aware

Can I just tell you all how amazing it is to read books from the 1800s?

I've recently been apassioned with reading Austen, Bronte, and most recently a work by Stendhal called The Charter House of Parma.

I have learned about sensibility, folly, frivolity, charm, grace, disposition, the gaity of the French, and the ability of the beautiful sights around the Italians to melt away any bad thoughts. These among other things.

These authors develop people and look at these characters in a way which we do not pay attention to in this day and age. Maybe it is simply the mass qualities of the people we see about in this world or if we have just become a bland society, I do not know. I do know that these books are slowly and surely making me more aware of others around me and myself. I see this to be a good thing and I appreciate it very much.

burning

Just this summer, after many years of spending all my time hanging out or lifeguarding in the hot hot sun, I have fell in love with...sunscreen. Although this is peculiar, this year I feel like there is nothing better than putting on that 70 SPF to protect my skin and help it retain some of its pale luminosity.

I never used to use sunscreen. My skin is still somewhat colored from last year when my skin turns into yellowish golden darkness via that burning star which we call our sun. Through years of spending all my time outdoors and letting the sun have it's way with the fragile makeup of my outer layer, I kind of feel like I need to start doing something.

I especially have become enamored with putting sunscreen on the tops of my hands. Silly, you say? But No, I say in return. I recently discovered a light but large sunspot on the top of my right hand. This realization then led my to my passion to sunscreen topped hands. Perfectly rational.

submissiveself

Word for the day:

Humility (adjectival form: humble) is the quality of being modest, reverential, even politely submissiveself, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude or even self-abasing. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness; by contrast, some schools of thought are sharply critical of humility. The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which may be translated as "humble", but also as "low", "from the earth", or "humid."

This is a slightly scary word. It goes against so many things we have innately in ourselves. I see that this is, simply, because we are only ourselves, it is OUR self. We are the only one who knows who we are from our own perspective and being selfish, in a way, is a survival mechanism. To get what we need, mentally and physically, to survive. Yet I believe true selfishness is this survival mechanism blown to intense proportions. It is poisonous.

I see so many people in our society become consumed with THEIRself, THEIR own wants, and THEIR own needs. It is Narcissus reincarnate. This is hard for me but I'm trying to work on being more humble. Honestly, time for a wakeup call: there are many people in the history of the world that were better than you and me at everything we have ever done. This might be depressing to some but when we can get over our pride it opens so many doors within ourselves. I've realized recently that when I think of all the people who are better than me, it brings me back to earth, down-to-earth. Humility is from the word: humus---the earth. Only then can I start working on on the true me.

And I'm not just talking about the teenyboppers with the gucci bags in our society. I'm talking about the intellectuals, the mothers, the fathers, the businessmen. I know I love to learn, and because of all the things that I've learned and how important to me they are, there can be a pride that sneaks into my life. I do see this a lot in the academic and intellectual community.

It is only when we are truly humble that we can listen and hear one another.

subliminal

While chatting, or something more akin to discussing, with some friends last night, we came upon the topic of dreams. The recurring theme of flying in (almost) all human dreams. The subliminal in dreams. Dreams during the time body is taken by fevers and sickness. Strange dreams versus normal dreams. Dejavu. Sleep paralysis. This got me thinking. My brother once pointed out that when people start talking about dreams, everyone has something to say about it. I feel as if dreams, in a sense, are so strange and the causes of them so unknown, that they have become seen as something close to supernatural. Many societies believe there is a dream place or "Dreamtime" in native Australian belief systems.

"Aboriginals believe in two forms of time; two parallel streams of activity. One is the daily objective activity, the other is an infinite spiritual cycle called the 'dreamtime', more real than reality itself. Whatever happens in the dreamtime establishes the values, symbols, and laws of Aboriginal society. It was believed that some people of unusual spiritual powers had contact with the dreamtime."' -The Last Wave (1977), an Australian film

There is also the aspect of lucid dreaming. And those "dream masters" who learn how to navigate their lucid dreams. Being able to play in this landscape of sleep. Even supposedly visit others in their own slumber. A man once visited my religion class to talk on this subject. Saying that he was able to do anything he wanted: fly, jump, run, be anywhere, in his sleep. Although he had not yet mastered the art of visiting others. Whether I know this to be true or not, I do know that there is such a thing as lucid dreams as I've had them before. I will realize suddenly that everything around me is as if clear and real. I've tried to fly or manipulate the dream then, but then the dream gets muddle and my feelings become scared and strange. I once had a lucid dream where I stumbled across many people, around five, meeting in a finely furnished room. They all looked at me strange and said to one another, "Is she supposed to be here?" Then the dream ended.

I personally believe that our deepest emotions are expoused in our dreams. Even though we may deny it, the subliminal thoughts within us our able to be glimpsed within. I feel slightly awkward when people tell me their dreams. Dreams are so personal. What I can infer from them is much more than the person thinks to be telling. Yet in our society they are treated as slightly strange, silly things. Be careful when you tell others your dreams.

I've also now decided to start a dream journal.

hottest

Who would have thought that the hottest place in the country would be at the northern end....

95 degrees in wintery Minneapolis.

instruments

From MSN.com here are the...

The 5 Fittest Cities in America
Washington, D.C.
Boston, Mass.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Seattle, Wash.
Portland, Ore.

My hometown being the third makes me very proud.

Also, from MSNBC...

"Exhibit A: Portland, Oregon, just displaced Copenhagen as the No. 2 most bike-friendly city in the world.
Exhibit B: In Davis, California, more people cycle to work than drive.
Exhibit C: A growing number of Minneapolis residents continue to commute by bike through the winter."

Another point of pride, my father is included in Exhibit C, biking to work in downtown Minneapolis even in the winter. The number and accessibility of the trails in Minneapolis astounds me.

This of course, must help Minneapolis's health rating. U.S.'s health problem sicken me at times (no pun intended).
When we actually thought about what we are putting into our bodies...grabbing handfuls of sugar and putting then into our mouth when we eat that cotton candy, and syphoning a pound of grease down our throat for the amount of McDonalds we eat in a week...it's extremely ridiculous.

Our bodies are finely tuned instruments of life and we constantly run them down with the horrible things we put in them and the stress we put on ourselves. It's hard to eat healthy, but we as Americans CAN do it. We are a wealthy country with many resources and are blessed to be able to get the quality food that we have available to us. Another cool fact is that eating healthy increases HAPPINESS physiologically in our minds.

tear

Just wanted to share some videos that never fail to make me shed a tear, but only in a good way!