Posts by beckyboop

23

Do you smell like Jesus?

by Valis in

jw
friends

my friend sent me this today...*lol*.

sincerely,.

district overbeer

beckyboop

I guess, kinda, a little patchouli, a little sandalwood, a little au naturale...

Becky

37

What To Be For Halloween?

by Valis in

jw
friends

i'm starting early this year cuz i want to have a rockin halloween.

i''ve been the devil, the grim sweeper, medusa, an alien,...i was thinking this year maybe one of those warriors from lord of the rings...and what are you going to be this halloween, or do you even celebrate the spooky day?.

sincerely,.

beckyboop

Two years ago I went as a the Sweet Tooth Fairy, and my boyfriend had his Nepali costume on. It was my first time dressing up, and we went to a gay club that had a haunted house. We had a great time, and my boyfriend even got his ass pinched a few times...

Last year we didn't do anything because we had just moved to Rhode Island and didn't know many people yet; and unfortunately, even though we had candy to give out, only about 3 kids came to our door because our front door is kind of hidden. Hopefully we'll have better luck this year. I'm not sure what I want to be yet though--I'm feeling a little like Joanna though in that I've never been a witch...well, maybe I have. I'm also interested in being a mermaid, but I'd sort of like to come up with something more creative. Hmmm, I guess I need some inspiration....

Becky

46

Can "Born-Into-Its" Ever Be Happy?

by Englishman in

jw
friends

just wondering....take a 40 year old male ('cos he's an ex-elder!

) who's been born a dub.

he becomes disenchanted with dubdom and eventually decides to leave.

beckyboop

YES, because I believe that "happiness is a journey, not a destination". I left when I was about 30, and it of course wasn't easy. I too had the feelings of "missing out on my youth", so I did something about it. I tried things, experimented, read, talked to a WIDE variety of people--basically the things I would have normally done in my younger years (except for things like college--I still haven't done that one yet). And although the "things" I tried didn't bring me happiness, I sure as hell had fun trying them.

I received a card from a good friend on my birthday that said "for a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one."

I guess the only thing I could add to that is that we only have the here and now FOR SURE. We cannot get our younger years back, but we can still do or at least try whatever we want. We can make our lives as interesting as possible, and have lots of fun in the meantime. I think the hardest part for those of us born-in is this--we never knew ANY other way. So we have to completely dump out our former ways of thinking and viewing the world and start over. Because when we do, we find that whatever we had been told was wrong anyway.

Becky

13

Dallas Apostates Get Thee Ready To Reggae!

by Valis in

jw
friends

all my dallas peeps might want to know that the dallas legends of reggae festival (formerly the bob marley festival) will be in town this weekend at the annette strauss artist's square.

i will be there both days, probably all day as i take pics for them and host them online.

it always makes for great fun because i make sure everyone i take pictures of gets the url of the pics i take.

beckyboop

OH I wish I could be there! Too bad I'm in RI, but I am finally going to Negril Jamaica for the first time in December and I can't wait!!! Hope you have a blast and have plenty of the herb and dance your ass off--we'll be thinking of you.

Namaste

Rebekah

2

your real life....

by nowisee in

there was an interesting quote from oscar wilde which appeared in liz smith's column in today's newspaper:.

"one's real life is so often the life that one does not lead.".

have you led/are you leading your real life?

beckyboop

HI NOWISEE!!! I'm so glad I got to meet you in person--I hoped you enjoyed your visit. This is a great question, so here goes:

Yes, I am living my real life. It's been scary at times, because I not only left the religion but my husband too. I met boyfriend way sooner than I thought I'd meet someone, moved in with him in Iowa, then we moved together to Rhode Island. I had to make a LOT of changes very quickly, but am adapting (sometimes slowly).

Yet, there are things I'm doing to not live my real life--I'm still figuring out what I want to do with my job situation, although I'm getting closer on that one. I do not take care of my physical body very well yet, which is very strange since I always used to say that "if I wasn't a witness, I'd be in such great shape". Go figure!

I am still working on learning to give love freely, because for some reason I've had this idea that love can somehow run out--that there's a bottom somewhere. But the more people I meet, the easier it comes. I may not always agree with someone, but I can still love them anyway.

