Let me be VERY clear: I am REALLY glad the rigged car did not blow up in Times Square. My daughter lives in the NYC area, and I LOVE NYC. It is full of the most amazing people from all over the world--artists and activists of all stripes, people with light in their eyes and something going on upstairs.
HOWEVER...let's also be clear. It would take a complete idiot not to comprehend anger at the US from places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. etc. Hell, even many Canadians and Europeans hate the US!
Let's face it. All these millions of angry people are NOT just "mentally ill", or "jealous about the American system", or simply part of the "Old Europe", or uneducated or uncooperative or just plain difficult.
It doesn't take much imagination to comprehend, for example, that villagers in the hills of Pakistan/Afghanistan might be just a TAD pissed off about the many civilian deaths caused by US drones. The most conservative estimates show that TEN TIMES the number of civilians (women, children, old men, wedding parties, people eating breakfast) as actual intended "targets" (and most of the time these targets are turned in by neighboring villagers, who may simply be using the US to gain more tribal power) are killed in drone attacks.
It also doesn't take much intelligence to comprehend how citizens of Baghdad and Iraq might be a little annoyed at the US, after this country bombed the crap out of that city/country, killing and maiming many innocent civilians in the quest for oil and domination in the Middle East. Estimates give up to ONE MILLION civilians killed by the US.
Let's be honest, folks. The US just doesn't have a great record in the way it allegedly "spreads democracy" throughout the world. At this point, with globalization and all, it really is difficult to know who is pulling what strings, isn't it.
But let's ask the "bomb-huggers" (I LOVE this phrase, not sure who coined it), of EVERY nationality, to STOP IT NOW!!!
CO2, which is primarily a by-product of burning oil and coal, is destroying our atmosphere, and as a consequence, a planet.
Wars kill people, and so do invasions and drone searches for "insurgents"--and let's not forget that the US was FOUNDED by "insurgents".
Money that could be spent on health care and education and care for the poor and weak among us, and environmental protection and a million other fabulously HEALING projects is WASTED on bombs and invasions and search for more oil, when we should NOT be burning it AT ALL.
Come on BOYS!!! Enough is enough. Please, tomorrow morning, wake up and REALIZE there is another path. Try to imagine what it might be like if we all start cherishing life, and let go of hierarchies and power struggles and bullying and seek ways to connect and love and laugh together.
Honestly, it would be just amazing. And it is the only way we will survive as a species.
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Simple Joys, Walden Pond, Real Magic
Swimming at Walden Pond, water so cold it makes you scream when you first jump in, ducking through "Path Closed" police tape and wading on a path in water two feet deep (bad spring floods) but finally you find a nice little perch on two rocks in the sun and a black bird comes by and just sits and looks at you calmly and you swear you have never felt better in your life.
The really horrible thing about what we are doing to our earth is that we are destroying ourselves, I mean our REAL selves, that person we meet when a bird jumps up on a table to eat the cookie crumbs we have left while we were mindlessly nibbling, staring angrily at a computer screen when really we would SO MUCH rather be laughing and sharing a beer with a friend, and yet this silly small bird, not knowing anything about all our traumas and neuroses, just jumps right up, and helps herself to the crumbs we left, and in spite of everything, we just smile.
I witnessed this today, in a frustrated-looking young student, and I've witnessed such miracles a million times.
So we are destroying the very thing that saves us from ourselves, or rather, from our false selves--the selves that obsess over silliness--mean stupid bosses and money worries and the right coat or perfect boots and am I smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or bad enough. Some little bird or fall leaves or a stormy sky or a breeze full of flowers or a buzzing bee or a school of very friendly fish might happen by, and for those few minutes, we forget all that silliness, and just feel fine.
If it ever occurred to anyone that all of these beautiful beings and manifestations of nature are truly blessed, are in fact goddesses and gods, a portal to pure happiness, REAL magic, would we THEN be able to STOP this destruction?
Will new shoes or the perfect haircut or a better car or bigger house or shinier toys EVER bring that sense of simple joy, peace, being happy just to connect? I don't think so.
It's time to save ourselves, by saving our planet. Fast.
The really horrible thing about what we are doing to our earth is that we are destroying ourselves, I mean our REAL selves, that person we meet when a bird jumps up on a table to eat the cookie crumbs we have left while we were mindlessly nibbling, staring angrily at a computer screen when really we would SO MUCH rather be laughing and sharing a beer with a friend, and yet this silly small bird, not knowing anything about all our traumas and neuroses, just jumps right up, and helps herself to the crumbs we left, and in spite of everything, we just smile.
I witnessed this today, in a frustrated-looking young student, and I've witnessed such miracles a million times.
So we are destroying the very thing that saves us from ourselves, or rather, from our false selves--the selves that obsess over silliness--mean stupid bosses and money worries and the right coat or perfect boots and am I smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or bad enough. Some little bird or fall leaves or a stormy sky or a breeze full of flowers or a buzzing bee or a school of very friendly fish might happen by, and for those few minutes, we forget all that silliness, and just feel fine.
If it ever occurred to anyone that all of these beautiful beings and manifestations of nature are truly blessed, are in fact goddesses and gods, a portal to pure happiness, REAL magic, would we THEN be able to STOP this destruction?
Will new shoes or the perfect haircut or a better car or bigger house or shinier toys EVER bring that sense of simple joy, peace, being happy just to connect? I don't think so.
It's time to save ourselves, by saving our planet. Fast.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Healing on the Full Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse, 13th Moon, WOW!!!
New Year's 2009, last New Year's in this decade, and we have a Full Moon, a Blue Moon, 13th Full moon this year, 2nd full moon in December, AND a partial lunar eclipse, visible in Europe. WOWOWOWOWOW!!!
Time for something special. Fall in love, have beautiful visions of the future, heal yourself, laugh, be kind to yourself and others, experience real inner peace, joy, passion, warmth. See the truth, tumble through the reality of your own pain into that indescribable joy that comes when the weight is lifted. Climb into that universal creative energy field, the basis of all life, or better yet, THROW yourself into it, and see where it takes you.
Let's hope for miracles! A sudden, world-wide change of consciousness--no more greed, no more war, no more cruelty, no more exploitation. Suddenly all of us seeing that we live in a MOST amazing paradise, and all the animals, fish, birds, trees, stars, weeds, wind, clouds, storms and sunshine are manifestations of the most intense joy and beauty possible. Let's worship the earth, bowing down to the beauty, protecting the beauty, loving the beauty, taking care and protecting from harm. Let us all Honor our Mother Earth and all her creatures, with all of our hearts.
And for those too wounded and damaged to love this earth, let's have compassion for them, but keep them from further harming the earth in a calm, caring spirit. When a person is healed, he or she no longer wishes gain for simple gain, or wants to harm for the sake of harm or the sake of power or the sake of revenge or the sake of old painful memories. So let us help the extreme greedy, war-mongering, cruel power-mongers among us to HEAL, and once healed, they will use their abundance for the common good, the good of all humanity and all the beautiful creature who cohabit this planet with us.
We have done tremendous damage to our planet, our nest. Maybe it is too late, and maybe the human species is doomed to extinction, along with so many other species who have simply been swept along in this tsunami of destruction.
But maybe it is NOT too late, NOT too late to save the beautiful species of birds, mammals, fish, insects, plants, amphibians, microscopic and macroscopic beings that inhabit this earth. Let's try to live according to this hope, and heal ourselves, and heal the earth.
I once saw a brief segment of a PBS program. It showed the most incredibly fantastical, strange creatures, ever-evolving, and inhabiting the very depths of the oceans. For no discernable reason, these creatures, all inhabiting the same environment, had evolved into a multitude of the most beautiful, remarkable unpredictable creatures—such variety the creatures could not be catalogued by science.
