I am a kite in a tornado but I have a long string. There is tension in my line. Somewhere, someone is holding onto the other end and, although it cannot spare me this storm, it will not let me be lost while I regain my strength.

It is enough.

I will survive.

...Karen Moning

Husband: "When I get mad at you, you never fight back. How do you control your anger?"

Wife: "I clean the toilet .."

Husband: "How does that help?"

Wife: "I use your toothbrush."

If anyone has not read the essay "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, I would suggest it. I had to read it for my English class, and I'm glad I did. It was an interesting essay to read, and here's my response to it:

One can certainly argue that each person is unique and part of being unique stems from trusting oneself and being honest with the person whom one essentially is inside. The propensity to be a nonconformist compels individuals to determine what is right and what is wrong, based on one’s own beliefs and values. Mindful of that, right agrees with one’s heart and mind, and wrong goes against it. If the rest of the world perceives such actions as wrong, it matters not, for one was authentically true to oneself. In “Self-Reliance” Ralph Waldo Emerson advocates how the actions you take should be of concern only to oneself, and should not be based on what other people will think of you. Essentially, being an individual does not mean being alone in this world, and solely living for oneself. It means to nobly be an individual with independent thoughts, who is able to filter the true meaning and consequences behind an action.

Society will always try to dictate the path one should follow. Oftentimes there be people who seem to think they know the path one should follow better than the person himself or herself. Emerson ascribed an importance to individualism by asserting the value of thinking for oneself rather than compliantly accepting other people’s ideas. Emerson also promoted that individual experience overpowers knowledge gained from books. A person who disdains personal intuition, and instead chooses to rely on other people’s opinions or quotes, lacks creativity and self-esteem. This dependency on others’ opinions reduces the possibility for an individual to grow intellectually; hence ignoring one’s instincts can be devastating to one’s intellectual development.

The motto of Emerson’s essay is to “Trust Thyself”. Despite one knowing the correct path to follow, oftentimes individuals are afraid to follow their own heart, culminating in the dismissal of genuine thoughts, only because it is different than what norm society defines are acceptable. Emerson emphasizes on maintaining the integrity of one’s mind. If one is true to their inner thoughts and moral beliefs, by searching within oneself the absolute truth can be found. If actions are rightly based on one’s wisdom and instincts, the consequences can be staggering.

Many individuals nowadays are not aware of the importance of individualism and believing in oneself. These very same people are oftentimes the ones who are afraid to voice their opinions, and ignore their ideology. This act eventually leads them into becoming followers whereas they could have been leaders. On Emerson’s own words “Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right”. If one follows his own instincts and trusts his inner genius, after seen other people’s perspective of a situation, the person is able to reason and thus through self-reliance make their own decisions. This is the key to individualism and what makes a great or mediocre person.

Emerson invites us to venture into self-trust and experience the beauty of self-reliance where actions are virtuously based on one’s truthfulness and selflessness. Sadly in today’ society, so many people are acquiescing to other people’s opinions that oftentimes they end up living a wasted and meaningless life. People around you will never get to know your personality, as the energy spent on maintaining alliances can distract you from contributing uniqueness to such a diverse society. Emerson’s message is very true now as it was then, that one should believe their own thoughts to be genius, and never cease to use a mind of their own, words of their own, and thus trust their own instincts.

Nobody looks good in their darkest hour, but it's those hours that make us what we are. We stand strong, or we cower. We emerge victorious, tempered by our trials, or fractured by a permanent, damning fault line.

...Karen Moning

If the government really cared about the well being of the nation, they would stop going after oil, end this war, which let's face, it's just about oil and not terrorism. Government would take "green thinking" into consideration, and start investing the funds and resources now used in war, and redirect it to revamp the economy, to let's say electric cars, put solar power powers on the roads, which would only cost the government initial costs, and small maintenance. But no, since the government profits so much on the importation of oil, that benefiting the nation is not above benefiting politics' pockets.

War benefits the big corporations. It's an investment imperialist countries that wish to extend their hegemony and acquire the resources of other countries to enrich themselves make. Thus, as long as oil remains the main source of energy, there will be a constant fight to control it. And many leaders  will refrain from investing in renewable energy, solar or wind power to the detriment of their constituents and the environment in which their own children live or will live in. It's all about greed. War carries remunerative rewards. It certainly was not accidental when Iraq was invaded that the US rushed to secure the oil ministry and field.

P.S.: This was sent to me. The joke is not about me.

One day my mother was out shopping and my dad was in charge of me and my brother, who was four years older than me. I was maybe one and a half years old and had just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken.

Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water.

After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!!'

My Mom waited, and sure enough, I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy.

She watched him drink it up, then said, "Did it ever occur to you, that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet??"

A BÍBLIA E O CELULAR

Já imaginou o que aconteceria se tratássemos a nossa Bíblia do jeito que tratamos o nosso celular?
E se sempre carregássemos a nossa Bíblia no bolso ou na bolsa?
E se déssemos uma olhada nela várias vezes ao dia?
E se voltássemos para apanhá-la quando a esquecemos em casa, no escritório...?
E se a usássemos para enviar mensagens aos nossos amigos?
E se a tratássemos como se não pudéssemos viver sem ela?
E se a déssemos de presente às crianças?
E se a usássemos quando viajamos?
E se lançássemos mão dela em caso de emergência?

