Choice

I told her that I didn’t want to waste my time.

She corrected me.

“It’s not time that you want to protect—it is life. You must focus on not wasting your life.”

“Time. Life. You know what I mean!” My frustration was showing.

She took a deep, calming breath. It calmed us both.

“I want to be gentle, but precise. This is not poetry. It is accuracy.

“It can be a gentle shift that changes everything, if you are open to it.

“A reframe, if you will.”

She looked for my nod.

I gave it.

She began, “Life is not lived day by day, week by week, year by year.

“It is not even lived moment to moment, though the eternal present moment represents an adequate description of time as it truly exists.”

She paused to see if I was following. The words were certainly demanding my attention and focus.

“Time has nothing to do with living—no more than size, shape, or colour. Metres. Litres. Grams. Depth. Breadth. Height. And minutes. They are calibrations of measure, contrast, comparison, differentiation. Just one of the 5Ws. They are the tools we use to separate the parts and pieces of the whole. The parts create the whole. It is the whole that matters.” She smiled.

“Consider your game…”

She detoured into my love of baseball.

“It is the game you love, isn’t it? It’s not the time it takes to play a game. It’s not the innings or the outs or the hits. These are measurements of the play,” she sang. “The play is the beauty, the magic, the reason you watch.”

I started nodding again.

“Think of your music,” she continued. “You would never think that the length of a song, measured in minutes, can have any meaning when you are engaged in the beauty of the melody. The depth of the harmony. The journey of the notes—no matter how long in time—carries us as long as the song continues. Time disappears. It’s lost. It’s meaningless…”

I was deep into her poetry now. She knew it. She saw my trance. Then she shifted. Her words took on a dismissive staccato.

“Time is a tracking device—arbitrarily divided spaces roughly akin to the length of a thought or a beat of the heart,” she pointed at me, smiling, “which, like time, vary in speed with the intensity of emotion contained in each.”

I exhaled and fell under her spell. I could feel myself willingly releasing old ideas. She continued her reasoning.

“Time is a satisfactory measure for previous or future existence,” she lengthened the word to make her point. She straightened her posture. “Past. Long past. Last week. Last year. Next year. Next week. A thousand years from now.

“No matter. Past or future. Both are referenced and measured as a contrast from the present moment—the only moment. The only real one. Time links memory to imagination, resentment to worry, gratitude to dreaming. They are little more than machinations of the mind. Judgments of events that exist nowhere but in the mind. Neither past nor future exists right here, right now.

“Time can be a useful measure of existence, but not of life. Past and future should be used like a map—to know where you have been and where you might go. But the map is just a symbol, a representation of where you stand. And where you are—the moment you are in—HERE and NOW is all that is.”

She stared into my eyes, reached for her tea, sipped, and replaced the cup. Then she began what she really wanted to say.

“Life, when it is lived—and it should be lived—is lived choice by choice. You may not want to waste your time. But you waste your life when you do not make choices. When you simply exist. When you go through those minutes mindlessly, repeating the same old actions, the same old habits, following the instructions of an empty voice that is not yours and that you don’t recognize.

“Habits, routines, obligations, and schedules—those are the drivers of existing. You know you are only existing when your actions are determined by a clock. When you are afraid of being late, or yearning for something that happens tomorrow or next year. Or when others are the beneficiaries of your time and energy based on an hourly wage. That is not living.”

She paused.

“That is a waste of life. That is how most get through the days and weeks and years. Only discovering ‘later’ that their life happened, and they didn’t live it.

“You can’t have time. It is a measure, not a thing. You can’t have litres or pounds, but you can have water or cheese. You can take time, waste time, use time. But it is the living—or not living—in that time that matters. You are living and breathing right now. So what will you do with that life?”

She anticipated my questions.

“What is choice?” she asked.

I tilted my head and gestured for her to continue.

“It starts with the awareness of the potency of life. You—your very nature—are the potential, the endless possibility. The waiting void in which nothing exists, but anything could be.”

She sat up and seemed to inflate with excitement. Her energy carried me up.

“Whether you realize it or not, you chose to be here. That choice created a whole world around you.”

“You are talking metaphysics now, Nan.” She didn’t flinch.

“That choice was an explosive act of creation—putting in motion a whole world to play in. Your world, filled with creation and with not-yet-imagined creations for you to engage, experience, and expand. You are choice waiting to be made.” She pointed at my chest.

She locked her eyes on mine, seeking the moment of my enlightenment.

“So here I am. Ya-hoo! Look at me!” I felt befuddled, not enlightened. I wanted to cry. “What now?”

She sighed at my sarcasm and lovingly held my cheek in her palm.

“You are lost in a sea of ‘should.’ Thinking there is a right way and a wrong way,” she paused, “a safe way and an unsafe way.”

She walked to the fridge, took out the tuna and bread, and started to make us sandwiches. She took a deep breath.

“These are ideas that have been imposed on you by a thousand frightened children—seeking what might be right, afraid to be wrong—seeking to guide you with fear and love.”

“Ha,” I moaned. “You mean Mom and Dad and school and church and TV and…”

She ignored me and continued.

“You have been born into a culture. That is a challenge you chose. You have come to learn to choose in a world that punishes choices. You are not alone, but your individuality makes it a challenge you must engage for yourself.”

She looked me in the eye.

“Yes, this culture, this society, has been created around having instead of being. Believing that having makes you safe and not having makes you worthless. Having certain things, doing certain things—good. Not having, not doing—bad. It is a whole system of values that value nothing of value.”

“And it’s rigged,” I added.

“Yes, but you have to see through that,” she snapped back at me. “That is a distraction from the true goal.” She turned back to the sandwiches and continued.

“Others are running around in a panic, doing what others have told them to do and having what others have told them to have, and protecting what others told them to protect. They are constantly looking over their shoulder to see if others approve, and looking down to see if their pile of stuff is big enough yet. And they feel empty. They make no choices for themselves—about themselves—so they are not really living.”

