How High And Mighty We Are

Written By Don Shetterly

It's all those other people out there.  It's the - insert label here - people.  You know, those that don't think like we do!  To this, I can only say, how high and mighty we are!  Yes, I say this with disbelief.

Too many of us think that we have all the answers.  I'm using the collective "we" because I don't want to let anyone off the hook on this blog post.  If it makes anyone feel uncomfortable, I'm perfectly fine with that at this moment.

You see, we label others, and we look down our noses at them.  We see them with contempt.  They are not like us.  They don't believe what we do, think like we do, talk like we talk or live in the way we think they should.  They are mistaken and misled people.  They are wrong.  These people know not what they do!

We look at people with disdain and as if they are the reason for our problems.  We strike out at them trying to correct them into human beings that we can associate with in our day.

After all, we feel we must tell them where they went wrong and just how misguided they are.  We must do this if we want the world to continue on because only we know best.

Then we take to social media to point out just how stupid others are.  They know not what they do, and we are here to tweet and like and post just how wrong they are.  Of course, we are the right ones.  We know best.  We must retweet and share for it is the only way others will know how lost they are.

While this is the way things seem to operate these days in our society, we're really all in this boat together.  While we may think we have the answers and are right in what we say, we're really throwing mud in the face of others.  Our eyes are so darkened that we cannot even begin to see this.

We've lost the way of listening to one other and engaging with each other.  No more do we honor and respect one another, and no it isn't because everyone else does not do this.  We've lost it within ourselves.   Respect for ourselves has vanished.

No longer are we connected to our heart and our mind body.  Instead, we obliterate ourselves with our busy, nonstop, stressful lives.  We pour junk into our guts hoping acting as if it doesn't matter while playing a dangerous game of risk with health treatments that fail to treat the root causes.

We have added so much horror on our days by not dealing with life's issues, but by numbing ourselves every second of the day.  Feelings and emotions are running for cover.  Heart and mind connected thoughts are silent.

If we continue this way, we'll be in a much worse mess than we are now.  We cannot sustain this because it is taking its toll on the human body and the mind.  It is not up to someone else to solve this.  This has to begin with each one of us.  Only we can turn it around in our lives.

While we may think we are high and mighty, in many ways, we are not.  The more we believe that everyone else is the problem, the more we have lost our way.

Stop for a moment.  Look at what you are doing to yourself and the world-at-large.  Leave no stone of discovery unturned.  Look deep and hard within your own mind and body and heart to see what needs the sunshine of truth.

Give up trying to pull the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in your own eye.  It is the only way to help anyone is by helping ourselves first.  Otherwise, we are just high and mighty as we continue to destroy the world we live in.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 1/01/18 by Don Shetterly

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Rolling In The Mud Pit

Written By Don Shetterly

I know, it feels like you have to engage with others slinging the mud.  In all reality, you don't have to join in the mud pit.  For those people who are sensitive and care deeply, it feels like you have to fight back and stand up for what happens online.

Now, before you get me wrong, let me explain.  I am not talking about turning a blind eye to anything, especially abuse and people who are a bully.  It is my opinion that if you engage them and as a result, they engage you, you are rolling around in the mud pit with them.  If two people roll in the mud together, you can't tell them apart.

It is like someone that calls names on the playground.  If you call them names back, are you any different?  In my view, one becomes the same as the name caller.  If one bullies another and you do the same back, are you any different.  I would suggest that we are not.

In fact, with everyone screaming at one another or the ones they deem as being horrible and disgusting and abusive, the screaming is only rolling around in the mudpit with them.  It serves little purpose.  They are not going to listen.  They don't care about anyone's viewpoint but their own.

I grew up in a house like this where whatever was said by my Dad or older brother mattered.  Even if they were flat out wrong, they would still argue with me.  Here are two instances that are minor but show what I am referring to in this post.

One time my sheep needed some medication and I knew it.  I always read up on the latest techniques for caring for my sheep.  My neighbor which also had sheep worked with me to help me learn how to properly care for them.  Because I said to my dad that we needed to give this medication, he fought me.  In his eyes, I didn't know anything.  It took me getting my neighbor to come over and convince him that we needed to do this.  No matter what I said or did, my dad would not listen.  He was flat out wrong, but it was his way or no way.

Another time when I was a kid, my older brother tried to convince me that we needed to somehow buy a riding lawnmower.  I was much younger than him, but understood far more.  He argued with me that if we bought the lawnmower on payments, we only had to pay for it during the summer.  As a small kid, I knew this was not how things worked.  He argued until I just walked away and got my parents to convince him that he was wrong.  He was not going to allow for the fact that maybe he didn't understand things.  He was convinced he was right.

