We Gon' Light It Up Like It's Dynamite!

Card from Victorian Romantic by Baba Studio

 

A couple of years ago we purchased a used iPod Classic on Craigs List for a very decent price.  There were roughly 1300 songs on it that ran the gambit from big band to hard core heavy metal.  Sadly at the time the iPod was not working correctly so we put it aside.  Recently one of my daughters gave me an iPod as a gift for Mother’s Day.  I dug out that old iPod classic and cleaned up the song and artist information so I could go through it and decide what I wanted to have on my mine and then the rest of the family could decide what they wanted to put on theirs. 

 

Now, I’ve always considered my musical tastes to be eclectic although pretty conservative.  That sounds like a contradiction.  I love classical, old school, country, classic rock, and pop….many different genres.  Really the only kind of music that I could never get into is rap, hip hop, hard core heavy metal and screamo.  There’s nothing wrong with them, it’s just not my cup of tea really.  The lyrics on some of them are really off putting for me, others just aren’t musical, in my opinion, and any music where the singer is literally screaming so loud that you can’t understand the lyrics…yeah, it hurts my ears.  This obviously isn’t the case for all and lord knows that there are a lot of country music haters out there as well so it’s all just a matter of personal taste.  Going through the iPod gave me the opportunity to sample many different genres that I normally wouldn’t even gave a second thought to and I really came out with a kick ass music list.

 

My daughter was going through my iPod to see what music I had on it and to be honest, there was some music on there that I have no idea why I like the sound of it but I do.  That’s how music works.  I liked it so I put it on there.  Anyway, she was very surprised by some of the music she found, including rap and hip hop, and made comments like “Who are you?  You are not my mother”.  My response was that I’m not the square that she thinks I am.  At the time I brushed it off but I was thinking about it the other day and it made me a little sad.  Now, I’ve never really been the type to put myself into fun mode a million percent.  I’ve always been the responsible person who has made sure that all of the I’s were dotted, t’s were crossed and rules were followed.  That doesn’t mean that I’ve never had fun because I have.  I’ve embarrassed my kids (on purpose) and done some crazy things in the name of fun but the truth is I haven’t done it enough.  What made me sad isn’t that my daughter didn’t think I was cool.  I’m a mom so I’m square and not fun.  This is normal to a certain extent.  However, the comment made me feel as though I don’t have enough fun around my family and truthfully, I don’t.  My family doesn’t see the fun side of me as often as they should, although I have been getting better at it. 

 

I need to find the balance between responsibility and fun.  I need to learn to relax and just be in the moment and enjoy it.  This is something that I have been working on for a long time and obviously by my daughters comment, I’m just not there yet.  Not to where I want to be anyway.  (I mean she will probably always think that I’m square to a point)  I need to allow my freak flag to fly on more occasions and that’s what I am going to try to continue to do. 

 

I will say that I have a very difficult time not throwing my hands in the air when Dynamite comes on by Taio Cruz.  Usually it is at home but today I vow that I will do it in public!  I invite you to do the same.  Life is too short to be all responsibility and little fun.  Responsibility is extremely important but without the fun, it just isn’t worth it.  What good is working all of the time to support your kids if you never spend time with them?  There is a time and place for responsibility and a time and place for fun and letting go. 

 

So go outside of your box and learn about things that you wouldn’t usually consider.  Get yourself out of that rut and have a good time!  You deserve it!  If I hadn’t have listened to music that I normally don’t listen to I wouldn’t have expanded my horizons and found some really great music!!

 

“I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying ayo
Gotta let go

I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying ayo
Baby, let's go

'Cause we gon' rock this club
We gon' go all night
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite”

 

Dynamite by Taio Cruz 

 

I’m seriously going to have this song in my head the rest of the day and I love it!

 

Have a fabulous week and remember to light it up likes its dynamite!!

 

Blessings!!



Finding Success

 

Card from Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert

 

 

Today I started out writing about a completely different subject for my weekly blog but I decided to change it.  Yesterday’s card of the day, Gaia The World, really got me thinking a lot more about it so I wanted to expand on it a bit more because I think the message is important.

 

I realize that the message of things falling into place with The World card doesn’t resonate with everyone but sometimes it’s not always readily visible.  Sometimes, we have to look at our lives a lot more closely and take stock of what we do have and appreciate that, rather than hoping and wishing that things were better.

 

The thing is, The World card can always be applied whether we want to believe it or not.  Is your family healthy?  Do you have a roof over your head?  Do you have enough food to eat?  There are plenty of people in this world who have none of these things and yet they can find happiness in their lives.  Just the simple fact that they woke up makes for a successful day.