She smirked and laughed. “And time passes, as it always does.”

She shook her head. She drifted off, thinking.

“So…” I started up again.

She looked at me, puzzled.

“How is Choice my alternative?” I asked.

She nodded and put the sandwiches down. They looked good.

She took my hand. I knew this was it.

“Inside you—if you quiet your mind and embrace your infinite potential—you can rediscover your Will. The incredible force of life. The joy. The love of living. Let every thought, everything, fall away, and in that emptiness you can find your desire to live. That Will is the choice that brought you here, now.

“Find, and sit in, your love of life. You will eventually discover that there are two compelling forces within your Will: curiosity and creativity.

“They will need to be reactivated. You have held them dormant, as all of us do.

“Curiosity is your uniqueness. The questions you have. The understandings you seek. The ‘What if’s’ of your unique preferences and desires. Your curiosity will compel you. Questions asked must be answered. They cannot sit unaddressed. They will eat at you—you can feel how they already do. That is the source of your sadness.

“Creativity is our common nature. We are expanding beings. We reach out and extend. We create. Our natural state is love. Love is the force of extension, of creation.

“Follow your curiosity. Choose to answer your questions. Create from your heart. Choose to create with what you find.

“Choice comes from your most authentic self, your most genuine desires—your need to create.

“Choice is the act of living.”

She walked to the tap and filled two glasses with water. She placed one in front of me while sipping from the other.

“Take off your watch, eat your lunch, consider the possibilities, pick something, and go for it.”

She kissed me on the forehead, smiled, and said, “I love you.”

Remembering

Especially on RD, I try to remember the dishonesty of war.

I don’t believe my choice belittles the sacrifice and suffering of those good-hearted and noble citizens choosing to enlist. I don’t believe it challenges their intelligence, integrity, or motives. I don’t believe it shows a lack of gratitude for the sacrifice so many have made. I don’t believe I am disrespecting those in my family who have experienced war. I don’t believe it is unpatriotic or subversive. I do not think that it requires elimination of our forces. I don’t believe this reflection makes us vulnerable.

I am not being naive.

I simply think, as humanity, we can do better. 

To really honour those who have given so much, we should try to do better. If we truly appreciate their loss, it should become unthinkable to allow such losses to ever happen again. To truly remember the horror, pain, suffering, and loss, is to try harder than ever to ensure it doesn’t happen again. It is inevitable that such pain and loss will be experienced by our children unless we are lead but such sacrifice to learn, and grow, and become better.

To remember should be the commitment to end all war, forever.

This is no different than curing disease. This no different than the invention of the seatbelt. The idea of vaccinations. The advancement of science. The new efficiencies in the economy. Better nutrition. Better education. The pursuit of the greater good.

As beings, are we not committed to making tomorrow better than today? Shouldn’t we be diligent in our efforts to make the world better for the next generation? Isn’t our motivation for such, the remembering of previous suffering? 

Why do we allow war to continue?

I believe in my heart that humans are better than this.

I believe in my heart that humans are not naturally warring. We are gentle beings seeking peace. That those who have enlisted for war have been convinced that it is the only answer to others, evil others, who would take away their freedom and peace, is the proof of the dishonesty.

Years and years after wars have ended and lines on maps have changed, and wealth has changed hands, and oligarchs have been empowered, and arms manufacturers have been enriched, our historians tell us the truth of why we went to war. Seldom is it what the soldiers were told at the time. Seldom was freedom at risk. Seldom would anyone have agreed to pick up arms had they been told the truth. 

The first casualty of war is truth. But truth always comes out. The bigger the war, the longer it takes.

Seldom did the decision makers, those inciting war, those declaring war, suffer the losses we remember on November 11th. Seldom did those who profited from war suffer the losses that we pause and remember today. 

The kinds of losses we honour today. 

The kinds of losses we should never allow again.

There are many ways to solve disagreement. There is no way to solve greed.

The only way to have an enemy, is to be an enemy.

War is madness. We are better than this.

Today I remember the dishonesty of war.

I choose something better.

Control

Consider Power.

As you consider, examine your emotions.

Power can be strong, yet there is fear.

Power requires emotion to motivate.

Power reaches, yet there are limits to that reach.

What puts limits on power’s reach?

Power is not a thing to be amassed.

It is not an office to be pursued.

Power is not money.

Power is not armaments.

Power is not position.

Power lies not in the one that would use power.

You cannot bribe one who cares not for money.

You cannot threaten one who is not afraid to die.

You cannot hold office forever, if the people remember they put you there.

All of the power that anyone would ever use to control, influence, or seduce you, lies in your experience of your own needs.

The source of all power is some form of need.

The depth of the power is the depth of the need.

Power targets choice.

Choice resides in your mind.

Choice never goes away, though the power attempts to take it from you. 

Although the mechanisms of power may appear outside you, that power only exists in your mind.

Power, exerted over others, is experienced within their mind as control, influence or seduction.

Power attempts to control, influence, or seduce your choice by creating an emotional response within your mind.

If you can see past that emotion, you are free from the power and choice remains.

There is always Choice.

Peace.

Consider Peace.

What is Peace?

Peace is quiet.

Peace is calm.

Peace is without movement. But is not stationary. It moves outward from its source.

Peace shines.

Peace is noticeable by its contrast to the disturbances of life.

Peace ignores.

Peace allows. 

Peace forgives.

Peace knows that others will act upon, and express, their emotions. 

Peace knows that it can only be disturbed by the thoughts of the one that holds it. So, Peace holds firm, knowing that it cannot be threatened, except with permission.

Where does Peace exist?

It begins in the mind of one.

A quiet, calm, and accepting mind.

A mind that chooses not to be disturbed.

A mind that chooses to allow and forgive.

A mind that disregards the events around it, as those events are less important than the peaceful state within.

How does peace extend?

Peace moves outward from the mind of the one, into the world of the others. Perceived as calm and quiet and allowing. Differing from that which may perceived as normal. 

