Feeling disconnected

[jellyfarm]

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling disconnected lately?

I have been feeling disconnection for a number of years even though I'm being more spiritually aware but as the years grow on me, it's hard to feel excited about a lot of things.

I'm feeling computerized, all logged into cyberspace and making connections online but feeling at the end of the day, all this is leading me nowhere.

I go out with friends and at times, there's a nice laugh or two and then the rest of the time, I feel dull. Muted, almost.

BORED with the Net, Bored with friends offline, bored with my filmaking, bored with my scriptwriting, my job, my country, my photography...just at one Bored Central Station and feeling disconnected.

I wonder if it's because I'm too drawn into my cyberspace world and being logged in all the time through work, play.

Even my attention span is short. I do nothing but work, work, work, sleep, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep.

Drive car, work, sleep, computer, work, sleep, bleah....like who cares?:-|

 

[MikeyDB]

Hi Jellyfarm!

The closing statement in your contribution says it all..."who cares?"

It's a pervasive feeling throughout the virtual space of bits and bytes and the coffee shops and unstructured meetingplaces around us. No one cares to share anything about themselves that isn't prefaced by a statement of position that defines the separateness of one opinion, one view one person from everyone else....

While it's "comforting" in some respects to see other people putting a voice to the disintegration of modern democracies and the social fabric, we are ultimately left with the raw truth of our times. As consmers we're focused on "my" personal needs "my" looming difficulties with trying to make those "ends" meet that for some reason appear to be moving further apart every moment". "My" sense of being disconnected from "my" government from "my" community from "my" family. We're conditioned to consume for many reasons but one of the most influential levers applied to prying our identity away is encouragement to conform, to buy and be seen buying what everyone else is buying. To purchase the same lawn-mower and patio set as the neighbors display and watch the same TV programs as everyone else watches to assure both them and ourselves' that we're a part of the world and what's going on....

We watch frustrated and helpless as governments lie and steal from us, churches and belief structures are exposed as rife with corruption and betrayal, the wealthy popular idols of our times continue to live lavishly exuberant and spendthrifty but essentially hollow and empty lives that sends the message that "Yes even though I have no moral substance to my character and Yes I'm prepared to destroy my life and my livlihood with drugs and cheat on my husband/wife....as long as I ride around in a chauffeur-driven limosines and attend fashion events where I can spend thousands of dollars on dresses no one else could afford...my life represents the epitome of consumer happiness."

Corporate mandarins disguised as our political representatives hide the truth of what they're doing from us, enact legislation that cuts even deeper into the already thinning meat of an atrophied future "potential", media sychophants manipulate our perceptions and candidates screech on about honesty and how we can "trust" them to look after our interests.... when we know they'll turn that knife in our backs the moment an opportunity for their personal gain or aggrandizement rolls around.

Decades of lies are falling off the facades of honesty and integrity that cloaked our most prized social institutions and we are helpless and frequently recognize our willing victimhood to this cascade of events.

We are living in the bubbles of non-reality that have been provided by those whom we've trusted and put our faith in for generations to separate us from each other and keep our attention busily focused on "my" and "mine"...the "I" that lying nabobs identify as the only one who can make a difference...the only one who bears responsibility for everything that's wrong in the world....while we are eviscerated on the wheels of ignorance we've been ignorning to preserve the fantasy.

There has never been a time when the world and everyone in it needed love more than today. There's never been a time when the burden for the consequences of failed policies and failed promises impacts us with the dispatch and exactness of the times in which we live today.

You are alone and you feel that no one cares. You've been made to feel that everything is beyond your effort and beyond your understanding. You are helpless and hopeless because that's the way those who'd victimize you even more want and need you to be. They've done it before, wars and depressions, internments and patriotism all mixed together with an enormous serving of guilt and reprisal coming down that future road that they claim is your just-desserts for having embraced the lunacy they sold you as wisdom.

Life isn't a beach.

 

[s_lone]

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling disconnected lately?

I have been feeling disconnection for a number of years even though I'm being more spiritually aware but as the years grow on me, it's hard to feel excited about a lot of things.

