I agree Ivana's death is tragic. Although she was very flawed I do not think she was evil.
I also agree it was probably an accident (since that was my first impression upon hearing she had passed). Nevertheless, I do believe the recent events contributed in some way. At the very least, she had to have been worried for her children. And perhaps she was worried about how everything reflected on her own reputation. She may have been preoccupied (and careless) thinking about these things. And she may have been self-medicating to deal with the worry (and the hip pain which I did not know about before).
Still, it is rather convenient that a potentially very valuable witness should be removed (however it happened) at this time.
This is a tragic end for anyone to suffer. I wonder if T even really cares?
he had a Donate Now button on his announcement of death. Of cour$e he care$.
Just to answer your question, and from my own experiences (my own mother), narcissists tend to think they know better than anybody, including doctors. They also have a tendency to not end up close with their kids as adults (because they can't control them). So I'm not the least bit surprised that Ivana lived and died alone. She may not have needed "round the clock care" - for sure she had servants to look after her every need. Also want to add, as someone relatively able bodied - I am also a klutz and have not only fallen down stairs several times in my lifetime, I have also fallen up them, if you can believe that. I have also injured myself severely just walking on a sidewalk with a tiny crack.
Don't presume she was frail, she probably was not, and it was just bad luck combined with reduced proprioception as one ages.
@ Laura F. - I had to look up the word proprioception - I have always enjoyed learning new words ever since I was in HS over 5 decades ago! Being near Ivana's age, but in much better shape, I am always aware that all it takes is one wrong move and then the mobility game changes drastically.
Thanks for your most informative contributions as well as the 'highfalutin' words!
MickieMac
“The Dalai Lama says that the world will be saved by Western women. Not any women, perhaps not all women, but Burning Women. Women who have stepped out of silence and into the fullness of their power. Angry women who love the world and her creatures too much to let it be destroyed so thoughtlessly for a moment longer.
Burning Woman is the heart and soul of revolution – inner and outer. She burns for change, she dances in the fire of the old, all the while visioning and weaving the new.”
― Lucy H. Pearce, Burning Woman
Don’t ask me how I found this, but I felt it was important for everyone to read this. I believe that at this point it will be on women to save this world of ours.
For many years I have believed that there are events the universe sets in motion to wake us up as a collective. In 2019, when COVID first started, I felt this was one of those issues.
I also feel the story of the 10 year old rape victim is another one of the events. Her story happening just weeks after the SCOTUS ruling feels important to me.
It has created a very public dialogue that makes it impossible for forced birthers to make her a villain. And now some forced birthers are even changing their stance that abortion is never ok. I feel like we are watching these winds of change turn in real time.
@April Thanks for posting that video exchange in which a sanctimonious national anti-abortion activist lied that the law she is advocating would never require a 10 year old rape victim to carry a pregnancy to term. Catherine Glenn Foster testified that that case would not be an abortion. Even though it definitely is an abortion and is illegal under the anti-abortion law Ms. Foster is so righteously advocating. The representative from California handled her perfectly. The CNN video you posted would not play, so I am posting this link to Salon.
From Laura F in Burning Woman Topic 10/04/2018Ran across this elsewhere, and thought it really resonates with everyone here:“The Dalai Lama says that the world will be saved by Western women. Not any women, perhaps not all women, but Burning Women. Women who have stepped out of silence and into the fullness of their power. Angry women who love the world and her creatures too much to let it be destroyed so thoughtlessly for a moment longer.
Burning Woman is the heart and soul of revolution – inner and outer. She burns for change, she dances in the fire of the old, all the while visioning and weaving the new.”
― Lucy H. Pearce, Burning Woman
I love what Lucy Pearce said. And I love that you, @Lenor, retrieved it for us.
Looks like Lucy Pearce added the "burning" part, which I also love, because it is true that women have to come out of their shells, and stepped up from subordination to men, to lead and change the world.
His Holiness's quote began when he said that he was a feminist because of his own mother who he said had influenced him so much. He believed that women's compassion will save the world:
"Some people may call me a feminist...But we need more effort to promote basic human values — human compassion, human affection. And in that respect, females have more sensitivity for others' pain and suffering."
I saw the Dalai Lama three times in one year when he came to the Northeast. I wanted to soak up His Holiness' energy and try to understand who he was. Each time he came out onto the stage, he made people laugh, a boyish, youthful sense of humor. He is a great example of being both The Fool and The Emperor, which if your birthday adds up to 22, which his does, you are both.
https://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/western-women-can-come-rescue-world
Thank you so much for digging up my old post - I had no recollection of it!
Namastè!
For those of you more intuitive than I am, does anyone have a sense on what is going to be happening with our gun laws moving forward?
Today is the third time in about a month and a half where I have seen people panicking, running, and stampeding at false alarms of gunfire. The first at a anti-gun rally when a random man got on stage, the second during Pride in NYC when someone set off a firework, and today I saw another one of people running for cover in the MGM casino in Las Vegas when a window was smashed being mistaken for gunshots.
