I imagined Buffalo roaming free as they did before America was discovered. When the indigenous people where in balance with Mother Earth. In 1970, this was an illustion.

Today I read in my magazine, the National Wildlife Federation, that “in late 2020, ownership and management of the National Bison Range, in Montana, finally passed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) to the land’s original caretakers.”

“For tribal members the snow feels a bit warmer, and the hills, covered by clusters of evergreens, seem more poetic . . . it has been a long journey, but the Indian people, who say they are one and the same with the bison, are back caring for the land and its animals.”

Another example:

When I was getting my degree at Michigan State University I was focused on art and textiles of native, indigenous peoples, particularly in Africa and Japan. Industrialization has all but buried the arts and crafts of many ethnic groups. I have dreamed of their resurrection.

Several days ago I heard this recorded program on WEMU out of Eastern Michigan University. The show is Creative Impact with Deb Polich. This particular show was Discovering The Ancient Art And Craft of Oman Becomes a Lifetime Passion. 

It become a lifetime passion for Marcia Stegath Dorr, a UofM Grad and an example to us all.  A fire was lit when she saw the natives high level of art/craft being exploited by merchants buying them for a dime and selling them for $10.  The short version of Marchia’s journey first took her to the United Nations in 1990. Then to the Consultant to Omani-American Joint Commission, on up to developing an artisans’ marketing organization in Oman, onto the Advisor of Oman Ministry of Tourism: Dicertorate of Historical Sites Development, then in 2018 to the British Museum/Royal Ontario Museum/Oman National Museum Project. Most recently an producer in Paris, France as stepped forward to make a film to go with the museum’s presentation.

When you find your passion, hold onto it, follow it to its end. It will take to your ability to heal a wrong. The goodness and love in these two stories has me humbled out.

Let me know your thoughts.

National Wildlife, August-September Issue, p. 22-27. NWF.ORG/NW

Creative Impact, WEMU, David Fair and Deb Polich 07/27/21

#pashacoach

An emotional connection is a bond that holds partners together in a relationship. This ability is one of the most important strengths for human beings to have. Without a strong emotional connection, relationships can easily drift apart. 

See link below: Donna Pisacano Brown

“Human connection is an energy exchange between people who are paying attention to one another. It has the power to deepen the moment, inspire change and build trust.”

Do you doubt the importance of connection?

By neglecting our need to connect, we put our health at risk.

Connection to others can lower anxiety and depression, help us regulate our emotions, lead to higher self-esteem and empathy, and actually improve our immune systems. It is obvious, we all need to improve our immune systems with a pandemic.

Social isolation can lead to feelings of loneliness, fear of others, or negative self-esteem. Lack of consistent human contact can also cause conflict with the our friends. When isolated we may occasionally cause problems with family members.

The Cure for Loneliness

• Improve your social skills. Some researchers argue that loneliness is primarily the result of a lack of the interpersonal skills required to create and maintain relationships. … I understand and I will post more about this in future posts.
• Enhancing social support … asking for help. The truth is asking for help is a sign or strength.
• Increasing opportunities for social interaction … reaching out. Even online, you can make heart warming connections.
• Change negative thinking. … accentuate the positive.

Loneliness causes people to feel empty, alone, and unwanted. People who are lonely often crave human contact, but their state of mind makes it more difficult to form connections with other people. Imagine being a college freshman. You might feel lonely despite being surrounded by roommates and other peers. As children it was easier to forgive and forget and enjoy one another’s company.

Be aware! If you know someone who seems to spend a lot of time alone, it could be a sign that they are lonely. It can happen to anyone these days. One of your colleagues working from home and living alone is likely to feel lonely. They need someone else to initiate contact. Just to say, “Hello, how are you? Let me know your thoughts.” Or something else more natural for you; you know what I mean.

Why Talk to Yourself: How It Makes You Smarter! Besides, you will appear to be using your voice activated, hands-free device.

Talking to yourself helps you to clarify your thoughts. It will help to determine what’s important and firm up any decisions you’re contemplating. But only if you speak respectfully to yourself.

What happens to your body when you’re lonely? “When you’re experiencing loneliness, your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, go up.

Cortisol can impair cognitive performance, compromise the immune system, and increase your risk for vascular problems, inflammation and heart disease.”

Before there is any real damage: Pick up your phone to call and speak with them. Use FaceTime, WhatsAp or Zoom. Say, hello, in there; straight into their hearts and minds. If you make it easy, it will be easy.

Donna Pisacano Brown, 2018. She knew this before COVID!

https://www.liherald.com/stories/the-power-of-human-connection,102632

We also feel our history, our personal history, often and in many ways.

