2012 Welcome

It seems that each year about this time, there are those of us who are making resolutions and taking stock of the many blessings that we have received over the past year. all too often I hear the sentiment, "Good riddance" to the old year and hopes for something better in the coming cycle of the seasons. I have had some experiences over the course of my nearly fifty years that led me to forsake the whole process of making resolutions, not so much because I would break them soon after the first of January, but rather because the changes that I seek to make are of lifelong importance and require lifelong commitment. after half (or more) of a lifetime, it would be nonsensical to expect the willpower to change any single aspect of my "self" just because I happen to change my calendar that day.
The spiral dance that we all participate stretches out beyond days, beyond years, beyond generations.

Although the best intentions inspire most New Year's resolutions, What bothered me most about them is the self chastisement and self loathing that is inspired each time we stumble, trip or fall along our intended path. Granted, some habits, vices or life ways do need to be changed, but to wait for this particular holiday to change seems to me, to be too much to ask. Even those exhibiting the most willpower will concede, an occasional slip up can not only be expected, but relied on. Being raised by cynical folks, my own life has been a struggle to see the good. Not just for the first few weeks of each new year, but each and every day, for life. Even some conspiracies are, after all, hatched and implemented by people who care, want to change the world for the better and strongly believe in their twisted way that they are in the right. Those who foisted prohibition on The United States of America believed that they were doing so out of a concern for the very moral fiber of our nation. What our ideals often lead to are ultimately hidden paths to some other dead end. Many forsake alcohol, only to be caught in the snare of organized religion, needing their fix just as regularly as the drink which they relied on in the past. I have met dozens of folks who quit cigarettes only to get hooked on the patch, chew or nicotine gum. not part of their resolutions I assure you. Loving one self, regardless of our failings is hard enough without finding ways to undermine that love further by casting our image of who we are as failures, or "weak". After all, don't we get enough of that from outside forces anyway?

It is a well known fact that many take traumatic events as wake up calls to get their houses in order. Other than the typical amateur night mistakes that haunt many a new year's party, getting falling down drunk or acting silly can't be classified in the same realm as a heart attack or death of a loved one. to make lasting change, we need to be motivated from a place deeper than the specific day of the year that is known for change. No matter what anyone says, who we are, or have become is based on years, if not decades of behaviors. Changing anything about ourselves in a moment that bears a legacy of time spent cultivating said behavior may work on the rare occasion, but aside from this, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. I do not wish anyone significant tragedy, rather the joy of knowing that it is okay to fail. Even failing repeatedly to "do the right thing" can be fine, as long as we do not lose sight of the ultimate goal or write our selves off as hopeless cases. What changed for me was the finite nature of my New Year's experiences. My own beliefs led me to see each morning as a rebirth into opportunity to become someone more deserving of the endless miracles that present themselves to me, to act in ways that more appropriately reflect my heart, my spirit and my dreams.

I really appreciate the fact that my writings are read around this great planet. Those who care enough to pay attention must surely find something in my words that resonate with them, otherwise they would never come back to "see" what I'm thinking. Over a year ago I made the commitment to try to write seven posts per month. I figured that it was a bit more than I thought I could do, but as they say, anything worth doing is never easy. My resolutions tend to be made throughout the year and it seems to do the opposite of what I first expected. When I gave up on the New Years resolutions, prevailing "wisdom" and my own expectations were that whatever resolutions I made, say on June 23rd or September 7th would fail regardless of the willpower that I brought to the table. Not so! I still have my hiccups along the way, stumble, trip or fall. I still find that many of the new paths that I try to forge ahead along are just hidden blind alleys, some lead to other less desirable places or to new entanglements but the trying often leads to greater perspective, deeper insight and new growth.

There are times for resting on our laurels, but late in 2011 probably is not the best time for that. With foment breaking out across the planet, the time has come to redouble our efforts to change the planet in positive ways, kick out those who have become complacent, corrupt and cynical about change. The worst reasons to stagnate are that we have been telling ourselves that we don't deserve better, we just can't or that there is nothing we can do that will implement meaningful change. I invite the New Year with open arms and great plans. may you all find the power to keep your resolutions and that they in turn lead you to a more accurate reflection of your heart, your spirit and your beliefs. If we all work together, we truly can make positive change across the globe. Bless you, your loved ones and may the power to make positive changes in your own lives and those of others that you care about be yours this day and forever more.

Namaste'

Myth Making 101

First, we must understand that myths only serve a culture when each and every individual within the culture believes the myth. As with any experience in story-telling requires, there must be a suspension of disbelief for them to function. Case in point, Paul Bunyan, with his blue ox, giant axe and legendary appetite. Let me tell you, it is easier to explain the deforestation of most of the "North" by him and Babe scything down acres at a single whack than it is to understand the complexity of our own kind devising ways to extract the most timber the quickest. In some cases, railroads only existed until the timber was gone, then the pillars of industry pulled up the track and went elsewhere to "mine" more trees. Paul and Babe are certainly easier to imagine.
I contend that human beings are myth-making machines, we will make our minds up about anything and hold to nearly any idea as dearly as if our whole way of life could be threatened by it's removal. We are "sold" myths all the time, so understanding the subtle differences between actual fact and myth can seem hard, until you try a few cases. There is a pattern. Actual facts are known, myths are imagined.

One of my favorite myths of creation involves beaver plunging to the bottom of a vast ocean to fetch a bit of earth for the sky princess to sit upon, holding as much soil as he could in his mouth, beaver spat it upon turtle's back, creating the Earth as we know it today, with all of it's landforms and river systems, on the turtle's back.

