To Feel respected and Loved is a Joy

Long ago, in the hills of the Himalayas near a lotus pool, there was once born a baby elephant. He was a magnificent elephant, pure white with feet and face the colour of coral. His trunk gleamed like a silver rope and his ivory tusks curled up in a long arc.


He followed his mother everywhere. She plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the tall trees and gave them to him. "First you, then me," she said. She bathed him in the cool lotus pool among the fragrant flowers. Drawing the sparkling water up in her trunk, she sprayed him over the top of his head and back until he shone. Then filling his trunk with water, he took careful aim and squirted a perfect geyser right between his mother's eyes. Without blinking, she squirted him back. And back and forth, they gleefully squirted and splashed each other. Splish! Splash!

Then they rested in the soft muck with their trunks curled together. In the deep shadows of afternoon, the mother elephant rested in the shade of a rose-apple tree and watched her son romp and frolic with the other baby elephants.

The little elephant grew and grew until he was the tallest and strongest young bull in the herd. And while he grew taller and stronger, his mother grew older and older. Her tusks were yellow and broken and in time she became blind. The young elephant plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the tall trees and gave them to his dear old blind mother. "First you, then me," he said.

He bathed her in the cool lotus pool among the fragrant flowers. Drawing the sparkling water up in his trunk, he sprayed her over the top of her head and back until she shone. Then they rested in the soft muck with their trunks curled together. In the deep shadows of afternoon, the young elephant guided his mother to the shade of a rose-apple tree. Then he went roaming with the other elephants. One day a king was hunting and spied the beautiful white

elephant. "What a splendid animal! I must have him to ride upon!" So the king captured the elephant and put him in the royal stable. He adorned him with silk and jewels and garlands of lotus flowers. He gave him sweet grass and juicy plums and filled his trough with pure water.

But the young elephant would not eat or drink. He wept and wept, growing thinner each day. "Noble elephant," said the king, "I adorn you with silk and jewels. I give you the finest food and the purest water, yet you do not eat or drink. What will please you?" The young elephant said, "Silk and jewels, food and drink do not make me happy. My blind old mother is alone in the forest with no one to care for her. Though I may die, I will take no food or water until I give some to her first."

The king said, "Never have I seen such kindness, not even among humans. It is not right to keep this young elephant in chains." Free, the young elephant raced through the hills looking for his mother. He found her by the lotus pool. There she lay in the mud, too weak to move. With tears in his eyes, he filled his trunk with water and sprayed the top of her head and back until she shone. "Is it raining?" she asked. "Or has my son returned to me?" "It is your very own son!" he cried. "The king has set me free!" As he washed her eyes, a miracle happened. Her sight returned. "May the king rejoice today as I rejoice at seeing my son again!" she said.

The young elephant then plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from a tree and gave them to her. "First you, then me."

What a joy there is in knowing that you are important in the lives of your family. That whatever you have done you have earned their respect and love.

Need I say anymore?

This blog is linked to my other where I discuss the artwork. Poppy Glory

Killing That Which Is Precious.

One day I was out running and had a life changing moment. Running was something new to me and here for the very first time I was running pain free. I felt as if I had wings on my shoes it was such a joy. It was a spring morning and I felt if I spoke to the lambs in the field they would have answered me. Yes I know it sounds silly, but I felt it.


I came home that day and had decided to give up eating meat. For the next twenty four years I did just that. How many times this led to discussions, about whether or not this was the correct thing to do. I was younger then and I always rose to the bait.

Now when people discover I have, after all those years decided to begin eating meat again the same questions come up again. I am older now, yes I know much older, and I no longer take the bait.

Yesterday with all the ideas running around in my head from your musing on the one hand I got to thinking about these things again.

Those who strive to preserve life and respect life are right, it is a good thing. But my thoughts made me realise there are other valuable things we kill that are equally worthy of consideration.

What of those who kill time? Time is a very precious commodity and deserves our respect. Having worked with those serving time, sometimes a long time, I became very aware of how precious it was. Time should never be killed. It ought to be cherished. What of those who for selfish reasons kill honesty? What of those who kill innocence?

