Saturday, July 30, 2011

Why Do I Have Dreams Where Im Falling or Naked????

                                First we must understand where dreams come from! Dreams are like videos recorded by your subconscious mind and replayed when when your conscious mind is asleep. The subconscious mind never sleeps...its always awake recording and capturing images, feelings, emotions, sounds, events, situations, and even tastes! Anything you sense can be recorded by your subconscious mind and replayed when you are sleeping, however what is recorded can only be replayed in the form of metaphors, symbols, imagery, and vague analogies. You will hardly ever have a dream where you are vividly doing the same things you did in that day without having some metaphors or symbolization come into play. This is why it is common to have dreams that are strange to you, although your subconscious mind knows exactly what its talking about!

Dreams and your emotions are significantly linked to what is stored in your subconscious mind. This is why whatever is on your mind is somehow portrayed in your dreams! In general there exists dreams that are directly linked to a certain feeling or emotion deep inside. It can be so deeply hidden that you do not understand where the dream came from. Take the dream where it feels like you are falling or plummeting aimlessly for instance. Research finds that this type of dream is linked to feelings of helplessness and loss of control over outside circumstances. Either you are feeling as though you have failed in some way and are helpless to fix it, or you are having given up on trying to fix and are just going with whatever the outcome may be. In this situation you would feel like you are plummeting to whatever outcome awaits because of your helplessness to fix the situation.



The dream where you feel as if you are falling is most common in relationships where you may be falling in love or falling out of love with the person. Typically in the beginning of the dream you may not  be falling at first but then all of a sudden you plummet. This is an indication of how you may not have expected to feel this way in the beginning. And contrary to popular belief, you will not die if you are falling in your dream and fail to wake up before hitting the ground.

Another dream that has its origin in certain emotions is one where you are naked. This type of dream is linked to feelings of shame or embarrassment and vulnerability. Being naked in your dream means you or your feelings are or have been exposed and you are vulnerable or susceptible judgements or ridicule. On another note this dream can also be linked to the fear of being exposed because you are hiding something. In this instance you feel that people can see right through you to whatever you are hiding....as if you were actually naked! What this dream is saying in general has to do with coming clean with yourself or others.

Dreams where you are naked often come when you are trying to impress someone in a relationship or a new environment. Nudity means a variety of things within a dream. Its also associated with the feeling of being caught off guard or unprepared. Its common to have this type of dream before taking a test you feel you aren't ready to take.

Upon noticing your nakedness in a dream you may find that others, if you are surrounded by them, do not notice your nakedness at all and are in fact going about their own business, unaware of your nudity. This indicates that fact your nudity is only visible to you and not to others. Only you know you are naked and as a result you may be making a big deal out of something that is not.

Sometimes in a dream where you are naked you may not be ashamed at all. In fact you many be proud and unabashed! This represents your freedom and boldness with who you are and how you feel. You are open and your nakedness shows you have nothing to hide. Carefree and courageous you embrace your vulnerability. This is indeed a good dream and an even greater indication!


Whatever the indication may be for your dream it is always important to do what you can to take care of life and emotional issues for the sake of your mental and physical health. Relax your mind and take as much time as you can out of a day to meditate and release some of your worries by engaging in a fun, stress-relieving activity. Never just assume that current issues and situations will let you bury them or take care of themselves. Make the initiative to resolve the issues you have the ability to and find an outlet to pour the ones you can't into. Most of all, find God. Repent of your sins and transgressions. Come to him for a life of peace and prosperity. He is the universal answer.







Friday, July 29, 2011

Celebrities Who Give To Charities & Communities

                                                    Its not enough that they steal our hearts on the big screen and sweep us away with their sultry sounds. They also are funding some of the biggest charity organizations in the world! Meet the caring stars below, just to name a few:



Award winning actress Julia Roberts gives to The Hole in the Wall Gang Fund which is an organization that helps families fight serious illnesses such as sickle cell anemia and cancer. The organization was founded in 1988 by Paul Newman.


Golden Globe winner Leonardo DiCaprio funds The Natural Resources Defense Council. The council's main focus is protecting wild life and wild places to promise a healthy environment for all life on Earth.


