Full Participation

I understand that subculture norms vary according to tradition and economic/ecological needs.

Just like I grew up with mainly male role models, I also grew up seeing very few role models outside my sheltered suburban subculture.

Through living have I personally discovered that people are people everywhere, all of us able to overcome adversity in order to better ourselves physically and emotionally.

So, it was with a pleasant surprise that I saw a person obviously respected by her peers walking down the hallway here at Huntsville Hospital.  I do not know the person but I believe she is female and probably a medical doctor of some sort.

It wasn't the fact she was female or a doctor that surprised me and put a smile on my face.  It was the realisation that this Southern U.S. city that once thrived on cotton production and moved into rocket development could become host to a society that considers a ħijāb a type of normal clothing which has little effect on one's professional career.

For the most part, my wife and I are private people.  We don't attend a lot of social functions and don't have a large social network.  Thus, we don't get out much, as they say.  Which means we miss the small changes in local social strata.

Happiness is an interesting body function.  Some say happiness is simply the absence of pain.  Others say happiness is an increase in endorphin-like substances flowing through the body.

Happiness does not grow on trees or keep planets spinning.

Although I have friends here who practice the Muslim faith, I've never seen a hijab in Huntsville until this week.

Although I grew up in a subculture that emphasised the Judeo-Christian faith/belief system, I find myself feeling the emotion of happiness because a former sleepy Southern town has left adversity behind and embraced diversity, including professional women wearing faith-based head coverings.

A man once had a dream - can we say we've fully realised it?  Based on my limited observations, I believe I can say yes, enthusiastically so!

While waiting for a medical procedure to take place, I'm going back over my notes and rereading the text of the book, "Selfless Insight: Zen and the Meditative Transformations of Consciousness."  Sitting in a hospital has reawakened my hibernated perennial interest in neurology.  We may superficially wrap words (and thus concepts) around our body functions to aid our communication (e.g., using religious symbology) but is there another way to teach ourselves how to fully use the body parts we have as we progress to the use of "smart" prosthetics, including brain implants?  Inquiring minds want to know!