Hello Everyone!
I actually had a blog post planned out for yesterday, but it has been put on hold. My inner voice told me it was not the post for me to work on right now. I decided to think on it over my weekend. Thursdays and Fridays are our family's weekend since these are my husband's days off. So as I spent time with my family I thought on what I actually wanted to blog about.
I wanted to start off the blog sharing something I have a big interest in. When I was a teenager we moved to Southern Oregon, 'we' being my mom, my step dad and I. Now when we lived in Southern California for two years we lived in the middle of the dessert. My mom at that time went through more of the "Suburban Housewife" thing even though we did not live in the Suburbs. She sold Tupperware and made the type of meals you would see on a Suburban family table. Or to me it was like that. When we moved to Oregon though it was more country. We lived on 20 acres in the mountains. People in the area literally did barter and trade in place of selling items for money.
Living there I grew to love the land. We never tried outdoor cooking to my knowledge, but we hiked a lot. I collected so many things that I found. I created a lot from natural finds. The experience truly was an amazing one. After we moved back to Louisiana I finally got to experience cooking on an open fire. This is after living in a cultured area that grew a love in me for the 'Wild West' way of life. You can imagine how happy I was to have my first fire cooked sweet potato.
Now that I have kids I want them to experience a lot of things in life. Granted we do not live out in the middle of nowhere with tons of land surrounding us. We do however have a grill and a lot of cast iron. Last year I actually threw out all but two of my stainless steel pots. My husband bought me a ton of cast iron pans to cook with. This weekend I decided while grilling some chicken legs that I wanted to cook some cheesy potatoes outside. My kids were blown away. They asked if we could cook dinner on the grill Friday night also. Who am I to deny my kids some homemade chili cooked over a fire?
What really amazed them about the whole process was that we cooked the whole dinner, minus the dry beans, outside. The beans I had my oldest son start slow cooking that morning while I took my youngest to therapy. We even baked our cornbread on the grill. They asked if we could make breakfast outside. Guess who got up and cooked sausage and eggs outside. That is right, this lady right here. We were going to have pancakes also, but the recipe I tried was a fail. I should have went with biscuits instead.
So, as I enjoyed my family time I thought about things. I thought about my blog and where I hope it goes in the days to come. I thought about Social Media post I read, news articles I saw, conversations I had. I thought about the past couple of weeks as well as weeks past. When I thought on this it came to me one thing I always wanted to do.
As a teen I wanted to originally go to Fashion Design school. The reason for this wasn't to become a famous designer, although I really enjoyed the artistic part of it. It was because I wanted to move to New York and become a writer for a big magazine. Now as a teenager I read Glamour and Cosmo all the time. That was the main magazine women read so I wanted to get into fashion so I could write about it.
As I grew into a young adult I came to realize I was a very opinonated person. As a child with the areas we lived in I was open to current events. I grew up around children in California who's parents were in Desert Storm. In Oregon as a young teen I watched shows that dealt with politics. I actually thought about going into politics. A teacher from my homeschooling program told me I would be good at it. I even remember making fliers that I hand drew and passed out to people I knew. The fliers were for saving the Orca Whale that was in "Free Willy".
When I got older I became a fan of Opinion Editorials. I still enjoy writing about fashion and beauty, but making my voice heard on topics I find important is indescribable. So what happened these past few weeks that has me thinking?
First thing was a post I shared. I found it really interesting. It was a video of a 'Dog Washer'. The short version is you place a dog or cat in this machine and shut the door. It gives the pet a shower and dries them. Nothing harmful. Honestly in my opinion it keeps the person doing the grooming safe. We all know some animals flip out when placed in water and attack. So I shared this video that received nothing but negative comments when I first shared it. I simply asked if all I was going to get was negative comments. Someone got extremely butthurt over this. They began arguing with me thinking the fact that their dog would freak out is a good enough reason for them to be negative towards me. Another person was just rude, because she thinks she can push her opinion on people. Mind you I am okay with people giving an opinion and I am like this as well. I am not okay with people being extremely negative all the time. Like every single comment two of these people ever gave was negative to what I posted. They never gave postive comments on anything I shared.
Now, I have two Facebook accounts I use. One has my family and people from homeschooling groups on it. So I shared a post on that Facebook about the football players taking a knee. I can't remember the full thing, but I do remember it gave two examples. One was amish and the other I can not remember. Something to do with what they also do not do that Americans consider Patriotic and should be done or something to that affect. So, I shared this post, because I feel that the NFL players have the right to silent protest. What people do not realize is this. When I support something due to the fact the people do have the right does not mean I fully agree with what they do. I personally do not care if they take a knee or not though. Their actions are not hurting me so why should it really matter? They have a good point they are protesting. I do think some people are making the race issue into too much. We have always had a race issue which needs to be gone. We are all human. That is the only title we should go by in my book. I will get into that more in a bit.
So I share this post and someone commented on it calling me a crazy liberal. They said some other hateful things, but what really stuck with me was someone who really doesn't even personally know me calling me crazy. I have been called a Libtard and other names also. Even was attacked by a Democratic woman a month ago because I did not vote for Hilary Clinton.
