Found my way home (#1339)

For all the traveling I did when I was younger in this part of the country, you would think I would have found someplace to land and establish roots. Well for awhile I did up in the great Northwest, but always lingering in me was the need to come back home. There is just something about familiarity, even when it has changed somewhat. It is as if the place of my birth has some internal significance. maybe even some subconscious attraction that pulls me back to the place of my first existing, I don't know but there is a comfort level that is innate. I feel a close connection to the Northwest and will always travel there when I can but to leave here again for any length of time doesn't seem like a possibility anymore. When I was younger I was traveling as a way to find myself, and physically discover what I had only heard about. Today, I want to travel as a means for recreation and reacquainting myself with old friends and family. If I could have two homes I would, one here and one in a motorhome, where I could be on the road to explore new places. Sometimes I wonder what it is that keeps us close to our original homes, is it comfort or is it the fear of something new? I seem to have settled it for me but that is just me and how others get to their answers surely will not be exactly the same as mine. Regardless of that, my search for myself and where I should be is over and now comes the time in my life where I just enjoy who I am and where I am at. 

The continuity of a clear mind (#1338)

For me, the ability to grasp comprehensive concepts begins with a clear mind. A mind that is not influenced through the acceptable numbing agents currently in vogue. I start each day from the same point I ended the previous day. In other words my life is on a consistent conscious continuum with only sleep breaking it into intervals. In the past, when I was more cavalier about how I treated my mental state, I would often have to recapture, over many days of time, the point at which I left my comprehensive stream of consciousness in order to, for a short time, escape reality. Now all I want to do is embrace reality. I have learned that reality is something I have more control over than I had previously thought. A maturation process that was unique to me took place and I have come to realize that anything that disrupts my normal stream of consciousness is a negative, not a break. While I was allowing things to get out of control with an eager anticipation to numb my senses, the effect was that I was dumbing down my natural abilities to avoid taking responsibility for my own thoughts and actions. While I told myself that fitting into the crowd and acting more the carefree life traveler, I knew deep down inside me that I had quit on myself and was just marking time until something or whatever came along. By clouding my mind with acceptable forms of confusion, I was abdicating my unique self to the whims of the world without being involved in how those whims played out. Somehow I survived my inconsistencies of mental control and have reclaimed my right to have control over the process of my thoughts.  

Trust your heart (#1337)

I can't tell you how many times I have been in situations where peer pressure has tried to influence whatever it was I was doing, yet I found that just trusting my own instincts, even more so, my own heart, to guide my actions. I even critique myself when faced with options and having acted on them. My critique is very principled and does not allow me much room to justify what I have done. Instead of placing all my options in the arena of logic and strategy, I yield to neither of those and instead yield to what my heart tells me. Not my emotion and natural desires, but the best of what I know is right or wrong. I have extended out beyond what is right and wrong in my past as trial and error learning experiences but not so far that my inner best sense of myself has been destroyed. I can't always vouch for myself when under the influence of mind-altering substances, which have a tendency to break down our best honorable intentions, but with a clear mind and choices to be made, I can say that my life has been closer to what my expectations are and were than not. I trust my heart to lead my life into all future acts because my heart is the greatest thing about me. I claim no exclusivity in this as I know I am no different than anyone else. But I do realize the significance of where my heart leads me and I follow it with my head held high. No regret or remorse for not doing what others think I should do, but great self-satisfaction in doing what I know is the best of me. I accept that what I want in this world will be shown to me through my actions and that is the wisest thought I will ever have.

When atrocity becomes only annoying (#1336)

The powers that be and the informed citizenry have a duty to humanity. We may be incapable of keeping it because of our own inadequacies as honorable beings, nonetheless, our consciousnesses serve to remind us that notwithstanding, we owe more than a guilty feeling. In most instances we decide to choose the formula of immediate cynicism to justify our inaction. If it doesn't directly affect us then we can somehow justify that it isn't in our own best selfish interest. That form of placating eventually allows for the horrible and atrocious to become more of an irritant and less a plague. Plus, the further removed from the abysmal circumstances the more immune we are to what the horrific acts actually deliver. The head in the sand like an Ostrich, is the metaphor and nothing less is it's equivalence. The constant forces of fear and the tiring effects of battle tend to make us weak and therefore less noble. The thing is though, is that regardless of fear and weariness, we must still live with ourselves and the memories we accumulate. No amount of illusion or falsehoods can remove the stain of us knowing that we have failed at a duty so important. Regret and remorse are as powerful as love and caring, so the question is, how do we learn to realize that everything in life matters, especially the big things that define who we are? How do we build the foundation of duty to each other in such a way that when any form of wrong or atrocity that may happen, we act on the duty as a force of our will and not a force of our won't? 