Growing up had two chapters. The first chapter was abundant. Dad was a successful lawyer in his own practice. We had a five bedroom, three story brick house on two lots in Allen Park, MI. We had everything, very often new clothes, lots of food, dinners out, and many vacations. Year by year, time went on . . . then, life changed.

I was awake at night to hear Dad’s abuse of Mom. His deep booming voice minimizing her natural goddessness. And then a thump and a quiet sobbing. Shocked and deeply sad, I had a decision to make. As a 12yr old child, did I allow this intel to minimize me, after all, this was my mother and father!  Or did I wait, use time to see how it turned out, keeping my thoughts to myself.   I chose the latter, like most 12yr olds in the 1960s.

Mom and Dad were divorced in less than a year. We moved from that house, plenty big for eight, into a house too small for the six of us. Now we had one pair of sneakers, one pair of boots, minimally just what we needed. Consequently we had to keep our clothes clean and ready to wear again, day after day.

The most profound change was with dinner. Pre-divorce we were required to be on-time, face and hands washed and seated at 6pm. We heard a passage from the Bible and learned a new word weekly from the dictionary. Dad would quiz us through the week to correctly pronounce, spell and recite the weekly word. We had to share what happened to us and how we felt about it. And we had to be excused before we left the table.

Post-divorce dinners only happened when someone complained they were starting to get hungry. Hand washing was only when my sister and I thought our younger brothers’ hands were “too gross.” What was served was often over- cooked from a slow-cooker Mom started before she went to work. Or it was something I could devise from little bits of left-overs and flavors hidden deep in the fridge and cupboards. Again, I chose to experience this as early training for my future career as a fine dining chef or as “the gourmet chef” in our big Italian family. What happened that day and our feelings about it were now left unsaid at dinner, to built up stress. Instead, we would talked it out in private one-on-one. Sometimes the tension got very heated, depths-of-our-soul types of emotions.

Pre-divorce and post-divorce both had positive and negative aspects and life lessons. Far beyond simply being fed, communal dinners nourish in a total feeling way. It does this in many forms, often indescribable. As long as people have face-to-face contact, and especially if they’re tightly linked by an emotional bond.

It’s a tradition worthy of preserving, resurrecting, or creating new, now.

Start from where you are.

From my heart, let me express to you how much choice you have every way, everyday. As a kid, and still today, I use my imagination to keep growing, keep flowing along. Very little needs to be ingested, it’s up to you. 

Somehow, we manage to get into conflict. We mean well. But someone inadvertently pushes our buttons and then we respond by pushing their buttons and it escalates into some sort of frenzy.

I wont patronize by saying something like, CHILL OUT. Here is where we could use a tool for getting back to peace and harmony.

As tempting as it might be to resolve things as soon as possible, it simply won’t work until both parties are calm, cool and collected. Don’t waste time and energy on the situation if emotions are red hot. Instead take a deep breath, give the other person space and resolve the conflict later.

Emotions live on until they find themselves in a higher consciousness, peaceful and content. Like a mother follows her toddler, follow your own emotions with a sweet comforting guiding wisdom that everything (and I mean everything) will reach resolution just as it is meant to be. Inside that knowing, you’ll find peace.

Whether you like it or not, you are responsible. Everything you think, . . . every thought goes out into infinite space with a vibrating tag leading right back to you. Every moment of every day you send messages, good, bad and in-between. That infinite space can’t discriminate between good, bad and in-between, so it is always saying yes to every thought you have.

The thing to do is to own it. Be responsible for every feeling you have. Do this by realizing what you already know. Be with yourself here and gently come to a place of knowing the goodness you have inside.

Now be gentle with yourself. I say this because responsibility is a benefit. Once you relax into living with this truth you realize your power over your life. And then you have a power no one can touch. It’s yours to keep. This is the clean definition of responsibility I spoke of earlier.

Remember, with responsibility you are in charge.

Change your thoughts and you change your reality. Not immediately, not overnight, but in due time the longer you visit your very fine thought(s). All negatives have an opposite positive, make that switch.

Native American culture believes that everything happens in just the right way at just the right time. That’s a lot like, “Be Here Now.” And there is real magic in the practice of being in the moment, with your focused thoughts and with a universe that is constantly saying Yes.

For more on this subject watch the 18+ minute Ted Talk by Lisa Feldman Barrett entitled, “You aren’t at the mercy of your emotions. Your brain creates them.”https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_feldman_barrett_you_aren_t_at_the_mercy_of_your_emotions_your_brain_creates_them