Tiptoeing through the tulips...

A Dickens reference? Really? Uh....OK....

First…I want to say…I appreciate your answering my writing with your thoughts and appreciate you putting what you think out there…and I appreciate your reading my writing as well. Thank you. I don’t have many readers and have even less that will step up…so I do appreciate someone sharing…

As far as responding to what you wrote…

Your first paragraph was simply hard to understand…only thing I really got out of it was that you think I am supposed to be doing something other than expressing my opinion on my own blog. This is incorrect and an assumption on your part. The whole purpose for me to write here is to say something that I think and believe…not to prove anything to anyone…it isn’t even to please or displease…just simply to express thought…this is an expression and if you disagree with my assertion…welp…I am OK with that…in fact…I am quite open to that…but I would appreciate the opposing assertion at least stay in context with what I was talking about…

Most of the rest of what you wrote seemed to be efforts to somehow argue a few of the points I made through my piece…and frankly…the arguing against us having a society that believes in freedom….even though freedom is basically an illusion…a point I have made and referred to in other previous blogs…does not make sense to me.

I personally think this is not a logical argument given the constitution, the declaration of independence, and even in a more recent example…what was expressed and acted upon after the events of 911…from people across this country…

I make the point that our society believes in freedom…not that we are actually free in every way, shape, and form…and honestly…I believe I was pretty clear in my assertions…I made several of them and after rereading what I wrote…I still feel good about it and stand by it. It is in the belief…the very idea…of freedom that we hold our strength and our collective power resides.

As far as your offer of insight for the future…I am not sure what it is that you are referencing because the quotes that you are obviously using from different sources around the Internet are not making a clear and cohesive point in context to what I was writing about or saying. Don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to blow off anyone…but frankly I don’t follow your reasoning or logic in reference to what I wrote and what I was trying to say…you are arguing a point…I get that…but your point is lost to me in part because it strays from the context of the conversation…

Are you arguing that Americans do not believe in freedom? Really? Is that your assertion?

If that is your assertion then I would highly disagree with you. If that is not what you were trying to say then forgive me…because see…that was the point of the piece I wrote…that and the moral of the story being that we “should” believe in freedom and we “should” be working hard to spread that word, belief, and idea around the world. Referring to Saddam Hussein regarding helping his people is like referring to Adolph Hitler helping German Jews by starting the VW company. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

I do not see how Saddam Hussein relates to what organizations like the Peace Corps, an organization who helps people around the world and are manned by Americans and was started by Americans and came forward as an idea and assertion from Americans, and other organizations that Americans help out in like Green Peace, and UNICEF have to do with your reference.

See…this is what I was saying about rhetoric a year ago…when I am writing…I am trying to make a point with my point…it is not about winning to me…it is not about simplistic inconsequential competition. There must be a meaning to the point…otherwise it is superficial and insignificant. It has to mean something to have an impact that is lasting. The power in words is in the ideas and beliefs behind them…it’s not in the strategic manipulation of gaining but in their ability to transform…and in transformation there is lasting meaning and true power…anything else is just…wind…

Namaste
Peace, sunsets, serenity, and prayer…

Just for kicks...



Thought you might get a kick outta this too LOL...This is an example of talking...but just not saying anything \;') blowing wind LOL...
Even Katie Courick is going....uh...what?!?

Enjoy


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We the people...

We the people...

We the people is a powerful phrase in this here land...it actually means something in this great society. I for one am glad to have it as part of my life, knowledge, history, and example. With a loud and boisterous upraised voice...we the people have the ability to speak. We the people have the ability to be heard. No matter what our message might be...because sometimes it truly is of the greatest importance...and sometimes it is trivial and trite...but here...in this wonderful land...we the people means something...and we have a collective voice...that can be heard.

I truly love this country. Our foundation certainly had a rocky start and at times...it's true...our government and leaders made choices that have been harmful...but all in all...I think...personally...we are in the middle of the most amazing society and land in the history of mankind.

