What moves us emotionally (#1765)

The triumph of the human spirit is what moves us. The strength and courage of those who have little to move beyond the despair they have been dealt. I had a friend who used to say that no matter what happened to him in life, such as having nothing but his underwear walking down the road he knew he would be okay. Such a self assurance is profound and worthy of note since the mental picture of that does help to keep me in my perspective that regardless the turmoil or challenge, we will persevere. I have always considered myself a strong man who was better suited helping others instead of seeking help for myself. Yet there are times I am completely and utterly humbled by some who on first sight have much less granted to them in life shoulder great burdens and perform amazing acts of kindness to others. My perspective gets a wake up call and I realize just how perfect each and everyone of us really is. None of us has the greater ability or the greater sense of worth over another. We are all equally gifted with a beauty inside us that dwarfs our own imaginings. The longer I live in this sphere of existence the more I get to see just how fortunate I am for taking the time to notice what is happening around me. I mean really notice more than just the motion but the purpose for the motion. It makes me understand that we all have a path we travel that rises to the level of appreciation and justification. Surely some of us have lost our way and are more harmful in our lives to others than we should be, but the vast majority of us are purposed with a gift that when seen by others shines out brightly and inspires us to our own grateful furtherance. 

Wrong is unacceptable (#1764)

Most of us are clear headed enough to recognize wrong when we see, feel, and hear it. We may not always be able to describe or define it and/or conclude a solution to it but nonetheless we are able to recognize it. Now, how do we react then? Do we just allow the wrong to exist and continue on as if nothing can change the wrong? Or do we expose the wrong and take the time to try to understand it in order to stop the wrong from being our reality? If all we are doing on this planet during our existence is just going with the flow of whatever is, then we will continually find ourselves confronted with wrongs that help some and hurt many more. If however we find that living in this existence is a challenge to our sense of honor and justice then we will confront the wrongs we find and make an effort to alleviate or reverse them. I argue on this blog site that we are a compassionate, curious and surviving species. That is the foundation of my view of the human species and if I am correct then the idea of us changing wrongs into rights is a smooth adherence to who we are. We are not some latent species content to exist at the whim of our surroundings, instead we are a demanding and intellectual species whose destiny is worthy of us to fight for. If that is true then accepting those things that hurt and harm as normal is antithetical to our nature. We must understand who we are so that when the time for reason, analysis and conclusion arrives, we always start from the same premise. 

The poorest among us (#1763)

As the poorest among us just had to find out, food for them was cut by the Republican party because the Republican party thinks that they are mooching off the government system. While the Republicans continue to give billions of dollars to the wealthiest in our American society. Today is our traditional Thanksgiving feast to honor the coming to America and the bounty we discovered here. Yet I cannot feel comforted by my own meager advantages when I know that many millions of children, women, seniors and armed services members will have less to eat. How can it be that we allow a political party that makes the poor and underpaid suffer insults and actual hunger while they greedily defend their vision to give massive amounts of government money to the wealthy? I feel no sense of pride about how our American citizens continue to vote these inhumane Republican politicians into office. Our country is at a dis-ease as we go about the matter of celebrating a feast that has little to offer the poor. I am ashamed by my participation in a society where a Republican party continues to receive votes enough to be elected and then continues to crush the spirit and hope of the middle class, especially the poor. Can we all just recognize that demeaning and subjugating purposeful hardship on ourselves is not progress nor growth, instead it is just a petty and contemptible demoralization that has no value in representing our nation's conspicuous place in the world.

Eleanor Roosevelt (#1762)

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-Eleanor Roosevelt. One can just sit back and ponder on this quote for a little while and get so much from it when we apply it to ourselves. Granted that we all discuss ideas, events and people to some degree but it is to the degree that differentiates us from one another. Personally I like ideas and events in that order since building a better existence for our species is my main focus. But occasionally I do get into conversations about people, especially when they are either of the two extremes. On the dangerous extreme I do like to warn others and on the magnificent extreme I do like to congratulate and illuminate their efforts. But for me it is all about new ideas for making positive impacts on our citizenry, all of other life and our planet on whole. Our place in the Universe is unique and unprecedented as far as our history explains. We are the most capable of species in existence and therefore our upside is the most open to exploration. We are at just the beginning of a new paradigm for ourselves. Building and expanding technology and innovation at record pace. Surely we are about to jump into the cosmos within the next century and what we do beyond is incumbent upon our progress being expanded to all walks of life. The days of a sedentary lifestyle contented upon dismissing our curiosity have passed. We are now able to dream of possibilities that have a real chance of coming to fruition. When we focus on the ideas we have that can change our current events into something much greater, we are better for being the species whose current status in our universe is unparalleled.

