"Keeping up with the Joneses"...
For anyone who has lived in a subdivision where there is some unwritten expectation to have your house look exactly like the one next door, you will know that phrase all too well.
Everyone has their reason for visiting the local hardware store or garden center on a Saturday, but many people feel pressured to have what their neighbors have.
When I go on my walks in the mornings, I hear what seems to be 1000 birds. I love listening to the various songs partly because I am a musician but mostly because I like to experience the world in a really rough form as I find it resets me.
I have no desire to trap one of those birds or purchase one and put it into a cage. As enamoured as I am with their song, just because I love it doesn't mean I get to own it.
For anyone who has lived in a subdivision where there is some unwritten expectation to have your house look exactly like the one next door, you will know that phrase all too well.
Everyone has their reason for visiting the local hardware store or garden center on a Saturday, but many people feel pressured to have what their neighbors have.
When I go on my walks in the mornings, I hear what seems to be 1000 birds. I love listening to the various songs partly because I am a musician but mostly because I like to experience the world in a really rough form as I find it resets me.
I have no desire to trap one of those birds or purchase one and put it into a cage. As enamoured as I am with their song, just because I love it doesn't mean I get to own it.
I feel the same way about taking the fur off of an animal and wearing it. It is horrible to think that somebody might track me down and cut my hair off and sell it at a local market.
The world tends to procure the things we need based on wanting something that we don't have. I have so much respect for farmers who grow and provide these things. However, as a culture we have learned how to get things for the purpose of having a gluttonous and lavish lifestyle.
In one of my favorite movies called 'Instinct', Anthony Hopkins describes these people as the takers.
I have heard the argument that people do what they have to do to survive.
I really don't believe we are doing what we have to to survive as much as we are doing what we can to attain a status like our neighbour.
I have had many opportunities and deals placed at my feet and I said no to them because the method and journey I would have to take to obtain this so-called "success" would not and did not sit within the confines of what my character would allow.
Just like saying no to being a stripper, I also believe we have the power to say no to being a taker.
I opted to be poor and keep my integrity and I am really proud of that.
The levels of takers in our world vary quite a bit but they tend to come from the same premise of jealousy.
When a person or child is sold into slavery, it is because someone in their twisted mind would like to experience with that other person has. In essence, "they want what you got".
When a person purchases fur from an animal, they are seeking to adorn themselves with something that is more beautiful than them.
I have managed to feed myself without ever firing a gun because I don't want something that someone else has.
We think of the word gluttony when it comes to food. It also applies to the thousands of dollars that we spend on things in our homes which are pointless except to be lavish.
The sad part of jealousy and wanting what someone else has, is that it is indicative of an unfulfilled spirit.
We have been taught that by putting copious amounts of food, drugs or alcohol into our system that we will feel better and be more fulfilled.
We have been taught that going to the mall will make us feel better.
Ultimately we have become a very empty race despite the amount of items in our home.
Those birds that I hear on my walk every day do not sing to give us pleasure but they sing because they have a song.
It is my hope that you will become inspired to sing your own song, carve out your own path, write your own book and be the authentic you that you were meant to be.
If we all start taking less and observing more, I believe that we can get to know ourselves again.
There is more room in our spirits for happiness if we can learn to live with less.
May you find great joy today in the stillness!
ROCK ON!
Karen
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion." ~Antisthenes
The world tends to procure the things we need based on wanting something that we don't have. I have so much respect for farmers who grow and provide these things. However, as a culture we have learned how to get things for the purpose of having a gluttonous and lavish lifestyle.
In one of my favorite movies called 'Instinct', Anthony Hopkins describes these people as the takers.
I have heard the argument that people do what they have to do to survive.
I really don't believe we are doing what we have to to survive as much as we are doing what we can to attain a status like our neighbour.
I have had many opportunities and deals placed at my feet and I said no to them because the method and journey I would have to take to obtain this so-called "success" would not and did not sit within the confines of what my character would allow.
Just like saying no to being a stripper, I also believe we have the power to say no to being a taker.
I opted to be poor and keep my integrity and I am really proud of that.
The levels of takers in our world vary quite a bit but they tend to come from the same premise of jealousy.
When a person or child is sold into slavery, it is because someone in their twisted mind would like to experience with that other person has. In essence, "they want what you got".
When a person purchases fur from an animal, they are seeking to adorn themselves with something that is more beautiful than them.
I have managed to feed myself without ever firing a gun because I don't want something that someone else has.
We think of the word gluttony when it comes to food. It also applies to the thousands of dollars that we spend on things in our homes which are pointless except to be lavish.
The sad part of jealousy and wanting what someone else has, is that it is indicative of an unfulfilled spirit.
We have been taught that by putting copious amounts of food, drugs or alcohol into our system that we will feel better and be more fulfilled.
We have been taught that going to the mall will make us feel better.
Ultimately we have become a very empty race despite the amount of items in our home.
Those birds that I hear on my walk every day do not sing to give us pleasure but they sing because they have a song.
It is my hope that you will become inspired to sing your own song, carve out your own path, write your own book and be the authentic you that you were meant to be.
If we all start taking less and observing more, I believe that we can get to know ourselves again.
There is more room in our spirits for happiness if we can learn to live with less.
May you find great joy today in the stillness!
ROCK ON!
Karen
"As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion." ~Antisthenes