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From the mind of critic: “If we’re riding around in a boat and it springs a leak, do we keep riding along oblivious to the leak? Do we know about the leak, but think it’ll fix itself if we go about our business and pretend it isn’t there? Do we try to fix the leak by drilling more holes in the boat, hoping the new leaks take attention away from the old ones? Or do we fix the leak by plugging it, because we know too many leaks make the boat sink? No government is air tight, no matter how much officals say it is. Usually the more they mention there isn’t leaks, means there is a greater possibility of leaks. When nefarious, criminal, evil and despicable acts are committed by people in office or by those that aspire to be, the more they scheme to cover it up. The more sinister the scheme, the more likely somebody’s conscious down the line isn’t going to let them continue, so they leak and spill the beans. Then the office holders deny the leak, then they try to distract from it. This distraction is done by leaking other things, to pull attention away from the original leaks. Like the 3 stooges though, water doesn’t drain out of a leak, by creating more leaks. It makes the boat sink under a wall of water. We can fix leaks by fixing what caused them, or by addressing what leaked. The more we pay attention to what’s in front of us, the less time we spend on a leaky boat. Do we want to float on a sea of truth, or be crushed udner the weight of it?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If polls show a majority of people support something, that the democratically elected leader of their country vehemnetly disagrees with, is it because the people who voted in polls, didn’t vote in elections? Do we all love complaining to anybody who will listen, but are too lazy to do anything about it? Or do we all want our egos stroked by people asking what we think, but don’t care if we’re heard when nobody is stroking our ego every 4 years on the first Tuesday in November, because we’re just checking a box? Many of us don’t see a point in voting, because we don’t think it matters. There are many countries around the world that have 70-80% of their populations vote, who in turn end up electing leaders who more often than not agree with what that elected leader says. If we in America voted at the 70 or 80% level instead of the 30% that we do, not only would leaders espouse policies more closely aligned with the majority, but many of the ingrained generational issues we can’t get past would be solved, because we’d be standing up on a consistent basis, instead of spewing our opinion to some ego stroker, thinking it’s gonna change something. We all have a right to complain whether we vote or not, that’s what makes us American. We just can’t expect our complaints to have any resolution, if we aren’t willing to follow up. Solutions require work, not simply complaining” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’re suppossed to not judge a book by its cover, but the cover entices us to either read the book or choose another, how do we balance the two? Do we not judge a book by it’s whole cover but only its title, so we’re not judging the outside packaging, but the name of the packaging? Or do we look at the cover without judgment, because we’re saving our judgement for the pages in the books interior? Is there a tangible difference between judgement and prejudgment? Whether we judge somebody before getting to know them or after, we’re still judging them. It seems the problem we constantly face, is being pegged as something we’re not. The problem with judging somebody by the content of their character, is we’re still judging them. Regardless of the type of person somebody is, and regardless of our beliefs, judgement is way above any of our pay grades. Yes, there are good, bad and middle of the road people out there, but unless we know every single thing about somebody, including all their idiosynchrocies which they themselves might not be fully aware about, we have no place to judge. If our collective goals in life are to treat others how we’d like to be treated, then we must treat everyone with love and understanding, because we don’t know their full life experience. It’s not so much that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we shouldn’t judge a book, period” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “Whether we like burnt toast or light toast, we still like toast right? Whether we like black coffee or coffee with cream, we still like coffee right? Whether we like devils food cake or angels food cake, we still like cake right? Whether we like chocolate ice cream or vanilla, we still like ice crream right? Some would argue that our whole system of government is based on hypocritcal designs. Some would argue that all new organisms have trouble with adapation, mutation and evolution. Whatever side we find ourselves on, we must remember we’re all human, and are all going after the same basic things. Maybe we think it’s okay to put somebody down, for liking a different form of the same thing we like. Whether it’s an issue of saying one thing and doing another, or ignorance of the “other”, we wade through our own hypocrisy on a daily basis. That’s not to say we shouldn’t express what we like, quite the contrary. We should express what we like, it not only makes life worth living, but also instills in us the ability to stand up for what we believe in. We run into trouble when we think what we believe in, is more important than what somebody else believes, not realizing they’re two sides of the same coin. If we’re sick and tired of hypocrisy to the point that it makes us ill, do we realize the cure is continously looking in the mirror?