Time to Shine

Now is the time to shine the light of you.

There are those who have been comfortable in the dim and the dark who will shout to turn off the light. For far too long, we listened to them.

 

No more.

It's been 2 years since I posted anything on my blog, not for lack of something to say, but for being overwhelmed with what to say. I cannot not say anything any longer.

For far too long, there's been an US vs THEM mentality in the world:
Village X is better than Village Y.
Social Status X is better than Social Status Y.
High School X is better than High School Y.
College X is better than College Y.
Sport A team X is better than Sport A team Y.
Job X is better than Job Y.
Country X is better than Country Y.
Gender X is better than Gender Y.
Sexual Orientation X is better than Sexual Orientation Y.
Religion X is better than Religion Y.
Skin Color X is better than Skin Color Y.

This won't change over night, but it needs to change.

Shine your light. Shine bright. Lumos maxima!

---------

I grew up white. My school books taught me that white people created practically everything. I grew up with white Disney princesses. I grew up with white Jesus. So, like most white people, I didn't realize there was anything wrong with life on Earth.

I grew up listening to older people use racial slurs as a matter of course and laughing about it.

There was 1 black kid in my grade school, and we were not nice to her. I was probably one of the meanest people to her. I had been bullied by other kids. When she showed up in school, she had some quirks and a demeanor that made her seem weaker than me, so I bullied her and did my worst to make her feel like less in order to make myself feel like more. I started bullying her about her quirks, but I laid into her skin color. The racial slurs that I had heard come out of other people's mouths were coming out of mine. I have no idea what happened to her. She was not in my Junior High, or High School. I hope she's okay now.

I had some healing to do. I had some learning to do.

I grew up before the internet was a thing. So, it's not like I could just go on Google to learn real history instead of the white washed version I'd been taught.

People were/are part of my growth process. One of my friends in grade school was of Mexican descent. One of my friends in Junior High was of Japanese descent. One of my friends in college was of Chinese descent. And my best friend, whom I met in Junior High, was born in Iran (she is now a naturalized citizen). I'm not trying to virtue signal here. These people are how I healed. These people are how I learned.

Not everyone I tried to be friends with so that I could learn was all that into wanting to let me. Too many questions. Too intense. Too much. Not their job to teach me. Mad at me for not already knowing stuff. Even some of the people who were friends with me for awhile, got burned out.

The one person who lasted, the one person who is still in my life today, is the one person who is the most patient while I ask questions (probably a bit insensitively at times). She is my best friend, and like a sister to me. I am thankful for her.

Not all of my awakening and learning was from people/friends.  I needed to heal me. I needed to do the work of looking within. I needed to fix what was broken within. I needed to realize that I cannot control life, nor can I control people. I needed to concentrate on finding the real me.

The real me realizes that the world does not revolve around me. The real me realizes that being compassionate towards others takes nothing away from me.  The real me realizes that I lose nothing of myself by allow others to also be themselves. The real me realizes that there is no US vs THEM. The real me realizes that there is only WE. The real me realizes that I am you and you are me and we are one.

Though I consider myself woke now, I realize that I still have learning to do.

For example, when Colin Kaepernick first took a knee at an NFL game during the national anthem, I was right there with most white people asking why he was disrespecting the flag and the country. It wasn't until I heard the explanation of why he took a knee that I understood. Go Colin!

And, when Black Lives Matter first started, I was right there with most white people saying that all lives matter. It wasn't until I heard explanations that I understood. One of the explanations that helped me was something about burning houses (I wish I'd bookmarked it). The explanation was something to the effect of a neighbor's house is burning, and while all the houses in the neighborhood are worth saving, this one house that is burning right now needs the attention of the firefighters.

Right now, life on Earth is changing. For the better. We are coming out of the dark. No matter how dim your light may be at this moment in time, your light can grow. Keep shining your light. Keep learning.

Today is a great day to learn something new. The world is our largest school and everyone in it is a teacher. What did you learn today? pic.twitter.com/r1CUtaW7vU

— Artists for Peace and Justice (@artistsforpeace) March 9, 2020

1 Peter 3
10 For Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

An Open Letter to My Future Husband

Dear Future Husband,

When the time comes that you decide you're ready to propose, please, please, please DO NOT get me an engagement ring. Why? Because I see them as a sign of ownership, a sign of possession. As the man I love, I hope you know that I desire to live our lives together in partnership, as equals. Engagement rings just do not reflect that equality for me. Please do not waste your money on an engagement ring.

