tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90944701802809755252024-03-18T19:45:09.525-07:00WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES ME....SPIRIT FIGURES AND ART DOLLSjuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.comBlogger363125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-55305322570049554032016-03-07T15:32:00.000-08:002016-03-07T15:32:23.203-08:00have you ever noticed?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7srE5fv5J-rrh5e9jljUw_jzIvGMitikUllwiESxMl6nW03JXE-MHvi69ypoUncO8WSrXpAYyj527_6VRsYhG_YryfwLsSpzxntq-gpntkCLCK5EwhSWp4DmKg3zuCQy2kM3iOyJSReDm/s1600/cb+woman+with+Butterfly_HandsBUTTERFLIESGIRLOCEAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7srE5fv5J-rrh5e9jljUw_jzIvGMitikUllwiESxMl6nW03JXE-MHvi69ypoUncO8WSrXpAYyj527_6VRsYhG_YryfwLsSpzxntq-gpntkCLCK5EwhSWp4DmKg3zuCQy2kM3iOyJSReDm/s1600/cb+woman+with+Butterfly_HandsBUTTERFLIESGIRLOCEAN.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>have you ever noticed</i></b></div>
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<b><i>I mean really noticed...</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when you send out love to someone</i></b></div>
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<b><i>when you open your heart and speak from it</i></b></div>
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<b><i>when you look into someones eyes</i></b></div>
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<b><i>with eyes that say I see you fellow traveler..</i></b></div>
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<b><i>here, let's hold hands</i></b></div>
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<b><i>let's share a little time....</i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i>how when you really listen to someone who is brave enough to tell their truth</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when you accept and love them in spite of it all</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when you give your attention</i></b></div>
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<b><i>become attentive</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when you slip into kindness</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when your guard goes down</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how when your heart becomes soft</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how much you then feel like you are the love you seek</i></b></div>
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<b><i>that love IS you</i></b></div>
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<b><i>have you noticed how that someone feels it too</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how the one you are loving begins to glow</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how they glow knowing there is heart</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how that glow makes you love them more</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how the glow gets all over you</i></b></div>
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<b><i>how beautifully you glow too</i></b></div>
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<b><i>the glow of love</i></b></div>
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<b><i>the heart kind</i></b></div>
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<b><i>have you ever noticed?</i></b></div>
</i></b></span>juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-31719301069579334712015-10-15T21:29:00.000-07:002015-10-15T21:30:09.357-07:00engage....<i style="background-color: white; color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tdVsLPRwmgHobUu4581OAhjpj60D7_c-y1591z-xZ-5I68bFrvKhuPH8DN72ihFKksz6CKPqXvj6RSRzT6zQ5AUPRyu6fJXgKDgvhn7M9_jRGAeWwI_DA7sxWNxOoXO4YTJX3i6MxOJY/s1600/cb+humanity+think.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tdVsLPRwmgHobUu4581OAhjpj60D7_c-y1591z-xZ-5I68bFrvKhuPH8DN72ihFKksz6CKPqXvj6RSRzT6zQ5AUPRyu6fJXgKDgvhn7M9_jRGAeWwI_DA7sxWNxOoXO4YTJX3i6MxOJY/s320/cb+humanity+think.png" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My mother cared deeply about America</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She was a patriot</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And she had me right next to her, even as a young child, for every political debate</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Without knowing her own spirituality she knew and felt to her core the injustices </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>that could befall one of us could befall any one of us</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She was a proud voter</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She was emotionally and intellectually involved, invested in what happened in America</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She was political</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>she was a politician</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>she hooked me in</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>without lecture or force</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I am political</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I am a politician</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I know there are people reading this who would prefer there were no politics here</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but Cowbird declares this place as a library of human experience</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and none of us can avoid the experience of the political climate in this world</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>to ignore the politics of global warming, the Trans Pacific Partnership, racism, hunger and homelessness, perpetual war, gerrymandering.....the list can go on and on...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>something for everyone...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>to ignore politics is to do so at our peril</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I hear people say...I'll leave the politics to the politicians...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but to be a politician can simply mean you are engaged</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>To not be engaged...to leave it up to the politicians, has led to a ruling class...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and a disengaged populace...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>leaving it up to them</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>only 53.6 % of us voted in the last presidential election...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>that fact feels immoral to me</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>when we aren't in our humanity the world misses us</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>this is America</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>called a democracy...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>run for and by the people</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>when we don't engage</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>what we have</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>this ruling class</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>is not a democracy...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>as Thom Hartmann says...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Democracy is not a spectator sport...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>tag...you're it...</i></span></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-12489594930698856642014-10-01T14:02:00.000-07:002014-10-01T14:02:45.746-07:00you're invited<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">It's an ART PARTY</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">all weekend long!!</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">grab a friend or come alone</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">but come!</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Good cheer, art, artists, inspiration...</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">food and fun..</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">come on</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">join us</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 24pt;">Sierra Art Trails </span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 24pt;">Open Studio Tour</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Friday, October 3rd through Sunday October 5th, 2014 </span></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">from 10AM to 6 PM</span></span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<img class="CToWUd" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=7d47ce7689&view=fimg&th=148c36998d806699&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=b04f4d72525f305b_0.1.1&attbid=ANGjdJ_K-gkZk8GK8ogDyYosBrKHV80e8ThHZa2vQj6ksyYrz7VlTv77vaDVGK5y5wb3I2ZfjnS76zKTnFhopqV1a2A-5I2aVXuJQ-7eY5dA94awFuLjAYrDSCoXxsA&sz=-w1600-h1000&ats=1412197021515&rm=148c36998d806699&zw&atsh=1" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.7272720336914px;" /></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Stealth</span></i><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">A collaborative piece with Los Angeles artist Miles Ciletti</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'll be showing at Timberline Gallery</span></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Gallery Row</span></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> 40982 Hwy. 41 • <b>Oakhurst</b>, California 93644 </span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><a href="tel:559%2F683-3345" target="_blank" value="+15596833345">559/683-3345</a></span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18pt;">Please come visit me...</span></i><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">See what I've been up to..</span></i><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Say hello</span></span></i><u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b>For more information and to reserve your catalog..</b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Phone:</span><a href="tel:%28559%29%20683-5551" target="_blank" value="+15596835551">(559) 683-5551</a></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Support our vibrant art community..</span></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.7272720336914px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.7272720336914px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.7272720336914px;"></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Think Christmas</span></span></b></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-72595852221066599332014-03-31T19:59:00.001-07:002014-03-31T20:01:24.012-07:00if we could, would we?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupSnf_8JZ_2APXrJOAduNJKvlLQ25rLTZdO-1bBplTT3ya503MTKlXT0njLnFw9L0YBCSnGPV-sM2-hDnRTLfQiFWsXkqaK86pd9y_7OTHESRVLmvo4LaafGHsvJCktkahJYdGYNhWrRQ/s1600/sl+socs+dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupSnf_8JZ_2APXrJOAduNJKvlLQ25rLTZdO-1bBplTT3ya503MTKlXT0njLnFw9L0YBCSnGPV-sM2-hDnRTLfQiFWsXkqaK86pd9y_7OTHESRVLmvo4LaafGHsvJCktkahJYdGYNhWrRQ/s1600/sl+socs+dream.jpg" height="201" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
<i></i></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>If we could start over...</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>a new world</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>a brave new world</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we take the light to the dark...</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>shine a light...</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>sweep it clean?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we do it differently?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would there still be hunger? starvation?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>homelessness?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>war?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>war without end?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>drones and nsa?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would 20,000 children </i><br />
