Free Your Mind June 12, 2009

What can a person do with a change in perspective? Almost anything.

Everyone has seen lots of optical illusions and pictures drawn to make you see something in a different way. The drawing of the old lady and the girl, look at the picture in one way, you’ll see the girl, another way you’ll see the old lady. One man’s maroon is another man’s burgundy.

The ways our brains work, our histories, and our own personalities shape our perspectives. Not just our perspectives of how we see pictures, but how we perceive everything. Everything is passed through our filter of this perspective and subtly altered by it.

Our perspective affects us in ways we really rarely notice. How we see ourselves and how we see ourselves in association to our world allows us to either fail or achieve. We all know people who believe certain things about themselves, their reality. Since they believe these things, these things become their reality.

For example:
The depressed person who feels it’s their lot in life to be sad. Everything makes them sad, they refuse to see anything differently. They will never truly be happy until they change their belief that they are destined to be sad.

Those who think everyone hates them will continue to angrily push everyone away until “everyone hates them”.

Those who believe they will succeed always do.

We all create our own reality inside our heads. What we believe will happen, will eventually happen. We must all be sure we believe in the right things. Believe you will succeed and you will. Believe you are happy, and you will be. Believe you are free, and you are.

Stop waiting for the government to give you “freedom in our lifetime.” It’s not going to happen. Governments do not “give freedom” it is not in their nature. Their nature is to take freedom until people refuse to give it to them anymore.

I’m not advocating alternate realities, just a change in perspective. Refuse to see yourself as a slave, as a number, as governmental property, or as a criminal. They want you to see yourself as such. Once you see yourself as free, entire new vistas open for you. If you believe you are free, no one can take that from you. You control your freedom, no one else. It is yours to keep or give away as you chose.

If you cannot see yourself as free, then you never can be free. Freedom is a state of mind, unlike liberty which is a state of being. Only when we perceive ourselves as free can we truly can be free.

Help Yogi! May 19, 2009

I’ve been having a problem lately with a concept spoken of by many, but unless I fail to grasp what appears to be a simple concept, actually understood by few – Balance.

Now, the idea of “achieving balance” in life has become fashionable as of late, and as a general plan, it seems good to me. It seems to be more an “Eastern” concept than a “Western” concept; in that Buddhism discusses it, whereas Christianity, Judaism and Islam traditionally do not. Huge gaping tracts of generalism here I know, but bear with me a bit.

The Western world does not seem to embrace the idea of balance. There’s a lot of talk, but there seems to be a problem with comprehension. The generally Judeo-Christian worldview is that of the two dichotomies present, one is generally a sin; humility and pride, industry and sloth, chastity and lust, good and evil. One half of everything must be rooted out and destroyed. Islam follows this general belief pattern. Now, I personally don’t see anything wrong with a little sloth as long as it’s balanced with a little industrious work, but I’ve always been a bad Christian, sometimes I’m even proud of that.

I think this Western worldview is best expressed by using an example most people know, Star Wars. Here we have a prophecy spoken of by the Jedi stating that “One will come who will bring balance to the force”. In the movie we have the Jedi (“good”) and the Sith (“evil”); both halves are represented. My problem here is that unless I missed something, the idea of “balance” is the eradication of the Sith. We do not have representatives of “good” and “evil” sitting down for coffee discussing philosophy; we have “good” wins, “bad” guys dead.

Buddhism embraces balance more. Life on Earth is imperfect and thus divided, the dichotomies present here, but not present in God as the perfect undivided being. Some Christians are beginning to discuss this possibility in their God as well, but there’s a hitch.

We have a Universal Being who is both halves of all dichotomies, right? Male and female, satisfied and envious, light and dark, good and evil. Here’s the hitch, in Christianity God cannot be evil, Satan is evil, God is good. God and Satan could represent both halves of the dichotomy, but Church dogma and the Bible state that God will eventually win (and Satan is not a deity), so no evil, no balance. So in the search for true balance, we’re back to Buddhism.

In Buddhist theory, if I understand correctly, God transcends the dichotomies, neither “male” or “female”, “good” nor “evil”, but something beyond the concept of either. There being no dichotomies for a Universal Being.

Now, we have arrived at my problem:
• God is the perfect balance of good and evil, so much so that God transcends both concepts.

• You need to be a really good person to be in God’s presence, or go to heaven, nirvana, or however you wish to express it.

• Only really good people being in heaven or nirvana would introduce a dichotomy. How is this imbalance resolved?

Here are the options I’ve come up with:
1. God could become evil, but God cannot become evil; the imbalance between good and evil may be resolved, but the concept of the perfectly balanced transcendent being would be negated (unless God absorbed the good souls to become perfectly balanced again – a compelling but disturbing thought).

2. Could there be another set of lives after these where the really good people from our existence have coffee and discuss philosophy with really evil people from another existence? Thus once again balancing the dichotomies. (An intriguing and frankly fascinating idea.)

3. Perhaps if a person is good enough to go to heaven or nirvana they are no longer just really good people but indeed are perfect, identical to God and the question then becomes moot. (Probably the “right” answer, but I feel compelled to point out this does not solve the dichotomy.)

4. Everyone goes to heaven/nirvana regardless, also making the question moot (and a lot of other questions moot as well).

5. Or are “good” and “evil” only human constructs designed only to describe and categorize human behaviors for rewards or condemnations, and as such would have no bearing at all on the concept of deity? (Honestly, a boring thought.)

6. There is no heaven/nirvana, there is something else (making pretty much everything moot).

Any additional thoughts?

Star Trek – My Two Cents May 9, 2009

OK, it’s cheesy, but I used to be a fan of Star Trek, until the last couple of movies. When I couldn’t get past the politics of the script writers, and the action sucked, I stopped watching. Most of the NG stuff was like that. The last movie bugged me when I watched it, and when LP watched it a few days ago on DVD I almost threw-up in my mouth a little. The pro-socialism, look how civilized and cultured we are because of it, prime directive bullshit was too much.

So, I was understandably nervous going to see the new one, which I have to say…………………….totally rocked!! I even forgot that the beginning made me sniffly (which if you know me – I don’t like sniffly unless the rest of the movie is awesome). No politics, no babbling about how great communism is; just action, humor, and a great movie. Bad guys were even shot without the stun on!

Definately not your parents Star Trek, thankfully.

Wierdness May 8, 2009

Do you ever have this odd, unexplained urge to do something neurotically for a time and then quit. I do this sometimes with movies (I’m a very visual person). I get this weird compulsion to watch a movie over and over and over for a while, then it goes away. I did this with Serenity a while back, until no one would watch it with me. I’m doing it again, this time with Elektra.

I’ve decided that for some reason the subconscious gets a wedgie over something in the movie and then I have to watch it until it gets whatever it wants, or I get so sick of it I can’t force myself to do it any more. Last time everyone else got sick of it, this time I’m watching the movie on my computer and not driving everyone bat-shit.

So I think I may be able to claim I can kill someone with my brain.

Declaration of Separation April 12, 2009

I’d like to thank Sunni for the link to this wonderful site. I encourage everyone to go check it out.

Getting Back Up and the Horse Metaphor March 30, 2009

I began this entry with the intent of discussing letting things go. As I worked on my thoughts though, I realized I really wanted to talk about getting up. We all have difficult situations we must live through, but we must come out alive and kicking on the other side, or we did not truly survive. Without the ability to get up and move on we stagnate where we lay, never growing beyond that point.

From the outside many of us can tell exactly where someone else stopped and failed to get up, and grow beyond; the man who hates women after a messy divorce, the woman who still behaves like a teenager, the old man perpetually chasing high school girls. We can see through them, but can rarely see into the dead zones inside ourselves.

While I’m not a shrink, I think the main cause of stagnation is fear. Mainly the fear to get your ass back up on that horse again, because it might buck you right back off. Somewhere along the way, everyone gets bucked off of some horse they are afraid to get back up on. We don’t know we’re afraid, we just know the entire experience sucked and we just want to forget about it, when in reality we need to give it a good assessing look, figure out what went wrong, and get back up. If we fail to get back up, we just relive the humiliation over and over in our minds, never moving beyond it. We daily relive the pain, rather like picking at a scab, never healing. As Frank Herbert wrote, “fear is the mind killer”.

Everyone has stagnation points, I’m sure there are plenty of rabbit corpses lying around horse corrals in my head. I try to deal with my points as I find them, but I wonder which points I haven’t yet found, some trap lurking around the corner of my mind. My current pressing issue is my reaction to the actions, words, or worse imagined words or actions of others. I’ve been this way my entire life, I have tracked down the source, but still struggle with the results.

So, I’ve been making a practice lately of trying not to care so much about other’s opinions of me (here’s where the letting go came from). To say what I want to say, or to do what I want to do. The thoughts of others have no mass and have no power to hurt me, only I can cripple myself. This is a horse I have to get up and look in the eye daily, I am successful at times, other times, not so much. Eventually, I’ll stay on the damn horse. Change is good.

In Defense of Pop Culture March 21, 2009

Yesterday I was perusing the grocery fliers in my quest for cheap food when I ran across a tiny ad for the movie Twilight. Next to the picture of the cover was a quote I would assume was being used as a plug, which said, “A full-blown pop culture phenomenon.” I’m not sure how anyone thought this review quote could possibly encourage the purchase of this movie, but it did get me to thinking.

I will admit to an aversion to the words “pop culture.” It is silly, but wearing, watching, or reading anything labeled as such makes me feel as though I’d been pimped out to hang on the arm of a smarmy politician for the evening. However, I think I’m being overly sensitive.

But is there more to pop culture than just an inane giggle or gratuitous violence? Frequently, yes. BFF recommended a viewing of the movie Legally Blonde. Initially I was concerned she had hit her head, but I went ahead and purchased the movie to watch. It was as promised, entertaining. It also, as promised, showed all the weird behaviors women have collected over time; marriage being the end all be all of our existence, pretty girls are not to be taken seriously, etc. It also show cased many other shallow points in the relationships between people. All in all, a rather pointed look at society in movie labeled as popular culture and dismissed as pointless.

