Monthly Archives: October 2012

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Women are Human Beings


We need to look at the lives and accomplishments of women for inspiration and understanding. Women’s lives have been written only in the last few decades. One of my passions is to read women’s diaries that they leave behind. They give us a glimpse of their heart and souls. Their dreams and passions. The cost of accomplishing a life outside of the ordinary can be steep for many women. Those who were successful have paid a dear price for the life they created.

The irony is that women follow dreams just as men do. Martin Luther King had a dream and millions of women also have dreams. Women and men need to create meaning in their lives and their communities. It is not unfeminine to reach for public power instead of settling for private power. The unfulfilled woman and man are a loss to our society because each of us has much to contribute.

Women have been conditioned to do what is expected and not what they need. Some women want to stay home and be a full-time mother. Some want careers, some want many children and some don’t want to have any children. These decisions are the ones men make every day, but women are encouraged to fit into the proper box. This is a danger for women because to deny who you are and what you are capable of accomplishing is to short change the world and ourselves

The Universe gives us all gifts and talents and I believe we are expected to use them to create meaningful lives. Women who are living in violent relationships, who are verbally humiliated and are insulted day in and day out are suffering from emotional abuse.

The abuse takes many forms. Physical and emotional and psychological abuse can wreck a woman’s self-esteem and she learns to be a victim. This is one role no living being should be in. Feminism gives voice to those who have never had a voice in their own lives and those who have lost it as they have gone through the challenges of life.

Women are not inferior and they are able to make good choices about how to live and how to follow their dreams. Women have a right to have public power and not just power in the bedroom or the kitchen. Power is the ability to take one’s place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one’s part matter.

An assertive woman who has discovered her power is not “less of a woman” than a man who has discovered and uses his own power. Many people today confuse assertiveness with aggression. They are two concepts which are not at all related. Many times assertive women are maligned by people like Rush Limbaugh when he coined the term” feminazi.”” I have never understood why men are so intimidated by an assertive woman who knows who she is and what she wants and where she is going.

Women are human and that means that we are capable, intelligent, compassionate, passionate, strong and have the right to live our lives without interference from families and government. We can choose candidates, take care of our health, make decisions about reproduction. We don’t need keepers, or a strong man guiding us. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different. You are each perfect as you are and have the right to be who you are. Don’t allow the voices around you keep you from accomplishing your dreams and touching the stars.
We are equal. And in 2013, we will make the government legalize that equality. Being different, seeing from a different perspective does not make you unfeminine, it helps you to hold your head up and straighten your back and live with the dignity that The One gave to each of us. Different is not dangerous. It is just different!

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The Vote


America is coming up on one of our most important votes. Historically, voting; before the women received the vote, men made voting  into an excuse to drink and have fist fights..There was chaos. It is amazing that we made it through these times. Voting was done in saloons and a man’s vote got him a free shot of whiskey.

There were problems with voter ID. Not because of the reasons we debate  today, Police were stationed in the saloons to keep the peace. They often looked the other way, so guys could vote again and get another shot. Guns were toted for a man’s protection. Some may have even been needed. Don’t know. Election day was wild.

Today, emotions flare on all sides. We have evolved. Thanks to the Suffragettes,  women now have the responsibility of voting too.  We no longer vote in the saloons and the whiskey no longer flows like hot lava. Election day is a time for all citizens to speak up.

We must remember on election day to put our apathy aside. Citizens all over the world risk their lives to get to America to have the chance to become citizens and to vote to keep the freedoms we have here in America. They traveled here in ships and planes seeking what the original Pilgrims sought when they arrived in the 1600’s. They wanted freedom and a voice in creating and strengthening these freedoms for all Americans.

In November, remember voting is indeed a right, but it is also an important responsibility. If we are apathetic and don’t use our vote, we weaken our democracy. In every generation, there have been those who threw the hat in and gave up. They stopped voting. They stopped listening to issues.  Both sides of the issues. If something happens later on they don’t like, often, they are the first to complain loudly and frequently. Perhaps if these people had voted, the results would be much different. At the very least, they would have had the opportunity to say, to vote for what they believed in.