Letting go of the obsession (#1761)

There are some things in life being obsessive is a good thing. Being obsessively compassionate and curious do more often than not benefit ourselves and those whose lives we touch. Yet as good as some obsessions can be, many more are not as helpful. We can easily allow ourselves to become fixated on subjects and people in such a way as to become overbearing and devoid of an objective perspective. I often find myself falling into the trap of obsession in the things that entertain me. A simple acknowledgement that some fun and skill tests can be seductive to the point of moderation. I have learned not to be obsessive about relationships the hard way, by losing them and then understanding what I was doing wrong. Sad for me and no doubt others like me. I do hope to find a relationship in my life that will benefit from all that I have learned not to do but in that paradigm, the search continues. However, my other less noticeable areas of attention do have some more work to accomplish. As I busy myself with interests I recognize an insatiability to over moderate and immerse myself within it. Nothing great like research and development of some positive societal utility, just me staying out of trouble. lol. Yet in the boring mundanity of my life I can easily allow myself to lose perspective in the name of compulsion. I can easily fixate on that which I find beneficial to the detriment of other more important things I find beneficial. So the lesson here for me is to recognize what the irrelevant obsession I find myself immersed in as quickly as possible and remember that "marking time" here in this existence is more about losing time not taking positive advantage of it.

An honorable mind practices honorable actions (#1760)

There cannot be a disconnect between the essence of honor in the understanding of it and the actual active behavior of it. In other words, I cannot know what honor is and then not put it into practice for some reason. That is abjectly wrong. Although I may hope for some scenario to evolve and flourish, I cannot change the dynamic of the scenario if it is based upon a false premise. It is nothing new to me as I have had this going on in my life in a few personal areas since puberty. But even beyond the personal is the professional and social life I know to be the best for me. I cannot either accept less than enticing practices in that their outcome leaves me with a disgust in myself regardless of the advantage. Now I can justify in my mind and through today's generally low standard of acceptable practices, but I know in my soul when I have taken the low road for the sake of some overall pitiful accomplishment. As much as I like to think that I control the outcomes of things I put into motion, I know for a fact that the only thing I can control is my next choice in whatever I choose to do. What I have learned the hard way over the years is that thinking about what is the next honorable thing to do and then giving my best to actually doing the next honorable thing is the only true course I can follow regardless of the outcome. The outcome is not on me, in that I can only do my part of whatever process is in motion and that is what I have to accept. If I continue to be the honorable man and stick to my noble principles then my life will have accomplished what my mind and actions most desire, despite the outcome.

We are defined by what we learn and how we apply that knowledge (#1759)

This is the reason why I still am learning about who I am. I am not done learning new things to me. So my surmise is that I will never truly know who I am since I will never stop learning. But I can get a glimpse of myself through what I have already applied through my actions. The comprehensiveness of what I have learned continues to grow within me and is the final output of my thoughts and actions. I am not saying that I am a well run organism, as obviously I am not. However for the most part the accumulation of my knowledge to this point does indicate who I am becoming. My foundational understandings, for the most part, have been established. Nothing that has come along for some many years has shaken nor made me doubt how I perceive what is better or best about how I perceive our species and the planet that houses us and all other life. Yet, there is a universe beyond my limited scope and it has yet to be discovered. The idea I came up with to start this overall blog and to begin my journey forward from a base of understanding is in understanding our species' nature. We are caring and curious with a will to survive. From this base I can then delve into the complexities of how we interact and for what purpose we decide to civilize ourselves. When I state that we are also organic data processors with the capacity to reason, analyze and conclude I refer to our senses and what we decipher from them. All this together tells me that the restlessness of our natures lies in the fact that we need to continue to find information where it is and at the moment the vast amount of unknown information lies out beyond the restrictive nature this planet of ours contains.

