Political Balance

 

 

I’ve been concerned, and over the last 30 years it has been an increasing concern. In fact, I've been writing about this for years, the widening political division. We’ve always had it, but I do remember when it wasn’t so in our face, so vicious and full of a deep stubbornness that holds us back from understanding each other. We can debate the causes and the beginning point, but I do remember while Reagan was president the media seemed to stretch more and more into opinion instead of mere reporting. Then we all know what ended up happening. Media companies took up sides, deciding what to omit and what to embellish.

     We start politically rubber-banding in sometimes exaggerated ways. Stretching and straining into imbalance from liberal and conservative administrations and imbalanced media coverage. If this imbalance is deep enough, the most inflamed sectors of the populace act out, sometimes leading to violence.

     I'd like to present what a balanced governance would look like.  I believe we've had it before, if only sporadically. Right now, it is as if we think we can only have either conservative or liberal policies. It isn't supposed to be this way.

     Warning, I'm going to get real politically incorrect, bringing up the masculine and feminine ways of approaching governance, and the huge benefits as well as disadvantages of both. Both are sorely needed.

 

What a conservative position stands for in a balanced, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual way:

 

1)      The conservative model represents male energy, or patriarchal, in its approach to managing, guiding and encouraging a people.

2)      The ideal goal is to allow people the freedom and space to create their own dreams and provide the open doors to pursue that.

3)      There is a strong belief that if a government aids people in need over and above what is essential in an emergency situation, the country will be fostering a state of dependence in such people. (welfare state)

4)      To help those in dire need is a necessity for a government, but to continue that help when the person is able-bodied only takes away that person’s means to achieve self-fulfillment and self-esteem as well as a sense of accomplishment.

5)      To enable a group of individuals to remain on more aid than is necessary for survival weakens society and allows a segment of the population to become a burden when in fact they could be productive given responsibility for themselves.

6)      Capitalism is the best form of economic base for a country and it will enable prosperity to the broadest number of people.

7)      Supply and demand in a free society will of its own accord will be the fairest system to all, pricing goods and services more equitably than any government could.

(Based on the belief of Adam Smith in 1776, ‘A Wealth of Nations’ which influenced our Declaration of Independence)

8)      Underlying these beliefs is the basic belief that people given free rein will rise to their full capabilities.

9)      This is very much like the father’s form of parenting, giving the children more responsibility, playing a bit tough, but being there for support of the helpless.

10)  The government is ready to protect during real or perceived threats.

 

When this form of governing gets out of balance, just like a father too stern or removed from the children, it can grow toward one end of the spectrum creating lack in other areas. In the effort to protect the masses and put resources there, there could be a lack of nurturing and respect of the people, the environment and the small businesses.  Funding can get lop-sided toward the male energy type activities, too much of the resources going giving it more authority, territorial rights, defense, etc. Aggression can be a knee jerk reaction to problems. Businesses may grow irresponsibly, ignoring the byproducts of their wastefulness and lack of ecological awareness as well as an understanding of the needs of the individual workers.

 

 

What a liberal position stands for in a balanced, emotional, intellectual and spiritual way:

 

1)      Conversely to the conservative model, the liberal model represents female energy, or maternal in its approach to managing, guiding and nurturing a people.

2)      The ideal goal is to create a safe, healthy environment that is rich in experience and gives everyone an opportunity to become what they want to be.

3)      There is a strong belief that if the government shows the people it’s ability to be there for them, have safety nets in place, caring for the poor, aged, disadvantaged, discriminated against, and ill, that this is a sign of success.

4)      To lack taking sufficient care of the less fortunate will bring an eventuality of more crime, hopelessness and despair. The gulf between the poor and wealthy will grow.

5)      To have a government that brings speedy aid to the less fortunate will allow those individuals, with government programs assisting them, become productive citizens of society and, in the end, off government assistance.

6)      Capitalism may be the best form of economic base, but the government must be vigilant in making sure it is fair to all.

