The Romantic philosophers and writers, both British and American, whose ideas and works I value, had several galvanizing concepts, not the least of which is the significance of the purity and insight of youth. Yesterday, I wrote about a dream involving a nine year old boy who, in my dream, was thought to be developmentally disabled. However, at the very end of the dream, I knew he was not.
I knew it because of the eye contact; both his eyes and his lips smiled at me when I realized two messages he wanted me to receive. One involved the way I value my own work. The other concerned my thoughts about how so many grievous societal issues can be solved, if done through the eyes of a child, eyes filled with the purist wisdom that exists. While children often would not be able to explain why they feel or react they way they do, they exhibit honest reactions and insight, unadulterated. I’m neither saying they are perfect nor that they don’t lie; I am referring to the natural reactions when they are confronted by situations. For instance, kids know within minutes if a teacher likes them or not. I have heard teachers justify themselves in circles about how and why they don’t like a kid, but they don’t say that to the kid. They don’t need to. Kids see through the bullshit, clear it away, and deal with it. So, how does this fit in with my dream and the message. A childlike understanding of all the shit that goes into making up any institution, organization, corporation, government, religion, or any such category would see that they are all extensions of the aggregate of individuals who make up that entity. And they should deal with people as such — person to person. Instead, legislation, regulations, by-laws, blah, blah, blah are used to hide individuals who wish to control and manipulate others. What in the hell are you talking about, Mike? This is what I’m talking doubt: anyone who has power does not get to hide behind privilege of a facade of a formal or informal entity or laws and bear no responsibility to those duped or mistreated or injured. Follow this with a big NOT — NOT if they are going to walk honestly in the fellowship of the heart and know peace, joy, love, and significant, fulfilling, meaningful relationships and achievements. Oh, the power players can paint pretty pictures of their lives and how noble and righteous they are, but childlike wisdom cuts through it all. Deal honestly, person to person; deal in care, compassion, and love; deal with laws when it is required; deal with truth and honesty in exposing anything that needs exposing. Oh, you would like an example? I was going to give one, anyway. Standing Rock, the Dakota Sioux Reservation, and the travesty occurring there now. The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal government, a mega-corporation, and politicians who owe favors bent on an ostensible goal of nobly freeing America from dependence on foreign oil would insist what they are doing is legal and best for the masses. Other ways to go, assholes. Too harsh? Not as harsh as continuing to subjugate a people who should have never been confined to a reservation to begin with, and all these years later, these power players would take even more away from the Native Americans. The Army Corp and the corporation using a private little army to intimidate and invalidate the rights of these people is not legal, righteous, or noble. I would call them cowards, but they are not. They are far worse than that. They are oligarchs who value wealth, control, and power over relationships and humanity, and they stop at nothing to establish their goals. These are the marks of egomaniacs, and there is nothing noble or righteous about such people. Make no mistake, it is people, individuals acting in Ego, denying Heart, not laws, procedures, or phony offerings of any kind that motivate their inhumanities. The life energies and Spirit of the past are being echoed at Standing Rock today. While the situation has changed — supposedly a more advanced, wonderful, progressive society — human factors are no different: Heart or Ego. All of us act through both agencies at different times, but the true evil manifests when those in these informal conspiracies, hiding under ill-conceived, egoic regulations, actively dismiss their Heart. Their problem and the greatest destruction lies within themselves. I can expose them, speak in defense and support of others, and be angry about it, but I don’t need to condemn them or take up arms against them. They are condemned by their own Heart while they believe they are winning. However, let me expose a bit more based on one passage going back to the earliest initial contacts of the English with the natives. In the early years of the 17th century, Powhatan, leader of a confederacy of 32 tribes, and one whose leadership allowed the English to establish the Jamestown settlement, called bullshit when he saw it — the English coming with their superior power: “Why would you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war?” Powhatan to Capt. Smith. Individual with Heart to an egotistical leader of English (Great Speeches by Native Americans. Blaisdell, Bob, ed.). An almost childlike reasoning, not stupid, not unsophisticated, but honest, incisive, and powerful. Love or war. Not hard to understand that war is predicated on mistreatment of one individual by another. When anyone loses the mindset of individuals relating to each other, they have lost their minds about our place on this earth and our relationship to the Universe. That’s not pragmatic? You’re damn right it’s not, and pragmatism is worthless to Heart, but invaluable to Ego. I’ve made a choice and I do not care what anyone else thinks of my opinion. The Sioux have chosen to follow Heart. Authorities have chosen Ego. The question for each of us is which do we choose?
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Questions to consider:How many times have you asked yourself or simply thought about the following questions?
Who am I, really? What is my truth? How do my actions reveal what I really feel and believe? What would I do with my life if I could do anything? What is my passion? Why am I here? How can I discover answers to any of these questions? If you have considered any of these questions, I hope that my experiences and writing will give you some guidance. Please read my blog and comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you! Archives
December 2019
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