Russia and America, my two largest audiences (#1335)

I was born back when Russia and America were the two greatest threats to each other. All of my childhood and young adulthood consisted of wondering when we were going to go to war with each other, not if. Yet, as it has turned out we did not go to war with each other, instead we came to become civilized with each other and not warmongering. I know a lot of the tension was at the upper political and military levels, but those of us who are just average ordinary citizens were grouped in without us having much say. Time has changed that and now we average ordinary citizens have a genre where we can substantially hold our political and military leaders much more accountable when it comes to brinkmanship. We ordinary citizens on the opposite side of the world can also communicate with each other like never before. What do we find when we have that ability to communicate? That we are far more similar in our principles, hopes and dreams than we were ever led to believe. I say all of this in response to what I track as who actually reads my blogs. Russia is my largest audience followed by America. it is not surprising to me since I know that as humans we are similar and mindful of it. Allowed to express and think like humans and not just nationalities, we begin to understand and accept that we truly are all connected and the same, just living in different geographical locations under different societal guidelines. Furthermore, knowing the fact that we can sense and think is universal among us all, makes raising those qualities up for all of us to have opportunity knows no boundaries. 

A penny for your thoughts (#1334)

It used to be that a penny was a decent sum of money but not now. Anyway, it is the thought that counts. lol., Actually it is the thought that is important here, the thought that is being requested. It should matter that our thoughts are worth some recompense in that we spend our lifetimes refining them. Some in our world charge exorbitant sums for their thoughts on specific and complex issues and that may have some place in our society, however the good common sense advice and insight we hope to get with our daily problems has value as well. I tend to give my insight and advice away for free since I have concluded that I received it in an open society that generally supplied it for free. Now I have refined the information about me into a comprehensive train of thought, yet it is still just my thinking and not set into stone. I like to think of society as less a marketplace and more an environment of shared experience. I won't withhold information from someone I see can use it, as a lever to gain some type of advantage. Rather, I feel that everything I have worthy of transferring on to others, should be. I am in this existence, as a priority, to advance our species, not make some comfort for myself the end game. Certainly we all like to have as little discomfort as reasonably possible but the key here is "all" and "reasonably". For me it is obvious that as a finite entity, I will die in some due course, I should give value to maintaining that what should be shared and no value to keeping insight just for myself. I do not place a value on insight and perspective if it is not shared. So a penny for my thoughts does sound somewhat reasonable, especially since someone may actually give value to my thoughts. 

Dreams before profit (#1333)

Whether it is me or someone else, I want my dreams to come true far and above any profits that may be realized. In other words, I think in terms of what is better about life and not what is the most economical outcome. The dirty word of greed has been allowed to be so ingrained into our behaviors that it is almost blasphemy not to utilize profit from every action. This flawed human characteristic is advanced as a principle worthy of greatness, yet in it's application, greed has proven to not only be an illusion of greatness, it has also left a very real path of destruction to those whose trust was most egregiously abused. There are few winners and many losers when money and intellectual property are bandied about in ways that bring out the worst of our natures. It is not natural to create scenarios where the sneakiest and most ulterior of motives are advanced to gain financial advantages. Most of we hard working types believe that merit in equal ethical terms should have priority over the underhanded deceptive practices that are currently allowed. They say that ignorance is no excuse in the breaking of laws, yet ignorance to deceptive laws that allow for legal theft is encouraged through confusing the understanding of legal nomenclature. If the average ordinary person does not understand what the law is and someone else does, then that someone else has a decided advantage in how to manipulate legal proceedings to the detriment of those who are ignorant to them. Wealth is often the factor in who is aware of legal understandings and those with wealth most often are the ones who manipulate it to keep it that way. In other words, once in the exclusive club, let no others in, or as the inverse of this blog title implies, profit before dreams.

It is okay to make a mistake (#1332)

They should put this on my tombstone. lol. I have made enough of them in my time and certainly there will be more coming. What I have found is that by coming clean as soon as I find out I am in error I can move on with little disturbance. It is when I decide to ignore my mistake or try to gain from it is when I get in deep trouble. I never try intentionally to make mistakes but like all of us are victims of, we do unintentionally make mistakes quite a lot. It is a by-product of being a very complex human organism with masterful abilities. It is often difficult to keep up with all of our representations perfectly. In fact, by our own natures, which are full of emotional sidetracks, we compound our best intentions with our hopes, dreams, possibilities and our desire to have them come to fruition in a relatively short time frame. We are not relegated to a timeless existence, such that we can calmly create and maintain our vision. Instead we are thrust into chaotic mixes of many of us pulling at limited resources and relationships that easily allow for mistakes to flourish. Again, I don't intend to make mistakes but in my growing wisdom, I have learned how and why my mistakes come about. My ambitions in some areas of my life are still not quite controlled by myself in an orderly way. As I continue to learn this about myself and make adjustments for it I am finding that my mistakes are fewer but a consequence of the trial and error I experience is that I have lost time to achieve my initial purpose. Making mistakes and cleaning them up as quickly as possible is good but what is better is not wasting time making some mistakes that could have easily been avoided with the proper dedication to a perspective of self control regardless of an emotionally charged component.