Which....I recognize....is really saying something because there have been several amazing societies before us...Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, Chinese to name a few...there are certainly other amazing societies alive and around us now...but never before has there been such a mix...such a freedom...such opportunity...as the society we have created here. It makes me very proud...and glad...to have my children live and learn here...to be in this mix...to be a part of it...

We have problems too...don't get me wrong...I recognize this as well...serious problems as of late...things that we desperately need to address and work on...many problems of many types...problems that make many of us...feel overwhelmed...and angry...because we haven't worked out the solutions yet...but we are truly human...and no society or government...no body of people...no....body....is perfect...or is gonna be...so...we will continue to do our best...despite our weaknesses...

We the people of this great land have compassion...we have empathy...we the people care...we the people reach out to try to help...to build community here at home and around the world...to share what we have come to know...

We the people of this great land serve as an example...of what people around the world should be...as an example of how we should be doing....how we should be being...as human beings...as global partners and neighbors...for every negative thing that an American company or government has done...there are equal positive examples of what we the people have done around the globe to help and hold up in support...to exemplify and cheer...to comfort and heal...to fight injustices and wrongs...to try to do right by....people...other people...that are in need of help...

We the people of this great land have a capacity that no other land could have...because we all know we are in this fight for survival together...there is a unity that underlies those stars and stripes...there is a cohesion that no terrorist will ever be able to sever. Because this country is not based on bloodline and ethnic continuity, this country is not based on birthright, this country is not based on the privilege that so many bicker about around the globe.

This country is based on ideals and values.

This country is based on an idea.

This country is based on a belief.

In the end, an idea and a belief is stronger than blood ties. An idea and a belief is stronger than simply occupying space for a long time. An idea and a belief becomes the soul of a society. An idea and belief becomes a society's identity. An idea and belief becomes alive in the hearts and minds of those people that live it...because it lives in them. An idea and a belief becomes something worth dieing for...worth protecting...at all costs...

This is what the terrorists around the world do not understand...because what they are fighting against when fighting against us...we the people of this great nation...is not just military might, money, or power. They are fighting against the very ideas and beliefs that we the people uphold. The ideas and beliefs that we live, day to day. The ideas and beliefs that this great nation was actually founded on. We are here because we CHOOSE to be here. Not simply because we were born here.

We are powerful and great not because of our might...or our military...but because of what we believe...and hold to be true....as...we the people. The terrorists around the world are actually fighting against themselves when they fight us. Fighting themselves because they struggle through the same things as we do and want many of the same things as we do...better lives for themselves and their families, freedoms, a voice...and because they are fighting against themselves...they will never get what they want...they can never win...a house divided against itself will fall...just as the Bible says...all the terrorists can do is harm...but it will not get them what they really want. They and their families will not be better off until we start to heal instead of harm each other. Hatred will only lead to more hatred, violence to more violence, bloodshed to more bloodshed. They will never get what they want. To live their lives peacefully and love their families.

If they were to look at who we are...not simply what they think we represent...they would see the forged strength of our ideas and belief...that every human being has a right to freedom...has a right to speak their belief...has a right to believe whatever they want...has a right to exist...has a right to worship...has a right to live...in whatever way they CHOOSE...as long as they are not hurting others in their doing so...

Those that fight against us...us meaning and defined as...we the people....of this great land and nation...not just our government...or our industry...because frankly both of those entities have made harmful mistakes and choices around the world that would leave someone whom has been harmed by them distrustful and hurt...and therefore angry and resentful...but those that fight against our way of life...they will not be able to break us...to break our will or spirit...

The reason they will not be able to break us...is because of the idea...the belief...that we are free...free from tyranny and oppression...free from someone telling us how to think and what to believe...a belief that freedom should be a right to every human being...everywhere...that freedom is too important to each American...we let the genie out of the bottle folks...and once it's out...there just ain't no getting him back in.

We do not have to bow down and cower...we do not have to close our mouths or our minds...even when some in our own society call for others to do exactly that...what we have created is just too important...too vital...too significant. We must protect our freedoms here at home...and we must help others around the world to discover what we have found out...and we can never go back...

