titles and division

I'm not sure when the words "democrat" and "republican" where chiseled into use for describing political parties but in my personal opinion they somewhat defeat the purpose of democracy. Many and most are so focused on fitting into a party, they seldom develop personal views. Picking one side is like wanting to fit into a group where what you believe is already decided. Where's the democracy in that?! I don't think I've ever met a Republican who's pro-choice. That's a real problem and indicative of the fact that many people's decisions are based on group thinking. When what you believe can be guessed, based on your region and your demographic, what's the point of even voting. We might as well decide from the historical data of past elections. 

These titles only create division...each side feeling superior or more right than the other. Imagine if we chose leaders based on issues, without needing titles. This country would be far more progressive. Besides,  the politicians who are either democrat or republican aren't living in ways similar to the people they wish to represent. We're basically choosing people to represent us and they have no idea how we truly live. These politicians probably have health care, their children more than likely go to good schools, and they can afford to eat decent food. These three things alone separate them from the general public...the people they represent. With this kind of system, we'll always have a public who needs something we're far from getting. 

thick and tricky

of all the unknown places in the universe, i sometimes wonder why some souls opt to experience life on planet Earth. of course, I'm not fully aware (at this time) of any other experience but I'm assuming there's more "out there". okay, I'm hoping there's more "out there".

of all the "out there" things to discuss, I'm fascinated with an internal topic....emotions. my definition of emotion is the way you allow yourself to feel after interpreting a thought.

emotions are the realest, imaginary thing I can think of. some of us are ruled by them because we don't fully understand how they work or how we can control them. some of us are repeating interpretations and reactions from things that happened to us when we were children. somehow these interpretations become a truth or belief that we continue to live and express in our adult lives...

last night after dinner, a pretty substantial dinner, i wanted more food. i wasn't hungry...but some underlying need that had nothing to do with hunger was unfulfilled and it made me want to eat more. I was very aware of that and almost started to feel guilty for not addressing the real issue...

at that moment i realized how dense, thick, and sometimes all-encompassing emotions can be. if you never do anything "significant" with your life, simply experiencing the human life form is enough. being human is essentially putting one's energy in an ultra sensitive container called a human body. within that body, energy is able to experience a myriad of physical things like joy, sadness, pain, or even physical pleasure like an orgasm...

emotions are volatile, sensitive, and tricky things. they're so powerful we have to find outlets or ways to balance or express them even if the balancing is temporary. think about this. how much would we drink, eat, fight, shop, or gossip if we properly addressed emotions? many of our actions in life are simply activities that help us avoid what we're feeling or thinking. feeling insecure? go shopping or buy something you don't really need. feeling inadequate? gossip about someone else. bored or uninspired? eat more. thinking too much or want to avoid an issue? watch television. feeling powerless? make someone else feel like crap by being rude. of course not all people who do certain things feel a certain way. sometimes there's absolutely no correlation...but you get my gist.

i wish emotional intelligence was focused on as much as cognitive or intellectual intelligence...especially in school. we'd be better human beings if we knew how do deal with and express the way we feel. what good is "success" if you don't know who to handle stress or you're incapable of feeling gratitude? AND, how can a person truly evolve if they're emotionally stagnant?...

"love is a two-way dream"

sometimes I imagine being married to someone for 50 years and it doesn't seem appealing to me. routines involving other people seem to gradually strip away something i have yet to define. the thought of having assigned sides of the bed make me want to yawn. my last boyfriend always wanted to sleep on the right side of his bed. whenever i claimed his area as mine, he freaked out and easily pushed my body to a designated, assigned plot of the mattress. 

sometimes i wonder about people who stay married for 50 years. society commends those who are disciplined enough to do this. but, sometimes i wonder...are they insane? do they possess some quality that the rest of humanity has yet to acquire? do they have some chemical imbalance that allows them to stay chemically comfortable and cozy with the same person. i know we've all been programmed to crave decades and decades of everlasting love with 1 human being. i just can't imagine it. 

one of my favorite quotes...."love is a two way dream"...

for love to work, you need two people in the same dream at the same time. they both need to believe that the dream is real. if one person wakes up while the other is still asleep....the dream collapses and both are disturbed in someway. one person is usually hurt. as humans, we often enter other dreams with other lovely people leaving behind our past love in a lucid dream they can't seem to escape. they know the love is over and the dream is no longer real....but they'll settle for a daydream conjuring up images from the past. despite love being a two way dream...many of us are afraid to enter new dreams of love. we settle for casual naps and seldom let ourselves rest deeply. 