Social media and it's effect (#1331)

I do not claim to be a social media expert but I do have my observational experience to make an empirical judgement. The advent of Facebook, blogs, twitter, etc... has given individuals like myself a forum to pass along objective opinions and referenced facts that help shape our understanding of the environment that we live in. Even on a scale of world view right down to my local neighborhood. This is a huge paradigm shift from only having controlled mediums like radio, print copy and television of past years. Today's social media has a connective value for us that cannot be over-estimated. We can now share our thoughts and the events that shape them at the tap of a finger on the keyboard. No more is our audience defined by those we meet in person. I can communicate to someone or a group of someones on the other side of the planet without ever leaving the comfort of my living room dressed only in my most comfortable clothes. The greatest benefit that I find is our ability to connect up with like-minded souls and progress an agenda that reflects our hopes and visions. We can all come to see our rational understanding of policies and events through the same prism of facts and truths. Not only is my life alive with the concept that my thoughts are relevant, but that they can be shared with others who may also find them so. We are able to highlight the very best of ourselves in a way that presents the best of our principles through this new dynamic of opening up with the confidence that we matter. We all have a voice and now that voice has the ability to shape the future. We are not just some little insignificant being who has been shut out of the decision making process like generations before us. We can and should open our hearts and minds to the matters of the day and express ourselves with the dignity and respect we all deserve as being human.

No peace, no satisfaction (#1330)

It is a disturbing sight to see people struggle mightily with what they dislike around them all the while ignoring what is wrong within themselves. The first clue to whether someone has their life and emotions in order is if they are at peace with themselves. There is no whirligig of activity that has no sequencing to it that makes sense, there are no peaks and valleys of emotional display and most importantly, there are no actions that cause hurt or harm whether consciously intended through commission or allowed through purposeful inactive omission. Peace within oneself is a flowing condition that exudes in every aspect of our lives. There is a calm that is exhibited that allows for all of us to see the big picture at any given time. Most of us spend our time in the moment of our living and rarely do we get the opportunity to see the big picture as a constant throughout our day. Yet when we have found peace within ourselves, we do rise above the continual frictions that define modern life and settle with a comfort in the knowledge that we are not on the edge of existence like most situations are inaccurately portrayed. We are merely at a crossroad that requires us to make a choice. Simple in implementation but hard to remember with all the chaos that surrounds us. Peace is the most natural way to live out one's life and putting aside all the bad behaviors that can infiltrate our characters is the first step toward finding the sweet pot in life that all the money or power in the world can supply. Peace is a choice and living in it requires that we not act rash but to relax in a little wisdom and enjoy the ride of life.

Aspiring to be greater (#1329)

What is to aspire when aspiring to be greater? Simply to long for or aim to create a greater value from out of a lesser reality. Those who aspire a greater reality are the ones who have found a way to put their own egos on hold in order to fulfill a promise of a brighter future. Although ego can be utilized to perform aspirational achievements, ego is a sad excuse for motivation when the humility of selflessness is the perfect driver for the proper way to conduct one's purpose. However, getting to a vision that enhances the quality of life for all is the key and sometimes the avenue taken to get there is not the point. We humans must always remember that we represent a rich history that is still being written in the annals of time and our place within that history has yet to be defined. We can take the reins of our individual destiny and apply what is best about us or we can not and let our lives blow in the wind of selfishness and uncaring. The temptation to aspire for one's own good is great, especially when one has been trodden upon, yet those who choose to rise above their own laments of woe and instead combat and stand as a rock against those forces that created and defined their woe are the examples of humanity that make my heart know that our better days are ahead for our species since we do display the courage and honor of our best instincts. We are but a link in the chain that is pulling our species into an enlightenment that will ultimately decide the fate of our ability to control our place within this chaotic Universe. Let us keep up with each other and displace our worst characteristics in order to strengthen each of our own links in the chain. 

