Through the Wormhole- Tracking Souls to the Afterlife

I thought this video might be more succinct and shorter than the one on the previous post.  Morgan Freeman narrates and Dr. Hameroff discusses the soul and what happens after near-death experiences or dying.

TEDx Brussels 2010 - Stuart Hameroff - Do we have a quantum Soul?

My soul to take redux.  Okay.  I find this infinitely fascinating. But, bear with me yet again.  

Dr. Stuart Hameroff is an anesthesiologist who has studied and watched thousands of patients drift off somewhere when put to sleep during surgery.  He saw death and near-death experiences frequently.

Dr. S posits a theory he derived, the Orch-OR theory of consciousness, by which he contends could solve the mystery of what happens to our souls in near-death experiences or at death. This is absolutely incredible.

Many moons ago, I came up with a theory of Donnativity.  My kids thought it hysterical.  It was my theory of interconnectedness/ akin to a spider web.  Problem is, now I can't remember it.  Poor aging brain of mine.

My Soul To Take

21 grams.  That is what our soul weighs.  I kid you not.  But, doubters, don't take my word for it.

  I'll try to condense this down as I like to write my blog in the form of a short story instead 

of a novel.  Bear with me as this is about the things we can't see or quantify.  Until 1901, that is.

Dr. Duncan MacDougall sought to measure mass lost by a human body at death.  In his quest to prove his hypothesis that the soul had mass when it departed the body, he took into account body fluids, weights, air, etc. He measured patients he knew were dying on an industrial scale, which was reported to be sensitive to 2 tenths of an ounce.  On nearly all of the patients, when they took their last breath,  the weight loss was the same.  21 grams.  

Be that as it may, his colleagues said they couldn't replicate his studies, and therefore, found his experiments unscientific.  Now, that might have been the end of the story, until a modern day anesthetist used quantum physics to study what happens with consciousness, proto-consciousness and the rest of the story will come in the next post.

Home

I wrote down the piece at the bottom of the post years ago and found it in a stack of yet more paper.  

My Mom died when she was 40; our family died that day too as did our 'home'.  My youngest brother, 3 at the time and 13 years younger than me, hasn't contacted us in 3 or 4 years.  Todd had a terrible life after Mom died.  Last I heard he was in jail for meth.  My sister and I finally gave up on him - didn't stop loving him.  If you've gone down that road you'll understand.

Very sad.  But, this piece (not of my own writing) is for all the lost; not only like Todd, but those who have lost lives and/or loved ones, those whom long for home...  I don't even know why I'm telling this as I am usually very private about my life. The following is really beautiful.   

"Home is not simply a mark upon a map any more than a river is just water.

It is the place at the center of the compass 

from which every arrow radiates and where the heart is fixed.

It is a force that forever draws us back; shores us up.

For where the home is, there lies hope, and the future waits

and everything is possible."

Tattoo You

"The times they are a changin'".  Think that was from Bob Dylan, but can't remember.  Hmm, wonder why... Anyway, this is one of my middle daughters' back tatts.  One.  

When I was growing up, tattoos were bad - only worn by soldiers returning from war; usually of naked women, and also by thugs (my kids say, "what's a thug").  

In my day, no one would have even considered a tattoo nor bankruptcy and I only knew of two friends whose parents got divorced.  If a girl got pregnant, she was spirited away to a home for unwed mothers. 

My dad wouldn't speak to me after I got my ears pierced so I can't imagine if I'd have pierced an eyebrow, nose, nipple or tongue.  I draw the line at piercings, so kids you better hide them well or run.  I might just have to yank it off if I see one.  

It is amazing how much things have changed.  Our culture seemed so much more civilized back then. Maybe it was just naivete or innocence.  No one would dream of talking back to a teacher, nor be disrespectful to their elders. We wore hats and gloves to church!  Some things better left in the past.

