Crushing Conditions
I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance. — Pablo Casals The “Your Heroic Heart” series is inspired Succeed and Soar’s August 21, 2021 post. There, Eleanor Roosevelt said, “We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time.” After the Carnegie family left Scotland in 1848, they settled in Allegheny, now part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, Andrew and his father worked in a cotton factory. The teenager would have worked 12 to 16 hours a day. and earned—at most—$1.50 a week. In time, the bobbin boy became one of the world’s wealthiest men. He invested much effort and resources into ending West Indies and Asian colonization. When the United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million [over $757 million in 2024 dollars], Carnegie offered to purchase the islands for the same amount to assure those people’s freedom and democracy. Six years later, Carnegie dedicated a fortune to honor, “deeds of heroism where men or women are injured or lose their lives in attempting to preserve or rescue their fellows.” For their actions following a 1954 sewer excavation cave-in, three men were honored by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. In trying to rescue Richard Fisher, who’d been buried to his neck. 20-year-old construction worker Nicholas A. Bruno, was the first to swing over the edge, followed by Arlin Vance and John Weaver. Within 30 seconds, a second, massive section of earth shoved shoring and timbers forward. Bruno, seven feet below ground, was pinned between the shoring and sustained severe internal injuries. 27-year-old John Weaver was caught at the hips and legs. A worker atop the wall freed him. Weaver suffered a fractured pelvis, torn muscles and bruises. He was disabled nine weeks. A timber pinned Arlin G. Vance’s legs, but he freed himself. With others, Vance raised some shoring and sawed away other portions. Vance’s chest and shoulder were wrenched. After two hours , Bruno was freed. Fisher had died of suffocation. Bruno was rushed to a hospital but died of his injuries the following day. Six months later, and two days before Thanksgiving, 27-year-old Alden Hartz rescued a woman who fell into a hole 70 feet deep. Catherine Murphy had been crossing a field that collapsed into an abandoned coal mine. Because the hole’s sides were unstable, others wouldn’t enter the cave-in. The 72-year-old woman had been half buried, and died two days later. Hartz was shaken but recovered. Nominate a Hero. Myths tell of ancient gods placing heroes among the stars. Some stories tell of heroes’ eyes becoming stars to watch over their children. ‘Hero’ comes from ancient words meaning demi [half, unfinished, almost]-god and to watch over, to protect. A “Random Act of Kindness” qualifies, as in this post’s video. Imagine a world where everyone goes to bed a hero. Wouldn’t more monuments honoring these kinds of heroes be great? Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. COMMENT. Stranger’s Gift Inspires Grieving Widow Click Here to View [2 minutes, 36 seconds] As a young mother, I worked at Jones and Laughlin Steel’s Pittsburgh Works during its heyday when over 10,000 people struggled and snoozed, played and died in that fire and brimstone world. I saw the last steel poured inside those bleak walls. I watched those miles of cinder and char change as new life evolved from the mill’s ashes. Steel Genesis presents images and experiences of making steel, the metal and human mettle. Book Details: High quality, soft laminate cover. 50 Pages. 8×10, $69. Preview. Hard Back, printed on Premium Lustre Paper. 8×10, $125. Previews. Shop All Radiant Tree Books Thanks!
Your Radiance, Summer Meditations
I am inviting you to discover that deeper than any pattern, deeper than personality, deeper than success or failure, deeper than worth or worthlessness, there is a radiance that is undeniable, always present – the truth of who you are. — Gangaji On Summer Solstice, everyone in France is encouraged to play music in the streets, the Fête de la Musique. In the Philippines, people splash each other with water, a playful baptism of blessings. The First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Indigenous peoples of Canada celebrate their cultures. In Croatia, villages compete to build the biggest bonfires for “Ivanjske krijesove” to honor the god of the Sun and Saint John the Baptist’s birth. Thousands celebrate summer’s grand opening at Stonehenge. In Northern Ireland, Summer Solstice is a Day of Private Reflection, a path to healing. After a bitter war between Protestants and Catholics from 1968 to 1998, people can move from recollections of anger, death and loss to thoughts of healing, peace and regeneration. These reflections can also turn inward. As lifestyle writer Lauren Ash said, summer solstice’s brightness is a good time to acknowledge past mistakes while, “looking forward with compassion for ourselves.” On June 20, 2024, at 4:50 pm Eastern Daylight Time, the sun reached its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial shift from spring blossoms to summer fruitfulness offers new beginnings and reminds to let the best shine brightest. To make the most of these special weeks, Bustle, the on-line women’s magazine suggests, Celebrate the sun. See the star that warms Earth as, “an omnipotent symbol of ascension and the ultimate triumph of light over darkness.” Honor personal “cycles of growth and change.” Allow fresh starts. Go outside. Enjoy nature. Breathe fresh air. Watch sunrises and sunsets. Wisdom of the Spirit adds, Embrace your inner radiance Glow Express gratitude for blessings In this spirit, let me thank LaToya Ruby Frazier for championing my work and the Museum of Modern Art for presenting my creative life so magnificently. And, keep Joseph Campbell’s words in mind, Change the focus of the eye. When you have done that, then the end of the world as you formerly knew it will have occurred, and you will experience the radiance of the divine presence everywhere, here and now. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. COMMENT. Click Here to view Sandra’s 2-Minute, Exhibition Walk Through The background voice is Sandra talking about her steel mill days Two The New York Times articles “LaToya Ruby Frazier is Paying It Forward” “At MoMA, LaToya Ruby Frazier Asks What Our Monuments Should Be” Here’s Information and Special Events during Monuments of Solidarity Exhibition Museum of Modern Art, New York City Note the Free, Online Writing Workshop on July 26, 2024. Sandra’s Steel Mill Memories Few remain who experienced an old-time steel mill’s awesome, harrowing and magical world. As a young mother, I worked at Jones and Laughlin Steel’s Pittsburgh Works during its heyday when over 10,000 people struggled and snoozed, played pranks and died in that fire and brimstone world. I saw the last steel poured inside those bleak walls. I watched those miles of cinder and char change as new life evolved from the mill’s ashes. Steel Genesis presents images and experiences of making steel, the metal and human mettle. Details: 6×9, flexible, high gloss cover, $17 Shop 8×10 Photo Album,flexible, laminated cover, $69 Shop 8×10 Premium Lustre, Hard cover Photo Album $125 Shop Also visit SteelGenesis.com. Shop All Radiant Tree Books Thanks for your support!