If I Ruled the World...

I was lying in bed this morning and lovely random thoughts starting floating in my mind. One thought led to another and I had all these ideas in my head about the kind of world I'd love to live in. I started going through an imaginary list of things. I'm not sure how some of these things would be implemented but the sheer idea feels lovely to think. If I ruled the world...

 First, I'd start by feeding people properly...

• Good food would be more accessible and less expensive. 
• Certain additives would be banned, as well as genetically modified foods. Many of the things in the American food supply are so unhealthy, they're banned in Europe. Even worse, many food companies are also chemical companies. The corporate bigwigs would probably NEVER eat the food they push to the general public. They're like drug dealers who supply drugs they'd never ever try. 
• Organic and locally grown foods would be highly encouraged. People would be educated on how to properly feed their children and families.  What's really sad is that most obese people have no real idea as to why they're obese. Of course they know they shouldn't eat certain foods but they're completely uninformed of healthier alternatives. Some people have no idea why little girls are growing breasts at the age of 9. Some aren't even aware that what you put in your body creates a chemical reaction with the potential to alter your mood, mental stability, mental health, and even the ability to reproduce. With that being said, anyone can see that there's the potential to control people with food the same way some governments control the impoverished with debt. 

Next, I'd educate people...

• Basically, education would be free. 
• Students shouldn't have to go into debt just to receive an education of somewhat antiquated knowledge that is sometimes useless by the time they graduate. Later in this post you'll see how I feel about debt and how it controls.  
• Of course people have to want to be informed or educated. I think this desire can be created. The sensationalism used to create hype about pointless things that don't enhance our lives could also be used to create hype about things that do. Instead of hyping celebrities or trends we'd hype education, information, and things that actually improve our standard of living. 
• News and media would expose the truth. Right now, there are about 3 major news conglomerates that control, filter, and censor the news before it reaches us. They basically let us know what they want us to know. Many times it's not the entire truth. A lack of news also allows certain governments to commit atrocities against other nations. They can create news and stories that make us look like saviors or victims when really we're possibly destroying or victimizing. America lives in a blissful bubble of ignorance about other cultures and countries. Many Americans believe we live in the greatest country on Earth. It's a silly opinion because most of us have never even been to another country. And taking a cruise to the Bahamas doesn't count...
• Traveling would be highly encouraged. You learn about life and compassion when you learn about other people and cultures. It's easy to hate or judge someone you don't know...

Money wouldn't matter...

• To rid the world of poverty, I'd probably get rid of the monetary system. Most impoverished countries owe a ridiculous debt to another country. If you really think about it, poverty means someone's life is less important than money. It means they can't afford the resources they need to live. Wanna know why our current system doesn't work?....
  • Poverty can be considered a form of warfare, control, or theft. You can control or keep a country submissive by withholding food and medical care. This is very profitable for wealthy countries who'd like to take advantage of the natural resources of poorer countries. If you keep a man hungry or sick, he or she has little or no time to fight for civil or basic human rights. They also have no time to educate themselves or evolve as people. 
  • The monetary system also breeds and encourages corruption and greed. As long as money exists...people, politicians, votes, laws, and rights can be bought.
  • The current monetary system will ALWAYS leave someone in debt. In order for our monetary system and economy to work, someone usually owes someone else. Banks make money by loaning money to people who don't have money. Sometimes banks loan money they don't even have. The system creates an imaginary supply and charges interest on it. Debtors are basically paying to use something the creditor never really had. 

Healthcare would actually heal and be accessible...

