Entitlement?

Excuse my tone, but WTF? What gives people the right to expect that their position is the only justifiable and righteous one possible? Is it possible that there are still those who consider themselves the center of the universe? I urge everyone to review the storybook, Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? The ancient fable, For the Want of A Nail, too reminds us of the essential nature of giving our-selves thoroughly to our tasks. Perchance you have not been exposed to either of these wonderful tales, It is not giving away the story to tell the tale a-new, if it from your own place of understanding. Like the lotus blossom, the best literature bends and stretches our understanding of the world aeound us. In "teaching" sustainability, one must be ever vigilant to seek out and find better and better data to skew perceptions into peak understanding, using the best placed mental levers and the lever arms of emotion that help our listeners adapt, or integrate knowledge.

Often, especially in light of ubiquitous media, "sources" for information, vast territory of the intellectual landscape is ignored. This results in what perceptually becomes non-existence. We can never realize something our awareness cannot fathom, something we have no experience with, or our thoughts cannot comprehend. The strangest quirk in this perceptual black hole is that even once you have developed a new fluency in a discreet matter, expressing it to another in a way that expands their awareness becomes paramount, for if it lived only in one mind, it may not "matter". Now, let me see how these stories can yield new light into age old crevices, that brain fissures must mimic if we are to adapt to changing conditions. For myself, I prefer to surround myself with folks who believe, like I do that community, brotherhood and co-operation always will sustain, whereas exploitation and extraction will, in the end, amount to dissolution and estrangement.

In Scarry's lighthearted and loveable cartoons and accompanying text, it is revealed that every single thing we touch is brought to us through the hand of a greater community. How the milk, or eggs reach our table is part of each and every one of our path toward understanding our place in an eternal chain. Rather than the center of the universe, we are all whirring entities that exist within the ebb and flow of time. Whether or not we continue to exist depends on our ability to thrive, if we do not turn the corner on educating ourselves in what the best part we can play, in the music of the spheres, is up to us. We all have the right to turn our noses to the wind and step in a positive direction, or to blow like so many scattered leaves, Scarry shows us the essential nature of hundreds of tasks, each one helping, healing, always leaving more and better in their wake. cradle to grave there is no better story than that!

For the Want of A Nail is the multi-level following backward of a logical progression that begins from a great battle, which in the end is lost. Caused by a rider being held up, because his horse went lame, because the farrier shorted his shoe by a single nail, which was not made because the smith got up on the wrong side of the bed and didn't want to do his part. We have all been the smith, Scary, as well as the ancients have volumes to speak to overcoming drudgery by cultivating a positive attitude toward one's work, but in today's day and age, the complexities of media imposed "reality", sex still pays the bills. Power, control, domination. As "production units" or "human resources", our right includes the power to decide not to throw in with the forces that would have us buy into their "reality", honor true seekers by letting them know that their learning in turn enlightens them, you dear reader honor me by your hanging on, to the thread that connects us, the spirit of giving, of pilgrimage, into realms as yet unexplored.

Perhaps in our own way, we need to find a route to awareness of our integration that leaves our hearts carefree and confident that we are serving the good of all. Against all odds in this "mixed up tixed up world", at the end of the day, we need to know that faraway, beyond comprehension, others lives are made better because of the parts we all play. When this can be known, whatever life's challenges become no just bearable, but welcome friends along the journey to life's end. May you each be blessed with a route to happiness that includes you soul purpose, your destiny and may your dreams lead you to a full and complete joy, no, abandon, fettered by not a single doubt or recrimination. Unabashedly, I ask each being that resonates with any of what I said to commit to finding your truest expression, breaking any molds you may have made for yourself in the past. The time to grow is now. At this stage there are growing pains, psychic open fontanelles and vulnerabilities where once we had heavy armor. Trust me, once you let that burden go, many of life's daily drudgeries disappear. We no longer have an excuse to do the wrong thing, the writing is on the wall. The old ways of doing things that won't work, won't work, ever. They can't be tweaked of overcome by science fiction technology. Even if they do, there will be lowly people behind the scenes who help pull it off.  We each have the power to be lowly in our own way, or great. No one is ever recognized for going with the flow, so keep your nose pointed to the wind and always realize that your actions create waves, across the Universe.

GET GOING!

