Live and Learn New Mexico!

Over the years, as I've blogged, I've talked about gun control without ever reaching any answers or solutions. My concern with guns is that they kill, and death by gun has reached a record high in Abq. It is an almost daily occurrence. I do not own a gun but seems like everyone else does. Lots of people tell me they have one for protection. I find that thought very scary. Then I realized that I was approaching it from the wrong perspective. I wasn't fighting against the situation; I was fighting against guns. I was getting political, and I try not to do politics. Kindness campaign  What if we looked at it from a kindness perspective? That is, what if instead of trying to enact legislation to contain violence, we simply start raising our kids to be kind and learn to solve problems peacefully? I've been promoting kindness for years. This idea makes sense. We could work in the schools, helping kids learn to be sensitive to others and to solve life's problem

I've been saying it for a while now... we're all on this planet together. I post it almost daily on social media but never really expected it to be so true lately. I'm talking about Afghanistan and all the human beings -- people who simply want to live peaceful lives-- leaving the country to find refuge in the US. However you feel about it politically,  I don't want to go there...I want to talk with kindness and compassion.  New Mexico is preparing to welcome many of these refugees within its borders. Where can we safely house them?  One thing we could do is buy old abandoned mobile homes, on properties, and fix them up for the refugees. The new tenants can help fix up other homes for future tenants. Simple...I'm sure it's not... Where I live, there are lots of these properties. My first question is how do we go about acquiring them? Are they privately owned, or does the government own them because taxes weren't paid? There are some pretty nice o

Simone Biles, gymnast extraordinaire, didn't go to the Olympics to win. She didn't even go to compete. She went to share an important message.  Soon after her arrival to Japan, she made it clear that she was not going to fight through the mental and emotional pain she has long suffered in order to compete. She is not going to worry that she won't win. The message I am getting from all this is that it isn't important to win. Winning won't make you happy. Life is more meaningful than that.  Simone went to the Olympics to heal -- herself and others who suffer anxiety from the very thing they once found peace doing.  She wants to show that we need to support each other and celebrate the healing that gymnastics and other physical activities can provide.   Perhaps the Olympics could change. Instead of honoring the winners of a sport, we honor the sport itself and its healing powers. We share best practices. I believe, too, that Simone is one of many light work

When I was a kid in elementary school, I talked with my Catholic best friend about suicide. I don't know why we talked about such a heavy subject at that tender age but I do remember her telling me that her church believed that the act of suicide was a sin. I wondered why someone would be punished for this sin. Would knowing it is a sin really deter anyone who was thinking of ending their life? I couldn't believe it would.  In 1980, the Church admitted that there was a mental health component to suicide. Society in general tends to tie suicide to depression and anxiety. We think there is something wrong with a suicidal person. We don't consider that perhaps the suicidal person is just as sane as anyone; they just see the Universe in a more inclusive way and understand that perhaps committing suicide is just moving on.  I'm proposing that it is actually sanity in a way, that suicidal people are just tired of this existence. They know there are other existences. We think

2020 was the year that challenged us all in many many many ways. If there were one word that comes up a lot when I think of the year, it is loneliness. I was incredibly lonely. There were other factors besides the virus that contributed to my loneliness. I live in a rural area. My family had moved out of my place just before the virus struck, leaving me alone. I had no car to escape to town just to get out and about. The virus dramatically exacerbated the lonely feeling. There were times that I even considered ending it all and moving on to a more peaceful existence.  I know I was not the only one who felt so lonely. On the last day of January this year, my nephew's son Donovan, feeling profoundly lonely and depressed, took his own life. I have been thinking about him every day since.  For my own depression, I've found that having something to work on, especially something that helps others, helps me deal. Donovan's mom, Misty, is also like that. She started a Facebook page

 It was the last day of January 2021 when Donovan decided he was done with this world and he said farewell to it forever. I did not find out until the next morning when I looked on Facebook and saw his mother Misty's post, saying she had found his lifeless body and she couldn't breathe. Donovan, only 18, is the grandson of my sister Tami, who passed in 2008. He is her son Damien's oldest child. I did not know Donovan very well but followed his story told by his proud, loving mom on social media. I did not realize that he was so very depressed.  It was a Monday morning when I found out. The day was unbelievable energy-wise. Before I even got out of bed, I could tell something was up. A few minutes later, when I learned of his passing, I understood it.  All day, I could feel Donovan everywhere. At one point, I was out pacing in the yard and the kid across the street was riding in his ATV. We both blew off steam that way during these days of Covid. We were often out at the sam