For a time, I believed this to be true, until I began to understand my first point, a myth is only of use when all the members of a society believe the same one. We truly are at the dawning of the age of Aquarius. In about 150 years, the water-bearer will unseat the age of Pisces. 150 years seems long until you look back and think of the great changes that have occurred in the last century and one half. I imagine and want to tell the story of a race of people who stood up for truth and fact in a way that no other cadre of individuals ever had. They had seen photographs of the Earth from space, they understood the concept of Starship Earth. What happens anywhere on the planet affects each and every other part inexplicably. They understood the fact that all races and creeds were arbitrary "differences" amongst one people. For them, there were no valid boundaries amongst the vast brotherhood of human kind.
When we begin to relegate ego to a lower status than our true self, we often see relationships differently and value our surroundings differently. Because we have purposely forgotten to take the liberty of judging each and every thing we can think of, we create a pattern new to many. I call the sheeple style of not learning, just filling in time, relies on the myth of knowing. A cult of knowing has grown up in a hotbed of technocratic sentiment, "scientific research" and worship of experts generally. I have learned enough to be in the early stages of really understanding how little I actually know. Living in the times we do, it is amazing that anyone can come to know themselves. Too much interference greets each and every one of us at nearly every moment than our organism was set up to handle.

Having a mythology that assures us that we can multi-task and that it will lead to something better if we can just do a few more things all at once, or that the best way to get ahead requires us to be workaholics or live as indentured servants, may be "good for business", but the costs to our children, our culture and the generations that will follow us far outweigh the short term expediency of those who fabricated the myth. The hidden price that we pay for the belief in this fiction is more dear than we can afford. First, we sacrifice our children, because they realize right away that we are not listening to them, or sharing important information that will help them to function in the world. Secondly, out health goes the way of the Western World and hypertension, stress, heart disease and cancer begin eating at us from the inside. We respond to the stress by trying to get more out of each day and accept "fast food" rituals that cause more havoc inside our own skin and bones. Finally, the endless shuffling around, chasing education, income, places to procure goods and services, even entertain ourselves and you have a whole package of activities that are contrary to what we are designed to do naturally.

Just like the marketing geniuses who brought Bible passages to life through art, therefore making it possible to brainwash large numbers of illiterate heathens, in our day there are those who spin the webs of deceit that lead us to shuffle our children off to event after event telling us that it "makes them into team players" or that the "enrichment" that we are able to provide is not enough for their blossoming talents. So, we seek a long line of professionals who supposedly know what our children need better than we do and the cycle is completely broken. In our time, we no longer sit around firs at night, sharing the stories that lead to understanding our great myths. There are new forms of technology that can elucidate a thousand conspiracy theories or present "facts" that lead us to become evermore estranged from our families, our cultural roots and the myths that held us together as families, neighbors, citizens and humans. The myth makers have far more power than we could have ever imagined. In the past, we trusted our elders to tell the stories. Today, anyone with access to a keyboard can make up our minds for us and lead us into territory that the glowing screens will confirm is dangerous, full of hazards and pitfalls and that requires us to do more things at once for the opportunity to "participate" in the brave new world of 2012.

You and I may not believe that the world was created in seven days by a guy who looks like half of us. We may not actually accept that turtle swam down to the bottom of a vast sea to reclaim a bit of Earth, which we all have to share and care for. The fact is, what we truly believe in may be as unique as the time we are living in, but we have the power and ultimately the responsibility to create myths that help us to function and remain healthy in the world. The only people who seem to be served by the prevailing myths today are large corporations that use us as pawns in a giant chess game of power and control. My myths and yours allow us to remain wage slaves, funneling the vast majority of our earnings into the coffers of multinational corporations and therefore the pockets of their CEOs. As technology has grown, we have always had the myth of increased leisure. Anthropologists have been aware of this for several decades, but the lies keep piling up on themselves. The demand for nearly every consumer product is based on the belief that their lives will be better if they could just procure this one item. The shake weight, or a Snugglie, or a pan that never needs to be washed. During my recent construction process there were several times that Nancy asked, "Isn't there another way to do..." Like when the toxic compounds were used for the plastic plumbing drain pipes. The containers said in no uncertain terms that exposure to the fumes will kill you, but the old way was to use cast iron pipe and seal the joints with molten lead, assuring brain damage instead of liver failure or cancer. Like with doctors, science and technology generally refuse to give up an old, expensive, gruesome and dangerous methodology until a more dangerous, more gruesome and even more costly and aggressive one is waiting in the wings to replace it.

In the end, it is up to us, what we will decide to believe in. I choose to listen to the elders, integrate the myths that seem to be based on loving one another, only taking what is necessary and giving back tot he larger community that allows me to enjoy a lifestyle full and rich with friends, time for enjoying the natural beauty and abundance of Mother Earth and having the time to give each thing that I need to get done my undivided attention. Those myths can be hard to find sometimes, but the rewards they bring are peace of mind and a deeper level of satisfaction than I can describe in words. This is an exciting time to be alive because the #occupy movement and growing numbers of people worldwide are expressing a new myth, one that says that we the people are at least as important as our overlords. The monied interests are not in a position to give back anymore and that is what led us to the current breakdown in society and culture. What growing numbers of people protesting is really all about is our right and responsibility to forge a mythos that leads us out of the darkness of the post industrial age with our dreams, our dignity and a semblance of life intact. Wresting our time and effort from those who own us today will take some powerful myth making, but it has been done in the past and will be done in the future. What is necessary in my mind is that we all take the time to respect our own ability to guide the culture that we all share into sustainable relations with the planet, our place on it and the neighbors that we have both right down the street and across continents and the vast oceans of this Earth. To that end, I continue to tell the stories that inspired me to trust the planet to provide my needs and rely of things that have proven value, not the over advertized accoutrements of "modern culture".