What of those who preach without taking account of others, or the other person’s point of view? Are they not guilty of killing respect?

What has made me so serious these past few days? I have spent a life with people and here I am in bloggers world and finding people who have much to share, and do so. I have met people who have much to teach, and do so. I have met people who care, and they take the time each day to do so.

I thank you all, each one. I am still reading blogs but may not be able to respond again till early next week but know you are all in my thoughts.

This blog is linked to my other where I discuss the artwork used:- The Killer

Bowing and Respect

I was brought up from a very early age to believe that all people were equal and of value, and that therefore all people deserved respect. I learned this on my regular Sunday walks with my father, the highlight of my week. Being the kind of person I am, I took this to heart, and on more than one occasion it landed me in trouble. I remember my first day at school. The class were All told to stand to be introduced to our teacher, and we were told that when she entered the room first thing in the morning and afternoon we were to bow and say, “Good morning/afternoon Miss and then her name.” I had no objections at all to saying good morning but I had real problems with the bowing. If we were all equal why am I bowing to her I wondered? The teacher in her wisdom made no comment, but the head teacher on noticing my head upright took me aside and we had a “discussion.”


Later in life while taking part in the “crowning of the gala queen” event somebody noticed I did not bow to the gala queen and raised the issue in the local press. I have been introduced to real royalty on two occasions and on neither did I bow, but was aware that they did not take issue with its absence.

Age has made me do a rethink of many things and the more I see the diminution of respect the more  I now believe that the lesson of bowing, and what it signified is maybe a lesson we should not forget. Even if we set aside the physical action. It is said that respect has to be earned, that may be true. But if respect is offered then this could be the impetus to greater things from the one respect is shown to. At the end of all bouts in martial arts the combatants bow to one another as a mark of a shared respect. In Buddhist communities the master bows to his students to say to them, “I am merely the messenger of the teachings.” The students bow acknowledging his wisdom. From this shared respect grows even more worthy lessons.

I frequently take time out from the bustle of painting to pay my respect to the masters who have gone before. When visiting a gallery, if I come before a work that moves my inner being I stop, and though not physically, internally bow before the master. It says quietly and without fuss, “I respect you.”

No matter how great we may feel our art has become it is wise always to remember that there are those greater than ourselves. We are all equal and worthy of respect but there are those who have earned just that little bit more to which maybe a bow is appropriate. They have earned such respect.

I bow without show because this is the way of Tao.

Respect and Priorities.

It was a beautiful crisp clear Monday morning on the golf course. The local minister was playing his usual Monday morning round of golf, a time when he could relax and consider the quality of the Sunday sermon. He was playing with a number of club members and the golf was going very well. The group had arrived at the fairway that ran alongside the main road. As the prepared to tee off a funeral cortege approached on the main road heading towards the local cemetery. The minister replaced his club in his golf bag, took off his cap and stood with his head bowed. His fellow golfers watched until the cortege had passed. One of them then said, “My minister what a grand mark of respect”. “Well,” said the minister, “she was a grand wife to me for 45 years.”


Respect and priority, are two important words in all our lives. Here was a man who thought he knew what his priority was, what was the most important thing in life. Those who have passion for art or for that matter for anything in life can so easily allow it to cloud their vision. It is right that if we take up anything in life then we have to do so with the passion it deserves but if we fail to get our priorities right and to respect that life cannot be lived in a bubble of self-containment, we will have a passion that becomes so insular it fails to express itself.

As the ancient said,” it is no use being so heavenly that you become no earthly use. The athlete who runs to excess or who over trains is the athlete that often suffers the most lay offs due to injury. Balance is the way of the Tao. The well known Taoist symbol of Yin Yang, "It represents the balance of opposites in the universe. When they are equally present, all is calm. When one is outweighed by the other, there is confusion and disarray." It is important for creativity as well as health to find the balance, the way of the Chi.