Bias and prejudice as a strategy (#943)

Capitalism rewards those who can win, even at any cost. This is the dark side of an economic system that has as many flaws as it does positives features. In it's true form capitalism can be an enterprise that fulfills equality. However by it's very nature, it is also susceptible to underhanded and ulterior manipulations. When it is in practice, as strictly a market force devoid of human manipulation, it is truly a system that motivates and innovates given the intellect of the economic population. That perfect world does not exist nor does it even come close to existing. To the subject matter of this post, when all efforts are employed to gain advantages for the sake of success, bias and prejudice are allowed to flourish. Not in an honest way but as an acceptable way of doing business. When we spend so much time struggling to beat out each other for the sake of money, we lose sight of the ideal of creating a society that benefits all. For all of my lifetime, capitalism has been held in such reverence that even talking about it's flaws was considered heretical and treasonous. Such is it's power over our society that to consider any other possible permutations of agreeable economic systems is shunned. How easily our minds can be swayed toward economic policy, out of greed, over the greater ideal of improving society. It is as if the religion of capitalism has grown to a point of sacredness. Therefore anyone who would suggest an alternative to it through any calculation is considered sacrilegious. The cost of this protection of capitalism that has some inherent negative traits is our being left to the mercy of them and the diminution of equality, fairness, honor and other high principles of virtue and ethics. We will not easily move past the negative attitudes and actions of our shameful past until we recognize the value of changing the engines that perpetuates them.

The impossible is possible (#942)

I have had enough of those who tell me that this or that cannot be changed because it is impossible. How do they know what I or we are capable of? I know they think a change cannot happen within their own understanding, but I have yet to meet anyone who knows it all. In being an optimist like I am, even though I have my less than stellar moments, I refuse to believe or resign myself to any proposition that a thing or event cannot be made better. Even at the complete overhaul of an existing process if necessary. We have such limited time here on Earth, that we would not take advantage of our hopes and dreams for a better world out of some despairing idealism aimed at stifling us is incoherent. Pessimism is a tool used by those who have some stake or advantage in things remaining the same or even worse, things deteriorating to an even lesser degree. Those who would follow such illogic become willing accomplices in a paradigm that does not serve their interests and actually makes their lives less desirable. Optimism, on the other hand, allows for motivation of effort toward something desirable. Something that can have good or great benefit as an outcome. We need more optimism about us, not necessarily the same visions but at least positive visions that have honor and justice as their foundation. Regardless if science and technology have advanced far enough to help with a positive vision, the process of striving will get the action it deserves. Who knows, even if by acting on a vision brings about the very same advances needed, a completed a positive outcome may occur. I guess having some trust in destiny or fate does help but being possible is all that is required.

Great things are accomplished by great people (#941)

The chance that great people can lead our country is becoming almost impossible. The way our electoral process is staged, the chance that an objective thinking person with a enlightened vision could ever ascend to leadership roles is discounted. If you are not one of the "gang" and have made so many compromises over the course of your career, you have literally no shot of ever being an elected governmental official. Our democracy has been hijacked by special interests with lots of money. What we get as leaders today are people who are beholden to a way of thinking that has no vision for all but only a limited vision for some. Our freedom to vote has even come under some restrictive measures. Where hard fought for rights for all to be included in the election of our leaders, some find that by restricting access to voting they improve their chances of "winning". The course of our country's founding and beginning is being changed from improving the lot of our citizens to only improving the lot of our citizens who can afford it. We have lost our moral compass as a nation and are letting the dream of equality of opportunity slip from our quest to grasp. That there are forces within our country that would not live up to ideals of honor and fairness should be no surprise, yet we do seem surprised and taken aback when accusations are made against those forces. Our biggest impediment to changing all of this force for some back to a force for all is our inability to admit that we have been in error in our judgment. It is as if we would rather pay the price of our ignorance through denial than admit we were wrong and change it. It would be easy for me to say, well we deserve what we get, and do nothing about it. However this lack of not having great people leading what is left of our great country will come back to haunt our children and their children's children for decades to come, if at least I don't do or say something about it.

Stoking the engine of motivation (#940)

I have my own personal dilemmas that I battle with and controlling them or even trying to control them is a daily if not hourly struggle. Often times I convince myself that procrastination is a value worthy of my acceptance, however it becomes clear that after a while it does not work. I may have stalled for a bit of time but the consequences I had hoped to allay eventually come to face me head on. Therefore, at the back of my mind is a solution for control but the will is less than what is needed to confront my dilemmas. What I find is that I get to a point and then I can muster the will. It is not an attractive quality I have allowed to be my process. It is shameful actually because I know I am letting the inanimate control my being. I am The master of my own breath and movement yet I continue to go against my own principles I have come to cherish. It is my natural desires for things I have experienced that keep me locked in a battle over my own best will for myself. I know this is coming off as cryptic but I wanted to show that it applies to all areas in my life without being specific. There are people, places and things that seem to have more power over me than I do over myself. It is this that I am addressing. I have a solution for all the dilemmas in my life. I did not say I would like the solution but I do have one for each dilemma. It is the bane of my existence to do something I don't like, in order to solve something else. I would rather try to find a solution that makes me happy and solves my dilemma. However, no happy solutions are to be found by me. I am left with the less desirable solutions that I know will work, gearing up my motivation to implement them is where I find myself. As my life has gotten along in years it is more difficult to fortify my motivation but the degree of difficulty cannot be a factor. I must again stand up and be prepared to do what I need to do to get where I need to go.