There is no hiding from the truth (#1328)

No matter how much we lie to ourselves, our guilt just won't go away. That is why we are special as a species, we know the difference between right and wrong. Our human being species' ability to understand the concept of truth, is the greatest leap up the evolutionary scale of life forms as we currently know them. We are not just programmed through our DNA to follow pathways, like most every other species, that are most amenable to our species' survival, we also now have the ability to not only incorporate adaptive features and behaviors physically, but we also have the logical  reason, analysis and conclusion that knowing truth illuminates. That is just the beginning of what truth does for us. The other benefits are more psychological in nature. When truth is centered in our lives we begin to feel worthy and purposeful. Advancing toward being satisfied that our lives have left a worthy mark. Truth is the great arena where all participants win in the understanding of doing what is right. When we find ourselves either through intent or happenstance deviated from truth we begin to feel the guilt of not having the best of ourselves reflected back out to others. Gone is the bright shinning face of happiness and in it's replacement is the furtive glance of deceit. We can either remove ourselves from the effects of untruth by changing our minds to follow that which is true, or we can end up facing the exposure of our wrong. Some may think that they have done wrong and got away with it but I say no one gets away with wrongness as a strategy. Simply because we cannot escape our own guilt. The cost of carrying and living in guilt is too great when compared to the inverse benefit of living in the truth as the alternative. Truth truly does set us free from the unbearable burden of guilt.

The life we learn with and our life after that (#1327)

It is getting harder and harder for me to remember just how naive and trusting I was before I realized that not everyone was concerned about my welfare. I had assumed that we were all linked in ways that bound us together as family, community and country. I made some decisions that in hindsight, have come to look rather lacking in conventional wisdom. Yet, at the time, I was true to my understanding of how the circumstances and situations I found myself in should prevail. Naive is not even enough of a word to describe how I felt when I was left out alone with no one seriously agreeing with me. It is a bit humorous that my convictions were panned when placed in direct conflict with others' goals and desires. I guess I was quite the idealist. However, the life I live now is not as handsomely rich as my experiences were as a younger man but my life has meaning and a subtle peace to it. Perfectly natural in the progression most people evolve toward when their idealism has been realized to be an illusion. Sadly, but fortunately I get to live to see another day, whereas other like-minded as myself are no longer treading on Terra firma. I do consider myself lucky in that the hubris and reckless adventuring I boldly went about was not my undoing for luck played a major role and this I do not deny. My choices at an earlier time were my "feeling out" process for what is now my life. I learned from my earlier version of naive self and have evolved into a wiser cagier human being who lives not to shake the Earth with out-of-control idealism, rather I put my shoulder to the grindstone and quietly but forcefully push within my own power. I am living a life today that was born from the ashes of the life I learned from and that is the proper evolution for me from which to have matured. 

Consciousness exists naturally in the Universe (#1336)

A complex intuition on my part here but it is what I am thinking. Thinking, the idea that consciousness can exist in the Universe is not limited to what we know here on Earth. If it is a known entity or concept in our human experience, then it is my conclusion that it exists elsewhere as a general rule. That we humans are able to rationalize a conscious understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, hopes and dreams from our daily curiosities of animate and inanimate objects to a possible life after death, is an indicator that what can and does blossom in the Universe is not a one-time phenomenon. It would be illogical and arrogant to think that we are the first of any of the abilities and rationalizations that have existed heretofore in the time and space of our celestial habitat. One more thing before I move on about arrogance, it can only lead to failure since it is based upon ego instead of humility. And if there is one thing I know of all my experiences in this existence, it is that humility is the best paradigm for us human beings to model our conscious thought and behavior after. Back to accepting my, and others before me, consideration that consciousness exists in the Universe, by us trying to start from the same premise. Instead of thinking of the Universe of just inanimate objects, you know air, water, wind, heat, dirt, light, etcetera, consider also the possibility that biologicals are one of the building blocks of this Universe and the outgrowth of life from them carry a code of conscious intelligence ready to evolve to fruition through a natural progression. We see consciousness in other animals so why would it be so impossible to conclude consciousness doesn't exist naturally in our Universe?

On the subject of capitalism and equality (#1325)

A melding of two ideals into one process for society is my hope. We often hear from folks about a concept they rarely truly define, which is ethics. Particularly work ethic. This function of perseverance within our natures has been loosely called competition through our will. I want to distinguish out work ethic from competition/will because for one, we all have ethics. Secondly, we also need a forum or platform to express our ethics. The idea that some are more competitive than others is not a truism in fact. We all have competitiveness within us but each of us needs different and unique paradigms to express it. We are not the wild west days of our past, we are a modernizing society that can construct a society that reflects our most common honorable virtues. We can give all of us a chance to continue building that which we are most adept at constructing. Anyone who finishes schooling and has the capacity to apply learned knowledge and ability to their individual talents should have not only the opportunity to succeed but also the material wherewithall to start from. This is a function of government that can make a real difference in every persons life, not just some people's lives. I feel wretched when I see too many with such promise and high hopes come to the realization that their education is as far as they can go due to economic and political ineptitude. More than ineptitude in reality, it is a conscious effort to keep things from improving. What we should call these people who are takers and not givers, has not a satisfying definitive word in our lexicon. A time will come with most the rest of persevering toward equality for all of our people that we will overcome the reckless ones who are more prone to themselves then they are toward helping others achieve what they have done.

