From a friend:
“Not saying that this is "right" but I suppose I'm less of an idealist, less out of the box, more work within the system that we have. If such a political movement could take place, it would be great!”
My Response:
The political movement has already started. Check out Coffee Party U.S.A. It seems to be one option for sane dialogue and non-partisan discussions.
If the system includes the halls and meeting rooms of Congress and the White House; if the system includes the executive, judicial, and legislative branches; if the system includes our constitution; ----I agree that we can still work within the system while thinking outside the box. It's broke and we have to put all of our heads to together and get it fixed.
Think about this. If there was a Tea Partier a full-blown conservative Republican, and a dedicated Progressive Democrat in the Apollo 13 module, they would only be thinking about how to survive so that they could see their families again.
They would listen to every idea that was proposed, debate their options as calmly as possible (have to save oxygen), and come up with a plan that worked just like the actual astronauts did in April 1970.
Good ideas (life-saving ideas) trumped any rivalries or petty resentments among the crew. Their mission was more important than their egos or anything else.
Why do I feel like Bluto making the speech to the rest of the Animal House frat right before they fought back against the Dean for being put on “double secret probation”?
Anyhow, back to the Apollo 13. It's kind of like that for us right now. We are all in that module and we damned well better listen for good ideas and give them a shot. And if the first good idea doesn't work then we try the next one. It’s a matter of life and death for us, also. But we can do this. We can hear the good ideas if we all listen with our intellects AND with our hearts. And I honestly don't give a rat's ass if the great ideas come from Tea Partiers, Conservatives, Liberals, or Moderates.
I just want us to save ourselves. I do not accept that there is nothing we can do about the 1.5 million homeless children tonight in this country. I know we can fix it. Someone in this country has the solution.
I don't believe it is right that people I know and love have to live without health insurance in order to pay the rent or the mortgage or buy shoes for their kids. Someone in this country has the answer.
There is a way for corporations to make a fair profit, pay fair taxes, and create jobs in this country. It is not necessary for corporations to wring their employees for one more drop of productivity with no more compassion than one would extend to a dish rag. Someone knows how to change this so that families have time to be families AND to be productive employees who work for profit-generating companies. Someone in this country has the plan.
Kris--you are an intelligent, politically aware person. Think about how sad it is that you wrote "I suppose I'm less of an idealist, less out of the box, more work within the system that we have." This is NOT a slam and it is NOT meant to be condescending. I swear it’s not.
It genuinely saddens me. If bright, politically aware, respectful, and kind people like you see ideals as things to be abandoned while accepting the status quo (when the status quo is corrupt, controlled by money and those who use it to buy the attention of our elected officials), that is sad and it should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Being idealistic is not a bad thing. It is a GOOD thing. We can make positive changes but we have to stop using the word CHANGE as a noun and start using it as VERB. Maybe we could start using “Transcendence” or we could talk about "bringing empathy and fairness" into every interaction, transaction, legislative activity, political debate, etc.
No more screaming. No more bumper sticker philosophies. No more blue states and red states.
Let's refuse to fall for the simple parlor tricks that have dazzled us and confused us for too long.
When a politician, a CEO or a CFO, a President, the head of the Federal Reserve or a Lobbyist tells us to watch his or her right hand while pulling the rabbit out of the hat, let us look instead at what the left hand is doing. That should generate some ideas!
We have become mesmerized and we have been turned against each other by those who benefit from it. If we are fighting each other, our attention is not on those who are really making the decisions that are destroying the Middle Class in this country.
The real decision makers in this country are horrified that we might stop fighting each other long enough to look up and catch a glimpse of one of them staring down at us with a bemused smirk from the balcony of one of their mansions. We can turn this around. We really don't have a choice, do we?
You ARE an idealist, Kris. We all are. We've just been kind of sleeping for a while. See you when we all wake up, man.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
WHENCE FROM HERE AMOREICA? A response to a good friend on FaceBook
If we decide to start two wars, allow Wall Street to continue being a megacasino with insane derivatives schemes, allow insurance companies to keep raising premiums and minimizing services while the US continues to have the most expensive (but far from the most effective) health care, then you should pay the 300.00 a month and feel happy about it.
We could just stop starting wars for a while against an ideology. Hint: you cannot shoot or bomb an ideology (Tuhrer-Ism) or a social problem like drugs.
Has to be some other way and instead of fighting about non-issues we should ALL put our heads together and find solutions to our problems or at least PROPOSE solutions instead of trumpeting inane, vague, heart-tugging, bumper sticker philosophies like TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK and DON'T TREAD ON ME...or CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
Adam--I really am open to thinking about your solutions to our current situation. 10% unemployment; escalating foreclosures; out of control health care costs; a recovery that benefits Wall Street but not the middle and lower middle class etc.
OR we can find a way to balance the budget deficit (a big deal for Tea Partiers, Repubs, and future generations) while allowing the wealthiest Americans to keep paying 15% taxes (for hedge fund managers while mere 16milionaires like Warren Buffet pay 17%) while folks like you and me pay 25%. C'mon we gotta get this right.
How do we make sure everyone has health care, that social security remains intact (and not privatized so that the financial/banking complex make even more money), that our veterans and active service members are taken care of, that we GROW JOBS in the US in this new world economy, AND extend tax cuts to millionaires, man? I honestly want to know.
Flat tax? No way. The wealth of the top income earners in the US and top corporations are estimated to avoid 100 BILLION in taxes by using offshore instruments/strategies. They don't spend that money buying stuff. Therefore a flat tax would be disproportionately paid by the rest of us who actually BUY STUFF.
How about this: Give the tax breaks ONLY to people who buy stuff i.e. the MIDDLE CLASS? Maybe then we would see the middle class grow again, see some improvement in employment figures, see some increase in public confidence in the economy....And the progressive income tax worked fine when it was PROGRESSIVE.
Trickle down economics (read Reganomics)has almost destroyed the middle class. The continued influence (on both Democrats and Republicans alike) of lobbyists who represent the energy, banking, other financial, insurance, health care, gaming, military industrial complex (referring to Boeing, and their ilk who make the nice bombs and beautiful bombers not those who serve in our military while they had to fight the Bush admin for acceptable living conditions) cannot be allowed to continue.
