Before becoming too ill to continue I was a scholar and activist with plans to become a professor, write books, possibly work for a think tank. I had a professor who wanted me to work with her at the UN (no not everyone there has a black helicopter and wants to take over the world, it was invented to HELP people globally and create Peace and many people go to work there with those aims still firmly in mind).
My area of specialization was Globalization, Indigenous Peoples and the Environment.
If you have done much reading in that area you will probably understand how that could lead a person to an old fashioned “nervous breakdown”:-(
After many years of research and study I feel I have a fairly good grasp both on how things are SUPPOSED to work, and how they really do, and more significantly-WHY.
Even before I became seriously ill, I realized my career might not be possible, because I have soul, apparently;-/
I was reading a long dry book on international trade and finance for a class and came across a section I had to read three times before I registered what it was saying. Then I threw the (really expensive) textbook across the room.
I had encountered the concept of the “EXTERNALITY”. Which shorthand means if it doesn’t affect the financial bottom line it doesn’t count, it doesn’t EXIST in the decisionmaking process.
The thing in this text which didn’t count, or exist was the fully preventable and purposefully caused death of 5 MILLION Iraqi children due to unclean water(we blew up their water treatment facilities and then placed sanctions that did not allow them to obtain the parts needed to repair them)
I had thought before that I *knew* the system was insane, but that moment was an epiphany.
One child’s death is a horror, my mind could not even encompass 5 MILLION children dying and people writing it off as unimportant.
I had until that point dedicated my life to changing the system and making the world better, and had been actively and passionately involved in this, but I knew then that there is no way to reform a system that can contain that.
It is time for a new system based not on money and greed but on Love, compassion, respect and mutuality.
The competition between capitalism and communism for the control of the means of production is a false competition since BOTH never question that PRODUCTION Is the central thing in life.
It is not.
LIFE is the central thing in life!
Nothing exists in isolation, everything is part of a system. Natural systems function quite well over extremely long periods of time because they are based in mutuality with both competition and cooperation functioning at many levels.
It is time for humans to learn to become functional parts of the systems to which we belong,and it seems Gaia, Universe, Creator, whatever higher power(s) you may believe in are all engaged in helping us to do so thru this much discussed Shift of the ages said to be happening now and over the next few years, or on 12-21-12 all at once depending on perspective.
I started this blog to contribute in whatever way I can to the awakening and coming together that has to happen for humanity to accomplish the changes we need to accomplish.
I hope to share some information, inspiration, beauty or encouragement that helps you on your journey, brightens your day or lightens the load you carry.
Love and Blessings,
Ohnwentsya
Spirit In Action 
October 31, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Ohnwentsya, I am so glad you reached out to my blog and now I am reaching out to yours. What a fascinating background you have. Our lives parallel in many ways. I’m a former college instructor (computing) and worked in the corporate world and military. Retirement came early due to illness. It was a blessing in disguise as I have learned so much about my health, truth and what matters. Helping others wake up gives me joy and hope. Hugs and Blessings! Marion
November 9, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Thank you for commenting, and for reading here. I felt so blessed when I saw your comments on Jean’s blog to be able to read yours as well. For some reason the negative-downer folks sometimes get to me way more than they should be able to, so finding another person who is so aware and positive and engaged is wonderful to me!
That is neat that we have so much in common. I wish I had been able to teach, it seems like a wonderful experience to have and to be able to encourage and help the students on their path of learning.
I agree that illness can be a blessing in disguise tho its taken me soo long to get to that perspective! I think if I was able to be physically out in the world working for change I would never hold still long enough to think or feel inwardly or develop the spiritual understanding I’ve sort of had to find to cope with being SO still. For the longest time I felt so useless, it has been beautiful to learn that this type of work and sharing can also be an important part of creating positive change. It gives me joy and hope too!
I apologize for taking so long to reply, as I mentioned in the reply above, my computer is a steampunk mashup and it has been giving me complete fits whenever I try to access wordpress, not sure why. But I will load a page to say approve a comment and reply and it will load for 20 minutes then say it can’t load, try again 10 times with same result only varying times from 2 seconds back to 20 minutes. After tinkering it rarely does this with other sites but it seems to have a grudge against wordpress….