7)      Sometimes supply and demand isn’t fair to all and the government can and should equal things out for everyone.

8)      Underlying these beliefs is the basic belief that we are our brother’s keeper. We are all ultimately responsible for the welfare of our people and the world where we can help.

9)      This, obviously, is very much like the mother’s form of parenting, very nurturing, helpful, listening, and being supportive in the direction the individuals want to go in.

10)  This government is ready to nurture and protect its weakest segment of society.

 

When this form of governing gets out of balance, just like a mother that is too permissive or too helpful, it can create divisions of the people. The people that work hardest and create the most success can be penalized by a heavy tax burden to support an ever-growing dependent population. Too much rescuing robs them of the opportunity to develop self-reliance, find out what they are innately capable of, thereby never attaining their potential or self-fulfillment. Their offspring becomes entangled in the web of government agencies without hope of escaping.

 

In both of the extreme scenarios there would be an eventual outcome of an exhausted, over-expended state, somewhat similar to single parenting!

 

A person in balance has an opportunity to improve, and raise his or her consciousness.

A person out of balance has fewer options available, being seemingly held down by unknown outside forces, which is an illusion. The country is a macrocosm of this.

 

The balance is created by the individuals, all of us; enabling our capacity for nurturing and discipline within ourselves and each other.  We, of course, need both attributes in a society. With balance, peace, fortitude, both caring and responsibility, we can create a vibrant, healthy populace that offers the fertile ground for all to grow. If humanity continues to thrive on this planet there will inevitably be an evolution resulting in the merging of these attributes in ourselves and our government, assisting the needy and fostering self-reliance.

 

We can see it in individuals right now. We are developing more awareness, use of our potential and certainly moving into a more whole-brained way of life. It is a matter of consciousness being raised above the polarization of society.

 

The Two-party system is in a death spiral

 

We need:

Courage 

Vision 

Innovation 

Creativity 

Compassion 

Resolve 

Strength 

Integrity 

And 

Fortitude 

To repair and reinvent what our founding fathers envisioned. 

What if: 

We evolved this beautiful system 

Of governance 

Into something so perfected 

So improved 

That there were no labels 

Describing one’s ‘side’ 

Just all of us with all of our views 

And candidates weren’t dependent on 

Being approved or backed by a party 

Any corporate funding 

Or lobbyists 

Just the people 

And all of our multiplicity 

Seeking the one candidate 

Who aligns with our 

Most embracing, common vision.

Women, Don't Buy into Barriers

This came up on my memories. Still same sentiment.

2018

I wrote this last night after watching the news. Instead of railing against how the news is presented, I write. :) The picture is me at 13! :

 I like hearing about women who ignore the idea that the world is stacked against them. Women who do what they want regardless of what others think. Women who do not listen to the rhetoric that says women have been discriminated against, who act as if this is not the case, who venture into all worlds with the expectation that they can do anything, and see no barriers, only opportunities. This was ingrained into me by my father.

There were blocks in front of me in the early 80s when I became a stockbroker. I tried to join Rotary but was told they weren't ready for a woman member, I was chased around a desk from a groping manager; I have stories, but making those stories into a victim's story is devolving. I just chalked it up to the idiot behavior of a few. Mostly the men in my life have been great, and working in an industry with so many men has been a blast.

It seems like we're going into another round of hearing women are victimized. One of the ways we fight this is by moving past the perceived barriers, don't believe in them.
Those who choose to point at the reasons why they can't succeed, won't. Those who barrel on through regardless, just may change the world.

Create Peace in all the Division

 

              Photo by Loverna Journey on Unsplash

Much like most of you I have friends and family members who cover the spectrum of beliefs and ideologies. Intelligent people I know and respect who think so differently from each other on so many topics: politically, on health, fiscally, socially and more. I watch and hear the confusion people are feeling trying to understand this wide diversity among people close to us.

Look how confusing it is in our world today.

