Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Thoughts on Politics and Parties


Hey look it’s everyone’s favorite subject: Politics!

I think it’s important to mark kind of where the different parties are at politically right now because there are some major shifts occurring and some divides arising that are changing the landscape of these parties themselves.

First off we have to acknowledge WHY these divides are occurring.

#1 Most people want more than just Party A or Party B. The parties themselves aren’t doing as much for the people as the people want them to.

#2 Multiple generations of individuals do not see eye to eye. Expecting the same perspective and ideologies to be shared among that vast of a party is next to impossible when you realize it consists of millions of deeply diverse individuals.
So HOW are the parties dividing?

Democratic divide is probably the easiest to see right now with the Hillary v. Bernie situation. There are 2 main groups divided within Democratic/Liberal lines:

#1 There is the older generation that trusts in status quo and keeping things the same at the same steady pace –with a lot of the same goals being sought after.

#2 Then there’s the younger generation that feels this group isn’t moving fast enough or in as impactful a way as it should. They feel the issues facing society and want them addressed head on.

You can pretty much say there are “conservative” liberals and “liberal” liberals.
Next are Republicans. There is divides are harder to see, but the ironic part is there are actually MORE divides within that group.

#1 Republicans that are only republican because they’re rich and want that wealth maintained

#2 Republicans that are conservative and highly educated that want the status quo maintained. (Sometimes there’s overlap between groups 1 and 2)

#3 "Biblically" conservative Republicans that want gay rights ended and abortion illegal

#4 Not-so-well educated, very colorful individuals who don’t want the risk of their guns being taken

What baffles some Republicans about Donald Trump is he only appealed to Republicans #4. The other sets of Republicans were completely bi-passed (save for some pandering to Evangelicals that didn’t exactly go smoothly…)

At this point, both presidential candidates remind me of Henry the 8th in different ways. I reference that monarch because he’s one of the most well-known, I watch too much Tudors, and his mannerisms were well noted.

Trump is like Henry is just about every respect. If that man were given the capacity to execute people who piss him off he would. In fact he kind of already said that he wanted to. He said he wants to intensify torture of people suspected to have terrorist ties and he wants to blow up the families (women and children) of ISIS. Pretty much exactly what Henry did –and when it came to executing women and children he actually did it to his OWN people.

He’s also like Henry because of his behavior and temperament in general. They also kind of look alike…

Hillary is ALSO like Henry the 8th in some surprising ways. When Henry couldn’t get his way and have Anne Boleyn as his wife, he went out of his way to make it happen.

Step #1 Threaten to leave the Pope in the dust.

Step #2 Execute Wolsey –the right hand man who just couldn’t seem to make things work –on the basis of “treason”.

Step #3 Get the cardinals to agree on bended knee that King Henry is the head of the Church of England.

Step #4 Get a newly appointed cardinal to have previous marriage deemed void.

Step #5 Mary Anne Boleyn and FORCE everyone in the kingdom to agree to her legitimacy as queen.

Step #6 Execute Sir Thomas Moore because he refused.

Done!

When you go that far out of your way to make something happen… it HAPPENS.

Hillary’s pretty much the same, just with less violence and overt tactics.

I think after she lost the presidency to Obama in 2008 and it wasn’t even considered in 2012 she had spent almost 10 years figuring out, “How do I make this an ABSOLUTE certainty to the best of my ability.”

Thus followed the bribes, favors, secret emails, exchange of funds, raising of money for campaigning, corrupting the Democratic Party from within, ensuring votes, buying out the media, more favors for banks and other similar corporations, being utterly astounded by the popularity of Bernie followed by the desire to drown out his name, more manipulations…

Hillary’s trip through the White House was far less bloody than Anne Boleyn’s to the throne, but no less convoluted and manipulative.

Neither person deserves the presidency at this point. Neither act presidential. They only act bloated on their own wealth up to their eyes in the bullsh*t they keep pedaling.

The only real defining difference between them is Hillary actually knows what the presidency involves as a position. Trump kind of admitted he never really intended to succeed or get as far as he did. If Trump actually has to do what the president actually does, I’m pretty sure he would impeach himself.

Presidency is Paperwork. Lots of sitting behind a desk, reading long-winded documents in legal jargon, and making important decisions based on that. It’s also lots of meetings. And then some more meetings. And then more meetings.

Personally I think Hillary deserves the mountain of documents –some of which are manipulated pieces of work coming out of Congress with secret hidden agendas in them you would miss if you skipped page 213. It seems fitting. 

