Heaven?

Another senseless death last night

The phone rang while I washed the dinner dishes.

It can wait.

     I came upstairs a few minutes later to see a call from my unofficial son.  A young man I took into my heart years ago who lost his mother at a young age.  He never actually calls.  He text and shows up with goofy grins from his latest love interest, but he never calls.  I call back immediately to see what is wrong and I am answered with a cry, a choked sob, words I can not process.  Tony (name changed) is dead.  I take a breath as he blurts out " I came down to get him for a ride and he is in bed, dead.  I am the first call - I tell him I am on my way and tell him to call the police, ambulance something.  I rushed there hoping they were wrong, hoping he had a weak pulse, something, anything. 

     As I pull up I see police everywhere, my goofy boy looks so lost and I reach for a hug as he breaks down.  There is no weak pulse, no saving him. Tony is dead, in his sleep, he was 25 years old.

     Inside are his cousin and fiance, talking to the police.  the three amigos, three young boys as much a family as they could be and now the youngest was gone.  I can not bring comfort as there is no way to make sense of young lives lost.  I can only be there for him and let him mourn.  Is there a heaven?  I do not know, but I think of it most when a young life is taken, that maybe there is a higher power and they are holding them now, letting them know they are OK and no longer in pain.  

I did not grow up with religion and I have turned to a god I do not know just as much as I have questioned his existence.  Some may call me a hypocrite, I call it lost.  

I can write no more today - I will explore this more when I can think.

Alone

     I have been in a daze for months.  I can't seem to shake it.  I go through the motions day by day.  My business is thriving and I see my friends more then I used to.  So why do I feel like a shadow in my own life?  My smile is fake, my skin looks dull and my eyes seem lifeless.  To most I seem to have a very good life.  My colleagues congratulate me and ask for tips.  I am on the receiving end of many compliments from friends, family and strangers.  I am always dumbfounded when gentlemen ask me out or even pay me a compliment.  I don't see any of it.  I guess I always see what I have not done, what I should have done differently.  I feel very much a failure and yet I really can not account for it.  
     I suppose we all have an image in our minds of what life was to be like.  I was going to be a film maker, live in a quiet art community in California and have 2 or 3 hippie babies.  I knew I was not a soccer mom, but that was not how I wanted to raise my children anyway.  I wanted them to be free and artistic or explorers or even surfers.  I never really understood marriage,but I wanted a lover and friend for life. I wanted someone who appreciated and even worked in naturopathy.  I did not want to be condemned for my belief that not all medicine is good and organic whole food really is better for us and the environment.  
     I guess I was born 15 years to late.  I really should have been a young adult in the 70's.  

Determination

    Tonight my baby cousin learned to crawl-forward.  Any one who has spent time around babies knows crawling forward is the start of true independence.  Some babies spend days, weeks, and even months trying to accomplish this.  They all start with the backwards scoot.  Like a car constantly stuck in reverse they can get to where they want to be it just takes a really long time!  The sheer will and determination it takes for a child to accomplish all it does in the first few years of life is absolutely amazing.  
     A baby will learn to eat, lift there head, sit up, crawl, and walk all in one year.  In the first five years they learn sight and sound recognition, speech, writing, multi tasking, art, architecture, and master the dramatic arts.  By the age of 3 they have mastered the art of sales.  Like a young teen in a used car lot a seemingly strong intelligent parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent will walk into a grocery store for milk and come out with 3 toys, cookies, and of course a much needed trinket from the quarter machines on the way out the door! The same person will have forgot the milk like the teen forgets to ask the price of the car merely because a 3 year old suggested how much the intelligent person would be loved if they bought that toy! 
   So it is true, like the book says, Everything I Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten. Where then does this knowledge, this will power, creativity, and determination go to?  How do these same children grow up to be adults who are so vastly different then the powerhouse that they started as.  Is our society so corrupt that it can literally suck the life right out of our children?  When does it start and when does it end?  These days I follow the postings of friends with young ones and sadly enough it begins in the first grade!  First grade, really, these kids are doubting and fearful and lost in the first year of school.  When asked why they all say the same thing.  \I have no friends, the teacher makes fun of me, I can't play sports.  I work with the parents of these young ones and guide them to friendships and confidence.  Sadly before we start they all say the same thing.  Why don't they teach you this stuff in books?  This stuff used to just be normal child rearing 101.  The latchkey society did not raise great parents.  Their hearts are in the right place they just lack the tools to parent because no one taught them!  
    I think it is time to write a parenting 101 book for everything they don't teach but should already know!