•  We have multiple information outlets with experts of prestigious backgrounds voicing disparate 'truths' on whatever topic you pick, from what drugs are effective, to when to open schools, and whether to trust the safety of wearing masks and more, just on the virus alone!
•  A continuous stream of 'breaking', alarming news.
•  Social media rife with torrents of angry rants, condemnation of others, as well as horrific stories of unimaginable atrocities to people, children and animals.
• Widely diverse news stories showing the information from an unbiased view (where?) all the way to extreme bias.
• An increasing number of conspiracy theorists gaining in popularity among all demographics
• Increasing violence in the streets of large cities and very little coverage of it on mainstream media.

             And no one takes responsibility for this. We hear the cry; it is the evil media's fault; they are the villain here. It is the politician's fault; no, the 'other party's' fault. You can find stories to validate whatever it is you are inclined to believe. Then you can feel justified in your judgments, your opinions, and 'know' you are right and others are wrong. Even the pandemic, of which we are in the middle of, is worse, or not nearly as bad, as the different sources say.

            Let's stop for a moment and look at where our judgments come from. In our modern world we have this gigantic compilation of all the egoic thoughts represented on the internet. Like a global brain, mass consciousness is suspended in the Ethernet, holding all good, bad and indifferent indiscriminately.

             We don't know how to handle all of this information overload. We spent a few million years living in small clans, knowing an infinitesimal bit about the greater world around us. We went on instinct, our guts, and our emotions, observing others near us, understanding what kept us safe, and had to stay focused on finding food and surviving.

            Now most of us don't need to worry about getting enough food, or a safe place to sleep. With our time we can spend it coming up with new ways to live and entertain ourselves day after day after day.

            So, where are we now? We work toward what constitutes a good life and how we want to be, and we gather with those who agree with us, but find many in our sphere don't, and low and behold we find millions of others disagree. Then others sometimes hold back on discussing topics, or quietly separate from us, or they may argue with us, or even get enraged!  

            The truth is we all are creating our own individual worlds from our own consciousness. Our own minds. We absorb—consume is a better word—all the information coming into our senses. We react with a combination of judgments, reactions and ensuing emotions. We base all our assumptions and beliefs on our history. Our ego is like an operating system that has learned about the world since our birth. This is where our judgments come from.

            We couldn't survive without it.

            But almost all of our suffering is caused by the ego. Our thoughts about a situation, and our feeling that we are powerless to fix it, drop a blinder in front of us, blocking a way out of the suffering. We don't see the suffering coming from inside our minds but blame everything outside of us. We become open to explanations served by conspiracy theories.  We reinforce this suffering by talking to our friends about how terrible everything is. We all do this to some extent, and it is so hard not to. Yet it holds us away from our sense of inner peace.

            We can learn to 'see' the deeper reality below all of this created chaos by being anchored in the unchanging, omniscient, omnipresent source; use your own words here: God, The Unmanifest, Source. Let's see how.

            We have another 'mind' besides the ego; that is our higher consciousness. That part of us that nudges and whispers when we stop to look within; when we take a moment to listen, actually connecting to our source. Pause, be mindful, meditate, be present, these are all suggestions to hop beyond the judgmental mind's suffering.

            No matter what is going on in your own world right now—you may be experiencing difficulties or illness—in this moment, you are sitting there reading these words and you are OK. The sun will still rise tomorrow. All that really exists is this moment, right now. Stop burdening yourself with worrying about the whole world. It's futile. Worrying about all the other people who think differently from you won't change anything. Worrying about the newscaster who said something incorrect, the politician who said something awful, the latest numbers on the virus, the violence and natural disasters, will not help anything.

            Create love in your heart. Find a way to seek to understand the hearts of others. That’s all. Then you are moving from ego to love. And as always, the more people who seek love and understanding will change the world.

 

 Kasey at the foot of a Statue of Gandhi in London

Resolving the racial divide and racism

 

There are many terrific ideas being proposed to help our culture include more equality, from improving education, to assigning more mental health professionals to work with the police, and taking to the streets to bring awareness and express dissatisfaction. Most are old ideas. I've watched this struggle since I can remember; in the 1960s and 70s there was a similar upheaval for change and healing of the racial disparity. There was much talk and action to address it.  Yet here we are, circling back, realizing how our efforts have failed. Why? 

