People have always made decisions and formed opinions based on their personal experiences and knowledge. I get that. It’s the easiest way to decide most things. “Based on what I know, how will this action effect me and my family?” It’s how people have come to define what they know that’s driving me crazy.

More credible information is available more easily today than at any point in history. A solid internet search can turn up dozens of credible studies, journals, blogs written by experts, articles, etc. (I’ll get to defining credible in a moment.) Yet more people seem willfully determined to ignore verifiable, proven and tested evidence in favor of crackpot theories and unproven hypotheses than ever before. It’s a dichotomy that honestly puzzles me.

It’s not hard to learn how to tell a credible source from a non-credible source. I teach my students to do it in a week’s worth of instruction. It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to figure out that Glenn Beck, a pseudo-journalist, is not a credible source of information on, oh, let’s say swine flu. The first lesson I teach my students is the closer you get to the primary source, the more credible the information is likely to be. This is why, in the old days, journalists were taught to get two independent sources before publishing a story. (The second lesson is that credibility doesn’t necessarily equal ironclad truth, but that’s another blog.)

Unfortunately, we can no longer trust the media, social or traditional, to provide unbiased information, if they ever did. It’s become incumbent upon us to do our own fact finding, form our own opinions, and make our own decisions based on those facts and opinions. Too many people never even bother to ask themselves, “Is this posting on an internet forum about someone’s Aunt Martha getting the flu from a flu shot more credible than this scientific study that says that’s not possible?” or to delve further, “Who funded this scientific study and how does that affect its credibility?” They never even bother to *try* to access the amazing wealth of credible information that exists on the Internet and elsewhere.

Yes, there’s an overload of information out there. Yes, it’s intimidating. It’s no wonder that many people willfully choose to remain ignorant or blindly follow the Glenn Becks of the world. But these are our lives and our families lives we’re talking about. Isn’t it worth it to wade in and become informed, if only about the things that affect us most closely? Next time you express an opinion or make an important decision, stop for just a minute and ask yourself, what am I basing this on? A message-board post? A friend-of-a-friend? A self-diagnosis? A talk show heard on the way to work? Do you believe these to be truly credible sources?

If so, there’s not much I can do about it. People are going to believe what people are going to believe and I must respect their right to believe it, frustrating though it might be for me. There is, however, one thing I can and will do. If someone brings their opinions and decisions into my public spaces (my home, my blog, my Facebook, etc.) without credible evidence to back them up, they should expect to be politely questioned about their rationale and possibly presented with evidence to the contrary. And for the record, getting butthurt when these things occur will not score them points in the debate, believe me.

I respect my own intellect too much to silently acquiesce to willful ignorance without question. My public spaces give me the platform to question, and question I will. (Actually, if you know me, you know that last sentence should read: question I *must*.)

Here in Missouri, air conditioning is a necessity well into September. If it’s not oppressively hot, the allergens are so bad that filtration is a must. We don’t have to turn on the heat until November, typically, but then it stays on until late March or so and brings about the same dampening of spiritual energy.

I have not discussed paganism much in this blog, but it is a large part of my life. I don’t belong to a coven. I don’t call myself the High Priestess of the Concocted Mysteries, Third Degree. I don’t cast spells. I don’t even worship a specific deity. My faith is in nature, the sun, the stars, the moon, and in the great One that is above all the universe. Call it what you will, God, Allah, Buddha, Ceridwen, to me all gods are one and the One is all gods.

So, when I get too cut off from nature, my spirit wilts. No…I’m not a camper or an outdoorswoman. In fact, I’m far from that. My idea of camping is the Motel 6 and a hike is a walk around the block. But I still need to feel the breezes and hear them rustle through the trees. I need to taste the air before a storm and smell the freshness when it’s passed. I need to feel connected in my own small way. When I do, my spirit expands beyond the boundaries of my body and twines with nature in an ecstasy that’s impossible to articulate.

My religion…the church of open windows…

But does it really? Or are we just too caught up in defending our own small patch of the universe that we fail to see that the most important things exist in enough abundance for everyone to share? Some things will always exist in limited quantities. Time. Physical energy. Money. Food. But the relative scarcity of these things can be offset by the limitless supplies of creativity, love, and regard for our fellow human beings.

Think about it. Perhaps someone you know gets an amazing opportunity. Or your best friend makes a new friend. Do these things truly diminish you in any way? Whether you believe they do or not depends on whether you’re living your life with an attitude of scarcity or one of abundance. It’s a conscious choice.

I choose abundance. When friends and family have good fortune, I choose to rejoice with and for them. Sometimes, it’s not an easy choice. Sometimes, good things happen to people I don’t particularly care for and it’s all too easy to slip into wondering why they deserved it and I didn’t. It is often an exercise in sheer will to continue believing that there are as many good things out there waiting for me as for anyone else. But for me, there is no alternative other than living a life filled with bitterness and envy which I flatly refuse to do.

I also don’t believe in asking the universe or a higher power to manifest anything in my life. I prefer to ask the powers for guidance on how to manifest those things for myself. A fine distinction, I realize, but one that’s important to me because then if things go wrong I only have myself to blame. I have come to believe that it is only in looking inward, rather than casting outward, that true change can be manifested.

The threefold law, karma, etc. seem to me to involve some sort of expectation. “If I do this, I will get this…” I don’t believe that. I believe it’s incumbent upon each individual to act as their conscience directs and most importantly, accept, internalize and learn from the consequences of their actions. For me, that means striving to treat every individual with decency and respect, offering amends when I fail, speaking the truth both internally and to others, and most importantly, attempting to refrain from expecting the same behavior from others as my values may not be theirs.

Life is all about the journey. About the trying, the striving, the changing and the growing. I can be perfect when I’m dead.

That’s my two cents. As always, I respect that others may walk a path more suitable for them.