We have been forced to live in a state of fear because of the gun violence happening in this country and it’s heartbreaking.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/false-reports-of-gunfire-at-mgm-cause-panic/amp/
(the videos I have seen are on tiktok if anyone wants to look them up)
@tesseract Your encounter with the Dalai Lama made me a little weepy with joy. You are indeed blessed to have had that encounter. I once met a driver who drove the Dalai Lama from the airport and said the unexpected encounter transformed his life. That was before the security got so tight. He also came to the place where I go for overnight retreats (IMS in Barre, MA) and bowled in their basement bowling alley. Don't think they cut down any trees back then.
When he came out on the stage at Brown University where 5,000 undergraduate students (and me) had waited in line for hours to get a seat in the auditorium, there was a wave of joy that accompanied him as he walked onto the stage. I noticed the same effect the other two times that I sat in an audience to see him. The feeling was one of joyful delight and laughter. As you remarked, he does have the most wonderful laugh. He doesn't take himself seriously, yet his words become carved in stone. He epitomizes the Fool and the Emperor.
During the Q&A, he was asked if he would change his religious views (such as reincarnation and other aspects of religion) if science showed them to be wrong. He said he definitely follows science and, yes, he is not wedded to any view as long as it agrees with his common sense.
The Buddha famously said: "Believe nothing. No matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." That is my motto in how respond to my favorite teachers and in how I teach.
He embodies what on a cellular basis we all know. I thank you so much for the posts. I am trying hard to have his positivity. I only wish people understood religion is fluid and all of them have the same principles. Thank you for this forum that helps to keep me grounded.
Well, The House sure moved quickly to enshrine the right to access contraception. They did the same with attempting to codify gay marriage the other day. Not sure how any of these will play out in the Senate as 60 is a big number to get to but it’s amazing how things are moving because of the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade decision.
Replying to your comment on the Post Hits thread:
Thanks for the insights - we try to follow along in the US, but things here are... well...you know...
It's depressing how worldwide the autocrats are winning (The Atlantic had an article on this a few months back - it's not our pessimism, it is the first time in history this is happening.)
At least your votes over in the UK still count for something. Here in many parts of the US they do not.
A friend of mine recently posted an interesting thought on social media, by author Neil Postman:
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.... In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
Hang in there.
As discouraged as we may feel occasionally, fear and pessimism are not the paths to take when the road ahead looks difficult. We need to remain focused and recognize how the Republican party’s overreach into far right extremism is going to backfire on them.
If we want a better world, we have to part of the solution. Courage does not involve throwing our hope away and succumbing to negativity, gloom and pessimism. Courage involves purposeful activity and thinking despite naysayers and our own fears. If we give in to fear, we are empowering the opposition, we are giving them more power than they actually possess.
Here’s the thing: I just don’t feel pessimistic. My intuition, my gut feeling, is that we are going to find a path forward to a better world. If we have learned anything since Biden took office, it’s that this is going to take years and numerous elections to rid ourselves of American fascism.
During my meditative walk today, I was reminded of our strength as individuals and as a country. My sense is that despite climate change, lunatics in the Republican Party and a corrupted Supreme Court, we can find a way forward. When our busy, busy minds like to examine worst case scenarios in excruciating, exquisite detail, we lose sight of the positive. We_outnumber_them. We outnumber them and we are going to take the elections in November. Outraged women and men will make the difference. We may not be able to defeat every single fascist this time around, but we can surely set our path forward to create a better country and a better world.
@laura-f I understand if you feel pessimistic, but it is not how I feel about the future. I believe we will prevail.
So many times in history, the negative events spawned action in the opposite direction. Even when the odds seemed to be against them, their leaders saw a path through and they were optimistic. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the Civil Rights movement with hope and belief they would prevail. Harvey Milk led the gay rights movement with hope that gays would win out. Ukraine's Zelensky has held his ground under great odds by spurring people on with hope and strength. The UK did not keep the Nazi's at bay during WWII by giving in to the odds. All of those stories are complex. But in all those stories, their leaders used hope, heart strength (coeur-age), and focused on strength to prevail.
It's one thing to point out the challenging developments we face. We need to be awake, and I have thanked you for that. You are talented, a powerhouse who is gifted on many levels. Of course you see the challenges.
But if we want to prevail, if we know our children's lives depend upon it, we need to remain focused on the advantage we have, how the Republican party's extremism, and the Republican SCOTUS's decisions are now spawning widespread outrage in a country that demands freedom.
I've seen a positive outcome to this whole long trudge to a new paradigm. We are on that path. We are going to prevail.
I'd like to add what I learned by coaching kids' soccer. It was not good to go into a game over confident. The kids wouldn't try hard enough, and I'd realize our mistake as the other time blew past them. If we went into a game as underdogs, the kids would play their hearts out, and sometimes we won games that way. But sometimes the other teams were too strong for us and we didn't always win.
What mattered was to go into the game with great respect for our opponents' power, but also believing we could win. Then the kids would play their hearts out and we'd have a real true game on our hands. We always felt good after a game like that.