One reason is our piecemeal approach, so many programs that affect only a few people. Or ideas like Head Start; an honest effort, but didn't address the real problem. And equating throwing more money as a solution to problems. More food stamps, more welfare, more school lunches. While much of it is necessary, this still doesn't address the problem. Legislating to stop discrimination is nice but doesn't address the problem. Pulling down Confederate statues may help emotionally, but will never address the problem.

 Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, lifting the entire society to become more aware, more conscious is the only real solution.

 It is the only one that doesn't continue to slap band aids on a cultural problem.  If we continue to be focused on the symptoms and not the cause, we will never get there. And it isn't the easiest, but it is possible.

 What we need to stop doing:

•          Stop ostracizing and punishing those who are acting out for or against changes. For using trigger words, for using hateful speech. They're acting out of ignorance and reflexive fear, and they may not learn anything if they are always disregarded as human beings and not heard. This helps no one.
•          Stop mindlessly spending money on our problems. The lack of effectiveness and waste in government spending is disgraceful. We have a multitude of programs at every level of government with little to no progress to show.
•          Stop talking and look for positive actions.

 

What we need to start doing:

•          Send good communicators out into the communities. Mental health experts, compassionate conflict resolution experts, educators, and elected officials with the objective of listening, problem solving, and coming up with creative and thoughtful ideas to discover our commonalities and working on our communities together.
•          Develop a program that will be taught in all schools that includes conflict resolution, problem solving, stress management, and some type of mindful practice that allows inner reflection and growth in awareness. There are schools across the country doing this now but they are few and far between.
•          Develop a better plan to help the lowest socioeconomic sectors stop the perpetuation of staying in poverty generation to generation.
•          Prison reform. A thoughtful plan to bring the non-violent offenders into programs that increase their success in life through education, problem solving etc.

 By raising awareness, or consciousness in a significant number of people in society, systemic problems like racism will wane naturally because we grow in self-reflection, empathy, and broader perspectives. With compassion and care for everyone, we will all rise.

We Are All Brainwashed

Why are we so surprised when someone acts badly, horribly? There have always been people who do so. Why do we expect others to change and behave because we tell them to or think they should?

     When people we like say unfortunate things we excuse them, when people we disapprove of say unfortunate things we say, "See, see how awful that person is?"

     Our whole law and order system is based on the premise that we have no control over ourselves and will purposely do bad things if we are allowed to, but not if there is a law against it. Huh?

     We keep expecting military, police and others in the line of danger to control themselves, even after teaching them how to harm and kill others. Are we giving them skills to increase their insight, judgment, and self-control?

     Why do we hoard toilet paper? Why do selfless acts, people doing the 'right' thing, bring so much attention?

     There is so much going on, originating from our primitive past and evolution, to our states of awareness or consciousness. The great majority of us don't get up and plan to do harmful things one day. We expect people to behave because most of us tend to follow the rules, use care and make decisions not to harm without even thinking about it.

     But we are emotional beings, and when we are tripped emotionally by fear, real or imagined, our primitive part of our brain, the reptilian brain, hijacks our rational, more evolved brain. When fear sets in and takes hold, our basic survival reflexes take over, and our thoughts go from reasonable to "I won't have any toilet paper!".  More seriously, when fearing our existence could be extinguished, the root of all fear.

     And we have the media and social sites stoking the flames over and over and over causing more brains to go into survival mode. It is like an inflammation of society. It is the old adage, what you pay attention to grows.

