Finally Checking In

Well life has thrown me some curve balls since my last post in January. I have been dealing with a lot of health issues and I am working on finding answers. Hopefully I will be posting again soon.

A New Year and a New Road

Well a New calendar year is upon us. It is now 2011! Where are the flying cars and teleport stations?

Seriously, my past post mentioned that I would be taking the month of December to contemplate my life moving forward and figure out just what I want that life to look like. Well I think I have figured out what I want my life landscape to look like moving forward.

I am a Humanist. I do not only have humanist sympathies and enjoy working for the non-profit humanist organization that I do BUT I am a humanist. I no longer believe in the God of my childhood or the later Gods that I have recently come to explore. The only being responsible for my life is ME. I am a humanist that has a foundation of the philosophy of Stoicism to react and interact from. I am a Stoic Humanist in that I no longer believe in deity but I do believe in man's ability and imperative need to act ethically.

This realization that I am a Humanist leaves me with quite a bit of fallout. I, as in all things, must strive to be true to my nature as a Humanist. In order to do this I must be genuine and act with integrity while walking through this world. This need for integrity means that I will no longer be a part of ADF as I can no longer profess a belief in the supernatural or a theistic universe. I believe that occurrences that have the appearance of being supernatural are actually natural just beyond our reason at this present time. I am good living with that ambiguity and will move forward from that point.

I am recreating my life and myself one day at a time based on this foundation of strength and truth. I am filled with a sense of wonder and excitement at what the River of my lifetime holds within its currents. Just around the river bend, like Pocahontas, filled with a zest for life and insatiable curiosity.

Make Good Choices!

Wow it has been such a long time since I have written anything here... almost 5 months!

Winter is upon us now... we had our first reasonable snowfall last night and woke up to a cold wintry wonderland this morning.

Reading Words of the Ancient Wise this morning and I discovered a comment that I had made last year... "This is the first lesson of a Stoic that Death is not to be feared but to be accepted. Once you accept that death is a part of life then you are free to live fully. The only thing of real importance is your choice and that can only be controlled by yourself. Everything else in this life is just details, many of them are wonderful details, but just details. - comments from reading Epictetus DISCOURSES. Book i. 1. 6" I realized that I am still trying to figure out the "best" choices rather than living fully... I am still waiting until I grow up and figure out what I want to be. I always wanted to live purposefully being mindful of everything. When I take stock of my life I realize that I am still living somewhat accidentally. Allowing Life to be lived through me rather than living through Life. It is a subtle and yet vital difference. I am going to spend the rest of December thinking about what I want out of Life and see if I can't start the New Year with a renewed resolve to live life with purpose.

I think the first thing to do today is to sit down and figure out what needs to be accomplished for our Winter Solstice/Saturnalia party on Friday night and for other friends' celebrations next Saturday that we are invited to participate in. Once I have that list I can start a list for the week after leading up to Xmas. This should allow me to live life more deliberately at least until after December 25th. At that point I can take some time for reflection moving into the New Year and beyond.

Mediocrity at any cost!

I find there is a trend in this modern age to devalue others accomplishments and talents. We have subscribed to this doctrine of "mediocrity and equality" to the point were there is a homogeneous mess of average. The individuals that stand out are envied and, in some cases, encouraged to conform to the norms of society so that "others" will not feel "bad".

We need to focus on finding the aspects of life that people excel at and encourage them to hone those skills to a fine edge, rather than focusing on their limitations in other areas. This change in focus will allow everyone to excel at their talents and be the best that they personally can be.

I have decided that I am going to spend some more quality time exploring a few of my talents this year, sewing and music. These are two aspects of myself that I have "let go" for various reasons but at which I excel. Hail to the fine edge of craftsmanship! I hope I can reach and attain it. :)

By our Fruits are we known

At the risk of using an old cliche, it is by our fruit that the goodness of the seed is known. How I live my life is an example of how my philosophy of life works. People will see the value of the ancient's wisdom by my ability to apply it in our modern world.

It is quite the solemn responsibility to carry the torch of philosophy forward. As I constantly refine my life to a purer form may I always keep the goal of ambassador in the forefront of my motivations.

Grasshopper and the Ant

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/eat-up-we-may-soon-witness-the-decline-and-fall-of-a-food-empire/article1609951/

I woke up to this article being reference on the Ontario Emergency Preppers Network blog. It is a good incentive to rethink just what greening we can do in our urban environment. We have quite a bit of space for a suburban home. I need to get thinking about growing as much as we can again and also canning, etc. I would much rather be the grandmother type with lots of cold storage and canning than our modern day shop every other day type.

I have missed the growing period this year but I need to start preparing the space and planning to get everything in next Spring and on time in order to take advantage of as much of the growing season as possible. So time to find some motivation and get focused!!

Making a small difference

As a girl I went through an exercise of realizing just how small I was in the grand scheme of things. I spent a few moments totally freaked out feeling that I was going to disappear from existence because I was so infinitesimally small. Although we are small, we can make a difference now in this world. Sometimes when we look at the huge ills that plague this world we have moments of "what's the point" and "what can little me do"?

We need to step away and realize that we are only ultimately responsible for our own lives and the lives of those closest to us. By living a life that is based on a strong virtue foundation, striving to make a difference each day, we can enrich the lives of those around us. This makes those around us happier and more content which in turn causes a small part of the world around us to be infected with our good influence.

The small ways in which I can make a difference are many and effect different spheres of influence.

Home: - do small maintenance and cleaning jobs to contribute to the upkeep of the home

- seasonal changes and organization

- maintain the household budget, banking, etc.

Family: - provide a secure nest to return to for holidays and special occasions

- making food from "scratch" to eliminate chemicals and additives

- be available for friends and family when they are in need

Studies: - eliminate time wasters to be able to read and study

- set up a study space so that it is easier to get the writing and studies done