You are beautiful

Online social media sites can be a great way to interact with the world, keep up to date on the latest and greatest, or simply waste a whole lot of time (I will raise a hand to that).  I'm part of the technology generation and from personal experience, I'm all for online social media; but what happens when people go too far?  

I don't mean the ridiculous amount of time college students such as myself spend procrastinating on Facebook.  I'm talking about when online social media is used in such a way that promotes actual harm to people.  Hopefully you recall the 2006 suicide of St. Louis area native, Megan Meier, after being harassed by the mother of a school friend using a fake MySpace profile; the incident prompted the Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act of 2009 though it never became law.  What a horrible situation.  Let me introduce a new piece of work, an individual by the name of Kenneth Tong who uses his Twitter page for, well, I'll let the tweets do the talking. 

" @... I am indeed for real, and my size zero pill works, I serve as thinspiration to Twitter, of which is my stage.

Inner beauty is a myth. You are just fat. You are unloved. People look at you & are pleasant cause they feel sorry for you. Size Zero...

If your beautiful in your own way, am glad you appreciate yourself, cause that plus size garment can't breathe with your fat stretching it.

I do no promote anorexia. I promote managed anorexia. I created the latter term. I defined the latter, I assure you there is a difference.

I wholeheartedly hope I put you off your Dinner. Look at yourself. You are a disgrace. That's why the Guy you like doesn't notice you

@KhloeKardashian We've met a few times, but you'd be perfect as a Size Zero - I've launched a new Size Zero Pill. I'll send it to the shop?  "

Believe me, there was more.  Much more.  I sincerely hope that anyone who reads even these snippets of what this man is purporting would find themselves absolutely outraged.  I am.

While I could very well delve into a lengthy dissemination of just what is wrong with Tong's campaign, there is a broader picture here.  Part of that broader picture is the use of online social media.  As furious as I am with his message, Tong is simply one of the many sources of negative messages out there.  These sources need a way to reach their audience and a vast majority of them utilize online social media (For instance, Tong has nearly 20,000 followers on Twitter; that's 20,000 people who he can instantly access with one nasty Tweet).  But so do thousands of everyday people, such as you and I.  Online social media gives us a vehicle to, in a way, speak to the world.  In our circles of friends on Facebook, our followers on Twitter, and the people we follow all comprise a giant network; we are a part of a global mouthpiece where it is very possibly the things you post on Facebook and Twitter can be read by people all over the world.  Some choose messages of hate, like Tong.  What will you choose to say to the world?  Let's choose love.

I find this to be an appropriate time to bring up the Operation Beautiful campaign.  Check this video out everyone and remember: you are beautiful just the way you are.



All my love,
RF

Beauty and the ear of the beholder

What is beautiful?  Can we assign it any one, solitary definition?  Whoever said beauty is in the eye of the beholder was really on to something.  Oddly enough from time to time, I find myself taking pause at certain sounds that I personally find absolutely beautiful.  These are my top five favorite sounds. 

5.  Laughter - Genuine, joyous laughter.  It's the stuff that I find I can't help but laugh along with.  The baby giggling in the check-out line at Target.  My angel Grandpa's deep belly laugh.  The room on family game night when someone gets creative with the apples to apples cards (e.g. Hiroshima for loud, Helen Keller for touch-feely... I know, we're horrible people...).

4.  Fire in a wood stove - If I close my eyes and imagine the sound of the fire crackling and popping in the wood stove at the family fort, I almost feel as if I'm there surrounded by my family watching a movie.  The sound makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

3.  An empty church - The time or two I've had the opportunity to sit in the empty, dark sanctuary of my church I've found myself in complete awe of the sound: silence.  Silence is beautiful anywhere, I suppose, but I think there's something about silence in the sanctuary of a house of God that is absolutely captivating.

2.  A cat's purr - I'm going to be more specific and say my cat's purr.  Chelsea is a cranky old coot that I've had for fifteen years this May.  She's a broad boned, part Mane Coon with gorgeous blue eyes, massive paws, and a sassy disposition.  She is the queen and all creation bows before her.  Or else.  I love her, teeth and all, to pieces.  The sound of her purr is particularly beautiful to me as it is not only rare, it's a deeper, more gravely sound than my other cat who pretty much purrs 24/7.  Chel isn't all barbs, she has a soft side.  Somewhere.  It comes out when she's curled up on the foot of my bed, basking in the warmth of the heater.  That's when she'll start purring.  And I could listen to it all night.

1.  Rain - I have always adored the sound of rain on my window in the mornings.  Even without throwing back the curtains, I love to lay in bed and listen to the rain.  If I'm feeling particularly energetic I might hop out of bed to crack the window and hear the rain more audibly.  Divine.

