Recently I watched an excellent Youtube video by Anthony West, writer of many books which rocked the University establishment about the actual dating of the pyramids and the Sphinx.  His work is wonderful reading BUT that is not my point here.
Wholeness and not compartmentalization
One particular comment struck me as I watched and like a random string held by electrostatic energy on one's clothes, would not let me go.  He commented that in the time of the building of the Temple of Carnac, art, science, math and all the other subjects were inextricably linked.  This wholeness, this integration of subjects mirrors life.  The earth doesn't compartmentalize. Can you imagine if the forest only dealt with biology but not geology?  Or if the fibonnachi spiral were not built into most living things?  It would be chaos and confusion.  Hmm...sound like what we have in modern society, doesn't it?
Modern education is based on compartmentalization
It begs the question then, why do we educate for compartmentalization and not whole-brained thinking?  The answer is simple:  People who have been educated in that way accept at an unconscious level the "need to know" mentality of government and the ruling classes.  Very important that, since it allows those structures to stay in place.  It allows for the "right hand" not to know what the "left hand" is doing.  Wholistic thinking would not allow for the short term decisions which are destroying our children's inheritance to enrich the few. 
21st Century Education - is it the panacea people believe it to be?
21st Century Education has been touted as the "cure" for what is wrong with education.  But is it?  It allows for a small amount using IBL (Inquiry Based Learning) of integration of subjects and personalization of learning.  Yet it does not truly address the issue of compartmentalization.  Often students are learning things, which are totally isolated from any meaning in their reality.  With all the icing the cake underneath still tastes largely of the original flavour. 
What can be done to create a more whole-brained approach to education?
This becomes almost a game of which came first the education system or the system which generated it and which it largely supports.  It would take  ashift in perspective to allow people with the possibility of changing things to put structures into place to move education into  a more humane and wholistic space and structure.  Some moves are currently being made in B.C. with their new curriculum.  Yet it is still subdivided - Language Arts, Math as distinct from Science,  Socials, Science and so on.  One point in their favour is that they did re-pair Physical Education and Health.  Despite the fact that they are obviously related, they were seperately taught for years.  Still the subjects are separate and the connections between them which are important and natural are often left out of the discussion.
What can I do?
Make connections.  For yourself or your child, be sure to see the world as wholistic.  Everything is interrelated and their can be an ever widening circle of ramifications for a small action.  It is important for everyone to realize this.  Many of the same skills that serve a scientist also serve and artist. Perhaps more emphasis on skills and connections would serve us better.  Or perhaps we do not yet know how to solve the problem that education currently is.  The quote attributed to Einstein is "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness on which it was created."  The education system was created by our current society.  Without major societal change and a shift in conscious perception, there can be no true improvement, no solving of our problems.
Be part of that change.  All change begins with self change. Examine your own compartmentalization.  When and how do you justify "little white lies" to yourself.  If you can confront those things which mar your own integrity, there will be personal growth.  If enough personal growth can take place within enough of the population, they will stand up to corruption.  Or perhaps you think it is only the people at the top who create the problems in our society. 
A Case in Point
The society is the reflection of the people in it and if ours is false and corrupt, are we not to blame.  If you doubt this I offer the following:
A recent video I watched had a woman on stage who asked a simple question of her predominently white U.S. audience:  "Which one of you would want to be treated the way a black American routinely is treated in this society? Raise your hand if you would."  No one raised their hand.  She repeated the question and again not one person raised their hand.  She then commented:  "The fact that you do not want to be treated that way means that you know that black Americans are treated less well than you are and you don't want that treatment.  It also means that you are aware that the treatment is not what you would find acceptable yet you accept it and  do nothing to change it.  You are therefore part of the problem.  You know it is wrong yet you do nothing to change it." It is the very compartmentalization inherent in our educational system and in the system as a whole which promotes this type of acceptance of wrong doing.  "If black Americans are badly treated, what has that to do with me as a white American?  It doesn't affect me at all.", might be some of this type of thinking.  This behaviour is typical for many people, who may not be able to make the connection to the wider implications of the injustice which they permit to exist.
Yes, it is your Circus and they are your Monkeys!
If you allow injustice to go unchallenged, you may be surprised at how the spread of corruption comes home to roost.  If you don't want society to be a circus, take issue with the small wrongs, so they don't proliferate.  Be authentic and honest, stand up for what is right and don't back down. 

