What’s your badge? Policemen and firemen wear them. Girl scouts and boy scouts wear them. What are they? Badges are things we wear or display to say who we are or what we believe. People wear badges of all sorts these days. Some have bumper stickers on their cars. Others wear t-shirts or hats that declare their mind. Still others wear permanent badges on their bodies in the form of tattoos. It seems that many people today, at least in our American society, want everyone else to know what they stand for, what they think and what they believe no matter how absurd. Because, it’s all about them I guess.
I have always frowned upon bumper stickers. Have you ever seen the vehicle with five or more bedecking the bumper, windows and trunk? They may be political messages, funny sayings, quotes or insults to the driver behind them. They may talk about their kids or spouse or have an image of a little guy peeing on….I don’t know…something. I never got that one. What I think when I see a vehicle like that is that I have easily discovered way more about the owner of that vehicle than I ever wanted to know. And I don’t want to be friends. They have put a piece of their mind on their vehicle and I fear they’ll have none left. Ouch!
But now let’s talk about me. Heh, heh, apparently I’m a bit judgmental. But, I don’t allow bumper stickers on my car and I don’t get tattoos. I don’t put signs on my lawn and my t-shirts are pretty generic. I’m by and large fairly understated and therefore have viewed myself as kind of underground in a manner of speaking.
Not so… Interestingly (to me) it turns out that I have a badge as well - and no one is more surprised than I. It’s not something that I wear or drive around in but it’s out there for everyone to see. I wear my badge on Facebook. I really didn’t become conscious of that until recently. To me, I’m Kathy - a spiritual but not religious person with liberal tendencies and strong feelings on injustice and oppression who has worked as an activist for a few different organizations and has made no secret of her radical tendencies, in particular, on Facebook.
I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong. Facebook is a social forum and as such, should be open to discussion and intelligent conversation among those who care to confer about political, social, spiritual and community issues if they so choose, and to those who just want to keep in touch and have fun. Both are acceptable I think. But Facebook is just sound bites. It is a great medium in many ways but a long way from reality in others. And I suppose that what bothers me about the wearing of my particular badge is that I am way more than that badge yet somehow, I fear my ego and I have conspired to make it my identity. It is not. I have certainly managed to alienate myself from old friends recently. Not a big surprise – in their world there are some differences that are insurmountable. I have looked at it as their problem. Still, I do seem to push the envelope all too often. Does that make me one of the bumper sticker people? I don’t know. I have some thinking to do…..
Tuesday, October 19th was the final day of my 30-Day Challenge. My goal was no sugar and white flour for 30 days. I did well with no sugar except for one small slip while on vacation. I sincerely forgot and had an ice cream cone. Yes, the ice cream had sugar and the cone did too. Otherwise, no sugar at all.
I didn't have much white flour but found that avoiding it all together was tricky. So, I decided not to beat myself up about it.
On the up side, I did lose a total of 6 pounds and with very little exercise. heh-heh, I think the exercise thing needs a 30-day challenge of its own. Anyway, it's a drop in the bucket so to speak, but still, 6 pounds just from the deletion of one food "staple" is significant.
As a result of my Challenge, I don't seem to crave sugar with the same intensity. I also feel better and have more energy. That's a huge plus and probably my biggest goal of the Challenge.
My intention now is to limit sugar to special occasions. These do not include end of the work day, weekends and pity parties. I'm talking about birthdays, holidays, vacation and the like.
In the end, it's all about choices and choosing the healthy ones. I like that.
Today is day 24 of the 30-day challenge - no sugar, no white flour, exercise and smaller portions.
Okay, here's the deal.....I have not been faithful to the no white flour, exercise 4 times per week and posting bi-weekly. I have been somewhat faithful to the smaller portions. But the good news is that I have managed to abstain from sugar and for that I am grateful. Baby steps...
I have lost 5 pounds and gained one back, meaning....I really lost 4 pounds. My only excuse is that this week we are on vacation and not eating totally as we would if it were another week: ) However, there has been more exercise this week what with beach walking, town walking and dunes climbing. I attribute this as the reason I only gained one pound back of the 5 lost.
I guess I'm looking at it from the perspective of making small consistent improvements. That, and the benefits wrought so far; I have reduced my sugar cravings considerably. I am much more conscious of the food choices that I make. I actually feel much better without the sugar.
I am limiting white flour but find that sometimes, especially away from home, white flour is hard to avoid. I have had it sparingly. I have had sugar free ice cream and sugar free cookies. I am rethinking that stuff because it is still high in calorie and perpetrates the desire for sweets (although not nearly as bad as sugar does). Plus, I don't think the artificial sweetners are all that great for you.
Anyway, it's a start. I am looking forward to my next challenge......meat and dairy free. Seriously.
Reading the news this past week brought serious questions to mind. I’ve been thinking about my concept of this country – our country, the United States of America. The most common model portrays a young upstart, revolutionary country. A land of freedom filled with promise. A land pursued by immigrants who paid for freedom with their blood, sweat and tears. It’s a gritty, magnificent supposition - an inspiring story. We love that story and have built our patriotic self-image upon it. But assuming that our concept is subjective as it surely is, there must be an element of fiction to our narrative that we’ve failed to acknowledge. Voices from outside our circle of wagons call out the incongruities but we ignore them.