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Angel Cards # I Lost Track -Let's Call It 24

Doreen Virtue has been especially on-point this week for me with her angel cards. Part of me feels like this happened because it was NEEDED. Mercury was in the peak of its Retrograde and I have different theories about what that is and why it happens, but all can agree it means more Negativity arises and pulls people down. 

I also noticed I was basically living out my up/down rollercoaster chart I drew a week or 2 ago: 


Now that the week's over I can accurately depict who going through this felt: 


Thankfully now things are headed in a VERY upward direction in terms of positive spiritual energy. Now's the time to request "Abundance" -ask for things to come about that make you feel like you are full and taken care of. 

Here's Doreen's Angel Care guidance through this transitional week of highs and lows. P.S. -the other issue with retrograde I noticed is random mishaps occurring that are annoying and troublesome. Car wrecks happen a lot more things go missing, you trip, you run into things, you spill your coffee -stuff like that. Clumsy awkward mishaps. 

Doreen 9-19-16: 


As usual, I initially ignored Doreen's good advice. But by Friday when I felt released and empowered it really hit me: Eat Fruit STUPID. I suddenly had a deep craving and desire for healthy food and I KNEW I would buy healthy food to eat for lunch for the next week. I bought salad, bananas, apples, and avocados. Nothing from a can. I need the straight-up good stuff. 

Doreen 9-20-16:


This was an issue I was having. I'm trying to discern what I want while simultaneously trying to figure out what I'm meant for while simultaneously trying to figure out what God wants me to be doing. And it was Mercury in Retrograde where nothing was clear and everything was confusing. 

Finally at the end of it I came to this revelation: "What would you do if you KNEW you would succeed at any path you pursued?" And immediately I knew, "I would choose my path VERY carefully." I don't want to succeed at being a doctor -even if I could. It's not my calling or what I want to be doing. 

Doreen 9-22-16:


This whole week is about visualizing abundance and getting clear on what you want/need. So I did. I like visualizing abundance. I picture myself in the place I want to be with the things I feel I need and I immediately get this sense of relief. I came to the conclusion that $44,000 a year would be a contented income for me. And being somewhere in/near the woods. Animals. Healthy food to eat. These are my necessities. 

Doreen 9-23-16:


Kids keep coming up, and part of it is because the non-profit that I work for and a lot others ones affiliated work with kids. They work with young children learning to read and they work with at-risk youth trying to overcome past pains and find their way to a great future. It's also because I was amazed that there ARE so many non-profit institutions across the U.S.A that are working so hard to protect, nurture, care for, and prevent harm to children. Child abuse is one of the most disturbing painful realities we have to face as human race. It exists. It happens. There's actually one non-profit that goes into schools and educates young children on abuse, how to identify it, and what to do if it happens to them in any form. I worry for kids and yet I know they are being taken care of. I think it's where God is at on things. He has led people to acknowledging, facing, and now attempting to prevent pains inflected upon children. 

Doreen 9-24-16:


I saw this image and I was like YES!!! We are there right now! Stupid Mercury and that drowning, sinking feeling of being powerless and overwhelmed is gone! There was some serious relief and release going on spiritually at this time, which was great. 

Doreen 9-25-16:



I feel like once the pathways were made clear there was this immediate understanding of, "Ok give me all your concerns and what you seek to have in the future so we can provide for you..." kind of message coming from Heaven. They want to help and guide and it's easiest when you're in alignment with them so they can be in alignment with you and bringing about the best outcomes. I think it takes time and clarity for them to bring things about -which is why you should tell them not just what you want/need right now, but what you're aiming for in the future. 

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Passion v. Vocation

Some people seem to think that in order to succeed in business or a career you need people who’re really good at that particular position. Being qualified to do a job is important, but it certainly won’t lead a business to thrive. I find that genuinely successful people work their way up through the ranks and it isn’t because the only kind of good their doing is a “thorough job”.

Being passionate and innovative inspires others and can spread throughout whole departments. Personally I’ve never really seen this in any of the places that I’ve worked –but I have seen it from the outside looking in at other businesses. Those companies have great leaders in place that genuinely motivate fellow co-workers to contribute. Without that contributing factor –we don’t get much.

It is kind of amazing to see someone rally others because they sincerely care about the cause/work that they do. You can tell why they’re in the position they are –if for no other reason than to motivate and effect change that way.

Being passionate about what you’re doing fuels creativity in yourself and others and you end up sailing across the seas instead of getting bogged down by lesser tasks like swabbing the deck.

This is why, if you’re going to pursue a vocation, you should look for fields that you’re genuinely interested in and passionate about. I also think it’s why a lot of companies and organizations are getting more and more involved with non-profit work.
There’ve been days working at previous companies where I seriously felt, “Why the heck did I come in today? In the grand scheme of things this day was a waste and accomplished absolutely nothing.” You fill out all that paperwork and what does it go towards? At least when you work with a non-profit your efforts –great or small –are always worthwhile. Especially when you directly see the impact that organization is making.

Personally I think my ideal would be working for a Nature non-profit. I keep seeing these donation request forms for different business saying, “Tell us about your non-profit, but our business is mostly focused on people (we love animals, but don’t have enough funds to go around).” Animals and nature are the most left-out group being donated to in most instances. People FIRST is usually the policy. And yet people do look after people –and where does that leave these other sentient beings running around the planet?

I’m definitely called to nature. If you find yourself looking around and thinking, “Why doesn’t anybody care about this like I do? Why is nobody seeing this?” it’s a pretty good sign you’re meant to pave the way and lead others to understand WHY it’s worth caring about.

Whatever it is that’s in your soul to contribute, it goes furthest and easiest when it’s given to something you have a deep sense of necessity to provide to.


The other issue I’m now leery of with non-profits is finding a non-profit that tries to get money to contribute to the CAUSE, not using the cause to try and procure FUNDS. And I think that can confuse people or seem hard to understand from the outside looking in. It’s the difference between someone coming up to you because they genuinely care about what cause their explaining to you and will take any contribution you can give because anything would mean everything to them –verses someone that rattles off a bunch of facts about a cause so they can gun for the biggest profit that they then set quotas for each month and try to hit. Non-profits can lose themselves to the desire to procure money –rather than the work and contributions they can make –the same way a corporation can. 

Genuine Passion is everything. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Dreams 9-20-16

First off before I even begin with the dreams I have update on that bajillion year long project I was working on collecting United Way partner non-profit lists. First issue I discovered is the list was in fact for a bank that was headquartered near our United Way -not for United Way Worldwide. Second thing I found out wayyyy later than I should have is that the partner lists should only be requested for maybe 10 total specific UWays. I did not know this and was seeking them all out... which left me with about 201 different UWays to contact by mid October. BIG difference there. Instead of needing 201, I now only need 6. 

Clarifications are important in this life. That's what I learned. 

Meanstwhile on the dream front, I had extensive amounts of dreams nightly and then very few dreams since. And most of those dreams kind of went downhill into the land nightmares (a place I am not fond of...). 


Dream 9/04/16: Dreamt I was at work and I got promoted. They took my advice and got Chris Daughtry to advocate for UWay. Got access to building (finally, since I don't have a key as just a seasonal employee). Spent the night in the office in a tent trying to finish my work. I think the dream meant that even if my dreams for the job I'm in came true, I still wouldn't be that happy because I'd be working too hard. 

Dream 9/05/16: Had another dream about work, only in this one I was driving from building to building, house to house picking up objects for work –like inkind donations. Ran into my mom and she tried guilt-tripping me with a picture she had framed of me as a kid. She was telling me I don't spend enough time hanging out with her and I basically told her I had to go and finish my work picking things up. This dream was basically about stress over my job and my relationship with mom -which seems to come up a lot in other dreams as well. 

Dream 9/06/16: I dreamed there were various non-profit art centers for at-risk youth across the city and I worked in the marketing department of one and thought their graphic designs and logos were amazing. I met a bunch of people and helped out. They also helped kids with school projects. I felt “fulfilled” and overjoyed there were so many art centers. I liked this dream :) 

Déjà vu 9/08/16: Had about my 6th moment of deja vu at work again. Doing spreadsheets with inkind donations and emailing a girl named Lauren. 

Dream 9/10/16: 

Dream Part 1: Had a dream that was kind of a re-enactment of the movie SIGNS, but with demons instead of aliens. They were starting to pop-up everywhere and people didn’t know how to handle them. I actually saw one VERY vividly and intend to draw it at some point. I think they handled them with Holy water –like the movie used water on aliens.

Dream Part 2: Was in a college with my friend Michelle who was sick with a cold. It was snowing outside and I liked it, but she had a cold and didn’t. Wanted her to be happy like I was. 

