Healing, Compassion, Buddhism, Spiritual Development, The Quest for Truth & Wisdom, Psychology, Health & Wellness, Creativity, Music, Films, Literature, Art, Critical Thinking, Mental Health Advocacy, Social Justice, Resilience, Reflection, The Beauty of Melancholy, Gothic Sensibilities, Consciousness, Memento Mori, LOVE…
I fell in love with Madonna’s reflection. It resonated with me very deeply. I found Madonna’s observation to be wise and powerful. We are taught since childhood that the love others give us {or don’t give us} defines us. We are enslaved with a hunger for validation. What a challenge it is to emancipate yourself from this invisible slavery. {Social media has only exacerbated this problem}.
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Rejection manifests itself in a myriad of ways. Being told you are not loved is the most obvious. Being shown you are not loved is more insidious. I cannot discern which is more damaging. Whatever the situation is, rejection can haunt you- especially in childhood. Unfortunately, children tend to internalize rejection and take it personally.
Being rejected really tests your capacity to love yourself. Is receiving someone’s love a litmus test of your self-worth? Who gets to decide if you are “good enough?” Does rejection mean there is something inherently wrong with you? Are you going to throw your power away and shrink from rejection? It is so seductive to reject yourself because someone else did. {Did I mention how much it deeply hurts you- your heart, soul, ego, etc?}.
The aforementioned used to be my response as I misinterpreted rejection’s painful meaning. I would reject myself because someone else did. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have met rejection’s gaze many times and am learning from the confrontations. Now I see rejection as a test of self-love/self-worth/self-esteem/self-respect and an opportunity to build resilience.
I have broken away from those old toxic paradigms and I am healing those childhood wounds. Being rejected simply means that I am not that person’s cup of tea. There is nothing more to do than to move on. There is no need to try to convince the person of your value. If they don’t know what you are worth then that is your answer.
George Michael {Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou} had the voice and heart of an angel.
{He often donated anonymously to numerous charities and humanitarian organizations}.
He remains one of my favourite singers/artists.
His song freedom was a push back against his record label Sony {at the time}.
The song freedom can also represent freedom from toxicity, lies, manipulation, deceit, betrayal, selfishness, toxic situations, patterns of behaviour, thoughts, emotions, toxic strangers/family/friends/acquaintances/romantic entanglements.
How do you determine if a person or situation is toxic?
The toxicity lies in how damaging the person or situation is to yourself and your life.
Often their toxicity is like a contagion that infects your life as well.
The question you must ask yourself is:
does a person/situation contribute to your life?
Do they fuel your personal development/spiritual growth or do they inhibit it?
A toxic situation or person robs you of your time energy/vitality, peace, self-esteem, sanity, strength, love, etc.
Time and distance enlighten you about the toxicity of the situation or person.
You can see the toxic web that you were entangled in.
The truth emancipates you.
Now I am free from that highly toxic person and the toxic energy he secretly brought into my life.
I wasn’t conscious of the toxic situation that he forced me into until much later. His toxic energy and behaviour were poisoning me.
At the time, I didn’t know.
I was asleep.
My intuition kept telling me something was wrong so I finally listened and it led me to the truth.
{I am so grateful that I listened to my inner wisdom}.
When the truth came to light, everything changed and I empowered myself.
As soon as I ripped his mask off and saw him for who he was {a narcissist, traitor/serial cheater, pathological liar & energy thief/psychic vampire– amongst other things},
I ran as fast as I could}.
I am focused on detoxing further and healing.
I have to keep the lessons present so that the next time toxicity enters into my life, I detox it with conviction.
[Chorus] “I won’t let you down
I will not give you up Gotta have some faith in the sound It’s the one good thing that I’ve got I won’t let you down So please don’t give me up Because I would really, really love to stick around
[Chorus] All we have to do now Is take these lies and make them true somehow All we have to see Is that I don’t belong to you And you don’t belong to me Freedom I won’t let you down, freedom I will not give you up, freedom Gotta have some faith in the sound You got to give what you take It’s the one good thing that I’ve got, freedom I won’t let you down, freedom So please don’t give me up, freedom Cause I would really, really love to stick around
[Pre-Chorus] I think there’s something you should know I think it’s time I stopped the show There’s something deep inside of me There’s someone I forgot to be Take back your picture in a frame Don’t think that I’ll be back again I just hope you understand Sometimes the clothes do not make the man
[Chorus] All we have to do now Is take these lies and make them true somehow All we have to see Is that I don’t belong to you And you don’t belong to me Freedom I won’t let you down, freedom I will not give you up, freedom Gotta have some faith in the sound You got to give what you take It’s the one good thing that I’ve got, freedom I won’t let you down, freedom So please don’t give me up, freedom Cause I would really, really love to stick around
[Chorus] All we have to do now Is take these lies and make them true somehow All we have to see Is that I don’t belong to you And you don’t belong to me Freedom I won’t let you down, freedom I will not give you up, freedom Gotta have some faith in the sound You got to give what you take It’s the one good thing that I’ve got, freedom I won’t let you down, freedom So please don’t give me up, freedom Cause I would really, really love to stick around
but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.“
-Paulo Coelho
Even though it may be painful to close a door, it might be the best thing for you…
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It can be so painful to close a door.
It can be even more painful to try to keep a door open that isn’t meant for you.
I used to have such difficulty in closing doors. It used to hurt so much because I struggle with endings and the melancholy they bring. I think I am getting a little stronger spiritually and emotionally. I recently closed a door and blocked some phone numbers {which is completely out of my character}.
Perhaps that is a sign of maturity and spiritual growth?
Regardless of what this change signifies, it feels right.
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Please enjoy When Things Explode by UNKLE featuring Ian Astbury…
[Verse 1: Ian Astbury] “Your skull froze little lives In shadows where you hide A life that was designed You’ve been cheated, oh so blind You laid it on the line These twisted words of time And how your spirit shines I wish that you were mine[Chorus: Ian Astbury] Yeah, lately I know that I’ve been crawling I know that I’ve been falling Into your dream[Verse 2: Ian Astbury] Imagine no more tears Dissolving all your fears With tooth and claw we fight Into this endless night[Chorus: Ian Astbury] Yeah, lately I know that I’ve been crawling I know that I’ve been falling Into your dream
[Verse 3: Ian Astbury] I saw my tears in your eyes You saw your tears in mine We watched it burn together I saw my fears in your eyes You saw your fear in mine We watched it burn together
[Bridge: Ian Astbury] Watched it burn Burn, yeah, burn Watched it burn Burn, yeah, burn Watched it burn Burn, watched it burn Watched it burn Burn, watched it burn
I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account.
I give lots away and live simply, mostly out of a suitcase in hotels.
We all know that good health is much more important.”
-Keanu Reeves
Keanu is looking for a more spiritual currency these days- spiritual wealth…
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I find Keanu’s quote refreshing even though I cannot relate to his financial success. He has earned so much money that he has lost the thirst for more.
Keanu’s humility is part of his life’s philosophy.
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Please enjoy Taste of Honey by The Chemical Brothers…
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I knew a very materialistic person that chose money over love.
If only they could see life the way that Keanu does- in a more spiritual dimension.
Happy New Year. I can feel that 2020 will transcend 2019.
2019 was a very painful and challenging year for me.It taught me many unforgettable lessons e.g. to keep working on self-love/self-esteem/self-worth; the importance of following my intuition and putting up/maintaining boundaries; working with my shadow side; fueling a transformation/spiritual awakening/evolution; to be more discerning about who I trust or befriend, etc.
I have been detoxing from toxicity in all of its forms (e.g. toxic people/situations/behaviours/thoughts/emotions). In the past year, I have distanced myself from a person that has a toxic and dysfunctional family {namely his evilwitch sister, diabolical ex-wife and possibly his son}. They thrived on gossiping, slandering/lying, backstabbing and getting sadistic pleasure from others’ pain, etc.
They smiled in your face while they stabbed you in the back. They poisoned my friend’s mind about me and turned him against me. To be honest, they had extremely bad vibes and stole my energy (i.e. psychic vampires that dabbled in the dark arts) and I am so grateful to be away from them.
When I used to see them at socialevents, theywould drain my energy to the point of almost fallingasleep. It would take days to recover from the energy theft. I feel so much lighter spiritually to not have theirsinister presence in my life. They were so familiar with envy and jealousy that they probably invented the concept of “the evil eye.”
He reallyshould have knownbetter. He reallyshouldhaveknown me and who I am at my core- my essence. He should have not been dissuaded by these jealous, evil and heartlessindividuals.
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This year I will continue to focus on transformation/spiritual awakening/evolution and healing. I will keep working on my shadow side, fitness, education and other projects (which includes this blog).
This post is the first post of this 2020. I am going to release any fears and judgments about my writing/thoughts/emotions. I am just going to let them flow– this is why they are called stream of consciousness reflections. It is a creative expression with minimal editing.
I close this post with So Fresh and So Clean by Outkast. Despite all that has transpired in 2019, I am choosing to start 2020 feeling so fresh and so clean. I feel my Leo fire energy giving me strength.
Don’t you think I’m so sexy? I’m dressed so fresh, so clean So fresh and so clean, clean Ain’t nobody dope as me; I’m dressed so fresh, so clean So fresh and so clean, clean
Don’t you think I’m so sexy? I’m dressed so fresh, so clean So fresh and so clean, clean Ain’t nobody dope as me; I’m dressed so fresh, so clean So fresh and so clean, clean
I love when you stare at me; I’m dressed so fresh, so clean So fresh and so clean, clean
“People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is
realizing that you are the beholder.”
–Salma Hayek
I love Salma Hayek’s empowering quote.
According to Salma’s perspective, only you define beauty because you are the beholder. People let others define beauty for them- whether it is the media and other people. It is so refreshing and empowering to realize that you are the beholder.
Richard Ashcroft’s angelic voice feels like such a healing vibration. I truly feel his soul radiating boundless love. Listening to the beauty of this song brings me to the point of tears. Richard is indeed blessed with such a gift and talent. Through his art, he is able to contribute to the healing of the world {like other artists}.
In Leave Me High, Richard says that “no love can fulfill like this love that you give.” He isn’t specifically talking about a lover in a typical romantic sense {although he could be}. Another possibility is that he is referencing self-love; where no one else can complete you or fulfill you like your own love can.
The idea of self-love as a source of spiritual strength and healing is discussed at length in the mastery of love by Don Miguel Ruiz. Self-love is the key to happiness and peace in our relationships with others and ourselves. For Don Miguel Ruiz, self-love is non-negotiable because it is so married to respect. It is the key ingredient for a spiritually and emotionally fulfilled life.
“Humans hunt for love. We feel that we need that love because we believe we don’t have love, because we don’t love ourselves. We hunt for love in other humans just like us, expecting to get love from them when these humans are in the same condition as we are. They don’t love themselves either, so how much love can we get from them? We merely create a bigger need that isn’t real; we keep hunting and hunting, but in the wrong place, because other humans don’t have the love we need.”
I suspect that Richard is referring to God or a universal/higher power where no one can fulfill him like this divine love does. He sings, …”leave me high, leave me looking over mountains in the heavens…”. The song has a spiritual vibe to me and love is equated withascension and enlightenment, “your love take me higher, bring me light, everything.”
The main thesis to me is “take those chains from your heart and soul.” In essence, Richard is speaking about emancipation but from what? I think the chains are the walls that we keep to protect our hearts. We can become imprisoned by all the ways that we try to protect ourselves from pain, loss/grief, suffering and betrayal. By wearing armour on our hearts and souls, we risk missing out on real intimacy, love and healing. It is much wiser to listen to Richard and “take those chains from your heart and soul…”
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What is your interpretation of this song?
I am by no means right or wrong.
I just thought it would be fun to try to interpret it.
“Leave me high Leave me looking Leave me low Leave me warm No love can fulfill Like this love that you give Leave me high Leave me looking Over mountains in the heavens No love can fulfill Like this love that you give
Wasted moments come together Like a boat on a stream Your love take me higher Bring me light, everything Oh take those chains from within my soul Like a slow train moving my soul on Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Take those chains from your heart and soul Like a slow train moving my soul on
Hello, hello, hello, hello
Take those chains from your heart and soul Like a slow train moving my soul on Take those chains from your heart and soul Yeah like a slow train Take those chains from your heart and soul Yeah like a slow train Take those chains from your heart and soul Yeah like a slow train Take those chains from your heart and soul Like a slow train moving my soul on Through the mountains over heavens Take those chains from your heart and soul Yeah like a slow train Take those chains from your heart and soul Through the mountains over heavens Through the mountains over heavens Leave me high Leave me looking.”
his self acts as his own enemy like an external foe.”
–Bhagavad-Gita, VI.6
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You can be your best friend or your own worst enemy. It really is your choice. Sadly, most people are their own worst enemies. They consciously or unconsciously engage in self-sabotage/self-destructive behaviour.
This is the shadow side that Carl Jung talks about. {I will be discussing this fascinating concept in future posts}.
The question is: how to emancipate yourself from your self-destructive prison?
How do you stop fighting yourself?
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Please enjoy I Against I by Mos Def…
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Lyrics
“I-ya, I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind,
two of a kind but one won’t survive,
my images reflect in the enemies eye, and his images reflect in mine the same time,
I-ya, I-ya, I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind, two of a kind but one won’t survive,
Right here is where the end gon’ start at, conflict, contact ‘n’ combat,
fighters stand where the land is marked at, settle the dispute about who the livest, 3 word answer, Whoever survive this, only one of us can ride forever, so you and I can’t ride together, can’t live or cant die together, all we can do is collide together, so I skillfully apply the pressure, won’t stop until I’m forever… one! A doorstep where death never come, spread across time til my time never done, and I’m never done, walk tall, why ever run? when they move if I ever come? bad man never fret the war, tell’em come general we have the stock, the mad fire burn I-ya,
I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind, two of a kind but one won’t survive, my images reflect in the enemies eye, and his images reflect in mine the same time, I-ya, I-ya,
I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind, two of a kind but one won’t survive, survive (x16)
Reign supreme in your U-N-I, V-E-R-S-E with the sharpness, narrow row building no space for partners, no space for drivers, no space for walkers, no space regardless, your on my path then get off it, hardheaded and unresponsive, get they lives put on target with harshness, come with the canons sparkin’ they darken, who am i? one man squadron, Ma stir the fire this time that’d snatch your tomorrow, the thousand-yard spear that’ll pierce through your armour, you can get it on right now if you want to, but when ya front 9 get marched through, I warned you, You know who forever belong to,
I-ya, I-ya I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind, two of a kind but one won’t survive, my images reflect in the enemies eye, and his images reflect in mine the same time, I-ya, I-ya, I against I, flesh of my flesh, and mind of my mind, two of a kind but one won’t survive, my images reflect in the enemies eye, and his images reflect in mine, survive survive (x16).”
Tonight the United States of America chooses their leader- their president.
The world is watching. So many people are hoping for change.
