Reflections On Leadership, After Trump’s Aborted Impeachment Trials

The day after Donald Trump’s aborted Senate impeachment trials ended, I awakened into morning reverie with a desire to share reflections deriving from my conversations with G-d that generally usher in my day. 

It seemed to have been a good long time since I felt prompted to do so, having spent so many months, actually the years following the 2016 presidential election, at sixes and sevens, both for myself, personally, and in leading my non-profit organization, the New Horizons/Small “Zones Of Peace.

Since the start of the formal impeachment efforts by the Congressional House Democrats there had been a sense of relief in me, perhaps in others too. 

The voices of reason and justice had spoken out truths, if not purely and perfectly, but at least in ways that made sense to me overall, resonating with values I respected. Once given voice, as they were in, more or less orderly fashion, they could no longer be ignored and submerged beneath the chaos and corruption of Donald Trump’s White House and his GOP allies.  

History would, now, live to tell the tale, even if the Senate would not.

Not too many days later, given that our organization had, at last, gotten its eBay store for fundraising set up and ready to go, I found myself listing for sale the one remaining copy of Ahmsta Kebzeh: The Science Of Universal Awe, Volume I we were holding, written by our esteemed, now deceased, Community Development Mentor, Murat Yagan. 

Abkhazian Elder, Murat Yagan

The book sold off of eBay almost instantly. 

However, I didn’t, at first, make the connection between my impetus to want to share some of the content of my conversations with G-d and my listing that long-held book, given to us by Murat, personally, close to fifteen years ago. Not too much later, however, I realized that each was my way of making a statement, if only to myself, of the kind of leadership I respect and honor  -- and to which I would, from here forth, return my most pointed attentions.

Nothing at all like we are seeing in the purported leaders of our country!

Along with this certainty in myself arose a staunch unwillingness to allow any more of my precious life time and energy to be drawn into b…s..t, the kind that proliferates these days through the halls of the White House and Congress, large corporations, even with my neighborhood plumber who, by the way, stood me up last evening, with a no-show for fixing the leaky pipe that was drowning my lower level kitchen in water. 

This morning I remedied that latter breech of ethics by hiring a more professional handyman service that came through for me within hours, bringing into my home the kind of ethics and responsibility that I find most comforting!  How I wish I could be free of our “fake” governmental leaders as quickly and easily!

The whole of my internal responses, body, mind and spirit, that day after the aborted impeachment trials ended, showed me I have more than enough clarity in my head – and my heart to know where I stand personally, to know what I need to do next in order that I do my best to maintain, or seek to sustain, order in my life where chaos bred of human corruption appears to take a lead. 

No more sixes and sevens! No more energy drains for me, from those who pretend to lead while, at the same time, seeking to destroy! And, with this resolve, no more morning waking rushing to check the news online, out of fear and a deep yearning for an order in my life I had formerly trusted our government, established as a democracy, to ensure.
I was DONE with it all! 

From here forth, the values I most respect would set the tone of my days. 

The House Congressional representatives with their impeachment actions had given me/us that, even with their efforts being aborted in the Senate. Lies and corruption had been formally recorded. Truth would not die, nor the fact of the actions that stood up for it.
Not long after that morning after, I asked myself “Where might concerned, voting Americans find a place to settle and rest securely and peacefully, after the aborted senate impeachment trials of D0nald Trump?

Likely I pose a challenging question to many, as perhaps our whole country is at sixes and sevens?   And, how would citizens who are more aligned with my thinking move forward?
Half the voting population is celebrating the acquittal of Trump.

Another good half of which I am a part, those who uphold values, differing markedly from the dominant GOP we watched, handling themselves with a deliberate investment to remain ignorant throughout this impeachment ordeal, are angry, possibly frightened, sad or in despair, experiencing trauma, on a national level as essential principles or standards of behavior were desecrated,. 

No that does not strike me as correct! I am not with this segment, either, in these responses.

For me, the warped ways of the Senate GOP have now strengthened my convictions, in this time of greatest divisiveness, to uphold the values with which I was raised, including teaching me to look to leadership I can honor. Men like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. come immediately to mind. Yet closer still to where my heart sits in comfort are the images of my father, along with a more current teacher, also deceased as is my father, Murat Yagan, from whom I had many long years to learn, personally.