Productivity at workplaces in the US has risen while job satisfaction, wages, and the opportunity to maintain a home life with enough quality time while doing the job of three (laid off, downsized, outsourced) people at work has fallen.
Over 30% of former Senators and House members become lobbyists! C'mon....let's get this right.
This is no longer about Repubs versus Dems or Left versus Right. It is about the HAVES (whose ranks have grown a LOT in the last 20 years) and the HAVE NOTS (whose ranks have also grown exponentially including 1.5 MILLION HOMELESS CHILDREN for God's sake). And I am NOT talking about "redistribution of income". Such BS that this phrase is thrown around so much. I am talking about everyone paying a fair share, not redistributing income. We don't even NEED socialism or communism. Capitalism has become a monster that has the poor whistling a happy tune while digging their own graves because they believed lies over and over and over. A recent poll shows that most Americans don't even believe in the American dream anymore. C'mon!
The top 25 hedge fund managers made a billion dollars each in 2009. One of them made 4 BILLION. They were taxed as if their income was "carried interest".
In other words they were taxed at the capital gains rate of 15%.
I bet you''d like to have some of THAT, Adam.
If we closed this loophole for these hedge fund managers we have 20 billion in revenue to spend on infrastructure, not firing teachers or closing schools or limiting basic humane support programs for people who need them I am not talking permanent Welfare here. We know that creates a class of people dependent on it.
We can do better than we are doing.
We need to keep the best of what Capitalism has to offer (competition, the ability to do better than our parents did, the ability to have an educated population, the ability of individuals and corporations to make a fair profit while paying a fair amount of tax, etc) and end the horrors of other aspects of Capitalism (War <<anywhere and against anyone>> as a driving force in a growing economy; the unfettered greed of corporations; the insane idea that anyone (INCLUDING HEDGE FUND MANAGERS) deserve to make a BILLION dollars a year while paying 15% in tax.
C'mon we have to stop the madness. We have to stop being so Ayn Rand-ish....What have we become?
The numbers I used here are available for anyone to find via non-partisan, non-activist channels.
I would also (AGAIN) suggest reading anything by Robert Reich and Arianna Huffington. They are really smart and they use accurate numbers instead of speaking in vague, nebulous, and endorphin-releasing patrio-speak like we hear from each political party and all those who want to TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.
We could just stop starting wars for a while against an ideology. Hint: you cannot shoot or bomb an ideology (Tuhrer-Ism) or a social problem like drugs.
Has to be some other way and instead of fighting about non-issues we should ALL put our heads together and find solutions to our problems or at least PROPOSE solutions instead of trumpeting inane, vague, heart-tugging, bumper sticker philosophies like TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK and DON'T TREAD ON ME...or CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
Adam--I really am open to thinking about your solutions to our current situation. 10% unemployment; escalating foreclosures; out of control health care costs; a recovery that benefits Wall Street but not the middle and lower middle class etc.
OR we can find a way to balance the budget deficit (a big deal for Tea Partiers, Repubs, and future generations) while allowing the wealthiest Americans to keep paying 15% taxes (for hedge fund managers while mere 16milionaires like Warren Buffet pay 17%) while folks like you and me pay 25%. C'mon we gotta get this right.
How do we make sure everyone has health care, that social security remains intact (and not privatized so that the financial/banking complex make even more money), that our veterans and active service members are taken care of, that we GROW JOBS in the US in this new world economy, AND extend tax cuts to millionaires, man? I honestly want to know.
Flat tax? No way. The wealth of the top income earners in the US and top corporations are estimated to avoid 100 BILLION in taxes by using offshore instruments/strategies. They don't spend that money buying stuff. Therefore a flat tax would be disproportionately paid by the rest of us who actually BUY STUFF.
How about this: Give the tax breaks ONLY to people who buy stuff i.e. the MIDDLE CLASS? Maybe then we would see the middle class grow again, see some improvement in employment figures, see some increase in public confidence in the economy....And the progressive income tax worked fine when it was PROGRESSIVE.
Trickle down economics (read Reganomics)has almost destroyed the middle class. The continued influence (on both Democrats and Republicans alike) of lobbyists who represent the energy, banking, other financial, insurance, health care, gaming, military industrial complex (referring to Boeing, and their ilk who make the nice bombs and beautiful bombers not those who serve in our military while they had to fight the Bush admin for acceptable living conditions) cannot be allowed to continue.
Productivity at workplaces in the US has risen while job satisfaction, wages, and the opportunity to maintain a home life with enough quality time while doing the job of three (laid off, downsized, outsourced) people at work has fallen.
Over 30% of former Senators and House members become lobbyists! C'mon....let's get this right.
This is no longer about Repubs versus Dems or Left versus Right. It is about the HAVES (whose ranks have grown a LOT in the last 20 years) and the HAVE NOTS (whose ranks have also grown exponentially including 1.5 MILLION HOMELESS CHILDREN for God's sake). And I am NOT talking about "redistribution of income". Such BS that this phrase is thrown around so much. I am talking about everyone paying a fair share, not redistributing income. We don't even NEED socialism or communism. Capitalism has become a monster that has the poor whistling a happy tune while digging their own graves because they believed lies over and over and over. A recent poll shows that most Americans don't even believe in the American dream anymore. C'mon!
The top 25 hedge fund managers made a billion dollars each in 2009. One of them made 4 BILLION. They were taxed as if their income was "carried interest".
In other words they were taxed at the capital gains rate of 15%.
I bet you''d like to have some of THAT, Adam.
If we closed this loophole for these hedge fund managers we have 20 billion in revenue to spend on infrastructure, not firing teachers or closing schools or limiting basic humane support programs for people who need them I am not talking permanent Welfare here. We know that creates a class of people dependent on it.
We can do better than we are doing.
We need to keep the best of what Capitalism has to offer (competition, the ability to do better than our parents did, the ability to have an educated population, the ability of individuals and corporations to make a fair profit while paying a fair amount of tax, etc) and end the horrors of other aspects of Capitalism (War <<anywhere and against anyone>> as a driving force in a growing economy; the unfettered greed of corporations; the insane idea that anyone (INCLUDING HEDGE FUND MANAGERS) deserve to make a BILLION dollars a year while paying 15% in tax.
C'mon we have to stop the madness. We have to stop being so Ayn Rand-ish....What have we become?
The numbers I used here are available for anyone to find via non-partisan, non-activist channels.
