*Good Things* to Be Thankful For

…and the *Bad Things* they cancel out. 

1.  Window unit air conditioners.  Cancels out oppressive, Mid-south, summer heat and saves energy thereby saving the environment and money.  Having one in each room has saved us this summer.   When we were using central heat and air our electricity bills were between $400 and $500 a month every summer and IT WAS STILL HOT in the house.  Thank the Income Tax Gods for blessing us with enough money to buy some this year so that we could finally be cool.   

2.  Sacred Heart Southern Missions of Hernando, MS.    Cancels out desperate need in a kind, non-judgmental way.  The Sisters in at the Walls Mission helped us so many times when I was in a depserate situation in my second marriage.  They paid our electric bill without condescension or disdain.  They gave us food when we had none.  There is such a feeling of peace in that building.  Recently a dear friend was struggling with finances.  I suggested that she go to them.  She did and they ensured that her electricity wasn’t cut off.     

3.  www.religioustolerance.org.  Cancels out ignorance and misinformation.  A wealth of information for a religiously/spiritually challenged world.  Everything is explained here, form Christianity to Paganism to….yes, eek!…even Satanism.   Time spent here is time well spent.  All you can do here is learn and learning is always a *Good Thing*.

4.  Fridays.  Cancel out Mondays.

5.  Chelsea Clinton/Anne Hathaway/my 14yo daughter Lani the political-religious-social activist/Amanda Bynes.  Cancels out Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie/Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan.  (Who dont need a link of their own.  We know enough about them already.) 

“Fear less, hope more.   Eat less, chew more.  Whine less, breathe more.   Talk less, say more.   Love more, and all good things will be yours” – Swedish Proverb

The Cleavage Conspiracy

Cleavage?  Now come on, is that the best you can come up with people? Cleavage????    I never even noticed that woman has boobs, much less cleavage until it was given prime air time on every morning news program.  She looks a bit flat chested to me although it may just be her choice of clothes. This morning, national news channels launched into full debate mode over whether or not Hillary showed too much.  Newspapers like The Washington Post gave it entirely too much attention considering there are much more important issues to consider.   

Here’s what I’m thinking.  Was it intentional?  A cleavage conspiracy pulled straight from the Clinton closet?  Did Bill say “Honey, you need to show ‘em what you got.  Wear that sexy little low-cut blouse today?”   ::gasp::  Did Hillary deliberately set out to charm the American public into submission with her girl-parts???  I think not.  It is ridiculous to assume as such and it just goes to further illustrate the pall hanging over US politics.  In the photos and videos I’ve seen there is no real hint of cleavage anyway.  Only a little more flesh than normal.  I think it made her look very feminine and more accesible.  Bless her heart, like me, style is just not her thing.  And there is nothing at all wrong with that.  It’s nice to see a woman more concerned with substance and change than Prada bags and Gucci shoes.  Even Condy  has a penchant for showing a little leg. 

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning.  I fear that things will worsen for Hillary as days to the nomination come down to the wire.   I remember the hell that Geraldine Ferraro experienced when she was added to the Mondale ticket as a VP candidate. The only female VP or Presidential candidate in history.  Ultimately, disclosure of her husband’s tax returns hurt them badly.  They were defated by Reagan and Bush Sr.  in a landslide.

Hillary is a pretty tough chick.  I have faith in her for the moment but then again, I had faith in John Kerry until he opened his mouth one too many times.  I am registered to vote for the first time in my adult life.  Something has got to change.  Hillary and her non-existent cleavage might just be it. 

*Good Things* – EHM Channel?

TV can be a *good thing* when used with honest intent and sincerity. For every hour of good television that actually contributes to society there are probably 3 or 4 hours with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.  There are channels dedicated to everything.  I think there should be an Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition Channel.   Why?  Because it is such a *good thing*.  A *good thing* is something that cancels out a bad thing.  We need to cancel out as many bad things as we can.   The whole freakin’ world seems to be full of them. 

Me and my girls watch the show every Sunday night. We cry beatuiful tears from beginning to end, not only for the blessed and deserving families, but for the participants who seem to be so moved by the experience.    Even David, who can be anti-positive due to clinical depression,  has started to enjoy it.

The jaded side of me, the part that has been so strongly affected by circumstance, says its probably all a crock.  Nothing can be that uplifiting, positive and sincere.  Something has to be amiss behind the scenes.  It ’s too good to be true.  The rhetoric of my jaded psyche tries to drown out the sounds of hope but it never succeds.  The worst part is waiting for the commercials to end so we can see what comes next.   And it’s not near long enough.  Even the repeat episodes make me cry.  Every single time.

The power of a solid foundation and a stable, comfortable home is an underestimated thing.  It changes who you are when you have something sturdy and secure to come home to after work or after school.   Without it, you are always on shaky ground. Faith may waver and falter but, no matter the condition, it is still a home.  A shelter from the elements no matter how meager.  One basic need semi-fulfilled.

What is inside of that home is what matters the most. Not the fancy furniture and the name-brand appliances or the state of the art technology.   The people, the friends, the family, the pets that enrich our lives.  The undeinable love despite the arguments, the laughs that dissolve into the happiest tears and the memories that are contained within.  For those things we must always remember to be thankful.  For without those things we have absolutely nothing.

