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| Page Views: 699 | My Own Thoughts and Questions by KimberlyAnn - last update: Mar 23, 2006 |
My Thoughts On Living With Others
The answer is not brotherly love, for it is unreasonable to expect that man should truly love one another. The answer is acceptance, for if people could learn to accept each other's difference, the world would be a better place. |
| Santa Claus Never Brought Me a Pony |
|  | To be compassionate for all living things, and about all things natural to our world is to be a true citizen of the universe. |
| With My Mother On Christmas, 1953. |
| | Grant us brotherhood, not for a season, but for all our years. A brotherhood not of words alone, but of acts and deeds, where all cultures are remembered, studied, and honored. Where the world becomes a melting pot of tolerance. Where men and women can walk hand in hand no matter what their skin color, country, or beliefs may be. |
| | I believe that unless we become less self-centered, and become more interested in the universe as a whole, taking on the understanding that we are one with the universe, then our survival as a species is doomed. Already too much greed, ignorance, and hatred is poisoning our world. Unless we can become citizens of the planet, instead of citizens of our own little belief systems, then there is no hope for a peaceful tomorrow. And unless we become one with the universe, that is citizens of everything that IS, then there is no hope for survival of the species of man beyond our own doomed planet. |
| Growing out the short hair I had for a few years. |
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Observing Our WorldIt pays to stop and look, to observe even the tiniest detail, and to become for a moment one with nature rather than an intruder within the natural world. If modern man was not always in such a rush, if he would walk with nature, belonging to it, flowing into it, observing and listening fully, being with his surroundings completely, giving all thoughts to his senses, then man would learn to respect and value all that we have left on this planet --from the tiniest insect to the largest mammal, from the mosses, fungus, and lichens to the tallest, most majestic trees, from the tiniest trickle of a stream to the vastness of the oceans. But I am afraid modern man is too often in a rush, and too preoccupied with thoughts to fully look and understand. And this, I fear, will be part of the downfall of the human species. I believe it is important for every human to walk into, and then with the forest. To walk into and then with the mountain. To walk onto, and then along the shorelines of our lakes and oceans, and be WITH that place. To touch, hold, smell and listen. Thus I believe one must look into the soul of the world around us. But not just look, but also to feel and become one with that soul. |
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SeeingHave you ever noticed how much ones seeing is determined by ones state of mind? Your attention, your thoughts, may very well determine what you see. In a grocery store, for example, when I am standing before the rows of canned fruit, searching for that solitary little column of tart cherries for which to bake a pie, cans of fruit are what I see. You may very well say, of course, you are only looking at rows of fruit. But, even if you are walking down the isles heading for the rows of fruit, you may not really see anything but cans. Your attention may momentarily be grabbed by the unusual, such as the woman at the checkout dressed as though she were headed for the opera, or the teenager by the frozen pizzas with her hair dyed green, but then it returns to the can of cherries. You are aware of the other people and sights around you, but you don’t really see them in the sense that you could describe them later. This is also true while wandering through the world of nature. If my mind is filled with thoughts other than my surroundings, only the post card view of the world will be centered in my view.
However, even if I am on my walk with my attention on my surroundings, even then I may not see very far beyond the big picture. I’ll see the mountain peek ahead with the white clouds framing it, I’ll see the swiftness of the stream as it tumbles swiftly over the rocks, I’ll see the tallness or shortness of the trees, the deer that bounds across the path in front of me, or the bird that takes wing suddenly, startled out of the bush at my feet. But do I really see the world around me? Again it goes back to my state of mind. How much attention am I allowing my mind to give this walk. Only on the occasions when I can allow my mind to completely open up to the activity in which I am involved, allowing even the distracting subconscious thoughts to slip away can I really see. These wonderful times are so all-inclusive that I am able to open all my senses to the experience, as well as feelings in the sense of feeling one with my surroundings. The experience becomes a form of meditation. Now you see so much more. The deer standing quietly in the shadows, the snake slithering through the grass, the tiny red mushrooms tucked behind the fallen log, the beetle making its way across the fallen leaves, the way the light dances across the stream, creating its own world of light and shadows. And as the meditation deepens, and you allow your state of mind to focus its attention even more, not just on your surroundings, but on your own BEING in the surroundings, then you have the sense of oneness with all things natural to the Earth. A sense of belonging as a strand in a spider web belongs to the whole. This state of mind, of seeing and feeling a oneness, is not something that comes easily. I find that if I consciously try to reach this state of oneness, it does not come. Rather I must let it come in stages, relaxing my mind, focusing my attention not just on the big picture, but also on the smallest details around me. Even then I do not often reach this deepest level of seeing meditation. But each time it comes, it is like a new, exhilarating experience, and I walk away form it reborn for another day. |
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Patriotism vs. NationalismWhat is patriotism? Ideally this is not about war or killing, not about hate, and certainly not about degrading others. Patriotism should simply mean LOVE of country. Nationalism on the other hand often signifies a belief that one's nation is superior to all others and its interest should therefore always come first. Nationalism can lead to the belief that one's country is more righteous than other countries, which can in turn lead to misunderstanding and even hate of others.
By this definition, I am patriotic, but not nationalistic. |
| My Husband and I With Our Friend's Dog in 2005. |
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QuestionWhy are so many wars fought in the name of religion or God? Isn't God supposed to be an all loving and all knowing being? Then how could a God who teaches love and who loves his children desire his children to hate each other in His name and to fight among themselves?
Photo by our great friends, Sandy and Mark. |
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 Comments for KimberlyAnn about World | | | | |
DSwede Fri Jul 11, 2008 01:08 UTC
Thanks for all of your kind words!! I can see we both appreciate the big wide open west and the parks! | travelgourmet Fri Jun 20, 2008 23:53 UTC
Anne, Thank you for looking and remarking on my Carmel-by-the-Sea pages. You can't go wrong at the Volcano Grill for delicious dining. Thanks for your tips on the Parks and Monuments. I have you tagged on my computer favorites list. Happy travels. Larry | atufft Wed May 28, 2008 15:51 UTC
Lovely update on your homepage Anne... | Aussie_guy71 Tue May 27, 2008 10:54 UTC
Hey,thanks for your ideas on my US road trip question,love your hompage,very interesting indeed! :) |
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