One Tin Soldier

One tin soldier
Listen people to a story
That was written long ago,
’bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley folks below.
On the mountain was a treasure
Hidden deep beneath a stone,
And the valley people swore
They’d have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won’t be any trumpets blowing,
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they’d kill.
Came the answer from the kingdom,
With our brothers we will share,
All the riches of the mountain,
All the treasure buried there.

Now the valley cried with anger,
Mount your horses, draw your swords
And they killed the mountain people,
So they won their just rewards
Now they stood before the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
Peace on earth, was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat and friend,
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away.

Written by Brian Potter, Dennis Earle Lambert • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Original Cast – One Tin Soldier

Happiness

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”  Albert Camus

Happiness.

Even the word has a certain expression of its own meaning.

Happiness. What joy is derived in the every day that makes happiness? We must choose to be happy, to be joyful, to be grateful.

Anger and hate are soul consuming destructive forces which many confuse for constructive reasoning.

When we are happy, when we let go of that negativity – we are truly free and alive. When we let go, we truly live.

I find as I age that I need to find happiness. The more I let go of the past and the derision of the present, the more happiness I am able to find. I do not turn a blind eye to the world around me. As I said earlier, I am roaring inside. But I am becoming more at peace with myself. I am finding ‘me’ and by extension I am finding happiness.

Sagan – Happiness

Untitled

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

I have no words.

Our world seems so upside down.

Let love and peace reign over hate and war.

For us, for our children, and our children’s children – a world without war, a world without hate – that should be the goal of every single person on this little blue dot.

R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts

Just Breathe

“To hurt is as human as to breathe.” ― J.K. Rowling, The Tales of Beedle the Bard

*Deep breath in*

*Deep breath out*

I have debated posting this, I may take it down…here it goes.

The week is only half way over, yet I feel like it has been months long.

My daughter was assaulted off of school grounds. A girl at her school started a rumour about her. This falsehood spread and a girl decided to act on it. She punched my daughter in the head a few times. My daughter is so brave – she didn’t fight back. Instead, she immediately reported it. The police are involved.

The shitty part – the girl is moving and the police are not able to give her the punishment that is called for. To make it worst, some of the rumour mongers actually filmed it. I haven’t been able to find it. The vice principals, the teachers, even the police involved all know that the rumour is completely false and made up to harm my daughter.

Teenagers can be assholes. These ones don’t care if it really is real or not. All they care about is that one person said she heard or read it – that’s all it took for these kids to turn on my daughter.

The girl who attacked her used to be a friend, supposedly.

My daughter has told me to drop it. She is calm, collected, and just doesn’t want to have anything to do with them.

I am her mom. I was bullied. I was told to suck it up.

Yes, my daughter can be sarcastic and lippy…but she has never said anything that deserved this. Hell, even if she DID say something, she still didn’t deserve this.

I really hate kids sometimes (not mine, but in general).

Anna Nalick – Just Breathe (Lyrics)

Strange Days

“This is the strangest life I have ever known.” Jim Morrison 

I have, on occasion, been known to read the news. Actually, I should qualify that. I have been known to read what is considered news. What’s the difference? Someone’s sexuality or sexual orientation or gender should not be considered news – it should just be. It should be a non-issue, completely non-issue. News is hearing about the latest supreme court development, finding out what’s happening in a foreign country, the latest political landscape, etc – NOT someone’s change of clothes or *gasp* latest girlfriend/boyfriend/marriage/divorce.

We live in such a strange world. Pro-athletes and entertainers (musicians and actors, etc) get paid millions to entertain us and yet those charged with protecting and saving our lives are paid a pittance in comparison (paid well by lower class standards, but still a pittance in comparison to entertainers).

We live in a strange world where someone loving another is considered sinful, evil, and has a potential to collapse the world as we know it. Funny, those same argument were used to fight segregation and inter-cultural marriages…the world is still turning.

We live in a bizarre world where freedom of speech is so valued that if someone disagrees with you they are somehow quashing your freedom of speech…or better yet someone wanting to be treated like a human being is going against your freedom of religion. I will never understand that last one. If people actually read that book written 2500 years ago – they may actually come upon some passages that say things like love thy neighbor or thou shalt not kill and a few other choice tidbits like that. But hey – fire and brimstone is far more glamorous…non?

We live in a strange world where suddenly acts of courage and bravery are supposedly delineated by function rather than by the person. Odd…definition of brave and courage from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

brave

adjective \ˈbrāv\

: feeling or showing no fear : not afraid

brav·er brav·est

Full Definition of BRAVE

1:  having or showing courage <a brave soldier> <a brave smile>
2:  making a fine show :  colorful <brave banners flying in the wind>
3:  excellent, splendid <the brave fire I soon had going — J. F. Dobie>
brave·ly adverb

courage

noun cour·age \ˈkər-ij, ˈkə-rij\

: the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous

Full Definition of COURAGE

:  mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

I see nothing in either definition that limits brave or courage to a certain class or function of a person.

We live in a strange world where bigotry and racism are considered part and parcel to freedoms of religion and speech. Sure, you have the freedom to speak your mind and pray to your God…and I have the freedom to call you out for your hatred and bigotry disguised as faith.

I hope, for the sake of my children and myself, that this strange world starts to see that love and peace are the true solutions. That hating someone for who they are is not productive or logical…or human.

Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give. – Quote is from the first couplet of the Wiccan Rede (It is disputed as to who wrote the long version).

The Kinks – Lola