Us And Faith

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Mimic Nature
photo from pixabay

photo from Pixabay

Last weekend I was reading a book called “The Miracle of Mind Power” by Dan Custer, and in his book he made the statement that humans are born with faith, and lots of it. We have faith that a chair will hold us, or an apple seed will produce an apple, or that our gardens will do well, but when it comes to a Higher Power we tend to redirect this faith somewhere else, so when people say we don’t have faith that’s not exactly true.

For a long time I had total faith in things not working out, I lived with fear, anxiety, and worry, I had so much faith in it that it continued to manifest in my life year after year. Believing what I was taught as a child I thought I didn’t have any faith, but in reality I had a lot of faith, faith in what I didn’t want in my life.

Society teaches us to fear and worry about everything going on, the news tells story after story of hate, anger, and violence. Watching these types of things can redirect our faith to hate, anger, and violence, and when our faith is in these things we will begin to see it more and more wherever we go.

I don’t want to live this way, I want to redirect my faith back to love, happiness, and hope. Yes, violence and hate will continue to be seen on TV and be read in the newspapers, but my personal world will be full of love and happiness.

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Are We Willing To Do The Work Needed To Make The World Better?

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Mimic Nature
Photo from pixabay

Photo from pixabay

I have to get something off of my chest this morning, you could call this a rant but I would say it’s righteous anger, if there is such a thing.

I read a post yesterday that was bashing Natalie Portman for her opinion that one act of genocide is no more important than another. Not only were these people who were commenting on the article calling her bad names and telling her to shut up, they were acting as if her opinion didn’t matter when it does. Even I could see that Natalie was expressing her opinion that all lives are equally important.

As I read this post a fire was beginning to build within me, I couldn’t believe that people could be so uncaring of other people who have died. When people act like this it creates a victim mentality and starts a long line of “mine is worse than yours” ideas which feed division and separation between nationalities, sexes, and classes. None of this promotes a loving and unifying atmosphere that encourages love, compassion, and kindness, and yet we sit and wonder why the world is going down the toilet. We as humans will continue down the war-torn road we have always been on because we fail to see the value in all people, and we fail to change the things that perpetuate war and genocide.

What bothered me the most was their lack of compassion for anyone but their own “kind” of people, as if everyone else who died doesn’t matter. What happened to love? What happened to compassion? I wanted to share my thoughts so I commented on how sad I thought their logic was, how sad it was that they didn’t care about anyone but themselves and their own people. I wanted to add a few more choice words like arrogant and prideful but I refrained from doing that out of respect for their opinions, unlike them, I know every person and their perspective matter. We all go through hardships and many let those hardships define them and make them who they are, so in the end they become bitter and spill this negative energy on everyone who comes in contact with their words.

What has this taught me? That I don’t like it when people act as if other people don’t matter, as if their life was only created to be thrown away like a piece of trash, or that their life was only created to be a slave to someone else. Defining another persons life as beneath your own is above ANY humans pay-grade, only one Being gets to define each life and it will judge, not by human standards, but appropriately and fairly.

 

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Tackeling The Overpopulation Myth

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Mimic Nature
overpopulation

Are there too many people?

I shared an article on my Facebook page the other day about overpopulation.

I don’t want to use any statistics for this research, I read a statistic the other day that said 42.6% of statistics are made up on  the spot and who needs them anyway, most statistics are not done in your area and won’t reflect what you see going on in life. We can all figure out our own statistics, all you have to do is observe what is going on around you.

I notice 2 major problem when observing my area,

  1. Abandoned buildings.
  2. Large fields that grow corn, soybeans, and wheat.

I know many may think #2 is food that is grown for all those people who are taking over the planet, but I don’t see them as food. My biggest problem with them is with 3 little letters, G-M-O, plus I don’t feel comfortable eating something that people are tampering with.

So when I look around me, I don’t see an overpopulation problem, I see a waste and greed problem.

Here’s Hitler’s thoughts on overpopulation and what his plan was to fix it.