While these examples are minor, it is the same basic thing we are doing online and in family and friend circles today.  We just scream at one another.  We don't listen and we don't even hear the other side.  Everyone is an enemy that doesn't know anything.  While others may be flat out wrong, they might have valid points and if we don't attempt to see those, we're rolling around in the mud pit.

The human ego loves to be right.  It wants to be heard above anyone else.  It wants to know that it is in control.  The heart is shoved aside as if it doesn't matter even though it begs for everyone to engage it over the ego.

In this day, we're spending more time in the mud pit screaming with one another and it is almost impossible to tell each other apart.  We think we're adding something to the day, but we're adding to the problems.  The egotistical people who think all others are the enemy are not going to listen to reason.  Their ego will not allow them.  To engage with them in this way, will only exasperate the situation.  In fact, if you ignore their rants, it would drive them crazy and insane.  The only thing is the human ego is not wired to do that.

If you're very sensitive like I am and have been abused in the past, this behavior drives you crazy.  I struggle with it.  I weep for it.  This world is being cranked up into a danger zone and if we don't reverse this quickly, our collective health is going to suffer in ways that we cannot even see.

We can all do our part to not engage with the abusive bullies of our day.  We can work to help further civilization and humanity, or we can just get down in the mudpit with everyone else.

I no longer watch the news.  I do read some headlines, but the news is toxic and this goes for just about any side of it.  We've lost sight of this so much that we can no longer tell the difference.  It feels like we cannot survive without this toxic news we gulp down every day.

Making the world a better place isn't about what everyone else does.  It is what we do as individuals.  Collectively our attitudes and responses make up civilization.  If we do that which we despise, we're no better than those we deem as adversaries.

Let us get our own life in order and let that shine for the world to see.  No, it may not drown out the screaming voices in the mud pit, but I believe there are enough of us that together will be much louder in the end by not engaging.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 11/29/17 by Don Shetterly

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But Come Here Fear

These days, my heart goes out to every human.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in the fears that are a part of everything we do.  It is so insidious that we don't even see it.

That's the tricky part about fear.  It blinds you to its existence while taking over everything you think, do, say, and how you act.  Most of the time you're not aware of it, even if you know it exists.

Fear is a good thing when being chased by a tiger in the jungle.  Fear is a good thing at night when you're being stalked.  Fear of failing can be good as well as many other fears.  However, fear is meant as a temporary moment, not a life long relationship.

Unfortunately, far too many in our world have experienced a not so safe childhood.  We've either gone through trauma and abuse, witnessed domestic violence in our homes, suffered at the hands of a bully, or gone through other things.  They all produce fear that resides within us and alters who we truly are.

Maybe it's a parent that does not instill a sense of safety in you as a child.  Maybe you're a witness to horrific acts of violence or bombs dropping.  Maybe you saw or were in a car accident as a child and so your sense of safety was taken away.

There are many experiences in life that leave us feeling unsafe.  In these current days we are in, fear is getting pushed to the limit, whether it is on the news we consume or in social media or just in the water-cooler talk among friends.  It is everywhere.

Even if you do like we do and turn the news off and try to mute all the political stuff of the day, you can still feel fear.  It is everywhere.  It permeates every bit and piece of our society these days and that is so sad.  My heart breaks when I see it.

These days, you can barely say anything or write anything that doesn't invoke fear's response into a statement that is twisted from your intent.  Fear keeps us blind to this practice.  Fear does not allow us to see things in clarity and with the awareness and consciousness we think we have.

I don't think numbing and disconnecting completely from the fears that are alive is necessarily the right course of action.  However, I believe that if you're watching the news and engaged in the fear rhetoric of the day, you're harming yourself and the world.

You have to make the choices for yourself about what you let into your life and what you feast on in a day.  You have to be willing to open your eyes as far open as you can, so you can see what fear has done to you.  It is not easy to do this.  It goes against every fiber and ounce of energy fear can muster up, but in order to reclaim your life, you have to take back the power from fear.

I know from experience that fear waits in the tall grass to pounce upon you in every moment.  It takes strength and courage to stand up to fear.

In the words of Joy Harjo from her "Fear Poem" come these are two lines that I just love.

Oh you have choked me, but I gave you the leash.
But come here, fear. I am alive and you are so afraid of dying. - Joy Harjo 

May we stop allowing fear to choke us, by not giving it the leash so easily.  May we remember to tell fear that we are alive and it is so afraid of dying. 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Anger Bubbling Up

I'm beginning to understand just how much of an epidemic this is not only in the country I live in, but the entire world.  Anger is alive and growing.  We see evidence of it through violent actions committed everywhere.