Sometimes this expression of Peace is recognized as Peace. 

Sometimes it is misunderstood, as it disturbs the others from their activity, grabbing their attention and provoking them. It can aggravate those who do not value Peace in the same way. Or in that moment.

Peace can disturb the minds of those who have other intentions. 

Peace can be offered.

That would be done through forgiveness and compassion.

It might then exist in the mind of the forgiver.

It may not yet exist in the mind of the forgiven.

Peace can be invited.

That would be done by calming emotion, and ceasing judgment, and accepting.

It might then only exist in the mind of the accepter.

It might not yet exist in the mind of the accepted.

Sometimes, Peace can be recognized for what it is. When recognized it can be an attractive alternative to one's present state.

Hence, Peace can only exist in the mind of one who desires it and releases that which needs releasing. Accepts that which needs accepting. And calms that which needs calming.

Peace can only exist in the mind that values it and seeks it.

But one can feel the Peace in others.

 

Peace cannot be imposed. 

That would not be peace. That is control. 

Peace allows that which is not Peace, but remains Peaceful.

Control allows very little.

That leads to the opposite of Peace.

I am not this body.

I am not this body.

This body could never contain me.

Sometimes, however, this body gets in my way.

Sometimes it distracts me with its needs and urges.

Sometimes it stops me with sickness and pain.

Sometimes it frightens me with its weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Sometimes it deludes me into only seeing other bodies.

Sometimes it controls me with illusions that baffle me.

Sometimes it is my nemesis, tricking me with the idea that I am here to protect it, rather than it being here to carry me.

Sometimes it deceives me that size, strength, colour, gender, age, things, matter.

Sometimes my eyes don't see, and my ears don't hear, and my skin does not feel, and I miss the beauty of it all.

Sometimes its insistence in holding my attention limits my awareness and being.

I am not this body.

I am mind.

Connected to all mind.

An essential part of the wholeness of mind.

Capable of awareness. 

Capable of knowledge.

Capable of choice.

Capable of creation.

Capable of compassion, forgiveness and all other forms of love.

My mind, not my body, creates my experience and gives meaning to everything.

My focus is to be on my mind, not my body.

My attention is to be upon the activities of my mind and not those of my body.

I am not this body.

I am mind, and the only true activity of mind is the choice between love and fear.

A choice when there appears to be no choice.

 

They say the first casualty of war is truth.

We have seen for the past decade that journalism does not exist anymore. No one is informing the populace by sharing facts. They are simply seeking viewers and clicks. The best source of clicks is fear. And when the fear is optimized, we are offered distraction from our fear – everything from celebrities to sports to recipes to pornography. Media, in all its forms, has become a time-consuming, attitude enforcing, addictive intoxication.

In my past life, I valued being informed. I aspired to be very informed and a source for others to be informed. I have mistakenly convinced myself that being informed is important in a world where being informed has become impossible.

Certainly, I can claim to know more than others. That may build my feelings of superiority. It will give me the chance to sound intelligent. It may allow me to condemn the others who do not engage social dynamics and label them as the problem.

But in the end, my blame and hate and condemnation are simply the tools that profiteers use to sell everything from insurance to investments to weapons. They are the thought-tools we use to convince that war can be justified.

Can you feel the fear and hatred building in you? Have you come to the conclusion that war is necessary yet? Putin convinced his people. Are you convinced yet?

Journalism is not used to inform you. It is used to shape you and lead you to the need for war.

This is not the first war. History is filled with them. War has always resulted in significant profits for some. Have we forgotten that war is a multi trillion-dollar product and service industry?

I have decided to abstain from the war news. It brings me to fear and worry. And worse, it brings me to hate and thoughts of attack. It is fed to me to enrage and terrify me. I will not allow myself to be convinced by propaganda that any war is justified. I will not be seduced into thinking there is a way to win. I need to remember that developing strategies for attack is the sadly naïve belief there can be winners in war.

Attack thoughts are the true pandemic disease today. Attack never results in resolution. Attack is the antithesis of peace, and isn’t peace is what we all seek?

No, I will not read the war news any longer. But that does not mean I will be passive. I will not do nothing. I won’t just be distracted.

I will use the time formerly employed in the consumption of news to join in with one of the dozens and dozens of united prayer-meditation-contemplation exercises conducted all around the world as we speak.  

A simple google search will find for you, dozens of studies that have been done that show these meditations efforts have had empirically measurable and statistically significant effects in war zones.

 Here is one to consider - https://www.bmedreport.com/archives/10821

Is it propaganda? Maybe. Isn't it all propaganda anymore? 

But at least it is propaganda for peace. It does not make me hate.

I will actively use my mind to send forgiveness and peace rather than to collect propaganda that tries to convince me to be afraid and hateful.

It is impossible to be informed. It is impossible that war results in peace. It is ridiculous to discuss this in social media. None of these will accomplish anything for anyone other than the politicians and profiteers. It is a waste of my effort.

Instead, I will calm my mind and send my emotionally loving wishes and prayers for calm and reason and peace to those I would otherwise consider my enemies and attackers.

I pray you will join me.

 

 

Authority

 

Power is about choice. It is the attempt to control, influence or seduce a choice someone is about to make.

This is done through a mechanical process of needs and abilities. An actor sees a need in a subject. The Actor wants to control the choice the subject will make. So, they apply their ability to the need of the Subject and the Subject, motivated by some emotion (usually fear,) makes a choice that may be different than what they would make without the dynamic of power targeted on them.

The power does not come from the Actor but from their ability to impact the Subject’s need. In fact, if the Subject has no need, the ability of the Actor is meaningless, and no power will be felt. The source of all power comes from the needs within a Subject.

Everyone always has a need to feel safe.

We want to feel safe from the virus. We want to feel safe from the imposed solutions to the virus. We want to feel safe from violence.

If protestors are allowed to use violence, then we are afraid of them. The protestors are afraid that the government will use violence on them to stop their protest. They are also afraid of being forced to take a vaccine which they do not believe is safe. They are also afraid of a government that would control their choices. This causes them to resist the demands of government.

