Fan Flirtation

The fan itself may not be as old as time, but flirtation certainly must be.
Was Adam enticed to eat the apple when Eve's flirtatious eyes fluttered above
a palm frond, gently wafting a cooling breeze in the sunlit Garden of Eden?
Practical, ceremonial or decorative - fans were in use more than 3000 years
ago and the form has changed, but surprisingly little, over those thousands
of years. Fans of a simple design were discovered in 1922 inside Tutankhamen's
tomb. A fixed palmate screen fan, mounted on a long handle and wafted by
Cleopatra's slaves, an ancient Chinese hand fan made of beaten gold, an
extravagant peacock feather fan from Asia 500 years BC - all would be instantly
recognisable as symbols of luxury and rank but with a practical purpose too.'
~ Henry Gillard Glindoni (1852 - 1913 ) British

Riding on a Carrousel

Riding on a Carrousel, face towards the wind ... going 'round in circles,
coming back again. Grabbing for the brass ring, just when it's in sight...
lights are shinning all around ... maybe some too bright.
Sometimes as you feel in life, going 'round and 'round for like this happy
Carrousel it has it's ups and downs. The music plays so gaily, sometimes it's
way too loud, enjoying the excitement... you're caught up in the crowd.
You've come again full circle, you think you have returned ...now in search
of another ticket ....more lessons to be learned.
You hope this ride will last forever, you know it never will ... too soon
your time is over ... the motion ever still. The music quickly ceases, so
silent as the night, your vision slowly dims .....the lights are not so bright.
You look within your pocket, no ticket to be found...with sadness, slowly
walk away .. as quiet as it's sound.
In life just like the Carrousel..... there's not another ride ... never is
in black and white, real life and dreams collide. You turn to take, just one
last look ...to ride it one last time. The lights are on for others now...
you understand this rhyme?
You had your fun, you rode it well ..... you know it's now their turn. The
music comes alive again ....the lights now brightly burn.
You thought you had the brass ring ..... held tightly in your hand but it
no longer glimmers ....will never shine again.
It now is realized what you've learned .... the lessons you have found in
life there's many ups and downs ....but only one go round. ~ Ms. Isabella

Theory of Imprisonment

'A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe,
a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his
thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind
of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind
of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection
for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this
prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.' ~ Albert Einstein

A Sheltered Life

You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book ('Lady Chatterley's Lover', for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness.
The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. . . ~ Anaïs Nin