 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in our life issues and feel the “whoa is me” syndrome.  Nothing is perfect and let’s be honest, it’s hard to feel successful when you have no idea how you are going to make your mortgage or how you are going to feed your kids, but things always have a tendency of working out.  So why let our worries take over our days?  Simple.  We are human, but that doesn’t mean that its healthy for us to do or that we can’t change it.  We hear all of the time that we should be grateful for what we do have in life and the more grateful we are the more great things that we attract.  We see the meme’s all the time and everyone clicks the “like” button or makes comments, but does everyone really thank the Universe, or God, or whomever on a daily basis?  Probably not.  We see the meme’s, we are grateful for the day and then life takes over and we forget to be grateful; until we get another reminder.

 

We should be grateful every day, no matter what is going on in our lives.  If we aren’t grateful, our negativity attracts more negativity and before we know it we end up in one great big crap storm.  There is something to celebrate every day of our lives.  Every single one.  Even in the middle of a crap storm.  Sometimes it takes a bit to find it but even if its just “I got out of bed”, celebrate it.  If you had a great cup of coffee or tea to start out your day and then rest of the day turned bad, hold onto the fact that you had a great cuppa.  Hold onto the good of the day rather than the bad.

 

I’m not saying anything that you haven’t heard before so just consider it a reminder and try to be grateful a little longer than the last time you were reminded.  You may find that you are a much happier person more often than not.  That’s what I’m trying to do. 

 

Have a blessed week!



Contract Against Hate

2 of Koros (Cups) from Buckland Romani Tarot

 

 

The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial has evoked many heated emotions and reactions, and once again there is a spotlight on racism.  I want to talk about that.  Racism. 

 

Many people believe that we have come a long way since slavery and while I do agree to some extent, to another extent I have to ask…have we really?  Let’s face it, racism is alive and well and many do nothing when they come into contact with it.

 

When something like this trial happens, I see a different side of people.  People that I thought were not bigoted use these issues an excuse to let their bigot flag fly.  I’m not talking about their opinions on the trial or the situations themselves.  There are non racist people who don’t believe that the actions are necessarily based on race.  What I am talking about is the blatant remarks that are made against a certain race, be it black, brown, yellow, orange or purple polka dotted.  It’s then that I have found out the “true colors” of certain people.  However, if you look closely at these same people in between the big media events, you may see that they were bigots all along, only masking it….trying to hide it.  They say they aren’t racist but their words and actions speak otherwise.  Some purposely hide it while others truly do not have any idea that sometimes what they say is racist.

 

Let me ask you this….have you heard people make a remark that seems racist but you aren’t sure because it was masked as a joke?  Guess what.  It’s a racist remark.  When you hear someone make a racist remark do you say anything to them or just let it go?  When you are in the privacy of your own home, around your children, do you make comments that you would never say in front of someone with different color skin?  If you wouldn’t say it in front of them, don’t you think that there may actually be something wrong with it???  If you claim to not be racist, but you still make these kinds of comments, or make these kinds of jokes, you really need to take a good look at yourself and change that behavior and way of thinking.  I’ve known people who grew up in racist households but weren’t racist but they also had to retrain their brains.  The jokes that they grew up hearing were second nature to them and growing up you don’t necessarily think that it’s a wrong joke or a wrong saying.  It’s just what you hear and it becomes imbedded in you.  You have to wake up.  As parents, we have to be models for your kids and racism is a learned behavior.  It is not something that we are born with.  We learn it.  And there are bigots in every race.

 

When will we as a society learn that underneath skin color, we have the same organs, the same skeleton, we bleed the same way and the same color?  I ask you, why does skin color have to dictate hate???  There is no reason why it should.  Period.  Whites are not better than anyone else.  Blacks are not better than anyone else.  Browns are not better `than anyone else.  We are all the same….human beings.  I don’t understand why that is such a hard concept for people to understand.  I have never understood it.  And it’s not just racism.  It’s any kind of bigotry and there is no reason for any of it.

 

Listen, bigotry and racism are a choice.  Hate is a choice.  They can be unlearned.  We can be inadvertently spreading hate with what we say and how we say it.  So today I ask you to make a contract with yourself and stand up to racism…to bigotry….to hate.  If you hear a racist or bigoted remark masked as a joke.  Say something.  It doesn’t have to be nasty or mean.   Just a simple “Do you realize that was racist?”  Make part of the contract to monitor your own thoughts and remarks and change them.  You could be inadvertently spreading hatred.  I am not asking anyone to put themselves in danger.  I don’t want that.  I do want more love to be spread instead of hate.  I want unity as a people.  I hope that one day I will see that. 

