I live in a relatively Gay friendly area and I spent much of yesterday in slightly more gay friendly city than the one I live in. Just like last year, I found myself a little surprised that I didn't see anyone in Purple. Now granted, both last year and this were my days off and I didn't spend much time out at all, so my exposure was limited. But still, it made me wonder why this thing was that was so important to me obviously wasn't as important to others. So I thought I'd take a moment to really lay out why I thought Spirit Day was important enough to participate in.
I wore Purple yesterday because bullying must end. Like Tomorrow
I wore Purple yesterday because bullying isn't just in Schools. It's in adults, in workplaces, in politics, in foreign policy, in advertising, on the internet, and on the TV.
I wore Purple yesterday because when kids (LGBT or otherwise) start committing suicide because of bullying, we *have* to take a stand as a society we must listen to the message they are sending.
By the by, I know the suicides due to bullying are not new, they are just now being publicized. So? Now that they are don't you think we need to start paying attention and help the kids we still can?
I wore Purple yesterday because I fear I may have been one. I honestly can't remember a bully in my childhood and school days and I wonder if that meant that I was one.
I wore Purple yesterday because Peace and Kindness begin within. As within so without, and I know I can't expect people to behave better to each other if I don't behave better too.
As a slight aside, I really don't think Zero Tolerance on bullying is the answer. We have to teach all kids they are worthy of love and support, and that we expect good and kind behavior from all of them. Kicking them out for bullying doesn't teach them they are good and worthy, it teaches them they are hopeless. There must be ways to keep kids safe from bullies, without bullying the bully.
I wore Purple yesterday because bullying--every kind and flavor--must end, within, without, and everything in between.
Be kind, today and everyday.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It is what it is. It is What Is.
Our circumstances are not our experiences. In fact, they are mutually exclusive, although one can influence the other.
Our circumstances are the events and situations in which we find ourselves in our lives. Some of them have a direct line from choices we've made; some seem to be random.
Our experiences are what we make of those circumstances.
In Unity we say that our thoughts and feelings shape our world. "Thoughts held in mind create after their kind."
All too often this is used as basis for "metaphysical malpractice," against ourselves or others, when we blame the outer circumstances that we don't necessarily like on the thoughts and feelings we have. We assert that if we only thought better, or believed more strongly that things would have been different.
But we can never know all of the infinite variables that caused a situation to happen to us. What we can decide is how we will respond to it. We are not at fault for the "bad" things that happen to us, only how we respond to them!
I know this is nothing new, but it bears repeating because all too often the self responsibility tirade is taken to this abusive extreme.
We live in an Infinite Universe. We are each aspects of that Infinite expressing as finite. For that to happen, we all have to have various experiences in various combinations because that is all part of the Infinite experiencing itself. There is no reason why some people have "good" lives and others have "hard" or "bad." It's just part of the Infinite.
This is such a huge idea, such a massive concept, that even I--who believe it completely and use it as my anchor when nothing else seems stable--break it down into little ideas that are more easily managed.
One is Karma. I believe that what I put out there comes back to me. Not because I think it's 100% fair, but because it helps remind me of the kind of person I want to be. I want to be the kind of person that is kinder than necessary. I want to be the person who is compassionate, helpful, sweet, and considerate. So, believing in Karma and creating proof of it in the circumstances I find help me to stay on that path. It is not a fear based belief, (i.e. I don't do something to avoid that happening to me) but rather a tool to remind me of the person I want to be and be around.
The other is the First Principle of Unity. There is Only One Presence, and One Power, active in my life and in the Universe now: God, the Good, Omnipotent.
Except, I edit it. For one, to say only "one power," and then follow with "omnipotent," is redundant. Second, to say there is only one, and then call it "good," is contradictory. If there is good then there must be bad. So either there is only one and it is both good and bad, or there are two. Similarly, I have to ask my self if there is only one power active, are there other powers latent?
So, my second anchor is this: There is Only One Presence and One Power in the Universe, which I call God, and I choose to experience as "Good." This, for me, is the answer to Einstein's assertion that we must each ask ourselves if the Universe is a friendly place. I choose to experience it as such, and choose to experience the circumstances I find myself as conspiring together for my highest good.
Do I really believe that there is a seperate intelligence conspiring either for or against me or anyone else? Nope, not really.
So what is this thing I call God? I experience it as a feeling, a resonance. I can tell the difference between the inner tug I feel that I call ego and the inner tug I feel that I call Spirit. Spirit has a weight to it. Ego has a superficiality, a weakness, that gives me pause and causes me to question its integrity. Spirit sometimes gives me pause as well, but not because I question it's "rightness" but because I fear it's call.