I'm feeling computerized, all logged into cyberspace and making connections online but feeling at the end of the day, all this is leading me nowhere.

I go out with friends and at times, there's a nice laugh or two and then the rest of the time, I feel dull. Muted, almost.

BORED with the Net, Bored with friends offline, bored with my filmaking, bored with my scriptwriting, my job, my country, my photography...just at one Bored Central Station and feeling disconnected.

I wonder if it's because I'm too drawn into my cyberspace world and being logged in all the time through work, play.

Even my attention span is short. I do nothing but work, work, work, sleep, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep.

Drive car, work, sleep, computer, work, sleep, bleah....like who cares?:-|

I think a whole lot of people could relate to what you are describing Jellyfarm... The fact that you realize how disconnected you are is already a big step in the right direction.

 

[jellyfarm]

Hi Jellyfarm!

The closing statement in your contribution says it all..."who cares?"

Thanks Mikey! A lot of what you said was a 'Whoa' moment for me because it is what we're seeing today in our illusory world.

And while I truly know that this is 'MAYA' and such, the effect of being brought up in this modern consumerist world where separation presides over unity is taking it's toll on me through this feeling of 'Who bloody cares?"

A case in point. Saw an old woman selling tissues on the street on wheelchair and decided to help her out by buying a few packs while the rest of the Singapore crowd was too busy with their materialistic goals to even see she existed. I felt bad....realllly bad for her because she exists and yet all these people caught up in their own heads did not see her existence. It's like a scene from a movie where everyone is time-lapsing around this woman at lightning speed and here she is in real-time, just selling tissues.

And I'm sure it's this way in modern cities around the world....people are so rushed to even stop smelling the roses. When I do stop, however to do that, I feel a gush of emotion that I never did...It was as if all that pent-up energy in a controlled experimental lab of a city that I live in, had found an outlet to finally emote.

It's a pervasive feeling throughout the virtual space of bits and bytes and the coffee shops and unstructured meetingplaces around us. No one cares to share anything about themselves that isn't prefaced by a statement of position that defines the separateness of one opinion, one view one person from everyone else....

This I have to agree with because no one cares, really, or at least that's the feeling I get, which is what I trust anyway...my feelings, that is. I see people having a fear to have eye contact with people or to even smile. Why? I always ask myself this. And this happens to adults. GROWN UP ADULTS - people who should know better.

Now, if you ever have a chance look at a kid, see if you notice this phenomenon: As soon as a kid sees another kid, just look at how much communication is going on. Within 15 minutes, the two kids that were once strangers are going to be best of friends that tearing them apart when play-time is over, is really emotionally heartbreaking for them. I've observed many kids this way and I can even remember my childhood when I connected well with all the other kids so easily. That's why I was really happy.

But somehow, when the growing up phase came, we all began to meander into our so-called individuality and began to stop communicating. Began to fear....began to get paranoid....for what? Because we fear that people laugh at us or think us silly? Pffffttt!

While it's "comforting" in some respects to see other people putting a voice to the disintegration of modern democracies and the social fabric, we are ultimately left with the raw truth of our times. As consmers we're focused on "my" personal needs "my" looming difficulties with trying to make those "ends" meet that for some reason appear to be moving further apart every moment". "My" sense of being disconnected from "my" government from "my" community from "my" family. We're conditioned to consume for many reasons but one of the most influential levers applied to prying our identity away is encouragement to conform, to buy and be seen buying what everyone else is buying. To purchase the same lawn-mower and patio set as the neighbors display and watch the same TV programs as everyone else watches to assure both them and ourselves' that we're a part of the world and what's going on....

In other words, we have sold our souls. True, true. We are so into our gadgets and toys as extensions of our individuality when we forget half the time that when we do that, we become our gadgets and toys, not human beings. I too admit that this has taken over me the last few years and I believe I'm probably trying to compensate for some missing code in my genetic DNA instead of facing my monsters and seeking completion within myself by relying on an iPod or a pair of Nike sneaks to make me look and feel cool.