Dream 9/11/16: This dream was intense and VERY graphic. Serial Killer, running around with a saw blade. Killed nurses in a surgery room as well as a patient they thought he was supposed to be operating on. I ran to escape. I prayed for God to come through and immediately felt protected –like the issue would be solved and I wouldn’t need to worry. Cops then caught the killer. I felt relieved and yet confused as to why a person would find themselves in such a deranged state. 

Dream 9/12/16: This is interesting because it's my 2nd year as a vegetarian, but I only remembered that fact AFTER the dream. Dreamt that people started regretting eating meat and feeling spiritually guilty and shamed about it. They started asking me about being vegetarian. I just told them to follow intuition. Walked into another room and there was a Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera music video on. It seemed fated, like the song was meant to be made.  

Dream 9/13/16: Waiting room in big hospital for children. George Clooney of all people was there with his son –a little boy. I then watched over the little boy and made sure he didn’t go wandering too far and played with the toys in that room. 

Dream 9/14/16: 

Dream Part 1: I dreamed at some point that I was told by beings in Heaven that Hell was coming and basically came to understand that some people would go to Hell –more by choice than anything. Those that seek Heaven will find higher ground and those that seek Hell or align with it will knowingly go downward. And I was sad for them and wished them a better life than one of self-destruction and pain. But they knowingly CHOOSE to go -which surprised me, but I understood.

Dream Part 2: This guy and his new girlfriend were basically going antiquing. She told him, since he was wealthy, to buy a very expensive dresser. I knew she was basically using him for his money, but he didn’t want to admit it and I didn't know him well enough to say it. I meanwhile spent money on art that I found. 

Dream Part 3: We drove to get my car fixed, then after it was fixed the snow came. This is pretty relevant given my car needs to go in for some maintenance –preferably before the snow comes in a month or so. 

Dream 9/17/16: Was back at mom’s house and she was trying to put in a new garage on the storage unit. My sister was there and we saw a bunch of cats running by. She was worried about them, but I told her they were the neighbor cats and they were well looked after. I noticed some were maimed or blind, but wasn’t worried for them because I knew they were looked after even in that condition.

Went inside the house to let our dog inside. Went into the kitchen to eat some cookies. That’s mom came in and was talking to me/nagging me to do something. Then I saw me from her eyes that I was an 8 year old girl –my younger self. I basically understood that she still sees me as a little kid. 

Then went on a shopping trip with my grandma and my aunt Debbie. They were buying breakable things and trying to figure out how to ship them to relatives without them breaking. 

Dream 9/19/16: Muddled dream about being in Egypt back in ancient times, seeing Sekhmet the lioness –headed deity –running around and coming to the conclusion she intended to harm me. Egypt was kind of complicated because you did have benevolent divine beings they would turn to like the Angel Isis, but then you had other beings like Anubis that were clearly much darker. I think siding with light -whatever form it comes in -is the best scenario. 

And just for the record, I'm seriously noticing a patter with animal-headed human "deities" being of the not-so-good variety. Examples include but are not limited to:

-The Minotaur -not a nice guy
-The Manticore -also not a nice guy
-The Winged, Goat-headed dude -definitely not a nice guy
-The "Eater of Souls" Alligator-headed guy -yah... 
-The Jackal-headed dude

So I'm going to put lioness-headed lady in that category, even though some people seem to think she was of a nicer variety of deity. The pattern I'm seeing emerge is a little too distinct: 


Thursday, September 15, 2016

Thoughts on Driving Through Life

Was on the drive to work last week and I was frustrated and worried about being there on time –and I wasn’t even at work yet. That’s pretty bad when you’re stressed before the day has even begun. Then I saw the city in the distance and almost like a voice the message came, “Look at it. Isn’t it amazing.” And for the first time I started to fathom the SIZE of these giant buildings I was weaving through. I started to note their heights and it was like being at the base of a giant redwood.

Then I passed by a building I’d never noticed but drove by every day and was amazed how beautiful it was. I was genuinely taken by the way the light hit off its windows and the architecture of it.

NEW EYES. God gives people new eyes to a world they’ve gone blind to.

And then again on the way home in what I knew would inevitably be 1 hour of traffic: “Hey, what would you do if this was all a dream? If the weight of this was lifted?”

God pulls you out of the sinking of a moment and stands you on the water. This life has never been what it seems. There is always MORE beyond it.

Going to be late to work today. Was 15 minutes early yesterday but then out of nowhere today decided to be traffic lined up into oblivion. It took me 10 minutes to drive 300 feet.

