Blog

From the mind of critic: “If we’re more loving, more tolerant, more caring, more peaceful and more giving this time of year, why is that? Do we feel some kind of warmth that smothers us in so many cookies, decorations and eggnog, that we just have to share it with others so they can feel it too? Or do we spread more joy this time of year, because we see how much we neglect it during our entire year’s interactions, that we feel we have to play catch up? There is so much to be thankful for, so much beauty and so many good people, it is fairly easy to find the lightif we try. At the same time, there is so muich darkness, that it will bleed into everything we see, hear, touch, smell and sense if we let it. Maybe certain things are hard if we’ve never done them before, or if we haven’t had much practice. The more we do it, the better we get. The more we talk with others, treat them like we would like to be treated and remember that we’re all in this together, the less abnormal and weird it will feel around the holidays. This time of year is filled with much joy, wonder and love, there is no better feeling in the world. Except feeling that way all year long. Think of how many problems we could solve, weliterally have nothing to lose. except negativity and hate, And who wouldn’t want to do that?”:)

From the mind of critic: “If we finally have a chance to let go of what doesn’t serve us and what hasn’t served us for eons, will we take it? Will the process of letting go get stifled, because the process of letting go involves recognizing each and every thing we wanna let go of, and it’s to much for us to take because it slaps us in the face, with every problem we’ve ever kicked down the road? Or will we roll with the punches because we realize we have to deal with uncomfortable things we don’t like, if we wanna get to a place that is comfortable and that we do like? Donald Trump becoming our 45th president was a surprsie to some, and not to others. This division does not fall on party lines, it falls on realists and fakists. Those of us who see what’s going on in front of our face without a partisan and pre-concieved lensens, and ethos of us who see through rose colored glasses. I’m not here to argue with people who think the world is 6000 years old, or those that think the 50s were great for everybody. No, I’m here to say we’ve made it pretty far in our evolution of race and class, but we’re only about halfway. Just because we have a black president, gay marriage and medical pot in half of our states, doesn’t mean problems have dissappeared. it just means those problems have evolved into a racist, bigoted and religous force (who fight tooth and nail against any positive change) have put Trump into office. Not all people who voted for him are racists and bigots, but you can’t tell me that they didn’t believe most of what he said, and what he promised. And if they did, they are being disproven ten fold before he even takes office, filling the swamp to capacity rather than draining it. The unconstitutional corruption that will permeate every nook and cranny of government in the next few years is a turning point for all of us. will we actually see what’s going on in front of our face, and act on that, or some blind and/ or dark partisan fantasy we’ve built up in our heads? Our bright or bleak future depends on it” 🙂

From the mind of critic: If uttering Happy Holidays during the month of December is how we recognize all cultures, how come the imagery behind the words tell a different story? If christmas trees, songs, outfits, music, cookies, wreaths, holly and santa are the background, are we trying to obscure what we really wanna say? Or are we giving the ultimate in token responses by making it sound like we’re supportive, while also making it abundantly obvious what r…eligion we are? Being proud of our culture and where we came from is never a bad thing. However, we can run into trouble when we think our culture is better than all others. We may think any representation is an attack on our own culture, even if it is no more than two simple words. This may cause us to insert as much of our culture in, just shy of saying the actual words. There is no more a war on christmas, then a war on hanukah or kwanzaa. People wanna be heard and feel like they matter, just like we do. To even have a chance of throwing the shackels off of being fake people because we think it’s the only way to succeed, we must be honest in our speech. Meaning, the words Merry Chrsitmas should be the only ones with christmas imagery behind it. While the words Happy Holidays should only include images of all holidays. We are either inclusive people, or we’re not. Infinite conflict is assured with half truths and the least of efforts. Infinite peace is assured if we bare the authenticity of our soul. Say Merry Christmas if you really mean Merry Christmas, and say Happy Holidays if you really mean Happy Holidays. Just dont say bullshit and dress it up as roses, it will devolve us all”