We watch frustrated and helpless as governments lie and steal from us, churches and belief structures are exposed as rife with corruption and betrayal, the wealthy popular idols of our times continue to live lavishly exuberant and spendthrifty but essentially hollow and empty lives that sends the message that "Yes even though I have no moral substance to my character and Yes I'm prepared to destroy my life and my livlihood with drugs and cheat on my husband/wife....as long as I ride around in a chauffeur-driven limosines and attend fashion events where I can spend thousands of dollars on dresses no one else could afford...my life represents the epitome of consumer happiness."

Absolutely and I'd like to add a dimension to that and that is to say, 'Please people, don't buy another Britney Spears album for your kids or yourselves! You're not only encouraging Britney's bad lifestyle but you're not helping yourselves either by listening to badly written music and lyrics.' Talent? [Jelly scoffs - PUH-LEASE!] :lol::lol:

Corporate mandarins disguised as our political representatives hide the truth of what they're doing from us, enact legislation that cuts even deeper into the already thinning meat of an atrophied future "potential",

This is something that really bugs me. Here on one end, we have Al Gore 'The envt is going to die soon' and then you have the corporate faction that continues to practise bad environmental habits that are killing our planet. I don't want this to happen. I seriously really want to stand up to those corporate hooligans and scream and yell that all this laws of capitalism, economcis, profits, demand and supply needs to slow down. Corporations and MNCs are killing people, killing the planet....and I feel that disconnection because I know when I scream and shout, I'm going to be the only one screaming and shouting while everyone else relaxes.
It's tiring being a leader when there's no solidarity. This is why these days I'm going '****, who cares?' "You care for people...you wanna do good and you do....you try your best to be a conscientious citizen but what do you get? A bunch of people who are apathetic and have no drive and motivation to stand up not only for themselves but for the planet." It's not about expecting anything back but just hoping that people will wake up from their sleep and be aware and BE BRAVE and overcome their fears to take a courageous stand. It's really like throwing flowers to a monkey.

There has never been a time when the world and everyone in it needed love more than today. There's never been a time when the burden for the consequences of failed policies and failed promises impacts us with the dispatch and exactness of the times in which we live today.

Amen to that bro! I'm tired of talking on forums sometimes, posting hopes and dreams when it gets more and more cancerous around me. People sleepwalking acting like animals when I really think animals are much better than us these days. I can safely say a dog has more love for humans than humans have for others of their kind. Hence, probably why so many people are into their dogs. Unconditional love at its best. Heck, I'd marry a dog man! At least I know she's going to be around till death do us part.:lol: And I'd trust my dog more with my darkest secrets than a person.

You are alone and you feel that no one cares.

I feel that because I've done a fair bit of my share to get people to be more open and more truthful to not only themselves but to others around them but I find people are soooo scared to reveal even their inner feelings to a stranger because they're scared that by doing that they give their power away to that person. NOT!! That's just a friggin' useless false sense of Self called Ego. I mean with the exception of a few of my friends (thank god) who are just as vocal and are activists, everyone else is just playing emotional and mind games and I'm totally sick of that. Sick of the games, sick of the stereotypes, sick of the consumerism, the corruption, the victimization, as you said from our governments and communities.

I'm just sick of being open and sharing because it rallies nothing but apathy. So I think sub-consciously, I've held back. I stopped talking. I'm not even funny as I used to be. I just stopped caring. Period.

You've been made to feel that everything is beyond your effort and beyond your understanding.

Yeee-up, coz really, everything is very simple but we in our false worlds have made it complex and unemotional. We've made ourselves to be machines and on my part, I make daily efforts to stop being a cybertron. If I'm assimilated by the Borg, that's it! God better strike me down with lightning right now and be done with it because if I have to live like a Borg, forget it.

Come to think of it, Gene Rodenberry really had something going when he developed 'Star Trek' because a lot of the issues that were dealt with in the show parallels a lot of the issues we face in the modern world.

I'm sorry but a lot of things don't excite me anymore. Getting the latest technology doesn't excite me. Getting a new outfit doesn't excite me. Getting to know some people also doesn't excite me. It's the same story day in, day out. It's boring and repetitive.

I'm really a manifestation of consumerism at its best. C'mon excite me!

 

[Outta here]

Ah. Jelly and Mikey - you're paying attention I see. Within both your comments I find the rallying cry of YES YES YES! welling up within me. Recognition of this disconnect rears up from where I (like so many of us who really do give a sh!t) have stuffed it into it's place - with it's head in the corner, doing my best to keep it in the dark. For what are we to do with it - this awareness that something - almost everything in fact - is wrong in our world today?

Disconnect = helplessness. It's so damn big, and we feel so damn small when faced with the questions that must surely follow the awareness: "What are we to do? What am *I* to do?"

And so we busily immerse ourselves in every and any tool of ignorance we can avail ourselves of. Celebrity watching, consumerism, work, drink, gossip, sex, mind numbing substances - all these activities must be indulged in to greater and greater extremes to effectively drown out the reality that screams louder and louder for our attention... and still it becomes more and more difficult to keep ourselves shrouded in ignorance. World hunger is the latest catastrophe - not new really - but finally hitting the point of critical mass that forces us to acknowledge it - because it's encroaching on our very own doorsteps. Bad enough we can't seem to do much to help others who's suffering can at least be relegated to some remote periphery of our awareness...now we can't even afford ourselves the refuge of turning away in blind hopelessness to their plight - their reality is insisting we take note by invading our insular yet oh so fragile little bubbles of existence.

So what should I worry about today? Careening food prices? The oil industry and all its' manifestations of human greed? Wait - I think I've neglected climate change lately - perhaps I should focus my attentions there today. But what about the political tensions in the world that appear stretched so thin they must surely be on the verge of snapping? My planet is embroiled in filth of so many kinds it's just become one giant cesspool of sludge; I can't separate the muck from the goo anymore.

So what do we do? We get up every day and try to keep a semblance of routine - normalcy - in our lives. It's all we have, and we cling to it like drowning men to a sliver of straw in an ocean of madness.

But no matter how hard we try, we are not built to be mindless automons plodding thorugh our days, heads bowed, eyes averted. Adopting such tactics to minimize the impact does little to really assuage anything. Reality refuses to allow our disconnect to be fully complete. The inhumanity roils within us, building up to a crescendo that unleashes itself at the most unexpected times in the most unexpected ways.

For you Jelly, a woman selling tissue was the thorn that pricked your bubble. For me last week, it was an old man - trying valiently but vainly to cross an icy street. Traffic in one direction had stopped, but was growing impatient. He had a cane, and if he was a cartoon, I might even have laughed - feet scrambling and sliding in one place trying to find purchase to take another step forward without falling to the frozen ground. Three cars...THREE CARS were sitting idle - with THREE drivers sitting at the wheel. Not a single one had even cranked open a window to hollar at the old fella to see if he needed help.

Are there words to describe the rage I felt? THREE people had been handed an opportunity to do ONE thing - one minute little thing - to help another human - and all had chosen to sit and observe the fear and helplessness of that old man as though it were nothing more than an ant farm placed in their direct line of vision to hinder their adherence to their gawddamn routines! One driver was so annoyed at the intrusion on his convenience he actually pulled out and was appearing to try and find a way to negotiate his way around the car in front of him AND the old man in the middle of the road, apparently oblivious to the fear that suddenly escalated into downright panic in the old guy's eyes. I snapped. I threw my vehicle into park and jumped out and flung my hand up to stop the bastard from driving another inch forward.

The old gent didn't speak English very well, and judging from the slurring, I gathered he'd had a stroke at some point... I tried to ask him if he'd like help - he didn't understand my words, but clung to my arm in a way that conveyed something bigger than words - a proud man forced to acknowledge his vulnerability - his embarrassment and frustration was palpable. In that strange sign-language kind of way people of different languages use to communicate I gestured to the 3 foot snowbank he had been trying to get to on the side of the road. How, I wondered, was he planning to scale that? It must surely be a mountain to someone with feeble legs? Somehow he relayed to me that he was trying to get to a bus stop to get to a grocery store. I was late for work already - but I had that tiny sliver of opportunity that we often miss... I could add ten minutes to my trek to work and be even later, or I could do my best to shuffle him across the road and then do what? Hoist his fragile little butt over the snow bank and wish him good luck? I drove him to the store and found a staff there to elicit a committment to getting him safely to a bus stop when he was done his shopping.

