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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

How We Choose

by Missy Percifield

Reality
The brain is just a machine that is like a biological dictionary or a computer. It takes patterns of electro-chemical impulses and identifies the impulses by matching the pattern of electro-chemical signatures that matches the pattern to a file from previous signatures. The body just reverberates and feeds back sensory information that results from the choices that your mind makes. The mind is what determines choice. The brain does not choose. Even when the brain is exposed by a doctor and he pokes and prods certain areas of the exposed brain which might be an indicator to force the leg to raise or the eye to shut, etc., it is still the “chooser” of the doctor as to where to poke the exposed brain in order to make the body react.

We know that the body does not make choices by the actions that the body does do -- not through the actions that the body does not do. The affirmative has the burden of proof here. However, the lack of experience of negatives does not negate that the body does make choices, but it just has not proven that it does make choices. The mind makes the choice for the entire body as a unit. My mind is not thinking about the digestive tract or any specific area to control. There are portions of my body that are making decisions for the body without the mind thinking about it. The mind is controlling the body’s choice or determining the opportunities for the body. The mind is still choosing what to do with the body determining what to do. The mind governs the whole body. The body makes bazillions of choices in individual compartmentalized areas (digests, kills viruses, beats the heart, absorbs oxygen, etc.) but not about the whole body. We also have many things that are not part of the body that make individual choices. There are some bacteria that are not our bacteria, but our body allows it to stay there in order to break down cellular material that can replenish a component in the body. There are enzymes of flora or fauna of other people, animals, or plants that we are lacking. Different species can share the same bacterial fungi and it all gets dissipated into the environment. It gets absorbed into the dirt that is absorbed into the plants and we eat the plants or eat the animals that eat the plants.

The brain is a mechanism with two hemispheres and it evaluates one side or another to identify, interpret, and catalog. Everything is identified basically as a pattern of “comfortable” or “uncomfortable”, A or B, negative or positive, etc. It records patterns and it eventually assigns a definition – a label. The mind CHOOSES to adopt the patterns or to not adopt the patterns it receives. Positive patterns represent moreness – negative patterns represent “less than moreness”. Consistent interpretations validate the choice that you made with your mind as what you know it. It is through consistently correlated inputs that create a consensus of the inputs. That is how you know what you know. Your interpretation can then be qualified with additional mass consensus. When your consistent consensus agrees with the consistent consensus of others, the more it validates your own consistent consensus and the more “sure” that the knowledge is actual – therefore, a form of reality (e.g. We can all agree if it’s day or night or if it’s 4:00 pm. etc.).

The mind is created to provide moreness – it’s attracted to moreness. The purpose of the mind is to acquire moreness of association. The choices that we make about the previous consensus or about the consensus of others’ experiences are reverberated by our bodies. The reverberation from our bodies provides indication, which provides information as to whether the information is comfortable (enjoyable) or uncomfortable (unpleasant). We will either deny the continuation of the experience ... or will continue to measure, experiment, and evaluate the experience until our bodies are comfortable. Can we make any situation be comfortable? The only proof that has been found is that the mind can change its determination and adopt the uncomfortable experience as “comfortable” so it can change proclivity and determine to adopt the uncomfortable as if it were “comfortable”. That is not the same as body “BE”-ing comfortable. We know that the body is comfortable when the muscles twist in a positive direction. If the muscles receive a negative thought pattern from the brain, then the muscles twist in a negative pattern.

The brain is like the hardware. The body cannot change a pattern it has received. It just reacts to what is given. The mind is like the software and can be reprogrammed (the brain can be damaged and perception can be changed through the damage). You have the sensory reception system and the central nervous system. They can both send signals to the brain. Your perception (the signal to the brain) is different than your conception (how you conceive it). You can conceive it differently or the same; it depends on how you have programmed yourself or how you were programmed by others. When you perceive something that the brain has organized to perceive as a negative pattern, the mind can look at what the brain perceives. Now your mind can override what the brain has perceived. All of our brains perceive sensory inputs or sensory nervous system feedbacks; it is our minds that get programmed. If the biofeedback is negative, the brain will interpret it as uncomfortable, but the mind can accept it as "comfortable". The opposite can also occur; the body can totally be comfortable, but the mind won’t accept the comfortability. It rejects the comfort and thinks that the comfortability of the body is the acceptance of the rejection in the mind. The body will know with enough experiences and patterns as to whether it is uncomfortable or comfortable and then the body will have a choice by the mind.

