Fred Rogers said, “In times of trouble, look for the helpers.” That valuable wisdom does not have to stand alone. I will add, “and when you find them, learn the insights they have to share. It will help you, and then chances are you will become a helper too. After all, “Who better to know what’s needed then those who’ve been in need?” #MelodysEyes Being a helper is intensely empowering when it comes from your heart in service to others. That’s how we create that world we want to see.

You want unity – finds ways to unite people. You see things that scream injustice – figure out what can help change that. Convince with your actions, rather than through fight. This is why some say WW3 will be a spiritual war rather than solely a physical one. Our spirits crave integrity, and we are reaching a boiling point.

Do Something Good

Do something that makes others feel anything besides anger and anguish. Help someone know they matter. Seek to empathize with their vulnerabilities and you create connection. Empathy is a strength, not a weakness. It’s seeking to understand without judgement. Just to simply understand and be present with them, then take the time to reflect on it afterwards. There’s insight in there. One must be open to seeing it before it can happen. What are they seeing, feeling, and experiencing in their lives? The question is – do you care? If the honest answer is no than that relationship has no foundation. If you do care, really, genuinely care enough, make sure they know that. That is true connection. That is the feeling we need to share and spread around, especially with what’s been going on. Tesla said energy is key. We have to know what energy we are giving off.

The Energy …. The Vibration …. Matters ….

You can fine tune yours to become a Beacon of Light in the world. Create a Legacy of who you are. Just like Mr. Rogers did with his compassion and kindness for others.

If we feel it, we have the ability to impact it. The question is …. what impact do we want to make? You have a uniqueness about you that will come through in your intentions.

Make them count.

Written by Melody Belliveau

The Heartache

We’re so angry and divided. So many from both sides would rather rid the country of the other, thinking they are the enemy.

Betrayer of the country … Lacking in Patriotism …. Needing to be purged and erased.

What are we doing?

When did we stop caring about our own integrity? We’ve lowered ourselves to name-calling, degrading and seething at the others. The ones who watch the same Netflix shows, buy the same products, and work out at the same gyms.

We’re either preaching to the choir, or shouting hatred to the ones who just won’t listen. But, if we calm down and take a breath, ground ourselves and look at what we can agree on – we can start from there to find solutions – that everyone can get behind.

The Immigration Issue ….

We look at them as the enemy – but most are just desperate people. Instead of a wall, how about giving them the truth. “Strength is in the method of help, not the domination of others” #MelodysEyes

Then ….

If we can’t help everybody, (and no one can honestly argue that we can), how can we help you get to who can? Make our borders a place of triage so to speak. It becomes humanitarian aid. We could get other countries to join us by making a list of the talents and gifts people have that the country is seeking. The immigrants would get a way to shine who they truly are. We make not only our own list but a council of the highest integrity people on the interview for citizenship or permitted visa. Surely we are a country that can greenlight Character and Integrity! Isn’t that what really matters? Let them earn it not by cost, but by how they can positively impact the community. There are those among us that could learn a thing or two about that from them. All have a story of resilience that can inspire.

Demonizing the immigrants cheats us out of learning amazing things. Every culture has things that are gifts and talents we can be proud of. We’ve lost our way in looking for that. Then you lose the ability to see the best in people.

What do they love about their culture? What are they proud of? What could they feel good about sharing with the world? We could learn about earth medicine, spiritual enlightenment, and wisdoms of the ancestors. They have that knowledge to share.

But it has to work both ways. The immigrant has to want to really be here to choose us. We have to offer the same integrity to them that we expect from them. Let’s give them a chance to be the gifts they are destined to be.

But first we must stop seeing them as illegal aliens and see them as undocumented people. Don’t treat them like the enemy and you will see those that won’t be the enemy. It is simply the perspective that needs adjustment and the rest will follow.

Regardless of whether they stay or go, documentation is necessary to know the people you are making life decisions about. Documentation through the red tape channels takes years and substantial money. That needs adjustment. And now those who are following the path of documentation (thereby NOT being an illegal) are being targeted and grabbed, in traumatic kidnapping methods.

So ….

What would your limits be to what you would do to save your family? Let’s not become the monsters we are accusing them of being.

ICE ….