So there you have it.  Happy weekend!

RF

Two Goodbyes

For one of the last writing exercises from my writing class this past semester, I elaborated on a prompt given in class.  Originally, we listed five goodbyes and then detailed one of them.  I went into detail two more...

Goodbye No. 1 Spring Break

Airplanes roared overhead, car breaks squealed, suitcases hit the pavement with cluncks and ca-clacks, people shouted over the din.   I hopped out of the red Grand Caravan and hauled my hopefully (fingers crossed) less than fifty pound suitcase with me.   My Uncle got out with me and gave me a farewell hug.  The usual, these weeks go by too fast, we’ll see you soon, love you.  I shouted a goodbye to Grandpa through the open slider door and he waved from the driver’s seat.

I had no sooner turned to face the sliding doors and the imminent ticketing counter when I decided that goodbye simply would not suffice.  I made the split second decision to abandon my suitcase (sorry airport security voice) and dash around the van to give my Grandpa a proper goodbye.   His hearty laugh, one that always came from deep in his belly and could fill a whole room, and no less overpower the sounds around us came through the glass before he opened the door.

“I love you Grandpa, see you this summer,” I promised as I hugged him.   I breathed in his familiar smokey scent. 
“Love you too, kiddo.”   His merry eyes were full of laughter.
That was the last hug I gave him.

Goodbye No. 2 Wednesday 30 June 2010

“Hey Grandpa, Happy Birthday!” I spoke into the phone.  His laughter filled the receiver.
“I can’t wait to see you this weekend!” I told him.
“I’m looking forward to it. So what’s the plan?”
“Mom wants to leave early on Saturday, so we should be in by eight.”
“Well I’ll see you on Sunday morning then,” he chuckled back.  This was one of our jokes.   He always went to bed around seven at night, so whenever we drove up to New York for a visit and got in past seven, we wouldn’t see him until the morning.

“Guess what?”  I told him next, “I want to get a motorcycle!”   There was that belly deep laugh again.  “Oh really?  A crotch rocket?  Why do you want one of those?”
“Because they’re awesome and bad ass,” I promptly replied.
“I suppose you’d be the first in the family to have one,” he laughed.

“On another note, Mom and I were talking the other day and it looks like I should start getting things in line for my commission next semester.”
“Oh so you decided then?”
“Yup, the plan is as soon as I graduate in ’12, I’ll be heading off to OCS in Rhode Island.   I’ll be a Navy Officer, Grandpa.”
I could just see his smile as he replied, “That’s really something.  I’m really proud of you, kiddo.”
“Thank you Grandpa, I’m proud of you too.”  I replied back, “I guess I’ll let you go then, it’s getting close to bed time, huh?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, “I’ll see you on Sunday then.”
“Alright, see you Sunday. Love you, bye.”
“Love you too, kiddo.”

Three days later, my Mom, brother and I were en route to NY when we got a call that my Grandpa had died in his sleep early that morning.   He had just turned seventy-six.

XXX

Goodbye Grandpa, I love and miss you terribly.

Love,

RF

The Jesse Tree Celebration

Our very own Jesse Tree!

One of the most exciting things for me this past month has been my family group's celebration of the Jesse Tree.  Now, before I get any credit whatsoever in sounding cultured I must confess that my first thought upon being told we were going to have one this year was "What on earth is that?" followed closely by "Jesse... Jesse... I know he was one of those Old Testament guys... Yeah, that's all I've got."  So I promptly awayed to a computer and (of course) consulted Google.  Oh Google.  I did come to learn by experience though as well, I am happy to say. 

The Jesse Tree is a celebration of advent.  It is, in a way, a more "Christian" version of the Christmas tree than the common one (which I have no beef with).  The Jesse Tree celebration is not intended to be in lieu of the more common Christmas traditions.  It's a way of celebrating the coming of the Christ child into the world by following the Old Testament events that led up to His arrival some two thousand years ago.  An additional bonus for me was I got to brush up on some of my OT.  Woot woot!  Now some people celebrate the Jesse Tree every day of advent with an OT event, but because our group meets weekly we condensed our celebration into weekly readings of the events.  Both are common practices.

The bible is chalk full of references to trees.  They symbolize life, rebirth, etc.  In Isaiah 11, the Prophet records "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots."  This passage is one of the prophecies made of the coming of Christ, a branch from the root of Jesse (Jesus was a descendant of Jesse).  Thus the Jesse Tree is so named.

