Guns, Mental Health & Social Consciousness

I started this blog post on December 14th, 2012 , the night of the Sandy Hook masacre.  Tonight I've decided to revisit my unfinished posts and picked this one, I'm now ready to share my thoughts.

I had a lot to write, it was flowing like the Niagara river this morning while I was driving to work but now that I am sitting infront of the computer I'm speachless, or should I say, thoughtless!  Guess this happens all the time.  Note to self- pick up a voice recorder for car since I get my best ideas in the car!!  Dont know if absorbing and processing the horrible news of yet another mass shooting has anything to do with it, but funny thing, I was thinking along the same lines this morning even before I learned about the shootings.

I have not been formally schooled on any of these topics, but I do read and I am able to comprehend, analyze and put subjects in perspective.  I am very  perceptive  and since in my twenties I became interested in the area of human behavour, spirituality and the convergence of science and spirituality.  I became bored and frustrated with "religiosity" and started a journey of spiritual awakening.  I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and believe whole heartedly that if christians really observed Jesus' teachings we would not have most of the problems that we do today.  The thing is, many people "believe in Jesus Christ, but they do not "believe Jesus Christ"!  Think about it for a second here.  I do concur that spiritual awakening  is a journey, not a destination and not everyone will "wake up" at the same time.  I also have a gift of detecting b***sh**t.  

Now about this latest mass shooting.  I must give credit to the one person who has been relentless in pursuing this topic lately - +Piers Morgan of the Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN fame.  I do not get the American gun culture one bit, and none of it makes any sense whatsoever!  On the one had, most of these folks are "consevative" bible thumping Christians and on the other hand, they believe they need to be loaded down with arms for protection - are we missing something here?  From what I can see, America has long past the wild, wild west stage of its formation.  It has also passed the hunting for food stage, and even the agriculture sector is now controlled by huge multi-national conglomerates so that argument is mute.  City folks do not need to carry guns, people living in fear will believe they need guns for protection, but how much of this protection does a gun give it's owner?  Christians needing the protection of guns, ha, what a contradiction.  Where is the love?  And where is the faith?  And what about the belief that you trust the Lord to take care of you?  Confilcted, conflicted, conflicted!  No wonder people are confused, because the "new" brand of Christianity is preach one thing, and live another.  On second thought that's not so new, it's called hyprocrisy.

The other issue is mental health.  Mental health challenges+weapons = deadly combination.  We have seen this over, and over, and over again.  So why is this so difficult to get consesus on this from the lawmakers?  Research is saying about 20% of the population now have, have had or will experience some degree of mental health crisis in the future.  My uninformed, unscientific guesstimate would say it way higher, and I am basing this on the number of people I encounter in my daily life who have teens, young adults and or spouses with extremely difficult behavour and personality challenges but who would not think of seeking counselling let alone  seeing a psychiatrist/psychologist.  They'd rather live unfulfilled, unproductive lives and potentially deadly existence than seek help.  There's the stigma, and then there's the cost.  Even people who can I think can afford it balk at the thought of forking over money for this type of thing because in their mind "it's not going to work, it will be a waste of money" without trying.  There are folks who genuinely cannot afford counselling not covered by health plans.  There has to be a way to get these individuals the help they need.  You know the saying, pay now or pay later, either way you pay?  If access to care is provided, the cost to society would be a lot less not only in dollars & cents but in tragidies and suffering.

The Mental Health Frontier needs drastic changes in different areas of society in order to stem the tide of people suffering from debilitating mental health challenges and help foster happier, healthier citizens. I believe the Government has a large role to play in this, not just publishing pretty pamphlets about mental health, but in making policies, mandates and directives strategically put together to encompass the whole range mental health welbeing.   Start by working tirelessly to eliminate the stigma.  After all, I believe mental health should be viewed no different from cancer, heart attack or any other disease of the body.  No matter what the cause, be it genetic, trauma  physiological at the end of the day the resulting malidy is a bio-chemical situation.  One are that needs addressing pronto is teaching people to deal with stress - starting with the children.  There seem to be a significant number of children suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression.

I give due credit to +The Toronto Star and +The National Post.  These two papers are the ones I read the most and I can say they've been a source of education for me and on the subject of Mental Health, fantastic.  Both papers have run great series on the topic, I've actually referred people to these articles when having discussions about social/health issues. 

Another eye opener for me was What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole (2006) - IMDb Getting all these brilliant people to do this video which deals with issue of science, spirituality and religion was amazing.  I try to watch it ever so often just to refresh myself and each time I watch I see something I missed before.

My prayer, my wish, my hope is for a world with a lot more love and compassion.

MissSam

PERCEPTION VS INTUITION AND THE FATE OF AMANDA KNOX

It is my opinion that an individual's perception is developed based on their likes, dislikes, life experiences, desires, pain and pleasures.  In other words, we develop a perception of an individual or situation, and then we judge that individual or situation based on our perception.  This can be damning!  Of course, because of positive perception of some a person who may not be deserving will get a free pass. 

On the other hand, intuition, which is your "inner guide", some people call it spirit, in religious circles you will hear people say "The Lord spoke to me", or "God told me".  My intuition has NEVER been wrong!  I can relate situation after situation when I did or didnt follow my intuition and the consequences - good and bad.  My challenge was, and still is, but to a lesser extent now, to learn to listen the that still quiet voice.  It is so subtle, it is easy to miss, or override it with logic.  It could be as simple as backing out your driveway and that quiet voice says take route X this moring instead of your usual route Y.  You override it by saying to yourself, "ah, I'll just take route Y because it's the highway, and I prefer to drive on the highway".  As soon as you pull on to the freeway and floor the gas there comes the sireen blaring behind you - you get pulled over and presented with a speeding ticket, and now your'e also late.  It is at this point you will say "if only I'd listened to myself, I would not have gotten a ticket, and would not end up being late".   Here's the tricky part - knowing to differentiate from your own logical or irational thoughts and your inner thoughts or your intuition!

As +Byron Katie famously said "just because you had a thought doesnt mean it's true".  This is simple but profound!  Too bad the way the world is programmed these days it now appear as though folks think up their own truths about other people and situations.

One of my cousins posted this status on facebook the other day (May 3rd),

"Your personality is your greatest asset or greatest liability, for it embraces everything that you control:  mind, body,and soul. A person's personality is the person. It shapes the nature of your thoughts, your deeds, your relationships with others, and it establishes the boundaries of the space you occupy in the world.
It is essential that you develop a pleasing personality—pleasing to yourself and to others. It is imperative that you develop the habit of being sensitive to your own reactions to individuals, circumstances, and events and to reactions of individuals and groups to what you say, think, or do, (whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can Achieve!!!"  

 I commented that he had finally woke up, meaning his consciousness has opened up.  I was delighted to see the growth taking place in him, because I know he struggled for a long time.  I'm happy for him and will continue to encourage him to unleash the great wisdom that is locked up in him.  And on May 7th, just after watching the Amanda Knox interview on CNN, which gave me the idea for this blog post, I read this status on my cousin's facebook page:

"Two opposite qualities are very prevalent in human nature, but each is a major roadblack to accurate thinking. Credulousness—the habit of believing on basis of little or no evidence—is a major human fault, for it is fatal to accuracy in thinking."  I applaude my cousin for he has begun a journey which will lead him to greater understanding of himself and the world in which he lives. 

Reading this post knowing the quote came from my cousin's course material solidified what I felt as I listened to Amanda, Jack Tapper - her interviewer and watched her reactions.   I have watched news features and bits of the televised trial of Amanda Knox, and my reaction during those times were no different than my reaction to this interview.  Perception about this young beautiful American girl and the eagerness of the authorities to "nail the perpetrator" put Amanda Knox behind bars.  And of course, not only her, but right in the United States of America, and here in Canada many innocent souls are languishing in prison because of the perception of others!  Just think about this for a minute, this could have been any young beautiful American girl, your sister, your daughter, your neice - it just happened to be Amanda Knox!  I sensed that the Itallian authorities and media started off with a biased perception of American girls, code word I heard translated to:  they are loose, they are sexually promiscuous, sexaholics!  "And if  they are this, them they must be that as well". 

This is a great shame and misfortune for humanity because with all our sophistication, education and advances in science at the core have we really evolved any?  If, still, in year 2012, or 2013, we can still allow our judgements to be coloured by our own biases are we  any farther ahead than those who burned witches or stoned prostitutes?

 My heart goes out to all the innocent people convicted for crimes they didnt commit.  I pray that they will be strengthened, and that theywill persevere.  I pray that in the end, a greater purpose will have been served and their misfortune will turn into good.



Perception:  Dead Tree

 

Before the
new leaves of Spring


MissSam


Wikipedia: Perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment.Perception is not the passive receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory, and expectation.
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without inference and/or the use of reason.^[1] "The word 'intuition' comes from the Latin word 'intueri' which is usually translated as 'to look inside' or 'to contemplate'."^[2] Intuition provides us with beliefs that we cannot justify in every case.