Survive

Survive

 

Walking this confused world as a map-less traveler

The stars cannot provide that guide−

Those points of light shine endlessly down, dying as they come

And the roof above my head shelters me only from the weather outside not from the storm within

 

That battered soul; what protects that?

 

Apologies for a wasted life—too many things not done or done too short

Things unfinished, stacked like so many dusty boxes in the corner no one wants to see

Dreams are like butterfly wings; they are so fragile…

You can touch them, but not too hard or too much

Like the dying star the butterfly cannot survive…

They lose all their magic, and are not what they were before

 

What am I after my name?

 

 It is true “From dust we come and dust we do return”

Do our actions make us, or do our thoughts?

Intentions do not matter in this false world of men. They bend down with the storm.

People listen, but only to themselves, because they too are lost in their own sameness

 

All they do is try to keep the pain away

 

The pain of not being enough

The pain of existing and not living

The pain of surviving

Voices from nowhere- they call to me. They whisper secrets I cannot speak nor do I want to.

Each day the dust of yesterday falls off of my worn body. Each day less falls away. It builds like a monument to all those words unspoken.

Of deeds not done

Of wrongs not righted

Of paths that went too far

Dirty and brown and yet mostly unseen, the heaviest things we carry around day by day are hidden inside.

Are we all ugly inside? Do we need to be to survive? We learn to hide it, but it is there

Can you see it?

Or are you just surviving? Am I?

 

 

Paradoxical Clarity

Paradox

Life is the apotheosis of a living, breathing paradox. There is no doubt that we are special. All belief systems acknowledge this fact. Every religion, every cultural doctrine—even those that do not harbor a belief in a creator admit we are unique.

Whether through divine destiny or by brain power, we are the masters of all we survey. We have the power, (and do) decide the fate(s) of entire species and environments. We have changed the earth to suit us and we have begun to travel into space. We are the most successful species that has ever lived (except maybe bacteria). We hold the power of life and death for everything, including ourselves in our hands.

 We are gods.

In many ways life seems to be so enigmatic I have trouble wrapping my mind around it. Of all earth’s creatures we alone have the ability to create and save more than manipulate and destroy. The beautiful cliché, “With great power comes great responsibility” is true; as are the words of Jesus when He said, “To whom much is given, much will be expected.” We have been given much—maybe too much.

Then again, the problem seems so clear I have no doubt why we are in trouble. We are killing our planet.

We are killing Her with pollution.

We are killing Her with pesticides and herbicides.

We are killing Her by killing Her seas and Her forests.

We are killing Her with our avarice.

We are even killing the miraculous bubble that contains our atmosphere. Every day there is less and less of the earth that was created to sustain life.

When I do achieve clarity on this grand subject it is three-fold. The reasons we are the destroyers of our earth are greed, short-sightedness, and defectiveness.

We are greedy; we want more. It helps us to not feel so small. It is a vain and destructive attempt, for we are small. Humans somehow feel the acquisition of money or things lead to an elevated status. This futile idea defines the defectiveness of our race.

 Somewhere in this marvelous brain we possess is a great defect. We constantly short-circuit like some 1980’s computer. We feel hate, fear, envy, self-loathing, and a plethora of other powerful emotions that end up ruling us one way or the other. Mental illness, The Ego, identity, insecurity, lust, and hormonal reactions are just a few of our defects. Join these with the incredible “reasoning” and “creative” powers our brains have, and a terrible monster is created. We then think only within our short lifespans or just beyond, something awful stands on top of the world: a god without the power/desire for restraint and contemplation.

Were we created this way?

Did we develop this way?

Is this what we really want for a legacy?

Man is the only creature that kills for fun (using reason) and kills for gain. We, with the largest and most complex brain on the earth are not smart enough to see the harmony other species have and emulate them. Maybe it is pride—another defect. Man has devised the most sinister of ways to destroy, control, and rule his fellow man; ways that defy description.

Maybe we are not the most gifted creatures on the earth. A truly morally evolved species, would logically seek peace and unity. They would live and work together for the common good. They would not build and use their intelligence to destroy, but to create and sustain.

 Maybe the Cetacean Clan that thrives in the watery world are superior to us. Maybe we do not need to be kings of all we survey. Maybe all we need are love, respect, and a true sense of species belonging. We need to remember we are only a part of this world. Maybe the earth needs to die to live again; many holy books say this.  I for one, am ashamed at being a player in Her death; we all are a part of it.

Is it possible for us to become citizens of the earth rather than its rulers, and eventually it murderers?

I don’t know.

Tune Time

Music should mean something...

 

 

 

Scars

Scars

He wore his scars with pride. Each one earned; each one repaid. Long angry lines across his cheeks told tales of sand and death. The cheers of the crowd echoed in those scars. Thousands of nameless faces, jeering and smiling—strange, people smiling at such things. He saw their faces in his sleep; faces that died so that he may live.

*

She hid her scars behind a smile. It had taken her a long time to make that smile—to make it something believable. It was her only and greatest creation. The scars hidden from the world, beckoned to her from the reflection of every mirror. When she looked inside herself she could see what no one else could see. She saw what she did not want to see.

*

He hid his scars in the pit of his own guilt. With every passing day they grew bigger and stronger, until one day they were bigger and stronger than him. The things he did so long ago would not leave. Like an ominous cloud he awoke one day knowing he could never escape them. Those scars beat him down, over and over, again and again. One day he knew he would be unable to arise.

*

She hid her scars in a shame she did not know how to hide. Her scars ate at her soul every time she got close to someone that cared. Those scars were in every hand, in every touch, in every compliment. She tried to hide them with clothes. She tried to hide them with different cities. All she could ever see were those dark streets and those even darker rooms.

