I Never Knew That!

It's funny how you learn words and may even use them, you know the definition but you don't KNOW where the word originated.  Agoraphobia is such a word.  The definition we know is: someone who is afraid to go outside the home.  The most famous agoraphobic that comes to mind today is Paula Deen.  She ran a lunch business called "The Bag Lady" out of her house 1989 after her divorce and had her two boys deliver the bag lunches on their bicycles. She finally got over this fear and has several restaurants named The Bag Lady. (One in Savannah, GA. my Mom and I ate there a few years ago. It was delicious.) Wow she really overcame that fear to be where she is today!  Congratulations Paula!

My Grandmother I believe became an agoraphobic in the last 15 years of her life.  She no longer would go out to her garden, to the grocery store or to get her hair done every month. Her brother went to the store and she stayed inside always cooking and sitting.  I noticed this behavior but never thought much about it till I became an adult and learned this word.

Agora means public meeting place in Greek.  A place where village people gathered to hear public speeches and buy goods, a marketplace.  Of course you know what phobia means. Greece! Wow, I never knew that!

I was reading a book about Emma Willard today the founder of the first school for higher education for women in Troy, NY.  1821.  Her father's sister had 82 acres on the Hudson River, and was quite wealthy.  She quarantined herself for 8 months in her house with no visitors and all windows shut so she would not contract TB. When the threat was passed she was so happy to be well she built a huge mansion, the largest anyone had seen in the area.  Her last name was "Jones."  This book stated that this is where the saying "Keeping up with the Jones" came from (1700s.) Wow, I never knew that either!

Now if you google this you will see a cartoonist lays claim to the saying. This guy started his comic strip in 1913.  So you do the research and the math, see what you find. Who came first? I like  Emma Willard's story better.

Emma Willard wrote textbooks, poetry books and gave lectures on higher education for women across the states, she gave the proceeds from her lectures and books to start another school across the ocean.  In her later years she opened a school for women in Athens, Greece.

And that is how I tie this article together from start to finish. It began in Agora, Greece and ends in Athens. 😉

Learning Inner Peace on Peaceful Soil

My life like many others was not bed of roses.  Yet with a persistence and good conscious I have overcome many hurtful and angry thoughts.  I have learned to forgive but I do not forget.  To remember without hateful judgments is to be healed from my past and to remember, reminds me to not get caught in the situation again. Physically or mentally. I'm still working on this.

I played a part in every bad thing that has happened to me even if at the time I did not know it. It has taken a lifetime of self-realization to see this truth.  Once I began to see it then I was no longer a victim.  I became the champion of my life surrounded with loving, kind, children, friends, and family...but paramount I became aware of my own addictive negative thinking. 

The truth that every great philosopher from Epictetus, Jesus, Buddha, to Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle teach today are true for all time.  Pema Chodren, Thich Hnat Hanh, Dali Lama, whomever you see as a teacher of the higher path to follow will NEVER  include fearful thoughts or encourage violent words, certainly not violent actions as the road to truth.  These people teach, 'present moment' awareness and how to be in control of my life, my mind, through awareness.

Every negative thing I see in another is in me.  Every good thing I see in another is in me. 

This does not mean I become insensitive to others, it does not mean I become a non-action taking person, it does not mean I do not care, it means I focus on my part, my purpose to be a positive influence on the world, not get caught in the waves of discontent of everyone around me, fruitless. I take action as it pertains to me. 

This is why now many, including me, are deleting friends or unfollowing them on facebook over the pro-Trump and anti-Trump postings.  There is no power in continued anger and worry over things outside of my control now.   

Personally I do not believe the men and women in government in this country have ever been evil, each is doing their best according to their life experience to serve the American people the best way they know how, regardless of their personal life. 

Of all world governments, this US government is still the greatest experiment that has proved successful in many ways, for governing people and leveling the playing field for everyone to be equal and have opportunities to rise up.  To pursue their life in peace.  We are a young country we will get it right in time, we are good people.

Admiral Stockton was Ross Perot's vice president. He served 37 years in the navy and 7 years in a POW camp.  When he realized he was going to be captured and become a POW, he knew his life events were going to be out of his control so he decided to train his mind in the teachings of Epictetus.  Solitary confinement and torture were his physical days, he kept his mind, and he focused on inner peace because there was no outer peace.  He survived and returned to the USA to run alongside Ross Perot as the vice president of America.  Although he did not win, he would have served us well in light of knowing how to best serve the American people and keep us safer here.  He was becoming aware, waking up to the collective consciousness we need to survive on this planet.

General Mattis studies Epictetus. These men are warriors, trained to protect the USA against warriors of other lands who are not trained to protect anyone except themselves. These foreign terrorists do not respect equality among all, it is not in their periscope. I thank God for these warriors, there is a time we need them. I am not a warrior.  I am not at war with anyone anymore, the only thing left for me to conquer is my negative thoughts in my mind.

These military personnel are trained to protect a nation of Americans on this soil from the "cruel practices" of other cultures and religions.  This is their purpose and they will do it. It may not be the plan you choose, it might not be the plan I would choose, but it is a plan to protect Americans.  We are not in charge of the physical protection of America soil.

I plan to protect my mind from automatic negative thinking by deleting hateful thoughts of powerlessness, and influence. Trying to control external affairs will always end in wasted energy, Admiral Stockton figured this out in a POW camp.  What situation do we need to discover our inner peace? 

I would rather learn to discover my inner peace in the USA, land of the free, on peaceful soil, than in a POW situation. How about you?

Epictetus, 55 AD & Zukav, 2017 Know the Same Truth

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…”

                                                                                  ~Epictetus, Discourse, 2.5.4-5

“When perception of the physical world is limited to the five-sensory modality, the basis of life in the physical arena becomes fear.  Power to control the environment, and those within the environment appears to be essential.

The need for physical dominance produces a type of competition that affects every aspect of our lives.

It disrupts the natural tendency toward harmony between nations and between friends.”

                                                                       Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul, p.22,23

Epictetus is a stoic Greek philosopher. His teachings were recorded by one of his students.  He began his life as a slave and by permission of his master was permitted to study books of philosophers.  Later when he was a freedman he became a philosopher himself.  The above quote is the foundation of all his philosophical conclusions.

Gary Zukav was born in Texas and is alive today. He is a graduate of Harvard and was a Special Forces Green Beret.  When he returned from his duty in 1970 he went wild with sex, drugs, and alcohol. One day he was introduced by a friend to quantum physics and became very aware of his spiritual being. This awareness is what saved his life. He teaches, “You are a spiritual being, you have always been a spiritual being but as you become aware that you are a spiritual being this is where the difference is made in your life.”

All roads lead to the same truths whether the truth comes from Epictetus 55 AD or Gary Zukav or your own discovery, at some point when you realize you are not in control of anyone or anything but your own mind, your inner mind begins to bring you the peace you sought externally.  It can only be found within your mind.

Your time, your place, your abilities, your special something that only you can do is why you are here. Your personality aligned with your natural ability will be a part of healing the world.  To spread yourself thin doing everything will stress you, make you fearful.  Find the thing that brings you the most peace and share it with someone.

And so I read, write, study ET and BK to be the best me I can be. Peace begins within me.

Peaceful night with Quentin Tarantino

No one loves a good Western more than me.  Settling the wild, wild west was an exciting time. What is it about a Quentin Tarantino movie that is so violent it can make you vomit to see some of the scenes of sudden killing with body juice and parts flying everywhere, yet you keep watching to see the justice in the plot?

Inglorious Bastards is a horrid film and so many good people die before the villain is slain. Quentin can keep you such animated suspense you are always on edge of your seat wanting the good guys to live. In Tarantino films the good guys sometimes die too.  Men like these Quentin Tarantino films a lot. I suppose it appeals to their nature to see justice and the bad guys dead in the end, but the movie that leads up to it is horrifying.

Kill Bill was hard to watch but I got through it because my husband liked it.  Yes I bought him Kill Bill II as well.  The action, the actors, the extreme hatred of the bad guys makes the killing of them so right.  It has to be the passion we have for what is right.

I believe most men do not like to see a woman victimized in any way. At least the American men I know.  When men are brutal to women in Quentin's films my menfolk want the perpetrator to be stopped and if death comes to him, so be it.

Reservoir Dogs is so violent I cannot watch it anymore.

To see innocents escape to freedom gives us such a sense of relief. These films are not my choice but I watch to be next to my Sweetie. When Tarantino states, "Violence is a fun thing to watch," I think it must be a guy thing.

This is a paradox I think about, if I listen to Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie daily, and I know this is the way to inner peace, how can I watch Quentin Tarantino movies?  Maybe I know these movies are not real, but the story line can be liberating?

Well this was a date night with my sweetheart, I cooked dinner, set a candlelight table with tablecloth, and we sat in front of our big screen tv to watch Tarantino movies with three cats nearby. It is the only kind of movies my husband won't fall asleep while watching.

A peaceful night at home enjoying life.  I think I'll have a cup of tea and be thankful to have my own Knight in Shining Armor beside me, even though I am not a damsel in distress.  Men, go figure.

Wisdom of Women is Patience

Mary Washington was the mother of our first president yet there is not much know about her except that George Washington owed everything to his mother in education and good judgment.  He was known as the greatest general our country has ever had and his prudence in governing the country was well known.  He was exceedingly sure to not have a monarchy set up in our new founded independence. In fact he despised the royal sovereign of any country or religion.  He wanted all to be equally respected.

His mother is not well known because there was not many artist here in colonial America to paint her picture nor writers to report of her as the mother of GW.  Elizabeth Ellet author of The Women of the American Revolution found her excerpts for her book from diaries, letters, church records, personal meetings recalled through stories to tell of these women.

The only memoir of Mary Washington was found written by George Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington.  The story of her is that she was strict in her expected obedience of her children. She based her morality on the Christian faith teachings and she ran her own farm on horseback, (like GW would do later at Mount Vernon) managing the affairs of the fields, harvesting the crops.  Her husband died when GW was 12 years old ad when he applied to be a naval officer 2 years later she stopped him from going.  She had the final word and GW obeyed her.

Later when GW become the great commander and chief she was neither modest or boastful but obliged to say, she expected as much of him.  In her years of living, she was known for her kindness and charity to the poor or homeless sharing whatever she could, she did not have much.

In her elderly years her children invited her to take rest at their homes but she would not hear of it. GW invited her to Mount Vernon where she could be taken care of but she preferred her independence on her own farm where she lived until she died of breast cancer at 81 y. o. She did allow her daughter's husband to write her checks and balances as her eyesight was failing the last few years but she insisted on making all major decisions concerning the operation of her farm. She was tough but kind.  A lover of freedom like her son and all Americans.

In GW you see the best likeness of his mother, Mary.  

So far I am so amazed at all the ladies, the mothers, the wives, that raised their family without a father present.  Seems that in those years men were lost to war, to leadership of armies, or killed in the war, or died of smallpox or TB, and these women found a way to survive and feed their children even though this country was not formed yet.  No grocery stores, no automobiles, no doctors in every town, yet they survived.  

Women committed to the Revolution gave up all their comforts. Reports of giving all their clothes, their food, their meat supply, to every military regiment that passed through their farmland, giving up their jewelry their forks and knives to make pewter bullets, the ladies gave everything, became nurses cooks, to assist in their husband's safe return home was ever on their minds.

Women here have been independent leaders for centuries of their children/family whether they wanted it or not because of the absent fathers.  Women will continue to give all and move forward.

In time legislation will catch up.  We got the vote didn't we?  Patience.

Low Maintenance Friendships

Today is the birthday of a dear friend. We have known each other for over twenty years.  We became friends because I pursued the friendship after meeting her the first time.  I felt a kindred spirit in her. One of my first attraction to any friend, male or female, is the desire to take care of our children's needs first, before personal ambition or the obtaining of more things that require more time away from the kids.  Kids need time with you, not more things, not new cars or a bigger house, or even a vacation, they need and want you, their mom and dad with them as much as possible.

I believe once the children are here, the focus should be on them.  Not to spoil them and hand them everything they want but to teach them how to be kind and work for things they want.  Teach them they are not entitled to anything because they are so special. This stunts creativity, growth, and makes them selfish, always wanting more stuff.  Why pursue anything if everything is handed to you?

Now we have lead very different lives, her, a single Mom raising a son on her own and me a married lady of many years.  She and I like solitude, silence, reading, writing, canoeing, hiking, being independent as well as thrifty.  We love each other because we connect on many levels. I have such respect for her and how she has lead her life and raised her son.  She has overcome so much with a positive attitude.   What I may like best about our friendship is we are both "low maintenance."