I love Spirit Science.  Their videos on youtube and the whole community scene.  They forwarded SunGazing's super fun visual quiz. 
Here it is as an offering - a small quiz that I found fun.  I offer it as my "I'm not really celebrating but hey, here's something for y'all anyway" gift to you.
By the way, can you guess what I got?

Check out the quiz on this link:   http://www.sun-gazing.com/quiz-see-first-3/  from SunGazing.

In case you're wondering I got - You are a uniquely creative personality.  Yes.  Yes, I am.  Enjoy!

I'm not doing Chrismas this year. 
Why? 
That's a simple question yet the answer is not.
It's not because I am a humbug or a grinch.  I'ts not because I don't think givine to others is valuable.  It's not because I am not joyful or that I don't like all the pretty lights or the decorating , although I personally am not putting any up.
It's because I think that Christmas, whether you are Christian or not, used to be about something else and I don't like and won't support what it has become.
How did Christmas get started as a Holiday?

Many Christians will point to the 25th as the date of the birth of Jesus Christ but this is not at all a given.  As late as 300 A.D. the Council of Nicea finally set this date as the birth of Christ yet they had specific reasons for their choice.  Some of their reasons were:

1.  It was a traditional festival of Sun worshipers - after the solstice the sun appears to "stop" it's motion in the sky, only resuming and beginning a new year on the 25th, ergo, the sun is "born" that day.

2.  Perhaps originally as an extension of this Sun cult worship, Saturnalia was traditionally celebrated on the 25th and the surrounding week.  It was "... a topsy-turvy holiday of feasting, drinking, singing in the street naked, clapping hands, gambling in public and making noise." states the History Extra article (http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-christmas)  In the aforementioned article it is stated that it was a change in attitude, from seriousness to mirth, rather than gift-giving that characterized the holiday.  Other historians go further stating that it was a time of general lawlessness and even human sacrifice as characterizing the dark side of Saturn worship.

3.  As a holiday (or Holy Day) for the new religion of Christianity.  The holiday had begun being celebrated on the 6th or 7th of January by the early Christians, although not because that was the birthday of Christ but rather because of the visitation of the Wise Men.  The gift-giving of the Magi became gift-giving to each other in honour of the birthday of the Christ child.

What Christmas has become...
It has become an orgy of buying and a time for getting into debt, which no doubt benefits the economy (and those who make money from it) yet can cause misery for a good part of the year afterward due to unwise spending.  It has also become a time of obligation in a different way.  The expectation that you need to buy a gift for everyone even remotely connected with you.  Those gifts tend to be bought without much thought to their relevance and are often not useful to the recepients.  It is more about "shoulds" than about honest appreciation and heartfelt giving.
It has created large expectations on the part of children and young adults, which can become difficult to live up to as they take on childrearing or relationships.

What Can We do about it?
I'm not suggesting that the holiday is unredeemable.  But I do believe that we need to change what we are doing.  It is not really sustainable.  I don't think I am alone in that.  You may not choose to completely step away from tradition.  It is my personal solution but I know it will not be palatable to everyone or indeed not be for everyone.
But how about some subtle changes?  What if:

• Giving was authentic - affordable, unique, timely, heartfelt?
• More gifts were old-school, meaning, home made?
  
• The focus went back to giving, not receiving?
  
• Time spent on quietude, simple gratitude and time with friends or family was more important than shopping?
  

Ho,ho,ho - No.
I will not be celebrating tomorrow.  I am not condemning anyone who is - more power if it is working for you.   
For myself, I don't want to be told when to buy presents for those I care about.  I believe that gift-giving should be spontaneous not regulated by culture.  And I believe that largely we only give when it is expected.   At those times we put expectations onto others or onto ourselves and we find ourselves sorely stressed.  That is not okay. 
So I wish all my readers the most benevolent outcome for their day - may you find joy and peace for that is surely the essence of the holiday!

