Exploring Ways To Make Peace Within
Ourselves & the World

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Why Do I Write This Blog???

The easiest (and probably the most honest) answer to that question is: I don't know. It all started in the summer of 2005, when I went to Crawford, Texas ( a.k.a. the home of the prez's ranch, a.k.a. the home of Camp Casey) to support Cindy Sheehan. I wanted the world to know that, contrary to what one could read in the mainstream media, the peace movement was alive and well and large numbers of Americans did not support the war in Iraq. I wanted people to know that thousands of Americans were willing to travel to Texas and tolerate the heat, humidity, and bugs in order to support a grieving mother whose new purpose was to shine a light on the lies that led to the war and to bring home our troops so that no other mother would have to know the pain that she felt.

Over time, this blog has become more of an exploration of who I am, my spirituality, and how life works. I love life's complexities, exploring the shades of gray. I want to, as Rainier Maria Rilke said,

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

Maybe my blog is just one big question about what is needed in order for people to take the time to love and cherish each other and our earth. Maybe someday, I will "live along some distant day into the answer."

In the meantime, thank you for joining me on my journey. I welcome you to share yours with me

Monday, April 21, 2008

Entertainment?

Thomas of Living Next Door to Alice has alerted us that this week is TV Turnoff Week.

I was raised watching television. My dad owned a television and radio store/repair shop. I spent many hours during after-school time and summers in front of big, mahogany console televisions that were waiting to be adopted by loving families. We were the first on our block to own a color television. (And to anyone under 30, yes we did have indoor plumbing.)

Now, the only television in this house is a hand-me-down (or hand-me-up? over?) from my 29 year-old daughter. She gave it to us because the remote no longer worked. We don't care. We only turn it on when we want to watch videos a few times a month. It's a dinky little TV, but it works pretty well.

Most likely, the television in this house wouldn't get turned on this week anyway.

But back to TV Turnoff Week, I think it's a good idea to bring awareness to the fact that there are many things to do besides watching TV. Maybe a family who participates in this exercise will spend the week doing something together. Or they might read some books. Or have a CONVERSATION!

If I were king, I'd outlaw all television and decree every weekend and every Wednesday to be Computer Turnoff Days. Maybe then, all the people in the land would go outside and interact with each other and the rest of the life on the planet.

This is some kind of pelican, I assume. An inland pelican? A migrating pelican? They were hanging out at the lake near my house. What are those black things on their beaks? Cellphones, maybe?