Singer/Song Writer Alicia Keys funds the charity Keep A Child Alive. The organization is dedicated to providing life-saving AIDS treatment, care, nutrition, support services and love to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India by directly engaging the global public in the fight against AIDS.

 
Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie is an avid supporter of the USA for UNHCR. The UN Refugee Agency protects and assists women and children fleeing violence, war, and persecution.



American record producer and musician conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter Quincey Jones supports whole heartily the Apollo Theatre Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization established in1991 that's dedicated to the preservation's and development of the legendary Apollo Theater.
  
American Martial Artist and actor Chuck Norris is the founder of an organization called KICKSTART, non-profit organization with a mission to build strong moral character in youth through martial arts.


English singer,composer, and pianist Elton John has founded his own organization called The Elton John AIDS Foundation for people battling the disease and their families.


Award winning Mexican actress Salma Hayek is a solid supporter of V-Day, which is an activist movement to stop violence against women and girls.



Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian Bono of the world renown group U2 is a supporter of The Green Peace Fund which has a mission is to halt environmental destruction and to promote solutions for future generations though public strategies.



Austrian-American former body builder, model, actor, director, and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the Special Olympics which is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with special needs.



American singer, song writer, and musician Pink is a avid supporter of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which is an organization for animal rights.



American actor, film director, and narrator Morgan Freeman is a strong promoter of The Public Theater and New York Shakespeare Festival which caters to promotion of the arts.






   



 These are just a few among the many rich and famous who help their environment in many ways and although I mentioned only one organization per individual, many of the celebrities I mentioned have a list of organizations that they donate to and promote. Giving back is important and for a celebrity it is an example of humility and a symbolization of the way the world should be.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Understanding Others Can Make You Happy!

                                                            As a natural defense mechanism, we as humans generally tend to want to stay away from things that we do not understand. Did you know that we would actually prefer something we didn't like over something we do not understand???

               This is a built in defense mechanism by our subconscious mind that helps humanity classify and keep things in order by defining his world. This mechanism is used in our everyday lives without us even noticing it, and some have become more reliant on this natural inclination than others have. The biggest enemy to a human being is that of the unknown...anything we cannot define, control, manipulate, destroy, or predict. Sounds pretty harsh but think about all the things you liked naturally and all the things you had to understand before you liked it. You naturally liked the things you could identify with or understand the most, things that you could control or predict. Think about when you shop. Do you buy the most efficient product that you never heard of before or the mediocre product that you use regularly when all you have to do is read the back labels to distinguish the two? Think about when your friendships. Do you go out most often with the friend who is nicer to you but doesn't look, act, talk, or think like you or do you go out with the friend who treats you badly but who looks like you, acts like you, talks like you, and thinks like you?
  
                                 The natural defense mechanism we have that makes us dislike what we do not understand is the reason behind culture clashes, religious wars, territorial wars, segregation, poverty and world hunger, hate crimes, and so many other negative things that destroy us and destroy our world. This is why we have to understand the people we  don't get along with because our natural defense mechanism has sometimes causes us to not like someone who we do not understand, making it hard for us to get along with that person and this is unfair.
                                   
                                   In order to refute the mechanism that causes us to dislike what we do not understand we should find out why we do not understand something...what makes this thing so foreign to us? Doing this will help us to see the problem and then address it accordingly. We must do the same with people. You may not understand someone because of the way they act. Well find out why they act this way! Do your research before judging the person or just accepting that you don't get along with them. Many refuse to take the time to do this type of research and so they have all of the same friends with the same personalities, and the same experiences in life.

Once you find out what makes you unable to understand and individual or a certain thing EDUCATE YOURSELF on this particular thing! If its a person who acts differently than you, educate yourself on these type of people. If its a person who thinks differently than you then educate yourself on people who think this way. What you must realize is that educate is the key to understanding the world around you, not the key to the world around you understanding you. Remember that you are one person in over 6 billion individuals. It is in your best interest to become educated rather than not get along with certain people or not do well with certain things. 