Societal mores aside, all three of my children have tattoos.  They won't listen when I tell them they'll get Hep C or HIV.  I tell them, no more tatts, but they continue.  I think it must be addictive as I see no end in sight. Oh well.  At least they are good kids, never been arrested, college educated and have good jobs.  I'd like to find someone to paint faux tatts all over me to give them a real shock.  Maybe even a teardrop by my eye.  I'll show them thug.

Dog Fishing

My dogs have decided that the most fun thing in their world is to go fishing.  Sister, the red weenie, wouldn't dream of touching her toe outside if there is a raindrop on the ground.  Yet, the lure of fishing makes her abandon all of her inhibitions.  The girls go crazy; howling and barking; they really flip out.

From the time the lure or worm is cast, they fly into the pond; try to swim out to catch the cork monster.  And, they have been hooked too.

Sister is coming back with her fish while Emmy...

guards her catch.

Finally, Sister has a good roll in fish stink.

I love my weenies so.  They are like my children.  I cannot imagine life without them.  My middle daughter once posted a pic of Emmy on facebook and said, "This is my sister.  Mom loves her more."

Here is a poem from Edna St.Vincent Millay that I love.

"Parrots, tortoises and redwoods live a longer life than men do;

Men, a longer life than dogs do;

Dogs, a longer life than love does."

What might the future hold? Predictions at TED, 1984-2014

If you haven't already, go visit the TED website.  It is the best thing about the internet.  Top minds in all fields demonstrate and speak on such profound topics.  

While growing up, what things did you hope to see come to fruition one day?  I wanted to see people's faces displayed on phones.  Check.  Flying cars like the Jetson's.  Not yet affordable for me, but for some of you perhaps. Check.  Lastly, I want to see the discovery of extraterrestrials amongst us. 

Watch this short film about past and future discoveries, but go to TED for the rest of the story.  So thought provoking and wonderful.

Just Thinking

"As I grow older,

I pay less attention

to what men say.

I just watch what

they do."

Andrew Carnegie


Photo taken by me from the rear of the Rodin Museum in Paris

Spring Sprang Sprung

Spring is coming along nicely at the farm.  Things are greening up; I love the chartreuse.

Little Red is about to fly up on my shoulder.  She likes me, but really just wants me to feed her. The way she looks into my glasses always makes me think she wants to peck that little black dot out of my eye.  She must see her reflection or she really does want to peck that speck out of my eye.  Baby chicks do that.

Babies are hatching around here.  I did buy some new baby Turkens and Auracanas, but hens are sneaky and hide eggs that later hatch.  At least Mom can take care of them instead of me.  The turkeys are laying.  I almost hope they don't hatch.  Two are more than enough. 

Gracie wonders what in the heck I'm doing, but really just wants an apple or a carrot. 

It is time to trim all the avian boxwoods.  There is so much to do I really don't know where to start, but it's SPRING!

Game of Thrones

Still having withdrawals from the best show ever - BREAKING BAD.  I am not going to get over that it is over for some time.  Be that as it may, another show that I like is returning this Sunday - GAME OF THRONES.  I do hope it helps me get over the fact that Breaking Bad is no more.  

I haven't read the books, but my favorite character so far is Brienne of Tarth.  She is noble, tough and I am not sure why she is my favorite character.  Just hope they don't kill her off like everyone else.

Here she is last season fighting a bear bare handed. Her tormentors put her in this dress as she's usually in a full suit of armor; would never be clothed thusly. 

CALL THE MIDWIFE is back too, along with some of my other shows.  For someone who used to never watch television except for PBS, I sure am watching a lot these days; my kids know not to call during Mom's programs.

Quotes

"Do not wish to be anything

but what you are, 

and try to be

that perfectly."

St. Francis De Sales

My kids heard me repeat quotations over and over as they grew, sometimes for inspiration, sometimes to motivate and once in a while to admonish.  At times they would even question these tidbits and I would tell them that I didn't write them nor make them up.  As they got older, I even used some more timely phrases like, "Uh oh, there's big trouble in little China," or "don't cry for me Argentina," when it was appropriate.  

I've heard them repeat some of them as grown-ups, and it makes me smile.