The Nonsense of Funerals

It's time we did something about funerals. No one really "likes" going to a funeral, but they're just one to those aspects of life that tell us we must find the way to muster up some courage to deal with...if only for an hour of our time. It's just that, funerals are done in such a detached manner. Most of the time, the deceased is viewed in a open casket, looking more like a caricature from some silly cartoon, rather than the person you once knew. Yes, I know, some due to a long illness or accident, don't look all that pretty, and most often we hear that the deceased "looked natural".....natural? Of course they don't look natural...they're dead.




The part I loathe so much...is the readings and "memorial speeches" given by the clergy officiating the funeral/wake. Typically used is the same repetitive retoric you here...at EVERY funeral. Where's the memorium to the person in the box? Names are said incorrectly, facts are omitted; pertinant to the deceased very fiber of existance. Helloooo...is the clergy not being paid to give the big send off and make this good bye feel and sound like a collosal party, as if the deceased could walk on water?



If for nothing else, most sermons can be used for insomnia, or meditative purposes....slowly and quitely lullying the bored to tears victim into a borderline coma. For someone who lived many years, they are given an hour of bye bye time...words and people, quickly ushred in and out, as if there's another "event" waiting in the wings.



The lazy and trivial offerings are ridiculous and need to change. Don't most of us deserve something more significant than a cookie cutter send off?



Death, is much too important to take with such nonchalance.

Time: Our most scare and Precious Resource

Time: Our most scarce and Precious Resource


Regarding the often talked about statement "Perception vs. Reality", it is my feeling that the two are NOT similar, nor related. Perception is not reality; reality...is reality.



We want others to accept us for who and what we are, but that takes time to learn, and with life being so rushed, don't count on it happening. Humans no longer seem to have "time" for much of anything, although, as if a paradox, they are always busy. But doing what? Are the many things we do in our mundane lives really necessary? Do these "have to's" make us feel happy and fulfilled?



Because of this, ppl speed by us, giving us an over all quick glance and generalization; sizing us up with lightening speed. In order to capture their attention to us, we have to find a way to make them become interested in us; to help manipulate their perceptions...and that, takes alot of work...and time.



Truth vs. Fact:

The screenwriter, Robert McKee wrote:

“What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.”

Facts are reality, the ways things are.

Truth is perception; the way our brains views things, like thoughts, feelings, ideas, conclusions.

We learn to view our "truths" as facts....but alas, this is incorrect.



Perception is an illusion that we try to understand or have an awareness about, and can be shaped by learning and memorizing. Does perception have more to do with "stimuli" than reality? I think it does. How so? Our senses play an important role in our perceptions of the world around us. It's primary purpose is to help us "guide" our actions, as what we "see" doesn't necessarily "teach" us anything.



If we have an experience that we don't consider favorable, then can we merely change our belief about it, as our reality is shaped by what we perceive. If we change the way we "look" at something (perception), perhaps the "reality" of that subject will change also.



In closing, I'd like to add that if this is something "do-able", why not try to take the time...that scarce little resource, to see what we are viewing as a negative, to view it as something we can identify with as a positive? If we can do this....it's a WIN/WIN..for everyone/everything, and life, would be so much nicer.

Our Responsiblity to the Planet

While driving in my car, or simply walking down the street, I notice something very disturbing...litter.  Everywhere.  What the hell is the matter with people?  From the ignorant, rude, unintelligent morons that throw the trash outdoors to the one's that simply...drive and walk right past.  How hard is it to take a trash bag and pick up some of the garbage that litters your own street or neighborhood? 
When proposition two and a half went into affect, we had a choice; we could pitch in to some extent and help our community where possible and needed, or...we could look the other way.  From what I see just in my area, we've chosen to pretty much go with the latter.   Humans can be lazy and pathetic.  If you paid a half million dollars for your house, are you seriously ok with having litter strewn about your "McMansion" and the abutting castles?
Whether I'm walking alone, or pushing my infant grandson along in his stroller, I always pick up litter.  Sometimes it one or two small items, or times it's a bag full.  Did it kill me?  Break my back?  Use up too much of my "time"???
It's time we all get off our high horses and do what needs to be done.  If we're waiting for the city employees to do it...we're going to find ourselves knee-deep in garbage...but of course, we don't have any problem complaining about all the litter now do we?
We need to grow up, get our heads out of our asses, roll up oursleeves and not be a society of spoiled rotten children, who merely look like adults.

A Sure Sign of Spring

Each morning, a few moments after I open my eyes, I have the same thought:  "I get to live another day".  We are so lucky to be able to have so many senses that allow us to revel in the beauty and wonder of Spring, and new life.
My favorite sound, the churping of nocturnal peepers, lull me to sleep, thru the tiny crack of my window opened to welcome the cool evening air.  The peepers represent renewal and bring a sense of calm to my private world.

The tulips are creeping up through the hardened earth, happy to have the same opportunity to live again as do I. 

Tiny blooms are popping up on the delicate trees that were tortured and abused as winter roared in with a vengence...they showed signs of fatique and dispair at one time, but as the weather warms, the earth softens and the days grow longer, they show signs of being given another chance; to grow bigger, taller and stronger, once again.
The Spring sends us an important message; no matter how bad things look or how down we get about life, with steadfast determination and a stoic regard for life and all that it offers, we find that if we are just alittle patient, things do indeed...get better...let's be thankful for having another day to live....and make it the best day you can.

The Peace off-Trail

We often find ourselves wanting to follow someone or something more often than not. We seemingly "stay the course" without giving it another thought. But, how often do we think about going off the course? How often do we think about taking the road less travelled or even, never travelled? Why do we always feel that we must follow? Once, while hiking thru the woods on a trail with my boyfriend, a trail that we had hiked numerous times, I suddenly had the thought to change "course". Something told me to go left, thru a much less travelled, narrow path, somewhat covered with briars and littered with various stones, pinecones and acorns. After walking appoximately two minutes thru this hidden path, we came upon this lovely site pictured on the left. Someone at some point, had the same thought I had! To mark their secret, they built this natural shrine, an ode to finding their own path. See what we can find when we venture off path?