The Nazis supported territorial expansionism to gain Lebensraum (ideology proposing German expansion) as being a law of nature for all healthy and vigorous people of superior races to displace people of inferior races; especially if the people of a superior race were facing overpopulation in their given territories. It was the stated policy of the Nazis to kill, deport, or enslave the Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, and other Slavic populations, whom they considered inferior, and to repopulate the land with Germanic people. ~Wikipedia

Do we live in America, the home of the free, or do we live in Nazi Germany where people deemed inferior were killed or deported for their land?

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The Happy Things In Life

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Mimic Nature
Bathroom Buddy

Art Piece #1

I want to share one of the things that make my life happier. I purchased this plant a few years ago, I know you can’t see it that well but the plant is now chest high.

My husband and I decided to put it in the bathroom since it’s warmer and more humid, especially in the winter months. At first I was a little embarrassed that I found myself sitting and talking to the plant, I also found that this plant is special, it is a time machine in disguise. When I sit and rub one of the leaves I get transported back to when I was a kid running through the fields or playing outside.

Buddy #2

Art Piece #2

I loved it so much I bought a second plant just like it and put it in the living room. I always wanted my home to be full of artwork that was big and beautiful and that expressed who I am and now I have it.

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Ever Wondered What Social Permaculture Is About?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Mimic Nature
helping others

Helping nature AND people

I wrote a previous post about social permaculture and what it’s definition is according to someone else. Lately I have been thinking about love, work, helping others, and living a happy life, and when you get down to the basic foundation, these are what social permaculture is all about.

How do you live a life of social permaculture? You can do anything you feel is beneficial to those around you.  You could,

  1. Be respectful to all people. I see respect as treating others the way you would want to be treated, so treating others in a kind and loving way will help them feel like someone cares. In most cases, the simplest things you can do, will mean the most.
  2. Make eye contact and say hi. Another simple thing you can do that makes people feel like they matter.
  3. Do the best you can at everything you do. Most of the things you do are not really for yourself but are for others. When I do laundry I don’t do if for myself even though I do wash my own clothes, I do laundry for my family and when I do it to the best of my ability it shows my family that I care a lot about them.

I could continue but I think you get my point, treating nature in a way that is more natural and benefits yourself and other animals is really important, but so is how we treat other human beings. It’s disturbing to see how compassionate people are towards animals and how judgmental they are towards other human beings, people matter just as much as nature. If we only focus on nature we miss a huge part of the puzzle and when you are missing pieces, the puzzle will not form a beautiful picture.

I know its challenging but if we incorporated social permaculture values along with doing permaculture techniques, we would really have a movement of epic proportions.

Today I am going to do my housework the best I can without complaining, I am going to take my husband out for lunch since he has been working so hard lately (along with thanking him for his hard work), and I will challenge myself to say hi to as many people as I can.

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My Self-Discipline Challenge

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Mimic Nature

challengeYesterday I decided to start a 30 day blogging challenge. I love to blog and share with others but some days I lack the initiative to write because of various reasons. When you get right down to it, I have plenty of time during the day I just don’t manage my time as well as I should, so for 30 days I am going to try to manage my time better and get done what I need to get done.

Today’s blog I decided to get back to my happiness journal. Happiness is an important part of anything in life, especially the more challenging areas that tax our moods and emotions. Here are some of the reasons I fail to see beauty in my life,

  1. Work. Some days my job can suck the happiness out of me. I work 1st shift so that first 8 hours can set the tone for the rest of the day.
  2. Fear. This should be first on my list because it messes with my happiness more than anything else. Fear can be broken down into a lot of subcategories but the biggest ones in my life are anxiety, worry, depression, and anger.
  3. School. I do home school my kids, and even though I use an online school that has the curriculum and everything already there for me, I still have to help my 2nd grade son a lot since he is having trouble reading.
  4. Feelings. This one may sound weird but you’ll understand when I’m done why I added this and what I mean. There are days where I get the feeling that I am doing everything myself and no one is helping me. Are these feelings true? 99 percent of the time these feelings of doing everything myself are not true. I also get the feeling that I don’t have time for this or that because I have too much to do. Is this true? If I am totally honest with myself, I know I fail to manage my time efficiently and end up wasting it doing things that I didn’t need to do while failing to do the things I should.