To start our married lives together, I would love for our wedding to be OUR wedding. Meaning that we start off our wonderful journey through life as the partners in love that we are by having things we both like at our wedding. We're choosing to blend our lives together, so we can certainly blend our styles and preferences in the ceremony and reception.

As a show of equality, respect, and admiration in our partnership of love, I'd like to ensure that the person presiding over our ceremony does not include the term "obey" in our vows, and I'd like to be pronounced husband and wife because we are both married.

Once we're married, please, please, please never use the phrase, "Happy wife, happy life." That will not make me happy. That phrase says to me that the relationship is totally one sided, that the wife is some sort of dictator, and the husband is not allowed to think or feel or be anything other than what the wife approves of. No. Not me. I do not wish to be a dictator. Our marriage is an equal partnership. I've got your back, and you've got mine.

Your future wife (aka your future partner in love),
Jennie <3

Tarot Tuesday -- May 01, 2018

Today's question: Am I on the right path with my healing?

Today's spread: The Cross of Truth

The result:

BASIS:

The Four of Swords says that I am currently still convalescing, still healing. Even though I may want to be done with the process, I still need to charge my batteries and rejuvenate so that when the time comes to get a move on, I'll be ready to do just that. Things will heat up soon, so for now, just chill.

I decide when he's well. It's your turn when I say it's your turn.
...
I like that; the patient telling the doctor it's alright.
--Patricia Hayes as Urgl in The Neverending Story

https://vimeo.com/116808115

DESIRES:

The Ten of Cups says that I desire love and happiness in a lasting successful marriage.

This is actually one of my nightly prayers:
"I desire a happy, healthy, loving marriage."

No fear, no loss, no tears,

The time is almost here.
Our dreams will all come true, I promise you
--Robbie Robb's In Time from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

https://youtu.be/9V03gdN1jNs

HELPFUL:

The Nine of Cups says that my wishes (aka desires) will come true. I will be emotionally healthy to enjoy the love and happiness coming my way. And I will be physically healthy so that I will have the stamina to enjoy the fortune of love coming my way. The 2 mice remind me to stay focused.

Raise a Green Juice to your health.
Cheers!
http://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/healing-power-of-celery

OPPOSING:

The Eight of Cups says that the challenge I will have to face is walking away from my current way of life. To realize what no longer fulfills me and walk away. To know that I have healed and let go of the past. The challenge of being myself. The mole says to let go of doubt, and just trust. 

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway

--Disney's Frozen, Let It Go
https://youtu.be/moSFlvxnbgk

OUTCOME:

The Seven of Cups says that I will have a plethora of good choices available to me soon and warns me not to get lost in or overwhelmed by my good fortunes. Choose wisely. Don't get lost in the clouds. The dove indicates peace.

Oh, the rhythm of my heart Is beating like a drum
With the words I love you Rolling off my tongue
No never will I roam For I know my place is home
Where the ocean meets the sky I'll be sailing

-- Rod Stewart's Rhythm of My Heart
https://youtu.be/MEbC46YxXlY

Overall, I'd say the cards are saying yes, I am on the right path. Stay focused. Good stuff is on the way.

You stay focus.
You best karate still inside you.
Now time let out.

--Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part III

https://youtu.be/_S6GYF1B8Yk

Tarot Tuesday -- April 24, 2018

I decided to try my hand at tarot card reading. I've been interested in it for awhile. So, when I was visiting my friend in Vegas in February, and we wandered through a store with tarot decks, I bought one. It just felt like the right time to buy a tarot deck. I then let it sit for a couple of months before I opened the package because I was not yet motivated to do a reading.

Earlier in April, I got motivated to do a reading for myself to try my skills. I did the Celtic Cross, and the outcome was super positive. Lots of love in my future! :-)

The specifics of that reading I'm keeping to myself. But after that reading, I had the thought to do a tarot reading every Tuesday. And this is my first Tarot Tuesday, and my second reading.

