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Lessons in Love and Cultural Competency | Creating the Future!

My sweet cat is slowly fading. Her kidneys are failing, and she has almost entirely stopped eating. She’s been part of my being for 16 years and now I am watching as she slowly fades away.

Last night on Twitter, my friend Christine Egger wondered aloud, “If you hadn’t been taught you had dominion, how would you treat other species? If we hadn’t been taught that, would we be less likely to think we had dominion over other people? Their lives, their choices? What does “dominion over others” mean to you? How do you play it out? I think there’d be a huge part of me that would relax and celebrate more, if I could let that dominion stuff go…”

via hildygottlieb.com

Posted via web from Krishanna's posterous

Erm...

Being a collage artist and a lover of vintage and retro ephemera I've seen lots of old Lysol ads claiming to do a lot of things but I had to rub my eyes when I read this one...

Hat tip to Weirdomatic

Not Half Full, Not Half Empty, Already Broken

“You see this goblet?” asks Achaan Chaa, the Thai meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”

- Mark Epstein 
Thoughts Without a Thinker

Photo Source: Ten Thousand Villages

Are You Going?

LaidOffCampRVA is an unconference for unemployed,
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This event exists to provide an environment for community members to help steer each other in the right direction during these trying times — whether that direction is looking for a new job, starting a company, finding freelance work or becoming an independent consultant."

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Host: The Dominion Club, 6000 Dominion Club Drive, Glen Allen, VA 23059

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Are You Living Life or Surviving It?

When I came to 22 years ago and was thrown headfirst into a world that didn't include booze and drugs, I  decided I was going to put out as much energy into learning a new way of life as I had in living life loaded.

When I became disabled 11 years ago as the result of an incomplete spinal cord injury, I also became determined to live life rather than merely survive it.

It didn't matter that I didn't know how to accomplish those two things. It just mattered that I do them to stay alive and mostly sane.

In the years following those two decisions, I have come to understand that I didn't need to know how. The how of it all just sort of appeared as I kept to the path I had chosen for myself. Sometimes it seemed simple, sometimes it was so difficult that I could only keep my head above water and survive for months or years at a time but I never lost the passion and desire for learning a new way of life and living rather than merely surviving.

As much as I'd like to say that if you practice these 11 things you can learn how to live rather than survive too, I can't. What works for one may not work for another. These are just the things that worked and continue to work for me. But if one doesn't work, maybe another will or you'll be inspired to find out what does work to help you live life rather than survive it.

Be positive. Learn to recognize the negative stuff you think about: the self-doubts, the criticisms of others, the complaints, the why-mes, the excuses why you can't do something. Once you recognize negative stuff, change it right then. Stop yourself when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. Possible solutions, affirmations, happy thoughts, prayers, whatever- it doesn't really matter as long as it is positive. If you are not focused on the solution, you are living in the problem and that makes life miserable.

Don't suffer. I don't suffer much. I don't suffer fools or life. Life isn't all about fun and games.  We lose our jobs. A close relationship breaks apart. A loved one dies. We get physically injured or sick. A loved one becomes sick. Learn to feel the pain intensely, and really grieve. This is a part of life- really feel the pain, walk through it. And when you're done, move on, and find joy. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Focus on now. Instead of thinking about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you experiencing? Learning this through meditation is great, but by bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in everything helps you to live life on life's terms.

Learn new stuff. Constantly learn something new instead of stagnating. Not because you're a dolt but because learning encourages growth and fosters empowerment. Accepting yourself as you are, and learning to love who you are is a part of evolution but without learning and growth we stagnate and become stodgy and inflexible.

Find spirituality. For some, this means finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means being in tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this just means an inner energy or knowledge. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it, and its power.

Be of service. Don't just donate money or stuff you don't want anymore. Donate your time. Get out of your house and find those who live in worse conditions. Mentor someone. Be a child's advocate. Sponsor a recovering addict or alcoholic. Help at homeless soup kitchens. Foster a homeless pet. Volunteer at a hospital or hospice. Meet people, talk to them, work at understanding them. Live among them. Be one of them. Learn compassion and give of yourself. Touch humanity.

Find your passion. Take a chance and discover your calling. Make your living by doing the thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may not be easy, but you only live this life once.

Lose control. Come to understand that control is actually an illusion. We can control how we think and our behaviors to some extent but we control very little of what happens in life. It's generally a bad idea to try to control others; it rarely leads to anything other than stress and unhappiness for everyone concerned. Let others live, and live for yourself. 

Spend time with children. Kids really know how to live. They experience everything  right now, with everything they have. When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun. Learn from them, play with them, and work to be joyful like them.

Talk to old people. There are no one wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life. They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about their regrets and failures, so you can learn from them and hopefully avoid the same mistakes. They are the wisdom of our society. Take advantage of their lives while they're still around.

Love. Maybe the most important. Is your heart a tough bundle of scar tissue? Learn to open it, have it ready to receive love, to give love unconditionally. If you have a problem with this, talk to someone about it. And practice makes perfect. Fall in love, if you aren't already. If you are in love, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and open your heart to life. Or love family members, friends, anyone. It doesn't have to be romantic love. Work at love and being loved, one person at a time.

Beauty and Desecration by Roger Scruton, City Journal Spring 2009

One response is to look for beauty in its other and more everyday forms—the beauty of settled streets and cheerful faces, of natural objects and genial landscapes. It is possible to throw dirt on these things, too, and it is the mark of a second-rate artist to take such a path to our attention—the via negativa of desecration. But it is also possible to return to ordinary things in the spirit of Wallace Stevens and Samuel Barber—to show that we are at home with them and that they magnify and vindicate our life. Such is the overgrown path that the early modernists once cleared for us—the via positiva of beauty. There is no reason yet to think that we must abandon it.

via city-journal.org

Posted via web from Krishanna's posterous