HUGS ARE HAPPINESS

It’s make a resolution time. That moment at the beginning of the year when we say we’re going to commit to doing something, but we don’t always do it for the entire year. I’m not going to make one this year, but I’m gonna step up my game in doing what’s already being done…hugging.

Check out this information at http://20somethingallergies.com. It’s entitled: Boost Your Immune System in 15 Seconds: How To Thump Your Thymus, and it goes like this.

“Behind your sternum, or breastbone, sits the thymus gland.It is part of the lymphatic immune system and is responsible for maturing infection-fighting white blood cells (T cells) made in our bone marrow.‘Thumping your thymus’ is a method of gently tapping on the thymus gland to create vibrations that stimulate an increase in the maturation and release of white blood cells.It has also been shown to slow down gland atrophy. The thymus gland begins to break down and shrink after puberty, and it’s been theorized that this happens in humans because we have lost the instinct to stimulate it regularly.”

After reading this I surmised that as children some of us were hugged by our parents, grandparents and others on a regular basis. Then we got too big for our britches, and the hugging stopped. For me that means if you stop hugging, you gotta start thumping in order to boost your immune system.

Did a little more research and found an article by Josh Richardson entitled 9 Reasons You Need To Be Giving and Receiving Hugs Everyday. It can be found at http://preventdisease.com/news/14/012314_9-Reasons-Need-Giving-Receiving-Hugs-Everyday.shtml, and here’s what it says:

“Hugging helps the immune system, cures depression, reduces stress and induces sleep. It's invigorating, rejuvenating and has no unpleasant side effects. It is all natural, organic, naturally sweet, no pesticides, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients and 100 percent wholesome.” The article went on to say that hugging, aside from stimulating the thymus, cultivates patience, prevents disease, boosts self esteem, and communicates love and caring without having to say a word.

I don’t know about y’all but hugging is not going to be my New Years Resolution, but a way of life. Our world definitely needs more LOVE and HAPPINESS, so if I can give and receive it with a simple hug, and get healthier in the process…it’s on y’all. 

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Separation Can Be Unfair

I heard it after Katrina had hit New Orleans and the survivors sought refuge in the Superdome. It was when the woman pointed to the large screen television overhead and said to her three children, “There’s your daddy, he’s in Utah.” When I asked how he wound up there, she told me that the authorities had ordered the women and children on buses separate from the men. She then added that she was unaware of when they would see him again, but at least theyknew where he was.

We were in a Dogon village in Mali, where the reigning chief practiced Animism, his son practiced Islam, and other family members were Christian.  Yet despite their religious differences, they and all members of the village lived harmoniously together. Upon our return to the states however, we learned  that the Muslim rebels, outside of the village, were getting closer and closer, and that the people were fearful that they might lose their very lives.

During the physical enslavement of African people here in America, slaves were forced to watch their loved ones being taken away, with no knowledge of if and/or when they might see them again., Still today we experience this sense of detachment from one another, due to separation issues.  Our religious differences coerce us into believing that we’re going to heaven, and others are not, so we tend to distance ourselves from them. On a larger scale, racial and economic disparities compel us into thinking that if we hang around those who are privileged, we will acquire some of what they have, and not have to affiliate ourselves with those who have not.

Needless to say, we always have choices, and it’s up to us as to whether we make them in accordance with what will benefit all, or limit ourselves to doing that which is advantageous to only ourselves.

It’s Christmas time y’all, and by the Grace of God, each of our families has been granted an opportunity to come together and share our lives with one another. This is our chance to become one with all those who are participating in this holiday  extravaganza, on a global scale, and give our shared universe a LOVE energy, that surpasses anything that’s ever been experienced.

What I’m bringing to my family’s gathering is an attempt to be honest with myself and to share my true feelings with everyone else. I’m going to make every effort to practice open-mindedness, patience and tolerance which will allow me to accept whatever another might want to share without my judgement and condemnation., Then I’m going to do my best to make this occassion the most joyous interaction that we as a family have ever experienced.

My hope is that the folk in New Orleans, Mali, and all over the world will take on a similar mindset, and give us all an opportunity to not only experience what it takes to keep us as together as One, but also a chance to make this Oneness an integral part of our everyday lives.              

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Gratitude Is An Attitude

We’ve spent this entire year beseiged by threats of terrorism, global warming, black and brown young folk killed by police, water shortages, our New Years Resolutions not adhered to, our children, bosses, and spouses giving us a hard time. Getting chubby, feeling ugly, needing clothes that fit, and a hairstyle that works. Getting rid of so called friends, and losing loved ones. Making money and spending it before we get it, knowing that the car need fixin and the baby need a new pair of shoes. And then we supposed to be grateful on tomorrow.

Well, how bout making gratitude our attitude. How do we do that in spite of all that’s going on around us. I say we start looking at anything that makes us uncomfortable, and figuring out how to be grateful for the experience. 

I’m gon start with the fact that Nicole and I have unexpected tenants in our house, and altough we LOVE them dearly, the rythm that had finally been established, after living in this new home for about sixteen months, has been altered and we gon have to develop a new one. We can do so by being grateful that we have an opportunity to contribute to the well being of our progeny, while at the same time strengthening our virtues of toleranse and patience.

Then I need to look at my disdain for the direction our country’s government is headed in, i.e. no sustainable change for our future; being ever aware that with our new president is just a vivid depiction of what has been lying underneath the facade of democracy, peace and justice all along. However, I can be grateful for the fact that my mental, physical, and emotional health is better than it’s been in many many years, and comfortable knowing that I’m going to do everything in my power to be the best that I can be in every arena of life.

When it comes to family, I’m certainly taken aback by our lack of communication with each other, except through social media, and I constantly struggle with what if anything I can do to make things better. But I can remind myself that opportunities like learning more about my loved ones through their scattered appearances on my show and rendevous with one another on varied occassions, will always occur. Maybe not as often as I would like them to, but occur they will. 

As for my role in all of this, and my desire for all of us, all I can say is let’s be thankful every day, in every way cause one day of gratitude is not gonna make any real change. It’s about understanding that all we have is a daily repreive contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition, and the way to maintain that condition is by being thankful for whatever happens because it’s always an opportunity to make one a better person. So I’m gon be grateful starting right now, in order to prepare myself for not only tomorrow, the official Thanksgiving Day, but for all the days that follow.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

You Better Know What You're Standing On

Do y’all really think that Donald Trump can change the direction we’re headed in. Well think again because he’s like every other president since Abraham Lincoln. He either does what he’s told, or has to face the consequences. Now I believe that Obama and some of the others before him did what they could to make our difficult situations more palatable, but they were all bound and restricted by the folks behind the throne whose primary objective is to control all and everything that exists. We, on the other hand, blame the government and its appointed leaders for our problems, but that’s because we believe they have jurisdiction over what takes place both here and abroad. Don’t get it twisted, Trump is not in charge. He just wants more of what they have, and thereby is more easily manipulated and willing to do what he’s told.

There are three things that are used to control us, and they are: Money, Military and Religion. What hapens is that those with the money protect it with a militarily backed government, and cause us to believe that they are supposed to be in the position they’re in, because an unseen higher power has ordained it. Then we respond to this distorted view of spiritual reality by giving our time, our money and our consciousness to corporate, governmental, and religious entities who funnel these forms of energy right back to those who set up the three forms of control in the first place.

Then there are two principles, that coerce us into, and help to maintain an unconscious means of submission, Those being Division and Fear. Now race is the primary means of keeping us apart, but there are so many other factors like economic, social, political, and religious differences, that cause us to become fearful and feel that the only way to maintain our well being is to stick with the people, that are most like us, and stay away from those who seem different. 

So in regard to what just took place in America, we wound up splitting a decision on who to vote for, and now unknowingly believe that Donald Trump is going to decide our future. STOP y’all. The plan for our future was decided long ago when a few people put an heirarchal blueprint in place and we bought into it. Now it’s just a matter of keeping us divided and focused on what we see, trather than investigating, revealing and sharing with each other what’s really going on.

How do we do that ? Stop falling for the hype. Global warming, water shortages, pollution, oil and drug cartels,and nuclear threats do indeed exist, but the real problem is those that control  them. The earth will take care of itself. Tsunamies, earthquakes, hurricanes and other so called catastrophies are only the earth responding to our reckless abandonment, and cleansing itself of our debris. No nuclear holocast can destroy the planet because all the nuclear power that’s in place cannot destroy what it was created from.The issue then, is not saving the planet, the issue is what role are we going to play in saving ourselves.

