Vanessa Jones > Recent Status Updates

Because grief, at it's worst, is unreal. And it calls for a surreal response.

I am thinking of freedom again, how the calf is most free when the cage opens and it's led to the truck for slaughter. All freedom is relative- you know too well- and sometimes it's no freedom at all, but simply the cage widening far away from you, the bars abstracted with distance, but still there, as when they 'free' wild animals into nature preserves only to contain them yet again by larger borders.

Maybe in the next life we'll meet each other for the first time-- believing in everything but the harm we are capable of........ We laughed knowing joy would tear the stitches from our lips.

The whole point of us meeting was to say goodbye

The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves. Those lies keep us in jobs we hate, in marriages that suffocate us, and in places where we cannot thrive. It takes guts to change.

'I live in a perpetual state of desire, she realizes. Things could be worse. '

Imagine that. I thought. The single easiest way to find out how you feel about someone. Say goodbye.

Laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; invigorate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?

Why, then, should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is so soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness-- to glory?

'My Druidic training taught me the basic principles of reasoning: to first define the problem, for a problem clearly defined is already half solved, to gather evidence pro and con, to discard the irrelevant, to formulate a tentative solution and finally put the solution to the test. '

'That's what calm is, isn't it? A little break from knowing what's on its way. '

'Most people had grown up with parents, with two pairs of eyes upon them. There was no way to make anyone who was used to that attention understand how swiftly you could disappear.'

But without such ignorance, such carelessness, how could we live? If you knew what was going to happen, if you knew everything that was going to happen next – if you knew in advance the consequences of your own actions – you’d be doomed. You’d be as ruined as God. You’d be a stone. You’d never eat or drink or laugh or get out of bed in the morning. You’d never love anyone, ever again. You’d never dare to.

Was this a betrayal, or was it an act of courage? Perhaps both. Neither one involves forethought: such things take place in an instant, in an eyeblink. This can only be because they have been rehearsed by us already, over and over, in silence and darkness; in such silence, such darkness, that we are ignorant of them ourselves. Blind but sure-footed, we step forward as if into a remembered dance.

Sometimes we live a lifetime in two days.

Afghan D'Souza-Lodhi shares a great perspective that most of us encounter, despite whatever religion we practice. There are rituals for each religion, and whether you practice one, or all, is ultimately no one's choice but your own. That is between you and God. Afghan has wavered on wearing her hijab for various reasons, and I can appreciate the wavering on certain things within my own religious practice.

Afghan D'Souza-Lodhi shares a great perspective that most of us encounter, despite whatever religion we practice. There are rituals for each religion, and whether you practice one, or all, is ultimately no one's choice but your own. That is between you and God. Afghan has wavered on wearing her hijab for various reasons, and I can appreciate the wavering on certain things within my own religious practice.

Cleaning wool, starting with the cleanest and washing backwards (i.e dirty water ends up on dirtiest wool, so clean water is not 'wasted' on dirty wool), MGM luxury low flow showerheads, cruise ships replacement of ice with frozen black rock. Some simple solutions to save water, along with huge associated costs.

The story of Pat Mulroy, general manager of Las Vegas water, is a truly amazing story. A pioneer in the water industry, she implemented forward thinking steps that are surely saving Las Vegas from a terrible water shortage.

The production of UPW (ultra pure water) to produce microchips for IBM involves 18 purification steps. The water ends up so pure it is actually dangerous to humans, as it leaches necessary minerals from your body.

'She suffered a lot. She left with a heavy suitcase, and you should go to your grave as lightly as possible.'

'Major, I do not know why God does the things He does, but I believe you have the same duty to God as you always had: to follow the right path, to live your life with a clear conscience. If God decides to inform you why He is doing whatever it is He chooses to do, then please come and tell me. But I suspect that you may only learn the Great Answers when He calls you away from this life. '

'You will understand that joy cannot exist without sadness. Relief cannot exist without pain. Compassion cannot exist without cruelty. Courage cannot exist without fear. Hope cannot exist without despair. Wisdom cannot exist without suffering. Gratitude cannot exist without deprivation. Paradoxes abound in this life. Living is an exercise in navigating within them.'

In a letter to her daughters, on why life isn't fair 'But I do know that there is incredible value in pain and suffering, if you allow yourself to experience it, to cry, to feel sorrow and grief, to hurt. Walk through the fire and you will emerge on the other end, whole and stronger...You will understand that nothing lasts forever, not pain, or joy....'

'Can we ever really judge behavior by the behavior itself?' . No

'Says one time he went out in the wilderness to find his own soul, an' he foun' he didn't have no soul that was his'n. Says he foun' he jus' got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain't no good, 'cause his little piece of a soul wasn't no good 'less it was with the rest, an' was whole.'

'And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange '
Slaughter of the pigs: In September 1933, over 6 million pigs were slaughtered to stabilize prices, while most of the meat went to waste.

Casy said gently, 'Sure I got sins. A sin is somepin you ain't sure about. Them people that's sure about ever'thing an' ain't got no sin- well, with that kind a son-of-a-bitch, if I was God I'd kick their ass right outa heaven! I couldn't stand 'em!'

'It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothing else you can do. '...........'They ain't human. A human being couldn't stand it to be so dirty and miserable.'