Over the last two days I listened to an interesting offering on Youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Rwyu1Jau8) entitled Unstoppable Confidence by Kent Sayle.   I am doing some research for the Parent and Activity Guide for a new children's book, Mirror Me!, which will soon be completed.  The book has some good work around NLP (neuro linguistic programming) which offers help to deal with destructive subconscious belief/thinking patterns which get in the way of progress.  At one point there is a comparison between two people - one who wanted to be a baker and another who wanted to be a singer.  The one just dreamed about it and was miserable in her day job but took no action to make the desire to be a baker become a reality whereas the other took small steps - practicing, cutting a demo album, offering to sing at banquets, etc. Five years later, guess which one was living her dream?  The one who took action of course!
Simple steps make a big difference!
1.  Step One
What do you love to do?  If you are not sure, think of what it is that makes your heart sing.  When you are doing that thing you love to do - time stands still and nothing else exists.  Step One is to figure out what your dream is.
2.  Step Two
Make time for your dream activity - set aside a few hours or better yet one evening a week (4 hours) and make a firm committment to it.  Whether you are taking a course to learn more about what you want to do or practicing, does not matter but be sure that you use the time you set aside to do it.  As you can (and want to) devote a little more time.  If you set aside four hours a week for example,
within a year you would have devoted two hundred and fifty eight hours to work on your dream - that is a week and a half!
3.Step Three
Change your attitudes that may be in your way.  Affirmations are important.  Decide where you are going and what you want in your life and then write up a list of affirmations.  Say them twice or three times a day to reprogramme your subconscious.  Take a little time - at least seven minutes a day - to imagine yourself actually doing and being in your dream life.
A Personal Example
Just small steps each day can add up.  Eight years ago, I decided to dedicated one night a week to drawing.  Previously I had had trouble finding time to indulge in my passion for art but after making the commitment, the time seemed to not only be available but I found even more.  Within a year, I had a large portfolio of work.  The next year I began entering local art exhibitions.  Within a year, I began to write as well and made time for that.  Today I have published three books and have three more almost finished - written and illustrated.  I write and draw instead of watching TV - amazing how much time that frees up.
So I ask again, what are you doing today to create the future you want?  You have the power - use it!

