I know that everything happens for a reason and the Universe sends us messages all the time if only we're aware of it. Well, somehow, I got whacked over the head with it big time today. I'm still not sure what it all MEANS, but I'm sure that in 50 years it'll be utterly apparent and I'll be kicking myself for not understanding at the time. Anywoot, I read Jessica's Blog today, and yeah, a lot of it made sense to me, but I didn't think too hard about it because, well, I just didn't. And then I went to Church today, for the first time in a couple weeks, and we were talking about the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, which is actually quite philosophical. Makes me wonder if she's currently reading Ishamel. ^.~
Anyway, I kind of just wanted to throw my own two-cents in on everything and just kind of ramble on, because I've got a lot inside me right now and I'm not sure all of it will make sense or apply, but I wanted to get it out there anyway.
Okay, um....... for those not familiar with Ishmael, it basically talks a lot about this Mother Culture that we're embracing (that belongs to the whole world, not just the USA), about how we're all takers and don't give anything back to each other or the earth, about how we've lost that connection with nature and think ourselves gods. It's all very insightful, especially around this season when people are trampled to death over a STUPID gaming system (yeah, I want a Wii eventually, but not THAT badly), or almost knocked out because they were in the way of someone else. I mean, come ON, since when did possessions start to matter more than our fellow human beings? Seems to me that in the past 50 years, the 'American Dream' has changed from 'work as hard as you can to make your life better' to, 'get as much as you can for as little work as possible.' I mean, seriously, who WOULDN'T want a job just pushing a button once a day for like, $100,000 a year? I know I would scramble at the chance of getting it. Then I wonder if that's just because I've been conditioned by all the consumerism that's been going on. You know what I mean, 'buy this and you'll be happy!', 'having STUFF is more important than anything else!', etc. I feel pitted against myself a good deal of the time because part of me wants to have the huge victorian-insipired house with lots of knick-knacks and pretty furniture imported from other parts of the world and other sorts of mass-produced things. The other part would be content to be a camp counselor for the rest of my life, making less than minimum wage and working my a** off because that kind of work would be so rewarding.
But anyway. Back to consumerism and mass production. I've actually stopped buying clothes from the girl's section at Wal-Mart and other stores, unless it's the thrift store (or unless they're massively reduced on clearance). Those clothes are SO cheaply made it's ridiculous; the material of the shirts is so thin that you can actually SEE though it. I don't care if that's 'in' or whatever. It's STUPID! How are you supposed to stay warm during the winter??? I don't want to have to pay $15 for a shirt that I'm probably just going to wear as an undershirt or as layers or whatever. I like the guy's section for shirts and even for pants now, because they're so much more COMFORTABLE than the girl's clothes! I really hate that everything is mass-produced and then the prices are jacked up as far as they can to increase their profit-margins. I mean, I understand that yeah, it takes a lot of labour and money to run a company, but if you really stop and think about it, do the CEO's really NEED all that money for working 2 hours a day, 4 days a week? Why not give the money to the people who actually NEED it; the overworked and underpaid and taken-advantage of little guy? Thus the inherent flaw in Capitalism. Not that Socialism or Communism are much better; Socialism still allows people to get something for nothing, which encourages them to be lazy, and Communism, as we have seen, doesn't work unless under a totalitarian dictatorship, which just voids out the entire theory. Besides, people are greedy and lustful; we lust for power and greed for things, so Communism is pretty much a bust theory. There needs to be something NEW introduced, something that's been unlike anything ever seen before. Something that doesn't encourage us to take, but encourages us to GIVE, not only to each other, but to nature and the Earth as well.
I think this is where the conundrum exists, for you cannot exist solely on taking for very long, yet giving everything does not make for survival. A balance between the two would be best; take in as much as you need to survive, a little extra for the luxuries (like a PS3, a DVD player, an Ipod, things like that), and then give as much as you are able; time, money, food, whatever it is that you can spare much of. Teach your children to give as well. Think about the whole 'need vs want' and exercise a little self control. Do you really NEED that new movie? Do you really NEED that huge house or the newest, fastest car, or the prettiest jewelry? It's got to be the hardest way to live, and even thinking about it, I'm not sure that I even want to do it. Why not go for the easiest way out? Lie on your tax returns, hoarde everything to yourself, rely on the government to make the important decisions, live in a little fantasy world with TV's and books and computers and video games. Block yourself off to things that actually MATTER. Wear a mask every day, fake your emotions with people so you don't have to get close to them, so you won't get hurt. Be just another lemming, go to church and go through the motions, don't really LISTEN to the messages that people are trying to tell you, and proclaim yourself something that you have no idea what it truly means to be.
