It's now mid-April 2002 and this stuff seems like eons ago ...
Anyway, we never DID get around to publishing this stuff - on the web or anywheres else so here goes ...
The winter sun warms my back as I sit writing with Phil, Gilbert, Rebecca and Jo at the kitchen table. Phil and I were transported here (15 Suzanne Street) by David Buller, team leader and friend. Now he is wrestling with paper-work mountains in his office while we dedicate ourselves to observation of nature.
On the table before us are some objects taken from the garden to help us with our task. There is moss the colour of astro-turf, but plump with moisture and life. Chocolate crumbs of earth spill out from the base of the moss that I stole from the ground below one of the liquid ambers growing in the garden. I say they are growing but they hardly look alive, stripped entirely of their leaves, their grey branches tapering to little twigs, bearing only little baubles of brown seed- pods. A scattering of twisted brown leaves lie crumpled on the ground, their former red glory quite spent. Of greater significance now are the curly brown nuts or seed pods, piles of them lying on the damp grass. Each pod is punctuated with small openings whose tiny spiky lips give the pods a prickly look.
Phil shows me a small cluster of twigs on a branch, a small nest fallen into disrepair. A little grey-black bird - the size of a sparrow but not a sparrow– perches at the top of the tree. As it flies away we notice the charcoal colour of its underbelly and tail.
- Thea Calzoni
Once looking through eyes not made of man I could see movement and colours never known to me before.
The ground, leaves, trees became alive and each leaf feather became like part of the universe. In some parts of the garden or planets of the universe, they were preparing to do battle while on the moss they were preparing to cross the garden to see if there was life existing in the same form as they knew it.
The appearance of some of these beings were as of light and because of the vibration of the planet with the sun and the elements of the earth, the beings had come into form. They lived within the leafy green structures of vegetation. And in the seasons would frolic amongst the flowers. Some sponged themselves upon soft moss, and others hid themselves within the cavities of round prickly looking seed pods. These things you may call divas or quarks were responsible for the tide and times of seasons. The divas were very powerful in the presence of harmony and danced and danced to the warm sunlight. They brought the existence of nature into being and controlled the shapes and colours of leaves. As they had not the need for physical existence, they gave it to lesser creations than themselves. Their form was of long slender shapes, curved shapes, scents and colours.
As life and death passed through the garden, so too, somewhere in the universe things waxed and waned creating an identical harmony; each leaf in the garden had its own planet and the way the leaf lived on earth had an effect on the planet from which it came. One day the bright green leaf or the soft green moss would die but it would leave its children and go back to its own planet and see what reward it had brought to its planet while on earth. With it mourned the night until another summer's day.
by Gilbert James
World-famous author of
Sablec :)
Dear Diary,
It is warm quiet and peaceful and there is only the sound of a few birds and the noise of cars in the distance. The wind is blowing ever so slightly and a lemon tree laden with fruit rocks to and fro. A liquid amber tree, its dead leaves already expelled and lying dormant on the ground seems to at peace. New shoots are already budding and reaching towards the sun. One can see an old nest amongst the branches, a legacy perhaps of a settler from earlier times. The ground is still wet from the morning dew and as I look back I can see the impressions that my shoes have left on the grass. The sun is radiating through the kitchen widow and its both warm and comforting. Before me on the table are some things from the garden.
THERE WAS A CLOUD.
HE WAS VERY VERY SAD BUT THEN HE SAW THE THING.
IT WAS JUST THE SUN AND THAT’S HOW IT ALL STARTED.
- by Memphis (who's also very good at staring contests :)
One of the medications that I take is called Thyroxine. It comes in a small bottle marked with the generic name oroxine. Thyroxine is used when your thyroid gland does not produce enough chemicals to stabilise your system.
Too much or overactive thyroid causes immense problems. Your whole body literally does a turn around . In winter your body tells you it is experiencing heat so you tend to get around virtually naked.
In summer – the opposite. You can’t get enough clothes to wear.
Another element of this is that your body completely misinterprets any information or signals that your brain sends out. You could literally starve yourself to death.
However, with the right amount of medication your system can return to normal..
Side effects: virtually nil.
The medication can be taken morning or night depending on your lifestyle. It keeps you in balance and alert. Problem was I was taking it at night. It kept me awake.
I wasn’t aware of this until I went into hospital with a psychiatric illness.
Rebecca’s hands, tender and trusting clutch her pen as she reaches into her father for the spelling of words and knowledge of the way into the garden
Fantasies are flying fast, struggling for air Gilbert’s gaunt fingers slow dance across the page spinning the Universe out of seed pods and moss He has brushed her nut-brown hair golden in the sun
A pale blue-eyed understanding passes from man to child and makes the girl strong.