My challenge to Americans in November is to go to the polls and vote. Tell our leaders what and whom you want to lead our government. Don’t get caught up in the discontent you feel. Use the discontent within to get yourself out of the house, vote before you go to work or on your way home. We are citizens of a great Democracy and we have a responsibility to work to keep it whole and continuing to grow as the world is growing.

It is important to remember that with all of the new technology, America and Americans need to show people what Democracy is and how it can and does improve lives. Go vote, be proud, no matter who wins, and I do have a favorite, but whoever wins the process will have worked again as it has every four years since the founding fathers wrote the Constitution.

July 4, 2012 Fireworks; Photo by Barbara Mattio

2012 fireworks; Photo by Barbara Mattio

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The Little Things


Bonsai Show Photo by Barbara Mattio

The other day I went with a friend to the Bonsai show and it was a wonderful time. In the past the bonsai’s I have seen were indoor plants. I saw so many amazing outdoor plants and trees that were in miniature. It was so thrilling to see all of the tiny evergreens and the very tiny flowers.

I saw deciduous trees, all sporting a riot of colors. A miniature forest made up of tiny trees with perfect little leaves. I was amazed to see the texture, veining and color so familiar and yet so new in its tininess. Some were even smaller than any I had ever seen.

Bonsai Show Photo by Barbara Mattio

So much perfection was stunning and impressive to see. Tiny flowers looking like little specks of star dust landing on the branches. You could almost see in your mind’s eye a tiny bird sitting on a tiny nest. It is so touching to see a little leaf, smaller than your fingertip, just perfect in design and textures. The trunk gnarled and winding around itself just like you would see in every forest you have ever been in.

The Universe is an amazing place full of perfection, beauty, and breathtaking detail. That was what really got me. The detail that left nothing out. Each flower and tree complete in its minuteness. I think the Bonsai made me think much more about the detail that goes into everything in the Universe. What a wonderful gift to see from new eyes and perspective.

Bonsai Forest, Photo by Barbara Mattio

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The Last Rose of Summer


Needlework by
Barbara Mattio

There is a bittersweet energy about October. I gaze out at my garden and a smile comes to my face. The roses continue to bloom despite cooler evenings. We are almost at the time to say goodbye to their gentle fragrances and delicate petals. A farewell to their beauty. Cool temperatures day and night will eventually take each last bloom and end its beauty. We are not bereft though as Autumn brings a brilliance of color as a consolation prize. So far, we have begun to see the green turning to vibrant colors of red, gold, orange and yellow.

It is the last gift of the cycle of life. The last brilliant colors before Mother Earth goes to her hibernation and the world turns white, gray and brown. It is a blessing to know that as the cycle spins it never stops and we will have a fresh, vibrant and exciting Spring. I love the anticipation of the renewal of the earth, with the springing up of the early spring bulbs soon to be a riot of color and a sudden rush of sweet fragrance.

For now, there is the bittersweet of the last of the flowers and the last of my beloved roses until the spring. Since this is the cycle of life, the promise that after a rest the world will renew itself and we will once again frolic among the flowers and trees.

So we say goodbye to the bees working hard at gathering the pollen and the ladybugs and the iridescence of the dragonflies. A last wave of the wings of a butterfly and the song of the cicadas at night. They will return in the spring and the cycle will begin again.

A Jewish Prayer

And G-d saw everything that was mad, and found it very good.

And The One said: This is a beautiful world that I have given you.

Take good care of it, do not ruin it.

It is said; Before the world was created, the Holy One kept

Creating worlds and destroying them.  Finally this one was created and was satisfied.

Adonai said to Adam; This is the last world I shall make. I place it in your hands; hold it in trust.

Autumn in Western North Carolina Photo by Barbara Mattio

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sharechair's avatarsharechair

It was a dark and stormy night day. The perfect kind of day to curl up with a hot mug of steaming coffee and a new, lit screen Kindle. But, alas! The UPS truck just didn’t come as early as I hoped, and it was late afternoon before I was able to rip open the box.

