Do you think that an otherworldly influence is trying to get a message to us?   Or am I reading too much in to all the earthquakes and volcanoes.  Religious extremists say that bad things happen because of our heathen ways and disregard for our maker.  George Carlin said the earth is going to shake us off like a bad case of fleas.  I look at these pictures and that is one pissed off volcano wreaking havoc and causing millions to just stop.  Maybe the message is we need to stop for awhile and hang out on cots and talk about stuff with strangers in large rooms.

or else…

See more volcano images and havoc at –> http://blogs.tampabay.com/photo/2010/04/iceland-volcano.html

PS:  this woman and her daughters were highlighted in a blog I did in December.  Well…

So when you are shopping for a toy for your favorite tot and you notice that it was made in China.  Remember this picture of plastic factory waste going in to what was once a beautiful river.

Next time you buy an Iphone, computer or various other electronics and some jewelry remember this titanium plant.

Without rules a nations people are allowed to suffer.  Without activism the suffering continues.  Our country allows activism and yet some refer to those activists as socialists.  I don’t get it.

Don’t blame this horridness on the people of China.  Just like here there are good people trying to do good things to advocate for the health and happiness of all people.  Not just those who can afford good health and happiness.  Please see the entire article and all the photos at

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

Tim Gummer says:

If it wasn’t already obvious, then it is surely clear here that our Stuff is made in a Mordor of this very earth, by a people in slavery. In a globalized world, our complicity in their deaths and suffering is no less than those who stood by in the towns of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. These workers’ horrors may be marginally less, but unlike the deathcamps’ neighbours, we cannot pretend we have not seen.

Harmonic Convergence

http://www.zenmoments.org/on-the-toss-of-a-coin/

I read Steve Jobs commencement speech to Stanford University that was delivered on June 12, 2005.  Wow!  If you haven’t read it, please do so.  There is no bias to his words, just sincerity and emotional intelligence.  Here is the link and a few of my favorite parts.

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.htm

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.  Death is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by Dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

We all know this, but, do we really do this?  I grew up with advice such as “stick to your own guns”,  “paddle your own canoe” and “find your passion”.  Those words  just didn’t put a fire under me.   “A job worth doing is worth doing well” and I do believe that; but,  my job is not my life. My job is how I pay for my life.

I chose a noble profession, I am an RN.  When my children were born I didn’t want to be a bartender anymore so I worked in a doctors office.  The doctor convinced me I should be a nurse so I went to nursing school and now I work in an Intensive Care Unit.  There was no destiny or passion or calling or anything like that.  I was like dust rolling around and collecting into what I am now.  I’m not sure any dots were connected and yet, I am surely enjoying this life.

Hospitals can be humbling.  I lost a 34 year old patient last week to cervical cancer.  No pain, no nausea, just quietly and quickly slipped away.  Someone borrowed $60 from the patient so the patient’s sister could get out of jail to be with her before she died.  Her sister made it.  Did they choose this life?  Was it a carefree life that somehow became tragic and left behind an orphan son?

Steve Jobs said, that he dropped out of school in order to take the courses that he wanted rather than the ones he was required to take.   I’m not as smart as Steve Jobs.  Without a degree in something I would flounder.  I wasn’t able to feed my children because of  anything I made in my garage. So I persevered and sat with tutors in the library and made it through nursing school.

I watched a great movie called Sherman’s Way.  It seems to fit in here somehow.  I have neighbors very similar to Palmer and DJ.  They live a carefree life and they share their fish with us sometimes.  Living a carefree life can be great as long as it isn’t irresponsible.  Then again living a structured life can be great too as long as there is  gentleness and spontaneity thrown in.   Kathy, whom I referred to in What is inside,  is like Sherman with her notes and her organized self. I enjoyed finding what was inside.

I guess it is just about living a life you enjoy and surrounding yourself with people you love.  If you’re anything like me and there are no dots to connect and no passions to persue than just live a life worth living.