What is going on? For the first time in years the American public is energized, motivated and excited about politics. Barack Obama has inspired our united spirit. He has put the sparkle back in our lives. Right now, at this time in our history, it is the best thing that could have happened. I don’t ever remember being moved by a politician. Never. That is, not until now! Senator Obama has awakened thousands of people to optimism. He has the courage, energy and enthusiasm to propose we actually work toward becoming a balanced humanity. Together we can hope, dream and visualize our way to an equitable future. He sees the whole picture with superior intelligence and great depth of understanding. Just imagine he is stirring a nation!
My nature is not to be cynical, but considering the imbalance of the current administration, I have felt terribly disheartened the last several years. I have not been alone in my consternation about the war in Iraq, the economy, health care, education, global warming, and the erosion of our constitution. These, plus a myriad of other issues, have weighed heavily on us collectively as a country. We certainly are witnessing a dysfunctional government which has been forcing its policy on us to the point of dis-ease. We have become an unhealthy society.
We allowed two elections to be stolen and then have slowly watched in horror as our values have been twisted and distorted and then spread around the world as political gospel. We have an emotionally dishonest, fear based President who has done nothing to support love of ourselves or love of our neighbors.
As a collective group of souls we have felt tricked into a war not of our choosing. We see ourselves as victims. The amount of money borrowed and squandered will put us in debt for generations to come. Negative news is propagated through the main stream media. Apprehension has permeated much of our lives. We have taken a huge hit to our security, growth and well being. With the pain, poverty, and shame we have been experiencing, it is easy to feel helpless. There are steps we can take to walk the path to sanity, but since we have had so much resistance it is difficult to know where to start?
We begin with HOPE.
In my film, I SURVIVED: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY OF SELF-HEALING AND TRANSFORMATION, I shared my story of hope. After years of repression and emotional turmoil, when I had reached bottom, and was seriously contemplating suicide, I had a dream that it was possible to become balanced and whole. I saw a glimmer of light coming from a rock, a light as small as a tiny speck of dust that I focused on for months. Slowly the light began to get brighter and brighter. I never gave up HOPE and worked on my recovery steadily for seven years. I now am a healthy, happy woman.
At the same time I was beginning to heal, I received a book of poems in the mail from an anonymous benefactor. Enclosed with this book was a beautiful card with a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson that read: We judge a man’s wisdom by his hope.
We may not be mindful of the fact that we need inspiration to pull ourselves out of chaos but Barack Obama has appeared when we collectively have reached bottom. He is raising us up from the victim mentality where we have felt trapped and think there is nothing we can do about the injustice so apparent in our country. He is leading a tidal wave of movement by showing us that together we have the opportunity to free ourselves from an oppressive government. He has given us a reason to wish, anticipate, and trust that we can create a healthy America, a fair and just government, where our dreams will not be buried forever. He is a strong, balanced man, one who genuinely cares about his fellow human beings. If the work he has done in the past is an indication of his future, I have no doubt he will make a great president. I urge you to check out his impressive voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate.
I don’t believe in accidents. His inspiration is an agent of hope. I feel Senator Obama is divine guidance influencing the soul of humanity. He is a gift to us!
Let’s focus our lives on joy and light
The lens will radiate flowers and sunshine
Film our dreams of peace and truth
The camera will capture them willingly
Visualize the drama with hope in our hearts
The reward will be laced with tranquility
Feel the production as a movement of souls
United by sharing and caring
We shall gather together to help and heal
Trusting, balancing, harmonizing
What do we call this energy force?
LOVE, it is the dance of life.
Kay Kopit
1985
I found this poem I wrote many years ago.
It appears it is coming to fruition.
Filed under: Addictions
Once a month I find myself gravitating toward the most unique Coffee House/Cafe in Berkeley, CA. I discovered this special place for dining about eight years ago from the recommendation of a friend. This restaurant has long been known for its delicious cuisine and comfortable ambience. I am drawn to this café for breakfast because of the calm, peace and beauty I feel when dining alone in the fireplace room. I don’t know of any other restaurant like this in the Oakland/Berkeley area.