Still, "God," "Spirit," "Ego," "Good," "Bad" etc. are just labels I use to understand the experiences I have, and I acknowledge them as such.
The Taoists have a cautionary parable. If a foreigner comes to you and asks, "What is 'the moon?'" You should point to the moon, but do not let your finger stay too long, lest the foreigner mistake your finger for the moon.
I use labels, smaller chunks of ideas, to understand the greatness of What Is. They are but the fingers, though, that point me at the moon. My great task is in remembering that.
Our circumstances are the events and situations in which we find ourselves in our lives. Some of them have a direct line from choices we've made; some seem to be random.
Our experiences are what we make of those circumstances.
In Unity we say that our thoughts and feelings shape our world. "Thoughts held in mind create after their kind."
All too often this is used as basis for "metaphysical malpractice," against ourselves or others, when we blame the outer circumstances that we don't necessarily like on the thoughts and feelings we have. We assert that if we only thought better, or believed more strongly that things would have been different.
But we can never know all of the infinite variables that caused a situation to happen to us. What we can decide is how we will respond to it. We are not at fault for the "bad" things that happen to us, only how we respond to them!
I know this is nothing new, but it bears repeating because all too often the self responsibility tirade is taken to this abusive extreme.
We live in an Infinite Universe. We are each aspects of that Infinite expressing as finite. For that to happen, we all have to have various experiences in various combinations because that is all part of the Infinite experiencing itself. There is no reason why some people have "good" lives and others have "hard" or "bad." It's just part of the Infinite.
This is such a huge idea, such a massive concept, that even I--who believe it completely and use it as my anchor when nothing else seems stable--break it down into little ideas that are more easily managed.
One is Karma. I believe that what I put out there comes back to me. Not because I think it's 100% fair, but because it helps remind me of the kind of person I want to be. I want to be the kind of person that is kinder than necessary. I want to be the person who is compassionate, helpful, sweet, and considerate. So, believing in Karma and creating proof of it in the circumstances I find help me to stay on that path. It is not a fear based belief, (i.e. I don't do something to avoid that happening to me) but rather a tool to remind me of the person I want to be and be around.
The other is the First Principle of Unity. There is Only One Presence, and One Power, active in my life and in the Universe now: God, the Good, Omnipotent.
Except, I edit it. For one, to say only "one power," and then follow with "omnipotent," is redundant. Second, to say there is only one, and then call it "good," is contradictory. If there is good then there must be bad. So either there is only one and it is both good and bad, or there are two. Similarly, I have to ask my self if there is only one power active, are there other powers latent?
So, my second anchor is this: There is Only One Presence and One Power in the Universe, which I call God, and I choose to experience as "Good." This, for me, is the answer to Einstein's assertion that we must each ask ourselves if the Universe is a friendly place. I choose to experience it as such, and choose to experience the circumstances I find myself as conspiring together for my highest good.
Do I really believe that there is a seperate intelligence conspiring either for or against me or anyone else? Nope, not really.
So what is this thing I call God? I experience it as a feeling, a resonance. I can tell the difference between the inner tug I feel that I call ego and the inner tug I feel that I call Spirit. Spirit has a weight to it. Ego has a superficiality, a weakness, that gives me pause and causes me to question its integrity. Spirit sometimes gives me pause as well, but not because I question it's "rightness" but because I fear it's call.
Still, "God," "Spirit," "Ego," "Good," "Bad" etc. are just labels I use to understand the experiences I have, and I acknowledge them as such.
The Taoists have a cautionary parable. If a foreigner comes to you and asks, "What is 'the moon?'" You should point to the moon, but do not let your finger stay too long, lest the foreigner mistake your finger for the moon.
I use labels, smaller chunks of ideas, to understand the greatness of What Is. They are but the fingers, though, that point me at the moon. My great task is in remembering that.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
12-12-2012
The idea: Some people believe that since the Mayan calander is set to end on this date, that the world will end with it. Some argue that even the Mayan believed that this was simply when the calander would start over, or that it would be a point of such great transformation as to warrant a new calander.
My Initial Thought: It's a week before my 30th Birthday: Close enough to the end of the world as far as I'm concerned. (Ok, not really. I'm actually quite excited to be 30.)
My Thoughts, extended: Everyone has an "end of the world" fear. Whether that is their own demise, a change so drastic as to upturn the world they thought they knew, or a literal end to the whole, objective world, everyone has this fear somewhere in them. We fear that which we don't know or understand. Slowly, along the way, we realize that as changes happen, life goes on and we adjust. Of course, as we adjust, we get comfortable, then find ourselves fearing change once again. The only significant change that life (at least, as we know it) does not go on after, is death.
