Leading with Heart October 24, 2007

The mountains sparkle in the darkness of the night but it’s not moon dust, it’s just the city light………………..

God, whether it be he, she or it, is undoubtly there.  God reminds me of presence with small miracles, daily strength builders, and quirky coincidences.  I know when I am in tune, when I am picking up God’s channel because everything flows the way it should.  The rough edges are smoothed out and the smooth edges are shiny.  I think what you believe God to be is what God is for you.  Last night at Spiritual Direction, we talked about prayer.  Prayer is something that you don’t have to be good at, you just have to actively do it.  That’s where I go wrong.  I forget to pray.  I get caught up in television or exercise or a bed time book.  The best time for me to remember is when I am out in nature: no houses, no other people and then I get this total feeling and it always makes me smile.  Then I tell God how thankful I am.  Am I afraid to tell God everything?  Yes.  I know I’m afraid because to say it to God is to realize it within myself.  I have gotten good at ignoring those things that I’m afraid of.  To me, God is an old friend who doesn’t judge me when I forget to call.  God’s ready when I’m ready and the comfort I feel with that it is peaceful. 

The flu shot, a conspiracy? October 23, 2007

Year after year, the local hospital or government establishment encourages me to hurry and get my flu shot.  One year not so long ago, “they” were panicking because there was a shortage of the vaccine.  And every year, I avoid the shot as if it were the flu.

With that said, I have never actually had the flu.  Sure, I’ve been sick.  I’ve been so sick that I wished someone would just put me out of my misery but it was never flu sick.  We were discussing the flu shot and the flu mist (which I had never heard of) yesterday at work when my boss said that she had gotten the flu shot last year and still got the flu and the doctor told her that the flu shot doesn’t protect from all the different types of flu.  Ummm, so what is the point?

I was talking to Wil about this last night and my thoughts on it being a government conspiracy to inject us with some sort of poison that will slowly make us robots over time.  And I quote, “Come to think of it, the last time I got the shot I did like Bush for atleast a week.”

I do realize that the flu is very real and a bit more real for some then others.  There are people who truly need this shot for survival.  If you are not one of them, why get it?

As I collect further evidence on my theory, let me know any thoughts you might have on the shot.  Do you get it?  Have you had weird thoughts afterwords?  Did you hallucinate? In the meantime, eat something green and drink some orange juice and I am hoping we will all get rhough yet another long winter.

I touched Uranus October 22, 2007

The US Space and  Rocket Center is only an hour away from where I live.  Who knew? Well apparently Wil’s dad.  Wil’s family came to visit and that’s where we headed.  Outer space never ceases to amaze me.  The whole balance and extent of it all is mind boggling.  I can’t imagine being strapped into the pods and being blasted through the atomsphere.  The Museum is home to Space Camp.  I remember seeing ads for Space Camp when I was in middle school and thinking that the only part I’d like would be the zero gravity simulator.  I did discover that I would weigh 59 lbs on Mars!  The Museum also had some rides like the one called G-Force which is very sikilar to the ride that just spins in a circle and you’re plastered to the wall.  They also had a space needle ride but it broke down before we got through the ride.  Better before then during! 

I definitly bought some astronaut ice cream and Wil got himself a Nasa polo.  It was very fun and educational.  I think that going to space would  be the most intense, life changing, event and after seeing all the memoriabilia, I am not sure if I could do it.  I added some pics of us at the Museum.

Veto This! October 4, 2007

Politics!  Who needs ‘em?  I write this post in the fear that I will sound even more clueless then I actually am about politics.  Frankly, I just don’t care which is sad since politics are what decides my freedoms and parts of my future. 

Recently,  President Bush vetoed a bill that would have given lower income children a better chance at health coverage.  They were going to do this by raising cigeratte taxes.  It was a brilliant idea which I am sure has a bunch of other little laws and taxes attached to it but I just feel like it is time to do something for the “common folk” in this country.  We hear weekly of high priced travels and how much the presidential campaigns are costing.  I would vote for the candidate that used that money to help someone besides themselves.  It brings me to believe that being the President of the US is looked at by the candidates as just another job, a job that has a great salary, nice perks, high stress, and a big white home to live in, plus a ranch to escape to. 

I know a guy who started growing a beard when we sent troops into Iraq and has said that he won’t shave until they are all brought home.  Well, he is starting to look like Rip Van Winkle. 

Voting is SUPPOSED to empower us as citizens.  We are supposed to feel like we have a say as to what our officials decide but instead I feel like a peon that goes through this routine with a sense of patriatism that is false.  If I vote, I am still flipping the same, dirty, rusty, stuck in the lent trap coin.

So who to vote for?  Well, if I could stand to watch a debate I would but it is way over my head and I much rather watch Scrubs.  I feel as though the world is about to self-implode. War is the answer and people starving while others are obese is a way of life.  I have this dream that I will one day have children and I will raise them to do something incredible like solve global warming issues or cure cancer. 

Do we leave our futures in the hands of predominatly white, male, upper class citizens whose views have been narrowed since their days of tree hugging and “not inhaling”?  I want to send them all a letter to get out there and reconnect.  I know I’m generalizing. It is my hope that our next President will change the course of this gas guzzling SUV of a country.