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From the mind of critic: “If the eternal flame at JFK’s grave is meant to burn forever, what fuels it? Does piped in gas fuel the flame, like a home fireplace? Does, truth, justice, humanism and accountability fuel the flame, like a human who has found their true home? Does the physical manifestation of a philisophical concept help explain the unexplainable, or does it fog over real meaning, as we become lost in a sea of confusion? The ideals that JFK and the whole Kennedy family stood for, stands in stark contrast to our current leader. Just how Trump is far from perfect, the Kennedy’s weren’t perfect either. Are human imperfections represented by the eternal flame, or the will to overcome adversity, or does the flame plainly represent a simpler time? Gas might fuel the physical flame, but humanity fuels the reason the flame was put there in the first place. If we forget why our eternal flame of humanity is lit or how, it will surely burn out. If we not only remember our humanity but practice it on a daily basis, it will remain lit through any weather or government. How eternal our flame is, has always been up to us.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If the payoff is never as big as the hype, why do we buy in? Do we put more faith into what could be, or what actually is? Do we know we’re setting ourselves up for dissappointment, but move forward anyway, knowing this might be one of those anomalies we’ve always heard about, but never seen in practice? We’ve all heard the cliche, expect the worse so we never get dissapointed when things don’t work out. Where we go wrong is always expecting bad things to happen, so not only are we not prepared for good things to happen, but aren’t set up to sustain them either because we don’t believe they’re real. Once we realize that life becomes more balanced when we stop expecting and start accepting, we’ll see that not only will our attitude become more positive, but our perceptions will discover that good things can, and do happen. When we see payoffs and hype for the false pictures they paint, the true beauty of the world appears.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we think of ourselves as informed consumers, so our money is well spent, do we think of ourselves as informed humans, so our time is well spent? Do we assign the same value to money, as we do time? What do we view as more valuable? We can spend, waste, count, enjoy or create money, which is also the same for time. Niether concept is real, both only exist as real because we put our faith in them that they are real. Once we realize that money and time only control us because we allow them to, we’ll see that critical thinking gives us the ability to make our own decisions, and the knowledge to know the difference between fleeting happiness and long term joy. We can spend money, and we can spend time. We just have to ask ourselves, what’s more important, outer happiness or inner joy? Only our soul knows the answer.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we seperate the environment form the economy, can we save either? If we seperate security from freedom, can we have either? If we seperate human rights from black, latin, old, young, womens, lgbtq, poor and immigrant rights, can we acheive either? If we seperate individual needs from that of the group, will we be able to evolve either? United to stand, divided we fall is a universal norm, something everybody has said from presidents to Pink Floyd. We all have needs, wants, goals and dreams, and we all want to breathe free. We run into trouble when we think our needs or cause, is more important than somebody elses. Once we realize all of our causes deserve attention, but will only be solved when we see how they interact and play off other causes, we’ll see that what “we’re only successful when we’re all successful” really means, is being perceptive of our collective symbiosis. United we stand, or divided we fall, those are our only choices.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “In a world of micro-climates, how do we prepare for anything, when we have to prepare for everything? Do we overplan and strategize, coming up with every variable we believe could happen? Are we so overwhelmed that we don’t plan anything, because we don’t belive anything will happen? Do we belive extremes are the only way to express true emotions, because our greatest fear isn’t being wrong, but wishy-washy? Expecting the unexpecte…d, is like not looking for something, when we’re looking for something. We can’t just turn off emotions like a light switch, but we can use a dimmer, the same with life. Preperation helps, but it doesn’t negate having to act. Once we realize handling life’s micro-climates aren’t about over or under preparing, but about being truly open to what’s in front of our face, we’ll see true success means recognizing life’s moments for what they are, and then moving on to keep the flow going. Being open, means not being closed. Like .38 special said, hold on loosely, but don’t let go.”