Now no one man’s action can destroy all of what we supposedely stand for, i.e. liberty and justice for all. And I’m going to continue to read, research, and communicate with all who are willing to exchange information, while at the same time asessing and reassesing who I am and my role in what is taking place. My contention is that as long as each of us continues to unconditionally share our experiences, our strengths, and hopes with others..we will colllectively insure the well being of our future. That’s what I’m standing on, how about you….

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

LIVE IT

So many times we look at our life situation and ask the questions, “Why me?” and “How long do I have to put up with this mess?” It’s then that most of us answer with the apprehensive yet standard responses of “Why not me”. and “This too shall pass”. 

Every day it seems that we’re confronted by more stuff, and with all the stuff we have yet to finish we feel the need to let somebody else handle our business.  Yet, in spite of our unwillingness to do one more task, we allow our egos to convince us that nobody can do, what we do, as well as we can. What does it all mean. It means that we’re caught up in a system that makes us believe that we, as individuals can change things.

From raising our children, to getting along with our significant other. From building  our communities, to making the police accountable to them. From addressing institutionalized racism to dealing with its aftermath. They’re all we things y’all, but I can’t adequately collaborate with another until I’m true to myself.

We must realize that if something is going on that is not right, the first thing we must do is ask ourselves what role we’re playing in it. It’s up to us to ask ourselves “Am I really doing all I can to make things better. Am I looking at what they’re doing wrong before assessing what I might be doing that is contributing to the problem?”  After all, no matter how much we fight it, each and every one of us succumbs to that selfish, unspoken idiom “it’s all about me”. Well, as paradoxical as it may seem, it is all about me and if I do what’s necessary to change my outlook and subsequent behavior, things will work out, for me and everybody else.

Before we have an interaction with our child or life-partner, before we make a decision to work with others on social injustice, or prior to participating in a discussion that can affect all of mankind let’s ask ourselves how committed are we to doing whatever we might endeavor to do. How much do we LOVE the people that might be affected by our decisions? Are we willing to give all that we have in order to fulfill our mission? Can we accept constructive criticism, and are we able to put our thoughts on hold while we objectively and wholeheartedly consider the feelings, ideas and input of others.

Once we start and continue to reassess who we are and what we need to work on in terms of self, once we make honest and concerted efforts to change ourselves for the better, the world can’t help but follow suit, while we, in the meantime, can walk without fear and doubt in the knowledge that righteousness will prevail, and that until it does, we’ll know how to deal with whatever might take place in the process.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com.

Tell The Truth

My mother called and read a devotion to me, that was related to a discussion we’d had a day earlier. I’ don’t remember the devotion per se, but I do recall the corresponding scriptures. One was Ezekiel 3:4, and it read as follows: “Then God said to me, “Son of man, go to the family of Israel. Speak my words to them.” The other Ezekiel 2:7 which read: “You must tell them what I say, whether they listen or not. They are people who usually refuse to listen! “ 

Now I believe that the bible has been tampered with, and that man made religions have been designed to control others. I also believe that our Creator speaks to us through our sacred writings, and through one another. That being said I speak to you, not as a prophet but as an individual concerned with the urgency of our need to address our current state of affairs, and as one who feels obliged to share my candor with you…regardless of how you might respond.

The majority of white folks are supporting the tenets of “institutionalized racism”, and so are all the black, brown, red, and yellow folk who are doing all they can to be accepted into the so-called mainstream of society. Slavery started in America when African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to help tobacco farmers make money. America became a free America in 1776, yet technically kept black folks enslaved until 1865, and continue to enslave us through racial inequity. All of which I speak is a by product of the fabricated doctrine of racial inferiority that was invented at the onset of slavery, perpetuates itself by our adherence to this hierarchal society we live in, and thereby remains an intricate part of our very being. People claim they want to help make things right, but still view and respond to situations through the context of what the status quo has already set up, that being socio-economic status being undergirded by racial make-up.