The fear is real for everyone. The protestors, the other citizens, the people in government – police, politicians, and bureaucrats.

The protestors have the ability to make the politicians afraid and unsure. They have the ability to make life unpleasant for the other citizens. They have the ability to refuse to comply with government mandates.

The politicians have Authority. Authority is a very different kind of ability.

Authority is the gift to the governors from the people whom they are to govern. It is given to the politicians and government officials because of our need for safe, organized and prosperous society.

That authority is particularly meaningful because it comes with the legal ability to use violence.

The protestors have tried very hard to be peaceful and avoid violence. They know that the use of violence will trigger the authorities to use violence against them. If they protest within the limits of the law – the constitution – they will not provoke the government’s legal ability to use violence on them. As long as they are not violent, they will not trigger the citizens’ willingness to permit the government to use their authority.

The thing about authority is that it comes with massive resources and those include a police force and a military which are armed and trained to be decisively violent.

The ability to use that authority, and that trained force, is only theirs because we, as people - who elected our government - have given them that ability. They know that if they use it, everyone is watching and judging.

Most opinion polls show that about 50% of the citizens of our country are sympathetic to the protestors.

The protestors, save a very few individuals, have been very peaceful. They have been respectful and kind to the police and others. The police do not feel threatened, so they have no need to resort to their authority. That is why we have not seen violence so far.

Authority is power by consent. We consent that a group of people shall have, at our discretion, the ability to activate a significant force of police and soldiers to legally use violence for our general benefit. Security, safety, stability, are all meaningful goals for a society and are purposes we would consent to our government using force to protect.

We consent to who gets to make those decisions by who we vote for. We assign those abilities through our constitution. It is the highest form of law and represents our highest values as a citizenry. Everyone of us has the ability to consent.

Right now, only half of our country – or less – consents to this use of violence. Before you consent to the use of this violence - which our Prime Minister has proposed - we should make sure we know, as best we can, what is actually happening in Ottawa.

This past weekend we have had dozens of journalists go and visit Ottawa to see for themselves. I have read five such reports in different news sources. They all report back that the protestors are peaceful, yet obnoxiously and disruptively noisy.

To be in a democracy requires a great deal of mental and emotional effort and strength on everyone’s part. We need to allow people to disagree with us. We need to allow crazy people to speak what ever they like. We need to keep ourselves informed and aware of the facts. We need to remember our collective humanity and always be on guard for those who would abuse their authority.

These are all hard to do. But freedom requires that we do it.

Freedom is not something given to us by government. Freedom is our right by birth. There are those who might take our freedom away and we should resist those people. But the good news is that in our practical day to day lives, Freedom is the gift we give each other. It is all around us. We have witnessed it over and over in our lives. It is beautiful and it is precious.

Respect and peace are our mutual gifts. We give them because we want them. We give them because we know that is how we protect them. We give them because we can see in each other the integrity and humanity we see in ourselves – regardless of our significant differences of opinion.

Authority is something we consent to. Those in authority have no power, nor permission, to use violence without our consent. Authority should be seen as a responsibility to serve all those who gave you that authority. Not as a power to be wielded by virtue of your office.

Until the Prime Minister sits down with these people as human beings, respectful of all Canadians regardless of their opinions, and uses all peaceful means to bring this protest to an end, I do not give my consent to his extraordinary use of his authority which I gave him.

Authority must be held in check, always. Otherwise, it is no longer a democracy.

 

Rules of Engagement

 

I want to offer some ideas into the cyberscape.

I seek not to change minds. I really don’t care if you agree or disagree. Agreement is not really a worthwhile goal in my opinion. It only takes a little examination of history, or even your present surroundings, to show that there has been a lot of agreement that has led us astray. Agreement has been used to justify all manner of hurtful things. For centuries we agreed that women were not equal to men. And those who spoke otherwise were crazy, seditious, and spreading misinformation. They needed to be censored or better yet, jailed. 

For the whole of the history of humanity we seem to agree that the right response to anything new is fear.

Agreement is not a goal for discourse. Agreement provides no progress. Agreement does not move us forward. In fact, agreement results in the immediate cessation of progress. Agreement closes our minds to new ideas. It brings a false sense of security. It brings us to the conclusion of a process that should never end. Agreement should never be the goal. I believe all discourse, regardless of its perceived expertise, can and will shed light through constant questioning.

Answers do not create growth. Questions do.

Disagreement engenders consideration, inquiry, discussion and exploration. All of those endeavors create awareness and knowledge – which is the only true answer to fear. That is a good goal of open free speech – the never-ending release from fear.

My point is a simple one - Neither agreement nor disagreement should ever be a reason to hate.

I am shaken that good people are advocating harm to other good people because they have come to different conclusions about a situation. I care that people are formulating opinions based on select facts and then judging others as less than human because they disagree.

Maybe it is my age or my advanced ability to say and do dumb things, but I have reached the point where I question my own ideas. I am sure that I should not be so sure. I am aware of the limits of what I know, and I am witness to the outcome of weaponizing my own ignorance.

Today I try to measure my ideas not only on evidence and logic, but on how they align with my humanity.

Do my ideas advocate for attack on others? Then no matter the facts, I am wrong. Do my ideas promote interaction, communication, compassion and life? Then even when not totally accurate or completely irrefutable, they are pointed in the right direction.

The only purpose in learning and questioning is to improve my life and the good of all. And I believe that the motivations of even the most outrageous advocate are based in decency and seek to promote the highest ideals of life as they see them.

Opinions are every where. Like belly buttons, everybody has one and most of them are funny looking.

I see opinions as logical conclusions from a limited set of facts at any given time. The puzzle of truth is always missing pieces. So, if my knowledge is never any thing but incomplete, then my opinions can be nothing but temporary. I need to be open for the next round of meaningful considerations brought to my attention.

I am not weakening or demeaning myself by being open minded and changing my opinion from time to time.