Convictions without facts (#1324)

I am aware that many people realize a gain in their lives by ignoring facts and truths. it is simply rampant in our society. When asked to prove their gain they simply say because it is true. I am not afforded that luxury. When I was young I used to base my convictions on my gut instinct for two reasons, first because it was easy to do that instead of research and secondly because I thought I was unique and therefore had a dispensation from the heavens to automatically be right about everything using my common sense. lol. I was young when this happened and when I was given my comeuppance I tried a new strategy, research. Since then I have guarded my opinions on things until I had enough information based upon facts and reality before I shared them. I learned early on it is not a sign of weakness to say "I don't know". My life is much more secure and confident since I have applied research to it. I can honestly say that I know a little bit about a few things. Not just intuitively, but factually. Big difference! I am not the only one who is applying research to knowing information but there are far more who don't and this is why I am writing about this today. Occasionally I run across someone who will go to great lengths to dispute researched information with little to nothing to back up their argument. They "feel" that they have the intuition to disagree with something solely out of their own logic. Like the world has suspended logical reason, analysis and conclusion in favor of something that can only be thought of as inexplicable. I suppose it is the whirligig of our own personal progressions through life, not unlike my own at a young age, however when it is an adult who cannot reconcile logic with research and with powers that can affect others, it is more than worrisome.

The male battle with inequality (#1323)

I speak for and against my sex in this post since neither position is absolute. We have a problem, we males, when it comes to power and it's rightful utility. Somehow, because we are generally physically stronger than women, we come to the conclusion that we are the dominant gender of our species. The one obvious wrinkle in this type of logic is that we are born and nurtured from our female species. Despite that obvious contradiction, we males have erroneously decided that, as males we are the kings of the Universe to put it bluntly. A childish concept in that we would all be dead in a generation without the women in our species. Digging deeper though is the concept that men are the protectors and suppliers of the family unit whereas women are the caretakers who are assigned the duties men would not choose to do. An inequality in origin. The old paradigm of man as the king of the castle was sufficient when myth and folklore were the predominant visions of our existence. However, time and space with a mix of logic and technology has effectively displaced myth and folklore as our understanding of existence and with that the roles of men and women have moved toward a more non-generic phase. Certainly women are still the ones who bring children into life but men are not exclusively needed in their traditional roles of protector and supplier, as a rule. Women also have found their physical strengths increasing with effort and freedom. The old ways of man as king is faltering in the face of equality in it's true application. We men continue to battle with the dynamic of women being equal with us and the sooner we men stop fighting this increasingly absurd antiquated notion, the better our lives will be.

The irrationality of elevating business over consumers (#1322)

We all know that the big businesses here in America are mostly responsible for the economic calamity we have experienced over the last four years, yet all programs designed to ameliorate the damage have been aimed at the actual damage causing businesses. It is terrible that the negative effects of the disasterous decisions made by big businesses are being shouldered by the very consumers they are in business to serve. It is as if we live in an alternate universe where those who do bad are rewarded and the innocent are guilty regardless of circumstance. The powers that be in the business community have no shame and it is evident in the dealings before the economic collapse and since then. Big business has received the bulk of the remedy for the ailment they infected on the consumer and are not sharing the remedy with those they have infected. Let me be clear, We gave the offenders a remedy to heal their ailment, and we are not giving ourselves the very same remedy. The theory must go that big business will recoup their standing and act as better service providers in the future thereby being available for positive effects to the customers they service. Yet the customers are not given any remedy to heal from their ailment provided by big business. It is unequal to think that big business should get a remedy for their ailment while the consumer would receive little to none. The consumer who has been hurt needs to be made whole just like the big businesses who created the damage. Yet certain Republican powers that be do not see it that way. When consumers are made whole then we can continue to contribute to the cycle we are an integral part of. That we are not included in the chain of remedy for damage caused by big business is a national shame and can be placed directly at the feet of Republican politicians.

The sin and depravity ideologues (#1321)

Strictly as an example, the Christian Bible talks about this in Genesis, when Adam and Eve realized they were naked and became ashamed. For me it is good to realize something however to ascribe shame to what is real is beyond normal. We are what we are and no amount of subterfuge or illusion will ever take that reality away. Yet we as a civilization and more specifically as the American society have found a way to cover our reality with guilt. The guilt then becomes the practical mores and the acceptable norms of behavior. Debating the finite points of whether it is good to be real or whether real is actually immoral is confusing at best. Too much of the conversation ends up being about conflicts with religious implications and our own insecurities with what reality actually represents. Like all things that effect the human experience, time and logic have the best chance of keeping our minds out of fear of what we may do as to acceptance of what we really are. If we are going to allow for our human evolution into the future to have the best of outcomes, we must remove the artificial restraints we place upon on ourselves. I realize that out of respect for others we must not act as animals and place our crude inhibitions on display for ulterior motives, contrarily, nor should we restrict our natural behaviors to unnatural bindings designed to negate examples of honest and innocent expression through misgiven unnatural mores. There is a line to be observed when it comes to what is real and what is acceptable behavior in a society. That being said, the notion that an anti-prurient agenda is an ideal to strive for is over-stated and instead a moderately acceptable approach of real individual self expression should be promoted.