• Pharmaceutical companies would have a complete overhaul. I think the scientists are useful but need redirecting. Instead of creating medicine from chemical compounds that have serious side effects, they'd research botany and use that knowledge to heal people. 
• We'd discover ways of diagnosing imbalances within the body due to a lack of certain vitamins and minerals. It's my belief that many of the foods we eat today are creating the imbalances that allow certain diseases and illnesses to manifest. For example, consuming meat can compromise the pancreas. When the pancreas is weakened, cancer can exist within the body. Not eating meat is one reason a vegetarian is less likely to manifest cancer. 
• Alternative forms of medicine would be available and people would be aware of its existence and availability. Reiki, energy work, distance healing, hypnotherapy, massage, acupuncture, herbs, Chinese medicine, sound healing, chakra balancing, meditation, yoga, homeopathy, and nutritional based therapies would all be forms of legitimate medicine. People would be encouraged to seek healing from these forms of treatment first. Traditional medicine would be an untraditional last resort. 
• "Doctors" would be people who actually love to heal. They'd actually ask people about their personal lives and emotional states when deciding a plan of action for healing. 
  • Many people are sick or ill from emotional issues that cause energy blockages within the body. I know about this first hand. In the same way that too much stress can cause heart problems, another emotional state of being can create an illness. For example, many women with reproductive issues usually have suppressed emotions or creative blocks. Some women who live an affluent lifestyle but don't feel they're getting the love or attention they deserve develop a specific set of illnesses as well. Basically, the propensity to develop an illness isn't totally attributed to genetics and DNA. Some develop illnesses because of the environment in which they were raised or certain cultural beliefs and practices of a particular group of people. 

Religion would not exist ...

• A lack of religion will allow people to truly develop a relationship with the Creator without fear. People will be able to take back their creative power. I don't mean creative in an artistic sense, I mean creative in the sense of building the lives we want to live. This is something I'm still practicing. Imagine if people felt worthy and powerful in divine sense. This planet would be amazing! We wouldn't have to put our faith in a middleman (preacher, pastor, reverend, bishop) to reach God or the source. We wouldn't have to go to church to learn something we already know. We wouldn't have to go to church to be convinced of something that isn't entirely true. In our core, in our hearts, deep in our soul...we can feel when something isn't right. I felt it as a child when adults made up illogical beliefs and concepts. It literally made my stomach hurt. 
• Fear and control would be greatly reduced. Control comes in the from of rules and "commandments" activated by fear. Don't have sex, refrain from drinking certain things, don't do this, and don't do that. Cover your hair with this, pray 5 times a day facing a certain direction, give the church 10% of your income, make the preacher rich, don't forget to go to church, do some hail Mary's, baptize your children so they don't go to hell, and don't forget to cut off the foreskin from your son's penis immediately after he's born! What the hell!? I love sex (orgasms are actually healing), I drink fermented beverages, instead of tithing I donate to a non profit, I don't go to church and I love men with uncut penises! I'm still a lovely person. I love life and this planet. I feel close to a divine source and I don't fear what's to come after my soul leaves this temporary body. It's liberating.
• The number of wars and lives lost due to religion is probably unfathomable. Religious beliefs have young men attaching bombs to their bodies and blowing up buses filled with innocent people. Religious beliefs allowed Southern Christians to justify hanging negroes from trees. Some call it blind faith.  
• Believing we need religion to establish and teach morals greatly undermines our potential and capacity to be decent human beings. We can be respectful, law abiding people without biblical commandments. After all, most atheists aren't murderers while some religious people have taken the lives of many in the name of God.

And last but not least, the Planet would be respected...

• This particular feat isn't last because of its importance. It's last because in order for people to really understand the importance of our survival as a species on this planet, all the aforementioned things need to be a common practice. People need to have access to food, medicine, education, and their own God given power for this planet to survive. It's hard to care about the planet when you're starving, sick, or living a life full of fear and lack. 
• Other forms of life would be respected. Cutting down rainforests simply wouldn't happen. Cutting down huge areas of trees for new shopping malls and parking lots would be carefully considered and scrutinized. But, given how fabulous my world would be, there would be very few shopping malls and parking lots :) After all, the need to constantly consume and purchase things we don't really need is sometimes a symptom of an emotional need or void. 
• Oil production wouldn't be such a production. I believe humans are smart enough to harness and use cleaner sources of energy. Cleaner sources exist but people aren't sure how to capitalize on them. So what happens? We continue to use what isn't really working because someone figured out how to make it profitable. 
• Abundant forms of energy would be utilized. Solar, wind, tidal wave, and geothermal energy are in such abundance its kinda ridiculous that we're not using them on a larger scale. They don't deplete and these resources are so abundant and could create so much supply that one would be led to believe that money would no longer be necessary...
• Imagine a world without currency. People work for money. If you didn't have to work, what could you create? How much time could you spend raising your family? You could travel, learn, and meet difference people from different places. People could gather and discuss ways of advancing life and technology. What kind of art would this world see? Some assume that if people didn't work, they'd sit around and be lazy bums. I disagree. If you consider a world with all the things I just mentioned, I think most people would be enlightened enough to want to contribute to the evolution of this planet in a meaningful way. Doing menial tasks that you don't enjoy just to obtain a made up currency is draining. It depletes a person of vital energy they could be using to create and bring ideas into physical form. How many people are brilliant but lack the resources, tools, or knowledge needed to benefit the world with their ideas or creations? The idea that money creates abundance is one of the biggest illusions of the entire human experience. In fact, I think money has done just the opposite. For most of the population, it creates invisible barriers that allow control, limitations, and slavery without chains.

I know these ideas seems outlandish and ridiculous for some. But, I think most are possible. If we collectively believe in something, it's entirely possible. The human mind is malleable and impressionable. If Hitler can justify and convince millions that a certain race of people shouldn't live, imagine the opposite. People could be convinced of lovely concepts that enhance life. We could change the way we live, think, believe, and grow. 

the cost of comfort

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has gotten a lot of attention, rightfully so. But, there's another spill that's been happening for decades and it seems that few are concerned. "Nigeria has suffered oil spills equivalent to that of the Exon Valdez every year since 1969". 

The Center for Global Development says: In 2006, it was reported that 500 million gallons of oil—a quantity not that different from the new estimates of the Gulf leak –has been spilt in the Delta over the past 50 years. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp estimates that some 650,000 gallons of oil were spilled in 300 separate incidents each year; other reports indicate that Shell (which is now looking to drill in the Arctic) spilled nearly 4.5 million gallons of oil into the Niger Delta in the last year alone.

What's interesting to me is that most news stories about this crisis will use words like "sabotage", "militants'', and "vandals" to describe the people or actions causing the oil spills. All these words remove the blame from oil companies. Major oil companies are essentially exploiting the resources of other countries and they're not sharing the wealth. Despite Nigeria's wealth of oil, many of its citizen are poor and without the resources they need to live. Some even risk their lives for a bucket of oil. In 2006 a pipeline exploded, killing 150 after a leak attracted a huge group of people. 

The oil companies run their pipelines through towns but leave them undeveloped without power, water, schools, or medical clinics. The people become upset and are essentially forced to rebel. One "militant" group in particular is seeking more. Mend, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, is demanding that the oil companies share a greater percentage of its profits with the locals. It's sad and strange that fighting a corporation can be compared to fighting a war. Citizens are forced to gather weapons and devise tactical ways of winning their cause. 

I think some fail to realize that poverty brings out the worst in many. If you deprive a man of food or a proper way to care for his family, expect the unexpected. How do companies expect people to behave in a civil manner when they have no food or clean water?! How can you expect people to not "sabotage" your pipelines when you have a flow of money running through a poverty stricken village?! With all the oil spilled and lost, it seems it would be smarter for the oil companies to simply do the right thing. 

(Image by Jane Hahn for the New York Times) 

America and other wealthy countries do our dirty work elsewhere and import. We import from countries that arent necessarily concerned with human rights or environmental protection. We simply line up at the pump and complain when the price of petro rises above a certain point. People are dying and starving because of oil production. Some are also getting ridiculously wealthy while blantantly ignoring the poverty their wealth creates. 

It all seems so barbaric to me... the greed of oil companies. It's ironic that some of the world's most wealthy people and corporations behave like scavengers. They're basically stealing from the Earth without the gratitude or decency to care for the people whose land provide their wealth. How do corporations get away with such huge atrocities? In essence, much of America's lifestyle and comfort are gained by exploiting other countries. We live in our lovely bubbles of ignorant bliss and cheap petro while other people are literally dying in the effort to give us a higher standard of living. 

An infinite catch 22...

Lately, one question has been on my mind. What the hell are we? Physics says we are energy and that energy can't be created or destroyed. If something isnt created or destroyed...it just "is", forever. The idea of being forever sounds exhausting but the idea of being nothing is frightening. I was talking to my friend Ajua, and we laughed at the fact that this could all be a brilliant illusion made up by our minds. 

Im not sure when I started to believe in reincarnation, but it makes sense to me. I grew up Christian and was told that this life was the only you we're given and when you die you either go to heaven or hell. Now, whether we call it reincarnation or some kind of "knowing" of another life experience...I'm not sure which is more accurate. 

Most people believe that souls are eternal. Eternity is a looooooong time. Imagine the idea of only getting to live in one body for about 70 years and the rest of your eternity is based upon what you did for those 70 years. What could you know from that one experience? I recently read a passage in a book that said something like, Living one life and thinking you know everything there is to know about life is like eating at one restaurant all your life and believing you know everything there is to know about food. 

One of my favorite's is the story of Edgar Cayce. He was a seriously disciplined Christian who didn't believe in reincarnation. Cayce suffered from severe laryngitis and somehow described a cure for his own condition while being hypnotized. Later, Cayce channeled information to others who needed advice, many were about healing one's physical ailments. Many of his treatments addressed past life issues that somehow manifested in a person's current life. Despite his devout beliefs in Christianity, he couldn't deny the concept of reincarnation because he used past life regression to heal.

In addition to that, there are children who remember past lives. Some even remember how they died in a previous life. I've even read about people being hypnotized and fluently speaking a language they spoke in a past life. What's funny is that sometimes I speak Spanish in my dreams. It feels right and I know Im speaking it fluently. I wonder how many languages we'd be able to speak if we could tap into our subconscious mind? 

Does it help, not being able to readily access information from a past life experience? How many of us would have children if we remembered it from a past life. How many of us would get married if we could remember it from a past experience. Could we even handle so much information? It's a catch 22...an infinite catch 22. 

water, food, and toilets...

Yesterday I watched a show about a teacher who almost lost his job because he believed he saw a UFO. The university thought he was crazy and unfit to teach. Shortly after that, I watched a documentary about the world's toilet crisis. Apparently, 2.6 billion people on this planet don't have toilets. They basically walk out into an open field and defecate. 1000 children die each day from illnesses related to the water they drink. They're essentially drinking water contaminated with fecal matter. So what do UFO's and feces have in common? Well, nothing...but I'll make my point known in just a minute.

There are those who think this planet is the only source of intelligent life in the entire Universe. There's an estimated 50 thousand million galaxies in the Universe and we live in 1. How often do you see the word thousand precede million? That's A LOT. Im hoping there's life of some form in one of those galaxies. I think some people refuse to believe it because it shakes the foundation of their religious beliefs. And for some, if the Bible doesn't mention it, it simply isn't true or does not exist.

When I discuss this planet, I find myself having to defend the fact that Im not a pessimist. Honestly, there are times when I think humanity is hopeless. It was weird even typing that. Despite that, I find so much beauty and hope in my daily life that I appreciate so many simple things. I appreciate being able to eat and have water appear instantly when I twist a little handle. And after I eat and drink, Im able to retreat to a private place and my waste ''vanishes'' when I flush.

So, here's my point. To those who think we humans are the only intelligent form of life in the entire universe, I pray we are not. Let's say there are 6.8 billion people living on this planet. Over a third of those 6.8 billion are pooping in fields or rivers because they dont have simple necessities like toilets. There is literally a river in India bubbling with methane gas because so many people poop in it. That's not very intelligent. This country is plagued with an epidemic of obesity. Yes, some people consume so many calories and have access to so much food that they become ill. On the other hand, there are places in the world where people die from the very opposite. There are animals in this country raised specifically for slaughter and consumption and many of them eat better than some humans living in other countries. That's not very intelligent. Okay, Im not saying humans are stupid. I am saying we have yet to figure out a way to take care of everyone living on this planet. When someone dies prematurely due to something preventable, humanity suffers. We suffer because that person is no longer able to contribute to the progress and growth of this planet. How many potentially brilliant thinkers, poets, philosophers, scientists, healers, or writers died in a poverty stricken country?

