Today I’m thinking about what really matters.
Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget about what life really is. Our jobs, our responsibilities, our bodies, our current circumstances whatever they may be can get in the way sometimes.
What really matters to you?
My family matters to me. Spending time with them. Laughing with my husband, talking to him, touching, and playing. Teaching my daughter about joy. Giving her something to smile about, really smile about. Teaching her what it means to be loved so that she can learn to love. Spending time in nature with them. Taking pictures of eagles, elk, and deer with them. Reading the scriptures with them using stuffed animals and funny voices. Learning together, sleeping together, praying together.

Jobs don’t matter. A clean house doesn’t matter. Having a perfect body doesn’t matter. What the world thinks doesn’t matter.

This is my life and a few of the things that matter to me. We all live different lives though. We all have our own paths to walk. What really matters to you?

Unbelief is a form of belief. So often we hear about separation of chuch and state. I contend that this is not possible. The act of excluding God from daily discussion is a practice in the religion of atheism and is therefore not separating church and state at all.

I’m sure many would argue that atheism is not a religion. I argue that it is. Is it not a system of belief? Atheists believe that there is no God. Therefore atheism is a belief system about God. In other words a religion. So I ask you this, why is it that atheists are the only ones who are allowed to practice their religion in schools? Why too is it that atheists are the only ones for whom it is considered socially acceptable to express their ideas? People accuse believers in God of shoving their religious beliefs down everyone’s throats all the time. Is atheism not shoved down my throat constantly? Why is that okay?

Not only is atheism shoved down my throat constantly, I’m also told that I’m a fool for believing in God. I’m told that I’m a brainwashed sheep, a follower, a mindless drone with no ability or desire to think for myself. We’ve all heard the phrase, “opiate of the masses”. Hmph. Well how about this? Maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe atheism is so prevalent and permeating in our society that all of you who don’t believe in God are just a bunch of mindless drones who are completely incapable of thinking for yourselves or forming original ideas. You’ve been so convinced that your minds are open that you’ve closed them to anything real, or different, or true and they’re so closed that you cannot possibly see that they are closed. Maybe.

Or maybe, just maybe we’re all perfectly capable of thinking for ourselves. Maybe we’ve each come to the beliefs that we have because of different personal experiences that are very real and valid. Maybe we’re actually all intelligent people just doing the best that we can and maybe, just maybe if we all learn to genuinely respect and love one another in our differences the world will actually become a better place.

All that I have seen, all that I have heard, all that I’ve experienced is with me still and continues to mold me but I’m the one who chooses what it molds me into.

I’ve decided to name this painting Coyote Moon. It makes me think of the long walks Stunk and I love to take on moonlit nights, especially in the winter time. Last winter we heard coyotes howling in the moonlight all the time. I loved that.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!!

Oh boy do I love Saturdays! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Such an educational video! I’ve spent my entire life being called a tomboy and not understanding why the things i enjoy aren’t “feminine.” I’ve even been told that I do the things I do (hike, camp, play sports etc.) because I’m not confident in my femininity and am compensating by doing “boy” things. It makes no sense to me. Anything I do is inherently feminine because I’m a girl!

It’s a beautiful day today! The sun is shining warm on the mountains. I can see them out my window and it makes me smile.

I truly believe that it’s more important to be kind than to be right. What I mean is if you’re talking to someone and they say something that you know isn’t correct, for example they call a blue spruce a juniper or something silly like that, I think it’s better to just ignore it and listen to the person with respect and interest than to say, “Actually you’re wrong. It’s a juniper”. That to me is not kind. It embarrasses some people to be called out for things like that. Also who cares what it’s really called? You’re talking to the person to be their friend and relate to them on a personal level not identify tree species. I hear people do it all the time. I don’t get why. Now if a person says something that is truly wrong and you feel a moral obligation to correct them that’s totally different. Or if they’re saying untrue things about another person. I’m talking about dumb little things that don’t matter. Why make them feel foolish for absolutely no reason at all? That’s just unkind.

I always try to weigh in my mind how necessary something is to say before I say it. It may be that the thing I’m saying is just an interesting point to me but to the person I’m talking to it may be hurtful. It could be that the person I’m talking to already has a fragile self esteem in the first place and correcting them on meaningless points will just make them feel stupid.

I sure don’t succeed all the time and I hurt people’s feelings too, I know that. I’m just putting this out there ’cause I think some folks don’t really realize that they may be being hurtful and if somebody points it out maybe they’ll think about it a little.