<i>be homeless in New York City in the 21st century?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we do it differently?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we have a culture in the midst of a frenzy of consumerism,</i><br />
<i>raping our home in the process? </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would banks still be too big to fail?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would greed still be good?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we still have so much and feel so empty?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we stay in denial or step up to the plate?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we reach out more? step out of fear?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would people still die for lack of medicine, healthcare, care, </i><br />
<i>compassion?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would the Trans Pacific Partnership, the race to the bottom, be looming? </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would there be such things as pipelines, and fracking, Fukushima?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would our food still poison us?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would clean water be a commodity or a right?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would the police still be so afraid of the people they have sworn to protect?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would education be only for the few?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would competition still separate us?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>corporate prisons</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>rape</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>gmo's</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>cancer for all</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>mass murders in the name of freedom, security, resources...</i><br />
<i>in the name of God, a vengeful God</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>sex trade</i><br />
<i>child slave</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>plastic</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>global warming</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>climate change</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>hate</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Would we really believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness </i><br />
<i>in a brand new world</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>a brave new world....</i><br />
<i>would we make it real and true?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>could we, would we, empower the children?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we teach them that the way to a better world is through cooperation, </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>not competition?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we tell of compassion, empathy, and nurture it, show it?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we explain that there doesn't need to be a loser?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we support them in their reach for their highest potential?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we encourage creativity, critical thinking?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we show them the wonders of diversity? </i><br />
<i>of inclusion rather than separateness?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we dance more? love more? allow for joy?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we love the planet, Mother?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we let them just keep drilling?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we realize there is enough for everyone?</i><br />
would we know more stuff does not mean more happy?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we insist corporations serve the communities they are part of?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>would we seek out and empower the peacemakers, </i><br />
<i>would there be need for the warriors?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we come to recognize our inter-dependence?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>would we love one another like we say we do?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Have we learned anything?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Anything at all?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Would we dream a different dream?</i></div>
</i></span>juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-14537933629013820802013-09-06T13:15:00.000-07:002013-09-06T13:15:11.194-07:00nomads<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="266" src="http://cdn1.cowbird.com/items/pages/2013/08/27/03/08/145625/29532_521c17f28bd4b1.28331781-large.jpg?q=20130902201719" width="400" /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><div style="color: #eeeeee; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">The sun takes its time setting behind the mountains, taking the heat of the day with it. Just minutes ago, camp was set up. The donkeys drink from a watering hole. Finally, the nomads can pause and rest. They deserve it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">They are eager to take their shoes off, stretching their feet and wiggling their toes. The cool earth soothes the tired feet of these men. They gather, each sitting on his own towel. They have been waiting for this moment all day. While others prepare food at the campsite, they exchanges stories. Muhammad, everyones senior, stands before them, speaking.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">Tonight, he reminisces to his youth, sharing a story. The younger men, listen intently. The older men, having heard the story, absorb the scenery.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">"Today reminds me of a day in my childhood, when I was on a journey like this with my father. The sunset was beautiful, as it is tonight, but that day was not as relaxed as today. In the midday heat, as we trekked through the desert, the sun was baking our bodies. The donkeys were stubborn and quickly growing weak. We should have listened to the earth, and sought shelter for the day, but that is not what we did. Pushing on, the heat grew worse, and the winds picked up. A sandstorm was brewing."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">All the young men are staring at Muhammad, forgetting to blink.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">"We were caught in the middle of the storm, and helpless to escape it. We could not see where we were going. My instant reaction was to cover my face from the sand. The men were frantically searching for cover, eventually finding a lone tree. Digging into the barren earth, they created enough room to protect the group. The storm seemed to rage on for hours, but in reality, it was minutes. Afterwards, we gathered ourselves, only to realize that we had lost our donkeys. A search found the donkeys, but unfortunately, it was too late. They did not survive the storm. Each able bodied man grabbed supplies, and we had to complete that days journey carrying everything. Now I tell you this story for two reason, and I suggest you learn from our misfortune. Listen to the earth, my brothers. She will tell you all that you need to know during your journey. The earth is a mystery, but she leaves you hints. Find them, and read these hints. Lastly, recognize that you may only bring what is essential to your life, and nothing more. We seldom realize the excess that we bring, until we must carry our possessions ourselves."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">by...andrew koltsoon</span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-21758321865070450082013-09-02T14:52:00.000-07:002013-09-02T14:52:08.600-07:00is it too late?....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zAhZpgeF0qs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>too late for the fragile oasis of our world to flourish.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-31167778643652023272013-08-31T16:56:00.000-07:002013-08-31T16:56:11.193-07:00What's wrong?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://cdn1.cowbird.com/items/pages/2013/08/27/20/14/145743/22929_521d085f566f13.92072197-big.jpg?q=20130831235125" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Things are bad in America</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the recession</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the depression</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the bankers </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the 1%</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>wall street</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the Republicans</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the Democrats</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's those damn Progressives</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's healthcare</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the teachers</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the unions</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Walmart</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Apple</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>McDonalds</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's high taxes</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's low taxes</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's trickle down and trickle up</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's those lazy hungry folks alway looking for a handout</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's that pregnant girl</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's foreclosures</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the cost of gas</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the homeless</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the illegals </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the legals</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's offshore drilling</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's fracking</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's American Idol</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's crime</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the prison system</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's pot</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's guns</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's greed</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the war machine</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the internet </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and 911</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's religion</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's racism</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and it's voter fraud</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and corporations</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's corruption at the highest levels</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it's the Supreme Court</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and moral decay</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and those damn homosexuals and on and on an on</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We have a million reasons why, in this nation with so much wealth, children go to bed hungry. We have lots of reasons why the United States has the highest first-day infant death rate out of all the industrialized countries in the world. We have so many reasons our elderly have to choose between food and medicine, and reasons why real people die because they can't afford healthcare.. and why we can afford war after war and our military is asked to go fight again and again and again...and then brought home to no jobs and no mental health care...we have a million reasons why the United States places 17th in the developed world for education And literacy has gone out the window and our crime rate is soaring. ..Why are there so many homeless when affordable housing is considered a human right?