two short n summery poems, written in the winter

sunflower

a heartfelt summer

peace of mind flutters by

a wild butterfly

joy radiates within

a calm breeze passes through

uniting the soul with God

-------------------------------------------------------

electric emotion

of ecstatic magnitude

glowing neon vivid

generating lightning intensity

as I walk the city street at nite

warm summer, mellow wind enlivens

mystifying moonlit sky

God has embroidered with a million stars

as I await the one who will dazzle my world

a blog written August 2011

If a man thinks a rock is "ugly" and "worthless," that does not ultimately define the rock as "ugly" and "worthless." It may to the person criticizing, but those thoughts clearly would arise from his own emotional state. Sometimes people forget this and believe the external to be exactly what their thoughts say about it. Instead of "ugly" and "worthless" being just a thought, it may become the thinker's ultimate, unwavering idea of the rock. Taking internal emotions and possibly believing them to be the external world. Instead of it being a rock to the man, with many qualities, the rock IS undeniably ugly and worthless. The man may choose to ignore it's beneficial properties. It's possible he refuses to allow his mind to be flexible, to believe it could be anything other than his own thoughts about it. The making of his own feelings to be objective for the rock, unaware that it is much more than his mind is allowing. The rock is many things. A creation of the Supreme Being, a feature of Earth, a piece of ground that people have once walked upon, and of endless value. To the man, it is only his beliefs. He may be too closed off to even think he is part of this Earth. As people, this happens sometimes. A person may be in a bad mood and allow the entire day to be saturated with the mood. They may be unable to think past the mood. The down mood seems to be the permanent moment that will not change ever again. When really, five minutes from that moment, a new, brighter mood will unfold. When one opens their self to new modes of thinking, they can invite this into their mind. Our thoughts of the outer world are intertwined reflections of our inner world. If one is open enough and has the volition to, they can learn to appreciate the beauty of the outside world. A rock may suddenly have new significance and be realized to be part of God's majestic, immense creations. If a person consciously chooses to shut their self off from being appreciative, they will also be shunning some new, incoming ideas by their decision to be critical and have a negative outlook. It is part of our soul's journey to practice gratitude. By doing so, a person strengthens their relationship with God and the Heavenly. What could possibly be more important than that? 

appearance

I wonder how much differently people who are without mirrors perceive themselves. Many develop part of their identity by what they see in the mirror. If often forms a portion of how people associate with others. It is part of the inner concept of one's self. Of course i'm definitely not saying everyone with a mirror does this, but many do. My daily life requires use of a mirror. Those without a mirror do not concern themselves with things such as pore size, i'm sure. A snot mishap? What happens there? I know I would feel lost without a mirror, as would many others. What i'm wondering is how measurably different people act about themselves without one. I have never traveled to another country. Really, I usually feel that I wouldn't want to. Many people here will have some idea of how they appear when speaking to someone. Those who've never seen themselves in a mirror must be radically different than that. No one can say what their real appearance is, as it is only individual opinion. Some things about it may be concrete fact, but it is interesting that ideas of our appearance can be so interchangeable. People should think of this before criticizing themselves so harshly. It is only a fleeting thought and does not equal utmost fact. Only God knows our real appearance. We may be blessed with some earthly ideas about it, but only God has all the angles about it. What is truly our own appearance? Only the Supreme Creator has this kind of knowledge. Something impossible for humans to fathom.

"It's okay. I'm Native American."

"It's okay. I'm Native American." My new excuse for everything. They just say stuff is their religion. At least one state in the US enables them to use peyote for religious purposes. (Something i'm definitely never doing.) What do they say if they have peyote? "It's okay. I'm Native American."?

Awkward moment? "It's okay. I'm Native American."
Messed things up with the boyfriend? "It's okay. I'm Native American."
Strange name when tryna get employed? "It's okay. I'm Native American." Totally hilarious.

I've been told for yrs. i'm an 8th Cherokee, then once was told i'm an 8th Apache... so i'm not really sure. I never really cared all that much about it, but that's a great new excuse for everything. I will hafta find out more about it eventually.

UPDATE: Okay... taken from a pg: "According to the United States Code, “The use, possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide traditional ceremonial purposes in connection with the practice of a traditional Indian religion is lawful, and shall not be prohibited by the United States or any State.” In other words, it is legal for Native Americans who belong to federally recognized tribes to use peyote for religious purposes."

UPDATE: 

Some page says they're also exempt from the affordable care act. Lol,

 Other than that, I haven't found any special exemptions they have. A few actual Indians, who live on reservations, claim much said isn't true about them having more freedoms than others do. On the pages this is said on though, nowhere is anything written about peyote. Then there are other topics where people had assumptions that they have more freedoms with certain things, when a couple Indians say they do not. But the whole peyote thing just isn't talked about in these pages. Also, someone said they can own casinos in states where they're illegal, like Oklahoma. Too many facts n opinions to go thru.

how does music speak to our souls?

 Something that interests me is wondering how music evokes certain emotions within people. Take an upbeat Journey song, for instance. Many will equate the song with being a cheerful song. Of course, many will find it to be dismal and dreary. Regardless of whether or not a person may enjoy the song as likeable, they may still find it to be a mix of sounds with the goal of being cheery. No two people will hear a song the same or have the same emotional reactions, but what i'm wondering is how would so many universally identify the song as happy sounds? Maybe the romantic notions of the song would not be so happy to some, but the guitars and drums may present the song as exhilarating n exciting to a large amount of people. If a few hundred were asked their opinion of the uppy song, many would agree it makes them feel good, the band wanting to express and elicit from others this type of mood. Many would horribly criticize, of course. How did the tune of this song cause happiness within so many, the band wanting to produce this within people? 

Take a song composed entirely of drumming. The song would make many want to get up and move. An array of emotional responses would ensue. Things that are completely and possibly unexplainable are how people get the idea to produce a song and how people react to the sounds they hear. Who was the first person on Earth to decide he or she should make some sort of compilation of sounds? When did anyone decide this was any source of enjoyment? God gave people this creative pastime. When did this come to be, and how? Music reflects emotions. Sound structures somehow communicate feelings, and this is something that baffles me. Speech, gestures, and other forms of person-to-person communication are already of much confusion. Expressing thoughts in the form of tunes seems much more beyond comprehension. It has been researched that plants also respond to music. Singing to plants and pleasant music has been said to help them grow. Certain music, such as metal, has shown to be detrimental to their growth. Of course, noone knows how plants register sound, if they hear the actual music, if they feel it in vibrations.

An album of relaxing music, designated for this purpose, may calm some and be a clashing cacophony for others. How is it that many collectively relax by these specific variations? How does music speak to our souls? This is something completely elusive to me.