The cast and crew of ABC’s Home Makeover should be commended and recognized  for sharing their knowledge, their time, their skills and their creative talents to not only enrich but permanently alter for the better, the lives of  families of  all types;  tradtional, single-parent, blended and otherwise.  Their dedication to facilitating a positive change is a testament to the *good things* that still remain.  So, hats off to the whole Design Team for bringing lots of shiny good deeds into a very weary world.

Go to A Better Community to find out what you and your family can do to help families in need of better housing.  Start teaching your kids now to help others.  Cultivate and develop sharing and kindness. wherever you go, no matter the circumstance….

“…and the world will be a better place, and the world will be a better place. For you…and me…just wait and see.”  – Jackie DeShannon

The State of Me

I guess I should introduce myself.  I’m really no different from most.  At least from most of the people I know.  I’m a 36 year old mother (My name is Diane) , common law wife and everyday chick.  I live in poverty, in a condemnable, fire-hazard-of-a-trailer with my three kids and my consort of the last ten years, David.  I walked out of my job in July of this year, fearing that something detrimental was about to occur due to illegal and unethical practices that I witnessed while under their employ.  It was a small business and when I quit, only nine employees remained.   Sure enough a week and a half following my departure, the *company* (and I use that term lightly) laid off six more people.  The remaining three were the upper echelons of mismanagement.  Last I heard, they were being investigated by the IRS.  The DOT won’t be far behind. 

I don’t have a degree in anything except high school and trailer park.  I seem to attract the negative so I have to consider myself a positive.  Trying to better myself through learning and understanding others is an integral part of my life.  Though I have found that most are not interested in the facets of faith.  My own faith has gone through many significant changes throughout the course of my life. 

I went from a semi-idyllic childhood ( I say semi- because I grew up with a terminally ill brother who passed away when he was only 27) to an uber-despondent adulthood.  I have seen death – my father, my brother, both grandmothers, my first husband and the father of my two oldest chidren, two dear friends and countless others)  I have been abused both physically and emotionally. And I have been poor.  No electricity, no running water, nothin to eat but potatoes and Ramen Noodles poor.  I still am.   Daily, I struggle with the notion of giving up and resigning myself to this less than  desirable fate.   So far, I have been unable to do that.  Must be the Scot-Irish in me.

And here I am.  Wondering what we are going to eat for the next week.  Fearing the possum will get in the house again tonight.  Hoping that the mosqitoes that come up through the holes in the floor don’t give us all West Nile virus  Wondering where the money for school clothes and supplies for my kids will come from before next week.  Praying that my 17yo son will make it through this year of school ( he quit last year and is planning to go back) and be in even worse shape than his hind-sighted mother.  My hindsight vision must be at least 20/2.  But isnt it always? 

 That is only the tip of my own personal iceberg.  What I’ve done.  What I’ve seen. What I’ll never do and never see.   I am patient and tolerant, sometimes, cynical and bitter.  It’s hard not to be when you are constantly running uphill .  But I still believe that I can make a difference.  I write.  I can express myself and find some solace in knowing that someone cares enough to read it. 

 I belong to a subculture in the US.  A group that barely exists despite its large numbers.  We are invisible and silent because we feel there is no need to speak up.  A group that can’t afford to eat but doesn’t qualify for food stamps. One that has no insurance and no forseeable opportunity to obtain it.  We live without electricity when we don’t have the money to pay it because we have no choice.   For the past three years, we have spent summer in the kudzu jungle of Northern Mississippi with no air conditioning and still had $500 utility bills to pay.   This winter we look forward to having no heat again.

Something has to keep our heads above water.  Our country is on fire, literally and figuratively.  Is it a sign form the gods?   Unless we all speak up, on the ills, the wrongs and the religious, political and personal injustices we keep experiencing nothing will ever change. 

Make a commitment to do something good and right today.  Agree to disagree.  Get your head out of the TV and do something REAL.  Make a change.  A change that matters.  Embrace a new culture or religion.  Plant a seed.  Strengthen a relationship.  Commit random acts of kindness.  Take out the trash for an elderly neighbor or relative.  Tell your Mom how much you really love her.  Do something that matters.  Something that will make a difference for the better.  Vow to do it not today but EVERY day. Imagine the difference it would make if we all did. 

“You may say, I’m a dreamer.  But I’m not the only one.  I hope some day, you will join us and the world will live as one” – John Lennon

Religion and Politics

“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other” – Mark Twain. 

  

And there you have it.  The foundation for most personal beliefs is that somebody else told us it was right and we said, “Ok.”  Never questioned it.  Never gave it a second thought.  Just have faith.  And for the most part we do.  In something.  If you have faith in something why?  What makes you believe it?  How do you know it to be true?  I not only have faith in something.  I have faith in many things.  You could say that I’m fortunate enough to have all the gods on my side.  I believe what I believe because I do.  In my heart I know it to be true for me.  Whether or not it is true for you too remains to be seen but I guess it could be.  I’m here to learn, to share, to understand and to grow in spirit and heart.  Bringing people together, facilitating peace and fostering tolerance are my mission.  We need voices of reason and here I am ready and willing to try.  Are you?  If you are then let’s hurry up and get this started.  The world is waiting.

Who are you?  What do you believe?  and most of all why?