     What is the answer? What I have always maintained; enough of us having the intention to raise our consciousness, our awareness. We can learn how to subdue the primitive brain and not allow this knee-jerk reaction of fear.  There is a profound amount of research now to support the myriad benefits of conditioning our minds with meditation, yoga and other mindful practices, and understanding how to attain wellbeing, which includes health, happiness and prosperity. If enough of us do this it will raise the mass consciousness perhaps to the point where we will begin to see clearly the causes of these outbursts we see on the news, like the woman in the park who called the police on a black man just telling her to leash her dog, or more dire acts of violence such as the policeman who killed a black man in custody. It is more than prejudice, it is low consciousness, which doesn’t suppress a primitive response such as fear, apathy and other ignorant reactions that can lead to cruelty. (Noted, a black person seeing what happens to other black people when confronted by a bad policeman, will feel fear. To ask someone in this situation to not feel that way in this present day is ridiculous.)

     We are all brainwashed in that we all are prejudice. We grow up with our family of origin's beliefs, our communities, our culture's and the beliefs of those who we chose to be around, right or wrong. Then, we have layers added from the media, internet and Hollywood images. We seek out validation of our own opinions and surely, we find them. It is mostly unconscious.

     We think we are right and others who disagree with us are wrong. That is prejudice. All sides of an issue have varying degrees of validity. It takes maturity to see another's viewpoint. To see their hurt behind their harmful words and actions. To see their fear in the violent acts. To see their desperation in their hateful speech or destructive actions. It isn't easy.

     To be open-minded doesn't come naturally; it takes intention and effort, it takes introspection. 

     The miracle is how our society functions as good as it does most of the time. The great majority of police and military act with honor and conscientiousness. Most of the protests are peaceful and productive. Most drivers are driving carefully. Most people, given the opportunity, will not steal. Most people show kindness daily. And this isn't because of our man-made laws, it is because of consciousness.

     When I saw a white policeman kneel beside the protesters, and another wrapping his arms around one, a lump formed in my throat. Then, I saw more police talking of the great need for real conversation between the black community and police departments. And I now see a small light emerging. Growth. Will it be fanned instead of more of the grief and anger? Will we now listen to each other and move to the next level of awareness with love and kindness?

The USA has Inflammation (Maybe the whole world!)

The USA has Inflammation

(Maybe the whole world!)

It is inarguable that tempers are rising across the country and have been for quite a while. In a physical body, inflammation is a protective response to infection, illness or injury. According to the ancient health system of Ayurveda, from which our current practice of yoga comes from, inflammation is the result of an accumulation of too much Pitta, or fire in the system. This may be from a combination of lifestyle habits: unbalanced diet, aggravating thoughts, stress, toxins, too much heated activity, frustrations or other impediments to a soothing and calm experience. If it continues over a long period of time without recognizing and changing the harmful patterns in one's life, inflammatory disease could result, such as heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and premature aging among them.

Of course, the country, as a society, has the qualities of consciousness, just as a person does. It can be called group consciousness or mass consciousness. Therefore, the consciousness we are experiencing as a group affects our life experience on all levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Only if you were a hermit in the woods, never interacting with others or hearing the news, would you be unaffected. All that goes on about us and around us is affecting us. The outrage, the violence, political standoffs, verbal abuses, increasingly violent entertainment, obsessive use of electronics streaming unsavory images, people caught behaving in awful ways, and on and on, all seeps into our lives. It's nearly impossible to avoid. We may become inflamed over and over during a typical day. This energy is added to the mass consciousness.

Something has to give.

And so, the country. The vulnerable, the susceptible, will out-picture the inflammation emanating from the masses. The weakest links will move to release the pressure from the cooker. And we have the outbreaks of cynicism, frustration, rage, and violence.

Before and after the world wars we had long periods of a calmer, more peaceful society. The wars blew out the built-up inflammation. Now we have some small international skirmishes that are barely on our radar. There is no big safety valve to release this build up, not that a war is an acceptable release.

We must evolve to find healthy ways to bring our society to wellbeing. We must enable the release of the anger and inflammation safely, and at the same time learn skills and practices that allow each of us to find peace within.

·        Practice Conscious Communication from the work of psychologist Marshall Rosenberg.

·        Meditate. A practice of meditation allows you to become aware of your knee jerk reactions and emotions so you understand you have a choice how to respond.

