January 19, 2021

03

We live on to pass it on--
to pass life on.
Not only physical life,
but spiritual life as well.

And spiritual life has nothing to do with beliefs,
ideology,
theology,
doctrine,
dogma,
creeds,
catechisms,
words,
thinking,
reason,
logic,
rationality.

Spiritual life has to do with dancing,
playing,
laughing,
singing,
drumming,
poetry,
metaphor,
symbol...

What is a metaphor for you?
You are a metaphor for what?

My father knew nothing of these things.
He could not pass any of them along to me.
Just as his father had nothing
of spiritual substance 
to pass along to him.
Just as his grandfather had nothing
to pass along to his father...

My mother was as bereft 
as her mother,
as her grandmother...

Not a breath of real life in the whole lot.

The line stretches far back
into the dense fog
of the very beginning.
Nothing but the physical side
from the start.

Our spirit is shriveled
from lack of attention.
Our heart is dried out,
the juices of life are depleted.

Where shall we go to restore our soul?
Who has passed on the secrets
of full life,
pouring over,
spilling out?

I know that some have.
I have found mine in the writings of those
who speak of things 
no one in my family knew of.

I have adopted spiritual fathers and mothers
who have nourished me back to life,
who lived on to pass it on,
and where would we be without them?

And now it is our turn,
living on to pass it on--
what do we have worth passing on?

Perspective,
kindness,
compassion,
questioning,
seeking, 
playfulness,
laughter,
gentleness,
generosity,
...

How long is your list of things
that need passing on?

Live to add to it everyday,
and pass them around
for all to enjoy
and pass on!

–0–

02

Here is my fool-proof,
never-fail,
method for changing your mind
about something--
anything--
all things
(And by changing your mind,
I mean changing the way you think
about something [etc.],
the way you feel about something [etc.],
the way something [etc.] impacts you,
affects you,
effects you [etc.]
forever.

There is absolutely nothing to it.

All you have to do is start living
as though your mind has changed.

The old psychological saw at work here is
"Feelings follow actions."

If you want to change the way
you feel about something,
change the way you act in relation to it.

Start acting the way you want to feel/think/perceive.

Pretend your way to a different reality.

"Fake it 'til you make it,"
as the folks in AA like to say.

The catch is that you have to fake it
with your heart in what you are doing.

You have to fake it so well
you begin to trick yourself,
and you catch yourself being unsure
how you "really feel."

Of course, you will have to work through
all of the barriers your put in your own way--
the thoughts about not being genuine,
not being authentic,
not being real,
not being true to yourself, etc.

Do not pause to think about it
or to argue the point.
Just get back to work
acting as though you feel
as you wish you felt
about whatever it is
that needs to be changed
about your attitude and your life.

Maybe it's washing dishes.
Start washing dishes 
as you would if you wanted
to wash dishes.
Put your whole heart into it.
All the way.

This approach to being alive
will transform your world,
and the world of everyone who knows you.
In no time at all.

–0–

01

If it is good for people,
I'm for it--
why is that bad?

Why can't Republicans use
that statement 
as their identifying motto/slogan?

What is bad about being good for people?

Why do Republicans not call it socialism
when their taxes pay for roads and highways
and libraries
and the first twelve years of school,
and their own salaries
(If they work for the government),
but call it socialism
when their taxes pay for health care
and the next four or five or six years of school
and unemployment stipends
and child care?

Why don't Republicans want the government
to be on the side of the people?
Particularly when the government's own rules
say it is "of the people,
by the people,
for the people"?

Why would anybody want to be a Republican?
Besides being well-paid
by wealthy corporation
to keep their taxes low--
Or to make their taxes non-existent?

Republicans are in it for the money,
and will promise you anything 
to get your vote,
then do what they want to do
when elected.

Republicans are not on the side of the people
because corporations pay them 
to not be on the side of the people,
because that would increase corporate taxes.

No one has ever been called
"a bleeding heart Republican"
for as long as there have been Republicans.

Republicans are shepherds of corporation.
They don't care about the people.

Look it up.