Stealing our hope (#1758)

Republicans in the House of Representatives have done we American working/middle/poor class of citizens a huge disservice. They have not let the will of our electorate effectuate policies we voted to have produced. The intransigence of Republicans, much like a tantrum child who owns the only ball that all are playing with, taking it home and leaving the rest of us without. What we need to do is find someone else who has a ball and keep playing. That someone else is a new House Democratic leadership team voted into office in 2014. For the last several days we have, as a country, been marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of a dear and progressive President Kennedy. As an 8 year old sitting in my 3rd grade classroom and hearing of his death over the class intercom, I immediately felt my heart sink. Our family were and still are Democrats and the shock of it was real and disheartening. I got home that day from school and my mother was crying profusely over the ongoing television coverage. What I most remember from that still vivid day was how my heart felt. I was crushed inside that a great hope in our lives had been cut from us in a permanent way. The profound effect that moment had on me was a watershed experience since it destroyed within me the idea that right and good was greater than wrong and bad. Although, over time, I did find my way back to the best of who we are despite losing so much of myself in between that I am very fortunate that I survived to recover. Much is the same now with our current President Obama. He offers us a more progressive path to rebuild our hope and all the Republicans in the House of Representatives can do is nothing and obstruct. I will never allow anything, including a despicable political party, to steal my hope away again!

A penalty for not voting (#1757)

We have tried luring citizens to take part in our elections since the founding of our government, although at the beginning it was a lot more restrictive. However over the years we have broadened voting rights to all law abiding citizens and that is what we should do in our democracy. Yet we still have less than stellar voting turnout. We need all Americans eligible to vote, to actually take the time to generally understand the policies being offered and then cast a ballot. We spend billions of dollars on trying to get out the vote when it now seems logical to save that expense and require our eligible voters to vote or otherwise pay a fine for non-participation. It may seem a bit compulsory but there are few things in life as important than shaping the society we all participate in. The actual act of voting is simple when not restrictive. We do have some problems currently with the Republican party in our country here in America where they feel that only some should have the vote and not all. We need to establish that not only are the Republicans wrong in denying the vote but that the opposite, requiring everyone to vote makes for a better democratic republic. No doubt we also need to inform our citizenry of the issues we face without the lies, confusion and chaos we currently allow through media. There must be a truth in news law that harshly penalizes those who would defy the law. Since we are having so much trouble attracting our citizens to vote it is well past time that we forced them to participate if they are to be involved in the outcomes of our elections. 

Find your vibration (#1756)

Existence is made up of waves, seen and not seen. A vibration is something that waves it's way through us either to consequence or not. It is the waves that are of consequence that lift me. I find most of my vibrations through sound and most of those are through music. I know what reaches my soul in ways that other vibrations don't and I know what doesn't. It is the ones that do that make my existence just that much more exciting and happy. I get lost in the sensation and for that little else reasonably compares. The magic that is accorded us through our sound receptors and through the vibrations they emanate in our very matter is incredible and truly one of the great wonders of our creation. Our planet and atmosphere has given us some of these sounds and vibrations but the majority of them are created through our appreciation for artistic curiosity. We define what we know into categories and then expand on those categories ever widening the scope of their boundaries. The beauty and power of music has captured so many varied individuals together into one huge massive audience of appreciation. I think of the concerts we attend and how they can bring us together in ways that can only be attained through shared experience. Not only do our agreed vibrations have a soulful affect on us but we can carry messages within them that stir us to even greater fulfillment. The absolute power of vibrations in our lives can and should be recognized as what unites us to greater joy and appreciation of how that joy should be spread.

We are a community of human beings! (#1755)

For those who advocate for the sole responsibility of individualism I say this, that if we truly were only individuals how would we have ever been born and then grown up? If not our parents raising us then family or friends or community did. Do we just ignore that our nurture to adulthood did not happen? Are we to assume that we were all sprouted to life as adults with all the necessary knowledge and common sense magically within us? Those that espouse individualism as an instinct are clueless to reality and have an ulterior agenda that somehow is justified if we would only believe their nonsense. Surely we are individuals in the sense that we are only one person, however we are not individuals when it comes to the growth and living of our lives. We all inhabit this orb we call Earth which is finite and has at the moment a concrete restriction to remain here regardless of our wishes to be on some other planet. Time in the future may change that sooner than later however we are not isolated from one another on our current planet. Even still it takes two forms of humans, woman and man to make the necessary formula for life to birth. Nothing in our history nor of our understanding of our instincts leads us to believe for one second that we are purely separate and without the need to have other human contact through the entirety of our lives. We are a communal being, surviving as a species against the chaos this existence presents. All facets of our lives are connected and that is how it should be since it is the heritage of our species' survival.

The dumbing down of our media (#1754)

The point of having media is to be informed. It is so vital to a democracy that it is unofficially termed the "fourth estate" because of it's high priority along with the executive, legislative and judicial functions of our government. The function of journalism is to bring information to the public that both informs and explains rudimentary understandings. What we have lost here is the rudimentary explanations that give the information context. We hear many soundbites by those who push agendas of self interest but few simple explanations that define those parameters. Our media is failing us because of a recent statement by a prominent reporter who said, paraphrased; it is not my job to verify the truth of the news, but just to report it. This lackadaisical approach to journalism does all of us a disservice since the truth is held in such low esteem by many who manipulate it to forward their own agenda. Who is left to call out the propaganda that is spread out to the uninformed, who are hoping to learn from a trusted source? The media is and has lost the trust of the populace because it is well proven that journalists would rather be a part of a story that has sensationalism to it than do the hard work of disproving comments created solely for spreading confusion and out and out lies. Journalists have a duty to our democracy that is sacred and not for compromise or to be given over for personal benefit. If the media continues to sell itself to eager buyers of it's soul then the only victors will be those who would knock down democracy for the sake of their own agenda.

We imperfect human beings (#1753)

I occasionally catch myself making some of the simplest mistakes. I wonder sometimes where I let my brain go when I should be focusing on what I am doing. When I focus I am right on with my actions but when I am somewhere else mentally and think I can go on some kind of auto pilot, I often and I mean often find that I am unable to comprehend any deviation that comes before me. I somehow think that by rote I can accomplish things regardless of their complexity. Again, this morning I did something without thinking and now it is biting my backside for my lack of focus. Nothing real important but enough of something that I am realigning my leg so that I may proceed to begin kicking my own backside. lol. It just helps illustrate that no matter who we are and when it will happen, we will always fall short of perfection. Even in the things we have complete control over. So what I am saying is that I don't have complete control over my own simple actions. There is a tendency of my mind to wander to other things when I believe no real focus is needed, otherwise I wouldn't allow it to happen. So as an abject lesson from all this I know now not to be too critical of people who make obvious mistakes. However owing up to those mistakes is important because they serve to remind us that we are not all we think we are in the here and now. Because reality is not perfect despite what our allusions may tell us. 

The demoralization that defines addiction (#1752)

Mostly my comments here today will be concerning chemical addiction(s) but do not be fooled into thinking that economic, political, religious and social addictions are not excluded from the summary of this post. Chemical addiction(s) is one where the next consumption of the preferred chemical outweighs all other priorities. Surely we go about our daily procedures acting on behalf of our responsibilities but the all consuming mindset to set up the next chemical consuming event is at the top of our agenda. Eventually we find that keeping our promise to our addiction(s) and keeping our promise to our responsibilities collide. What happens next is the crossroad where most fail to objectively see that our addiction(s) has an advantage over us greater than the logically moral choice. I say this because in our own set of principles we divine as our life force, we dismiss in the face of denying our addiction. Our addiction(s) take on a life of their own within our minds. Our addiction(s) tell us that it is okay to put ourselves first over being responsible to our previous obligations and hopes for the future. Our addiction(s) compel us to see everything through the lens of satisfying our accompanying craving. When the line in the sand between our responsibilities and our addiction(s) has been passed then crossing that line again is easily done without the self conscious condemnation that followed the first crossing. Our addiction(s) define our rationale and we are subject to it not the other way around. Escaping the grip of our addiction(s) is done through the recognizing that we gave control to our chemicals and we are it's servant and not the other way around. 

The bonds of society (#1751)

Equality under the law is the backbone of a high functioning society. If we cannot agree that we all share in our responsibilities at the most basic function then we cannot have peace within our civilization. Why on Earth would any of us join into a contract that benefited some and not all? We have to have at the barest of minimums respect for all of human life if we are ever to flourish and solve our other pressing problems. As it is now we have one political party here in America that is not about equality for all and instead is about a hierarchy of rights established by their unjust conceptions. I am referring to the Republican party and it's offshoots, the Tea Party and the Libertarian Party. There is a mighty struggle going on now for the soul of America and the choices are diversity and tolerance through equality and justice offered by Democrats as the way forward for America's society or the ancient paradigm of class and race distinctions that promote segregation and injustice with little function for community of people's offered by Republicans and their cohorts. This is a real dynamic playing out in our politics and our economy and the sooner that all we Americans become aware of the polar opposite choices being offered the quicker we can expose this crucial battle so all can be aware of the side they choose. So much confusion exists today that loyalty to one side or the other is more dominant than actually knowing the purpose of either party. An awareness must be made to all so that we can wrest this battle to the ground and declare the absolute winner. I can only imagine that we are better than we are worse so the Democrats in this battle will prevail.