Now, this leads to my next question…..What if something initially read and loved only by a small group of people suddenly became popular? Now this is not unreasonable, keep in mind most people hadn’t heard of Harry Potter until book three or four. The recent sudden rise in the popularity of Atlas Shrugged could be an excellent case study here. The book much of America dreaded the possibility of reading in high school, showcasing the evils of socialism and the benefits of capitalism, has a small but growing following of devoted fans. Will the significance of this book lessen just because more copies are sold? If Atlas Shrugged became popular, would John Galt’s message become silly and pointless?

Just as the much maligned Wal-Mart was once a small store struggling to make ends meet in Podunk, Arkansas, many things have become more popular with time. Once something becomes popular, many feel the need to destroy (or at least insult) it. It is a fascinating trend and one that seems to rear its ugly head in all aspects of society. People seem to either idolize or hate what is popular. (How much of this is baggage from high school?)

I think it’s unfortunate, the distain generally given to anything popular, or anything enjoyed by the masses. Now, I’m not saying that independent business or thought is wrong, or that the masses are always right. If there is nothing inherently wrong with popular culture, why do so many make such an issue over it. If you prefer Alexandre Dumas to Tom Clancy there’s nothing wrong with you, but I also think if you prefer Stephanie Mayer to Plato, there’s nothing wrong with you either.

A Brief Book Comment March 19, 2009

The latest book I read, I totally loved, so I thought I’d recommend it to anyone who reads this blog.  I just finished How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill, and it was easily one of the best history books I’ve read. It adds a little to the joke,”The Irish would have ruled the world if it wasn’t for the whiskey”.  Being of Irish background and having little to point to in regards to ancestral pride, may have helped in the enjoyment of this book.

For a very brief 350 years after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the vikings found them, the Irish were the only literate group in Europe, who also happened to have almost all of the books in Europe.  The books were imported with the monks after St. Patrick, and huge libraries were kept on the island as the rest of Europe self-destructed in war.  So basically, many of the ancient Greek and Roman texts we currently have may not have survived if copies hadn’t been saved in Irish monasteries.  There was also a very interesting discussion about the Irish version of Catholicism, some of which was spread around the peasant population of Europe.

I also found out many of the values passed down to me from my family are actually values that the Irish have appreciated for a VERY long time, some of them for more than 1500 years.

So, all in all a very interesing, well researched book, obviously written by someone who enjoyed the topic.

Stolen Money March 9, 2009

This entry is actually in response a post of Kel’s over at GYHD about stolen money.  He was discussing how at work he refuses to work on government vehicles (thus not being paid) to avoid receiving stolen money.  Oddly enough, earlier today I had divided a tip I received between the food bank bucket and my cook to avoid taking the money.   The money had come from a consultant from a group that is bilking the town of Pburg for a ton of money (amounts which make me suspicious actually), it made me feel dirty to even touch it.

This has led to a mulling over the afternoon (especially after hearing Kels’ post) about the advisability of taking tips that come from stolen money.  This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about this.  To me it’s less straight forward than it sounds.  I generally let the other waitresses take the cops and politicians who come in since I don’t want to wait on the anyway.  The same with people that I know work for different government groups like the school district, courthouse, or the county truck yard.  I put the sheriff’s tip in the food bank bucket last time.

If I do wait on some people (like the wife of a town councilman) I think about this, but I have some problems.

1.  Most “politicians” in Pburg have another job, since political positions here are generally very poorly paid, and most will not support a person.  So, generally, their money doesn’t come from stolen money, however they have no qualms about taking any.

2.  Montana receives more money than it pays out in taxes, thus there is a crap load of money going all over the place that I don’t know about, though I would guess that at least 1/3 of my tips may come from “stolen money” either through social security, disability, welfare, or other less obvious paths.  I really don’t know where a lot of the money comes from or goes to.

3.  Government of various types and flavors is the largest employer here, I don’t even have a clue about many people, if they are employed by the government or not.

The issue has become a bit of a concern to me as I strive to not receive stolen money, I know I do, but usually I cannot figure it out.  Some people might say that since I cannot guarantee my income isn’t stolen I should not take any, or that I’m rather apathetic and don’t care since I’m not neurotically tracking this down.  It’s a conundrum for me, and not one I think is easily solved, especially since my waitress salary is not much to support a family of four, and I cannot randomly dump all of my tip money.

I’m sure others have dealt with this issue, with varying success, and varying results.  So I’m sure the fact that I’m really not sure what the answer is, except that I’m trying to get to a situation where I know where the money is coming from, hopefully the guessing will be gone then.

I’m just trying to find a place where I feel comfortable with my decision.

I’ve Been Busy February 22, 2009

I want to appologize to my loyal five readers, I’ve been busy working on a few projects lately, and spare time is…….well…………spare.

I decided a few months ago that if I wait for the “best time” to do what I want to do, I may never get around to it.  So I threw a bit of caution to the wind and plunged in head first.  I may have bit off more than I can chew, but at least I’m not bored.  Thankfully, a chunk of this mess currently has no deadline other than what I decide, so I’m not dying but actually having fun.

I promise I’ll get a real post up soon.