Yesterday morning it was unseasonably cold in the Bay Area. Bundled in my thick fleece coat, I was on my way for an appointment when I realized I had time to enjoy this mealtime pleasure. The moment I put my foot on the front brick steps I felt as though I was on holiday in France. From the cream colored lace drapes to the amber wood floors I was welcomed by coziness. The smell of Eucalyptus firewood invited me to the back room. I noticed a woman and a younger guy warming themselves by the raging yellow-orange flames. They had pulled their small round table all the way up next to the fire screen.
My first thought was, oh darn, they are hogging the heat. I was so cold I decided to leave my table and stand by the fireplace practically on top of them. I made a quick assessment, albeit unfairly, and thought, what a motley crew. I wondered, are you mother and son? The woman with her flushed face, was disheveled, wearing only a thin sweater with several stains and scarf, while her hair was uncombed and stuck up in peaks at the top of her head. The guy had Dreads half way down his back and appeared half asleep. On any other day I would have stayed at my own table, relaxing and enjoying the fire from a distance. Usually I don’t want to interact with anyone because the very reason I go to this restaurant is to be alone with my own thoughts and visions. I don’t believe in accidents and there was a reason I lingered by the fire.
The woman, I will call her Cathleen, said to me sweetly, “Would you like to join us for breakfast?”
The Co-Dependent Me answered, “Thank you, that would be lovely,” while I was thinking, pooh, I wish I hadn’t said that. Still, to this day 20 years into recovery, I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. I thought of the two of them before myself; but as it turned out, it was serendipitous.
I didn’t even have to look at the creative menu to know what I wanted. Almost every time I go, I order the same thing; the sampler plate, consisting of two eggs, bacon or sausage, fruit and French toast. (They use special bread for their French toast.) It is yummy. The guy, I will call him Josh, ordered an omelet while Cathleen ordered a glass of Merlot; and no food. Josh asked her twice, “Aren’t you going to eat?” And then he asked again, “When are you going to eat?”
It was then that Cathleen started talking incessantly. She clarified that they had both had been up all night; not together, and that Josh was her neighbor. (I found out they barely knew each other and met on the street where they both live.) She had wanted to introduce him to Le Bateau Ivre. Josh is a musician and works painting houses. He indeed had been finishing the detail work on an apartment with a friend until the early morning hours. Cathleen’s hands were shaking but she managed to speak intelligently on so many subjects. We discovered we had known the same artists working in the 1970’s. I couldn’t deny I recognized all the signs of alcoholism in Cathleen’s mannerisms.
I have mentioned this before in some of my previous articles: I have to be very careful not to be swept up in the energy of others who are entrenched in their addictions, (whatever the addiction might be). It is almost as if I wear a light bulb on the top of my head. The light bulb goes off and signals to strangers who are into denial, but obviously addicted, that I am available to listen to their plight. I have come a long way since the days when I was equally as fixed in denial but at times I continue to be drawn to these individuals.
It is not uncommon for me to talk about my journey of healing, my documentary and web site. Yesterday I began spewing information without really realizing who I was talking to. Cathleen had many questions which I was happy to answer. She said very little about her personal life but I was quite impressed and interested in the plethora of knowledge she had about the arts. We exchanged phone numbers as I often do with fascinating people I meet. The shared breakfast was quite enjoyable and when the meter ran out I said goodbye.
Later on in the day Cathleen called me at 6:00 pm. She was very polite and appreciative for any time I could give her on the phone. Normally I am busy preparing dinner but last night my husband was out of town and Mariah and I had already eaten. I gladly took her call. I put on my ear phones and plopped myself down in the living room on my cushy sofa where I could be more comfortable. What proceeded was a two hour conversation. I am sure you have figured it out by now. She is in the depths of alcoholism, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually a wreck, very close to bottom (if not there now.) I heard every detail of her life for the last twenty years. She, like all the rest of us with addictive personalities, denies the truth before her. Yes, she admits she has a drinking problem but the pain is so great, she is stuck in DEPRESSION and DENIAL. I started noticing about an hour into the conversation I was getting a terrible stomach ache. Stomach aches have always been my signal that there is an imbalance surfacing within me. I needed to confront her with the truth from my prospective.
“Cathleen, you are powerless over alcohol. You need help.”
She said she had tried AA and was terribly uncomfortable. I shared with her that it took 6 meetings at Al-Anon before I got the message. I hated the meetings at first. Then I suggested, individual counseling, group counseling, Adult Children of Alcoholics, self-help books and on and on. I could see, as I have so many times in my life, she wasn’t ready to listen.