But the rage - the unadulterated RAGE I felt at those other three drivers stayed with me for the rest of the day. Suddenly they represented every single thing that is wrong in our world right now. Everything this thread speaks to. The sheer inhumanity and apathy that has somehow invaded our souls. It was the thorn that broke my personal little bubble of emotional coping.

And so now what? We rant and rail at it, we share the fury, the pain, and yet.... what have we done? What can we do? How do we find the thing that binds us - the thing that should override and heal all that can possibly go wrong between us or to us- the thing Mikey reminded us of - that love of our fellow man? Where is it?! Is rage and despair the only alternative we have left to combat the apathy?

I'd welcome any attempt to turn my raving disappointment in our collective lunacy into a lesson in hope.

 

[darkbeaver]

"I'd welcome any attempt to turn my raving disappointment in our collective lunacy into a lesson in hope."

I know what it is to feel the disconnect and the numbness and the helplessness and I also know that unless you fight it tooth and nail it drags you under and it'll keep you there.
You have spoken of the immersion in the modern offerings, I don't have to tell you these are poor substitutes for reality and do not, as you know,lead to anything but being totally consumed by them, living for them, instead of living for the joys of life themselves.
My own personal escape from that disconnect is the great outdoors, the forest and the streams all those living others that I so desperately miss if even for a day I'm separated.
Jellyfarm and you Zan have already discovered the power of the gift to others and that is where the fix for the disconnect lies. Help others and you help yourself, that's real natural power that you will never find on a shelf.
We seem to dwell to much on the negative aspects of modern life in general, the problems of the planet and the misery of mankind but there is no real escape from that there is only the struggle against it and injustice and the power of giving, maybe that's love, maybe it's god. And while you're giving to others don't forget to give a bit to yourself.

 

[Outta here]

"I'd welcome any attempt to turn my raving disappointment in our collective lunacy into a lesson in hope."

I know what it is to feel the disconnect and the numbness and the helplessness and I also know that unless you fight it tooth and nail it drags you under and it'll keep you there.
You have spoken of the immersion in the modern offerings, I don't have to tell you these are poor substitutes for reality and do not, as you know,lead to anything but being totally consumed by them, living for them, instead of living for the joys of life themselves.
My own personal escape from that disconnect is the great outdoors, the forest and the streams all those living others that I so desperately miss if even for a day I'm separated.
Jellyfarm and you Zan have already discovered the power of the gift to others and that is where the fix for the disconnect lies. Help others and you help yourself, that's real natural power that you will never find on a shelf.
We seem to dwell to much on the negative aspects of modern life in general, the problems of the planet and the misery of mankind but there is no real escape from that there is only the struggle against it and injustice and the power of giving, maybe that's love, maybe it's god. And while you're giving to others don't forget to give a bit to yourself.

Indeed Beave - thanks for the reply.

btw - does this:

Help others and you help yourself, that's real natural power that you will never find on a shelf.

apply to puppies and bunnies too? ;-)

 

[karrie]

I'd welcome any attempt to turn my raving disappointment in our collective lunacy into a lesson in hope.

When you are the lesson in hope it's hard to see it.

 

[dancing-loon]

Hi, Jellyfarm;

you sure hit the nail on the head!! It is almost a bit of comfort to find out I'm not alone. Frequently I think I wouldn't mind to slip away, be done with it. Why am I alive still, I ask myself? For what? I have no goal!! And that, I think, is the worst! To have nothing to look forward to, to have no desire for anything is depressing. But, I made it again through another winter thanks to the forum!!!! Although nobody cares, everybody is concerned about himself... I live an illusion, I'm aware of that! We are all lonely, all missing something that makes us hang out here to forget we are unloved and so bored. "Only the lonely know I cry and cry...."

Unlike you and Mikey I don't blame the world around me or the government, I rather know I have to overcome this state of mind, I have to find a reason to want to live a few more years. It is all up to ME!!!

Jellyfarm, Mikey and Beaver, I wish you a very luvly afternoon!;-):lol:

Your friend Loon:smile:

 

[shadowshiv]

I'd welcome any attempt to turn my raving disappointment in our collective lunacy into a lesson in hope.

