January 21, 2013
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Three Topics
1: Continued firearm contemplation:
As I continue to think about the firearm debate, one question (with its offshoots) has really stood out to me. Does is make any sense for the Federal Government to legislate for the nation? Do the citizens of Alabama, for example, need the same gun control policies as California or New York? What about rural citizens vs. urban citizens.
I’m starting to think this is best handled on a more local level. The more people I talk to, the more I see huge differences in perception of firearms and their benefits/risks/uses. Our country is just too large and diverse to have a single policy maybe…2: Baby update
She took her first couple tentative steps last night and this morning. Also likes super garlicky hummous and grapefruit juice. Still plays with her ukulele for extended periods of time and is getting better and better at plucking the strings with appropriate force etc.The lady playing the harp, when she started plucking strings, said “Do you hear the angels?”
Talk about an awkward moment for me! I don’t want to open a whole new can of worms regarding religious belief or anything like that, but I can see a lot of challenging conversations in my future regarding different belief systems. I have a very difficult time being dishonest. It’s just not in me… I prefer to be respectful, but honest, and logic is my best friend.
Ah well… We all muddle through these things one way or another.3: Art art art…
I paint and I paint. And I paint. I covered over an old piece with tissue yesterday and laid in great swaths of color this morning with Seren on my lap. She has good manners at the easel right now and clearly enjoys being with me while I work. It’s sweet.
I’m thinking about dogwoods and passion fruit flowers and butterflies and music.There are many people I know who seem to go from being angry at one thing to being angry at the next… Sometimes even lashing out at me for not being angry too. I’m going to say here what I’d like to say to them lol… because biting one’s tongue isn’t really healthy either (unless it is in the spirit of keeping peace in a low stakes situation).
I have grown weary of being angry and frustrated. I have become bored with stress and tension and I don’t find any benefit anymore in pretending that I can join *you/others* in that expenditure of energy. Anger and frustration with others serves absolutely no constructive purpose in my life. It makes me feel ill in my head and gut. I made an active decision in my life to pursue positive feelings, not because I am blind to injustice and ugliness, but because it makes me feel more well and helps me do good work.
With love as always
Onward and upward
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Comments (15)
Yup community/local goverments/autorities are far better the way I see it, culture is a regional matter and laws are only the expression of our culture as a group of people gathered in a community, so what might be good for a rural community up in the mountains is not going to be good for a community of fishermen on the coast. Most matters affect humans lives too much to be decided by epople who doesn’t knows their own needs. Elders/leaders of each community know better.
Your Baby is getting more gorgeous with every day that passes :3
Yep, you’re probably in for a lot of conversations about religion. My oldest son is Isaac, and by the time he was 2 I almost wished I had named him something different, so many times people felt that his name was an invitation to talk about the bible. But you do get through it, of course. I was raised in an Irish Catholic family so I’m fluent in the language of religion, most of the time I just found it easiest to have a brief polite conversation, acknowledge that Isaac is a bible character and did stuff, it didn’t seem necessary or productive to go on about not being Christian.
local local local. And harps usually give me a back ache just looking at them.
i’m tired of the anger and frustration too. i think it’s different when you have a little being depending on you- you almost have an obligation to find a path that keeps you calm. i hope you know what i mean by that. the world is bigger and smaller when a little one is your focus.
the religion conversations would be interesting to sit in on. : )
I’m the same way about the angry/frustrated situation. friends who call me and are all worked up about the next thing they saw on facebook about guns or the governent, etc. I suggest that they take everything with a grain of salt and wait it out to see what is chaff and what is not. I also say that the word “state” such as baltic states or united states, has the same origin as the “state” of their mind, and that the state of their mind is closer and more crucial than the other state.
several states, including oklahoma, are impementing, or already have implemented, legislation making it illegal to take a person’s firearms. I agree that it should be local.
That is a lovely picture.
@meddwl - Well said. Our country is just so large… Any time you travel very far, culture can change tremendously.