Do you notice that you feel happier now? It is because your natural defense mechanism that dislikes things you don't understand has been refuted and you are able to understand, which helps you relate to and become happy with many people and things you once disliked, which in turn makes you happier with the world around you. A person who is happy with the world around him is happy with himself. Being happy with your world does not mean nothing goes wrong in it. It means that you are willing to do your research and educate yourself on things you do not understand about your world and this helps you to identify and make the necessary connections you needed to make between you and your world. This is why understanding others can make you happy!


  
                                               

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The True Meanings Behind Old Sayings We Still Use Today!

                                    Did you know that most age old sayings and figures of speech that are commonly used today hold their true meanings in history and folklore? In part, we as citizens of our society say most things we say because of our cultural background, religion, age, social status, education, and even our upbringing. However, there are also some things we say because we've heard it being said by so many people for so long. These sayings are legendary somewhat, being passed down from generation to generation! Isn't it amazing how we can preserve a saying through the ages and have it take on a whole other meaning without even realizing its initial origins? In this article I will mention some all too familiar sayings that hold their bearing in history and folklore! I hope your as surprised as I was!

                                We've all heard of the term "bite the bullet". This old saying in our day and age means to bear a painful consequence or circumstance, or even to face up to an unpleasant truth! Originally this terms has its root in the civil war before there anaesthetics existed. Soldiers who would undergo an operation were given a bullet to bite in their pain to keep from biting down on their own tongue!

"The bitter end" is a figure of speech that has its origins at sea! Anchor cables for ships were wrapped around posts called "bitts". The last piece of cable was then called "the bitter end". If you let the cable out to the bitter end then there was nothing else you could do because you had reached the end of resources!

A person would say you were "born with a silver spoon in your mouth" in our day and age if you were born into a wealthy family or one of high social status and primarily wouldn't have to work as hard as others would. In the old ages, children who were christened were given a silver spoon out of tradition by their godparents, if these godparents were wealthy enough to afford one that is.

Have you ever punished your children and have them cry as a result but still do the same thing they were punished for? Well these are called "Crocodile Tears", meaning tears of insincerity. This comes from the folklore that suggests crocodiles actually cried after they had killed or eaten a man. However, it would return to eat again!

In the Middle Ages many birds were caught and sole for money. To catch these birds some would use a variety of methods but the easiest one would be to find a bush and beat it until the birds came flying out upon which you would catch them. Some people viewed this method as being unskilled in the trade of catching birds. This is where the term "beating around the bush" came from, although in our day it means hiding or shying away from the truth or main focus of an idea!

Has anyone ever won or succeeded in something so spectacularly that you find yourself saying "they won with flying colors"? This popular saying in our day refers to winning or succeeding in something rather well or extremely better than your counterparts. In the old world, when a fleet won a victory at sea the ships would sail home to their ports with their colors flying proudly in their masts to signify their victory!

Ever heard of a freelance writer, artist, musician, or businessman? In our day this term is given to skilled workers in a field of the workforce  that are free to work for anyone who would hire them for their specific skill or trade. In the Middle Ages, soldiers were called "lances" and a "freelance" was a soldier who was literally free to live a regular life or fight for any army that would take them into their ranks.

This figure of speech has its origins in Jewish tradition. When a visitor came to your house unwanted, you would serve them the cold shoulder of mutton during dinner time to let them know they were not invited or welcomed again. In our day giving someone "the cold shoulder" means to ignore them or be indeed cold or distant to them.

                               There are so many more sayings than just the ones I addressed here! Its always fun to research rarely known facts behind common ideas and practices that still exist today! I hope you have enjoyed this article and would consider taking up the hobby of researching old sayings for yourselves!



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hiding Your Emotions...Good or bad?

                                            Is hiding your emotions really a bad thing? If you're asking this question then just take a look at your body. Is anything that goes inside of you able to stay there? No way! You would explode if you only ate and never removed bodily wastes from your body, or if you only inhaled and never exhaled. Take a look at your home. Electricity is constantly flowing through cables and wires to power all of your utilities. Can you imagine what would happen if your home appliances pulled energy as if it were being used and in actuality it was not? They would become short circuited and ultimately result in an electrical fire. And computers? Well we all know what happens when there's too many files and data stored on your PC or laptop. You're looking at a possible crash of information and the shut down of your systems basic functions.
             