We are so busy living life and taking care of our family that we have little time to meet for coffee or go to lunch every month.  We don't hang out on weekends, we see each other once or twice a year that begins with dinner and ends with us sitting in one or the other's car all night talking till the sun comes up, catching up on our lives.  We meet and it is as if we never were apart and we leave hugging, somewhat tearful because we love each other so much, we treasure each time together. The longest we went without seeing one another I believe was 2 years one time but we talked on the phone twice.  Whenever I think of her, I always hold her in high regard. Good lady.

This is about as friendly as I get. I love being alone, doing my thing and so does she.

There is another woman I met about 2 years ago through my work.  She, a single lady with a career that loves helping her family.  She has never been married or had children but she is devoted to her sister and her kids.  We were attracted to one another because of our similar work ethics.  We strive for personal excellence and  believe honest, open, communication is always best in any situation.  Over time I have found she also has overcome many obstacles in her life with a positive attitude and a focus on her family and how she can best serve them. When don't see each other at work because of different schedules, it does not matter, we pick up where we left off, again low maintenance friend. Good lady.

What I have found in these friends and me, is we love simple things. We enjoy simple comforts.  I love kayaking on a river on a hot summer day and wedging my kayak in two roots in the water and taking a nap in my kayak, without a clock to wake me.  My close friend likes to snowshoe miles into the mountains and stay all weekend in a shack by herself while she edits and reads.  My friend at work visits a family camp every summer to relax in nature and can think of nothing more comfortable than being wrapped in a cuddly blanket (With her favorite animal print a "bear" on it) and rock in her glider rocker. We all love spending time in nature, sitting in front of a fire, being present.

No matter what greater things life may have in store for all of us, for now we appreciate the little things, the simple life we have now, and "low maintenance" friendships.

My Children Learned Nothing From Me

Have you ever really watched a baby?  A newborn that acts on instinct is very simple.  A baby wakes to let you know they need a hug, a diaper change, food.  If you watch a baby before she makes a noise, the baby will stretch in the cradle, from head to toe before being fully awake. Nothing special, just living.

Now Harvard has done an "official study" that proclaims, we humans should stretch every morning before getting out of bed.  Thank you Harvard!

We are told by scientist and physicians to not run out of the house without eating breakfast. This meal is the most important of the day.  A baby will not be quiet until the baby has breakfast.  Thank you scientist and physicians!

The baby every morning takes care of personal needs before being distracted by other things. Nothing needs to be taught here, nothing special, just living.

Somewhere between birth and now we learn to not to take care of our physical needs first anymore. We don't know how to do "nothing," and just live anymore.

Then life speeds up and takes over. We are adults on a treadmill that gets faster and faster, working harder and harder, longer hours, always something to do.  It seems we don't stop until life makes us stop.  An illness, an emotional overload, can't sleep, back aches, stomachaches, an accident, a death, maybe we develop an addiction to escape the treadmill or we develop negative attitudes about everything we have to do but we forget we put that on our own plate to do!  Nothing special, living is becoming hard and fast.

If we could become like we were when we first arrived, acting on instinct we would take care of basic needs and then take a break to do "nothing" special except to be fascinated by the simple things we once found so wonderful to do when we were young.  Maybe there would be less anxiety and anger for all of us. I knew how to do "nothing" when I was young and did it often joyfully.

I did not slow down again until we had children and the children taught me what was really important, time with them, doing "nothing." No rushing out the door to work, school, daycare, but slowing down, calming down.  Peaceful mornings taking it slow, taking our time, being present and happy.

Draw a doodle, stare at an insect, make an animal shape out of clouds, lie on the grass, smell flowers, climb a tree, play with play dough, go for a walk, put oatmeal in our hair, happy to be alone in silence, without watching a clock. Maybe if we could calm down as life speeds up, there would be less anxiety.

I did not put our children in daycare, so we could be working, to have more things. I did not sign them up for every camp, activity, sport, enrichment program for babies, so we could work year round. I actually spent time doing "nothing" but being present playing with them.

Our purpose was intentional, we wanted to instill in them a love for nature, a feeling of security knowing we were always there, especially when they were babies. We wanted them to feel safe and loved.

Others may say, "You did not do enough to prepare them for school, or enrich their lives."  I say, "These are not your children."  Our children have become kind and loving adults.

Of all the things they may have learned from me, I hope "nothing" was enough.

 

Conscious Capitalism is Good

Yesterday I finally got around to transferring my newly grown "scobys" to new containers with the new tea mixture on my journey to making my homemade KOMBUCHA. As usual whenever I'm in the kitchen for a while working I turn on music or TCM. (Turner Classic Movie Channel 58) I saw a movie that I believe explained the liberal viewpoint better than I have understood it before. So often I hear the far left liberal chants and cannot relate. So I looked up liberal leftist and see these people do not know the definition really because they are not proselytizing the definition even though they think they are. Liberal Leftists defined: is neither left extreme or right extreme but a seeking to combine capitalism with socialism, not forgetting the everyday American who may not be able to provide for self. This I agree with.

Back to TCM. A great movie, 1938 "A Man To Remember" was on and although I finished with my scoby mixtures it captured my interest to watch the ending. I grabbed a cup of tea and watched. You can Google the synopsis of the movie but suffice it to say, a country doctor in the Midwest last century practiced in a town of farmers who could not afford healthcare and so he offered his services for free when necessary and as a result lived meagerly while bankers and politicians made much money off this town. Now I began to see this movie must be what the "Liberals" today think they are chanting about.

This doctor scrimped and saved and put his son through college and including medical school but was never able to afford for himself to go back to school to become a neurologist. A dream he held dear but never saw come true. His son came back to town and found working with another group of doctors much more profitable and his father although disappointed, accepted his son's decision. In truth, a neurologist would not be able to practice this specialty daily, if he was a general practitioner like his father. His training would be better used in his specialty's field of practice combined with the specific needs found in this other office. So not only did his son make the right decision for his education, he made more money and was able to give money to his wonderful father.

The callousness of the rich in the town is real. I have seen it in both our families, I don't doubt this. What I do see is that in the end, the wise old doctor made his point, the hard way. (Watch movie to see what this means) The hospital was finally built in the town, and there were doctors who decided to work ‘pro bono’ sometimes as needed, his son being one of them.