Ao contrário do celular, a Bíblia não fica sem sinal. Ela 'pega' em qualquer lugar.
Não é preciso se preocupar com a falta de crédito porque Jesus já pagou a conta e os créditos não têm fim.
E o melhor de tudo: não cai a ligação e a carga da bateria é para toda a vida.
'Buscai ao Senhor enquanto se pode achar, invocai-o enquanto está perto'! (Is 55:6)

TELEFONES DE EMERGÊNCIA

Quando você estiver triste, ligue João 14.
Quando pessoas falarem de você, ligue Salmo 27.
Quando você estiver nervoso, ligue Salmo 51.
Quando você estiver preocupado, ligue Mateus 6:19,34.
Quando você estiver em perigo, ligue Salmo 91.
Quando Deus parecer distante, ligue Salmo 63.
Quando sua fé precisar ser ativada, ligue Hebreus 11.
Quando você estiver solitário e com medo, ligue Salmo 23..
Quando você for áspero e crítico, ligue 1 Coríntios 13.
Para saber o segredo da felicidade, ligue Colossenses 3:12-17.
Quando você sentir-se triste e sozinho, ligue Romanos 8:31-39.
Quando você quiser paz e descanso, ligue Mateus 11:25-30.
Quando o mundo parecer maior que Deus, ligue Salmo 90.

I did my best to please you, but my best was never good enough. Somehow you're only able to see all I am not. Did you ever look behind? Aren't you afraid of the pieces you'll find? I have failed you but you have failed me too.

It's so easy to destroy and condemn the ones you do not understand. Do you ever wonder if it' justified? In your life, why didn't you ever try? I close my eyes as I walk the thin line between love and hate; for the person with the same blood in his veins. You show no regrets about all the things you did or said. I have failed you, but believe me, you failed me too.

...Within Temptation

What is the most constant ritual in your life? Do you have the same thing for breakfast each day? Do you call your parents at the same time each week? Is there someone you say goodnight to in the same way, or a certain daily habit, be it walking your dogs or saying a prayer, that means a great deal to you?

Every day, no matter if it's summer or winter, be it 6am or 12pm, I most have a cup of coffee when I first wake up. Other than that, I really don't have a ritual in my life. I do things as I remember them. For example, I call my mother when I remember I haven't talked to her for a while. I might have things projected in my mind of what needs to be accomplished for the day, or for the week, but I don't follow a strict schedule, or make something a ritual that no matter what happens, it must be done.

Before I decided to return to school, I could say I had rituals. Every day after work, I would go home, cook dinner for my husband. After eating dinner together, either in front of the TV or computer, he would go wash the dishes while I would go onto reading my book. During week-ends, I would practice the piano, while he would play games on the computer, and make fun of me when I played a note wrong. And if the weather was favorable, go visit my husband's family for a chat, cup of coffee, and play with the children.

After I decided to pursue my degree, things just changed, and now I don't even have time to cook. I buy food everyday, I don't even have enough time to read one chapter of a book per day, and worse, week-ends are not free for enjoyment. I'm a very dedicated student, who strives to obtain an "A" for every assignment and assessment. This means that every day is used to study, and complete homework, yes, there's tons of homework at college. During the week-ends I normally read the assignment for the week to follow, and touch up on things I learned.

In other words, after school started, there's no time to do the things I used to anymore. Everything in centered around my studies. This is most frequent cause of arguments I have with my husband. I usually starts like this "I have no wife, you have no time for me anymore..." and the blah blah blah would go on. Anyway, there's really no time left to continue on with the "rituals" I used to have. I met him when we were pursuing our Computer Programming degree. It was much easier because he was too going through the same thing I was, so he understood. Now that it's only me going back for another degree, he seems to have forgotten what he once went through.

Do you count my daily cup of coffee a ritual? I think of it more as a habit, since my family in Brazil always drink it, all the time, kind of how the chinese people are with tea. Before school I had developed a ritual with my husband, after school, a great deal of things changed. For those who are still in school, a piece of advice, don't marry so young, and while still in school; things change, people change. Wisest decisions are not usually taken at that stage of adulthood.

What's missing in modern society? Do you feel there's anything missing in our modern world? What might it be? Is there anything you do to take care of this longing or lack?

I find it that what is missing in modern society is the respect for one another and oneself that most of the old folks have, but the youth is lacking. When you care about each other and treat each other as equal human beings, worthy of everything you are, then society grows as one, united with a common goal to progress.
 
Look around yourself, and you will find so much selfishness. One person trying to use the other person as steps to succeed, instead of learning from each other, and growing simultaneously.
 
Many parents are also working harder, which unable them to see to the needs of their children, and raise them as they were raised by their parents. So those qualities and values that are supposed to pass down to generations are not, are a great deal of people are more focus on making more money, and consequently not spending that much time with family anymore.