A Kinder Gentler Nation

A Kinder Gentler Nation…

The events of the past couple days have ignited a fire inside of my spirit. What has become of our society? Why do “We the people” get a thrill by destroying our fellow man? After reading the hate post and comments about a very unfortunate incident in a noble man’s life, I realize our nation is one moment away from being a lynch mob. Instead of carrying pitchforks and torches we hide behind our computers and cell phones sitting on our lazy asses, as armchair quarterbacks espousing our criticisms and critiques on the warrior engaged in combat on the battlefield. We are a proud people, thinking we have evolved and come so far as a nation and a people, but really we are deteriorating by the second, heading back to the days of lynch mobs, tossing our fellow man in the arena with the lions. True we do not physically attack people but we stab with our words and brutal judgmental criticisms. We attack our fellow man in such horrendous ways that we leave them and their families ruined, damaged, and devastated. We wipe our mouths, high five each other for the most insensitive and hellish attacks and then move on to the next vulnerable person desperately trying to make a difference. One by one we destroy those with great enthusiasm, mocking and condemning their hearts desire to make a difference. I have seen it for years in the media and now the weapons have increased with the social networking enabling the average person with a stage on which to pretend to be expert on every subject while shooting off their derogatory and hateful arrows, piercing into the souls of good people.

I am honestly calling for a kinder gentler nation. Is it too much to hold our tongues using them to exhort to good works, pointing out the good in our fellow man, instead of resorting to the vilest name calling?  Do we really need to destroy each other in order to feel better about ourselves? Do we really think of the aftermath in a family’s life after we remove our daggers from the corpse we destroyed while moving onto the next?

I recently finished reading Suzanne Collins Hunger Games Series. The inciting incident in the story is the “Capital’s” disregard for human life, choosing twenty four children to fight to death in an arena while everyone watches, placing bets on who will survive.  When too many days past with no deaths the game-master would tamper with the game, adding his barbarities to engage the kids to turn against each other for survival. This pleased the capital residents, giving notoriety to their game, satisfying their insatiable desire for blood shed.  Are we any different? I think not.

I have used Theodore Roosevelt’s quote quite a bit the past week and I will quote him again because I believe it is quite appropriate.

 "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."

The Beauty That Never Fades

I had planned on this blog being about beauty and life and a humorous look at our superficiality however the events of this past weekend have spawned a much different tone for today’s post.  Regarding Invisible Children and the Koney 2012 movement, I find it sad that there would be anyone who would try and thwart what is happening here. Are we so pathetic that we would be against an organization because they are white? If I am drowning I don’t care what color the hand is that attempts to save me and pull me from the raging water. Here in lies the problem of racism that will never go away in this country as long as people keep crying color. Those that accuse the movement of being The White Child do not know Jason Russell personally, hasn’t been in his home, hasn’t sat across the table from him, hasn’t discussed his passions, hasn’t witnessed him pound his fist against the table because of the injustice. I have. He is as real as anyone, his motives are pure and his organization is not fraudulent and believe me he and his fellow ICer's are not getting rich. It’s a shame that people will fight such a noble cause, espousing their ideology as fact. I believe it's a guilty conscience that prompts criticism of a noble cause. Those who aren't generous or willing to part with a dime will find and excuse justifying their selfishness. The ones too lazy to help will loudly post a link where someone else did the research to try and justify their un-involvement and apathy towards humanity. 

 This weekend has been one of great emotion, spawning a desire to stand up and fight and defend our friends and their very noble cause. So for all of you who have experienced attacks be encouraged. I have learned over the past several years that my starting place always guarantees my outcome and to fight FROM victory not towards it. You need not waste your time responding to all the pathetic attempts to discredit Invisible Children. Instead your time and energy should stay focused on the task at hand. It is what it is and time will expose the truth and they will see. In the meantime, run into battle, because true warriors do not pray for rescue. Realize that we are fighting from victory not towards it and the battle is not ours to win, but ours to lose. So roll up your sleeves and keep spreading the good word and remember what Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” In my opinion that is what makes you beautiful and that kind of character doesn’t grow old and the beauty of it will never fade, it will only grow more lovely.

LIFE

As I was walking home from taking my daughter to school this morning I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the day. It was one of those rare instances when you feel alive…really alive. Have you ever had one of those moments?  It’s like a fresh start, it’s a split second of spiritual insight when you realize who you really are, and that the entire earth is yours, and you have power inside of you that you have forgotten about. It’s a moment when nothing else matters but passion; it’s a flash of a long forgotten memory that you are in charge of your life, your destiny, and it will be the sum of what you make it.

In that moment of time, it doesn’t matter the balance of your bank account, or the status of your relationship, or what your schedule is for the rest of the week, or if you feel fat in your jeans, or if you’re having a bad hair day, or who is mad at who, or who said what in their status or tweets…the only thing that catches your breath is the thought of life…LIFE what is it? How did you come about having it, and where will it take you? And all of a sudden, you realize you are really immortal and this “existence on earth” is merely a chapter in your book of life…and that is when you realize you are fearless and invincible.

