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Welcome to my pages.
I'm glad you stopped by.
When I first published this website in May of 2023, the season of Spring - as it always does - offered hope, growth, renewal, change and so much Life.
Now, 6 months later, the world has taken on an urgency, a twist so surreal and yet so predictable in many ways that it calls on us all to show our True Selves - of Love, and Good, of any offering of Kindness we can muster.
Like most, I am heartsick and weary at the violence and suffering going on. And so, below, here are the exact same words I posted back six months ago...because still, we must carry on for Israel, for Gaza, for Sandy Hook, for Charleston, for Lewiston, for....for....for.....for........
So much these days is negative, harsh, or hurtful...matter of fact, many things lately just don't make any sense. Is it just me, I think? What are people thinking - if they're thinking at all...where is all this hate and anger coming from? Why is the thought of protecting the Earth from our over-actions a threat? How can humans be so cruel toward one another, toward animals?
Then I check my view...where is my focus? Is it toward the darkness, or toward the light? Like moth to flame, it is the Light that leads us. Is it really all bad news or is there good to be found out there?
Take Heart.
I hope to add something to the balance with these pages you have come upon
- nothing more, but nothing less.
My desire is to add something positive, something inspiring to cyberSPACE and perhaps even someone's inner space, so on these pages you will find a composite snapshot of my life - of music made (tracks on various pages throughout this website), of lyrics, of drawings & sketches & photographs taken, of musings/contemplations and observations along the way, along with inspirations that hold my spirit high, as well as spirits on high.
This is not a denial or bypass of the inherent struggles you, or I, face in day to day living. Far from it. Rather, to shine a light on the beauty that exists - and I hope you find that in these pages, or elsewhere.
I hope you enjoy exploring these pages. (Yes, there are many pages on this website! Don't miss the songs on various pages; Rubysartstudio(Betsy's page), or OntheWingPhotography (Mia McPherson's page).
I will undoubtedly add more...because there is so much inspiration to explore).
May you ever find ways to bring peace to your heart -
May you paint, sing, create
dream
hold the bow to the cello
let your fingers know the strings
Catch the sun setting or the moon rising,
Look up to the sky!
the clouds ever shifting
the ripples stretching and expanding outward,
the butterfly drinking nectar;
May the birds' songs delight you...
Speak a kind word,
replace a negative thought with an act of goodness,
hold a beloved close,
connect deeply with the soul of your familiar animal,
LAUGH! at their antics....
shed tears for the Earth and vow to Her
that we will be witnesses to Her and not let Her beauty die
ask for forgiveness,
forgive,
Know yourself, and in that,
be true to yourself,
find joy,
Take Heart -
put down the curse of hatred,
pick up the light of love
repeat.....
I offer up this song, Into Spring, to greet the season of Spring. It was written in 2001 when I consciously observed awakening of the Natural world, applying it to the question of whether I was living my own life consciously.
I'm glad you stopped by.
When I first published this website in May of 2023, the season of Spring - as it always does - offered hope, growth, renewal, change and so much Life.
Now, 6 months later, the world has taken on an urgency, a twist so surreal and yet so predictable in many ways that it calls on us all to show our True Selves - of Love, and Good, of any offering of Kindness we can muster.
Like most, I am heartsick and weary at the violence and suffering going on. And so, below, here are the exact same words I posted back six months ago...because still, we must carry on for Israel, for Gaza, for Sandy Hook, for Charleston, for Lewiston, for....for....for.....for........
So much these days is negative, harsh, or hurtful...matter of fact, many things lately just don't make any sense. Is it just me, I think? What are people thinking - if they're thinking at all...where is all this hate and anger coming from? Why is the thought of protecting the Earth from our over-actions a threat? How can humans be so cruel toward one another, toward animals?
Then I check my view...where is my focus? Is it toward the darkness, or toward the light? Like moth to flame, it is the Light that leads us. Is it really all bad news or is there good to be found out there?
Take Heart.
I hope to add something to the balance with these pages you have come upon
- nothing more, but nothing less.
My desire is to add something positive, something inspiring to cyberSPACE and perhaps even someone's inner space, so on these pages you will find a composite snapshot of my life - of music made (tracks on various pages throughout this website), of lyrics, of drawings & sketches & photographs taken, of musings/contemplations and observations along the way, along with inspirations that hold my spirit high, as well as spirits on high.
This is not a denial or bypass of the inherent struggles you, or I, face in day to day living. Far from it. Rather, to shine a light on the beauty that exists - and I hope you find that in these pages, or elsewhere.
I hope you enjoy exploring these pages. (Yes, there are many pages on this website! Don't miss the songs on various pages; Rubysartstudio(Betsy's page), or OntheWingPhotography (Mia McPherson's page).
I will undoubtedly add more...because there is so much inspiration to explore).
May you ever find ways to bring peace to your heart -
May you paint, sing, create
dream
hold the bow to the cello
let your fingers know the strings
Catch the sun setting or the moon rising,
Look up to the sky!
the clouds ever shifting
the ripples stretching and expanding outward,
the butterfly drinking nectar;
May the birds' songs delight you...
Speak a kind word,
replace a negative thought with an act of goodness,
hold a beloved close,
connect deeply with the soul of your familiar animal,
LAUGH! at their antics....
shed tears for the Earth and vow to Her
that we will be witnesses to Her and not let Her beauty die
ask for forgiveness,
forgive,
Know yourself, and in that,
be true to yourself,
find joy,
Take Heart -
put down the curse of hatred,
pick up the light of love
repeat.....
I offer up this song, Into Spring, to greet the season of Spring. It was written in 2001 when I consciously observed awakening of the Natural world, applying it to the question of whether I was living my own life consciously.
from 1311, ©2001 Beth Jochum.
Slanted Sky (photo: Beth Jochum)
the leaf, Beth Jochum 2016
Lisa Nelson, Betsy Soares, Beth -
YogaBliss Studio, Schenectady NY October 2015 (photo: Kristen Case)
Higher Ground
"1311" altar, CNWSMT Albany NY 2007 (photo: Gail Blacklock)
all songs, lyrics, content of this website © 2023 Beth Jochum