                           All of these examples are exactly the way your emotions work. Emotions are only messages sent by your subconscious mind to your conscious mind in order to make you aware of something. If you are constantly blocking those emotions from its path to your conscious mind then as a result you will have an excess of information and feelings which can result in a breakdown or overload, also known as depression. Depression can lead to many other issues such as health problems, mental disorders, and the most common effect, ANGER!
            
                   Contrary to popular belief there are no good or bad emotions. Emotions can cause reactions that are good or bad however. Originally, emotions are healthy! They are necessary for the well being if your mental health. People hide their emotions to avoid dealing with them at the moment their experienced. Hiding your emotions is only a temporary resort to getting what you want or need at the present moment. You can't go on hiding your emotions because eventually this will result in a breakdown in which all of your "hidden" emotions will come bursting forth in an all too serious manner. The overall result then becomes worse than it would have been because what was once a single emotion has now culminated into a mass of emotions once they have had time to grow in your subconscious mind.

                Still you may be thinking this topic is quite a big assumption! What if you knew that its hard for you to channel a certain emotion in a positive way and as a result hiding this emotion until you can better deal with it seems like the best thing to do? The only problem with this solution is that hiding your emotions is not a permanent answer, but once you get what you want by temporarily hiding them you will find it irrelevant to address the emotions. You will have this emotion again. Then what will you do? Hide it once again until you can better deal with it? This seems easier to do than owning up to the emotion, right?

 Unfortunately, this cycle will repeat itself until you become use to hiding this certain emotion. A routine will develop and what happens to a routine in time? The slightest change in its atmosphere or deciding factors changes the whole routine! Eventually your hidden emotion will come forth at the slightest change and you'll be forced to own up to the emotion as you should have in the beginning. However, it may be a lot harder now if someone else is involved. Opinions and gathered impressions that are contrary to this emotion that you've hidden for so long can be destroyed and relationships can be broken as a result.

                            Is there a way to truly avoid dealing with our emotions? No, there isn't. Will we always have emotions? Yes, we will. So what do we do with these emotions? We express them. Express your emotions in a positive way. This is called channeling. Channeling your emotions is a smarter way to do what you must do and not have it control your life or who you truly are! Remember that you are not your emotions. You are you and because of this you can manipulate emotions, emotions won't manipulate you. Channeling your emotions is rather difficult at first but its just like exercising, you must keep doing it in order to see any progress. There are three sure ways you can channel your emotions:

                                       #1 Channel Emotions by finding a creative outlet!
                                       #2 Channel Emotions by connecting with positive individuals!
                                       #3 Channel Emotions by believing in God!

           There are numerous benefits of dealing with your emotions in a positive way! You will build stronger, lasting relationships! You will be able to do the things you always wanted to do and be the person you always wanted to be! Don't hide, just be smart :)



              

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Our World Revisited: Majority Rules??? Why Do Most People Follow Crowds?