I sincerely hope that the United States makes progress in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (as stated in the declaration of independence).
Here I present a video of one of my most respected and favourite artists/musicians/poets…Dead Prez…This is their appearance on Def Poetry Jam called “4 The Hood.” It includes the beautiful and heartfelt “Window To My Soul.”
Their spoken word pieces and music are filled with intelligence, social justice, critical thinking and soulful, revolutionary poetry. 4 the hood begs the question: is money the real president?
Is voting really choosing between the lesser of two evils or the evil of two lessers?
Lyrics
RBG…RBG…
Look look
Yo, you expect me to vote for the lesser of two evils?
NEVER!
It’s more like the evil of two lessers.
That’s like sayin’ – M! Choose your oppressor!
Pick one! Jeffery Dahmer or Hannibal Lecter
You want Crack, Coke, Pepsi or Dr. Pepper?
THEY ALL FU**ED UP and neither one of ‘em better
Cuz Crack is like a Democrat
Cocaine – Republican
Marijuana – Independent Party
SAME GOVERNMENT!
You really think your vote counts?
Ask my folk down in Florida didn’t they straight THROW they sh*t out!
And them crackas act innocent,
KNOWING they depend on this
Benefit from HUSH money from big businesses
MONEY is the president!
Dead Prez,
Dolla dolla bill, and I bet no convention ain’t spinnin’ this
Soon they gon’ need us
BELIEVE US
When these cats pick rappers to be POLITICAL LEADERS?
Don’t be pawns, be Lolita Lebrons
Run up on them all like ‘Muthafu**a it’s ON!’
If CONGRESS can’t make PROGRESS
Let’s change the PROCESS –
NO MORE TOMS RUNNIN’ FOR OFFICE!
Talkin’ like that these crackas’ll call you crazy
What’s crazy is, ain’t no difference in ME and JAY-Z –
The SAME BOAT brought us the SAME PLACE in slavery
So we rock the same chains anyway
BABY, BABY!
He says that he always had a desire to travel and move.
In his birthplace of Ireland, Gabriel feels that he is always colliding with his past.
He feels defined by his past in Dublin.
Whereas in New York he feels that he has a clean slate- a tabula rasa where he is “free to compose his own present.”
Gabriel lived in Los Angeles for five years but he decided to leave. He feels that when you live in a place without clearly defined seasons, your sense of time becomes distorted. Time passes almost invisibly yet quickly.
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Gabriel decided to move to New York and he lives there presently.
He compares Los Angeles to New York and he focuses on their restless nature.
“It’s a restless city…Los Angeles even more so than New York is a city where people come to…it has to exist for those people who can’t exist in places outside of it.
It exists for people who become in a way…who outgrow or out-dream or out-fantasize their own places
For Gabriel, Los Angeles is a land of paradox.
It offers new beginnings and freedom yet an ambiance of melancholy haunts it.
He notes, “The sense of freedom and light and being able to re-invent oneself is very strong there…but there’s also a sense of melancholy that pervades the place.”
I found the following observation to be the most intriguing.
“It is a place where people think that if they get successful enough, they are not going to die.”
In essence, Gabriel is using memento mori to analyze people’s avoidance of death. It is almost as if success was used as a passport out of death.
This incisive observation is very Buddhist as Buddha believe in impermanence {i.e. everything dies}.
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One doesn’t need to have a gypsy soul to want to move or travel.
We’ve all dreamed of moving our proverbial roots to far away magical lands.
I know I have…
I believe the term is called wanderlust.
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Ireland is definitely one of the countries that I long to visit.
Majestic Ireland…
It is the birth place of two of my favourite actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers and of course Gabriel Byrne. They often speak about Ireland’s sublime beauty.
Ireland’s Majestic Northern Lights…
To be honest there are so many places I would love to visit.
Since I was a child I fell in love with Egyptian history and mythology.
Ancient Egypt has fascinated me and still fascinates me to this day.
Egypt is one place I would love to visit.
Egypt: A Land of Alchemical Beauty
Iceland also seems like a mystical land full of haunting beauty.
The Magical Northern Lights in Iceland…
I would love to experience the northern lights- aurora borealis.
I would love to experience the beauty of Iceland that resonates in the music of Björk and Sigur Rós.
But the problem is that the body, the physiology, takes a hard hit on drugs.
Drugs injure the nervous system, so they just make it harder to get those experiences on your own. I have smoked marijuana, but I no longer do.
I went to art school in the 1960s, so you can imagine what was going on. Yet my friends were the ones who said, “No, no, no, David, don’t you take those drugs.” I was pretty lucky.
Besides, far more profound experiences are available naturally.
When your consciousness starts expanding, those experiences are there.
All those things can be seen.
It’s just a matter of expanding that ball of consciousness.
And the ball of consciousness can expand to be infinite and unbounded.
It’s totality. You can have totality.
So all those experiences are there for you, without the side effects of drugs.” ―David Lynch
…”It’s the kind words you gave to that homeless man without judging that man it’s the fact that you gave; and showed compassion ’cause he humbly asked you for change…”
can’t get but so far in this life being selfish. a free spirit a giving heart that’s what wealth is we rich when we recognize the power that’s within it’s not all about the money it’s the time that we spend it’s the hand that we lend to a friend when we can it’s the kind words you gave to that homeless man without judging that man it’s the fact that you gave; and showed compassion ’cause he humbly asked you for change i know the blessings I receive is not just for me a shared blessing comes back to you that’s what I believe to help someone in need to throw down some rope to be a ray of hope ya know?
sometimes you gotta help somebody sometimes you gotta help somebody sometimes you just gotta be helpful when life gets stressful sometimes you gotta help somebody sometimes you gotta help somebody what goes around is gonna come back ’round what goes around is gonna come back ’round when you help somebody
donate my extra clothes to a clothing drive. help the lady cross the street bring her bags inside. send a letter to a prisoner to lift his spirit. be a mentor to a child ’cause it takes a village.
lend a hand, help a brother that I learned the hard way all for one one for all it got to be the squad way the early bird get the worm it’s corny but it’s true first impressions last forever careful how you move first you crawl then you walk the 1 before the 2 nothing new under the sun the golden rule lazy people work the hardest that’s my motivation everything in moderation even moderation
yo yo, when you put out your hand, is it to give or to receive? see what goes around will come back around I do believe that the positive and negative is relative to where you live not from experience that’s what we tell the kids ’cause they are the seeds the stronger the root the stronger the tree if we eat from the fruit the stronger we be if we do it today tomorrow we free.”
From the album: Chrysta Bell – This Train Produced by David Lynch
Lyrics
“Driving through the night flying fast to you real love real love the moon is flying with me the moon is crying with me got to get to your house call me home flying with the moon sirens driving in the valley sirens flare got to feel your love real love don’t cut me don’t you cut me don’t you cut me gotta hole in my heart I wanna feel your love I wanna feel your love the moon passed behind a cloud the stars are hiding from me I’m coming home baby I’m coming home lonely moon rush by lonely got to feel your love real love make it real make it real make it real love I wanna feel your love I wanna feel your love the wind is blowing the wind is blowing by I’m coming home baby I’m coming home coming home real love coming home for real love real love.“
credits
from Chrysta Bell -This Train Produced by David Lynch, released 29 September 2011 Vocals: Chrysta Bell Guitar: David Lynch Guitar, Bass and Synth: John Neff Drums: David Lynch and John Neff Written by David Lynch, John Neff and Chrysta Bell Engineering: John Neff Mixed by David Lynch and John Neff Published by Zibella Music (BMI)
Her collaboration with David Lynch evokes a beautiful, surreal and haunting ambiance. Chrysta and David create a haunting world that you never want to leave. Listening to their music is like entering a dream you never want to awake from.