Let your actions reflect the lost chord, resonate with the eternal and have the timbre of the great drum of Peace, namaste'
 

Recycling Myths Debunked

For the benefit of next seven generations, we need to seriously question the pap and Pablam  spewed by both the public officials who roll out new programs to make us feel better about our dire straights as well as industry leaders who feel that we are just raw materials for their exploitation and abuse. To this end, I want to share some information that I came across this morning. Recycling Myths Debunked

Learning new ways of being always take a little time and thoughtful effort. The massive benefits that come from re-thinking our consumer culture have lasting benefits and over time will help lance and empty the painful boil that the plastics industry has become on the face of our culture, and instantaneously lead to incredible changes in the quality of life that we enjoy that are long-lived and profound. Poverty looks the same everywhere it is allowed to fester. Those with their hand on the tiller of the various ships of state have driven us further than anyone could have imagined into the dangerous waters of degrading the planet, defiling her bounty and poisoning the most precious resources. We have been repeatedly told that these products are needed to produce a liveable lifestyle that ensures the health and well-being of our children, their children and the coming generations that depend on us for their survival, no, their very existence. What is actually true, however, is that we are creating not only more and more long-lived waste, paying for it and poisoning the planet in the process.

I know that most of us are extremely busy, but please, put the time in to read this link. Expecting the industry, or our current slate of "leaders" to do the right thing, or for them to somehow make things easier for us is to neglect due diligence. Education is the second most expensive thing in the world. The real costs begin to add up when we resort to ignorance. The most revolutionary thing we can do at this point is to seek truth in the face of power, to reconsider everything we have been told and to find out whose money is paying for us to be taught certain falsehoods.

The same folks who want us to think that plastic is environmentally benign are the ones whose hands are deeply involved in raping the planet for profit. Just as there are no dollars available for researching the efficacy and health benefits of natural herbs, (that feed the soils and our bodies) there are no funds available to research the extent of the damage being done by the plastics industry worldwide. When the truth is finally known, those responsible will have garnered enough wealth to hire the best lawyers to drag out any remediation attempts for at least another generation or two. Examine the track record of the largest corporations and you will find a disturbing proclivity for picking our pockets while simultaneously tearing away at the fabric of Spaceship Earth. As crew of this vessel, we have every right to mutiny.

It is past time for us to wrest the, soul-less cold dead hands of the current captains of industry from the tiller. The time has come to change course, find our way to sustainability and stop the headlong run into the meat grinder of environmental destruction. The only way our great grandchildren will be able to thank us for pulling back from the brink of destruction is for us to make better choices today so that they will have the chance to make a life for themselves in the future. Seriously consider the anthropological fact of the myth of increased leisure. Technology cannot solve problems created by the adoption of earlier technologies that were sold to us as necessities without reconsidering the true costs of their adoption. Reject, Reduce, Re-use, Re-purpose, then when you run out of other options, Recycle!

Today Is The Day!

Perhaps by the time I'm done writing this, The five thousandth reader will have read one of my posts!
Thank-you! Thank-you, thank-you! Perhaps for those of you who return time after time, I should recreate this page and my online self to better reflect a shaman. Healing and teaching require a few basic bits of knowledge. Certain things are well beyond our ability to understand or quantify. True healing takes place well beyond any place that we can reach through drugs, massage, chemo-therapy, the most skilled scalpel or radiation alone, but with belief, trust, and feeling a resonance with the unnameable, Creator, Great Loving Father/Mother God or whatever you wish to call it, healing cannot occur. Symptoms are often easier to correct, but in so doing other damage is occurring as well that is often not worth the relief. In my world view, the whole of the pharmacopoeia is suspect because especially in the most careful organic chem lab, while extracting the magic bullet (usually from nature) the very process has effectively stripped away perhaps hundreds or thousands of other compounds that nature put with the drug, to help in your healing.

No one in their right mind would say that a car only runs on anti-freeze! There are metabolic processes that we cannot quantify in the collateral portion of all of the herbs that have been used for- "ever" to treat human conditions, but "don't say it too loudly" giant corporations might just get the urge to genetically modify our chamomile or hibiscus! Anyone who knows about biology knows that a sterile compound, devoid of fiber, starch and carbohydrates is much harder to metabolize than the same compound as part of food. It may make it into the blood, but then the liver cleans it out, burdened by the additional processing requirements. That's one of the reasons that herbs are better, they are food. I see them as a sophisticated group of plants, They have built an association with humans and we play a role as propagator of some that have medicinal and/or culinary value. By becoming a living part of our culture, they have guaranteed their existence...or have they? It seems that centuries ago, there were far more varieties of nearly every plant species than their are today.

I'm going to make up numbers that seem crazy, but are probably on the conservative side of reality. A century ago, there were over thirty types of potato grown across the US, now it is two or three making up 98% of the harvest. Carrots, onions, cabbage have all faced the same commercial drive to standardization. Things are beginning to change at the margins, a little, but for every seed saver there are perhaps several hundred gardeners who select mass produced and genetically deficient seed. variety is more than just the spice of life, it is the possibility of future life as well.

Anyway, that should be for another time...My point is that we used to have many thousands of varieties of most healing herbs, brought in from the wild into a kitchen garden perhaps or a small plot. These "wild things" were only partially domesticated and our relationship with them enhanced the lives of us and the plants. The technology, and commercial benefit, exists now to raise cardamom seed in Asia and plant it in Wisconsin the next year. In the olden days, perhaps generations of a particular plant would grow in a certain area, becoming specialized to that micro-climate. Given time, it could adapt and always has, or has not as chance would have it. This is what makes genetic diversity essential for continuation of species. My readers already know, that since age seven, I realized that Darwin had his theories completely wrong. A nineteenth century mind, perhaps looking back into the "mists of time" might see shadows that recall an earlier gilded age of order and reason, but in fact survival of the luckiest has always been the rule rather than the exception. The fittest of all can be hit by lightening or overcome by hanta virus. Mortality assures a tenuous existence whether we are necessarily "fit" or not.

The diversity that used to exist amongst healers of the world was as helpful and essential to helping us come through the ages. Now, our fascination with standardization and mass production is killing off, or destroying through neglect and abuse, vast categories of beneficial herbs, foods and ways of living. That is why I have made the commitment to heal through herbs. I have not seen an allopathic doctor in nearly twenty-five years. The last time I was under the care of a physician, they nearly killed me through misdiagnosis and ignorance. Having studied human health and our relationship with the plant and animal kingdoms for nearly forty years, I have learned much. However, as I stated before, the amount that I do not know is still, and always will be greater than what I have learned. I firmly assert that knowing this is perhaps the most vital part of becoming a healer. I humbly submit myself to being the servant of those who need help finding a path to health. I am always as healed as those I seek to help and thank them for the opportunity to learn and grow further along my own path to health.

As I said earlier, Thank-you for reading me! This month only, I am offering a free consultation to my readers about herbs for health. Just leave a comment before September tenth 2012, and I will spend some time on your particular health issues and let you know what I would do if I were in your moccasins! Peace, Love and Understanding!

The Vanishing Present II

What we are lacking is data? It seems like the harder we look into what is going on around us, the more clear a picture we can "see".
























The above section has intentionally been left blank because we are learning so much so fast that what we don't know is actually becoming more and more vast. We will never capture important data for making long term management decisions for Starship Earth, until we develop compassion for all parts of the biosphere. We are one with the Earth, not part of it, until we see ourselves in the eyes of all creatures, we have no business pushing them to extinction, polluting their air, their water or their homes. "Statistical error" cannot even be calculated when there are no statistics. The longer we tell ourselves that we can't afford to do basic research, the bigger gap we are creating between us and the possibility of one day understanding the effects of our actions. The longer we record nothing, the longer this black hole in our knowledge will exist.

During the Period Between These Full Moons

This twenty-eight day cycle, let us begin anew, to unearth the truth, even when it hurts. Let us remember that we are made stronger by the adversities we face. Let us devote ourselves anew to the honorable act of healing, both ourselves, one another, and in turn the culture that will be here long after all of us have passed. I am given heart by my readers. Wherever you all are, my heart runs just a bit more quickly when I think of you. During the current moon, there will be an event that startles me and inspires me all at once. There will be a moment, or perhaps an hour that five thousand people have visited and read my words. Even though I have thought about most of the issues I write about for years, the brief encapsulations of my own awareness often pale when compared to the psychedelic vision of the world that i am capable of understanding.
When I hand produced fanzines during the eighties, in total I may have produced five thousand pieces of paper that I used to represent my perceptions of reality. Of those, I'm sure that many ended up in the dryer, stuffed in someone's pocket at a show and forgotten, but unlike the writings that I put out back then, these words have legs. They can inspire, educate or amaze folks halfway around the planet! My five thousand views may not seem like much to the major news outlets who guide the thoughts and actions of millions, but several thousand folks thinking a little more clearly about the world around them is of incalculable value! Blessed Be my friends. May the road rise to meet your feet and the sun shine down upon your soul purpose illuminating it for all to see. (yourself most of all)
I wish that there were a way to know just who the person is who accesses my writings for the five thousandth time, but the technology, although it may exist is not available to me. Let me instead thank each and every one of you personally for sharing my writings with others, amongst yourselves and through whatever social networks you have. In time, i hope to reach millions and if each one teaches one, the whole miraculous change will occur exponentially!

Wonders in A Drop of Water

Water, as most know, is a fluid. What some do not usually consider is that air is as well. Water is six times more viscous than air, consequently holding about six times the energy of air while in a liquid state. Every organism on the planet is made up of a significant amount of water and it floats when frozen to a solid. One of my favorite characteristics of the stuff is it tastes great when it is cold, clean and clear. It also holds a mysterious place for me because I have witnesses it sublimating, that is, turning from a solid directly into a gas without melting to liquid first. We are as unable to live without this amazing substance as air, the earth, fire and spirit. Flowing water has captivated our imaginations throughout time and whatever words I try to put to explaining how important water is to life, they will surely pale when compared tot he true value of this elixir of life.

