Posts by Bruja-del-Sol

37

Fifty Years Ago-The Beatles Enter My Life

by Band on the Run in

jw
friends

the beatles were on ed sullivan for the first time fifty years ago.

it blows my mind.

i gave them three months and i was a fan before they appeared.

Bruja-del-Sol

When I was about six I discovered the Beatles... must have been somewhere in 1974/1975. My dad had the 'Beatles for sale' and the red and blue double albums and I just loved them! I wanted to understand what they were singing, so my dad translated a lot of songs for me (that's actually when and why I started learning English! I've learned it initially from the Beatles lyrics). I can remember very well when my dad told me what 'Norwegian wood' was about, and I thought it was the funniest song I had ever heard

Later when I was thirteen my parents went to London for a weekend and when they returned they brought me the Complete Beatles-book with all their (over 212 official) songs for piano/guitar. After that I've been playing so many Beatles' songs... for hours on end I would be playing my guitar and singing their songs. I still do every now and then, those are my 'Beatles days' (when hubby knows I'm not available for anything... just playing til my fingers bleed, so to speak, haha).

I only learned who the individual Beatles were when I was nine, in 1978, when Wings had a huge hit with 'Mull of Kintyre'. I recorded it and played it over and over again and one time the videoclip was on Toppop (a famous Top40 show in Holland, long gone but everybody watched it back in those days, even my JW parents, although my dad used to complain about hair and the way the artists dressed. By the time KISS had a hit with 'I was made for loving you' it was a forbidding program for us kids), and my dad said it was such a pity the Beatles had split up... and I didn't understand why he said that. So I asked him and he told me: "don't you know? That man on the screen is Paul McCartney, he was one of the Beatles"... I didn't now up until then, but from that moment I was a huge Paul McCartney fan hahaha. My dad also told me the names of the other Beatles, but they weren't half as interesting to me as Paul McCartney.

In 2003 I've finally had the chance to see Sir Paul live in Arnhem, Holland, and in 2009 when he came back to Arnhem I was there too. When the cd-boxes with all the cd's of the Beatles were released in 2009 I bought both the stereo and the mono set. Now I'm saving to buy the vinyl box as well... (I feel soooo stupid that I've thrown everything away when I was seventeen!!! I had scrapbooks, records, singles, cassettes, a special double album with all the recordings that were available at that time from their Hamburg-days... such a loss The only thing I've kept was a book called 'Beatles dagboek' (means: Beatles diary), written by the founder of the first official Dutch Beatles fanclub, Har van Fulpen. I still have it and it shows on what date they did what, or which song was recorded, where did they play or give an interview, things like that... a lovely book to go through and read about my all time favorite band)

For me, growing up as a JW child, the Beatles helped me get through the hardest parts of my life. Their songs were sometimes spot on in relation to the things I was going through and they've been a great influence and inspiration for me on a musical level.

17

Watching Amish Shunned on PBS...very deja vu if you are/were a JW!

by tenyearsafter in

this is a very interesting documentary...the similarities are so close, you could substitute jw for amish!

anyone else watching this?.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/shunned-introduction/.

Bruja-del-Sol

Last year I've seen the movie 'The Shunning', based on a novel about the Amish, written by Beverly Lewis. A very touching story that shows a lot of similarities to the JW's.

16

Anyone else having a bad few weeks??

by quellycatface in

jw
friends

i seem to have a really crap couple of months with stuff going wrong.

people being nasty to me.

i saw a neighbour of mine today (who i fell out with 18 months ago), to whom i've since apologised for losing my temper with, but today, when i smiled at her, she looked at me daggers!!!

Bruja-del-Sol

DoC, this reminds me of the Sick note by the Dubliners. Hopefully it will give all of you a good laugh...

Sick Note - the Dubliners

51

If You Got a Call or Visit From The Elders How Would You Deal With Them?

by minimus in

jw
friends

just curious..

Bruja-del-Sol

Haha TableForOne, can't you see what an unhappy bunch of apostates we are here? We're so miserable, life's awful when you're free to think your own thoughts!

Anyway, welcome from me too

16

Anyone else having a bad few weeks??

by quellycatface in

jw
friends

i seem to have a really crap couple of months with stuff going wrong.

people being nasty to me.

i saw a neighbour of mine today (who i fell out with 18 months ago), to whom i've since apologised for losing my temper with, but today, when i smiled at her, she looked at me daggers!!!