Who is the status quo? It’s the powers that be, the one percent, the illuminati, the establishment or whatever you want to call those who you claim that you are not aligned with. What have they set up. A system that has a hierarchal scale with those at the top having most of everything, the middle having some, and those at the bottom having little or none at all. Most of us want to feel that we are actually helping those less capable then ourselves, but at best we are  patronizing them because we are only doing enough as to not compromise our own position. This type of response is taking place in our homes, our communities, and the world at large. And you know what…It ain’t working as it should.

Now most of you are going to read this and be in denial, and say that what I’ve said doesn’t apply to you. My response to you is to go back to the opening paragraph, acknowledge that I’ve only spoken that which I deem as truth, and if you’ve listened, and are really concerned with where you stand in this regard, I implore you to consider the suggestions, on what can be done, by reading the next blog. 

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com.

The Numbers Speak For Themselves...What Do We Do

Just computed statistics on the 129 blogs I’ve written since March 12, 2012, and found that I have had 14,413 pageviews, since that date, which averages out to about 111 people having read each blog. What does this revelation have to do with anything. Well,  in terms of numbers, it means that out of over 6 billion people on the planet, there are only about 111 people that read each blog.

As for me, it serves as a reminder that I have work to do, cause I’m still allowing myself to get caught up in how much attention I’m getting, rather than how much focus I’m putting on the lives of others. And as reflected in a blog dated April 17, 2012, entitled ‘Seeing Me In You’,  “Behavior doesn’t change overnight, but I’m going to purpose from this point on to respect rather than begrudge, to relate rather than compare, to build up rather than tear down”.

Another blog entitled “Facebook Is Real…Are You”, written June 29, 2016, spoke directly about our afflictions with and addictions to how many ‘friends’ and ‘likes’  we accumulate on our facebook page(s)., and here I am, the very next week, concerned with how many people read my blogs. It’s a reality check y’all, and I’m so elated that God has blessed me with another opportunity, to see how easy it is to get caught up in the matrix of virtual reality, and thereby disconnect myself from the sunshine of the spirit. 

The following is the introduction to the webpage “Time To Holla Back”, and was not intended as a blog. It’s listed as one however, with 41 pageviews by the way, and it speaks volumes to the message being conveyed here. Here’s how it goes:

“Like to thank all of you for accessing my blog, and hope that we can all connect to the spiritual consciousness inherent in us all, and fulfill our obligation to share our experiences, strengths, and hopes with one another. 

Love Ya’ll     Love: “The act of being one”

I still feel the same way y’all, still gon try to be one with all of you as I continue to write these blogs, and request that you feel free to holla back whenever you detect me falling short of that endeavor.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Facebook Is Real...Are You?

Once we announce that we have 4,999 ‘friends’, whenever we mention how many people we have defriended, and boast about how quickly we have replaced them with new ones, we’ve been compelled into thinking that facebook is ‘real-life’ and not the virtual reality that it has always been. We’ve begun to believe that those who are not as conscious as ourselves, will remain in the dark until they listen to what we have to say. 

It stands to reason then, why so many of us don’t go to sleep without first checking how many likes we’ve received on our latest post(s). It’s understandable as well why we wake up in the morning and check our page before getting out of bed, and it gives credence to why we’re facebooking at breakfast, on the way to work, on our sanctioned and unsanctioned breaks, at lunch, on the way home, and time and time again before going to sleep.  

Facebook is a social media, that can assist us in expanding whatever endeavor we’ve undertaken. It’s a mode of networking, that’s at least equal to any means we’ve employed thus far, and it can take us to a level where beings all over the world, and perhaps beyond, can be exposed to who we say we are, what we claim we’ve done, and what we assert that we’re about to do.

We already know that facebook is exponentially increasing the number of people we’re capable of reaching, and we want to believe that we’re making a positive contribution to other people’s lives, The fact of the matter is that facebook is doing what we want it to do, but what about us. Can we honestly say that we are actually living the messages that we are trying to convey. If you believe that you are, I challenge you to challenge yourself.

Take a selfie, and prior to going on facebook when you wake up in the morning, look at that picture of yourself and say to it…“Today I’m going to do something that benefits another. Then, at some time during the day, do just that. Call or text somebody you haven’t talked to in a minute, give a homeless person a dollar, say hello to a stranger, or do whatever your ingenious mind can come up with to uplift somebody other than yourself. 