The first step to finding happiness is to observe what is blocking it in the first place. Once you begin to notice the little things that block your happiness, you can start working on a plan change it. The biggest change I had to make, and am still making, is my perspective about what I am doing. I need to focus on the blessings each of them contain rather than focusing on the negative.

happinessWhen you are too focused on the grey cloud, you fail to see the silver lining.

Once you observe what is blocking your happiness and you begin to set a plan in motion to change these blockages, you must find the self-discipline to continue.

If you truly desire happiness then you will find the things in life that feed your happiness.

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I Care

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Mimic Nature
I care

I care

Sometimes the most inspiration you receive comes from areas you wouldn’t expect it to, so I was surprised when I received some inspiration from a book I had to read for work.

In a nutshell the book is about mutual respect in the workplace, and how having respect for yourself and for others will not only make work more bearable but will increase productivity and satisfaction from patients and customers.

I would also like to define respect as I see it, I don’t see respect as admiration for something someone else accomplishes, I see respect as treating others the way you would want to be treated. If you don’t like people looking down on you don’t look down on others.

As I was reading this book I began to realize how something as small as doing your job to the best of your ability shows how much you care. If you came to my shop and I did everything I could to help you or get you what you wanted you would know that I care about you.

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically

I began to understand that helping others feel better is as simple as doing the best you can in whatever you are doing. When I do the best I can at laundry, or cooking, or cleaning, my family will know that I care about their well-being. This extends to every area of your life, your family, you job, and to your gardens.

I am not perfect at this and I need a lot of work myself, but if we really understood the meaning behind do your best then maybe we would take it more seriously and stop this trend of uncaring, unloving attitudes.

“An ecology of feeling leads us to a new ecological ethics that declares we should conserve nature not only because it is useful or because its complexity has an intrinsic value. We should protect other beings because we love them. We love them because we are a part of them, and even more, because they are part of us.” ~Spiritual Ecology

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The Down and Outs of Gardening

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Mimic Nature

IMG_0329 I know it’s hard to see but this is my gooseberry bush. My husband and I planted that around 3 years ago and every year that bush is full of leaves and berries. This year was no different, it was full of leaves and was loaded with berries about 3 weeks ago, but as you can see something really bad happened since that time.

The only thing I can remember happening is around 3 to 4 weeks ago I was mowing my yard, when I was almost done I noticed the truck our local co-op uses to spray the fields pull into the field surrounding our home. I remember because there was a breeze and I didn’t want to get covered in the mist coming out of that sprayer, and I also said a little prayer for my new willow tree that I planted behind the barn.

When they have sprayed the fields in previous years we only notice the grass dying in certain areas but there are certain things like our grape vines that seem to die every year that have us wondering if the grass isn’t the only thing being effected by the spray.

I can’t prove that the bush was killed by the field spray but it does seem pretty odd that the bush  was full and vibrant just a month ago, showing no signs of dis-ease and now it’s only a twig in the ground.

When times like these come up I begin to wonder why I even try to do this. Why do I even try to plant and live in an organic way when death is at the end of my property trying to get at my plants. While writing this post a verse came into my mind,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

A thief is trying to steal my prosperity by killing my food source. Next year I have decided to buy some wood and build raised beds so my food can be closer to the house (my house is in the center of my property and will be farther away from the field and it’s harmful chemicals).

I don’t know why this year the bush was effected and was fine other years, I know I did hear farmers say that the crops are becoming resistant to the old chemicals so maybe this year they made a new formula that was more hazardous and spreads farther? I also know they are not supposed to spray when it’s windy, and even though the wind was only about 10 miles per hour it was strong enough to spread it at the ends of the field where it came onto my property.

 Some day we will be free from thieves who steal but for now I refuse to give up on what I am trying to accomplish on my little piece of land.

