Okay, so I recently discovered a YouTube channel devoted to these dancing prisoners in a prison in Cebu, Philippines. Apparently, this guy, Byron F. Garcia, is testing out this new form of rehabilitation for inmates at the prison. One of the videos has over 28 million hits as of the day I am posting this article. It is the one of them doing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance. I also enjoyed their version of “Jump” by the Pointer Sisters. However, the one that really got my attention was their cover of Super Junior’s “Sorry, Sorry” here:
This got me thinking. I started to think about other songs that I would have prisoners dance to if I ran my own prison. I started to think about all the classic songs from Broadway and movie musicals. I would love to see them do “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story. I think “Getting To Know You” from The King & I would also be an excellent rehabilitation song:
And “Shall We Dance?” from the same musical:
And my favorite song from a movie musical is “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound Of Music. Don’t you think having prisoners dance to this song would melt their cold, embittered hearts?:
I was talking to one of my friends from the UK about this. And he said he wanted to see them do songs from 80’s movies like Fame, Flashdance, Footloose and Dirty Dancing. And he wanted them to do synchronized swimming, as well. I agreed that those were fine choices. I would like to add hula-hooping and ballroom dancing to that list. I think the hip gyrations required to do the hula hoop would stimulate their chakras and open their third eye.
Finally, I suggested that for the most hardened criminals, we experiment with DMT and magic mushrooms. Any prisoner who is overly obstinate and resistant to reform, I would love to just pump them full of DMT and magic mushrooms and see what happens. I wonder if they would realize that life is all one. And perhaps, they would communicate with aliens from another dimension who would teach them more peaceful ways of living. HAHAHA! Ah, yes! How I love to let my imagination run wild. I think I would make a fine prison warden.
I want to write about intention here, even though it scares me half to death. HAHA! I think knowing what your intentions are is one of the most important and helpful things in life. It is something that I would almost love to teach people. However, the thing that scares me so much about teaching people about intention is that I would also be held accountable for my own intentions. I would be scared out of my mind of doing something hypocritical, like teaching one way and then doing the opposite.
For now, I just want to write about it in this blog. The reason that I think intention is so important is that it affects your entire life experience. The problem that I see with intention though is that many different intentions could be operating simultaneously inside of you. And each intention has its own agenda, and they sometimes conflict with each other.
I have heard Gary Zukav talk about this in terms of being called splintered parts of your personality. I also have heard him say that they are frightened parts of your personality. I also like the term “wounded” parts of your personality. Gary Zukav says that one of the purposes of this life experience is to heal those wounded, or splintered, parts of your personality.
This is one of the main problems that I had with that movie, The Secret. I think they failed to mention how different parts of your personality could be operating inside of you. I think if you are not aware of these splintered aspects of yourself, then they can take over and sabotage your more positive intentions. For example, you could have an intention to start a business or quit an addiction or begin a healthy relationship or start an exercise program. However, if you are not aware of all the forces operating inside you, I think wounded parts of yourself that are rooted in the past can creep up and sabotage your efforts to do those “positive” things.
I’m pretty sure it was Carl Jung who called those wounded parts of your personality “the shadow” (well, that is just how I interpreted it). For example, maybe a parent told you that you weren’t good enough when you were a child. Or maybe you were teased at school by your peers for not dressing the “right” way. Or some other person who you thought had authority or power over you might have convinced you that you were somehow inadequate or unlovable. I think so many factors go into shaping how each individual is brought up as a child. And I think so many faulty belief systems can be implanted into your brain and conditioned into your psyche.
I think so many of those childhood wounds, if they are not dealt with, become stored inside the actual cell tissue of the body. If they continue to be repressed long into adulthood, I think they can become disease processes and they can actually kill you over time. And I think these wounds are essentially your “shadow” aspects. They come to the surface when you are trying to “do good” in your current life.
Like I mentioned above, let’s say you wanted to do something positive for yourself, like start a business. But if you have some old memory from childhood where your mother or father told you that you aren’t good enough, I think that memory can take over your mind and find a way to sabotage your efforts. This is what I mean by competing intentions. On one hand, you have an intention to start a business. But that old wound that was never fully addressed or acknowledged also has its own intention, which is to prove that you are not good enough. So, right when you are about to make some important business transaction with a client, you might get set off and lash out at the client, resulting in the business deal to fall through. That would be an example of how an old wound can sabotage your current life.
Similarly, let’s say you are trying to lose weight. But at the same time you have some old wound from childhood where your mother or father said to you, “Oh, you are always going to be fat. You have fat genes! You come from a family of fat people. Just get used to it.” I think a wound like that, if it is not fully looked at, acknowledged, felt, and then released, can interfere with your intention to lose weight.
