Awhile back I posted about this topic. I have grown spiritually, mentally, and emotionally since then and find there is more I need to say on this topic.
Does Beauty Really Fade??
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
No one can take what you deem beautiful away from you. What you deem beautiful sings a song in your heart and brings a light to your world.
As for me, I believe we should strive to see the beauty in all beings.
Age is a process. Age is a path we all walk upon. We are shaped by it, changed by it, and can be moved by it.
One does damage to one's spirit to rebel against age or to think it bad.
Have you ever stopped to look a yourself through the lens of life? To strip away all your thoughts and preconceived notions of what beauty looks like or should look like?
Take stretch marks for instance...they are not stretch marks. They are life marks.
Have you ever looked at them for what they are?
They are beautiful! It's as if God has woven mother of pearl into my skin! Shining, colorful! They shimmer in the light!
How can something that shimmers in the light be ordained ugly?
Who decided these marks were ugly anyway??? And then who decided to mass-feed this idea to everyone?! Terriable!
My lifemarks remind me of important stages in my life...puberty...pregnancy. I embrace them, they are a part of me and my path.
I challenge you. Throw out all your ideas of beauty that you have ever been taught and glance upon your naked self with a new eye. Notice your delicate self. Notice the planet of you with hills and valleys and deserts, grasslands, and forests...
Notice beautiful, miraculous you. The embodiment of all of creation!
So does beauty fade? Well, if you ask me...
NO!!!!!
I have been moved to tears from beauty I have encountered in beings of all shapes, ages, colors, and sizes. It's all in the heart. Beauty is in the spirit.
Beauty is in being.
Fret not forever beautiful one.
Love,
Blake
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Dangerous Dance with Desire
My first idea for the title of this post was "Desire Management." I decided not to use this title because after a brief google search it pulled up links and threads that had NOTHING to do with what I wanted to share. Plus, the title seemed a bit too corporate for the subject matter I am about to discuss.
Now let's discuss Desire
In 2008 I read this book:
I use a rather unusual way of selecting books to read. I let my subconscious be the guide. I go to the bookstore and pick out the section of interest. From there I feel out the energies of the books. I allow the cover designs and titles to speak to me on a subconscious level. It is amazing what energy can be picked up on when one is looking for it.
Such was the case that caused me to pick this book out and purchase it.
I knew that within this book was answers to some questions I had been struck with.
What were these questions?
Let me first share the prelude to the questions. One random day, while driving home from work, I was struck with the terriable desire to take my vehicle to the dealership and trade it in for the exact same vehicle-except this one would have a sunroof. During that drive I found that I wanted a sunroof again so badly that I was willing to go to extreme measures (and cost) to satisfy that desire. I mean, how insane would have it been for me to take my 2 year old car and trade it in for the exact same car/just with a sunroof??? Fortunately, my reason won the battle that day and I avoided that insane decision.
But from that experience I was haunted with a guantlet of questions~
"Why the hell did I encounter such a terribly overpowering desire in the first place?"
"Why had I been attacked with such a desire, where had it come from?"
" Would I be able to fight it off if it came again?"
And as my mind began paying attention to my desires, I found that I was often attacked with insane desires of all kinds. I noticed that I was at war with myself and my desires. I was at war with how I wanted to live my life and how my desires wanted me to live.
Which caused more questions?
"Why are these overpowering desires in contradiction to my values?"
"Why can't my desires be calm and in harmony with my values and reason?"
"Why do I find that my desires take hold of me like a rapist takes hold of it's victim?"
Now I know this last question is a bit of a shocking analogy, but it is true. Desires can grab hold of you and not let go. And they can rape you and take the spirit out of you.
That is, if you let them.
But this is such a difficult topic, desire. For if one has no desire in life, one ceases to live. Yet, when one has desire, one has access to all desire. And all desires are not healthy to live out, such as well, the desire to eat ice cream for every meal of the day. Or the desire to destroy one's marriage with infidelity. Or perhaps say, the desire to randomly spend the equivalent of $30,000 on a sunroof...
So we are left with a dilemma. If we choose to be desire filled, we open ourselves up to the spectrum of desires. If we choose to be "above desire" and have no desires we find that all things are motivated by desire and thus we must cease to live if we choose to have no desire.
For the desire to eat, causes the desire to get out of bed. And the desire to earn money, causes the desire work, which causes the desire to get dressed for work, which causes the desire to take a shower....