No one seems to know how to get rid of the anger bubbling up within them.  Society doesn't allow it.  Parents don't teach how to let go of it.  Schools don't teach it.  Churches don't teach it.  We all hide our heads in the sand as if anger is a problem for someone else.

In fact, we hide behind anger.  We stuff it down.  We paste it over with happy thoughts and condescending statements toward others for even feeling anger.  We tell others how they should not have anger in them because it means they are "less than" or "not the way a human should be".

None of what is being done in this world helps to alleviate anger.  When it acts like a spring bubbling up within us, we just stuff it down.  We smile to the world, while hating our innermost self.  We smile to the world while we try to numb the pain.

I'm wondering when we are going to start waking up as a human civilization and understand that we are our own worst enemy.  We are inflicting so much pain on our lives through what we do.  We as a society are trampling upon others because we are not leading authentic lives.

Anger is a poison that permeates our body, our cells, and our tissues.  Anger when not allowed to come out festers as an infected wound upon our body, only this one is silently hidden from view.

How often do we hear that someone just popped and no one would have expected they had the anger in them to do what they did?  How often do we see people's rage show up, but we hide it from our reality and act as if it didn't happen?

We have to get real with ourselves and with others.  If we continue to let anger bubble up with no method for release, we're harming ourselves so badly.  It takes a physical toll on our body and mind.  We end up hurting the world in ways that we cannot even imagine.

If we continue to hide from our anger and minimize it or numb it, we're doing the human civilization a major injustice.  There is no honor in being inauthentic.  There is no honor in minimizing and numbing one's life, rather than being real and human.

Anger is a hateful energy.  It is one that alters how we see not only the world, but ourselves.  When we find it hiding within us, it is then that we no longer consciously connect to the deepest parts of our soul.  It is then that we have lost our connection with humanity and the world in which we live.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Sometimes I Weep For People

Nope, this isn't a happy post, but it is what is on my heart.  Sometimes to make sense of things or attempt to grab on to the last rung of the ladder, I write what is on my mind.

Maybe this is not always what everyone wants to read or hear, but it is how I've written this blog for the past several years.  I share deeply from my heart and my own vulnerability.

Sometimes I weep for people.  Lately, that's been much of the time.  I see so much and I cannot for the life of me understand why humans do what they do to one another.  Here's some of the examples I've witnessed that grind my heart up to not end.

Examples:

1. Example 1:  We care and we're here for you, but please enjoy our silence as that is about as far as it goes.  I know people mean well, but their actions don't match their words.  I stand in confusion wondering if it is something I did or they are just too busy or they just don't realize what their words mean.  Maybe it is something else, but it is far too complicated for me to understand.
2. Example 2:  I only will communicate with you if you believe the way I do or talk the way I think you should or follow what I think you should do in your own life.  Of course, they don't come right out and say this but they practice it diligently.  I am at a loss with words and understanding how I have to believe or say things or act according to how others view life.  It just doesn't make sense and unfortunately it happens far too often.
3. Example 3:  I am one-sided in my viewpoints.  I can't accept your point of view because it is wrong.  I will label you and call you names to prove my point and just constantly say that I know what is best and your stupid.  I'll do this in horrific ways so that you really feel as low as you can feel.  After all, I'm right and you're wrong.  I just tend to walk away from these people because I have no desire to fight with someone that is intent on not listening to anything I say.
4. Example 4:  Let me show you how wrong you are and I will do it constantly every moment of the day.  Whether it is social media or a blog or talking to people, boy - just let me show you how wrong you are.  It is my responsibility to show ignorance to those who practice is how this type of behavior goes for people in this example.  There's no one else in their minds that holds any truth, but them.  I'm so saddened when I see this happening at a frequency my mind cannot even begin to comprehend.
5. Example 5:  They've got a one track mind - yes I do, states the ones that do this.  Nothing else matters but their single focused issue or belief or viewpoint.  It is all or nothing.  It is frequent and in your face.  If you don't fully accept their premise and think and talk about whatever the subject is 100% of the time, there's something wrong with you in their eyes.  It is their way or the highway!

All of these things and more are practiced every day by those who don't think they do any of this.  Some are pretty convincing that they are normal and everyone else is wrong.

These things hurt the fabric of our society. It hurts us being human to one another.  It makes us into enemies, rather than fellow travelers on this earth.

No, none of us is perfect and we all make mistakes.  Let's just not go embrace them as the norm while we degrade, tear down and rip apart other people.  It makes me weep for people.  It really does. My heart hurts when I see this behavior.

Respect for one another starts when you stop labeling others and calling them names.  Respect for one another starts when you stop to listen and love another without trying to convince them your way is correct or you know what is best for them.

There is so much noise in our day and if we fail to listen, but keep screaming our point of view - we're only adding to the noise.  We're not doing anyone any good.