Now I'm not even sure which sounds scarier. o.o;;
I DO think that spirituality really does need to be tied into our lives at every turn. Not necessarily religion, but an awareness of the 'interconnected web of life of which we are all apart' (as the UU's put it, LOL). Everything we do effects someone else's life, effects every aspect of our life, effects the world around us. God, that seems BIG and SCARY. But if you think about it, it's really not. Maybe you taking care of a friend who's in need instead of blowing her off because she's interrupting your REM cycle saves her life. And then she goes on to save someone/something else's life because she's still alive. We can change the world for the better just by inducing positive things, by having positive thoughts. Smiling at someone, being genuinely friendly to other people, especially if they're having a bad day can make their day better. Then they go out and in turn make someone else's day better. True, it doesn't always work that way, but it can if we WANT it to. If we TRY. Geesh, how many times have I given money to the salvation army bell ringers (probably an even more thankless job this year due to the recession and everyone's being tiggtwads), and just made them smile and made myself feel good about it too, because I've given what I can spare. Who knows how many people coming behind me I've made to feel guilty because they haven't given anything and have then chipped in? Probably made them feel better about themselves too. What was I going on about?
Oh yeah, spirituality and awareness of what we do. I DO think that keeping something like that in the front of our minds and woven in to everything we do would have a more positive aspect than negative. I mean, look at our government; separation of church and state is working SO well right now, right? We have ATHEIST leaders, right? Whose morals and ethics don't conflict or come into play whatsoever in any of the decisions that they make? I dunno. I would assume that's the reason why gay marriage and abortion are still illegal and stuffs. So can you REALLY say that we have a good separation of church and state? Guh, I don't even know what I'm really saying. I guess I'd like to see a more spiritual/ethically based political worldview. Probably not going to happen because so many of us (especially those in monotheistic religions) have been taught that our way is the One Way and all other Ways are just lies, or tricks of the Devil or just plain WRONG. But even monotheistic religions encourage this whole 'taking' aspect; that man was created superior and we have the right to abuse that superiority whenever we want. It's not like that at all; we've been born to power and with that comes specific obligations (LOL, quoting Ever After). I don't like the phrasing in my bible; "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruiful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28 ) SUBDUE the earth? After you created it and said it was good? Seems like man is just trying to make excuses for their behaviour by saying that God said it. Personally I don't think that God would ever want for one animal to SUBDUE another or destory all the GOOD things that he's given them. Something in there sounds fishy if you ask me. I dunno. Seems like if we've got such great brains with powers of reasoning and everything that we should conserve and take CARE of the earth instead of just subdue and rule over it.
I dunno, like I said this is me just rambling here, throwing out thoughts.
Oh, and then I started thinking about what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I'm still fairly sure I want to do massage/aromatherapy and add in some accupressure and possibly reiki to the list. I want to help people somehow. I want to change the world, even if it's just one small change at a time.
Love all of you, have a happy, generous holiday this year. =)
Anyway, I kind of just wanted to throw my own two-cents in on everything and just kind of ramble on, because I've got a lot inside me right now and I'm not sure all of it will make sense or apply, but I wanted to get it out there anyway.
Okay, um....... for those not familiar with Ishmael, it basically talks a lot about this Mother Culture that we're embracing (that belongs to the whole world, not just the USA), about how we're all takers and don't give anything back to each other or the earth, about how we've lost that connection with nature and think ourselves gods. It's all very insightful, especially around this season when people are trampled to death over a STUPID gaming system (yeah, I want a Wii eventually, but not THAT badly), or almost knocked out because they were in the way of someone else. I mean, come ON, since when did possessions start to matter more than our fellow human beings? Seems to me that in the past 50 years, the 'American Dream' has changed from 'work as hard as you can to make your life better' to, 'get as much as you can for as little work as possible.' I mean, seriously, who WOULDN'T want a job just pushing a button once a day for like, $100,000 a year? I know I would scramble at the chance of getting it. Then I wonder if that's just because I've been conditioned by all the consumerism that's been going on. You know what I mean, 'buy this and you'll be happy!', 'having STUFF is more important than anything else!', etc. I feel pitted against myself a good deal of the time because part of me wants to have the huge victorian-insipired house with lots of knick-knacks and pretty furniture imported from other parts of the world and other sorts of mass-produced things. The other part would be content to be a camp counselor for the rest of my life, making less than minimum wage and working my a** off because that kind of work would be so rewarding.