So what are we to do?
Dance with desire. Recognize it's rhythm.
Recognize where particular desires originate from and avoid these influences.
Yes, desire managment.
Now as for this book I read, I suggest you read it if you found that you could relate to my rape analogy. It will assist you in the understanding of this strange and miraculous caveat of the human condition.
As for this blog post.
I want to reveal the most dangerous sources of desire so that you can now have the option of avoiding them. (For in avoiding these, you will help yourself reduce the bombardment of many unwanted/unecessary desires)
Television
Magazines
Radio
Malls
Now why should you avoid them? I'll outline a few reasons:
They inform you that you are not good enough. That you must lose weight, or get that new outfit, or purchase that new car in order to be a better person.
They inform you that where you live is not good enough. That you must purchase that new bigger house, or take that elaborate vacation, or have your entire yard professionally landscaped in order to have the perfect home.
They inform you that your marriage is not good enough. That you need multiple partners, that you need to fantasize about others, that you need to have affairs, in order to have a satisfying love-life.
The list is endless really. I could go on but I won't.
~~~~~~~~~~
These desire machines are terriable. They attack the spirit.
They thwart your self-image. They fill your mind with such static, that you become unable to hear your own voice.
This February, we visted the coast. While there, we walked around a new outdoor/boardwalk type mall they had built. In the window of a swimsuit shop I saw the newest terrible message.
Along the window, was a row of super slender mannequins with disproportionately large breasts. I commented to my husband. "Look, no female can have a figure like that naturally. They must obtain a breast enhancement to look that way."
It was incredible. Now, NOT only is there no chance for a young woman to achieve the "ideal" image naturally...the new "ideal" woman can only be achieved through surgical enhancement.
Do you see how far this is ingrained? Here I am talking about the "ideal" woman! All women are ideal! All men are ideal! It's not breast enhancement! It's bodily mutilation! Wow, you have to be aware of your thoughts at all times...see how sneaky desire is at working it's way into our beings? I'm making a deliberate post about it and have just encountered it, yet again, all wrapped up in myself! DANG!
Ah, it is absolutely discusting to me that those mannequins exist. I want to slap the creators of those mannequins in the face. In the moment that I glanced upon them, I felt a sharp sting to my spirit. For naturally, I was filled with desire to be that shape. The shape was rich, erotic, and compelling. But most certainly COMPLETELY UNNATURAL. And had I not been exposed to that image, I would not have encounted such violence to my spirit!
I am STILL recovering from that bout of unnatural desire. And I pain at the thought of our youth, who are too young to know themselves, who will be spiritually molded to believe they must surgically alter themselves to be good enough because of these mannequins... and the young gentlemen who will think women just grow that way or if they can't they'll just get a "boob job."
Whatever happened to I am who I am. I am rich, I am delicate, I am flawed, I am natural, I am beautiful for I am how my Creator made me be.
Thank you for reading. I do not believe I have completed this blog post, but this is all I can write for tonight.
Until next time. Take care of yourself, gentle true spirit.
In His Light,
Blake
Where to get the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Desire-Why-We-Want-What/dp/0195327071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240704565&sr=1-1
Now let's discuss Desire
In 2008 I read this book:
I use a rather unusual way of selecting books to read. I let my subconscious be the guide. I go to the bookstore and pick out the section of interest. From there I feel out the energies of the books. I allow the cover designs and titles to speak to me on a subconscious level. It is amazing what energy can be picked up on when one is looking for it.
Such was the case that caused me to pick this book out and purchase it.
I knew that within this book was answers to some questions I had been struck with.
What were these questions?
Let me first share the prelude to the questions. One random day, while driving home from work, I was struck with the terriable desire to take my vehicle to the dealership and trade it in for the exact same vehicle-except this one would have a sunroof. During that drive I found that I wanted a sunroof again so badly that I was willing to go to extreme measures (and cost) to satisfy that desire. I mean, how insane would have it been for me to take my 2 year old car and trade it in for the exact same car/just with a sunroof??? Fortunately, my reason won the battle that day and I avoided that insane decision.
But from that experience I was haunted with a guantlet of questions~
"Why the hell did I encounter such a terribly overpowering desire in the first place?"
"Why had I been attacked with such a desire, where had it come from?"
" Would I be able to fight it off if it came again?"
