Travel

We really ought to travel as often as possible... Not to neglect responsibilities of course, but to explore the heart's desires and touch the varying surfaces of the earth. When things are stagnant where I am, I take an adventure. I don't know if this looks flighty or irresponsible.. but to me it is necessary. Right now I have jobs that let me do this. Right now is my time for exploratory growth. So while I can pick up and travel and explore new people in different niches I will. And when it is my time to return home I will. I always come back home. For me, home is where I grew up, but it is deep within myself most prominently... it can be on top of a mountain, even though I wasn't born on top of a mountain. It's where I can come back to my innermost and truest nature and feel most comfortable. Sometimes I need to travel to come back home... And when I return I bring with me treasures from my adventure. I bring smiles from people, knowledge from other facets of life, wisdom from having gone a little further outside myself.

Tolerance

Sunday, February 03, 2008

I think now more than ever it is important for us to build universal tolerance. Call me naive, but I believe that there is potential for the state of the world to move in positive direction, for people of different creeds to live in harmony and for there to be communication between warring countries, instead of fighting. I think that there could be a time and place for the end of genocide, but it all begins with tolerance of one another, and respect for our fellow man, and value of another's life, and the knowledge that one person is just as important as another. Barack Obama knows this and talks about the importance of empathy, and that is one of the reasons I back him. I actually consider myself fairly moderate when it comes to issues of politics because I believe that each issue is its own, and I try to focus on the person, more than the party. And while I have my own opinions, I respect another's and another's right to have them. Tolerance.

For any positive change in the world, it is crucial to be tolerant of what another person holds true and dear to his/ or her own heart, provided that it does not harm others. I believe that each person's life is so incredibly valuable. And while I believe in selfishness in the Ayn Rand sense and that my worth is great, I also believe that other people's lives are as great... and that in order for us to be living for ourselves in harmony eventally, we have to be selfless intitally... if we want to see any change. How can people be true to themselves if others or outside factors inhibit them from doing so? Maybe I have to sacrifice a bit of myself now in order to allow others to not have to self-sacrifice in the future. Self sacrifice may be necessary to change the state of the world. Actually, it's not self sacrifice at all, if making a positive change is something that gives one's life meaning. I guess it's more of comfort that I speak of here. If we do not sacrifice a bit of our comfort to help others, challenge totalitarian dogmas, or listen to a friend's point of view then who is going to fix things? Sometimes we need to sacrifice our comfort of not wanting to listen... and just listen.

I saw the movie Rambo the other day... The film portrays a situation of genocide and the imagery was very effective in moving me and jarring me into wanting to do something. Mr. Stallone, as Rambo, says that he's gotten so used to killing that "killing's as easy as breathing." It scares me that we live in a world where killing can be as easy as breathing. I have to congratulate Mr. Stallone on his use of diction, because "killing" is actually the antithesis of "breathing," in the sense that 'to kill' is to literally take one's breath away. The thing about politics though... the thing that makes it so heated, is that it's hard to know where to draw the line. Because I believe that interference is necessary in order to stop distopias from forming, but I do not believe in the idea of war. Is there a way to stop killing without killing? I must admit, I don't know... but, perhaps as an idealist, I want there to be. If there is, I do have a gut feeling that it all begins with tolerance of one another. I want people to be tolerant of one another, and I don't know how to properly go about this change but perhaps it starts with children. Or, it really starts with us.

Generation Y- our generation- is statistically the most jaded generation in history. We have the highest records of drug abuse, underage drinking, suicide, depression, promiscuity and sense of hopelessness than any other in recorded history. It also happens that our generation is the first to have the internet, and therefore access to the world, at our fingertips. And I think that what we see scares us. Thus, if you look at our patterns we elect to numb ourselves from the reality of what is happening around us by simply tuning out and numbing ourselves with drugs, alcohol and bad reality television. For if we don't do all of these things, then we have to confront the truths of reality for which we are responsible. Reality is almost to large for us to deal with right now, because if we look it in the eye we know that we have to do something, and doing something is bold and it is risky and it is scary. So let's start small...

Ghandi says, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Build tolerance around you. If you don't believe in ghosts, listen to your friend who does. If you believe in abortion, but your enemy does not, do not try to force them to understand where you're coming from because they won't- but do ask them nicely to listen, and agree to disagree. That's kind of what I'm saying here-- let's agree to disagree. If we agree to disagree then we can at least disagree in peace. Because no one is ever going to agree on everything. It's the nature of being human, and it's one of the wonderful things about us. Most people whom we love are actually quite different from ourselves, and yet we respect and value them anyway-- likely because of those uniquenesses and differences.

I know that two of the biggest conflicts of war in the world (and just plain conflict in general), are fights for natural resources and international religious incongruity. As animals who have built-in instincts for survival we may never stop fighting for natural resources (though i do believe our universe is vast, abundant and giving and if we stopped competing for resources we might find that there is actually enough to go around). Who knows. But fighting over religion is stupid, and horrifying. I have a hard time believing that any God would create something from a place of hate, and therefore no God would validate killing in the name of religion. Creation itself is an act of love. And psychologists say the opposite of love is fear. The only reason people fight over religion is fear. Fear of death. Fear of the unknown of what happens when we die. Because everyone believes something different. Well, killing people isn't going to make it easier. It's going to make bad energy dissipate. My god, whatever it is, is Good Energy. Iris Murdoch writes that God and Good are in fact interchangeable... that an act of prayer to one's god can be likened to sending a positive energy outside of one's self to an object of attention....

I don't know how to change the world... I don't want to change people. I just want people to be able to live their lives for themselves, in the ways they want to. Because we don't know what happens to us, but we know that we are here now. So let your neighbor do his thing, let me do mine... I'll let you do yours and I'll try not to make you try a bite of my sweet potatoes if you don't like sweet potatoes. That's what I mean, though-- you have to start that small. If someone doesn't want to see a movie, don't make them. If you like Oprah and they don't, it's okay. I like Oprah. It's enough if you like something. We have to be okay with liking different things. (Think about it- if we all liked the same person, then everyone's heart would be broken! We should be grateful for differences, and not judge and be tolerant!)

P.S.... You can completely disagree with this blog and I will listen to what you have to say. And I am open, and maybe I may like what you have to say and change my mind about something, as we continue to learn and grow from one another. And maybe I'll agree to disagree...

Gratitude and Turkeys

Turkey Time, 2007

...Tis important to be selfish in going after what one wants and living for one's self, but it is equally as important to be thankful for what one has and to always give back... When you give to the universe the universe gives to you...

here are some quotes that speak the importance of gratitude as i see it...


"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."-- Albert Schweitzer

"Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality."-- Alfred Painter

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."-- Buddha

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."-- Cicero

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."-- H. U. Westermayer

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."-- John F. Kennedy

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you."-- John E. Southard

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."-- Leroy Paige

"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary."-- Margaret Cousins

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice."-- Meister Eckhart

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."-- Melodie Beattie

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated."-- William James

happy thanksgiving!... i give this to you, my beloved friends and family, whom i am forever grateful for. lots of love, hugs and kisses!

The Role of the Artist

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A true artist must continue to create everyday. If an artist is not creating, he is not doing his job and he is not following his purpose. The true creator has a desire to construct, to make something from nothing, to birth something with his hands, body, mind, voice or instrument. The need to create is derived from an instinct. There is something within that must get out... usually in order to communicate the universal subconscious messages of humankind. To create is to give; to destroy is to take. The artist ought to be giving every day-- not taking.

A friend once said to me, "Creativity, as you probably know, is never correct or incorrect. Creativity is the start of something new, whether accepted or not." An artist must take risks. There is a certain level of vulnerability that is always at stake when one creates, as one is giving part of one's self to another. It is key that the artist always be aware of his own desire and need to communicate, regardless of the response to it. Art is never right or wrong... Life is rarely black and white, but gray. The gray areas are where the risks are... where the apprehension is... It can be unsettling and uncomfortable. But when an artist relishes in the gray area for a bit, he finds that breakthroughs happen. But art istelf ought not to be gray... in life the uncertainty of gray is necessary and in the artist's journey it is necessary, but in art itself, gray is too safe... It is crucial in art to be violent-- in the sense that you have a strong gut feeling and you act on it with strong artisitic choices. Art ought to cause a violent emotional reaction. Art should make someone laugh or cry or scream or puke. An artist should never be concerned with a repulsive reaction to his art-- for a repulsive reaction is a very strong reaction. And whether or not the artist realizes it, a strong reaction-- whether negative or positive-- means that the viewer was deeply effected by the art. Great art leaves the viewer in a different state than he or she was in before taking in the art.... and because art is communication, something was therefore successfully communicated regarding the human condition... Even if communicated in a love or distaste for the most minute detail.

The artist has this need to communicate. And whatever the medium of communication, the artist must continue to communicate through his way. Art is comprised of form and content. Sometimes the form may move someone, but the content may not leave an impression. Or vice versa. There is no right or wrong... there is simply differing experiences. In "The Fountainhead," Howard Roark exemplifies the type of artist of which I speak. He has an innate need to make buildings with his hands, to bring them up out of the earth and to do it with integrity. He would rather work his own way, in a coal mine-- where he is working with raw materials, and sweating real sweat and bleeding from his hands, than take a short cut and create a building to gain societal approval. The true artist, like Howard Roark, creates to create and knows that as long as he is doing this, he is fulfilling his role. Even if he works on a building that he does not like, but gets the opportunity to build it from his heart, from raw materials, his own way... he is filling his role. An actor merely needs a space-- and any simple source of light. A writer need only a pen and a scrap of paper, a musician-- need only the instrument... Here, no fancy scenery, no elaborate computer, no chords that plug into amps... are necessary. An artist need only the raw materials and to keep creating, to keep the wheels turning, to have fun, to thrive on it, to keep going despite obstacles or any Peter Keatings they might run into along the way... If the artist pays attention to what he needs to be doing, he creates and communicates with integrity and he fills his role. If the artist is true to himself, the rest will follow.

don't take yourself so darn seriously!