A MOUSE WENT WALKING IN THE HOUSE. A CAT CAME ALONG THE LITTLE MOUSE. A BIG CAT AND A FAT CAT. THE CAT NEARLY CAUGHT HER BUT LUCKILY SHE GOT TO THE MOUSE HOLE BEFORE THE CAT GOT HER. THEN THE MOUSE WAS SAFE.
by Rebecca
There was a knock at the door. I had heard that knock before. I looked at the time. Yes it was that time again. I opened the door. A voice could be heard from the darkness. “Hi Phil“, it said. “Hello Richard“, I said. “Do you want to come in?”
“That’d be nice“, he replied.
I‘d been through this scenario before. He sat on the couch and I went on cooking dinner.
I asked “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“That’d be nice,” he replied. So I gave him his cup of tea and he sat there just staring at me.
“Would you like a biscuit with that?” I asked him.
“That’d be nice“, he said.
So I gave him a biscuit.
“Would you like to watch the telly?‘’
“That’d be nice”, he replied.
He drank his tea and placed the empty cup on the floor. “Here” I said, “let me wash the cup.”
“That’d be nice” he replied. Boy was he in a talkative mood. “Well” he said “it’s time for me to be going.”
“That ‘d be nice, I said.”
- Phil Farmer
Black mood
Black day
Black life
Black world
Black thoughts
Black dreams
Black
Black
Black
I cannot hide from the blackness
It is inside me
I cannot run from the blackness
It will divide me
Down
Down
Down
In the black hole I drown
Drowning in my own blackness
No hope
No future
No light
No fight
No life
I drown
- Geoff Allen
Now here's a few tidbits from the second edition ...
Four of us constructed group poems, line by line. We each thought of a particular man a person unknown by the others and when it was each person’s turn to write a line, he or she wrote about the person he knew. Each line was covered over so the next person to write couldn’t see what had been written before. When the paper was almost all folded away, one lucky person got to write the last line. When we uncovered the resulting poem, it almost made sense!
We used the same technique to write about grief and happiness.
After this activity, we were introduced to the idea of featuring lives of the poor and homeless. Peter Tadman and Phil Farmer spoke of their adaptations of popular songs to relate the farce of everyday life
From what we knew or had seen, we each wrote an account of a day in the life of a homeless person..
A Man We Know
He is always very busy
very considerate, like a stone rock solid
like a tin lid old and buckled
His eyes have seen much that is beyond my world
silly superstitious and suspicious
always careful and never stuck out on a limb
and his head reminds me of a smooth stone.
Some days are just unnecessary impositions – one too many
He is driving me crazy
Grief
Brown rust seeping from my
stone cast out from a time long ago
the river rounded marble pebble reminds me of angels
trying to forget the rows and black spots
Two lonely seed pods cast adrift by the wind
As Charlie Brown said Good Grief
Living Creation
Happiness is a product of nature
I thought there was more ... quite possibly the file on my PC was a very early draft ... oh well ... if you believe Mr.
Moen, all human experience & thought etc is 'stored' in a place one can visit after one has departed one's physical body ... :)
Yeah, upon reflection I do seem 2 recall a group discussion about dreams & hope and what hope means to any particular individual ... and even some Bible verses like 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within you' ... hmmm, maybe one day it will re-surface ... :)
While we're on a bit of a nostalgia trip, here's a few other things that appeared in the ERMHA Murmur over the years ...
laughter sprinkled like fragments of dirt
The bare winter branch comes alive in a playful hand
Seed pods like amassed laughing beaks
happy laughing fools not seeing future’s past
Warm summer coming through the window onto me
speckled sunshine on your shoulder and the joy of fulfillment at last
And the joy of fulfillment
The day has dawned, the sun has risen and waking up the nightmare starts. That routine of getting up, am I depressed, is it cold, do I need a cigarette, who am I today, am I in the world or is the world alien to me?
This grey figure appears from the sheets or do you want to get up at all? Can you face the day , or can you face the home and daily routine? Slowly if you succeed you progress to the kitchen, cigarette hanging out of your mouth. Muddling around you find the kettle, turn it on, put coffee in your cup, then realise the kettle needs filling, so you unplug it, go over to the sink, thinking "I nearly burnt the element out", fill it and return to replug and turn it on.
By this time you need another cigarette so you stagger over to the kitchen table, take a cigarette and light up. The lighter just works, oh you are down to your last five cigarettes, have you got the money to buy another packet, the nightmare starts.
The kettle boils, so you stagger back, get your coffee, back to the table and cigarette three apears in your mouth. Now it is time to think. How do you plan your day or do you just return to bed to escape your reality? You think who are you, this morning will you cope, are you depressed, are you high, or are you on the planet earth.
Are people persecuting you, is everyone a bit insane, do people reject you or are the aliens taking over the earth?
The kitchen is in a mess. Why bother. Who cares. You just drink your coffee, finish cigarette number three and crawl back to the bathroom for your shower and or shave. Now more alert you walk back to the bedroom. See the bed, put on some music and nearly talk yourself into bed again. But you need to get out of the house, so you get dressed or get some clothes on. Whether they match or not put on your make-up or after-shave etc and stagger back to the kitchen for cigarette number four.
Its 8.20 am you need to be at the day program so you need to catch the train to Dandenong. Then suddenly you get a crashing headache you feel like getting off the planet, everything is too hard to cope with. Oh no, it really is another day.
Overriding your thoughts, fears and distorted thinking, you grab your bag and force yourself to the door. Have you locked the house up? That sudden fear. Have you got your keys, wallet, cigarettes, lighter, glasses and money? You let yourself out, lock the door, light up again , stagger, then leave for the train station or bus.
You made it, but the day has yet to begin or will you leave the planet today, can you cope, who will you be today, or is an anxiety attack coming on? Hey you've made it. Despite all and who knows you might get through the day, no matter what happens, the grey figure has come to life. The world awaits you. Oh no, that's life.
- Howard Jones
Wellness is a way of life - a lifestyle you design to achieve your
highest potential for being well.
Wellness is a process - a developing awareness that there is no end point, but that health & happiness are possible in each moment, here and now.
Wellness is a choice - a decision you make to move toward optimal health.
Wellness is the integration of body, mind & spirit. Everything you do, think and feel has an impact on your state of health.
Wellness is the loving acceptance of yourself. This is about learning to love your whole self. It is about assuming charge of your own life, living in process and channeling life energy. It is about choices. Your way.
(from "Stress Management for Wellness" by Walt Schafer)
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:
"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."
When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."
This material is part of a large quotes page at the Centre for Creative Growth website:
www.creativegrowth.com/qquotes.htm
The last couple of months has been a period of adjustment for everyone involved in the ERMHA day program. We have enjoyed the opportunity to run groups from 15 Suzanne St and this arrangement will continue until the end of August
We were slightly worried last week when the entire ERMHA staff were abducted by lizard aliens from a parallel universe. They were replaced by very convincing robot replicas, which exhibited nearly every idiosyncrasy and quirk of personality that the originals possessed. It was very hard to detect any difference, apart from the fact that David seemed very quiet and Dijana insisted on maintaining peak efficiency and not losing focus on the matters at hand.
Dianne also seemed a little subdued and kept telling everyone to “chill out” and “Don’t worry, be happy”
We soon grew accustomed to these replacements and when the aliens offered to return the original staff, we told them not to bother.
I suspect certain clients have also been replaced but I can’t pinpoint which ones as yet.
P.S. The world as we know it will end on August 11th at 2 PM. Make sure you have all your shopping done.
Highlights of this issue:
{I may do a screen capture of this cover or even scan it if I can find a printed copy somewhere ...
Important telephone numbers:
Alien Abduction Hotline.......................................................................97067388
Pizza Hut....................................................................................................13 11 66
David Buller Fan Club (Phil Farmer president)........................97067899
How to Build a UFO using common household items
Dijana & Geoff teach you how to discipline your mind & avoid getting distracted
David Buller’s guide to the universe
Dijana’s guide to lateral thinking
Do it yourself psychic surgery
And still only $10
}
The day program continues to evolve at a rapid rate. If this rate continues, it may become a fully functioning lifeform within the next several million years. It may even develop consciousness and the
capacity for independent thought along with a tendency to
contemplate the infinite mysteries of existence. Stay tuned for more
details.
Next month's seminar on apathy has been cancelled due to a complete lack of interest.
We continue with Dijana's very popular guide to paranormal
phenomena. This week she shows us how to hypnotise your boss for fun and profit. (Ah, that would explain a few things!)
Please note, yesterday's conference on time travel will be held a week earlier than scheduled. This is due to
unavoidable disruptions to the space-time continuum.
The monthly meeting of prophets, psychics and soothsayers has been postponed indefinitely because of unforeseen circumstances.
We have also included edited
highlights of the past billion years of life on earth. Plus “The Illustrated
History of Mud” - a new book by Phillip Farmer. Outstanding reading and still only $49.99 at all good fish & chi shops
Highlights of this issue:
Note - many of these jokes are only really funny if you had the privilege of a near-ERMHA experience around 1999 while all this was unfolding ... {for instance, the alien abduction hotline listed is (or was) ERMHA's office number}
Then there was that zany piece, 'What the future may hold', which I stuck on the website a while back ...
click
... as well as my bedtime story ...
I guess being in such a wondrous environment gave me loads to write about ...
ERMHA customer satisfaction survey :)
And who could forget, the piece in New Paradigm:
Click here for a huge collection of poems written during those ERMHA daze ...
Then there's a whole bunch of quotes we collected for potential inclusion in future editions of the 'Murmur' -
Click here to take a squiz ... :)
I may add a few more tidbits in the coming days ...
Do-it-yourself lobotomy
Time travel for beginners
David Buller talks about the beauty of silence
How to survive a consumer participation meeting and keep your sanity intact
Become an astronaut in three easy lessons
And still only $20 (excluding GST)