It was then that I fully understood that unpredictable, fantastic, incredibly BEAUTIFUL creativity is the ESSENCE of life. Those who try to control life, to bring the life force into predictability, to harness creativity and energy, to stomp out joy and spontaneity, to force homogeneity in Humans and other creatures, will never succeed. And the simple reason is that all of their efforts are contrary to the essence of Life itself. The very essence of life is creativity, spontaneity, unpredictable, fantastic beauty, passion, joy, untamed intensity.
A truly wild, crazily whirling spirit inhabits us all. We only need to touch it to see, really see, that so much of the "security" we have created for ourselves is nothing but a shadow of reality, a sham, a silly, unnecessary crutch. We can FLY!!! Really fly, in our dreams and in our lives. We only need love and joy and freedom to truly be happy in this life. And that is within our reach if we only open ourselves to it and release the pain within us.
I’m wishing love and beauty for myself and every other living creature in this New Year. And courage to speak up, to organize, to foster change, to reach out, to break barriers blocking peace in this world. Happy New Year’s to Everyone, especially all the wild and crazy spirits out there. Yes! I am talking to you. I always am, because you of all of these, you understand.
Time for something special. Fall in love, have beautiful visions of the future, heal yourself, laugh, be kind to yourself and others, experience real inner peace, joy, passion, warmth. See the truth, tumble through the reality of your own pain into that indescribable joy that comes when the weight is lifted. Climb into that universal creative energy field, the basis of all life, or better yet, THROW yourself into it, and see where it takes you.
Let's hope for miracles! A sudden, world-wide change of consciousness--no more greed, no more war, no more cruelty, no more exploitation. Suddenly all of us seeing that we live in a MOST amazing paradise, and all the animals, fish, birds, trees, stars, weeds, wind, clouds, storms and sunshine are manifestations of the most intense joy and beauty possible. Let's worship the earth, bowing down to the beauty, protecting the beauty, loving the beauty, taking care and protecting from harm. Let us all Honor our Mother Earth and all her creatures, with all of our hearts.
And for those too wounded and damaged to love this earth, let's have compassion for them, but keep them from further harming the earth in a calm, caring spirit. When a person is healed, he or she no longer wishes gain for simple gain, or wants to harm for the sake of harm or the sake of power or the sake of revenge or the sake of old painful memories. So let us help the extreme greedy, war-mongering, cruel power-mongers among us to HEAL, and once healed, they will use their abundance for the common good, the good of all humanity and all the beautiful creature who cohabit this planet with us.
We have done tremendous damage to our planet, our nest. Maybe it is too late, and maybe the human species is doomed to extinction, along with so many other species who have simply been swept along in this tsunami of destruction.
But maybe it is NOT too late, NOT too late to save the beautiful species of birds, mammals, fish, insects, plants, amphibians, microscopic and macroscopic beings that inhabit this earth. Let's try to live according to this hope, and heal ourselves, and heal the earth.
I once saw a brief segment of a PBS program. It showed the most incredibly fantastical, strange creatures, ever-evolving, and inhabiting the very depths of the oceans. For no discernable reason, these creatures, all inhabiting the same environment, had evolved into a multitude of the most beautiful, remarkable unpredictable creatures—such variety the creatures could not be catalogued by science.
It was then that I fully understood that unpredictable, fantastic, incredibly BEAUTIFUL creativity is the ESSENCE of life. Those who try to control life, to bring the life force into predictability, to harness creativity and energy, to stomp out joy and spontaneity, to force homogeneity in Humans and other creatures, will never succeed. And the simple reason is that all of their efforts are contrary to the essence of Life itself. The very essence of life is creativity, spontaneity, unpredictable, fantastic beauty, passion, joy, untamed intensity.
