What I’d Like to See……

Things I would like to see:

A device for humans like computers that allows you to clear all private data. With just one button, all of those things that keep bouncing around in your head are just wiped away. Imagine the possibility. Not just for memories you’d rather not keep, but habits, like smoking. Gone in a sec.

Something that gets toothpaste out on the spot.

A deodorant that actually does not leave white marks all over my clothes. Black dress approved my….

A gas station coffee cup lid, which does not also require a bib.

An energy bar that does not taste like chalk.

A B-cup bra without padding. Apparently, someone, somewhere has decided that I need some assistance. That I may, but I don’t think a larger chest is going to help. Although….

Jeans that actually sit above my pelvis to come back in fashion. Call me old school, but I am sure people are sick of seeing my butt crack at this point. I know I’m sick of seeing theirs.

A television show worth watching.

That guy who cuts you off on the highway and then continues to run down everyone else on the road, practically crawling into their backseats, to finally get pulled over. Bad karma maybe, but justice, most definitely.

A nationwide ban on bumper stickers. This applies mainly to those people who have decided to plaster the back of their car with nothing but colorful, oftentimes, highly offensive propoganda. I really don’t know what’s being accomplished there.

An end to this post.

Reality is Happiness

So for anyone who has ever read this blog, it will probably come to no  surprise when I tell you that things have been a bit disjointed for me over the past few months. Truthfully, I cannot claim to ever have had it together, but I will say it’s been a bit more rough than usual.

And I think part of my problem is, I’ve shut myself down from the rest of humanity in many respects. Things have happened that, for the sake of people close to me and because of my own embarrassment and shame, I will not mention, but that I am greatly ashamed of. In short, I did something very, very bad. Though it’s much more complicated than that and I’m being unfair in certain respects, but this is not my point. Because of what I did, I have convinced myself that I am not a good person and haven’t allowed myself to be fully happy, as I do not feel I deserve to be. Again, this is not the point, but I felt I needed to lay the groundwork, and as I am anything but concise, it’s turning into my life story.

Part of this shutting myself off, has involved stopping myself from being inspired by others. I am very much a dreamer and very much an idealist and very much a person that feeds off of others. Through writing this blog, I have slowly begun to feel those same sparks again as there are just so many talented people within this community and I have had the pleasure of having some really wonderful people stop by and comment, which means a lot to me.

Tonight, I stopped by a blog I stumbled onto a couple of months ago and one that gave me that instant spark. It fit right into my feelings on the role celebrities play in this society and is doing something to reverse the thought process. The blog is the Faces of Bellingham and many of you are probably familiar. It’s a site devoted to showing, you guessed it, the faces of Bellingham, Washington.

As explained by Lea Kelley, the site’s creator, she stumbled into the project on a “lark,” in subsequent events after she was given a camera by a friend. I am not going to recap her message, as I don’t think I could do it justice or phrase it nearly as beautifully as she does, but as explained in the project statement:

“This community art project reflects a culture in which we are obsessed with celebrities. We live our own lives through celebrities. We watch them, love them, and give them the responsibility to reflect our desires and aspirations. We all want what celebrities have. We want recognition for who we are and acknowledgment for the things we do. Each individual has the ability to contribute to our society by way of our talents, personalities, skills, and participation…”

Tonight, I explored the site some more and found myself getting that same old inspiring feeling — the one that makes me want to turn my own thoughts and ideals into reality and do something to benefit the people around me in the same way as Lea Kelley, instead of just thinking or talking about it. What is so wonderful about what she is doing, is the simplicity of it. It’s so natural and real and from the heart. There’s nothing contrived. It’s not over top, preachy, or in your face. It’s beautiful and straight forward and raw.

This is what I feel is so important in life, in the things we do every day, to just be real. To find the beauty and the happiness around you. To surround yourself in it and to not keep thinking that you would be so much happier living another kind of life or in another way. And even more importantly, to be active in what you believe and to do something to really try to improve your own life and the lives of the people around you.

I have realized that shutting myself down is not going to help my problem. It will only make it worse. All I can do is to find the happiness around me and to try to make others in my life happy as well. Because eventually what has happened will be in the past. And the past will become history. What’s important is the future.