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From the mind of critic: “If we move with whichever way the wind blows, we seemingly have no control, but who or what controls the wind? Is it some unseen and invisible yet all knowing and all powerful force, who makes the wind blow whyever, and whenever he or she feels like it? Are there increasingly stronger and more frequent winds because of man-made climate change, which makes us the entity who controls which way the wind blows, whether or not we’re cognizant of the ability? Are there other things we think we have no control over, when really we not only control every aspect, we thought up the design? The ingrained fallacy of going whichever way the wind blows as a metaphor for floating through life without control, reveals even more layers when we realize we do have control, but are apathetic and complacent. The first step in our collective evolution is not only discovering that we control the wind, but that we are the wind. Thinking for ourselves can be hard, but gets easier with practice.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “Do politics make us forget disasters, or do disasters make us forget politics? Does the permanent campaign get interupted by mass devastation, or does the flood of humanity overtake ego in the eye of a category 5? Does money overshadow critical thinking, or does critical thinking question the need for money? The ongoing debate of whether having nothing or everything shows true character, will rage until we allow our humanity to remain long after a diasters aftermath. What makes the determination difficult, is deciphering whether political rhetoric is genuine or staged when destruction and tragedy hits. Is there a way to discuss the symptoms of a disease, and what led to a stage 4 prognosis so future cases can be prevented, without taking away from human suffering? Once we realize that people will listen to others talking to them, but not at them, we’ll see that politization of disaster and tragedy only happen when humanity is removed from the equation. There will always be somebody who says we’re polticizing, no matter what we do. If we don’t feel comfortable discussing root causes while a disaster or tragedy is playing out, but insist on waiting till some arbitrary point down the line, we must ask ourselves, do we want to prevent tragedy, or feed tragedy? Solutions are only disgestible when issues are fresh, not after they’ve gone stale.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we wave at random strangers walking down the street, do we have a hidden agenda? Do we wave at some, while avoiding others by not making eye contact? Are we waving at our fellow humans, because they’re journeying , just like we’re journeying? Do we wave becuase it’s a direct and personal interaction we can initiate, in an increasingly impersonal world? Do we wave simply because it’s how our parents and grandparents taught us to be neighborly? If we’ve ever been fishing, or been on a boat, we’ve waved at strangers whether we remember or not. We know why, it’s friendly, neighborly, human, and it’s a way to signal to others that we’re here, you’re there, and we can help each other out if need be. Once we realize that waving at others fisherman or boaters, is just like waving in regular life and for the same reasons, we’ll see that the more we wave at fellow humans, the more human we become. Personal interactions are the little things that make life worth living. Sometimes when we wave people ignore, don’t acknowledge, wave back, and sometimes they even smile back. Isn’t somebody we don’t know making us randomly smile, while we make them randomly smile, the solution to most of the world’s problems?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If 2 different paths meet, do they intersect, or are they strangers passing in the night? Do paths inherently change because of environment and politics, let alone other paths which influence it’s direction and purpose? Do paths wear blinders by moving at the same speed, and in the same direction, no matter the stimuli? Do paths guide themselves, or do the people traveling them determine their destiny? The paths we travel can zig-zag, fork, paraleel, detour, influence and be influenced, and that’s only the paths within our journey. Once we realize that the other 7 billion people on earth travel multiple paths as well, we’ll see our paths will always intersect and influence others, and vice versa. We influence and get influenced, that’s just how the world works. The more we pay attention, the more control we’ll have. The more control we have, the more we’ll realize that we can’t control everything, except our reactions. As long as we keep the good and leave the bad, it won’t matter how often our paths cross. In fact, the more our paths meet, the more opportunities we’ll have to build each other up, and isn’t that the point of everything?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’ve already learned the lesson of being grateful for what we have while we have it, and not waiting till it’s gone, are things still taken away? Do lessons keep repeating themselves, until we’ve evolved past simply learning them, and integrated them into our routine to such an extent that their normal? If these lessons keep slapping us in the face, do we ask why us, or do we ask what now? With Harvey, and now Irma, we might be asking why these increasingly powerful storms, are happening with more frequency. The answer lies somwhere between the difference of wondering why, and asking why. When we start asking why, causes begin to emerge. Once we realize that causes are easy to figure out when politics are taken out of the equation, and humanity put in, we’ll see that we learn lessons when we consciously take actions the lessons are illuminating. Learning lessons are the first step, and making them our action plan is the next. Lessons stop smacking us in the face, when we stop letting fear and ignorance fog over our humanity.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’re consciously and confidently journeying on our path toward enlightenment, but take a few side trails toward the darkness, how do we find our way back to the light? Do we remember we started in the darkness, and left it behind by entering the light? Do we feel like, well since we blew it, we might as well really blow it, and make the darkness our permanent home? We all stray from our path from time to time, it is a very human thing to not be perfect. Once we realize no matter how much light (friends, family, love gratitude) surrounds us, darkness (sabotage, self-doubt, ignorance, self-pity and chasing the dragon of known fleeting happiness) will always be there, we’ll see that the more we defend against darkness with love and gratitude, the shorter our turn around time will be. Blinders aren’t a cure for getting side tracked, love and gratitude are the cure we can access anytime.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’ve boiled down what we want to three things, do we organize our routine so we acheive those three things? Is our life easier, because we know where to steer our actions? Is our life harder, because we only want to go after our three things, neglecting everything else? Can we find a happy medium, where going after our three things doesnt make us neglect anything else, but enhances what’s really worth our time? Many of us struggle t…o discover what we’re passionate about, that when we finally do discover it, we’re so exhausted that we stay static. The key, is that discovery is only the first step, then comes planning and action. Once we realize that the true meaning of “life is a journey”, is that we set our sights on what we want, then move consciously forward, we’ll see that we can achieve our goals by negating any actions that aren’t our three things, but to enjoy our journey, we can’t wear blinders, but see panorama. We might really want success, to leave a mark and to find love, but the only thing we can guarantee is failure if we don’t take advantage of conscious effort and passion. Is there anything we could be more grateful for, then discovering and then going after what makes our soul sing?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’re all just links in the chain of life, if we’re all just dust in the wind, and if we’re all just bricks in the wall, does anything we do matter? If we dislodge ourselves from the chain, wind and wall, does it effect structural integrity one iota? Do links, bricks and dust simply get replaced if missing, or if enough are elusive, does major restructuring occur? Some of us may think one person can’t change the world, but enough “one persons” can. Once we realize that if enough people stop believing in the prevailing wisdom of the status quo, and stood up to make positive and conscious change that it would work, we’ll discover that we might actually get off our asses and do something. We might only be links, dust and bricks, but without our support, the chain, wind and wall wouldn’t exist.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “With all the darkness and dense fog that covers our road ahead, how do we move forward? Do we go balls to the wall, plowing forward at breakneck speed without regard for safety? Does the fog make us choose a different route, but since the fog is covering all routes, we just sit stagnet? Is there a middle ground, where we move forward with determination, but strategically, so we get where we want to go, but don’t hurt ourselves or others in the process? The 24-7 365 deluge of mis-information we endure, can fog over any path forward we choose, the key word being CAN. Once we realize that our critically thinking mind and loving and kind soul are our fog lights, we’ll see that no matter how dense the fog is, we can always move forward, if we choose to move forward. Fog only exists as an impediment, if we allow it to fog over our humanity.” 🙂