We all need air, water, food, shelter, a safe place to breed and raise our young, and affection. I distrust any product or service that will not fulfill at least one of those very real needs. When we all begin to trust our own ability to make myths, rather than seeking "experts" who can tell us what to believe, we should also notice that we make better decisions that lead us to be able to lead better, healthier and more enriching lifestyles and simultaneously live far more comfortably on much less. The myth of consumerist culture is on the ropes and our future as a species may depend on scrapping our old beliefs for new ones as quickly as possible. Everything we have tried so far has not worked, trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is one definition of insanity, the time has come to strike out in new directions and with new found love for ourselves, one another and the planet. Make your myths reflect that and it will change the world for the better, subscribe to the existing myth that he who dies with the most toys wins, and you can plainly see where that will lead.

Right Livelihood

When we find ourselves at odds with our own heart, or feel like aliens in our world, we need to look more deeply into our own work, our own direction and our part in the matrix of humanity. How many of us live lives of joy and communion with others, making their world better through every interaction and transaction? How many of us are rewarded with feelings of validity of our own views and integration in a vibrant community? I would presume, not nearly enough. It seems that the 99% are uniting around issues of class, privilege and unequal distribution of wealth, but the greatest dagger we could put in the side of the ultra wealthy would be to graciously bow out of their system.

I have friends who live in a neighborhood of working class people, mostly dope smokers who earn an honest living, people like this pay the bulk of the taxes that support ne'r do wells and slackers. My friends, however work. They have established a lending library of tools and skills that has sided, roofed and painted virtually every home in their neighborhood. The one family who has branded their neighbors as hillbillies has seen their house go from the best kept place on the block to one of the worst-kept. By banding together and creating a barter network, everyone has done well. The transactions that they make are usually accompanied by a six-pack or a bottle of cheer, just to let one another know that they are appreciated. In speaking with them the other day, I was reminded that the benefits of working in ways that line up with our hearts accrue in ways that working for cash cannot.

knowing that your neighbors are better off, or at least enjoying their lives more because of our actions feeds our souls rather than our pocketbooks. There have been stories circulating about the government trying to tax barter networks for years, but the government has no business infringing on religious organizations. My God, if you want to call "it" something, demands and commands me to make other people's lives better. Governments that desire to serve us need to take heed of the fact that person to person assistance need never be taxed, because there is no need for "help" from any agency or commission. Love flows like water when we participate in community. Taking from one to give to another establishes a completely antithetical relationship to how people normally interact. Like the folk tale about stone soup, we all bring something to the culture that we share, but only chasing the dollars that keep us warm and fed will never lead us to a just or integrated society.

I recently spoke with a young adult who had never heard of the Stone Soup story. Please skip ahead if you already know it, but from time to time I like to tell a story of old that has relevance to the moment.
A bedraggled traveler made his way into t he town square one day and began to ask the local residents if they could spare a bit of food, for he was hungry and in great need. After being turned away by the local residents, he devised a plan. He told the people that he was in possession of a magical stone. It had the power to create a rich and savory soup. Stone soup. The townspeople told one another and like wildfire the story spread and they all turned out to see the miracle. Gathered in the square, they listened intently, but in disbelief to the story about this special stone. "First I will need the biggest cauldron in the village, and a spoon to stir the soup" said the traveler.

At once, the shopkeeper went to his store and got the biggest pot he had in stock, so big in fact, that even the poor townspeople could not afford to buy it. An old woman left briefly and returned bearing a large spoon. They filled the cauldron half way with water from the village well. The mystic traveler stirred the water and gently prodded the crowd. What makes this soup most wonderful is if you add a few potatoes. One young fellow ran off and returned with a dozen of the biggest potatoes any of them had ever seen.  After they were cubed and added to the pot, the wise traveler stirred it with great care and checked the consistency of the water by lifting the large spoon just above the water line, (which was a bit higher because of the potatoes.) The weaving of the story continued, after telling of the mystic qualities of the stone once again, the man added that the soup always turned out better when a few carrots were added, or an onion. Pretty soon, as he wove the story into a vibrant tapestry, the ingredients began to flow and followed the trajectory of most movements. from the first few ingredients to salt, spice and even fresh meat. "Just a sliver of ham really adds a lot to this soup." said the man. The butcher, caught up in the excitement, just happened to be willing to part with a chunk of his cured meat.

As you can imagine, the rich and sustaining stew that developed, when each and every towns person added a tiny bit, fed not only the weary traveler, but the entire town.So too, if we all give a bit, what we get back is multiplied many times over. Who wouldn't trade the use of their expensive tools for a great feast, or a few potatoes from their larder for a wonderful stew? The fact that there are those who have not yet heard the wisdom that lives between the words of this story makes me just a bit sad. As we all travel along our paths, it is well to know that there are always folks who detest the idea of giving anything away, but who are willing to part with some of what they have in excess for the opportunity to be part of a miraculous endeavor. What we need at this moment in time is nothing short of a miracle.

My Mother Is Anxiously Awaiting 2012

My mother is anxiously awaiting 2012, she’s a-flutter.

This didn’t make too much of an impression on me at first, but the longer I thought about it, the more profound it seemed. Those who have read this blog know that often, the things I describe and think about are revolutionary, but the vast amount of human energy that is going into the 2012 phenomena need to be seen practically and in context with other millenarian movements. With the inexorable closing of the gap between one doomsday scenario and the next, the excitement people feel about the “change” will yield inevitably to a deep and profound sadness. It is like an extreme form of adrenaline poisoning. Waiting for the World to change is a bit like watching the ice melt at the foot of a glacier. The end may indeed be nigh, but hoping for it and making it obey anyone’s timeline is pathetic. A friend recently told me that her own mother felt the same way, and that is when I realized just how pervasive this feeling has become.

It is time to realize the dreams that have been around since the beginning of time, living in peace and harmony with plenty to share and nowhere to go but places you love. It is now possible to deliver more to people in need than ever before in the history of the planet. What we lack is the will. Setting any end times scenario assures that we will stay disengaged, aloof to the tyranny and oppression that has taken so much from so many for so long. It is the oppression of spirits, within perhaps millions of people who are being led to think that whatever they do it won’t matter in a year. I’m here to say, “Complete and utter tripe!” The change will be of the common man and woman doing uncommon things, telling the stories of a new culture where no man or woman is oppressed, no one is cheated of their life savings and no one will be deterred from realizing their dreams by unfair pickpocketing by governments, schools or other institutions.  Since I was trained to be an educator, please pardon my focus on education, but it is again time to teach our children, or at least be an integral part of their education. The more dumb people we raise, the easier they become to be shepherded by unseen hands. Centuries ago, serfs were as common as they are today; now, we just dress better and have central heat.

The stories we need to tell are that even after the rapture, or the impending collapse, or the interplanetary alignment, or whatever you want to call it, thing will remain the same, unless we are willing to step up, stand out and speak up for the generations that will follow. The tentative footsteps we make today have the power to become paths and trails of tomorrow. Doing the “right thing” has the power to transform the world around us in infinite ways. There are those around us who attempt to assist others and those who are out for their own above all else. We need to be focusing on holding the less savory amongst us to task for their uncivil behavior, and pay respect to the ones who do well by others. Remember with each transaction, conversation, even the mere glance or look of recognition of another is a vote for the future we might wish for.  We are making the next moment all the time. That old song, “We Are the World”, had everything going for it, until the greedy government officials let the food aid that the song bought to rot in the desert. Governments that deny their citizens what they need most need to fall, not through guns, but through cultural changes that we institute. We the people!

If we fail to realize this, we will just repeat the mistakes that have been made before.

Austerity Measures Could Not Come At A Worse Time

We have seen what decades of neglect have led to in areas such as education, health care, infrastructure and energy policy. Cutting back is the last thing that governments around the world can afford to do at this moment in time. Anyone who knows about finance and economic systems will quickly realize that it is the moment of greatest uncertainty that one needs to dig deep and follow time tested and true methods of investing. Let me quickly clip the wings of your association between investing and the stock market, any stock market. Investing as I use the word depends on moral certainty about right and wrong, compassionate and despotic dispensation of our dollars. There is no usury involved when gifting is not rewarded with interest. Investment, like you might have expected someone to talk about is the antithesis of what I believe investment to be about.  Case in point, my sister invests through an organization that funnels micro-loans to mostly women in third world nations. She has recouped 100% of her investment on each and every loan, not because they are underwritten by a bank or municipality, state or nation, but by love and trust, true compassion. Her investing proves that if we trust one another, good things occur.

There has been a multi-trillion dollar effort to convince us that somehow the gambling that takes place on Wall Street matters. It does not, unless you are counting on the gambling house to pay out someday. Have you ever seen one that does? Just for one moment consider the difference between a loan that my sister might give a woman in the Sahara, enough for her to start a business and pay for her children's education. This perhaps makes positive changes for something on the order of twenty years, perhaps a lifetime. Now consider the Big Board, where the average share of stock nowadays is held a matter of seconds, traded at light speed by computers. Most of the algorithms that determine what is hot and what is not are based on things like raping the earth and maximizing profitability over the next quarter. This roughly translates to cutting jobs and no longer providing retirement benefits or insurance for workers. Those dollars are fickle and when accepted lead to greedier and evermore deceitful parlay. The sharks are always feeding, taking huge profits from both shell companies and legitimate ones while dodging any sort of regulation or penalty. It is truly sad that the news seems to struggle to bring us that one good story each night, but how the legal gambling house did is automatically and precisely reported without fail.

The anatomy of true investment begins by giving something that is useful to another in need. An unemployed person a job, a hungry person a meal, a road filled with potholes a resurfacing, etc. From the filling of need great economies of scale can be realized and the results of living better broadly distributed across the landscape. Dollars spent close to home tend to stay in the region far longer than if they are spent even ten or twenty miles away. The same can be said for "development", for far too long there has been a systematic divorce between locations that are conducive to living, working and shopping. In addition to addicting our cultures to transportation, it has imposed an insidious tax of time spent, mostly in automobiles, that could be productive. Yesterday's news about the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, indicates that so many Americans are trying to be "productive" behind the wheel that tens of thousands of us will die at their hands. Talk about terrorists, they could strike anywhere at any time. The bad news, they are more likely to kill innocent Americans than Osama Bin Laden ever was. We have run our population so ragged that many are faced with having to do three jobs and still they need to cut back on essentials, or learn to do without. Energy prices continue to climb, yet we forget to invest in a continuous flow of electrons whenever the sun shines and are barely making tentative steps to secure even more electricity from the wind. The public has never wanted anything quite as badly as a diesel electric car, though the car companies never offered it. Investing in the next big thing should be a no-brainer right?

Not what the sharks are saying. This puts too many dollars out of the current system, too many into goods and not enough into the true shadow economy in which the public gets legally fleeced while they are told it is a "bad economy". The ever-increasing class sizes that our schools have had to deal with alone should tell us that something is wrong. Dumping of problem children and disruptive students into already over-sized classes has led us to disservice millions of young adults and the trends are continuing. We need to stand together around the globe to tell our leaders that we want services that are difficult to provide on our own. We do not want to bail out undeserving corporations no matter how painful it gets and we certainly don't want to cut back on essential work that only a government can do. Our leaders need to stop spending time posturing and trying to get re-elected and instead focus on cutting fraud and abuse, holding stock market thieves accountable for their despotism and reinstating the essential character of the American Dream, helping one another to achieve our full potential. heck, while we're at it, perhaps everyone could get bootstraps. I know that I have not been able to find mine yet. 

Sheep Don't Know They Are Sheep

Many of us, who have the luxury of reading these words do not believe that we are privileged. Somehow, we have created scenarios that lead us to believe that we are just as capable, just as blessed as the majority of the world's population. Some actually believe that those who are worse off deserve their plight and could change their station in life if they just willed it, prayed to the right "God", or invested their incomes rather than squandering them. One interesting thing about privilege, it nearly demands that we be oblivious to the fact. When you become aware of your privilege, it requires confrontation of a moral dilemma, one that is with you all of your life. It is relatively easy to see the privilege that others enjoy, thus the long legs that the saying:"Born with a silver spoon in his mouth" has enjoyed. In our own minds, we defend and justify everything. You and I both know how deliciously comforting it is to know that we worked hard to get where we are, that we made something of ourselves and that our rewards in this world are the result of our own effort and intellectual prowess. Thinking otherwise puts us at odds with our own ego, and anyone who has tried that on for size knows that it can be an uncomfortable fit.

Heck, I got away with more before I entered kindergarten than some people get away with in a lifetime.Why? Because I was born the right color, the right sex, in the right country, at the right time, as well as on the nicer side of the tracks. Wants outstripped needs by a large margin and I knew it. Humans are not sheep. Although many people act like they are, and multinational corporations want us to be. We may be the only animal on the planet that ponders what it is. We often find ourselves justifying who we are, fighting over our political beliefs, expressing who we think we are and acting in ways designed to look a certain way. Knowing how thoroughly spoiled I was caused me to look deeply into many issues, not least of which was where our wealth has come from. As a family, a nation and a culture of capitalism. What I found was unsettling at best and in the mind of a seven year old, many of the processes that led to the creation of my privilege were obviously dangerous, ugly and wrong-headed. Ratter than feeling guilt over what others had created for my benefit, I was able to see the responsibility I had for undoing some, if not all the damage that came from unequal distribution of wealth. Sounds like a mammoth task but at least it kept me on good terms with my ego.

A friend recently told me how funny it is to hear his friends complain about things that are complete and utter luxury. "My coffee is too hot.", "I can't get cell phone reception here.", I don't like the way Dubstep is going.", etc. In the most "advanced" civilization known to date we sometimes find ourselves confronting trifles as if they were important and by doing so miss the boat on more weighty issues that are far more deserving of our attention. In the seventies, I studied all I could about solar homes. There was something elegant about the idea of opening up more windows to let in the southern sun in winter, insulating more appropriately, (I live nearly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole) and adding insulating panels over the openings during the night. Having the luxury of time to study and the luxury of a supportive environment, I learned more about the benefits of passive solar design in elementary school than, it seems, most architects learn in college. Virtually every new commercial building that goes up ignores where the sun goes in winter and will forever be addicted to the energy that comes from giant corporations, rather than that of the sun. When we ignore our own privilege, it is like the builder who is more concerned with the view, or how the building will look from the street rather than how it will function. The subtle forces that act on us every single day are as powerful in their own way as the sun can be when the mercury is hovering below zero.

Who we are is, to a large part, based on what we have received from others. Some of whom may have passed centuries ago. Much of what we have inherited has been good but some things have been decidedly unhealthy, demeaning to large groups and outright wrong. I want to live in a world that overcomes the idea of being born into a certain station or class. I want everyone to be free of the limitations based on class, ethnicity and sex. Even though I was born with many of the benefits that come with a life of privilege, the bootstraps I was promised have not come in yet. I kjeep trying to pull myself up by whatever I have, but to date it has been to no avail. As soon as most people in power realize that I've still got a little fight in me, they want nothing more to do with me. Each time I have improved my station, the United states Government raises the poverty line. always illusive are the fruits of my efforts, the accolades and rewards. True privilege knows no limits, so perhaps I am not privileged after all. On the other hand, I have far more going for me than the majority of people out there. I have almost always had water to drink that was free of disease causing organisms. My coffee has almost always been the right temperature, and my trash gets picked up every week. It may still be a struggle to make ends meet from time to time, but having met those challenges routinely all of my life, I'm pretty sure I will go on making the best of whatever situation I find myself in. Sometimes it takes all of my time, trying to figure out a next step, other times I just go blindly forth and rely on the fact that I'm male, white and living in America.

When Will The Dark Overlords Learn-Humanity?

