Father’s Day ’07
The United States is one of the few countries in the world to set aside a day to celebrate Fatherhood. Every third Sunday in June, fathers across the U.S. get tackled, teased, doted upon, and given a wide assortment of horrible ties chosen by their offspring!
To the attentive fathers out there who may stumble across my blog, I send you blessings, peace and joy, and a “thank you” on behalf of the children. Your role as father is not always an easy one, but to have a hand in the upbringing of the next generation is an honor. Remember:
It is much easier to become a father than to be one.
Kent Nerburn
The greatest gift I ever had Came from God, and I call him Dad!
Author: Anonymous
Fathers, I hope you enjoy your day!
Peace.
Influences & Expectations
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the level of social conditioning that most of us in the West endure without even realizing it. There is so much of our world that revolves around an unthinking mob mentality which has been conditioned in to us. Some of this conditioning may actually be healthy on a social level -otherwise we may run the risk of personal injury, chaos and anarchy- but so much of it is just … bad. It numbs, it pacifies, it subjects our true happy, light-filled nature to all kinds of subjugation and a certain level of non-physical violence. It teaches us to look for approval from others –any other- instead of relying on ourselves. It undermines our confidence, and it encourages us to strive for the “big house, fast car” goals and it enforces the idea that security comes in conformity.
The lost art of Communication
Why does it seem nobody can communicate clearly and effectively any longer? Interpersonal communications these days are often marked by misinterpretation of the speaker’s intention, ending in what can sometimes be pretty drastic results! Why is this, though? Is it on the part of the speaker that things get conveyed ineffectively to the audience, or is it the recipient, interpreting things according to his or her own agenda, experience, and ego? I suspect it’s a bit of both, since really everything we do and experience is colored by our own minds, experiences and egos, but what is truly disturbing is the level of acceptance of mediocre communication within our cultures. Sometimes, acceptable levels of communication is not even mediocre – it’s little more than a series of grunts and gestures. Welcome back to the Stone Age, everyone. *Groan*
Organic art
Did you know that your food cupboard is an art material warehouse? Yes, really! Next time you search through it, gathering old canned foodstuffs with expired dates stamped on their lids, consider bringing those materials outside for an excercise in creativity! Yes, there is an art project in your cupboard, waiting for you to discover it! Here’s how…
Warrior
I awoke this morning to the word “warrior” bouncing around my brain, and an image of a warrior woman in the deep tropic forest, going slightly uphill, with a spear in her left hand, obviously on a hunting trail of some sort. Now, that’s certainly an image of a warrior that has had a fair amount of media attention and elaboration, but it’s a bit outdated for modern times, don’t you think? So what is a modern-day warrior? Some would say it’s somebody in the armed forces, or a martial artist, or perhaps it’s a modern-day businesswoman, briefcase in one hand, cellphone in the other… and although those are certainly warriors in their own right, none of them are exactly the concept that comes to this Mystical mind.
A New Assignment
At the end of participating in a yoga 1 class, I get a message from my Spirit Guides to “teach yoga”. Ummm, huh? Now I like yoga, really, I do! It’s a great way to stretch and relax and a great way to get into shape, but for me to teach it? I know next to nothing about it beyond the occasional class I take at the local gym. So why does Spirit want me to teach yoga? Oh, who knows (well, they evidently do, but they’ve not let me be privy to that tidbit of information yet). Odd. Or should I say that “Spirit works in mysterious ways”, instead? Well, whatever you want to say about it, it seems I have a new task ahead of me so I’ll be investigating yoga a bit more… and trying to figure out how it fits in to Buddhism, Meditation, Reiki, academic teaching, fine art, photography, digital art, and the host of other things I’m supposed to be pursuing as well. *Groan* – How many of these Spiritual “assignments”, in addition to the physical responsibilities of a family, can one bear? … and Spirit answers “as many as must be”. Oh boy… I’m screwed. Or am I saved? Sheeesh!
Conscious Decisions
Every moment holds within it a decision.
Yes, really – every moment. Sometimes these decisions may be enormous such as deciding between life and death, or sometimes they may be quite subtle such as blinking your eyes or scratching an itch. But how many of these decisions, on a moment to moment basis, are you aware of? How many of these decisions do you forfeit to whim, circumstance, ignorance, insecurity, or even to other people? Do you actively make the decisions which affect your life and well-being, making your choices consciously, willing to accept the repercussions for them, secure in the responsibility of doing so? Or do you sit passively, choosing to be a victim of your own indecision, letting time, people, and your own insecurity make decisions for you – by default?
We all have our moments of indecision, but we can at least strive for this kind of conscious living; aware of our thoughts, feelings and yes, the moment to moment decisions which face us all. Instead of sitting someplace, feeling distressed and overwhelmed, if we can identify the source of unrest, then actively decide to either do something to change it or to accept it, can make a huge difference in our frame of mind, our emotional state, and our ability to act. Recognizing that there is a decision to be made and then consciously making it (even if the decision is not to make a decision right now) can relieve an enormous amount of stress!
Peace.
Honest Lies
Recently, I was reading through a forum where the question of whether lying to a friend made the author of the thread a good friend or not…
… ummm… Whaaaaattt?!
Short life
“Life is short; Live it to its fullest”. We’ve all heard this saying, but have we ever really thought about what it means? In today’s society it usually implies a life of indulgence and debauchery. But what if, instead, it meant making actual conscious, intentional, choices every moment of our short, unsure lives? What if it meant actually living life to its fullest -enjoying it!- without fear, without need of external, superficial entertainments? What if it meant being aware of what you were doing, thinking, feeling, experiencing on multiple levels, instead of working so hard to shut those same sensitivities and levels of awareness down? What if we realize and remember that life is short and of undetermined length… that we spend our time thinking that every moment counts instead of “killing time” between our shallow entertainments? We may have 50 years, or 10 years, or 3 months, or 30 seconds… we just don’t know. What have you done with your time so far?? What if, instead of wasting our time, we make an honest, conscious decision to live … to really live it instead?
Unbeing dead isn’t being alive.
– e. e. cummings
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Namaste.