Tag Archives: humanity

It’s Only Skin-Deep

Are you aware of deeper positive character attributes we automatically apply to an attractive face?

Here’s a great Psychology Today article on beauty and its effect on our psyche: The Surprising Power of a Beautiful Face. A short quote: “[what psychologists call] the halo effect causes one trait (e.g., beauty) to drastically color your perception of all other traits. If you think someone is beautiful, you are also likely to assume they’re smart, ambitious, interesting, etc. We’ve all made these assumptions before, for good or ill.”

We are hard-wired to judge based on appearances

The assumptions we make are evidently hard-wired labels in our brains. So we can be forgiven – at least a little bit. As an interesting exercise, the next time you see a beautiful or handsome face, observe your thought process. Do you quickly assume the person is also intelligent, educated, polite, nice, etc? Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love, is laughing in her heaven. She knows, beauty has exerted power for eons.

Beauty is a big subject, with many facets (faces?) to be explored. For example, historically physically attractive politicians in public office seem to be more easily trusted by the population. Particularly in these cases, it behooves us to look deeper. These are people who are steering public policies and our future.

Inspirational Quote:

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

The Expansive Mind

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“Know-it-all-ness” has our society in a stranglehold. Experts and authorities constantly vie for the limelight, trying to convince us that they have all the answers. The mass media are only too happy to accommodate them and many people believe it all without question.

Why do they? How, when, why did this become such a general tendency in human beings? The partial answer to that is that we are all products of social programming. Have you asked yourself lately, if the experts and authorities are indeed so knowledgeable and adept, then why is our world in such a mess?

I have also noticed a trend that as long as the media narrative fits some people’s desired view of the world, they will argue vehemently for their viewpoint to the point of hating their “opponents”. The exchange is so hateful, in fact, that it is easy to imagine this type of personality will go to any lengths to defend their point of view. Whatever happened to backing up even just a little to consider another way of looking at it?

Bullheadedness, combativeness, and downright hatred – these tendencies all greatly impede our chances of creating a fair and peaceful society. If we could each strive to not so quickly and easily adopt just one point of view and hang on to it tightly, this would go a long way to moving our society forward in a positive way.

The scientific mind questions everything, as does the intuitive heart. A change in methodology is called for to find the answers we seek in these troubled times. It behooves us to question everything and be open to many possibilities.

Where the Light Enters

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2020 was the year of the wounding. 2021 will be the year of more light. Will we achieve it overnight? Not sure about that… Is anything truly worthwhile achieved that fast? The awakening of humanity is huge.

I believe it depends on how many people awaken and how quickly. The wound is LOSS – the sudden taking away of so much that is dear to us. Many are already awakening. The light is trickling in. Soon it will be a stream, then a river, until finally the floodgates burst wide open.

I know, some days it doesn’t feel like it, but we are on a brilliant path. Take heart and stay the course. Be the light.

More inspirational quotes:

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
~ Anton Chekhov

“To shine your brightest light is to be who you truly are.”
~ Roy T. Bennett

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
~ St. Francis Of Assisi,

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that receives it.”
~ Edith Wharton

“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
~ John Steinbeck

Little by Little

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When life feels too overwhelming to deal with, “little by little” is an excellent methodology that keeps us moving forward. Also known in motivational circles as “chunking it down”, it’s a method of taking anything that feels insurmountable and down-sizing it to bite-size pieces.

Write down on paper whatever feels too daunting, then divide it into small pieces that feel manageable. Organize the pieces into a plan consisting of steps and stages, then immediately dig in and begin. Accomplishing that crucial first small step gives us enthusiasm and motivation to move on to the next one, then the next, and on it goes until that overwhelming monster is vanquished.

Lately I notice from social media comments that the world’s turmoil is immobilizing people from accomplishing even the simplest of daily tasks. “Little by little” is a way to overcome inertia and reclaim power over our lives.

This sense of empowerment gives us peace of mind, plus the confidence to envision and implement what we want for the future. We can’t let the problems of the world beat us. And, we won’t!

Hope Springs Eternal

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I see people I love deeply disheartened and losing hope. I’m here to tell you, that is why I write. I’m holding a light for the beauty, our love, the joy of life, our strength and determination. I’m here to gather a community of people who believe in goodness, ethics, family, building a fulfilling life, finding their happiness together. That’s my mission.

It quite frankly hurts me to see the loss of heart in humanity. That’s after just one year of constant news of illness, death, lock downs, people losing businesses, etc. It makes me wonder where we will be in another year. The doomsdayers are not holding out much hope for us. They keep moving the line, changing their story, telling us constantly we have no hope unless they give it to us.

Not true! We write our story. We decide what life will be.

Do you feel that you have a mission in this time of tremendous change? It is something to think deeply about. We are seeing a split in society. I think one of the defining lines is who will rise to not only raise the bar for themselves (claim their joy and fulfillment in this life), but also they aspire to help their fellow humankind to reach for theirs. Even small acts of daily kindness and understanding ripple outward and make a big difference. We must help each other not only to have hope, but to find that strength within ourselves to be self-determining and shape our lives with vision and intention.

I love this quote by author Neil Gaiman:

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

Never lose hope. Find the determination in your heart and mind to make your life good, no matter what. Reach for the stars.