Its election year and I am sure you are well aware that from here on out our mailboxes will be flooded with propaganda and empty promises from middle aged and beyond career politicians. They have one thing on their agenda and it’s not making our life or anyone else’s   any better. Their agenda is being elected to an office and having a pseudo power. I for one will boycott the entire process. I do not plan on educating myself in their empty promises. I will not vote, instead, I plan on making a difference in others’ lives this election year. I elect to make change where it counts.

What are you passionate about? What brings tears to your eyes when you discuss it? What makes you pound your fist on a table? What cause accelerates your pulse? If there is not one then maybe you should take a step back and examine your life. Because where there is no vision, the people perish. You need vision, you need a dream, you need a place where you are brought to tears because that’s where your treasure is, and where you find your treasure you will find your heart, and where you find your heart is where you will discover who you really are….and once you discover that LIFE will take on a whole new meaning.

The kingdom is in you.

Who wants to be a rock star?

Sagging Tits and Tats

How to be really beautiful

Today’s society is focused on appearance. Whether we will admit to it or not we are obsessed with how we look. Plastic surgeons, Botox injectors, rejuvenation clinics, tattoo parlors and beauty salons never suffer during hard economic times because one thing is for certain, come hell or high water we are going to look good.

Suzanne Collins in her Hunger Games series drew a superficial picture of the people who dwelled in the Capital. They dyed their skin as well as their hair and tattooed their bodies to resemble felines, or other animalistic creatures. Her book is futuristic but really, are we that far removed from the practice?

I work in the beauty industry. I am a licensed cosmetologist specializing in hair color and extensions. I spend countless hours dipping strands of hair in hot glue and attaching it to women’s heads so they will have long luscious locks like the stars. The difference is, other than the price, the stars use their hair as a costume for performing in front of millions. My clients wear their hair to the grocery store and then home to mop the floor. What gives? Why the need for the extra knee length hair? I am not complaining, their business puts bread on my table but I often wonder why they feel they need to have all that hair. I am not judging by any means because yes I wear them too. I can make the excuse that I keep them in as advertisement, so I am my own walking billboard, but in actuality, they make me feel feminine and pretty. Besides that, I’ve worn them so long and gotten so used to the extra hair that when I do take them out I feel like Gollum from Lord of the Rings with four strands of hair attached to my scalp. I have become addicted to hair! I date a wonderful man who thinks I am beautiful just the way I am. He admitted he’s be just as content if I never wore and ounce of makeup, and let my own natural shade of white roots grow in and take over the jet black dye I douse on my roots every three weeks. He says I’m beautiful when I “fix up” but just as beautiful when I “wake up.” That’s comforting to know and I do think about his compliments from time to time but still I do not have the courage to go all natural just yet.

All my life I have gotten unwanted beauty advice from well-meaning friends and family who feel the need to change my appearance. I was told by my ministers’ wife once that my eyeliner was too thick, my hair too full and sexy, and my earrings were too big. (This was in the early 90’s when big earrings were in style. I was addicted to big earrings, the bigger the better. I almost lifted some hubcaps off a car once and ran a hook through them so they could dangle form my ears.) She even took me out to dinner for the sole purpose of discussing my appearance. Her comment to me was this,

“I wish I had a million staff wives with your heart….BUT” (there is always a big but after a compliment if it isn’t sincere) “we must to something about your style.”

So here is today’s secret:

Guess what? We were all created different for a reason. We all have different ideas of what is beautiful, and if we were to poll our friends and ask them their favorite colors we’d get different answers. I say it’s time to keep our opinions to ourselves unless asked. One girl may dream of being a Disney princess while another dreams of being a vagabond gypsy. One might enjoy the malls and boutiques while another craves the outdoors. One might be obsessed with being stick thin while another enjoys food and loves her curves. One woman might like a chic short hairstyle perfectly coiffed while another loves the long unruly bedhead look. One might want to stencil their body with brightly colored tats while another prefers her plain unmarked skin. You are a child of the Creator. He designed your hair in a way where you can change the color to your choosing. If he had given us synthetic hair we wouldn’t have that privilege. I believe he gave us a pretty blank canvas and allows us to create. The only manufacturer’s instruction on the model gives a piece of advice.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful”. 

He never says don’t fix yourself up, he simply says don’t let that be where your beauty comes from.

I can buy new furniture, paint the walls in my house, get beautiful drapes etc., but if the spirit in my house isn’t one of peace and love, then my home will not be a safe haven for those I love.  Get it? She didn’t, the minister’s wife told me I had a good heart BUT… There should have been no buts about it. A good heart is what makes you beautiful. A good heart will stay perky and fresh long after the tits and tats begin to sag.