                                           It goes without saying that in a society where bandwagon methods are often used for most most sales pitches, media propaganda, and common communications and interactions with the world around us, the majority has always seemed to rule, or be more prevalent if you will. When was the last time you've watched a television commercial where an individual was not elevated socially simply by whatever product was being advertised? "It worked for her! It worked for him! It worked for me and it will work for you!". This seems to sell just about anything...and lets not forget upcoming fads and fashions! Even phrases and popular jargon increase in its usage due to the masses saying whatever the masses seem to be saying at the moment. Good or bad it is certainly sure that for every person who stands out there are 500 who blend in. For the person who manages to stand out, for every trendsetter and odd ball, there are definitely reactions that follow and as history has proven time and time again, this person will eventually morph a bandwagon, his/her own crowd of individuals that follow after the shining light of his/her originality! So if this is the case then why don't more people try to stand out, be different, be the odd ball, the trendsetter, or that one fish that swims upstream while all the rest are swimming down stream?
                       The first reason is fear! Most people are afraid of being rejected, misunderstood, or shunned so they steer clear of things that other people don't do so that they will have a better chance of being accepted. Any kind of discomfort is hard to experience for the average person, which is why so many crowd followers exist. The comfort zone is where its at for the person who fears taking risks or failing. However bad or good it may seem, crowd followers make the world go round, while misfits change it. Just think of this in terms of consumerism. Who would buy new clothes if trends didn't come in and out and why do they? The answer is because crowd followers follow each other and thus the constant need to purchase whatever is in style exists. This is not a bad thing at all. Consumerism is a factor that determines the quality of our lives. However, everyone has the choice of blending in or standing out.
                       The second reason is clueless-ness! It is easier to follow the opinions and information from others than to develop your own. You can actually remain clueless and just look like you have the answers when really you got them from Harry, Harry getting them from Bob, Bob getting them from Susan, and Susan getting them from Dennis, he being the only one out of this group who took the time to research and come to his own calculations. However, many people have benefited from Dennis' calculations and research , just as if they had done it themselves. This is the same way crowd followers are. They're cluelessness is overshadowed by the opinions and information they acquire from others and so they 're lives become a lot easier, being that they feel they are not responsible for their own beliefs and certainly didn't have to dig them up from scratch like Dennis had to. For the crowd follower its okay to be clueless because they all look to each other for answers.
                     The last and most inevitable reason people follow crowds is because misfits, oddballs, trendsetters, and people who generally stand out in their beliefs, ethics, values, personality, social and everyday life are rare! Well duh! If everyone is following then who is leading? Who is paving the way for the masses who desperately depend on the next big thing? This is why your mother is right for saying  "Don't follow the crowd!" She knew that if you didn't then one day the crowd would be following you! 



Saturday, July 23, 2011

Our World Revisited: The Millionth I Love You

                      For anyone who has ever experienced the compulsion to express their feelings, to give words to their emotions and to dare say the words "I love you", you also know the trauma that leads up to and follows these moments. In fact its scientifically proven that when an individual says these words out of what they truly are feeling their body experiences a series of drastic changes that cause physical reactions such as sweating, nausea, nervousness, tension, and a rapid change in thought patterns and frequency! However, for some people these changes are reversed, making them feel calm and relaxed where their thoughts are perfectly aligned and they are able to express their feelings with ease. Why is this so? To approach this question one must remember that every person is the way that they are now because of their experiences, encounters, behavior patterns, choices, and interactions. No one is a born a certain way. We are all products of what we are exposed to from our first day on Earth to our last. Some experience an abundance of expression where liberties are encouraged or expected. However there are others who experience the lack there of. Quite naturally it would be more difficult for this person to express such powerful feelings because they are not accustomed to the reaction and responses of others, neither the anticipation of their own feelings. In no way does it mean that either individual is more capable of experiencing love. It only means that one is more capable of expressing this love than the other would be.
                                With this being understood, have you ever encountered a person who says "I love you" impulsively and at any whim? This is due to the pleasant connotations of love rather than the actual meaning of love. These connotations are produced based upon outside deciding factors like locations, circumstances, social status, culture, and even dialect. What about the person who is afraid to say "I love you", who says it compulsively? Whether it is perceived or unperceived, this person has associated different connotations with love than the impulsive lover. One could argue that this person, unlike the impulsive lover is afraid to say or give thought to saying such words as "I love you" because he or she gives more responsibility to those words and therefore they are more valuable in this sense. Consider this story:
                     Robert and Leanne invited some friends out for dinner at a new restaurant that had just opened up in town that week. "I'm so excited!" Leanne announced once she'd gotten into Roberts car. "I'm excited to dear! I love you!" Robert said leaning in for a kiss. Leanne kissed him and said "I love you too!" As they pulled off Leanne felt warm and loved. The two had been dating for some three years and Leanne was sure she had found her true love for he'd said he loved her whenever he could and as often as he could. She loved this about him. He was so open and direct with his feelings and was unafraid to say he loved her. The two pulled up in front of Kevin and Susan's apartment complex. It was going to be a double date seeing as though Kevin was always working and barely had time to take Susan out or socialize with their circle of friends as much. This had been a problem for Susan for a long time now and she had been thinking of quietly ending their relationship of 3 years and finding someone who was more affectionate...perhaps like Robert. "Hey everyone" Kevin said getting into the car. Susan got in on her side and slammed the door shut behind her. "Hey" she winced. While driving a song that Robert and Leanne new so well came on the radio and Leanne turned it up. As she did this Robert leaned in to kiss her, taking his eyes off of the road for a split second. Suddenly there was a loud horn and an extremely bright light coming towards them! Robert tried to swerve over into a ditch but the eighteen wheeler collided with the car before he had a chance to. Inside the car there was silence, however no one was killed. Robert, having seen so many movies in his lifetime where cars exploded, desperately tore away at his seat belt. "Are you okay, honey?" Leanne asked in pain. "We've got to get out of here!" Robert screamed. Leanne reached a bloody hand over to grab him but he pulled away at the seat belt and when feeling her hand brushed it off of him aggressively. "Lemme out of here!" he screamed and Leanne grew afraid. In the back seat Susan was passing in and out of consciousness. She heard Robert screaming and pounding away at everything around him in desperation. She heard Leanne crying helplessly. She heard Kevin's groaning and her own shallow breathing. Then she felt a familiar hand grasp her own. It was Kevin's hand. "I love you" he whispered between heavy breaths. It was the first time he'd said this to Susan in months but somehow she knew he meant it and was glad he was different from Robert after all. For Robert, he'd said his millionth "I love you" but Kevin's "I love you" felt like one in a million.