Then at night, after checking your facebook page, look at your selfie again and say… “I’m proud of you. Today you made someone else’s life better as a result of their having been in your presence. Try that methodology for at least a week, and I guarantee that you won’t be as concerned with how many so called friends like what you say, as you are with how much of a real friend you’ve become. 

Let facebook do what it do, as we try to become more than just the image of us that we’ve put on display.

I‘ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

A POEM

Every day                                                        It might be a hello,

it’s a new day,                                                 Or a how do you do.

Where we can look at life,                              Or a gesture or a smile

In yet another way.                                         That says I see,

Where e can eliminate                                    And I care…

The drudgery of before,                                  About you.  

And acccept our capability 

Of being much much more.  

Today is the first                                              There is no lack

Of the rest of our life                                       Or unfulfilled need,

We ain’t gotta  give in                                     When we look at what we have

To toil or to strife.                                            And not  succumb to greed.

Let’s just focus on the beauty…                     By looking at our physical

Cause that comes without a price.                 Our mental and

                                                                        Our spiritual stuff,

You see you don’t have to pay,                       We’ll totally understand

To have a good day.                                        That we have more than enough

All you gotta do is see                                              

Every moment,                                                So y’all join me right now

As an opportunity to share,                             In celebration of,

As a way to demonstrate,                                This joy filled day...

That you really do care.                                   And by making a vow

                                                                        To keep it that way,

So I’m gonna give                                           By being our spiritual selves,

All that I got,                                                    And not just a lump…

And not view it from                                        Of metaphysical clay.

The perspective, 

Of a little or a lot.

But from seeing myself as the                          I’ll holla….

I have…. 

giving to the I have not.

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

LIVIN IN THE NOW

I know y’all are just as tired as I am of people like Tupac, Michael, Prince and others dying of questionable causes, and then trying to figure out what happened to them, after the fact. Here we are theorizing and hypothesizing, discussing and concluding, yet we have no viable grounds to work from. Fact of the matter is, the best we can do is to have an opinion of what occurred, and take it from there.

Tupac did an alleged expose on the illuminati, and spoke of how they are a major proponent of the inequity that exists within race and class, Michael unabashedly repeated time and time again that “…they don’t really care about us”, and both he and Prince waged a major war against multinational entertainment conglamorate Sony, and theoretically won. They, and many others, of celebrity and non-celebrity status, have fought and died for what they believed in, and although I don’t have the insight and acumen of Dick Gregory, of one thing I am sure, even though we don’t know the half of what’s really going on, we have the resources and wherewithal to not only find out, but to do something about what ain’t on the up and up, and what ain’t in the best interest of us all.

How? Let’s stop talking about what Jay Zee and Beyonce are on until we talk to them. After all we get information about them, from the same source that informs us of what happened to Whitney, and we don’t believe that, so why are we even considering what’s being said about Beyonce having all of a sudden become a black activist, and  about to tell Jay Zee that all his stuff is “…to the left.”

Let’s start looking at ourselves and literally asking our selves…”What you on. What you doing about you. We spend way too much time vicariously living our lives through others. We’re rying to make them who we want ourselves to be, we’re putting them down when they don’t live up to our expectations, and then we cry when they leave this earthly realm and say to ourselves…” That ain’t right what they do to our people, and then they lie about what happened. Who is they? It ain’t the illumanti, it ain’t the powers that be, it ain’t the one percent…It’s us Boo, cause we’re allowing stuff to happen and contributing to its perpetuation by not being all that we can be.

Once we get even a vague idea of who we are, once we make a decision to be better today than we were yesterday, and once we purpose to unconditionally give of ourselves to others, we won’t have time to be looking at somebody else’s life, cause we too busy looking at ours. You see, if I’m in your mind then I’m out of mine, and can’t do anything about either of us. However, if I’m working on me, it don’t matter what you doing cause I’ll be able to constructively deal with whatever’s going on, with you and everybody else.

We can stop being tired of what’s happening to us, by adamantly addressing what’s going on inside us, and then collectively resolving what’s going on around us.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com