·        Limit your exposure to media and information that upsets you. Read about the topic instead of watching images, etc.

·       Take up spiritual/religious studies that cause you to see a greater perspective of life. How we are all inextricably connected, and what affects one affects all.
·       Learn to release your anger in a healthy way such as telling loved ones using 'I' messages, when anger arises stop and drop your attention to your bodily sensations and observe them, get plenty of fresh air and exercise, go for a walk etc. And take care of each other.

By doing the things that create peace within ourselves, we can eventually see it change society as a whole. It doesn't take a majority to do this, just a small but significant percentage can shift everything. Take care of yourself and teach others, spread peace.

What Do We Make of the Abortion Issue Today?

What do we make of the abortion issue? This is one topic you better stay away from at that cocktail party.

Is one side right and one side wrong, really? If so, which side is right? It depends on many factors; how it is perceived by an individual: including but not limited to their faith, beliefs, cultural conditioning, experiences, role model’s views, politicians’ arguments, party affiliations, etc. etc. These all have play into an individual’s response to this subject.

Neither side is trying to be divisive, authoritarian, judgmental, or elitist. Individuals, if we really care to dig deeply, are thinking and deciding out of an abundance of care.

Each side has explored an issue that is quite unsavory, an action that is irreversible with unknowns as to how a woman, or the potential father, will look back and feel about it.

When I was a young mother in my 20s, a friend asked me to drive her to an abortion clinic to get an abortion. She already had three children and found herself pregnant. As I sat in the waiting room, the atmosphere felt thick with tension, with women sitting around staring into space, some softly crying, most very quiet. A sweet looking young girl, maybe 16, sat beside me. She seemed confused. She kept glancing sideways looks at me. Finally, she spoke.

“I’m scared,” she said turning directly to me, her face pinching up. “I’m not sure this is right thing to do. How do I know if this is what I should do?”

Then the tears she'd been trying to hold back came in a downpour, wetting her reddening face. She was alone. I couldn’t imagine how frightening this must be for her. I feebly told her they would take her in first to talk to a counselor, pointing to a door down the hallway, who will help make sure she had all the information to make a good decision. They will help her, I said. I didn’t really know what else to say to her. I felt totally inadequate to counsel this young, distraught girl.

I, myself, didn’t have a strong leaning for or against abortion rights. I just know I found the topic dreadful.

A few years later, with a little more maturity in me, and more medical and spiritual knowledge under my belt, I had a liberal attitude toward abortion ‘rights’. It was 1981. Sandra Day O’Connor was just sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. I wrote her a long letter explaining my view on the abortion issue. I was for the government staying out of the decision making. Not making it a right or a wrong, but a decision between the physician and the woman.

That’s one thing I've never quite understood; why or how the government became a party to making this difficult decision for a woman. How does a governing body mandate a healthcare decision? An extremely personal, even heart-wrenching decision?

So, I watch the sides once again bringing this to the fore, adhering to their playbooks. One side telling us the opposing side is trying to take women’s freedom away, one side telling us the other side doesn’t care about these tiny human beings.

But in the nut of it, at the core of it, it is all out of love.

There are those who want to make sure a woman is able to do what she thinks is right for herself and her own life. Their mantra is, "Those against abortion want to take your choice away and control your bodies. We want to protect  a woman's freedom." They care about these women. They don’t want them to suffer. It is out of love.

There are those who want to protect the innocent. Those beings not yet born. They value and hold these lives as every bit as important as you and I, with all the rights we have. Their mantra is, "Those for abortion want to kill babies. And many of them are the poor and uneducated. They don't offer better solutions."

But this too, is out of love. 

Yet this stops any communication and problem solving in its tracks.

It is more important now that we work harder on creating a society that has reduced unwanted pregnancies to the lowest number possible. That we don't give our young girls the idea that casual sex is fine, and no worries if you get pregnant because it's an easy fix.