“Take it EASY. Why are you in such a hurry to rush through this life? Breathe. Take the time to take time.”

God has to remind adults that all we really are is children who’ve forgotten how to play. How to see life. How to take life in and enjoy it.


We were meant to enjoy the ride. We weren’t meant to resent the drive through. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Understanding Non-Profits and False Perceptions

So a lot of interesting things have been coming up in my non-profit work that kind of reflect upon society in general. At this present moment my instinct to start listing things to keep "on track" of my thoughts has kicked in. I will attempt to resist the urge to make things that logistical and just wing-the blog with whatever comes up first. 

The first thing that kind of needs to be acknowledged is one that most United Wayans would try to duck. 

I'm talking about this thing: 



Kudos to Snopes.com for posting a contradiction of clarity to this since a lot of this information sin't actually true. But unfortunately the internet and people reading it don't tend to fact-check and care for truth, so what do you do if you work for one of these non-profits? 

My response is this: If somebody came up to me and said, "Why should I trust United Way or give money to them given this post?" 

I'd say, "Then don't." 

I STILL don't know what United Way Worldwide does -other than tracking financials of all the other United Ways. And the fact is some of the "franchised" United Ways operating pretty independently of UWW have gotten in trouble for raking in more money for themselves than actual charity. 

Be word of caution would be to acknowledge not all United Ways are the same. This is something I've been acknowledging a lot of over the past 2 days. For whatever reason my United Way got tasked with the duty of collecting ALL of the other United Ways' (across the U.S.) list of Partner Non-Profits they donate funding to with their EIN numbers to be sent back to UWW for tracking and accounting. 

New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Chicago, and Wisconsin are over-achievers and partner with 200+ (400+ for NY) different non-profits. 

Other United Ways keep it simple and just fund themselves and their own internal programs. 

Then there's the variety of causes they donate to because they aren't forced to pick just one. 

My United Way focuses on Poverty Alleviation -which includes Early Education, At-Risk Youth Support, and Adult Sufficiency. 

Kansas United way tends to focus on HEALTH -Cancer, Chrons, American Heart Association... you name it. 

New York is kind of weird and 90% of its partners are Catholic and Christian organizations. 

California tends to focus a lot on counseling, relationships, and empowerment. 

Special Kudos to Boston, MA's United Way for focusing on Community Development -which holistically takes whole communities and tries to move them out of poverty. Also the only United Way with partner non-profits focusing that much on public policy and legislation so the systemic contributing factors to various issues can be addressed on a legal basis as well. 

Alabama focuses a lot of Disaster Relief (because of flooding) and Mental Challenges. People make a lot of jokes about the south having issues with mental challenges and stuff, but when you really see that it is a legitimate issue the south in particular is facing there's this kind of reaction of "That must be an issue there that's either largely invisible here or far more prominent there and I'm glad they're addressing it." A lot of the people receiving those services are children. 

Speaking of children -New Jersey in particular has a lot of partner non-profits focusing on abused children, domestic violence, and sexual assault. 3 million kids a year are victims of sexual abuse. 60% off all pregnant teens have been victims of sexual abuse. What is WRONG with this world???! And it disturbs and troubles me to no end that our justice system turns a blind eye to abusers and does very little to keep children safe. 

***Special acknowledgment to Valley of the Sun United Way in Phoenix Arizona. This is the most highly commendable, well-thought out United Way in terms of its partnerships with non-profits. Arizona has 2 unique issues they're facing in particular: Human Trafficking and Illegal Immigration and they handle both circumstances in a positive way that embetters their entire community. They don't hide from or evade these issues, they address them as well as many others. They take a genuinely holistic approach to addressing things like Poverty, Cancer/Aids, Disabilities, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Veterans + Senior Citizens, and many other concerns their cities are facing. They don't just go "broad spectrum" in treating these issues, they are very mindful of the best non-profits to align with to address them. 

So this excel sheet I'm working on has every state, and every United Way within that state -which is also eye-opening because it turns out some states are slacking on their UWays where other ones are thriving. Kind of like how Starbucks never quite made it all the way over to the East coast and gets scarcer and scarcer as you head in that direction. 

So no 2 United Ways are the same. In fact there's little consistency. What does the one in your area focus on, because as far as I can tell they're a great way to measure the real issues facing your community as a whole. 

I'm pretty sure Denver is eventually going to partner with some non-profits that focus on car accidents and pedestrian safety because people here suck at driving and cross the street whenever they feel like it. 