Chrysta Bell & David Lynch Bring Surrealist Beauty To Life…
Men and women whisper to each other because they have turned a sacred gesture into a sinful act.
This is the world in which we live. And while robbing the present moment of its reality can be dangerous, disobedience can also be a virtue, when we know how to use it.
If two bodies merely join together, that is not sex, it is merely pleasure.
Sex goes far beyond pleasure.
In sex, relaxation and tension go hand in hand, as do pain and pleasure, shyness and the courage to go beyond one’s limits.
How can such opposing states exist in harmony together?
There is only one way: by surrendering yourself.
Because the act of surrender means: ‘I trust you.’
It isn’t enough to imagine everything that might happen if we allowed ourselves to join not just our bodies, but our souls as well.
Let us plunge together, then, down the dangerous path of surrender.
It may be dangerous, but it is the only path worth following.
Let us forget all that we are taught about how it is noble to give and humiliating to receive.
Because for most people, generosity consists only in giving, but receiving is also an act of love.
Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.”
Cold winters are sheltered by crack houses instead of recreational centers that they claim to not have the paper to keep open for operation…
What’s a young boy to do when he doesn’t want to do wrong but there’s a lock on the right door?
When he has the heart of a soldier, the aggression of a prizefighter but no one’s taught him what to fight for…
Young Tupac was one of many boys without fathers {as Black Ice says}. However, the absence of his father was eclipsed by his mother’s fierce love. Afeni {a former Black Panther} passed on infinite wisdom to her son so it isn’t true that “no one taught him what to fight for.” “My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge. It’s an eternal journey.” -Tupac. I included this caption of Tupac because he had “the heart of a soldier and aggression of a prize fighter”- not to mention the mind of a revolutionary leader.. In the end, Tupac defined manhood for himself and became quite the revolutionary man. I would have loved to see Tupac become a father…
See, most of our families are fatherless and quite poor so we miss out on meals as well as kisses and hugs.
Imagine we lived in a world where there was no suffering, injustice/oppression, “third world” class distinction or any class distinction whatsoever.
This is the world that I want to live in…
Art by BANKSY
Peace & Namaste.
{More posts about poverty/social inequality/injustice, sociology, spoken word poetry, Tupac, Dead Prez, Black Ice and hip hop coming up in the future…}
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an inspiration to millions.
While 2Pac was most famous for his rap career, he was also a gifted actor, poet and thoughtful while outspoken advocate for the poor and the overlooked in America. During his life, he produced an immense amount of artistic work, which included studio albums, major Hollywood feature films, and published works. He was most prolific in the music industry, selling over 75 million albums. 2Pac’s unapologetic lyrics were relevant, important, and reflective of the hard lives led by many. His music earned attention and respect through a poetic style that embraced street vocabulary while being innovative. Today, 2Pac is still considered by many to be one of the biggest influences on modern hip-hop.
2Pac’s career has earned him six Grammy nominations and three MTV Video Music Award nominations. In 1997, Shakur was honored by the American Music Awards as the Favorite Hip Hop Artist.
Born on June 16 1971 in New York City, Shakur’s parents were both members of the Black Panther Party whose militant style and provocative ideologies for civil rights would come to influence 2Pac’s music. At an early age, Tuapc’s love for performance and the arts began to show, as he began acting at age 13 and later enrolled in the Baltimore School of the Arts before dropping out at 17. Shakur broke into the music business with rap group Digital Underground as a back-up dancer and roadie. Eventually Shakur released his first solo album in ’91, 2pacalypse Now. 2Pac’s music career began to grow as his second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z included two top 20 pop chart tracks: I Get Around and Keep Ya Head Up.
Shakur’s legal battles began after he established his rap career. In the early nineties Shakur faced a wrongful death suit which settled out of court, accusations of assaulting police officers where charges were ultimately dropped, and even an incident where Shakur sustained five gunshot wounds from shooter Dexter Isaac. In 1995 2Pac was sentenced one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse. However, not even prison could slow the success of Shakur’s career.
While incarcerated 2Pac’s latest album at the time, Me Against the World, was number one in the pop charts and would later go double platinum. Shakur became the first artist to reach number one in the pop charts while serving a prison sentence. Making the most of his time in jail, 2Pac became a passionate reader. Among his favorites were the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance writer whose works were in part the foundation for western political science. Shakur’s appreciation of his work inspired the nickname: Makaveli.
After serving only eight months of his sentence, 2Pac was out on parole thanks to a 1.4 million dollar bond paid by Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. Now signed with Death Row Records, Shakur went on to create All Eyez on Me, which featured hits How Do You Want It and California Love.
2Pac’s life was cut short in September of 1996 when Shakur became the victim of a drive-by shooting while his car waited on a red light. While Shakur survived the surgery that followed he was pronounced dead almost a week after the attack.
Even today, 2Pac’s influence is wide-spread. From the Library of Congress where his song Dear Mama was added in 2010 to the National Registry, to artists like 11 time Grammy winner Eminem who in an interview with MTV said:
“He made you feel like you knew him. I think that , honestly, Tupac was the greatest songwriter that ever lived. He made it seem so easy. The emotion was there, and feeling, and everything he was trying to describe. You saw a picture that he was trying to paint.”
2Pac leaves a legacy of honesty and passion in his songs. Respected by many, 2Pac has become an inspiration for artists and a standard in rap music.”
Our mission is to provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents. Each and every child desires freedom to creatively express themselves. We provide an environment that encourages freedom of expression, serves as a resource for families, and empowers via education.
ABOUT
The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) is home to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, just outside of Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia. TASF was founded in 1997 originally as the Shakur Family Foundation by Afeni Shakur, mother of multi-talented Tupac Amaru Shakur. Since its inception TASF has offered performing arts camps, essay competitions, youth book clubs, visual arts workshops, community development projects, and scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate degrees.
On June 11, 2005 the TASF opened the Center! The Center is dedicated to providing youth and the community with educational programs in the arts. It is a fact that early arts education improves school grades, as well as offers invaluable life lessons while building self-esteem and confidence. For nearly 15 years, the Foundation’s programs have served youth of all social and economic backgrounds, giving countless young people the courage to get off the streets and learn vital skills that have the potential to positively impact their communities. The Center is open to the public and hosts several noteworthy events throughout the year.
MORE ABOUT TUPAC
Tupac Amaru Shakur dealt with great obstacles such as homelessness, hunger, and pain, amongst other situations during his youth. Performing arts provided the hope that would seed the expression that would one day influence generations worldwide.
Tupac accomplished a lot before his murder at the age of 25. At an early age, he wrote and organized family productions, casting himself as the lead and his older cousins in supporting roles. Tupac formally trained at the 127th Street Ensemble and Baltimore School for the Arts. At the age of twelve, he experienced his first formal stage role as the character “Travis” in the stage play ‘Raisin In the Sun’ at the prestigious Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
Tupac was eventually cast in several feature films and recorded several chart topping albums. In fact, he released the first ever double hip-hop CD. Today, years after his physical departure, he is the second highest selling Hip-Hop artist of all time. His gift- his words and creative talent- continues to inspire others around the world!“
“With his arms around your love Oh no, here comes the pain that you can’t ignore
With his arms around your girl He’ll do all of the things you didn’t do before You had every chance, but you closed the door
[Chorus] Now you’re just gonna have to take it (‘Cause if you didn’t know) She’s gonna make you pay for it (Price you can’t afford) You’re just gonna have to take it With his arms around your love [Repeat: x3]
Oh, yeah
Pretend that you don’t mind But you know everything that you left behind
And it would have been alright If you’d gave half of the praise that you held inside You thought she’d hang around for the ride
[Chorus]
Coming clean feels so dangerous Just a little bit would have been enough But you never said all the words caught in your head
As if your heart was dead Well now its surely bled and broken up
And it would have been alright If you’d gave half of the praise that you held inside You thought she’d hang around for the ride
[Chorus]
(Take it) With his arms around your love (Pay for it) With his arms around your love With his arms around your love With his arms around your love.”
I really feel that it complements Rumi’s poem “Love’s Alchemy.”
Isn’t the cello along with Jon Crosby’s soulful singing so hauntingly beautiful?
“Close your eyes let me touch you now let me give you something that is real close the door leave your fears behind let me give you what you’re giving me you are the only thing that makes me want to live at all when i am with you there’s no reason to pretend that when i am with you i feel flames again just put me inside you i would never ever leave just put me inside you i would never ever leave you.”
“For those who are not frightened by the solitude that reveals all mysteries, everything will have a different taste.
In solitude, they will discover the love that might otherwise arrive unnoticed. In solitude, they will understand and respect the love that left them.
In solitude, they will be able to decide whether it is worth asking that lost love to come back or if they should simply let it go and set off along a new path.
In solitude, they will learn that saying ‘No’ does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying ‘Yes’ is not always a virtue.
And those who are alone at this moment, need never be frightened by the words of the devil: ‘You’re wasting your time.’ Or by the chief demon’s even more potent words: ‘No one cares about you.’
The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing.
And in that moment, Its light illumines everything around us and helps us to see that we are necessary, and that our presence on Earth makes a huge difference to Its work.”
“Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, scholar, and peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King Jr. for his efforts in generating peace and reconciliation in his native country. Thich Nhat Hanh travels internationally, teaching from his book The Art of Mindful Living. He lives at Plum Village Practice Centre in France, a Buddhist monastery for monks, nuns, and laypeople.”-Shambhala Sun
“Learning how to be kind to ourselves is important.
When we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn’t just ourselves that we’re discovering.
We’re discovering the universe.
When we discover the buddha that we are, we realize that everything and everyone is Buddha.
We discover that everything is awake, and everyone is awake.
Everything and everyone is precious and whole and good. When we regard thoughts and emotions with humor and openness, that’s how we perceive the universe.”
“Is it worse to stay where one does not belong at all than to wander about lost for a while and looking for the psychic and soulful kinship one requires”
There are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.
Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.
Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.
Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God’s children.
A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, “nourish them.”
Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you.
Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie.
Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.
Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.
The next great song is being rehearsed.
Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.
Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.
Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. They just can’t see it from where they’re at.
Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want — and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it’s reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all “So worth the wait.“
Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.
Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.
Someone is fighting the fight so that you don’t have to.
Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe.Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil libertiesand clean drinking water.
Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable.Someone is curing the incurable.
“Danielle LaPorte is the creator of WhiteHotTruth.com, which has been called the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality.”
Please visit her website for some inspiration and wisdom…She is so brilliant. I just “discovered” her and will most likely be doing more blog posts about her and her writing.
If you want more inspiration and wisdom from Danielle, please go to her website: http://www.daniellelaporte.com/to sign up for her newsletters. You can choose to receive via email a “daily truthbomb”, a “somewhat weekly” newsletter and a “monthly digest” newsletter. I am signed up for all of them and highly recommend them.
Danielle has generously provided the first chapter of her book for free on her website. You can read it on Scribd or download it in pdf format. Please click on this link: The Fire Starter Sessions Chapter One.
“A foolhardy lot, we accepted it all, as we always do, never asked:
“What is going to happen to us now, with this invention of print?”
In the same way, we never thought to ask,
“How will our lives, our way of thinking, be changed by the internet, which has seduced a whole generation with its inanities so that even quite reasonable people will confess that, once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free, and they may find a whole day has passed in blogging etc?” — Doris Lessing
*
The irony is not lost on me that I am using the internet to communicate to you and you are using it to read this post. I am also not saying that the internet is exactly the matrix.
I simply liked this quote because it questions how the internet has changed our lives. Of course, it has changed our lives for the better. I love blogging as much as the next person. You can research anything you want at the touch of a few computer keys. You can communicate with people all over the world. You can buy things online, etcetera.
We also need to analyze the negative ways the internet has changed our lives so that we can find a healthy balance online and offline.
Suicide is a very uncomfortable and necessary subject to discuss.
I recently came across a YouTube video that left such an impact on me that I was not able to write a blog post until now {approx. 18 days}.
The vice documentary left such a deep impression on me that I had to reflect for a while before I could decide what to write.
*
Japan’s Aokigahara (青木ヶ原) forest also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海 Jukai) or the Suicide forest is a place where many people go to contemplate suicide.
Sadly, many actually commit suicide.
I feel so much compassion for people who are considering suicide as a way to end their pain.
I strongly believe that people do not actually want to die but to end their pain and they do not see another way to achieve this.
Below is an actual suicide note found in the forest.
I find it heart breaking.
*
Many moons ago, I had a friend that was considering suicide.
I pray that he finds the strength to fight against his darkness.
I am still haunted by the fact that he felt this depressed but I could not do anything to heal his pain.
I know that only he can heal his pain.
I did my best to be a loving friend but I know that we cannot truly save anyone.
We can only save ourselves.
In fact, we always had a friendly argument about saving and being saved.
It revolved around the graphic novel and film Sin City.
Conversely, I went for a different thesis. I said that you can love someone so much that you get out of hell because of your love for them and possibly their love for you. Your love for them is so powerful and/or their love for you is so strong that you pull yourself up with your own strength and get out of hell- your personal hell or the other kind. In essence, you save yourself instead of saving someone else.
No one was right or wrong. It was fun to discuss but I stand by my point of view even though I recognize his had merit. It all depends on how you look at things. It was a healthy discussion nonetheless.
*
Can we actually save someone?
Dita Von Teese & Marilyn Manson in Vogue Magazine Photo By Steven Klein
Azusa Hayano makes me question my beliefs that we cannot save anyone but ourselves.
I do believe we can help someone to save themselves and this is what I think he does so brilliantly and compassionately.
*
We meet an extraordinary soul, Azusa Hayano, in this vice documentary.
He is a geologist that does the most important job of suicide patrol in the forest. {I discovered from another video that the police also seem to do suicide patrol}.
Azusa also studies how people co-exist with nature because he says it is part of environmental research.
He still does not know why people kill themselves in such a beautiful forest (18:53) although he does explain that it may be because of a popular book written in the past.
*
Azusa patrols the forest looking for people who are contemplating suicide in hopes of convincing them otherwise.
He even finds a man in a yellow tent that appears to have been contemplating suicide. According to the VICE website comments found at http://www.vice.com/vice-news/aokigahara-suicide-forest-v3, the man in the yellow tent had been camping in the forest for one month. He had to be taken out in an ambulance.
*
The police even put up signs to try to stop people from committing suicide. They also provide the number for suicide hotlines.
*
I found it fascinating that many people leave a trail of tape to find their way back in case they change their mind. This is hopeful because people who are undecided can finally decide to leave the forest.
*
With his gentle and compassionate manner, one can see how Azusa could convince someone who is struggling to live.
I was struck by how much this man cares.
He really cares and that is so rare these days.
In a forest where traditional compasses do not work, Azusa uses his compassion and wisdom as his guides.
He also looks for people who have committed suicide.
*
Azusa reminds me of the value of a life and how much difference one life can make in the world.
If we could find our purpose and live our potential, then we could make our contribution- our gift to the world.
We need more people like Azusa in this world.
We need more people who really care and have compassion for those who are suffering. I don’t know if he technically “saves” anyone but he does help people to save themselves and this is priceless.
Azusa is actually living the Buddha’s teachings- especially that of compassion.
I am also reminded by how the absence of one life can be a tear in the fabric of existence and humanity. I think about how that person had so much more life to live, love and wisdom to give and receive, experiences to be had and potential to be lived.
I think of the apocalyptic loss for their loved ones.
*
Azusa states in the documentary that the internet and technology may be the reason why there is such a disconnection between oneself and others. It is as if a schism is caused between our waking lives and our onscreen lives. Our lack of face-to-face communication has a price. Disconnection, depression, further loneliness and numbness may develop. Azusa discusses the human need for connection in real life- not through the filter of a computer screen.
“Face-to-face communication used to be vital, but now we can live our lives being online all day. However, the truth of the matter is that we still need to see each other’s faces, read their expressions, hear their voices, so we can fully understand their emotions to coexist.” -Azusa Hayano
*
The essence of what Azusa teaches and lives is filled with compassion and wisdom.
This documentary also reminds me of the urgent need to discuss mental health issues.
I am and continue to be a mental health advocate.
I deeply believe in the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
We can transcend our suffering and transform it into something beautiful and meaningful.
The phoenix always rises from the ashes…
*
To those of you suffering and feeling depressed…I offer you my compassion.
This post is for you.
Please speak to someone who cares- even if they are a stranger.
You will never know what a difference it could make in your life. They might have some life changing wisdom to give you or messages from the universe.
*Please reach out to someone.
I pray that the Buddha’s teachings, wisdom and compassion can alleviate your suffering.
Conversely, you never know how you can help someone who is suffering and in need.
You never know what impact you can have on someone’s life- even a stranger.
We are all interconnected.
By helping others we are actually helping ourselves.
“I’ve been living here for more than 30 years. My job is mainly environmental protection, I study volcanic eruptions and the plantation at the foot of Mt. Fuji.
In the year 864, Mt. Fuji erupted, and the forest that grew over the dried lava was named “Jukai” or “Sea of Trees”. Aokigahara is the actual name of the place, but people started calling it “Jukai”, because the forest as seen from halfway up of Mt. Fuji, is green all year round, and it looks like the ocean.
We’re entering the forest now. There’s a car that’s been abandoned for a few months, let’s take a look. I’m assuming the owner of the car went in from here and never came out. I guess they went into the forest with troubled thoughts.
In the old days in Japan, suicide was mainly known as the samarai’s act, as in “Seppuku” (harakari). In other cases poor families would abandon their elders in the mountains. That’s how it was back then, they weren’t killing themselves cause they couldn’t adapt to society. That didn’t happen like it does now, it’s a modern phenomenon.
This is a sign to stop suicidal people.
“Your life is a precious gift from your parents, Please think about your parents, siblings, and children. Don’t keep it to yourself. Talk about your troubles.”
Then it says to contact the Suicide Prevention Association.
Locals don’t commt suicide here. As children they’re told not to come near here, that it’s a scary forest. This path is open for the public, but you can’t follow the trail beyond this point. It says not to enter because you can easily get lost. In the Jukai, I think I’ve found more than… 100 suicide corpses in the last 20 years or so.
I found something strange, I’ll show you. People who are indecisive about dying, wrap this tape on trees along their way, so they can find their way out. There’s something that looks like a tent. I’m going to see if anyone’s inside, please wait here.” -Azusa Hayano, geologist
The forest is a popular place for suicides, reportedly the world’s second most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. This popularity is often attributed to the 1960 novel Nami no To by Seicho Matsumoto, which ends with two lovers committing suicide in the forest. However, the history of suicide in Aokigahara dates from before the novel’s publication, and the place has long been associated with death: ubasute was allegedly practiced there into the 19th century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the ghosts of those left to die…”
Here is a short video about the Aokigahara forest and the plague of suicide in Japan (2:34). There is thought to be one suicide every fifteen minutes in Japan.
An expert postulates that societal pressures and culture is to blame for the high suicide rate in Japan (1:55). He notes that even from a young age weakness is not allowed to be displayed.
“Whether it is within the family, at work or in society, it is very hard to show weakness. From a very young age, from primary school on, dynamic and happy kids are held up as examples to follow. If you don’t live up to that, other people treat you harshly and that’s is why people don’t ask for help.”
It is intriguing to note that Dante wrote about a suicide forest.
His writing was also translated into art.
Dante Alighieri’s Inferno from the Original by Dante Alighieri and Illustrated with the Designs of Gustave Doré (New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1890).
Dante Alighieri’s Inferno from the Original by Dante Alighieri and Illustrated with the Designs of Gustave Doré (New York: Cassell Publishing Company, 1890).
This incisive quote reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk’s other novel Fight Club which was made into an enlightening film called Fight Club– one of my favourite films.
{I highly recommend watching Fight Club because of the acidic social commentary, intriguing story and excellent acting}.
In essence, Chuck Palahniuk is alluding to commodity fetishism. The term that Karl Marx invented to describe how commodities are being fetishized and given an intrinsic value. It analyzes how the means of production and the relationships between consumers and workers are being obscured. {I apologize for the poor definition but I hope to elaborate on this in future posts}.
This quote asks us to re-consider our consumerist urges and desires.
Why do I really want a new thing?
Do I really need it?
Or do I simply just want it?
Why do I want it?
Do I just have a materialist itch to scratch?
Is there actually anything wrong with the one I have or am I just getting caught up in the consumerist zeitgeist?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are we not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
“I beg you…to have patience with everything unresolved in your heartandtry to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.
Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.
And the point is, to live everything.
Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
Lead me from dreaming to waking. Lead me from opacity to clarity. Lead me from the complicated to the simple. Lead me from the obscure to the obvious. Lead me from intention to attention. Lead me from what I’m told I am to what I see I am. Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left, Where there is peace, and peace ~ The Upanishads
This is a book I came across years ago.
Its been on my reading list for years- although I have yet to track it get it.
It is really ironic that I have been sort of procrastinating reading this book because it is about battling procrastination.
Well, I haven’t exactly been procrastinating reading it but I have not made it a priority- even though I really want to read it.
I have been battling the demons of procrastination and self-sabotage all of my life. I am now working on transcending the resistance, procrastination and self-sabotage.
***The only cure is discipline regardless of the creative endeavor.***
This book is a guide for overcoming resistance and tapping into creative potential. It is a creative manifesto. Just what I need.
The War of Art
A vital gem . . . a kick in the ass.
—Esquire
I’ve never read a self help book that wasn’t fatuous, obvious and unhelpful. Until The War of Art. It’s amazingly cogent and smart on the psychology of creation. If I ever teach a writing course this would be one of the first books I’d assign, along with the letters of Flannery O’Connor.
—Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City and Brightness Falls
BUY: Hardcover | Paperback | MP3 | eBookBOOKS
[This excerpt starts at the book’s very beginning and continues through the opening few chapters.]
“1. WHAT I DO
I get up, take a shower, have breakfast. I read the paper, brush my teeth. If I have phone calls to make, I make them. I’ve got my coffee now. I put on my lucky work boots and stitch up the lucky laces that my niece Meredith gave me. I head back to my office, crank up the computer. My lucky hooded sweatshirt is draped over the chair, with the lucky charm I got from a gypsy in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for only eight bucks in francs, and my lucky LARGO name tag that came from a dream I once had. I put it on. On my thesaurus is my lucky cannon that my friend Bob Versandi gave me from Morro Castle, Cuba. I point it toward my chair, so it can fire inspiration into me. I say my prayer, which is the Invocation of the Muse from Homer’s Odyssey, translation by T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, that my dear mate Paul Rink gave me and which sits near my shelf with the cuff links that belonged to my father and my lucky acorn from the battlefield at Thermopylae. It’s about ten-thirty now. I sit down and plunge in. When I start making typos, I know I’m getting tired. That’s four hours or so. I’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. I wrap for the day. Copy whatever I’ve done to disk and stash the disk in the glove compartment of my truck in case there’s a fire and I have to run for it. I power down. It’s three, three-thirty. The office is closed. How many pages have I produced? I don’t care. Are they any good? I don’t even think about it. All that matters is I’ve put in my time and hit it with all I’ve got. All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.
2. WHAT I KNOW
There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t and the secret is this: it’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.
What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.
3. THE UNLIVED LIFE
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic? Ever resolved on a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever felt a call to embark upon a spiritual practice, dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, commit your life to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace or to preserve the environment? Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
One night I was layin’ down,
I heard Papa talkin’ to Mama.
I heard Papa say, to let that boy
boogie-woogie. ‘Cause it’s in him
and it’s got to come out.
—John Lee Hooker,
Boogie Chillen’
Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet. It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease and erectile dysfunction. To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be. If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius. Genius is a Latin word; the Romans used it to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling.. A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center. It is our soul’s seat, the vessel that holds our being-in-potential, our star’s beacon and Polaris.
Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’ shadow is Resistance. As powerful as is our soul’s call to realization, so potent are the forces of Resistance arrayed against it. Resistance is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, harder to kick than crack cocaine. We’re not alone if we’ve been mown down by Resistance; millions of good men and women have bitten the dust before us. And here’s the biggest bitch: we don’t even know what hit us. I never did. From age twenty-four to thirty-two, Resistance kicked my ass from East Coast to West and back again thirteen times and I never even knew it existed. I looked everywhere for the enemy and failed to see it right in front of my face.
Have you heard this story: woman learns she has cancer, six months to live. Within days she quits her job, resumes the dream of writing Tex-Mex songs she gave up to raise a family (or starts studying Classical Greek, or moves to the inner city and devotes herself to tending babies with AIDS.) Woman’s friends think she’s crazy; she herself has never been happier. There’s a postscript. Woman’s cancer goes into remission.
Is that what it takes? Do we have to stare death in the face to make us stand up and confront Resistance? Does Resistance have to cripple and disfigure our lives before we awake to its existence? How many of us have become drunks and drug addicts, developed tumors and neuroses, succumbed to painkillers, gossip and compulsive cell-phone use, simply because we don’t do that thing that our hearts, our inner genius, is telling us to? Resistance defeats us. If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, overnight every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with the junk food, cosmetic surgery, and infotainment businesses, not to mention pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage and dandruff.
Look in your own heart. Unless I’m crazy, right now a still small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you. And unless I’m crazy, you’re no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or will be tomorrow. You think Resistance isn’t real? Resistance will bury you.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
4. RESISTANCE’S GREATEST HITS
The following is a list, in no particular order, of those activities, which most commonly elicit Resistance:
1) The pursuit of any calling in writing, painting, music, film, dance, or any creative art, however marginal or unconventional.
2) The launching of any entrepreneurial venture or enterprise, for profit or otherwise.
3) Any diet or health regimen.
4) Any program of spiritual advancement.
5) Any activity whose aim is tighter abdominals.
6) Any course or program designed to overcome an unwholesome habit or addiction.
7) Education of every kind.
8) Any act of political, moral or ethical courage, including the decision to change for the better some unworthy pattern of thought or conduct in ourselves.
9) The undertaking of any enterprise or endeavor whose aim is to help others.
10) Any act which entails commitment of the heart. The decision to get married, to have a child, to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.
11) The taking of any principled stand in the face of potential reprisal.
In other words, any act which disdains short-term gratification in favor of long-term growth, health or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower. Any act of these types will elicit Resistance.
Now: what are the characteristics of Resistance?
5. RESISTANCE IS INVISIBLE
Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard or smelled. But it can be felt. It is experienced as a force field emanating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its intention is to shove the creator away, distract him, sap his energy, incapacitate him.
If Resistance wins, the work doesn’t get written.
6. RESISTANCE IS INTERNAL
Resistance seems to come from outside ourselves. We locate it in spouses, jobs, bosses, kids, distractions. “Peripheral opponents,” as Pat Riley used to say when he coached the Los Angeles Lakers.
Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within.
7. RESISTANCE IS INSIDIOUS
Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you. It will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stick-up man. Resistance has no conscience. It understands nothing but power. Resistance cannot be negotiated with. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.
8. RESISTANCE IS IMPLACABLE
Resistance is like the Alien or the Terminator or the shark in “Jaws.” It cannot be reasoned with. It is an engine of destruction, programmed from the factory with one object only: to prevent us from doing our work. Resistance is implacable, intractable, indefatigable. Reduce it to a single cell and that cell will continue to attack.
This is Resistance’s nature. It’s all it knows.
9. RESISTANCE IS IMPERSONAL
Resistance is not out to get you personally. It doesn’t know who you are and doesn’t care. Resistance is a force of nature. It acts objectively.
Though it feels malevolent, Resistance in fact operates with the indifference of rain and transits the heavens by the same laws as the stars. When we marshal our forces to combat Resistance, we must remember this.”
“Your life is your life. Don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
Be on the watch. There are ways out. There is light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness.
Be on the watch. The gods will offer you chances. Know them. Take them. You can’t beat death but you can beat death in life,
Sometimes and the more often you learn to do it,
The more light there will be. Your life is your life. Know it while you have it.
You are marvelous
The gods wait to delight in you.”
-Charles Bukowski
I just love the idea of beating death in life…pure genius.
I totally agree with Tom Waits that this poem is a beauty!
“To love at all is to be vulnerable.
Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung
and possibly be broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact,
you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.
Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries;
avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket orcoffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change.
It will not be broken;
it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy,
is damnation.
The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.“ -C.S. Lewis The Four Loves
Exotic beauty Sherilyn Fenn looks into your soul…
Can you really be vulnerable in order to love?
Can you really be spiritually naked and intimate with another’s soul?
For more information…
Reflection for today…Potential -Doris Lessing
26 Mar“Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.”
— Doris Lessing
*
Society is not a level playing field.
Equal opportunities are mostly urban legends.
Spoken word poets and hip hop artists often speak about social inequalities and injustice through social commentary.
Some hip hop artists educate, enlighten/uplift consciousness and inspire.
Stic Man & M-1 are Dead Prez: My favourite hip hop artists/activists/revolutionaries
Tupac Shakur was a brilliant poet/artist/activist/revolutionary
This poetic narrative storytelling made me fall in love with hip hop because it gave a voice to the voiceless.
It was the poetry of the streets.
Many will not like the social commentary.
It is so incisive and critical but it has to be because the living conditions are full of suffering and injustice.
*
It should be noted that conscious hip hop and punk music have many parallels.
They both fight against the status quo.
They both subvert the dominant paradigm.
*
Black ice is such a gifted poet and spoken word artist.
He shoots from the hip and his poems go straight to your heart and mind.
In his poem Imagine, he meditates on social inequality and how different life would be if equal opportunities actually existed.
He proposes to “put love where the hate is.”
