Posts by Jackie Clark
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Ah yes, the Middle East. I used to like going to the wee place in the little mall that was beneath where Whitcoulls is now. The Green Parrot Cafe, I believe it was called. I'm going to have to think of all the places I used to go in my early 20's - before I went to England and came back to Auckland Annihilated. We used to live (metaphorically speaking) in the Open Late Cafe, and I can think of all the nightclubs we used to frequent - Stanleys, Peppermint Park, and Grapes to name a few. But I have to really reel it back for the old eating places..........
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That's the one - and now I'm dreaming of the lovely frozen yoghurt cones from the little place in Victoria St, just by where the Rodney Wayne salon is now. Bah! Enough of that nostalgia and hooray for sunny Saturdays.
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The tofu burgers this evening were quite nice. Lots of satay sauce.
I'm not vegetarian, but I still hanker after the tofu burgers that we used to get at the wee place on Lorne St, in the 80's. Does anyone remember it's name?
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Like I said, kids figure it out for themselves. Your one just figured it out early, eh?
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How old were you when you knew that Santa was a fiction? I bet it was older than 6. I'm not a parent, but being a teacher, I understand that parents these days have a more ethically difficult job than our parents may have had. I also understand that sometimes, just sometimes, it's good to have a bit of fantasy in our lives. Most kids figure these things out for themselves, in their own time. I'm just not really sure how honesty with your kids has anything to do with the myths and magic of early childhood and I'm not really sure either how not telling your child that Santa really doesn't fly all around the world in one night is about being dishonest with your child. Especially when they are under the age of seven or so.
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In a fit of honesty I once explained to my then maybe 6yr old about Santa - he came back from the mall a few days later and announced that I was full of crap, he'd seen Santa and he was real.
What is it with grinchy adults? Children use fantasy as a way of working out their relationship with the world. Fairy stories, magickal happenings........all very healthy. Kids are able to suspend disbelief - it's a really valuable tool in later life and kids need to learn how to do it ie distinguish between fantasy and reality. I used to work with a woman who, at mat time when reading a story to the kids, would be going " It's just pretend isn't it? " Bloody hell! Sorry for the rave, Paul, but it grates on me, this adult compulsion to 1) do a child's work for them and 2) spoil the magic. Cos that's what it is, and it's a powerful feeling when you're a child.
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ah but how do you know they aren't? ;)
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There will never be accurate evidence about how the soul lives on, because that's not what it's about. If you don't believe something unless it's in front of your eyes, that's fine. But don't poopoo people who operate with greater, or a different, awareness of the world around them. I'm with Dyan on this one, always have been, always will be. And interestingly enough, life after death, if that's what you would call it, is the most scientifically provable of all, I would have said. After all, our bodies are mass and energy are they not? And, correct me if I'm wrong, but energy never dissipates, does it? I know someone's heart the moment I meet them; I've talked to people I've never met, and those I have been close to, who are dead; I can walk into a house, or be anywhere, and like Dyan, tell you what sort of energy has been left behind (it's my belief that natural material retains emotional energy. Dyan's example of blood on sand is a good one. Bricks, wood, soil - it all retains an impression, if you will) amongst other things. I'm not a kook, and I have no interest in explaining these things. They just are. I'm happy to be prescient, and comfortable with my awareness of the world. My husband is prescient, I have many friends who are. I don't practice to be "better", and I don't go to meetings at Spiritualist Churches, or with other people. I don't hang around psychics. But then again, I don't feel the need to explain everything away just because it might make me feel better. We all have our way of understanding the world, in the way which makes most sense to us. Rational is one thing, sceptical is another, and dismissive and patronising is another thing altogether.
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the eruditest, scariest buggers around. May your holidays be peaceful, and may you remember how to just "be".
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Sorry Emma, I didn't mean that to come off as so patronising. I agree with you, in most part. And you are certainly right when you say that the difference varies from person to person. Let's just say that perhaps your perspective would not be very different, but certainly being a woman makes your perspective somewhat different. Shaping experiences and traits, in my opinion, are many. Gender is just one of them. It may, in some people, not be a very big one, but it's still there. For me, it's more about the nuance and the shading that makes a person.