Courage in the face of fear (#1750)

When we are not completely sure we can make our best effort prevail is when we must make our best effort and then see the outcome. Thinking that we may fail before we even try can impose a freeze upon us that is self defeating. What we must not do is quit before we try. It is in the trying that we find out our potential, not in the guessing of how we will perform. True leaders have the understanding to trust what their honorable principles are telling them and to act on them with a fierceness that matches one's own survival instinct. If we know that we are putting ourselves on the line then we had better not hold anything back since we are the ones who control how we will perform. I try to always give my best since I know I am not the greatest nor the best at anything in particular. So if I have any chance of succeeding in sticking my neck out for something very important, than I had better give every ounce of energy and focus I have to it if I am going to have a chance to succeed. Courage is one of the greatest motivators in my life since it does fulfill within me what I perceive as truth under fire. I don't use courage to game something or for an ulterior motive since honor is too important to me as a life living principle. For me, being on the side of right and good has always been an edge for me and anything less than that doesn't have the pure intent of my abilities. I am not a gambling man per se, however every time I risk myself in some detrimental way to myself, you can be assured that I will be giving every thing I have to overcoming.

Broken hearts mend (#1749)

I have had a broken heart most of my conscious life based upon the tragedy of life I have witnessed and learned of. Life should be about joy but it is not at this time in existence. Maybe someday we people will find it within us to express what is best about us and not haphazardly what is worst. But over time I have become inured to this too often despicable and painful reality. Mainly though because I trudge onward with the hope that I can somehow make a better life out of existence with my puny little efforts. Hope is my lifeline and although I am insignificant I am not worthless. As to broken hearts mending I know this to be true. I have had my heart gut punched enough and lived with that pain everyday for what seemed like forever, but over some time that gut punched broken heart healed up and beat strongly again. It says much about our species that although we can't see any plausible answers to our dilemmas we won't allow our will to survive to be threatened and instead we reinforce our selves with the possibility that a hope in the future may materialize. Although we are vulnerable to our conscious thoughts we nonetheless progress forward with steely resolve. The endurance of our souls has a limit as some have shown and at times some cannot go forward. However, our species is much more than some of us, it is all of us and as we continue to march through time and space with no apparent knowledge of why existence exists, yet we show existence that our caring, wondering and will to survive are not to be broken and discarded, but to be mended and continued.

Understand who you are and then define that to others (#1748)

Find out who you are first. And if you are still in the process of finding out who you are then say you don't know yet but you are working on it. It is okay to know a few minor things about yourself that are right and true but be careful how you describe those minor things so that no one comes away with the impression that you are a just a limited mindful person. Always add the caveat that you are learning about yourself in a comprehensive way and that always takes a bit of time and experience. But know this, the quicker you can rationalize what you hold in your heart, mind and soul about your own dreams aspirations and wishes the better you will be at making some of your hopes come to fruition. I personally wasted a lot of time being selfish and uncaring when I was younger and that has come to be my greatest regret. At the time I thought I was just living my life but in essence I was living an illusion. I had to force myself to learn more than I knew so that my perspective could grow in panoramic ways. I began to see that the conventions and standard practices I took for foundations were merely cop outs for making my life simple and free from having a say about my own true liberty and the liberty of those who were just like me. It was much like the health care problem now with those who want to keep old worthless health insurance policies without knowing that they could and will do much better under the new health care law. I had to move out of my comfort zone and allow for new thoughts to enter my head that didn't fit the cookie cutter model I had accepted as the only safe course. As I have moved past that immaturity I am now in a place where I know who I am and whatever comes my way I have reason and analysis to back up my conclusions on the matter.

The joys in life (#1747)

It is at times when I notice my smile has erupted upon my face that I know there is so much joy in life. Sometimes it is as simple as someone smiling that takes me from whatever mundane activity I am involved with to a higher, happier plane of consciousness. I am a nose to the grindstone kind of guy, I do seem to be obsessed with whatever particular project I am focused on at the time and when I get interrupted by a singular joyful moment, my demeanor changes and my outlook brightens. You see my obsessions are not aimed at the happiness in life but rather at the despair and how I can expose it and hopefully make it better. Not the place where joy is prevalent instead it is a place of unhappiness and exasperation. How fortunate I am to have some in my life that contribute to the beauty in life and find time to share that beauty with others and myself. Truly the end result of all of our struggles is for a big wide smile to envelope us without our consciously knowing it. Joy is like that sometimes, it just happens when we least expect it. My humble self is stirred to regenerate my passion for the daily struggles I find myself in by them. The necessity of having joy find us is what we should allow for ourselves to happen. It is what makes all things worthy of our efforts regardless if those efforts aren't directly tied to the presenting joy. If we keep enough diversity in our lives and show enough respect to others to allow them to flourish in our presence then joy will find us no matter how preoccupied we are with other less happy struggles.

