Just wanted to say
Merry Christmas,
Happy Hanukah,
Have a Killer Kwanzaa and a
Festive Festivus!
I love listening to the Christmas songs on the radio this time of year.
I will often comment to my husband how I like a certain song and he will quickly point out that is not a Christmas song but a winter song. I have started listening closer to what is being played and he is right. Many of them are not really Christmas songs.
Where is the Christ in Christmas? In our efforts to be politically correct and trying not to offend any one are we losing site of what is important to so many?
In Fahrenheit 451, the whole book-burning attitude got started because they did not want to offend anyone. To keep from offending they just squelched any new idea or anything that did not include everyone.
Maybe we are trying to go the other way by creating new holidays during this time of year.
A few years ago a new/old holiday made itself known. This one was called Kwanzaa; it was geared to African Americans but welcomes all.
Now I have heard about another one called Festivus. This one originated from a Seinfeld episode in 1997. Quite a few people are actually taking this and running with it. I am not sure that airing your grievances and telling others how they have disappointed you in the last year is really a good way to further relationships.
Maybe creating new holidays are appropriate. I understand the reason December 25 was established for Christmas was to take over a Druid holiday, changing that holiday into a more “acceptable” Christian holiday. Now I understand Christ birth was probably in April. So maybe we should move Christmas.
Maybe I am being morbid but stick with me one more day.
I have often heard that you can tell a lot about a society by the way they treat their dead. The society in the US tends to bury them and leave them there in peace for eons. Often the graves go neglected except for the caretakers at the cemetery. What does that say about the US society?
I understand Europe is different. I have an Cousin from Germany and she told me that the cemeteries are so full that you “rent” a plot for a certain number of years, then some one else gets the space. I did not ask what they did with the body when they were through with the plot. What does that say about the German society?
Me personally I would like to be cremated and my ashes scattered. I don’t like the idea of being buried and having children and grand children feeling obligated to come and “pay their respects”. I won’t be there so why go through such a ritual?
What are your ideas? How do you want to be treated when you pass on?
Yesterdays post got me thinking about death. I know this is not usually thought about this time of year. In fact discussion of it at all is often put off until some one dies and even then it is often made light of. Why do we have such a repulsion of that topic?
When my dad was alive and I would visit, we would have many a discussion about death and what my dad wanted after he died. He even commented once that my older brothers would not listen to him when he tried to talk about such things and he was glad that I would.
Why do we as a society tend to ignore death until it hits us over the head. Maybe our aversion comes from the fear that once gone always gone, or maybe it is because we truly don’t believe in an afterlife or maybe the afterlife we think we are going to is going to be horrendous.
I was brought up with the Hell, Fire and Brimstone mentality. The religious figures around me tried to present as fact that God was judgmental and we all deserved hell. For some reason this just did not resonate as true to me. Why would God have created us if He were going to hate us so? My God was a loving God. He always was and always will be. It wasn’t until later that I realized that the “Fear of God” was just mans way of controlling the masses, trying to get them to do what the ones in power (the religious order) thought was right.
Fear has always been a tool for control. God who is all-powerful has no need for control tools. Can what we do here in this earthly plan really cause any of these negative man made emotions to come out in an all powerful, all knowing God?
What kind of God do you have?
The holiday season is a time for visiting relatives. This is what we did one day last week. One of our relations took us out to eat and then drove us around town to show us the sites. But guess where we ended up. Visiting our long gone relatives in the cemetery.
It just struck me as odd. Here we were trying to visit with two of my husband’s relatives and we end up in a graveyard. Those that have past on are not really there.
Graveyards can be interesting. I saw a grave of a one day old (a come and see); saw many who had been in the military. It is just that I think the time would be better spent talking to the living and if they want to reminisce and tell stories of the departed, that is fine. But walking around a cold graveyard just does not strike me as quality visiting especially when your time is limited.
I know the “Day of the Dead” is real big in some cultures and that makes more sense as that day is specially set aside and every one knows they will be at the cemetery to honor those who passed on and also to tell their children stories about their relatives.
But when I visit the living, I want to find out what is going on in their life, how they are doing. Tromping around a cold cemetery seems like a strange use of limited time, we know these people are dead and they are buried there so why do we need to go and see the grave. It is not like they are hanging around there waiting to commune with us. Oh well, maybe it is to get in touch with our mortality. These relations are getting older and they may be thinking of the day they will be joining those in the graveyard.
Twilight Zone’s Cultural Impact
Posted by: Ann
December 20th, 2009 >> Books, Life, Relationship, Sacrifice
There have always been influences in society. I don’t think our culture in the US is the only one that experience mass influences. Many through the years remember some TV shows and movies. In this remembering, a group consciousness develops. Sometimes it is just an episode that stays with the society in their memory.
One such episode that sticks in every one’s mind that has seen it is the Twilight Zone: The Complete Definitive Collection
episode of the bookworm. You know which one I am talking about don’t you. It has so pervaded our minds that it is like a group consciousness. The official title is “Time Enough at Last”.
Why would such a show stick in so many minds?
If this same show was shown in a different culture, would it stick in their minds also?
If it made such an impression on so many individuals, would it make an impression on the society as a whole? It does seem to follow that if such a large group of individuals have stored away in their minds the same images or ideas, that culture would be influenced in some way.