Temporary conclusions voiced as opinions are always based on an incomplete understanding. Learning never ends. If I am to ever be right, I must allow myself to adjust as the evidence accumulates. It is always accumulating. I am always learning. I don’t always like what I find out. I am upset by a discovery that makes me incorrect. But that does not matter in the quest to do the right thing.

Under these terms, it is clear to me that there is no opinion that can justify hatred.

I am comfortable listening to people I do not agree with. Even those whose ideas I consider illogical, uninformed, or irrational. I believe if I want to have the freedom to express myself, I must defend another's right to do so. Not because their words are harmless, but because to try to silence them is evil. A right is an absolute thing – or it is not a right but a privilege. We restrict privileges to those who comply with the imposed rules. There is nothing free about that.

To try to censor someone is to reduce a brother or sister to nothing more than an idea that is to be suppressed or silenced. They are so much more than that. They may be misinformed from my perspective, but I am smarter and stronger than that. I do not need to silence them.

I return to writing because I see the power dynamics and they cause me concern. I seek to create a pause in our thinking. To consider that people are more than their opinions and we must honor their humanity if we wish to have our humanity so honored.

You are not alone if the present state of discourse causes you to wonder what is right. You are not alone if this exchange of attacks causes you to fear for our future. You are not alone. The increasing volume of the discussion is evidence of the deep fear everyone is experiencing. For two years and more I have retreated into the safety of silence. My opinions on the politics of it all are constantly changing. What is not changing is my fear for our society. I am as unsure of the correct path as anyone should be. The facts as they emerge are contradictory and “experts” seek to overwhelm my reason and substitute their opinions for my own.

When I read media, both traditional and social, I am shocked by the perversion of journalism from factual information to hyperbolic postulation with no interest in informing public opinion only in enflaming public outcry.

There are many opinions about social media. The only thing everyone agrees is that it is highly profitable.

Let’s willingly identify our opinions without thinking those opinions define who we are. When possible, let’s share, in a rational and helpful way, the best evidence we can find. Let’s acknowledge the limits of our knowledge at any given time. Finally, lets embrace the idea that opinions are meant to be temporary things. We collect information as best we can. We apply that information to our version of logic, and we form a conclusion. That conclusion needs to be temporary because the information base is always growing.

Please be aware that the artificial intelligence of your news feed is giving you more of the same and less of the competing information. You may need to actively find the information that could contradict your temporary opinion. This could cause you to be less angry and recognize the fear and concern behind the shrill cries of those you disagree with. We are all afraid. When a child is fearful you do not criticize their fear and condemn them to isolation. You do not attack them, label them and dismiss them.

Be aware that all the noise you are listening to is about the control, influence, and seduction of your choice. Your choices are being shaped by forces outside yourself making you angry and fearful. Be aware of the emotions attached to your opinions.

You can get a human to do just about anything if you can make them afraid enough.

If we still need to find some agreement, let's agree that we are all afraid. We are all suffering. We are all seeking and learning. We are all equal and entitled to freedom and love.

Let's agree that hatred will not solve any problem.

 

 

Twitter

Gotta love twitter.

Nothing riles me up like twitter does.

Gotta love twitter.

It is a never-ending dark hole of hate. It is magnetic. Within minutes I have grabbed onto threads and tumbled down the rabbit hole.  My heart begins to pound. My breath deepens. My pupils dilate. Adrenaline flows. I feel the hate rising in me. All due to the trigger I felt reading 15 words written by an idiot.

Gotta love twitter.

I can lose 20 minutes of my life on a thread. But not just by reading. Sometimes I fully engage. I pound out a heated reply. I start to write my own competing thread. I start searching for that article I read two days ago that contradicts everything that has been said. And it will prove them all to be idiots.

Gotta love twitter.

Somewhere deep within the black hole of my response I can see my plan of attack. My main point rises to the top. Then I pause and adjust my syntax to formulate the most cutting, sarcastic barb. I begin to sweat, and my typing becomes louder. My rage intensifies. I count characters to choose words that maximize my effect.

Gotta love twitter.

In those moments of ferocity, I gather focus. I ask myself, what is my most effective point?

And in that moment of pause, my higher self whispers “What are you doing?”

Gotta LOVE twitter.

Because of twitter I see myself as lost in a trap. The trap of social media using my need for information and connection to create valuable engagement and morphing it into profitable discord. The trap twitter sets so well, fanning the spark of disagreement and building a raging fire of lucrative hatred.

Because of twitter I can see the trap of my ego. My hubris. My fear. My isolation. My confusion. Turning them all into the voluntary surrender of my humanity.

I love twitter.

It shows me my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities, and my false sense of inferiority.

And when I see those flaws in my thinking and touch that lonely pain in my heart, I can see the fear that drives the whole of the twitter-verse. I get the chance to recognize all this as my need. My need for things to be better. For me to be better. My need for someone to click that heart button and confirm to me that my view is the righteous one and we are superior ones. Confirm to me that I am situated on the moral high ground. And if only everyone would listen to me we could climb out of this chaos.

Yes, I love twitter.

Yes, I love twitter.

It reveals to me all this and more. I can connect to my own yearning for peace and calm and connection to others. I want more than to be on the righteous side of wordy idealistic disputes. I want to experience us as connected. And finally, I see all my harsh words and raging thought is dividing us.

Yes, I love twitter.

For in those moments just before the trap sets, I can pause and see those same needs and desires hidden in the words of those others. I see that same yearning in the heart of that idiot, that person, that being of light. I see there those same motives in their tweet. The same pain and fear.

Only then do I remember it is the peace in my heart that will lead to peace in the world. Not my silly angry words.

Thank you twitter.

Choice and Privacy

Hey

I'm back
😊

More focused on choice than ever before.

This one gets to me good, so I had to speak up.

Choice.
Do you really have any?

You live in a world that seeks your compliance.