Then one of my cousins posted about the young girl who was expelled for wearing extensions. I read an article on that just to find out a young boy was sent home for having dreads. Seriously? It is hair! They do not have sex or drugs advertised in their hair. What is wrong with a girl of color having extensions in her hair? Especially when our society portrays that the only way you are beautiful is if you have hair that is not natural for you. This includes white girls too. We all dye our hair, iron it flat, curl it with heat or chemicals. Why do we do this? Because society tells us being natural is not good enough. Then my cousin told me about an experience she had at a McDonalds. She is mixed white and african american. She had someone tell her to speak English before saying a word because they assumed she was hispanic. I am sorry, but even if she was Hispanic it is by no means their place to tell her what language to speak in. How about everyone here learns multiple languages since America is a melting pot.
Society has made it so we think we have to be split into groups. We have to fall under titles. English speakers here, White skinned people there, Skinny model types need to go here. This is not okay! Our language we speak, skin color, political party, weight, hair, fashion, religion does not define us. We define ourselves. Us alone. The woman who attacked me for not voting for Hilary defined herself by her actions. The man who called me a crazy liberal defined himself by his words. I define myself when I speak out telling people the history of our Forefathers. The fact that they were Liberals who fought against the Conservatives of their day demanding change. I speak out about the conservative thoughts I have when it comes to abortion. My views on it. My views on enviromental issue. Issues in society that hurts so many people. I try to define myself daily as a positive person, but I know I still suffer so much inside. Pain and scars that still brings out negative things at times. But all in all I try to be defined as the person my grandmother taught me to be. Kind and loving, but someone who is not going to let people step on me me. The person who is not going to let others be stepped on.
So what thought does all of this bring to me now about society? Society needs to learn how to leave the titles behind. Life needs to become simple again. I am not saying everyone jump outside and do some outdoor cooking, although it is good for the soul. I am saying everyone needs to slow down. So many people have lost the art of communicating. We hide behind computers and phones. We speak more through electronic typed words. We no long see a person's face or hear their voice when we say the words we say. We do not see the hurt or hear it in their voice. We are slowly losing our humanity. I even argued this fact a few months ago. A response I got from someone was that I wanted to live in a third world country. This person stated that if we brought humanity to America again, use kindness and love again, we would turn this nation into a third world country. I was told I am not American for wanting this and to leave and go to a third world country. How is being kind and loving your neighbor Un-American or going to turn our nation into a third world country?
That brings me to another point. America's largest faith based system is Christian based. No matter the denomination America is hugely Christian based. This view does not apply to all Christians, but it is becoming something I am seeing a lot more. I know a lot of Christian faiths mainly follow the New Testament, because they worship Jesus as God incarnate. He is believed in many Christian churches to not just be the son of God, but God himself. So in the New Testament he demolishes the Ten Commandements to my understanding and there is only his commandments. His commandments are to love thy neighbor Also to do unto others as you wish them to do unto you. Love is Jesus' commandments. So how is it this nation has lost this? I know so many Christians and non-Christians who are the kindest souls ever. I have also met a lot of Christians who would hurt someone for gain or whatever reason they have.
So let me introduce you guys to my titles. I am not Democrat nor Republican. I am Independent. I believe in the stepping stones our Forefathers set for us. I believe in growth and protecting our planet. I believe in human rights, women's rights, equality for all no matter their race, language or religion. As for my religion I honestly don't know. I am a spirtual person who believes in one God. I do believe there were other gods in history, but these were actual living people. This view is due to the research I have done through the years on history of religions. I think honestly that religion was brought about to control people. Too much fear and anger has gone into it. Too many wars brought about in the name of their gods. I do believe in Jesus, but I am that one who does not believe he was God himself. I have my reasons for this and it is due to my own study of the bible. Also I never was taught that view growing up. No clue where it came from honestly since I did grow up Southern Baptist before moving to California. Ethincity wise I am a mix of cultures. Mainly French, Acadian, Caddo Indian, Italian, Irish and Scottish. Even down the line I have Middle Eastern. Yes, I share dna with Muslims. Guess what! A large portion of Americans probably do. Especially if you are Caucausin which came from the Caucaus Mountains in the Middle East. My other titles are Female, Mother, Wife, Daughter, Half Sister, Step Sister, Aunt, Step Aunt, Great Aunt, Step Great Aunt. Heck I probably am even a Step Great Great Aunt.
These titles though do not define me. They tell you about things in my life yes. They tell you how I worship. They tell you how I vote, possibly. They tell you about my family history, my interest and my family. They do not tell you about my personality. They tell you about things that have contributed in my life, but not who I am. The only title that should ever define us is Humanity. This is the main one we really need to start focusing on. The main one we seriously need now more than ever.
So tell me about the titles that tell your story. Tell me about what defines you. Tell me your views on Humanity and Society.
Did you like this blog post? Let me know! Want me to write on a specific topic? Drop me a comment or an email! Want to see more post about Cooking Outdoors? Tweet, Facebook or Instagram me!
Until Next Time!
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