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Where is the hand up we always talk about in this country? When did we start blaming the less fortunate for being less fortunate? Has it always been about greed and I've Got Mine? Is it still true that a man or woman can work hard...just give it their all, and expect the American Dream? Do we really still believe in liberty and justice for all...do we believe it is every humans right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...or are these things just for some? And the land of the free and home of the brave?.....are we truly free to pursue happiness, and if we are brave, why are we so afraid?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I am pointing the finger at myself here...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't do enough...I sometimes look the other way...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I think someone else will fix it...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>There is a movie called I AM....</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It asks what is wrong in the world? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And it asks what is the solution?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and both questions have the same answer</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I AM</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.iamthedoc.com/thefilm/">http://www.iamthedoc.com/thefilm/</a></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-18734302785060740532013-02-27T16:56:00.000-08:002013-02-27T16:56:06.971-08:00...greed and practice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img height="211" src="http://victorstuff.com/wp-content/themes/Insignia/lib/scripts/timthumb/thumb.php?src=http://victorstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/money_and_god.jpg&w=720&h=380&zc=1&q=100" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I wonder what the world would be like if everyone put as much effort </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>into peace and a spiritual practice </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>as we do into getting stuff....??</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I wonder what would it be like if we took </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more of the effort we put into making our exterior lives look good </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and put it into </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>making our interior lives a little better?</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Wouldn't there be a trickle down?</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I wonder.</i></span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-84342187217783020952013-02-26T11:45:00.000-08:002013-02-26T11:45:29.161-08:00...1968<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://cdn1.cowbird.com/items/pages/2013/02/21/00/21/114488/22929_51253482a6b520.35705441-big.jpg?q=20130221031503" width="242" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was 1968 when my boyfriend and I moved from San Diego, CA. to Houston, Texas. The Vietnam war was at ti's deadliest, Dr. King had just been assassinated, Bobby Kennedy murdered, gone...there was a presidential election looming. Segregationist George Wallace was a leading candidate. There were riots and protests everywhere....for a black man, or a hippie, Houston was not the most welcoming place...but we, my boyfriend and me, were young, dumb, and sort of brave white kids on a mission to make a difference. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were flyers up all over the city of a generic hippie couple with the words Wanted Dead or Alive...I watched the Democratic</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> convention in Chicago on TV and felt fear and disbelief...they were beating people who looked just like me.</span></div>
<div style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">....Black men were being shot at an alarming rate by the Houston Police and by the Texas Rangers...these men were accused of trying to run, but there would be powder burns on their backs.....there was a lot of fear that because of what happened to Dr. King there would be riots like the one in Watts in 1965. City leaders were trying to keep a lid on things...the city sort of vibrated with tension. And so many sirens all the time...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I got a job as a cocktail waitress a few nights a week......</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I only had to be 18 to work at a club. I didn't serve alcohol, everyone brought their own and I would bring them ''set ups''. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The job was mostly easy and my days were free. I decided I wanted to help register black voters and I was able to find a connection to make it possible. I had a meeting with a minister from a black church...he interviewed me and made a point of letting me know that he couldn't promise that everything would be ok...that I would be ok...My duties would be help people fill out the forms correctly. I took the ''job'' and three mornings a week my boyfriend would drive me to Ward 4 or 6, I don't remember which now. We would arrive in our tiny car which was painted with big red, blue, yellow and pink flowers, and looked like a dozen clowns should pile out when the doors opened.....so conspicuous we were....and he'd leave me there...It was a sort of secret place, the little house...the summer too hot with emotion, too dangerous to put out a sign saying REGISTER HERE!!! .....There were no lines...people would sort slip in and out all day...in small groups or alone.... and we'd do the paper work.... tension was high...we registered a lot of first time voters of all ages in those few weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That summer I also volunteered for Operation Bread Basket. I volunteered to spend time with a child from one of the Wards a few times a week.....My child, and little friend was Oshee...she was four years old and black as the night. She lived with her mother and 5 brothers and sisters in 3 rooms...she had never played in a bubble bath or eaten an egg. She'd never swam in a swimming pool either and when I let her swim at our apartment complex the other renters called management...no black kids allowed.....I was more than a little stunned....our neighbors seemed like nice people. I wondered then, and still do, what they feared from a 4 year old?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One sunny afternoon Oshee and I decided to walk to the store about 3 blocks away. I'd walked it many time, but this time it was different. In a matter of minutes white men in pickup trucks where calling me a nigger lover...whore, slut...screaming these words at us as they drove by...let me tell you, this hippie girl started shaking in her sandals.....I don't think Oshee had any clue what the words meant that were being hurled at us but she felt my fear, and she could feel their hate......and she held my hand a little tighter, and we both walked a little faster...I didn't know rather to turn around and go back, or be brave and move forward. We went forward, I had promised her a coloring book and crayons.....but I was afraid...really afraid....We never took a walk together again...sigh...I had never felt such intense hatred projected onto me......but I imagine she had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I often wonder if my time with her was good or not, what impact it had, if any......I wonder with racism still alive and well in this country if she was able to leave that Ward and never look back...I wonder if she has a good life...I wonder if she votes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I heard a blip on youtube from some Fox commentators the other day. They were talking, and laughing, about the 102 year old woman who had to stand in line for hours to vote in our last national election. They joked...and they wondered out loud what the big deal was?...they asked what else a 102 year old woman had to do besides wait? And I wondered when voter suppression will end in this land of the free and equal....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wonder.....didn't we already fight this battle?</span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-15418028474613361892013-01-27T21:35:00.001-08:002013-01-30T10:01:23.738-08:00...scars<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i><div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRL7XBEfdzmtVJdGPnWW4ueqyu9xlMTY1AE1y16vFCfufnN-A-7txAXsob03xQccIWLoJbhLJB1kFEfprDv__Vjd04zond2U097CBg5Y1QodN-uTA8jX-XHzRMQEdbGbcFgn7cVJHZfBtR/s1600/1-IMG_2530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRL7XBEfdzmtVJdGPnWW4ueqyu9xlMTY1AE1y16vFCfufnN-A-7txAXsob03xQccIWLoJbhLJB1kFEfprDv__Vjd04zond2U097CBg5Y1QodN-uTA8jX-XHzRMQEdbGbcFgn7cVJHZfBtR/s320/1-IMG_2530.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>There was a time </i></div>
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<i>when I believed trees were the highest form of life on this little blue planet....</i></div>
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<i>and maybe I still believe it to be true...</i></div>
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<i>I share this little bit of land I live on with a 300 year old Oak...</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>She is majestic..</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>it would take 3 of me to reach my arms around her. </i></div>
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<i> I can see her from my studio, from the house, from the hill...</i></div>
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<i>She shades my Cretan Labyrinth. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> She is what I see when I step into it. </i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Her north side is covered in cool thick moss but her bark is cracked and scarred...</i></div>
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<i>The cracks are deep,</i></div>
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<i> like wrinkles in an old woman's skin...</i></div>
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<i>they show the life She has led, </i></div>
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<i>what she has seen summer after summer.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i></i><br />
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><i>Sometimes I walk to her just to touch Her, </i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><i>to thank Her. </i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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<i><i>Sometimes She leans into me, greeting me......</i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><i>sometimes while leaning back </i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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<i><i>I cry for deep reasons and press my face against Her...</i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><i>sometimes into the soft, </i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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<i><i>and sometimes into the hard.</i></i></div>
<i>
</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>photo of beautiful Great Grandmother...</i></div>