The deck I'm using is the Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti.
The book I'm using is Easy Tarot Handbook by Josephine Ellershaw.

Today's question: How are we doing in the United States?*

*Actually, Josephine Ellershaw advises in the handbook to write
down your question and keep track of your interpretations.
I did not write down my question because I thought for sure
I'd remember what I asked. I did not. Not exactly.
It was something like, what is the state of the States?
So, this question is approximately what I asked.
Lesson learned.

The spread I felt I should use is the Nine Card Spread. I closed my eyes, shuffled the cards, divided the deck into 3 piles, gathered those piles into 1, and laid out the cards using my right hand. Here is what I laid out:

The Past:

There are two fire cards (Cups) followed by an air card (Swords): Five of Cups, Four of Cups, Six of Swords.

The Present:

There are three air cards (Swords): Five of Swords, Three of Swords, Two of Swords.

The Future:

There is 1 air card (Swords) followed by 1 earth card (Pentacles), followed by 1 air card (Swords): Ace of Swords, Queen of Pentacles, Queen of Swords.

My overall interpretation:
We in the United States were disillusioned, now we're arguing, but everything will be okay.

But like, duh...anyone who's even half paying attention to what's going on now could've said the exact same thing without doing a tarot reading, right?

Well, yeah, probably. But, the cards are communicating that the spirit realm is confirming that, and reassuring that everything will turn out okay, if we work on it.

More specifically on The Past:

The Five of Cups says that we citizens of the U.S. were feeling disappointed with the way things were going. That we felt we were not being heard by our government, and we felt our voices were lost. Like the country we all loved had betrayed us. We saw only the disappointments and failures. We did not, could not, would not see that all was not indeed lost.

The Four of Cups says that we got burned out by our disappointment. So much so that we could not see, or didn't care to see, that the hand of God was working on our behalf to better things. Because we could not see this guiding hand, we felt like our voices didn't matter, so why bother caring. Like, my 1 vote doesn't matter, so why bother voting at all. Like we just decided to concentrate on "me" and let go of the stress of worrying about things we felt we could not change. A lot of us just stopped paying attention and we drank the Kool-aid.

The Six of Swords says that our long journey of disappointment, disillusionment, and hopelessness came to an end. The woman is sailing out of the Past into the Present. The sun was setting on the previous 2 cards, and then we entered the night. While we slept, we were carried out of our fog. And  even though there were swords stuck in the bottom of our boat, some by ourselves and some by our enemies, we did not sink. Fear not. There is hope.

More specifically on The Present:

The Five of Swords says that after our boat ride through the night, through our disillusionment, we wake up to a new day of realizing there is deliberate deceit at work. That there are people claiming to be heroes who are not at all what they claim to be. That those people do not deserve to be heralded. We now see that some people in power who claim to be on our side are not; they are on their side. Most of us who were asleep are now woke and are paying attention again.

The Three of Swords says that now that we are waking up and seeing the deceit around us, we are angry. We are mad at the deceivers. We are mad at ourselves. We are mad at our neighbors, friends, and family. We are just mad. And as we work things out, we fight not only the deceivers, we fight ourselves as well. But we need to see that through all the fighting, we are arguing over the same love for our country. The storm can clear, and there can be a resolution, a healing.

The Two of Swords says that not everyone sees a problem going on in the United States. While some citizens are woke, some are not. Those who are not yet woke, don't see, can't see, or won't see why some people are so angry. Those citizens who have removed their blindfolds need to realize that not every U.S. citizen has done so. Yelling at someone that there is a problem when that person does not, cannot, or will not see that there is a problem is getting us nowhere. Those with blindfolds still on, are not responding to the yelling and the anger. We need a different approach. Even those who are woke are not moving us forward when all we do is yell at each other. We've created an "us" vs "them" atmosphere and we need to be creating a "we" atmosphere.

Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

More specifically on The Future:

The Ace of Swords says if we come together to create that "we" atmosphere, we can and will triumph over this storm of anger. Our success will require everyone to dig deep inside themselves and find the strength we each need to start discussing rather than arguing so that we can bring about real change. If we can do that, we will heal ourselves, and that is something to be celebrated.

