Imagine the Great American Eclipse

On this day of the Great American Eclipse, I bring you the best song I ever heard....

God bless us all. May we survive today.

Charlottesville, VA; Violence; Racism

I was raised in such a way as to accept people of color. Particularly black people. I wasn't around a lot of Hispanics, but Asians were local.

Later on, I had a problem with myself. I became intolerant of diversity.

I got angry that so many Hispanics didn't speak English in California, forgetting that the land belonged to Mexico before it ever became part of the United States. Southern Border states all have a disproportionate number of Spanish-speaking residents, partially due to immigration, but also due to preserving their culture. I didn't understand that at the time.

I also had difficulty with California publishing their ballots (voting being for citizens only) in so many differing languages, from Spanish to Korean to Vietnamese, Arabic and others... It grated on me.

I ended up leaving California for the wilds of northern Nevada, only to be faced with indigenous cultures in the form of Paiute and Washoe Indian tribes. I immersed myself in the culture of the Native Americans as much as I could, being a child of the 50s and a white female of uncertain financial means.

For over 16 years, I lived there, blissfully unaware of my growing racism, bigotry, and whiteness.

Then, I moved to east Tennessee. It was culture-shock, to be thrown in with mixed races, mixed heritage peoples. To be in an area that seemed so backwards to me when I was "out west" and find that all my preconceived notions were false, was a wake-up call. As I acclimated to the people, I found that even though Southerners speak slowly, and often with a drawl, they are not stupid, imbecilic, or "hillbilly hicks." Yes, I was pretty bigoted.

I also finished my formal education in Tennessee. There are world-class institutions around here. There is world-class scholarship around here. And yes, there is bigotry, small-mindedness and racism around here. I contended with a lot of it. And I challenged my own bigotry and racism in the process.

I don't know if some of it will ever go away, but I'm comfortable where I am, and I don't think I'm hurting anyone with my current views. I accept all colors, genders, religious, and political views. I do NOT support all political views, but I will defend anyone's right to express themselves in a calm and non-violent manner. I also don't support many of the religious views around here - but again, the Constitution, it's Amendments, and this Republic were based on freedom of religion, as well as freedom of speech. You can have your religion and opinion.

So, having said all that, the Charlottesville riots were a disgrace. The Confederate flag is not a symbol of freedom, but a symbol of oppression. Oppression of all people of color, of any "Other" religious or political view than the person flying that flag. AND it is a statement that the person wants to opt-out of the United States and our democracy. Confederate statues commemorating Jim Crow laws - which challenge the notion that all people are created equal - should be taken down. True monuments of the Civil War are few in comparison.

All "white-supremacy" attitudes are silly. Yes, silly! The first people on this planet were black. And hairy. We came out of Africa. Jesus was dark-skinned with brown eyes and dark hair. He was a from Gallilee - in Palestine. His heritage is Semitic, Jewish, Israelite, Hebrew.

So where do these people get off telling everyone that their religion and color of skin is better than everyone else's? We are all stardust, after all.

The attitudes of the alt-right and white supremacists are racist in nature and practice. That there is somehow a "pure" or "master" race on this planet - espoused by whites (not blacks) is ridiculous. The very term brings back memories of Nazi Germany - which has pretty much outlawed the "Social Democrat Party" which lent it's support to the Nazis. The violence surrounding this militant attitude, with guns and driving cars into crowds, is a mania driven by sickness of heart and spirit.

The sickness is from believing that one is superior and the world not treating you right. It comes out of a "not fair to me" attitude that is pure entitlement because of one's skin color. That is also stupid.

The world doesn't owe anyone anything. We earn it. If you aren't getting what you deserve, be grateful for mercy! You might just deserve a whole lot worse than you are getting. Remember that your treatment of the least is what God will judge you on. Not on your baptism, your skin color or your bank balance. If you want more, give more.

If one truly believes that there is a God who is forgiving and loving, that Jesus walked the earth and taught compassion, and does not do the same for every person one meets, then it is pure bigotry. I don't care what your pastor tells you about it, read the Bible for yourself.

I am not a Christian, yet I follow the teaching of Jesus. I'm not a Christian. Get that through your head. Yet, I follow the teachings of Jesus. I guess I could be called a Jesus-ian.

I recognize that people of color have a hard time of it. Much harder than I have. Systemic racism makes it really hard for them to make ends meet, stay out of jail, or even to stay alive.

I hold a place for people of color. I'm compassionate and giving to people of color. I have relationships with people of color. However, it will also always be true that people of color know more about the way I live than I do about them. They MUST know more about me in order to stay alive. For me, it's curiosity, compassion and friendliness, not a matter of life and death.

I continually fight my own bigtry and racism, entitlement and whiteness. I question my place in the world.

Violence only begets violence. Hatred only begets hatred. Bigotry only begets isolation from your fellow man. Bigotry kills compassion. There is not one person on this planet who couldn't use a little more compassion. Not one. Not even that imbecile voted into the White House in 2016.

There is never a time when violence is acceptable. Not in the home, and not in the streets. And never, ever, in the cause of bigotry or racism.

Senior Services Website

I'm building a website to network caregivers with seniors in the Tri-Cities area. The annual fee to access the caregiver list is $30/yr. To list yourself as a caregiver or provider is free. I need $500 to set up and start the website.

This is spurred by an article I read in "The Atlantic"  about seniors aging in place. The cost of nursing homes is exorbitant, and most folks don't want to go to one. If we can network providers as outlined in the article, maybe we can help our local seniors.

Please read the article. If you want to donate, any amount is accepted. I'll take down the link to donate once the $500 goal is met.

I'm going to make it like the Knox Country Senior Services Directory (an amazing resource in it's own right!) but put it online for the Tri-Cities area.

One of the points the article makes is that these networks are mostly in urban areas, not suburban or rural areas. So this will be directed toward our semi-rural area of the Tri-Cities.

Drivers, house cleaners, cooks, readers, people who will check on seniors...
Anyone is welcome to sign up as a provider.

How I See the Spirit World

This post will seem strange to some folks. Others may identify with me or find in it a similar worldview to their own.

WARNING - This worldview is not for the faint of heart. It places extreme responsibility on the individual.....

The way I see spirit world, I begin with reincarnation. I believe in it. I believe that we come back many times - at least once in each 10-day (1/3) section of each zodiac sign. That makes a minimum of 36 lives. Each 10-day section of each sign is called a "decan." Sometimes, I think maybe we have a birthday on each day of the year, including leap day (Feb. 29). Each day of the year has different zodiacal influences.

Then, we have lessons to learn. We choose the lessons we are going to learn in each life before we incarnate. By selecting our parents, our birth circumstances, and the trials we will experience (the lessons we will learn), whether good or bad; are all chosen prior to birth. These lessons may occur in any or all of the decans. So, each lesson may need to be repeated 36 times or more.

Then, there's Karma. Karma is like a balance sheet. We give and we get. What we give out, we receive back. The bad things must be righted, and the fortunate things are reapings from past giving. Good or bad, giving or taking.

Finally, suicide is terribly bad. When one commits suicide, one is not only giving up on his or her life, but is refusing to learn the lessons chosen for that life. That means that the soul will have to come back and complete the lessons. Only the next time, the lessons will be more severe. It's the price of suicide. The 2x4 becomes a baseball bat. The baseball bat becomes a girder. It augments the power of the lesson. For this reason, suicide is not an option. It is never really an option, anyway.

These conditions, begin our journey. As we live our lives, we blame others for the things "they do to us" even though we likely chose the lesson we were given. Sometimes, we may also receive Karmic debt payments (good or bad).

For instance, my parents weren't really prepared to be parents. I chose their type of unpreparedness. My mother was mentally ill. I chose to have that influence. My father was emotionally and physically distant. Then, I was abused in several ways as a child, and I chose those lessons. The abuse and life conditions gave me a certain resilience and an empathy for others.

For many years, I "blamed" other people for the things I experienced as a child. However, I've had this worldview of the spirit world for many, many years. I experienced the cognitive dissonance that blaming and my worldview - in direct opposition - produced. As a result, I've had therapy for many years, until I had a paradigm shift and things moved into alignment.

I had a "breakthrough" and realized that the blaming had to go. Not only did I have to let go of blaming, I also had to forgive myself for choosing this life.

I don't understand why I chose these lessons or what they are preparing me for, but I'm sure that it will become apparent to me before I leave this life.


Yeah, a big change in my life just occurred. I can stop resenting myself for these lessons. I can forgive myself for choosing them. I can also grow up and incorporate the lessons into my psyche. That means I can stop hurting myself with all the self-destructive behaviors I've indulged for over 40 years.

The lessons are not the important thing in our lives. What is important is what we take away and how we respond to things. I've heard it said that "what other people do to/for me isn't as important as how I react (emotionally) to these events." I believe this is true. Our emotional responses are the real lessons we take with us into the next incarnation - or into Nirvana.

 Nirvana is a kind of blissful state where we are reunited with all the parts of our spirit and god into one. It's a "final resting place," if you will...

That's it in a nutshell. I'd be happy to discuss this with anyone on a one-to-one basis. However, don't try to "convert" me to your religion. I'm over that. I won't try to convert you, either, OK?

94 Questions

I found a list of questions to ask when developing a character for writing fiction on another website (Writers Write) and thought it would be good to ask those questions of ourselves. A good introspective tool....

I will not list the questions here, since I hope you will visit Amanda Patterson's page. However, I hope you will print out the questions and try to answer them for yourself. Take your answers to your counselor or mentor or spiritual advisor afterwords and talk it over.

Questioning who we are, what we were like at different stages of our lives, what we believe, and honoring those we loved best at different times is a good way to see how far we've come (or not) in our development as spiritual beings on the planet.

A good memory certainly helps this process. And if you have parents, ask them the questions, too. You will learn a lot about your history that you probably didn't know. And the phrasing of the questions helps to flush out the family history and put things in perspective.  

Some of the questions are pretty simple...

Who do I love most? For myself, my cats are my closest companions, while I have a few people I call friends whom I've known over 30 years. Some I've known over 40 years, I consider more family than friends. Then, there are the new friends whom I've known less than 10 years. They are like a breath of air from another part of the world. But close loves? That's private, and yes, the answer has changed over time.

The foods I like to eat have also changed somewhat. I still love Italian cuisine, although I change up my sauce every so often, depending on what's in the cupboard. I also like to experiment in the kitchen. Have I always been like that? No. Although I used to bake a lot more than I do today. And my love of hot, spicy foods has tamed a bit. Although I'm still up for a good, hot salsa! The curries are less, and the chiles are more. Go figure....

Have my hobbies changed over the years? Somewhat. I am less physical than I used to be, and I miss it. I particularly miss camping and hiking. My body betrays me when I get too physical, and I end up unable to move for several days. As much as I love the great outdoors, I have to be careful anymore. And horseback riding is out, although boating and swimming are still good choices. I still sew and crochet. My hands aren't as eager for the precision work of Clones Lace, but I try.

Have I traveled? Have I lost something dear? Has fate played with me? These are questions that need answers for each of us. The lessons learned are also questioned in the list. HOW was I affected? WHY is this significant for me?  By answering that, we learn more.

There is a section on the spiritual aspect of life, too. Answer those as best you can. 

Really, this exercise, while designed for fiction writers, has been invaluable for me!