The price for protectionism is too high if it includes the human rights and freedoms that many in this great nation now take for granted. I cannot imagine living under oppressive conditions because a government or a religion commands that I do. Even the conformity that I live in here sometimes feels oppressive. Having to conform to an employers desires and treatment can emotionally have that taint of oppression...but this is America!...if I truly don't like it...I can leave and start elsewhere or start my own business...or go live under a bridge...I have freedom to CHOOSE...something different.

We the people...have the option...to CHOOSE...how we want to live...how we want to love...how we want to make a living...who we want to be...and even today...in many areas of the world...many countries around the globe...still do not offer their people a simple choice...all any American really has to do to see how great this country is...is travel to other countries...see things for yourselves...the oppression is out there folks...the differences are there....even in this day, time, and era.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

May God bless us one and all.

A good idea...I hope.

So...I gotta tell ya...I am having a good time writing these days...and it has been inspiring. Heather (my lovely wife) told me I should write a book, and although the idea is not a new one...her directive to me was, because it was more urgent and in some ways as if she were in part challenging me...and in part telling me that she would help me if I wanted to really accomplish this as well as market it...a directive that felt to me it was with some teeth and opportunity.

So I sat down and came up with a little over 40 subjects that I am interested in writing about. Some semblance of a plan I guess you could say. I let Heather know I had accomplished this first step and she was supportive. I sent her the list and...well...she never really read it above a quick skip through it...but she was supportive...and I was still inspired so...as a next step I made a choice about which of the 40+ subjects I would start writing about...and then I started writing. I wrote almost four pages on that first subject and felt pretty good about it.

It is still a little rough when I read it back now...but it is good and overall I like what I wrote. I will be doing a rewrite of it before I feel it is finalized. I sent that to Heather as well but frankly she has been so busy with photo projects and Moomp Photography business that she hasn't been able to read it. I am OK with that because I know she is still supporting me...and I want to support her in our business.

I felt so good about that first writing that I decided to keep the momentum going...and I picked a second subject on my list. I wrote on that subject as well. This time I got almost through a fifth page. The second subject read even better than the first to me and I am sure I will need to rewrite some of it as well...I have already edited it somewhat and rewritten pieces of it...and I am happy with it's direction. I again told Heather about it but things are the way they are currently with our time and again I understand.

I wanted to keep going and so I again went to my list. I am still interested in everything on it...but nothing jumped out at me this time so I asked myself...what do I want to say right now? I picked a subject not on my list so I added the subject to my list and started to write. I wrote again...almost four pages...and again I was happy with the outcome.

I don't know that any of my subjects are finished yet and I don't have a completed idea of exactly what I am doing with it or specifically where I am going with it but I know that so far...there is a common thread and theme which means that up to this point there is some cohesion.

I am writing a book!

I guess the "subjects" I am writing now could be considered chapters...and frankly I understand that I am going about this in a backwards way...because I am writing chapters before I even have a planned out direction or theme...but I am motivated and feeling good about the work right now. I think that with some of the subjects I chose on my list...and the direction I have in my professional and personal life...I guess I could say I am writing some sort of a self-help book. Pretty closely related to the things I have blogged about.

So for those two of you that like to check in from time to time on my ramblings in this here blog...I will invite you to introduce the idea of reading me in a somewhat different light. In other words...if you like what is written in this blog...maybe you will follow me into a book...where I will ramble on...the way I do...dot dot dot :)

What do you say? Anyone interested?

I just gotta know ;)

Warning...possible vapidity up ahead \;')E)

This is in answer to the comment left on my last post.

Two things.

One:
What's wrong with think is, think is how anxiety is created. Think is how depression is created. Think is how we lose focus on those things that are most important to us. Think leads to over-think and over-think leads to problems...and at times major problems.

This is not to say one should not think...I am not saying that...suffice it to say that thinking is also...as with everything in life...something that one can do too much of and over-thinking can become problematic. Also, as I said in the last blog, thinking overwhelms the space inside us.