Atlas holding up the world (#1746)

Some days it just feels like it. The shifting dynamics of those who keep so much weight on my shoulders just makes me want to scream the most primal scream I have within me and then I realize that they cannot take from me my will and onward I go. Regardless of the power petty men and women utilize to make my life a very bad dream, I refuse to let the smile slip from my mind. They waste their time on me since they want so badly to break me and you and so many like us. Instead of helping us create a world where the beauty and majesty of being human is prioritized, they continue toward a world where the pressure and depression of their illogical lusts burdens those of us who have higher ideals. We have greater plans for our species and they include all of humanity, yes, even those who would destroy us. The breaking of their fevered illusion is our goal so that we all together can see the panorama of possibilities they currently have no means to view. So as they continue their onslaught against the wisdom of wonderment, we fight to stay even or from falling behind. I am not complaining so much since over time the progress from utter despair has been replaced with a greater hope for high ideals, yet I am but just one link in a long line of links and the time I have in this existence isn't being utilized to my desired effectiveness. How selfish of me for wanting our world to be something we can all be proud of instead of something we have to continue to fight to make that pride a reality for all.

The truth finds a way (#1745)

There is no doubt in my mind that over time the truth of things reveal themselves. What many don't understand is that though things may be hidden, the actions that precipitated them leave an imprint on what follows. If a thing is done right and openly the actions that follow are congruent with it. When things are done of a nefarious ulterior nature those actions will be revealed by what rightly didn't follow. The omission of actions reveal the commission of actions regardless of how carefully hidden they were. Many do not know how to see the bigger picture and because of that they fall into the same scenario of doing wrong and thinking they got away with it. Any careful observation by an objective reasoned person can follow the timeline of actions and sense the presence of wrong. None of us is too smart for the rest of us. So it is with all levels of complexity. If new and innovative scientific methods for detection are not the tool for discovery, then sociological/psychological advances fill the void. It does make me wonder why anyone would stray from the path of truth since truth is our best and most agreeable form of understanding. Those who would use deception and and illusion as their strategy are obviously not able to comprehend that any short term gain for themselves or their cohorts doesn't outweigh the damage they do to society and to the character of their lives. I will say this again for the sake of us knowing who we are. We are biological data processors living in a world of logical matter. The quicker we all assume our rightful heirship of functioning as such with facts and truths as our objective the quicker we get to the known/unknown unlimited possibilities that await us. 

From fear to freedom (#1744)

A goal in all our of lives should be to move further away from fear and closer to freedom throughout the span of our lives. Fear is what restrains us from boldly exploring that which we don't know. Being afraid that somehow we will change is ridiculously contrarian in that we are who we are and if we don't want to know what that is then we should remain afraid. Our society has somehow reversed the idea that our curiosity is a bad thing and our suppressing it is the right thing to do. How absurd! We are a blank canvas when we begin our lives and we add shapes and forms to that canvas as we discover the wonders of life around us. This process continues throughout our lives never ceasing since we can never live long enough to have discovered all. Fear is used by many to control their inability to grasp that we are not all the same, which is perfectly normal for us to be different. Although we are all of the same species we have different perspectives on what our species can achieve. So finding a way to free ourselves from the bonds of fear is the first order of business for us if we truly want to experience freedom. It is only through freedom that we can actually find happiness so the more we find we bind ourselves to fear the less we will ever find true happiness. It really all boils down to how we see ourselves. If we want to be something we are not then we will live in fear to protect that illusion. If however we are not afraid of being who we discover we are then the liberty of that freedom will elevate our lives to a confidence that will attract other like minded liberated souls. I know what I am and I know what I am not, only because I wasn't afraid to limit my perspective.

Equality for all regardless of difference (#1743)

We all need to be busy doing something on this planet otherwise we would all go rightly insane. Some type of busy work is needed for us to pass the time and achieve some sanity. How we direct our busy work is up to us and so far we seem to have survived our earliest inclinations not to go into an insane chaos. Good for us but we must dig deep into why we work. We work as a means to barter. It seems that exchanging work for other goods has a dual good effect, first it keeps us busy and second we can achieve exchanges that satisfy our sense of curiosity. We create things through work that spark the imaginations of others and add to the innovation and progress of our society. Again, good stuff. Yet that we work to stay busy and achieve things, that is still not enough. We must focus our work on not just the passing of time but on ideas and imaginings that advance our species and our planet's other species into the greater area by which we are enveloped. Our work has to advance our society as a smart configuration to where we want our species to become. Just having make work ideas are good for the short term so that many may find work and be a part of what we are hoping to build but our make work must also reflect our vision for our species' future. We humans are all of the same species, and anything that divides us lessens our value as a species. Moving forward into a rational expectation of ourselves requires the logic of common sense and the quicker we get there the better off our next generations will be.