If I was born in a small yard of feces and all I did was live in feces and grew up in feces and slept in feces and ate around the feces, and this was all that I knew ... then if someone took me out of that yard and placed me in a field of flowers, my body would be comfortable but my mind might feel very uncomfortable. BUT with further measuring (complete testing), experience, and willingness to stay within the flowers to evaluate the experience, the average regular body (that has not been mutated by the experience of growing up in feces) will eventually “be” comfortable with the flowers ... as long as the mind allows it to be.


Choices: Fearful or Fearless
Fear "FULL" or Fear "LESS". Many people test, but they don’t complete the measurement. They haven’t measured against what they already know. "Measuring Fully" takes asking questions and comparatively analyzing the patterns against other measurements. Unbiased testing or the true willingness to experiment requires fearlessness – to be without fear. Fear of loss (e.g. the fear of losing who they are or what they think they are) will make people NOT re-program or re-indoctrinate themselves. The very idea of thinking about re-programming or re-indoctrinating oneself could be considered a useless idea (another fear-based assumption). Others might think it’s ludicrous or stupid (more fear-based projections). One might say, "Why would anyone take effort and energy to reprogram?" It sounds like too much work for some (more fear of loss).

A fearless person chooses to work with, discover, observe, and see the Truth as it is. Truth is things measured that “have been” (past), “is now” (present), and “will be” (future). Truth must have all three of these components. It is not Truth if it lacks one of these virtues. How does one know what “will be”? The past shows the future. We examine the past (others' present and others' future). People can say that truth is in the eye of the beholder, or that truth is perceptional. Again, all these styles of statements require NOT having to work. It is the programming from more fears of loss (fear of being wrong, fear of working too hard, fear of losing how I want to do things, fear of losing time, fear of how I want to be perceived, etc.). There are absolute truths and universal laws.

Measuring and experimenting is the basis of intelligence and growth. People are given a certain set of information and patterns when growing up. Take for example about the pattern of growing up in a yard of feces: If I AM a fearless person that grew up in feces and then I become introduced to flowers and although I might be uncomfortable with the flowers at first, I will choose to stay in the flowers - observing, crushing, tasting, smelling, examining, and maybe even looking for more different type of flowers that will eventually lead me to examine bigger plant life. The body will then have enough experiences and patterns for it to know as to whether it is truly uncomfortable or comfortable and then the body will have a choice. The regular average body that has not mutated (from the living with feces) will truly be comfortable with the flower and the muscles will twist in a positive direction with further measuring.

But Fearful (full of fear) Persons will evaluate what is “true” (comfortable) and they will evaluate "their truth" (comfort-ability) as the "whole truth" (what one considers the most comfortable). Since they are not willing to re-program or re-indoctrinate themselves with experiences and tests because of the fear of losing “whom they feel that they are”, these persons will remain where they are. They arrive at a premature solution, approaching it from prejudice and bias. This type of choosing could also allow them the opportunity to deny what could exist or to deny what is true. In other words, let's take for example about the pattern of growing up in a yard of feces: If I AM a fearful person that grew up in feces and then I become immersed in flowers and I am immediately uncomfortable with the flowers - the smell, the colors, the sizes and shapes of the flowers, the textures, etc., after having lived all my life in a yard of feces, I will choose to go back to the yard of feces for fear of losing "who I think I am" so that I am no longer uncomfortable. My fear of loss comes from the inability to compare the sensory inputs creating the conflict or the confusion – the lack of ability to measure the comparison. So I choose to believe my "partial truth” as my whole truth ... that my yard (of feces) is what makes me comfortable ... that the yard that I was raised in is the best solution to my uncomfortable issues with the flowers. I might also go as far as to say very adamantly that ‘ALL flowers are not enjoyable (thus, they are uncomfortable)’ although I only had minimal exposure with a certain set of flowers. I believe that there is no better solution other than what I have already found and I am adamantly (fearfully) announcing it and denying the existence of what could be true.

