A Piece of .....Crap

Now I'm not one to curse, but when it comes to my ideas on this blogpost, well it just makes complete sense. It's hard for me to begin to compose my thoughts for this piece: Materialism. Money. The root of ALL evil. Some say money can buy you happiness, I say it can just buy you a bunch of crap, and a very empty heart. It is no stretch to say that much of life, and the world we live in today revolves around and by money. Currency, bartering, trade dates back to the earliest recorded history; taxes in ancient Egypt, so on and so forth. But until recent times materialism wasn't so out of hand. Sure, you had royalty sitting on beds of wealth and luxury, but the average person for the most part didn't work their life trying to achieve that because they knew they couldn't, it was simply reserved for the royalty.

However, in today's society, money really seems to be everything. Marketing, advertising, business, even the culture of America or "the American dream" having a house and 2.5 children is funded by this. Recently, my distaste for money became more apparent when conversing with a very good friend, I asked him what his dream in life was. He replied, "Have a big house, a boat and a pool table." I was very taken aback. A dream in life is something that will fulfill your every being and radiate love in your heart, I never thought having a big house could do that for anyone. I began to think, we were raised to plan to go down a path not just to pay our bills, but to pay for our "things." Michael Kors bags, Armani sunglasses, luxury vehicles, trips to Cabo. But would any of that make you happy? Maybe for a moment in time, but not for more than a fleeting second. Happiness and inner peace are achieved through embarking on your journey and achieving your own dreams; through helping others, being yourself, loving one another, your spiritual relationships, and enlightenment. Desire is "threatening danger to spiritual life," letting things get in the way of pursuing the bigger scheme of things; your passions, serving the Lord, growing in your spiritual relationships. Desire is evil. You will think, dream, lust, do anything to get what you want. But that is truely the root of evil, blocking your mind from what is really important.

Money in this world can't only buy you things, but it can buy you people. Sickenenly enough, in almost any area of the world you can buy women for your own pleasure. A very precious friend of mine recently shared an eye-opening document that will light a burning fire in anyone who sees it, Nefarious. I urge you all to watch, share, and think deeply about it. http://nefariousdocumentary.com/
I won't go into much detail on that, saved for another post. Money funds wars, sex, the objectivity of women on a magazine, drugs, guns, pop culture warping people's sense of reality and changing society into a money hungry, power thirsty crowd of people living in the rat race of life, racing towards what? A bunch of stuff to enjoy in the afterlife?

I will share an incredible Ted talk that put my thoughts into statistic, explaining how material things do not ever buy you a shred of happiness, yet lead you down a path of sin, remorse, and addiction to swiping your card and holding more of that thin green paper in your greedy little hands.
http://www.ted.com/playlists/4/what_makes_you_happy

Money, obviously is an apparant necessity of life. It can be used for good or evil. For good, pay your bills, treat your friends well, give to those who need it, travel, learn, grow, give back to the earth, find your passions, but don't let your passion be the newest form of technology or the newest designer garb.


In peace,

    Kelsey.

A Piece of Passion

Most people have a passion; music, reading, a sport, their job, gaming, what have you. But not many go the extra mile (no pun intended) that Chance Stephens does. I learned about Chance while at dinner catching up with old college sorority sisters, and one told me about Chance's mission and his journey. I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, but Sarah told me about how much he touched her and it affected me deeply as well. He decided that his passion was helping those who need it most, namely those who are the victims of sex trafficking.

With a goal of $160,000.00 to raise for the cause, Chance began to walk from Santa Monica, Ca. to Virginia Beach to spread the word about the horrors of sex trafficking to as many people as possible. His passion is eminent, and deserves much more recognition that he has been given. Visit his site to learn more and donate to his amazing cause.

http://achancefor.com/


So drop everything, follow your passions whatever they may be. Run a marathon, travel the world, dust off your old guitar. Life is far too short to do anything but what makes you happy, and our passions are truly what makes us unique and who we are to the core.

With peace,

    Kelsey.

A Piece of Your Mind

Road rage. Everyone experiences it in one way or another; internally, the anger you feel when traffic is just not moving fast enough, and externally when someone leashes out on you. I'm not perfect, I can be a furious driver. But I have become much more peaceful about my driving over the last few years. The average person spends years of their life sitting in traffic, sitting at a stoplight, yelling out their window at some stranger. Is that kind, or fair to scream profanities at someone that just like you, is trying to get to their destination?

Not too long ago, I was heading home from work and taking the more scenic route to see and appreciate some wide open spaces (hard to find in Orlando), and sing my favorite tunes. I rolled along to a four way stop at about the same time as another vehicle and motioned for them to go ahead. The couple flew past me flipping me the bird with hatred spread over their faces at me, for no reason what so ever. Know what I did? I cried. Why do people hate and despise people they don't know? They didn't know me, they didn't know how my day was. What if god forbid I was on my last straw of life and contemplating suicide? Moral of the story is: be kind to one another. Spread kindness and joy rather than hatred and despair. The world needs it.

