MeMe: 7 Things

[janestarz]

Comment to this post, mention you want to participate and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.

So these are the words I received: Religion, children, fastfood, global warming, capital punishment, americanism, cuddles (from Lanzaned)
muziek, stress, vakantie, stoelen, geloof, kunst, water (from Orothoniel)

Religion
Why don't we start with the big one: Religion. I was raised a christian, and I went to a christian school when I was a kid. It was the kind of school where you had to learn a psalm by heart each week and you'd get a grade on reciting it back by heart. (I was very nearly always perfect, getting a 10 each time). In our small village there were two churches. The Hervormde Kerk was more strict that the Gereformeerde Kerk where we went to.
During college time I was forced (by circumstances beyond my control) to go to a Christian college if I wanted to start my studies that year. Thanks to my upbringing I got in and after three years I was quite done there. I might have been the rebellious adolescent, but they were not very open-minded either. Lucky for me, I had a friend who stood with me.
This left me feeling bitter towards christians (because they were soooo closed-minded! Or so I thought back then) and I even dabbled in Wicca for a while. I read Scott Cunningham's book and realised that he was laying down rules that would only hinder anyone trying to pick up this craft and religion. But other things did strike a chord: living with the seasons, the threefold rule. I also did an interview with people from the Church of Satan, which necessaitated I do some research there as well. Later on in life I read bits about Buddhism, always having liked that book about the Dalai Lama I have on a shelf.

Reading about other religions can open your mind. These days I think many people who do not count themselves part of a religion take bits of the rules they like and they can live with and make their own religion.
In one lecture at work (when I was working at Sogeti) I saw a staircase of 7 parts of a person that defines how you decide on your actions. Spirituality was at the top, and directly underneath that was individuality. Religion can and does define who we are and what we do.

I am far more open-minded these days than when I was studying. A friend of mine was baptised before his wedding and became a christian. If that helps him in his life to make decisions and if he is happy in the congregation, I applaud him and wish him well. But religion can also blindfold you to other truths, and that is something that limits people in their growth and in being who they need to be. I can only hope that we are allowed the freedom to choose for ourselves.

Children
Well, there's kids and then there's kids. I don't want children, and I have many reasons for this. I would not enjoy the pregnancy and I wouldn't want to inflict hormone-inflated, killer Jane on anyone close to me. And there is so much in this world that I cannot understand, that I do not want to put a child in this world.
Then there's other people's kids. There's a lot of kids I can't stomach, and mostly that has to do with the parents as well, and how they raise their kids. I see the Van Leij clan and their kids and I only wished that my childhood could have been like that. I really admire their patience and love and parenting skills (although I do greatly value my own strength, which grew from the misery surrounding the divorce) and I must admit I do enjoy their kids as well. Of course, they outgrew kid-hood by now. But take Ragar's daughter. She tests you to the limits but I do care for her. I'm just very happy that at the end of the day she goes home with him and I get to rebuild my livingroom. ;-)
Most other kids, the kids from non-larpers... that is to say: the kids from people with very different values... no, thank you.

Fastfood
This is a bad thing to ask me to talk about as I am dieting again. My body (or brain) is addicted to fastfood. Sugar, salt and grease are things we easily get addicted to. On school nights, especially if I have 20 minutes to wait before my train goes, it's so easy to buy some fast food. Becaus you're bored.
However, now that I am trying to be more aware of my eating pattern, and I use up some willpower points, and I prepare for the schoolnights, and take some sandwiches along for the train trip home, I don't have a lot of problems with saying "no". And on the rare occasions I get to enjoy a cup of coffee with Lanzaned, that chocolate muffin tastes all the better for it.
So boredom is part of it (sing a song out loud, people will smile at you!) and the rewards are minimal. My bowels dislike most fast food (but especially McD and Smullers!) and you get a goo-ey reminder of why fast food is a bad idea.
I would enjoy fast food that has a nutritional value that is higher than that of cardboard. They do try to cater to that, with salads, but I realised those salads have been pre-packaged weeks beforehand and they don't taste very well. Instead: the AHtoGo salads are very good and dietitian-approved. I enjoy the Ceasar salad and with 550 kcal it is just right for dinner. It has lettuce, tomato, potato, croutons, bacon, cheese and carrot, so it is several food groups rolled into one. Mmm...

Global warming
We don't get winters like we used to. Or summers. Or I can remember playing outside in the puddles and I didn't even get cold!
We change, and our view of the past may be jaded. We need to look towards science; there are scientists who can prove global warming exists and others who prove it doesn't. On the grand scale of things, we have had ice ages and we have had millions of years of weather that we cannot recall. There was the Spörer Minimum in Medieval times. You can argue both ways.
What I do believe is that we have been using up the Earth's fossil fuels at an alarming rate. These things take thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years to form naturally, and in the space of half a decade we use up a large portion. What will we do when there are no more? Will we expand our petrochemical industries to manufacture a substance that works in a similar way (and at what cost to the environment?) or will we finally start to look at healthier, environmentally-friendly alternatives? Twenty years ago science was not ready yet and these things cost more energy to produce than they would deliver over their expected lifetime, but we do live in a time that solar panels (et al) are worth using. And who knows how far we've progressed in ten years?
I think we are at or have just passed the turning point and environmentally friendly things are being used more and more. They do not (yet) supply all the power needed for the buildings they are integrated in, but it is a step in the right direction. We rely less on fossil fuels and we reduce the impact we have on our environment. Whether it is already too late, we don't know. Maybe we never will.

