Life sculpts warriors

To live and learn is our duty. 
Experience creates wisdom and books teach knowledge. But without the wisdom one cannot understand the books.

Life carves blocks to sculptures through its thunder, wind and rain. Till one day leaving them to dance nature’s songs under sunshine. Chips are chiseled from their sandstone shells till heavy blows penetrate their dense marble core. A painful process the crumbling of being as the cracks grow deeper with every tear but it is only then that weight is lifted and that light shines in.

A warrior does not only know light but the darkness in which he was once lost. He now knows peace because he has felt rage explode. He now knows love because he has felt a hate do harm. He now knows happiness because he has cried for days in sadness. He now holds the highest respect for life for once he prayed for death. He now knows a place of which he would prefer to reside and a place which he is no fool to return.

Now he stands strong to the north wind, filled with a knowledge for which words cannot explain.

Life is a journey where beauty comes not without pain.

lets protect mother earth

if people would escape the concrete hives and venture out into the woods they would begin to realise just how truly beautiful this planet is and how important it is to protect it.

we must realise that it is us who belong to earth not the other way around.

the damage being done to this earth is the damage we are doing to ourselves and is a direct reflection of humanities lack of compassion.

we should always be aiming to become more mindful each day of what effects our actions are having on our surroundings.

as residents of this earth it should be our obligation to protect and care for it.

dont let the clutter for modern societies trivial goings on distract you from the real issues. life is much more important than the clothes you are wearing or the tv shows you are watching.

it is now that we must begin to stop working for profit and begin sharing our rewards. what a beautiful world it would be if everyone lived for others and not just their own selfish desires.

there is no doubt in my mind that this will be possible when awareness is raised. its time to come together as a community and stand for something that deep down we all care about.

love is our currency not money

I feel that a main problem within society is the lack of community.

Since schooling we have been taught to compete with others through exam results and sports. I feel this kind of individualistic competition has left a firm imprint on most minds which has resulted in many collecting and hoarding money and objects. Many are addicted to the short thrill of watching digital numbers rack up and gathering cars and clothes. This kind of individual then presents their collection to the world like a trophy in an aim to prove to others his/her self-worth. This is the most artificial and deluded sense of success which instantly represents no value when they walk past the countless numbers of suffering humans without any sense of compassion or desire to share and help. What is it one is lacking so much of to keep them in this mindset of seeking a step up from the next man??

Surely what they are lacking is love and what they are misunderstanding is that money is limited and that love is infinite.

To achieve a state of true fulfilment one must be filled with the infinite.

And to be filled with the infinite one must look within themselves to understand that they are already complete.

One who is rich in heart understands that they are a part of something much greater than just the individual self.

They understand that the brothers and sisters they share this existence with are on equal level to them.

They understand that all they need is the basic essentials which really deep down we all know is enough to fulfil us.

Love, food, water and shelter.

If you have all of these you are rich. Stop moaning, comparing and competing for that attitude will be the death of your true beauty. Anything more than that is a luxury which we should be grateful for but not craving over. If you have more than the next person it should be your greatest desire to share.

We are all one, a family. What is causing suffering is the delusion that we are separate from that homeless person across the street. We are not!! Your sharing this unexplainable fairy tale with that person, he or she is a family member, seek to help them if they are in need.

Gestures with pure thought, love and effort speak louder than a flicking of coin to cup. Maybe buy them some food which profoundly shows those in need that people care and that their life is appreciated.

It is actions like such which give people hope. And it is hope which lifts people up and out of the darkness.

There are many good people of this earth I am not denying that but we should be constantly reminding ourselves to help whoever in whatever situation.

If you are rich in love you will realise it doesn't run out when you share it with others, if anything it grows stronger and expands throughout all that it touches.

Love is our currency not money.

All is a reflection of self. The beauty you see in me is the beauty which exists in you.

stand for truth

If you have to stand alone through wind and rain with only the faith that what your doing is right. Then so be it. And on that day of sun your soul shall rest with its knowledge that what you have lived for is truth.

do not fear the unknown

A lot of beauty awaits you in the depths of the unknown. Don't fear it.

                                     

 

Sun shall shine until all must yet again sleep in a ponder and preparation for its next step.

life is a journey.

Life is a journey. A journey of pain and beauty. If your going through shit keep going. Embrace it and talk about it. Question it, delve deep and find the source of it. Pain crumbles but the experience of it rebuilds and if your strong enough to still be standing it will create a path to be walked leading to somewhere beautiful.

seek the real value in life

Many a poor man resides in a large house. Material wealth is artificial and transient. The weight of such will begin owning you, you will become blinded and imprisoned by it. Change your values and you will soon realise that which cannot be bought is the most valuable of all.

nature is the teacher

Like the clouds we must learn to flow with the passing of time and like the waves we must crash to create the new. Nature is the teacher not the classroom.

washed out

Washed out

As the last of tears fill wine glasses to brim

Waves of wind chime each.

Like icicles they hang in fresh breezed air

Before dropping and shattering

Against cold marble floor.

Enough to create rivers

With crash and roar

Memories are swept

From coastline shore

Long were those days

And few are they now

Left only clouds

And a sweet mountain dew.