But anyway. Back to consumerism and mass production. I've actually stopped buying clothes from the girl's section at Wal-Mart and other stores, unless it's the thrift store (or unless they're massively reduced on clearance). Those clothes are SO cheaply made it's ridiculous; the material of the shirts is so thin that you can actually SEE though it. I don't care if that's 'in' or whatever. It's STUPID! How are you supposed to stay warm during the winter??? I don't want to have to pay $15 for a shirt that I'm probably just going to wear as an undershirt or as layers or whatever. I like the guy's section for shirts and even for pants now, because they're so much more COMFORTABLE than the girl's clothes! I really hate that everything is mass-produced and then the prices are jacked up as far as they can to increase their profit-margins. I mean, I understand that yeah, it takes a lot of labour and money to run a company, but if you really stop and think about it, do the CEO's really NEED all that money for working 2 hours a day, 4 days a week? Why not give the money to the people who actually NEED it; the overworked and underpaid and taken-advantage of little guy? Thus the inherent flaw in Capitalism. Not that Socialism or Communism are much better; Socialism still allows people to get something for nothing, which encourages them to be lazy, and Communism, as we have seen, doesn't work unless under a totalitarian dictatorship, which just voids out the entire theory. Besides, people are greedy and lustful; we lust for power and greed for things, so Communism is pretty much a bust theory. There needs to be something NEW introduced, something that's been unlike anything ever seen before. Something that doesn't encourage us to take, but encourages us to GIVE, not only to each other, but to nature and the Earth as well.
I think this is where the conundrum exists, for you cannot exist solely on taking for very long, yet giving everything does not make for survival. A balance between the two would be best; take in as much as you need to survive, a little extra for the luxuries (like a PS3, a DVD player, an Ipod, things like that), and then give as much as you are able; time, money, food, whatever it is that you can spare much of. Teach your children to give as well. Think about the whole 'need vs want' and exercise a little self control. Do you really NEED that new movie? Do you really NEED that huge house or the newest, fastest car, or the prettiest jewelry? It's got to be the hardest way to live, and even thinking about it, I'm not sure that I even want to do it. Why not go for the easiest way out? Lie on your tax returns, hoarde everything to yourself, rely on the government to make the important decisions, live in a little fantasy world with TV's and books and computers and video games. Block yourself off to things that actually MATTER. Wear a mask every day, fake your emotions with people so you don't have to get close to them, so you won't get hurt. Be just another lemming, go to church and go through the motions, don't really LISTEN to the messages that people are trying to tell you, and proclaim yourself something that you have no idea what it truly means to be.
Now I'm not even sure which sounds scarier. o.o;;
I DO think that spirituality really does need to be tied into our lives at every turn. Not necessarily religion, but an awareness of the 'interconnected web of life of which we are all apart' (as the UU's put it, LOL). Everything we do effects someone else's life, effects every aspect of our life, effects the world around us. God, that seems BIG and SCARY. But if you think about it, it's really not. Maybe you taking care of a friend who's in need instead of blowing her off because she's interrupting your REM cycle saves her life. And then she goes on to save someone/something else's life because she's still alive. We can change the world for the better just by inducing positive things, by having positive thoughts. Smiling at someone, being genuinely friendly to other people, especially if they're having a bad day can make their day better. Then they go out and in turn make someone else's day better. True, it doesn't always work that way, but it can if we WANT it to. If we TRY. Geesh, how many times have I given money to the salvation army bell ringers (probably an even more thankless job this year due to the recession and everyone's being tiggtwads), and just made them smile and made myself feel good about it too, because I've given what I can spare. Who knows how many people coming behind me I've made to feel guilty because they haven't given anything and have then chipped in? Probably made them feel better about themselves too. What was I going on about?
Oh yeah, spirituality and awareness of what we do. I DO think that keeping something like that in the front of our minds and woven in to everything we do would have a more positive aspect than negative. I mean, look at our government; separation of church and state is working SO well right now, right? We have ATHEIST leaders, right? Whose morals and ethics don't conflict or come into play whatsoever in any of the decisions that they make? I dunno. I would assume that's the reason why gay marriage and abortion are still illegal and stuffs. So can you REALLY say that we have a good separation of church and state? Guh, I don't even know what I'm really saying. I guess I'd like to see a more spiritual/ethically based political worldview. Probably not going to happen because so many of us (especially those in monotheistic religions) have been taught that our way is the One Way and all other Ways are just lies, or tricks of the Devil or just plain WRONG. But even monotheistic religions encourage this whole 'taking' aspect; that man was created superior and we have the right to abuse that superiority whenever we want. It's not like that at all; we've been born to power and with that comes specific obligations (LOL, quoting Ever After). I don't like the phrasing in my bible; "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruiful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28 ) SUBDUE the earth? After you created it and said it was good? Seems like man is just trying to make excuses for their behaviour by saying that God said it. Personally I don't think that God would ever want for one animal to SUBDUE another or destory all the GOOD things that he's given them. Something in there sounds fishy if you ask me. I dunno. Seems like if we've got such great brains with powers of reasoning and everything that we should conserve and take CARE of the earth instead of just subdue and rule over it.
I dunno, like I said this is me just rambling here, throwing out thoughts.
Oh, and then I started thinking about what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I'm still fairly sure I want to do massage/aromatherapy and add in some accupressure and possibly reiki to the list. I want to help people somehow. I want to change the world, even if it's just one small change at a time.
Love all of you, have a happy, generous holiday this year. =)