Keeping our love above our hate (#1742)

This is one touchy subject for so many folks. It seems that hate is regarded as at least an equal or greater than love for way too many people. I can only guess that it comes from frustration at not being able to control others the way we would like to. Which begs the question, what the heck are we doing trying to control others? As much as we hate to be controlled cannot we also see that others wish no one to control them as well? Regardless of reason however is the idea that hate has a place within our hierarchy of opinions. Now the hate is not usually manifested in a frothing rage of pitchforks and bonfires, but it is still allowed to exist in a subtle display of attitudes and actions. We have learned to be civilized haters and for that we are truly damned. There is not much worse that someone who pretends to be acceptable to new paradigms all the while plotting the demise of the same. I would much rather express my dislike through debate and then let the facts flush out the idea. I am a thinking man who doesn't follow the logic of others as my only source for conclusions. I have my own life experiences and where I need to find more technical detail I go to other proven sources. The key word here is proven. Proofs are the end result of logical equations that help us verify facts. If we spent more time in the honest rigor of understanding and less time in the arena of subjective bombast we would find that hate has no place in our opinions or our vision for the future. 

A duty to honor requires one to have a conscious (#1741)

What was I the moment I was born? I was at the mercy of everything in this existence. I was not born with the skill to survive on my own from my first breath. I was completely and utterly defenseless. If not for laws and the protection of my parents and immediate family I would have been subject to the whims of nature or at the mercy of some otherworldly imagination. Yet I wasn't. I was nurtured and cared for until maturity and have since been the diviner of my own legacy. I respect the society and the nature of people who gave me such protections from my initial complete dependency. As such I know in my heart and soul that I owe a duty to protect the ideals that established such processes. I owe my life to civilization based upon enlightenment and for that I have an eternal gratitude for being able to live after my birth while adding to the growth of knowledge. It is the same sense of duty I owe to improve our society anyway I can for those who follow me in this dimension. I have no sense of privilege owed to me just a duty owed to society. I do not forget that I am one of the lucky ones who has survived the many pitfalls others have so unfortunately not been able. In my mind there is only room for moving forward with my gift of life and nothing I do for myself will ever measure up to what I do for how we get to define our future generations ability to improve their futures lot as well. I am not one who would put himself into pain for the sake of some irrelevant circumstance, but I am one who would sacrifice of himself to see benefit reach others. It is how I perceive each life that comes to fruition and for that I am humbled. 

My anger does have a boundary (#1740)

It usually shows up when I get truly frustrated and aggravated. I hear and see enough lies from liars that I start to simmer an attitude that gets short and curt. I often just take a breath and then find something to make me smile and I am fine but sometimes that is not enough. During the "not enough" times it takes me longer to recapture my sunny outlook as the intensity of the insanity around me is almost overwhelming. Yet I do despite the ridiculousness of the provoking circumstance. By nature I am a mellow fellow who has little time for the violent swings of emotion life can bring but because I do not exhibit wild variations I am also prone to building up emotions and then letting them top out over some insignificant matter. A tipping point if you will. I know this about myself and have found a remedy for it as I know that nothing is worth spilling out anger. So taking a deep breath and pausing long enough to remember that my intelligence is my best defense against any provocation of an emotional nature. I am no different than anyone else who has a passion for life and a real care and wonder about it. We all have a degree to which we hit the boiling point but what separates us is whether we have a default response to our out of control instinct. To vent is natural and normal but what shape that venting takes is a choice and I try so very hard the choice of allowing that heated moment to dissipate not through screaming and shouting to no one in particular but instead to quietly allow myself to absorb my own frustrations internally and then let them go as if by flight of a bird. 

