In my mind/world anything that creates separation between yourself and another human being in the way of you seeing them as different and/or 'less than' yourself is not a positive thing. I choose to believe there is no better or worse. That these ideas are created by man and are an us-them mentality that is antiquated and was once needed for survival. From racism to the religious "my way is the right way and the only way" which has resulted in so many deaths and condemnations, us-them thinking seldom has a positive outcome. This is, of course, separate thinking at its most extreme and worst:
http://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=198
Luckily that extreme type of separate thinking is not very common. Instead we see a lot of day to day types of behaviors...people avoiding others because they are a different religion, feeling uncomfortable around each other because of perceived differences, etc. "I am better...I am right..."
I think it is only when we start to see the oneness in us all, to accept each other for who we truly are and find what we love about one another that the world will see positive changes. Separating yourself from another is essentially caused by fear. Fear rules much of our lives, sadly, even though there isn't really a need for it most of the time. It was initially there for survival. To give us that adrenaline kick we needed to run away from something dangerous or to remove our hand from fire (this might still be a good thing lol). The more we can get to the root of the fear, the better. Why am I angry with so and so's beliefs? What is the real, buried reason underneath it all. Usually the most extreme reactions we have to something can unlock the largest blocks we have in our way of thinking and give us the greatest freedom.
We seek safety in many things...finding others with similar views who support our beliefs without question is one of them. But just because someone else supports what we think doesn't make us 'right'. Honestly being right about something is a man created ideology much like time. And really what is more important anyway...being 'right' about something? Or showing love in your life. Being a loving friend. Being accepting of other people. Loving them for who they are even though you may have different fundamental beliefs about living. Feeling the bliss life has to offer when you are comfortable in your own skin and therefore comfortable with everyone around you. To truly heal the world we should be accepting others and bridging the gaps, not creating more separation.
Personally I embrace everyone's religious preferences. Anything that brings them close to divinity sounds good to me because I too have felt that wonderful feeling of being close to divinity. I actually feel it every day through prayer, meditation, and simply being alive. And if religion just isn't someone's thing then that's cool too, because I'm most interested in loving them for who they are as a person/being.
Let us not get so used to our created and perceived labels of ourselves and others that we forget who we truly are underneath it all. That we forget who that being is without a religion label or a race label or our employment label. But instead let that person be: kind, loving, accepting, authentic, real. If more of us could find a way to do this the world truly could become a 'better' place in 'time'. But who am I to say that? I am just another person, another being that is part of the whole...no different.
I will close with some quotes and recent artwork:
Gossip, public, private, social — to fight against it either by word or pen seems, after all, like fighting with shadows. Everybody laughs at it, protests against it, blames and despises it; yet everybody does it, or at least encourages others in it: quite innocently, unconsciously, in such a small, harmless fashion — yet we do it. We must talk about something, and it is not all of us who can find a rational topic of conversation, or discuss it when found."
-A Woman's Thoughts About Women (1858)
"A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity."
-The Bible, Proverbs 17:17
A friend is one
To whom one may pour out all
The contents of one's heart
Chaff and grain, together,
Knowing that the gentlest of hands
Will take and sift it,
Keep what's worth keeping
And blow the rest away.
To whom one may pour out all
The contents of one's heart
Chaff and grain, together,
Knowing that the gentlest of hands
Will take and sift it,
Keep what's worth keeping
And blow the rest away.
-Dinah Craik, in A Life for a Life (1859)
| “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” -Carl Gustav Jung |
| “The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.” -Georgia Harkness |
-Ambrose Redmoon
| “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” -Mother Teresa of Calcutta | |
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Owls are associated with Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and foresight as well as being considered insightful, wise, protective, and mystical creatures.
'Into the Plum Cosmos' 16" x 20" original acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas painting by Amber Elizabeth Graff. This is a painting of tree branches reaching past the plum clouds and into a starry cosmos.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
http://www.etsy.com/listin
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Peacocks are symbols of beauty, prosperity, royalty, love, compassion, soul and peace.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
'Rainy September' original acrylic on canvas painting. This is a large painting of a silhouetted woman in a Victorian dress holding her umbrella in the blue September rain.
Rain is a symbol of nourishment and renewal, royal blue symbolizes royalty and the night sky and aqua blue is a universal symbol of hope and health.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
Rain is a symbol of nourishment and renewal, royal blue symbolizes royalty and the night sky and aqua blue is a universal symbol of hope and health.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
'The Poem Tree' 16" x 20" original acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas surreal painting by Amber Elizabeth Graff. Against a purple sky crossed by a blue river of clouds, the poem tree blows. Are they blossoms? Lights? Who knows. But either way the poem trees' many sparkles and wispy branches inspire poetry and song.
Painting is adorned with over 40 genuine Swarovski rhinestones for a beautiful light catching effect.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
Painting is adorned with over 40 genuine Swarovski rhinestones for a beautiful light catching effect.
http://www.etsy.com/listin