Hold your head up and be counted (#939)

All of us are worthy to be heard. We may not all have the opportunity to speak but if we do we should not hesitate. Speaking just to speak is not what I am talking about here, speaking out about a vision or an injustice is. I try to keep my words simple and few as a way to maintain my balance toward correctness and fairness. It is not the ones who are always saying something that should get our attention but the ones who rarely speak but when they do provide sound thought and action. I measure my words to have meaning and substance. I am not always successful but I am always willing to learn a new idea. "My word is my bond" is a saying that has been worn out and broken so many times that when I hear that phrase I start to prepare for the opposite to occur. Those who actually practice that phrase never have to say it. I have few offerings that are tangible to give to the world but one of them is my words. I try very diligently to keep my words full of integrity and honesty. I also try to advance qualities or principles that allow us to live honorable lives. My words matter to me whether I speak them or write about them here. What I have learned over time is that if I don't know of what I am wanting to speak out about I hold my tongue until I do know what I am talking about. I do not pretend to be the answer man on anything I am confused or totally unknowing about. I am not a wise man nor am I capable of instant understanding as a general rule. I, like most the rest of us, need to learn, study and listen to others in order to gain the knowledge I need to be informed. I do this because it is important to me to know about the things going on around me. I matter and if that is true then I have studious work to do to validate that mattering. I find that being objective about all things is where I can start.

I am happy to be me (938)

Not that I am special or anything but I am content in who I am. I like my outlook on life, I like the principles I adhere myself toward. I am in a good place with the progression of who I am. When I see wrong, I want to correct it, when I understand how something works it gives me self-satisfaction. When I see others do right I am appreciative and grateful for their actions. I am just in a good place. What this does for me is allow me to look out ahead at what could be better in my life and try to bring it to resolution or at least work toward it. The confusion about how the world works and those of us in it has been resolved for me. I just want all of us to have better chances at living fulfilled lives. I was thinking earlier how I get to see the world and things within it, simply, just simply. Everything can be simple and does not have to be complicated or chaotic. I approach my life with a smile ready and willing to be employed. I have no other ulterior motives that drive my actions. I know how I feel and deal with that, how everyone else feels is not my concern. Life really is simple. I am not looking for validation or acceptance, I am only looking to be a part of what is going on. Whether that is success or failure is irrelevant. As long as I try to do my best and enjoy my output I am right where I need to be. It may seem a bit cavalier of me to disregard motivations that drive some for applaud or glory but I am well satisfied within my soul of my redeeming qualities. I have always been my own toughest critic and I have succeeded in satisfying that part of myself. I am in no way perfect nor have I arrived but I am happy with what I believe and who I appear as to those around me and more importantly to myself.

Fame does not equate to intelligence (#937)

Only intelligence equates to intelligence. I bring this up because it seems that any human who is allowed to go on to television or radio to speak of "truths" as if they are without being called out on it for only being opinion is our current dilemma. I am flabbergasted that people will give credence of trust to individuals just because they have found their way onto a screen or voice from a radio. Something we have been raised with has allowed us to believe that fame is a direct cause of either talent or wisdom. That is not rue. I am not referring to talent here since that paradigm usually holds true, however, the wisdom part is the paradigm that is broken. Just because someone is paid to voice opinions and is compensated by how many listeners or watchers he can attract does not make him or her a wise person. In the days gone by the circus would come to town and in order to advertise this they would put people out into the public who "bark" out the arrival of said circus. They would promote the specialness of the circus. We have the same thing here today in most of our main stream media, we have carnival barkers out promoting a viewpoint that is advantageous to particular interests. This does not make those interest's opinions, truth or correct, but they do serve a purpose, usually financial, but political as well. What seems to have happened is that these carnival barkers have grown into a role of being wise about anything they choose to talk about and their listeners and watchers are transfixed by their act. All the while the true experts on subjects of different fields of study are dismissed as propagandists. The whole idea of wisdom has been turned on it's head and those with little to no knowledge are now given accolades as being the leading minds of what is best for us. I feel like I have fallen into the rabbit hole and wonderland is where I have landed.

The gift of reality (#936)

From a neutral viewpoint, we have been given an insight into what is real in this existence. The air, water, earth and fire are examples of what is real. That we can survive in this temperature and continue to feed ourselves is a bonus. This is as basic as it gets when we look at what reality is. What we have done since is magnify and amplify these objects and actions to make a society that allows us to be liberated from mere survival. We have a commonality that we all share and that we also prize as valuable. This is the gift of which I am referring. Building upon the complexities we have structured gives us freedoms we would otherwise not enjoy. Only through our shared actions are we able to maintain this level of existence in this reality. If a breakdown in our commonly associated wills to keep an enlightened society were to occur, it would not be long at all for us to be back to basic survival skills being our foremost concern. The gift of reality is that so far we have been able to move forward in our shared experiences to build a much more inclusive and benevolent society. We have found ways to compromise on our outlooks as to what is best for our futures and let the test of time determine what is truly our path forward. We do this together, not apart as the whim of some wish to have. When the will of the many are manipulated, through less than honorable illusions, by the will of the few, we will have a price to pay for the ensuing chaos. I like to think that logic is still the highest form of reasoning and argumentation. It has it's inadequacies but mostly, only in the field of emotional responses. It is incumbent upon all of us to know who we are individually and who we are collectively. We have a duality of life force that both taken together can find ways to move into the future without having the future show up as our past.

