I used to think I had a pretty good grasp on what this world needs to do to be a place where the progress of mankind the essence of life itself and not just the hope of a few.
As an artist I dwell in a world of philosophy. The What ifs….
The folk who have optimism are usually beaten into submission by the 'real world' of power hungry and corporate leaders.
We become 'settlers' to the problems of the world because they are too big for one person. Yet…if one person stands up and is supported by others actual change can come.
Christmas is a Christian holiday that has become bastardized into a huge commercial enterprise. We have people complaining that we say Merry Christmas and others who are shocked that we can even complain about something that is meant to be a good thought passed from one to another.
Saying happy holidays seems to then be an issue among those who want to say Merry Christmas.
I shake my head.
Lets assume for a second that Jesus and Santa Claus both are real(don't get mad at me if you think I'm implying Jesus may not be real, I'm making a point). Don'y you think they both would be embarrassed by the fact we fight about it?
Who cares!
Admittedly I'm probably not a Christian, though I believe in many of the teachings found in Christian doctrine, the same or similar of which is found in nearly all religious faith.
I'd support a new governing 'religion' in a second that talked about mankind first and not a higher power. We cannot control a higher power, all we can control is how we function as humans and as a mankind.
All of our deciding factors about a higher power shouldn't be faith based, but practical. God's will is to have tornadoes, well maybe we need to build houses that can with stand tornadoes?
God's will is to have global warming, maybe we need to work towards better ways to survive the heat?
I am tired.
I really am. I saw a documentary about FDR and the rhetoric was the same as it has been for the Obama administration and FDR was a socialist trying to bring this country down. Well Social Security was brilliant! It really was and it was rocky in the beginning and it has become rocky, not through fault of its own, but because we have allowed it to be stolen from and diminished and didn't let it evolve with the times. Capitalism can survive within a republic that allows social programs and I believe it can only survive if there are strong social programs to take care of those who capitalism isn't a good fit.
Funding those that can't take care of themselves, funding creatives to explore ideas outside the normal pathways of thought, funding the advances of exploration of spec, the ocean and our own minds is extremely important to the advancement of mankind.
I'm not bright, but even I can see this.
We spend too much time arguing about the minutia! Or worse not even arguing about it, but supporting it fully by clicking on and sharing all the waste of time things we share on social media(not this blog of course!!! 8-)
Today i clicked on a few posts that said top 10 this or thats. Then I'd get a menu of others. Top ten wardrobe malfunctions of all time, top ten hotted celebrity bodies etc…. Seriously, these are out there because they will generate millions of hits and advertisers like hits.
We make everything a commodity to sell.
Last January I started the year with the idea I would just try to put out the notion of Elevate! It got no traction because I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I didn't try to turn it into a commodity to sell. I simply tried to elevate what I did on social media by only posting thought provoking tidbits and links. I won't stop doing this, but wonder how it hasn't taken off.
Thankfully others have done the same thing, in fact they probably started before me but i didn't know they existed. There is incredible poetry out there, incredible art, incredible music, incredible thoughts and all we seem to be interested is in Memes with short quotes, pictures of swirled cream in coffee, sandwiches, bathroom outfits of the day and anything that can be turned into three of four letters that stand for common thought!(lol, cml, and scores of other i have no idea what they mean.)
I was thinking i don't want to be a leader of a revolution. When i was 16 or even 20 I did, but i was energetic and strong(dumb as moss though) then and ready to take on anyone with authority. A revolution means you have a strong commitment to a singular believe. I don't have that really, at least not in a way that can be understood by the majority of the world that seems comforted by clinging to their religious beliefs!
My belief and hope is that we can find away to believe in mankind as an ultimate power and not just a god or a figurehead in charge of a government. I believe we need a structure, but that structure must be with the idea that some folks are suited better for one job than another, including a leader.
2014 wasn't a remarkable year really, we had events occur that are not unlike many other years, but if we don't take 2015 and address the issues in a sound, non finger pointing way- they will escalate into something we shouldn't have to live through in the 21st century--they already have, so lets stop it and grow.
This picture of my friend Ray (as his Santa personification) is super-imposed with John Lennon's song about Christmas and War is meant to be be a question and not an answer, but a question we should be asking each other… do we have to live this way? Can't we fix this? and seriously can't we fix this before more blood is spilled??
Ray was a devout catholic who had his strong beliefs. But this man believed in mankind and used his Santa persona to show that even a small gesture of love can mean so much to the world. I'm not sure where john Lennon sat religiously but his song Imagine was a song of hope. I often quote Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek as a looking forward to hope for mankind as well. Aren't we smart enough now? Can't we put this world in perspective and finally move mankind forward towards an educated society working towards betterment instead of tearing each other down?
I'm getting preachy and rhetorical here--just look at Santa's eyes in this picture above and decide to make yourself a better person in in 2015. Elevate. Please!