And as my mind began paying attention to my desires, I found that I was often attacked with insane desires of all kinds. I noticed that I was at war with myself and my desires. I was at war with how I wanted to live my life and how my desires wanted me to live.
Which caused more questions?
"Why are these overpowering desires in contradiction to my values?"
"Why can't my desires be calm and in harmony with my values and reason?"
"Why do I find that my desires take hold of me like a rapist takes hold of it's victim?"
Now I know this last question is a bit of a shocking analogy, but it is true. Desires can grab hold of you and not let go. And they can rape you and take the spirit out of you.
That is, if you let them.
But this is such a difficult topic, desire. For if one has no desire in life, one ceases to live. Yet, when one has desire, one has access to all desire. And all desires are not healthy to live out, such as well, the desire to eat ice cream for every meal of the day. Or the desire to destroy one's marriage with infidelity. Or perhaps say, the desire to randomly spend the equivalent of $30,000 on a sunroof...
So we are left with a dilemma. If we choose to be desire filled, we open ourselves up to the spectrum of desires. If we choose to be "above desire" and have no desires we find that all things are motivated by desire and thus we must cease to live if we choose to have no desire.
For the desire to eat, causes the desire to get out of bed. And the desire to earn money, causes the desire work, which causes the desire to get dressed for work, which causes the desire to take a shower....
So what are we to do?
Dance with desire. Recognize it's rhythm.
Recognize where particular desires originate from and avoid these influences.
Yes, desire managment.
Now as for this book I read, I suggest you read it if you found that you could relate to my rape analogy. It will assist you in the understanding of this strange and miraculous caveat of the human condition.
As for this blog post.
I want to reveal the most dangerous sources of desire so that you can now have the option of avoiding them. (For in avoiding these, you will help yourself reduce the bombardment of many unwanted/unecessary desires)
Television
Magazines
Radio
Malls
Now why should you avoid them? I'll outline a few reasons:
They inform you that you are not good enough. That you must lose weight, or get that new outfit, or purchase that new car in order to be a better person.
They inform you that where you live is not good enough. That you must purchase that new bigger house, or take that elaborate vacation, or have your entire yard professionally landscaped in order to have the perfect home.
They inform you that your marriage is not good enough. That you need multiple partners, that you need to fantasize about others, that you need to have affairs, in order to have a satisfying love-life.
The list is endless really. I could go on but I won't.
~~~~~~~~~~
These desire machines are terriable. They attack the spirit.
They thwart your self-image. They fill your mind with such static, that you become unable to hear your own voice.
This February, we visted the coast. While there, we walked around a new outdoor/boardwalk type mall they had built. In the window of a swimsuit shop I saw the newest terrible message.
Along the window, was a row of super slender mannequins with disproportionately large breasts. I commented to my husband. "Look, no female can have a figure like that naturally. They must obtain a breast enhancement to look that way."
It was incredible. Now, NOT only is there no chance for a young woman to achieve the "ideal" image naturally...the new "ideal" woman can only be achieved through surgical enhancement.
Do you see how far this is ingrained? Here I am talking about the "ideal" woman! All women are ideal! All men are ideal! It's not breast enhancement! It's bodily mutilation! Wow, you have to be aware of your thoughts at all times...see how sneaky desire is at working it's way into our beings? I'm making a deliberate post about it and have just encountered it, yet again, all wrapped up in myself! DANG!
Ah, it is absolutely discusting to me that those mannequins exist. I want to slap the creators of those mannequins in the face. In the moment that I glanced upon them, I felt a sharp sting to my spirit. For naturally, I was filled with desire to be that shape. The shape was rich, erotic, and compelling. But most certainly COMPLETELY UNNATURAL. And had I not been exposed to that image, I would not have encounted such violence to my spirit!
I am STILL recovering from that bout of unnatural desire. And I pain at the thought of our youth, who are too young to know themselves, who will be spiritually molded to believe they must surgically alter themselves to be good enough because of these mannequins... and the young gentlemen who will think women just grow that way or if they can't they'll just get a "boob job."
Whatever happened to I am who I am. I am rich, I am delicate, I am flawed, I am natural, I am beautiful for I am how my Creator made me be.
Thank you for reading. I do not believe I have completed this blog post, but this is all I can write for tonight.
Until next time. Take care of yourself, gentle true spirit.
In His Light,
Blake
Where to get the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Desire-Why-We-Want-What/dp/0195327071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240704565&sr=1-1
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