November 8, 2012 at 11:48 pm
I am curious, about your name….Ohnwentsya…what does it mean and how do you pronounce it?
November 9, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Ohnwentsya is Kanienkehake (Mohawk) for earth, or “dirt”. I am learning the language very slowly (thanks to being about a thousand miles from anywhere it is normally spoken;-/ so I am not sure if I do have the pronunciation correct myself, but I’ve been saying it “Own”(only with a bit more breath to the middle for the h) “went” “see-ah”.
There is a web site with tutorials to download with a native speaker teaching how to say things correctly, but my internet connection is awful(dialup only worse than the dialup I used when I had a Commodore 64 for some reason;-/ and my computer is a sort of steampunk mashup machine that works a bit randomly so I’ve only managed to download and listen to a few of them.
I chose it because no one really pays any attention to dirt, but without it there really wouldn’t be much life on the land;-) I try to emulate that, to be of use and service without being too full of myself;-)
Thank you for asking-most people just seem to call me “o” and ignore it!;-) That part of my family’s heritage was always shrouded in secrecy, denial and shame, so while I don’t know as much as I would like I’ve always tried to learn more.
Is your name Italian, or just appears that way to me?
November 9, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Jueseppi is Sicilian for Joseph. Very interesting your name. I am 1/4th Pawnee.
November 9, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Ohnwentsya is a beautiful way of saying dirt, I must remember that name.
November 11, 2012 at 6:31 am
Greeting Ohnwentsya,
Thanks for following my site. I see the dapper fellow above has already covered the real name issue which just leaves it to me to ask; “Where did I go on to?”
So sad that he gets the meat and i’m stuck with just the “Corn”. He seems to be wherever I go. Probably jealous of my long flowing locks and full masculine beard:->
I read your “About” and I am pleased to meet you. My purpose is similar. Mine is to inform and to use logic; reason; and compassion to move forward the agenda Of Barack Obama; especially where it affects our people directly; and to tell him if I feel he is going the wrong way; because he is My President and I believe in the good effect he has had on all who support him. To use all of my skill and heart to oppose the Republican Party and anyone else who still thinks as they do. Otherwise I try to be a smart ass and write in such a manner that a reader will love me or hate me but never be luke warm about my words.
So; I look forward to speaking more with you. My name is “Mark”. That’s Latin for a dark “X” or other notation on a space of a different color.
Ok; it’s actually taken from Mars the God of war and means “Warlike one”…. now who would believe a quiet young fellow like myself would end up with a name like that?:~o
I am sure we will have occasion to speak soo. Take Care and keep the faith.
February 20, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Thank you for your comment, and HUGE apologies for not replying until now! I thought I had replied to you when you first posted, but I think that was when I was having such trouble with the dialup and wordpress not working together, so my reply appears to have been eaten by the gremlins;-/
I very much appreciate and respect your purpose, and your blog in execution of it! I read a wide variety of perspectives and sometimes I get really discouraged by the clueless, the disinfo and the forces of greed and destruction getting one over on the rest of us, but blogs like yours and Jueseppi B’s are such wonderful reminders that there ARE lots of smart, forward thinking, very active people on this Earth working to keep us moving in a better direction. For that I am extremely grateful!
Thank you again for your comment, and for all the work you do to help our country and planet keep moving toward the good and beautiful!
February 20, 2013 at 4:02 am
I identify with what you said in your About. You have won a new follower. It is hard to keep from being swallowed by the abyss of depression to see the horror of hubris, control and ignorance in this world. May your message of paradigm change light up the world.
February 20, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Thank you for your comment and your blessing! Thank you also for creating and keeping up such a helpful blog. I am so heartened and grateful to all of you who keep creating more good, blessing and beauty in the world-eventually the negative stuff will be overwhelmed by all of it and the appearance of our world will show the shift that has been growing under the soil and in the dark of our souls;-)
I imagine you are aware of this already, but it is particularly interesting (and Erisian even;-) that you are an aware historian who puts out so much that is positive and beautiful considering that you share a name with a man famous for exposing the dark, negative and disturbing side of our world!