So, now in the aftermath of b.s such I had never imagined in what I thought to be the hallowed halls of American government, most especially in the White House and Congress, I am reaching out in my mind and spirit to these wise elders I have known most closely, rededicating myself to holding them in prime space, allowing these who have gone before me that I hold most in esteem and love for the dignity, integrity, courage. love and wisdom they have shown me by their principles lived out, congruently, through their actions, albeit not totally with perfection.

I regret that there are no women among these role models of mine, only men. But perhaps it is, now up to women, like Nancy Pelosi and others who have, particularly recently, taken stands for justice and right, women like myself included.

From here forth I want things to be different in my life, not at all like the past four years have been. I don’t yet know what that will look like for me and for those around me upon whose lives I have influence though "Seeking Sanctuary In These Turbulent Times" will certainly have a priority. But I do know from here forth, the coming years will not look, feel or be like the past four years, whether Donald Trump is reelected or not! 

Thomas Paine spoke these words on December 23, 1776, in the midst of the Revolutionary War. They are no less meaningful today.

 “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated”

From Fear To Faith In The New Year

The motion of moving from New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day can bring magical clarity when I, as executive director, open my eyes to possibilities and New Horizons Board Members share the transition.  

Thus it came to be that the birth of 2016 shared by board members, Sue deVeer, and Anastasia brought into being a long-held New Horizons plan; New Horizons’ Council of Elders, along with me, personally, turning my fears into faith.

That ball drop in Times Square, even online, can have that effect!

We could easily anticipate board member Lisa Boyer voting “yes” for this plan that has been being discussed for years. And a quick call on New Year’s Day to Kebzeh mentor, Joan McIntrye, immediately confirmed that we would be supported in this endeavor's unfolding by the guidance of our community development advisors and Elders in British Columbia who are carrying forth Murat Yagan’s beautiful work that has been shaping New Horizons "exceptional communisty model's evolution for close to twenty years now.

Murat's message is conveying, worldwide, how we, ordinary people, can reach a universal state of awe, if we keep striving for it. New Horizons has been one of the beneficiaries of these teachings.

Stonehenge

So the New Horizons Board of Directors now, with joy and confidence, proudly announces ---

New Horizons Council Of Elders To Debut in 2016!

Be alert, however, this does not herald any quick fixes for long-held, deeply entrenched community problems. Rather a new entity, New Horizons' Council of Elders, will now begin to organize, take applications for membership and lay out strategies for implementation on the local level of Frederick County, Maryland where we are immersed, day-by-day, in doing our part to create a model “exceptional community.”

We know this local area to abound in wise people who have the determination and know how, or at least willingness to learn, how to work consensually together to address local civic problems.  

With our new Council of Elders supported by the wisdom and input of our advisors in British Columbia, we are putting our hopes and faith into Frederick County, with prayers that this will be only a next step in achieving our dreams, which in truth go far beyond this locale.

Look for details as they unfold.

Turning lead into gold to be theme of new study group

New Program Announcement!

A new, ongoing study group, facilitated by me, Anastasia, exclusively for Possible Human, Possible Society Study participants, commenced last Thursday evening.

Program Title: Alchemy and the Alchemist: An informal discussion with a purpose

Murat Yagan (1915 -- 2013)
with Anastasia

Program description:

•  The curriculum is derived from the teachings of ancient Abkhazia as offered by Murat;
• Discussions will begin with Murat’s teachings, as offered in his numerous books, and expand into discussion wherever meeting group decides to go;
• Study groups to be recorded and available to participants for review.
• 
  

  Day and Time: 6:30 p.m., Thursday evenings, alternating with the New Horizons’ Possible Society In Motion Radio Show.
  
  Current Discussion Topic: Alchemy and Consciousness, based on Murat’s last book, Ahmsta Kebzeh: The Universal Science of Awe, Volume II

    Location: New Horizons conference call-in forum

Details and Information

Anastasia at:

zonesofpeacenh@aol.com or cell: 240.409.5347

Study participants, please contact Anastasia for next study group date and call-in number and access code.

Presented as a Tribute to Murat Yagan (1915 – 2013)

In celebration of a well-lived life

Honoring the great and the small

Long time coming!

