Convinced savagely that we are bound to someone else's perspective.

I often try to connect the dots of life in order to make sense of all I see, say and do----in order to find my Way. I am often quite successful. And sometimes I just make a pretty picture. Regardless, I continue to work at joining each dot I encounter to another!



All of us have mortal bodies, composed of perishable matter, but the soul lives forever: it is a portion of the Deity housed in our bodies.

---Flavius Josephus



What is lovely never dies, But passes into other loveliness, Star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.

---Thomas Bailey Aldrich



The beautiful are never desolate; someone always loves them--God or man. If man abandons, God himself takes them.

---Phillip James Bailey



I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused.

---Benedict Spinoza



Nothing's beautiful from every point of view.

---Horace



In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of "beauty. "

---Christopher Morley



You've got to sing like you don't need the money, love like you'll never get hurt. You've got to dance like no one is watching. It's gotta come from the heart, if you want it to work.

---Susannah Clark



Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.

---Chief Seattle




I had a conversation with a co-worker this morning that centered around the pressures of American society regarding beauty. In my opinion, it is a hard topic to wrap my head around. This country was built on blood, sweat and tears. And "survival of the fittest" has been a rather constant theme of Western society since its earliest times. It is through these historical doors that we gather our current belief systems. Our current belief systems shape everything we do---whether that is learning, earning or loving.



Absorbing advertising is a national pastime. You can find it in American print and electronic media as well as in people's rhetoric [That encapsulates billboards, automobile siding, as well as magazines, newspapers, Internet, radio, TV and more]. You name it, we read it, hear it or see it incessantly. And, that means we are, also, incessantly incorporating the advertising into our belief systems---cognizantly or incognizantly, it matters not!

I can remember watching cartoons as a child on Saturday morning and being immediately influenced by the enticing commercials that played during the cartoon breaks. Count Choccula, McDonald's Big Macs, and Smurf dolls were among three of the myriad of items that powerfully and seductively broke through into my young mind as being "vitally" important.

America is "a world" that primarily supports and maintains capitalism. Virtually everything its citizens believe in centers around some form of marketing. I find myself encensed when I realize how deeply influenced by the "almighty dollar" [among other things] we have been as a country. Our very identities often stem from our ability to be seen and heard as strong, confident, and beautiful; and all of these traits are defined by our worth as seen by others.

But what if we are not one or any of those [or at the very least not viewed as one of those]? Many aren't. And those many are intentionally left behind daily so that the nation as a whole can survive and thrive. The fittest climbs "onto the heads of the weak" and then onto someone else's head which may be a tinsy bit stronger, until he/she arrives at the top of the heap just to be "thrown over" by someone more fit than him/her. Nature at its finest!!!

But, what about that quote that says, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"?

I got in a conversation with someone a little over two years ago. We began discussing the travesty of Hurricane Katrina. From there, we began discussing health care. I have a chronic illness. My sights are, naturally, on the importance of good health care. Anyone who lives the nightmare of not being treated for an illness or disease because of poor/no health care [or even OK health care that is riddled with caps], would most likely take the same stance as me. The person and I who were discussing our nation's health care, quickly came to heads. He did not believe in saving the individuals affected by poor health care. He believed in saving a group---hopefully, but not necessarily, a big group. He subscribed to the concept that saving the individual is an impossibility.

I, of course, take issue with this position. It is dollar-oriented rather than people-oriented. In my mind, we must work to save as many individuals as possible. This is not easy, and it most likely will not readily happen. We might only manage to save some group as well with the uncertain process involved. But, the other option---the save some big group option---is destined to automatically weed out anyone who is not in the population of people [whatever that population maybe] being considered. Do we try for the "impossible" and possibly end victoriously, or do we settle for one favored group making it to the top of the heap?

That is the crux of our nation: freedom to choose between right or left. Freedom to choose!

But, advertising and marketing frequently influence people without notice. One of those influences is in the realm of beauty and self worth. Our country is saturated with "body image consciousness." But to what end? Young people are savagely convinced that their realities are bound to someone else's perspective [even their parents' view points]. And when that "someone else" is a massive group-think [a people's majority], children are easily crushed and molded.