Bruja-del-Sol

Oh dear, here's a hug for you first

Maybe your neighbour wasn't angry with you, maybe she was thinking of something that bothered HER that had nothing to do with you, but made her face look sulky...

You know, we are not able to change other people, only ourselves. And our emotions are triggered by our thoughts, so change your thoughts to feel better! (I know, easier said than done)... but that's the whole trick. Think of how you feel when the sun shines and you smell that spring is on it's way back... most people get a happy feeling from that, even if it's just a thought. So help yourself by finding happy (happier) thoughts and your emotions will follow by becoming happier.

And if someone does say or do something that upsets us, remind yourself of the fact that their behaviour says nothing about you, it just says all about THEM and their state of mind! Keep their attitude with them, don't 'adopt' is as if it has something to do with you, because it really doesn't!

If you have skype you may add me, just send a PM to exchange skype names. I'm online very often (it's my lifeline to my children in Holland). You don't have to feel nor be alone.

Hugs again,

Bruja

20

Interview with an apostate: Bruja-del-Sol

by Bruja-del-Sol in

tell us a little about yourself and your family.. im a 45 year old female.

married age 18 to another jw (pos son), became the mother of two wonderful children, girl and boy (now adults), divorced and dfd when i was 33 years old and since 2008 married to my first love who used to be my classmate when i was 16 (but got kicked out of my life by my dad b/c he wasnt a jw).. were you a born in or a convert?.

my grandmother from fathers side, my parents, 2 of my 3 sisters and their husbands (one is an elder) and kids, my brother and his wife and children, and the wifes of my two uncles are all still jw (uncles both have faded, but their cult personas are still intact, unfortunately).

Bruja-del-Sol

OH and I can't resist, have to post this song as well... hahaha, this has been my favorite song the first year after I got DF'd

Sin Wagon - Dixie Chicks

20

Interview with an apostate: Bruja-del-Sol

by Bruja-del-Sol in

tell us a little about yourself and your family.. im a 45 year old female.

married age 18 to another jw (pos son), became the mother of two wonderful children, girl and boy (now adults), divorced and dfd when i was 33 years old and since 2008 married to my first love who used to be my classmate when i was 16 (but got kicked out of my life by my dad b/c he wasnt a jw).. were you a born in or a convert?.

my grandmother from fathers side, my parents, 2 of my 3 sisters and their husbands (one is an elder) and kids, my brother and his wife and children, and the wifes of my two uncles are all still jw (uncles both have faded, but their cult personas are still intact, unfortunately).

Bruja-del-Sol

Thank you all so very much for your responses!

@Gorby: yup, another one to join the Dutch forces on JWN

@Xanthippe: thank you in return, nice of you to write a reaction.

@DeWandelaar: thanks for the compliment. I had some education: primary school (lagere school) and secundary school (HAVO). But the foundation for my English came from the Beatles... Age 6 I started to really love their music and my father translated a lot of their songs for me, so that I knew what they sang. Isn't it great, having learned a language from such 'demonic' music?

@Gypsy Sam: thank you, glad you liked it. And yes, my life in Spain is sometimes very idyllic (at the moment it's just plain cold and wet.... but this evening just before sunset we saw the most beautiful huge and very wide rainbow... Nature at its best!)

@TheOldHippie: I'm not exactly sure what you mean? Any specific part of my story?

@Punkofnice: thank you, that's exactly why I've written it, since I enjoy the stories of others very much also.

@Humbled: I can understand you so well. I've sent my grandmother a letter a few years ago. She did write me back, even sent a picture of herself (taken on the District Convention... of all places!), to tell me she couldn't meet me because of her conscience. Jehovah would disapprove... So sad, since I asked her if we could hug each other just once, for the last time, just being grandmother and granddaughter... But she couldn't. And even though it hurt, I could understand where she came from. So I haven't bothered her again. She'll be 90 this year and I fear the day that she'll die, since I still don't know what to do if her funeral day arrives... I can imagine it must feel somewhat the same for you and that old sister, to know she'll die one day, and not being able to ever hug her again. I'm so glad I had that chance with that old sister I took care of, I had no idea at the time that I would never get such a chance with my own grandmother.

@Innerpeace: So glad for you that you've found your soulmate. Is he the person you'd lost as a young girl? The Dixie Chicks recorded a song about this topic, called 'A home'. Good that you and I (and so many others, like LisaRose) eventually managed to build that home after all:

A Home

22

Feeling numb and alone

by DeWandelaar in

since some time i post here on this forum... i am always willing to help people or to express my opinion if it helps someone.... i have already posted something about myself but i haven't told much about my history.. i am married with a nice wife and i have three kids (two of my own and a stephdaughter).

since a year i do not go to meetings and i unofficially stopped with the "truth".

i had a meeting with some elders expressing my concerns with the teachings and with the slave.

Bruja-del-Sol

It's an old topic, but I just want to respond to it since I can relate to so many things DeWandelaar has said. My daughter was a very hyperactive girl. She could never sit still, she would always run instead of walk, misbehave when you asked her to behave. One time at a Circuit Assembly a 'sister' on the row before us turned around, grabbed my daughter in her neck and angrily whispered "you sit still NOW and be quiet!!!" I was furious and so I told her. Who the h*ll did that woman think she was??? Did she have any idea how difficult it was for us as parents to keep our daughter as silent as possible? My daughter was only 4 years old at the time! She looked at me with big scared eyes and started crying. I hated that woman who had the guts to do this to my baby!

This memory just came up while reading DeWandelaar's story.

Not long after that incident I went to our doctor with my daughter and told him I wanted to see a homeopathic doctor. I described the problems with her and said that I believed this had something to do with her body being out of balance. The doctor wanted to send her to a psychologist instead, but I refused that and insisted on the homeopathic doctor. He then sent her to such a doctor in our area.

Within fifteen minutes that doctor found out my daughter was allergic to sugar! She had a very strong reaction with hyperactivity from it, combined with pure rage every once in a while. Our unknown mistake was that we tried to keep her silent and sitting still during the meetings by giving her sweets! We've tested it later at home (after the diagnosis by the doctor) and clocked the amount of time from swallowing until her body started to respond: exactly fifteen minutes! The look in her eyes would change and she would go mad, wild, and definitely unable to sit quietly in a Kingdom Hall.

That homeopathic doctor treated her for two years. She went on a sugarless diet (horrible, since sugar is in EVERYTHING!) and wasn't allowed to eat chocolate as well. Withing a month the changes in her were already tremendous! Even the kindergarten teacher came to me asking what we had done to her, since it appeared as if a totally new girl had come into the class!

Years later, when she was 19 she also was diagnosed ADD... and that's when I learned I have ADD myself as well. Suddenly I understood a lot about myself and I've been able to see it as an extra asset instead of a handicap. My daughter has been able to do the same, she's actually very happy with her ADD. And even though she is 25 now, I still can tell when she's had too much sugar... it's just that wild look in her eyes that gives it away! She'll always be my little monster hahaha.

The last couple of years I've learned a lot about hyperactive children and it was meantioned by some others who responded on this topic, that it's very often that hyperactive children need more challenge. They might be high-sensitive and need more attention, they're usually very bright and willing to learn (and also capable of learning new things very quick). It's also important to communicate more with those types of children, since they have often more trouble understanding the world they're living in. Explain to them why things are the way they are, why people do certain things, why you as a parents act in a particular way and why you expect certain things of them. If you're able to make them understand, without threats, punishment or getting angry, just be their loving parent and inform them, teach them what it is to live the human life... then very often they will understand and become calmer (but not always... of course!).

51

If You Got a Call or Visit From The Elders How Would You Deal With Them?

by minimus in

jw
friends

just curious..

Bruja-del-Sol

LuckilyI moved to another country, but let's just assume that I would still be in Holland in the area where I got DF'd... if they would call me, I would ask them which part of the letter I gave them in 2004, where I stated that I will NEVER come back and be a JW again, they didn't understand. I would tell them that everything written in that letter is still up to date. So stay away from me, permanently!

44

So what are you up to?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

anyone else bored with religion versus atheism or is it just me?.

i'm planning to go to greece in may.. i'm thinking about planting rocket and beetroot in my garden this year because they are getting rather expensive to buy.. this week i want to make chocolate refridgerator cakes.

some for my daughter who is coming home from uni this weekend and some to take in to work to give away with free tea and coffee because it's national libraries day on saturday.. i just finished reading the humans by matt haig which was brilliant.

Bruja-del-Sol

Frazz, thanks for the tip! I've already read so many books about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, also about Elizabeth I, but I hadn't heard of this title yet. I understand it's part of a (planned) trilogy. I'm going to look for it in the English bookstore, sounds like a great read (according to Wikipedia).