Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

In Organic We Trust

I just watched this documentary, In Organic We Trust; I'm all about making informed (from both sides of an issue) decisions. Based on the title and description, I expected the film to be the con side of the food issue; I know that "organic" does not mean "certified organic", just like "whole wheat" does not mean "100% whole wheat."



This film is inspiring! It was a well balanced documentary that touched on all my buttons, was incredibly informative and educational, and the whole point was about making informed decisions about food by being connected to how it grows, how it is industrialized, and how you can have the best food. Healthy should not be, and does not have to be, only for the wealthy!

This spring/summer is my third gardening year. Every year I learn something new. Gardening has all the emotional benefits of raising a child. My plants are my babies, and they will grow up to change the world. This movie inspires me to share, learn, and teach about my "children"; I think I'll start a new blog. Stay tuned for MonaRAEgrows (or something like that!)

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

My New Year's Eve Diary



Hello readers,  I think I want to start a new blog that is more directed toward self discovery and separate that from my bead and jewelry and art blog. I finally created a Cellini Spiral and made a gorgeous necklace out of it for New Years. I will take a picture soon and post. Now I've started another one! I'm also going to be doing a reveal for my Memories Bead Soup very soon! In the mean time, here's a diary entry from my New Years Eve festivities!

I watched Dr. Phil yesterday; he talked about asking oneself “What am I serving with this thought/action?” I fell onto The Secret movie this morning; it brings home manifestation of what you want through feelings and visualization and changing attitudes to those of abundance or presence. I see the connection with The Desire Map. I have already realized that the simple thoughts of my desire for feelings manifest very quickly in my life.

I was a little afraid to go out by myself on New Year’s Eve. I wanted to feel “beautiful” and as I was putting on makeup and deciding what to wear, my inner dialogue was saying “not TOO beautiful, not TOO noticeable, not TOO intimidating” and the reply was “I want to be beautiful because I want to be seen, I want to be admired, the “too” is someone else’s judgment, not my own. I desire to be beautiful and seen.” I also reminded myself that I desire community and feeling connected. I was worried that I wouldn’t feel welcomed by people I already knew and that I would not have a desired place to sit at dinner. I also desired to have enough money and not spend more than I had; at the time I thought I had $10.00. I had only $5 and that was all I ended up needing all night long!

When I walked into the lodge, I was immediately greeted by friends, with hugs, and kisses, and compliments on how beautiful I looked. I walked through saying “Happy New Year” and giving hugs. I walked into the dining room because I wanted to greet the wife of a friend; as I looked around I didn’t see anyone else I knew and worried a little about where I would sit and hoped I would receive an invitation. I quickly retreated into the smoking room, and took a breath of relief that no one was there and that I was alone. Then I went back into the dining room where even more had gathered. I saw some friends at a table with seats open and when I got there, there were names reserving the empty seats, however the people already sitting said, no these are open, and invited me to stay; I felt wanted. That feeling lasted the rest of the night. We had a wonderful dinner and took our bottle of champagne with us into the social quarters where they were doing Karaoke. As I looked for a place to sit, I was asked to join the same group I had dinner with. As they pulled out a chair, specifically for me, I felt wanted. I sang from my seat as did my table mates, wanting to hold the microphone, but feeling that I didn’t want to be that noticeable, I remained, content to sing from my seat. I took time to wander and mingle as well. Eventually, I did sing with the microphone, and was a little embarrassed by the surprise and adulation. I had an immensely good time.

After leaving I stopped at the resort lounge on the way home. Some of my favorite people were there, and a drink was bought for me. I got lots of truly beautiful hugs and thoroughly enjoyed people watching; I even danced by myself in the huge crowd. At one point I noticed a gentleman who had been waiting for service a loooooong time; I told the bar tender and she served him right away and he was happy. 

I noticed another friend I hadn’t seen in a long time as he was being served across the bar; I got his attention and toasted the air to him. He came over and gave me a biiiiiig hug. This young man is very different, and very young, and all the compliments he had given me in the past seemed less than genuine, but he STILL gave them this night, and they were truly genuine, and I didn’t feel embarrassed or the need to make excuses; I just accepted them as truth, like a gift, and felt grateful. 

I had been noticing another man; he resembled the Unabomber a little, always wearing his hoodie on his head. He wandered back and forth, sometimes seeming like he wanted my attention; I avoid people, men, who want my attention because I think they only want sex. Toward the end of the evening I noticed this same man, sitting in a chair, looking somewhat in pain. I noticed someone else looking at him as well, but with great caution and fear more than concern. I walked over to the young man whose hood was over his head and his head was buried in his arms, like a shield from things he did not want to see or hear. I just asked him if he was going to be okay, and did he have someone who would take care of him. He looked up and said, “Thank you SO much for asking; you have no idea how that makes me feel, you have no idea how important to me it is.” I hugged him tightly, and looked authentically into his face, grateful but wordless for the acknowledgement. I touched his cheek, and was amazed at how soft his skin was and how contradictory that softness was to his appearance. I asked him if he had people in the bar that he was with or was he alone; he assured me he was not alone so I felt that he was safe. I told the bartender to watch out for him and keep others away from him that might do him harm; she understood completely and perfectly and with great intention promised her guard. 