Tonight on the Possible Society In Motion Radio Show that Jack Slattery, my co-host, and I do, approximately bi-weekly for the present, I am, at last, going to do something I have been longing – and needing -- to do for years.

I am going to, more publicly than ever, take off the mask I wear that conceals the place Murat Yagan and the ancient traditions, called Kebzeh, play in my life and that of New Horizons.  Tonight’s Possible Society In Motion Radio Show will begin introducing the “great and the small” of Murat Yagan as I/we have been unable to do until now.

Why this is so in his passing rather than his life, is a mystery to me.

Do you know why? I don’t yet.

I, also, don’t know how impactful this program will seem to others who may listen in. I don’t even know how satisfied I will be with the on-air outcome, even for myself. But I do know that no matter the effect, whatever is achieved by tonight’s show will be a rite of passage for me.

At this moment, more than ever before, except for New Horizons’ (Almost) Annual Abkhazian Dinners, I will, tonight, be/feel on my way to presenting what this blog site was intended to be, in the first place;

A personal and professional blog exploring the vision behind the New Horizons ZOP and how it reflects my (Anastasia’s) journey from blindness to recovery.

Up until now, without bringing the “great and the small” of what Murat has brought into my life and guided New Horizons to be, as it istoday, you, our readers and listeners, were only getting part of the story.

I don’t know how that happened, or why. But it has been. Maybe it was simply “beshert” (Yiddish for destiny). However, I am about to change that.

Tonight is the beginning! I will, always, be able to track back to this beginning. But there will be no end.

Sooooo -- I hope you will listen in to Jack and I this evening, and our friend, Gloria Livingston, for this important show, “Honoring the great and the small.” And, then join us for our Possible Society In Motion Conversations Forum on the conference call portion following the show.

That’s where the real deal peace buddy conversation takes place!

Can’t fit our program time slot into your schedule tonight? Well, then listen to the podcast.

The Possible Society In Motion Radio Show is about to become a teaching series.  And, you won’t want to miss the opportunities it affords you; past, present and future! 

My/Our Beloved Teacher, Murat Yagan: A Tribute

Murat Yagan, my Beloved spiritual teacher and New Horizons’ community development mentor, passed away on December 19. He left behind a rich legacy.

Murat Yagan 1915 -- 2013

In his passing, as in his life, Murat showed all of us who called ourselves his “students” a certain and highly disciplined pathway to Divine connection. With patience and persistence he guided us as to how we might live abundantly, individually and collectively, with or without material riches. At its foundation his legacy is one that is as earthbound and practical as it has been lofty in the learning.

The earthbound and practical were always prime agendas for New Horizons. Through New Horizons’ relationship with Murat and his community of students in Vernon, B.C., this organization that I founded and direct advanced its capacity as an, already impactful, community development approach. Originally focusing on overcoming relationship and personality addictions, with Murat’s tutelage, we evolved a non-chemical addiction treatment model into a broad-application, community development and violence prevention model.

We moved beyond solving problems, handling, at times, the worst tendencies such as domestic violence and threatened suicides and homicides, to reaching for possibilities. We shifted our priorities from treating co-dependency problems to guiding individuals and groups to the higher planes of human attainment.  

Training in community unity-building and conversation skills replaced Inner Child and trauma work with collective problem solving skills. Overcoming cultural divisions; interfaith disparity, racial separation, civic and political differences, as well as national and international cultural bridge-building, became our focus.

For me, personally, however, given the circumstances of my blindness, at the time Murat came into our lives, spiritual development was critical, if not primary. Blind, I was living in the realm of the seriously challenged.  An advanced spiritual life, as Murat taught it, based on his Abkhazian heritage, within the framework of a healthy community life suited me as an extraordinary gift. Most significantly, within Kebzeh community I could be a student rather than a teacher; a much needed respite at this time in my life.

The story of how these riches came to be realized can be found at this link, as excerpted from Murat’s most recent book, Ahmsta Kebzeh: The Science of Universal Awe, Volume II. We hope you will read this contribution of our’s to Murat’s final book. And, draw inspiration from it so that you can share with us the adventure to the collective potential, now, awaiting us. New Horizons’ blog site is, additionally, abundant in articles and guidance on how to apply the principles we derived from Murat’s teachings to everyday life.