I would also (AGAIN) suggest reading anything by Robert Reich and Arianna Huffington. They are really smart and they use accurate numbers instead of speaking in vague, nebulous, and endorphin-releasing patrio-speak like we hear from each political party and all those who want to TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?
DISCLAIMER
When I sat down to write this blog, I was feeling slightly curmudgeonly. I am currently feeling more curmudgeonly. A few minutes ago, my fingers experienced some type of strange independent lives just long enough to hit the wrong keys in the right sequence needed to delete what I had written. I am not prolific. I am compelled to write. I don’t “enjoy it” so, dear reader, I ask your forgiveness and pardon.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US
1.Corporations now rule our country and most of the world. Political parties do not offer any solace, justice, or give voice to those of us in the middle class. Political parties only offer us choices between levels and flavors of evil.
How would you like your political views voiced by your choice of the Big Two?
A: Republicans: An understanding of the forces at work within (and on the fringes of) the Republican Party is important and a rather easy course to ace.
If you want to see the true nature of modern American politics: naked corporate greed; the international exporting of capitalism’s most sinister aspects including the endless search for cheaper labor at any moral price; the creation of synthetic “moral” non-issues created purely as motivation to get Republican voters to the polls (DODT, gay marriage, new rules to provide assurance of accurate birth records of presidential candidates etc) is on display at the front of the parade in the Republican party. No reason to dig or investigate or analyze.
Just find a good spot on the parade route, wave your flag, and watch the floats go by. “Oh look, there’s a float with Karl Rove holding one of those gigantic checks signed by CHINA. How cute! Has he lost weight?" It is all right there.
How can anyone continue to suggest that we shouldn’t tax the rich because it will not “allow” the wealthy to buy new machines, open factories, and create jobs? Trickle down economics? Bullshit. The Middle Class in America is dying and the uber-rich are becoming uber-richer. They are not spending the money they have saved on taxes for the last ten plus years on creating new products or putting Americans to work.
Ronald Regan’s trickle down economics only worked for those at the top who needed to take a long satisfying piss. If you felt it hit your head, you are in trouble like 97% of us are.
If you were doing the pissing, all I can say is “Nice aim!”
If anyone reading this passes by Ronnie Regan’s tomb this week, can you give it a quick look and make sure the old bastard is still in there? I thought I saw him in a wheelchair in a photograph of a Tea Party event.
B. Democrats. The only discernible difference between the mainstream dems and the mainstream repubs is that the Dems at least talk about some of the issues important to those of us who do not belong in the top 3% club. The few true idealists in the Dem party are laughed at by those who run the party and gather and dole out the money. Many of these idealists do believe, as Arianna Huffington (READ HER NEW BOOK “THIRD WORLD AMERICA") does, that the brutal and open attack on the middle class can be stopped or at least exposed.
The mainstream Dems go along with the Republicans and treat true Democrat idealists as left-wing lunatics, socialists, and non-patriots. They get to talk but nobody really listens.
One of the more subtle aspects of the capitalistic system (the whole system, not merely the economic model) is the role of “freedom of speech”, “freedom to protest”, and “free elections”. These freedoms all serve as “pressure valves”. They rarely lead to change.
If we get “mad as hell and can’t take it anymore”, we can put on our finest Uncle Sam hat, hop on a bus (not sure who is paying for the gas here) and go march in Washington while Beck-Palin and other great students of history and finger-painting, put on a Tea Party show: all style and absolutely no substance.
If we feel that the economic powers of the world should do the right thing and forgive third world debt, we can put on our tie-dyed shirts and sandals, and protest the meetings of the main economic powers. This is a youth-fuelled trip and seems to be mainly about expressing rage, re-creating some of the successes of the sixties etc. Also, these situations are great places to hook up with others who “get it” and can spend endless hours engaged in deep discussion of how to change things and bring down “the system”. Great times and an excellent opportunity to party, maybe even get laid.
Of course, the more serious protests (THINK G8) take place a considerable distance from the actual meeting place in order to “assure security” but mainly to insure that none of the leaders have to be exposed to anything close to truth.
The Democrats are owned by the same folks who own the Republicans.
The Two Party system now serves one purpose: to kill off the middle class and allow the super wealthy to accumulate enough cash so that they will have a stake when China (or someone else we owe trillions of dollars to) asks Washington for the deed to the country: “Hey, we bought you fair and square. Give us the deed”.
There is a way to set things right in the US and in the world. So far I have only been able to come up with this:
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
1.The endless battles between Democrats and Republicans are pointless. The battles and debates should be taking place between the heads of corporations, lobbyists, those who control wealth, and those whose lives are being destroyed, belittled, minimized, and stolen by policies intended to increase profit for corporations while an entire class of Americans (used to be called the Middle Class, now referred to as “apartment dwellers”) pay the price by being overworked (or unemployed),uninsured, and placed in a position in which children are raised in tense, volatile, numb, and inattentive home environments due to the demands and pressures placed on parents by the struggle to at least appear middle class.
2.If we all spent 20% of our “free time” researching and taking part in political and social causes/efforts at change which reflect common, human, humane, and life-affirming values, we could right all of the wrongs in our country quickly. We could move the world in a life-affirming rather than a death-awaiting direction.
By “free time” I am referring to the time we currently spend at silly rallies, watching movies, playing video games, obsessed with sports, hypnotized by media coverage of “celebrities”, mindlessly wandering “the internets”, drinking, drugging, churching, trying to avoid the ravages of advancing age, the time we spend consuming and creating music, etc.
These activities primarily interfere with our ability to “get it”. There are exceptions which actually shed light on some of the darkness we face.
When we overly-engage in one or more of these activities, we are choosing the juicy steak rather than “reality” ala “The Matrix”.
Most of us enjoy some or all of these activities. Diversions are great.
The creation of art (whether it is a painting, a rap song, a video game, creating or watching a film etc.) adds to our human-ness. Years of dedication and practice which result in amazing feats of athletic prowess are to be admired and enjoyed as manifestations of what these human bodies can do.
I am as guilty as anyone else. Going forward, I am going to try to spend at least 20% of my time researching and taking part in causes which resonate with me.