More so than just this, taking this lesson into the real scheme of the world, Israel vs. Palestine. The Hamas sending rockets into Israel and them back into Palestine to protect their people killing INNOCENT people; families, women, children, destroying infrastructure. What makes someone hate another so much as to kill and destroy these lives? Could this have been prevented? How far back does hate exist? In one way or another "war" is saying its ok, we have to stop this through more hate and propaganda against one another. War is not ok, ever. No life is worth it.

Some say its the way of the world, just "the circle of life." However, I believe life is about love, joy, happiness, humble experiences. There is no room in this world for hate and rage although it seems like lately there is much more of this than anything else. My piece of advice to pass on if not to one person: pass on happiness. Wake up and see the sun shining with a smile upon your face, play some cheerful tunes as you sit in traffic going to work, wave and smile to that stressed out stranger beside you. It may just make their day. Think of your day as a gift rather than a curse, be thankful for your 8-5 office job, thankful for your errands to run and the fact that you can provide food in your fridge. If we all treat our days and our endless list of errands and to do's as blessings rather than curses we can spread this mindset and make the most simple and mundane tasks cheerful.

So next time you want to scream at someone for cutting you off, let them in. Is it really going to make a difference in the long run?

With peace,

    Kelsey.

A Piece of Encouragement

Encouragement: something that makes someone more determined, hopeful, or confident. It seems however that these days encouragement isn't too easy to come by. We live in a world over-run by criticism, hate, and jealousy. I was inspired to write this piece after hearing about a friend who recently took a leap of faith and moved to the big, ferocious New York City in search of a job. He told me about getting on the subway, going about his daily routine when he noticed a frightened passenger and struck up a conversation. The passenger told him that he was en route to a job interview, and desperately was hoping to snag it because he had just moved there without a job. My friend told him he had done the same, and that the cards had fallen into place and that everything would work out for him as well. The passenger felt encouraged, and got off the train with an extra spring in his step and a boost of confidence that isn't often come by in the big apple.

How different would the world be if we encouraged each other more often? Rather than live in the mindset many of us were taught in elementary school to "only worry about ourselves," but instead to worry about one another and build each other up and encourage others to do our very best, and believe in one another. Personally, I believe in myself whole heartedly that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to because I was raised with that mantra. However, when I know someone else is rooting for me and they can see me from a different perspective, I feel more confident than ever before to take on the world.

We are not all enemies, and not everyone is in competition with you. Life is not a competition, it is not about achieving that sacred CEO position, it is not about becoming a millionaire, or finally being able to afford that sports car. We are here. This is life, this is all we get and we should cherish every single inch of it. When you stop seeing others as competitors and life as a game, you begin to enjoy it and can see other as fellow bits of stardust on this journey through time, and then you can pull back the curtain and love and encourage one another.

My challenge to you, think more positively about people; your family, friends, and that stranger taking too long in line ahead of you at Starbucks. Pass on a word of encouragement to someone you know facing a challenge, or simply someone beside you in the rat race.

With peace,

    Kelsey.

The First Piece

Bear with me, I am not a writer, nor a blogger. Just a girl with too many thoughts endlessly swirling through my head and unable to process them, on a jog today I became inspired. Not the kind of inspired where you wake up with a clear picture of some Einstein idea like why an apple falls from a tree, but more the kind of inspiring feeling of being able to promote something. And that is peace, plain and simple. A kind of centuries old wish to promote world peace, but a piece is missing; that piece is how to make it tangible.

I was inspired on my run (we can call it a run but more of a slow and limpy jog), by many things. One sees the world from a different perspective while running. I notice the blue skies, the lizards running as to not be stepped on, the hot (and humid) breeze, the patter of my feet hitting the sizzling pavement. But I also notice how running past pedestrians while I make eye contact and smile or nod, they snap their heads away and stare as if I don't exist. What puzzled me most was jogging past a fellow runner who tried his best as to keep his eyes fixed on his destination. Maybe the world is too busy looking for a destination that we forget to remember the journey and the experience, and to enjoy all the little pieces.

If you catch my drift, the way to peace is through personal connection and little pieces that we as humans can do to take a step closer. My hope and purpose is through the spread of positive ideas and "pieces" of peace, we can all make a difference someone's day or their life. Noticing things that can be changed or improved is my first step in the journey. Join me hand in hand in this, as I share stories of my experiences and tumbling thoughts and opinions mixed around with whatever is currently on my mind in finding the little pieces of creating peace.

I leave you know with the scroll hanging above my bed, my favorite, that inspires me daily.

With peace,

    Kelsey.