FAMOUS IN YOUR U NIVERSE

October 25, 2024 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

FAMOUS
Naomi Shihab Nye

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,   
which knew it would inherit the earth   
before anybody said so.   

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds   
watching him from the birdhouse.   

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.   

The idea you carry close to your bosom   
is famous to your bosom.   

The boot is famous to the earth,   
more famous than the dress shoe,   
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it   
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.   

I want to be famous to shuffling men   
who smile while crossing streets,   
sticky children in grocery lines,   
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,   
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,   
but because it never forgot what it could do.
(My thanks to Naomi Shihab Nye, via Poetry Foundation.)
U NIVERSE

It might as well be useless

I mean

What exactly is a

NIVERSE

Nary another nothing until a

U

Is brought not just to it

but for IT

Who would think

(Not Many)

That it takes a U

your simply perfectly imperfect

You-est U

To not just complete

include

But actually create

The Universe

with the best part being

that it is evermore being

Created/Recreated because of

Oh the holiest of holies

U

A LITTLE LISTENING–A LOT OF GOOD

October 25, 2023 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Just a little listening does a lot of good
is more than a nice sentiment
and can be even better than we might be able imagine
IF WE ARE WILLING TO DO MORE OF IT. .

Where to Seek Help if the
Israel-Hamas War
Is Impacting Your Mental Health If you feel as though your mental health has been impacted by news of the ongoing conflict, help is available.Getty Images / Stock Photo
The World is literally
S C R E A M I N G
right now, but it also is giving us some resources that lets us know
the SHOUTS
are heard. . .

Time Magazine’s Mallory Moench shares with us some of these assurances that the screams and shouts are more than just noises to be heard or worse, ignored.

Since the Israel-Hamas War ignited on Oct. 7, it feels as though we’ve been bombarded online with graphic information and imagery of the horrors unfolding in the Middle East.

The war has flooded news and social media, in some cases, sowing political division. The trauma is heightened for those directly affected by the conflict, but anyone can be impacted and experience vicarious trauma. In the past couple of days, the BBC acknowledged the toll the war is taking on its staff and has offered more mental health support.

If you feel as though your mental health has been negatively impacted by the ongoing conflict, here’s who you can contact for help.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

SAMHSA runs a Disaster Distress Helpline that is toll-free, multilingual and available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. This includes survivors of disasters, loved ones of victims, first responders, rescue, recovery, and relief workers, clergy, parents and caregivers calling on behalf of themselves or someone else.

Each Disaster Distress Helpline Core Region Center has crisis counselors who are trained to listen and offer support to people in emotional crisis, the agency says.

You can speak with a counselor immediately by calling or texting 1-800-985-5990. For deaf and hard of hearing callers, you can call the same number from a videophone or access a video conference call online by following this link from the government website.

If you’re looking to receive mental health treatment or therapy, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 or TTY: 1-800-487-4889. The confidential, free, 24/7 information service in English and Spanish for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups and community-based organizations.

You can also visit SAMHSA’s online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message to 435748 to find help near you.

Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line is a global nonprofit organization that provides text access to a crisis counselor. It is staffed by volunteers who undergo a multi-stage application process, background check and training program, and then are supervised by staff with master’s degrees in a relevant field or commensurate crisis intervention experience, the organization says. The service is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Ireland.

If you’re in the U.S., text HOME to 741741 to chat with a crisis counselor, use Whatsapp or message online.

In Canada, text CONNECT to 686868. The line is jointly run with Kids Help Phone.

From the U.K. text SHOUT to 85258. Shout is an affiliate of Crisis Text Line in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For Ireland, text HOME to 50808.

Find A Helpline HOW ARE YOU DOING?

No matter where you are in the world, use this search engine to find a mental health helpline by country, region and/or topic. Mental healthcare company ThroughLine, which has partnered with Google, verifies and publishes the online tool.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

In the U.S., you can contact NAMI’s HelpLine to communicate with a volunteer. Connect by phone 1-800-950-6264 or text “HelpLine” to 62640, or chat online. It is available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

NAMI also publishes a resource directory where you find help online and in-person help by topic and runs local chapters where you can attend support groups in person.

Find mental health therapy online or in-person

If you’re in the U.S. and looking for more personalized and ongoing mental health therapy, it can be difficult to find or afford a therapist, especially if you don’t have health insurance.

The American Psychiatric Association runs a database where you can search for a psychiatrist near you. The American Psychological Association refers to its state chapters where you can find therapists by location, including in some states finding those working pro bono or on a sliding scale. If you don’t have insurance, the federal government recommends searching for a community health center near you that might offer free or low-cost mental healthcare.

Nonprofit nationwide network Open Path Psychotherapy Collective is another option that offers therapy at a reduced cost for people who are uninsured or underinsured. Pay a lifetime membership fee of $65, then schedule with a therapist for $40 to $70 a session, with $30 student intern sessions available. You can join the network and find a therapist online.