Here's where my optimism chimes in. I think it's possible for everyone on this planet to have everything they need. If greed and debt were removed, I think this planet would be amazing. We'll be truly intelligent when we can harness and use the abundant energy on this planet without harming it. We'll be intelligent when we can forgive debts and spread resources. We'll be intelligent when everyone can do simple things like eat and use a toilet. Some think that everyone having all the things they need to live is impossible. I think it's very possible and we're very capable.  I wish something would catapult our thinking on a mass scale.  Questions are a great first step. When things are questioned, veils are dropped and we flirt with possibilities. Without questions and possibilities, we're simply field-squatting poopers claiming to be the only intelligent life in the entire universe. That sounded ridiculous, huh?

Millins

Junk Science

While I was in NY a few weeks ago, I snapped some photographs for the duo Junk Science. They recently released a new album, A Miraculous Kind of Machine and started their own label... Modern Shark. Check out one of my favorite songs from their latest album...

fragile receptacles

Watching or reading the news always seems to devastate me in some way. Besides that, most news outlets in the US seriously filter what's reported.  I don't know if the news I'm getting is entirely true or some watered down story. 

When I was a child, the news literally made me sick. My stomach would be in knots and I had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I remember watching the news during Desert Storm. I didnt understand why we wanted to kill each other and certainly didn't understand the point of war. My mind went even further and the thought of a nuclear war sent me to bed with a stomach ache. But, not before asking God that we didn't blow up the planet. Yes, my pre-adolescent mind went that far. I eventually realized I needed to simply leave the room when the news came on. 

As an adult, I've avoided the news and television for the most part. My main reason being the fact that it's so saturated with pessimism, fear, and half truths. I recently remembered my devastation from it as a child and put the two together. Now I'm wondering.... Do people ever really change in a significant way?  It seems the things and people we experienced as children stay with us as long as we live. Certain traumas and experiences live in our cells waiting for a moment to be expressed. Particular experiences and events cause a certain physical reaction from my body. Insecurities I had as a child are still with me as an adult. I've noticed that in others as well. Of course as an adult, I tell myself I have more control over things but am I digging deep enough for change to be significant? I tell myself I'm not bothered. But, at times I don't think I've mastered detachment, I've only become numb. For me, being numb is almost like denial in an emotional sense. You still feel it on some level but at the surface you ignore just enough to be functional. 

How much of who we are as adults stem from things we experienced as children? Realizing this was a bit heavy for me. I usually wonder about why I do the things I do and why I think the way I think. Sometimes, even when I know why, I still find it difficult to not do certain things.

Children are so fragile and impressionable. They're basically little receptacles, collecting experiences and behaviors that they'll later express as adults. How does one truly change the impact of previously experienced events so as to live without hindrance or programming?  

In the past, I've wished for a clean slate. Maybe that's the problem...so much attachment to the past which some say isnt even real. Maybe we're holding on to an illusion and allowing it to alter the present....

lovely probes.

...music is a lovely probe that reaches hidden corners and crevices of your mind. it finds latent emotions that seem to awaken then burst when confronted with the composition of melody and instruments.  

Perfect house.

To claim there isn't a Creator is like finding a perfectly constructed house in a remote land and assume that it must have built itself all because no one was around to proclaim they built it...

tremors and chills...

 A magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile?! I feel compassion for the people and animals displaced, injured, or killed by natural disasters. I also feel deep compassion for planet Earth. We humans haven't been very kind and we continue to disregard huge warnings.  At a ridiculous rate, we are creating unprecedented damage...killing trees, over-using fossil fuels, disrespecting other forms of life, and creating garbage that will remain on this planet long after we're gone. Earth is bound to react with climate changes and natural disasters. 

I wish more people would think of this planet as an actual living creation instead of thinking it's just a place where we happen to live...

It allows, nourishes, sustains, and creates life. Lately, we've been reminded of it's ability to do the opposite. 

(more photos...)