Hi ya'll.

I mosey on over here from time to time. Was reading this and decided it was worth letting you know other groups are silly too.

Diane (Missing a circus or two.)

A Message From Caroline Myss http://www.myss.com

“So I decided to write this nonsense email this evening” Caroline Myss

Hi All:

It's late. I'm tired. But nonetheless, I gotta write about this because it's so hilarious. Like the beginning of the most ridiculous happening that is rapidly turning into a larger happening, and for absolutely no reason. But it goes to show you how something absurd sometimes is what we most need.

I have a dear friend named Judi who lives at the Findhorn community. She happened to mention late last autumn that she loved ducks. Like some people like stuffed bears, or pink pigs or any number of odds and ends that people collect. Well, so, I decided to give her a duck toy for Christmas...and then the thought occurred to me to start - just for her, mind you - a Duck of the Month Club. The purpose of this club was that it would have NO purpose whatsoever. In fact, the Club has no meaning, no purpose, and is dedicated to postponing everything you are supposed to be doing. The Duck Club is dedicated to finally doing something that has no meaning at all in a world where every thing is supposed to have meaning.

Within one week, Judi had enlisted another member of the Duck Club, a mutual friend named Penny who lives in London. She was ecstatic to finally be a part of nothing...and with such good friends. Who could ask for more? I certainly agreed with that and within days, Penny had her membership duck and meaningless officially began for her.

Well, once a fire is lit for no reason at all, it spreads like wild fire. Next thing you know, Judi enlisted a friend of hers who is a professional opera singer....Now he has given himself the title of, "Roving Duck Reporter" who is responsible for all duck gossip, of which there is none.....Thus, he is dedicated to maintaining nothing at all.

Soon two more members were enlisted; a chef whose now declared himself to be in charge of duck recipes....perfect, he says, because he is a vegetarian....

And then there is Joshua, the Italian, who says since ducks are not a major part of the heart and soul of Italian culture, someone has to represent their political voice in Italy....of course, Joshua is neither political and he doesn't live in Italy, so all is well in terms of his maintaining nothingness amid his busy world.

Now the thing is, I never intended for the Duck Club to catch on...considering it has no purpose and no meaning, and it is dedicated to no cause whatsoever...it is a Club one belongs to for the solo purpose of belonging to something with no meaning....So the question is, "Why is the Duck Club catching on?" I suspect it is because if there is one thing the Duck Club is doing is that it is giving the lot of us reason for laughter. Judi called the other day and when I picked up the phone, all I heard was the sound of a plastic duck noise. I laughed so hard I thought I would never recover, and it felt so good.

I have to say that nonsense makes sense sometimes. The search for meaning is exhausting, quite frankly. Sometimes it feels good enough just to laugh with friends, and even more, laugh over nothing at all.....another benefit of being a part of the Duck Club. I have to say that I have fallen in love with the idea of the Duck Club....the humor that it is inspiring among the small group of members gets more ridiculous every day and now it seems that we need to send Duck jokes to each other daily...We're discovering that we've been starving for the sweet taste of meaningless and nothing at all, where the only thing left to fill the space is the pure enjoyment of loving friends and the precious electricity of humor.

So I decided to write this nonsense email this evening to just share how wonderful humor shared among friends.....for ridiculous reasons....seems to have the incredible ability to lighten up everything...who'da thought.

Enjoy, all.... Caroline March 6, 2003

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), March 20, 2003

Answers

Have to carefully contemplate what kind of duck fits for me at this time.

Humm. Maybe an InfoNavigator Duck who does nothing but swim around in Internet circles... lost... because navigating and guidance systems ain't working.

Things to comtemplate. ;-D

Quack.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), March 20, 2003.

Silliness, isn't that what Monty Python was about-LOL!

Diane, I got that e too! I am really astounded by Carolyn Myss' unending widsom, in so many directions. Just in case you didn't get it, here is volume two:

TITLE: IS "NOTHING" SACRED? By The Duck of Zen Apparently it is. Why just hours after the first Duck Club email went out, hundreds of people began responding with their expressed need to join the Club. Nothingness had caught on and the dedication to maintaining meaninglessness at all costs while postponing everything that has to do with anything just seemed so right……and to so many. To say I was stunned is just a masterpiece of understatement.

I mean, let me just share with all of you what happened this weekend at a workshop following my sharing with the audience the creation of a Duck Club where meaninglessness is celebrated and indulged. I told the group about the initial Duck Club letter and poof….right after lunch, I returned to the stage to discover it was covered with stuffed ducks and even one yellow tub duck. And then…. (this was a real wow)…someone had managed to find - in ONE HOUR - a duck toilet seat….. (if the person who purchased that item is reading this, pls contact me). It didn't take me long to realize that Nothingness and a commitment to purposelessness at all costs had caught on….but why?

People have been sending in hilarious responses and the numbers of Duck Club members are increasing daily….The dedication to indulging in true meaningless is absolutely touching…and personally so gratifying. Obviously laughing is in precious short supply.....but we are going to change that, aren't we?