From The Mind Of Critic: “If we believe the world would be a lot better off if everybody spoke their mind and were truthful about their emotions, are we prepared for the outcome? Will we battle with others whom we don’t agree with until one of us falls, making the issues we have 10 times worse because we hid them for so long? Or will we battle, but just as in the five stages of grief, will we eventually come to acceptance because we were able to honestly express how we feel to each other, not how we think we would cause less conflict? Honesty and trust are the biggest things in any relationship, whether it is between lovers, friends, families, communities or governments. Maybe we don’t trust the government because we don’t trust each other. However, we could be as honest as possible when we express ourselves, but if we’re not listening to what the other side says, we will simply be waiting for our turn to talk, which won’t solve anything. Once we realize that letting go of what doesn’t serve us is only possible when we recognize it first, we’ll see that to collectively let go of things that have been plaguing us for generations, we must recognize them first. Talking and listening only work in tandem” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If jews and muslims are so different, how come the countless things they have in common, are pushed aside in favor of their few differences? If blacks and whites, mexicans and whites, asians and whites, arabs and whites, muslims and hindus, muslims and christians, jews and christians, muslims and buddhists, hindus and buddhists, americans and europeans, americans and africans, africans and europeans, middle easterners and africans, gays and straights, young and old, if we’re all so different from each other, how come we focus on the 10% of things we don’t agree on, instead of the 90% of things we do? Is it because it’s what we’ve always done, and we’ve grown comfortable with it even though we know it’s detrimental to our personal evolution, so we stay with what we know, instead of what is unknown even if we know we’d benefit? Or do we stay using old stereotypes because we believe they’re true, and the people that won’t admit that, are the ones blinding themselves and holding up progress? There are probably a milluion different reasons that differ from person to person on why we focus on our differences, instead of our sames. Maybe we’re scared of things we don’t know, which turns into hate because we think these people who don’t look, act or believe like us are out to do us harm. Maybe we’re not used to interacting, let alone conversating with people that are on the other side of the political and/or religoues spectrum than us. Maybe we know change is hard, and it’s so much easier to say something once in a while, but then go back to the same old thing we’ve always done. Once we realize that our different ethnicities, looks, religions, sexual prefernces and politics is what makes us unique not different, we’ll see that we may all have different paths to the light, but it’s the same light. I could go down the list of all the similarities of these supposed opposing groups, but it would take a book in and of itself. I’ll just say that most generational and inbedded conflicts can be solved by realizing we all wanna be loved, respected and honored. Only then can we flip the conversation to start from where we agree. and work and evolve from there” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If the world doesn’t revolve around us, who does it revolve around? Is the fact that we create our own reality, mean we create our own world, which in turn means our world revolves around us, just like everybody else’s world revolves around them? Or does the world simply revolve around the sun, and any attempt to correlate it to our emotional and mental maturity, is like putting human names, faces, characteristics, personalities and aspirations on animal cartoon characters, basically a way to make them more easily relatable to our daily lives? We’ve all heard from family, friends, coworkers or romantic partners that we aren’t the center of the universe, and the world doesn’t revolve around us. While this might be done to tap down our ego, so we don’t think we and everything we have to do is the most important thing for all of us, it can also have an extremely negative effect if we don’t take it the next step. Once we realize that creating our own reality means creating our own destiny, we’ll see that the next step is unique for all of us, because it involves finding our place, purpose and passion, which can only come when we see that we’re the center of our universe. Being centered and grounded can be how we find our place in the microcausum of the macrocausum. The universe doesnt revolve around us, specifically because it’s made up of our individual universe’s that do revolve around us. However, if we fail to see this collective struggle as what unites us in the idea that we’re all the same deep down, we won’t see how we’re all interconnected, and how our success is tied to everybody else’s financial, mental, and moral success. The world might not revolve around us, but the world does revolve around ALL of us” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If there is always light at the end of the tunnel, if it is always coldest and darkest before the dawn, is it mandatory that it be cold, dark and strenuous before the light? Are we required by the unwritten rules of the universe to endure hardships, adveristy, persecution, extreme odds and danger before we’re even considered worthy of the light? Or all of us deserved of light, but some of us just have harder and more extreme paths to get there? Gaining motivation to help us push forward on our journey can be quite an accomplishment, until we figurre out that sustaining that motivation is more challenging, because it’s how we enact many of the goals we attempt to describe. Sometimes we hit roadblocks that are placed from the outside and some from the inside, but this is when picturing the light overpowering the darkness can be useful. If we don’t picture the good times and how they have been and most importantly how they will be implemented, how do we ever expect to make it through the bad times? All of us have the blues from time to time, that’s normal. We all have our crosses to bare and our battles to fight, it’s how we react to them that matters. We could get lost in the darkness and swallowed up, or we could push through because the slivers of light we see when we’re paying attention, are examples of what’s to come. We might also believe that light only exists amongst the darkness, and if we feel light during times that aren’t completely terrible, it must be fake. Many of us have lessons to learn so we can be honest, open and conscious people. We just have varying degrees of darkness we must overcome that appear in infinite ways. We must remember to never put somebody down if they’re further behind in the process than us. To create light, we have to be light, it will attract others and prove we don’t need a tunnel, we could be living in light right now. It is our choice, we just have to figure out if light or dark is better for fulfilling our dreams” 🙂