Sunday, August 19, 2007


What is life if you can't have a sense of humor about it? A teacher once told our acting class, "play like children, but not childishly." The same philosophy can be applied to all of life. Take your goals and passions seriously and attack them seriously; but don't take yourself so seriously. If you fall, don't get upset... as they say in Batman, "why do we fall?... So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again." So just get back up. And laugh at yourself, because you just fell into a cactus and now you look funny. Sometimes I'll look back at a mistake I made and shake my head as if to say, 'what have I done' but then I laugh, because I've taught myself a lesson and I learn best from positive reinforcement. I think most people do, if the reinforcing is done correctly.... And obviously I don't think people ought to go out and commit crimes and laugh (I think that is bad!). In fact, I believe that people always ought to try to respect themselves, others and the world around us....We often have costume parties at my house, and it's amazing how someone can seem to have more fun when they're dressed silly. I apply the same to fashion... I don't like to dress like everybody else because that to me is boring and would be taking myself too seriously. Instead, put a little bit of creative energy into what you wear. If you feel particularly feminine one night, wear a piece of jewelry that makes you feel like a princess. If you feel especially masculine where a pair of trousers with a vest and a bowler hat. (If you are a male reading this, these suggestions aren't for you, but you get the idea... ) But be brave with having fun with yourself. Have goals that you take serious steps to accomplishing but have a sense of humor about what you are doing, where you may be going, how you are accomplishing it and why... To each his own. Just be sure you're laughing at yourself or at life while you're doing it.

If you take time for yourself, the rest will follow...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

This is not a new discovery for me, but one that keeps coming up and reiterating itself to me. In our fast paced world it is easy to becomed bogged down in all of the data that is constantly thrown at us in this age of information. You are on myspace right now... we constantly check the internet, have access to information from other countries, cultures... we watch television programs about other people's lives-- both reality-based and fiction... we listen to radio broadcasts... overhear converstations as we pump our gas, eat at a restaurant shop at a grocery store... we are constantly accumulating the essences of other people as we interact with them on a daily basis. Most of this happens on a subconscious level. Then there are the close encounters... the informational exchanges between loved ones, friends, family and teachers... we share our opinions, voice our beliefs and exchange ideas. We make each other happy and think about it. We hurt each other and then feel bad about it and we try to look at it from the other person's point of view. Thus, we are taken outside of ourselves, in order to have compassion and respect for others and in order to be openminded so we might not to make the same mistakes again. This happens at a conscious level. But there are times when we need to be selfish... the good kind of selfish... the kind that hurts no one (or shouldn't, provided people are secure enough within themselves to realize that alone time does not mean 'i-hate-you time')...the time that one withdraws from the company of others and spends come oh-so-crucial time with the all-mighty self. I think this concept is scary to a lot of people in modernity... because we're always surrounded by something. I pose a challenge. I dare you to wake up early in the morning and do things with yourself while everybody else is sleeping. Look through a magazine for images or photos that inspire you. Create a vision/ inspiration board. Play a musical instrument. Start reading that book that's been sitting on your bookshelf since the 90s. Jot down the thoughts that plague you. Write a letter to your high school sweetheart and then burn it (but don't set the house on fire). I don't know, just do things, anything. But alone. And afterwards, you will be happy... or at the very least, you will be content. The person you love will not go away because you take a morning or an afternoon or an evening off from them. Actually, they will respect you more. And appreciate you more. And you will appreciate them more. And love them more, because you are showing yourself more love. And if you do not have anyone you love or if you have unrequited love or are heartbroken I promise you that alone time will bring you back to yourself-- the person who will always be with you, regardless of who comes in and out of your life-- and perhaps you will realize that the person whom you are crying or pining over is in fact completely wrong for you. In times of pain though family and friend time are equally as important as alone time. But back to my point... when you spend time with yourself you realize that the only thing you can ever truely know is yourself. You can never see inside of another person the way that you can of yourself. You can never feel another person's heart beating the way you can, with yourself. You can never a person's spirit or soul the way you know yours lives every day. If you are good to yourself and respect yourself... and take time for yourself... you soon realize that the things that haunt you are trivial. The fights with loved ones seem petty. Getting angry over spilled milk seems stupid. War seems stupid too, but sometimes we can't help that. But maybe if we focus on ourselves and respect ourselves more, people will start to do the same... we may accidentally lead by example and people will accidentally start respecting themselves more and then so respecting others more and then accidentally the world will be a better place. Good morning! :)