So, yeah. This aspect of intention, and how old wounds can sabotage your efforts to create a happy life for yourself, is something that I wish was more discussed. I think you can have all the intention in the world to get rich, find true love, get a great job, eat healthy, exercise, etc. But if you have not fully dealt with wounds from the past, I think those wounds will definitely come to the surface at those very moments when you are on the cusp of a breakthrough, or right when you are about to succeed. This is why I think it is so important and helpful to be aware of old wounds, and challenge them before their intentions can interfere with your current plans for yourself.
Lastly, I just want to say that I think those “shadow” intentions are almost always rooted in issues of feeling unworthy, unlovable, inferior, flawed, or somehow inadequate as a human being. I don’t think you can ever truly succeed until those feelings are fully dealt with.
I realized that I have a difficult time asking for money from people. And I don’t mean just asking for money like a beggar. I am talking about when I actually do legitimate work. I think my difficulty is knowing how much to charge. For example, if I were to teach martial arts for a living, I have no idea what an “appropriate” amount would be to charge for, say, a half hour or hour private lesson (or even a regular class or seminar). Or if I sat down with someone and helped them figure out a healthy diet plan, I have no idea what would be an “appropriate” amount to charge. (Do you even need a college degree to become a nutritionist anyway? I don’t know.)
I really need to be honest with myself. I often ask myself, “Okay, Kelly. Let’s say you did start making money by teaching martial arts. What would you do with the money? Where would you invest it? Would I really be happy teaching martial arts? Is it my dream job? Or is it just a means to an end? And if it is a means to an end, what is the ‘end’ that I am looking for?”
Lately, I have been asking a few people that I know: “What would you do with your life if you had all the money in the world, and all the time in the world?” I like to ask people that question because I think it can tell you a lot about them. However, me personally, I would be afraid to have all the time and money in the world because I would be afraid that people would treat me differently. I would be afraid that I would start attracting the wrong kind of people into my life, people who just want to use me, rather than be my friend. This is the same reason that I fear becoming a celebrity. I think celebrity does weird things to people. I think people who seem very normal could potentially become bizarre power freaks if they became famous. Or, if they didn’t become a bizarre power freak, then they could start attracting bizarre power freaks into their life. That is a very real fear of mine.
I have heard Joe Rogan say that becoming rich and famous doesn’t mean you suddenly lose your “bullshit detector.” I suppose he’s right. I like to think that I can tell when someone is bullshitting me. And I like to think that even if I was very rich, I would still be able to tell.
I might want to write more about this subject later, but for now, I think this is enough.
I’m always somewhat puzzled when I hear people say things like, “I’m not being very productive right now.” Or, “You should do something productive with your life!” What does “productive” really mean? When people say, “You should be more productive,” I usually take that to mean, “You should be spending more of your time doing things that please ME, instead of spending your time doing things that please YOU!”
I also think it is kind of hilarious when people say, “Get a real job!” I usually take that phrase to mean, “Go do something that makes you feel miserable!” HAHAHA! And at the same time, I think it is hilarious when people talk about the addiction known as “workaholism.” Is it “getting a real job” or is it “being a workaholic?” Which is it, people?
I also think it is hilarious that the words “lazy” and “meditation” exist. If a person sits in silence all day, with his eyes closed, is he “meditating” or “being lazy?” Is he being “productive?” I think it all depends on the consciousness of the person who is viewing that person who is sitting in silence. I think one person might call him “lazy,” while another might call him “productive.” I am not saying that I think one viewpoint is right and one is wrong. I am just saying that I find it interesting how experience is so subjective.
Also, is being a mother a “productive” thing? Or should a woman have a career? Is she being “lazy” by wanting to spend all her time at home with the kids or is she “being a good mother?” Who is to say what is “productive?” Should a father “be a good provider” and “bring home the bacon?” Or should he be spending more “quality time” with his children? Which is more “productive?”
I think I want to tread on a touchy subject by talking about my opinion of religion. I have tried to write about religion in the past, and I think I got myself into trouble because I was writing from an angry place. However, I don’t feel so angry now. So, I hope I can be more clear about how I really feel here.
I think the biggest problem I have with religion is that religion claims to have a monopoly on “the truth.” Isn’t that what religion does? They claim to know what is true, do they not? I just don’t understand how anyone can be so sure of what life is really all about. Christianity claims that there is a heaven and a hell, does it not? But can any Christian prove, with evidence to back it up, that a heaven and a hell really exists? If heaven and hell really do exist, I would like to know what they look like. If I asked a Christian to draw me a picture of what heaven and hell look like, could they do it? And for that matter, if I asked a Christian (or a Muslim or a Jew) to draw me a picture of what “God” looks like, could they do it? I wonder what would happen if you asked every religious person to draw a picture of God, heaven, and hell. I bet you’d get a shitload of different pictures. Don’t you think?