*
Please enjoy his poem Imagine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kVT89O6cLo
“What happens in neighbourhoods where the self-esteem has been overshadowed by the decay and the children no longer play the way they used to?
Where young boys choose to follow figures that had no father figures…
Whatever happened to that we shall overcome shit?…
Photo Courtesy of: http://www.neh.gov/files/divisions/preservation/images/we_shall_overcome_full_page.jpg
Cold winters are sheltered by crack houses instead of recreational centers that they claim to not have the paper to keep open for operation…
What’s a young boy to do when he doesn’t want to do wrong but there’s a lock on the right door?
When he has the heart of a soldier, the aggression of a prizefighter but no one’s taught him what to fight for…
Young Tupac was one of many boys without fathers {as Black Ice says}.
However, the absence of his father was eclipsed by his mother’s fierce love.
Afeni {a former Black Panther} passed on infinite wisdom to her son so it isn’t true that “no one taught him what to fight for.”
“My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge.
It’s an eternal journey.” -Tupac.
I included this caption of Tupac because he had “the heart of a soldier and aggression of a prize fighter”- not to mention the mind of a revolutionary leader..
In the end, Tupac defined manhood for himself and became quite the revolutionary man.
I would have loved to see Tupac become a father…
See, most of our families are fatherless and quite poor so we miss out on meals as well as kisses and hugs.
Photo Courtesy of: http://zunlee.com/
You’ve got the audacity to cut the funding for the facilities that keep us off the streets then ask us why we sell drugs.
Imagine if we put down our dices and guns, picked up our daughters and sons and put a little love right there where the hate is…
Photo Courtesy of: http://zunlee.com/images/sized/assets/blog/DSC_9675-Color_720_1080_c1.jpg
Imagine if these little inner-city kids had the same type of schools that these rich kids have way out there in the sticks…”
–Black Ice
*
Imagine we lived in a world where there was no suffering, injustice/oppression, “third world” class distinction or any class distinction whatsoever.
This is the world that I want to live in…
Art by BANKSY
Peace & Namaste.
{More posts about poverty/social inequality/injustice, sociology, spoken word poetry, Tupac, Dead Prez, Black Ice and hip hop coming up in the future…}
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For more information…
Dorris Lessing…http://www.dorislessing.org/
Black Ice…https://twitter.com/BLACKICETHEPOET
Tupac…http://www.2pac.com/
The Tupac Shakur foundation…http://www.tasf.org/
Dead Prez…http://deadprezblog.wordpress.com/blog/
“Tupac’s Legend
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an inspiration to millions.
While 2Pac was most famous for his rap career, he was also a gifted actor, poet and thoughtful while outspoken advocate for the poor and the overlooked in America. During his life, he produced an immense amount of artistic work, which included studio albums, major Hollywood feature films, and published works. He was most prolific in the music industry, selling over 75 million albums. 2Pac’s unapologetic lyrics were relevant, important, and reflective of the hard lives led by many. His music earned attention and respect through a poetic style that embraced street vocabulary while being innovative. Today, 2Pac is still considered by many to be one of the biggest influences on modern hip-hop.
2Pac’s career has earned him six Grammy nominations and three MTV Video Music Award nominations. In 1997, Shakur was honored by the American Music Awards as the Favorite Hip Hop Artist.
Born on June 16 1971 in New York City, Shakur’s parents were both members of the Black Panther Party whose militant style and provocative ideologies for civil rights would come to influence 2Pac’s music. At an early age, Tuapc’s love for performance and the arts began to show, as he began acting at age 13 and later enrolled in the Baltimore School of the Arts before dropping out at 17. Shakur broke into the music business with rap group Digital Underground as a back-up dancer and roadie. Eventually Shakur released his first solo album in ’91, 2pacalypse Now. 2Pac’s music career began to grow as his second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z included two top 20 pop chart tracks: I Get Around and Keep Ya Head Up.
Shakur’s legal battles began after he established his rap career. In the early nineties Shakur faced a wrongful death suit which settled out of court, accusations of assaulting police officers where charges were ultimately dropped, and even an incident where Shakur sustained five gunshot wounds from shooter Dexter Isaac. In 1995 2Pac was sentenced one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse. However, not even prison could slow the success of Shakur’s career.
While incarcerated 2Pac’s latest album at the time, Me Against the World, was number one in the pop charts and would later go double platinum. Shakur became the first artist to reach number one in the pop charts while serving a prison sentence. Making the most of his time in jail, 2Pac became a passionate reader. Among his favorites were the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance writer whose works were in part the foundation for western political science. Shakur’s appreciation of his work inspired the nickname: Makaveli.
After serving only eight months of his sentence, 2Pac was out on parole thanks to a 1.4 million dollar bond paid by Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. Now signed with Death Row Records, Shakur went on to create All Eyez on Me, which featured hits How Do You Want It and California Love.
2Pac’s life was cut short in September of 1996 when Shakur became the victim of a drive-by shooting while his car waited on a red light. While Shakur survived the surgery that followed he was pronounced dead almost a week after the attack.
Even today, 2Pac’s influence is wide-spread. From the Library of Congress where his song Dear Mama was added in 2010 to the National Registry, to artists like 11 time Grammy winner Eminem who in an interview with MTV said:
“He made you feel like you knew him. I think that , honestly, Tupac was the greatest songwriter that ever lived. He made it seem so easy. The emotion was there, and feeling, and everything he was trying to describe. You saw a picture that he was trying to paint.”
2Pac leaves a legacy of honesty and passion in his songs. Respected by many, 2Pac has become an inspiration for artists and a standard in rap music.”
-Copied & Pasted from: http://www.2pac.com/legend/
The Tupac Shakur Foundation
“MISSION
Our mission is to provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents. Each and every child desires freedom to creatively express themselves. We provide an environment that encourages freedom of expression, serves as a resource for families, and empowers via education.
ABOUT
The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) is home to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, just outside of Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia. TASF was founded in 1997 originally as the Shakur Family Foundation by Afeni Shakur, mother of multi-talented Tupac Amaru Shakur. Since its inception TASF has offered performing arts camps, essay competitions, youth book clubs, visual arts workshops, community development projects, and scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate degrees.
On June 11, 2005 the TASF opened the Center! The Center is dedicated to providing youth and the community with educational programs in the arts. It is a fact that early arts education improves school grades, as well as offers invaluable life lessons while building self-esteem and confidence. For nearly 15 years, the Foundation’s programs have served youth of all social and economic backgrounds, giving countless young people the courage to get off the streets and learn vital skills that have the potential to positively impact their communities. The Center is open to the public and hosts several noteworthy events throughout the year.
MORE ABOUT TUPAC
Tupac Amaru Shakur dealt with great obstacles such as homelessness, hunger, and pain, amongst other situations during his youth. Performing arts provided the hope that would seed the expression that would one day influence generations worldwide.
Tupac accomplished a lot before his murder at the age of 25. At an early age, he wrote and organized family productions, casting himself as the lead and his older cousins in supporting roles. Tupac formally trained at the 127th Street Ensemble and Baltimore School for the Arts. At the age of twelve, he experienced his first formal stage role as the character “Travis” in the stage play ‘Raisin In the Sun’ at the prestigious Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
Tupac was eventually cast in several feature films and recorded several chart topping albums. In fact, he released the first ever double hip-hop CD. Today, years after his physical departure, he is the second highest selling Hip-Hop artist of all time. His gift- his words and creative talent- continues to inspire others around the world!“
-Copied & Pasted from: http://www.tasf.org/the-foundation/about-tasf/
Tupac Sends You Peace…
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