The close of the campaign (how much exactly is that costing us again?) draws near and the propaganda campaign amps up.  Even the popular Rick Mercer has been wheeled out to stir Canadians out to the polls.  Why?  Why is it so important for us to mark an "x" in the box beside someone's name on election day?
The popularity of government is falling.  Like the control system of monarchy long ago it has fallen from grace as more and more people take a good look at what is really going on.  How many of the Prime Ministers and their appointed Ministers have been accused (or convicted) of stealing from the taxpayers?  How many have been partaking in schemes to line their own pockets while fleecing other people's?  And why do none of them ever deliver on their promises?
Small wonder so many Canadians are voting with their feet - putting them up on their coffee tables and NOT going to vote.
The Evolution of Government
Government has not always been with us.  As I alluded to earlier it was Monarchy that formerly ruled most of the world.  In many places it still is maintained and some would say it rules the world still, even if it does so secretly.  The people had had enough of monarchy and its brutal treatment of the most vulnerable, its constant wars and personal excesses, back around the time of the French Revolution.  So things changed (on the surface anyway).  Elected governments were offered to a public fed up with monarchy.
What is Government?
We have a tendency to forget that words have meaning and that we need to look back to origins to find out what things stand for.  With time these things can become obscured.  Let's examine therefore what  the word government actually means.  The word comes from the Latin "Gubernatio"  to command and "Ment"  the mind, it literally means these people are in command of mind.  Government, elected or not, is there to command our minds, as are the other institutions that have grown out of government - like public schooling.
What do we contribute?
When elected governments began, people believed they were being allowed a voice.  So they supported them by voting.  How do governments continue  to be in control?  We elect them.  We agree to it.  By putting our "x" in the box, we signify our willingness to be bound by the government and all it entails.  This includes paying the taxes that they tell us we owe. 
Stagnation breeds contempt
Round and round we go:  In with the Liberals - they lied, stole, cheated and didn't make good on their promises, so out with them.  In with the Conservatives - oops!  Same stuff, different party!  If you realize that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, you could say that the truth is that the people who don't vote are quite sane, while the others...well, maybe they are just acting out of habit.  Let's face it...
How could it be different?
We pay them to make decisions that if we worked together we could make together.  In this world of technology it would be simple to put things to a vote on cell phones.  We could have a real democracy.   There is at least one real democracy in the world.  It is in a section of Switzerland.  They all show up and vote.  Of course that wouldn't work here.  But we could go online and vote.  We,  the many, should be in charge of the country not the few priviliged ones who get in and follow their own (or someone higher's) agenda.
The secret
This is why all the propaganda:  they know something they don't want you to know - the Canadian public that doesn't vote is saying they do NOT support government.  In the 2011 election 39% of eligible voters DID NOT choose government.  That has to have them shaking in their boots because the truth is we want change! 
If you want to get the  Canadian's out to vote, lay off on the propaganda and actually change things.  No one likes to be snowed and the nonsense wears thin as more people come awake. 
Want us to vote?  Then be worth voting for!
We want back in the game!  Move over and make room if you want more people to get interested in what you are doing!  Then you might have a real election instead of the joke it is now. 
But that would take honesty, integrity, transparency, laying aside the hidden agenda and actually working from the ground level up to involve all Canadians and reflect the changes in the status quo that need to occur as we move away from what isn't working and into a better future and after all, what politician is up for that?
So Rick, you may be well meaning, but seriously, there's only so many times you can resell old junk to people before they get wise that they're being had.  That is the real reason why many Canadians will NOT GO to the polls.  They're tired of the same old rhetoric, even if it is painted Green.  Show us something new, something real, something we can get behind and rally around, and not the old sabre rattling around terrorists and other such assorted nonsense.  Where is the free energy?  Where is prosperity for all?  Where is taking 10% off the defense budget so that we can feed and shelter all Canadians?  Try putting that on the platform and then before your promises get moldy, take them out and follow through, despite threats from your controllers (you know, the ones who lurk in the shadows and wheel and deal) tell them you're not playing their chess game.  I double dare you!  Won't do it?  Then do not complain about the low voter turn out.  Be the change you want to see!

Society does a good job these days, making up for any chinks in the armor plated conditioning that the tribe does on the unsuspecting child.  The education system, television and media are working hard to program the child to grow up "normal".  Still the results are mediocre at best.
That is a good thing of course!  People actually do mana
ge, despite the best efforts of the society and the family group to normalize children, to emerge, if not unscathed then still authentic
Problem is, they don't always remember who exactly they are.  They just know that they are not "normal".  (Whatever "normal" is) So they have to go figure it out.  They set off on the journey.
Of course if we had a society which would recognize and support the fact that everyone is different and there is no "normal", we would be better off.  Perhaps it will someday come to that.  Sooner than later would be good.  Because other more sinister factions are waiting in the wings and the governments seem to be panicking to get more control than ever.  Which means they feel they are losing control.
Finding our what you want means sorting out the programing from your own desires.  The program is: 
Phase One: grow up, get an education and then a job, get married, have children  This Phase locks you in for twenty to thrity years.  Is that what you want?
Phase Two:  Buy a house, furnish it and buy lots of other items too raise your children and see them educated, make sure they are "normal", when they leave you can downsize the house and move to somewhere with other older people and wait to die.
I don't know about you but I never did like the program much.  I did get pulled into the Phase One part but am hoping to get out of it alive.  
Maybe it is your thing - more power! But maybe it isn't and you would rather not have children.  You would rather travel the globe for example.  Spend time with yourself - alone and get to know who you are and what you want.  Then go and do that.  Don't ask everyone else's opinion about it, (you likely won't get an unbiased one)just go do it.

Best of luck on the journey!