How lucky I am (#1320)

Inside me deep down I feel this about myself. Despite all the different outcomes that have abutted my hopes and dreams, I still realize the bigger picture. I get to make those hopes and dreams a possibility. The uniqueness of being a human being and having all the sensory perceptions and ideas at my fingertips like I do is remarkable. Even before I realize something worthy of effort, I am grateful for having the ability to even realize. I have taken for granted my starting point, that is, I did not understand that as a human being I am gifted, like all other human beings, with the majesty of consideration. My mind can grasp panoramic and complex possibilities, and that is what I hope to do with all my time, yet I did not factor in that having this gift is of greater value than any consequence I may hope for. So what I have come to know is a peace and solemnity that I had not rationalized, that I can do something is more important then any effect I cause. It is a liberating bit of knowledge with a huge impact on my hopes and dreams going forward. I continue to remain conscious of the future I hope and dream about but even more now, I am well satisfied just by the fact of having the opportunity that I may do these things. Having that knowledge frees me to abate any expectations as a measure of accomplishment or success. Having arrived back at the start of how my life should have begun is fulfilling, but also a bit regretful. I do wish I had come to appreciate just how awesome it is to be a human being. No other distinguishing trait or characteristic as to appearance or behavior will ever rival the fact that we are the most unique and special beings ever known to exist, all because we can hope and dream through thought and our sensory perceptions.

How I view my day (#1319)

Regardless of what I have on my agenda for the day ahead of me, I see it as a way to have fun and get some things done. Even find a little reward for my efforts. I say this because some days seem to have a bigger impact on my nerves than do other days. Regardless though, I always come back to the thought in my mind that each day has an adventure to it and that is what propels me into a positive and motivated mode. So much so that I start to get a little anxious about starting my day earlier so that I can get to the fun of it even quicker. I know many of you have tremendous amounts of stress attached to your obligations and in some cases I do as well. But what I find is that the stress I feel is usually about my own doubts about myself. Once I am able to focus on the the idea that fun is the overriding purpose for all my days then the stress goes away and I am freed to live my life and not be subjectively yoked to it. Sure there are reasons for feeling less than happy about our days but less than happy only is a sign that serious efforts need to be made and that in itself can be the trigger for fun. I am not a robot and neither is anyone else. If the work is done and all that remains is the outcome well then, nothing else is to be controlled and a liberating sense of having accomplished an assigned task is all that needs to be considered. Where we can go wrong is having expectations and gambling on those expectations. Life needs to be lived with expressions of our individual natures and our individual hopes and dreams, not our desires to wrangle out things that are beyond our own control. I stay within myself and enjoy the maximum of who I am and what I can do. No expectation, no letdown, just have fun and enjoy the ride of life.

Good honest decent people live everywhere (#1318)

There is no "corner on the market" when it comes to good honest decent people. The world is full of them. So when you hear that one country is claiming to have the moral high ground over another country it is just rhetoric. There are some countries that have political/military systems that debase and subject their people but the people themselves are not devoid of the qualities that we admire, they are just unable to reflect them due to greater realities in their lives that offer little but fear. I am thinking of the Syrian people and their internal struggle to free themselves from the heavy-handed yoke of their oppressive tyrannical leader. They want to have lives that reflect the good, honest decency within them but until they can throw off the real danger and fear they live under, no such human attribute can be witnessed on a kind of apparent scale. I so wish we could do more to help them, not only America but the world. However old paradigms of politics prevent the world as a whole from doing the right thing and instilling in our thoughts and actions the same that which we would demand for ourselves. The day will come when the good honest decent people of this world will have the reigns of power in such a way that being a good honest decent person will be the reflected rule. In the meantime we must continue to struggle against those forces that demand we abrogate what is best about our species so that they can have control over the effects of what is less than honorable about our species. 