If you ask a Christian, why do you believe in the Bible? I’m pretty sure they will say, “Because it is the word of God.” But if you ask them, “How do you know it is the word of God?” What will they say? I expect them to say this: “I know the Bible is the word of God because it says so right there in the Bible.” However, that leads me to ask, “Well, how do you know the Bible is telling the truth? What if the Bible is a lie?”
I just wish more Christians (and Muslims and Jews and other religious people) would admit that they don’t know what is really going on. Me personally, I don’t know what happens when we die. I don’t know if heaven or hell really exist. But I feel comfortable with admitting that I don’t know.
On the flip side of religion, I also have a problem with atheists. I think atheists are just as guilty of monopolizing “the truth” as religious people. What do atheists believe? They believe that there is no God, do they not? Isn’t that what atheism is? However, how can atheists be so sure that there is no God? Me personally, I don’t know if God exists or not.
I think most people gravitate to atheism because they resent being controlled and told what to do by traditional religious institutions. I can understand that. I don’t like being told what to think, feel, say or do either. However, I don’t want to go from one extreme to another–from being so sure that God exists, to being so sure that God doesn’t exist.
After reading this, I think some people might label me as being “agnostic.” However, I don’t want to call myself agnostic because I don’t want to put myself at odds with religious people or atheists. Even though I don’t think of myself as religious or atheist, I want people to know that I am not “against” religion or atheism. If people find solace in being atheist or religious, I think that is fine. If it makes you feel better to believe one way or the other, then I have nothing against it at all. I just wanted to talk about all this here today.
Deepak was saying (and I quote): “Doesn’t it seem strange that women in France have the right to wear mini skirts but not burqas?”
I personally agree with Deepak. I think it is strange that a girl can wear a mini skirt to school, but not a burqa. Some people say that the burqa represents the oppression of women. However, I think it is up to each individual to decide what they want to wear.
Me personally, I would not be bothered if I was sitting in a classroom and a girl wanted to wear a burqa. When I was in high school, I remember there was a girl in one of my classes who began wearing traditional Muslim attire in her sophomore year. It only surprised me because when I had known her during my freshman year, she wore what I considered to be “regular” clothes. And then, by sophomore year, she began wearing the Muslim attire. It was a surprise to me, but it didn’t bother me. I simply did not know that she was a Muslim until she started wearing those clothes. I assumed that it was a part of her religion that she was supposed to wear those clothes by that age.
Anyway, I still think it is up to each girl/woman to decide what she wants to wear. As long as she is not intentionally trying to distract other students through her clothing, then I don’t have a problem. I think the intention, or motivation, behind the clothing is what is most important. So, if a girl wants to wear a burqa out of respect for her religion, I think it is okay.
I think legislating appropriate attire for the classroom can be a tough thing. I definitely agree that some students could take advantage of a “no-uniform” policy and purposely wear outrageous clothing as a way to draw attention to himself/herself. However, I personally would have hated to wear school uniforms when I was in high school.
I think there is a fine line between “freedom of expression” and wearing clothes that interfere with the learning environment. Me personally, I know that I never wore clothes in the classroom with the intention to draw attention to myself. I did once wear a gigantic “Cat-In-The-Hat” hat to school, but I always took it off in the classroom. Most of the time, I just wanted to wear what I felt most comfortable in. I never tried to distract anyone else from their ability to learn what was being taught in the classroom. But I guess not all kids are like I was.
I am glad I do not work at a public school. I would hate to have to decide what is appropriate and not appropriate. I guess it is up to each school to decide the dress code. If everyone was forced to wear school uniforms back at my high school, then I think I could have lived with it. I wouldn’t have liked it, but I think I could understand why a school would want to enforce a uniform dress code. As long as I can wear whatever I want outside of school, then I am happy.
For this first blog entry, I just want to check it out, since I have never used wordpress before. I just want to see how it looks.
I also want to say that the reason I started this blog is because I felt like I had more things to say than I could say on Twitter. I was noticing that I was posting these rapid-fire “tweets” and I thought it might be hard for people to read or follow. Also, I just felt too limited by the 140 character limit.
With wordpress, I hope to be able to put more time into what I really want to say, and I hope it will be easier for people to read. Thanks for visiting.
Posted by kellymagovern 
Posted by kellymagovern 
Posted by kellymagovern 