</i></span><br />
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-88119431602427383102013-01-22T23:03:00.000-08:002013-01-22T23:03:39.084-08:00....connecting<br />
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<img src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTaMZ97ReamRiF50eNRKrpoDMZxo64HwdLy7zfG6ZXCQiORzvZARg" /></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I was feeling a little empty today. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I'm a hermit and I usually enjoy being alone...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but today, I wanted to be distracted,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>so I called a friend to see if she could come out and play...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>she said she had friends coming up to hike along the river and I could join them...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I'm not good at small talk...not at all. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>So when I found myself alone with the friend,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>of a friend, the silence wasn't the comfortable kind. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>After about 5 min. with no words passing between us since we'd already covered </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the mandatory discussion about the mess the world seems to be in...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I put down the stick I was so busily removing the bark from and looked in his eye and smiled. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He looked in my eyes and blurted out that he was in CA. to clean out his son's apartment. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>That his son had taken his own life. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>No small talk here. The ground shifted a little beneath me, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I looked into this man's eyes while he talked about his loss....</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>his struggle to take in the fact that his beautiful young son didn't want to live in this world. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He showed me a photo. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>His son who wanted to be a sports doctor smiled out at us. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He expressed his deep grief that his son had not talked to him,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>how maybe if he had something could have been done to stop him. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He spoke of his guilt at not knowing that his son was in such deep pain. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My eyes never left his.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I talked about my mothers death</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and how she sometimes comes to me in dreams</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and how I can often smell her perfume. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I talked about the twins and how they were only here on this plane for a month</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but had had such a big impact on all of us who knew them,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>loved them. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He wondered how he would ever fill the space his son had left..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>how he didn't feel that emptiness yet,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but knew it was coming, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and he feared it would break his heart. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We talked about this world we live in, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>this journey, how it might all be an illusion but how the feelings are very real. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We talked about how to disconnect, unplug from the dream. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We talked about Oneness. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Connection. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And when it was time to say good bye we hugged and he whispered, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> ''thank you for being so present...''</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and I thanked him for being such a gift. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We had been two strangers who connected. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We had seen each other. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I looked in his eyes a last time and remembered something </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I read long ago about how if we truly, truly, look into another's eyes</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>we can't help but see their soul, and experience unconditional love.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When we parted my heart felt bigger, softer,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>even though the topic was death,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I felt a deep joy at being given the opportunity to listen deeply</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>to a fellow traveler, and have him listen deeply to me..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Soul friendship is a way of kindness, of mercy, of mutual vulnerability. A soul friendship is marked by a kind of deeply respectful intimacy and familiarity that our society has all but forgotten....unknown</i></span></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-68962190084646207712013-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:002013-01-17T19:19:50.925-08:00tears<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #ead1dc; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<i><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I think we need more mother love in this world.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I think we need more tears.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>More compassion.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Forgiveness..</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>When did tears become a sign of weakness?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I want to see a woman become president and stand at the podium and cry...</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>cleansing tears..let's start new.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I know it's silliness.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><div style="display: inline !important;">
<i><div style="display: inline !important;">
<i>I wish that more women, when gaining power, would not become more like men.</i></div>
</i></div>
</i></div>
</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>There is room for both the feminine and the masculine ........Yin and Yang.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Right now, there aren't enough tears.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</i></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">~~~</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://th08.deviantart.net/fs34/200H/i/2008/240/d/7/Sea_of_tears_by_sweetangel1.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">“Words are tears that have been written down. </span></i></div>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Tears are words that need to be shed. </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Without them, joy loses all its brilliance and sadness has no end.”</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;">Paulo Coelho</span></div>
</span></i><br />
<br />
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-68971165579363591022013-01-13T15:42:00.000-08:002013-01-13T15:42:58.708-08:00...38 questions..re-posting and still asking<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7grA8wcyUP1J-tq9HFWkV6tUNzUzsCvEc7gY-EN1w79UIBt14xDui17UWhOrgTA7LGuyG0o0JGQlz_JK-0EvBJGHpW7llWga4Y8WnqZPCxc364vBgzGa72wnaJfPHvj2DSyJiS_N-RgjO/s1600/2-sl+meditation+2+best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7grA8wcyUP1J-tq9HFWkV6tUNzUzsCvEc7gY-EN1w79UIBt14xDui17UWhOrgTA7LGuyG0o0JGQlz_JK-0EvBJGHpW7llWga4Y8WnqZPCxc364vBgzGa72wnaJfPHvj2DSyJiS_N-RgjO/s400/2-sl+meditation+2+best.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Where does that fear come from that locks us in place?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if today was a beginning and end?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we cut those ties that are so tight we have to remind ourselves to breathe?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we silenced those voices from within and without </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>when they say, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>can't, won't, shouldn't, couldn't?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we release the pain that has become a comfort, and a safe place to hide?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if stepped away from the judgement and disrespect of others?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we no longer let another's vision for us keep us from our authentic selves?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we stopped self-sabotaging?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we put our toxic waste in a box, blessed it, forgave it, tied it up </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>tight with string</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and kicked it down the road? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Finally.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we practiced compassion, empathy?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Integrity?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we weren't afraid of tears?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we practiced joy?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we made room for the inspired?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we turned the noise down?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if stepped away from the path that no longer calls to us?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we painted the picture we want to step into?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and stepped into it barefooted?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we took </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>our long buried dreams out from their hiding place</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and held them to the light?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we danced with them?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we embraced the gift of them?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we believed?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we relaxed?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if today was the day we pulled up the words </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>from deep within</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and spoke our truth to one and all?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Or just one?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="265" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQfXdH3fcXg2JUp3GLk6_uaIskEFqEjqArHp8tnXUqkxAEHvkmltQ" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we cared?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we honored ourselves?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we asked for what we need?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we reached out to each other in support? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if as a tribe we chased away loneliness, and fear, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and poverty?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we embraced our true and loving hearts?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we stopped lying?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we asked for forgiveness?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we forgave?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Not just them, but ourselves.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we loved unconditionally? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Not just us, but them? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we became pilgrims of peace? </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we really stepped into life?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if we chose to live?</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What if I did it today?</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And what if we don't?</i></span></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-89556517380504998392013-01-05T19:02:00.000-08:002013-01-05T19:02:19.209-08:00...love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9gO2icElnHiwNuI_iJklBe7r6FE2XCpRMY3J5HL7Lm4XXWH8SMwTSpVBObvnG_VKE2Bb7o_rxAqgB7gkUGWP045GCQ5z6eb13Jg8bvuhoxaM2J6iavhPx2T7tOaj7oM3KJ098c5edxen/s1600/1-cowbird+forgiveness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9gO2icElnHiwNuI_iJklBe7r6FE2XCpRMY3J5HL7Lm4XXWH8SMwTSpVBObvnG_VKE2Bb7o_rxAqgB7gkUGWP045GCQ5z6eb13Jg8bvuhoxaM2J6iavhPx2T7tOaj7oM3KJ098c5edxen/s320/1-cowbird+forgiveness.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>While we were talking about love...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>relationships...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>my friend said to me...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>''When I love him unconditionally I will be able to leave him...''</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I didn't understand what she meant until just the other day...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>at least I didn't understand the message in her words for me..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Unconditional love can only be achieved through forgiveness...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>without forgiveness for someone we really can't leave them...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>we take all the the pain, hurt and slights, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and fights and fear with us...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Leaving without forgiveness keeps the ties tight...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>we don't really leave..we just turn our backs.</i></span></div>
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<br />juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-23591350504238197352012-12-23T19:21:00.001-08:002012-12-24T10:51:22.400-08:00...it's almost Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tis the season to be jolly, and offer up goodwill towards men...</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but I'm not really feeling it, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>even though I'm trying.</i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My first response when I heard about Sandy Hook </i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>was to ask why anyone would be surprised?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Just take a look at the world we live in.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It took me a couple of days </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>before I allowed myself to feel the horror of what happened there. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And then I cried. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Not just for the children of that little American town and those who loved them. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Those poor families...the empty space in their heart. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I slipped into crying for all the children who go to bed at night with fear in their hearts </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>because of war, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>or because they live in violence, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the sound of guns ALL the time. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Bombs even, drones.....</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>children are called collateral damage in other countries. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Or ''gang related'' deaths here in the USA.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Or they become victims of domestic violence.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Child abuse. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Or suicide...suicide is rampant among our children.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was listening to two teenage boys talk about Sandy Hook...</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">about the guns, </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">they said they had friends who think war is fun, </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and can't wait to join one. </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> To my surprise they brought up the violence of video games...</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">they even see it. </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do you think we might be desensitizing our children to violence? </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We pay a great deal to have </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">violence brought into our homes via, games, movies, music and tv...</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If violence is part of our entertainment </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">why are we so stunned </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">when it comes to one of our own neighborhoods in a very real way. </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are many mentally ill out there, add guns, fear, hate and disconnect and...</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">well, is it really surprising that we need to turn our schools </i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">into armed encampments?</i><br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is it true? </i><br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We reap what we sow..</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSyvodqXO9X7CVqJ0lTHblBVd25Dm0PVuHfX72OwaImkJ1wCWPYNg" /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When are we really going to demand a more caring society?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And I ask myself this.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When are we going to create a society that honors our children </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>by truly working to come together in peace? </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When will we stop the US and THEM?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>This is the season of love and magic yet there is so much fear and sorrow, why?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't have the answers.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We, the ''greatest'' nation, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>need to take a look at what we perpetuate here, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and all over the world.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Look at how we are seen...are we truly the Ugly Americans?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We rain bombs down on children every day..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Turn our backs on starvation, here and ''over there''.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </i><i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It feels like a real shift in our perspective </i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>about what is important is desperately needed...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more love...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more reaching out...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more awareness...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more listening deeply to each other...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more working for change..</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more action..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>more hugs..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I think we need BIG changes...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>we say we want to protect the children...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but we are doing a terrible, terrible, job.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Children all over the world are dying and aren't they all our children?</i></span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-84527634658907931502012-12-22T17:49:00.000-08:002012-12-22T17:49:44.570-08:00aren't they all our children???<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tPH5FaM9w0Y" width="420"></iframe><br />
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-70150523801182431162012-12-16T17:40:00.000-08:002012-12-16T17:40:06.692-08:00December 14, 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>CHILDREN</i></div>
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<i>Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male (age 7)</i></div>
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<i>Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female (age 7)</i></div>
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<i>Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Dylan Hockley, 03/08/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Madeleine F. Hsu, 07/10/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Catherine V. Hubbard, 06/08/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male (age 7)</i></div>
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<i>Jesse Lewis, 06/30/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>James Mattioli, 03/22/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Grace McDonnell, 11/04/05, female (age 7)</i></div>
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<i>Emilie Parker, 05/12/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Jack Pinto, 05/06/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Caroline Previdi, 09/07/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Jessica Rekos, 05/10/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>Allison N. Wyatt, 07/03/06, female (age 6)</i></div>
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<i>ADULTS</i></div>
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<i>Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female (age 29)</i></div>
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<i>Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female (age 47)</i></div>
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<i>Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female (age 52)</i></div>
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<i>Lauren Russeau, 1982, female (age 29)</i></div>
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<i>Mary Sherlach, 02/11/56, female (age 56)</i></div>