We are pledged, now, along with our many Kebzeh sisters and brothers, world-wide, to honor Murat’s life by following his example, daring, fearlessly, to embrace our fullest human potential. Diane Wilson, one of Murat’s closest and most devoted students, expressed this shared commitment, thus –

“….one day you (meaning Murat) will say with joy, "These are the seeds I planted and they have claimed their birthright*!"

(According to Murat, Kebzeh tradition equates “birthright” with “fullest human potential.”)

Our promise is made. The riches of the inheritance provided.

Now, how are we to realize this grand potential? 

According to Murat and the traditions of his Abkhazian heritage, I believe we will need to live it, to dance it to create it.

When I ask myself how to do this, I am reminded of Murat’s “Seven Ways To Knowledge." I will begin looking here for answers to my query. Then go on to wherever else I can find them.  

The answers will reveal themselves, if I stay open to them, I trust.

"Marjah" and "mojo"

(Marjah = Higher Self. Mojo = Magical powers.)

Celebrating Murat's beautiful 

life, today, on his ninety-eighth 

birthday.

Murat Yagan, New Horizons’ community development mentor, also my spiritual mentor, introduced us to the word – “marja" (sometimes spelled “marjah”). Murat who is ninety-eight today (born December 16, 1915) defines the meaning of the word as “Higher self; God within human.”

Note: Dr. Viacheslav Chirikba has written a wonderful profile article of Murat and his community of students in British Columbia, “Abkhazian Wiseman from Vernon.” You may find it to be informative as an aid to your understanding of New Horizons’ motivations for adopting Murat as our trusted community development guide. Published in "Respublika Abkhazia", Sukhum, Abkhazia, 21-22 April 2001.

I am understanding how to access the “marjah” in me, better and better, recently, thanks to Murat’s great clarity of instruction in his newest book, Ahmsta Kebzeh: The Science of Universal Awe, Volume II.

Several months back, two copies of that long-awaited tome showed up in my mail box; one each for Sue and I, for contributing an article to the book. We were just about ready to leave for our vacation to Canada, at the time, and were so grateful we had it to take with us and explore on our travels.

Delightfully the book, also, included a DVD with meditations guided by Murat. I welcomed both book and DVD, wholeheartedly, though the drawbacks of using WiFi on the island, without plumbing and electricity, that was our home for a week or so, limited my listening.

So -- long and short of my story, here -- this morning as I was contemplating whether or not I could, in fact, do my next scheduled Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show, titled “Finding My Voice,” tomorrow as planned, I got to wondering if “marjah,” as defined above and “mojo,” defined by Merriam-Webster as “a power that may seem magical, allowing one to be effective and successful, might come together, for me, over the next twenty-four hours, so I can, finally, do that show I’ve been planning, scheduling and rescheduling, now, for more than two months!

So sorry about that.

Nonetheless, if you’ve been wondering what’s going on about this seemingly negligent management of my broadcasts, just when we were getting going, the explanation lies in: 1. My recent eye infection; 2. The identity crisis I’m having as I embark on my adventure of writing, “Hot Pants, Motorcycles and K Street;” and 3. New Horizons going through a reorganization as we expand our Possible Human, Possible Society Study, remodel our Harpers Ferry Retreat Center and increase the accessibility of our Cultural Mediation community development programs.

If you like what we have here on our two blog sites and two radio shows, please do check back for updates. We will keep you posted here and on-air as our perspectives and plans unfold. Providing, of course, that, over the coming months ahead, “marjah” and “mojo” stay with us.

With gratitude and love to our dear Murat, as always abundant in his marjah, on this, his ninety-eighth birthday today.

Just rewards

I do my best to not minimize how inordinately difficult has been my recovery from a term of extended blindness; five years legally blind plus three more years recovering from the PTSD that, of course, accompanied the ordeal.

Additionally, I do not  minimize how blessed I was to have my/our Beloved community development mentor, Murat Yagan, also, as my spiritual guide through this time of great challenge.

Would I have/could I have, on my own, summoned enough faith to carry me through?

How can I know? Fortunately, that was not the way things turned out.