MY PERSONAL DILEMMA:
The more I learn about how insurance companies, corporations, and governments work, the angrier I get. I don’t like argument as sport any longer. I don’t like feeling angry. My spiritual path is based on the knowing that we are all one with Source/God. How can we be different from that which manifested us into being? (Thank you W. Dyer and many others).
The spiritual path I follow, generally reveals anger to be weakness and a function of ego; a desire to always be right as characteristic not of a truth-seeker but one who always insists on being “right” : an egoist.
This is not an effort to put down anyone’s spiritual beliefs or path. I just personally do not believe that God has a favorite football team, country, political party or beer.
I do believe that when we are in alignment with Source, we speak and live compassion, empathy, love for all (regardless of any of the dozens of ways we humans have chosen to separate ourselves by religious affiliation, political beliefs, racial attitudes, etc).
I also believe that when we are forced to act in violence for a cause that is clearly in alignment with Source/God(stopping a Genocide, for instance), then those of us with the required skills, courage, and commitment to right action should never celebrate or find joy while we kill or afterward. We should treat each death (theirs or ours) as a tragedy and renew our commitment to ensuring that we make changes which will eliminate the need for future violence.
Those of us who do not take part directly in such necessary violence should ensure that those who do (including their families) are taken care of in every possible way and that their insights and revelations are used in considering future non-violent ways to solve problems.
Namaste!
When I sat down to write this blog, I was feeling slightly curmudgeonly. I am currently feeling more curmudgeonly. A few minutes ago, my fingers experienced some type of strange independent lives just long enough to hit the wrong keys in the right sequence needed to delete what I had written. I am not prolific. I am compelled to write. I don’t “enjoy it” so, dear reader, I ask your forgiveness and pardon.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US
1.Corporations now rule our country and most of the world. Political parties do not offer any solace, justice, or give voice to those of us in the middle class. Political parties only offer us choices between levels and flavors of evil.
How would you like your political views voiced by your choice of the Big Two?
A: Republicans: An understanding of the forces at work within (and on the fringes of) the Republican Party is important and a rather easy course to ace.
If you want to see the true nature of modern American politics: naked corporate greed; the international exporting of capitalism’s most sinister aspects including the endless search for cheaper labor at any moral price; the creation of synthetic “moral” non-issues created purely as motivation to get Republican voters to the polls (DODT, gay marriage, new rules to provide assurance of accurate birth records of presidential candidates etc) is on display at the front of the parade in the Republican party. No reason to dig or investigate or analyze.
Just find a good spot on the parade route, wave your flag, and watch the floats go by. “Oh look, there’s a float with Karl Rove holding one of those gigantic checks signed by CHINA. How cute! Has he lost weight?" It is all right there.
How can anyone continue to suggest that we shouldn’t tax the rich because it will not “allow” the wealthy to buy new machines, open factories, and create jobs? Trickle down economics? Bullshit. The Middle Class in America is dying and the uber-rich are becoming uber-richer. They are not spending the money they have saved on taxes for the last ten plus years on creating new products or putting Americans to work.
Ronald Regan’s trickle down economics only worked for those at the top who needed to take a long satisfying piss. If you felt it hit your head, you are in trouble like 97% of us are.
If you were doing the pissing, all I can say is “Nice aim!”
If anyone reading this passes by Ronnie Regan’s tomb this week, can you give it a quick look and make sure the old bastard is still in there? I thought I saw him in a wheelchair in a photograph of a Tea Party event.
B. Democrats. The only discernible difference between the mainstream dems and the mainstream repubs is that the Dems at least talk about some of the issues important to those of us who do not belong in the top 3% club. The few true idealists in the Dem party are laughed at by those who run the party and gather and dole out the money. Many of these idealists do believe, as Arianna Huffington (READ HER NEW BOOK “THIRD WORLD AMERICA") does, that the brutal and open attack on the middle class can be stopped or at least exposed.
The mainstream Dems go along with the Republicans and treat true Democrat idealists as left-wing lunatics, socialists, and non-patriots. They get to talk but nobody really listens.
One of the more subtle aspects of the capitalistic system (the whole system, not merely the economic model) is the role of “freedom of speech”, “freedom to protest”, and “free elections”. These freedoms all serve as “pressure valves”. They rarely lead to change.
If we get “mad as hell and can’t take it anymore”, we can put on our finest Uncle Sam hat, hop on a bus (not sure who is paying for the gas here) and go march in Washington while Beck-Palin and other great students of history and finger-painting, put on a Tea Party show: all style and absolutely no substance.
If we feel that the economic powers of the world should do the right thing and forgive third world debt, we can put on our tie-dyed shirts and sandals, and protest the meetings of the main economic powers. This is a youth-fuelled trip and seems to be mainly about expressing rage, re-creating some of the successes of the sixties etc. Also, these situations are great places to hook up with others who “get it” and can spend endless hours engaged in deep discussion of how to change things and bring down “the system”. Great times and an excellent opportunity to party, maybe even get laid.
Of course, the more serious protests (THINK G8) take place a considerable distance from the actual meeting place in order to “assure security” but mainly to insure that none of the leaders have to be exposed to anything close to truth.
The Democrats are owned by the same folks who own the Republicans.
The Two Party system now serves one purpose: to kill off the middle class and allow the super wealthy to accumulate enough cash so that they will have a stake when China (or someone else we owe trillions of dollars to) asks Washington for the deed to the country: “Hey, we bought you fair and square. Give us the deed”.
There is a way to set things right in the US and in the world. So far I have only been able to come up with this:
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
1.The endless battles between Democrats and Republicans are pointless. The battles and debates should be taking place between the heads of corporations, lobbyists, those who control wealth, and those whose lives are being destroyed, belittled, minimized, and stolen by policies intended to increase profit for corporations while an entire class of Americans (used to be called the Middle Class, now referred to as “apartment dwellers”) pay the price by being overworked (or unemployed),uninsured, and placed in a position in which children are raised in tense, volatile, numb, and inattentive home environments due to the demands and pressures placed on parents by the struggle to at least appear middle class.
2.If we all spent 20% of our “free time” researching and taking part in political and social causes/efforts at change which reflect common, human, humane, and life-affirming values, we could right all of the wrongs in our country quickly. We could move the world in a life-affirming rather than a death-awaiting direction.
