Trial and Tribulation: My Take on the Anthony Case

Nancy Grace's propensity for sensational news makes me question her mental stability. As a result, I followed very little of her coverage (and other media coverage) of Casey Anthony's landmark trial. Instead, I checked the highlights after the verdict had been made, and it seems to me that much of America has been swept into a media frenzy and is jumping to major conclusions. Personally, I am caught between A) wishing all discussion of this issue will simply dissipate and B) feeling inspired to provide people with a new perspective on the tragedy. The second tendancy has prevailed, so read on for my personal opinion of the case:

To my understanding, Casey Anthony allowed her daughter Caylee to die in a pool because she wasn't watching her. When Casy found her child, she freaked out, dumped the body in the woods beside her house, made up the story about how Caylee had been kidnapped and then pretty much tried to fake her daughter's kidnapping and murder by going so far as to look up details about creating specific injuries in a frenzy following her daughter's death. She even attempted to place duct tape on her daughter body and then ripped it off in what must have been a moment of clarity, grief and disgust. Casey is most definitely ill. However,a group of jurors deemed that she is not the "party mom" who murdered her child to have more "party time," as much of America has framed her to be, and I believe those jurors are probably correct.

A mother who deliberately harms her children is easily villified. Villifying her can also become fodder for commercialized news & entertainment because people are thinking, "I may not be a great person, but at least I'm not THAT bad. That woman is TERRIBLE." However, if you consider the idea that Caylee did tragically die in a pool while unattended, then this humanizes Casey just a little too much, and makes her seem just a little too relatable to all the moms whose kids have unknowingly slipped out the back door. After wrapping that thought around your mind, think about the familial and social factors that may make a woman actually believe it's better to fake a kidnapping & murder (as Casey did) than to simply report her child's horribly accidental death. The conversation gets very complex, quite sticky, gravely important and not nearly so suitable for info-tainment. The media points to Casey's infamous "party pictures" as evidence that Casey was seeking a party lifestyle. I think they may be just as easily held as evidence that she'd cracked after finding her deceased child and was filling her mind with as much fluff as she could to keep from going more insane with grief. All told, the case really makes for a pretty deep sociological/psychological​ study, but I regret it is just going to go down in history as a sensationalized event.

At a minimum, I think all parents have at least 3 things to learn as a result of this incident:
1. Do not be a person so filled with fear that you turn your life into a nightmare.
2. Pay attention to your children's whereabouts.
3. If you have an above ground pool, remove the ladder after use so that wandering 2-year-olds can't fall in.

That's my stance. Air your thoughts and move on.

Free to Fly: My First Healing Session with Bhima Giri

I lay down upon the bed where my husband received his healing before me. My son slumbered next to me in his crib as my daughter slept upstairs. My stepson son was distant but close within my heart. I waited for a light and was greeted by a fly.  Buzzing, buzzing, he walked along my arms and legs and circled my head. He flew toward my throat opening the chakra there so I could speak honest and true. I twitched but received the gifts of this creature. Energy tense within me began to relax and flow slowly through me as though my life force were being renewed. Blocks cleared in my left leg, right arm and throat. My crown chakra opened wider, and I felt a peaceful calling to step away from what constrains me and to fly free.  A crystal lotus-shaped vase began to glow. A gift from either my husband's stepmother or a former student, I have not thought of it as sacred, but it is what I need, a missing piece for rituals now and later. I take this renewed gift with gratitude and peace that flows through my evolving spirit. Our session marks the awakening of the next stage of a major transformation started four years ago following a fire that stimulated creation in the wake of its destruction. There is love among the ruins. Flowers in the ashes. Beauty in the ugliness. Humor in the severity. Laugh and Be. These are the messages I take with me. My husband called to unknowingly signal the end of our session, his pilgrimage underway on this Solstice day. Today we will walk through a week, physically separate and spiritually united, as we have never been before. I'm thankful to encounter Bhima Giri along my way. Lightening bug in the day time dances around my son. My daughter wakes. Blessings come. And, I recognize the blessings that have always been. Peace. Fire. Love. Power. Release. Kali. Be.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/bhima-giri/white-lotus-activating-try-your-first-healing-session-free/10150221029182945

Visit the link above for more information about scheduling a healing session.

Ignite!

On January 11, 2011, I began participating in an 11-day challenge called Ignite.  The idea is to spend 11 minutes daily focused on maximizing time spent with oneself and radiating positive energy throughout the world.  An Atlanta-based life coach named Alex Obed created the challenge and posts daily videos to give the participants ideas about how to spend their 11 minutes.  In my blog this week, I’m posting my responses to his challenge.  As per usual for me, my timing is a bit off, but I’m not letting that small detail deter me from following through with my plans.   After all, Einstein said “the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one." So, let’s be realistic: timing is over-rated anyway. :-)

In addition to following Alex's guidelines, my husband and I have also begun a practice of meditating for 11 minutes each day at 11:11 (either AM or PM, depending on the children's sleeping schedules).  I'll be posting some of the visions and insights that have come to me during these as well.

For more info. about Ignite and Alex Obed, please CLICK HERE.