 

Now.

Now Is Your Chance

My Preface: I am a sad person. I am often an angry person. I often feel helpless and useless. I feel everything too deeply. I see the mess we have made on this earth, how it affects my life, the lives of millions, and my mind is encompassed with a daily darkness that is a part of my very identity. Enough said.

I feel great redemptive value and intrinsic worth when I can make a difference, however small, in this matter of a failed world. We are the only creatures that have the ability to create utopia, and yet for thousands of years we have moved ever farther away from this ideal. Instead, we have become the supreme creators of destruction, avarice, and self-gratification. Why? Did it or does it need to be this way? Are we so worthless that as a species, self-importance is all we are really good at? I hope not.

Far too many people think they will change the world by aggressive tactics. Politics have become (maybe always were) the dirtiest of deeds, but unlike the AC/DC, (and Joan Jett) song(s), they are not done “…dirt cheap.” Political parties have become more than they were ever intended to be. National pride has become an excuse for exclusivity and chest-thumping.

This “We are number one attitude” began at the international level, and has infiltrated the national political scene. Sadly, our country and political parties are now old enough to have drawn deep lines in the sand. Your political affiliation has become more of a personal, defining characteristic than it was ever meant to be—Liberal, Conservative, American…what about Human Being? What about citizen of the world? Hmm…too busy bickering? Probably.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The whole world is like the human body with its various members. Pain in one member is felt in the whole body. Rot in one part must inevitably poison the whole system. Let us, therefore, cease to think in terms of the whole country.”

I think Gandhi was saying we need to look at humanity and the world as a whole, as one giant symbiotic thing that needs every part to be whole, even down to the tiniest of things.

We need to change our personal identifiers with our self-constructed egos. Let us change the world. I am tired of our little home-grown/made issues—I am more interested in the issues that, to me, matter more: hunger, slavery, human trafficking, poverty, greed, preventable disease, and war.

How can we help? Below are a few ideas, but first it begins inside. Let go of the ego. There is no number one, it is not you, it is not me, it is not America, and it is 7 billion of us.

 Make a difference; now is your chance.

http://www.redthreadmovement.org/

http://www.sevenly.org/#/

http://www.stopenslavement.org/index.html

http://www.endpoverty.org/

http://medshare.org/

https://www.icfaid.com/

http://www.booksforafrica.org/

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/

http://www.machinegunpreacher.org/donate/

This May Hurt...

Right and Wrong—This one’s gonna hurt.

There is right and there is wrong. To me, this applies to 90% of life in a very black and white fashion. The other 10% falls into the rare gray. This lovely society we humans have created looks at it in nearly the opposite manner. Humans do this so they can either justify something to themselves, their peers, their socio-cultural group, or just out of selfish purposes. This covers nearly every type of societal grouping—political, religious, ideological, philosophical, and familial/personal.

My argument is that those that use (and love) the gray are self-serving and usually putting forth the worst of humanity. I am not writing to argue points. I am not here to banter. I will say this: I can defend my points of view in the greatest texts humans have ever written, for example: The Bible, The Tao The Ching, The Rig Veda, The Upanishads, and a plethora of revered texts. I also can back my "stuff" up, with the writings of some the wisest sages in history: Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Confucius, Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph Smith, and St. John of the Cross— the list goes on and on. On the other hand, all you who so choose the gray can use to support your ideologies are the ideas and philosophies of much lesser men.

So without further ado, below is a small list.

Right Things

1. Quality healthcare is a right, for everyone. Real, equal healthcare, the USA is the ONLY democratic country that does not have universal healthcare.

2. Helping the poor and needy—in a real and meaningful way.

3. Food, shelter, and clean water for all people.

4. Less protocol and more creative freedom.

5. The opportunity (notice I did not write ability) to a job that provides a living wage. The minimum wage should do this.

6. The freedom from slavery, both real and corporate.

7. Unity.

8. Death or life sentences to murderers, rapists, child sex offenders, and human traffickers.

9. A real Democracy, not a Republic that pretends to be one.

10. Tolerance.

11. An obliteration of political parties and the insane loyalties they try to foster.

Wrongs

1. Individual and corporate healthcare providers/ pharmaceutical companies financially raping the people.

2. The vast difference between the wealthiest and the rest.

3. People that try to justify the above with comments like, “I worked harder. I had more education. They are lazy. Why should I pay? I am only trying to be a good provider. I earned it; they did not. It was their choice.” These are excuses that prove selfishness and hypocrisy.

4. People that promote exclusivity among their respective groups. These could be religious, political, and/ or social.

5. Greedy employers that use their employees like servants.

6. 70% of what we do as a nation around the world.

7. Intolerance.

8. We are the richest country on the earth, yet we have one of the worst public school systems in the world. Among "stable" democracies we have the most expensive healthcare, the greediest financial system, and far too many people below the poverty line.

9. 99% of corporations. In fact, the very idea of a corporation is wrong.

10. If you can charge $900.00 for a tooth crown, or $150.00 for a doctor’s office visit, or pay your employees less than a tenth of what you make, and you can sleep at night, you are not making the world a better place. You are a vampire. Justify it any way you can, but you do not follow, Jesus, Vishnu, Allah, Buddha, or simply intrinsic human morality. Be more.

 Think about it; throw away your cultural ego and look inside—what do you see? Maybe more than you are now; maybe what you could be.

Talent

Tremendous Talent Thursday

 

Lindsey Stirling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6LD2B_kDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkt9T9opPn0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLPH9d-jsI