By “free time” I am referring to the time we currently spend at silly rallies, watching movies, playing video games, obsessed with sports, hypnotized by media coverage of “celebrities”, mindlessly wandering “the internets”, drinking, drugging, churching, trying to avoid the ravages of advancing age, the time we spend consuming and creating music, etc.
These activities primarily interfere with our ability to “get it”. There are exceptions which actually shed light on some of the darkness we face.
When we overly-engage in one or more of these activities, we are choosing the juicy steak rather than “reality” ala “The Matrix”.
Most of us enjoy some or all of these activities. Diversions are great.
The creation of art (whether it is a painting, a rap song, a video game, creating or watching a film etc.) adds to our human-ness. Years of dedication and practice which result in amazing feats of athletic prowess are to be admired and enjoyed as manifestations of what these human bodies can do.
I am as guilty as anyone else. Going forward, I am going to try to spend at least 20% of my time researching and taking part in causes which resonate with me.
MY PERSONAL DILEMMA:
The more I learn about how insurance companies, corporations, and governments work, the angrier I get. I don’t like argument as sport any longer. I don’t like feeling angry. My spiritual path is based on the knowing that we are all one with Source/God. How can we be different from that which manifested us into being? (Thank you W. Dyer and many others).
The spiritual path I follow, generally reveals anger to be weakness and a function of ego; a desire to always be right as characteristic not of a truth-seeker but one who always insists on being “right” : an egoist.
This is not an effort to put down anyone’s spiritual beliefs or path. I just personally do not believe that God has a favorite football team, country, political party or beer.
I do believe that when we are in alignment with Source, we speak and live compassion, empathy, love for all (regardless of any of the dozens of ways we humans have chosen to separate ourselves by religious affiliation, political beliefs, racial attitudes, etc).
I also believe that when we are forced to act in violence for a cause that is clearly in alignment with Source/God(stopping a Genocide, for instance), then those of us with the required skills, courage, and commitment to right action should never celebrate or find joy while we kill or afterward. We should treat each death (theirs or ours) as a tragedy and renew our commitment to ensuring that we make changes which will eliminate the need for future violence.
Those of us who do not take part directly in such necessary violence should ensure that those who do (including their families) are taken care of in every possible way and that their insights and revelations are used in considering future non-violent ways to solve problems.
Namaste!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thank You Family/Source Engergy Comes from Everywhere/THANK YOU WENDY
Dad died today. He is no longer in pain. For that, I am grateful. Those of us left are dealing with this as we are. I decided today would would be a great time to push a family issue with my brother. I am still in the anger stage, I guess. This was a mistake and I will have to apologize to him for it. I will not apologize merely because I picked a fight while we are both devastated at the loss of our father this morning (Dad died on his own birthday) but also because when I do anything that is not in alignment with Source, my stomach hurts and I am no longer very effective in being of service in the way the Boss would use me that day. Sorry brother. Sorry Nat. Apology on the way.
I was ready to beg my professor and university for an Incomplete this morning. This would have been "old Jack" behavior but I simply could not anticipate writing academic essays and a research paper this week while I keep flashing on the torture my Dad, his wife, us kids, and many others endured. Dad had the worst of it, of course. However, he is free now and he suffered horribly but not for as long as some do.
This evening I was lying in bed and thinking I should just get that incomplete even though my professor has been very understanding and I have worked hard to get the A I currently own. Still, I wanted to take some time off and finish up after I had the opportunity to meditate, visit with Dad on the astral plane, and watch some really bad films on a streaming movie service I use. I also thought I would use that time to reach out to Dad's wife, our relatives, and spend some life-affirming time with my nieces and nephews. I have found that when my cup is empty, time with my nephew, older niece, and younger niece fills that cup up. Then I have something to give to my friends, my friend with Alzheimer's, and the guys who ram their cart into mine in line at the grocery. Also, I figured I could use this time to apologize for the fight I picked with my brother earlier in the day.
Just as I was ready to blow off tonight's coursework and take the hit point-wise, I received a call from one of my cousins. We talked about my Dad (of course) but somehow God put words in her mouth that made me feel like I COULD keep going with school and that Dad would want this for me. After our call, I got out of bed (or off of futon to be more accurate) and I wrote my assignment. I have written better assignments but I am amazed that this one was written at all. Since Dad's illness progressed and then overtook him, I have had difficulty finding the energy to do things like urinate or order pizza (I KNOW so STOP), or to organize my collection of stamps from countries whose names begin with the letter "R". You should see my Romania book! Wow! Okay, I made up that part about my stamp collection. I wanted to feel charismatic and interesting for a moment.
What follows is the paper I just submitted as a direct result of God working through a flesh and blood person (my cousin). This is not my best work. The miracle here is not that I created a great work of art. The miracle is that I wrote SOMETHING. Thank you Dad, thank you source, thank you Wendy, sorry Marty and Nat---
I was ready to beg my professor and university for an Incomplete this morning. This would have been "old Jack" behavior but I simply could not anticipate writing academic essays and a research paper this week while I keep flashing on the torture my Dad, his wife, us kids, and many others endured. Dad had the worst of it, of course. However, he is free now and he suffered horribly but not for as long as some do.
This evening I was lying in bed and thinking I should just get that incomplete even though my professor has been very understanding and I have worked hard to get the A I currently own. Still, I wanted to take some time off and finish up after I had the opportunity to meditate, visit with Dad on the astral plane, and watch some really bad films on a streaming movie service I use. I also thought I would use that time to reach out to Dad's wife, our relatives, and spend some life-affirming time with my nieces and nephews. I have found that when my cup is empty, time with my nephew, older niece, and younger niece fills that cup up. Then I have something to give to my friends, my friend with Alzheimer's, and the guys who ram their cart into mine in line at the grocery. Also, I figured I could use this time to apologize for the fight I picked with my brother earlier in the day.
Just as I was ready to blow off tonight's coursework and take the hit point-wise, I received a call from one of my cousins. We talked about my Dad (of course) but somehow God put words in her mouth that made me feel like I COULD keep going with school and that Dad would want this for me. After our call, I got out of bed (or off of futon to be more accurate) and I wrote my assignment. I have written better assignments but I am amazed that this one was written at all. Since Dad's illness progressed and then overtook him, I have had difficulty finding the energy to do things like urinate or order pizza (I KNOW so STOP), or to organize my collection of stamps from countries whose names begin with the letter "R". You should see my Romania book! Wow! Okay, I made up that part about my stamp collection. I wanted to feel charismatic and interesting for a moment.