And most UWays are oblivious to other ones -let alone what non-profits they're partnering with. It's a mystery. 

Then today ran into a crappy situation with a couple other United ways I reached out to. I asked for their partner list and the EINs of those non-profits. 2 people responded to me by saying, "We don't give that information out. You can have the list of agencies but NOT the EIN. I don't even give ours out..." 

An EIN for those who don't know is the equivalent of a numerical "Name" for a non-profit -NOT a social security number or PIN for your bank account. These EINs are public knowledge -as they are required to be. You can go on Wikipedia or Charity Navigator most times and find it on your own. Sometimes they even put the EINs on their own non-profit websites.

So then I'm left with the task of attempting to discern if the non-profit they've listed is the NATIONAL non-profit or the LOCAL branch of that non-profit. Salvation Army doesn't tell me which one in particular you are referring to. And some of the names they gave me were more like nicknames for the non-profits, not their official titles. 

So I end up having to sift through 46 partner non-profits for 1 United Way and then 42 partner non-profits for another out of my list for 5 total United Ways in one state alone. Frik!!!!

The other thing people don't realize is a lot of non-profits have similar names. You can have one called "Company ABC of the Rockies" and another called "Rockies ABC Company". And they can even do similar things. Frik!!! 

Hopefully tomorrow goes a little more smoothly and I don't have to play detective and go looking around case by case for all the EIN numbers. 

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Internet Messages 9-11

This week's themes have been addressing some of the issues going on in the world and realizing there is a great and vastly beautiful world beyond this one we should be seeking to tap into and found here. 

#1 Ending Racial/Cultural Ignorance 



The fact that they sent attack dogs to wound Native Americans -including some children and a pregnant woman -to try to get them to stop protesting is deeply sickening. 



And now, commentary from Solange Knowles:


"You and your friends have been called the N word, been approached as prostitutes, and have had your hair touched in a predominately white bar just around the corner from the same venue. 
The statement you make headlines funny enough just days after it comes to light that Air China warns their flyers not to go into Indian, Pakastani, or Black neighborhoods in its magazines in order to stay safe, while Texas schools are fighting to have textbooks calling Mexicans “lazy” removed from classrooms, and while Native Americans are doing everything they can possibly to to protect their sacred land from an oil pipeline being built on graves of their descendants. You know that people of colors’ “spaces” are attacked every single day, but many will not be able to see it that way.
This also comes during a time when the Housing Authority of New Orleans has declared a federal mandate plan to assist with helping to protect black neighborhoods, stating that “previously black neighborhoods on higher ground are now majority white or moving in that direction.” And not too long after an announcement is made that a former Klu Klux Klan leader is running for Louisiana senator. You also know where you live."
It is important in times like these to look beyond our own eyes and perspectives that the lives of other people may not be lost to pains and sufferings. Solidarity is the only thing that has allowed mankind to persevere through the darkness of his own blind ignorance. 

#2 Respect the Sanctity of Animal Life and They Will Return the Favor


http://www.iizcat.com/post/2725/Lions-guard-abducted-Ethiopian-girl-from-evil-men-until-rescuers-arrive 

A 12 year-old girl in Ethiopia was abducted and beaten by a group of men with plans to force marriage upon her. Sadly, many girls must face this terrible fate, as over 70% of girls are forced into marriage in Ethiopia. Luckily, she had some unlikely guardian angels looking over her. 

Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo was at the scene of her rescue.  "They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said. “If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.  The abductors really didn't have a choice when they saw a bunch of lions surrounding her and ran for the hills. But the lions comforted her until help came."

#3 We Are All SOULS -Transcended from Heaven


"If you judge people, you have no time to love them" -Mother Teresa

Saw this image and I found it such a stark contrast. How often is it in this culture/society/world that we are expected to look to men of recent past -men of power and privilege -men of learning and good breeding -as the epitome of what mankind has to shoot for. And how often is it that the grace, beauty, and divinity of ancient souls -including women -are lost and never looked to as a totem of true virtue. Why are divine souls being forced to conform to demeaning and base qualities no human was ever intended to posses. We were intended for stars -not monuments. 

#4 Focus on Aligning with the World Beyond

Went to a "spiritual" store the other day and immediately thought, "THIS is what we're meant for." It was a collection of every kind of belief system, books, rocks/crystals/gemstones, angel cards... It was a culmination of all that has been handed to us from the past that we may seek wisdom from, guidance towards connecting deeply to the present, and even thoughts about the future and what is to come. All of life found in one singular place. Like every human soul.