spontaneous birthings
head fluff when illuminated can reveal some very special thingsArchive for history
high-five CT!
Funny how we live in a culture that crams diversity down your throat, and yet news like this: Connecticut Ruling Overturns Ban on Same-Sex Marriage is newsworthy at all. Being respectful and kind to another person isn’t news. Hasn’t anyone heard of the Golden Rule? We talk a fluffy Kumbaya, but when it comes right down to it, we’re scared to death of unfamiliarity.
I mean, high-five to CT, but seriously, it’s about damn time.
So my message to you, dear readers, is: Get your head out of the sand and get familiar with your neighbors. Be nice and stop judging. Thank you.
reach out & do something
We fight obesity while millions of children and people around the world are starving. We spend thousands on invetro fertilization while millions of orphaned children suffer alone in the streets and are displaced by brutal civil wars. We complain “there is not enough time” as we rush from work to the gym to soccer practice to the grocery store and back home again. For the rest of the world, time is recorded by endless accounts of death, famine, genocide, AIDS and dehydration.
My interest in our colorful humanity and the amazing power of the human spirit is strengthened every day, by the people that inspire me in their own special ways – my personal dear friends, as well as all the people I have gotten to know through the pages of books.
I have been reading many stories about the current happenings in Darfur and other parts of Africa and am shocked of the atrocities going on there. I have been thinking of my own ways to help the millions of children who are starving , suffering from AIDS because they have no access to medicine, or just struggling to survive on a day-to-day basis, but in the meantime, here are a few ways for you to help. Because we are all brothers and sisters. Because your left-over change can save a child from death.
Educate yourself and do something about it.
Visit my (new) outreach page as a starting point. And if you’re already contributing to the positive outreach of an organization, let me know.
response to 9/11
The events that happened six years ago have changed America in such profound measures that time has shifted such that 9/11 is the new “B.C.” and “A.D.” History is now marked as “pre” and “post” 9/11 and we all understand what that means. Some may say that we have made great progress these past handful of years. An attention to emergency-preparedness plans has been heightened (umm..but what about the dramatic failure of the attention given to the victims of Hurricane Katrina?). Our president says that increasing our military presence in the Middle East is effectively keeping the “terrorists” at bay, but I beg to differ. What it’s keeping at bay is the support and friendship of the rest of the world.
I think recalling past tragedies is necessary for any country. It is an opportunity for people to become a collective, to come together for a positive purpose, to recognize the power of humanity. Unfortunately, I think the media and government leaders and even our neighbors continue to think of 9/11 from a defensive point of view. We were once attacked and must do the same to our enemies – because what else is there to do?
If I’ve learned anything from my training in tae kwon do, it is that force should be the very last alternative used in combatting an attacker. Force never guarantees positive results – for the attacker or the attacked. It is a cowardly response to a threat.
I do not know why human are instinctively compelled to fight back or why the instinct is stronger for some countries than others. But the combatitive gene has been present in civilizations since the beginning of time. This leads me to a string of philosophical questions that will have to wait for another post, but…
Imagine the strength that could emerge from a collective group of hope-inspired and motivated individuals. Imagine if all Americans who share a few moments of silence in remembrance of those who died six years ago shared a common respect and love for all humanity – every day. What an impenetrable group of people we would be then.
they poured fire
After reading Dave Egger’s What Is The What, I have been consuming stories (both true and fiction) about Darfur and the Lost Boys like candy. ”Candy” sounds so inappropriate in comparison to the deaths, starvation and desperation refugees have witnessed and experienced in the war-ridden regions of Sudan.
War makes my heart feel heavy, but when I read the stories of how young boys survived such cruel lives, I am filled with hope – their stories of courage and their respect for life reminds me not to take powerful mysteries for granted, like my own breath, my mind, my physical health, my curiosity and my admiration of all people. Visit my shelf friends page for a link to the official They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky website (or click on the banner above) and to see how you can support the Lost Boys, including purchasing a CD by Alepho Deng’s band Thong Jieng.
best part of small
Big, bombastic, “look at me! look at me!” changes are no better, no more significant, than small, humble changes. As I mentioned in my previous post, even small changes are noticed – it all depends on how they transform the person.
I admit that I look for big changes more than small changes. I’ve never had to find change; it always happened to me. I was used to my life shifting completely, spontaneously by the time I was 5 years old. In the past year and a half, my life has changed dramatically, and now I am so used to it that I expect big changes to occur at any moment.
But now I’ve learned that small changes are equally as important, equally as life-changing, and perhaps more needing of attention than big changes. Small changes contain hues of experience and require interpretation that can reveal hidden truths in the soul. Dramatic? Perhaps, but I do believe that we do not respect our small changes enough.
Over the long weekend, I attempted some carpentry and put up 2 very nice shelves and with the help of my father, put together a media stand. For the average person, this is nothing of note. But to me, these are events worthy of celebration.
Why not celebrate the small things? That’s the best part about getting past the big obstacles.