A high stress thankless job that is quickly becoming viewed as the enemy of the people. But, they are people. And just like our First Responders they have their own fears, their own wounds, and their own bias’. We need to qualify them based on how they see the job. It cannot be done through hate or anger for others. And it cannot be done by those who don’t follow our constitution. It causes too much damage to the trust of the people, to their own mental health, and to their own integrity. And the job CANNOT be done with integrity by quotas.

The job of ICE is no joke, but it’s been turned into one by quotas. It has turned the hunt for the dangerous ones, into ANYBODY’s – the mother, the child, the farm worker – and the fuel for it is the anger – it feeds the hate and creates its own perspective.

When you raid a school and take a child, you traumatize, not only them, but the teacher and the other classmates as well. Especially if they have a bond with that child themselves. Your child is at risk of that happening – and that is essentially what the birthright citizenship is being challenged for. That child they take doesn’t have to be an illegal alien, they are not illegal at all.

For the agent, those who have a true sense of right and wrong will be scarred by their own actions in fulfilling that. Those that aren’t, lack the empathy to do the job right. We are not robots or Spock, we are humans, and we need to live by human decency. The original job was to get the bad guys, the ones who actually are a threat to our country. We want the bad guys to be held accountable. But we can’t make everyone else suffer in order to do it. The agents need to believe in the right and wrong of what they are doing. They need to be able to live with themselves after. Their mission must be about right and wrong, not anger, racism and hate.

The job is a risky and dangerous position. One that with honor, can have the public’s backing. Put integrity back into the job. The real job, it’s a hero’s position. That’s right. You’ve seen or heard what KGB, the mob, the cartel and such can do; either by the trauma around you, hearsay, or even the news down to the TV shows. Blue Bloods, for example, gave you a view into that. It takes a brave soul to go up against them for justice. It’s dangerous for themselves and their families.

The other side of that pendulum is how gangs are created, but with forcing them in, to protect their families and themselves. When you become a target, you become one of them for survival. The choice for many, is no choice at all. They walk the blade of fear they don’t think they will ever escape from.

Yes, there are those so twisted they enjoy the pain they inflict on others. Any signs of humanity are a weakness that leaves them vulnerable. They build a wall to prevent that weakness with the strength of mental steel. Those are the most dangerous to apprehend. That job deserves respect. But to hold integrity, it must be done with precision for what the job actually stands for. Not raiding schools, parks, and workplaces. That turns the agents into the bad guy, and empathy and human decency are lost. Integrity must be the North on the compass for guidance. For we always choose who we are.

Our Military ….

We have incredible people serving our country. They deserve our respect, and they cannot be used as a weapon inside our own country and still serve with their honor and dignity intact. It must come out of necessity, not political divides. It cannot hold the same effectiveness otherwise. The world is full of unrest, chaos and war. We cannot create it inside ourselves and be safe from that as well. Our inside turmoil weakens us and makes us vulnerable. We need each other, and if a true invasion were to happen, that immigrant neighbor or coworker may be the ones who takes up arms to save you or your family. What we put out comes back to us. So let us put out kindness and work together in it.

We expect so much from them and forget that the military are people too. They have families that sacrifice their time together. But they should never come home to a lack of respect for what they do. Their mission must be above reproach. They suffer when it isn’t. When orders are unconstitutional and they must choose between obeying an order and following their oath, it hurts us all. It damages trust that has a ripple effect.

Are we fulfilling their basic needs while they are on their mission? There is no excuse for failing to do that when they are in our own country, with food, and bedding, and community support. Here again, we are all in this together.

Where are we putting the detained?

They are parents, children, grandparents and we need to see them as the human being they are before we look at where we are detaining them. See them as the human beings they are – just like you and ask yourself if this is humane treatment? How far down into depravity are we going to go? Are we engaging in crimes against humanity in our country with what we are doing to them?

Turning a blind eye to it is how people become “disposed of” like human garbage. What does that make us? Seems to be a cycle our country and in some places of the world repeat. From the genocide of our indigenous tribes, to the chains of African slaves – to Hitler, Gaza, and Ukraine, atrocities seem never ending. Is this who America is now? It is a stain of blood that damages our souls. We are creating trauma for generations to come, both in the oppressor, and in the oppressed, so we must look. Does it speak of human decency? Injustice will show us who we really are if we’re willing to look. We have to see it before we can change course.