If you've not done any of these things ever in your life, then my hat is off to you.  Please write a book and share with the rest of the world how this is done because it is badly needed.  Unfortunately, I think we've all crossed the line a few times and right now in our world, the majority of people are truly crossing the line.

Let's not take our deficiencies we see in ourselves out on everyone else.  It isn't their fault that we haven't healed a part of our life or progressed past the thought processes and beliefs we were taught.  Yes, we don't like to admit we do any of this, but it only takes a few minutes to observe it in action just about anywhere you go.

Let's celebrate others and share with one another what we've learned and what we've experienced.  It helps us find our own footing on this treacherous path that is called life.  We need each other to make it in a hostile world.  We definitely don't need to inflict pain upon others that ends up making them weep with sadness.

How can you begin this moment to let your words match your actions and let your love shine through greater than your own ego?

#Authentic

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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We Support You But Let's Not Talk About It

Some days I really wonder about life and then on other days, humans prove with their actions what they think and feel in their hearts.  I know, it is an indictment of the human race, but I hope that with the words I write, someone will be a little wiser and a little more enlightened.  Maybe I'm hoping for too much, but even with the way some humans act, I still have faith in humanity.

The tired and worn out thought, we support you but let's not talk about it, makes me weep for humanity.  I've seen this a million times.  Whether its throughout the healing journey of child sexual abuse or an organization ripping apart at the seems, it is heard loud and clear.  Whether it is in a job where you stand up for what is right or you stand up to the bully in the workplace or even if you get married and it goes against the beliefs of others, there is no mistaking it.

Are humans that fickle?  Are humans so wrapped up in themselves that they offer support but yet they don't?  These are tough questions, but each and every person should ask them and ponder them because it happens across the board in one way or another.  It happens across every city and town of every country on this planet.  I've watched it play out so many times and in so many circumstances that my eyes are weary with pain.

Can we not be real with one another...

Can we not be real with one another?  Can we not show compassion and love to one another without using our ego and judgment to cloud the waters?  Are we not better as humans to understand love, compassion, consciousness and awareness.

Unfortunately, I would like to think humans have a greater capacity to love, rather than judge.  I would love to see where humans have a better awareness of what is right and just in this world, rather than turning a blind eye and being an accomplice in what is happening before them.  I still have hope for humanity.  I still try to have faith in humanity.

Actions speak volumes...

This business about supporting someone but then acting as if it doesn't exist or you don't want to talk about it, shows what is truly in your heart.  These actions and words speak volumes about what you really mean.  You can't just go to church on Sunday or embrace the new age thought patterns and let your actions say one things, while your mouth says another.

Maybe you think you don't do this and if you don't, my hat is off to you.  However, look long and hard because you might be missing the ways that you do.  It is not out of the question to not see that which you do.

Supporting one another is a basic part of being human.  If we fail in this, we have failed those around us and we have failed ourselves.  We cannot claim to support, but then hide it under the carpet.  We cannot claim to support and then talk about the stuff in a degrading way.  We cannot claim to support but hold back showing this, even in the slightest of ways.

My hope is that instead of hiding our heads in the sand, we will learn to become better humans.  Humans that are aware and conscious and walk the walk.  To be anything less, is to short change the human race and the world.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Is What We Share Making A Positive Difference

All too often we just post and share and like things online that really have no benefit to society or the world.  We don't stop and question what we do, we just do it.  We don't question our actions or motives, we just do it.  It is called being numb and disconnected in life.

The question we should be asking in our day is what we share, like, forward and put out into the universe - is it making a positive difference?  Does it help advance society and our civilization?  Does it help support and lift one another up or does it tear us down?

The question we should be asking is how do our actions support that which is good for this society and civilization?  Do our actions support that which is good and healing and supportive for the world, or do they just sow discord, pain, and contempt for one another?  Do our actions show what is in our heart and is what we say is in our heart, what truly shows up?

It's easy to be a rabble rouser...

It is too easy to just be a rabble rouser and scream with the masses.  It is too easy to just claim the woe is me story and demand attention.  It is too easy to not see the bigger picture and connect your mind and body together as one.

We can spew the memes and happy thoughts all day long, but if we can't show the love we proclaim, we are nothing more than a clanging cymbal.  We can stand on the street corners and pray to the heavens, but if all that comes out of our mouths is hatred, we have missed why we are praying in the first place.

We can continue unconsciously...

We can continue in our life unconsciously as if we just consume whatever is fed to us through the media and online venues or we can actually become conscious and begin to see life.  We can embrace all that is before us or find ways to stand opposed with weapons firing.

It is not up to everyone else to be a conscious individual and human.  It is not up to some government leader or politician to do what we cannot do for ourselves.  It is up to each one of us to live our life with the highest intention and good so that we lift one another up, not tear each other down.

