Long Time No See

Cheers!

Cheers to this life.

Cheers to the people in it.

Cheers to those of you I haven't met yet.

Cheers to last month, the busiest of my life.

Cheers to knowing myself, my soul, my heart, and my intentions.

Cheers to those who can't see me in that same light.

Cheers to an ever-changing world.

Cheers to elephants...because they inspire me.

Cheers to my family, my smooth and rocky seas.

Cheers to knowing who I am.

So, who are you?

Forgotten

"The practice of not harming others can be divided into two: 

first, to refrain from harming others; 

and second, to benefit them and work for their welfare."

________________________

___________

I always talk about things happening for a reason, 

the universe having its plan for you, 

divine intervention. 

It's always been a thing that I said and believed, 

but never delved into and researched.

Today Marlo and I were out and about, adventuring the town with the windows down and spending a little time making friends and sharing the love. On our way home I had plans to go to a state park or two, really get to explore the world on my day off. My mind was thinking about conversations from yesterday, possibilities of tomorrow, and for no reason at all I slammed on my brakes and took a left turn. 

I knew exactly where I was, but haven't thought about this place in years and years. I pulled into my old home, my first home. Now, I have been blessed to have only moved once in my life and to always have been near family and felt a sense of home and safety. Marlo and I got out of the car at the restriction barriers, heading into my old neighborhood and into memory lane. 

I've read lots of books, lots of documentaries, and I've read of pain and struggles of war. But today I walked into my neighborhood and I saw what true abandonment look like.  The neighborhood was owned by the state, and still is owned by the state. Yet, every window is shattered and smashed in. Every door is boarded up. My old home has a tree in its garage now. The hydrangea bushes in my backyard have now become trees. 

My childhood has been slowly decaying over the years, without notice from anyone. My entire neighborhood is boarded up, forgotten, abandoned and it's hard to find the words to explain what seeing that is like. It got me thinking, most people are lucky that they can go visit their old home and their childhood and see other people in it. Filling that same home with laughter and happiness and memories. 

Now, I'm not trying to wallow in self-pity or give myself a sad moment. I can't even imagine those whose homes have been ruined by war, the refugees we don't have a home, and the veterans who come home to nothing. I will never sit here and be the one to say "woe is me". 

But it makes you think, of all the homes that are abandoned and neighborhoods that are forgotten… Why can't we do something? Why can't we fix them up? Why can't we turn them into homes for our soldiers who come home heroes, but homeless. Why can't we fix them up and give them to women shelters and orphanages, give them something true, safe, a home where they see what life can really be like outside of those situations. 

Why can't we do more?

Possibilities of the Human Soul

"Imagine if you will being on your death bed – And standing around your bed – the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life.

And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book.

And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying we came to you, and only you could have given us life! Now we must die with you forever.

The question is – if you die today what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts, would die with you?"

– Les Brown

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Internal Battle;

What is my potential?

 What am I holding back?

Why am I holding back?

External Battle;

What future genius just killed himself due to bullying?

What artist just gave up their passion because a teacher mocked them?

What is this world missing out on without you?

My Battle;

I don't care what researchers say;

Don't give a child video games.

Don't hand them a phone.

Don't give them the TV remote.

Don't give them empty, meaningless time fillers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hand them the world.

See what happens.

See what they can do.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The possibilities in one human soul will never be found in another"

-Stanton

Dedicated to the Inwards

"We love the mystics for their inward,
not their outward life;
because they lift us up above the world,
not because they make us have faith in it."

-Frothingham

Why must we lay such high regard upon the outward?

Upon what a person wears, how they style their hair, the way they walk and talk and wear makeup?

These are all aspects and details of what the eye beholds,

and I just don't care.

These things are not who they are.

The fire hidden within their eyes,

The depth of their laughter.

The callouses on their hands.

The way they say what's on their mind.

The ways in which their emotions overflow.

The way they believe in everything, unwavering.

Those passions are contagious, those are what draw me in and make me believe in you and me and this life in this universe. A lecture won't work, it won't reach my soul the way your fire does.

Provocation

"Truly speaking,

it is not instruction, 

but provocation

that I can receive 

from another soul.