The Queen of Pentacles says that a powerful, hard working, practical, detail oriented woman will bring us into a time of prosperity. Maybe we elect a woman president who brings about this prosperity. Maybe it's actually many women (many standing as one) taking on important rolls in society and/or government who bring about this prosperity.

On Earth...

The Queen of Swords says after all our suffering, the light of truth will shine. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

...as it is in Heaven.

Have faith and hope, United States. This too shall pass. We shall heal.

Golden Rule

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

THAT golden rule, not a diatribe about Trump. ;-)

I have seen people behave in a rather ungolden manner for years.

Back when Obama became President of the United States (POTUS), there was some talk and behavior that I didn't care for.  Some of the people who were unhappy that he won spewed a lot of hatred.  As an example:

www.revelist.com/politics/america-responds-obama/5855/keep-protesting/6 

I actually un-friended people on Facebook, but not because of differing opinions. Because their posts looked an awful lot like prejudice and bigotry. 

One side calling the other side names.  Didn't matter which side. 

Everyone claiming they're in the right, they're the good guys.

Now that Trump is POTUS, we're STILL going after each other.

www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/28/snowflake-insult-disdain-young-people

www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-libtard-huppke-20161229-story.html

www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/naked-trump-statue-sells-auction-22g-article-1.2841897

Somewhere along the line, we stopped collaborating and started just calling each other names.  Our 2 party system that was supposed to help create a balance in this country as each side came together for the greater good, finding that middle ground that could propel our country forward, broke.  Now it seems it's come down to, "if you're not on my side, then f--- you!"

Now, instead of quickly un-friending someone online, I've actually tried to listen (or read) what they're trying to say.  Trying to look past any hate or degrading wording and try to listen to what the "other side" is saying.

If we simply claim, "not my circus, not my monkeys," or shun people, or un-friend them, then we limit our understanding of the world, we limit our exposure, we keep our blinders on, we do not grow.  Neither side hears the other.  How is "the other side" supposed to know your love if "your side" never allows them to see your love?

Back to that Golden Rule.  When the insults are lobbed at us, we bemoan that the "other side" is not nice, that they're bullies, they're whatever swear word comes to mind.  But, when "my side" lobs insults at the "other side" then that seems to be okay.

The Golden Rule is NOT "do as I say, not as I do."  As a kid, adults would tell me not to do a thing because it wasn't right nor nice, and then I'd see those same adults do the very thing they just told me not to do.  For example, my cousin and I would be riding in the backseat of Grandma's car and we'd insult people we saw.  Of course Grandma would tell us that was not very Christian of us, so we'd stop. And then within 5 minutes, Grandma would yell at some driver, insulting him/her in a very unChristian way.  My cousin and I, being the smart alecks we are, would tell her the same thing she'd just told us.  She didn't like that very much.

I used to be a very rude person.  I insulted people. I called people names. I made fun of others. Even though I did not like it when people were rude and/or insulting to me.  A vicious cycle of nastiness. As they did unto me (be nasty, insult), I did unto them. The sins of the father visited upon the son.

One time, that I barely recall, someone decided to speak up and actually tell me/yell at me that I was being rude and insulting and that what I was saying and how I was behaving hurt her.  I was taken aback.  She broke the cycle.  It woke me up from the haze I was in.

I gradually grew as a human being. I healed myself on a mental level, and then on a spiritual level. Though, I'm still learning to walk the walk and talk the talk because sometimes I still fall back into old habits, old patterns.

For example, I still occasionally yell at people while I'm driving, "NICE TURN SIGNAL DUMBASS!" And I'm all LMFAO at the Trump and Spicer impersonations on Saturday Night Live. I'm a work in progress.

youtu.be/pZOF9q5fzfs

I understand that sometimes there needs to be a mirror held up, that sometimes we need to speak up and say, "hey, I think you're wrong," and that comedians are often those mirrors and those voices. But, at some point, we need to stop hurling insults.  We need to break that vicious cycle of nastiness.

Peaceful, I reiterate Peaceful, protests are a good way to hold up that mirror and get your voice heard.

www.facebook.com/361050500931442/photos/a.361059087597250.1073741828.361050500931442/374754476227711/?type=3&theater

But, it rather negates your voice to stand at a protest while holding a sign that lobs an insult, no matter how clever and catchy it may seem.

We need to stop lobbing insults and issuing ultimatums and return to the table. Time to sit down and discuss.  Time to stop the "my side" vs "your side." If we can stop with the nastiness, maybe we can find our common ground.  Stop pointing out all the ways we are different and start looking at all the ways we are alike. We're all in this together.  We need to find and create "our side."

As you would have others do unto you, do unto them. No matter how slow your start, just start. One foot, then the other. If you fall (into old patterns), get up, dust yourself off and continue on. Live life in love. Stay gold, Ponyboy; stay gold.

Remembering Just a Few of the Many Lives Lost in 2016

Several famous people returned home to Heaven in 2016.  Their presence on Earth mattered.  Here’s just a smidge of how some of them mattered to me.

Harper Lee: The first author who wrote a book I was forced to read in AP English class that I actually enjoyed!  I read the book in one sitting.  Through the guise of fiction, she dropped some serious wisdom.

Gene Wilder: I adored him and Gilda.  They seemed such a sweet loving couple and their love for each other made me happy.  So many wonderful movies that made me smile.  I still quote the line, “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a woman?!”  LOL!  And, he gave me a Golden Ticket to change the world, ‘cause “there’s nothing to it.”

Alan Rickman:  He was so good at being a bad guy on Die Hard that I really didn’t like him for a long while.  Though, he was the perfect Marvin in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  But when he brought Snape to life, all was forgiven.  He melted my heart when I read his statement, “When I’m 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I’ll be reading Harry Potter.  And my family will say to me, ‘After all this time?’ And I will say, ‘Always.’”  So sweet! 

Florence Henderson: I loved The Brady Bunch and all the show’s incarnations.  I very much missed seeing her when the Brady’s stopped televising their lives.  I was happy to watch her again on Dancing with the Stars and that cooking competition show she was on.  I liked her; she seemed pretty cool.

Gary Marshall: He brought to life so many of my favorite shows and movies to life.  Love, American Style.  The Odd Couple.  Angie.  Happy Days.  Mork & Mindy.  Laverne & Shirley.  Joanie Loves ChaChi.  Beaches.  Pretty Woman.  The Princess Diaries.  All of these shows and movies are part of my memories and my development.

Alan Thicke: He taught me that “you take the good, you take the bad, you take ‘em both and there you have the Facts of Life.” He also preached that the world “don't move to the beat of just one drum; what might be right for you, may not be right for some.”  Exactly!

John Glenn: Pretty sure he’s the astronaut I met at a Star Trek Convention one year.  He had a table in the Vendor room and he was signing autographs for free…and no one was lined up at his table.  I could not believe that at a Sci-Fi convention, people were not geeking out over a guy who’d actually been in space!  I was shocked!  He looked lonely.  I’m not up on my astronaut knowledge and I couldn’t begin to name the actual mission(s) he was on, but I knew his name and that he was a pretty big deal.  I walked over to his table and got his autograph.  It was a bit awkward; I felt bad that I didn’t know every bit about him and therefore not confident enough to start up a conversation, but I’d have felt worse leaving him hangin’.

Carrie Fisher:  She had a rough go of life for awhile there, but she pulled through and figured out how to live her life.  I like her sense of humor.  I know she did other things, but she’ll always be Princess Badass to me.

Debbie Reynolds:  I love her in the Halloweentown movies.  What I love best though is the fact that she collected and preserved movie memorabilia.  A geek after my own heart.

Kenny Baker: I very much appreciate that he brought R2D2 to life.  R2 was awesome!

Tom Peterson: A guy from Portland, Oregon whose commercials woke everyone up late at night and whose haircut was all the buzz.  Just a salesman whose business ended up going under after several years, but he was good at getting people to know his name.  His face is all over my childhood as a Portland icon.  And I still remember the song someone did, “I woke up with a Tom Peterson haircut.”

Agnes Nixon:  She told me all about her children for years and I loved it.  My favorite lives to peek in on were those on One Life to Live.  I still miss that show.  Every once in a while, I wonder what Vicki and Dorian are up to.