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<i>Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female (age 27)</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">in memory too, of all those taken from us too soon through violence</span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-20805198706564435432012-11-18T15:58:00.001-08:002012-11-18T15:58:42.936-08:00...in peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She will heal you</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>go to her...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>If you are ready</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She will take you there...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>''I bring the Earth,'' She says as she arrives at the party.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the M.C.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the most High</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the Mother of Spirit.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the Tao.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the True voice of the Man</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>She is the embodiment of Earth, Heaven in form...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Cheyenne Harnandez</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Cheyenne...a beautiful young woman has joined us in Circle..</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>I hope we have wisdom to share....</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>we the elders..</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>She does.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-44482473637253068582012-11-05T01:16:00.003-08:002012-11-05T01:16:51.662-08:00...it's very personal<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="The Personal is Political: The Transformative Power of Women’s Art," height="320" src="http://fbd3fbd4df9572c82ff0-9514b3f2dd5087564dd6bfb2a491dfd4.r16.cf1.rackcdn.com/5bcc9aee-2a75-4f31-b123-e03841f2e5b3.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Self Portrait: Trapped in Freedom by Andrea Harris</div>
</span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When I was 25 years old I was raped.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I fought back</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My eyes were blackened</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My lip was split</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My ribs cracked and broken</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>My hair was ripped from my scalp</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I thought he was going to kill me</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Afterwards I was subjected to hours at the police department as I waited for a rape test to be administered. they didn't take me to a hospital, a doctor came with a little black case, and a police woman stood watch.....and then they took pictures of my body.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I was sent home to wait for the justice system to do it's job.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I was given a lie detector test</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I went before the grand jury</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I had investigators hired by the rapists asking questions about my personal life and taking pictures of me as I went about my life.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>then six months after the rape and beating I was called to the District Attorneys office.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He told me that I past the lie detector test, and that the Grand Jury wanted to go forward with a trial, but he was sorry to say his office had decided that I wasn't a good victim....</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>no one would believe it was a legitimate rape.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRvZA-L7VrN8cvP5ttLoQETvM-IcTC2mJ5HV2KR2t38zpvykmpCA" /><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He asked me to understand I was a hippie chick who was living in a commune with a lot of other hippies, and under the same roof as my future husband...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and before that I had lived with a former boyfriend for 3 years...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The DA's office had judged me, and I just wasn't credible as a rape victim.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The DA told me I had suffered severe enough injury that they were going to charge the rapist with gross assault....it was a consolation prize.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't know if you can understand how confused and ashamed I felt....</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I had been raped and beaten...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the experience would change me forever....</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and the man behind desk, with a statue of justice behind him </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>was telling me I wasn't a good enough rape victim to attempt justice for me.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>This man had forced his penis into my body. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>There was sperm.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The problem seemed to be that the rapist was a business owner, a husband,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> a father of 6 kids, a church goer, </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>belonged to the right clubs and had money.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>And I was not a virgin.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He got probation and went back to his life...mine was changed forever.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Seven years later, I was watching late night news and heard his name.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>He had raped, and beaten,</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and shot a woman to death before turning his gun on himself..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It took me years before I allowed the anger I felt over my rape to surface...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I had to do hard work and a lot it to let go of feeling less then..</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>....forgiving</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">but forgiveness falters when I see us moving backwards as a country.....</i><br />
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">when I hear the kind of things that politicians and </i><br />
<i style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">religious leaders are saying about rape it makes me ill and angry.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rape, any kind of rape, is a violent act with sex as the weapon. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It has </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>nothing to do with desire and everything to do with control and hate..</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and doing harm. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> I've felt it. I know. I was terrified....</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and so many other women have felt that terror.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>South Dakota's Republican Senator Bill Napolis <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">s</span></span>poke on an evening news show about his idea of a legitimate rape victim, one who might be eligible for an abortion under legislature he voted for...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>"A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life."</i></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Anything less than that is not illegitimate rape?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>what message are young men and boys getting?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>That kind of talk is scary to me. </i></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>These men saying these things are misogynists and they are writing laws....</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>rewriting what rape is...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>are we becoming a culture where rape is sort ok? </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>is this really a rape culture?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and of course money is involved.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>an interesting read....</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/26/1123628/-Why-it-s-so-important-for-rape-to-be-nbsp-legitimate"><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/26/1123628/-Why-it-s-so-important-for-rape-to-be-nbsp-legitimate</i></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-91666145703345479982012-11-02T01:44:00.000-07:002012-11-02T01:44:23.332-07:00...do you want a hug?<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTOkH3gsmKcLjH_AWALqj3OULbkJyz29R4-buhUPuyO3BNhwrD7" /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I happen to belong to a hugging tribe.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We hug each other all the time.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Real hugs..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>leaning into them</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>breathing</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>really feeling the hug</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the loving energy</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the vibe.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>But sometimes it happens that I want a hug and no one is around..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it happened the other night</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>so I sent an email out to a friend</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I said I would really like a hug</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It was at 1 or 2 in the morning and I really didn't expect a response until much later</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>But Wham!</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Only 15 minutes past and here came a hug </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>a warm, ethereal, hug</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I love the internet</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and my friends</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Here's one for you if you if you want one</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcScrCIau57bIwXtcUOnoi-Z2ns80p2bvByD2k4byqez3pvo3sNi" /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Hugs make me feel good...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSeOMePGyAPb6nG0AfWe6gxbk004SEZ365AHiE67eW_H-iKEkK" /></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