"Self-esteem is a feeling of self-worth, self-confidence, and self-respect." http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:self-esteem&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title Advertising and marketing are two huge ploys that squash the self-esteem of some while bolstering the egos of others.

An example of a fast-growing influence from advertisers and marketing reps is the popular concept of the "Smiths and the Joneses." This principle has always been in affect one way or another; but, today, the phenomenon rampantly grows without ceasing. My aunt and I live in a house that has been family "owned" for over forty years. The property has gone from sitting on a little, two-lane road, country environment to a fast-growing prime real estate environment. I often say to friends and relatives, "Who can afford these houses they are building/selling like hot cakes?" The usual answer, "I am clueless. People must be living from hand to mouth." [i.e., People are employing the Smith and Jones belief system.]

Can Americans afford the life styles they are leading??? Probably not.

Getting back to the point of self-esteem, I must say that I hurt for so many people. I know what it is to not love myself. I know what it is to be confused and astounded by life. I know what it is to hinge on someone else's word for approval; and, also, for a sense of vision. There is nothing worse than realizing a dream that is being pursued has nothing to do with me and has everything to do with someone else.

Self-esteem develops from truly and deeply understanding that each person in the world has merit and worth. Each person is inherently beautiful! And that beauty begins to shine, glow and become noticable from an inner sense of knowing one's infinity and one's uniqueness. Despite our physical (facades) bodies, we each have beauty to give and receive. Our strength and confidence cannot be removed when we realize and practice that we were created in and from the greatest love that IS.

But our countrymen, young and old, are daily, sold a bill of goods quite to the contrary. Think about the concept of supply and demand! Each one of has some sort of weakness that advertisers and marketing reps prey on. It might be physical body images [Ugg! my behind is too big, my legs are too scrawny, my teeth aren't white enough, Whatever! We have some sort of issue that we feel needs "outside" support.]. It might be financial status. It might be anything we try to hide, or we wish weren't a part of us. Anything we can't accept about ourselves.

But, the bottom line is that we must rebel from such ideations and predatory notions. We must one by one connect the dots of who we all are. And that is: We are ONE. However we get there is not so important. Getting there is imperative!!!

"Group-think" power works for positive or negative. If we choose to make it work for us, we adhere to the philosophy that we must "think globally and act locally." One by one we stop enabling the negative thinking and behaviors. We, currently, see ourselves as needing support from outside ourselves. This is not so ( at least in theory). In theory, we can definitely adopt the power of our inner and higher self quite immediately. We can instantly believe in and know the Divinity which resides in each of our hearts. It just takes recognition and belief---then the practice of the belief. But, for some, that course of action is a little grandiose.

So for those that need a little assistance, we can support one another to believe in the belief of inner knowing and strength. Some may be most comfortable doing this by ascribing to some sort of "faith" mechanism (i.e., God, a deity, a holistic format, etc.). [It is important that people come to a point of recognition as comfortably as possible.] The assistance is a brief venue which ultimately empowers people as individuals. The assitance is not some sort of dogma.

As we (they) begin to understand the point of empowerment, we let go of the assistance---the "crutches." In other words, we begin to trust the process. We cease to help. Enabling is not allowed. There is no need. The individuals begin to know themselves like never before, and the individuals begin the process of individuating. They learn who they are one breath and one belief step at a time.

We must give away the pain of believing in someone else's superiority. Even as children, we must learn what we already come into this world knowing---we are everything we ever need to be. We must simply trust the process. We must know ourselves before we know anything else.

Most of us do not get the opportunity to retain this inner knowing as we grow and become "independent." For most of us, it is a learning path. That is perfect. We are the path. We are the Way. By holding to the old patterns of "survival of the fittest," we limit ourselves to what we can conceive. By opening ourselves to the Divine within, we give ourselves the roads of impossibility and love.

No one should be savagely bound to someone else's small view point---especially when that view point denies who we really are.

We are love. We can stand as One in the heart of the Great I AM. We are One in the heart of the Creator. Let's become aware. Let's practice our love for ourself!