Picture...the night sky on a clear night...and of the vastness of that space...but we do not really see that space because we are busy looking at the stars...however because of our infinitely limited perception...we do not perceive the vastness of the space in between them. Because we are somewhat intelligent...we have been successful at creating neat little tricks through gadgets we've invented, to get a glimpse at how the universe might work in reality...but to the naked eye...we do not perceive the vastness of space...we see the foreground which is all the stars that we can actually see.

The same can be said for our lives and our ways of being. There is infinite vastness in space within us, space containing our peace, solitude, and serenity. But to get to that place and perceive the space, we need to shut the hell up.

So...instead of trying to critique the idea...because this is more than an idea...it is our reality...why not try to "DO" what I am describing? Find your space. Sit for 2:00 minutes....heck...try 30 seconds...and not...think. Make yourself....quiet. On the inside.

Unless you have a long vast experience with meditation and mindfulness training...chances are you will not be able to do this. Not without a lot of practice.

Two:
Personal growth is about forward movement. A lack of forward movement equals personal stagnation, therefore personal growth or forward movement is the antithesis of stagnation.

I don't know about anyone else...but I do not want to be stagnant. Being stagnant to me equals being closed, closed minded, and inflexible. As anyone would know from my profile...I like yoga...which means I like to be bendy...thus I do not want or like to be inflexible. This would mean physically, emotionally, spiritually, as well as mentally. Closed mind=closed heart=closed life=no life. Not for me...as for myself...I will choose pushing forward and learning...which all in all...is what personal growth is all about.

Ramblings...

Enter stage right...

I've been waiting for you...

What's the rush?

We have business to discuss...

What's the point? It's not like we're really going anywhere...

It's not about the where...it's about how we travel.

Worlds go by and time travels in still images in our memories but if we are not mindful...mindful of the moment we are in...continuously...then we loose the most important lesson we can internalize...

Mindfulness is difficult at best, especially if a person is fully integrated into their mind...or their "ego" according to Eckhart Tolle, and realistically...who isn't? Shutting the world out is much easier than turning off one's thinking. But if one is to find balance, peace, serenity, and as Tolle puts it...space...then we have to be able to turn off that incessant thinking. It's always something. Always...something.

There are a lot of theories and opinions like most things. But what I ponder on...what I really wonder about...is the depth of my self and that "space" in an ever and ongoing search for personal learning and growth. How finite is that space and how vast it is...is a big question...because when I get glimpses of it, I find it an eye opening and exciting experience, but also a bit frightening. Maybe I just haven't accepted a premise yet but I feel very much like I stand on a threshold looking over something larger than an ocean, and it makes me feel excited and uneasy.

As I lay in bed this morning my mind was racing and it wasn't even light yet...maybe 4:30 AM...and it is Saturday morning...I told myself I don't want to think about that...I don't want to think about that either...give me space...just remember...space...and I could get it for a second or two and another thought would muck it up...and I would either be back thinking about something else or fighting the urge to think about something and searching for space and peace again. I eventually fell back to sleep and I dreamt but I awoke to the same fight...several issues...same problem...stress.

I know that the more I stress...the more I harm myself. I know that I have habits that could and should be bettered. I know that without staying mindful about what I am thinking, what I eat, what I am doing to "do" in my life, what I am planning for, working for, hoping for, and what I am expecting, I will do more to harm myself than help myself.

Mindful about health, mindful about wealth, mindful about how I feel, mindful about my relationships, and mindful about what my focus is on.

When you lose your focus...you have a problem. When you are not mindful...you do not have peace.

Newness...

Sometimes...I don't know about you...but I get restless and I am unsure of where it comes from. I get this feeling deep down in my gut....deep down in my heart & soul...that is stirring and speaking to me...pushing me to move on to somewhere else...and most of the time...I am not sure where this "else" is...I just know that I get this feeling of wanting something new...new to work on and get excited about...new to me...new to my sense of creativity...new to my heart....new to my body and mind...just...new.

Newness...it describes something as fresh...out of our understanding and experience...difference...not the same old routine...a pivot...like when we get a new car...or a new home...a new place to live...a new job...a new relationship...a new child to raise....a new hobby...a new friend...a new lease on life...travel to a new place...a new discovery...a new lesson learned...the joy from this...there's nothing like it.

