I knew an angel once

 

I don't have proof, but I know people who do. Angels fly above or walk among us, protecting us, shadowing us until we have sense enough to shadow them. I keep thinking I knew an angel once, my little sister in fact. She lived and loved, hid her angel wings living right under my nose, shadowing me when I should have been shadowing her, watching the way she lived, noticing how she responded to nature and to the world around her, planting flowers, creating happiness, and defying all attempts to make her change.

I can talk about it now, but I still can't reveal her name, so I'll just call her Callie, a girl-child born against the odds to a couple who divorced, leaving her on her own with no one to guide her and nothing to indicate she was special or loved for her spiritual beauty. But she was loved, and when she died, it took years to recover from the loss. 

She was loved if not all of the time, at least some of the time, enough of the time for her to grab a moment or two, slip them into her pocket and store them away like precious gems. When she was feeling down and out—and you could see it in her face, it seemed as though she cashed in those precious jewels, enjoying memories, telling a joke, performing acts of kindness, or admiring flowers blooming in an alleyway.

That's how she survived after he moved away, leaving a mother and nine older children to survive on their own and a baby in a crib. Callie was only six months old, but she conducted herself like a grownup, keeping quiet when the going was rough and rarely crying. She seemed to know when it was not appropriate to bring attention to herself. She seemed to flow with the spirit of the universe, and when she smiled, it was like receiving a precious gift. 

When thinking of how I failed to cherish those precious moments in time, I find myself in a state of disbelief and grief. But I know Callie understands how self-absorbed people can be and I know her heart is big enough to forgive me. Maybe I will meet her again in another lifetime, or in Heaven if I follow her guidance.

 Every poem

Every poem has its own sense of rhythm and sometimes a clear sense of rhyme. What you anticipate from the onset is often not what you find. 

https://youtu.be/cqZc7ZQURMs

Year of the Cat

Al Stewart

On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She doesn't give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow 'till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears
By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There's a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat

While she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what's waiting inside
The year of the cat

Well morning comes and you're still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you've thrown away your choice you've lost your ticket
So you have to stay on
But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the newborn day
You know sometime you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat

Year of the cat

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Alistair Ian Stewart / Peter John Wood

Year of the Cat lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Carlin America Inc

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE! Can you hear me now?

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE! Can you hear me now? You know you saw it, an offensive act of violence or a passive-aggressive gesture at someone less powerful – an almost "flicking" movement that indicates intimidation or creates fear. You saw it, but you quickly turned away because you didn’t want to be an eye-witness, couldn’t risk becoming involved. We all know the scenario. It happens in our society almost daily, but we choose to see nothing, say nothing and do nothing. We expect people to have their own resources and plan of action that does not threaten our well-being. We expect people to have courage to stop the violence against them.

At first, domestic violence is a quiet, subtle offense. Then it becomes a violation that mostly goes unpunished because of fear. No one can help a victim who won’t report what happened. No one can protect a victim after the patrol cars have pulled away or when eye-witnesses have gone back to their homes to do what they usually do – forget about the outside world, especially you. People know when something is wrong but they don't want to become victims themselves if they speak out against a perpetrator. It's not personal. Feeling safe is a human need (not a human desire). After food, shelter, water, warmth and bare necessities, people need to feel safe. Interfering in a domestic violence situation doesn't make people feel safe. So even if you saw them watching, don't expect them to interfere and save you. Who's going to save them when the perpetrator seeks revenge?

Domestic violence is an extreme form of abuse, but early signs of abuse appear in stages, gradually intensifying. According to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), domestic violence is about power, control, and domination of another person. It includes emotional, psychological, financial, or physical abuse which usually intensifies over time. More often than not, domestic violence includes more than one area of abuse, which can be mild, moderate, or severe, but over time the violence intensifies and the risk of death increases.