Death is the one change that the best thing we have that we can glean any comfort from is a strong belief in what amounts to speculation. Many of us take great comfort in what we believe happens after we die. However, since, as is often said, no one has come back to tell us exactly what that is, it remains unproven.
I take my comfort, however, on this side of the veil. I, for one, and many like me, don't fear death so much as not truely living while I'm alive. I've been fortunate to have experiences where I knew at the depth of my being that if I should die, I'd die knowing that the people I love know I love them, that most of my life so far has been lived in a way I'd be proud of, and that my regrets aren't so much what I've done as what I haven't done. It's not as good as no regrets, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I'm a big fan of stories. Stories move us, change us, shift us in subtle but important ways--at least good ones do. Stories, though, also shed light on ourselves as we are. They show us aspects of ourselves in magnification so that we may notice and acknowledge them. Stories teach us and give us context for moments in our lives. Many of us don't know what such archetypal experiences are like until we experience them so we need stories so that we can identify them when they happen and know that we are not alone. Just as words cannot define love, only experience can. Still, we tell stories, many many love stories, so that when we do experience it, we know the stories are all true. I believe that stories, myths, legends, scripture, and parables all exist and get carried on because they touch a part of our basic human nature. They give us magnified, dramatized context to understand the story of our own lives. In my opinion, the more popular, or the longer lasting they are, the deeper and more accutely they touch our souls. The trick, often, is to remember that the story reflects a part, or even several parts, of ourselves, so we must be careful not to let a single story define us completely.
End of the World stories, are exactly such soul touching stories. They grab us at our deepest fears and hold it out to us. They grab us so completely, that many of us do start to define ourselves by it. Many, many more of us let it stick enough that we may even question our existence as the date looms closer. Who among us didn't hold even a little tiny breath when Y2K changed over? Who among us have never, ever questioned what our life would be like should the world be over tomorrow?
Even still, I belive that stories touch us because we relate to them. Whether it is the End of the World, Meeting our Maker, Judgement Day, the Apocolypse or what have you, we consider what it will be like when our world ends. The End of the World stories give us a context to understand those experiences that bring us to our core. Those times when we know it is just us and the Truth. When we face the God of our understanding, the cold and true Mirror, or our own selves and know that there is no hiding, no veiling, no splitting hairs. That all we have ever done and not done, said and not said, is laid bare before us and our own judgement.
Those of us that are lucky, truly and wonderfully blessed, get that moment before we die. We have that opportunity to look at every choice we've ever made and decide what we want to continue with, and what we want to change. If we are honest enough, and if we are courageous enough, we can make those changes. That initial moment in my life made me want to tell more Truth, and choose less fear. I cannot say that I've been 100% able to do that, but I can see my choices more for what they are. Of course, once you have had that initial experience, you can have it more and more often, with less terror each time.
I believe that the End of the World stories are there to give us language and context for those experiences. So that those who've never had them recognize it when it comes. I also believe that these stories help us who are too afraid to have the experience see it for the blessing it is and have the courage too take honest moral inventories of ourselves. I believe that the End of the World stories keep popping up because people get to these stages at different times. Some have dates, like 12-12-2012, because some people need a deadline. So, as each deadline passes, another must be invented or found so that the people who need the story have it at hand.
That experience is blessed, but the stories have another point. End of the World stories have the common theme of beseaching us to be ready when the End comes. Apocolyptic thought always asks us to prepare ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually for what may happen after. When your deadline comes,will you be ready? Whether it comes before your death, at your death, or at the death of us all, what preparation do you need to be ready? I guess that answer is as individual as the stories that are told.
Of course, when it comes right down to it, I cannot prove that life as we know it wasn't just created mere moments ago and that what we call memory, history, or experience wasn't placed into our minds as illusion. So, I also cannot prove that life will not be blinked out of existence moments after I write this, or you read it, or hear it.
Similarly, we don't know if the Mayan calander truly predicts the physical, objective end of the world, the end of the world as we think we know it now, or simply the end of some peoples worlds, just as some peoples worlds end every day. Some will have their suspicions confirmed on 12-13-2012, if there is one, and some will need a more cosmic perspective.
Personally, I kind of wonder if we aren't just putting too much meaning into a number that someone thought was so astronomically far away as to never be reached anyway. Are we limiting our own lives based on the limited imagination of some person or persons from hundreds of years ago?
The gist: The End of the World may or may not come. The question is really, if it does for you, are you ready?
My Initial Thought: It's a week before my 30th Birthday: Close enough to the end of the world as far as I'm concerned. (Ok, not really. I'm actually quite excited to be 30.)
