Little Freedoms

by cruzanheart 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  Insomniac

  I'm still learning all the holiday traditions, with help from my boyfriend. Of course, he's of Danish/German stock, with emphasis on the Danish; therefore his holiday traditions are a little different from other folk's in my area, who are French, but it's ok.

  We had fun decorating for Christmas, and I'm excited about the 4th of July celebration we're planning. I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies without worrying about the magic and "demonism". Oh, and the best part, I get to vote, yippee! So I now have the power to fire that incompetant guy that's been working for us these past 3 1/2 years.

  There is so much in our lives to be thankful for!
• 

  Dan-O

  Not only do I say those things, Cruzanheart, I also extend other un-JW expressions to people ... like when they cut me off in traffic, for example.
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  True North

  Even after I left the org. I spent years avoiding the use of the word "lucky" as part of my attempt to "keep the peace" with my JW wife. I've started to use it more lately, though, but whenever I do it still feels a little odd and I always think about its JW connotations.

  Every year I made ukranian easter eggs

  galaxy7, those are beautiful! When I was a kid, my mom and I used to dye hard-boiled eggs. It was nothing fancy like your Ukranian Easter eggs, but it was a lot of fun. A nice memory, though a little bittersweet given what came later when I joined up with the org.

  I will get her a basket until she is 18 if it brings a smile to her soul.

  Stefanie, great idea. Easter can and should be a lot of fun. It was for me as a kid. I still have a fondness for chocolate Easter bunnies and jellybean "Easter eggs", though I draw the line at "Peeps" (http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/). (OK, they're fun to look at, but I just can't see them as being edible. BTW, for the scientifically-minded among you, here's the latest in Peep research: http://www.peepresearch.org/.)
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  Stefanie

  Stefanie, great idea. Easter can and should be a lot of fun. It was for me as a kid. I still have a fondness for chocolate Easter bunnies and jellybean "Easter eggs", though I draw the line at "Peeps"

  I cant have those either. Oh well, guess i will just stick to chocolate. My mom used to make confetti eggs for us, and my hubbys tradition is boiling them. We do both now.

  bttt

  Dan, using the one finger peace sign at traffic is one of my fav things to do!
• 

  Soledad

  I like being part of the human race again.

  I can totally relate to that feeling. Once I shed all JW ties, it was almost like being born again. One of the first things I did was to enjoy a 5 year old's birthday party. Imagine! Me at 22 surrounded by 5 year olds and having the time of my life! I still have a little bit of a hard time with Christmas, but I'm slowly getting used to it.
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  Panda

  cruzanhart, I am 100% with you. And I think that these greetings are plain old good manners. And as dubs we didn't need worldly manners! People expect happy easter in return BUT now I say it first! Shoot it's a holiday, people enjoy smiles and interactions --- even those little babies who sneeze!
• 

  seeitallclearlynow

  I agree, cruzanheart, it's so nice to be part of the human race again!

  I just wish I could get myself to bless someone when they sneeze. Has nothing to do with my believing there is any connection with expelling demons or such, tho I know that is what they taught us; I just have this hang up that a person is in no danger when they sneeze, and are far more likely to need a blessing if they are coughing, shoking, something like that. So I still have never blessed anyone when they sneeze.

  YET...I feel the desire to "be part of the human race" and to do the socially acceptable thing, so I find myself saying something like, "You are blessed, but not for sneezing, just for being you." So I'm still a social dork. (Yet people react very favorably when I say that.)

  I've got to give in and just accept the silly meaningless custom and get over myself, I know. Believe me, no one would like that more than me.
• 

  outnfree

  Nina,

  Yes, I do the "God bless you"s and the "Happy Easter!"s, and it feels great!

  I have to laugh at myself a lot of the time, though, because my "God bless you" comes on a time-delayed basis. I find I'm always the last person in the room to react to a sneeze! Therefore, sometimes, because my good wishes would be so late, I self-consciously don't say it at all. I need help with my reaction time.

  My kids get mad at me when I'm slow to bless them, so maybe I just need one of them to develop a really bad allergy, hang out around me and then my training will be complete.

  Happy Easter, everyone!

  out