</span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>A hug is the shortest distance between friends. ~Author Unknown</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Hugs make things better..the good and the bad.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><img height="320" src="http://www.dangerouscreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Hugging1.png" width="316" /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I really should do this more often...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>self hugging</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Not too long ago I was watching an interview</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> with author SARK, Susan Kennedy.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>she said she hugged herself every morning and we should too..</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>then she promptly threw her arms around herself and started kissing</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> her hands and arms, shoulders, </i></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and saying</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;">I love you, I love you</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I happened to be feeling less than lovable at that moment so I thought, why not?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I threw my arms around myself...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>did a bit of kissing...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I really opened my heart to myself </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I said I love you..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and to my surprise I started crying, </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>to my surprise it my hug felt so comforting, and nice, and kind...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>who knew?</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Hugs are good</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>even if self administered.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I think Leo Bascaglia </i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>said we need a minimum of a dozen a day..</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>hug, hug</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>xo</i></span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-2064431207882299772012-10-30T01:46:00.001-07:002012-10-30T01:46:14.439-07:00.....do we do nothing?<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">More Politics of Rape</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Posted on <a href="http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/daily-astrology/more-politics-of-rape/">October 27, 2012</a> by <a href="http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/author/admin/">Eric Francis</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">at<a href="http://planetwaves.net/"> Planet Wave</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Dear Friend and Reader:</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Earlier this week, Mitt Romney endorsed a Tea Party-backed Senate candidate named Richard Mourdock, who is running in Indiana [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E3BMUqqCh0E">see video here</a>]. Romney touted him as the potential 51st vote against government health care (even though ‘Obamacare’ is a corporate health care program).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Tuesday when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, ”that’s something God intended.” </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hzLCx1mtK8">See the full video here</a><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Mourdock was the only candidate for Senate endorsed by Romney in this election cycle, so he stands out a bit. The very next day at a debate against his opponent, Mourdock said that he was against a woman’s right to have an abortion, even in the case of rape — because the pregnancy was a “gift from God.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen,” Mourdock said [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hzLCx1mtK8">see video here</a>]. He struggled with it? Are we to assume he got pregnant?</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Mourdock became the second GOP Senate candidate to wax philosophical about rape and pregnancy in recent months. Rep. Todd Akin, running for U.S. Senate from Missouri, said during a television interview in August that women’s bodies have ways of preventing pregnancy in cases of what he called “legitimate rape.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child,” he said. I am sitting here wondering by what logic, or precedent, a fetus has more rights than a sovereign citizen — unless one does not count women as such.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">As if it’s not enough that abortion rights, which are long-settled case law, are somehow a central issue in this campaign (Romney has promised to sign the so-called Personhood Amendment if it lands on his desk) and as if it’s not enough that even the right to birth control is coming into question (Romney has promised to do his part to have the Supreme Court’s Griswold v. Connecticut decision repealed), now we have to hear about rape on a regular basis. Rape is about an attacker taking total control over the victim, in truth, one step shy of murder. Until recently, it was subject to the death penalty in many American states. Now it’s being associated with a “gift from God.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">The official platform of the Republican party states its opposition to abortion under all circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest. The official platform! I have been reading comments like “This is how Jim Crow guys in the south were during the Sixties — very loud,” implying that this kind of misogyny is a kind of death rattle for their point of view. I am not buying that argument, at all. I am not willing to take that chance. There are too many forces pushing in the same direction, and to me this seems more neo than retro.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">However you may feel about voluntary medical abortion, making it into a crime presents a problem: abortions and miscarriages happen spontaneously, and would be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution as potential murders. The central question here is, should women have autonomous dominion over their bodies, or should every pregnancy be government property, subject to investigation? In essence, this is a discussion about making every uterus a potential crime scene.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">It’s easy to cast this as opposition to something distasteful, painful and often considered a necessary evil. It’s easy to cast it as a moral issue, and blame God. There really is no secular, scientific or medical argument in opposition to a woman’s right to choose the destiny of a pregnancy, especially early in the term — all of the arguments are religious, or emotional.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">American political discourse has degraded to the point where it’s now considered legitimate to claim, in public, that women have no rights whatsoever over their bodies, or their reproductive destiny. If you have studied any feminism at all, you know that for women, reproductive rights are the same thing as human rights. And now we are even hearing politicians advocate for the parental rights of rapists. I really wonder why there is not a bigger outcry. Is it because this seems too weird to be true? Or is it about a conscious giveback of both rights and their corresponding responsibilities?</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">For the past three decades, many American children have been subjected to abstinence-only indoctrination in public schools, which is basically a taxpayer supported campaign of ignorance and shame. This is the perfect state of mind for such a vicious, actually insane conversation to flourish. And, one would think, anyone who wanted to see fewer abortions would be in favor of family planning and conscious pregnancy prevention. But that’s not the way things are going — which puts women in an extremely dangerous double bind.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">The slide or even downward spiral of how women are treated, and how women assert themselves in society, is a complex scenario and I think that each of us would be wise to take the inquiry inward, and into our relationships as well.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">We have to look at this in the context of the conscious assault on the rights of women, as well as the voluntary abdication of those rights; the dumbing down of the population via abstinence indoctrination; the proliferation of sexual imagery; and the rise of homophobia, which also influences relationships between the sexes as well as intrapersonal relating. That is to say, all of this influences our most intimate situations, and how we feel about ourselves.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Handmaids-Tale-Margaret-Atwood/dp/038549081X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351537583&sr=8-1&keywords=the+handmaids">The Handmaid's Tale</a> by Margaret Atwood....''a novel that brilliantly illuminates some of the darker interconnections between politics and sex....Just as the world of Orwell's 1984 gripped our imaginations, so will the world of Atwood's handmaid!'' The Washington Post's Book World</span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Women’s issues are often presented as ‘special interests’, which is part of the scam. The more pressing issues of our day seem to be the planet heating up, the power of the arms industry, total corruption, the abuse of technology and corporations thinking they have the rights of humans, enabled by the courts. Yet these all may be byproducts of the condition of human rights, and deep at the core, this is about the treatment of women, by both men and other women. What I am saying is the first human rights issue is how we treat one another — and this seems to involve gender more often than not.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Sex and gender issues are not boutique items. I believe they are the center of the cyclone. If the prevailing, real-life story of the human race is one sex oppressing the other, that’s going to reflect in every other way, influencing everything that happens on the planet — including how we treat the Earth.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">The central political question of our day, in my view is: To what extent have women and men learned to recognize one another as people? To what extent have we learned to recognizeourselves as people? The political is indeed as personal as it gets.</span><br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Lovingly,</span><br />
<img src="http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/eric-sig.png" /></div>
juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-32378269771077611752012-10-28T22:46:00.000-07:002012-10-28T22:46:34.940-07:00...the journey<div class="" style="clear: both;">
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<a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-set/BQcDAAAAAwoDanBnAAAABC5vdXQKFlhEb0Z3VnNlVHc2ejNmaTRqMl94ZHcAAAACaWQKAXgAAAAEc2l6ZQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-set/BQcDAAAAAwoDanBnAAAABC5vdXQKFlhEb0Z3VnNlVHc2ejNmaTRqMl94ZHcAAAACaWQKAXgAAAAEc2l6ZQ.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Somewhere on their long journey on the raft </i></div>
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>they had come into possession of the magic power that all men long for...</i></div>
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<i>the power to erase the distinction between preparation for living and living itself."</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">
