Posts (page 2)
by Dr. Dean Ornish - makes a lot of sense!
This is what I believe. I believe that honesty is rooted only in truth. There is no honesty outside truth. If truth is not the root, then there is no honesty.
To those who argue otherwise I would only ask, what snakepit of lies are you guarding? "Emotional honesty" is highly susceptible to being underpinned by lies.
If a person decouples truth from honesty, then "honesty" can spout lies, which is a w-i-d-e open door. Decoupling anything from Truth keeps us mired in lies. The only way to stay clean is to keep everything connected up with Truth..
My heart is a homeless community.
My heart is a homeless garden.
I'm really hurting today, due to some cruelty and abuse I encountered. I'm trying to *work through* it and "own" the part that's mine.... I guess that means owning my fragility, my ability to be hurt? duh?
I need to find more people truly dedicated, I mean REALLY dedicated, to respect and kindness, above all, above all!
It's hard to see "the commons" sinking more and more into the abusive media swill, being more and more affected by it. I feel sad, I feel it in my gut, and sometimes I feel scared, that people are descending more and more into senselessness.
For those who know the area, this is Scott Creek. Hwy 1 is behind me, then the ocean. The tendrils of smoke you can see in the distance are redwoods, madrone, and bay laurel burning in vertical sandy ravines. CalFire is attending to a hotspot on the right. Trucks and firefighters are visible up Swanton Road. According to reports, the fire is 40% contained, but could easily spread, difficult ravine to difficult ravine. Redwoods are so magnificent and rare, it's hard to see them burning.
This looks like a good change of "clothes" for a lovely August, followed by what hopes to be a lovely autumn. I'm going to wear this look for awhile now, fyi.
I've been thinking a lot about writing lately, and how something I was good at and loved became such a point of contention between D and I. It really fits the framework I've been learning, but it's still very painful and perplexing. Why would anyone who loves me pick on something I love and make it their biggest issue? One obvious answer is that he didn't actually love me. It still hurts to think it may all have been a lie.
But more than that -- writing is one type of communication, and he always said he valued communication. But doesn't someone who values communication enjoy ALL TYPES?
And if he really wanted more verbal, realtime communication, then why all the browbeatings and put-downs? Does that make anyone want to communicate MORE? In a way, thank God I did have writing! I could at least express myself to myself, even if he didn't care or wasn't listening.
I'm getting encouragement lately to write more. People are telling me they enjoy and appreciate my writing, that it means a lot to them. It's nice to know that SOMETHING I do, and can do, is pleasing to someone... It makes me cry when I think of how beaten up I used to get.... I almost can't believe that anyone cares what I say or what I share. It's nice to hear that something about me is enjoyed rather than reviled.
Wendell Potter, head executive at the large health insurance company named Cigna, had an epiphany one day. While visiting a health fair near his hometown in Tennessee he discovered that it was a free clinic instead, and that hundreds of people had driven long distances, including from other states, because they needed care but had no health coverage. He was stunned by such 3rd world conditions in the US and woke up. Below are some of his pics. He now speaks out against insurance company practices, from his inside knowledge. Click here to see the fantastic and important interview by Bill Moyers: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html
"With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform."
Do you ever wonder who serves who? It seems more and more like the machine or the system expects us to serve *it* -- instead of us expecting it to serve us!!
Do you feel vaguely dehumanized like I do every time you have to reach a voice messaging system and have to navigate the prompts, even though none of them describe the purpose of your call? Are you also vaguely sickened by the increase of computers initiating calls to you?
When you call and finally speak to a service provider, are you annoyed and confused by their repeating of your account info, even though you just punched it in in order to reach them?
Here's another example this morning. I have been getting spam text messages on my phone, which are illegal since there's a cost to receive each message. A few years ago I asked that spam be blocked from my text messaging, so I called this morning to find out how to report these coming through. Apparently the spam blocking filter needs to be renewed annually. WTF?? Like there is going to be a time where I will have a change of heart and actually want spam???
The main thing is that nobody bothered to tell me this, so the filter went off and I started getting spam. Are the spammers somehow paying the phone providers to have access to us, the cattle? It doesn't make sense to me that filtering would require annual renewal.
It seems like just another way the machine manipulates and uses us, instead of serving us.