So “truth” for a fearful person is but a miniscule fragment of a "partial truth" that they are adopting as the "complete and whole truth". This type of partial thinking and judgment thinking uses premature and subjective (emotional) reasoning and is not complete (in the standard of TRUTH) in its evaluation. Let’s take the topic of guns: If in my background experience, all I see on TV are about guns killing people and bad guys having guns and my cousin was shot accidentally with a gun and died, and if I AM a fearful person, I would be against guns and anything having to do with guns and would only seek and search for truths that support my fears (my belief system) on guns ... even though there are many more truths that exist on the matter of guns and people with guns. If I AM a fearless person, I would examine all those truths prior to making a decision as to whether to be a gun owner (supporter) or not.

Religion is another example: If I AM a fearful person and my experience was bad (uncomfortable) and if I was indoctrinated in a church that told me that I was worthless, sinful, and going to hell unless I handled alligators and only God can talk to me through the of handling of alligators ... some of the (fear-based) statements about religion that I might make when I grow up might be, “Religion is a pile of crap and I consider myself spiritual and don’t want to be in any religious organization” (partial thinking). Or I might say, “Churches are full of hypocrites and I was beaten until I handled alligators so I don’t believe in God at all” (adverse/reverse thinking). Or I say, “Religion is only real and true if alligators are involved” (judgment thinking). Or I say, “God is an alligator” (assumptive thinking). This list of statements (opinions/partial thinking) can go on and on. So when I do grow up, and I find that there is evidence (a mass consensus of information) that many more truths exist on the matter of God and religion, I can choose to examine more experiences ... or I can simply deny experimentation, make statements (not questions), and not allow for a complete range of measurement.

Let’s take another religion example: If I AM a fearful person and my experience was good (comfortable) with religion as a child and I see my partial truth as a whole truth, my fears (of losing who I think I am or losing my family that supports that religion) will choose to prove that something does exist which may not exist. If I “illusion” any other “illusion of religion” that is a more important religion, I will deny investigating other religions for “fear of losing” the religion that I hold dear. I might even consider all other religions bad except for mine. And if I think my religion was good (comfortable), I might think that my particular religion is the only one that is good. There is evidence that more truths exist in this matter but I will be denying the experimentation. I do not allow a complete range of measurement (full complete testing). If I was born into a religion that did not require me to do the commandments and if I find a religion that does require me doing all the commandments, my converting to that religion might make me feel like I will lose something ... fear of losing my "freedom", fears of losing my childhood, fear of losing the closeness with my family, etc. So the fear of loss will prevent me from having more experiences and I will stay enclosed in my illusion of moreness. In other words, I reinforce the positive in my own religion while denying the positive in any other religion.

If I AM a fearful person and my experience was bad (uncomfortable) with religion in general as a child and I flatly see my partial truth as the whole truth, I might choose to prove that something that may exist does not exist. I might choose to ignore this mass collection of information of the consensus from others that does exist. I could deem any consensus as stupid and not a reality, but a programming. I might choose to look for information of consensus of others that does exist that deem any religion as stupid and not a reality and that only unintelligent people are attracted to any notions of God. I might feel the need to prove or force something to not exist - to create denial or hatred of others that choose the opposite of what I choose to believe in order to make myself feel like I exist. I have the (negative) beliefs that "the more other things don’t exist" ... the more I do exist. The smaller I make others, the larger I feel I become. People that have a fear of loss will lack the experience to measure or desire to measure honestly. They’ve been only given a specific environment to work with and they choose to have limited options and to limit other people’s options.