My Thoughts, extended: Everyone has an "end of the world" fear. Whether that is their own demise, a change so drastic as to upturn the world they thought they knew, or a literal end to the whole, objective world, everyone has this fear somewhere in them. We fear that which we don't know or understand. Slowly, along the way, we realize that as changes happen, life goes on and we adjust. Of course, as we adjust, we get comfortable, then find ourselves fearing change once again. The only significant change that life (at least, as we know it) does not go on after, is death.
Death is the one change that the best thing we have that we can glean any comfort from is a strong belief in what amounts to speculation. Many of us take great comfort in what we believe happens after we die. However, since, as is often said, no one has come back to tell us exactly what that is, it remains unproven.
I take my comfort, however, on this side of the veil. I, for one, and many like me, don't fear death so much as not truely living while I'm alive. I've been fortunate to have experiences where I knew at the depth of my being that if I should die, I'd die knowing that the people I love know I love them, that most of my life so far has been lived in a way I'd be proud of, and that my regrets aren't so much what I've done as what I haven't done. It's not as good as no regrets, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I'm a big fan of stories. Stories move us, change us, shift us in subtle but important ways--at least good ones do. Stories, though, also shed light on ourselves as we are. They show us aspects of ourselves in magnification so that we may notice and acknowledge them. Stories teach us and give us context for moments in our lives. Many of us don't know what such archetypal experiences are like until we experience them so we need stories so that we can identify them when they happen and know that we are not alone. Just as words cannot define love, only experience can. Still, we tell stories, many many love stories, so that when we do experience it, we know the stories are all true. I believe that stories, myths, legends, scripture, and parables all exist and get carried on because they touch a part of our basic human nature. They give us magnified, dramatized context to understand the story of our own lives. In my opinion, the more popular, or the longer lasting they are, the deeper and more accutely they touch our souls. The trick, often, is to remember that the story reflects a part, or even several parts, of ourselves, so we must be careful not to let a single story define us completely.
End of the World stories, are exactly such soul touching stories. They grab us at our deepest fears and hold it out to us. They grab us so completely, that many of us do start to define ourselves by it. Many, many more of us let it stick enough that we may even question our existence as the date looms closer. Who among us didn't hold even a little tiny breath when Y2K changed over? Who among us have never, ever questioned what our life would be like should the world be over tomorrow?
Even still, I belive that stories touch us because we relate to them. Whether it is the End of the World, Meeting our Maker, Judgement Day, the Apocolypse or what have you, we consider what it will be like when our world ends. The End of the World stories give us a context to understand those experiences that bring us to our core. Those times when we know it is just us and the Truth. When we face the God of our understanding, the cold and true Mirror, or our own selves and know that there is no hiding, no veiling, no splitting hairs. That all we have ever done and not done, said and not said, is laid bare before us and our own judgement.
Those of us that are lucky, truly and wonderfully blessed, get that moment before we die. We have that opportunity to look at every choice we've ever made and decide what we want to continue with, and what we want to change. If we are honest enough, and if we are courageous enough, we can make those changes. That initial moment in my life made me want to tell more Truth, and choose less fear. I cannot say that I've been 100% able to do that, but I can see my choices more for what they are. Of course, once you have had that initial experience, you can have it more and more often, with less terror each time.
I believe that the End of the World stories are there to give us language and context for those experiences. So that those who've never had them recognize it when it comes. I also believe that these stories help us who are too afraid to have the experience see it for the blessing it is and have the courage too take honest moral inventories of ourselves. I believe that the End of the World stories keep popping up because people get to these stages at different times. Some have dates, like 12-12-2012, because some people need a deadline. So, as each deadline passes, another must be invented or found so that the people who need the story have it at hand.
That experience is blessed, but the stories have another point. End of the World stories have the common theme of beseaching us to be ready when the End comes. Apocolyptic thought always asks us to prepare ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually for what may happen after. When your deadline comes,will you be ready? Whether it comes before your death, at your death, or at the death of us all, what preparation do you need to be ready? I guess that answer is as individual as the stories that are told.
Of course, when it comes right down to it, I cannot prove that life as we know it wasn't just created mere moments ago and that what we call memory, history, or experience wasn't placed into our minds as illusion. So, I also cannot prove that life will not be blinked out of existence moments after I write this, or you read it, or hear it.
Similarly, we don't know if the Mayan calander truly predicts the physical, objective end of the world, the end of the world as we think we know it now, or simply the end of some peoples worlds, just as some peoples worlds end every day. Some will have their suspicions confirmed on 12-13-2012, if there is one, and some will need a more cosmic perspective.
Personally, I kind of wonder if we aren't just putting too much meaning into a number that someone thought was so astronomically far away as to never be reached anyway. Are we limiting our own lives based on the limited imagination of some person or persons from hundreds of years ago?
The gist: The End of the World may or may not come. The question is really, if it does for you, are you ready?
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