Poverty and Perceptions of Play

 Just popping by to share this insightful article 

In a perceived ‘middle class’ context, the sight of children creating, building, getting mucky, and congregating in groups to play boisterously is encouraged. Yet how differently perceived are children engaging in the same activities with limited resources in a ‘working class’ context such as a council estate. Something to think about.

‘The stigma attached to poverty and low incomes begins early in childhood. When children make dens in parent-funded woodland sessions, their play is valued, encouraged and understood as a part of their development. The same natural play on a housing estate can be viewed as anti-social behaviour, and children’s dens are dismantled and disposed of.’

Thoughts on Homelessness

This morning, as I was scrolling through my YouTube feed, I came across this story from the channel ‘ Invisible People.’

One of the commenters said that if something like this happened to them it would be their own fault for not saving enough for their own retirement. This comment just made me so sad. Sad that we humans so often immediately imagine the worst of each other. 

The truth is a lot of people in this day and age simply can’t save. They don’t bring in a living wage to cover their immediate expenses let alone extra to put into a savings account. 

Some of these people may have been carers for family members during much of their adult lives and were therefore unable to be in paid employment  long enough to save an adequate pension. 

Perhaps they were left disabled through illness or injury and therefore couldn’t work enough to save.

You never know what people’s circumstances may be. Always assume the best. Most people are trying their best.

Over the last twenty years in the UK, and perhaps the US as well, the cost of living has risen and the average salary has not risen with it. 

Life is different than it was years ago. I remember when an average one wage family could afford a decent home, car and an annual holiday as well as save towards retirement etc… These days people often work more than one job and still can’t pay for those things. 

And even if some people simply don’t make it in life, simply can’t make it because of trauma or coming out of abusive situations, or the state of their mental/ spiritual health, or limited ability, we need to be compassionate. Some people can’t just be fixed at the click of our fingers. Because of past trauma or abuse, or mental/ spiritual health or limited abilities,  some people actually need continual help and support to hobble through their lives. They simply cannot do it on there own. And in a compassionate society that should be okay. We should be there for them.

In fact, if our society was more compassionate and valued  the human soul more than the bottom line, perhaps we wouldn’t have so many casualty’s of the  system. Perhaps, we wouldn’t have so many humans living in their cars in the first place.

Why I’m changing up my shop Tilly Tilda

 

This is a Painting I painted after my Father passed, last September. It’s called Stella Maris ‘Star of the Sea’ It’s of Our Lady, the navigator of the waves, the handmaiden of The Lord. The bearer of The True Light, The Light of the world: Jesus.

What I’m about to write may sound strange or even offensive to some readers. All I can say is that I sincerely mean to only give my own experience and perspective on this. I feel called to write this. I pray these words will only be life giving and not stir up anger.

My perspective has changed over the years, especially in the last two years.

I had a very profound spiritual experience two years ago which I believe was God trying to prepare my heart and soul for the death of my Father. I also believe He was trying to wake me up spiritually and set me back on the right path, a path from which I’d wandered ideologically and as a result physically. Our beliefs are important, they inform our thoughts, habits and behaviours, they provide a framework for our actions.

I have wrestled with the topic I’m going to discuss over the years, even up to very recently. 

Over the past few years, my daughters have shown interest and ability in handcrafts and I have been keen to pass these skills along and include them in my shop.

So now some context for what I’m about to write. I grew up with a belief in fairies. It was very innocent. My mother used to write letters with teeny handwriting and leave them by my bedside with little gifts. She meant no harm. She meant only to delight my childish imagination. One day I wrote back to the fairies saying that I would stay up that night so that I could meet them when they delivered their letter. I went to sleep but woke up very soon after filled with a fear and dread I couldn’t describe and seemed so far from the fun and sweet, delicate ideas I had of the fairy realm. I ripped my letter into little bits and never made such a request again, begging my mother to tell the fairies I didn’t want any more correspondence.

So to the point of this post. I had a dream last night. The gist of it was,  I went into a cathedral with a friend. There was no tabernacle but I still genuflected. Jesus is everywhere, my friend said. Before taking my pew, I went to the toilet. The back of the church seemed to have been turned into some kind of gothic nightclub. In the toilets were a group of  young women dressed in modern gothic attire with strange cross like symbols on their heads and arms. These symbols didn’t look like the Christian cross, they had embellishments that looked like tendrils almost like something from nature and paganism. One girl seemed distressed. I reached out to her and looked in her eyes and told her that I used to come to places like this. I thought they were harmless, fun, escapism. I thought they would be a place of solace and friendship in a harsh, utilitarian, secularised world. But they were in fact, a doorway into a dangerous place spiritually. That it was a false way. The girl began crying but the other girls became angry and grabbed her and tried to pull her back. I woke up and felt really shaken as if there was a message there that needed to be shared.

These days we make light of magic, fairies, witches and all the paraphernalia  of divination and occultism.

In the old days fairies were seen as malevolent and feared by the ordinary folk. These days children’s books, movies, games and fashions are saturated in occult imagery.

Things I once thought of as harmless fun I now see in their true light. These things are spiritually dangerous. Though attractive at first glance and perhaps even seductive, they can become doorways into realms you really don’t want to open.

 Deuteronomy 18:9-14

“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

I have come to a place now where I just can’t reconcile this with some of the items I’ve had up for sale at my Etsy shop Tilly Tilda. When I made and sold these items my eyes were not open to the danger of these unseen worlds and entities. Now they are I’ve decided to distance myself completely from anything referencing fairies, magic or other occult things. So I’ve put my shop on holiday mode for the time being and will in the future only be selling such as knitting patterns, and other items that are not related in any way to magical realms etc.. In the  meantime you are very welcome to pop over to my new shop Plain Pearl.

If you are reading this and thinking it’s all a bit extreme. I can totally understand why you’d think that. The world we live in normalises, promotes and celebrates things that are harmful to the human soul but it’s a ‘reality’ I can’t buy into anymore. 

Isaiah 5:20 says: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are ^awise in their own eyes, and ^cprudent in their own sight!

I used to believe in my own self knowledge but it led me to the edge of a cliff. Now I trust that God knows better than I.

I have seen something beyond compare to the world and all it’s fake, costume jewellery. I’ve seen a glimpse of something beautiful, pure and life giving. I want to dedicate my life to that. 

Jesus says in John 15 :: NIV. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

As a I a side note, I just wanted to include this amazing testimony by the beautiful and lovely Sister Emmanuelle Maillard.

She also used to be into the occult and astrology ( as was I ) I even used to draw up charts! So I’m not here to judge just pass on my own experience and the experience and wisdom of others who know better than I.

And here is a link to my own story about coming out of the new age.