There are no limits to thoughts (#935)

There are no limits to the thoughts we can have. Certainly no limits to thinking. It is when we are together and, through ritual and tradition, are confined to preconceived notions and expectations that we lose the ability to think of the not yet thought. All of us have the capability to have at least one thought that is unique to all of us. Through learning and experiencing we get closer to having our own original ideas about what life is or where it can go. We should never limit ourselves to constraints of belief systems or traditional customs that do not allow us to think and prepare our own destiny. I bering this up because I have known some who are so stuck in rituals that they cannot see that anything else is possible. Not only that but they start to see everything else as a conspiracy of some devious sort. Because of some archaic mindset, they have effectively abdicated their right to be a free thinking individual. It is a sad state to be in where such a compromise would destroy the possibility of courage manifesting itself into that which is still unknown. I find it hard to reconcile why people would give up discovery for the sake of limited acquiescence to fear. Life is to be lived with a sense of courage, not fear. Placing oneself into a doctrine that limits actions is in essence quitting on life. I can only speak for myself here but I will never allow myself to fall into just surviving like a scared rabbit in order to justify my existence. I am not saying that a personal belief system is wrong but the kind that limits one's actions, especially based on their own thoughts, is counter intuitive to what it is to experience life as an individual human being. I have my personal understanding of the Universe and it serves me well since it is based upon the fact that I have free will to think as I will with the power to objectify the thoughts. I will not be a creature stymied by illusions or mysticisms because I am afraid to be who and what I can become.

The arc of humanity (#934)

Like a circle that is never able to close, the advancement of humanity is such. The idea that maintaining a perfect consensus on what is human and how that should look in thought and action is still beyond us. However, there is a path or an arc of direction to follow. Humanity defines our beings. We are of the animal kingdom but not entirely of the animal nature. We have evolved beyond on other brother and sister animals and don't have survival as our only goal. We have become intellectual and emotionally charged in our natures. There is more to life than just existing! Where is this more coming from? From within us in the form of our best natures, compassion and curiosity. We care and we wonder. All the teachings of the past emphasize the ideal of hope for better. We have it within us to measure up to hope for better and to negate anything less worthy. Our control of ourselves is the key. Each of us has it within us to be the better or best of our hopes. The difficulty comes in the form of opportunity to express ourselves and the current state of inequality we have instilled on our society. But all things of an artificial nature, like society and the rules that bind us, have the ability to be changed. It takes the will within us to rise above the lesser to make the better a reality. Such examples are all around us, especially like today in North Africa where a persistent drive for freedom and liberty from tyranny has just about materialized. When we can focus ourselves on what we, each one of us, can do in order to make all of our worlds better, we have extended the arc of humanity just a little bit more toward what is inherently right about our species.

Words come and go but the feeling stays the same (#933)

I have had some experience with this and I expect I will always have experience with this. I don't know for certain but so far nothing convinces me that what I feel will just fade into something else. I know in my past I have ignored and masked my feelings in ways that diminished my feelings but once again out from under the cloud of illusion, there they were. I guess even I can chuckle at my own naivete in thinking I could make things disappear through my own personal will power. I feel the way I do because that is what has happened to me in my life. I can't control what and who affects me. I can deal with it and make logical assumptions about alternatives but still within me is how I feel. I also have come, over time, to realize that there is no rhyme or reason to expectations or whether or not I deserve something. Just because I feel something does not mean that it matters to anyone else. All I can do is move forward in time with some hope and the knowledge that I know who I am. The rest will be what it is and I just have to appreciate that. Life is complicated and full of logic and emotion. Both logic and emotion are the twin paradigms that create most of the friction and angst that I experience here in this reality as a human being. I am struggling with how I feel and what reality is. I know that everyone of us has this type of internal conflict when we know what we want/need and the impossibility of it coming to fruition. Disappointment, get used to it. lol. Just because something doesn't happen doesn't mean that I have to see it as negative. Even in a world that is unsure about concepts like providence and coincidence, there does remain the fact that I get to feel and that is what I need to focus on and not so much the outcome of that feeling.

