The Chautauqua: April 2019

I have a quirk - and I’m sure it’s not my only one - I cannot see cobwebs, especially when they are indoors. No matter how many times they are pointed out to me, or how many times I unknowingly walk through one, I simply cannot see them.

But, just because a quirk with my eyes doesn’t let me see the cobwebs, doesn’t mean they aren’t really there.

Not long ago I read a book about how our whole concept of our history has been overturned because early archaeologists and anthropologists “didn’t see” what was right in front them. They were so sure that the “evidence” they uncovered pointed in a certain direction that they did everything they could - short of standing on their heads - to make it fit into their concept of what they “thought” our history “should” be. And, they were wrong.

We’ve been taught in schools (in a nutshell) that our Neolithic ancestors from approximately 12,000 years ago were ignorant, brutal barbarians who had no culture, and yet somehow managed to figure out how to farm, despite constantly fighting and killing each other.

What the archaeological evidence actually shows is that our Neolithic ancestors were very peaceful cooperative people who were socially, culturally, and artistically MORE advanced than we are today, even with all of our technological advances.

Due to massive earthquakes, and other resulting natural disasters, approximately 5,000 years ago, that way of life was dramatically changed and, for all intents and purposes, lost. We only get the occasional glimpse of it in some ancient myth or writing, yet we know it exists because we are trying to return to it every time we try to bring more peace and more beauty to our lives. It was also at that same time period that the evidence of weapons of war and mass killings first appear.

While I can’t see cobwebs normally, I CAN see them when the sunlight glints of water droplets on the strands of the web. It is possible for us all to see what we need to see in our lives, if the conditions are right, and we don’t prejudge what we think our reality should be.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/April%2019%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday, 17 April 2019

When in doubt, just take the next right step.

- Author Unknown

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Monday, 15 April 2019

Change

Change is most effective on a local level,

and even more effective in the home.

- Humble the Poet

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Friday, 12 April 2019

Time

You can’t travel faster than the speed of time

which is one second per second.

- author unknown

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Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Problems

Problems are not fixed;

they are simply outgrown. You leave them behind.

– Robert Holden

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Monday, 8 April 2019

Necessary

Most of what we say and do is not essential.

If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time,

and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment,

‘Is this necessary?’

- Marcus Aurelius

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Friday, 5 April 2019

April 5, 2019 Chautauqua

Beth's Ponderings

The other day I was figuratively crying on a friend’s shoulder, as I lamented that I have had ENOUGH change in my life and I just want my health and life back so I can move forward!

But the truth is, no matter how much I want it, I can’t get my health, or life, back exactly the way it was before. None of us can, especially after a huge dramatic change.

And, after all, that is the whole point of change. To take us to a new state of being physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Whether the change was wanted and planned for, or unwanted and out of the blue, seemingly small or completely life-altering, the change came about to move us in a different direction, into a different mindset, and into a different way of being and living.

On a smaller scale, while we can change our minds about a decision, or redo a task, the truth is we can’t completely undo what was already done because we have experienced a different way of being, even if only for a moment, and that has an impact, even if we don’t consciously realize it, on all our future decisions.

Unfortunately, too many of us - including myself - spend too much time and energy looking back at where we were before the change, and not fully embracing where we are following the change.

Election Day in Alberta is coming up and some of our candidates want to turn back the clock in various areas, but no matter how much they promise - and they sure are full of promises - they can’t return us, as a province, back to where we were, they can only move us forward from where we currently are.

That’s all any of us can do. Go forward from where we are.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/April%205%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua