2013...

Here comes my annual post to Explore Your World Expand Your Mind.  Well not exactly annual, but as it seems I only posted twice in 2012 it may almost seem that way.  I've moved on to smaller and lesser things.  Nah, just kidding, everything I've ever done has been small and unimpressive, so how could my blogging become any less than it has always been?  I've been focusing on Dekalb Police State and Another Way to Eat, as well as Famous Volkswagens from time to time.  As opposed to 2008 when this blog was a free for all about anything in the world I could come up with, at this point I have gone about creating separate blogs for different interests.  

But that doesn't mean I can't harken back to my days of existential thought and odd ideas that don't belong anywhere else.  So with that said...

Things are good
They could be better
But couldn't they always?
A millionaire could be a billionaire after all
You could own a Lamborghini instead of a Volkswagen
A happy person could be an exuberant person.

Although I guess it is all only a matter of perspective, I'd rather own a Volkswagen than a Lamborghini myself.

Many people think the opposite way, not necessarily because they like the Lamborghini more, but because they know it represents something to others.

What it represents is, "I am rich and I am willing to flaunt it"

Me, I'd rather have no money at all and be blessed with land, some non GMO seeds, an abundant supply of rain water, and my family.

Those are the things that will really matter in the long run.  We've all heard the saying "I don't want to be the richest guy in the cemetery"

Well I barely wan't to be the richest guy in my apartment complex.  At least not in the generally accepted meaning of the term.

I want to be rich in experiences.

I want to be rich in friends and family.

I want to be rich in skills and knowledge.

I want to be rich in emotional stability.

Money cannot buy these things.  Well accept for experiences, but there are plenty of things that can be done without money which will leave a more lasting impact than another visit to the amusement park,

I want to hike.

I want to garden.

I want to swim.

I want to enjoy the sun and the clouds and the sky.

Try and charge me for that I dare you.

...

Although if they could, big business most certainly would...

Following Through.

There is only one option, never two.
What we choose is always correct and true.
It is in trusting our instincts
That we learn to control our surroundings.
Never forget to follow through, even if...
and especially because time has passed
since the initial expenditure of energy.
Keep on following through, and eventually

It seems as if no one reads anymore, unless of course the content can be shared in 140 characters or less. Even reading a blog I find myself rushing towards the end and skipping lines of a whopping three paragraph submission at times. I glance at Facebook updates, skim e-mails, ignore texts, and don’t even see the words in advertisements anymore. Words have become secondary to meaning. I can tell more about someone by how they type then what they type sometimes, most of the times actually.
Sometimes I think there are more people writing then reading. All the blogs that get posted and never seen by anyone but the author, all the journals that reveal peoples deepest thoughts, shopping lists, notes to self and memos that go unnoticed. There is a plethora of written word out there with an ever dwindling audience to receive it. Less than half a century ago it was unheard of for the majority of the peasants to be literate, now we’ve created a civilization where, literacy be damned, we’ll be ignorant if we want by ignoring having to read anything of importance.
Reading is not exciting, it’s not sexy, it takes imagination, there is a lot of time that needs to be put in to it to get a payoff, it is a solitary endeavor, it stimulates different regions of your brain, and has been denigrated by the subtle but subversive manipulation of other types of media to compete and conquer in their field. Why imagine scenarios based on written words when you can live it in a simulation based on written code you never have to see?
Reading is by design deployed at children as a hassle. By giving them giant text books and assigning reading as homework this creates the idea early in life that reading is work. It is a choir not a pleasure to most children. Of course there are the rare gems that fall in love with reading and end up not only finishing their assigned summer reading but going beyond and finishing all of the recommended reading as well. I can’t say that was me, and if it was you this essay isn’t aimed at you. For the rest of us school ingrained a sense that reading, not to mention, math, science, social studies , and the gauntlet of courses offered are redundant, boring, and for work, not fun.
Why did Beethoven create symphonies or Shakespeare his plays? What was it that gave Galileo or Einstein the insight to discover? Who else but Columbus could have reached the New World at his time? Could anyone but Armstong have walked on the moon first? What is it that drove Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence or King to declare to the world his vision of a better future? Were they driven by a sense that what they were doing was work, were they conditioned to believe that writing, science, math and such are boring and only useful in the hours while forced to be inside an institute of learning?
Great people do great things precisely because they take what they have learned and apply it to their everyday life. They go beyond what is required of them and they set sights for themselves which are higher than what others hold them to. Instead of endowing our children with a sense of their education being a burden and a hassle we should be actively engaging with kids on multiple levels, as parents, teachers, community members, family, and friends to develop their skills and a sense of self that goes beyond basic knowledge and reiteration of redundant facts.

Most People

Most people are trying to be the first to know something new.
I am trying to recognize and show honor to what is old.

Most people want to be first,
I want to be last.

Most people want to share their ideas and beliefs
I am done thinking others care about what I have to say.

Sharing with others instantly
Instead of allowing ideas to flourish naturally.
Then waiting for an even less thought out response from less educated peers.

Is what the majority of people do today.

Forget about needing "friends" "fans" and "family"

en mass.

Quality over quantity.

Know, love and respect yourself.
You will never need the encouragement and praise of others.
Because your own self determination will lead you forever.

Tremendous Progress

The distances I've traveled cannot be measured.
The amount I've gained cannot be counted.
My final destination is nowhere in site.
Because I keep firmly focused on the here and now.

When all is said and done
I want to be able to say I've done all I said I would.

Still at War!

Know What You're Looking For.

There is no limit to the opportunity out there.
Don't go blindly forward as if life was a game of chance.
We are given choice and thought to aptly direct our own paths.
Don't allow stagnation and contentedness to sully your travels.

Don't allow negative thoughts.
Be positive.
Want something! Look for it and get it.

Don't allow doubt to stop you before you start.
Make moves, share ideas, create and destroy.
Buy land, build a home and get an education.
Turn on, Tune in and Drop Out.

"Turn on" meant go within to activate your neural and genetic equipment. Become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them. Drugs were one way to accomplish this end. "Tune in" meant interact harmoniously with the world around you - externalize, materialize, express your new internal perspectives. "Drop out" suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. "Drop Out" meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change. Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity"

A New Beginning

Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Those who don't proactively seek their future are bound to lose it.

We cannot expect the world to shape itself around us, we must shape ourselves to fit in to the world we want to create. We have to be what we want to be. Don't try and achieve something, do it. Don't think to yourself that someday you'll be this way or have this thing. Be what you want to be RIGHT NOW.

Act on your hunches, create your dreams, and when all is said and done, let them all go. Don't get attached to your accomplishments or possessions, if you find yourself feeling that one thing defines your life, even if it is the thing you always wanted, let it go and allow the next thing to take shape. If you have accomplished great things, allowing others to bask in that glory, and even take over where you left off, is the best possible way to make sure that accomplishment is remembered.

If you've already achieved great things, this doesn't mean that you have to hold on to that ONE thing. It should mean to you that even greater things are in the works. Subconsciously, metaphysically, and behind the scenes. Allow yourself to decrease, lessen your power and control, part ways from the old, in order to allow the new to come to you. New power, new people, new progress.

If you are in the same place you were last year, with the same exact people doing the same exact thing, you haven't grown one bit. Allow yourself to let go of past achievements and success, don't hold on to long, because if you do, those accomplishments will not be respected, because what people know is not what you've done for them but what you're going to do next for them.

Simply Letting

Often there are persons out there who aren't looking to do bad, but when the opportunity is put forth, they have no ability to hold back such an urge. However the person who is the victim of this negative energy, is normally unaware of the very beneficial nature of losing, or hurting, or fearing. One cannot attain positive karma without first burning off the negative. Even more importantly though, one cannot balance their karma out entirely to the point where there is no more ebb and flow, but just even, level, constant; experience, being and attainment, without first clearing out old karma. Bad things are only bad to a certain mindset, or perception range, go beyond that mind set and expand that perception to realize that we must learn from everything that happens to us, we must reflect what happens to us like a mirror, not judging and labeling, simply letting it happen as it will.