Common decency on the wane... (#1739)

When our society pits us against ourselves the most civil of actions are the first ones to go. We are funneled toward an existence where the old paradigm of survival of the fittest is only logical choice. This is a strategy being employed by the Republican party as a way to capture power where they cannot in a decent society. So change the society into an indecent one and regain power to satisfy their lust over honor. We must remain aware of the dirty tricks Republicans are eager to employ since they see no sovereign to over rule them. They consider themselves the sovereign and the rest of us their lackeys. We Americans are in the great struggle of our lifetimes to keep our democratic society from being turned into a plutocracy, ruled by the wealthy and powerful instead of by one person one vote. As the corporations continue to gain in rights as individuals and individuals continue to lose voting rights the trajectory of my premise is already well underway. Many of us see this and make the clarion call to awareness of it but our citizenry is being distracted by the overwhelming difficulties our bought and corporate paid for austerity driven politicians in the Republican party continue to advance. Republicans turn us against ourselves by taking democratic principles out of context to make us fear each other and disrespect each other whenever an illusory opportunity allows for it. The media is controlled by many of these same nefarious conservative powers and continue the drum beat of their power lust. However, we are not as blinded to their activities as they had hoped and a bulwark against them is being fortified.

A good policy is like... (#1738)

For me a good policy is one that alleviates more harm than it creates. A policy that is not good creates more harm than it alleviates. There are also balance issues, are all walks of society sharing in the opportunity to have happiness in their lives or are only some having opportunities to have happiness in their lives? A way to find out is, especially at the low economic end, to try to live on the income and see if your needs are being met. I can tell you now that the needs at the low end are not only not being met but the needs are increasing. That our policy makers are further and further from being at the low economic end does shine some light on why they fail to see this. It is not the only reason as we have political parties that allow for politicians to much more easily gain the alluring notoriety of being elected representatives, but in doing so the parties also control what policies are generally forwarded. In the current Republican party they have built a wall around their ideal that the less well off in our country are to blame for their lot, while they contrarily continue to block any legislation to help those same less well off with opportunities to better themselves. Let me say that again, Republicans blame the less well off for not improving themselves, while at the same time Republicans continue to block any legislation that would actually help the less well off better themselves. This leaves the rest of us with a real clear choice for elections this next political cycle, vote every Republican out of office everywhere. If a political party is not going to stand up for the majority of Americans then we need to replace them with the political party that will. Vote Democrat!  

Disrespecting the human race (#1737)

This one always puzzles me. When we create laws that generally define our behaviors it is good and right when we are all equal participants in the inclusion of them. That way we all have the same consequences for obeying them and for disobeying them. While in theory this is correct, we have a ways to go in order to get it right in practice. Nonetheless, we have a framework within to perfect. It is when we create laws that punish behavior that is controversial at best is where the trouble begins. Our society is one of human beings who are individuals and autonomous in much of our thinking practices. We many can look at the same situation and come away with many different perspectives, whereas some of us think that our perspective is the only true perspective and with that intent create boundaries that only their limited insight will allow for a particular behavior. An attitude of sovereign control. Instead of allowing for the behavior to work it's way through the intellectual stimuli each of us brings in order to advance the question, it is snuffed out before it can come to any conclusive fruition. It is much like the caveman telling the spaceman he already knows all there is. The patriarchal/matriarchal egoism some have displayed concerning unanswered questions is disappointing. When belief systems and superstitions come to the top of one's principles without valuing the fact that others' of us have principles grounded in objectivity, we all get to take a step back in the evolutionary ladder of our species and although we are a unique and venerable force of will, we have those among us who disrespect those very qualities emerging from within us. 

Slow out of the gate today (#1736)

I am not feeling too well today for some reason and because of that my mind has not been in the mood for stringing letters together into words that make any sense. However I got a bit more rest and now I feel like I have an adrenaline rush. lol. As most of you know I write this blog post everyday and trying to keep it somewhat interesting every day is not easy. However life does usually give me something to rant or rave about but not today. I just feel empty inside for some reason like I said so I must be coming down with some physical ailment that is sapping me of my usual vigor for posting. It is much later in the morning than normal for me to still be writing this which goes to show my procrastination based upon lack of subject matter and lack of energy. But persevere I am and although a subject hasn't crystallized yet the fact that I am late out of the gate might have to do. Each morning I feel my usual sense of urgency to get started on my average 250 to 300 words daily so that I get er done before my morning gets into gear. I like the quiet time in the early morning and my mind is still fresh from awakening. The quiet time and the fresh mind are the key factors in me getting down on record my daily thoughts for this blog. Having lost both of those this early morning but getting another little go with a nap will have to be enough for me to entertain anyone left who may stumble across my musings. Anyway, I am about at the limit for my post and I haven't said anything of any importance so good for me saying nothing when I really have nothing to say. lol.