Go to school. Learn what we tell you. Sit down and listen. Be quiet.
We will teach you what you need to learn. It will get you a good job and a happy life.
Follow the rules and be a good citizen.
Compliance.
Conformity.
Safety.

Has the illusion of safety become our highest value?
is it better to be safe than to be great?

I want to be safe too.
But I don't assume all people are bad and out to hurt me or someone else.

Don't you think that if everyone was busy living the life that they wanted, rather than striving for the unachievable top in a hierarchical world, we would be more likely to leave each other alone in peace?

Wouldn't we be safer if we stopped creating poor people in a money based world?

So many find themselves ill-prepared, or even sabotaged, by a system that not only rewards unfairly but also inhibits those who do not fit into the narrow confines of an out-of-touch and out-of-date american dream.

Every day I teach students who feel like they are preparing to be part of a failing system.
And they are right in that assessment.

Where will the next great social system come from if we demand conformity?

Who will step up and offer new ideas if they are being watched and monitored as if they were criminals?


Isn't the advancement of any field lead by those who reject the common view and consider the possibilities?

This is the importance of privacy.

I am not a criminal because I question authority and advocate for new ideas.

That is what promoting entrepreneurial thinking does.
It is what I teach.

I teach a simple idea - Be Free. Start your own Business. Everything in the market place can be better. Go for it.

I think I am an advocate for what is best in people. Creativity, initiative, vision.

Sometimes we need to challenge the status quo. Sometimes we have to support others who do the same.

But I am being watched.

Every movement I make is tracked by 20 different apps on my phone.

And those are the ones that I agreed to.

How many apps or programs on your phone are doing the same thing without your permission?
And where is that data going?

How many of my conversations are monitored?
How many of my texts and tweets get reviewed by some AI programmed to assume that everyone is a criminal and any idea outside the norm is unacceptable?

That is the reason to support privacy.

The underlying assumption behind the surveillance of everyone is that we are all criminals and we need to be afraid of each other.

The only people who think this are those who have been trained to think this. This is unnatural. It is unfair. It is counter-intuitive. It is counter-productive.

The nature of creative innovation is challenging society as we know it. Everyone who thinks things could be better is not a criminal.

This is why I advocate for privacy.
Privacy encourages new choices.

The problem...

Hey


Been a while...


Just came across this one today.


http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/republicans-block-paycheck-fairness-act-again


Not sure how I missed it a few months ago.


I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I could best help the world. I know that sounds a little grandiose. But I am not really thinking that big. I am just trying to be realistic and truly helpful. Helpful to real people rather than to some larger than life idea of "society" or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, my ego.


My thoughts have lead me to a simple idea that seems to explain all the upsetting things I see in this life.


Our active life always reflects our values. Our choices verify to ourselves and others what we claim our values to be.


As I observe how our life manifests itself, it seems to me that, as people acting in the world, we have lost two of our most important values: equality and compassion.


We have rationalized them away.


We are so talented at twisting words until they mean nothing. We are able to persuade ourselves that what deeply matters to us in the abstract might not actually matter to us in practical circumstances. Then we start the process of trying to feel better about our moral compromise through denial and distraction. Soon we simply ignore the idea of values. It is too painful to acknowledge. The internal conflict demands either change in behaviour or change in values.


So we ignore the values.


But in that process we erode the foundations of our own self.


At one point or another you have to ask and answer the question, "Are all people truly equal?"
It's a yes or no question. There is no middle ground. When you answer it from your heart it will require a response in your life.


I have come to the conclusion that although we espouse equality, we really don't believe in it.
It is a nice idea but really we have so many exceptions to the rule that it has become meaningless.


If all people are truly equal then inequality in all forms is a fundamental violation of life.


Then there is another fundamental question, "Am I my brothers' keeper?"


It too, is a yes or no question. There is no middle ground. And when you answer it from your heart it will require a response in your life.


When we answer these questions using conditions and circumstances to slide between the only two options - yes or no - we are only dodging the question. Such questions could never be contingent on circumstances. They are the questions that resolve circumstances and provide the direction we need in making life choices.


When we answer the questions directly, we are compelled to accept the obligations that flow from that response.


And I think if the unanimous answer was really "Yes" the world would look very different than it does.


So,


I am sorry to sound so pessimistic but I think we have lost those values. And let's at least be honest with ourselves that we may never really have believed in them anyway.


But we could believe in them.


We could ask and answer the questions today. We could let the change begin within ourselves.


We might even find some peace.


So I ask you, and encourage you ask as many people as you can today,


Are we all equal?
Are we our brothers' keeper?


Peace to you all.

This is incredible...

Always be asking questions and never cling to the answerrs.

Lao Tse said
"The master is free from his/her own ideas."

Check it out and enjoy :)

A-Day-at-the-Park

Feel free to comment and ask your own questions
I always love hearing from you...

Talk to me...

Found this today.

I would love to hear what you think about it...


Post a comment and then link it to your facebook.
Maybe we can hear from a lot of peope in the next few days...

Be happy.
:)

How you see the world...

I saw this and started to think about information and its relationship to power.
But also about how we deal with information.


I think the mind is a mash-up thing.

It takes in lots of information every day. But it takes in that information in an interpretive way.

We do not just log information. We filter it through our view of the world.

We reject some information regardless of truth because we don't like how it clashes with what we already "know."

We accept some some whether it is true or not because we want to believe that which brings us peace.

That's how lies work - we want to believe them.
But remember that to believe in something does not make it true.
To believe is to say, "I cannot show this to be true, but I will act as if it is anyway."

We take in new information and mash it with what we already believe and then form a new world view.

Every one of us has a world view. And if you took each world view and compared it you would find that they are very different. Vastly different.

Consider the idea of perspective - where you stand when you look determines what you see.

The life you live detemines what you see.
Your gender, race, religion, income and family make-up are the beginning location of your point of view.
Your home town and education have an impact.
Your values - self-created or inherited - are a big part of the filter.
Your tastes will limit what you are willing to see and what you ignore.
Your age determines what you saw and what you were only told about.
We all know about Hiroshima but very few of us actually experienced it.

