought out to reminisce upon then put back again or perhaps even discarded. Tattoos are created with the same purpose in mind; to record special moments and milestones in a person’s lifetime but as life goes on time has a way of changing minds, recreating people, their beliefs and dreams. Tattoos remain, unchanged and almost unforgiving, to serve as a constant reminder not so much of the stories depicted in these pictures but of lost opportunities or life limitations as a result of these tattoos; and as the body becomes tarnished with age, all that is left is a comic strip shadow of a former ostentatious self - Eileen Beniest

Someone's Prayer

Photo by Eileen Beniest

Or, are you someone’s Prayer?
Goo Goo Dolls – Black Balloon

Each and everyone of us is, has been, or will become someone’s prayer at some point in our lives. I had never really thought about it like that until I came across the Goo Goo Dolls – Black Balloon lyrics. This one sentence stood out for me and has made such a difference in how I now perceive people. The good, the bad and the downright ugly… we are all someone’s prayer - Eileen Beniest

To be, or not to be, that is the question - William Shakespeare

Photo by Eileen Beniest

Random Questions:

Q. Is it better to act on intuition rather than on purpose? Are you impulsive or a procrastinator? How can you change things around?

I think we are all born with that extra, and sometimes elusive, sense called Intuition but whether we should rely on it totally in our every day lives is questionable. I also think that we all have the capacity to live a life with purpose, however, it does take a disciplined mind and much determination to remain focused. To be impulsive just means that you act without thinking just as by thinking too much and not taking action makes you a procrastinator.

With Intuition, first Impressions may be deceptive and can therefore give an incorrect reading of a person, situation or circumstance. This way of thinking is not as developed as the purpose driven thinking so mistakes can be made. In an emergency or being in a situation which demands immediate attention, one has to rely on instinct as there is usually no time to think things out. The downside of acting on intuition is that because there is no discipline as with a purpose driven thinker, one has the tendency to act impulsively and possibly lose control of a situation. With purpose driven thinking the reasoning process takes over. Thoughts slow down and one has time to weigh the options, rationalize and approach the subject matter in a more practical manner. The question posed was how can one change things around? It seems natural to assume that Purpose and Procrastination would go together as with the pairing of Intuition and Impulsiveness. Purpose driven people can be excused for procrastinating a little as one would expect the delay of a task or goal due to careful and calculated planning or reasoning. Impulsive people may rely on their intuition to attain something and operate purely by gut feel. This behavior, however, is unpredictable and end results are not guaranteed. One can again ask the question.... How can one change things around? Switch the pairs? Perhaps an ideal situation would be for purpose driven people to be a little more watchful and perceptive about how they live their lives and people who rely solely on intuition could afford to introduce more purpose driven thinking into their lives.

There is no right or wrong with all these behaviors as the challenge is really to achieve a happy medium. For me personally, I think I was more prone to impulsive behavior in my youth and took more risks but then again I had a lot less to lose back then. Today it is a different story as I have so much more invested in my life; be it material, spiritual and/or emotional. My behavior pattern has changed and as I have grown older, I have a tendency to be more purpose driven, setting myself goals and tasks within realistic time frames, both short and long term.

Purpose
Intentional, Purpose driven, Calculated
Procrastination
Delay, Prolong, Hesitate
Intuition
Instinct, Gut feel, Perceptive
Impulsiveness
Immediate, Hasty, Reckless

Thought Flash

I had a ‘thought flash’ the other day which got me thinking about my youth and possible influences I was exposed to without really searching them out. Age 13 up to age 16 seems, to me, to be a time when young people start making their own choices about the music they listen to, the books they read and how they perceive art. My awareness years were between 1966 and 1969. The three people that caught my attention during this period were Bob Dylan, Gunter Grass and Andy Warhol. One wonders whether the impressions these three made upon me at that young age have remained intact throughout the years till this present day. A question that will probably be left unanswered because as we mature and begin to mix socially, we are constantly being swayed, and sometimes not, by others’ thoughts, beliefs and opinions. As we grow physically, mentally and spiritually and become one with our own thinking self we can only look back to those first days when we experimented with the influences of musicians, artists, writers and poets. Some of us will make use of what we learned from them, good or bad, and some of us won’t.

And as for life itself?

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind…
-Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

"Destiny is a feeling you have that you know something about yourself nobody else does. The picture you have in your own mind of what you're about will come true. It's a kind of a thing you kind of have to keep to your own self, because it's a fragile feeling, and you put it out there, then someone will kill it. It's best to keep that all inside." - Bob Dylan (The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, 1956-1966)

“May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young.”- Bob Dylan


"I was lingering out on the pavement. There was a missing person inside of myself and I needed to find him . . . I felt done for, an empty burned-out wreck . . . Wherever I am, I'm a "60's troubadour, a folk-rock relic, a wordsmith from bygone days, a fictitious head of state from a place nobody knows." - Bob Dylan (Chronicles: Volume One)

Gunter Grass

Where man had been, in every place he left, garbage remained. Even in his pursuit of the ultimate truth and quest for his God, he produced garbage. By his garbage, which lay stratum upon stratum, he could always -- one had only to dig -- be known. For more long-lived than man is his refuse. Garbage alone lives after him. -Gunter Grass (The Rat)

Today I know that everything watches, that nothing goes unseen, and that even wallpaper has a better memory than ours. It isn't God in His Heaven that sees all. A kitchen chair, a coat-hanger, a half-filled ash tray, or the wooden replica of a woman named Niobe, can perfectly well serve as an unforgetting witness to every one of our acts. - Gunter Grass (The Tin Drum)

What does a river like the Vistula carry away with it? Everything that goes to pieces: wood, glass, pencils, pacts ... chairs, bones, and sunsets too. What had long been forgotten rose to memory, floating on its back or stomach, with the help of the Vistula. - Gunter Grass (Dog Years)

Andy Warhol

Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. - Andy Warhol


When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can't make them change if they don't want to, just like when they do want to, you can't stop them. - Andy Warhol

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. - Andy Warhol

Carpe Diem

Procrastination can be soul destroying because it allows indecisiveness to play havoc with one's life. Dreams and Goals are constantly being dashed against limiting walls with each deferment of a life challenge. It is such a wasteful and unproductive energy. It creates confusion and fear of commitment especially when having to make important life-changing decisions.