Time and space as we currently know it (#1317)

Given the laws of physics I am out on a limb here but given that we are increasingly evolving our knowledge, it is apparent to me that the current laws of physics seem to fit what little we know about time and space. As we move forward into this existence and it's boundaries are ever explored, physics and it's mathematical applications become more and more suspect. We just had one of our space probes enter into a new area of the Universe, just beyond our solar system, where the make-up of the matter that surrounds our solar system may offer a new clue to more understandings and questions concerning not just gravity but the vacuum and matter that hold our Sun and the planets in orbit. Even time and space as base lines may be challenged as to their properties as we grow out into our amazing Universe. All of this conjecture is to point out that we are very early in the human era historically, as far as we know, and the likely-hood that we have stumbled upon the foundation for all things for consideration seems a bit remote to me. What we have a lot of our knowledge based upon is the known factors we are aware of. What we still don't know surely must far a outweigh those things that we do know. All I am saying here is that nothing is certain, nothing. But what we do have seems sufficient to begin our quest into the greater unknown as long as we are prepared to discover that our ideas and preconceptions are a starting point, not a infallible truism. I have always believed that the philosophy of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst is a sound policy regardless of changing knowledge paradigms. Like all things, let's truly keep an open mind!

Commerce must reflect our values, not ignore them (#1316)

The great debate in our country over economics is a bit tiresome in the sense that individual wealth accumulation seems to have a higher priority over the common good for our species as a whole. The race to be "king of the wealth mountain" has done more damage to how we care for our citizens than any other socioeconomic policy. Commerce and it's business activities have a two-fold agenda; first, commerce/business allows for goods and services to flourish where they can benefit our society, second, keeping us busy buying and selling things keeps us from otherwise, out of idleness, from harming each other. Very simple concepts but very real consequences. Prioritizing how we adapt our commerce and it's business models can in effect stabilize a society and create very good outcomes. However, when a economic system has flaws that highlight great differences, it creates a warning sign that if not dealt with can easily become a danger to many who are caught in between the differences. A healthy economic system has properties to it that are recognizable, such as inclusion and robust opportunity. if we allow a status quo of indifference toward inclusion and robust opportunity to exist without remodeling it, we are prone to advance the worst of our fears in the form of dissent and anger. The powerful forces that control economic activity must be made to relinquish those controls in order for a new system of economics, built upon equality, to be able to advance. We are currently at such a crossroads throughout the world and realizing that economics is a tool, not a privilege, is the first lesson we must all learn.

Do your own research! (#1315)

I am just seething right now at how good honest people are taken in by sound bites and rhetoric that they do not fact-check for themselves. I know it is difficult to understand at times some arguments and policy explanations. But what is worse than difficulty is ignorance. I try to understand the points of view I am confronted with but I at least search as much as I can and read other points of view before I begin to elaborate on my conclusions. I have found that it is better for me and the world I live in if I just tell the truth and say I don't know. It is okay to not know, considering how bad it is to think that I do know and find out that I don't. My reputation is at stake and I value what my word means when it goes out into the ether. Too many times I have had to have foundational discussions with folks that have skewed to both extremes in their inaccuracies. Somehow we have learned that out-sourcing our thinking is a shortcut we can afford to take. Well if anything has taught us of the unwise decision out-sourcing our thinking can cause, just look at political decisions that have been made by those who end up in office on the pretense that they care about you and me. Nothing about being uninformed is a good strategy, unless of course being uninformed and at the whim of others is a life strategy. I cannot help but wonder if our lives have become so consumed with ideals that don't reflect who we are as a species, and therefore, need to be inspected and discarded. We are all little data processing human beings and as such what data we are processing, if not linked to our fundamental ideal of a civilized society then what else is more important? We all need a reality check and it is up to each of us to check the validity of the thoughts in our heads and the words that come out of our mouths.

Loyalty to a name is nonsense (#1314)

This is a phenomenon that baffles me. Someone will go to great lengths to defend a brand despite the fact that the brand is antithetical to the person's philosophy. Where does this come from? Are we so ingrained into our identifiers that we cannot adjust our thoughts to match a better behavior? I am perplexed that even in the face of logic and common sense, there are those who will never disassociate themselves from antiquated concepts. I suppose it is the stubborn streak many of us have, however, stubbornness is only a good thing when the right and good of a thing are being defended, not the wrong and a bad of a thing. I can also surmise that some changes are just not able to be made by some. Life is all about change but many will not accept this fact as real. Instead they would throw out the good of change to keep in place an identification that seems comfortable to them, despite the irrelevancy of the identification. For those who wish to remain in the status quo, without factoring in the changing world around all of us, do become the drag on society that keeps us from improving or even just maintaining our advantages as a society that have been given us by our fore-parents. Nothing remains exactly the same, nothing. So to allow for nonsense to dictate the importance of identification to a thought that has come and gone, over the real currently moving reality we live in is troublesome. I do believe that a foundation from which to grow from is necessary for all of us but in growing from that foundation, let's remember that everything below our feet is changing as well.

