The End of the World

 

Sorry for the delay in posting but wanted to share my thoughts on "End of the World Day" anyway.

Mayans were very smart people.  They developed a calendar which went for thousands of years in a repeating cycle...a wheel within a wheel so to speak.  Today, 12-21-12, the winter solstice for 2012, was the end of that cyclical calendar.  Thousands of years of repetition ended TODAY...ok let me repeat that...their calendar which started in something like 3114 BC ENDED TODAY.  Evidently, 5000 years+ of predicting future events is all the Mayans could handle.  That's a long run.  Maybe something to be considered, maybe a small pause in our busy lives might be in order.

If I were to recap this past year, I would say that it was ruled by violence, disagreement, derision and divisiveness.  World peace didn't happen, in fact we find ourselves at this moment in time, staggering from not only international violence but crimes here at home that have made us reel in confusion and anger.  We all feel that things need to change but disagree vehemently how to bring about this needed change.  We cannot even seem to agree on what kind of change needs to occur. 

Snowflakes falling 12/21/12 - blanketing the world in white

Most people laughed and joked about the "end of the world as we know it" occurring today.  But we seem to have made it through the day without earthquakes or killer tornadoes.  Ohio is having a nice snowstorm, however.   Some people refer to the ending of what is astrologically known as the Piscean Age and the beginning of the Aquarian Age.  We all know about the Age of Aquarius from the popular song.  It is supposed to be an age of peace. love and unity.  In truth, I hope and believe that this would be not only a necessary shift but an extremely positive one.  A shift that, if we choose NOT to move into, will mean more death, dying and really, possibly the real END of the world as we know it.

In my humble opinion, our current path of self interest, self absorption and violent need to be right at other's expense, paired with complete disregard for others opinions or values is a toxic brew which will lead to world destruction.  If you take a look at what is happening just in the environment with money and greed driving business at the Earth's expense, it is easily seen that in just a few years we will tumble over an environmental cliff of no return.  

On this day (and into next year) can we find it in ourselves to step out of our own self into the BIG community of life here on earth and see what a lovely place this would be if we could all just get along...if we could all understand that this beautiful planet belongs to ALL OF US not just companies, individuals with lots of money and power ...if we could understand in our guts that once it is ruined, life will end...could this monumental realization then help us be less concerned about our own interests and more open to becoming part of the world community.  So, tomorrow lets argue a little less, make friends with someone who lives on the other side of the world from you and listen to what concerns them, heck listen to your neighbor without judgement or agenda and then put your OWN interests aside for theirs.  One act of kindness and understanding in this new age can create a mountain of change.  

Happy New Year/Age to all.

December 22, 2012 - Outside my front door, first real snow of winter

Legacy Wishes

During the last several years while looking for a job, I've been challenged over and over again to think about what I want to do with my life.  I am asked, what work would inspire me to jump out of bed everyday excited to be alive.  A myriad of employment gurus encourage me to think about what my goals are for the next 2, 5, 10, 20 years...Heck, I'll be happy if I'm not in a rocker by then.  My goals right now are to get up everyday and do something positive.  I've categorically been unable to speak to what my driving passion is, what my life goals are, what do I want to do.  Refusing to box myself in with only one thing to do or be passionate about, I've kept my options open.  Life is exciting, there are many things which spark my curiosity, engage my mind and creativity which I would love to have the time to pursue. 

However, when a person recently asked me what legacy I would want to leave behind when I left this physical world...I paused.   This question caught my attention for whenever I think of my legacy my mind flies away into the upper stratosphere.  That is the place where perfection, pure thought and purpose hang out.  Of course, I want to leave a legacy, don't we all?  So, I started thinking.

I want to leave a legacy of love, good will, kindness, giving and gratitude.  As I float down from the cloud of hyperbole to more solid ground, my mind and gut say that when I "shake off this earthly mantle", I would like my friends and family at least to think kindly of me and smile, then laugh while reminiscing about things we've done together. My kids don't ask for much and they don't have much but the personalities they were born with and maybe my curiosity.  So, any legacy I leave, I'd like to have include money.  Hopefully, enough to give some to my kids, friends and to organizations I like which are doing good.  Enough to send the grand kids on journeys to find themselves and their passion in life and give them experiences that will help them become people of honor and empathy.  Maybe these journeys would be to college, maybe to Bangladesh...who knows.  Some too for fighting poverty, hunger and hatred.


 Mostly, I think I want to leave my grand kids, kids and friends the sure knowledge that their dreams are what drive them and if those dreams get subverted or ignored by the humdrum of everyday living, then they will never really be happy nor will they reach their true potential.  

  And with this in mind my brain floats up again to the stratosphere and thinks of all the millions of people experiencing want right now...I think of all that potential going to waste... I think how easy it would be to encourage and inspire them to greatness with a little kindness and hope and I wish heartily upon that first star on the right straight out past midnight that the universe will shower upon me a boatload of cash.  Why? Because I would leave a legacy of good in my path...as I slide into the darkness with a Margarita in one hand, Handel's ice cream cone in the other yelling...WHOOOO HOOOO look out eternity!!!.