The lesson in hope is you, Zan.:smile: Thinking that there are people in the world that are willing to help a person in need is a good step towards that, and the fact that there are other people in the world who would do the exact same thing as you.:smile:

There are good people in the world. You are one of them.

 

[johai]

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling disconnected lately?

I have been feeling disconnection for a number of years even though I'm being more spiritually aware but as the years grow on me, it's hard to feel excited about a lot of things.

I'm feeling computerized, all logged into cyberspace and making connections online but feeling at the end of the day, all this is leading me nowhere.

I go out with friends and at times, there's a nice laugh or two and then the rest of the time, I feel dull. Muted, almost.

BORED with the Net, Bored with friends offline, bored with my filmaking, bored with my scriptwriting, my job, my country, my photography...just at one Bored Central Station and feeling disconnected.

I wonder if it's because I'm too drawn into my cyberspace world and being logged in all the time through work, play.

Even my attention span is short. I do nothing but work, work, work, sleep, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep.

Drive car, work, sleep, computer, work, sleep, bleah....like who cares?:-|

This all started with the advent of television. Since its arrival, we have been over everythinged (sic). The ad men got into TV in a big way and then over 50 years later we have gadgets to do almost every conceivable thing that we would have done by ourselves. This lead to boredom. Why did I need three cell phones, four land lines within 40 feet of each other. The list is endless and we are the worse for it, but we gave into it and we have to get out of that hole. Small steps I would suppose but it could work if worked upon on a daily basis.

 

[talloola]

I have four daughters, none of who are especially interested in what is going on around
the world, politically, they never listen to, or watch the news, don't read the newspapers,
and I don't bring up those subjects while with them, cause they don't know what I'm talking about, and secondly, they are not interested, BUT, zeroing in on daughter #4,
she is very community minded, participates in many local stage presentations, plays the
flute beautifully, once a week she shows up at the local hospital and plays her flute for
many patients, including those who are 'terminal', many just days or hours away from the
end of their lives. She has many friends, participates in projects for the school and
plays her flute and sings at the church on sundays, (although she isn't especially religious at all) but she loves the atmosphere and the closeness of the people,she doesn't have TV, (hooked up to
any server), but her kids can play computer games and watch dvds, but she doesn't use
the computer at all, except on the job, So, I guess the point I'm making is that, maybe we know too much about everything that is out of our control,
and don't pay enough attention to 'what' is right under our noses and close to us, which is
a more simple life, similar to lives many years ago, when the world seemed so big, and others seemed so far away, and our lives were mainly centered around our own communities.
Our lives are flying by way too fast, too much information being stuffed into our brains,
and we don't have a chance to 'completely' relax and enjoy the moment.

 

[johai]

I have four daughters, none of who are especially interested in what is going on around
the world, politically, they never listen to, or watch the news, don't read the newspapers,
and I don't bring up those subjects while with them, cause they don't know what I'm talking about, and secondly, they are not interested, BUT, zeroing in on daughter #4,
she is very community minded, participates in many local stage presentations, plays the
flute beautifully, once a week she shows up at the local hospital and plays her flute for
many patients, including those who are 'terminal', many just days or hours away from the
end of their lives. She has many friends, participates in projects for the school and
plays her flute and sings at the church on sundays, (although she isn't especially religious at all) but she loves the atmosphere and the closeness of the people,she doesn't have TV, (hooked up to
any server), but her kids can play computer games and watch dvds, but she doesn't use
the computer at all, except on the job, So, I guess the point I'm making is that, maybe we know too much about everything that is out of our control,
and don't pay enough attention to 'what' is right under our noses and close to us, which is
a more simple life, similar to lives many years ago, when the world seemed so big, and others seemed so far away, and our lives were mainly centered around our own communities.
Our lives are flying by way too fast, too much information being stuffed into our brains,
and we don't have a chance to 'completely' relax and enjoy the moment.

Great quote and great kids I'm sure. Good for you.