From the mind of critic: “If we don’t see the forest for the trees, do we hate the player and not the game? Do we feel the player is the guily one, because they make up the game? Do we feel the game is at fault, because it requires people to be players just to survive? If we don’t hate players or games, and can see the entire forest and all the trees, have we accepted love, peace, kindness and gratitude as concepts to live by? There might be less forests of trees these days, but there are way more players and games than at any point in history. It can be hard to differentiate between what’s fake and trying to tear us down, and what’s real and trying to build us up. Once we realize that getting to know ourselves involves erecting filters to let good things in and to block hurtful ones, we’ll see that once we consciously try to make our soul sing, it will belt out opera quality melodies. It’s not so much hating the player or the game, it’s about deleting hate from our vocabulary, and reigniting the love and kindness we may have ignored. What will we be thankful for, love or hate? What will help us consciously evolve?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If 2 cultures are historical enemies, do newer generations know why? Are the stories they’re told the truth, or a subjective attempt to subvert critical thought? Do peoples’ who have been engaged in conflict for centuries want peace, but are cynical of its success because of countless failures? Does blazing a new trail require destruction of paths to nowhere? Whether it’s a culture who has acheived its own country after many wars, or a culture who is still fighting for one, everybody wants to live in peace. Worn out cliches only dissappear, when we stop placing our faith in them. Once we see each other in ourselves, we’ll realize that whether somebody is Israeli or Palestinian, Indian or Pakistani, Sunni or Shiite, Hmong, Kurd, Catalon, Roma, Rohinja or others dying to breathe free, that conflict only exists because we say it does. Violence and darkness is replaced by peace and love, only once we realize that when we kill each other, we’re really killing ourselves.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If great things happen when we least expect them, do terrible things happen when we do expect them ? Do good things happen when we half expect them, and half not? If we have no expectations, how do we know what to strive toward? Knowing, figuring out and moving forward is hard enough, without expecting something to happen. Maybe the idea is honing in on what we want, and building up our soul and light energy so much, that we can’t help… but share it with others so they can build themselves up. Once we realize that expectations are based on what’s in our head, instead of the reality of our dreams and actions on the ground, we’ll see that letting go of outcomes will dis-assemble the biggest roadblock to our enlightenment. Whether it’s finding success, or finding that heart connection that makes our soul sing imploring us to be a better person, great things will happen if we’re open to them, not expecting them.”

From thge mind of critic: “If we don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk, while saying do as I say not as I do, are we just trying to cover our ass? Is plausable deniability the only path toward success our system allows? If we tell kids they must take actions if they talk, but then tell them to only pay attention to our words not our actions, is it any wonder that this generation is taking longer to move forward? Without talk, there is no action, but without talk, actions don’t mean a damn thing. Maybe that’s it, actions and words have much less effect by themselves, but whose power is exponentially magnified when working off each other. Once we realize that words and actions aren’t the only things in life more powerful when working in symbiosis, we’ll see that we as human beings first and foremost, are way more powerful when we work together than seperately. We can affect much more positive change, when we don’t get hung up on one word or action, but on the entire human pscyhe. Once we view each other as people, we’ll not only be talking the talk and walking the walk, but will be letting everybody they should do as we say and as we do.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’re relaxing our day away and there’s a knock at the door, do we open it without a second thought, whether or not we’re expecting somebody? Do we look through the peephole to make sure it’s not an armed crazy? Do we move with hesitancy because of no peephole? Do we continue leaving our feet up until the person stops knocking, and stops interrupting our chi? Does the door knock wake us from a sound sleep, making us question whether it’s a dream or reality? Being open to opportunities, does not mean being a doormat. We are bombarded constantly with things we should be doing or experiencing, cascading over us whether we’re ready or not. Once we realize being open to everything is vital in acknowledging opportunities, but filtering out the bad and keeping the good is crucial in proving viability, we’ll see we have to answer whenever opportunity knocks, to even have a chance at building ourselves up. An unexpected guest may roust us from slumber, but they also may be the answer we’ve been looking for.” 🙂