Capital punishment
This is a topic I know nothing about. I don't follow the news, and I don't come into contact with crime. I hardly think about this topic, and I'm not socially invested enough to speak up one way or the other.
As far as I know (and this might be missing the mark completely!) capital punishment is not used in the Netherlands and what I see on TV it is not even used in all of the fifty states of the USA any more. That said, I have heard about cases where people were put to death while there were still people believing (knowing) they were innocent and trying to build a case. It's one of the huge risks with capital punishment: executing the wrong person.
And when to apply? Should we kill rapists? Murderers? Child abusers? And where do we draw the line? Shoplifting no, but corporations that scam yes?
There's people far more educated in Law that might explain it better, but I just don't know anything about the topic. And who am I to say who should die and who should live?

Americanism
I dislike it. America is not the top of the world. It isn't the best country in the world to live in (and many Americans would agree) and I often wonder why we are so impressed with it. Why would we worship that country and copy it in so many ways? Well, because it's on TV of course!
Ugh.

cuddles
Well, there's hugs, which I do with my friends, and there's cuddles, which I can do with the people I really trust. And if you're a stranger, you get neither. There's really not that much I can say about cuddles.

Muziek
Astonishingly enough I know a few people who do not listen to music very often. I was brought up with music, I remember the first CD my parents bought ever: the Alan Parson's Project, the CD that started with Sirius so you couldn't really tell whether it was working.
In my childhood I remember many things about music. How my dad disliked the Carpenters and my mom disliked Pink Floyd. How we played Creedence Clearwater Revival that one Sinterklaas.
Music can set my mood and I play certain songs when I want to write certain things. I enjoy many styles, and because music is so tied in with moods, it depends on how I feel what I play.

Stress
There's the 'oh gosh, I'm late for my train' stress, which I often have but never need because my watch is set five minutes fast. And there's the stress that comes with a job. Although stress can make you more productive, it's a lot harder to get rid off than bathroom fungus. I think it took me at least three months to feel like I didn't feel the subliminal stress from work anymore. Of course you feel better as soon as you leave the job, but there's a rushed feeling that needs to slowly ebb away and it can only do so gradually. And that takes time.

Vakantie
NoKey and I haven't been on holiday in the last few years unless you count our larp expeditions. We went to Greece together twice, which counts as two holidays in seven years of being together. That's not a lot. Truth is, the larp expeditions are, next to stressful, a lot of fun and they are relaxing and adventurous and fun all rolled into one. They should count as holidays.
I don't often think about holidays. There's a million places on this earth I would like to visit, but I don't want to visit them badly enough that I am saving money or actually planning a trip. Perhaps we should think about it, plan and book a trip to Anywhere But Here for a change.

Stoelen
The best part of this meme is that you can interpret the subject as you yourself would like. The strange thing is that although I have need of a good chair to sit in every day, on weekends where I play Truestrike that need disappears completely. I am so much in motion, that my muscles stay warm and my back suddenly doesn't need all the support it does when I'm at home.
I dislike the chairs in buses (too short for my back) and stop trains (too small for 2 people to sit next to eachother) but I do enjoy the chairs in the intercity's. I really need a good chair to go with my sewing machine, because the chairs from our dining table are really quite horrible and unsuited.

Geloof
I've discussed religion with Lanzaned's words, but faith is something quite different. I think it can be more important than religion. Without faith, there is no life. Faith (and hope) are reasons to live. If you can believe in something, you can make things better, you have something to strive for. Religion can be nothing more than an institution (and indeed, for many people it is), while faith can be as simple as a good idea.

kunst
I feel like lately I'm starting to appreciate art more. The definition of art I always used was that a piece of art should move the viewer. There should be some reaction, be it good or bad. (Example: Lady Gaga's meat dress would be considered art in this regard.)
But if you look at the situation I am in now I realised something else. Some artists create art because they feel they need to. There is something inside them that needs to get out. (Like Dexter. But different.) Despite all the social pressure and peer pressure that you should go out and get a job, these people need to create something, to tell their story, to get their message or their view out into the world. Sometimes it's a social commentary in the form of cabaret (kleinkunst is zeker weten wel kunst!). Sometimes it's a view on how fashion reflects the business world of today. Maybe I'm just rediscovering art, or redefining my definition of what art is.

water
Love it, hate it. I hate to splash water on my face, and whenever I go to the pool and swim underwater I get a cold as soon as I dry off (some of the water just goes where it doesn't belong, maybe). If I take a shower my skin gets really dry, but the relaxing feeling of warm water and getting clean is just so nice. And think of this: Without water, there would be no tea.
Or coffee.

Comments

[nachtvisser.livejournal.com]

I'd like to participate. It's fun to think about certain subject's and learn about yourself in the process while searching yourself. Put me on the list and I'll post myself.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

OK, here's your seven words:
Fishing, son, outside, smoking, politicians, flowers, Fedor.

[charida.livejournal.com]

This sounds interesting and I agree with nachtvisser; it's fun to think about the subjects and learn about yourself. You can put me on the list too, if you want to.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

Okay, your words are:
United Kingdom, re-enactment, music, proverbs, social media, children, and relaxation.