The (NOT SO) Skinny Girl

What's the golden rule?  Well, they say it many times in the Bible and it has it's derivatives in other religions.... “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt. 7:12) 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:31

There are so many things to compare and fight for in this day and age. Comparing women vs men and fighting for equal rights. Comparing legal citizens vs illegal citizens and fighting for their rights. Comparing gay vs straight, humanitarian outlook vs self-survival outlook, or classic gender assignment vs new age gender assignment.... really the list can go on but I'm already face-palming and shaking my head.... WHY? Because the bottom line is we are all HUMANS (right??) and we all have certain unalienable rights- in my opinion best outlined as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... and then to be sub-categorized accordingly. What I would like to focus on, in light of February being BLACK HISTORY MONTH, is the Black vs White conundrum that all people are faced with. Last night I attended an event, and I was the minority. Me. White, suburban ME. I was out to promote a dear friend of mine and have a good time. I was out of place and felt it. There were a hand...

I have said it before and I will say it again-- BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD. Be it. Do it. Take action. "Teacher tell student 'you and your parents are getting deported'... is this Trump's America?" If we are blaming Trump for the teacher's actions.... If there are people out there blaming Trump for their actions, those people are a huge part of the problem. Those people are the ones inciting fear. Anyone who blames other people for the way they act or present themselves or treat others is a problem. And I feel that problem gets fixed by starting at HOME. Since when did we stop teaching kindness, and equality at HOME. Since when did we stop preaching accountability and respect at HOME? Because all the little a-holes running around running their mouths and not respecting other people, bullying other people, forcing their views on other people, blaming other people are more of a problem than the one man the majority of America e...

I will not bash anyone - even though I really want to. But- positive vibes win http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20150131-ex-nfl-linebacker-gets-a-fresh-start-giving-others-a-fresh-start.ece And there is a video on Upworthy Here's how I see it. Former NFL player- not even a super good one and he kinda knows that- he got injured, got addicted to the painkillers, knew he had a problem and he asked people to help him. He embraced it and got himself help and made himself better. He re-evaluated his life and said "what can I be if I can't be a football player"? He decided to start an elite athlete training gym. Pretty cool. He found a way to exist without drugs, without football, and made something of himself. And then one day he sees someone way down in the pits of despair. He finds out the guy is an army veteran, he's addicted to drugs because they stopped giving him the painkillers, and he sleeps with a gun - just in case. That's when something mira...

I will not bash anyone - even though I really want to. But- positive vibes win http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20150131-ex-nfl-linebacker-gets-a-fresh-start-giving-others-a-fresh-start.ece And there is a video on Upworthy Here's how I see it. Former NFL player- not even a super good one and he kinda knows that- he got injured, got addicted to the painkillers, knew he had a problem and he asked people to help him. He embraced it and got himself help and made himself better. He re-evaluated his life and said "what can I be if I can't be a football player"? He decided to start an elite athlete training gym. Pretty cool. He found a way to exist without drugs, without football, and made something of himself. And then one day he sees someone way down in the pits of despair. He finds out the guy is an army veteran, he's addicted to drugs because they stopped giving him the painkillers, and he sleeps with a gun - just in case. That's when something mira...

This weekend I hung out with my aunt. We laughed, I think she shed a tear, but we had a good time. And I walked away thinking, boy is she passionate. Let me give you some back story..... In 2008 my aunt had an abnormal mammogram [yes, mammograms suck but they save lives ladies] which resulted in a double mastectomy in 2009. At this time, she had 5 children, aged 8-15. She couldn't work, and her husband had to support them all while doing normal everyday life things- like driving them around to sports/activities, grocery shopping, making meals, etc. And then something miraculous happened. The community stepped up and stepped in- people she knew and many strangers who became friends. Meals were brought over, kids were carpooled without questions, someone stopped by to make sure the kids actually ate dinner and did their homework. And my aunt recovered fully. They didn't miss a beat in their lives and were no worse for the wear (minus a pair of boobies). After receiving such ...

My question to you is- what does family mean to you? Does family mean you love each other unconditionally, but don't have to like each other? Does it mean that you allow others to make their own disastrous mistakes and keep your mouth closed? Does it mean that you try to divert them when they're on a collision course with heartbreak or failure or stupidity? Does it mean you "agree to disagree" every time you are with them? Does family always ask the other person first whats new? Does family always extend the invitation, or is it assumed the invite is always open? Does family mean open communication but only if it won't butthurt anyone (and does everyone's family have that one person who's butthurt about EVERYTHING?) I love my family. I would fight like a savage to protect them, I would guide them like no one guided me away from all failures and misdemeanors and stupid acts I have traipsed through. I want to be the matriarch, the one they look to...

