Socially disconnected

Well, sometimes you need a big money sponsored poll to prove your point, but if you wait long enough, it comes your way.
For sometime now I have been making it a policy to be more live and in-person with those I interact with online. I spent years in online only friendships, typed and read the most intimate of thoughts, concerns, personal matters, etc. Yes, I must admit it did serve to solidify a theory I had developed from years of travelling around North America and parts of Europe; people are people. So, with that confirmed, I decided that I had needs that were of a tactile nature, I can't just :) all the time, there is an actual smile attached. I have nothing against the machines, the technology is not to blame, it's the use of that instrument, and that is completely up to us.
We are hardwired in certain ways, and there is no getting around the needs that are created to meet that biological imperative. We need human contact. We have a large organ that we so often neglect in the most basic of ways. Yes, skin is an organ, and it needs stimulation, and no need to snicker like lil' girls here.
I can show you published study after study done on the benefits of cuddling permature newborn babies. How it helps them grow and in some cases perhaps even survive. Yes, the machines do their part, they feed, they provide medicines, etc, but human contact has its own medicinal value.
I am simply proposing we don't lose are humanity to the Matrix, we can unplug at will and I simply have chosen to be more selective about how I plug in.

Life's truths I learned

On this road trip we call life, I have learned a few things I choose to believe as truths. Yes, they are based primarily on my experiences, so there must be some bias there.

- Nobody can take anything from you that you aren't willing to give. This is not to be confused with being robbed or whatnot, of course that is illegal, and a whole other matter. What I refer to is far less tangible that a wallet or pursue, rather I mean you. Your kindness, your affection, your sincerity, your love. These things can only be given freely and either accepted or not. I often think of Mahatma Gandhi's quote of "If you give someone a present and they do not accept it, to whom does that present belong?" If you offer up your sincere and honest self, pride, affection whatever, and the other person does not accept it, those qualities, attributes, still belong to you. You are no poorer for the prospective recipient not having accepted your gifts.

- You are as happy as you make up your mind to be. This one is not mine, but Eleanor Roosevelt's. A very similar thought is from Dale Carnegie, "If you choose to believe you are happy, this will end up making you happy." There are others of course, but you get the idea. This is not to say that life won't throw the usual challenges and obstacles, but we cope better and more effectively when we are in a happier mood. Let's also be honest, we all know people that just seem to be on perma-scowl, and we can choose not to be like that.

- There is nothing in my life that I do not choose to have there. Often times we get caught up in the everyday rat race and take up habits that are really not healthy but not even our own. It is up to us to take stock of our priorities, our life's choices and change those habits, and leave only what is important to us in our lives.

This is not all, but it's a start. Please feel free to share yours.

Dear American Cousins

To all my American cousin, I write to you today in the hopes that the time has come for you to open your eyes to the reality around you. For sometime now, I have watched as the very freedoms and liberties that you hold so dear and are out dying fighting for, are being stripped away from you.
Since September 11, 2001, you have been increasingly made to feel afraid of everyone and everything by an administration that is out to destroy the middle class. You have nothing to fear, not from Muslims, not from Pakistanis, not from Iraqis or Aghanis or anyone. No one is out to get you or take anything away from you, but your own government and the cronies that put him into place.
I know there are those Americans out there, both here and in the US that are wise to what is going on, they protest, they demonstrate, they write their congresspeople in an effort to gain back their civil liberties.
Join them, don't be made afraid of your neighbours, stand up for yourself and your family and your way of life. It is not under threat by anyone outside of the United States government and the 5 corporations that own your media outlets.
Break free from the constant barrage of "scare" and "fear" messages that you get from print, or television newscasting.
Because while the power elite have the masses occupied with hating each other, the powers that be have been busy stealing your retirement funds and your houses.
So, in closing dear cousins, let me just say, that we miss the good times we use to share, the laughs the common ground that we use to share before you were taken from us.

Your Canadian Cousin

To hell with manners

Did anyone else see this very interesting and timely show? I don't believe in coincidence and so after coming home from a peace meeting, and just randomly turning on the tv and this show was just starting, got me thinking. I mean sure, I can (and often do to myself) bitch about how stupid this person is behaving or how rude this person was, but in the end, the only one I have any control over is myself. So I decided there and then to offer hugs to anyone that wanted them. Free, no strings attached and genuine. Mind you I am not "militant" about it, so it's not like I walk around wearing a sign or chasing people down on the street to hug them. No, simply taking Mahatma Ghandi's words to heart when he said "Be the change you want to see in the world". I am also planning on joining one of the groups featured on the documentary, "JoinMe". I figure I could preach and rant and rave and complain, or I could DO something about it. So, I am offering cuddles, hugs, affection and genuine friendship to anyone who is able to accept it.
Therefore, if you live in Toronto, and would like to accept my offer, just contact me with a recent face pic, whatever introduction you care to make and a contact phone number. I will reply with same. Please use the heading "Free cuddles" in the subject so it won't end up in the spam folder.

Risen from the ashes once again.

Decided to move blogging over from Yahoo! 360, as that seemed to be populated mostly by those (in whatever unique fashion) that were mostly interested in sexing me up. Lots of hormones of both genders run amok over there, so I am moving over here in the hopes of appealing to a different audience. We'll see.

Well, perhaps first off we should get reacquainted, shall I go first? My name is Barb, I am a 41 yr old Greek, single mom of a 17 yr old boy, medical secretary and delightfully single after a very long time. I am bi, and for the first time in my life I am living alone, totally and completely (with the exception of my pet bird I found, but that's another blog) and having a great time rediscovering myself. Which is my segway into what this blog is for, to share my discoveries and experiences and stories and anecdotes and questions and interact with you on this trip we call life.

So, with this brief introduction I start on this new road down the highway of life and you're welcome to come along for the ride. All I ask is that you please not put your feet up on the dashboard.

Feel free to contact me with your inquiries, comments and whatnot, but please, respect me as I do you and don't waste my time, most especially with any hate, I don't have time to accept it.

Yours in peace,

Barb