Being fearless is the allowance of a range of measurement (testing fully), the faithful asking of questions and comparatively analyzing all the answers to other measurements, requiring more information with the whole mind being open ... the willingness to allow the mind to be in an experience to allow the body to reverberate the electro-chemical impulses to see how the muscles twist – positive or negative - and not denying or ignoring the results. This is Fearlessness. Fearless people feel the need to "not disprove or deny" ... but "to prove and try with faith" to prove what others (as a mass consensus) might be experiencing with an unbiased mind. They ask questions and compare the patterns. They have the positive beliefs that the more other things do exist, the more they do exist as well. The bigger they make others, the more they add to themselves. They have a faith that the more experiences they measure, the closer they are can arrive at an answer to things that are true. Be Fearless and Faithful.

 ~ Missy 4-27-2011

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Scriptures Links - Find the Pathway to Joy





Blue Letter Bible - Awesome Reference site for Biblical translations, plus the Vulgate, and interlinear Hebrew OT and Greek NT - study of the original Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic words 

The Complete Standard Works On-Line - On-line versions of the Standard Works(scriptures) of the LDS Church 

Church Publications in Compressed Audio Format - compressed audio file downloads or streaming - English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese

Copy of the Holy Bible - Obtain a free copy of The Holy Bible

Copy of Book of Mormon - Obtain a free copy of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ 

Download Free - Book of Mormon - Download free Book of Mormons in PDF or executable format

Annotated History of the Church - History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, edited by B. H. Roberts from the manuscript history

LDS General Conference Scriptural Index - Links from scriptures to the general conference talks that cite those scriptures

Early Saint Journals - Journals, Diaries, Biographies, Autobiographies and Letters of Some Early Mormons and Others Who Knew Joseph Smith, Jr. and/or His Contemporaries

Encyclopedia of Mormonism - B.Y.U. Harold B. Lee Library, Encyclopedic coverage of Mormon history, doctrine, scripture, organization, and culture

greatsite.com - Showroom of The Bible Museum, English Bible History

Journal of Discourses - Free Download of Journal of Discourses


BYU Speeches - The premier online resource guide for scholarly material on Mormonism

Joseph Smith's Testimony - simple story line of Joseph Smith Testimony

The Joseph Smith Papers - Resource for scholars of the life and work of Joseph Smith

Teachings of the Propeht Joseph Smith [TPJS] - Teachings of Joseph Smith compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith and the church historian's staff

Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship - An academic research unit at Brigham Young University comprised of scholars whose primary interest is the study of religious texts

fairlds.org - current scholarship, scripture, Church doctrine, historical literature and sound logic in constructing faithful, well-reasoned answers.




Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Squeezing the Almond Teat

Raw Almond Milk by Missy

There's a few reasons why I make raw almond milk. Since I don't drink cow's milk often, it's a tasty alternative. Commercial almond milk that you buy at the stores have an ingredient list that is a paragraph long containing all kinds of stuff like carrageenan. The only almond milk that I have found not containing carrageenan is Almond Dream and although I love it -- it's expensive to me. I can buy a pound of almonds for $4 - $5 and get a few half-gallons of almond milk. Typically, a half-gallon container of commercial almond milk runs $2 - $5. Fresh almond milk is easy to make and I know what I actually put in it and it's cost effective. It's considered a raw healthy food as well.

What you will need:
* blender, glass bowl, paint strainer bag, large bowl, pitcher, and tastebuds!

* 1 cup raw almonds (soaked)
* water for soaking nuts
* 5-6 cups water (to taste)
* 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
* 3-5 pitted dates or other sweetener to taste - stevia, agave nectar, etc. (optional)

Soak Almonds:  Place one cup of raw almonds in a container with water completely covering the almonds.  If any almonds float up - remove. Cover with towel and place in a cool area (like refrigerator).