I'm reading Conscious Capitalism written by John Mackey, the founder of "Safer Foods." He tells a story of working for years for a non-profit co-op and seeing the organization that could not keep their head financially above water, always losing money and a struggle. He after years and years of thinking this way and being a vegetarian, (kind to animals mentality, he now is working with PETA) began to study wealthy businessmen and their business models and had his eyes opened. He saw that it is not "bad" to turn a profit and help the planet at the same time. He found that the jobs created were needed and the quality foods sold were good for the planet. He became wealthy and now has "Whole Foods," a very profitable chain throughout the USA. As in any business, he, at times has had to make business decisions that laid people off, and when times changed he hired more people again.

This is life you take the good with the bad, it is not personal, it is business. Just as in a family when the income is reduced due to divorce, laid off, or death, a family cuts back on money spent, so it is in business. Why liberals cannot see this is beyond me. To judge how much others should make or not make compared to your inability to make the same is not logical to me. This is America, opportunity is here.

When I don't know something I research until I find an answer, if I don't find it quickly, I keep going, I never give up completely. My husband and I have seen feast and famine in our 35+ years together based on our limited understanding of how to handle money. Mistakes! I could write a volume on these, but we keep seeking information to “live the dream.” We never expected a handout from anyone, we don't cry "victim" when things don't work out for us, and we forgive each other and move on knowing we will get there one day. After all our parents did not teach us how to do this, our parents cannot teach what they do not know.

Inherited money does not teach you how to earn it.  It teaches you to hold on to as much as possible, even at the expense of family, friends, or a peaceful mind. (Much like the bankers and politicians in the movie)   I get this, I can see why some people do this.

I still say, "It is OK." This generation of Americans are pioneers on a new "financial frontier." We will learn what we know through the school of hard knocks, and when we know better we do better. "Everything happens FOR us not TO us"  What I am finding is that inner peace is priceless and most people have not got it. Studying Eckhart Tolle, “A New Earth” is eye opening.

My White Cat is My Gong

Some people have a schedule of meditation. Some sit in lotus position, some ring a bell sound a gong, sometimes I do too. But the greatest reminder I have of being present is my white cat. Every morning he waits patiently outside my door. If I sleep in too late, he will gently meow. I open my door to a purring kitty who welcomes me to being alive another day. This white cat purrs, purrs, purrs, purrs, purrs, the entire time you are with him. He purrs when you walk in the room, he purrs when you pet him, he purrs when you don’t, he purrs when he sits on your lap, he purrs when he sits alone. This little person in a fur cat is so present, so happy, so unassuming of anything, he purrs. Every morning, I decided years ago, decades ago really no matter what the day before or night brought, I am getting up happy, thankful for something. I will start my day with thoughts of gratitude and love. I will face the challenges of the day or the night before with renewed optimism, I will find a way. My cat purrs in agreement for the high road he takes every day. So if I awake and feel sick, I take a moment to smile and be thankful for a bed to sleep in, a shower to refresh my sweaty, sick, body. My cat purrs while he sits on a stool in my bathroom. If I awake worried over money, I take a moment to smile and remind myself, “The universe has my back, I will find a way.” I have a white cat that purrs beside me. Now I see there are many writers today contradicting old quotes and sayings of old and I applaud this sometimes because we, as a society, seem to be caught in a rut, creative thinking has slowed down. If we are to think new thoughts we have to be open to new ideas. It is this very thing that has saved me from ANTS. (Automatic Negative Thinking) Thinking new thoughts, letting in new information, practicing thankfulness instead of focusing on the negative. This one thing worked for me for sure, I SMILED when I did not feel like smiling, I GOT UP and took care of my work and family even if I did not feel like doing it. Smiling did over time help me to be happier when I was not. To put in motion the positive emotion I wanted when I did not feel it, changed my outlook in time. Some of my outlooks took years to change but because I was patient and faithful, it changed to a positive emotion of understanding and freedom from automatic negative thinking. I learned how to purr. My white cat is my gong, my bell, my meditation chair, my meditation room, candle, my constant reminder to purr, all will be well. I love my white cat.

My Sweetheart has a Tender Heart for People and Animals, Sigh

We had a patient from the wild. My hubby and I love animals. A bird flew into our glass doors and knocked itself out. My cats watched intensely as they begged to go out. After a half hour, bird still not up on legs so I went out and held it in my warm hands, it turned over but looked dazed. 

Sweetheart said, "Maybe if you bring it in and keep it safe for the night it will recover and we can let it go." We made cardboard box complete with screen cover to keep safe. Add water, birdseed, and peanut butter, we waited. Next day I worked all day and so did my hubby. Hubby rushed home in the middle of his day to check on bird and release if possible. 

Once outside it hopped but did not fly. So hubby brought it back in and said, "One more night maybe?" Next morning, bird upright in box, sitting. I said, "Sweetheart we must let it go, it is meant to be in the cold and the wild." He, "But it's so cold and it may not find its friends." Me, "If I was that bird, I would rather die on my own terms in my element, than in this box." 

So we let it out, it was hopping and went under our deck. Husband worried...I love that man, I love that he loves this little bird and wants to help it...me too but I think we can help it best by letting it go. What would you do?

I believe humans should have the right to die on their terms too.

To Live is a Grand Thing, Agatha Christie Knew This

Agatha Christie lived a life that had its hardships.  Her mother did not want her to learn to read until she was 8 so Agatha taught herself how to read earlier.  Her father was an American who married her English mother. He died when Agatha was young leaving her and her mother to struggle financially. It is the thought that because of this she has "greed" as the central reason for most murders in her novels.

She worked in a pharmacy while caring for soldiers during WWI.  Her husband had gone to war the morning after their wedding night and Agatha wanted to stay busy by helping as a nurse.  It is believed that her experience in the pharmacy is also why in her novels she uses poisons may times to kill her victim.

She has suffered a failed marriage due to her first husband wandering eye and lost her mother the same year. This caused her to have what some believe was a minor emotional breakdown when she drove off one day and disappeared for ten days. The entire town was looking for her and the local newspaper encouraged all to engage in the hunt to find the missing novelist. When she was found she had a diagnosis of amnesia as she could not recall how she got to the hotel she was found in or when she arrived.  She was also registered under the name of the woman her husband was leaving her for. The famous mystery writer now was a living mystery herself.

She married again later to an archeologist and found many years of happiness and writing.  Through it all she was known to be thankful always and happy to be alive.  Living was a wonderful thing and as she got older she wanted to live as long as possible for she thought to live was fun.

Once she was asked what she considered was a great day.  She simply answered, "A great day is to wake up and see the sun was up and I have the great joy to live another day.  To look forward to a cup of coffee, a good breakfast is reason enough to want to live."