Do we really know how that will affect a woman or a young girl down the road?  I've had friends who seemed to manage fine post-aborting, and others who experienced a gnawing regret. I'll never forget one woman who had an abortion when she was young and single; then years later, after marriage, she found out she couldn't conceive again.

Neither side is evil. They care very much. Let's be more grown up about this and admit there is a lot of pain experienced around this topic and the procedure. How about working together to reduce the need?

This is serious stuff. Which is why, I think, people get so emotional on both sides. It isn't a frivolous topic. Some see it as a freedom issue, and some see it as a life and death issue.

Can we open our minds and hearts to understand both sides?

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

How much is the US Budget? How much is a trillion dollars?

Answer. The 2019 US budget is $4.407 Trillion Dollars

A trillion dollars is a 1 with 12 zeros after it. $1,000,000,000,000.

If you stacked this in $100 dollar bills, they would reach the International Space Station.

The top 20% of US citizens are worth an average of $3 million each

Net worth of all US households in 2017 was $94.7 Trillion

40% of this worth is owned by the top 1% = $37.88 Trillion

Therefore, roughly the top 1%, 400 people, are worth each an average of $34 billion

What if the 1% then paid 40% of the budget? They own 40% of everything.

They would pay $1.8 trillion divided by 400 or $20 billion each. So, their wealth would last less than 2 years.

There is a point here, there isn't enough money to continue spending trillions of dollars a year. The numbers tell the story. Our government continues sidestepping this, pretending money will always be there. The top 1% cannot save us.

A conversation between Trump and the Angel, Grace, when his life is over*

The soul who had played the energetic personality of a powerful man on earth left his physical life, emerging into the next world. In this realm, there was no real evidence that he had been such a force in humanity, except now he senses being newly freed, as well as awareness of his deep wisdom, which was hidden before.

"Wow Sweetheart, what a pivotal, important role you played! Exceptional. Your whole life, culminating in your becoming president of the most powerful country on Earth! It was such a strong expression of so many waning thought patterns. Their last hoorah! What was it like? What did you feel while in that life?" Grace fluttered about the shifting image as he went through that life and all the emotions it evoked.

"It was tough, not fully realizing who I was, who we really are; from my bombastic, critical father who made me feel so small and incompetent, to always feeling like I was on the edge of obliteration if I didn't barrel through and defeat everyone in my way. My enemies were anyone who disagreed with me! The worst was the constant search for validation; but I guess without that, I wouldn't have been able to play such a role. When I volunteered for this—whenever we volunteer for something so critical in human evolution—we don't quite grasp the depth of suffering and longing we will endure. But there was always small glimpses, Grace. I felt you near in those depths, even though I never articulated them. Myself as 'The Donald' would never allow that type of introspection or personal disclosure. That would have been far too threatening.

Of course, I see and know now how you were there every step of the way. How you sent kind souls to give me strength, how you fortified my feelings of power. Phew. I had to have almost inhuman power to pull that character off!"

"And just look at how many humans you woke up! Of course, there were reactions at every level of consciousness, but those nearing the leading edge of evolution, they needed the strong push you gave them!

            That culture had been moving—no—expanding, in two directions at once: one where those with the most evolved state of consciousness, bringing messages of peace and compassion, grew in great numbers, while the vulgar, violent, hateful expressions of lower awareness was ripped wide open for all to see. And you became a masthead for that." Grace stopped, observing the twisting and tightening of his energy field in front of her.

            "It is so painful. All those negative expressions came from such a state of pain. People who were trying to be good found hate in their hearts for those who they disagreed with! From good, hearty family folks who went to church every Sunday, and the spiritual community who studied philosophy and wanted nothing more than to grow and love, to those who felt sidelined from the country's promises—they all seemed to fall into some kind of spell when they heard other viewpoints and then spewed such vitriol. It really did pull all of this out of the population, what they had no idea was there. But, you're right of course. Those nearing the highest awareness of that time on Earth, they really needed a push. They were so very necessary to bring about a change."

