Just having a wee looky-loo

I used to have a blog called Bramble Rambles, and I used to post videos that I made with my dachshund, Vinnie. Those were crazy times. Anyway, I stopped in 2006, but you can look at the silliness if you like: http://bramblerambles.blogspot.com/

I thought I'd start up a blog again because I haven't been doing any writing at all in a very long time, and I need to compose something besides emails and Facebook blurbs.

I have lived through some pretty tough times in my life, but this year is undeniably the hardest time ever. Details aren't necessary, but this sort of ceaseless calamity does prod one to search for reasons, "Why is this happening?" and so on. At the same time, I know that nothing that has happened, or continues to happen, is personal. It isn't a life lesson being given to me, it isn't a sign from the Universe, there is no meaning in any of it; it is all just an unfortunate series of events that are not happening to ME, but rather are just happening. And I happen to be in the middle of it. None of it is personal. Deaths, losses, changes = all of it just happens and our task is to survive it and move on.

That seems utterly dismal, doesn't it. But it does inspire thoughts about the meaning of life, doesn't it? I mean, one really does start thinking about the point of everything; when everything seems very hard, we inevitably start wondering about the point, the purpose of life beyond just getting up every day and enduring the waking hours, right? Well, I have learned that the meaning is in the way we are connected to our lives. Whether it is family or friends or both, whether it is being connected to nature, or animals, the connections are at the heart of our purpose and our meanings are derived from these connections. That's all.

While "everything is connected" has sadly become a rather over-used and poorly understood concept, it is the correct one. Everything is connected throughout time, history, we are all connected through DNA, through shared cultures and clashing ideals. We are connected in the way we are propelled forward through time and space. On a quantum level, a psychic level, on levels we don't yet understand how to measure, on all these levels we are connected with each other, with the planet itself, with the galaxy, the universe and so on. And as the universe keeps expanding, so do we and our connections. Embrace them.

So go out and make good connections. Not just social media folks. Real people. Real events. When you care about something else, you connect with it. And if you think you aren't connected with anything or anyone, think again. We are ALL connected, in some way. We sometimes just need to rise above our own murk and see what else, and who else, is out there.