In this country and throughout the world, there is far too much spewed in a day that does absolutely nothing good for all mankind.  We may think it does and in fact, the actions we portray may prove this, but in our hearts we have found darkness.

It is not all those out there that are the problem.  It is each one of us.  It is each one of us that harbors the pain and past experiences in our own life who have been tricked into believing the lies each one tells themselves daily.

It is each person individually that impacts the world.  Each day we are either building up and supporting one another or we are adding to the problems of this world. It is our choice what we do and what actions we take if we truly make this world a better place or we add to its problems.

The choice and actions start within us.  If you're looking to those outside of yourself to do this, you have missed the point of being human.  For when you listen to everyone but yourself, it is then that you are no longer a human living in a human body but one that is disconnected and numbed from what life truly is.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Does Twitter Endorse Porn?

This subject really gets under my skin.  It doesn't seem like anything is being done about it and if I try to contact Twitter, I get absolutely no response.  So, I have to conclude that in the absence of action, twitter endorses porn.  They allow it on their site and they do very little to stop it.  That to me, is an endorsement!

I don't intentionally go and follow people who display porn on their timelines.  In fact, when I check them out, I often don't see any porn whatsoever and lo and behold, later the porn pictures start popping up on my twitter feed.

Of course, I know you can report them and block them, but it doesn't do anything to solve the problem.  I have a feeling that twitter (if they actually do anything) comes along and deletes the picture.  The individual just does it again and again, sometimes deleting the images I think so when twitter goes to look, they see nothing.  I may be wrong, but in lieu of proper responses from twitter, how do I know they are actually doing anything about it.

Twitter fails to respond...

You can direct message them or tweet them and they absolutely fail to respond.  You can block these people all day long and it seems like they spring up again and again with the very same pictures you were seeing before.  No one seems to do anything to get rid of it, but hey twitter makes sure you know how to mute people that are annoying.  Never mind that this doesn't solve the issue.


I've had moments where I've been in a public place or on an airplane checking my twitter feed only to have one of these porn pictures displayed.  Its rather embarrassing especially when its the close up shot.  Imagine if a child saw that.  There's no way for me to stop it other than not being on Twitter!

Imagine if we went around all day showing these images in our streets.  What would be the reaction?  Yes, there would be an uproar.  In the case of twitter, its just business as usual.  They just don't care!  Twitter seems to endorse porn, or so it seems.

Twitter sacrifices a society norm...

It almost seems that twitter wants as many users as it can get, so it sacrifices what should be a norm in our society.  We don't need pornographic images forced into our twitter feeds all day and all night.  There's hopefully a much better usage for social media than that, but Twitter has to get serious and do the right thing.

We already have enough problems with human trafficking and child porn and child sexual abuse.  We already have enough problems with scammers.  Why is it then that Twitter does not do anymore than they do in this area of porn.  That is why I feel Twitter endorses porn!
 

Sure, you can set your settings to not see all of that, but it still shows up.  I cringe at the thought of a young child looking at twitter.  These are images they do not need to see.  It is wrong in every sense of the word.

Maybe if Twitter wanted to be a serious competitor to Facebook and other social media sites, it might consider cleaning up its own house first.  Maybe by having a "quality" system, they could be better than they are today.  Yet, it seems their main focus is on how many people you can follow in a specific undocumented time frame, rather than keeping the porn off of the news feed.

I believe we can do better with social media.  I think this platform has potential, but it is often saturated with too much that does very little good for anyone's day.  We can do better on social media!

It's Far Too Easy To Judge Others

Everyone thinks that they know the other guy, the other place, the other side of an argument but in all reality, unless you've walked in their shoes, you don't!  Wow, that was rather blunt, wasn't it?

Yes, it was blunt, but it seems like every day I continue to see how easy it is to judge others and yet we really don't know what its like to be them.

We think we know what others deal with but in all reality we are viewing their lives through our own filters.  Our filters are based upon our life's experiences and the people we have met, the places we have traveled.  Our filters are based upon the beliefs that we grew up with and were taught, along with how our own subset of society we live in looked at other people.

Thinking we see what others deal with is not the same as walking in their shoes.  We have no idea what it means to have lived the life they know or they hope to know.  Even if they tell us and describe it, we will never know what it truly means until we have actually lived through what they have experienced.

I began to see a different world...

At one time, I thought I was aware of so much in this world because I try to stay open to all things.  However, when I traveled for one particular job, I began to see a different world than I realized existed.  Yes, we see an occasional news report, but it is nothing like being in the midst of it and seeing it with your own two eyes.