She seemed to have discovered what every sage teaches, 'The power of now,' just being alive is the most wonderful thing. How do I get there?  Breathe in nature, walk in the woods away from people, commune with free animals roaming outside, enjoy a flock of geese on the water, and just breathe, thankful the sun came up again.  Thankful always thankful.  A key I find in every successful life.

No Hollywood Stars? No Popular Celebrities? The show must go on and it did!

Were you ever in marching band?  It is so much daily hard work and little opportunity to demonstrate your talents except on a homecoming football game or a concert your parents and grandparents basically, attend at school.

And who does not like a marching band?  We do! We do! Love parades!

The inaugural parade and entertainment was not full of celebrities and their floats. Thank God. To them this is just another gig and another way to promote their latest songs to get more money. Hollywood entertainers and popular rappers, singers, have plenty of money to stay in the finest hotels and be seen at the best restaurants in DC.  But these marching bands do not.

These bands were honored to be invited to an inaugural celebration.  They needed money for new uniforms, new instruments, travel expenses, hotels, food, etc.  And the American people helped them raise it alongside of Conservative TV shout outs and Republicans.  These bands received so much donated money that their school had leftover money to do improvements on their campus.  

I bet these people will never forget this gig!  They have a story to tell their children's children and it will be told in the history of their family.  The entire family can join in the happiness of this event.

The military bands and choir are beautiful to see in action and hear their songs.  

The President and his family were as gracious and handsome as any before and the Democrats that did not attend the event today quite frankly are not needed or missed.  This day was fun to see.  And there was no disappointment in not having celebrity attendance.

After years of seeing the same Hollywood faces at every event it becomes boring.  To see fresh faces of everyday American people, who are equal to any "star" is wonderful.  President Trump says he is the president for the "Forgotten man and woman," he says he is for the people.  I can think of no better way than to remove these celebrities from their self-pronounced royal status than to remove them from a prestigious inauguration of the POTUS. There are no royals in this country, our country was founded on that premise!

We love entertainers, we do. We thank you for sharing your talents with us but face it, we can live without entertainers, we cannot live without the heart of patriots of the men and women, the military, who work, protect, and defend this country every day since the founding of it. The show must and will go on without you.  

Mummy Mouse Did Not Help, But Mummy Did Build Mouse Skeletons

Mushrooms and onions were being sauteed in butter when Sweetheart turned oven fan on.  We heard a clicking in the fan and took the fan grill down. We found a mummified brown mouse whose tail was caught on the side and every time the blade went round, it clicked on the skeleton tail.

Up the tall white candlestick
Ran little Mousey Brown
To find and eat the tallow
But he could not get back down
He called Mummy do come quick
But Mummy was in town
So he rolled himself up in a ball
And rolly roll rolly roll
Rolled himself right down

Up this time inside a fan
Ran Little Mousey Brown
To find and eat some bacon grease
But he could not get back down
So he wedged himself beside the blade
To grab a few quick winks
But when he awakened
He can't escape
And now his carcass stinks!

Or something like that, I put on a plastic glove and pulled the mummy mouse out. Bon Appetit!

Ok, I had a friend years ago whose mother was a deaf mute raised on a farm.  She did not have much formal education but she liked to study owls.  She made note of where they perched and pooped so she could gather their feces, separate the mouse bones from the feces, boil the bones, bleach the bones white, and then proceed to completely reassemble the mouse skeleton with glue while the children watched.  She did this several times each winter. Clever Lady! I bet she could put puzzles together faster than anyone in the neighborhood...

We Only Know Life From Our Experiences, a Limited Viewpoint at Best

A lively debate with a friendly acquaintance today proved once again, "A person can go no farther than they know."  Time after time we read stories of someone letting an opportunity pass them by because they did not know one thing... or a rescue was just around the corner when a person gave up trying... When you have limited knowledge you make snap judgments, we all do.  And we are not always correct.

My acquaintance loved Bernie Sanders and feels if this two party system we have in the USA, were a 12 party system like in other countries, Bernie would have been in the running and would have won.  But we don't, so he lost.  He voted instead for Jill Stein. He is petrified with the cabinet Donald is putting together. He nicknamed him "Dump."  He referred to our President elect as "Dump" for the remainder of the hour discussion we had.

This acquaintance is a lovely man personally and says he has a basic respect for all people. (Except President Elect Trump I see.) He was brought up Catholic, never married or had children.  He has traveled the world, working as a model to support himself while he went vagabonding around Europe and other continents.  He had no responsibilities except himself and he had fun with the ladies along the way. He has seen hard times but he found a way to survive.

But he has never had the concerns of a family, a marriage, a business, paid taxes on business, property or schools, yet he is an expert on what Trump is doing wrong. He has never had a need to examine more closely the public education system and the lack of education taught for his child because he has none. (We did and chose private school.)
He believes all rich people are dishonest.  All of them.  Dislikes people who send their kids to private school.

My acquaintance has no experience with running a business, raising a family, getting a mortgage, buying a college education for a child, or understanding any business tax laws, he is limited in his views, yet he is full of reasons President Elect Trump is a louse and doing nothing to benefit our country. He's overly concerned that Trump has a solid gold toilet seat, who cares? (I do not know if Trump has a gold toilet seat? Can we snope that?)

Let's give President Elect Trump a chance. We gave President Obama a chance.
The election is over, we voted... now can we get back to our everyday life?   Inner peace is all we have control over.  

PS A shout out to Melania, please do not put gold toilet seats in The White House, it's gaudy looking and a real waste of tax money, I'm jus' sayin' ...  

Night Without End

Restless night,
Tossing, turning,
Twisted sheets,
Sweating, watching clock,
Listening.

Hour upon hour passes,
Anxious to hear alarm,
No sleep, no rest.

Finally a drift into the deep,
Means one hour of sleep,
Better than none,
Cold nose on face.

Pummeled in head,
Portable alarm hits floor,
Water is lapped,
Crap, awake again!
Open door to let out friend.

Settle down, maybe,
Slumber will return,
Tossing, turning,
Fan on, Oh yes,
This is nice,
Awake to cold kitty spray on neck,
Baby!
Where did you come from?

(Day begins when night never ended. Kids and cats make life wonderful.)

There is a Pain Worse than Death

The first day I met Thelma she was lying in bed on the oncology wing of the hospital.  I introduced myself as her nursing student that would care for her that day.  She immediately grabbed my arm and begged, "Please, please, make the doctors stop cutting me, I want to die!"

