All are MEN who had access to kill many innocent people at once using assault rifles and hand guns.
What do They Have in Common?
freedom
About the Duds…
I was sitting outside with four of my 6th grade students – all girls. Tomorrow is Spring Picture Day and students don’t have to wear their uniform of red/white/blue polo shirt and tan pants. It’s a rare “Free Dress Day” for them.
“It’s Free Dress Day tomorrow!” One hollered.
“I’m not wearing a dress though, even though it’s picture day,” sighed another.
“Yeah, wearing a dress on Free Dress Day is a total waste!”
Are You Scared?
Fear is one of the greatest problems in life. A mind that is caught in fear lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore must be violent, distorted and aggressive. It dare not move from away from its own patterns of thinking, and this breeds hypocrisy.
J. Krishnamurti “Freedom From the Known”
The Problem with Identity
I am reading “Freedom From the Known” by J. Krishnamurti:
“To identify ourselves with something is fairly easy. Most of us identify ourselves with something – with our family, our husband or wife, our nation – and that leads to great misery and great wars.”
He goes on to explain the chasm or “space” between our knowing selves and that which we are observing. This “space” is what keeps us from really seeing each other. Our perception of each other is really a collection of memories.
I’m not sure I’m explaining it well, but I’m finding much truth to this book.
True Power (the only power)
It doesn’t mean one should be passive or not care. Do your best and let it go.
Weakness: Your Choice
“Ultimately, it’s how do I respond to what to happens (that matters) not what actually happens. That is your area of freedom. You can choose to respond consciously and then you are not at mercy to what happens to you.”
Eckhart Tolle
Delight
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
The final line of his poem, “On Clothes” by Kahlil Gibran
It’s Not Personal
“There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.”
Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
Self-Determination
“There’s a difference between blaming someone else for your situation and that person’s actually being responsible for your situation. Nobody is ever responsible for your situation but you….This is because you always get to choose how you see things, how you react to things, how you value things. You always get to choose the metric by which to measure your experiences.”
Mark Manson, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”
Absence / Space
“In the proximity of death, there is always that grace hiding underneath the seemingly negative event. Death in our civilization is seen as entirely negative, as if it shouldn’t be happening. Because it’s denied, people are so shocked when somebody dies – as if it’s not possible. We don’t live with the familiarity of death, as some more ancient cultures still do. The familiarity of death isn’t there. Everything is hidden, the dead body is hidden. ”
Eckhart Tolle
Kismet 