I learned that in many ways, I had no clue what it was like for the people and places that I saw.  I felt sadness for them, but to them it seemed like it was just another day.  I doubt they wanted my pity anyway.  I wanted to help, but I realized the situation was so great that even if I took all the money in the world, I doubt it would truly solve the problem.  Yet, I saw a selfishness and superficial attitude towards these people and places that would just add to their suffering.

It is far too easy to judge others.  We get all high and mighty thinking we know what is best.  In all reality, we are nothing more than a clanging symbol when we think we are love.

It is far too easy to judge others and tell them what they should do based upon our own life's experiences, but we miss the part that they have endured and lived through experiences that are much different than ours.  We may be talking trains and planes, while ignoring that fact that they are talking horses and cows.

We are right and they are wrong...

It is far too easy to judge others and demand they see things our way.  After all, in our own little word, we deem we are right and they are wrong.  We deem them to need to be enlightened to what we know.  Yet, we fail to understand that we do not hold any more of the answers in life than they do.  We just see things differently and we've applied life in different ways.

It is far too easy to judge others while claiming how superior and great and intelligent we are.  We hold our ego and pride out in front of us, rather than opening our hearts and ears.  Judgement comes from the ego, but love and helpfulness and compassion come from our hearts.  It is our heart that should be guiding us, not the judgement of our ego.

It is far too easy to judge others, while thinking that we don't do this.  It is so easy to convince ourselves that we are far better than that.  Each of us can only truly know what is in our own heart by taking a close look and inspecting our words, thoughts, and actions.  Words alone will fail us, but actions out of love will lift the entire world to greater heights.

We need each other to survive this journey called life.  Together our world will go further, but when we judge others, we divide the world into chaos.  Let us consider how we can see each other through the eyes of love, not judgment, and walk hand-in-hand together through the journey of life.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Guilty By Fear

I know, they probably thought they were doing something good, but in all honesty, the callers in the following article showed little respect for their fellow human.

Article referenced is African-American man stopped by Michigan cop for walking with his hands in his pockets.  Hopefully you can read the whole story or view the video on YouTube of this situation. 


It doesn't take much these days for someone to call the cops.  While that may be a good thing if you see someone doing something, just because it is out of fear and suspicion, its not always a good thing.  Yes, most of this paranoia is because of pure and unadulterated fear.

We've become a society that doesn't trust our fellow humans.  We arm ourselves because the bad guys are out there and were the good guys.  We put down anyone that doesn't agree that more guns are good.  We've become a society that sees fear lurking at every corner and requires us to record everything around us.

Does Society Enable Suicide

This subject is near and dear to my heart.  Not only have I known people who have committed suicide, but I myself have attempted it several times.  Fortunately I've made it this far in my life and made it through those moments, but it hasn't been easy.

As I'm reading about Robin Williams dying from suicide, I'm reminded of this horrible moment that way too many face.  His death puts a spotlight on it in our society, but unfortunately in a few days or weeks, society may well forget what happened.  They may even fault him in some form or another, but sometimes it seems like nothing will change.  It seems like nothing in our society will get done when it comes to suicide.  Does society enable suicide.

How does our society enable suicide?  There are many ways of course and most are oblivious to them.

First and foremost, is that society does not want to talk about suicide.  There is no fostering of a place to go for those that are struggling with this.  Yes, there are some hotlines, but how many people would know where to call if they needed to?  How many people would even think to pick up the phone?  Even with all the outreach, we are still seeing people commit suicide because they felt like they had no place to go and no one to talk to.  (See information for suicide hotline below)

Where Is The Heart Of Our Society?

I've been doing some work on a project that takes me to different cities.  In these cities, I don't just travel the "ritzy" places, but I also travel into the areas that most have never seen or will ever see.  It isn't the places where tourists go or the places you take your family to a Sunday afternoon dinner.

These places are where you see the ladies of the night walking the street, and the people pushing their shopping carts loaded with their belongings.  These places are where you the depressed, sad, and lonely faces as you hear people talking to themselves as if they have an imaginary friend right beside them.  These places are where the buildings are boarded up with iron bars protecting them from those struggling to survive in this life.

Yet, at the same time, it is not uncommon to see the wealth of our society and even the not so wealthy drive past these areas, as if they are in a hurry.  It is not uncommon to see people so accustomed to these things around them, that I doubt most are aware it exists any longer.  Of course, you never see the local or national politicians come through these areas asking for votes.  You don't see the charity drives taking place here, nor do you see businessman recruiting these people for jobs.

Do It In The Name Of Heaven

Like all species alive today, if we don't work together towards a common goal, we won't survive.  If all a species do is focus on the annihilation, they won't survive for generations to come.  Of course, other acts of nature come along and have obliterated some species.