She is a real joy!
I guess I’ll have to hold onto the squirmy little monkey.
@lilies_of_snow - Exactly. I don’t want to set someone on a mission to “save” me or her. I’ve already learned a lot about the short answer smile-and-nod when encountering the breast vs. bottle or cloth vs. disposable “advice”. People mispronounce her name all the time too – calling her Serene instead of Seren. I guess no matter what you name ‘em, it’s going to be something.
@Lenore_Happenstance - I know – You should have seen that lady wrestle the thing out of the car and into the shop! I was super impressed!
@promisesunshine - I know what you mean indeed. She is SO sensitive to the energies around her. I dropped a couple happy tears watching something on the computer the other day and she saw it. I thought she was about to bawl her head off. I just don’t have time to waste my energy on negative emotions or getting her back into a more manageable mood.
@plantinthewindow - I am so happy to hear that about the state legislation. I hope that keeps up and that there isn’t too much friction between states and the fed. There has been some weird stuff on that note regarding marijuana legalization and gay marriage… but the states seem to hold their ground.
It is really nice that I find myself unable to “go there” with the angry people so much these days. I think it frustrates them, but they can own that too lol
@Crystalinne - Thank you. I’m lucky to be surrounded by lots of really good photographers.
While I tend to think that the Constitution has already ruled on the firearms “issue” and no legal entity should have authority to countermand that document, I’d sooner agree with local regulation than federal, because it’s a lot less likely that a state or a county would legislate with the purpose of disarming the populace, which is always the first assumption I make of Federal motives on the issue.
Way to go, girl. States’ Rights and all…
@blonde_apocalypse - I hear you! Agreed on all points! I’d be willing to bet we agree on a lot of other stuff I won’t type into the internets too lol. Glad to have met you!
@Inciteful – Hehe… I was raised by hippies. I can’t help it.
hmm… Federal Government, …harp, angels… people angry and frustrated ? Reminds me of that weird german old animation film of “a munich man in heaven”. At the end of the film there is an explaination, why the bavarian government doesn’t get any advise from heaven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USlmFs2A-fU
I love the photo of Seren with the harp. Angels are weird. Nim explained to me once the Muslim understanding of angels and how it’s a tenet of Islam to believe in them. Interesting stuff. I can usually argue my way into believing in something akin to a seemingly external source that can create epiphanies within me, but then it becomes semantics and metaphors.
Hmm, I do get angry sometimes, and I know I share a lot of stuff I care about on facebook and what have you. I’d like to think that my joy in life outweighs the concern about the future of the planet. After all, anger is useless if you don’t have hope for a better world.I agree that most things should be regulated on a local level. Things get murkier when you look at the transient nature of some parts of society, especially military members. I’ve talked a lot recently with people about how I feel lucky that I moved around a lot and met a lot of different people and saw a lot of different places; but it’s a little sad that I never developed a personal connection with my land base and have always found it takes longer for me to connect to the spirit of a community. Threw myself into this one so I understand some of its conservative peccadilloes… but I’m not sure how long I’ll stay.
I would be interested to know what your thoughts on religion regarding your daughter would be… stuff like that interests me. . I am also tired of anger and stress. One thing I have had to start training myself to do is to not take part in conversations where you end up talking about other people behind their back. I work with all women and it can get terribly bitchy and it just makes me feel so awful afterwards so I have started to find ways just to leave the conversation or to say that I don’t want to talk about that.
@happyworld_ofharibo - I lean toward educating her about religions and letting her find her own way. I don’t much care for the idea of telling her any one of them is “right”. Everyone finds their own path in the end. I’ll also teach her the philosophy that makes life good for me and encourage her to modify it to suit her way of living.
I have a situation at the shop my art is in right now where there’s some female grousing/gossipy type stuff. I try to speak the truth, but only of the good in others, but sometimes, in business environments, it seems right to be honest about the negatives as well. It can be tough to avoid the ugly stuff.
beautiful…