What follows is the paper I just submitted as a direct result of God working through a flesh and blood person (my cousin). This is not my best work. The miracle here is not that I created a great work of art. The miracle is that I wrote SOMETHING. Thank you Dad, thank you source, thank you Wendy, sorry Marty and Nat---
Since many fellow learners have already discussed the differences between the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligences, I will not re-define these terms/concepts. I will refer to them as statements of fact since fellow learners have written extensively and have provided impressive information and have cited references concerning these different categories of intelligence.
Our journey through developmental stages has finally arrived at my destination. This is where I get off. I know the shops and the street because this is where I live. At 47, I am a middle adult. I would prefer that someone come up with a more interesting and marketable name for those of us who fit in this category; perhaps something like “inordinately average adults with marked displays of wisdom”. Unfortunately, that phrase has a bit too much glitter and fireworks. So yes, I am a middle adult and I have experienced some of the cognitive changes we have read about this week.
First, I am a little slow. Apparently this is not an uncommon manifestation of cognitive withering among middle adults. Schaie (1996, as cited in Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2009) performed and reported on a series of tests intended to isolate intelligence ability. Although many aspects of intelligence were studied, it was found that middle adults demonstrated a slowing of performance in only one area: speed of performance.
This supports my anecdotal and personal experience in the work place. Younger workers were much faster than those of us whose age places us in the middle adult category. The younger folks were able to input data faster. They could toggle more quickly between various software systems. They even made decisions a bit quicker as to what they would eat for lunch. In other words, their fluid intelligence gave them the ability to make quicker decisions and perform some job-related tasks more efficiently.
This fluidity provided younger coworkers a clear edge during annual reviews and allowed them to impress mangers with their apparently superior ability to demonstrate “sense of urgency” which was always an extremely important phrase used by most managers I have had. I assume this skill also allows younger adults to decide on which movie to choose a bit faster while on dates and enables them to text faster while the movie is playing. This apparent surplus of fluid skills probably makes it easier to respond to the needs of children more quickly while simultaneously doing laundry, coursework, and other duties which should be performed by each member of a couple regardless of sex. That issue should be the subject of another essay.
Secondly, I look to history and poorly documented websites for evidence of how middle (and older) adults can use the experience that comes with age to produce great works of art; the kinds of works that younger, less-experienced (albeit more “fluid”) younger adults cannot produce. Crandell, Crandell, and Vander Zanden (2009) provide me with some hope in this regard (as long as I focus on the latter part of their comments) regarding expert performance when they write “…in novel writing, history, and philosophy the optimal ages are in the forties and fifties” (p. 510). As a budding author and life-long fan of philosophy, this does give me some advantages both in the work place and at home. For one thing, I write great emails to managers. These notes are well-structured, poetic, and also professional. Additionally, I use this concept of "the middle adult maintaining expert performance skills" each time I dust off or move my novel (rather slowly) from one drawer to another. We all exhibit various levels of proficiency in cognitive skill regardless of where we fall along the path of the life span.
I tend to prefer giving in-depth analysis on studies which emphasize that while middle adults may not be able to input data or decide on the film for the evening as quickly or efficiently as our younger acquaintances or coworkers, we may have an advantage when it comes to understanding and producing works of literature and treatises on philosophy. At least this is something. Family relationships improve in that while I may text my family members very slowly, what I have to say may be of some philosophical, historical, or artistic merit. Jack
References
Crandell, T. L., Crandell, C. H., & Vander Zanden, J. W. (2009). Human development (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN: 9780073370422.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Mumbling To Myself As the Death Watch Continues
LIFE GOES ON
My father has had terminal cancer for about a year ( I think). Now the cancer is winning. Very soon, I will no longer be able to call my once-estranged father to ask him how the pond is looking, how many fish he caught, or what he is watching on television. Somehow, Source allowed me to stop calling him (my Mom, my brother, my sister, and one Lemon Choice Brockstin III [whom I first dialed by accident and then on purpose], my Aunt Nanie, and a few others) to ask for money. I am sure that Dad (and the others just mentioned inside parentheses eerily similar to the ones that cage this astonishing sentence) are as glad to not receive these calls as I am to not make them.
My cell phone is placed on vibrate when I lay down to sleep. Not these days. Basically, I want to know when the pain is over for Dad. He has not been Ward Cleaver and I have not been Wally. So what? I have been forgiven for many more things than I have (or will ever) forgive. I think of that as the manifestation of the grace that comes from Source.
I forgave my Dad for a host of issues which were caused by genetics, DNA, genetic predisposition, alcoholism, having a controlling and wicked asshole for a father, and being exposed to the chemical equivalent of the stuff that created the Toxic Avenger every day for decades as he slaved away at achieving the American Dream in a stinking, hot, factory. Also, I could have been a little bit less weird when I was a kid. Dad would have liked that.
Thank God for my brother. He was the son Dad always wanted and who wouldn't? Thank God for my sister. She is probably the one human being who taught Dad all of the things that St. Dennis Catholic Church failed to teach him, you know--- THE IMORTANT STUFF!
I feel honored that my sister, my brother, my mother, my Aunt Nanie, and my sweet Mamaw signed on to be living angels for some of us who really needed to evolve. My Dad became a living angel, also. His heart was pure. He worked hard to help people. He is leaving this world without anyone hating him. He is leaving with the knowledge of the power of forgiveness from both sides of that sacred and holy experience.
BE AWARE: WORDS OF WISDOM OR REGURGITATION OF SOMEONE ELSE'S REAL WORLDS OF WISDOM AHEAD!!!
Just in case you don't know this: Forgiveness is the SHIT!
Forgiving is like taking a shower from the inside out. It is freedom and it does not matter if the person we forgive deserves it or not.
Being forgiven is like someone giving you the key to a prison cell that you have built for yourself with bricks of selfishness or unenlightened actions . When you are forgiven (especially if you don't "deserve it"), you remember why you were in that prison cell for so long. If you have the cognitive ability to truly appreciate the experience, the knowingness that comes with being forgiven is like looking up and seeing the sheer power and beauty of a full moon or looking into the face of brand new little baby: it is hope, joy, resolve, and gratitude. The flickering light inside begins to glow brighter and it doesn't flicker so much---unless of course the demons that live in our abdomens and were implanted there by the Lord, or Satan or one of THOSE guys lets loose with a big fart and then the light flickers again. Fortunately, this does not happen that often.