Many of us concern ourselves with the challenges of making sure that we have enough for survival, to keep our homes, have enough to eat, and perhaps, if we are lucky, a trusted companion to procreate with or at least raise children with moral values, a sense of truth, justice and compassion. The exception seem to be the same flesh and blood as us, but their motives, tally sheets and focus is on unrelenting deceit, their imagined power and the lust after all things physical. Our culture, or lack of one seems to have spawned a cadre of individuals who believe in Calvinism, though they probably never heard that name for it. their justification for abusing their power and squandering vast fortunes is that they alone, are "best suited" for their station. somehow the justification for their lust for money and the material wealth that it represents. After all, in their way of viewing the world, poor people could have pulled themselves up by the bootstraps if they were good and god fearing, loyal and true to those in higher stations, or just not been so lazy, hedonistic and devilish. Since I was a child, I mulled over the possibility that there might be some truth in their perspective, but over the years have learned that the exceptions in this area disprove the rule.

Fortunately there are those kind souls who do no wrong, care for others, often those they do not even know and those who take it upon themselves to live true to the holy books. A special few give ceaselessly throughout the year, inspired by their heart's message rather than those given to justify greed, self-aggrandizement and hatred for those who are different. The humility that comes from knowing that we are all just one stock market crash away from homelessness leads to a deeper level of giving, one that actually feels the pain of those we help. I know that for a time, I was in the position of a single parent. it changed forever any thoughts I may have had about the hows, whys and reasons for the ever increasing number of them in our country.

Another thing that has always concerned me is the root word of humanity being human. I can surely cop to being human, but the activities that pass for humanity are terribly out of step with what I have understood humanity to be for nearly half a century. Greed, deceit and hatred are decidedly inhuman. Research shows that human beings are innately compassionate, kind and giving. Only through abuse and/or neglect can they be made selfish, greedy and abusive to others. Why can't we understand this and change our ways? The terrible truth behind such phrases as boys will be boys, the old ball and chain and she asked for it is that they have been designed to provide cover for unacceptable behavior. If we cannot fathom the true costs of our blatant disregard for human welfare, needs and honor each and every person as a manifestation of possibility, then we truly have gone wrong. The dark overlords know that they cannot trumpet the truth behind scientific research into humanity, because it would admit the fact that they are unprepared to lead. We have been spoon fed a complete fabrication, developed over a century ago by those who could not fathom many scientific facts. The concept of limited resources and the competition for them that necessarily follows is what allowed domination of "primitives" and violent extraction of resources paired with missionaries filled with zeal.

Even though we have learned that these practices are bad, we forget to jettison the philosophy that they were based on. We need to teach, from the early years up, about the mistakes we have made along the way. How else can we expect the next generation to do better? Assuming that we are around several more generations, would we not rather leave a bit of the Earth cleaner than we found it, more liveable than we have made it or better suited to fulfill the needs of our relations over the next few hundred years? I have been on an Odessey that defies my own ability to explain Remaking my house better suited to life. More spacious without changing the footprint. It has been transformed into the essential space for flow. Is that not what life is all about anyway? Flow? Humans may be uniquely suited to ask the question, Who am I? Sadly, all too often we follow that with "What have I done?". Those who hold the lion's share of the marbles in the World today have been hurt deeply, cheated and led astray by a work of centuries that would have everyone believe that we survive by teeth and claw, rather than cooperation and compassionate sharing of what we hold most dear. It is actually sad that for so many fear and ignorance lead them to treat one another so terribly and that, so often, their actions are designed to keep others at a distance rather than really opening up to hear about their hopes, dreams and needs.

In the Procession of the Equinoxes, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius coincides with the next hundred and fifty or so years. Just like in the olden days, there were those who carried the water, and those who used it. In the Age of Pisces, we became used to the way things had been for centuries, it was just the age. The time is now to forge a new mythology, build the basis of a culture that respects, nay follows the water carriers. Lord and Lady know there has been too much masculine posturing for humanity's good. A great factoid has been traveling around the internet, about hockey, I believe it sums up my feelings about living in a male dominated world where power and privilege flow from your sex organs. The athletic cup, or hard plastic protector of the groin was in common use in hockey for one hundred years before the helmet became common. When we begin to live in the Aquarian age, we will never have to ask why some of these things occurred, because it will be self-evident. The shift from mankind to humankind may take hundreds of years, but without substantive change now, rest assured the folks with all the marbles would rather not share.

To What Do We Owe Our Deepest Allegiance?

In the deepest sense, we owe our very existence to our ancestors. With all their flaws, they gave us this chance at life. Intact cultures all exhibit some sort of ancestor worship. Under our current capitalistic system, "the banks" claim to lord over us some sort of power. Legalized thievery seems to carry the day. There are those who came up in the hippy era who are still peaceful loving people, some who carry the stories of our history, but we have become fond of giving them nothing but ridicule and innuendo designed to estrange them from us. Our political leaders, for the most part, fall flat for not only being undeserving, but antagonistic to our true desires or pressing needs. What parent can deny the allegiance we have to our children. If ever they present us with a need, we set ourselves to the task of helping them.
Many among us have a real and pressing desire to honor the next seven generations so that our bond with them can be as real, evident and as respected as possible. The vagaries of geography and the impending nationalism that can grow out of arbitrary lines drawn on maps has proven that we cannot abide these sorts of allegiances. Perhaps, as we approach singularity, our deepest debt lies with all of humanity. Yet in these times, we are forever pressed to play out the cowboy scenario, go it alone, be independent.