March 16, 2013 at 10:30 am
Congratulations!
I have nominated your blog for the Versatile Blogger Award.
The rules of the award are at
http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/versatile-blogger-award-thanks-tazein-and-sue/
March 17, 2013 at 12:59 am
Thank you! I have read the instructions but I’m on super-slow and unreliable dialup so it may take me a bit longer to accomplish them all. (mainly the nominating other bloggers as it takes an age for each person’s page to load so I can tell them!)
Your post with the instructions was wonderful tho-your diversity of posts and interesting content is very inspiring. There is a lot I want to read;-)
March 17, 2013 at 6:28 am
Hi, you don’t have to worry about speed. As the award is for helping bloggers, not for hurrying them 🙂
July 30, 2013 at 1:34 pm
agree on sanctions — they sadden me immensely. Dictators don’t miss a meal, children suffer.
December 26, 2013 at 12:07 pm
Ohnwentsya, thank you from the bottom of my heart for following Petals Unfolding. I may be going about it in a different manner, but I think I am more or less doing what you are. My goal is to focus on beauty and Love versus the horrors this world brings with it. I try to encourage and to uplift, to make one laugh and to think, to inspire and to educate, and above all, it is a good thing to be different.
Just because I do not get into discussions regarding the darker side of things, does not mean I am not aware of them. My philosophy is, the more I focus on Love and JOY and radiate that out to the world and ALL, the better this world will be because of what I do. I may be just a small ripple, but a small ripple is better then none.
I too had a huge life change, one is which I lost my career, my social status, my life as I knew it. HS saw to it that I withdrew from the world in order to see within. And then to bring that which I discovered, to those hearts in need of Love and Peace and JOY.
With much Gratitude and Love,
Lady Pinkrose (Amy)
December 30, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Ohnwentsya, I have nominated you for The Inventive Blogger Award. It is your choice to accept or decline. You can find the link at:
http://herladypinkrose.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/the-inventive-blogger-award/
Love,
Amy
January 7, 2014 at 11:32 am
Glad we “met”…hope to keep in touch in the future as well 🙂
February 8, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Some of your words could be mine. Illness is making me peel off layers of belief that I am only worth the bottom line, not the more valuable gifts that I offer, like love, respect, compassion, focus, teaching, attentiveness, passion…
Regarding dirt, one of my favorite sayings is that s**t is plant food: the stuff that great things grow out of. I’m thinking of you as plant food, not s**t.
Thanks for all that you put into your blog. It is such a rich, diverse flow.
February 26, 2014 at 1:41 am
Pingback: Dragon’s Loyalty Award | Weaver Grace
May 19, 2014 at 9:36 pm
I nominated you for a Dragon’s Loyalty Award to recognize your faithfulness to my blog. Please visit my latest post to learn more about this award, and to leave a comment describing how you choose blogs to follow, and why you “Like” and leave comments on blogs.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
November 15, 2014 at 8:53 pm
I very much appreciate a blog with a spiritual side and a practical message of increasing awareness to the atrocities that many privileged do not have to even consider. What we do to the world and to each other we do to ourselves, and even more frighteningly, to those who will come after us. Thank you for your passion here.
Be well,
Amanda
November 25, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Thank you! Apologies for not replying sooner-i thought your comments were automatically approved. I started my blog in the hope that the sentiment of caring I saw so often expressed on new age blogs and mailing lists would extend to increasing understanding of the interconnectedness of all forms of oppression, environmental destruction and lowered spiritual awareness. That making connections across the old boundaries of race, class, culture, privilege etc would lead to wonderful things. For the most part I haven’t been disappointed. 🙂
December 18, 2014 at 2:07 am
I’ve nominated your blog for 3 awards. Hope you can accept all 3 but if not, at least 1 or 2.
https://blackbutterfly7.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/awards-holiday-presents/
December 19, 2014 at 2:17 am
Thank you Xena!
December 20, 2014 at 9:26 pm
My pleasure. Congratulations.