Month: March 2016

Are We What We Watch On Television?

I’m asked all the time what shows do I regularly watch on television and every time I respond they rarely seem to be the ones everyone else seems to be watching. If you pay attention to the Nielsen ratings to see what the majority of the population is currently tuning into, you’ll see it’s primarily programs that mimic real life. But that’s precisely what I don’t want to see when I sit down in front of my television and turn it on.

Look, life in general in our world is already filled with so much violence, scandal, gossip, judgment, dysfunctionality, and the like. So watching programs that endorse greater amounts of that only stresses me out even more than what’s in the news these days. This is why I tend to be drawn mostly to shows that are in the genre of science fiction or fantasy. But even then, I don’t watch every single one that falls under either of those genres. Instead, there’s a theme that I’m constantly drawn to with what I follow on the small screen and that’s the “good versus evil” or “light versus dark” concept.

This is probably why I tune into all those superhero-based programs on television, as that’s generally what their themes are about. And I always feel the more I watch them, the better I feel about my life. Sometimes I think that’s because I was brought here to help fight the darkness that pervades our planet and do what I can to replace it with light. Unfortunately, I got distracted from that goal for a very long time due to all the addictions I used to succumb to. But thankfully that’s not where I’m in life anymore.

Regardless, I tend to wonder if who each of us are inside can often be identified by what we regularly watch on television. Can we easily become that which we watch? Psychologists have been theorizing lately that the people who go on these shooting sprees could be due to all the violent programming on television nowadays.

While there really isn’t proof yet for any of these speculations, my spiritual teacher has reminded me time and time again to really be careful of what I watch myself. So I do. I’m very careful to only tune into things that I find uplift me. Because the last thing I want to do is move backwards in my spiritual journey by allowing myself to watch things that make me feel angry, fearful, or more negative.

Nevertheless, I feel this is definitely something to ponder. So I leave you with these questions for that reason. What do you watch regularly on television? Are any of the undesirable traits of the shows you follow the same one’s others sometimes see in you? And who do you really want to be in life, as to become that, could it involve tuning into different programming that’s more supportive of that goal? I truly hope you take the time to muse over these questions and I wish each of you well on your spiritual journeys…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

 

Donald Trump

Donald Trump. His name is everywhere it seems like lately. He’s constantly in the news and I feel as if everyone around me is always talking about this man. And I’m really concerned about that. Why? Because of the growing dissension in our country that appears to be closely tied to his 2016 Presidential Campaign.

I should probably clarify this right off the bat though. I’m not for or against Donald Trump. I’m just overly worried about what’s going to happen if he becomes our next President. There’s been protests, violence, racism, and extremely strong judgments against entire classes of people that have arisen with his rise to political stardom.

And that scares me.

Our country has worked so hard for equality over the last century on so many levels and in recent years, has even made great strides towards establishing peace amongst all of us. But much of that is starting to feel like it’s unravelling the more Donald Trump moves closer to living in the White House.

Back when Barack Obama took office, I used to hear so many negative people say they thought he was the anti-Christ and I never quite understood that. Because not once have I ever felt unsafe with him as our President. Not once have I ever felt as if we were moving in the opposite direction from which our country has come since the early 1900’s. And not once did I ever feel as if we were moving backwards to a time when segregation between each other was the norm.

I’m beginning to wonder because of all this if my previous incarnation was a hippie from the 60’s since that’s all I ultimately want for our world. To coexist peacefully with everyone else, with no judgments, and with unconditional love. But as we move closer and closer to leaving another decade behind us, I sometimes wonder if we are headed in the wrong direction, falling into greater polarization and forgetting about what unites us all together, which is our hearts and souls.

I can’t honestly say if that’s truly what’s happening, or whether that would actually happen if Donald Trump became our country’s next President. What I can say though is that if he does become the next Commander-In-Chief, I only pray he guides us more in the direction of love and peace between all. I know that may sound so trite and even far too optimistic for any President to achieve. But it’s what I see and long for and would hope I could achieve if I was to ever be in a position such as that.

Sadly, our country and the world is not there right now. Things are broken, many of us are broken, and plenty are disillusioned with life, seeking something, someone, anything, that might guide us into the light or any light for that matter. Look, I’ve been there for awhile now, going through a transformation of my own. Except it hasn’t been because of some person, place, or thing I found here on Earth. My catalyst has been my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God. And only God has shown me how to love everyone. Only God found the way for me to be more at peace with myself, which in turn has helped me be in peace with all others.

So regardless of whether Donald Trump becomes our next leader and regardless of what happens to our country with this year’s Presidential election, the only thing I can do is to continue trying to create more unconditional love and peace everywhere I go. And while that may feel like I’m often fighting against the tide lately, I still envision life where we can all coexist without hate, anger, and the like. I just hope whomever becomes our next President will somehow find that same desire within themselves as well…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson