Linda
It's always hard
to sit down and write about yourself for each person is so
much more than a few words can describe and so much less than
what people can read into them. Statistically,
I'm a middle-aged woman who is over weight, short, and easily
blends in to most crowds. I am a wife, mother,
grandmother, accountant, Internet addict, friend to many and
a good listener. I currently have two cats who
share their house with me and my husband. And
I'm one of the rare people who actually LIKE my job and the
people I work with.
But you go beyond
the day to day appearance and you find another layer. I'm
a child, often spending time in worlds of games and fantasy. It's
true that you are only as old as you think you are and
I readily confess that I am actually a 17 year old in a
much older body. I have quite an assortment
of books, many of them fantasy and sci-fi. Of
course the fantasies I am part of on-line have opened up
so many other areas for me. I have discovered
that I enjoy creating stories, something I have never really
done before.
The world however
is much too real too often, and I am also a very spiritual
being. All of my life I have supported and
worked for human rights, tolerance, and acceptance of each
individual as just that -- an individual. Growing
up in the 60's in the Oakland, California area, it was
the struggle of the racial tensions, Martin Luther King,
Jr., Watts, Black Panthers. I didn't always
agree with the methods of the 60's but I always believed
in the right of each person to be accepted for their own
worth, not the color of their skin. Then there
was women's rights, children's right, disabled rights,
gay rights; the list never seems to end. My
belief is we should all strive to make a world where each
person is accepted on their own merits. The
value of one life.. one person.. one
individual is beyond measure. Each and
every one of us have strengths and weaknesses; and to accept
that in each other is our only way to justify asking others
to accept that in ourselves. We DO all share
one world, and if the world has any hope of growing, we
must do it together.
That's another
place I have come to; the awareness that we ARE one world. To
separate us by races, borders, genders, religions; diminishes
all that we are and all that we can do. The
Internet is an amazing tool in bringing the world together
in a very basic way. I have friends all
over the globe. I share my feeling, my dreams, my
sorrows and joys with "the common man and woman" across
the world. I say common but they are far from
that. These are extraordinary people, people
who enjoy life, are full of energy and blessed with access
to the world through the Internet Many
in countries other than the United States, do not have
the luxury of easy and affordable access. It
would be wonderful if they did, for it would bring even
more people into this huge global community. When
we can share in the lives of more people it brings us AND
them understanding on a global scale.
I also consider
myself a spiritual person. I don't call myself
religious because that often means "church going" to
many people and I no longer participate in that exercise. Certainly,
there was a time in my life when I valued that highly but
I eventually came to the place within myself where I understood
that for me, a "Church" distracted from what
was important. "God", whatever
that might mean to you, is within each of us.. not
outside us. For me, religion and churches,
seem to separate me from that inner Light of Spirit. I
have studied many different religions and teachings and
find value in most all of them. Each one I
have studied has given me insight and "truths". I
embrace them all and try to live my life as best I can,
as gently as I can, as honest as I can.
As we go through
life, I find each person can be a teacher to me, and I
hope that just being who I am might serve as a teacher
to others in some small way. Every obstacle
that we meet in life is an opportunity to grow and learn. I
think perhaps as we get a bit older, the lessons seem harder
to learn. Maybe it's because we have our belief
system so build up, or maybe it's just that it's so hard
to change. Despite all my words of wisdom that
spring from my lips when talking to others, I find it so
hard to come to terms with my own hurdles. I
try to have faith that "All Things Are Unfolding In
Perfection" and I only need to remain aware of lessons
to learn. A lot harder than it sounds.
Amid all the lessons
of life, and kids and grand kids and cats and job and Internet
and gaming.. life goes on. Often
to the accompaniment of The Beatles or some other music
that swells my heart and forces me to serenade my cats. I
hope you enjoy my web pages. Please drop me
a note and let me know if you did. If you have
suggestions for additions to the site, let me know that
too.
Kyia 