Choosing to look or not to look effects our integrity. From our country, our states, our communities down to ourselves. Is it right? Is it truthful? Is it just? Without principles there is no integrity. With no integrity we are not leaders to ourselves, much less to the world. Remember, they tend to have a bigger view than we do about our country; and right now, the view is not a flattering one.

Everything we say ….

Everything we do ….

Everything we share ….

We need to examine how we view other people. Hate has no place. Haven’t we seen that posted in places? Well, do we mean it? Even the ones that do get detained and deported, they are still human beings, with their own issues they have to live with. Just like all of us, including our own President.

My heart bleeds for justice, but human decency must be a part of it, or we are no better than what we are fighting against. The United States has made plenty of mistakes, and we are compounding them even more today. But we can and must change course and work together – for ourselves and the world. Our future depends on it.

“Strength is in the method of help, not the domination of others.” #MelodysEyes

Written by Melody Belliveau

“You are right about that”. Words both sides of the divide desperately need to see and say for a united country.

“You are right about that”

Bureaucracy has become a tangled ball of red tape choking out any common sense and drowning out the original purpose. Yes – there is corruption and “pork” on both sides. Let’s examine it and validate its impact or redesign or remove its thread. But keep an eye on those who exploit the removal. We do need services as a society that are important to our communities. A healthy budget looks at what needs to be paid first. Priorities need to be our Indigenous tribes (the people who really were invaded), Veterans and First Responders, children, elders, and the disabled. A healthy and caring society doesn’t make them beg for the necessities of survival. And we all need the roads and infrastructures and other expenses that are NOT optional, but rather an investment in who we wish to be. “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt. Giving tax cuts to the wealthy goes in the opposite direction.

“You are right about that”

The pharmaceutical industry has seized too much power without looking at the consequences. The opioid crisis – (one of the real reasons we have a fentanyl problem) was a lesson in that – we did not learn from.

Part of the reason Covid hit so hard in America was the fine print warnings of the overwhelming number of prescriptions being taken that even doctors don’t pay attention to, of “increased risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them”. We simply labeled those deaths as caused by underlying conditions, rather than saying what the true cause may have been.

RFK Jr.’s right about us needing to address the chemicals and toxins in our food, our environment, as well as our vaccines. Constant multiple viral mutations are not best handled with an abundance of vaccines. Yes, those such as polio were effective at its prevention, but the flu and covid vaccines have not prevented flu season. It may even have made the flu more severe. The overwhelming amount of antibiotic use creating ‘super bugs’ could have taught us that, but we can be slow to learn when profits are to be made by those recommending them. Even some physicians sound more like a pharmaceutical rep than a doctor. Nature has answers to even that – but we ignore her value when we need it the most.

“You are right about that”

Racism has become empowered by this administration. But it is not true of those who voted in desperation for change. We need them to speak now. Otherwise, silence condones it. If we truly don’t want a Hitler regime, we must act against its construction, which has begun.

We are not a white man’s country club. We are a country built on a constitution with the premise of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all are created equal with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Removing DEI doesn’t create equality, it destroys it.

“You are right about that”

We don’t want a king. The White House official social media page seems to believe we do. The President seems to believe he is in his quote and is working towards making that a reality. Never before has our government embraced the ego stroking of one man, like the tale of The Emperor’s Clothes. It is already right before our very eyes. We must each test our own integrity and courage to speak out against it. Our democracy depends on it – so does your ability to call yourself a Patriot. People died to fight against the rulings of a king.

A true leader serves his people and admires those that do (President Zelensky is an example of that). They do not aspire to be like the dictators of the world whose actions are a result of their unending thirst for power both within and outside their country. “I want what you have” as a motive to attack and invade others, whether by army or coercion are not the actions of a true leader. They are Depraved Indifference to the suffering it causes. Putin is that example. We are heading into being an example of that ourselves. Our neighbors and our allies need to be treated with value and respect, or we become the bullies of the play yard. Even our allies can teach us about unity and respect for one another.