There Will Come a Day

     This past week the east coast of the United States of America saw a storm like no other in its history. Hurricane Sandy came up the coast line then did something a storm rarely does. Like a predator chasing its prey, the storm veered left and took a massive toll to areas that never see a storm of this magnitude.   It was not the strength of the storm but its magnitude and location that caused so much damage.  New Jersey and Lower Manhattan saw the greatest damage and one week later the clean up has hardly begun.  
     What amazes me, no frightens me, is the lack of compassion from my fellow human beings outside of the damaged areas.  The storm was built up for days, and that alone was a factor that contributed to so little a loss of life.  The damage was massive and the cost not even measurable at this point.  I am surrounded by people who say,"that was nothing", "what was all the hype about","forecasters way over dramatized this one","can we get something else on TV besides the storm coverage". I am infuriated, at a loss for words, and yet not a bit shocked at the lack of compassion shown by my fellow Americans.  The pictures you see on TV are real!  Thousands of people displaced or homeless. 6 mile long lines for a can of gas at the few stations that can get it, just so they can get some heat.  
     It is by a mere 200 miles that this was not my hometown.  No food, no shelter, no medicine, no power, no heat, and their entire lives gone.  The most common complaint I heard all week is how this messed up Halloween because the had to change the date because of the storm!  There was no Halloween for these children and for many there will be no Thanksgiving or Christmas as well.  There lives are forever changed.  Yet I hear again, "that wasn't so bad, I slept right through it, didn't even lose a tree"! 
      I might be more understanding if I lived on the west coast.  I would not condone these remarks, but at least the distance would be a factor in the ability to understand the locations and the damage that occurred.  I am from Pennsylvania and we all grew up taking trips to NYC or summers at the beach in Jersey or Maryland.  Our own childhood memories are affected.  I understand they will rebuild and life goes on.  Right now the suffering of fellow human beings is what I can not comprehend. There seems to be no compassion left in America for major tragedies.  We have not suffered so great as a nation that we should no longer have the ability to empathize with our fellow Americans.  We have seen several horrible tragedies as a nation in recent years, but we are not in a constant state of war or famine, or disease.  There are countries who suffer so much more on a day to day basis and still look after each other.  Why then does a nation with so much to offer turn their head the other way when the trouble is just miles from their doorstep?
Disasters happen and there are no guarantees your life will not be the next one turned upside down.  How will you feel when you have nothing left and your hear a man on the street say"that wasn't so bad".

True Love

This is as simple as it gets.
     You will meet many people in your life and fall in love a hundred times.  You will count the reasons why you love them and write love letters and poems.  Then there will come a day when you meet some one who challenges you, frustrates you, and boggles your mind.  You will not write lovely things, or sing mushy songs and quite possible might want to strangle them a time or two!  When you are at a complete loss for words and can't put a name on it, can't find a card that fits it, and can't think of one good reason to run.  I believe, for many people, this is their perfect match.  This is your soul mate.

To be fair...

     I often hear friends complain about the wrongs others have done to them.  I also feel this way about certain people in my life.  Have you ever stopped to think about your role in the situation?  No one wants to accept responsibility for their own actions.  I have found with my self as well as others, that we put too much pressure on people to do what we want them to do, then feel betrayed when they do not meet our expectations.  One may expect a friend to be there for us in times of need and feel hurt when they are not.  Were they asked, were they aware there was trouble in your life?  If you are the type to be there for everyone else but have no one to turn to when you need help you have to ask yourself why?  I have found it is often because we are so used to putting on a smile and acting strong for all those people that they think we never have a bad day and assume we need nothing.  These are the friends I worry about most of all.  
     The same theory goes for lovers as well.  If you have fallen in love with someone who has not fallen in love with you, can you blame them for your pain?  I often see girls crying over men who barely know they exist!  This makes no sense, nor does it make sense to be jealous of the other women they are with if you have not made your feelings clear.  If you have made yourself clear and that man still chooses other women then you have your answer.  He does not want you in the same way you want him!  This is very cut and dry.  You have two choices in this situation, move on or wait. For those that think they can wait until that person realizes they have made a mistake and comes back to them, well it rarely happens.  For those that move on you can always go back if it was meant to be then it will be.  Allowing yourself to be played for a fool and pretending that other women are not in that mans life only leads to pain.  This is the type of pain you are responsible for.  If you choose to wait for someone who is clearly not waiting for you then you can not be angry with them when they are with other people!  I saw a great movie called He is Just Not That Into You.   I think everyone should see this movie in high school and take it to heart.  
     Everyone is responsible for their own feelings and actions.  No one else can make you feel a certain way with out your permission.  If you take control of your own mind and body then you will be a much better friend, lover, and family member to all those around you.  You are in control of you, from birth to death, you own your feelings, thoughts, actions, and emotions.  Take care of yourself and all the rest will fall into place.