Desired Steps

Sometimes it is important to initiate change in your life even if everything is going perceivably well. Many times we think it is necessary to create change when things are bad, and that is the obvious time to do something like that, but other times it is essential to our growth as individuals to break away from positive situations, and expand that forward moving energy in to a new initiative. Leave the current status quo on a good note, and head in to the new one with a clear and easy going state of mind. No regrets to bring forward, no negative situations or relationships to run away from, just a very comfortable departure, with sincere good byes, and the promise of an eventual return to rejoice again in the good situation that can be once again picked up as if it were never left. Many times I will have an urge to move on to the next project, relationship, job, home, and instead of leaving on proper terms and accepting the new energies in to my life for their benefits, I start to look at the negatives of the current object, magnify them because of my feeling of urgency to depart from them and create the very problems and circumstances that start the downfall of what could have been a great thing, or at least could have been left behind in a more positive manner. This is one of my problems, not knowing how to initiate positive change without also relying on creating negative circumstances which cause the other individual to initiate the change on their part instead of me taking the desired steps myself. No Mas.

Collection Perfection

The accumulation of material possessions that is inevitable in ones life can start to take on meaning beyond it's inherent nature. A collection can have many different types of worth, sentimental, monetary, real world, essential, or just humorous. Everyone collects something, pictures, coins, guns, plants, or something as simple as memories. At all times we are expanding our collection of memories, experiences, and thoughts. By choice we buy books, movies, and music. Almost seemingly on accident we fill our homes with keepsakes and heirlooms. In an attempt to fill a void or make a buck we adhere to hobbies. Collecting and organizing is seemingly in our nature as humans. We must understand its inherent value and not let it consume our conscious mind, skewing our true perception and present opportunities. To have personal affects, to keep certain items throughout your worldly travels is natural. To be attached to these items and feel disproportional loss at their demise is societal conditioning. The complete distruction of ones personal belongings is not necessarty to find peace, but the complete disowning of said items is! Act as if all and any posessions you contain in your presence at any given time are ephemeral, lasting only a short time, to be passed on to their next owner, or find their inevitable end and destruction in your care. You do not own anything, you can only watch over stuff for a given amount of time...

Lame Goth Sounding Bullshit...

Tireless pursuit, is all I can possibly call my life. I am always attempting to find the right path, the proper present, the ideal situation at least my ideal situation. But whenever I find myself closing in on what seems like perfection it crumbles like sand in between my fingers. I end up rebuilding again over and over stumbling back inevitably every time. Maybe the close proximity I have to my own problems makes it hard for me to see the progress that has occurred, maybe I have made leaps and bounds but am simply my own harshest critic. Either way I constantly wonder what it is that I should be doing to get the most out of my ephemeral existence. That is why I spend so much time doing nothing, because I feel as if I cannot attain my ultimate why bother with anything else. It would be great if I knew what brought about my ultimate form of existent, I would partake in it constantly, but that is the thing I can never focus long enough on one thing any more the way I used to. Drawing, listening to music, reading, it all seems like it is just a pastimes, just an intermission before I spend time truly experiencing life or contributing to it in worthwhile pursuits. What is it that will fulfill this void inside me?

During the weekend my job is crazy, non stop running around, during the week it is completely dead, leaving me sitting around for hours. I wish there was some sort of happy medium between the two, but I can most definitely live with these slow days and am more than capable of handling the busier ones. Although a raise wouldn't be a bad incentive to work even harder...

Organization and flexibility in conjunction is the key to success. Be organized in thought, possessions, schedule, and action, but always be flexible enough to interrupt said organization and plans, if circumstances deem that necessary.

Everything frozen
Cars, trees, roads, lakes, everything!
Thank goodness for fire.

I, Marijuana
Expand awareness beyond
The sights and sounds here.

Coffee and tea bags
Caffeine coursing through my veins
Awake, awake, sleep!

Feliz Año Nuevo

With the new year merely 3 and a half hours away I want to contribute all I can to my own well being and state of mind before the beginning of the new year. In order to enter said year with a fresh outlook and an intelligent implementation of ideas. Instead of doing the normal new years resolution or in my case new year "list of things I want to accomplish and embed in to my character", I plan on going in to the new year with absolutely no plans, goals, conceptions, dreams, notions or worries. I want to enter this new year the exact way I entered the world, as a blank slate. As a person who is ready to except all possibilities and challenges with a broad imagination and basic understanding of the people and things around me.

Time to gather all my strength and wits, in order to face head on, the obstacles which lay ahead of me. Time to let go of the past, quiet my concerns of the future, and seize the opportunities of the present.

I'll be back...!