© 2015 Lewis McDonnell

conquer fear with love

We are being lead by power-hungry men in suits. They have no wish to represent us as people but themselves in their own comfortable lives. Nothing is changing because we are as a collective not caring enough. I can only imagine while they socialise in their marble floored living rooms, they laugh at us, mock us, call us numbers, battery cells, sheep and we have earned those titles. Its time to stop conforming so loyally. We are being lead blindly and need to begin educating ourselves through books, conversation and online. Not through mainstream media and its terrifyingly brilliant brainwashing techniques.
Make yourself aware of how this system operates and this will allow you to make the conscious decision on whether you want to partake in or disagree with whats in front of you today. Make your own conclusion.
- food industry
- clothing industry
- pharmaceutical industry
- pollution
- gun and drug trade
- global economy
- history

The root of all sin and suffering derives from fear and that's their best method of control. We are much more capable of love than we are the other but we must make huge effort to create paradise within our minds, you are the creator of your own existence.
Learn to forgive the foolish ways of our only human brothers, learn to accept the fate of death and through doing so you will realise there is nothing to fear. And nothing to be taken too seriously either! Quit taking part in activities which cause pain like the job you complain about so much. Have a long hard think about what you might want to achieve in this life of yours, don't be afraid of failure or judgement. Find that passion of yours, that spark and chase it, grow old with it, capture it and die with it.
Live your life in a state of gratitude and empathy, leaving behind only footprints of love. This creates a ripple effect.

winter nights

Purple sky and black crows

Fill the air thick.

Wind it ripples the frostbit leaves to sleep

And like the chatter of my mind

The black crows squeak

In a fretful pitch

Bringing together the end of a day.

© 2015 Lewis McDonnell

walking miles

Walking miles

Walking miles along sandstone paths

Sunrise melting

Drip drip dripping

Snow from emerald green grass.

A shroud of the infinite

Reflects in the stillness of a morning lake

Where time sinks deep into marsh land mud

And all ill thoughts dissolve

Like clouds in the soft breezed sky

Carried across fields of dense bracken

Those screams become songs                                

Whistling                                                                     

As they reach the hills lined with heather

© 2015 Lewis McDonnell photography by Ross Irving

the nomadic way

The nomadic lifestyle is a journey of discovery. A journey which takes you deep within the self and far across new horizons. It allows access to emotions, feelings, people and landscapes you did not know before existed. It can drag you down to the depths of loneliness, confusion, hunger and exhaustion but in due turn it lifts you up to moments of sheer bliss, appreciation and gratitude for life at point to tears of joy. Everything is intensely alive during this adventure and all is in constant movement and evolution. Relationships are short but electric, the coming together of two souls with no restrictions or social expectations is an explosion of energy. A world where at times you feel like you have nothing soon becomes a world of having everything. Freedom.
The level of growth is enormous, learning so much every day you can struggle to keep up with it however with the long days your allowed much time for contemplation and reflection. Travelling widens your understanding of life's rules.
You realise that nothing is permanent, all is energy not disappearing but changing forms. Every experience no matter how bad or good contains a lesson to be learned.
Every person contains aspects of self.
You realise that where ever you go in the world everyone is still human. They may speak in a foreign tongue or hold different beliefs but all contain love and the seek of connection and approval as most beings we know.
The world can be a terrifying place at times or it can be a beautiful playground for expression and creation. Your perception controls this.
If you truly want something in this life you can have it. But this desire must be put at the top of the to do list. Learn to prioritise your wants, if something is holding you back from that then do something to change it!
Forget what anyone else thinks. Its not their life to make sense of. Seek contentment and fulfillment don't settle for the temporary distractions. Don't live for the weekend but live for everyday you are gifted with. The time is now not tomorrow. Your special, a powerful being, a creator in a complex reality and your life is important so get out and live it.

Living in a rat race

Rat race

Ring ding
Get up
Time for work
Chop chop
Dont stop
Its monday
Youv got bills to pay
Fill up on your coffee
You pale faced baggy eyed
Waste of space
Your a number now get in order
Your property
A white collared slave to the trade
Now behave
Do what I say
No time for questions
You rodent
You crumb of cement
I'll punish you to a 9 till 5
Torment
For your conformity
You weak spirited
Blind to the truth
Piece of decay

Do we need to suffer before we can fully appreciate pleasure?

As I watch the limp rolled up cigarette between my fingers slowly burn to dust.
I think of my life
All my experiences they have faded into nothing but thoughts.
As I take a deep inhale of the ghostly grey smoke and feel it burn my throat
It reminds me of the pain I felt those nights and how it thankfully didnt last.
As it enters my lungs coating them in a flood of darkness
I begin to think
Do we need to suffer to fully appreciate pleasure?
And is pleasure nothing more than a distraction from suffering?

Keep moving on. Only the present moment exists

Nothing exists but the present moment. Nothing like it shall ever exist again. Take it as it is and fucking embrace it for you shall never have that exact moment/thought/emotion again not just you but no one else ever. All is perfectly unique. Understand that everything is very temporary, everything passes like clouds in the wind, it all moves on, they dissipate and create new. If you are one to hold belief in the theory of evolution then you may agree that new experience is growth and is the procession to more understandment and better ways of dealing with similar encounters that will most definitely appear in the future. So we should be seeking to grow and move on. We should avoid getting stuck in the murky swamp of memories left behind by our past.

chipped tooth

As my thoughts echo
Bouncing off the surgically clean white walls
They slice my mind
Like a stanley against skin

I cannot escape
There out of control
Like the dreams I have
When I go to sleep
I want it to stop
This pounding in my head
Sedate me
Fill me with chemicals
Flood the gates with beer
Please someone
Something
I plead and pray
Cleanse my mind of these
Troublesome ideas

Communication is the key

Why dont we cry like we did when we were kids. What happened? At what point did we begin to think that crying or the expression of suffering was a sign of weakness or inferiority?
Why have we held these feelings good or bad to ourselves? Communication is the key. Through expressing your happiness you shall give others hope and inspiration that there is more. Through the expression of sadness or suffering you shall give others around you a little more understanding for your situation and shall lift a great weight from your shoulders.