Joseph Mascolo: I watched Days of Our Lives with my friend and her mom for about 1 year.  In that year, Stefano DiMera said one of the silliest yet memorable things in a fit of rage and annoyance, “DESTROY THE PHONE!”  That phrase unlocks cherished memories of time spent with my friend and her family.

Nancy Reagan:  I still remember her Just Say No campaign.  And it’s still good advice for any area of life, not just drugs.  If someone is telling you to do something you don’t want to do, just say no.  If someone is telling you to be something you are not, just say no.

Doris Roberts:  I was enchanted by her Mrs. Miracle performances.  From the sass of Marie Baron to the delightful and enchanting Mrs. Miracle; Doris had range.  I saw an interview she did where she explained she had a motto, “I don’t give in.  I don’t give up. I don’t settle.  And I never take no for an answer.”  I admire that.  Know yourself enough to know what you want in life and don’t settle for less than you desire.

George Michael: He taught me to have faith and give my heart to someone special.  I would’ve said he forgot to wake us up before he left, but then I read his obit, and given his work enlightening people as a gay rights activist, I’d say he did.

Zsa Zsa Gabor: Dahling.  I enjoyed seeing her on tv shows back in the day.  She seemed to ooze confidence and charm.  I smiled whenever she guest starred on something or was just on a talk show.

Muhammad Ali:  I’m not really a fan of boxing, but I admired his dedication to his sport.  And his, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” mantra is helpful on occasion.  Like another way of saying Roosevelt’s quote, “Talk softly, and carry a big stick.” Or is it, "Walk softly, and carry a big stick"?

Michu Meszaros:  I very much appreciate that he brought Gordon Shumway into my life.

Ray Tomlinson:  I honestly had no idea who this guy was until I read a list of people who’d passed away in 2016.  According to the list I read, he was the creator of email.  Wow!  That’s cool!  He impacted my life profoundly and I had no idea who he was until just now. 

Makiko Futaki: I didn’t much like anime until I saw Makiko’s work.  Mesmerizing.  I still don’t quite know what Howel’s Moving Castle is about, but I love it!  And Totoro?  What the heck is Totoro?  Not sure, but I love him!  Don’t ruin the magic by giving me an answer.

Glen Frey:  He sang The Heat is On – a song I played in Pep Band, over and over and over.  The man also brought Hotel California into my life.  Crank it up!!!  He checked out, but he’ll never truly leave.

David Bowie:  There are actually few songs of his that I like.  (I hear fans gasping in horror.)  I loved his acting.  Labyrinth.  I mean, come on…Labyrinth!  Am I right?!  Yes, I am.  Aside from that, I admired his strength of character; he was who he was, no pretending, no apologizing.  He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Prince:  I first saw Prince on American Bandstand singing Little Red Corvette.  I fell in love with his music right then.  The man had talent.  A bright light and creative musician.  Though I didn’t really care for his acting, that didn’t turn me away from really really liking his music.  I think I like his Diamonds & Pearls CD best.  

Well, I’m going to put on my raspberry beret and go have some “starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam” to ring in the new year.  

"If you set your mind free baby, maybe you'll understand."

May your 2017 be a good one!

Change is Coming Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I voted early by mail for the November 2016 elections in the United States. So, on Election Day, I put on my White Lily Divine Light raw energy pendant and I chose to walk a labyrinth and pray for the best possible outcome for my country.  I blew on a plant near the labyrinth that looked like a bunch of dandelions in bloom and wished for peace and love for all humankind.

On my way out of the labyrinth area, I was greeted by a white butterfly with black spots.

Later that night, election results revealed red state after red state.  Wait...how can that be right?

In case you hadn't yet figured it out, I did vote for Hillary.  In the very beginning of Trump's campaign, I really liked the "Stick it to The Man" appeal of having a non-politician be President; I am fed up with money overriding democracy.  I, a registered Democrat, almost voted for a Republican as President of the United States (POTUS).  I have voted for Republican candidates for other offices (including this time for 1 state position).  But, then I started hearing the words coming out of Trump's mouth during his campaign and in his past (which he later claimed he didn't say despite the video footage); I saw the things he did during his campaign and in his past (like mocking a differently abled person, and the alleged sexual misconduct). I chose to cast my vote for NOT Trump.

