Questioning the Difference

 

“Everyone should have their mind blown once a day.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Would we fear the other as much if we did not fear that we were the other? If we knew beyond doubt that we were different in ways that could be perceived both positively and negatively would we still find it so easy to reject people wholesale? Could we learn to embrace the very things that set each of us apart, our uniqueness and value that same uniqueness in others without seeing it as a qualitative choice? Why fear the mirror when it craves acceptance? If we’re all walking each other home why do we get so lost along the way? We all want to make a difference yet so many of us fear what difference is? Why do we need the acceptance of others to allow us to accept ourselves? What ripples can we set off by accepting the differences in others whether it be social differences, sexual differences, political difference, or Mental and Physical differences? Could we set off a ripple that could change the world or at the very least learn what true acceptance of our self and our shadow is all about?
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Welcoming PartyWelcoming Party by G A Rosenberg

 

Scattered GemsScattered Gems by G A Rosenberg

 

Random Thoughts – March 2015 Edition

 

“We all think we know who we are and what we want from life, but when it really comes down to it, I’m not really sure we know anything except that we’re all trying; we’re all surviving; we’re all living.”
— Z.M.

 

“The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.”
— Carl Sagan

 

We can and do create our realities. We cannot create anyone else’s, we can merely influence them. This both gives us responsibility and gives us hints where our responsibility ends.

 

People want desperately to believe in the inhumanity of others. Given a chance many will try to demonize rather than understand and define as evil what they don’t understand or what they don’t like. Evil is seldom the enemy that ignorance is.

 

We all have parts of ourselves that are unlikable. If you are determined to dislike someone figure out what it is about them that you dislike, No one is representative of any group except themselves.

 

Understanding has its good points but there are drawbacks as well. When we truly understand someone it is awfully difficult to hate them. Also to understand someone is to know something of the pain they have felt in their lives. Most of us can barely handle our own.

 

At no time in known recorded history has mankind been so aware of his flaws. I am not sure if this has made us better or rather given us a keener eye for naming the flaws of others.

 

Hope is always better

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Sad ForestalSad Forestal by G A Rosenberg

 

Fading Sun TapestryFading Sun Tapestry by G A Rosenberg

 

Many Blood Sucking Parasites

 

“The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’ meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’ meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’.”
— Larry Hardiman

 

So I’ve talked a bit about religion and a bit about sex so let’s finish the trilogy of things we aren’t supposed to talk about with politics. Where sex is about the physical relationships between two (or sometimes more) people on an intimate level and religion is about the spiritual relationship between us and the universe, one of the definitions of politics according to Merriam-Webster is ” the total complex of relations between people living in society”. In other words all these beings are here with me, how are we going to deal with each other? Everybody has different ideas on how to answer this question and everybody is sure they are right and equally sure everyone else is wrong. We elect the people whose answers we are convinced are the closest to ours to govern us and then deride them when we find out that they lied. We have office politics, relationship politics, family politics and even personal politics. Believe me quite often the decision to not tear someone apart either verbally or physically is based totally on political considerations.
If something is this important than why shouldn’t people discuss it in polite conversation? Partly as with sex and religion, it involves the fear of the different. If someone has a different idea about how to relate to people than I do than his might be better and I might have to rethink things. I would show myself to be wrong in front of other people and be embarrassed. To avoid this, I either need to not talk about it or be able to make my opponent look bad. This normally ends up with someone feeling bad or foolish and again it comes from fear.
Why can’t people admit that when it comes to Sex, Politics and Religion, no one has the perfect way of doing things? We can all learn from each other and come up with an integrated approach that incorporates all views. Barring that we can stick to our guns and say “Maybe this doesn’t work for everyone but it works for us. Learn from us or leave us alone.” Yet it seems we can’t be left alone. Too many people need to impose their views on everyone in order to feel that their way is the right way. In S P & R fear makes us either Tyrants, Slaves or Isolated. Following our own paths and decisions, learning from others as we choose makes us happy. This might not be politically correct to say, but for me it feels like a truth.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Forest QueenForest Queen by G A Rosenberg

 

DistortionsDistortions by G A Rosenberg

 

And So It Goes…

 

“Whither will my path yet lead me? This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it.”
— Hermann Hesse

 

Ghosts of old newscasters and older deceased novelists whisper to me “And so it goes”.
Statuses on Facebook reporting that most politicians are clones but they don’t say of whom or why it should matter. And so it goes.
Other voices telling me how this religion is evil and should be stopped. Of course most of the ones saying it believe that the beliefs they have are the right ones ignoring its dubious history.
And so it goes.
I hear the government is not out for the interests of its people but its own.
And so it goes
This seems to be true of most governments … and most corporations.. and most people and so it goes.
Most everything we put in or on our bodies is unhealthy for us not to mention the air we breathe and the water we drink
And so it goes.
There is a diet that will allow us to live healthier, longer and happier lives. There are a variety of opinions of what this diet is. And so it goes.
Most people seem to need to believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong. And so it goes.
Still like flowers or weeds we grow, pushing up through the cracks, surviving as long as we can the footsteps and anything else that may uproot us. We may have things stunting our growth but still we survive as long as we can and find the moments of joy and pleasure and peace we can and somehow within each of our lives there is growth despite or perhaps because of everything that comes our way.
And so it goes.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Offered ChaliceOffered Chalice by G A Rosenberg