So how about you--are you living your real life?

Love,

Becky

32

Using your anger to make positive changes

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

using your anger to make positive changes in your life

i was so mad i just exploded in rage.

how many times have you heard someone say, "that wasn't very mature of you," after you have lost your temper.

beckyboop

Lady Lee,

Thanks for posting that! It was very timely for me...;) I think our whole culture doesn't express anger very well, and with a cult background on top of that it makes it difficult to learn new habits. But the more we read and learn and try new ways we can let it out in healthy ways. Thanks again,

KGFreeperson,

I too love Harriet Lerner's "Dance of Anger", although your mentioning it made me realize that I haven't finished yet... Which is probably why I'm still having problems with this very thing. Thanks for the reminder.

Love,

Becky

98

Repressed, Triggered and Recovered Memories

by Big Tex in

first of all, let me say that many, if not most, of my memories of abuse and early childhood were recovered.

some people feel that this diminishes my experience, or in some way denies what happened.

i suffered from major depression and was quite suicidal for 2 years before something happened to trigger my memories.

beckyboop

(((((((((((((((((((((BIG TEX))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Thank you for sharing your experience--that took a lot of courage. You have obviously been through a lot in your life, and are making strides in coming to terms with it. Hopefully your willingness to share will somehow help someone else as well, because there are many out there who've had similar experiences. As I like to believe, if what I go through in life can possibly help someone else, than I can make my peace with it.

May your life find peace and happiness!

Love,

Becky

16

Did You Stifle a "Gift" That You Could Have Grown Because You Were A JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i see a lot of talent here.

those that love music, poetry, literature,etc.......do you feel that if you weren't a witness, that you could have grown in your talent or "gift"?

beckyboop

YES!!! But mostly I feel that if I hadn't been a witness, I would have been free to discover WHO I was way before now--I'm 35 and still trying to get rid of my fears and figure it out. It just really proves to me how much we should encourage children to BE themselves, and NOT what WE want. That alone has been the most detrimental to my happiness, which in turn contributes to my not being able to figure out what my talents are--and I come from a long line of artists.

Becky

31

How much do you tip and why?

by els in

jw
friends

i am a waitress at a pizzeria/italian restaurant.

overall i get really good tips but sometimes it seems like the customers are going to tip a certain amount no matter what i do.

i can totally screw up a table and still get a great tip and other tables i give perfect service to and get a lousy tip.

beckyboop

I tip 15% or more, depending on the quality. I don't think I've deliberately left nothing, and if I had, I'm sorry now that I did. Because even if I had crappy service, maybe their day was crappier. Nevermind the fact that they make about $3 an hour, which usually just about pays the taxes. They deserve to earn their fair share too, even if we feel like we've been slighted. Food service is hard work and can be extremely stressful when dealing with a bunch of rude, impatient and hungry people.

I bussed tables for 2 years, and loved it because I didn't have to deal with the people first hand. Because of my experience in working in the industry, I tend to see the other side much more clearly than if I was only a customer waiting for food. And if service is really that bad, you can politely mention something to your waitress/waiter or to the manager if that doesn't work. The customer only can see so much, and never really knows what's going on behind the scenes

Reborn, I have to agree that what you said was very rude--personal appearance has NOTHING to do with the ability to be a good server. I hope you still don't leave "tips" like that.

Becky

44

Any Good People left in the Organization

by jst2laws in

in another thread islandwoman said:my point is, should we now believe that all the "good" ones are out and there is no possibility that others may still exist?

to me it does not make sense to believe that.

personally, i know that there are still fine brothers there but that is my personal experience not worth much on a discussion board so reason must be applied, imo.. .

beckyboop

I guess I think they are ALL good at some level, because WE were all brain dead witnesses at some point too. Some of us were buried deeper in the shit than others, but in the end we all have the potential to see through it and dig ourself out.

As for enough being able to affect change, what hasn't changed? None of the teachings are the same from the early days, and they continually have "new light". I think that it's specifically because there are enough people who shake things up that the doctrines change. The jw's are already more mainstream than I know I can believe. And the more that people are connected and educated, the more things can change.

Hmmm, maybe I'm becoming an optimist?

Becky