Peace Corps

So, I applied for the Peace Corps in October and feel as though it is a great way to embody the change that I want to see in the world, one of compassion, learning, experiencing and serving. A week ago I was told that I would know whether or not I was nominated. Needless to say, I just found out the truth. I received an email at 5:30am one morning informing me that I had been accepted. Later that day, however, I was told that the status update was a glitch. Finally, I spoke to someone today from the office...I did not get in.
I am not fluent in Spanish, therefor not qualified to get into any of the programs being offered through Health Extension. A thought came to me while I was talking on the phone to the young man bearing bad news, a thought that means that I am certainly growing as a person and truly value what I can contribute to this world. I could not help but think, "wow, you people are being really stupid not to let me in!" Never before in my life have I felt this way, I have always taken moments where I have been told that I am not qualified as a personal failure. This time, I really do feel as though it is their loss. Not everyone is philosophically ready to embark on a journey with positive perspective and attempt to change a fraction of the world and their lives. I am. Far to often I encounter misanthropic people that believe that life is a big game and you need to figure out how to get ahead...a very American perspective, I feel. This is where Carl Sagan comes into mind with piercing and glorious perspective.
On one episode of Cosmos, Sagan explained that the human genetic code can give rise to essentially infinite numbers of completely different people. Thats amazing! This means, according to me, that we have a choice of which direction to put our energy. We can despair, be selfish and live out our lives disconnected believing that our neighbors are really trying to screw us over, or, we can embody creativity, compassion, love, friendship and rational and creative thought to push the level of our collective human consciousness into the future with new and different minds at work. What would you rather have, a world of joy or a world of people saying, "fuck you!"?

Avatar and my own nerve endings.

Avatar was an absolutely gorgeous film. I saw it on 3D with my family and was pleasantly surprised at the graphic content. The actual, deeper content of the film was far more appealing, however. Each alien creature (I have completely forgotten their race's name and their planet) has a long braid terminating with hundreds of nerve-like terminals that allow them to connect to multiple creatures, plants etc. and explore their interconnectedness to the planet (the planet being, essentially, a gigantic brain with more nerve connections than those existing between my own ears).
As I attempt to elevate my own consciousness into a more compassionate, questioning, rational and spiritual one, I cant help but think that I am also equipped with similar sensory tools to explore my world and feel connected. Obviously I have extremely sensitive nerve endings on my toes, fingers and body but they key here is to admit which part of the human body actually feels, and that would be our brains. Nerves only relay chemical information (afferent) and take them to the brain for interpretation. This is where the work is done, both consciously and otherwise.
These thoughts bring me to passages in a current book I am reading called "The Wisdom Of the Native Americans". This book is simply a collection of speeches by prominent, historical leaders of various indigenous tribes in response to white sprawl. It explains that silence and contemplation were essential to these ancient people. Speech never came without the silent arrangements of thoughts. I feel that this is something that is greatly lacking in our society today. I know way to many people that saturate their atmosphere with music, white noise etc. 24/7. I have learned to love silence. I work retail full-time and for 8 hours a day I deal with customers and a constant background of music arranged to be positive and put people in the mood to spend money they don't have. Because of this, when I drive home, my iPod stays in my pocket and I deflate.
I am also going to try to sit on the ground with my palms down when I meditate from now on. The Native Americans did this because they felt close to a great power, a power of all living things of the Earth. Sorry Avatar, you stole it from the Earthlings :-)