This made me sad but I also knew that each of us has a choice to end the suffering and move, one step at a time, ahead, to a higher and better thought, a better place. There is a bottom to the bottomless pit. When one hits that space, you can only go up. The universe is willing, waiting and anxious for us to have the desire and faith that we can be balanced and well. It is our divine right to be healthy. But it is our individual responsibility to gather the courage to send the arrow of desire out to the world and declare our willingness to heal. The part that is so hard for most of us is; to be open and accepting that we have the right to heal and are capable of healing. We can learn to love ourselves no matter how devastating, embarrassing, painful, or incriminating our past has been. This I know for a fact, because I lived that desolation for the first 40 years of my life.
I finished my conversation with Cathleen and wished her well. After hanging up the phone I held the picture of her as a balanced, happy woman. My dream is that somewhere down the road she and I will again have breakfast at Le Bateau Ivre. I am visualizing the next time we meet she is healthy and vibrant and able to appreciate the Sampler Plate. I am so grateful to be alive and conscious. Wow, what a contrast between my old life and my new life. I am hoping that she too will feel this way soon and together we can share in the light of the fire.
Filed under: Democratic Presidential Primaries
It started at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Democrats were hopeful that we could catapult John Kerry to the presidency and be free of the abuses of the Bush administration. We never expected to be moved so deeply by the introductory speech given by Senator Barack Obama. He blew us away! This eloquent man, who spoke from his heart, captured our attention. The seed was planted, to grow and blossom four years later. The time is now.
We are a nation ready to dream, visualize and co-create a magnificent existence. Barack Obama has the passion to guide us to this reality. When he enters a room he fills the space with his powerful presence. He moves with grace and his words flow like pearls. It is more than charisma. He is a man who has lived the most unusual life and one who appreciates everything he has been given. He wants to share with us his riches of wisdom, compassion, and brotherhood. We are sometimes stirred to tears because of our common dream of hope. The hope that we can truly live what our forefathers declared in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Barack Obama is being compared to John F. Kennedy. I was a college student when J.F.K. ran for president. The atmosphere was entirely different on campuses in 1960. Unless you were a political science major, students were not that politically motivated. I remember nothing of a Democratic organization on campus and just barely recall a group called The Young Republicans. We began to pay attention after he was elected and yes, we were wowed by his optimism and vision for this country and grateful he had been elected. It is different today, millions of young people are eager to get involved to work for the betterment of their fellow human beings. All across this country there are groups of interested students listening, believing, and being inspired by the vision Barack Obama holds for his country men and woman. And, they are showing it with their vote. But it isn’t just young people. All ages of voters are embracing what he stands for: living our dreams as One American Family, relishing in the richness of our magnificent diversity.
How wonderful it would be to have an African-American man as our leader. We can show the world what we have known for some time; we are capable of looking within and not judging a person by the color of their skin. As a painter, color is one of my strengths. I never use a pigment straight from the tube; I mix it with another shade for refinement and richness, creating a very special blend. I believe this is true of Barack Obama; he is exceptional. His DNA is impressed with the best of each parent. Ever since I was a child I have thought people born of mixed races were unique.
Last night at the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, before this important Election Day next Tuesday, each of them promised John Edwards to continue to work for the poor and middle class. I saw many similarities between the two candidates. The biggest differences were with their plans for ending the war in Iraq and health care. Both would represent the Democratic Party with intelligence and dignity.
The question I have is who is going to be the most adept fighter? Let’s not kid ourselves. The Republicans are ruthless in their strategy to defeat the Democrats. This election in November will be one of the toughest we have ever seen. This show-down will take a plan. Hillary Clinton, is a formidable presence and is used to the cheap shots made by the GOP pundits. She holds her own when pinned to the ground but when Senator Clinton speaks she loses me in verbosity. When Senator Obama communicates he does so with calm intelligence. There is something in his demeanor that speaks to the very heart of ones soul. It is as if he is speaking to each of us individually like a concerned father. How would this represent itself in a confrontation of wits or with deception thrown at him from the opposing side? I see him as the adult, aligned with source, calmly grounded to his ideals and one step at a time reaching his goals. It may not be a knock-out but the decision at the end of the fight will go to him.
I would be proud to see Barack Obama elected as the President of the United States of America.