Earlier there was a woman, about 15 years older than myself, and as she went to the bar to order she was singing and dancing. I saw her again, dancing her heart out. When the band was done for the night I was leaving, and this woman was helping the band load their equipment into the van outside. From a 20 foot distance I stopped, turned around, pointed at her, and yelled, “Woman, you ROCK!” She was floored, and so incredibly grateful, and said, “You have no idea what that means to me. Thank you sister.” And I went toward her, hugged her tightly, thanked her for the opportunity to let her know, and thanked her for acknowledging how much I meant to her. I felt so good, so joyous, so loving and so loved.

That day I had talked about advocacy as a core desire, but struggled with a single word for the “feeling” of advocacy. I manifested within myself the response of advocacy where ever I went that evening. I manifested beauty, love, community, and connection. I felt love and joy and graciousness. I felt sooooo good.

I noticed last week or so that I could identify characteristics that I was not already, and realized that I needed to focus on feelings that I want MORE of, not that I want to create from scratch. I need to look at what I already feel and desire more of it, rather than what I lack. It isn’t about finding the perfect word, it’s about finding the perfect feeling and describing it with words and then declaring that I want more of that feeling and then visualizing that in my world and what the world looks like with me in it “that way.”

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I'm an Addict; so are you!


Wow! Posting two days in a row! My plan was to watch a documentary and then take pictures of my jewelry and beads. I'll get back on track, but first I feel it is my duty to share the documentary with you.

A Crude Awakening: the Oil Crash (click the link to watch for free; watch carefully and thoughtfully, over a period of days if that's what you need, but watch and listen and THINK.) "Through expert interviews, this documentary examnes the world's dependency on oil and the chaos that's sure to follow when the resource runs dry." (2006.) 

 A topic like this is often overwhelming because it is immediately apparent that the problem is global, and immediately daunting and inconceivable that as individuals we can make a difference. I know we can; I know we must believe we can make a difference. The key is to understand that we must make a choice now, and we must make a difference in our own life; local scale and time WILL make a difference globally.

Solar Energy in India
The only natural resource that produces the amount of energy that we now receive is solar energy. It is also the only natural resource that can meet the demands projected for the future based on current growth of population and industry. However, the technology on the global scale is not advanced enough to put it effectively in place ON TIME. That is the key; time. 

The Economist
We are not out of oil, but we are using more oil than we have reserves for. The wars are about oil; do you want to live in a world that insists on taking energy by force? That is one of two choices we can make. The other choice is to understand the other key; scale. 

If we try to address the issues of energy demand-versus-supply on a global scale, we start at a losing position; the second choice we have is to address the situation on a personal scale. Look at personal use of oil; then look at how personal use of oil can be replaced. 

Texas Tribune
No, I do not pay directly for the oil used to deliver groceries to my dinner table, but when I understand that I certainly contribute, I can see that if I grow my own vegetables, my contribution to the use of oil energy is greatly reduced. I can also see that if everyone in my town did the same, the impact on my community would be huge, huge, huge. 

Deanna Smith's Blog
It is exciting to think I might convince everyone in my town to grow a vegetable garden, to raise their own beef and poultry, to fish from the rivers, and hunt the land. That last one poses many problems on its own, but if we would just start with gardens. 

Crazy Jungle Blog
We also need to start with our children. Teach them to think not of their personal gain in the future, but rather their personal contribution. We do that already, sorta’. We teach the kids to do a community project in order to graduate high school and in order to have a better application for college, but it is all to their own personal gain in the end. 

We say our kids are our future, but we teach them to fend only for themselves and to aim for a personal goal that will give them financial stability and excess, to compete against each other, and to fear having no money. It is not too late to give that effort a tweak. 

I will talk to my son about this. We recently had a conversation about politics and Monsanto and independence in crisis. My son’s question was, “How can we make a difference? What should we do?” At the time I said, “Stay local; buy local; grow local; vote local.” Now I will expand that answer;  Make a difference by providing a way to use energy locally in a different way. 

I’m going to ask my son to focus not on becoming wealthy but to focus on energy, ingenuity, and teaching locally how to be independent and harness local sources. I’m going to look at how to harness solar energy on my own; I’m going to look at the Tesla Coil; I’m going to look at the efficiency of producing energy and reducing oil dependence.  Just look at all the things I CAN do!!

The Dullum File
And I’m going to vote for politicians who tell the truth. How will I know it’s the truth? I’ll know it is the truth when they tell me the bad news rather than the good; when they tell me it will be hard rather than to be hopeful; when they tell me what it will take to change rather than simply a desire to make a change. I CAN handle the truth.