Fear Is Not A Family Value

Homo sapiens need a wake up call. Our hearts and minds have been heavily armored and who can blame us. The news programs and networks, that have proliferated and the "reality" television shows show us the most awful images and posit the most fearful views of life for us ad nauseum. We have been terrorized by the media for so long that it seems almost naive to trust, believe in, or count on anyone else. Other than our religious and political leaders, who have the most to gain from lying to us, we can include commercial interests, murderers, thieves, crazy people and sexual predators to the list of people who may be lurking around every corner. We have been led to fear nearly every bite of food that enters our bodies and every fluid that exudes from us as well. We now are beginning to understand that our water may be dangerous, the air definitely is and the very ground that we walk upon is "filled" with bacteria and fungus that might kill us if we have contact with it.

This morning, on a local news program, I learned that a local municipality is embarking on a program that will cut down hundreds of ash trees on city property to prevent them from being killed by the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that only feeds upon these wonderful shade trees. The fear of what might happen is being allowed to dictate to us how we will act, what we will do and how we think about our relationship to the world around us. Similar issues are played out daily in operating rooms across the US. There are probably few of us by now that have not heard of women being told that by having a mastectomy, or hysterectomy, they may be able to outlive their genetic "predisposition" to die from cancer, or that exposing their breasts to radiation might just save their lives. Fear is probably the most profitable industry to be in at present, although we are on the whole healthier and more secure than at any time in our history.

Before you let your mind wander down the slippery slope of what you have been told, we are actually living in the least violent time in history. that being said, we are all going to die. If we live long enough, it is almost certain that we will pray for a quick and painless death, but fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, doctors will almost certainly try every trick that they have up their sleeve to extend your life, expend more and prolong your life as long as possible. Feeling that heroic measures that allow people to suffer just a few months or years longer is worth their effort. It has been over a year since my father passed away, so I'm not just saying so because I am filled with grief. after his second, and third heart surgery, the effort to rehabilitate himself was extremely painful and no amount of schedule one narcotics could touch his pain. Luckily, when he was driving under the influence of these drugs, he did not kill anyone. I'm sure that it was mostly because of quick thinking and rapid action on the part of those who saw him coming in the nick of time. The last time I rode in a car with him, he nearly took out three other cars within about a mile.

The things that we really should be spending time in fear of often go unnoticed.I have shared with many people my feeling that the true terrorists in our midst are the millions of drivers who continue to use their cell phones in the car. these people just don't know when they are going to kill. doctors too fit into that category as well because iatrogenic (doctor caused) deaths, from prescribed medications are approximately equivalent to all deaths in car accidents in our country. Some sources have documented the fact that they are even a greater number. If we are to trust one another, we need to be acting in a trustworthy manner. The almost universal rejection of responsibility in our culture has fascinated me for the better part of half a century. In the last few weeks I have been reminding myself of the fact that when we point at others, there are three fingers pointing back at us. We are encouraged to fear by the powerful interests who wish to divide us and keep us isolated amongst our neighbors.

When we investigate most of the subjects that get covered by the popular press, we find that the causes and effects of these events are frequently left out of the coverage. The heroic actions of those who exhibit bravery or courage are usually not covered, nor are the actions of those who quietly persevere. These activities, quite often, don't photograph well or take place behind the scenes. My contention is that these actions and activities are far more common than we ever realize. Living is not a series of investments in insurance, or installing locks on everything that we value, nor is it the blocking out of all that threatens our way of life or ideas. In fact, the happiest people on Earth spend the least time on these sorts of activities. I have always wanted to be a preacher of sorts, but the reason is pretty much the opposite of any preachers that you might have heard speak before. I openly admit that I cannot tell you what to do. I'm not even sure that what I might say is right and i certainly don't want anyone to take any action in my name or in the "name" of the Lord or Lady, but rather because it is coming from your heart. I often write about the fictions that our minds spin for us into the illusion of truth. The ego is adept at lying to us and the weak of heart often subvert their true selves for the edification of their own deceitful egos. I am not who I think I am. Neither are you. The threats to your health and well being that you believe in do more to take you away from living your bliss than you may ever know. I apologize to those of you who may understand this already, but what speaker can resist the urge to preach to the choir from time to time.

Living our lives requires that we accept some risk. The more we hide behind layers of fear, the less we are able to see and understand the world as it truly is. There are many who reap the benefits of us shuttering our windows, living with our heads in the sand and turning our backs on those in need. We all have the power to live heroic lives, lives of infinite abundance and lives that recognize the fact that each and every human being is entitled to a life of love and realization. If each one teaches one, the process of growing into the people we want to be, rather than victims becomes much easier. We need to let go of fear if we are to have the power of love flow through us. The values that came down to us from our parents and theirs have been assaulted, attacked and undermined by the media for the better part of two generations. The threats that we face today are straw men, fabricated and propped up by those who want us to leave the churches, our government, the financial institutions and the schools available for their use as tools of oppression and they also want us to relinquish the airwaves to be used as an insidious tool for spreading fear. If we allow them to sell us a bill of goods that states that our children, their mothers, the elderly, teachers, gays, unions, pot smokers, liberals and conservatives are "the problem", then we will be sufficiently afraid of everyone and everything and we will be unable to do the things we need to do to break free of these mental shackles. We are always left to make one decision either from the depths of our hearts, or from our own tiny ego. Will we lead lives of quiet desperation or will we rise to the challenge that faces us today? I am willing to stick my neck out. Please look into how you might follow your own bliss and let me know what you find.

