Season for Nonviolence (SNV): Day 11- Contemplation

February 10, 2014 Own The View Cr8ives

Day 11- CONTEMPLATION: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”. For at least 3 minutes, relax, breath, and let your mind be fed by “whatsoever is good and beautiful.” Open your eyes and write your good thoughts.

“Writers have an opinion about the world and offer arguments about the world. They should offer contemplation.”– Salman Rushdie

There is so much suffering going on in the world. Whether it’s people living in war zones, children made to fight in these wars instead of enjoying their childhood, people dealing with illness(es), the pain of losing a loved one, an unwanted romantic breakup, people living on the streets (especially in the winter cold), unexpectedly losing a job, or any type of suffering people might be dealing with at this time. Suffering is devastating no matter how you look at it.

Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

Let’s not forget though, that not only people experience suffering. Since the Olympic Games is the top news of the day, I will contemplate what’s going on in Sochi. A few days ago I read about the plight of stray dogs around Olympic Village. The report stated that since October 2013, the Russian government authorized a pest removal company to round up stray dogs and kill them. Since the eradication began, 300 stray dogs have been killed each month from a chemical injection that causes suffocation.

Now, I am not one of those PETA members (nothing wrong with being a member) or go overboard about cruelty to animals. I was not raised in the type of environment where pets were our “best friend”. I was born in a country where “pets” belonged outside. They may wander through the house now and then, but for the most part they are outside animals. And please, let me not even mention what my grandparents would do if they saw a cat walking on their kitchen counter. My got my first pet (a cat) when I moved out on my own and was able to allow them inside the house. But when I read about the dogs in Sochi being killed so they would not spoil the aesthetics of the games, I was outraged. Sure strays might present a safety issue, so rounding them up to keep people safe is acceptable in my book, but must they be killed? Why not put them in a shelter?

Well, today I was happy to read that Russian billionaire Oleg V. Deripaska has paid for a rescue team in conjunction with his charity organization to bring stray animals to a local shelter. The hope is to get these animals adopted by pet lovers. Sounds good to me!!

So, my good and beautiful thoughts go out to Mr. Deripaska and his rescue team for rescuing these animals. What they are doing is humane and compassionate. My good and beautiful thoughts go out to those who will adopt the dogs and save them from euthanasia. It’s a temporary fix, but at least an effort is on the way to save these animals.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/world/europe/russia-sochi-stray-dogs/

“That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.” Edgar Allan Poe

Tomorrow’s Preview: Day 12 GROUNDEDNESS – Gandhi said, “To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”

**Season for Nonviolence campaign, also known as The Gandhi-King Season for Nonviolence (SNV), asks us to focus our attention on attaining peace through nonviolent actions. More info at: http://www.agnt.org/season-for-nonviolence**

Season for Nonviolence

Season of Nonviolence (SNV): Day 10 – Faith

February 9, 2014 Own The View Cr8ives

Day 10- FAITH: When Caesar Chavez was organizing farm workers, he taught them to say, “Si, se puede,” “Yes, it is possible,” when they didn’t know how they would overcome an obstacle. Today let’s say, “Yes, it is possible,” to every obstacle we meet. Now, write down three things that are hard for you. After each one, write “It is possible for me to overcome this obstacle and be successful.”

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn

1) I am in a career transition and have many ideas of how I envision next phase of my work life, but not exactly sure how to encompass all things (working with people with mental illness and other disabilities, teaching mindfulness practice to help people reduce stress and manage their thoughts, coaching people on holistic healthily living, etc.) into one job. All that I want to do falls under the Wellness umbrella. I am very new to the city I now call home, so one thing I am doing is volunteering with different agencies in my area of interest to gather info on how they provide service to their clients. Other than that, I am staying open to the possibilities and going with the flow knowing that, in time, things will fall into place. – It is possible for me to overcome this obstacle and be successful.

2) On the fitness level, I find it difficult to walk/run like I used to due to experiencing constant (every second of my waking hours) pain in my right knee after knee surgery. Well, the knee surgery was in 2006, but in 2014 I live with pain everyday. Doctors I have visited can’t seem to tell me why the pain won’t go away, so I live with it. I try other activities, but the pain persists. – It is possible for me to overcome this obstacle and be successful.

3) I have been living with depression (diagnosed) for many years. Everyday is a challenge just to get out of bed to get the day started. – It is possible for me to overcome this obstacle and be successful.

“It is very important to generate a good attitude and a good heart as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short-term and the long-term for both yourself and others will come.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Tomorrow’s Preview: Day 11 CONTEMPLATION: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”. Let your mind be fed by “whatsoever is good and beautiful.”

Season for Nonviolence

Season for Nonviolence (SNV): Day 9 – Dreaming

February 9, 2014 Own The View Cr8ives

Day 9 – DREAMING: Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. What is your dream of peace? What is one thing you can do to honor that dream? Do it today.

“I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. That one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream…” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The disparity between white people and people of color have not greatly closed since MLK, Jr.’s speech. The biggest imbalance can be observed in the American penal system. Non-white individuals suffer brutality at a higher rate in an un-equal judicial system. For example – according to 2010 report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, black offenders in America receive 10% longer sentences than whites for the same crimes (1). Studies show that police are much more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites (1). In fact, the disparity is not unique to America. Across the ocean, in the U.K. it is documented that African-Caribbean people are at higher risk than white suspects of being arrested and tried for a crime. Furthermore, they are six times more likely than white people to receive longer prison sentences (2).