     

Tradition

Monkey see monkey do.
     When I was very little I spent most summers at my cousin's house.  We played out side all day.  We generally only came in for lunch, dinner and the street lights.  His mom loved to do mom type things.  She would put on face mask and chase us around the house or claw at the door with her nails until we screamed with delight. Every birthday involved bobbing for apples and milk jug games. Every holiday had a theme.  I remember Halloween.
     Each  Halloween my cousin would have a Halloween party and my aunt was a fantastic host.  She made the bowls of mysterious things you had to stick your hand in.  She played scary music, had a big bowl of goblin punch and games to keep us busy.  Those are memories that I will never forget.  As we got older and his younger sister came to be we took over.  
     We made fantastic parties.  Of course we had to take it up a notch.  We rigged the basement with lights and noises so that the girls were sure it was haunted.  Sometimes it was so well done it made us jump.  His little sisters parties were the talk of the school and everyone loved them.  
     I did not get to do as much for my own daughter.  We did not live in a place were groups of children could come over.  I can only hope to teach her by throwing great parties for her children.  I know I will help some other cousins with their children's parties.  Great childrens parties and play dates are so important to the social structure at school.  I do not mean in a way that leads to popularity.  I hate cliques and popularity contest.  If a child is shy and does not know how to make friends it is the parents responsibility to step in.  Setting up play dates and parties for a shy child just helps them open up and feel like they fit in.  Once a child feels accepted they naturally blossom to become their own unique individual.  

Life is Art

We are all born artist, life gets in the way.

     Toddlers see the world around them as one giant canvas.  Have you ever watched a 2 year old create a castle with common household items.  Preschoolers make tents  from couch cushions and chairs.  Youngsters create forts from fallen limbs and trees.  Maybe you were caught drawing on a wall or table when you were little.  I created all these and more.  I have a fantastic imagination and use it everyday.  I still love to play pretend with the little ones in my family.  Some parents yell at their children when they play with their food.  I know I heard the phrase, "food is to eat, not to play with", most of my childhood.  I encouraged my daughter to make art with her mashed potatoes and peas.  She made great works of art with her dinner every night and rarely ate most of it.  She did not starve, but blossomed.  You can not stifle the artist in a child, yet our schools all around the country are doing just that.  Art is not needed.  They say it is an unnecessary expense.  
     The mind must wander, relax, and explore its creative side.  The greatest inventors have nothing if they do not have their imagination!  The laptop I am writing on, the chair I sit in, the car I drive, would not exist with out the arts.  How can we let this happen to our youth.  How can we remove something so basic as the right to dream.  Our society is already in so much trouble because of the way we force singular one sided learning down our childrens throats.  We no longer encourage self exploration, self play, exploratory learning. There are a few schools through out the country that encourage it such as Waldorf schools, or Democratic schools, but for the most part in school art programs are the only opportunity our children have.  
     So many children are lost when they go off to college.  For the first time in their lives they are asked to think for themselves, and it is a terrifying experience.  Our youth are lost and afraid that they will get it wrong because no one is telling them what to do or say or feel.  How awful is it that at 18 years of age we finally allow them to think, and then we are shocked when they fail.  
     I home schooled my daughter for a few years when she was little.  I was constantly and truly amazed and blown away with what she would come up with on her own.  When she was about 7 years old I gave her her first real project.  All I said was to pick an animal, research it and present it to me.  For days she would not let me in the office while she prepared.  I will admit I really thought she was playing around but I let it go because she was so full of excitement.  4 days later she sat me down in the living room with a full blown power point presentation on Panda bears!  I did not even know she new what power point was, and yet here was this tiny little 7 year old beaming with pride over what she had done all by herself!  I was ecstatic and blown away with the work she had put into it.  This is why I home schooled, for that moment, that look of pride.  All children should have that moment.  All children should be encouraged to think for themselves.  We are responsible for making sure they continue to get that opportunity.  Explore your city.  What kind of art programs are available to you. Do you even have any art gallerys, theaters, or workshops to explore?  Maybe you come from a big city where art is the norm, then help another country.  There are all kinds of programs always looking for donations for after school programs, youth groups and to send to 3rd world countries.  
     Take time to do something artistic every week.  Create a gourmet meal just for yourself, color in a childs coloring book, write a story,make a bird house.  The what does not matter nearly as much as the why.  Do it for your productivity, your creativity, and for your soul.  I promise you will feel so much better about everything in life if you take time to free your mind and play!

Look With Your Heart

     Live in the heart.  Such a simple little phrase.  It is human nature to think, analyze, review, and repeat. We often spend so much time thinking, dreaming, and worrying that we never rest.  To live in the heart is to just be. To find peace one must stop living in their head.  To find happiness one must follow their heart.  Following the heart has little to do with romantic love, although it has its place. When one follows their heart they follow their passion, their instinct, something that pulls them forward from the bottom of their soul.  I remember as a child I wanted to make movies.  The pull was so strong that it was painful.  The idea that something painful can be good for you is a foreign concept to many. To want something so much with no thought is as basic as it gets.  
     I look at it more as a need.  To survive we need food, water, and shelter from the elements.  To thrive we need something to live for.  Some live for family others for work and still more live for pleasure.  What ever your motivator the best way to achieve happiness in the pursuit of it is to take time to do absolutely nothing.  Americans are especially guilty of living in their heads.  They work themselves to death.  They over schedule their lives and their childrens lives.  We spend so much time trying to get every last drop out of life that we never enjoy the moment.  
     Other cultures take time to relax.  Some cultures indulge in long holidays.  Other cultures take long breaks every afternoon. It is in those moments that we discover ourselves and what makes us happy. Take time to just do nothing and sit quiet with your heart.  I specify heart because to sit quiet with your mind can be an exhausting experience.  There is a time and place for sitting with your thoughts as some brilliant ideas have been born of quiet reflection.  This exercise is about the pursuit of happiness not dreams. What makes you happy.  What makes you smile.  What makes your heart swell and your body tingle.  Is it a hobby, a passion, a person: what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning.  Is there something or someone that you feel one with.  Something so big yet so basic living without it would be like living without air.  I have a friend who is a writer.  Writing is like breathing for him.  He may not write a thing for 6 months, but then one day a story pours out of him and his friends and family will not see him for 6 weeks.  He can not stop it no more then he can stop breathing.  Another friend builds things and works much the same way.  When he begins a project from the moment he envisions it until the final nail is hit he can not stop.  
     They both spent the first half of their lives working 9-5 and going through the motions of life like so many others.  It was not until a tragedy fell upon them that they stopped and just listened to their hearts and let that be their guide.  Many refer to this as a midlife crisis, or a second life, what ever you call it if you are in it at this very moment then stop.  Take a moment to empty your mind, feel your heart, and truly listen to what it is telling you.  Who or what is pulling you down your new path.  Let your heart guide you to those who will support your new life and let go of those who expect you to do as you have always done.  

Internal Dialogue

Internal Dialogue

     People who talk to themselves are crazy.  I remember hearing that phrase quite often as a kid, and so in my young mind I was crazy.  I had a constant internal dialogue.  That young little girl made up stories and plays, songs and music, conversations that were one way as well as two!  It was not until college that I realized that everyone does this in some form or another.  My imagination may have been greater then most and my inability to quiet my own mind is still a struggle to this day.  I have tried yoga and meditation with some success, but there has been only a very select few things in this world that have truly brought me peace.  I remember an exercise I learned in school that I would go on to teach in support groups.  Talk to the empty chair.  The goal was to practice a major conversation on your self first.  The object was to play both sides so you could take ownership of your own responsibility  in the problem that existed.  The initial reaction was always the same.  " I can't do this". " I feel stupid". " "I can't predict what they will say".  To this I would respond, " you are already doing this very exercise everyday of your life.  We all have an internal dialogue. We predict what our partners, children, friends, family, and co-workers will say to us all the time!  People are usually very accurate in what the other person will say because whether we know it or not we pay attention to so much more then we realize on a day to day basis. 

     The really hard part of the exercise was self communication.  There was a particular support group I ran that had individuals with very battered self esteems.  Their internal dialogue was so negative they did not need any one else to tell them they were not good enough.  It was my goal to convince them that they were their own worst enemy.  I started by having them just write words on paper that popped into their head a lot.   The word "why" was universal.   Most of the women began  their internal conversations with why dozens of times a day.  They were searching for answers.  

     I told them to pick a positive saying and every time they heard themselves say "why " in their minds they had to repeat the saying.  It actually got to be a very fun exercise with the large age range that existed in this group.  One elderly woman who had lived through a lifetime of abuse often followed her why with " you don't deserve it", so when she wanted to buy something as simple as a nick knack or treat she would stop herself.  A young girl in the group, I believe she was about 19 told her to follow her why with "because I'm a hot mamma".  The next week at group this frail little woman with no confidence and so much fear, walked into the room beaming and looking 50 years younger.  We asked how her week was.  She said she has not stopped smiling all week long.  She had not laughed so much since she was a little girl.  I asked her what the big change was.  It turns out she would say "why" to just about every thing she did in life.  So all day long she had to keep repeating to herself, " because I'm a hot mamma"!  This phrase made such an impact on her that by the second week she had bought a dress, gone to a beauty parlor and even got her nails painted for the first time in literally decades!  This woman was 87 years old and living free and happy for the first time in 70 years!  I believe if she could make a life change and be happy just by changing her internal dialogue then truly any one can do this.  

     That group was 10 years ago and I just thought of her today when I noticed my own internal dialogue has taken quite a nosedive lately.  So in honor of this incredible spirit I will repeat her words for the next week. " I am a hot mamma"!