With Murat and the Kebzeh community that has grown up around him, primarily in British Columbia, I did make it through that time of trial and tribulation. With these resources, as vision, strength and love to draw upon, even in the darkest of my times, I was able to envision, in my mind’s eye, that certain of those things in which I believed, before my vision loss, might still exist somewhere off in the future, even a time to come in which I could actively participate.

Now that day seems to have arrived. Or, at least I think it has.

Though I tend to still be a bit shaky and unnerved these days (Wouldn’t you be, if you were me?), my life has changed, immensely. First and foremost, with my eyesight restored and, now, able to, once again, write and actively work with the non-profit organization, New Horizons, I founded and head, I am, at last, able to do my part to help that which, for a time, was alive only in my dreams.

But it is not only my life that has changed. I believe, the tenor of the American people has changed.  I think, as a nation, we are growing up some.

Here are a few examples from my experience.

When I was blind I would, occasionally, contemplate a quote by Margaret Mead –

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed that is the only thing that ever has.”

On a personal level, I held onto these words with hopes for a sighted life when I would see the truth of these words actualized in every corner of the U.S.A. Particularly, as I heard and felt the aftermath of “911.”

However, on more of a societal level, I have been noticing of late that even the internet, now that I can see it and better adjust to it,  is fostering the kind of dialogue that can empower both large and small groups of "thoughtful, committed citizens" bring about the changes for which we all yearn; peace, cooperation and unity.

Another quote I hoped to help manifest was that of Mahatma Gandhi –

"We do best to begin by carving out territories or zones of peace in our personal relations where violence and deceit won't be used."

In this area, too, I am noticing what seems to be a maturing society.

Everywhere, or so it seems, small groups are, also, emerging, bringing dedicated individuals together, face-to-face, to support personal and collective transformation. Our own New Horizons community building days are an example of this.

With me, once again, as an active part of mainstream life, New Horizons, now, has its Small “Zones of Peace” Project, as one of its two main initiatives. With this initiative, lots of dedication and hard labor work from volunteers, especially my devoted collaborator, Sue deVeer, last Saturday New Horizons opened its doors to the public, holding the second of an intended monthly community building event.

Wow! I could barely believe the beauty of it;  the possible had come.

Still, HUGE as it was for Sue and I, it was a small beginning for those who have not known much of New Horizons to date.

But, guess what came of that for me? I was uplifted by our day’s events; complications and all.  Oh, my! Oh, my!

With the beautiful words and teachings of Murat’s new book, as a text, to help elucidate my dearest hopes and dreams and to help, through his words, to be a guide, conveying the genuine possibilities, within reach, of personal and community collaboration, I could SEE “awe” already in motion.

The small “zone of peace” I was dreaming of was coming to be. And, small, though elegant, that we were, we were, metaphorically, planting seeds of change, being a part of that Possible Society In Motion, right in my own backyard.

Just rewards for hopes and dreams, dedication and hard, grunt labor work!       

About Anastasia and her views on transforming the Dark Side of the U.S.A.

From the board members of New Horizons Support Network, Inc.

Dear blog readers,

We, the members of the New Horizons Support Network, know, full well, that --- given the scope of our organization; its programs, projects, developmental underpinnings and the conceptual foundations upon which all these have been built -- our package is enormous. And, often times, more than likely, difficult to nail down.

Anastasia Rosen-Jones
New Horizons'
Executive Director and Founder

We understand  this and we don’t like it. We know you do not either, as we get our share of complaints on this limitation of ours, now and then.

However, with a visionary such as our founder and executive director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, at the helm of this vessel we are crewing, we have found naught else to do other than to sail forth in the manner and at the tempo that seems most unifying to us of our many parts.

Nonetheless, in consideration of the frustration this pace evokes in you, we are offering the following links about our esteemed director with the hopes that they may, in some small way, shed light on your curiosities and allay your vexations.

Find out more about Anastasia -- her theories on the Dark Side and its transformation, her principles for culture-wide systemic change – and – her visionary capacity that was greatly enhanced by term of blindness -- at the following links.

• Anastasia, New Horizons Founder and Executive Director, bio;
• Anastasia, "Finding Light In The Darkness" --- Frederick News Post, August 6, 2006;
• Anastasia, losing her eyesight and discovering Murat Yagan, New Horizons  community development mentor.