For each OT event celebrated by the Jesse Tree, there is an assigned ornament.  Traditionally, children make these.  This is one of the ways the JTC involves the whole family.  The kiddos get a chance to put that creativity to good use!  Boy did we have some beauties this year, I wish I had pictures.  I did contribute and make a couple ornaments, because I'm a dork and I have yet to grow up.  Props still to the kids though, they're little Van Goghs and Picassos in the making (sans the ear issue).

There are twenty-eight events and/or themes in the Jesse Tree.

1. Creation; symbolized by a dove ornament
2. The first sin; symbolized by an apple
3. The flood;  symbolized by a rainbow or an ark
4. God's promise to Abraham to make his descendants "as numerous as the stars;"  symbolized by a field of stars
5. The offering of Isaac where Abraham trusted God and God provided a ram in place of Isaac to be sacrificed; symbolized by a ram
6. Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven and God promises to continue the promise through Jacob's line that he made to Jacob's father Abraham; symbolized by, well, a ladder
7. God's providence in Joseph's life, even though he was mistreated by his brothers and sold into slavery he was in Egypt when a famine struck and was able to provide food for his family; symbolized by Joseph's coat of many colors
8. God's leadership through Moses to deliver his people from the Egyptians; symbolized by a burning bush (this one didn't have to burn without burning up the bush, in fact it didn't have to burn at all because that would be a fire hazard...)
9. The Passover, where God instructed the Israelites to spread lamb's blood on their doors one night to protect them from the death of the firstborn plague.  Also the Exodus out of Egypt; this is symbolized by a lamb (baaa).
10. The Torah at Sinai, where God gives Moses the tablets of the Torah; symbolized by (le gasp!) the tablets of the Torah!
11. The fall of Jericho which allowed the Israelites to finally enter the promised land; symbolized by a ram's horn trumpet.
12. God used Gideon, an obscure guy from the tribe of Manasseh, to free Israel; symbolized by a crown.
13. David, a shepherd for the people; symbolized by a shepherd's crook
14. Elijah and the prophets of Baal.  Baal's prophets could not convince Baal to burn the offering to prove his power, but even after Elijah ordered a stone altar to be built and the sacrifice to be drenched in water, Yahweh (God) burned the whole dang thing; symbolized by... a stone altar!
15. God's faithfulness and deliverance to Hezekiah; symbolized by an empty tent.
16. Isaiah's call to holiness, where he has a dream in which a coal of living fire is touched to his lips; symbolized by fire tongs with "hot" coal (once again fire hazards prevented the real deal, as it did with Elijah's altar.)
17. The Exile of the Israelites from the promised land; symbolized by tears ;(
18. The Israelites waiting to return; symbolized by a stone watchtower
19. The return and rebuilding in the promised land; a city wall is the symbol
20. John the Baptist prepares the way for the Christ by calling Israel to repent of their sins; symbolized by a white shell
21. Mary's visit by Gabriel, who tells her she will be the mother of the Christ; symbolized by a white lily
22. The joy in Elizabeth, Mary Jesus' mother's cousin, who became pregnant after being barren until she was considered too old to have children.  Chronologically, this happened before John the Baptist prepared the way because, well, Elizabeth was pregnant with him.  Jesus still cooking too. The point is the joy; this is symbolized by a mother and child.
23. Zechariah doubted when Gabriel told him his wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a child.  He was struck mute until the birth and naming of John the Baptist (though they didn't name him the Baptist at that time...).  He named his son via writing; symbolized by a pencil and tablet.
24. Joseph was in strange predicament when the girl he was essentially engaged (okay, pledged) to turned up pregnant and there was no way he was involved.  Gabriel visited him also and told him it was all good and Joe trusted him; this symbol was a carpenter's hammer.
25. The three Magi learned of the Christ child who was to be born and set out to worship him; this is symbolized by a star.
26. The birth of Jesus the Messiah; symbolized by a manger.
27. Christ the son of God; symbolized by the Chi-Rho (XP) symbol

Okay I lied, there were twenty-seven.  At any rate, I really enjoyed this celebration.  I intend to incorporate it into my own kiddo's Christmases some day.  It's a great addition to the Christmas season.

Cheers!

RF

Operation Beautiful

"I'm Caitlin, and I'm the editor of Operation Beautiful. The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!"

When I first watched this during a presentation for a psychology project, I literally teared up.  There is something truly beautiful about this.  We are beautiful, every one of us, just the way we are.  I am passing this on to encourage other women to at the very least stop and tell yourself, "I am beautiful."  Because, babe, you are.

I have plans for some sticky note action in the near future

Warm fuzzies,

RF