The pain - pleasure continuum

I was struck yesterday by the juxtaposition (synchrony) of two blog posts: mine about pink flowers, and my blog friend Rauf’s about eugenics (in his country, India, outcasts are STILL sterilized for population control).

Two things hit me. 1) Proliferation of life vs. death. 2) How to understand pain and pleasure in our world.

I am way too comfortable and can go DAYS without giving a thought to those who suffer. Because I have incredible happiness and ease of lifestyle, I have greater responsibility to do what I can to improve the lives of others.

I grew up with guilt, and this is not where I want this to go.

But I have to figure out a way to remember this daily and do something about it. Some of my blogging friends are very good at raising awareness and keeping this on the front burner: Ginnie, Nathan and Paul (and, as I mentioned, Rauf). My thanks to them.

Here’s to greater awareness, which leads to more light, which leads to greater truth, which leads to CHANGE! Where would we be without the civil rights activists: Ghandi, King, etc.? It doesn’t just HAPPEN.

These thoughts, and comments on my post yesterday have got me thinking more about “beauty therapy.” How does beauty ease suffering? My sister Susan commented yesterday about the study done in prison when psychological conditions improved when walls were painted pink. I do know a bit about color therapy. I want to research the idea of beauty as therapy. I’ve heard about art therapy and music therapy. I know nothing about them.