We are more than what we have become (#932)

Philosophy is a way to look at ourselves and the things we do in a way that imagines either the best or the worst of who we are. Most philosophies imagine a combination of these paradigms, but my way of thinking elevates one of these over the other. In the header of this post I describe two main characteristics we all share as our natural instincts, compassion (positive emotion) and wonder, (curiosity). When we are in these two natural states there are no other instincts within us that are natural. Of course I also add in a survival instinct but that is different than our personalities, survival only comes into play when our lives are threatened by outside forces. The unnatural instincts that superficially reside within us are only manufactured when we are being denied one or several of our natural instincts, thus the negative instincts that are so common in our world today. A reflection of our unnatural instincts are common in the day to day living of our lives and in the processes we have developed to cope with them. In other words we are reinforcing unnatural behavior as a means of treatment instead of rectifying toward a solution. We are stuck in a circumstance that is self-feeding. Our whole system of how we relate to each other in every major category of our society has become the reinforcing model for keeping us from our true natures. Not to say that our true natures don't come out from time to time to remind us of who we are and who we wish we were at all times, nonetheless, our inability to maintain our natural selves as we should be, is highlighted by the structures of our society. For a betterment of our society, as a reflection of who we are, a change is needed. Once everyone understands that living as the beings we are meant to be is greater than manipulating each other as a way to survive, we will not advance to the foundational place that we need to start from, in order to live as our natural selves.

The universal ideal of liberty (#931)

This is a concept that defines every human being. Whether those who seek it or those who deny it to others, liberty's appeal is within us all. What is happening now in our ever more complex and open world are efforts to attain liberty and maintain it as well. What is Liberty? As defined by Wikipedia: "Liberty is a concept in political philosophy that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions." It would seem that having a life, each of our own, would be a concept available to every human being. That is not so in our world today. Liberty is being denied to many millions of us through tradition and oppression. An awakening however is taking place in all areas of our world and the thought that some have liberty and others do not does not sit well with those who do not have liberty. It is expressed in upheaval and demonstration against forces unaccustomed to being challenged from within like this. A price is being paid by those who would know liberty in their lifetime like none other of their generations have previously. It is upon those of us who have liberty to support those who don't if we truly believe in the concept of liberty and the value of human equality. Those who deny liberty to others have the knowledge that liberty is good for them but not for others. We must convince those who hold this view to become aware of the hypocrisy of their thinking. Greed and power have an illusionary attraction that blinds the deniers of liberty to others, in order to feed some weakness within themselves. Such is the daily struggle for comprehension that is logical and just. Liberty of each soul to live a life of discovery and happiness will eventually prevail for all but unfortunately the time has not arrived just yet.

Power to the people (#930)

This is a saying from the heady days of my youth used to rally young and old folks against the powerful institutions that had left us behind. People power, an effective slogan that cuts to the heart of what our democracy means to most of us. Power to the people exemplifies our individual ideals as a collective. When we are not feeling the effects of democracy within our governance we have the duty to stand up and demand to be heard. To a redress of our grievances, without prohibition, as stated in the 1st Amendment of our US Constitution. The catch-phrase, "power to the people", is again needed as a rallying cry in the face of ideologies aimed at limiting the welfare of our country to only those who can afford it. Our country was based upon the ideal of liberty and freedom. It has transformed over time to include all of our citizens, through amendments, in equality and justice. To even consider the withdrawal from these advancements is heretical to the intent of our founding fathers. We are an inclusive nation by our actions since the formation of our sacred union. To establish laws and ideologies that are in conflict with our historic national priorities is unfathomable. Power to the people is the call that is needed to resonate amongst us who realize the misguided current ideological attack on decency and fairness within our political system. All of us citizens need to be engaged in the fact finding mission of truth about what is happening and how to remain focused on adding to our country's great heritage, not in the dismantling of it. Power to the people is us claiming our voice in the noise of great power and money, and being heard despite the rhetoric coming from those who see America as their country and not all of our country. We are fighting to preserve the power of the people when an otherwise powerful force would stifle us and put us back into times that benefit few and harm many.

Our founding fathers had a vision (#929)

They did and memorialized it in print. We also can have a vision and memorialize it in our daily lives. In the preamble of our US Constitution, a phrase that lifts up our collective consciousnesses is this one: "to promote the general welfare". Our founding fathers saw that the most precious value, as a country, are our citizens. In promoting the general welfare we are maintaining the sacrifices and gains from the past but also adding to them. That is the vision I claim for myself, to continue the good insight and foresight of our wise patriot fore-bearers. In promoting the general welfare of our citizens and country we must look to see what that means. The first order is to keep our populace healthy and educated. This can be done many ways but must somehow include all of us. A country that expresses equality and justice without prejudice is on the path to promoting the general welfare of it's citizens. Another important requirement for promoting the general welfare is opportunity in the workforce for our citizens to be a part of the economic undertakings allowed to flourish. All citizens need to have an occupation with compensation in order to supply the necessities of life to themselves and their families. So, health, education and work opportunities are three areas that can be rationally categorized as promoting the general welfare. Another area for us to promote for the general welfare is on how we take care of our most vulnerable citizens. Can we establish solid and safe programs that address the weakest and oldest of our citizens in a way that provides for dignity and respect. We truly are only as strong as our weakest link and by addressing our strengths and weaknesses we will be fulfilling the spirit of our forefathers and their incredible vision for us to carry on.