 

In the words of the vocal groups War, “Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?  Why can't we be friends?  Why can't we be friends?  The color of your skin don't matter to me, ow.  As long as we can live in harmony”

 

Are We Judging Too Much?

 

 

Card from Housewives Tarot by Paul Kepple & Jude Buffum

 

 

Judgment.  We all do it.  Whether we judge other people or ourselves, it is something that we all do at one time or another, for one reason or another.  Some judge more than others and some say they don’t judge, but their actions prove otherwise, and they are judged for judging even though they say that they don’t judge.  It’s a vicious circle. 

 

Let’s face it, we have to judge in our lives in order to protect ourselves.  What foods are best for us, what situations may or may not be the best for our well being, and what people may or may not fit best into our lives.  We have to do it; however, I believe that it is sometimes taken to an extreme to our own detriment. 

 

It is interesting to me that when someone decides to get rid of a pet for their own personal reasons that they are chastised for doing so but when someone wants to get rid of a person in their life that they receive all kinds of accolades and support for their decision.   

 

For example, I once witnessed a barrage of insults on someone who chose to get rid of a dog because they were extremely destructive and the person just couldn’t handle it anymore.  They had a couple of small kids and having a destructive puppy on top of it was just too much for them to bear.  The insults that ensued were unbelievable, stating that it was just the puppy’s nature and they needed to be more patient and wait for the puppy to grow out of the destructive stage.  Another example is coyote attacks in rural neighborhoods.  I have seen numerous people say the same kind of thing….we are on their land, we pushed them out by the increased human habitation and we need to learn how to live with them.  Take the proper precautions.  These same people who insult people for getting rid of an animal and preach that we need to live in harmony with animals and learn from them are the same people who throw away people because the friendship doesn’t suit their needs.

 

Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some people that we need to cut out of our lives.  We need to protect ourselves and make sure that only people that are for our highest good are included in our lives, but are we just quick to judge who is right and who is wrong for us?  I am of the belief that everyone is in our life for a reason.  There are lessons to be learned from every person that we come in contact with.  This does not mean that every experience with every person has to be a positive one.  Challenging people and challenging circumstances are to be learned from.  I have cut people out of my life for one reason or another so I am not claiming to be perfect by any means.  Some of those people will remain out of my loop but there are some that I am wondering if it was the correct decision.   

 

Sometimes we cut people out of our lives because we just don’t want to deal with them….they aren’t detrimental to our health, they aren’t “pretend-a-friends” who have ulterior motives…they are people who we just don’t want to deal with or we just don’t want to make time for.  Perhaps they are needy, negative or difficult to deal with.  Does that mean they aren’t worthy of any kind of friendship with anyone?  Does that mean that they don’t have anything to teach us or they can’t learn anything from us?  Right off the bat they can teach us acceptance and patience.  If you dig deeper and discover who they really are underneath the neediness, negativity or difficulty, they may have a lot more to offer if you take the time to get to know them….and in doing so perhaps the needy person won’t be as needy or the negative person won’t be as negative because they were given the time to be heard or the difficult person wont be as difficult because they have learned to let go a little bit because of their friendship with you.  Each one of us has something to offer.   We all need to live in harmony with each other…not just wildlife, but the wildlife gets more consideration than people do and that saddens me.  We should accept people who are different than us or have different beliefs than us.  That does not mean that we have to be friends with every person who resides on Earth because that just isn’t realistic.  We are different for a reason.  However, we CAN respect those differences and we quite possibly can gain a lot of insight by befriending those people whom we don’t really want to deal with on a regular basis.  If you find yourself attracting a certain type of person that you would rather repel, maybe you are meant to learn a lesson from that kind of person, and until you learn that lesson, you will more than likely continue to find yourself attracting that type of person.   

 

The bottom line is that we all deserve respect, time and consideration.  We all have our own challenges in life and every single one of us may not be the perfect type of match for another person but those differences can be learned from.  Don’t dismiss a person because they aren’t the type of person that you necessarily want in your circle.  You never know what they can offer you if you give them a chance, or, what you can teach them.  By not giving people a chance, you run the risk of not seeing another side of things, not seeing beauty through the eyes of someone else, not learning a new skill, not appreciating diversity and the beauty within it.  Open your heart and mind to new possibilities.  Definitely choose your relationships wisely, but I ask that you really think about the reason for releasing a relationship before you do so.  You could be giving yourself a great gift, or better yet, a gift to someone else……a fabulous new friend.

 

 

Just something to think about.

 

Have a beautiful week!

 

Blessings!!