I am always on the lookout for something new to me...something I don't "know" but want to learn...but it occurs to me that there are ways of being that are foreign to me. Ways in the world I do not relate to.

For example...I do not know what it is like to not have a problem with my weight. Some folks have never been heavy so they can't relate to how a person gets 100 + lbs overweight. I don't get how they can maintain a healthy "normal" weight. I first gained extra weight at age 8 yrs. I have tried...I have lost a lot of weight at one time...I have made changes...and still...here I am...and I am sick about it...both emotionally and physically...literally...hell of a price to pay...for hiding from my pain.

Another example would be money. I grew up middle income...as an adult I have been poor, raising 3 kids, barely scraping by with bare cupboards, getting evicted and literally put out on a curb with my kids in tow by a sheriff...and have also been various levels of middle income...but have not been able to breach that ceiling. I work like a slave, I try to learn and educate myself on financial matters and be financially literate...but I just don't ever seem to pull away from where I am stuck at...much like my weight...maybe even for the same reason...I don't know...

I work for other people...the safety and security of having a position that is dependable where I have some challenge but a lot of structure...which I constantly battle against and conform to all at the same time...where my time is not mine...my time belongs to someone else...an illusion...yes I know...but all the same for all intents and purposes...it is a truth during those hours...for a paycheck...for retirement...for insurance...for the safety of my family and myself...for what? Am I not capable of anything else....anything more...to grow my own...something?

New...newness...I guess it also represents freedom doesn't it? A feeling of freedom at least. I mean I understand that it isn't really being free...but it does have a representation of freedom...again...an illusion....but at least a sense of it...

Freedom from what exactly? Freedom from my way of being in the world? Freedom from the life I have always known and lived? Freedom from repetitive mistakes that create drives and needs of which I have outgrown? Or is it simply freedom from habits? Old ways of being that I now recognize as unhealthy and wasteful? Ways of being that are making me sick and pushing me towards living something new...living something different...living...truly...living.

New...different...change...

Change comes hard to me. It isn't that I don't like it because I like....new. I like going into uncharted waters and exploring to learn and grow. I get off on that.

But I like the familiar too...and it is comfortable...reassuring...safe..secure...home...no fear...no challenge either..but no fear...

Hmm...maybe fear is the real issue...doing something that scares you...breaking down the fears and walls...because I do LOVE "that" feeling. Striking fear in the heart of fear. Is that the same thing as doing something that scares you to death? Maybe...maybe...

All I feel like I know...is that my personal challenge...is to become a better me...and I don't know if there is anything more to life than that...

Questions in the meantime...

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and were surprised by who was staring back at you?

When was the first time you realised you had some "thing" that others admired?

Who was the first person you realised was not who you thought they were...and you were glad?

What was the last situation...that you truly told someone what you thought...because it was the right thing to do...and not the convenient thing to do?

When were you first wounded by someone you trusted...and what music do you relate to that experience?

Somehow...it has been on my mind that the experiences we find painful are also attached to music from our lives...and that music is sometimes a way for us to retrace the experience and the pain...in a bittersweet, nostalgic, painful reminder of where we were when __________ happened.

If questions were expectations and answers were invitations then we could expect to be invited to opportunities that were beyond our limited understanding and look forward to our growth.

Wouldn't it be nice if we all were focused on our own personal growth and forward motion.

The good news is some of us are and there are others that can be related to. The hard part is distinguishing those in search of their own growth from those that play at it but aren't really interested in being more than they are.

Sometimes that is time consuming and discouraging because one invests time into relationships just to find that the person isn't who they presented themselves to be.

Ahh but if it weren't for these experiences what would we learn from and how would we know?

So our experience is our teacher and our time is it's limit of success.
Tiz...

Do questions answer or do they teach? Do answers invite or do they reproach? Do invitations entice or do they lend themselves to opportunities?

For each of us we will have different answers to these questions...but it is most intriguing as to where it will take you...