Never stop doing the right thing (#928)

I get this lesson quite frequently. Regardless of how tired or how badly I do not want to do some thing I do it anyway. It is amusing at times that I do like to procrastinate when given the benign option but still I usually do not procrastinate. I have learned that just getting things done allows me some free time, occasionally. What I have also learned is that the free time I don't usually get by doing things is because some thing else has come up unexpectedly. It is for that reason that I try to do the right thing, in time, whenever possible. Does every thing need to be done immediately? No, but when I do things that way I feel a sense of accomplishment and also a sense of control otherwise I wouldn't have if I choose to be lazy with my time. Doing the right thing, to me, is doing what needs to be done when or before it needs to be done. There is another concept here and that is defining what the right thing is. I have a pretty good gauge on that but I am not always perfect on my intuition. However, me doing the right thing is what I am obligating myself to be responsible for and if others do not do their part so be it. I am under no illusion that I can control others and I will not use coercion or duress to make things happen. This world is hard enough for all of us and putting on more pressure is counter-productive in the long view. If a thing needs to be done and done right it must come from within each of us to do our part. Hopefully our part is understood. I can create circumstances around me that highlight cooperative effort with reasonable expectations, but I don't have license to dictate or demand what others see as what is right. I only know that I am self-motivated to be the best human I can be and doing what is right when it needs to be done is my mission.

Hope despite the reality (#927)

It has been some time since hope was the main topic of my daily post. Not because it is insignificant, since it is one of the most significant concepts all of us should have. Should have, seems strange putting it that way but I do know some people who place no belief in the power of hope. I haven't written on hope because it has not been at the front of my mind and that is how I almost always write this blog. First thing that comes into my mind when I am sitting here all ready to start. But days like today are different. Not that anything important beyond the usual is occurring but because I sat here earlier and nothing motivated me, so I moved from the keyboard and now I am beck several hours later and I find that hope has filled my mind. I see a vision where our lives are refreshed with new thoughts about how we treat each other. I also see how we can share this world with each other in a way that allows us to see all the wonders our world has to offer. This is what I hope for, the startling revelation that nothing is more important than our lives, nothing. I suppose I could label my hope as a destiny which could become true despite the current and historical behavior we have shown. So for me, and I am sure most others, hope contains a motivation to strive toward. Hope is the dream we wish, or are fated to have, come true. I know my life would have less meaning than it already has if not for hope. Hope allows me to survive when my life is on a low plane. Hope sustains me when I rise up from that low plane and hope exhilarates me when hope comes true. Hope is the promise I would always keep if I could make my hopes come true.

Learning is never-ending (#926)

I have this same experience everyday, I learn something I didn't know the day before. Sometimes I learn small things now that I am older and have learned a lot already but other days I learn great things and I get to see that life has so much more to it than I expected. It is so easy to get drawn into the idea that my world view is mostly complete since I am well read and have heard many stories. However, actually experiencing the world is something I am not familiar with in my little corner of it. I have allowed my mind to feel a sense of knowledge about generalities and thoughts that are not true. I need to instead leave my mind open and admit that I do not know. I am not some wise man who can answer any question posed to me! I know this now more than ever and I suppose it will be my lifelong endeavor to not try to answer when I think I know. I heard a remarkable saying awhile back it went like this, "only an ignorant man would answer every question put to him." What this tells me is that by not recognizing that I need to learn more I have become that ignorant man. Nothing like a metaphorical cold slap in my face to remind me to keep my mind open and my humility at the forefront of who I am. I love living in this existence and in this society. Learning is still being promoted as a priority. However, education is being promoted less so in our current society by a powerful group of people, but we can still change that course with force of will. History has shown that the struggle to pull ourselves out of the mysticisms and myths of an earlier unenlightened era is a continual process. We must never take for granted that the past traditions of our cultures have a lingering and attractive sentiment to them. To move beyond the illogic or fantastical, we must be able to apply ourselves to objective reasoning and hopeful discovery of all that is around us, both within and outside of us.

Why do I matter? (#925)

There are many times when I wish I didn't. I have it within me to isolate away in my own world without making a peep of a noise to anyone else. I am getting more and more like this everyday. When I was younger I had no time to be alone as I always had some plan for interaction on a non-stop basis. It is reasonable to understand that I was still figuring out life on the foundational level therefore, I needed to be in constant contact with situations and circumstances as a means for learning. But now that I have grown older I have come to understand the basics of life and have no great desire to repeat the lessons of my youth. It is harder to stay interested in the day to day happenings going on around me unless I have a passion for a particular subject. It should not matter whether I am available to interact in many things I do not care to participate in. Yet, it does matter, here's why. Even though I enjoy isolating away from life around me, I need to be a part of life in order to justify who I am and who I have become. Deep inside me is a recognition that I do matter and I want to feel that others recognize me for that. This opens up the concept of me being a social animal. I am not jut an individual I at times try to become, rather I am just another human who is a part of the community of humans. We all bring something to this existence and I am learning to be patient and listen to others in order to know what those somethings are. I have to be engaged and not let myself fade into an isolationist mode. I need to be with everyone else sharing the something that I bring. I do matter even when I don't want to matter. I have a duality of conflict within me that constantly leads me to a fork in the road. I have to be aware of this and realize that the complexity that is me needs to be in our community letting others in and sharing what I know because I do matter, instead of isolating and not letting myself matter against my better instincts.