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Our World Revisited: Do Double standards Between Men in Women in the Workplace Still Exist?

                                         The existence or non-existence between men and women at work has been around for decades, even more so in the 1960s, and has been studied among socialists, psychologists, and diversity analyst, and surprisingly young adults as to what the evidence is as well as possible reasons why they exist and the conclusions made pertaining to such existence. Some would even doubt the existence of double standards between men and women in the workplace and that the genders have evolved into one entity due to changing factors in society that allow more equality as far as opportunities and pay would go. Yet and still the majority would beg to differ and would even say that double standards between genders have reached a new level that has changed the way the thought of double standards are viewed, making it easier to accept and maintain in a casual and less prevalent sense.
                       Perspectives that readily suggest that the idea of double standards still exist between working men and women brings to the table the idea that women and men think and communicate differently, thus creating the perception of there being a double standard. According to associate professor of psychology at Wellesley College and author of various Harvard Business case studies, articles, and books, Linda L. Carli suggests that when communicating men promote the austerity of dominance and assertiveness which are characteristics of power and authority. This is even done by facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, choice of words, and rapport. Its suggested that women, however, are prone to communicating less assertively in tone of voice, body language, choice, of words, and rapport. This would include encouraging responses and welcoming rapport while leaving room for contradiction from the other party. For example most men are less likely to use words such as "um", "maybe", "I guess", and "I'm not sure", or "most likely"  at work while these words are often chosen by women to build or continue conversation and/or responses.  Carli also implies that men pay less attention to factors that do not support their thoughts or intentions at the moment while women consider all factors, paying close attention to expressions, tones, eye paths, sounds, and underlying statements when generally this is not hidden from but is given less importance to by men. This is why women are more efficient in remembering events, situations, and circumstances while men are more likely to forget them. These key differences in male and female communication could be seen as a legitimate cause and effect of the existence of double standards between genders at work even today. It even goes on to suggest that these double standards have taken a new, and more modern-age form which allows its existence in a casual but evident sense.
                  Who could possibly go against such an age-old issue and prevalent belief. Perhaps a younger generation. It was a welcoming surprise after much research that supports the idea of double standards that a survey taken by a pool of high school students proved to be, on the majority's side, contrary to popular thought and belief. According to the survey, the students argued the fact that more well known companies are owned or managed by women, that the media has begun to portray women as successful business and career leaders versus how they were portrayed in the 1960s, and that many important laws were enacted to ensure gender equality in the work place. They even argued that parental roles and career paths have reversed between genders today.
                 When considering these perspectives there is a detail that plays an important part in this topic and its age. In part, who is better at determining the existence of a social theory, belief, or issue? Is it the older generation who has the firm expertise in the working world or is it the younger generation which includes high school students and graduates alike who have less experience in the working world but holds a firm grip on current events and social issues, being that they are directly affected by them? Is the fruit more perceptive at its core?


Welcome to Our World Revisited

Welcome to Our World Revisited