Like King, I have a dream that my children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but I know that that reality is a long way off. Some white Americans might be denial that racism still exist in today’s society; however, from tweets I’ve viewed on my twitter feed, racism is very much alive in America. Case-in-point, bigots made their voices heard when the Coca Cola commercial shown during the Super Bowl where Americans from different cultures sang “America the Beautiful” in seven languages. I saw the ad and loved the idea that people from different countries want to sing “America the Beautiful” in their native language. What could be wrong with that? Must we all be reminded that, apart from the Native Americans, everyone else came to inhabit America after leaving their native land.

A poll conducted by the Associated Press (AP) found that racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008. A 2012 poll showed that 51% of Americans expressed anti-black sentiments compared to 48% in a 2008 survey. It’s not only about anti-black attitudes though. Data from a 2011 poll shows that 52% of whites expressed anti-Hispanic attitudes (3). Without the labor and intellect of foreigners, America would not be what it has evolved to be since the arrival of the Pilgrims in the 17th century. It’s unfortunate that there are still some who refuse to accept others who are different from who they perceive themselves to be, but guess what, we are human and we all bleed red. As Rodney King said, “can’t we all just get along?”

I stand with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the desire to see freedom reign from every hilltop, every mountainside, and every landscape of the world. I believe that when all people of the world take to heart that “all men (& women) are created equal”, the senseless wars will cease and harmony will ensue (I can dream, can’t I?).

Today, I went to an Open Air Market and felt quite at home amongst people of different nationality and ethnicity. My dream is that people of all races, cultures, nationality, religion will suspend judgement of those who are different and hopefully, accept them for who they are – a child of the human race. The fruition of my dream starts with me, so I do my best to walk the talk each and every day.

Life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Resources:

(1) http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-racial-discrimination

(2) http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/abusestats.html

(3) http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-poll-majority-harbor-prejudice-against-blacks – The AP surveys were conducted with researchers from Stanford University, the University of Michigan and NORC at the University of Chicago.

Tomorrow’s Preview: Day 10 – FAITH Have faith and say, “I Can” until you find a way.

Season for Nonviolence

Season for Nonviolence (SNV): Day 8 – Healing

Gallery February 7, 2014 Own The View Cr8ives

Day 8 – HEALING: Today, choose a painful incident in your life and find the “gift” it has given you. Consciously share this gift with others.

“The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world.” Marianne Williamson

I try not to think about the most painful incident in my life, the one that shook me to my core, because after seven years, it still hurts, but I’m willing to go there for this day of Healing.

I clearly remember the day of the “incident”; I guess it’s a memory that will be with me for the rest of my life. I was looking forward to the day because my work-team had traveled from different corners of the U.S. to converge at our WHQ for a conference. It was always a productive, but also fun time when we were all able to come together in one location to discuss business and debrief at the end of the day at a local restaurant with a good meal and a few drinks.

My day started as it usually did – up early for my morning 3 mile run. Afterwards, I was on a runner’s high and happy with life. When I got back to the hotel room for my shower, I noticed an email from my dad that screamed, “COME NOW!”. When I saw the tittle, I thought it was one of those email strings being sent around. My dad new I was out of town on a business trip, so I was surprised to hear from him so early. The email had no written content, so I called his house phone and his cell to see what was going on..no answer. I then called his sister to see if they had spoken that morning. They were very close and spoke on a daily basis. She said she had not heard from him that day, but since it was her birthday she was sure they would talk later. I told her about the baffling email message. She said she would check on him.

As I left the hotel and while in the car, I got a call from my aunt with the news that, “your father killed himself”. The words didn’t register right away so I asked her to repeat her statement. She said, “your father isn’t with us anymore”. Now, I’ve given birth twice and even though they were joyous occasions, with each birth came the statement, “never again will I endure that pain!!”. The process of giving birth is no joke. Well, the pain I felt after hearing the news, did not even compare to the pain of giving birth. The birthing process was a physical pain while the knowledge that my best friend was no longer alive was a pain of the heart. I could not breath. I could not think. I could not move. I was in Shock. Our admin made flight arrangement for me to fly back home and my teammates packed my bags and drove me to the airport. I was in a fog for a long time. The other dreaded part of the experience was calling my children to tell them, “grandpa is gone”.

Writing about this major loss in my life still brings up a lot of emotions, but I am now able to “feel” them in a different way. Believe it or not, there are a few healing gifts that came from this devastation. I received the gift of empathy and compassion. The Buddha said, ““Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” I now have empathy for those who have and will loose loved ones. I now have compassion for those who experience pain at all levels. I now have a up-close-and-personal view of suicide and better understanding of the thoughts that may lead to the act of taking one’s life. And, I now advocate for people dealing with mental health issues.

The biggest gift of all is the gift of knowing that tomorrow is not promised (hell, the next minute is not promised) and that I should not take anyone or anything for granted. I happily make time for my children to talk with them, hang out with them, and show appreciation for them each and everyday. Out of a traumatic experience came a better appreciation for life.

“Live your life from your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people’s souls.” Melody Beattie

David Foster Wallace, a brilliant writer, lived with depression for over 20yrs, but lost his battle in 2008 when he committed suicide. This passage he wrote about suicide seems to capture the essence of suicidal person. It seems he had a good grasps on suicidal ideation. My guess is that he may have had these thoughts regarding his own life. Of course, this is speculation on my part based on his bio. I don’t know his actual thoughts, but I do appreciate his quote about the subject of suicide and depression.

“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing.

The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant.

The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”

“I’m touched by the idea that when we do things that are useful and helpful – collecting these shards of spirituality – that we may be helping to bring about a healing.” Leonard Nimoy

Tomorrow’s Preview: Day 9 DREAMING – what is one thing you can do to honor MLK, Jr’s “dream”?