 

[china]

jellyfarm

I have been feeling disconnection for a number of years even though I'm being more spiritually aware but as the years grow on me, it's hard to feel excited about a lot of things.

For most of us, passion is employed only with regard to one thing, sex; or you suffer passionately and try to resolve that suffering. But I am using the word passion in the sense of a state of mind, a state of being, a state of your inward core, if there is such a thing, that feels very strongly, that is highly sensitive-sensitive alike to dirt, to squalor, to poverty, and to enormous riches and corruption, to the beauty of a tree, of a bird, to the flow of water, and to a pond that has the evening sky reflected upon it. To feel all this intensely, strongly, is necessary. Because without passion life becomes empty, shallow , and without much meaning. If you cannot see the beauty of a tree and love that tree, if you cannot care for it intensely, you are not living.

 

[dancing-loon]

I have four daughters.

So do I:grin: Aren't we blessed mothers?

 

[Kreskin]

I have four daughters, none of who are especially interested in what is going on around
the world, politically, they never listen to, or watch the news, don't read the newspapers,
and I don't bring up those subjects while with them, cause they don't know what I'm talking about, and secondly, they are not interested, BUT, zeroing in on daughter #4,
she is very community minded, participates in many local stage presentations, plays the
flute beautifully, once a week she shows up at the local hospital and plays her flute for
many patients, including those who are 'terminal', many just days or hours away from the
end of their lives. She has many friends, participates in projects for the school and
plays her flute and sings at the church on sundays, (although she isn't especially religious at all) but she loves the atmosphere and the closeness of the people,she doesn't have TV, (hooked up to
any server), but her kids can play computer games and watch dvds, but she doesn't use
the computer at all, except on the job, So, I guess the point I'm making is that, maybe we know too much about everything that is out of our control,
and don't pay enough attention to 'what' is right under our noses and close to us, which is
a more simple life, similar to lives many years ago, when the world seemed so big, and others seemed so far away, and our lives were mainly centered around our own communities.
Our lives are flying by way too fast, too much information being stuffed into our brains,
and we don't have a chance to 'completely' relax and enjoy the moment.

Talloola, I'm especially touched by your daughter playing flute for terminally ill patients who are close to the end of their lives. The sounds and melodies would be a soothing, peaceful way for someone to end their journey.

Your post conveys much wisdom. We do spend too much time worrying about things beyond our control or becoming embroiled in issues that are too distant from what's really important to us. Many will say we should care or pay attention but there are things we can control, and where we could make a difference in, but often we don't.

 

[talloola]

So do I:grin: Aren't we blessed mothers?

It's quite a journey with these daughters of mine, and now 7 grandchildren, 5 boys and
2 girls and yes, we are blessed.

 

[talloola]

Talloola, I'm especially touched by your daughter playing flute for terminally ill patients who are close to the end of their lives. The sounds and melodies would be a soothing, peaceful way for someone to end their journey.

Your post conveys much wisdom. We do spend too much time worrying about things beyond our control or becoming embroiled in issues that are too distant from what's really important to us. Many will say we should care or pay attention but there are things we can control, and where we could make a difference in, but often we don't.

Yes Kreskin, she has a special heart, a month ago, her close friend, age 37, same as she,
died as a result of a long struggle with breast cancer. They played in the same group and
participated in many musical productions together. She played the flute at her memorial
with tears running down her face, in front of over 200 people, and didn't miss a note.
I will never forget.

 

[L Gilbert]

I would say so, Tall.
My wife used to have 33 or 34" long hair. She took about half of it off and donated it towards kids going through cancer treatments. Periodically she pops in and either reads or tells stories to the kids in horsespittle.Our oldest daughter coaches football (the real football) and our youngest is almost done her Bachelors in nursing. Hard not to feel connected with all that going on.
I liked China's comment. I'd like to add that whether you feel connected or not, you are. Everything in the universe is connected one way or the other. Focus on it and eventually you will feel it.Spend a couple hours outside watching the stars, or sit by a lake or river and watch nature perk.

 

[talloola]

I would say so, Tall.
.Spend a couple hours outside watching the stars, or sit by a lake or river and watch nature perk.

There is nothing better,' the connection of us to nature and the beauty of this earth.'