Reasons for soaking nuts: To make soft to blend; more palatable taste; removal of dust, residue & tannins;  greater increased enzyme activity for better absorption for food nutrient and increased digestibility.

Soak nuts in glass container anywhere from 20 minutes to 6 hours - even overnight in the refrigerator.  I prefer soaking for a longer period of time (6 hours to overnight) since it makes blending easier.  Also, soaking nuts in plastic is not recommended since plastic can leach into the water and into your food.  Many raw food preparers keep nuts soaked in the fridge to have handy and if you do this, keep the water fresh and change it often so the food does not spoil.



After the almonds are soaked well and plump, rinse the soaked almonds with clean water and put the almonds into the blender with 5 - 6 cups of water (depending on your taste).  Some people use 8.  I prefer 6.

Blend almonds and water until smooth. It should look milky white.


 
Pour the mixture into through the paint-strainer bag (sprout bag, nut bag, strainer, cheesecloth, etc) over a big bowl.  The grinds get very small so often a regular strainer is not good enough to make almond milk be very smooth. Squeeze the pulp thoroughly to extract as much milk.




(You can also save the almond milk pulp, dry, and make almond flour for cookies, pancakes, cracker recipes that require almonds.  You can save the pulp in a plastic baggie and freeze).
You can leave the milk alone (in case you might want other potential uses) or place milk back into the blender and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 - 5 pitted dates (or other sweetener) until smooth.  (For a variation, try blending in a banana or use a little nutmeg).

You can restrain just to make sure that all particles are out of the milk if you are very picky about it being milky smooth.

Now place in a pitcher and put it in the fridge.  The milk should should be used within a week  Always shake well before using since it does settle.

TIP #1.
Many almond milk recipes call for a "sprout bag" or "nut bag".  I feel that they are way too expensive and more of a marketing ploy. You can go to a hardware store and get a paint-strainer bag for about $1.99 for 2 bags.  I would recommend the 2 gallon size. It's a nylon mesh and there is no evidence (I've checked all the FDA sites) that straining almonds or various nuts through a nylon mesh is in any way a health hazard. It's just a tip.

TIP #2.
Take you almond pulp, dehydrate (dry @140 degrees in oven), grind, make flour, store in freezer.  Recipes that use almond flour (http://www.elanaspantry.com/almond-flour-recipes/)

TIP #3.
You can use your almond pulp to make a dip. Try This Almond Dip.

3 cup Almond pulp (almond meal left over from making almond milk)
fresh juice of 1 medium size lemon
3 cloves of garlic mashed
fresh chopped parsley
Olive oil to good consistency
Spices of your choice
little salt & little pepper

Process & blend.

TIP #4.
It's delicious hot.  Add some date paste and have a hot, creamy drink!

OTHER IDEAS: 
Some people want to remove the outer layer of the almond.  It's very easy to do when it has been soaked. I don't really mind it at all and it's additional fiber.  But some people feel that the outer layer makes the almond milk seem more bitter.  Also, they like the appearance of the milk to look whiter.
Enjoy!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Airport Security Stopped Me and Searched My Bag.

Well, it's been a while since I have written on my blog. HOW DO PEOPLE DO IT!? How do they write on their blog daily? Anyway, I have completed probably 4 or 5 videos since I last wrote on my blog. And I am still working on making videos with Moving Action shots. Go to http://youtube.com/missiana69 to see the rest of my videos.

Anyway, this little video is something that I completed about my last airport experience. I found it interesting. I DO appreciate that the TSA are doing a thorough job. I am grateful that security guards take the time to seek, search, and do what they do. I just found my experience rather odd so I just wanted to share it with others.