A truly wild, crazily whirling spirit inhabits us all. We only need to touch it to see, really see, that so much of the "security" we have created for ourselves is nothing but a shadow of reality, a sham, a silly, unnecessary crutch. We can FLY!!! Really fly, in our dreams and in our lives. We only need love and joy and freedom to truly be happy in this life. And that is within our reach if we only open ourselves to it and release the pain within us.
I’m wishing love and beauty for myself and every other living creature in this New Year. And courage to speak up, to organize, to foster change, to reach out, to break barriers blocking peace in this world. Happy New Year’s to Everyone, especially all the wild and crazy spirits out there. Yes! I am talking to you. I always am, because you of all of these, you understand.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Snarky Blog--Don't Read This if You are in a Good Mood!
Every time someone is executed in this country, I am sickened. Remember Rwanda? That country has abolished capital punishment, but the United States, alone amongst "Western Industrial" nations, continues to allow capital punishment as a state-by-state mandate. And in cases of federal law, states without capital punishment can sometimes be overruled by the feds. So the Washington DC sniper was put to death last week. Will it bring back the people killed? No. Just more blood spilled. So barbaric, really.
The US strikes me as such a medieval country in so many ways. Still running empire wars, enslaving the poor with impossibly low wages, denying health care to the less privileged, forcing poor young women to bear children they can never support (abortion access is NEVER an issue for the wealthy), handing over taxes to Corporate, Wall Street and Banker Kings, while about 15% of the country has no visible means of support, all the while claiming that "God wills it". Yeah. Sure.
OK next. Check the video of the woman who "accidentally" fell on the T tracks in Boston a few days ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__S-OF0ezU
I hope someone who knows her is smart enough to realize she was actually "accidentally" trying to commit suicide, whether she realizes it or not, and gets her the help she needs. First, she goes to the corner where the train will first enter the station (greatest impact area). Then, she lights a cigarette ("casual"). The she looks down the track to see if the train is coming. Then, she doesn't just "stumble" onto the tracks, for goddess's sake! She JUMPS/stumbles (looks like part of her does NOT want to die, YAY). And to me, it looks like she intentionally touched the 3rd rail with her foot, maybe figuring it would knock her out so she wouldn't feel so much the impact of the train. Yes all of this could also be just a "drunken accident". But she admitted to having drunk FOUR TWENTY-TWO OUNCE beers in a couple of hours. WHY?
I knew a teenager in Montreal who committed suicide in exactly this manner, except that she was hopped up on psych meds and not juiced. After spending about 8 months at the loony bin for extreme manic-depression and NO ONE being able to figure out why this smart, beautiful 16 year old was so messed up, she was doped up on meds and sent home. Home to the father who had been sexually abusing her for years. A month later she jumped in front of a train. She died, and no one, least of all her father (or so he claimed, to the media), understood what had led her to such desperation.
Next comment: WHY the hell is it that almost every frickin (and by the way, this is NOT a polite word--it comes from "frigging" which means self-pleasuring, as I learned from Irish-Canadians I met in Eastern Canada; "fricking" or "freakin" is just a couched Americanization) time I sit down inside Au Bon Pain to work on photos, someone (usually male) decides to slam the back of his chair into mine. It's not as if I'm invisible. Or maybe that's what the message is--"You SHOULD be invisible" as in, get outta my space, you female encroacher, you.
Reference for "frig": http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frig
Next comment: I still hate my roommate. He is so arrogant, condescending and passive-aggressive. I hate it when I hate a roommate. He is not so horrible that I have to kick him out, but I hate feeling like I just CAN'T WAIT til he leaves. Really hate it. And sure, I can try to talk to him, but he won't get it. Just like he doesn't get why I don't want him using my personal bath soap. Yuck!
Finally (not really, but I can only snark so much before it tires even me out): why is that I have met many a man who was initially SO ATTRACTED to me, for my red hair and feisty attitude, and then the second or third order of business (after meeting and charming me) is to try to get me "Under Control"? WHY IS THAT? Something else I just hate. Oh, it can take many forms. Sometimes very coarse, such as quick anger and jealousy. Other times more subtle, such as abruptly rescheduling appointments, or revealing a hidden addiction and insisting I be the rescuer, or being extremely secretive, or “juggling” a few women at once. The hook, of course, is that I, being the female, should not complain, pry, demand, get pissed or have a damn fit, even if I feel like it. Why is that? Why take something wild and crazy (which you LOVE for being wild and crazy) and try to tame the very thing you love? I don’t get it.
The US strikes me as such a medieval country in so many ways. Still running empire wars, enslaving the poor with impossibly low wages, denying health care to the less privileged, forcing poor young women to bear children they can never support (abortion access is NEVER an issue for the wealthy), handing over taxes to Corporate, Wall Street and Banker Kings, while about 15% of the country has no visible means of support, all the while claiming that "God wills it". Yeah. Sure.
OK next. Check the video of the woman who "accidentally" fell on the T tracks in Boston a few days ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__S-OF0ezU
I hope someone who knows her is smart enough to realize she was actually "accidentally" trying to commit suicide, whether she realizes it or not, and gets her the help she needs. First, she goes to the corner where the train will first enter the station (greatest impact area). Then, she lights a cigarette ("casual"). The she looks down the track to see if the train is coming. Then, she doesn't just "stumble" onto the tracks, for goddess's sake! She JUMPS/stumbles (looks like part of her does NOT want to die, YAY). And to me, it looks like she intentionally touched the 3rd rail with her foot, maybe figuring it would knock her out so she wouldn't feel so much the impact of the train. Yes all of this could also be just a "drunken accident". But she admitted to having drunk FOUR TWENTY-TWO OUNCE beers in a couple of hours. WHY?
I knew a teenager in Montreal who committed suicide in exactly this manner, except that she was hopped up on psych meds and not juiced. After spending about 8 months at the loony bin for extreme manic-depression and NO ONE being able to figure out why this smart, beautiful 16 year old was so messed up, she was doped up on meds and sent home. Home to the father who had been sexually abusing her for years. A month later she jumped in front of a train. She died, and no one, least of all her father (or so he claimed, to the media), understood what had led her to such desperation.
Next comment: WHY the hell is it that almost every frickin (and by the way, this is NOT a polite word--it comes from "frigging" which means self-pleasuring, as I learned from Irish-Canadians I met in Eastern Canada; "fricking" or "freakin" is just a couched Americanization) time I sit down inside Au Bon Pain to work on photos, someone (usually male) decides to slam the back of his chair into mine. It's not as if I'm invisible. Or maybe that's what the message is--"You SHOULD be invisible" as in, get outta my space, you female encroacher, you.
Reference for "frig": http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frig
Next comment: I still hate my roommate. He is so arrogant, condescending and passive-aggressive. I hate it when I hate a roommate. He is not so horrible that I have to kick him out, but I hate feeling like I just CAN'T WAIT til he leaves. Really hate it. And sure, I can try to talk to him, but he won't get it. Just like he doesn't get why I don't want him using my personal bath soap. Yuck!
Finally (not really, but I can only snark so much before it tires even me out): why is that I have met many a man who was initially SO ATTRACTED to me, for my red hair and feisty attitude, and then the second or third order of business (after meeting and charming me) is to try to get me "Under Control"? WHY IS THAT? Something else I just hate. Oh, it can take many forms. Sometimes very coarse, such as quick anger and jealousy. Other times more subtle, such as abruptly rescheduling appointments, or revealing a hidden addiction and insisting I be the rescuer, or being extremely secretive, or “juggling” a few women at once. The hook, of course, is that I, being the female, should not complain, pry, demand, get pissed or have a damn fit, even if I feel like it. Why is that? Why take something wild and crazy (which you LOVE for being wild and crazy) and try to tame the very thing you love? I don’t get it.
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