All I know this morning is: I love my Dad, his wife, all my nieces and nephews, my family, and I hate nobody. I am a tad focused on the pain my Dad is in and I hope he passes soon. He is cashed and he knows it. I look forward to the night Dad comes to me in a dream with fishing gear. He will flash that smile at me: the one he had before life, alcoholism, and daily exposure to toxic chemicals at his job took so much of the joy out of it. I am sure it will be like the smile he had when he mustered the last of his strength to get on a stage at the end of his life and hit those high notes he had not been able to pull off for decades. That kind of smile. And he will just look at me and say "Well, I don't know if we'll do any good but lets try her". In this dream, Dad will let me catch more fish than he does. That'll be a new one!
Peace. Light. Love------Namaste for now. So mote it be.
ONE LAST THING
I am coming for you Kitchen Kompact of Jeffersonville, Indiana. You built your Valhalla golf course with those you poisoned and killed. They were your happy slaves. At times, you portrayed yourselves as being good masters. However, I am here. Unfortunately for you (and for me) I have not yet ascended to the top of some mountain in glowing saffron robes.
There will be no violence against you or anyone in your company.
Gonna go you one better.
I am going to get the names and medical records of every human being who died as the result of the cancerous stuff that filled that big torture room you called a factory. Think class action lawsuit. Think Love Canal.
You will sell that golf course (if you didn't already sell it and invest in Haliburton or Lockeed-Martin). You (or your heirs or your board of directors) will file bankruptcy. That will be a little embarrassing on Derby Day when you are swilling Mint Juleps in your sky box.
You'll barely notice, however, and you will sleep well every night until you stare into the void my Dad is staring into tonight. That will happen when some of the cells in your body decide even they are not immune to the chemical damage they suffered while you bravely walked out onto the factory floor to show the workers that you were like them. You bastards.
Someone from the family who owns that place is going to be forced to sit at a table and watch a slide presentation of what your chemicals and your production process did to the brains, livers, stomachs, skin, bones, and other organs of your happy slaves. And you will have to stare into the eyes of the broken and the sad. Then you will write them all nice fat checks which I hope they will use to hold other companies accountable for what you have done and continue to do. My father forgave you long ago and he mistook your "kind" gestures as genuine although I know you were just covering your asses. Peace and Light to you----and remember that when cancer or some other disease breaks YOU, you will get your chance to make it right. God bless you and may your lawyers protect you from financial devastation until you finally understand what God, or blessing, or forgiveness mean.
My father has had terminal cancer for about a year ( I think). Now the cancer is winning. Very soon, I will no longer be able to call my once-estranged father to ask him how the pond is looking, how many fish he caught, or what he is watching on television. Somehow, Source allowed me to stop calling him (my Mom, my brother, my sister, and one Lemon Choice Brockstin III [whom I first dialed by accident and then on purpose], my Aunt Nanie, and a few others) to ask for money. I am sure that Dad (and the others just mentioned inside parentheses eerily similar to the ones that cage this astonishing sentence) are as glad to not receive these calls as I am to not make them.
My cell phone is placed on vibrate when I lay down to sleep. Not these days. Basically, I want to know when the pain is over for Dad. He has not been Ward Cleaver and I have not been Wally. So what? I have been forgiven for many more things than I have (or will ever) forgive. I think of that as the manifestation of the grace that comes from Source.
I forgave my Dad for a host of issues which were caused by genetics, DNA, genetic predisposition, alcoholism, having a controlling and wicked asshole for a father, and being exposed to the chemical equivalent of the stuff that created the Toxic Avenger every day for decades as he slaved away at achieving the American Dream in a stinking, hot, factory. Also, I could have been a little bit less weird when I was a kid. Dad would have liked that.
Thank God for my brother. He was the son Dad always wanted and who wouldn't? Thank God for my sister. She is probably the one human being who taught Dad all of the things that St. Dennis Catholic Church failed to teach him, you know--- THE IMORTANT STUFF!
I feel honored that my sister, my brother, my mother, my Aunt Nanie, and my sweet Mamaw signed on to be living angels for some of us who really needed to evolve. My Dad became a living angel, also. His heart was pure. He worked hard to help people. He is leaving this world without anyone hating him. He is leaving with the knowledge of the power of forgiveness from both sides of that sacred and holy experience.
BE AWARE: WORDS OF WISDOM OR REGURGITATION OF SOMEONE ELSE'S REAL WORLDS OF WISDOM AHEAD!!!
Just in case you don't know this: Forgiveness is the SHIT!
Forgiving is like taking a shower from the inside out. It is freedom and it does not matter if the person we forgive deserves it or not.
Being forgiven is like someone giving you the key to a prison cell that you have built for yourself with bricks of selfishness or unenlightened actions . When you are forgiven (especially if you don't "deserve it"), you remember why you were in that prison cell for so long. If you have the cognitive ability to truly appreciate the experience, the knowingness that comes with being forgiven is like looking up and seeing the sheer power and beauty of a full moon or looking into the face of brand new little baby: it is hope, joy, resolve, and gratitude. The flickering light inside begins to glow brighter and it doesn't flicker so much---unless of course the demons that live in our abdomens and were implanted there by the Lord, or Satan or one of THOSE guys lets loose with a big fart and then the light flickers again. Fortunately, this does not happen that often.
All I know this morning is: I love my Dad, his wife, all my nieces and nephews, my family, and I hate nobody. I am a tad focused on the pain my Dad is in and I hope he passes soon. He is cashed and he knows it. I look forward to the night Dad comes to me in a dream with fishing gear. He will flash that smile at me: the one he had before life, alcoholism, and daily exposure to toxic chemicals at his job took so much of the joy out of it. I am sure it will be like the smile he had when he mustered the last of his strength to get on a stage at the end of his life and hit those high notes he had not been able to pull off for decades. That kind of smile. And he will just look at me and say "Well, I don't know if we'll do any good but lets try her". In this dream, Dad will let me catch more fish than he does. That'll be a new one!
Peace. Light. Love------Namaste for now. So mote it be.
