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My sadness, my fear, my love... they were simply birds flying around my own head. At first, in knowing this, I felt alone, isolated within my mind. But, after a time, I knew it meant I was in control. The sad memories only existed in my head, they were like movies I could refuse to play... and so the "sadness bird" flew away. My fear was nothing at all, less than a trap of fine gossamer thread. A life lived in the shadows is as a new blossom trampled underfoot, it is my choice to be beautiful, to live in full sunshine... and so the "fear bird" flew away. My love for this world, for others, is rarely reflected back with the passion I give out, yet others are in their own pain, perhaps lonely, trapped with their own birds... and so my "love bird" came home to roost. There are days fear and sadness visit with their mournful tunes, but I understand that they came at my calling. I understand that it was my choice to let them in, and I can easily tell them to leave. Knowing that my emotions are my own is a power, blaming others injures the self. I am responsible for myself in all ways and I choose to be happy, to lead a positive life, to listen to the melody of love. For the first time in so very long, my soul has peace. As if with a quiet choice I commanded a hurricane to become still, and it did.
If the emotions of one in need are like a hurricane, then religion needs to learn how to create the space a hurricane needs to slow and become calm. Rigid rules to such a person are like trying to nail down a hurricane. Guilt makes the winds blow all the harder. Only in moments of calm, when sought, will advice be of help - any other time it will add debris to the winds. There is a time to actively help and a time to love quietly, trust yourself to sense the difference.
"Lucy, if you want sheep in a pen you need barking dogs outside. In our world, war and terrorism are the barking dogs, the pen is capitalism. And no, don't speak of communism, there is no communism as Marx envisaged, only totalitarianism and oligarchy. So, the question I ask is, who benefits from all this?"
"Dale, I don't give a crap about the medical establishment; all they do is shine the shoes of big pharma with the sorrow of their patients. Addictions are the need for intensity of feelings, so that's the drug they need, real natural joy. Life in this sterile dystopia is like feeding an infant watered down milk, who can thrive on that? We're gonna helped addicts to find intense feelings in healthy ways - by being truly present in the moment with a natural healthy passion. We're gonna get to know them, help them to get to know themselves, then once they find their passion we just stand back. If we get it right, they'll be addicted to life, addicted to helping others and addicted to shining like the god damn stars they were born to be."
"Mika, 'morality' is the false horse of our times; empathy is the key. For with enough love to enter the mind of another, to feel their feelings, to join with them from their inside so they can feel warm companionship - this is the true path toward peace and healing. Sure, there are often rocks underfoot, but it is the way into sunlight and warm sands. Trust me."
"Charlie, without joy every sweet thing is bitter; cake is guilt, wind is cold, rain is depressing. With joy they are uplifting; cake is rich, wind is refreshing, rain is cleansing. Every small thing in life is a moment able to nourish the soul if we let joy in. Live with awe, humbleness, present in each moment and the gifts of life will fill you to the brim, so much that your joy will overflow and make better the lives of all around you."
The oldest residents of that abandoned house were the spiders. Many generations had laced the walls with cobwebs of intricate beauty, though now even they lay in dusty rags. It had been three decades since a footstep had echoed within those walls, since the dust had been disturbed and the ghosts awoken. The only furniture was an antique pedestal table carved of local oak and upon it a bottle of finest malt whiskey and one up-turned glass.
"David, it is easier to hate than to face our loss. It is easier to follow distractions than to see the pure spark we held become ashes. I choose to walk through this grief with love intact, because on the other side remains our salvation, true forgiveness. All roads will lead onward, never back, branching out into the future. None can be seen more than one step at a time; love is the only sign post, the only way home."
Capitalism keeps its population psychologically immature, with poor impulse control and addictions. Communism encourages more maturity, but then attempts to impose the same control systems as capitalism - a recipe for disaster. We need a world where we all develop into full adults, in liberty, able to follow our passions and understanding that adulthood means being responsible for family, community, our species and the nature we are blessed to share Earth with. The world changes for the better when adults become adults and children are allowed to be children. At this time, we fear what we imagine to be true of others in the face of overwhelming evidence that most people are good, kind and peaceful. And those who are creating harm would likely be peaceful were the world to calm down - to be given a chance to live their creeds rather than their rhetoric.
In my dream I saw a building grow into the sky, many strands of steel and glass like the stems of a wild plant, organic in shape, coming together and parting. It was a vertical city. Standing underneath and looking left and right, with only soil beneath my feet, it was at least three football stadiums wide and went up as far as the eye could see. All around was nature, just nature... and it was beautiful.
"Emma, communication amongst our species goes mostly under the radar. It is subconscious communication concurrent with the conscious communication. It's not just body language either. Most of the meaning of a conversation is in the 'junk talk,' it's in the throw away phrases and extra words. This is how we let people really know what's going on at individual, group and species levels. And it is absolutely honest. It's in songs, stories, art... just like in dreams, all those metaphors carry a meaning we innately understand. I listen, Em, I do. And I hear pain, struggle and a search for love, the divine spirit and peace. We are brilliant, just like the bird who builds a nest, or flies in formation, we are coordinating and cooperating as best we can."
"Carmel, feeding the world is simple. Biotech breakthroughs are more akin to the icing on a cake rather than the eggs or flour. The 'first world' suffers antibiotic resistance due to the crowding of farmed animals - animals who consume much grain and water. The rest of the world struggles to have enough grain and water. The solution for everyone is a more plant based diet, keeping animals only where they can roam free. We are already producing our clothing from biotech spider silk and recycled plastics... so no more land and water needed for cotton production. We have zero issues with food production, zero; our species just needs to figure out how to share. As the Isley Brothers said, we need a harvest for the world."