I physically had to struggle to get her to let go of me.  She told me,"I have no one. My husband died years ago, I have no children, no relatives, I want to die. Make them stop cutting me! Please!"

In her chart I see she resides at a nursing home but when her cancer begins to grow again, she is brought in for another surgery to cut it out so she can live a bit longer...against her will. As I examined her body for her bath I was heart broken to see the chunks of her body cut out to remove her cancer.  She had so many chunks out of her legs that they looked like a half eaten sandwich. Chunks out of her arms and abdomen made me go into the hall to cry before returning to continue her bath. It was pitiful to see what the docs had done to her body to keep her alive.

The nurses on the floor that regularly took care of her told me. "It is sad. She wants to to be left to die but her doctors won't let her."  When a patient has no one, the doctors become the decision maker for the well being of their patient.  I began to wonder how much of her surgeries were an experiment?

This made me think deeply about what is morally right or wrong for anyone to make such a choice against the patient's will?  I used to think that your life is the one thing you have power over. Whether to live or die should be my choice, but when you get old, that right can be taken from you.

I could not offer any words of encouragement to Thelma, so all I could say,"Sorry this is happening to you."

Hospice was formed to allow a patient to die with dignity on their own terms.  I believe this is humane. (To be considered for Hospice you must be in the last 6 months of life if the disease or illness runs its normal course.) I did refer her to Hospice to see if it were possible for Hospice to intervene on her behalf. I was not assigned there again so I do not know what the outcome was.

Doctors become doctors because they want to save human life.  They spend years even decades educating themselves to save human lives.  Thankful for them for sure.  My experience in nursing showed me two sides to life.  The nursing staff and the doctors.  The nurses know so well, the needs and desires of the patient.  The doctor comes in reads a chart, asks a few questions, prescribes medicine and moves on to the next chart.  The nurses see inside the mind of the patients. Nurses see you, hear you, know that your voice matters.

It is because of my experience in the hospitals, seeing people without a voice in their own health care, that I see the importance of having a Health Care Proxy, a person to carry out your wishes.  You can get a form online if you GTS (Google it)

Healthcare Proxy is someone that should be able to carry out your final wishes but I have seen that if one family member, this one person that wants you stay alive, can supersede your wishes to have the plug pulled even though you have it stated in your Proxy document.  

All I can suggest in this case, is finding a relative or someone that really dislikes you to be your Health Care Proxy. This way you can be assured they will gladly follow your wishes and pull the plug for you when it is time.

Some Preach Diet, Some Soul, Some Mind, I say None of These

GMOs have been a topic of discussion recently.  Scientists with good motives in the beginning, (The need to feed more people, we need to produce more food, faster) have come across a money maker. As is so often the ego of men, the temptation to let things slide for the greater good of man, may have turned out harmful to the many,  but proves profitable too. Now there is a dilemma.

It seems these GMOs are possibly causing many allergens in our bodies and our children. Maybe the peanut allergy of this generation came from the diet these kids consumed?  It seems from what little I have read, chicken, all corn, corn products including corn syrup, and some fish have inconclusive research as to the damage it does to our bodies and our children due to GM.

Vegans preach non-violence to animals.  Religions teach non-violence to our souls. Physical trainers preach non-violence to your body.  Psychiatrists preach non-violence to our mind.

But in the end I seem to do whatever I want to do, regardless of the damage it does to me or others as long as I don't feel any pain. If something feels really good, I used to do this regardless of the harm it did to my body.  I was addicted to sugar in my early life, then I smoked cigarettes for a while,  later addicted to negative thinking, and I found I would only pay attention to the part that caused me the most pain.

So if I begin to feel pain in my body continuously, I seek ways to get rid of it.

So if I feel pain in my mind, continuous stressful thoughts, I seek to get rid of it.

So if I feel pain in my soul, I don't know how to separate my body or mind from a soul, so I'll file this under good conscious, we all have this, then I change what I am doing to not harm myself or others.

Through reading and studying and speaking with people who were experts in each area I discovered over the years that for me, being aware of what I put into my mouth helped my body and mind run more efficiently or not.

Sugar made me hyper, bite my nails, and gave me a cloudy mind.  So I began to cut down on this and felt better, I found I had more energy, and could think clearer.  I cut out obvious sugar (candy, cupcakes, pies, carbonated drinks, milk shakes, milk, donuts, pastries, etc.) for three years and found my bones did not ache anymore.  I slowly was seduced back into it and ate less but did not eliminate it.

Why?  I did not have pain.  I liked the taste of sugar.  It is addicting.

Why did I smoke cigarettes in my early life?  Peer pressure at first, then I liked the high I felt...why did I quit?  I was going to have a baby and read the damage it could do to children, in utero and later, second hand smoke.  Then I learned of the damage it did to my lungs, and quit altogether. I still remember the day I decided to quit, April 9, 1983.  Never picked it up again because I love my children too much to expose them to toxic fumes I can avoid.

Now there is toxic contamination everywhere.  The GMOs in crops, the toxins in soil, the pollution in air, the toxic violent words and actions that pollute the social media, the TV, the movies, the news channels, the prisons of thought that all of these can put me into without me knowing it, what to do?

I have to think for myself.  I have to be open to getting new information in my mind, a logical, reasonable, skeptical but intelligent mind, and then take action on that which seems right and kind to me. If unsure what this is, read.  What sage, guru, religion, gives you peace of mind? "There is nothing new under the sun" (KJV Bible)  and there are plenty of successful and good people living their dream for us to investigate and copy if we choose.

Fanatics come from their story of health and healing that made them free.  If you were healed by vegan lifestyle, juicing and organic diet, this may seem the only way to you.  If you were healed by exercising four hours a day, then this may seem the only way to you.  If you were healed by going to church daily or believing in a guru you found on some mountain in Tibet, this may be the only way to you.

I say"None of these," and in the same breath I say, "All of these."

Just as you and I have that special thing that makes us, we, whatever the cure is for our broken body or mind, only we can find the answer.  If I am to be free of my pain, I have to free my mind of the prisons I live in there.  Only I have this key. Only you have your key.  Think for yourself.

Defense, First Act of War, Try Thank You Instead

Byron Katie teaches how to rid the mind of all stressful thinking.  But how do I deal with other people that are trying to mess with my stress free life?  Recently I was visiting a family member who was in a bad mood.  I knew this and tried to keep conversation light when at the first glance of finding disagreement he pounced.  Now every bad thing he could think of concerning me, came out of his mouth to me.

A student of Byron Katie for a couple years with daily practice, strangely this did not bother me.  I found I wanted to remain silent, BK teaches: "Defence, first act of war."  This came to mind. I wanted to see if there was any truth in what he said, "So I began to say thank you."

He said, "What?"  I said, "Thank you."  He said, "What." I said, "Thank you for giving me your honest opinion, I like people to be real with me.  That is the most loving thing anyone can do for me, is to be real, honest with me. So, thank you."

Then I began to list reasons I was thankful for this person in my life.  Thankful for letting me stay with him a couple of days, thankful for making a cup of tea for me, I really am thankful to have you in my life.  Here's the truth, I AM thankful for him.  He's usually very nice.

Then he began to cry and be quiet.  I told him I loved him and if he wanted to tell me anything else I would listen.  He calmed down, the anger he had displayed seemed to leave as quickly as it came. We talked calmly and then continued with our day.

I came upon this suddenly and without premeditated thought. I guess BK teachings are beginning to sink in.  Thank goodness. I am so tired of being angry, so tired of being selfish, if war is to end, peace must begin with me.

I wanted to See Healings like Jesus, and I did!

Unlocking the Healing Power of You

www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/12/healing-science-belief-placebo/

This article reveals scientific evidence that your beliefs determine the outcome of every situation.  The dividing line between religion and reality of the world and how it works is disappearing.  There are rituals in every culture that promote healing in times of sickness.

Some of these rituals are shown in the website above. (Opens our eyes of understanding to the bigger world.)

Modern medicine is seeing the power of the mind and beginning to incorporate these alternative methods into the treatment plan. I experienced a very unexpected treatment and received an unexpected healing from an "energy healer." Not to be confused with a "psychic healer," this young man is a scientist.  He has the medical degrees in molecular biology and modern medicine to back up his teachings.  He is not a spiritual teacher/healer.

A friend invited me to a one day seminar with Dr. Adam McLeod in Canada.  She was looking for an instant healing for her MS.  Adam had healed his mother of MS years earlier.  

Now when I was a child and heard of Jesus and his healing power, I used to pray to God to let me meet Jesus so I could witness this. I wanted to see someone get healed from the touch of "his" garment.  At this seminar at break time, Adam was walking through the crowd, a woman clamored to touch Adam's shirt and then exclaimed she had been healed. She felt it, she suffered from a heart disease and had not raised her arm in years because of this condition. She raised both arms in the air and the people that were with her cried, "It's a miracle!"  Religious folks...

Adam said he was glad she received the healing but he could not explain it because it was not scientifically possible to have that instantaneous healing.  I was present, listening, watching, not expecting anything.

Later in the seminar as he performed his method, (You can see what he does on YouTube.) and I felt some strange feelings in my head. When I returned home, I discovered after a couple of weeks, I had no more migraines. I continued to focus on the method he taught according to the DVD I bought at the seminar and meditated on the healing to insure it took. 😊

My prayer to meet Jesus with healing powers had been answered.  Many people felt the energy that day in their physical bodies. Later I heard that Deepak Chopra said, "There has not been a person born in over three hundred years that had this amount of energy power." Ok if you say so, Deepak, I certainly don't have access to such knowledge. I trust you on this.  It does not matter really, I saw what I saw.

I went back to see Adam and took our family, I thought it was important for them to know such a person on earth now exists.  Each generation has the teachers needed to expand the universe. When all else fails I tell people about Adam and Isagenix. I totally believe in the healing effects of them both.

Adam teaches we all have the power to heal our body as long as we have control of our mind to focus.  He also was asked that day if an autistic child could be healed and he said he does not see a Down's syndrome individual being able to focus and heal his/her disease because of the brain's inabilities.  Humans do have limitations at times, it is a fact. 

 Whatever happened that day was good for me. To be relieved of those headaches is wonderful.  No more pain meds.  Thank you Adam!

One Thing Leads to Another... Poe and Tolle? What?

Edgar Allan Poe is known for is macabre genre, not a favorite of mine. I was in the Bronx and decided to visit  Poe's Cottage, the home he was renting when he died.  His mother-in-law "and aunt" (Oh my!)  allowed him to marry her 13 year old daughter when he was 26. It was said he had a brother/sister love for his wife and that it was platonic. (Virginia lied on her marriage certificate to say she was 21 years old.)  The daughter's marriage came with a package deal, her mother, her family had become destitute recently.  So EAP became responsible for the financial keep of them both. His wife, Virginia, was a child, and Edgar was devoted to her.  Unfortunately she died of TB only 11 years after their marriage.  Virginia was only 23 years old.

The cottage was rented for $100 a year.  EAP moved his family there for health reasons for his dying wife, in hopes she would recover.  Still Virginia died 8 months after they moved in much to Edgar's sorrow. Edgar continued to travel to Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, etc, reading his poetry and trying to make money. His mother-in-law continued to live at the cottage in his absence. When Edgar was found dead, there was no conclusive evidence of the cause. So his death is a mystery, much like the detective stories he wrote. Maria Poe, his mother-in-law continued to live there until the three years rent was up. She then sold furniture out of the cottage to get money to go back to Baltimore, MD where she had family and lived out her days there.

Now there were poetry societies in NYC and EAP belonged to this group. As editor of a paper, he read and published a few of his favorites.  Two female poets, Frances Osgood and Elizabeth F. Ellet lived in the city and visited EAP and Virginia to discuss poetry and writing.  Both ladies were married at the time and Virginia was fond of Frances.  EAP and Frances seen to be kindred spirits and had fun writing each other poems in letters to one another. Virginia knew and supported their friendship.  Elizabeth became jealous of their relationship and started a scandal that almost cost all of them their marriages.  Later Mr. Osgood would file a legal suit to have Elizabeth retract her scandalous lies and she did. This saved the marriages involved but left a scar on EAP reputation.

Now when I tell you one thing leads to another, I wrote earlier I wanted to know more about women and the history of their lives in the making of American history.  It turns out that Elizabeth Ellet studied diaries and letters, one of the first authors to do this, and compiled a book of this very thing, entitled The Women of the American Revolution.  I am thrilled and intend to get this book if I can find it.  If not for this scandal I might never have heard of her and her books. One thing leads to another...

And to my surprise I find I like EAP short stories!  He is a great writer. You know I bought a book while there, Great Short Works of EAP. I've been reading it and find I like Mr Edgar Poe.

And this makes me think he knew Eckhart Tolle...