ONE LAST THING
I am coming for you Kitchen Kompact of Jeffersonville, Indiana. You built your Valhalla golf course with those you poisoned and killed. They were your happy slaves. At times, you portrayed yourselves as being good masters. However, I am here. Unfortunately for you (and for me) I have not yet ascended to the top of some mountain in glowing saffron robes.
There will be no violence against you or anyone in your company.
Gonna go you one better.
I am going to get the names and medical records of every human being who died as the result of the cancerous stuff that filled that big torture room you called a factory. Think class action lawsuit. Think Love Canal.
You will sell that golf course (if you didn't already sell it and invest in Haliburton or Lockeed-Martin). You (or your heirs or your board of directors) will file bankruptcy. That will be a little embarrassing on Derby Day when you are swilling Mint Juleps in your sky box.
You'll barely notice, however, and you will sleep well every night until you stare into the void my Dad is staring into tonight. That will happen when some of the cells in your body decide even they are not immune to the chemical damage they suffered while you bravely walked out onto the factory floor to show the workers that you were like them. You bastards.
Someone from the family who owns that place is going to be forced to sit at a table and watch a slide presentation of what your chemicals and your production process did to the brains, livers, stomachs, skin, bones, and other organs of your happy slaves. And you will have to stare into the eyes of the broken and the sad. Then you will write them all nice fat checks which I hope they will use to hold other companies accountable for what you have done and continue to do. My father forgave you long ago and he mistook your "kind" gestures as genuine although I know you were just covering your asses. Peace and Light to you----and remember that when cancer or some other disease breaks YOU, you will get your chance to make it right. God bless you and may your lawyers protect you from financial devastation until you finally understand what God, or blessing, or forgiveness mean.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Broken Father/Breaking Family/Some Unbroken Thoughts
I am on death watch tonight. My father is dying in his home in Kentucky and I am unable to be there. His body has been broken by cancer and his organs are shutting down: one at a time, like someone shutting off each light in some ordained sequence at a sports venue. His wife and my family are breaking, as all families break, when a loved one is passing over.
This is part of the human experience. I did not sign on for this part but then again, nobody asked me to give my approval to this last part of life on this plane. I voted for eternal life on this earth and healthy bodies for all of us which last forever.
My thoughts, positive vibrations, and support are with Dad, his wife, and the rest of our family. I am intentionally diverting my personal pain and my nearly constant awareness of my Dad's pain as he undergoes this final torture on this plane of existence. Love you Dad! Go unafraid and unapologetic to the light that does not judge or condemn or demand praise and songs of its glorification. I am with you and so are your other kids, your wife, and many others. Get on the plane and have a beer, out of pain, and without regret. I love you.
Do your work, then step back.
This is part of the human experience. I did not sign on for this part but then again, nobody asked me to give my approval to this last part of life on this plane. I voted for eternal life on this earth and healthy bodies for all of us which last forever.
My thoughts, positive vibrations, and support are with Dad, his wife, and the rest of our family. I am intentionally diverting my personal pain and my nearly constant awareness of my Dad's pain as he undergoes this final torture on this plane of existence. Love you Dad! Go unafraid and unapologetic to the light that does not judge or condemn or demand praise and songs of its glorification. I am with you and so are your other kids, your wife, and many others. Get on the plane and have a beer, out of pain, and without regret. I love you.
WHAT I THINK
1. Life does not end with the ending of this body
2. There is no celestial deity with a chalkboard keeping score.
3. Well-intentioned prayers that people be healed are nice and come from some gentle loving souls. However, God does not sit on his golden throne while some heavenly score keeper tracks the number of incoming prayers for someone to be healed. When the right number of prayers are tabulated, there is no buzzer that echoes through Heaven. God does not roll his eyes and say "Well, that last prayer from Tupelo Mississipi put Mrs. Jones over the top. I really wanted to kill her but now I guess I have to wait. The good people have spoken!" As Wayne Dyer and many others say "God is not a withholding God."
4. Energy, including soul energy, is never created or destroyed. It is merely transformed. To pass to the next phase of this amazing journey does not require the stamp of approval by a Pope, a preacher, a gate-keeper, or a committee of spiritually superior human beings. Moving on to the next phase is a guarantee and is not tied to taking Jesus Christ as your personal savior, making the right number of payments to charities, or dragging enough old ladies across the road whether they want to go or not.
5. Christ, Buddha, Mother Theresa, and the homeless person under the nearest overpass all have lessons to teach us. Their words, their lives, and their spirits are letters from God. Some of these (the Christ, Budha etc) manifested here directly from the creative Source intelligence to show us what God is and what we can be when we are in alignment with God. There is no punishment for being out of alignment. Life just kinda sucks when we are. Also, sentient beings (I include our furry friends and all the plants and animals we share this earth with in this) are here to teach us something and they deserve love and to be able to give us the love they have. Note: I know this and know I am a hypocrite because I eat some of these animals and many of these plants. I am still evolving. AND I am okay with that and so is my Creator.
6. When we start down the path toward enlightenment and find our passion, we are given the opportunity to find our unique path of service. To be of service and remain unattached to the outcome is the ultimate realization as humans of the God within us. I stole this from Wayne Dyer's "Power of Intention".
7. I did not manifest any of the words or thoughts in 1 - 6. As the Bible says "There is nothing new under the sun".
8. Dogma is not beneficial to spiritual growth. Buildings are no better at invoking love or God's presence than forests or filthy alleys. Religious laws can be beautiful and comforting but they become tainted as man sullies them with politics, greed, corruption, self-glorification, and institutionalized judgment of who is right and who is wrong and who is going to get wings and who is going to burn and who is going to get 13 virgins and who is going to get the shaft.
9. God does not choose sides in wars or football games. Sometimes (think WWII), we may be forced, regretfully, to use force to stop the unevolved from carrying out horror. But no death on a battle field should be celebrated. Each death caused by a nation, even if the cause is just (and this is rare) should be somber and all involved should feel sad that diplomacy and understanding failed. A battlefield is a funeral, not a football field. God does not have a favorite country or a favorite beer, either.
A Couple of Awesome Quotes
"Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know;
Through the world we safely go.
Joy and Woe are woven fine.
Clothing for the soul divine"-William Blake
"Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to Serenity."
-tao te ching, translation by Stephen Mitchell (1988)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)