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we know our plants won’t live without water, and we don’t have any water because of drought, do we take what little water others have to use for ourselves? Do we try to fix the drought, by conserving what fluids we recieve through extremely crude filters and flanges? Or do we try to usher in rain through not only prayers and rain dances, but by being courageously vigilant in finding out why the drought happened, and what exactly we can do so we never allow it to happen again? When we find ourselves un-knowledgable about a certain topic, event, religion or culture, there can be many paths we can take. We can get mad at the poeple that have more knowledge than us, because we see them as being pompous, jerk know it alls. We can get mad at the people who have less knowledge than us, because we view them as no talent, know nothings. We can also see others at various knowledge levels, and understand that if we want to gain more knowledge, we don’t have to take or be taken, we gain by sharing. Once we realize that we never have to feel threatened, intimidated, egotistical or narcisstic when comparing our smarts to others, we’ll see that labeling, seperating and grouping ourselves along idelogical and intellectual lines, makes us all dumber because it’s like we’re saying, it’s okay to be stagnant and we don’t need to know anymore. Our plants can’t live without water, like we can’t live without knowledge. We just have to remember that whether we’re watering our plants or our souls to sustain life, to replenish doesn’t take away from others, it adds to others. If we admit that we don’t care if we know stuff, we’re admitting that we don’t care if we’re controlled” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “Is money is the root of all evil, or is evil the root of all money? Does money always come from evil deeds, or does evil always come from the procurement of money? Is it always one way, or always the other? Or do reactions change because of history, upbringings, moods and ego and self-esteem levels? Money exists as a tangible entity because we put our faith in it. If we didn’t put our faith in little pieces of plastic and little pieces of green paper, it would be shells and rocks, or some other natural resource we would assign value to so we can guage wealth and social class. Evil exists because it balances out good and evil, which evil doesn’t dissappear if we lose faith in it, but does shrink in to insignificance. Maybe seperating people into rich and poor is an evil act, but maybe it’s an act that is done with money and wealth in mind. The more poor people that are controlled, the more money is made. Maybe the real issue isn’t money and evil, but being human and being inhuman. Once we realize that money can be used for good, and allow humanism to be unleashed amongst exponential darkness, and that it’s pretty hard to be evil and human at the same time, we’ll see that as long as we’re human to each other, money and/or evil will never take over the lightest part of our soul. Money is only the root of all evil, if evil is the intent” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If a tree loses its leaves, flowers and small branches in the fall, is it gonna die? Is the fall season about losing the old, clearing the way for new growth in the springtime? Or is the tree just delaying the inevitable, and dying in little bits and pieces before its ultimate demise? We all shed things that don’t serve us from time to time, with or without our knowledge. Like a snake that sheds its skin or a dog that sheds its fur, so to must we shed our insecurities, negativity and ignorance to make room for new growth.These new sprouts not only keep us fresh, vibrant and with it, they also kees us evolving and adapting as the environment changes all around us, and away from everything we thought we knew. In the business world, they say you’re either growing or dying. In the human world, we might not die from not growing, but we will wilt away into a nothingness soup of insignificance and regret. We all wanna grow and become the people of our dreams, to make that possible we muist cut off eveyrthing dragging us down, specifically to make room for everything that builds us up. A tree might lose foliage, but new growth will be brighter and more vibrant if allowed to flourish” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If good things can feel bad and bad things can feel good, how do we decide what’s uplifting and what’s detrimental? If the truth hurts beyond words, yet ignorance breeds joy that’s indescribable, does being truthful with our feelings make us sadistic human beings that take pleasure in torturing ourselves? Or does being truthful hurt because it requires critical and pragmatic thought focused toward what we want, instead of staying in the comfortable cocoon of a rut we’ve built for ourselves, where we don’t have to think or act, only react to what others do? The truth hurts is such an old concept that all of us have experienced it at multiple times in our life whether because of something we did, or somebody else. Sometimes we shy away from our true feelings, because we’re scared of their outcomes. Sometimes we’re so close to acheiving something we want we can taste it, but once we’re truthful to and about ourselves, it pulls us further away. We then question whether we’re being truthful to ourselves by being honest about what we want, or are self-sabotaging this wonderful, awesome and amazing thing, because it’s only 85% of what we want. This is when we must question if that 15% of things overshadows, the 85% of things we love. Does this 15% of things include what drives us, what we’re passionate about, and what brings us the most joy? When 85% of something is amazing and the best thing that has happened to us in a long time, but does not include what we’re passionate about, nor the intellectual, philisopical, political, historical and bettering the world conversation that makes us excited and practically high, do we still do it? Life can be very tricky, meanings and definitions can quickly flip around. The truth might hurt, but the pain is only temporary, and gives way to long term joy. Critical thought and self-reflection is the only path forward. Unless we take a false path backward, once we discover what the truth actually is” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If mechanics are good at diagnosing and fixing car problems, is it because they studied long and hard in hopes of one day becoming successful? Are mechanics born without this knowledge, and so have to consciously think, seek out and apply it, and after much practice are able to see how much it improves the overall health and longevity of the car? Or are mechanics special human beings amongst a small group, which have been tasked with not only fixing their own car, but friends, family, and aquaintances as well, because they realize after much heartache and strife, that the vast majority of the human species either doesn’t know or doesn’t care how to work on their own car, always expecting somebody else to do the work or pick up the slack? It always is, always has been and always will be true that we know ourselves better than anybody else. However, we can always become more knowldgeable if we want to. If we want to know how we tick, what we like, what we don’t like, where we’d like to go or why we feel sad, unproductive and like we’re not worthy, we must do the inner work to find out. If something is wrong with us physically, we go to a doctor, something wrong mentally, we go to a shrink. Once we realize that we analyze ourselves before we seek outside help, we’ll see that the better we know ourselves, the more we can fix our own issues. The more we can fix our own issues, the more we can fix our own issues, ourselves, and the less we ask for help. That’s not to say we’ll never need help, a facet of true knoweldge is not being so proud as to not ask for help when we need it. We must remember we aren’t born with knowledge, it’s gained through experience. To gain that experience, we have to allow it to happen. To live a more fulfilling life, we have to consciously act. Mechanics are good at fixing cars, because they consciously try to fix cars. The more conscious we are, the more joyful we are, it’s that simple” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If clear, hold and build is employed regularly as a military strategy, would it work as a civilian strategy as well? If a soldier is taught to clear enemies out of an area, hold the area by defending it against those enemies trying to wrestle control back, and then build up the area into a vibrant and productive community, could civilians be taught to clear out negativity, sabotage and self-imposed roadblocks out of their mind, hold it by defending against negativity and sabotage trying to steal away new found self confidence and self love, and then build their mind and psyche up by working their passion, filling their cup with beauty and kindness, and living and enjoying each day to it’s fullest by being open and honest about what’s in front of them, so they can enjoy the full breadth of the human experience? Or is military and civilian life completely seperate, because civilian life is about humanizing to become better people, and military life is about dehumanizing to kill people in war as an absolute last resort? Humans become soldiers and vice versa, just like politicians. Just like how we clean up political life by cleaning up our personal life, it’s the same with military life. But like life, we have to let go of the bad and keep the good. Becoming conscious, defending that consciousness, and then building on it will help us acheive all our dreams. Where we run into problems is when we try to hold and defend our new found consciousness, and build on it to be more open and fulfilled, before we clear out all our crap. Once we realize that letting go isn’t a one time thing but a constant process, we’ll see we can’t wait till all our negativity is gone before we raise our consciousness, or we’ll waiting for Godot till the cows come home. Clear, hold and build can work in civilian life, we just can’t wait to clear everything until we start holding and building or we’ll never evolve” 🙂