Moment of Inspiration

I had to give a "reflection" at a meeting today. Here's what I chose. And here's why I chose it. A number of years back, I met, at a networking event, a woman named Bea Young. She did show us her driver's license to prove that. She was a yogini (female yoga practitioner) and was in her 70s at the time. She had the posture and presence of a queen, and she attributed that to daily yoga and daily rollerblading... The poem is by Dawna Markova. I have no title for this. Here it is:

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open men,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible;

to loosen my heart until

it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which

came to me as blossom

goes on as fruit.

Unfortunately...

President Jimmy Carter is right. And that makes me sad. He's just been speaking about what most of us knew as a reality. The rage against Obama isn't just because he's a Democrat, or he's proposing something "out of the box" in the health care reform debacle. It's because there are more people who are racist. And they're becoming more open in that racism. And the reason I stated "more people who are racist" is because it's now pretty much "out of the closet" and almost (sadly) a badge of honor. You're a "patriot" if you oppose this president. And if you happen to not like the color of his skin, that's ok. It's even encouraged in a sub rosa way. "We won't mind...." This is so wrong on many levels. And it ties in to the whole "tote your rod" thing where the gun-happy crazies are bringing loaded weapons to Obama appearances. People. Here's a radical idea: Read about what it would ACTUALLY take for any president to overturn the 2nd Amendment. It's not like you wake up one day and say, "Hmmmmmm. It's Wednesday. I think I'll outlaw guns across the nation." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. That can't happen. He's not a king. He's not a Czar. He's not a President-for-Life. We have considerable rights in this country, in spite of what the past president tried to take away. Along with those rights comes an enormous responsibility: the responsibility of educating ourselves about how our system was formed, how it works and how we can help make it better. Toting guns, acting and speaking in a racist manner, intimidating and shouting down those with whom you disagree - those are not things that will help make our country better. They show the ugly underbelly of this country. I was hoping for better.

Open Letter to Joe Wilson

I tried a couple of times to post this to Mr. Wilson's website, and it's crashed. And his chief of staff's e-mail isn't working. Hmmmmmmm. Conspiracy??? ******************************** I always thought that Southern gentlemen had better manners. I lived in Virginia for quite some time, and for the most part, found that that cultural stereotype held. However in this case, Mr. Wilson, you have blasted that concept into the stratosphere. Of all the rude, inconsiderate, boorish, dim-witted, inane, juvenile and despicable things! To insult a sitting President? Was it just because you figured you could "get away with it" because Obama is black? The white Southern gentleman yelling at an inconsiderate "nigra"??? You have not only gone beyond the pale, you’ve leaped over into an area of incivility which is sadly indicative of your entire party’s current agenda. If you want to foment hate and discontent, you’ve certainly whacked at this with a broad sword and have once again hit your target market of stupid lemmings willing to believe that THEY are the only “true” Americans because you’ve told them so, removing the thinking part of their brains in the process. I suppose that if a DEMOCRAT had done that, the entire body of Republicans would have been calling for his soft squishy parts. Because “insulting the President” is un-American… but not if he’s a first-term Democrat only 7 months into his job. And particularly not if he’s asking you to do something human and be REAL Americans. And ESPECIALLY if he’s biracial. Instead, you act as if you are a bunch of screeching harpies who want the man assassinated. Which certainly sounds like what you’re hoping. And then you’ll all stand back and say, “Wow. We didn’t intend for that to happen. That’s a shame.” Hypocritical sore losers. That’s exactly what you and your entire party are. You people need to get your severe rectal-cranial inversion fixed. And, Mr. Wilson, you need to have your mouth washed out with soap.