I have to admit, it gives me pause….I entered into Nothingness to check it out….to report back to other members of the Duck Club about the interior of Nothingness…and of course, how to get there without getting lost on the way. Nothingness can be so hard to find, especially if you are weighted down with that search for meaning, meaning, meaning….Enough of that….put the search for meaning on hold for a while. The way I figure it, if something has meaning, it will find me….without effort and for no purpose at all. Meaning and purpose should not take effort.

So the question is, 'How do you indulge nothingness when every one around you insists that you take life seriously?" Bla to them, I say. Let them get the headaches that come from worrying that their lives are empty. Better to just welcome in the empty space where stress is no more because you have finally outwitted the meaningless passion to assign value to everything… I've seen so many people suffer from the lack of purpose. When I'm in my Duck frame of mind, I find myself tempted to say things like, "Well so okay, your life IS meaningless. You should be delighted. You've arrived at enlightenment….and still you complain????? You should be cursed with meaningfulness then. May everything you do from now on have purpose and direction and let's see if THAT makes you happy." But people are soooooooo sensitive, and so often, I've discovered, they just can't see the Sacred in the absurdity of their lives. I mean, what is it with people that they just can't "get it" that to finally achieve a sense of nothingness IS a touch of the Sacred in nonaction. Some people can't take a joke…

I mean, let's face it, this suffering for meaning - (along with fasting for it…which makes absolutely no sense to this girl) has gone on a bit too long for my taste. Maybe there is a diet that Duck Club members can create that increases meaninglessness….and like maybe there are herbs out there just waiting for the opportunity to contribute nothing whatsoever to our meals. I think a diet without any purpose at all just sparkles with Sacred potential….After all, the Sacred seems to be at home in purposelessness and in empty space.

And at the end of the day, that's what Duck Club members need to keep in mind: Ducks don't worry about direction in life….That's a given… Ducks fly on instincts on well charted intuitive paths….There's "nothing" to it. Sacred flight paths have been in place for Ducks since creation began. Remember that when you start slipping into the suffering and quite unnecessary search for meaning….Your path is already charted for you….trust your instincts, trust creation.

And that's it for the Duck of Zen. I would write more but the Bride of Frankenstein is on and I am practically hysterical watching Gene Wilder and Gilda wandering around this outrageous mansion…..for no meaning and no purpose whatsoever. How I wish I had neighbors like the characters in this movie. Some people have all the luck. Maybe the Duck of Zen should explore the spiritual meaninglessness of the Bride of Frankenstein. (No one has a right to complain about their family after watching this flick). NOTE: There is a fabulous duck scene in this movie…

Oh…and this just in from the Duck in the Bush, our east coast investigative reporter covering the meaningless events taking place in La Casa del Blanco. Our Duck in the Bush reports that he was called into his observational position due to reports of major misuse of "duck tape"…..He notes in great detail that the chief resident of La Casa del Blanco has been running around his office duck taping all his windows, apparently under orders from the on-staff intelligence facilitators in charge of generating useless ideas and suggestions, of which there is no short supply. According to our Duck in the Bush, the chief resident even ordered that duck tape be put around the "bill" of rights…..hum….Well, apparently this chief resident is doing what all good leaders do….he follows orders.

Hail to All Ducks The Duck of Zen

****

Now I'm almost certain that Helen could give us her wisdom on the Duck of Zen....if only she would!

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), March 20, 2003.

My only duck fell in love with a goose. We thought to correct this misalignment by sending them both to a farm with a flock of geese and a flock of ducks. Our duck was steadfast in his refusal to dally with the duck trollops who hissed lascivious invitations behind his love's enormous gray back. He waited on his love every moment with tenderness unknown in either flock.

Alas, his love was killed by a stray dog. I saw him just today. He was cropping grass near a lovely little Chinese Zen duckette. Or maybe she was French. At any rate, I think they were together.

-- helen (waxing@and.waning), March 22, 2003.

LOl!

I thought I'd answered this. Hmmm, maybe those gremlins have been active again. Then again, nothingness is the correct answer, is it not?

Helen, if that duckette was French, she'd better be on the watch for Lon - he's ready to slap down any femme fatale since he no longer gets to be one ;-)

-- Tricia teh Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.ent), March 23, 2003.

AFLAC.

I used to draw cartoons. Back when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were still with us I did one of the Duke with a duckbill standing next to the Duchess holding a box of Massingill (sp?}. I labeled it "The Duck and the Douchess". Well, I thought it was funny.

There is a country store not far from me in Perkinsville, IN that makes and sells the most beautiful duck decoys. They are not intended to be realistic hunting decoys, instead they are works of art in which the duck feathers are formed by the wood grain. Valerie Bundy stains and lacquers each duck by hand. The result is a jewel-like creation that is one-of-kind. I have 2 in my house.

Here is the Bundy website---

Bundy Ducks

-- (lars@indy.net), March 27, 2003.