It would be funny if it were truly farce, but when we really begin to believe the schlock that passes for news, intellectual discussion, or political discourse, we have crossed a line into depravity from which return becomes unlikely, difficult and fraught with danger. The ad campaigns that have been funded to make up your mind for you are so deeply entrenched and subtle as to evade most of our perception. Remember the first time you saw an ad that made you want to buy something? chances are, you had seen thousands of commercials before that, they just looked like "real life", encapsulated into brief vignettes.
Finding out where the money comes from that seeks to drive our opinions and attitudes can be very enlightening, but the tangled webs of funding for certain types of speech are difficult at best. Spend some time, do your homework and you will find some very dangerous sources of funding for many of the biggest think tanks and speakers bureaus. When talking heads appear before you, remember that they are more adept at pushing an agenda than you can imagine and that their facts are presented to warp your mind around their goal, regardless of how it might affect you. Before you go lining up with anyone, get to the business of finding out where your own ideas and attitudes come from, weigh the truth between your own heart and soul, see if your own decisions and actions line up with an ethic that reveres the entire human family, then decide where to put your money, what to invest in and ultimately what sort of future we will create for future generations. Let's all get on with the business of beating a path back to wellness and an intact culture.

One Thousand Decisions

Friends of mine once tried to coin the term consicion, a cross between concise and precision. Although I thought the concept deserved merit, the flow of the word was problematic. The very fact that this came up at all was that all of my friends were frantically working to change the world for the better. As community organizers, we spent nearly one hundred hours per month , talking to people and trying to make the most sense during relatively brief intervals as possible. Like plants being adapted to feed on sunshine, we were honing our skills as communicators to feed on the awareness of others.

By the time we are adults, we are adept at decision-making, even our bad decisions are made with aplomb and dignity. Imagine just for a moment that each and every one of our decisions up 'til now amounted to absolutely nothing, imagine having a clean slate with no physical, mental, spiritual or emotional baggage to prop up, take a stand for, or defend. Imagine staying in that zone for your next thousand decisions. The older we become, the more quickly we can perform many tasks, but some of the sacrifice that we make for speed is related to how profoundly we consider any, or all of our actions.

I have been caught up in a whirlwind of late, too busy to really even keep up with the news. Rather than regretting it, I seem to thrive on this deep focus on decision-making, uninfluenced by outside forces or even, for that matter my own proclivities, predilections and presuppositions. My most recent thousand decisions were all focused on one thing, the renovation of our house. In a home that has been around for well over 100 years, there are not only hundreds of characters who have passed through the doors, but an unbroken history, complete with a large portion of bad decisions incorporated into the very bones of the house. Re-using and repurposing as much as possible, we were able to do a great deal using very few resources. The prime directives in every decision was will it make the house last for a second and third hundred years? Will it make it comfortable for Nancy and I? What are we but agents of change for the next hundred years and what are our efforts if not for both this moment and all that follow?

Why The #Occupy Movement Has To Be Evicted

Happy Holidays and all that! Where would we find places for all of our revelers if they were to see tent cities across this great land of ours? What would the throngs do if their attempts to view the annual tree lighting ceremony and the 99% got in their way? The news has been telling us that we are spending like drunken sailors and the stock market was obliged to make some headway in spite of itself today as well. What many have not yet been able to understand is that the networking, communication and feelings of brotherhood engendered by these protests has worked a sort of magic over those involved as well as those who finally heard about the movement through major media outlets. The thorn that the movement represents in the side of the power brokers has to be removed before their numbers grow to dangerous levels. In our day, everyone knew who the enemy was, but now it is getting a little harder to tell. The same cops that protect the biggest dogs are under the gun if they try to protect the 99%. they know the score as well as those being evicted.1%-0 99%-9.9 for their effort and ability to stay on message, even when under assault from a media empire designed to torture the truth and piss on all we hold sacred.

The faces of the many, being rousted from their encampments reminds one of the clearing of the "frontier" in an attempt to make it safe for settlement. If corporations can have their "speech" protected, then the average person must surely have the same free speech rights, this sad reality will go undeclared and unspoken in the media because they too are corporate giants, just pretending to care about the needs of the 99%. Even the reasons for the evictions have a disingenuous ring to them. Some claimed drug use and dealing was taking place in the tents, others were upset because homeless people were flooding into  the parks. When any group of people cares deeply for one another and makes sure that no one goes without food, they become suspect in the eyes if the super wealthy. In their world view, competition, not cooperation is not just the rule of the day, but an eternal fact of our existence. Demonizing people willing to endure difficult conditions to save their country comes as easily to those in the one percent as firearms came to white invaders of this continent five hundred years ago.

If we let people exemplify the lifestyle that says take your cash and shove it, especially during the spending season, the whole ship of state might turn to a pillar of salt. There might be places and times to speak of trying something different, but from Thanksgiving to Christmas, don't even think about telling the truth or making any waves. The kings may get a new fiddler from time to time, but they always must play the same old tunes. Bright young people have been saying many of the same things for the better part of a century, the fact that there are real changes afoot scares the living daylights out of those who stand to lose the most if we convert to a more just system.

In my own way, I would like to offer time, skills and talents to the movement. There are so many places that the message of the 99% need to be heard. Although I'm busy, I wish to always have the time to learn and grow, ask the hard questions and sift through the answers I'm given. My tent cannot be removed because I live in a tent the size of the Great Lakes. Those who want to define the debate, shift the blame to those least able to defend themselves and characterize the motives of the protesters as less than patriotic are morally bankrupt. It is not the least bit unusual. It is the way they have always worked.