Lately all I see in the news is the people that purport to follow the life and teachings of Jesus, but do anything that follows what Jesus preached.  Remember when Jesus said in Matthew (chapter 22)  when he was asked about the greatest commandment?

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22

Yet, all too many of his followers feel that preaching hatred towards other people of the same species is what Jesus portrayed in his life.  They fail to understand that they are living against his teachings and what his life meant.  Yes, they attempt to qualify it with hating the sin, loving the sinner.  Of course, most people with a brain can see just how judgmental and condescending that statement is.  It doesn't stop these fanatics of course.

Illusion Of Emotions

I remember growing up and getting letters from my mom where she talked about "HOW" my Dad felt. It was like she was sharing his feelings with me instead of him sitting down and writing it in a letter or calling me.

While I do understand my father wrote extremely poorly and the couple of times he did write a letter to me, the words were blasting me with every baseless and false accusation under the sun. Regardless though, my father never shared his feelings with me or how he felt. Unfortunately, I longed for this connection with him instead of the illusion I received.

These days, our society seem to be fixated on the latest news story of the day. The more tragic, the more horror filled or scandalous, the more fixated we become. It consumes our every moment, conversation and the events that we choose to be a part of in our day. Of course, there is great money to be made in these things so those who follow the media day in and day out, willingly participate in the money grab.

We as a culture and society take these things one step further. We emote and release our feelings through these tragic events by sharing them on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. We comment as if we have a personal connection to the event unfolding. We align ourselves with a political persona to give a voice to what it is we feel inside. Last but not least, we comment on these news stories and we argue with others to prove our points. We press the like buttons, the thumbs up or thumbs down thinking the illusion really does matter.

Our comments, our alignment with politics and the things we constantly share in social networking are how we let our feelings out. These things have become our feelings in life. The awaiting disaster in all of this is that we still have these emotions locked within our mind and body, yet we give our self the illusion that by participating in the media culture of life, we are doing something positive.

Just like my mom in days past, by her speaking for what my Dad felt, it really had little connection to me. I longed to hear his words and connect with him. It was a false illusion that was reality to me just as our current day fixation on what the media or social networking sites feed us as truth. We have yet to figure out the illusion we are living but I hope that one day, it will be replaced with the reality of sharing real connections and feelings, not suppressing them.


Further Reading:
1) Commenting Online Without Thinking (Blog Post 06/07/11)
2) Anger In Our World (Blog Post 1/5/11)



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Blog Post & Images (c) 7/6/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
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Evolved Beliefs

When our beliefs become how we see the world, it is time to question these beliefs. While many in our country and throughout our world give lip service to this concept, many fall short.

Growing up, I remember being taught many beliefs by my family, the church and society. Many of those beliefs no longer serve me in my life because as I have grown and evolved.

Here are a few examples of the beliefs I grew up with which were challenged in a very difficult way.

1) The family that fights together does so because they love one another.
2) Boys that cry or are sensitive need to grow up and be a man.
3) Give 80% in marriage and expect only 20% in return if that much.
4) Daddy does these things to you because God tells him to.
5) Do what your father tells you to do without question.
6) You just have to suck it up and move on - feelings are for wimps.
7) Don't do as I do, do as I tell you to do.
8) Dancing and drinking are sinful (except when we do it in private).
9) Family secrets are best left in the closet.

This list could be endless for me. These beliefs were ones that we were taught that you neither questioned, nor disobeyed. Disobeying meant you were not only disrespecting your father but you were turning your back on God. Turning your back on God, meant you would suffer throughout life and end up in the fiery place called hell.

As I have grown in life, it has taken me some very difficult moments to learn that most of these things were rules and beliefs dreamed up by some adult to fit me into the mold they wanted me to be. It had nothing to do with how I would discover who I was as a person. It was more about control, manipulation and adherence to a set of derived vantage points.

We've all got our beliefs and teachings we grew up with. While some of these may serve us well in our life, we need to be careful. If our beliefs control us, than we not evolving in life. We did not come to this world to leave without becoming more evolved and aware. Unfortunately, far too many in this world do just that.


Further Reading:
1) Beliefs Often Are Regurgitated Rhetoric
2) Truth That Is Now Foolish
3) What Do You Believe?




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Blog Post & Images (c) 6/25/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
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Anti Sissy Therapist

Anderson Cooper has done a story about Kirk Murphy. When Kirk Murphy was only 5 years old, his parents took him to this "new therapy" that was being advertised to help eliminate the "sissy" out of boys. As his mom was quoted in the AC360 story, she wanted him to grow up normal or what she refers to as normal.