I am grateful for what I have and I’m sure my bush will bounce back next year.

 

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When Guru’s Don’t Work 2

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Mimic Nature
present moment

Your purpose lies within the present moment. You will miss it if you are too busy thinking about the past or the future.

With the help of some great people and through my own experience I have learned more about what to do when guru’s don’t work.

In my last post I thought that controlling my emotions/feelings would help me be more balanced on the inside and I wasn’t completely wrong, balancing our emotions is essential to a healthy mental life, but I missed something.

Thoughts and emotions go hand in hand, one may come first and feed the other but it works either way. I had a situation that evoked a feeling which sparked negative thoughts, but just like I couldn’t flip a switch and change my thoughts, I couldn’t flip a switch and change my feelings either. As I went through my day allowing these feelings and thoughts to circulate I found myself becoming unhappy and upset. I was upset at myself for not having more control and unhappy because I knew that these types of thoughts weren’t right to have, they were causing dis-ease within me.

When I got home I decided to just clean areas of my home that had been neglected for a while, I started working and before I knew it the feelings and emotions were gone.

Viola, I had my answer!

The key to stopping any thought or feeling you don’t want is to bring yourself into the present moment and focus on what you are doing. I know it’s a cliché that many people don’t understand correctly but the answer is,

Through love serve one another.

When I came home I began to serve my family by doing what needed to be done, so in that moment of serving them my mind became clear and focused instead of thinking about the past or the future.

I have often had moments where I would be out working and my mind became peaceful and focused in the present moment, in these moments I feel balanced and whole. I feel this in the garden, when cutting wood, and even with my animals.

The next time you have a thought or feeling that you don’t want, don’t fight it, just bring yourself into the present moment and do something to help others. It can be as simple as sending a note to someone letting them know they are thought about, cleaning the house for the family, or playing with your dog or cat (yes we can serve nature as well).

Each persons purpose in life is what they are doing in each moment, my purpose right now is to type this blog.

Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment and serve.

 

 

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When the Guru’s Don’t Work

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Mimic Nature

feelingsI have been in the process of changing myself for many, many years now. If I was completely honest with you, it has only been in the last 7 years that I have taken this change more seriously. I guess this would be what many call a mid-life crisis, a point in your life when you  begin to question the meaning of life itself and your place within it.

Like most people I began to search, I was raised within the christian faith so that is where I began to search but over time I started looking outside of this faith to see what other people had to say about it too. This lead me to many different cultures and showed me the diversity of how people view life and see their place within it.

I won’t go into detail about what I found but one of the biggest themes in most of them was our thought patterns. Many see our thought patterns as a source of who we become, so if you think bad thoughts then you will have a bad life, but if you want to change your life then you must change your thoughts.

I have tried this over and over again with no lasting results, yes I may have a good day here and there but overall it has done nothing to change my inner self. Actually it is making it worse because I am beginning to feel like a failure, here I am almost 40 and I feel I have wasted a huge portion of my life being unhappy and confused. Don’t get me wrong, I have been making changes on the outside that make me feel happy like planting more flowers and doing little changes around the home but I still don’t feel ‘right’, if you know what I mean.

Today I have been feeling down, I am getting tired of trying so hard just to have myself revert back to my old ways in an instant. I’m tired of fighting my thoughts, which scientist think is a never-ending stream even though you may not realize all of them, I’m also tired of fighting what many religions call my ego.

In this low point I found my answer.

If you want to control your thoughts then you need to control your feelings.

I began to think about this for awhile and I began to realize that it is true, when I don’t like something I feel it first then the stream of thoughts begin. You may think they are happening at the same time but they’re not, the feeling my come only a split second earlier but it’s still first, so I began to realize that my thoughts were only a side-effect of my feelings.

This doesn’t mean I can’t feel at all it just means that I must learn to control it. If you go back through this blog and pay attention to how many times you see the word feel, you will see that my feelings are changing my thoughts and mood which is effecting my overall life in a negative way.

Can you see this as true in your own life?

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