From the mind of critic: If we walk by a disheveled, sunburnt, unshaven, dirty clothed, dirty faced and foul smelling person on a street corner begging for change and think there but for the grace of god go I, is it because we think we have no control over our upward mobility? Do we believe god, spirit or some other outside force is the determining factor between us being devoid of the physical, mental and financial attributes it takes to be a contributing member of society? Or do we know all the hard work and struggle that we’ve put in just to get to place we’re at, even if it is barely enough to get by, and know all our progress and forward movement can be taken away on the whim of a power broker? Times are tough, hard work alone doesn’t get us as far as it used to, there aren’t many jobs, companies love to move their operations overseas because they know american workers will never work for $100 a month, these are statements we all could agree with no matter what side of the political spectrum we find ourselves on. However, some of us still believe that it’s all out of our hands, that no matter what we do, how hard we work or push for progress, an all knowing force is the only one that says who is homeless and who isn’t, and who is successful and who isn’t. Maybe we all believe it can all be taken away either by captains of religion, or captains of industry. Maybe some of us work hard knowing it can be taken away, but do it anyway, because we know that sometimes it isn’t taken, and sometimes we discover that we still have the ability to surprise ourselves. Whether it is the grace of god or the grace of fascists, life is short and temporary. As long as we put our full effort forward, we should never, ever feel ashamed. None of us are ever above anybody else” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If bringing people together is so difficult, and so above and beyond anything we believe is possible, how come when actual truth is spoken, people always gather round? Are we just waiting for that one person or that one thing that truly speaks to our soul to introduce itself? Or are we so tired and worn out from a majority of the system being so fake for so long, that we will follow anything that sounds remotely positive? We are a…ll random individual snowflakes, moving about in a fog of chaos trying to make sense of it, finding and carving out our little corner so we can survive. We are also all human being beings that are trying to leave a mark, to take care of ourselves and our family, to be good people, to count, to matter and to have purpose. We are all different, and we are all the same. When we journey forward whether consciously or unconsciously, we are looking for help, guides, signs and symbols that will help explain the world. Sometimes we get divided by a power structure that has been in power for hundreds and thousands of years, and knows it’s losing its grip. Sometimes we gather because we just can’t take the bullshit anymore, and band together because our previous conceptions about religion, race, gender and sexual orientation, pales in comparison to the importance of building the world we wanna see, and not just endlessly talking about it. Sometimes we let go of our ignorance long enough to see that the only thing holding us back from rising up, and throwing off our shackels is us. We have all been lied to, but we have also all been told alot of truths. We simply have to open our eyes and ears so our heart can take in all the love and beauty of the world, even if our mind has tricked us into thinking it isnt there. It is there, we just have to use it for collective uplift, because it is the only true motivation”

From the mind of critic: “If politicians continually look to enrich themselves as they gain more experience, is it because the rest of us also look to enrich ourselves as we gain more experience? Does all the game playing, lying and scheming that polticians do affect how we go about our daily lives? Or does all our game playing, lying and scheming affect how politicians go about their daily lives? Whether we effect poltiics more than politics effects us, ca…n be hard to seperate given our current climate. More people seem to be paying attention to what’s going on, and seem to have thoughts and questions about what our political system is doing, and about the leaders we have elected. However, if all the questions aren’t folowed up by actions because they’re thought of to be the actions themselves, then nothing is really gonna change because questions can be deferred, but actions can’t. When action is taken, it can be ignored but only for so long, until reaction is a guarantee. When questions are asked but not followed up on, they can be ignored until people forget about their importance. Once we realize that all the games we play and all the games politicians play are the same exact game, we’ll see that politicians might have much more money, power and influence than us, but if we had the same money, power and influence, we would be doing the same thing. Politicians are only human, just like the population. If we want them to be less evil and corrupt, we must be less evil and corrupt. Politicians aren’t different from us, they are us. Being the change we wanna see will not only change our lives, but will filter throughout the entire planet. It all starts with us being kind”