AUDIBLE CARESSES

As you all know, if there's one thing we've learned throughout history it's that we don't learn from history. The same old trials and tribulations are encountered over and over like a blinking neon sign in the middle of the desert. We want to change the world but make very little effort to change ourselves. We crave peace, love and understanding yet those concepts seem to lie dormant somewhere within us. It's time to invest in a flashlight and revive what many have written about. If they were still with us, this is the pudding some of my favorite people would serve.

Papa, also known as Ernest Hemingway, would tell us to forget our personal tragedies and start living!! Life is not a dress rehearsal and even though the play is badly cast take pride in knowing that there will be some applause at the end, if any. Even if it's only measly clap from a drunk one armed man in the back, take solace in knowing that you are at least seen and admired by one. Be proud of who you are and declare yourself the best at what you do and demand respect, even if a few egos have to get trampled upon along the way to Babylon. Start listening more...open your ears and stop obeying that little raspy voice inside your head which will usually point you in the wrong direction. Little voices have nothing to do with your gut. Little voices make you mistake movement with action. Breathing is not enough, even the Pope can breathe. Don't be afraid to get broken and scarred up. It means you've lived and survived. What will you have fought for when you're shuffling around your house looking for the remote or some Jello? Hopefully, it'll be worth a damn and others will remember your panache and persistence instead of your cowardly lion attributes. Get your hands dirty and play ball. Remember, "there's no crying in baseball"!!

Paulo Coehlo once wrote that "the greatest lie in the world is that at some point we lose the ability to control our lives, and become the pawns of fate." People with a "laissez-faire" attitude should be shipped to a deserted island. This type of thinking doesn't get you anywhere. Do you really believe that the universe has you on its People to Please List? I don't think so. You are in control. Idle hands, idle minds and idle hearts should really have gone out of style a long time ago. No war was won by being emotionally lazy, a favorite pastime of most I might add. Fear of failure seems to be the greatest obstacle to happiness. There are people being massacred in African villages, children dying of hunger and poverty and women being burned at the stake in one organized religion I shall not mention. And you're going to complain that "you don't want to get hurt" or "they may not like me"? Man up and start acting like a warrior, well, try not to kill anyone, but like i've always said "navel gazing" is about as interesting as golf or late night infomercials. The drama of mankind is when we sacrifice fulfillment to conformity, when we know we can achieve greatness but deny to do so, and end up living a life of void. An empty house is not a home. An empty mind is worth a bag of bones. An empty heart will sink and be neighbors with Titanic.

As Haruki Murakami so brilliantly put it: “Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that.” Just remember that
once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about. Take it from me, the hustle is worth it, this dance will awaken you and before you know it "Papa" may be writing a tale about you.
Till next time...

HOW SOON IS NOW?

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it
goes on flying anyway. What prevents us from being somebody? It's ourselves. From the moment we're born we are told what is right and wrong. What is good and what is evil. What society accepts and what it denies. All these ideas are pushed down our throats and sooner or later we feel like we're in an airport waiting for a plane that seems to never come. The eternal stand-by.

The mind is capable of many great things. We've imagined and created the impossible and the improbable. We've gone to the moon, sailed across oceans, discovered cures, climbed mountains technologically speaking and created wonders of beauty from cathedrals to symphonies to literary masterpieces. But why this nagging, downward internal pull that anchors us to the depths of our own fears? It's so simple to break the chains that cripple us. How can we let our minds prevent us from blooming? It's not about who makes the most money or who has the most enviable home. What we have shouldn't define our success yet we seem to constantly accumulate random things that fill a void that will never go away.

It's because we're not aiming for the right things. We aim low and assume that the best things in life like love, intelligence, growth, friendship even, are impossible so we might as well be miserable bastards and blame the world for our misfortunes. The day we realize that we are not victims but responsible for our own lives today will be our own personal Judgement Day. There's so much to accomplish yet fear blinds us to the point that we may as well have one foot in the box because we've stopped living... we're simply surviving.

Learn how to live. Feed your head, your heart and your soul. Be greedy when it comes to your internal fruition because no one else will do it for you. Sure they'll tell you what you want to hear and smile pointlessly but that's about as good as it gets. It's not a harsh realization it's just an observation. Have you ever been in a wheelchair? Well, I have and there's going to come a time when the nurse will stop pushing you, feeding you, applauding your daily improvements and holding your hand while you go to the bathroom. You better learn very quickly how to maneuver that chair and how to make yourself even more visible than everyone else. Unfortunately, it's only when are livelihoods are threatened that we stop and say... Uh oh... I probably should do something because Mother isn't going to pat me on the back and make my troubles go away with reassurance.

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable and racked with sorrow,
but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. The phrase it's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything may sound cool coming from Brad Pitt... but you're not Brad Pitt are you? So stop waiting for life to eat you alive and bite it in the ass first. Don't just seize the day... seize your life. It ain't over till it's over...

IT'S COMPLICATED... NOT REALLY

Why do we constantly put ourselves in situations that we regret later on? Why do we date people that are we know are toxic? Maybe it's a form of self-punishment or maybe we think this time will be different. It seems that although we know what turns us on and off, we ignore our instincts and hope for the best. Most women love to date the "bad boy" to make them feel alive or to have a more fiery connection with another person, but it usually ends in utter disaster. A bit of spice now and then is good for the soul but trying to make those moments usually instigated by a lover last a lifetime is wishful thinking. It's important that we remember that we alone can make ourselves feel that we are living as opposed to just floating through life. Don't look for another to make you feel complete. You have to make yourself feel worthy in order for another person to embellish what's already there. It takes two to tango but you've got to have the nerve to step onto the dance floor first.
Till next time...

REMEMBER... REMEMBER...

Amidst all the chaos and noise and corruption we have forgotten why we are here. This planet is a test... well it could be. Something more powerful than us that we cannot understand made our lives here possible. The problem is that we have nothing left to hope for, to love or to work for. There's so much darkness and sadness clouding this planet that we have no idea what life is all about. Greed. Power. Envy. Anger. Hate. Discrimination. Do you even remember what a good life is? Hundreds of years ago I'd be willing to bet my life that people were much happier. Life was simple and the age of technology and corrupt leaders hadn't even been born. We find ourselves fighting a battle that doesn't have anything to do with us. Stop and think for moment. What happened to finding your soulmate? What happened to visiting new countries and learning about the world? What happened in doing a job that satisfies you creatively and mentally? These are questions that have gone down the toilet like a dead goldfish because are minds have been intoxicated with believing that they are delusions. Well they're not. They're real and if you really tried to make them happen they will. You'll need a deep cleanse of your mind, body and soul first. We're drowning in a sea of hate but the beach is right there in front of us... just a few meters away. Sadly, life has persuaded us that it's just an illusion.
That is our tragedy...