Perhaps the Danish of the past can inspire us now. These are the words of Kim Malthe-Bruun, a young member of the Danish resistance in the letter he wrote the night before he was executed by the German occupying power: “… and I want you all to remember – that you must not dream yourselves back to the times before the war, but the dream for you all, young and old, must be to create an ideal of human decency, and not of a narrow-minded and prejudiced one. That is the great gift that our country hungers for, something every little peasant boy can look forward to, and with pleasure feel he is a part of – something he can work and fight for.”

In Number the Stars – a book by Lois Lowry – “Surely that gift – the gift of a world of human decency – is the one that all countries hunger for still. I hope that this story of Denmark, and its people, will remind us all that such a world is possible.”

As Mr. Rogers reminded us in challenging times, ” Look for the helpers”. Perhaps then we can also become one of them.

Written by Melody Belliveau

Our Healthcare Dilemma

The public has been torn between their anger at the corporate insurance system and the moral right or wrong of the murder of the UnitedHealthCare’s CEO. The suspect has even been labeled a hero to some, while others cannot comprehend the mindset of murder being condoned. Still – the effect it seemed to have on BlueCross & BlueShield was to backtrack on a new imposed limit on surgery anesthesia. Some lives may even have been saved as a result.

The system is complicated – and we know there are consequences to a for-profit run healthcare system. So, is it the CEO who holds the power, or the shareholders they answer to?

Perhaps …. It lies elsewhere

Someone makes the decision to approve or deny. If each case were based on what’s right and what’s wrong, rather than commonly trained practices that save money, the system would change. Those that work for these companies CAN make a difference, and if they let their integrity guide their decisions, the approval rates would rise – both in the lives saved and ultimately in the public’s opinion.

If they were to get fired for approving too many – it could become a PR nightmare for the company, especially if a wrongful termination trial were to take place in public view. And if the workers stood firm together – they can’t fire everyone and still have a business. Don’t sell your soul for a paycheck. Use it to save the most vulnerable so you can be proud of what you do.

To those higher up, “with great power comes great responsibility”. The health of your customers IS your responsibility. How many will lose their lives over your complacency that may even be seen as Depraved Indifference? Every choice you make shapes your character and integrity. Choose wisely.

Written by Melody Belliveau

A Christmas Gift to you all …

Learn – Be hungry for a sense of awareness …

We tend to focus on our differences, our opinions, and our debates can turn into arguments during holiday celebrations. But what if we focused on our care for one another instead?

Learn all you can about the feelings of one another. You’re gathering for the holidays – it’s a perfect opportunity to show others they really matter to you. Tell them they do – ask about how they feel – with genuine care about them. Then receive it – for what it truly is. They are honoring you with their courage to be vulnerable with you. Listen with your heart, and with your compassion for them. Then remember that your reaction (or preferably your response), is a reflection of just who you are.

“Does it say you need healing?”

This is a wonderful opportunity to really learn about others, as well as ourselves. And … you may open up a connection that creates memories you will cherish for a lifetime. Don’t focus on opinions, focus on who they are – if you do, you may even change your opinion of yourself.

So go into this holiday season, no matter how you choose to celebrate it, with an open heart and an open mind and use your Throat Chakra (look it up if you need to – be curious) for something amazing. You’ll find more value in it than you ever thought you would.

Happy Holidays to you all – may it become one of your most cherished memories!

Written by Melody Belliveau

The United States views our Veterans as the strength of our nation, even if our care for them in actions is lacking. Today, the country gives a nod of respect, as a legal holiday.

Our Veterans sign on the dotted line, a commitment to run in towards danger, when others are running away. They go beyond a political stance to protect our country in safety and freedoms. Their values go way beyond their services in, to their experiences out.

So many incredible organizations have been born from, and to serve, the greater good from the wisdom they have gathered. All one has to do is Google Veterans Organizations to see the healing Beacons of Light they have created.

Today, as you choose an action as a nod of respect to those who have served you in freedoms, could you share one that you think will be a light for others? It will encourage the organization and perhaps reach someone that needs it that otherwise may have missed it.

You, the one reading this (thank you), can be part of that ripple of light and kindness. So, take action and choose to spend a few minutes to share the message of an organization, and let it shine where it’s meant to help. Be that act of kindness that creates a ripple with no end. Help express the true value and respect of Veterans Day.

To walk the talk, my share will be http://bluestarservicedogs.org – check it out if you’re willing to help or if you are in need of the services they offer.

Written by Melody Belliveau