A Recommendation

Sometimes, in the moments we set aside for creating, an idea blossoms into a work of art that is embraced by the collective spirit of appreciation. When that happens we label the art with many names: beautiful, inspiring, profound and graceful. All these superlatives are the children of elegance.

CREATIV magazine is just that. Elegant.

The magazine arrived in my mail courtesy of Paige Zeigler, Managing Editor. The first thing I noticed was the look of the magazine. It had a high quality feel to it and an expectation; like opening a jewelry gift box adorned in velvet.

Inside were the gems. Articles and links to the most interesting people you’d love to meet. It is a perfect blend converging social media and print media. The photography is elegant. The articles are diverse, inspiring, unusual, artistic and yes, CREATIV. After I read each one I wanted more.

Check CREATIV out at CREATIV.com/magazine.

Go Beyond the initial thought

I am often touting the efficacy of our interconnection not only to each other, but to nature herself.

For too long we modern humans have taken for granted, ignored and abused the very nature that feeds, cures and shelters us. We forget there is a symbiotic relationship between all life and we are all in service to each other.

The native peoples of the world see it differently. They acknowledge with thanks the life they take for food. They vocally appreciate the plants they take for medicine and sustenance and they are careful not to take all so that the nature kingdoms and the phylum families can replenish what is harvested.

Modern minds have forgotten that appreciation is a viable link between species and kingdoms and that giving thanks connects all of us to the One Source of All That Is.

The Findhorn experiment surprised science years ago, that a new age community working with nature divas and angelic spirits and compost could grow unusual plants, fruits and vegetables in the inhospitable climate of Northern Scotland.

Findhorn’s secret, if you need to call it that, was to acknowledge a plant kingdom and diva caretaker existence, listen to their needs, and say, “thank you.”

I bring all this up to offer a consideration.

What if the occasional story of a Dolphin saving a human from a shark attack, of pet dogs protecting a lost child in the woods with the warmth of their bodies, or of a food source appearing and sacrificing its life in time of great hunger, what if all these unusual happenings are nothing other than a way to get our attention to acknowledge our interconnection to all things?

What if disease is a way to get our attention?

What if? I’m just asking!

The Dichotomy of Life

On one hand we have countries, organizations and individuals rushing to help the people of Nepal. Tents, blankets, food and water are the sympathies and hugs from the civilized world to so many in need. And then on the other hand…

Isn’t it interesting that ISIS or Al Qaida send no help, no volunteers, and no aid, to those in dire need? I always thought that Islam was a belief system that served universal needs despite any personal belief system. I think I read it once in the Koran, but then the tenants of the Prophet Mohammad are not the cruel and diabolical Theocracy of ICIS or Al Qaida.

Then in our own country we have ignorant, the criminal, the anarchists who will kill, injured, loot and riot, not for a reason that must be adjudicated under the rule of law, but for the arrogance of blind racial injustice under the rule of violence.

Shame on the rioters of Baltimore; bravo to those who protested rightfully and peacefully. The ignorant and the stupid will always take society onto the path of anarchy.

Taking, stealing, rioting, blaming and burning will always justify the lowness of life. It takes compassion, patience, love, and conversation to reach justice and positive change to the innate prejudices and ignorance of people.

Nepal

Somehow it doesn’t seem real. It’s a half world away. We watch the pictures of destruction in disbelief and see rescuers digging for survivors or a loved one to mourn. We report the dead in numbers, not names. We can repair buildings, and roads, but the bodies that held the names are gone forever.

All we can to is embrace the Nepalese people in our hearts and send relief supplies. Grief is such a painful personal hurt. Sorrow is more universal in its heartache, for it acknowledges on a higher level the collective loss to humankind. How many of the dead numbers were potential poets and leaders.

Empathy is not only the capacity to understand another’s feelings, it is the willingness to comfort, to cry together and to share the strength of life when so many see nothing but despair and lost hope. Caring lets those who hurt know they are not forgotten by a loving spirit as it manifests itself through a helping hand or a shared tear.

McConnell's Folly

From Time Magazine:

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill Tuesday evening that would renew several sections of the Patriot Act, which grants expansive powers of surveillance to intelligence agencies, that are set to expire this summer.

Among the act’s provisions that would be renewed until 2020 rather than expiring in June is Section 215, the National Journal reports. The hotly contested authority laid the legal groundwork for the National Security Agency’s sweeping collection of metadata from millions of Americans’ phone records."

I’m against the usurpation of privacy and individual freedoms that the bill’s extension would provide. Freedom from current and potential abuse is more important than any information the NSA could accrue from mass collection of data.

It is time to end our fear-based society.