Finding Direction

Everyone has times in their lives where they feel they have lost direction. That is a very hard place to be. Life without direction results in worry anxiety and stress. Not knowing what to do or where you are going in life is a very uncomfortable place to be.

In thinking about this, I think about direction and what that means. Is it some material goal, buy a house, get married, or start a career? For many I think this is what direction is. So when things go wrong and goals are not met, it feels as if you are lost.

I like to think about direction in this way, who do I want to be? How do I want to live? Taking the emphasis off of the material plane and look at it on a spiritual plane. I think there is much less chance of getting lost when it is looked at in this light.

Not finding the right mate, not being able to finance a new home, or have your dream career, does not define who you are. Living consciously, with your focus on the health and well being of your spirit is what will keep you from being lost in your life.

There are times when things will weigh heavily on you, death, loss, all those experiences in life none of us get to avoid. Those are the times when you re-evaluate where you are going or what your “direction” is. If you have made being happy, being whole and conscious in your life, the direction, these losses will be less likely to make you feel as if you have gone astray.

It’s when we lack direction and feel lost, our spirit or soul, or whatever it is you want to call that energy, starts to dim. Clinging to relationships, people, or physical things, or the way we think they should be, can pull your energy down. Instead focus on your own spiritual well being, knowing you are just a part of greater humanity, living the human experience. Direct your energy toward your own life spark, the one thing you are the master of, and all things will fall into place and be just as they should be.

Realize that all things are transient, people, material things, your station in life, and especially grief and loss, will pass through. Relinquish the desire to control, and become a passenger in your life. A learning, growing, contented, inspired passenger. 

Hypocracy And Our Great Nation version 2

As Independence Day approaches I am reflecting on the state of freedom, patriotism and religion in this great nation. I feel the same about patriotism as I do about religion. It is full of hypocrisy and fallacies. 

Religion is brimming with mythology and misinterpretations and so are the commonly accepted ideas about the founding of “this great nation”.

There’s nothing like growing up in a religious commune as I did, to illustrate all the bold faced lies in religion.  I saw firsthand how it is used to control and manipulate others, and used for profitable gain. I turned completely away from religion about five years ago when I realized that I could not pretend to believe there was some omniscient being, micromanaging people’s lives and making judgment on right and wrong. The white Christian theology many of us are fed from the cradle does not reflect the true diversity that is represented on our planet earth.  It is a narrow and condescending belief system that when closely examined by a critical mind cannot hold up to scrutiny.

This is also how I feel about patriotism; we are saturated by images of the mighty Red White and Blue and fed false ideas about how liberated we are. I find many of these beliefs fictitious. We are governed by a heavy handed government; who feeds us a false sense of freedom and security. When we speak as a people it takes a herculean effort to be heard over the influence of the all mighty dollar, and white male Christianity.

White Christian America and everything that goes with it, is offensive to me, and I'm sure my views will be offensive to some who read this.

But consider who really built this country. It was the determination of a few souls fleeing their homelands seeking freedom from condemnation; they fought tooth and nail to scratch out an existence for their belief in independence. It was the First Nations, making sacrifices of their own freedom and their way of life. Suffering the humiliation and heartbreak of having their land and culture raped. It was on the backs of all the immigrants who came here seeking liberty. This country was built on the struggle of vastly different cultures, and brave men and women from around the globe. All of these varied and beautiful people poured into one nation, with the same goal, to live and be free.

So reflecting on this I see America as needing to go a long way yet to meet its goal of true freedom. When we have erased bigotry against gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation, when we no longer have laws polluted with religious ideals, when we are really free to live without condemnation, when our voices are heard over and above the clamor of the all mighty dollar, when we are all equally represented and have the ability to live without suppression and intolerance, then we will be truly free.

It should be noted that I am grateful for living here, in this country, and not in a country where suppression and abuse of human rights is even more egregious.  I am simply stating my opinion on where we are now, and where we need to go.  I thank the universe I am free to write this.