The Kindle is packaged with a cord, but not with an AC adaptor. This isn’t a problem for me, because the adaptor is an accessory I use for several of my electronic gadgets, so I’m good to go. But an adaptor is something you will eventually need if you don’t have one, already.

As familiar as I am with my devices, it’s always a little daunting to grab on to a new one. As I lifted this Kindle out of the box I had a momentary brain-freeze when I couldn’t figure out how to…

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Messages in Life


“Lift up a broken hand in prayer.
Allah’s perfect kindness is given away free
to all those who acknowledge their flaws.”
—-Rumi

I think life is not perfect because The Beloved wants us to experience all of life. Even though Divinity is within us, we are free to make choices and need to accept responsibility for them. We create our reality around us as we send our thoughts and actions into the world. Thinking positive and peaceful thoughts help to create positive and peaceful energy. This energy can softly touch the life of others. In the same way, thoughts of hatred and violence radiate these emotions to all who come in contact with this person. You can literally feel these energies.

There is a book and also the DVD out called, “The Hidden Messages in Water.” The author is Masaru Emoto.I found this book to be so exciting when I read it that I also bought the DVD. Water is energy. All inanimate objects are molecules vibrating at different speeds and frequencies This is what makes a chair look like what we expect a chair to look like. It is why I look as I do and you, my readers look as you do.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were wars about oil. We all know that oil has brought down governments, ended the lives of soldiers in all countries. It is predicted that now, in the twenty-first century we will see wars for water. Water is life giving, and humans cannot live long without it. It is the element that makes up the largest part of the human body. Water is the basis of life and brings the energy of life. Water can carry many impurities and it requires work to purify it again.

Dr. Emoto using high-speed photography discovered that the crystals in water reveal changes in shapes. I mean that they responded to a word said to them. The book and DVD include photographs of these very changes happening. This research can create a new awareness of how we can, with our thoughts, positively impact the earth and our own personal health.

Dr. Emoto took photographs of frozen crystals for over a decade. Depending on what the water was exposed to, there was a change in the shape of the crystals. He spoke the words and the shape of the crystals changed. Another word would bring about another change.

“We start out life being 99% water, as fetuses. When we are born, we are 90% water, and by the time we reach adulthood we are down to 70% water. If we die of old age, we will probably be about 50% water. In other words, throughout our lives we exist mostly as water.”
—Excerpted from “The Hidden Messages in Water”

This study was done with tap water, pure natural water, and distilled water. As in all research of this magnitude, your heart and mind must be open to whatever is discovered. Preconceived notions will be lost or you will miss the amazing clues that will reveal themselves along the way.

In elementary school, we all learned how each snowflake is different in shape. Each is unique. My grandson’s kindergarten class all made paper snowflakes to decorate their room for the winter season. There have never been two snowflakes alike since the beginning of time.

Dr. Emoto decided to freeze individual drops of water and to look at them under a really super strong microscope. He discovered that words and and the energy of human consciousness had the ability to change to shape of individual drops of water.

The words were said in Japanese and English, and some other common languages were used also, such as French, German, Italian etc. Words such as ‘thank you” caused the crystal to be beautiful in shape and each shape was different in each language. They also tried words such as “You make me sick, Satan, Angel, you fool and many others. They showed water drops pictures of Mother Earth and played Beethoven for the drops. All caused a change in shape. Good words caused beautiful formations and bad words created a less attractive to absolute ugly patten in the drops of water.

This research and Quantum Physics are proving many truths that people have believed on faith and now there is proof. Our thoughts do have the power to change the world and we cause these changes. Some water resulted in grandly beautiful crystals, while others were deformed or nonexistent. In my opinion, this could be a reflection of the dark recesses of our souls.

Water crystals after names of seasons were spoken to them.

Left hand picture after “Angel” is said. Right hand is after “Satan” is said.