Occupy the North Pole!

It may have started in Astoria, Oregon.

But from the looks of it, the Occupy Movement ends at the North Pole.

Take a look: http://www.occupy-northpole.com/

That is where I am headed and for the next few weeks. I will be joining the elves in support of the 99%. For the time I am away, I will be unable to post to the blog. So please, take the time to read through, make a comment and I will be back next year to reply.

Have a great holiday.

Hang In There Baby

As I shared yesterday, rather than being bitter and full of contempt, I have been making effort in changing the way I approach the holiday season.

I am giving to charity on a broader level. The past few years I have used trees that are alive and in pots. We then plant them in parks over the new year. I am better able to shut out the urging to purchase gifts and reject any thought of expectation. The past two years I have been able to mail out thank you cards and hand write thoughtful words of encouragement. When I meet people who are struggling through this holiday time, I can relate for sure to the funk. I find myself loving them in my thought, word and deed.

This is working for me. I like the feeling I get with this different attitude, that it energizes me to discover ways to carry on the work throughout the rest of the year.

I still enjoy relief when the holidays are over, it’s a bonus.

And You Vil Enjoy It!

Christmas is forced down our throat and I do not like it!

 We are expected as a society to visit, travel and purchase. Christmas is an added stress and for that reason, I dread the Holidays approach and I am glad when they pass.

How ever, I am trying on a new thought this year. For 2011, instead of my usual bitter attitude surrounding the holidays, I am striving to be a blessing to others as well as a more positive thought process regarding the holidays.

Short article, I know. I needed an excuse to use this image of the vomiting santa.

Seams’Appropriate

I missed the class that addressed healthy intimacy and boundaries. It was not part of the curriculum on the Do It For Me Bus. What I have learned is that there are levels of intimacy with one another depending on the situation and considering the capacity of everyone involved.

Small talk is one level. Chat about the weather or a smile with a stranger is appropriate as a place to begin, leaving it at that.

The next level is introducing oneself to a familiar face or while sharing an experience. Some small talk and that is about it.

Political views, religion, Income Level, Marital Status, Residence, place of Employ all come later. We do not have to share our life story with anyone who walks up to us on the street, or even on the first date. It is dangerous personally as well as dangerous for other people in our lives, our loved ones.

I think this is why I am sooo creeped out by facebook and the whole social networking craze and why I do not participate. There is no reason for me to put us all out there for the world to see. There is no reason for me to know that much about you.

If you are interested and fascinated about me, get ahold of me and we can talk things through. If you are somewhat sane and reasonably discrete, I will confide information to you and we will have fun. I am not about to put it all on a facebook web page, for whatever purpose literally, anyone may have.

We just need to do a little work, take some initiative, reach out and get to know each other and figure things out. That’s all.

This seems appropriate.

Awkward

That is how I feel when I look at a facebook page, it is creepy as heck. Awkward. Too Much Information! I want to challenge myself to get to know someone and form my own relationship with them. I am glad that I feel that way.

I am concerned about the reliance and seeming acceptance of social networking. I am curious for the crowd that is growing up with it and where this will lead

I often wonder if the reliance on devices to stay informed and in touch is having a negative effect for us and potentially separating us even more.

We can look in on someone and get an update without even calling or meeting up and sharing eye contact. We can learn things about people we have never even met.

It is unsettling to me; it is being nosy or a peeping tom type of thing. Surveying each other without reaching out to one another.

I believe that meeting, looking each other in the eye, allowing comfort to flow. Encouraging and laughing, gentle hugs; it is all what we do best, loving.

The love that seems to come through us and to us, in a face to face meeting. Let’s make the time, taking the time for it.

Don’t ask, Don’t Tell

Have you ever just met someone and had them proceed to tell you there life story. Shocking things, all the abuse they suffered, personal and private information about their family, etc. How they just got out of rehab and proceed to show you there hidden tattoos or tell you there freaky medical problems.

Think about how unsettling that is to hear. It is awkward isn’t it?

Nosy Nellie

There are things that I understand and there are people and situations that I do not understand. It can be a complicated world out there and allot of people are hurting. Consequently there are allot of people out there that hurt others.

So I protect myself from what I do not understand by not making it easy to know my name, who I know and love, or where I live. At least until we get to know each other awhile, first.

There are nosy people in the world. The kind of people that ask what you do for a living before they ask your name. People that may not have the best interests in mind and spirit.

There are other folks, rare individuals who are more interested in solutions than  they are in creating problems. They are the people I want to surround myself with. I cherish them when I find them or at least I cherish the moment with them.

My goal is to get on with a message that I hope rings true and is positive. A message for those that are able to spend some time with the writing and the ideas contained here.

The picture at the heading of this article, for those that do not know, is the last known picture taken of John Lennon. It shows John with the person that murdered him, as John was signing an autograph for the guy.