I’m no different. For most of 50 years I have been inundated with a paradigm of the United States as the “greatest country in the world.” But frankly, these days I’m baffled. I cannot reconcile that which I’ve heard all my life from the reality that I am seeing in our world…our country in particular. I’m referring to the dichotomy between the image of our young, progressive, innovative, forward thinking, tech savvy, cutting edge nation and the “burn them at the stake” mentality that we also espouse. How in the world do we reconcile this? Fact is…we don’t even try. For the most part, we are totally oblivious to it. What’s more, we don’t really want to know. We have our story and have created our collective self-image. Don’t mess with it and don’t mess with us! It’s much easier to spout the platitudes we’ve heard and accepted without question since we were babes. And God help the person that tries.
It’s been said that the truth shall set you free. I believe that statement with all my heart and I’ve been on a quest for the truth for some time now – maybe my whole life. Still, I’m always taken aback when confronted with the seeming hypocrisy of our collective and egoic image of us as a people and nation. I’m just not satisfied anymore with accepting facile narratives of the American way. And what is the American way? It’s a pretty subjective statement don’t you think? Wikipedia describes it thusly: “The American Way is a term for the way of life in the United States.” It “is an expression that refers to the lifestyle of people living in the United States of America. It is an example of a behavioral modality, developed from the 17th century until today. It refers to a nationalist ethos that purports to adhere to principles of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It has some connection to the concept of American exceptionalism and the American Dream.” And yet, whose way of life is it expressing? Whom does it represent? The homeless and indigent? Which way of life are they referring to?
I’ve been thinking a lot about these issues while grappling with my own beliefs and mores in the last few years. What is unmistakable are the inconsistencies in our shared, and again collective national image. How can something that is broken be repaired if one does not concede that it is broken. How can we be evolving while living in the dark ages?
A few of the issues that got me thinking this week were capital punishment, racism, “don’t ask, don’t tell," and war.
In this past week, a woman was executed in California; the first execution in five years in that state. Not really that unusual unless you consider the barbarism of killing someone as a punishment for crime…in this purported “Christian nation.” Other countries decry our bent on this most extreme of punishments and yet, we continue. What is our reason for this? How do we justify the taking a life? Do we use the Old Testament bible – an eye for an eye? Do we use economics? “It’s too expensive to take care of them for life.” In fact, it’s barbaric, archaic and very sad. There is no peace in it. What is the truth about this behavior? Why do we continue to do it?
Here’s an article you might want to read from Miami Herald journalist Leonard Pitts – Take an eye opening ride on the racial profiling Turnpike. He is reviewing a book authored by Joseph Collum about racial profiling in America – one small demographic and human selection of America specifically. It’s an appalling look at a sad reality for many people of color today . http://www.freep.com/article/20101001/OPINION05/10010325/1322/Take-an-eye-opening-ride-on-the-Racial-Profiling-Turnpike
But that’s just one little slice of our racist culture. While not as overt as it once was, racism still permeates everything from our socially unjust food system on one end of the spectrum, to the veritably insane reaction to the election of a black president. There are excuses on every end of the spectrum as well. It’s so much easier than facing the truth about ourselves. Bigotry lives large in the United States of America.
This past week the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Law repeal failed to get the 60 votes needed in the house for the repeal to go through. This farcical law did nothing for homosexual Americans except allow them to serve in the military under cover. In fact, over 13,000 were kicked out of the military since the law went through. I would say I’m incredulous but this is the same country that still executes criminals. Not only are the civil rights of homosexuals being ignored, they are camouflaging it under the pretense of “preserving the sanctity of marriage. Why? Because it's an abomination before god? Kind of like defending slavery using the bible as was done decades ago using what? the laws in Exodus? People continue to pick and choose what works for their "Christian" agenda. Where is the truth? It’s much easier when something makes you uncomfortable to find a way to justify your reaction to it.
We’ve spent years fighting a war that was based on lies. We’re still in Iraq and in active warfare in Afghanistan. No one talks about the lies anymore. We're fighting a war on terror. Picture Jesus in a helmet and flack jacket carrying an American flag at the front of the battle. That's the basic unspoken but underlying representation of American military action in many circles. A war backed by God. Really? I’m amazed at how our “Christian nation” justifies our imperialistic tendencies. Where is the truth?
We are foaming at the proverbial mouth over illegal immigrants and yet, we are a country of immigrants. We came, we conquered and we exploited the real owners of this country who now live on small parcels of land, impoverished and virtual slaves in the greatest country in the world.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. People are starving to death here in the United States. They are dying for lack of health care. How is this possible?
But that’s not comfortable is it? So, we just fall back on the patriotic jargon that dulls our senses and our hearts.
The American dream…aptly named. Is it possible that we exist in our own fairy tale? I can tell you this; if you’ve been born and bred here, it is a difficult thing to not buy into the rhetoric. It is drummed into you from birth. But, if you look past the patriotic idiom; past the religious oratory; and past the stubborn desire to cling to what may be a dream/fairy tale, you may begin to see truth – if it’s truth you’re looking for. Something needs to change and telling the truth is the only way it will happen. Truth is demanding, but it will set you free.
Food for thought:
“If America wants to stop terrorism, it needs to stop terrorizing the world.” ~Paul J. Balles
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." -- William James
"We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are." - The Talmud