Lets look back at this particular episode where a man who loves books is prevented from reading them due to job and other obligations. He finds an escape in the bank vault where he can read undisturbed for a time. When he comes out of the vault, an ‘end of the world’ holocaust has occurred. But this man quickly realizes that this frees him from all obligations and he can now read to his hearts content. He collects books in piles and organizes them as to when he will read what and then the worst happens, he breaks his glasses.
Maybe this speaks to so many because there is so much we would rather do than what we are obligated to do. Just like this man we are lonely in a world full of people because we are not doing what we love. As soon as we are allowed the opportunity to pursue our dreams, does that loneliness disappear? (You can be alone but not lonely.)
Sometimes in the pursuit of our dreams our hopes are dashed to pieces. A long time ago, I found my dream job but soon realized it was not what I had expected. I was not thrilled with it. My dreams were dashed. It takes a while to recover from dashed dreams and to come up with a new one. You are afraid to pursue something new, as the dream now appears better than actually obtaining the dream. You don’t want to be disillusioned again. But it is the dream and the pursuit of happiness that this country is built on. As a human being we have to have a dream even if it is never obtained.
However if the dream is obtained, even if we are pleased with it, we still need a new dream. We always need something to strive for.
The Meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything
Posted by: Ann
December 19th, 2009 >> Guides, Life, Reincarnation, Spirituality, Truth
My apologies to Douglas Adams for the title of today’s post.
Have you ever thought about the meaning of life? I don’t mean to get real heavy on you today. This is Saturday after all.
When I was a teen, I asked my family what was the meaning of life and my sister-in-law piped up that it was to help people. That seemed like a strange answer to me and did not fit my life experiences. After all if that was the meaning of life, why were there so many people out there who needed help? If every one was helping then everyone should have all the help they could stand.
I wanted something deeper, more personal. You might say I have been searching for the meaning of life ever since. I suppose each of us finally settles on a meaning for our life. There probably is no one answer to this question, it is as varied as there are lives and some people give it a lot of thought and others see no reason to entertain the question.
I once heard a story about a little boy who came to kindergarten crying because his mother had lost his reason for being born (she had misplaced his birth certificate). How many of us have lost our reason for being born? Are we accomplishing what we came here for?
I think I am on track. I know I came here for a reason. But for some reason, I am not allowed to see the path clearly. Maybe if the path was well defined and I could see down the road clearly, I would be scared out of my wits. I know if I had known where life would have taken me so far, I would have been dreading the difficult spots and been too scared to go that route.
I guess I just have to live each day and see what happens and take the opportunities that present themselves. Maybe that is all any of us can do on this earth plane.
Conscious Living
Posted by: Ann
December 18th, 2009 >> Books, Energy, Life, Manifesting, Physical/Material, Spirituality
What is conscious living?
My definition is living a life where one is aware of and at peace with their actions. To be at peace with our actions means that we agree that we did the best we could, or we did what was right.
This is more than just knowing what I am doing; it is actually being in control of my actions and knowing why I am doing something. I am deliberately doing something with intention. This does not negate spontaneity. Sometimes an opportunity may come along and a person may deliberately decide they will take that opportunity. A person doesn’t just go along with the flow but they make their own path. In other words they know what they are doing and they agree with the action. In fact living a conscious life will actually open you up to more possibilities, as you will start to notice them.
Conscious living is living in the now. It is being aware of what is going on right now all around you. What do you hear right now? What do you smell? What do you see besides the words on this page? The now will open up in front of you and you will experience more and see more as you become aware.
I know I am not presenting this real well but a good and entertaining book about living the conscious life is Way of The Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman. This book tells the story of a young college athlete and his friendship with an old man who becomes his mentor in striving for a conscious life. This is a really inspiring and mind-opening book. It will change the way you look at your life. There are great possibilities out there but you have to be aware of them by being aware of what is going on around you. For those who prefer movies you are in luck Peaceful Warrior is in DVD form. If you need a Christmas present this will be one that will be used over and over.
I have been talking on censorship the last couple of days. I guess I get on tangents.
I talked about censorship of words, but what about actions. Often actions speak louder than words. You may say one thing but your actions do not agree with the words. That is why raising children is so hard. They don’t do what you say, they do what you do.
It is very difficult keeping your actions in sync with your words. Face it, we are lazy and to live the life that is congruent with what we say we want is hard work.
This is where many people fall down in trying to manifest the life they want. To manifest what you want, you have to be congruent between you words and you actions. If you say you want to be more successful in your business, but you don’t take the opportunities as they come, you will never be more successful.
So we have to constantly censor our actions to achieve what we want and to be who we want. If we live a life that is uncensored we will live an unconscious life.
Yesterday I talked about Censorship of Governments.
What about censorship of the individual? There are times I can think of that I would have been smarter to have kept my mouth shut. Sometimes it is a big battle to hold that little tongue. It may be small but it is powerful and the strongest men sometimes have trouble controlling it.
How many times have words gotten you into trouble? Words can start wars. Words can also end them. That is a powerful thing, words.
We have such freedom now days to get our words across: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Websites. Smart companies scan the web to see what people are saying about them because those words they find have a major influence not just on a few people but thousands, and thousands can impact their business.
But it is still the one-on-one words that have the most impact. What you say to your children, to your spouse those are the most important words.
As we land in this Christmas Season remember your words to those around you. You may have to hold back on what you say because it is not the loving thing to do. If you find yourself short of breath when you do this, it is only natural as your breath (voice) is being stifled. Just tell yourself “yes, I want to say something but this is not the loving thing to say at this time and it is my choice not to say this”. Then you will be able to catch your breath.