Category: SOCIETAL ISSUES


Adjusting to new times in a fast changing world.

Filed Under: SOCIETAL ISSUES by GALE FROST Admin — Leave a comment
February 27, 2017

Times are changing so fast.   Our human relationships are as well. In fact, it seems like overnight everything is different.  What are we going to do with the rest of our lives?   What should our place be?  Everything is speeding up and changing, rapidly. Are we being left behind in the shuffle? Knowledge is advancing. The addition of technology to the equation, to life in general, is changing so many things.

I used to believe that I would spend time with my children and their children, however, I am finding very little time is being spent with them as they are all so busy. I see them for a few seconds, a few minutes and find it hard as I have the time to be with them, but they do not have the time for me. It is not that they do not care, they do, but they are busy living in a different world. The world of technology and the fact it is becoming an expensive world based on materialism and commercialism is basically changing the foundation of our lives. 

  Many of us are single as seniors and finding the cost of living is outpacing our ability to survive on our own. Personally, I don’t think I can continue to live in the greatly expensive world. I love my country and the people, but I am becoming one of many that are stressed financially and being forced to look at other places in the world to live where it is less expensive.  I do not necessarily want to leave my children and grandchildren and live thousands of miles away from them in another country. However, I do not want to place pressure on them financially, and since my health is pretty good, I may have no choice but to live elsewhere. Luckily, I am very adaptable and have moved and changed my life many times as a mature single. 

The statistics are showing that marriages, particularly among older adults are not standing the test of time. We are leaving relationships that are just not working anymore. The fact is life and maturing has driven many of us apart. I thought, like many, I would be with my significant partner forever, so never gave it any thought. He was a nice guy, not abusive, but as the years went on, not present, in that he was just not interested in the things I was interested in.  I had drifted so far away from him and was profoundly unhappy. I left for a period of time, to find myself, so to speak, and never went back.  I have had many adventures, tried new things, moved around the country and I am a completely different person.

However, I am not the only one. Many are following in their own way, my footsteps and exploring strange new worlds and living life without a program, an agenda, a plan. We are going out and doing all we can do to fully experience all there is on this planet. We are traveling more, developing new skills, exploring new ways of living. The very idea that a senior, must just sit on the couch and relax and have a simpler life is just not what we newly evolving seniors are all about. We are leaving and exploring life and this world and are not just convenient babysitters. We are changing the face of retirement so to speak and are not going to sit still and “wait for God”.

 I hope soon, to feel that in some way, I can make a difference in the world around me. I would like to continue and complete a book I started years ago. as well as travel and explore this world much more, experiencing new cultures, languages and places.  My preferences are to spend time in the company of people who do not have their heads stuck in looking at their cellphones and computers, rather than communicating with people.

Life is about evolving, changing, adapting, and experiencing. So I encourage all seniors and mature adults to challenge beliefs and be daring. Have the courage to explore the planet and make a difference. Go for it.  Turn off the electronic devices and get out and explore the real world and real people.

 

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Learning to love ourselves as women and our place in the world.

Filed Under: RELATIONSHIPS, SOCIETAL ISSUES by GALE FROST Admin — Leave a comment
January 28, 2014

It seems like so many are reaching out to be acknowledged, validated and loved. We all need to feel  love, be it the love of family, friends, peers or a significant person. We all want to feel special, like our existence is important to others and to the world.  We have a never ending desire to feel it, sense it or find it. The important thing to realize is that we need more than anything, to find our sense of who and what we are, and what our place is in the universe. Sometimes it takes a lifetime, a long time or sends us on an endless quest of looking for a significant person to share our life with in order to feel some sort of deep connection. On our journey, we either chose to exist or live our lives. We also make a lot of choices or live like an addict looking for a fix. Are we really  finding what really matters?

I am no exception to the rule; I grew up in a land of fairy tales waiting for Prince Charming. I thought he would rescue me and take me away and love me with boundless passion and protect me from the bad things out in the world. Oh my, was I hallucinating. Did I actually believe such nonsense? To a certain extent most women are brought up to be princesses. I do not know who to blame, Disneyland? Hollywood?

Our parents,  in trying to protect us gave us the impression that life was so wonderful. We grew up in a delusional head space for sure. Life is not the fairy-tale we expected.  We had totally unrealistic expectations of what sharing our life would be.
I also find that society, the advertising, fashion and movie industries to be instrumental in reinforcing the fact that most women are just Barbie Dolls. They are just for show, or use, and not really showing that many of us are intelligent, sophisticated, entrepreneurial and just plain amazing human beings. I have met and interviewed many women who are so educated and accomplished that frankly I am just wowed by them.

We are at a time in history when we should not be undervalued. Many of us are evolving and represent more than the image portrayed by society and the cultures in which we live.. We need to learn to respect ourselves and our planet and make better choices as global citizens. We need as women, to take a stand . What message are we sending our children and young women? We need to set an example for our young women in respecting ourselves and the world we live in.

