A Guide to “The Art of Living in the Millennium”

A collection of Manuscripts and Novellas that I have written over the last fifteen years.

They are a poetic account of my life experiences which have evolved into a “Mosaic” of my unabridged journey though the universal continuum - a place in my sacred space that I hold dear.

When I began this endeavor it was my way of making sense of the reality that we all eventually face - loving, living, and loss. I have since given my works out to friends and family in need as a self help reference. They are also available to the general public on line at amazon.com and Kindle Publishing.

I believe that they are best realized in the order of their creation, although they are complete thoughts on their own as well. Each a treasured remembrance of moments in time when the Universe and I held hands and made love in the boundless etherial waters of the Cosmos.

Book One - “The Art of Living in the Millennium” is a book on bereavement. The journey that one experiences after the passing of a dear friend, lover, and my life partner Jack.

Book Two - “My Phoenix Rising” is my journey into the new life that began after my wounds began to heal. And an glimpse into process of being born again with the loving help of my loving Husband Chadwick

Book Three - “My Fifth Reincarnation” is a retrospective of my thoughts on the Universal Continuum and how we deal with past events or situations that give rise to our new and authentic selves

Book Four - “Designer Diaries” was actually the first book that I had begun to write at the time of my life partners departure. It is a brief synopsis of my life as an interior designer and interior architect, and artist

Book Five - “Full Circle Again” a recounting of my life sparked by the celebration of my 75th Anniversary. It is part of a Tetralogy and summation of my adventures

Book Six - “Reflections of a TimeTraveler” revisiting travels with my life partner Jack

Book Seven - “Songs of the Desert” reflecting on my meditations in the Desert, my touch stone of srength in an every changing world

Book Eight - “The Aging of an Aquarian” just as it suggests, the process of aging

Book Nine - “Dancing in the Desert” celebrating my 35 years of Desert rapture and revitalization

Book Ten - “Magical Mystical Moments in Time” highlights of a life lived to the fullest

Book Eleven - “A Master Class in Interior Design” my Theory of Exestensial  Design and the Universal Continuum

Book Twelve - “The Loft” a life journey through the art and artifacts of our travels and adventures

Book Thirteen - “Air, Earth, Wind, and Fire” a reflection on the Four Elements of Life and their interaction with Existential Design

Book Fourteen - “It Sometimes Takes a Village” revisiting life progressions and how  they affect our ultimate goals and destinations

My Phoenix Rising

 

Tell Me a Story

Tell  Me A Story

Today I watched as the world around me began to change around me yet again, as forever it does and will always. I watched as life turned and glanced at its past and cried.

Then I thought to myself that it is true for now and for sure, time is not our keeper but rather our cure. Would it be that I could, I would walk in the steps of time once more. Would it be different if you were mine? My answer seemed to be second nature and it spoke to me as a friend and said:

Tell me a story of times gone by 

Tell me a story of you and I

Let it come forward from another time

A time that was different when you were not mine

Tell me a your story …

The Circle That Is Life

  

The Circle That Is Life

They say that life is a circle that never ends

It has a begining but never an end

When nearing that place that might bring it to not

It turns to itself and starts over its plot

So many times I have said this before

Time is irrelavent and never for sure

We can take what we want and yet stil want for more

Perhaps it is lifes moments that make it secure

So many memories dance in my head

Like millions of galaxies each one on a thread

Each one in unison

All intertwined

Make the Mosaic that is uniquely mine

Dancing in the Desert 3

                                       

Dancing in the Desert

For the first time in many years we are experiencing snow in Palm Springs more than half way down the mountains.

While this may seem to be a wondrous site, it is in fact more of a warning.

I have been visiting my desert for over 30 years now and if there is one thing that has remained constant it is the fact that it will always be there to love me and inspire me, and protect me in its eternal embrace.

This year however, a chill has entered my valley and with it have come the winds of change.

Change that can cool the desert and take granite to sand. It can alter our planet and 

leave us to stand on a barren oasis, the rubble of man.

So dance if you will and make merry the day, but remember that nature will of needs have her way. 

The seeds of millenniums lay buried in the earth and wait for the day when a million tomorrows will burst.

There is always tomorrow until there is not, and we only live by the grace of our lot.

            

The Snow Mooon of February

 The Snow Mooon of February

This year the Snow Moon falls on my birthday. How very auspicious.

The Snow Moon is a reminder that change is not always showy. It illuminates the gentle stirrings that often create the most meaningful shifts. This is the time to trust the stillness and the truth of your own knowing. 

The spiritual meaning of the Snow Moon can be felt within all beings. Allow this time to be one of subtlety, a slow awakening of what lies just beneath the surface. Looking within, practice examining from a place of sensory awareness. Let the outer stillness support an inner examination of pure curiosity. Let the Snow Moon guide you as you explore your being from the inside.

Peak illumination of the February 2023 full moon will occur at 11:30 a.m. MST on Sunday, Feb. 5. For the best view of the snow moon, look for it the night before (Saturday, Feb. 4) or later Sunday. It will reach its highest point in the sky around midnight, according to the Farmer's Almanac.

By Robert Dobnick

From “The Art of Living in the Millennium

2023

Desert Sands & Thunderstorms

 Desert Sands & Thunderstorms

Flying over the vast deserts of the southwest one can not help but to wonder at the awesomeness of nature in its raw and beautiful element.

Much like the “sands of time”, these pearls of stone once were solid mountains of granite and sandstone. Released by the intervention of time and tenacity this arid sea is free to roam and at the call of Mariah, goddess of the wind, can cover hills and mountains and contain them until they become one once again.

 

By Robert Dobnick

From “The Art of Living in the Millennium

2023

 

The Rains of Palm Springs

The Rains of Palm Springs

It is Monday morning, the 23rd of January 2023. There is a moderate wind blowing in from the coast and the desert is dry again.

The life giving rains of January have saturated the soil and found their way into the sleeping seeds of ancient succulents and cactus. Soon the desert will erupt in an explosion of color, and the barren hills and mountains will be dressed in a profusion of color unlike any other.

This is my desert retreat, my special healing place, a study in both raw nature and elegant spectacle. It is a warm and welcoming cocoon that encapsulates my ethereal elements and makes them strong again.

By Robert Dobnick

From “The Art of Living in the Millennium

2023

Desert Crescendo

 

                    Desert Crescendo 

The desert to me has always been a place of reflection, much like water is to others it calms and caresses me with its warm and gentle sands. I can see more clearly there. Unobstructed by the weight that is felt when manouvering in the clear liquid of life.

They say there is a space and place in time for those who know it’s there

There is this moment of madness when men may say you shouldn’t dare

To put yourself upon a shelf so you may be viewed from afar

And yet are there to be there for the ones you feel most for 

Not always is it easy to take yourself away

To a land that is safe and friendly 

And you can also stay

Away from slings and arrows that might, could take you down

To a false reality that in fact isn’t really ground 

Granted there my a time when the sands of time do blow

But that is when the magic starts

The time in which we grow

To see ourselves in an element that we have come to know

To see ourselves in a place and space

Made just for us, our own  

An Elaborate Friendship

  

I have been a nurturer and as such a great believer 

in supporting friends and most especially my partners 

in every way I can.

What is a partnership if not an elaborate friendship. 

There must be love involved to make such a

partnership work, a selfless love of another to achieve that

oneness. 

To be one with another person is like no other

feeling I have ever felt. It brings life to dead branches and

song to deaf birds. It fills oceans with water and brings

bloom to the deserts. 

There is no greater gift than to tell

some one that you love them and to be so in love that

you would gladly give you life for that person. But having that love and affection returned in abundance is most amazing.

By Robert Dobnick

From “The Art of Living in the Millennium

2023

Hello 75

Hello 75!       

This is the beginning of what proves to be a month of celebrations, libations and most of all, illumination …

As my 60th year rolled into place I began to realize that what I had achieved until then was only the ground work of that which was yet to come.

I say this with both anxious anticipation and a bit of trepidation.

Who knows what lies ahead and does it really matter all that much?

I for one have found in my journey through time and space that the more we prepare for the unknown the less ready we are to accept it, and yet it must be entertained if we are to understand it.

Much as the young boy who stumbled forth rather awkwardly, trying hard to find his balance, in later years that balance can be challenged again.

Crawling, walking, running, and stumbling are part of the game. The secret is to embrace them for what they are - tools and lessons - and use them to your advantage. It is obviously most important to be aware of our limitations but knowing they exist is the best way to brave the gauntlet. 

So at the beginning of my75th sojourn through this beautiful and complex thing called life, let me be completely honest in saying this  - it doesn’t ever become easy, but the journey is more than worth it!

Another Mosaic Complete 

By Robert Dobnick

From “The Art of Living in the Millennium

2023