Rant

When confronting greed, deceitfulness and abject poverty of spirit, it is well to realize that we are not alone in this world, it is not a competition and that our choices say more about who we are than those we seek to “overcome”.  A reputation is built over a lifetime of making sound choices that line up with our morality, ethics and world view. Our reputations cannot be plastered over like a crack in the wall. No amount of saying the “right thing” or promising what we wish we could do can save us when we begin to let fear, lies, and greed steer our actions. Being good is far more than saying the right thing, it comes from our hearts, takes root in our thoughts and actions and becomes us, over a lifetime of remaining true to our essence, our spiritual life and the respect we show for the spiritual lives of others. 

It seems childish to let greed overcome sanity, family and the good will our forefathers bestowed upon us. Their lives were spent living according to their own standards. I’m very sure that they tried to do their best. Their legacy is tainted if we revert back to the worst behaviors that they had to deal with in their generation. What parent or grandparent could stand for their loved ones being hurt and cheated by one another? Have we utterly lost our sense of self? So many years ago, someone wished well for their family, made the arrangements that would exhibit their care for the next generation in meaningful ways that they understood. Now we have the chance to see their wish granted. Our many lives could be made better by their good fortune. We must try to remember our own part in the circle of life.

The flippant use of what was left for us, our trust for education, without the honor required to repay those loans, the petty bickering and the dishonest approach to the very intent of the trust that holds all of our inheritance threatens to erase all the goodwill with which it was established. As we carry on from this day forward, we need to think of our own part in the circle of life. We can either continue to reflect the fear and deceit with which old money used to hold for the “lower classes”, or we can rise above bigotry and hate and see one another for what we are, brothers and sisters in the same great family. As Nickleback  says, we could feed the world on what we throw away. Living in harmony with the planet can help us to live with one another in peace, security and with a wealth of spirit that is difficult to explain, but for those who put the planet first, it is hard to deny the wealth that can be discovered when living in harmony rather than discord with creator and the planet he/she has bestowed upon us.

No longer should the tiniest fraction of the world’s population consume the lion’s share of the resources and energy. No longer should we demand such a vast supply of materials. Let us begin to value the more important acts that can humanize our lives and tend less to the gardens of despotic tyranny over all living things. Spend less on fuels, poisons and waste producing technologies. Let us find in our hearts the time each day for reverie, cultivating sacred space and the wherewithal to appreciate that which remains obscured by those blinded by greed, deafened by media and dumbfounded by the truth.  Rest assured that none of us get out of this experience alive. Nothing that exists after a dollar sign is real and the things that matter most are never available to us no matter how much we spend on them.

Ingenious Series of Code

When I began writing it seemed to me to be an ingenious series of code, meant to convey information. As I developed “sophistication” with the language, I discovered that to be adept with the written word, sometimes what was left unsaid had more power than the words themselves. In my usual stubborn manner, I still tend to say much more about what I mean and leave little to the imagination or more subtle factors in my message. This method of blurting out the truth rather than leading people to it has a power of it’s own, but frequently I fear, there is too much of a jump for the casual reader to absorb new images, ideas and icons that I have understood for most of my life. As a child, I wondered at the inhumanity of man (mostly the men I might add) toward other men (but mostly to the “fairer sex”. I hesitate to even use this language because it is seated in centuries of male domination and subjugation of women. So many of the words we use are carrying the baggage of this sexual slavery and exploitation that it is hard to write for long without bumping in to one or two.

It is high time that our civilization renounces the old way of thinking about the females who make up a slight majority of most natural populations. In cultures that select for men, inevitably society will have unmarried men who live shorter and sicker lives without the care of mates. Rather than getting bogged down in the aberrant sex selection practices that have been favored by some forms of state controlled childbirth policy, I want to qualify this statement partially. Although it is true, mated pairs may not be exclusively bi-sexual, the vast majority are. The very cultures that select for sex usually have taboos about same sex marriages as well, creating undue stress for the loving couples who stray outside social morays.  When America stole the concept of the Iroquois confederacy, they failed to utilize the most important factor in selection of representatives; the grandmothers were the only people who could vote. Imagine our culture if the cultural memories of the grandmothers were unleashed in policy making.

At once, those who were given flags instead of their children back from the war, those whose children have been damaged by drugs or environmental contamination would finally have a cohesive voice. Those who had lost children to violence, or poverty or the ravages of bad food and overwork, would have a say in how we treat the corporations (mostly men, and women who act like them) who currently receive the lion’s share of welfare in our country. The direct subsidy of allowing public air, water and soils to be contaminated for profit of a tiny few would end overnight. I say, if you are ever considering action of any kind, consult the grandmothers. The messages that I have chosen to send throughout my life have been in defense of the tribal cultures that we can all trace our roots back to. Their cultural intelligence has been lost, along with the power of the grandmothers. To regain any semblance of hope for the future we need to establish sustainable systems that have been proven over time through a long, handed-down chain of events that needs cultivation, not stigma.

We are, after all, tribal by nature. If we had a lick of sense, we would honor those who have seen the most, respect those who have given us life, endeavor to hold sacred the rejuvenating forces of Mother Earth and revel in our power to guide the coming generations. Until we get the intestinal fortitude, good sense or gumption to make the decisions that need to be made, we must resign ourselves to ever decreasing quality of life, more insidious poisoning of our environment, and ever dwindling rights at the hands of the most behemoth of corporate entities. Take time this Thanksgiving to appreciate the cornucopia of giving that belies the Earth’s Spirit and reflect abundance in all of your actions. If you feel run down, empty or depressed, realize that you have the right and the responsibility to change the world for the better.