            Grace fluttered, changing colors and twinkling, "The unearthing of all that was inside really startled the spiritual community! They found it so difficult to walk the walk as they say, when faced with this darkness that was so blatant. Ah, finally, we will see, years after your death, they discover that it was inside them and that's the turning point, don't you think? They thought before that it was just within the "other" people?”

            "Yes Grace! That is when things really begin to improve. When they all accept responsibility. Wish I had lived long enough to see that. From this vantage point, we can see what unfolds. I did see the unraveling of the two-party political system, I saw the beginnings of a great reorganization of a fairer, more just system. But it wasn't completed. Grab some old Earth popcorn, let's watch it."

*Grace is a character from Kasey Claytor's novel, The Light of Grace, Journeys of an Angel. Grace is brought in as an experienced life review Spirit Guide. This is a work of fiction.

If We Ask Why

School shootings. I've written about this before. Everyone seeks to explain, discover a cause, so they know who or what to blame. But we created this. Are we mature enough yet to admit this?

Let's look at the environment we have raised the Millennials and Centennials in, those born after 1995:

They've grown up with horrific violent scenes on TV, movies, and video games and adults tell them this is entertainment.

Their parents were told institutions can take care of their babies while moms can go to work for fulfillment, leaving early forming brains to those who don't love them. The first 3 to 5 years of a baby's life their whole world view is shaped as either a scary place or a safe place. (When work is necessary it is best to place them with loving relatives.)

They are more and more separated from the natural world and the essential learning, problem solving, and wonder that comes with interacting with it.

They are often fed food lacking in nourishment; food that is so far from its natural state it's lost its life-giving properties.

They are often prescribed drugs with questionable benefits and disastrous side effects.

They learn its OK to live in virtual worlds of screen time; it is fine to reduce in person time with friends and communicate in short bits of messages, cutting out invaluable information from body language, voice fluctuations, facial expressions, and the sheer, palpable energy exuded by the other person. This is important information that teaches the child essential skills in interpersonal relationships.

And apparently, we ignore many warning signs of young people in deep distress; who need attention, treatment, and love.

We have a knee jerk response to look outside of ourselves for what the cause is, guns, laws, law enforcement, but we really need to look at our culture, too, of which we have all been a part. Hollywood has continually increased the graphic violence with a myriad of weaponry in the films marketed to children. The horrific, brutal games have desensitized our children. And these same groups are so quick to condemn gun laws when young people act out these violent acts.

We evolved over millions of years to grow up testing our physical bodies, exploring the natural world to discover the natural laws ourselves, and when we find danger to have that loving parent to run back to. We then learn how much we can do, how far we can push ourselves, which results in confidence,  

When I was growing up I was sometimes gone from the house for hours, exploring the world, climbing trees, building forts with the neighborhood kids in the woods, making up elaborate games where each child had a position or a job, getting lost and figuring how to get home, falling off my bike, falling off a horse, clumping through vast stretches of deep mud, seeing how far I could push my body, collecting bottles to take to the store to buy a piece of candy, building huge snow animals in my backyard, and so much more.

I learned we are part of this world, and that the world is an exciting, enormous place full of contrasts and surprises and that I could handle myself in it.

When my children grew up in the 70s and 80s, they peddled down the road into unknown territories, went up to the store on their own those few blocks, camped, explored caves and underwater reefs, also having diverse experiences in the world.

I worry our children now are growing up, for the first time, in an unnatural environment, void of exploration, of sinking their feet in the dirt and playing in lakes and streams, getting out in the sunshine, getting caught in the rain, seeing and hearing the sounds of animals, watching the wonder of nature play out in front of their astonished eyes.  

The experience of living and interacting in the natural world is an important component of what we call, wellbeing. I don't know how we find wellbeing without it. Being in nature heals the soul. It certainly isn't found in a screen. No wonder anxiety, depression, and suicide is rising to never before levels among the young today.

We can begin to help them by limiting screen time to an hour or less a day. Studies show this reduces depression and anxiety. And get them outside.