- from The Green Kingdom by Rachel Maddox</div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-77865059744083735942012-10-23T22:35:00.000-07:002012-10-23T22:35:40.818-07:00...to be cut<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TCpXLQTQepo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The other day I just wanted to kick back. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>So </i></span><i style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I curled up to watch a movie I'd chosen from Netflix </i></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>after barely skimming the description which said something about a young girl in Africa who escapes an arranged marriage and becomes a super model. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It sounded good...triumph over hardship, and pretty people in pretty clothes. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Had I read the description for Desert Flower a little closer I would have seen the words,</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b> female, genital, mutilation </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> By time I understood where the movie was taking me</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> I was already caught up in the miraculous and inspirational story of Waris Dirie....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>a female of courage and grace. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It's a wonderful move....and there are pretty clothes.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but there are heartbreaking minutes too...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>a scene I couldn't watch.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Waris was born into a nomad family living near the border of </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Ethiopia in the Somali desert in 1965. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>At 13 she escaped her marriage by walking across the desert..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>after many trials she makes it to London where she is discovered </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and becomes a super-super model. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>But what she didn't escape was having her clitoris,</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and both major and minor labia cut from her when she was 5 years old..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>These parts of her were fed to the birds. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Then she was stitched up with thorn as a needle </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>leaving only a hole the size of a match head. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>There was no pain killer.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>As though that torture weren't enough her legs were then bound together until her wounds healed. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the wounds to her soul never healed.....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>This is what is known as extreme female circumcision </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and it is happening to little girls all over the world,</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>including America and the United Kingdom where the practice is on the rise.....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>both Muslims and Christians practice this horror</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>it is estimated that 8000 girls are cut everyday </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>because ''what is down there is dirty''</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>...this practice assures virtue and prevents sexual enjoyment. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It increases the girls marriageability.... </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>on her marriage night her husband simply cuts through the scar tissue </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and forces penetration</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It boggles the mind. Makes my heart sick</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I knew about female circumcision but averted my eyes.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I can't anymore</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AC8WtzeaHQc" width="420"></iframe></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Waris Dirie Foundation.</i></span></div>
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<br />juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-51060784635682060602012-10-19T15:53:00.000-07:002012-10-19T15:53:20.663-07:00... the other side of the bed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img alt="More Than Anything" height="400" src="http://www.bonesigharts.com/img/prod/500/p/more_than_anything.jpg" width="325" /></div>
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<span style="color: #d9d2e9;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">...Joy and Sorrow are inseparable...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>together they come..</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and when one sits alone with you...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d9d2e9; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Kahil Gibran </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I work hard at positive thought. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I am an admitted joy seeker. It isn't that I avoid sorrow. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't close my heart off so I won't be hurt. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> I don't hide from deep experiences because </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't want the sorrow </i></span><i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that may be a part of them. </i></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Somewhere inside of me </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I know the ones who say we have to have sorrow</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> to appreciate joy are probably right. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>But I don't like it. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't want to feel it for you...or for me...or for the world.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I don't want Sorrow.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Deep sorrow, when it comes, stops me in my tracks. </i></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I feel it in every part of my body....</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the ache...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>the tension of acceptance </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When I'm in the now with sorrow</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I sometimes forget to breathe</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Sometimes I just want to</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> curl up and disappear...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>to get out of my body.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Sometimes sorrow leaves me quickly and sometimes it lingers...</i></span><br />
<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don't like to cry and I don't like experiencing that primal howl </i></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>that pushes its way out from deep inside.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> It's that....all of that, I don't want to feel. </i></span><br />
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<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Really I simply want to gain the wisdom and compassion of deep sorrow </i></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>without the ripping that comes with the howl.....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Please let me feel Joy without fearing Sorrow asleep</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>in the shadowy light that spreads across my bed......</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>...help me always find my way back to knowing the world is a safe place</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> to dream, and love, share, dance and hope...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>let me trust that on some level everything is as it should be...</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>and that I am right where I need to be.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>.</i></span><br />
<i style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">xo</i></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9094470180280975525.post-52173485900633467772012-10-14T18:21:00.001-07:002012-10-14T18:21:31.907-07:00...just sharing<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="ecard image" height="300" src="http://www.bonesigharts.com/ecards/images/4bccd73faa9c1.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">To get the full value of joy you must have </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">someone to divide it with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">~ Mark Twain</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; text-align: center;"> </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> </span></span><i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">I'm a solitary person. </i><br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"> I spend most of my days and nights alone</i><br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"> I like a lot of things about being alone.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I love that I have the space...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I find joy most every day in my little bit of the world.</i></span><br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's not so hard. </i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> I am blessed in so many ways. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>But I think Mark Twain is right. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>To get the full value of joy it needs to be shared.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is doubled when I do something enjoyable with someone I really like..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is adding something good and seeing it lift someone...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is relaxing into a shared hug...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is looking in someones eyes and knowing we are of the same tribe...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is looking in someones eyes and seeing love reflected back...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is laughing together until my sides hurt..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is being invited in...</i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">joy is meeting someone I want to invite in....</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">joy is discovering a shared joy...</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is sharing a silly dance...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is standing in front of someone in all my nakedness</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> and having them see me </i></span><i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and not turn away...</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is sharing a dream and having someone else believe in it too....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is holding hands..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is sharing good news and having the one I'm sharing with</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>jump up and down with me..</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is snuggling in and feeling safe...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is having the words to help someone feel a little safer...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is when someone has those words for me...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is having someone look forward to sharing with me...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is sharing success with someone who cares....</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>joy is shared success...</i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">joy is sharing something that leaves me in awe...</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">joy is sharing a smile at just the right moment..</i></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">joy is speaking the same words at the same time because we're so in sync...</i></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I guess it all adds up to the fact that that I love my alone time...</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>but I adore shared moments of joy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I guess I'm a joy seeker.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>xo</i></span></div>
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juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02037465392747165349noreply@blogger.com3