By now, we have all heard of the deadly effects of tainted water. Many of us have seen the pictures of water that has been disgustingly contaminated by fracking. I even saw a video of a man who could light his "water" on fire as it came from the tap because of fracking. We hear about people who are dying from lack of clean water and yet, most people in developed nations take for granted this substance that we cannot live without. I have heard people boast that they don't drink water, only coffee, or only soda. then I wonder why they have not taken the time to realize that the quality of water that goes into both of those beverages is as important as it is to those of us who drink ours in a more pure form. Once our source of clean water is taken from us, most basic life functions get much harder to accomplish.

Just for fun, I wanted to know how many molecules of H2O are in a drop of water. The answer? 1.67 X 10 to the27th power. A truly amazing number. each and every one of us bears responsibility for keeping this precious fluid as clean as possible. Although it is the "universal solvent", many of the things that are now showing up in our water are harmful to humans and other life on the planet. we have mostly grown out of the worldview that treated rivers, lakes, streams and oceans as unlimited sources of disposal, but there are those who still use the old philosophy that water is, in fact, inexhaustible. It is for us to come to terms with the fact that is just isn't so. Each precious drop of water is capable of both helping bring miraculous benefit to life on the planet, or insidious harm, depending on what toxic or biological ingredients it brings with it. We need to respect the fact that we can never be healthier than our watershed. To this fact we must return, regardless of how wealthy or e3ducated we tell ourselves we are, no one gets to live without fresh and pure water. Planting trees is the best way that I know to secure quality water for the next several generations. We may never be able to drink from our local streams, but reversing the damage that has befallen watersheds around the globe begins with bringing back forest cover over as large an area as possible.

We will also need to stop the application of toxic compounds in agricultural areas, urban and suburban lawns, and to stop letting the waste the we are so fond of discharging into our surroundings end up in the local streams. The miracle of life that is based on this sacred fluid is as precious as it ever was and to support and revere it will change things faster than any government or regulation ever could. to the next seven generations, I tip a glass to one of the most precious fluids on Earth!

We Deserve The Truth...

For the benefit of next seven generations, we need to seriously question the pap and Pablam  spewed by both the public officials who roll out new programs to make us feel better about our dire straights as well as industry leaders who feel that we are just raw materials for their exploitation and abuse. To this end, I want to share some information that I came across this morning. Recycling Myths Debunked

Learning new ways of being always take a little time and thoughtful effort, but the massive benefits that come from re-thinking our consumer culture have lasting benefits and over time will help lance and empty the painful boil that the plastics industry has become on the face of our culture. Poverty looks the same everywhere it is allowed to fester. Those with their hand on the tiller of the various ships of state have driven us further than anyone could have imagined into the dangerous waters of degrading the planet, defiling her bounty and poisoning the most precious resources that are needed to produce a liveable lifestyle that ensures the health and well-being of our children, their children and the coming generations that depend on us for their survival, no, their very existence.

I know that most of us are extremely busy, but please, put the time in to read this link. expecting the industry, or our current slate of "leaders" to do the right thing or for them to somehow make things easier for us is to neglect your due diligence. Education is the second most expensive thing in the world. The real costs begin to add up when we resort top ignorance. The most revolutionary thing we can do at this point is to seek truth in the face of power, to reconsider everything we have been told and to find out whose money is paying for us to be taught certain things.

The same folks who want us to think that plastic is environmentally benign are the ones whose hands are deeply into raping the planet for profit. Just as there are no dollars available for researching the efficacy and health benefits of natural herbs, there are no funds available to research the extent of the damage being done by the plastics industry worldwide. When the truth is finally known, those responsible will have garnered enough wealth to hire the best lawyers to drag out any remediation attempts for at least another generation or two. Examine the track record of the largest corporations and you will find a disturbing proclivity for picking our pockets while simultaneously tearing away at the fabric of Spaceship Earth. as crew of this vessel, we have every right to mutiny.

It is past time for us to wrest the cold dead hands of the current captains of industry from the tiller. The time has come to change course, find our way to sustainability and stop the headlong run into the meat grinder of environmental destruction. The only way our great grandchildren will be able to thank us for pulling back from the brink of destruction is for us to make better choices today so that they will have the chance to make a life for themselves in the future. Seriously consider the anthropological fact of the myth of increased leisure. Technology cannot solve problems created by the adoption of earlier technologies that were sold to us as necessities without reconsidering the true costs of their adoption. Reject, Reduce, Re-use, Re-purpose, then when you run out of other options, Recycle!