"We are all Evolving, let’s Give Each Other Some Grace”

We start this life with a fresh mind, open and excited to gain knowledge. We are vulnerable and impressionable. As we get older our life experiences change us, our way of thinking. For example, you may get a Facebook memory and read a post you’ve written and think, “OMG, I cannot believe I said that, so embarrassing.” I firmly believe that where you end up in life, has a great deal with where you start. Our beliefs may change and in hand our opinions do too.

Believing in the universe’s blueprint for us, the magic of nature, collecting crystals & rocks that hold positive energy, being amazed by the moon every time you see her, sounds crazy to some, or even considered condemning behavior.  What we condemn and what we see fit, depends on our place in time. We are forever changing, learning, failing, striving, succeeding, living & dying. 

“Twilight Sleep” for example, would be viewed as torture and illegal practice today. Below are two images of women in 1915 being prepared for "twilight sleep" births. While these images may look like scenes from horrific procedures forced on them without their consent, twilight sleep was in fact something that women chose in the early 20th century, and many women's organizations fiercely advocated for in the USA.

At the onset of labor, the patient would receive a dose of morphine and scopolamine, a drug which can induce amnesia and an altered state of consciousness. The patient was given minimal sensory input, often with earplugs and eyes covered, lying in a pod and sometimes restrained to prevent getting up. This served to prevent memories from forming. This protocol meant that as far as you were aware, you went to sleep and the next thing you remembered, you'd be handed your newborn.

It may sound strange in the 21st century to think that women found ceding complete control to physicians and giving birth in restraints to be empowering, but at the time it was seen that way.

Who knows, maybe in 100 years you’ll only need a vaccine to stay cancer free, and people will look back at the human race poisoning our bodies to be rid of cancer and think how awful it must have been. Maybe priests will be allowed to marry and love like everyone else. Maybe cell phones, TVs, computers, and other such devices will no longer be, and we’ll be a highly functioning human race with an advanced form of communication.

Until the end of time nothing will stay the same. So, during my time here, I’ll believe some of what I learn and everything I feel. I’ll keep an open mind and heart. What you think you know today, you might feel foolish about tomorrow.

~ Kat

Images: Scopolamine-Morphine Anesthesia, 1915