Let's Bite, Kick, and Believe

There is no secret that I love LOVE stories.  To see a man and woman go through hard times together and never doubt their love and commitment is my cup of tea.

In times of settling America women were often left at home while men went to work.  Some men were rangers, cattlemen who moved cattle from one state to another, doctors that traveled to their patients, some were homesteaders. Even if there was a bad crop season they stayed together, they had to there was nowhere to go.  Some of them, in time even found true love in their union.

The women had to Cowgirl up to stay alive and feed a family.  There are not as many stories as we would like to hear of the women and their true life struggles being a wife in an unsettled nation but enough is known that life was hard.  Very few women lived in luxury in the cities with nannies and servants in the house.  The days of sitting home learning to embroider and play the fortepiano is not the life of a woman on the American frontier. There is a DVD title TRUE WOMEN based on a true story by Janice Woods Windle I highly recommend to ladies.

Today men, good men, are working long hours to secure a home, car, vacation, and the needs of a growing family.  Sometimes women work too.  But reality is if someone is taking care of the children full time, there has to one person taking care to work full-time, maybe even overtime, so the other can stay home comfortably.  Easier done when the marriage is tight and the two understand you cannot have it all, all the time.

The movie WAFFLE TOWN was based on a book written by James Adams about a VP hedge fund manager that was fired and found himself unable to find employment until he was hired as a server in Waffle Town.  What I liked best about this film was his wife's unwavering loyalty to her marriage and her husband, when having to sell everything and start over.  She was a RN and was required total bed rest at a time her husband had $2.13 an hour job.  She could have totally lost her mind, I have seen women get nasty over much less, but being pregnant, hormones flying, she stayed devoted to her husband.

The best advice in the movie was taught to Jim by a grill cook he met while working at a restaurant. He asked what did Jim love to do?  What would he do for free because he loved it so?  So Jim opened up his own Adams Financial advising average people how to manage their money. Wise grill cook, great friend. The support Jim got from his father and grandfather through it all was impressive. A great family.

My sweetheart and I have been through tough time, and there have been arguments, doubts of how to land on our feet again, how to start over again, but I would not give up on him or our marriage.  I have such a respect and love for this man that sometimes, I really think he was made just for me.

No one understands how we got together, how we stay together, how we fit together, but no one has to, it is not their marriage, not their life.  Only the two of us know how deeply we admire and see inside each other's soul.  

And like I told our children, "There is no way you are going to put two thoroughbred horses in the same stall and not expect to get a bit of biting, kicking the stall walls and loud noises, it is part of what makes them champions!"  😉

 

Better like Your Paradigm because you are Betting Your Life on it Everyday...

Bob Proctor is inspirational. He says he is not a motivational speaker.  He teaches viable methods of making your dreams a reality.  Recently we attended his "Paradigm Shift" seminar live stream and we loved it.

Who the heck has heard of a 'Paradigm?'  He describes the paradigm as a subconscious blueprint that was designed for each of us as a child through DNA and an environment that reinforced the values of it.  Now as an adult we take stock of what we learned and if it works for us or not.  

According to Bob Proctor, whatever your paradigm is, you better like it because you are going to bet your life on it.  Meaning you live every day from the subconscious mind directing the conscious mind to do things.

In my house by the time I was born there were a lot of dashed dreams.  Both parents were disappointed in their lives.  Missed opportunities, plans not working out, it was always because they did not have money.  Money seem to be the reason for everything good or bad and because we did not have much of it there was a lot of unhappiness, especially in my mother.  By the time I was ten the negativity and hopelessness at our house was starting to suffocate me.  It was clear that Jesus could not help even though my mother went to church and prayed diligently.

To even mention a dream or a goal was to hear quickly, "That'll never work out."  After years of this response, a child stops dreaming of a better life and begins to think of how to end this one. (Especially if clinical depression runs in my family and it does.)

What would have helped is a parent to say, "Someday, someway, you may figure that out even if we can't."  But these words were never spoken and my eyes began to dim.  My paradigm began to remind me before I opened my mouth, “That'll never work."  I learned that mantra well.  

What happened to the verse, "All things are possible through Christ that strengthened me?" That scripture was not quoted or mentioned.  I learned that verse after I left home and studied the Bible for myself.  My Christian mother must have never heard that one either. Now I believe your life is possible if you search and find viable means of supporting yourself. Praying alone does nothing.

Parents cannot give what they do not have.  They do their best and that is it. That is what we all do.  I set out on a mission to change my life.  To find reason to live and love.  

It takes deliberate action and daily discipline to keep my mind in a positive state.  First I found a way to understand anger and the root causes of it.  Then I found distinct ways to rid my mind of it.  Next I found a dream again, and now I study those that have successfully achieved theirs to teach me how to achieve mine.

You know I was thinking, there are people born with talent to sing, act, write, research, invent, teach college, become a lawyer, doctor, business owner, even be the Dalai Lama, their path seemed clearer to them at a young age, or it may have been chosen for them. Then there are people like me that are looking to live life with love in it and peace. What I have discovered, many that have the other things I mentioned never found their inner peace.  Many do not know unconditional love.  Result restless unhappiness.

So maybe just maybe I can offer suggestions that helped me find unconditional love and peace that will help someone else.  I hope so, this is why I write...

By george I think Bob Proctor has got it.  I'll be the guinea pig, I'll let you know how it goes. I'm scared but I'm jumping...

Let's Kintsugi Our Life and Shine Baby Shine!

The idea that we are broken is not one I subscribe to.  But if one is to repair someone's "soul" it has to first be seen as broken.  Religions need to make you believe you are broken so religion can create a need in your life for religion to repair you.

What if we are golden as we are? We are born innocent into this world.  No need to be born again, just forgive self and move on.  (Easier to do if you are taught this from birth and loved at home.)

Carrie Fisher stated, "You are only as sick as your secrets." If we openly address our problems, get the help we need to stop hurting ourselves or others, then we can have inner and outer peace.

Which brings me to this Japanese idea of repairing broken vessels used in special ceremonies. I first saw this in a museum and loved the story of it.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dust mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. It treats breakage as a part of the history of an object rather than render the object useless.

This reminded me of my life.  What if every mistake or hurt I ever experienced were mended with golden words of wisdom, sterling silver friends and platinum presence of mind? And what if I valued myself as useful every day in every way on my journey through this life? No need to disguise my mistakes with lies or embarrassment.  Just embrace my life as is.  Good as new, but shinier?

What if?