As an artist I dwell in a world of philosophy. The What ifs….
The folk who have optimism are usually beaten into submission by the 'real world' of power hungry and corporate leaders.
We become 'settlers' to the problems of the world because they are too big for one person. Yet…if one person stands up and is supported by others actual change can come.
Christmas is a Christian holiday that has become bastardized into a huge commercial enterprise. We have people complaining that we say Merry Christmas and others who are shocked that we can even complain about something that is meant to be a good thought passed from one to another.
Saying happy holidays seems to then be an issue among those who want to say Merry Christmas.
I shake my head.
Lets assume for a second that Jesus and Santa Claus both are real(don't get mad at me if you think I'm implying Jesus may not be real, I'm making a point). Don'y you think they both would be embarrassed by the fact we fight about it?
Who cares!
Admittedly I'm probably not a Christian, though I believe in many of the teachings found in Christian doctrine, the same or similar of which is found in nearly all religious faith.
I'd support a new governing 'religion' in a second that talked about mankind first and not a higher power. We cannot control a higher power, all we can control is how we function as humans and as a mankind.
All of our deciding factors about a higher power shouldn't be faith based, but practical. God's will is to have tornadoes, well maybe we need to build houses that can with stand tornadoes?
God's will is to have global warming, maybe we need to work towards better ways to survive the heat?
I am tired.
I really am. I saw a documentary about FDR and the rhetoric was the same as it has been for the Obama administration and FDR was a socialist trying to bring this country down. Well Social Security was brilliant! It really was and it was rocky in the beginning and it has become rocky, not through fault of its own, but because we have allowed it to be stolen from and diminished and didn't let it evolve with the times. Capitalism can survive within a republic that allows social programs and I believe it can only survive if there are strong social programs to take care of those who capitalism isn't a good fit.
Funding those that can't take care of themselves, funding creatives to explore ideas outside the normal pathways of thought, funding the advances of exploration of spec, the ocean and our own minds is extremely important to the advancement of mankind.
I'm not bright, but even I can see this.
We spend too much time arguing about the minutia! Or worse not even arguing about it, but supporting it fully by clicking on and sharing all the waste of time things we share on social media(not this blog of course!!! 8-)
Today i clicked on a few posts that said top 10 this or thats. Then I'd get a menu of others. Top ten wardrobe malfunctions of all time, top ten hotted celebrity bodies etc…. Seriously, these are out there because they will generate millions of hits and advertisers like hits.
We make everything a commodity to sell.
Last January I started the year with the idea I would just try to put out the notion of Elevate! It got no traction because I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I didn't try to turn it into a commodity to sell. I simply tried to elevate what I did on social media by only posting thought provoking tidbits and links. I won't stop doing this, but wonder how it hasn't taken off.
Thankfully others have done the same thing, in fact they probably started before me but i didn't know they existed. There is incredible poetry out there, incredible art, incredible music, incredible thoughts and all we seem to be interested is in Memes with short quotes, pictures of swirled cream in coffee, sandwiches, bathroom outfits of the day and anything that can be turned into three of four letters that stand for common thought!(lol, cml, and scores of other i have no idea what they mean.)
I was thinking i don't want to be a leader of a revolution. When i was 16 or even 20 I did, but i was energetic and strong(dumb as moss though) then and ready to take on anyone with authority. A revolution means you have a strong commitment to a singular believe. I don't have that really, at least not in a way that can be understood by the majority of the world that seems comforted by clinging to their religious beliefs!
My belief and hope is that we can find away to believe in mankind as an ultimate power and not just a god or a figurehead in charge of a government. I believe we need a structure, but that structure must be with the idea that some folks are suited better for one job than another, including a leader.
2014 wasn't a remarkable year really, we had events occur that are not unlike many other years, but if we don't take 2015 and address the issues in a sound, non finger pointing way- they will escalate into something we shouldn't have to live through in the 21st century--they already have, so lets stop it and grow.
This picture of my friend Ray (as his Santa personification) is super-imposed with John Lennon's song about Christmas and War is meant to be be a question and not an answer, but a question we should be asking each other… do we have to live this way? Can't we fix this? and seriously can't we fix this before more blood is spilled??
Ray was a devout catholic who had his strong beliefs. But this man believed in mankind and used his Santa persona to show that even a small gesture of love can mean so much to the world. I'm not sure where john Lennon sat religiously but his song Imagine was a song of hope. I often quote Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek as a looking forward to hope for mankind as well. Aren't we smart enough now? Can't we put this world in perspective and finally move mankind forward towards an educated society working towards betterment instead of tearing each other down?
I'm getting preachy and rhetorical here--just look at Santa's eyes in this picture above and decide to make yourself a better person in in 2015. Elevate. Please!