Domestic violence requires intervention. It’s not enough to hear pleas of forgiveness and life resumes as usual. “If you forgive the person and let them back into our life just because they are sorry with no genuine plan of action in place, it is very likely to happen again and more severely."

www.namieldoradocounty.org/domestic-violence-what-is-it/

If you find yourself in an abusive relationship, be proactive. To increase your safety, learn the signs of frustration in the perpetrator or abuser and be prepared for the worst. You might call a helpline like 800-799-7233 to ask questions in advance because in an emergency situation, many questions go unasked. When you need emergency help, call 911, call a friend, call a clergyman, or call a resource you already researched and are familiar with. You must carefully select those to include in your network of support. Also, it is important to pray for courage to do what’s best and to believe in your ability to stop the violence perpetrated against you.

Before writing this, I called several resources on a Sunday morning, the time when many domestic violence incidents occur. Unfortunately, I could get no response. There was either no answer on the phones or nobody willing to give information except to the person in the active crisis situation. So no one else can call for you even if you alerted someone by texting. Knowing what to do in advance is important, just in case. So have a mental advance plan with emergency instructions given to someone you trust indicating who will take care of the children, house, pets, or anything of importance.

It takes courage to escape domestic violence. In your advance plan of escape, understand the consequences. If you press charges after an abusive altercation and arrest of the perpetrator, or if you feel the end of the relationship (and the violence) is near, it will take courage to follow-through until the perpetrator is behind bars or out of your life. Be prepared. You will probably need to move to a safe area of town or to a new city altogether where you can't be located once the perpetrator is released on bail. If you must appear in court after you press charges, bring someone with you. In stressful situations, two minds are better than one.

Domestic violence is a private and public affair. People know something is wrong, but they don't want to be implicated, and it’s nothing personal. Take care of yourself during the good times, but prepare for the bad. Depend on a reliable friend and resources that you already researched. Also, depend on your higher power to give you courage to change the things you can which include your place of residence and your lifestyle. If you believe in your ability to change your reality, you can.

Congratulations, class of 2020!

Congratulations! Graduation in 2020 is bittersweet because you sacrificed, focused, and made it happen but no formal celebrations will be held and loved ones can't be there to publicly cheer you on!

Words can't explain how proud they are of what you've accomplished, and they are with you in heart and spirit. They remember when it all began almost as clearly as you and they know some challenges you faced. You studied, overcame obstacles, sacrificed, and sometimes made a way out of no way. This, they may not know but one day, the years of hard work and some precious good times will be cherished memories.

This is the first day of the rest of your life. Success in life is a process that begins with self awareness. Start writing each day so you become more familiar with the person you are and the person you wish to become. Then set some goals, find supportive people to have around you, ask for advice when you need it, and don't ever sell yourself short. You were born to create a difference in this world. Find your path, and find courage to be the best that you can be. All the best!

The world we used to know exists no more, so it's up to us to create a world better than the one we knew.

The world we used to know exists no more, so it's up to us to create a world better than the one we knew. We are a communal people, but we haven't been a true community for a very long time. We are divided by hatred, greed, racism, ethnocentrism and politics, to name a few. Now, we are bound together in fear of an unknown assailant, COVID-19 or coronavirus. How worried should we be?

Let's call it what it is, an equal opportunity killer of families, hopes and dreams. But maybe this virus will force us to stop complaining and fighting among ourselves. Maybe this is divine intervention taking aim at our negative ways of behaving and thinking, putting us on high alert for destruction, warning us of internal combustion and non-existence. Maybe this has happened at epochal intervals since the beginning of time and has led to decimation of ancient civilizations. Maybe this is our wake- up call.

What this coronavirus scare tells us is, we don't need so much excess in our lives. Maybe all we need is close contact with only the essential people in our lives; the rest we can keep at a distance, especially those who cause us to feel diminished, fatigued, or in conflict with ourselves and our integrity. We have needs that must be attended to and we have wants, but wants can be negotiated. Once basic needs are met, the things we want can be streamlined to focus on a few luxuries or they can be eliminated altogether. Cutting back on non-essentials would provide more time for appreciating each other and enjoying the precious few moments that we live.