My motivation to write this blog everyday (#924)

I am once again reminded in a very real way why I write my thoughts about our natures and how that effects how we see the world. The fragility of life is the reason. None of us has a guarantee to anything beyond this very moment. I feel a compulsion to make known my insights and conceived revelations on any number of topics because I do not want to leave anything behind I might regret. My experiences are just that, mine. Yet my life can be an example to maybe one other human and that makes all of this effort on my part worth doing. I need to contribute to the bank of knowledge and expression what little I have so that I know I have fulfilled my compulsion to build a better world in as many ways as I can. I am a do-gooder, plain and simple. I understand this about myself so when conversations turn toward ideas and processes that do not exhibit fairness and justice, I already know which side I am going to take. It is a comfort to me that I know myself enough to be confident in my thoughts and actions. I fought and defeated the previous impulses within me that favored selfishness and greed. My ego has been placed in a box that is now stuffed away in the back of my mind. I now see the world through the eyes of a child who has respect and humility for all the good around me. I now get to battle the ideas of exclusion with a determination that has no resistance within me. I am free to express my will with a motivation that has at it's core a desire to be of good service to my fellow travelers here in existence. Happiness can be achieved on many levels and in many ways, but true happiness comes from deep within and in trying to make our world better for all of us and our future generations. Occasionally, I get some of that true happiness in my life.

It takes courage to have emotion (#923)

I have been able to listen to a few others who have little perspective about the highs and lows of the emotional roller coaster called life. Their understanding of circumstances that occur to others is not based upon how they have handled similar situations but on how they think these situations should be handled. It may be easy to sit back and logically analyze a situation and logically determine the proper course of action, however the emotion of the situation must always be factored in. Many will counter that emotion is too volatile and confuses the proper response. I agree, in most situations it is better to be cool headed and calmed down before making important or drastic decisions. However, the emotional aspect of why and how things happen in situations must be considered. Having a perspective on the emotional impact is what I am referring. The only way you get to have a complete emotional experience is to engage in relationships. To have a connective association where the nuances of life build a bond or trust that is beyond just mere actions. The difficulty exists when relationships take a turn for the worse and pain is experienced. Examples being lose at love or betrayal through expectation. The tragedies in our lives are the learning and growing pains we need to have within us to be able to understand others' decisions. Nothing is simple and easy, everything has a complexity to it. My point is that the gamble one takes to open oneself up to whatever may come from various relationships takes courage. My whole perspective about how I have designed my principles for living have come out of the ashes of my own personal experiences. In this way I have the insight or wisdom to see why others do what they do because I factor in the curve of the role emotion takes in shaping our decisions and our lives.

The evolution of our minds (#922)

I feel certain that 2500 years ago the Greeks felt like they were on the dawning of a new age of enlightenment that would propel society into a magnificent model for science and great human interaction. The possibilities that presented themselves to eager minds to leap by bounds through the past animalistic behaviors we enforced upon one another to a higher level of understanding and cooperation. They must have felt the exhilaration within their bodies brought about by the ability of their minds to manipulate matter like never before. A true dawning of a new age. Yet we have learned through history that might conquered enlightenment and stalled whatever brilliance that had prospered back then for another 2000 years. The fits and starts of the evolution of our minds has been an inconsistent one through time. It is as if a force is unwilling to allow for enlightenment to prosper. We seem to allow ourselves the seductive attraction of a little more as opposed to a lot more. it is not our nature to crawl when we have previously walked. When we allow for things to change and disappear our will from the greatness we all have within us to a lesser quantity for the sake of fear, we all lose again when we could have gained so much. I have resigned my understanding of the phenomenon of denying progress to ourselves as an evolutionary one. We seem to not want to have what we rightly deserve because we cannot imagine it. Our minds will not let us accept that we are a race of humans that have the ability to jump past obstacles with agility and spirited resolve. We have it within us to be the great human race but as the evidence shows we are not yet all on board with this same belief. Hopefully our time on Earth will not run out before we can live up to our mighty potential.

Everything matters (#921)

Nothing is insignificant. Everything we do has an impact on someone or something, somewhere. That is the way it should be. I know that a lot of things we do, thoughts and actions just happen sub-consciously and as impulse reaction to some unforeseen stimuli. However we can train ourselves through recognition to be selective in how we respond to most anything. It just takes patience and awareness. I know that some will find that not everything matters therefore not everything needs to be thought about. I used to be in that mindset until something I thought didn't matter came back to prove me wrong. I have since revised my understanding of what life really is. I have gained a perspective that enlightened me to the fact that life is finite, it has an end and everything I do within it measures the totality of who I am and eventually who I was. It is understandable that as we get older we start to feel the frailty of time and how much we have left in it. We gain the insight that a purpose for us cannot just be chaos and chance. I have come to respect the ability I have to still be in existence when so many of my fellow humans are no longer here with me. An ultimate respect for life will eventually find it's way into all of our minds regardless of how disdainful we are of others and their lives. It is like rising above ourselves and seeing for the first time the connectivity we share and how that should interact. A perspective beyond where we have previously been. How everything we do has an impact on everything that is done afterward. We have tremendous power over how our lives can affect others. It will always be amazing to me how lucky I am to be born into this existence. The chances I get to express myself and the wonders I have been able to comprehend, allow me to put all of that into everything I do.