I created this video through xtranormal since I wasn't sure how to go about creating the dialogue that occurred but wanted to somehow document my experience. I was stopped when I was going through airport security. I hope that it might be informative as well. This is a true story with little embellishment. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

My 3rd Video Effort: Iron Sonix (song by Darren Stroud for Iron Man)

This is my 3rd effort on learning how to edit videos while also creating a story for FreaknMissy's guitarist - Darren Stroud.   I selected the song "IRON SONIX" off of Darren's CD titled "Guitar Absolute".   I knew how much Darren loves superheroes like Iron Man and his musicianship and guitar skills are reminiscent of the quality of craftsmanship of superheros, I decided to use Iron Man ideas and felt that it would be appropriate for this song.

Darren performs all guitars, basses, tracks and the Cd is also produced, recorded, and mastered by him.  The drummer is Adam Farley.  This song "Iron Sonix" (among many others) is available on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/guitar-absolute/id304470830

This video is radically different from my 1st & 2nd efforts on video editing.   But I think it's because the musical style and energy is so animated and different.  I also produced special pictures that I designed for Darren along with great shots from the movie and various Iron Man video games. You can see the credit list below the video.


I want to be sure to thank and credit everyone involved in order for me to use these images to create this movie - but I wasn't sure How to go about it officially.  I do know that many images are common and to find the exact location of the original can be difficult.  But I know that if someone used one of my images, it would be nice to be included along with that page.  So many people just pick and choose images without giving a location as to where they got them.  I couldn't roll credits on the actual video itself ... so I have decided to list this CREDIT LIST on my blog as well as my youtube site: http://youtube.com/missiana69

THANK YOU ALL!

C R E D I T S:  Creative Common Images and locations of images:


Iron Man Art Drawings: http://web.me.com/blue7is/John_Mann_Film_Work/Film_Storyboards/Pages/John_Mann_-_Iron_Man_2.html


Four detail shots show the Mark IV Iron Man suit from Iron Man 2 on display at Marvel's Comic-Con booth: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/07/iron-man-2-blasts-into-comic-con-more-badass-than-ever/


All shots of Iron Man, Set Scenes, and Whiplash are from the movie Iron Man and Iron Man 2: 
http://marvel.com/movies/iron_man.iron_man_2
Paramount Pictures:  http://www.paramount.com/movies/iron-man/details/dvd and http://netbattles.com/ and
http://www.aeromental.net/2009/12/17/iron-man-2-trailer-2-in-hd-70-mighty-screenshots/


Pictures of Metal hands: http://www.legacyefx.com/index1.html and http://www.fastcompany.com/1640497/ironman-2s-secret-sauce-3-d-printing and http://www.therpf.com/f9/iron-man-glove-3d-pep-model-89347/


All gaming images courtesy of Sega. http://www.sega.com/games/iron-man-2/
Additional gaming shots: http://www.padsandpanels.com/?p=10523


Stark Expo Pictures located at: http://www.starkexpo2010.com/
And http://ramascreen.com/iron-man-2-black-widow-poster-stark-expo-viral-site-launched/


Shots of Darren: Missy Percifield -- http://facebook.com/freaknmissy http://freaknmissy.blogspot.com http://freaknmissy.com
Sandra Esparza http://www.sandraeart.com
Michael http://www.cfiassurance.com/


Shots of Holographic Digital Security Cameras, Satellites, News Bugs, PDA and Table Boards: http://perceptionnyc.com/node/68


Newspaper shot: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Poniverse/news/?a=12775 and http://screenrant.com


Note used in Picture with Darren & Scarlett Johansson: http://thxthxthx.com


Flames used: http://www.filmofilia.com/2008/04/06/brand-new-iron-man-pictures


FOR DOWNLOADS OF THIS SONG "IRON SONIX" BY DARREN STROUD from his Instrumental CD -- Guitar Absolute: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beaches/id304470830?i=304470889&ign-mpt=uo%3D4




FOR DOWNLOADS OF MUSIC FROM DARREN STROUD where he is the guitarist for FreaknMissy: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/come-on-in/id386229988?i=386230339&ign-mpt=uo%3D4


To Purchase Physical Completed Discs of Darren Stroud & FreaknMissy:
http://freaknmissy.com
http://freaknmissy.fourfour.com