Scenario: I'm at the park, walking my dog, and I see a group of disabled people on an outing. They are all smiling. They are happy. They smile at me, and smile at my dog. And one woman steps forward and asks "May I pet your dog?". She's so very polite and I tell her yes he's friendly but he might jump but don't be frightened he loves to give kisses. And she reaches down, gently, and he embraces her. And he kisses her as if she's the most perfect wonderful person he has ever met. And this is basically how he greets everyone. And she tells me he is handsome, and she tells me she likes my hair, and I tell her I love her bright colored sneakers. And she says thank you and I tell her to have a wonderful day. And we part ways. I know I was smiling. My dog was smiling. She was clearly smiling the whole time. I wish everyone had more interactions like this. #1- Smiles for days. SMILES. FOR. DAYS. I said to my husband this weekend "Do I have anything in my...

So recently it's all about BLACK lives matter, LGBT lives matter, BLUE (police) lives matter....the question begs to be answered: WHY DON'T ALL LIVES MATTER? When we were children, we would tell our parents that we had a new friend. They were nice to us. They shared their snack. They were a boy or  a girl, and they had brown/blonde/red hair.... they had some distinguishing characteristics. Most likely, we picked them out because #1 they were nice to us and #2 they stood out to us. Maybe because of their characteristics, but probably because of their personality. I really don't think I ever came home and told my parents I had a black/white/purple (whatever) friend- that didn't matter. But maybe when my parents finally met that special friend they said something like "Oh they're Asian" or "oh the little black boy". It took an adult's perception to put a gender or raced based category to my new friend. And then you grow up doing that- Classify...

Have  compassion  for all living things. What is compassion? By definition: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Synonyms: pity, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, care, concern, solicitude, sensitivity, warmth, love, tenderness, mercy, leniency, tolerance, kindness , humanity, charity. That word- compassion- is so full of meaning.  Empathy, concern, mercy, sensitivity, tolerance, HUMANITY. I would say the #1 way to promote compassion is to say you should have concern for the well-being of others. That's the simplest way to put it. And it's so simple. It's like that saying- don't be quick to judge, you  don't know whats going on in someone else's life. If we were quicker to show concern for others, we'd be not as quick to show hate and judgement. We see people's expressions and without asking, we come to our own conclusion. Resting Bitch Face is a THING. SO instead of saying to someone- why do you always look...

So the question becomes- what is the real issue at hand? I love the picture form my other post ... [person 1] She was drunk, what did she expect? [person 2] A HANGOVER. She expected a hangover. So it keeps being plastered in the headlines that people are outraged. People are outraged the kid had to go to jail, people are outraged he got a light 6 month sentence, people are outraged he will probably only do 2 months, people are outraged about his parent's (and multiple other letters written to the judge) character accounts and pleading letters to not do this to their bright young star of a child. Jurors refuse to sit under the judge, cases are being carefully considered before letting him preside over them. Do you know who is silent through this all? THE VICTIM. She said her piece. And it was powerful. It was powerful enough to spark a nation. And now she is on her own. It is interesting that SHE is not asking for an appeal. I wonder how she feels. (I know how she feels) But ...

The Pope recently said the church should ask forgiveness for the way it has treated gays, as well as 'women, for turning a blind eye to  child labor  and for “blessing so many weapons” in the past'. This is not to be overshadowed either. There is a reason I backed out of the church a few years ago. Antiquated teachings, and comments about gays, and the fact that women cannot play a larger role in the church... all these things and a priest who didn't make me feel accepted and loved and didn't enlighten me. I felt like it was not doing the good in my life that I needed and I did not make it a priority. And yet,that was just locally. Since I have scaled back my church going, Pope Francis has upped his game. He is talking about things like being tolerant and apologetic to gays. And he's talking about us... that's right ladies- he's talking about women and their role in the church. My ears are open- Go on... So he says the door is closed. Men are priests, t...

SO I just read that the Pope made a statement about gays...  He said that the church owes an apology for judging and offending people who identify this way, as  Christians are not supposed to judge or discriminate like this.  And it is profound.  The church teaches that gay tendencies are not sinful but that gay acts are, and that gays should try to be chaste.  “The questions is: If a person who has that condition (the word he used in Italian translates to condition but can also be used as "situation"), who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?” Pope Francis said. It is following in the footsteps of his statement in 2013 when he said, about gays,  "WHO AM I TO JUDGE?" "The church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times — when I say 'the church,' I mean we Christians, because the church is holy; we are the sinners," the pope said. "We Christians must say we are sorry." Y...