HOW ARE YOU DOING?

. . .such an easy, simple question, yet how significant if you ask it and really listen, maybe even dig, and mostly w a i t for an answer
A N D

in some of the listening over these past 18 or so days, I’ve been hearing this one question:
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP
the short and significant answer:
HELP SOMEONE ELSE
ANYONE ELSE
make a call
send a text
hold a hand
lend an ear
hold a door
give a gift
and yes. . .
Read More: How to Help Victims of the Israel-Hamas War
A DOING SOMETING
is more than NOTHING
that can mean an EVERYTHING
d a r e
to
p r o v e
i t. . .
S H O W
that by reaching out

you’re
TOUCHING
A WITHIN-NESS
that’s worth
c o n n e c t i n g

W A R

March 25, 2022 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Serbian saying: “In war the politicians give ammunition, the rich give the food and the poor give their children… When the war is over the politicians get back the leftover ammunition, the rich grow more food and the poor search for the graves of their children.”

WORDS
W o R d S
are all pretty meaningless
even if they are
ACTION WORDS
until they are
LIVING WORDS
THE WORLD IS MADE UP OF DEAD ENDS
DESOLATE
WAR TORN PLACES
(and that’s not even talking about the wars that are being waged in ourselves)

It reminds me of the words of the poet,

Warsan Shire

“later that night

i held an atlas in my lap

ran my fingers across the whole world

and whispered

where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”

For the World’s sake
For your sake
(Literally) For God’s sake
we’ve got to Caring Catalyst UP
not Someday
(which can never be found on anyone’s Calendar)
but TODAY
IT’S time to BE
what the World needs
right where you are at
and to everyone you touch. . .

Perfectly Imperfect

August 20, 2014 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Are you Perfect?

I am.

Pristine. Unadulterated. Pure. Faultless–ME!

Perfectly IMPERFECT!

You?

The Teacher Knows.

The story goes, not so Once-Upon-A-Time, but currently, when a Rabbi, The Teacher, prayed daily that God would make a perfect world in which there would never be any hatred, jealously, pain or problems.

Well, wouldn’t you know, one night, God appeared to the Rabbi, The Teacher in a dream and took him on a wonderful tour of any absolutely, magnificently uncorruptable World.

P E R F E C T

The Rabbi, The Teacher, saw his house, his synagogue, his little town. Lions and lambs were actually laying down together.

P E A C E F U L

Still, this Rabbi, The Teacher was troubled. Something, something was terribly absent…MISSING!

“Where am in in this Perfect World,” the Rabbi, The Teacher asked, wanted…needed to know?

God offered the most apologetic answer, ever: “This is a perfect world you requested. You must understand that you are NOT PERFECT, so you cannot be included.”

We are NEVER just one thing in Life, are we?

We are all so very PLURAL and never so SINGULAR.

But one thing, one thing through all of these Personas, through all these changes, through all our ages, our comings/goings, stayings/leavings, pasts/presents/futures remains the same, doesn’t it?

We–everyone one of us–are undeniably, immaculately, impeccably, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

It helps, doesn’t it, with the WHY’S, the HOW-COME’S, the WHAT-FOR’S?

Expecting the world, this world of August 20, 2014 to treat us fairly because we are nice, caring, compassionate, PERFECTLY IMPERFECT People is like expecting a Bull not to gore us just because we are vegetarians.

Are you Perfect?

I am.

So are you.

We, we are PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

A New Verb

August 18, 2014 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Are you more of an Adjective, a Noun or a Verb?

If you ask what the World needs now, the old Jackie DeShannon song from the 60’s, would tell you,

L O V E.

Do you agree? I mean who in their right or even wrong mind wouldn’t agree, right?

Uhhhh, well…maybe me.

The world doesn’t need Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, Empathy, Sympathy, or Acceptance.

They’re great thoughts.

Easy to say and spell words.

The World needs, not adjectives or more nouns, but VERBS.

Why do a Random Act of Kindness when you can do two?

Why write or read a blog when you can be what one can never quite capture or explain?

Why talk of Compassion when you can DO or BE Compassion.

SHOW WHAT CAN’T BE SAID BUT SO MUCH NEEDS TO BE EXPERIENCED. . . .

Are you more of an Adjective?

Are you more of an Noun?

Pssssst: Here’s the good new about being a Verb:

It most likely will be really easy on your wallet but it’s going to cost you your time, your creativity, your patience and maybe some of your peace of mind.

But, but it’s going to pay what no 401K, paycheck, or award ceremony could ever guarantee or remit.

Can you pay THAT price?

BE A VERB!

You’re all about action anyway.

HEY, if your Heart doesn’t skip a beat. . .why should you?