Of course, the therapy involved neglect, withholding of love and affection, abuse, beatings and the common decency any child should receive. Keep in mind that this was all because little Kirk played with toys and things that his parents decided were not normal for a boy to play with. They, like many others in our society feels that it is their authority which gives them the right to say what the child should do and decide what they should not do. They feel it is justified in their mind at least without any concern to actually respecting the child.

Of course, as the story unfolds, George Reeker that did all of this research and founded his anti gay establishment on this research which was limited and one sided, could not help but use a gay guy to carry his luggage on a trip. Carrying his luggage was of course the "official response" of what he did when he hired someone from a place called rent boy.com. I'm not suggesting you go to that site but looking at that website, it is easy to see what it is about. You cannot convince me that George Reeker did not know what was going on and that nothing went on between him and this person he supposedly hired to carry his luggage. I'm sorry, but try as hard as you want, you can't convince me!

Back to the story though as I feel so sad for Kirk and his brother and sister. The mom - well that's a different story. If she was so unintelligent that subjecting her little boy to this abuse because they were the experts, than she should not have been a mother. I heard her act as if it was George Reeker that murdered her son and I'm like, excuse me but you are the one responsible here. You enabled George Reeker to do this. How can you sit there and act as if you are innocent! The lengths we as humans go to in order to excuse our actions!

What is even more sad is that this research that George Reeker did where he claims to have changed Kirk from being gay to normal has now been used against so many others. This therapy that tries to change gays to straight is about as absurd as it gets! God made us all in his image and there is no need to change ourselves because some narrow minded bigot thinks that gays should not exist. These are real people with real lives and breathing hearts!

Normally, I try not to get this controversial on this blog but I'm just astounded to the lengths that some people will go to in this world to hate others through their own misguided life. You can call it what you want but gay people are normal people and the sooner we learn that in this country and the world, the sooner we can advance ourselves as a human population. We all have something to bring to the table and if we learn to focus on what we share, rather than the differences between us, we might just take a big step toward becoming human.

Kirk, may you rest in peace and I'm so sorry that you chose this way out. I hope your life will shine the light of truth on these people that try to change gays into something they are not. I hope your life will help others to wake up and that you will not have died in vain. Fortunately, we've come a long way since the day you were a little boy but we've still got a long ways to go!



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Blog Post & Images (c) 6/10/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

If any part of this post is used or shared, a link back to this site is required.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/
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Are You Mindful and Creative?

At one time in my life, to be creative in my mind, meant to be a painter, a writer, a musician among other things. Creative meant to me, something you did in your spare time that was only for these things. Outside of that, I always figured that creativity really had little place in my everyday life. Sure, many of the companies I have worked for gave lip service to thinking outside the box, but few rarely nurtured the concepts past an evaluation period or company meeting.

For most of my life, I did not think I was that creative. It was not something that was allowed to be in existence while I was a kid growing up except for when I put together model semi trucks or various crafts my mom would buy me for Christmas. It was always about finding a job that you could make decent income at and functioning in life like our society requires us. There was no time for creative moments unless you did them on your own time and there was no support for this.

Yes, I was able to practice and learn the piano as a kid, but whenever I tried to be creative and just play from my center of creativity like I do today, it was often met with criticism by those who could not even play one note. I still remember the time I was creating in the moment with some music and while it wasn't a polished piece of music at that moment, my father made sure he told me that I made many mistakes. This was not helpful and it led me to hide my create in the moment capacity if anyone was around within hearing range.

Following the rules of society, I went to college and pursued a degree in a field of study I enjoyed. After graduation, I found a job that was fun and rewarding which turned into a more technical computer role. As I began to look at life and evaluate where I was, I saw myself as someone working on a computer in a solitary office cubicle for the rest of my life. I did not see the creative side in me at all and so I brushed it aside. It was not until events later in my life that I began to embrace the creative side of myself which had always been there. I just had not been open to seeing this side of myself because I did not feel it would serve any purpose to accomplishing what society expected of me.

And as I evaluate all of this while I just started reading the book "On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity",
maybe - just maybe - I'm more creative. In fact, I know I am more creative than I ever let on to be. I'm just beginning to embrace that creativity and allowing it to be more of who I am, rather than something I pull down off the shelf when I feel like I have the time.

In the book, I am seeing that to be mindful is to be creative and to be creative is being mindful. Being creative gives us the essence and enjoyment of life that we so deserve. Yet, if we only attempt to use it on occasion, we are missing so much for our lives. Being creative and being mindful is not just for a select few but it is present in each one of us, if we allow it to be. It does not matter how we choose to be creative but that we choose to be creative and mindful. Creativity and Mindfulness are like partners that go together.

Page 4 - On Becoming An Artist - by Ellen J. Langer
This book is about the roadblocks that stand in the way of our natural creativity. It is intended to be a guide to opening up creative engagement on a daily basis in all that we do.