If we followed a regular routine of focusing on necessities, our lives might become more organized and peaceful in a matter of weeks. Spiritual benefit can be found in practicing only a few of the following:

• Tackle one thing at a time.
• Sit and reflect five minutes each day.
• Write and record memories.
• Smile from the heart.
• Volunteer and serve. 
• Do housework as meditation.
• Separate wants from needs.
• Live simply with self-respect.
• Walk and practice mindfulness.
• Make peace with your unacknowledged, inner self.
• Live with humility and respect for others.
• Find faith and hope.
• Set boundaries for others.
• Draw or take photos.
• Live one day at a time.

Coronavirus is not a greater force than faith, hope, and love of ourselves and others. Coronavirus emerges from a very negative space that the world allowed to open. If we take coronavirus as a warning to a world fueled by hatred and ill intent, a world on the brink of self-annihilation, we can change our destiny. With faith and hope in each other, anything is possible. If we could see this devastating disease as an opportunity to join together and work together, we could focus on changing our thoughts and our view of others in this world. In unity, there is possibility because there is hope and faith. Maybe coronavirus will have an impact, but we can have the last say.We can join hands and build a strong sense of community in this nation and throughout the world. 

This new education in schools agenda designed to reduce racism threatens to promote and perpetuate it.

	In this section, we present some tools to help educators explore the significance of race through multiple disciplines. Lesson plans draw from the television series, the Web site and carefully selected resources. Be sure to check out the Teaching Tips included in the Go Deeper sections of each featured interactivity. Click on a lesson title to view the full document. NOTE: We are continuing to develop new lesson plans and will add them as they are ready. Check back regularly for new additions. Title: Jamestown:Planting the Seeds of Tobacco and the Ideology of Race Grade levels: 10th grade through sophomore year of college Subjects: U.S. History, American Studies Description: The focus of this detailed lesson is American racial ideology as it began to evolve in late 17th century Jamestown and Virginia. It aims to help students question their own assumptions about what race is and is not. Using segments of Episode 2 - The Story We Tell, the RACE companion Web site, and primary documents from online resources, students will examine the unique conditions and events that led to the world's first system of slavery based on race. Time Allotment: 8 class sessions + extensions Title: Just an Environment or a Just Environment? Racial Segregation and Its Impacts Grade levels: 10th grade through sophomore year of college Subjects: Civics, Government, Sociology, Institutional Racism, Environmental Racism, White Advantage Description: This lesson explores the multiple causes of racial segregation and environmental racism, and helps students understand how institutional racism is perpetuated in the post-Civil Rights era. Students will perform a mock tribunal in which they will research, interpret, analyze and apply historical evidence of factors that contribute to continuing racial segregation and disparity in the United States. Time Allotment: 5-6 class sessions + extensions Title: The Empirical Challenges of Racial Classification Grade levels: 9-14 Subjects: Biology, Anthropology, Genetics, Geography Description: This lesson will help students examine their preconceptions and assumptions about racial categories and understand the impossibility of constructing a consistent biological system of human racial classification. Time Allotment: 2-3 class sessions + extensions Title: Comparing mtDNA Sequences to Learn about Human Variation Grade levels: 9-14 Subjects: Biology, Physical Anthropology, Genetics Description: This computer-based lesson will enable students to test their notions of "racial" similarity and difference by comparing mtDNA sequences as the students do in the Episode 1 of RACE - The Power of an Illusion. Students can either sequence and compare their own mtDNA (with each other as well as with individuals from around the world) or compare public sequence files from different world populations to gain an understanding of human genetic variation. Time Allotment: 2-3 class sessions + extensions Title: Comparing Chimpanzee mtDNA Sequences to Learn about Races Grade levels: 9-14 Subjects: Biology, Physical Anthropology, Genetics Description: In this computer-based lesson, students will measure genetic diversity within and between three subspecies of chimpanzees in order to gain a better understanding of genetic distinctiveness and explore race as a genetic concept. Time Allotment: 1 class session + extension Title: The Genetics and Evolution of Skin Color: The Case of Desiree's Baby Grade levels: 9-14 Subjects: Biology, Physical Anthropology, Genetics Description: This lesson explores the diversity and origin of human skin colors, using a short story by Kate Chopin as a starting point.. Time Allotment: 1-2 class sessions Title: The Growth of the Suburbs - and the Wealth Gap Grade Levels: 11th & 12th grades Subject Matter: Economics, Social Studies, American History Description: This lesson demonstrates the important role that family wealth plays in shaping life chances and creating opportunity and it explores the roots and consequences of the current race-based wealth gap. Time Allotment: up to 4 class sessions    A newly proposed education-in-schools agenda designed to reduce racism threatens to promote and perpetuate it. If the curriculum is implemented, young teachers will learn and teach Black history and children will be exposed to America's racist past at an early age. It is unclear why educators thought this was a good idea but this would negatively impact future generations of students. This new education agenda focuses on teaching about racism through history. This education will begin in elementary school classrooms. According to PBS, teachers will be taught Black History so they can feel comfortable with discussions of race in their classrooms. These mostly young, white educators will recall the past, making Black children the focus  of information children never had access to so early in life, information which doesn't eliminate racism and might even increase it because racism is not about history; it's about a way of life that continues today.  There are many real-life examples to be used in explaining discrimination and racist practices.  Dredged up from the past, discriminatory practices will be pulled from the past into the present and into the hearts and minds of today's children. Children victimized by a racist history will be inadvertently seen as "different," less endowed, or less than equal, starting in elementary school. This will have a negative impact on white children's level of tolerance and black children's level of self-esteem. If schools teach black oppression and genocide, they need to also teach the same about the Native American massacres and the Holocaust. They need to teach about disenfranchised whites living in poverty. Otherwise, it makes black and brown children appear singled out. The negative impact of "outing" children of color could be devastating.  There are ways for teachers to learn OUR collective history and infuse it into the educational agenda without making Black children feel lost in a cycle of racist practices that has lasted more than 400 years. Written by EmH Johnson, Education Specialist