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The day of HEARTS- Valentine’s Day

Filed Under: SOCIETAL ISSUES by GALE FROST Admin — Leave a comment
January 28, 2014

I was thinking today about how I used to feel when I was single and this day approached every year. I disliked it as I felt like I was the only single on the planet, and to be single was not acceptable in this society. Many people tend to judge singles and treat you like there is something wrong with you. We are raised to believe in order to be a whole person we must be in a relationship.
However, I have grown a lot as a person, and realized you have to find yourself and not look for someone to complete you. It has been quite the journey, despite having been a romance junkie. I have come to a place where I am a fully independent functioning unit and do not fall apart at the single thing anymore. In fact ,I am quite happy thank you ,and, yes I would love to share my life ,but reality is reality ,it is not easy to find someone that shares a lot of the same interests. So, I just do what I like and maybe someday I will find someone special to share some of my life adventures with. If that never happens, then I will be okay.
I have watched the stress on the faces of those in relationships running around getting the “Valentine” things for their loved ones. I smile to myself and feel sorry as they seem super stressed. I think the whole thing is out of hand. Perhaps we should make every day Valentine’s Day. Why do we have to have a special day?
I guess because there are too many that forget, or do not know how to show they care. It doesn’t have to involve money and all the commercialism, but that is the way life has become. It is too bad, because really so many miss the real issue at hand. It is not about giving flowers and gifts, it is about giving of oneself, something that seems to have been forgotten in a world of material values.

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WHERE ARE THE REAL PEOPLE?

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August 14, 2013

I have chosen to live my life in a positive manner. Despite all that keeps happening in this world, I know that we are meant to get along as a species. All the problems that exist in this world we, as a species, create. We create it out of fear, and our lives for many are lived in fear. In fear we create beliefs that bind us and keep us in fear. We then follow those that are stronger, who have and we let them have power over us. They exploit, corrupt and warp our view of the world and keep us enslaved in negativity and fear.

I was born into a time when the world was in post-traumatic shock over what had occurred on this planet. Millions of lives taken and the cost for humanity were immeasurable. I was raised in a family who showed no emotion, there was no attachment, we simply existed. I was, however, brought up to believe the best in people. I try to live my life this way. However, it seems a vast majority on this planet just exist to cause others pain, do not want to get a real job, or because of something that happened to them believe they have a right to exploit those who are good and trusting. I am saddened by this reality. I often ask people who are like me if there is a planet for nice real genuine people and we commensurate together about that fact. We are tired of being treated like we are stupid, bullied into believing that we are. I am tired of others who seek to exploit me. Go away and get real is my message. I thought I was over being victimized and I am sincerely saddened.  I am thinking of moving in the wilderness, without technology that has made us unfeeling clones. Perhaps the company of the animals will be better company that a lot of humans on this planet. There, I can continue to live my life with love in my heart.

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Feeling isolated in today’s world?

Filed Under: RELATIONSHIPS, SOCIETAL ISSUES by GALE FROST Admin — Leave a comment
August 14, 2013

I never ever dreamed I would feel like this. Other than my children and their children and a few friends I am feeling increasingly isolated in this  society. I am a humanitarian and I care about all living things on this planet. I reach out every day to the world through my writing and encounters with other humans. Many times I give out a business card or phone number and yet no one ever has contacted me. I have to ask, did they not read my articles? Was I just a pain and they just wanted to get rid of me? Are they that lazy? I know we are all busy, are they that stressed; does it just take 10 seconds to forget I came into their lives? I thought I really affected people, but I am beginning to doubt myself. When you are creative and you write to reach out to another human being with love and compassion, you would think it would be easy to get published, and yet that is not the case. It seems it is all about whom you know, not what you know. I read every day on the internet how people are feeling so lonely and so alone. The increased numbers of pets people have acquired reaffirms my observations that pets have replaced humans in their lives.

So many people I know in the mature ages are isolated, forgotten and neglected, or abused and taken advantage of. It pains me to know this exists and yet I have close friends who have many health related issues and they need support, and yet their children whom they brought into this world just ignore their pleas for help in acquiring proper food and medications. How ungrateful society has become. I was reading the personals online and someone new to this big city was complaining that it is an unfriendly city, so hard to make friends. Well, I have news for all ages. I have lived in 3 different cities in Canada in the last decade as a single and find the problem to be in every city.  As humanity we have become disconnected from being with real people. We increasingly are online and communicating in that way. It is not a normal way. I long to have a coffee with a real human, who does not have a device in front of them like an addiction they cannot put down. I now turn my cell off when driving or when I am out. It is just plain rude to not do so. We have to stop being so connected we cannot function without our fingers on a screen.  Relationships are suffering at epidemic proportions, I wonder why? Not hard to figure out.

I have to ask the question; are we being programmed to be disconnected from one another? What is the agenda? Or is their one? It wasn’t that long ago we just relied on our answering machine and that was good enough. Surely, we can let go for a few hours or a few days. Perhaps we should declare days without technology as an experiment?  I do not like being alone, I thrive on my human relationships and yet I find increasingly, I am another forgotten lonely human wondering was it something I said,  or did? Or are people too busy trying to survive in this stressful world they have no time for another human?

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