The good within us (#920)

This is who we are! We are the best of what is inside us. Why does the worse within us exist? Because we were/are denied the best of who we are and that was/is the default position. When we are denied who we are, we are forced to be what we are not. I have said this many times and it is in the header of my blog, when we are denied compassion, curiosity and the natural right to survive, we resort to less honorable traits. So what is the remedy? Let's quit denying each other the natural instincts of our humanness. We can define our society based upon what we should and shouldn't do. It is within our grasp to do so but of course there are those who wish for no change at all because of the current advantages they enjoy. Which is sad since they are human also and yet would rather deny their instinctual nature to fulfill some lusty greed they have come to accept as their own sense of reality. The entire paradigm of human existence is not bound by any external restrictions or boundaries. We do these things to ourselves because of past behaviors of ill consequence. It is natural to defend oneself in such a way that survival has dominance over any other of the two natural instincts, those being care and wonder. Sadly for us we are still in such a dynamic and any thoughts to moving to an enlightened age while still carrying the baggage of selfish thinking will make the best within us much more difficult to cultivate as the true reflection of who we are. We, some of us, have become creatures that resemble humanity less and less as time continues. It is as if the artificiality of society and it's demands have outweighed the importance of defining our own true natures. Instead of becoming wise we are becoming apathetic. We have lost our identities within the chaos of self-inflated egoism. Yet still, the good within us is waiting for it's chance to express what life can truly be like.

Questions questions questions (#919)

I need answers answers answers. Such is my constant tantrum. lol. My ravenous appetite for knowledge is my dilemma. It mostly does not matter what the subject is either. I just have a curious instinct within me that needs attention. I know the old saw about "if you don't stand for anything you will fall for everything", but it isn't that simple for me. Truly I do stand for integral ideals and have a foundation within me that allows me to reflect my best intentions. But I also am an objective individual and our time honored cultural practices have less sway with me because I choose to keep my mind open to all possibilities. This attitude of mine has effectively made some around me unfriendly as it has hurt their stricter constructs of what reality is. I cannot help their viewpoints when animosity has come between us. I move on in my own reality of questioning everything. It suits me and allows me to find courage in the daily situations that come my way. I am not bound by convention or expectation only fair and objective analysis. What I have found is that outside my previous experiences, before I elevated my own actions to my own logical thoughts, there were other like-minded souls who were also questioning reality in the same way I have come to know. It has been comforting to come into contact with like-minded souls. I know that I am not alone in my desperate attempt to evolve with knowledge as my own reality continues to evolve. I am under time constraints here in this existence. I am motivated to making my time here valuable. It is as if the blinders and fetters of conventional practice have been shed and a new vision of the world and its surroundings have captivated my imagination. Questions questions questions, hopefully answers will follow.

Intelligence is strength (#918)

We all start out in this existence with little to no confidence in who we are or what we know. It is through time and learning that we do finally begin to understand what this reality is all about. When I was a very young boy I let my curiosity run rampant in that I was hungry to learn. I remember feeling so weak and insignificant as an entity and that the only way I was going to move from that weakness was to fill my mind with knowledge and to become more physical with my bodily strength. I protect my body by being in shape and learning how to defend myself, as well as I protect my mind with information and reasoning in order to guide my thoughts. The one true test of strength is in how one sees the world. Today, I do not stand in anyone's shadow or acquiesce my positions on policy to anyone without me understanding what is being said and how it actually affects all of us. There is real power in being enlightened. It has an exhilarating aspect to it that somehow fires up my internal will to be a force of nature in my own right. Intelligence I learned through being taught in school and in the everyday occurrence of personal interactions. I have found and practice the notion that all of me, my mind and body, needs to be engaged in every single day of my living. Although my body is on the down swing in life as to it's earlier strengths, my mind is still on the upswing of it's growth of confidence. I do not just go through life knowing mostly what I need to survive. I go through life learning all I can to improve and pronounce a better way for all of us to think about. I cannot tell anyone how they should live their lives but I can tell them what I think about how life can be lived more fully and with much more honor and justice. As I continue to learn myself.

Words are not enough (#917)

My emotion through passion is being stirred like never before about our society. Long held beliefs are being questioned as they most certainly should be. We have serious problems in our current form of government and economy. A change is needed in how we see our future. The status quo or the idea of longing for the good old days mentality must stop! There were no real good old days. What we had when we were sheltered from reality is an illusion. The idea that our present today is moving forward with logic and enlightenment is mostly false. There are too many in power within our country who think that a path to the past is the optimal paradigm for our future. A life based upon strict adherence to a narrow view of mortality and a survival of the fittest mentality. What I find irrational is that those two dynamics of action and behavior are in contradiction with each other. Both of these viewpoints as a goal for society breed a contempt and rebellious nature that would have no place in that worldview. Our only true way forward is a modern progression filled with education and opportunity to test the boundaries of who we are and the world with which we live in. Our planet, the Universe are all at our beck and call for examining and exploring. It is our nature to be curious, anything or anyone who would deny this is false. We get to decide what positive advantages of our natures we get to promote. Our destiny lies ahead of us and the trail we blaze to get there is ours to progress. We leave for our children more than who we were, we leave them also who they can become, through our examples. Actions my friends will bring our hopes and dreams closer to being a reality, hopefully it won't be by going backwards.