Express yourself;  it’s not  an  option.

We are emotional beings, so it is important to find ways to release emotional energy. Self-expression is an attempt to clarify or share emotions and feelings. It allows us to release emotional energy so that we have the emotional capacity for problem-solving, compassion, and love. Self-expression can be achieved in many ways.

Ten easy ways to express emotions are:

1. Talking and sharing

2. Writing and reflecting

3. Complaining

4. Singing and songwriting

5. Listening and moving to music

6. Cooking and entertaining

7. Drawing and painting

8. Driving and admiring the landscape

9. Dancing

10. Shopping

People who stifle their feelings and emotions get stuffed up. People who get stuffed up, eventually get “stuck.” When we suppress our feelings and emotions, we fail to connect with our emotional state of mind. We interrupt the normal flow of thoughts. As a result, we can become disconnected from ourselves and others. This leaves us vulnerable to emotional disorders that affect our ability to cope with day-to-day living and decision-making. Traumatic events like witnessing a tragedy and natural disasters can cause us to become emotionally overwhelmed. Without self-expression, this can lead to PTSD or depression. We are emotional beings and it’s important to have an outlet for expressing emotions.

However we choose to release emotional energy, it’s important to remember that expressing emotions is not an option. Willingly or involuntarily, emotions will be expressed. Unexpressed emotions will eventually rise to the surface causing us react positively or negatively. We either express emotions and feelings in positive or creative ways, “act out” or “act in.” When we “act out,” unexpressed emotions can cause us to take dangerous risks due to stress of holding emotions in. We might drive recklessly or indulge in reckless or dangerous activities. When we “act in,” emotions are kept in. We might keep silent while raging inside. This can lead to physical and emotional illnesses.

Any act of releasing emotions leads to a happier, healthier life. When you feel stuck in a negative place, using the list above, you can find your balance and pull yourself from an emotional state of “stuck.” Try each of the behaviors on the list and see what works best for you.