All this past experience will determine how you interpret new experience.
Experience is deceiving.
Experience is only that. It is not, in itself, truth.

Even your dreams at night are experiences. But you wouldn't call them true.

Don't confuse what is real with what you experience.

I think the only way to find truth is to accept that you don't have it yet.

Every idea is a mashup of past ideas and new experiences and each of them is a function of where you were standing at the time.

The Tao Te Ching says, "The master is free of their own ideas."

Don't cling to your ideas.
Get as much information as you can.
Seek out information that disagrees with your world view.
Be open to it.
But use your mind not to collect information.
Use it to filter it.
Not everything you see and hear is true.
And ask the question - "Why is this person telling me this?"
That question usually helps you see control and influence.
Because people use information more than anything else to have power over others.
Even friends and loved ones use power.

A Lie is only believable because you want to believe it.

And then go ahead and mash it up. I love hearing about people's different world views.

Check it out
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/
 

Persuasion...

I read a pretty good article today.

I think it has merit. The author makes meaningful accurate points. And, of course, I love it when someone tries to explain power dynamics. :)

However, I like to encourage you to use your power analysis - the fundamentals we have talked about. You need to know more than what works - you need to know why it works.

I think that if you did your power analysis you could figure most of these points yourself.

1.They are purposeful.

Yes persuasive people use power sparingly because they know - it destroys trust. Power is using people's needs against them. When a Subject of power benefits from what the Actor is providing then they can live with that violation of trust. But when we see someone benefit from exploiting our needs we will forever be cautious with them. That's why persuasive people use compassion or collaboration rather than influence.

2. They Listen and listen

Yes. If you do not know what the other person needs and how that need fits into their life you will have no hope of addressing that need appropriately with your mechanism.

3. They Create a Connection

This is true but it is also why I hate power. How effective is it that someone pretends to be a caring friend when they are simply a calculating predator? It is easy for us to persuade a friend for they believe that we are acting selflessly and in their best interests. It is also why friendships end the instant it is obvious that the interaction was simply a self-interested power play.

That's why I encourage compassion and collaboration. If the connection you create is perceived as artificial the power will be transparent.

4. They Acknowledge Credibility

Sounds like a manipulation to me. But he is right - it works.

Why?

Because everyone needs self esteem and when someone offers a little puffery to improve your self-view, you like them better and are more likely to listen. After all, if she said I was good looking, she must be trustworthy. If he said I was smart he must truly like me and won't hurt me.

It is a power play within a power play using levels of needs that co-exist and can be used in compound to get you to the point where you want to trust.

5. The Offer Satisfaction

I think he means - they give a little to get a little. That's power - a quid pro quo - this for that - great powerful people were masters of giving a little until it is time for the big ask. That's how politics and organised crime survive - they keep giving until it is time for the big ask. Needs and abilities.

This is the art of playing power. And it certainly works.

Regardless of the art - in the end when the big ask comes - you know you have been played and the trust is gone forever.

6. They know when to shut up

The art of using power has many secrets. Not the least of which is to keep it secret.

Remember power works usually because people are not thinking it is power. It is because they have been fooled into thinking it is helpfulness.

All power destroys trust. Don't ever forget it.

Once it starts to smell like power - because people press too hard or talk too much - people become cautious and start to re-evaluate the process.

Shutting up is knowing when you have crossed from looking helpful to exposing your use of power.

7. They know when to back away

Again this is about the playing of a power dynamic.

If it is to work, it can't feel like power. When you push, you create those feelings of fear, anger or excitement. If you are using power and you create those feelings in a way that they are dominant, you risk exposing your power play.

Playing power has art to it. Mostly it is about keeping suspicions down and being focused on the needs.

Again, why not just put all the mutual benefits on the table and then agree to collaborate. If you both agree that it is in your mutual best interests to work together and give each other what each needs, then you don't ever need to persuade.

Trying to help is a great way to make real friends.


Yup. It's a very accurate article. I like it.
And the power analysis will tell you why.

There Oughta Be A Wall

 

There oughta be a wall - a great big wall a mile long and 10 feet high.

All along the top of the wall there would be signs with titles. The titles would represent every major issue in our lives today. Here in this society - in this global-everyone-included-everyone-matters world that we live in.

The titles would be things like “War in Iraq” or “911 Truth” or “Genetically Modified Foods” or “NSA Privacy Invasion” or “Right to Work Legislation” or “Executive Compensation” or “Bank Bailouts” or “The Occupy Movement.”  Or any other issue as and when it arises.

It would include any meaningful issue we are divided on and people call each other names over. The issues have to have significance. They have to matter to the future of the world.

The wall has to be maintained and taken care of so our great great grandchildren can see it and know.

Under every issue title there are two sides to the wall. One side painted red and one side painted green.

Under every issue each of us has to write our name in our own handwriting in permanent ink. Write it proud and clear so everyone can read it. Read it forever. Either we are for it, or we are against it. But you have to put your name up there.

You can change your mind. You can get that permanent marker and cross your name off one side and write it on the other. Everyone will be able to see that you changed your mind. You are allowed to change your mind.

But you have to write your name. You have to make a choice. You have to have an opinion (cause everyone does anyway) and you have to state it so everyone can see where you stand. So your grandchildren can see where you stood.

No free passes. If you don’t write your name you are part of the problem. No “I am not sure” or “It depends.” You have to state your view.

To not write your name is to be a part of the problem.

To change your mind is a sign of strength and courage. Because you went and looked and reconsidered and decided you were wrong and decided to take a different stand.

Now everyone can see where you stand – where you stood. They can see which side of the wall you were on.

Now your great grandchildren can say, “My great grandpa was one of the people who chose to plant GMO’s and that is why we don’t have bees any more.”

“My great grandmother said that this constant state of war was necessary to protect our country and now we live in a radiated world of nuclear fall-out.”

“Grampa said that terrorists should be held in detention centres and denied their rights. That is why when I exercised my free speech I was locked away forever.”

“My Great Aunt Sally said bailing out banks was good and now the USA is bankrupt and I live in a society without health care or highways.”

Now those are just my points of view. It could turn out the other way.

“My Grandpa said GMO’s were bad and now 10 billion people on this planet are starving.”

“My Grandpa said that 911 was a lie and because we let down our guard we were invaded.”

“My Grandpa said that bailing out banks is a type of communism and should be stopped. Now we have a monetary crisis.”

But there oughta be a wall.

There oughta be a wall because everyone who does not voice an opinion is part of the problem. The only thing necessary for the success of evil is that good people do nothing.

There oughta be a wall because everything we do, say or think has an impact and we are responsible for that impact. And we should be held accountable by the people effected by our decisions.

There oughta be a wall because everyone needs to think it through and get the information they need to make an informed decision. If there was a wall there would have to be freedom of information and everyone could find answers to their questions. They would make a choice and live with the consequences.

I don’t know if things would change.I don’t know what everybody thinks. I just know that we all need more information and those who are making the decisions need to be held accountable by future generations.

If they were, if they had their name permanently beside an issue, they would be more likely to think of the future.

Today I read about 40 million bees dying in Ontario. There oughta be a wall so we can know who is responsible. No corporation bashing. Just the people hiding behind the corporation making the decisions. Put your name on the wall.

Mr. Snowden thinks everyone should be aware they are being tracked and listened to. Of course they should know. Government that hides their practices is corrupt and irresponsible. Some say Snowden is making us unsafe. I think he is protecting us. The Tao says, “To have an enemy is to be an enemy.” I am nobody’s enemy. To mistreat your people is to invite revolution. If you don’t know that, you don’t belong in government. But either way – put your name on the wall.

9-11 was a lie. Call me a conspiracy theorist or any other name you can come up with. I don’t care – just put your name on the wall.

Our government is bashing workers to support the corporate profit motive because they give more donations to win elections than individuals do. You gotta be one lousy economist to not realize that if workers don’t have money to spend there will be no economy. Maybe I am wrong – but put your name on the wall.

The future will show who was right. I can live with that. But don’t be afraid. Life will continue. It is all going to happen anyway.

But there oughta be a wall.

Money

Listen to this while you read...



Most of us agree, Money is Power.

So how powerful are you?

Ever wondered exactly how rich you are?

Just for the fun of it, consider today that you are rich. Very rich.
Are you then very powerful?
Just wondering...
:)

Talk soon

Power, Manipulation, Creation and Love

Here's a little something to listen to while reading...



The first glorious summer long weekend of the year is here.


And of course in my sick, twisted way it has me thinking about power. It has me thinking about how things work. It has me thinking about making and creating. It has me thinking about love.

I love these days. The sun is out. The air is warm again. The birds sing. I think it is the song of the bird that moves me most.

I play a little catch listening to the skate boards do the clickity-click over the sidewalk while the little girls next door squeal in the cold water of the sprinkler.

I barbequed some burgers for Chuck and his boys. All night video game party ended with their collapse in front of a movie. Morning now, and I command them to clean up the mess in the basement. In spite of my authority, or maybe because of it, they smile and thank me for letting them stretch the rules. We all pretend it’s summer. It is a long weekend after all.

I cut the grass for the first time this year. It looks like a yard after two years of digging up dandelions. Pesticides are easier but they give me the creeps so I try to honor the new laws.

Bill was a little more spring-ish than I. He had me digging in his garden three weeks ago and gave me dozens of perennials for my place. I finished planting them today. I planted a few of them a couple of weeks ago and they have come on strong so I am sure I will have a garden in no time.

Veggie seeds will get planted later.

My mother always planted tomatoes and peppers. She taught me that no matter where you live, you can grow some food

I will plant some zucchini. It grows easy and I like the taste.

About 20 years ago I planted my first big garden. Forty feet by forty feet. Everything from potatoes to carrots to beans and peas. I don’t even like peas but I grew them anyway. 

It is fun to borrow the power of life and pretend that I am responsible for the flowers that will soon bloom and the food they will yield.

It is pretending. I didn’t create it.

Last night I made burgers but I didn’t create them. I took what life produced and manipulated it to a tasty treat. I may make a good burger but I didn’t create it.

My back says that I was the one in the yard with dirt in my fingernails and sweat on my face. I dug and raked. I pulled up earth and gently pressed roots. And watered

But I did no more than move the force of life from one place to another. I made a garden but I didn’t create it.

With power I got the boys to clean the basement. A little seduction with burgers and chips. A little influence by looking the other way and relaxing the rules. Just an inflection in my voice and I accomplish a little control reminding my son who is in charge.

The force of authority gets my son to clean or me to dig dandelions rather than spray them.

With power I can get other people to do things. Say things. Think things. But they seldom do them or say them or think them the way I want them done. Power is never as effective as we think it will be.

I am sure I will be down stairs finishing the clean-up in a few minutes.

Power gets things done but it has its costs. Power destroys trust. Power creates a dynamic that never ends and we must be forever vigilant against finding ourselves victim to it.

Power succeeds at the cost of love.

I can be self reliant and depower the world. If I can be in control of my needs – like planting a garden – I retain choice. I can be confident that what life brings me, I can handle.

I plant my garden and I take power out of my life – as well as GMO’s and pesticides.

Making things for my self is good.

But I didn’t create it.

Creation is something that flows from the power of love. Love is the creative force. Love is the thing that makes all other things possible.

I am not talking about that love-because stuff I have talked about before. And I will probably talk about again.

I am talking about the essence of all things. The force that makes all things possible. The source of life.

Love is the source of life.

Need is the source of power. I can manipulate people with their needs.

I can manipulate the world around me with my abilities.

But can I create with the power of love?

Hmmm… it all starts in the mind. I will start there.

Start with a little love and apply my abilities and next thing I know I have my famous tomato - zucchini - onion soup.