Watching the "Flow" of Humanity

For some reason I have frequently managed to see things from a far that would irk me to no end if I were to actively participate in them. Part of being a stagehand is having most of the time everyone else works off and working during most everyone else's time off. As we returned from the Northwoods yesterday, we came upon the most amazing throng of humanity, trying to rush to their vacation location. I estimated that we passed ten thousand cars within thirty miles, each one alternating between twenty miles per hour and fifty, jamming on the gas and alternately hitting their brakes. some of the vehicles smelled like hot clutch and brake pads but to a person they were unable to allow themselves the peace of mind that comes with waiting until traffic clears before proceeding on to the cottage, cabin or campground that they were looking for.
I have been in traffic, so don't get me wrong. I'm not putting undo judgement on those many thousands of folks who were trying to get Up North, I'm just glad that I was able to arrange for a couple days off earlier and made it home safely before the traffic really got bad. Word to the wise, try to get to Northern Wisconsin by Thursday, or take your time and use back roads instead of the interstate to get there. Inevitably, there will be a place where the four lane divided highway turns to a two lane and then, there may be hours of jockeying until the traffic begins to sort itself out. Especially on long weekends, the less time you have to spend in bumper to bumper traffic the better! Ironically, the more money poured into advertizing certain "vacationlands" at least in Wisconsin, the more likely you are to be sitting in traffic at a dead stop, especially in peak season.
Don't tell anyone, but usually, there are three simple ways to both ease the backlog of cars on the road and reach your destination without the headaches brought on by the crush of weekend warriors with boats, campers and toys in tow. First, and most often overlooked, get off the main road! Our tax dollars have paid for way more roads than we could ever use, why do so many rely on the most direct route, even when it guarantees and hour or two time penalty added to the normal drive time? I always figured that an hour spent exploring a new route, seeing the sights that bring me to "Vacationland" in the first place and often finding things I never knew were there, more than offsets the headache of sucking fumes from a stationary line of cars on the way through the tiny towns with thousands of rubbernecking tourists.
I certainly don't want to take away your fun if that is your thing, but cruising at fifty on an unfamiliar road has always felt more enjoyable to me than riding the clutch or the brake through a town filled with advertizing and tourist traps. Old way thinking has led us to a point at which you can now find the same t-shirts with off color remarks in every town, sometimes in several shops in the same town. The same sunset with loons with whatever town name embroidered on them you might wish and the proliferation of cottage art from China crowding out the real thing made by local artisans. Making a real living from tourism, especially in the future will require a bit more creativity and an easing of the crush of humanity bent on consumption. If we just change where we are coming from, or the way we "get there", amazing things will begin to happen pretty much without effort.

Secondly, leave early! Not just a few hours, I mean days early. If Friday is shaping up to be a headache, call in sick to work and go up on Thursday. The boss may grumble, but in addition to not sitting in traffic for hours, you will benefit from an extra day in the woods. You can bet that work will still be there when you get back. Frequently, we forget to step out of the "norm", taking in sights at odd times, or going a bit out of the way to make it to our goals frequently provides us with opportunities that would surely be overlooked sitting in a long line of cars or waiting for a break in traffic. The best times to be in a resort area is during the week. Just ask the locals, they know to stay off the roads after 2PM on Friday and all day on Sunday. By learning from the locals, your experience can be better than you may imagine. Developing the skills needed to get the most out of your vacation may take some time, extra planning and ingenuity, but these are well worth the benefits that they can yield.
Lastly, but certainly not least, consider taking a break. State, town and city parks, wayside rest areas and other diversions along the way may change the way you look at the land you would normally skip over. Like the pebble tossed across the surface of a lake, it is contact with the water that keeps it afloat. The way we see ourselves in the world is based on the contact we have with the landscape. Cottage life has never been about the time spent getting there, rushing or running to get something done, get somewhere special, fighting for parking or that certain nick-knack. It is about all of those things melting away into nothingness, experiencing the call of nature, the whisper of the wind in pines, or the silent steps of a wary critter walking through your camp. Vacationlands exist for the benefit of those who have spent too much time in the city, being part of long lines, trying to catch their breath in a hectic world. spending a little time and possibly money in a local diner, a park, or at a local rummage sale might not get you closer to the cabin, but at least you can relax a little rather than looking at the bumper of the car ahead of you. Expecting everyone to heed these three rules is probably too much to ask, but for those who take the road less traveled, I salute you. Thank-you for doing your part to ease the crush on Vacationland highways. Especially North of the stress line, why bring that city life with you?