What he announces, 

I must find true in me,

or wholly reject."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you ever tried to hold a conversation with a person and had them completely dominate it? Feeling stuck in a vicious cycle of "nod and smile", all the while your brain is flashing neon signs bright and loud to get out! 

As a whole, we humans have forgotten how to successfully communicate...more specifically, how to listen. 

We all listen with the intent of responding. 

We listen carelessly while we build our own opinion in our mind. 

We listen without hearing because "we've heard enough" and are formulating ways to disprove them. 

We listen while only waiting and fixating on what response we have prepared. 

We listen with our own agenda. 

For a change, why don't we listen just to listen. To absorb the information. To accept the information. To respect that this is what that person truly believes. Then, we build on it! Don't waste time arguing and battling and debating who is more right. Instead, listen to them and use every word they say to transform your own thoughts. Listen with the intent to understand.

After all, every person you meet does, in fact, know something that you do not.

Roads for Traveling Souls

"To know the universe itself as a road,

as many roads,

 as roads for traveling souls"

-Walt Whitman

Is it not mind blowing and awe-inspiring that different souls may take the same road to different places? Or even so, many different roads leading to the same place? 1 million humans can look at one road, 

but want to walk it for 1 million different reasons. 

We have developed an obsession with knowledge. We insist on naming this universe, mapping and sizing its masses, and dissecting all of it's beautiful and mysterious components until they are no longer beautiful and mysterious. They now lack that luster that came with it's "newness". This expectation has left us unsatisfied and continues to do so.

Today, we must have a name for everything, an understanding of it's inner workings, its colors, sizes, inhabitants, design, habits...why? Why must everything be so concrete? So boring? So limited? So permanent?

What a waste of language.

Instead, is it too much to ask that upon experiencing something....to not react. 

Rather, Accept it. Absorb it. Embrace it. Reflect upon it.

Then, quietly take it with you on your road. 

What is at the Heart of Intellectual Pursuit?

What do we see that drives us forward in education?

What is there?

In life?

In love?

In knowledge?

Some of us go to college because that is what society expects.

A few of us go because it is what our family places pride upon.

Bragging rights.

A collection of hopefuls go because it will be the stepping stone into a lifetime career.

A majority go because they see it as a guaranteed job and paycheck after graduation.

------

Not good enough.

------

Not one of those reasons is good enough. What is at the heart of it all? No one considers this concept any longer, our world does not allow that kind of thinking. We are raised to focus on the goal, the light at the end of the tunnel....but why? Why can't we be here, now, and in love with this moment and what we do? When did the journey become dry and forgotten? The pursuit of happiness has been blindly redirected by the "American Dream", what even is that dream? 

At the heart of intellectual pursuit should not lie a single object that we can hold with our bare hands.It shouldn't be a job, a career, a big house, a picket fence, a paycheck, or a shiny toy in the driveway.

At the heart of intellectual pursuit should be the filling of your heart, mind, and soul with;

Emotions

Mindfulness

Passions

Raw Knowledge

Peacefulness

Love.

Purpose Gives Meaning Gives Life

This blog poses as a release for all the hovering, harassing, and hectic thoughts that can't find a way out of my brain.

 These posts are simply my thoughts, let them be as

twisted

honest

gritty

harsh

blunt

and illogical as possible.

It's called being vulnerable.

In the end I have no cares if 1 person reads this or 1,000,000 read this.

It's for me.

If it ends up being for you, then so be it.

Namaste

Maybe They Were Born With It

Maybe they're born with it

*This is a prime example of the spontaneity of my brain.

What if at birth a human was fully equipped with the abilities to read and write?

Honestly, take a minute to think about it;

We spend the first 13 years of our life learning to walk, talk, express ourselves, and most applicably to this blog... to read and write.

But what if this skill was already achieved?

We could be spending more time becoming more aware of ourselves.

We could be mastering the skill of sport or art.

We could be learning trade skills.

We could be learning inclusion.

We could be learning compassion and independence.

We could be strengthening our faith and body.

We could be learning from experience.

We could be learning a new passion.

So I am curious.

If you were born with these skills innately,

what would you aim to achieve in their place?

Remember, it's a big world...who would you become?