The Arc of Justice will bend toward our caring and our curiosity (#1313)

The highlight of the human species is the specialness that we have developed over time that is consistent with happiness. The less than offerings we attribute to our behaviors will, in time, be exposed for lacking character and as such will eventually be discarded. How do I know this? I am a creature of optimism and hope. As such I continue to believe that within all of us is the hero who desires the greatest of outcomes for us all to share in. When we focus on our caring for each other and our curiosity for the unknown, we travel together in a way that instills a bold sense of purpose while also lifting the spirit of possibility in an inclusive way. We are not a species whose ambition it is to tear things down, instead, we are a species that builds things up. Our ability to view a future with our species at the forefront of time and space is our ultimate gift. As such, we have distinct and direct pathways to follow in order to procure our best outcomes. We all can have a say in how we venture forth into the unknown. It is not difficult to realize that being prepared while being flexible is a formidable strategy for advancement. All we are finding as obstacles to our inevitable movement into the future is nature and it's universal properties. With care and wonder we can bring our species to new and exciting places with just the belief that we are the masters of our own destiny. There is no other force in nature that can achieve and prosper like our human species. This can never be emphasized enough to our own civilization. Creating the process and building a society that reflects that is our next great solution. 

There is much work to be done, will you help? (#1312)

The remnants of the worst of our behaviors still thrive all around us and ignoring that is the problem, not the solution. Ignoring as a strategy is flawed by this one reality, if no one steps into and defends against our worst natures, our best natures have little to no chance to succeed. Our species is curious at times, we can see both the big picture and the little picture just fine, however we don't link them in a comprehensive way. Both are inexorably intertwined yet we do not get that. We instead see that our short term gains are of a higher value then some principle that has no obvious immediate effect. The price will be paid for our lack of long-sighted vision in application and it's neglect will get us later or if not us our children. Life would be so much simpler if we would take into account the cost/benefit of both our long-term and short-term solutions in an integrated way as they are supposed to be. Enough of the quick fix conveniences and dismissal of ideals justified through selfishness and fleeting pleasures. I am all for having a good time in life but not at the expense of reality and the effect that lack of reality has upon our species as a whole. The big picture of our species and it's civilization has as much at stake as our own lives do within the comforts of our existing civilization. Unless we forget for another day of self convenient ignoring, our lives are what they are based upon what others have sacrificed preceding us. We deserve nothing for being born and that we would put ourselves at a higher place in life above others so as to reap unequal benefit from those who have little benefit left is an example of the ignoring of our worst behaviors as if they don't exist.

Garnering in my impulses (#1311)

When to know when is too much. My path often comes upon that crossroads and for me the choice is either say nothing or say too much. lol. My dumb luck as it were. I think I am better off saying nothing and subscribing to the thought that letting people think you are less than brilliant is better than proving it. It is worth noting that what I am thinking about is relationships and how some that I meet can literally, through emotion, confuse logic and common sense right out of me. Especially relationships aimed at intimacy. When I meet someone I grow to have some feelings about, it happens that I get a bit nervous about what I will say or not say, do or not do. I am conscious of how I am responding to ordinary situations and circumstances. What I am learning, still learning, is that silence can be a better strategy than me trying to insert some witty or explanatory remark. Like I said though, I am still learning. :) However, I am also aware that silence isn't the best non-response when it is obvious that a response is sensible. Therein lies the problem for me, bringing clarity to where that fuzzy line begins and ends. That fuzzy line is always influenced by my personal feelings so my personal feelings is where I must start. All of this would be much easier if I just ignored my personal feelings and let life play out without any emotional interjection from me, however that is dull and hardened, which defeats the purpose of actually caring about the things in life worth caring about. The bigger picture is that I must just reign in my tendency to add to situations and circumstances when no obvious benefit exists. A fine tuning of my personality if you will.

On the subject of love (#1310)

Most uncomfortable post I have ever made. lol. First the qualifiers, I have never been married nor even properly engaged to a woman for the purpose of marriage. Now to be clear there were two times that I actually obtained a ring and was answered with a "yes" when I asked them to marry me. However, things from that point on went sideways and neither illusory engagement lasted more than a few weeks. I have been under the impression that I was the underlying cause of both reversals and nothing to this day makes me change that assumption. If that doesn't tell you that I know little to nothing about what love really is then you are in the same predicament that I am. I know that I felt love for each woman at the time of the relationship. I had an eager will to spend the rest of my days with no other than her. Yet, once I got past the actual asking, the will to become one changed to a doubt about whether I really wanted this particular woman after all. Nothing about her, either one of them, changed it was me that suddenly realized every little thing about them that bothered me. I ended up creating a mountain out of a molehill and then let that come between us. I did that to them and to myself. Was it fear or was it doubt about not waiting for a perfect love to come into my life, I don't know. I caused pain to those other women because I was not committed enough to let our love grow even more. I don't know if I have changed but just the thought of finding someone new who feels about me the way I would feel about her has made me overly cautious. I want love in my life and hopefully some day soon I will have that and then, third time is the charm, it may well happen for me since this time I know to expect more from myself and a greater respect for the woman who actually would love me.