Also, be sure to listen to Anastasia on our Possible Society In Motion Radio Show as she attempts, with the aid of co-host, Jack Slattery, to articulate some of the essential concepts, underlying New Horizons’ package of principles for Dark Side and culture-wide transformation.

Announcing: Anastasia The Storyteller, On-Air

Blog Talk Radio: The Anastasia The Storyteller Show

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

11;30 a.m.

So, this is where Anastasia has been this time; working with devoted board member Lisa to move my storytelling commitment and the vision I have been carrying that is brought forth into action through New Horizons, now, out onto the air waves and beyond.

Up onto the next level of community service, a radio show all my own.  Imagine that!

I guess, with a lot of help from my friends, I am healing, more and more, day-by-day, from my challenges of being blind and recovering from the ordeal.

My profile states --

From the serenity of New Horizons' Retreat Center at Harpers Ferry, Executive Director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, shares stories of the lessons life has taught her, especially her eight years of being and recovering from blindness.

Sounds easy, like just the most natural next steps for New Horizons and myself?

Not on your life!

I am broken out all over with hives; stress, the dry heat of wood burning and who knows what else.

Still, I am in the game, anyway, and will give it my best tomorrow, a.m., holding the vision in my mind of all the support, connectedness and personal and collective growth I have been blessed with in the past six, going on seven, years.

Years of extreme and difficult, sometimes, white knuckle challenging of reengaging with mainstream life, like a modern-day Rip Van Winkle; the proverbial hero of Joseph Campbell’s "Hero With A Thousand Faces", fighting the good battle to share the golden chalice of rewards from the adventure without the threat of being crucified in the telling.

And, here I am, now, anticipating that the many rewards that have come forth from my writing these two blog sites that I write will now multiply many times over, for us all, as Anastasia The Storyteller seeks, like a butterfly to lift herself out of her cocoon and fly free.

Thank you so much, my loyal reader/followers. (Yet, for all of this, I must admit that when I am sent messages of love and support from Murat and those Beloveds surrounding him, as I received yesterday through Joan McIntrye, Elder of Murat’s Vernon, B.C. community, it does give me an added boost.)

So, please hold me in your kind thoughts, tomorrow, for this opening show which is described as follows.

The Art of Transcendent Living  

In the opening segments of the Anastasia the Storyteller Show, Anastasia introduces her signature topic; the significance of clarity (i.e. the seeing versus not seeing, psychologically and spiritually) as it relates to everyday life and relationships, personal and communal.

Anastasia's story is about seeking clarity with eyes wide open -- welcoming "what is" even when it is painful. Scaling one's personal mountain of darkness and reaching clarity (the summit that Anastasia calls the "Mountain of Awe"), a peak that brings healing, joy and peace -- a sense of being in the light.

Stories excerpted from Anastasia’s book in progress,"To Or Not To See and the Art of Transcendent Living: A True Story About Clarity."

So, from the serenity of New Horizons' Retreat Center at Harpers Ferry, tomorrow, I, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, Executive Director and Founder of New Horizons, will share stories of the lessons life has taught me, especially my eight years of being and recovering from blindness – with a lot of help from my friends.

Please be with me, at least in spirit. Thank you all. Link below for my show.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anastasiastoryteller

P.S. At last check-in on stats, New Horizons’ new show, The Possible Society In Motion Show, first introduced on Thursday, December 27 has already had close to 5,000 profile views and close to 500 listens in to either the broadcast show or recorded podcasts.

Imagine that!

Mountains to climb, vistas to view, reflections and promises

Also posted on New  Horizons Small "Zones of Peace" Project blog site (with a somewhat different ending. Check it out.)

I needed that Veterans’ Day Hike we took, back two weeks or so ago; the Sunday after the elections. Most especially, I needed to reach a certain scenic overlook and immerse myself in the spaciousness of it, as well as its historical significance.  I was after that experience of awe that is so much a part of my inner landscape when it meets the outer and all is well, as it should be.  Nothing in this world can compare.

Maryland Heights
scenic overlook

There hasn’t been much awe of late. The threat and upheaval of Hurricane Sandy had prompted me to stay with neighbors for a few days where, along with good company and the comforting presence of a generator, we worried  about the storm and kept ourselves informed, communally, about it, minute by minute, and about others not as fortunate as ourselves.