Patience shows wisdom (#916)

If I have not heard impatience before these last few days I have gotten an eyeful of it lately. It doesn't matter the situation, I have been observing a skewering from a lot of people toward one person. What is amazing however is that the skewering has come without full knowledge of why it is being given. It is as if some will not wait to learn the facts but instead will gloss over talking points and fire away. I am better situated in my life now to know that allowing time to pass before I weigh in on an opinion is mighty helpful. Our society is not structured to allow for wise consideration of the truth before comments of opinion come tumbling in, and it is to our detriment that it is so. Our media outlets sell their information on a daily basis and the news and opinion of it must go on regardless of incomplete comprehension. We all suffer for this paradigm. My best way of dealing with complexities is to measure some time and read and listen to many viewpoints before I get set on my own opinion. A lot of my opinion on things has value in the characters involved in the situation. Some are more trustworthy than others so equal research isn't always a required necessity. However, the facts must always be the foundation of a situation I am learning to understand. I suppose I can be grateful that I am not one of the ones on the sidelines screaming yay or nay, without a reasoned out explanation. Patience to logically move from premise to premise with an analysis of each step and the pitfalls or benefits they may produce, is essential to me. This is what I am learning to do. I will endure the noise of the current national rumblings until I have a handle on the workings of the situation. It is a positive way for me to learn and know what the truth of the thing really is.

The growth of my imagination (#915)

I look out at reality and see what is happening around me and what is happening in the far reaches of the world. I am not convinced that everything is fine and nothing new could help with our societies. It is my duty to myself to experience everything I am honorably capable of without causing harm to myself or others. One of the areas I am able to expand and effect new insights is in my imagination. How can I imagine new ideas and ways of living that make some kind of principled sense? I have found that not restricting myself to boundaries is a good place to start. I do not bind myself to some accepted convention like it is holy writ. I have learned while being alive that there are no real mental giants who know it all and have laid out a path to living that is all inclusive. We as humans just muddle along in our lives in order to maintain or creep ahead in our limited economic and social goals. Fine, existence within a system is worthy of attention and maintenance, however remaining in a status-quo living experience substitutes as subsisting but not as experiencing the greater possibilities of changing our realities. The only way I know how to change our realities is to imagine a better and/or best vision for our futures. Pragmatically, imagination is only that but when it is given the duty to incorporate into previously hard-held concepts with new ideals of improvement, only then can paradigms begin to expand and offer hope for a future that can be objectively an improvement over the one we presently have. I love having an imagination to help guide me into new and better modes for my learning and wonderment. I am only one person but I am the only one person I have. It is my right and duty to improve this existence any way I can and having my imagination at the ready makes me confident that I can do so.

The beauty of freedom (#914)

Oppression has a face of it's own and it is not beautiful, it is instead the look of the thousand mile stare. Whereas freedom has the look of the sun, the moon and all the stars combined, unlimited possibility. Like anything in the world, not appreciating what we have can and will diminish it. Thomas Paine's ("...tis dearness only that gives everything it's value") sums up nicely how we perceive and act on the fundamental rights that have been given to us. Rights are more difficult to maintain at an optimal level since they are not tangible, they are ideas with consequence. So we must always be wary of their being present and appreciate them when looking out beyond ourselves to those who do not have these same rights of ours. It is unfortunate that the world at large is not on par with basic human rights. It is easy to look to other continents and see the past of our own struggles, that were achieved through blood and treasure, still playing out with devastating results. All the more to not only protect our hard fought for rights but to in some way help those other unfortunates achieve their basic human rights as well. There it is in a nutshell, protect our own freedom while helping others achieve theirs. The two are entwined as well. By helping others achieve their freedom we are helping to guarantee our own freedom. There is value in all of us on this planet being free. To live and choose how our lives can best be served within our community of peoples. Not only that but the expressions of living in freedom manifest themselves in ways that bring out our best in our search for happiness. As a species we have a ways to go but the tide or impetus of our movement is in the direction of freedom for all and the beauty it will reflect.

The magic of humility (#913)

Here is what I am thinking. I have seen the thoughts and actions of arrogance in so many forms throughout my life that all of it's forms and manifestations are familiar. Not in one single instance can I say that arrogance has been magical. Never has it been something to be admired. It has been confused with confidence at times but arrogance itself has no magical quality. Humility on the other hand is almost always admired, it too can be confused with cowardice and other weakling analogies but humility itself is nothing if not gracious and inspiring. Here is why, when humility is engaged in a problem, regardless of the problem, unselfish traits come to bear on the problem. The premises have no ulterior motive therefore the conclusion is usually pure or close to it. Now that is magic when an outcome can be offered that has no ill intention. Most notably humility can be recognized by the appearance of sacrifice of some sort. When the focus of a solution has at it's core the ideal or principle of giving as opposed to taking, you can be assured that the proper intent is being forwarded. I am not superstitious or given to illusory mysticism, so therefore when I do sense a feel for something magical it is because somehow the Universe has allowed us to do something that is just right. That is how I perceive that the only common factor in every really good equational reasoning circumstance is humility. How do you know the heart of a man or woman? By their deeds. In looking at their deeds we will find that those who have the greatest peace of mind and inner happiness are those who have found humility through living their ideals and principles in real time. My life has little left to experience outside of external stimulation but one quantity that I can never satisfy is the internal emotion of being a part of a magical occurrence.