Yes, I was aware that Hillary had several issues as well.  I could go into a point by point list of all the issues that BOTH candidates seemed to share, but I don't want to waste my energy on points that were already made during the campaign.  Hillary hid her issues better than Trump did, like most politicians do.  I went ahead and cast my vote for Hillary because I was slightly less afraid that she would start WWIII vs. Trump; Hillary appeared to be the better diplomat.  I went ahead and cast my vote for Hillary because there seemed to be less hatred and more tolerance surrounding her campaign compared to Trump's campaign.

I thought I voted for love.

When Trump won, I thought hate won.  Seems I'm not alone in that thought.

On Election Night, I actually looked at the Canadian Realtor website.  Good God houses are expensive in Canada!

For those of you still reading and are thinking, "Good!  Get the fuck out then!  Don't let the door hit ya' where the good Lord split ya'!" I'm still here.

Regardless of whether Trump himself is a racist or not, the issue I have, and I suspect many other Hillary voters have as well, is that racism is rearing it's ugly head.  I'm not saying that if you voted for Trump, you are racist.  I know good people who voted for Trump because of reasons they deemed a choice/vote for love.

Despite many nit picky details of how to live life, I believe the majority of us were voting for what we thought was best.

In the days since the election, I've just been breathing, listening to the spirit world, listening to the physical world, questioning, and remembering.  For those who have not yet read my novel, which is most of you since I've sold only 4 copies to date, I remember being in Heaven before coming down to Earth, and I remember bits from the several times that we have all lived these lives before (sort of like past lives, but instead of being a different person, we're living these lives again).

To those of you still reading, thank you.  :-)

I now remember a time in a previous version of this life where Hillary did win.  Things were not all sunshine and roses.  Even with Hillary at the helm, racism was still prevalent.  However, we were still not truly dealing with it; it was as it has been.  Things did not change.  Racism continued to be the pus in a scabbed over wound that would not heal.

I now remember a time when Trump won where I did move to Canada along with many others from the US. The US went to Hell in a hand basket because we did not stand up for our beliefs, we gave up.  If we separate, we let hate win.

We are stronger together.  That was something Hillary's campaign had right.  But things weren't necessarily "better" when Hillary was President.

What I have been told from the Spirit world through visions is that Trump was supposed to win this time.  This IS actually the love and peace I prayed for.

Some still reading may be saying, "WTF?!"  I said that too at first.

This is the beginning of love and peace, if we do things right.

What has been happening in the United States is we've just been glossing over the issue/problem of racism without really dealing with it.  It's like wallpaper.  We've just been putting up layer after layer of wallpaper.  With each new layer, we claim things are better.  But, the old layers of wallpaper are still there.

Every once in awhile through the years, a layer would peel at the seam (eg. Rodney King) and we'd just tape it up or put up a new layer of wallpaper.  "There.  That's better.  More up to date."

Recently, the wallpaper has been peeling faster that we can "fix" it (eg. Native Americans at Standing Rock, and Black Lives Matter).

Now that Trump won, we're seeing, in a way we can no longer gloss over, that racism still exists.  It's exposed by a bright shining spotlight.

No more wallpaper layers.  A remodel is in order.

In a home remodel, some people see a wall covered in layer after layer of wallpaper and would rather demolish the wall than deal with removing all that wallpaper.  While that's one way to do it, so long as you properly support the structure so things don't come crashing down on you, that's not exactly what's needed in the remodeling of our country.  Destroying the walls all together is more of the same glossing over and hoping it all goes away that we've been doing.  Just because you don't see a physical wall, doesn't mean it's gone in a metaphysical/spiritual sense (like Phantom Limb Syndrome).  Put down your sledgehammers!

Time to get to the work of peeling away the layers of wallpaper.  Pick up your choice of either a steamer or a spray bottle and work towards physical and spiritual change.  Remodel this country with the delicate tool of love.  This will take time.  Be patient with yourself and others.

Under President Trump's governance of our country, we have the opportunity to show love, to demonstrate love, to shine love.

This day and every day, practice what you preach.  Be love.

Change is coming. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I pray that we all choose for that to be positive change.

May God be with us America, and also with you President Trump.