Then there was the cancelling of our Overcoming Polarization kickoff event, resulting from the hurricane.  My volunteer team and myself had looked forward to the event and had put effort into it for months.  Now our only accrued benefit was a large supply of stale-dated fliers . Next it was the election, with its front runner campaign hostilities that had been high level stress, to say the least.

The combination of these circumstances had, definitely, gotten my, generally well-balanced, relatively contented emotional system askew.

Thus by Veterans’ Day, I, hungrily, felt the need to be at this one spot, particularly; the scenic peak at Maryland Heights, overlooking the historical town of Harpers Ferry. From high up here you can visually re-trace the route, along the C & O Canal, where John Brown made his approach to hit the town, attempting  to generate an uprising in rebellion of slavery. Brown had taken the armory and hostages and then been taken prisoner here, himself, after his effort failed. 

Not long after, Harpers Ferry and its surrounding environs became home to cannonball batteries for both Union and Confederate soldiers, armed to do damage to the “others” as well as the land. Here they had seized the highlands to lodge their Civil War encampments and stake out the “enemy;” the enemy they would come to know later as themselves, when the country, at last, began to heal from its war torn divisions.

Since I have lived in these mountains, surrounding Harpers Ferry, I have done my best to visit these sites, at least once a year, and bring others with me. On Veterans’ Day, our mission specifically includes giving thanks to veterans, past and present, for their sacrifices for our freedom. This Sunday, however, the only real battles, close by, had been in the political arena where, thank goodness, no real blood had been shed.  

The view from this height and position allows one to see the town, the rivers and the mountains that embrace them for miles around. The scene is so majestic, from both the heights and the ground, as to have prompted Thomas Jefferson to describe it  as “worth a voyage across the seas” at a time when peace reigned. In particular, Jefferson was describing the confluence (or flowing together) of the two beautiful  rivers, the Potomac and the Shenandoah, that happens here.

I could have stayed at the overlook all day, even into the night, once we reached it. The sunset would have been glorious. I wished we could have stayed to see it. We had been gifted with such a clear, crisp Indian summer day for our hike. I wanted to linger on at this peak, feeling the “awe” that seemed illusive in recent past weeks. On this Veteran’s Day, I, hungrily, sought the clear view, the challenge of the climb and the clean, fresh air of that Maryland Heights vista, remembrances and gratitude.

But I was with a group of people,  enthusiastic responders to my invitation to do this (almost, annual) New Horizons’ Veterans’ Day hike and, having reached this spot, after close to four hours of hiking with about another hour, yet, to reach ground level, again, they were  eager to get back down.


Still hungry for something, somehow left behind for me at that peak, I have been drawn, ever since, to reflect, not infrequently, as to what my lingering sense of deprivation since that day has been about. This morning it came clear to me.

In blindness I had learned, in my mind, to climb many mountain peaks (with Murat as my guide). This day, Veterans’ Day, I yearned, almost desperately,  to experience another confluence; the one that brings my inner landscape into a beautiful flow with the outer. I want, only, to celebrate opportunities like this,  now that I can SEE with my new eyes/corneas once more!  

I need to keep SEEING and experiencing, again and again, the awe that is truly present inside of me, on the ground or at high level heights, and behold all that I can of that confluence with other people and nature. I knew I could experience and SEE this flow at the Maryland Heights scenic overlook.

It is this feeling of rightness, inside every cell of my being, in unity and peace with all people and all of life for which I hunger.  So, having reached this clarity, once again, today, it is time for me to get back to my postings here and do whatever is the next right thing for me, ground level and beyond, in our brave new world, post Election 2012. I have much to offer to our possible society in motion.

I hope I have been missed.

I return, like any other hero of a thousand miles, with many stories to tell from the past and the present, pledging, again, to do my best. Particularly, I want to share what I learned from living and working in a Camelot tainted by the dark side of politics and politicians. Mostly, however, I want to offer what I know that might be of some benefit to others regarding how to deal with the dark side of Washington politics and politicians.

It is very important that I, now, pass this on -- with the greatest of gratitude that I can, once again, SEE with both my mind and my eyes and SAY what is mine to say.

More to come.