 

In the FlamesIn the Flames by G A Rosenberg

 

Releasing the Fear Brakes…

 

“Fear can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy… fear makes you always, always hold something back.”
― Philip K. Dick

 

Fear maybe our biggest enemy. It causes us to not take chances, to play it safe. It stops us from telling people we love them and risk rejection. It stops us from standing up for ourselves when facing bullies, even the ones in our own heads. For fear of what others think of us, we withhold opinions that we know may be unpopular or we react totally the opposite and say things we know will be unpopular, daring others to reject us. When we do this we withhold the part of us that may actually agree but then this too is out of fear. Feeling fear is normal but if we cause it to freeze us in our tracks than we severely limit how far we can travel..It is only when we say “I fear that this will happen but I will do it anyway” that we exceed beyond our greatest expectations.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Facing the Cosmic DramaFacing the Cosmic Drama by G A Rosenberg

 

Entering Darkness and Finding LightEntering Darkness to Find the Light Within by G A Rosenberg

From the Inside

 

“The things we see are the same things that are within us. There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.”
― Hermann Hesse

 

From the inside
things seem cold and damp
fear and anger rule the day
then I realize
it is my fear my madness
so I blanket the cold
and face the fear
anger gives me the energy
its fire burning through to truth
and then dissipating.
With loss of fear
and anger subsided
I see hope
I push against the chains
with joy
and let my true self out
From the inside comes peace
and the whispers of love
My outside world transformed.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

In a Fish BowlIn a Fish Bowl by G A Rosenberg

 

Auric BattlegroundAuric Battleground by G A Rosenberg

In Fear and Wonder

 

“The art of being a warrior is to balance the wonder and the terror of being alive.” Fea
― Carlos Castaneda

 

To wake in wonder with sounds of nature all around. The sun rises painting the sky more colours than I thought possible. I look into the tent at my love sleeping and I am overwhelmed with joy. Then several months later I meet a three year old waiting to be adopted. His little hand in mine as he leads me to eat cookies with his stuffed tigger. Can I truly be this blessed? I wonder at the universe. Flowers and new born animals and puppies. Small kindnesses showed by strangers and people who I’d never expect it from. My spirit wakes in wonder every day.
Fear taps me on the shoulder. Fear that something could happen to my partner or our son or one of those I love. Am I adequate to the tasks that my life asks of me? What if I let someone down? What if I let myself down? What is that noise in the basement? How do I explain to an eight year old that his dog has passed? The whispers of fear make me shiver. I seldom listen but still that voice continues in its cold wet tones.
I can live with fear and wonder. They are both part of this life and my path. One leads me on and the other is my teacher and they both add to the fullness of life.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Music Loomed Large For HimMusic Loomed Large For Him by G A Rosenberg

 

StarabstractionStarAbstraction by G A Rosenberg

Afraid of Nothing?

 

“Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.”
— Oscar Wilde

 

Be afraid of nothing? Here I thought nothingness, the zero point was something to be courted. After all isn’t that point of equilibrium something that is good to court? Tho in courting it as a home point a steady point from which we can swing in all directions experiencing everything that we can. I spent far too many years running from things and fell into many adventures doing so. What a change it has been to know that I can go anywhere, do anything and still return to my centre. Overcoming fear especially that of death and that of nothingness believing one to be a myth and the other to be home, I can let myself experience all.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Contemplative BlessingContemplative Blessing by G A Rosenberg

 

ChasmChasm by G A Rosenberg

Fear Knot

 

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
― Jim Morrison

 

Does our fear tie us in knots? If it does are we like a shoelace or other knotted chord with one central fear that once unraveled and exposed automatically make the rest much easier to deal with. If so then it would be of benefit to explore and find what that fear is and slowly take it apart. After that we deal with the next biggest fear knot (fear not?) and so on until eventually just like a child’s shoe lace that at first seems hopelessly snarled and tangled we end with just a neat tie…
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized

 

FlowingFlowing by G A Rosenberg

 

The BIg DunkThe Big Dunk by G A Rosenberg

Trading Boredom for Fear

That mechanism by which you substitute fear for boredom, that’s one of the most common traps that people fall into.”

–Robert Anton Wilson, (An Incorrigible Optimist, interview)

 

 

I have been known to claim that I don’t get boredom. You’re bored? Don’t you have books to read, some new stream of thought to explore or something to meditate on? Have you heard all of Tori Amos’s music? How about Maynard James Keenan’s? Really Tool and A Perfect Circle? What is the last music you listened to that was outside your comfort zone? What is the last sentence you either intentionally misheard or misread and made horrible puns out of. As I said, while doing some things like dishes or laundry may feel tedious to me I am seldom if ever bored.
I have seen tho and know first hand the costs of boredom. Time slows down to a crawl and its not like its expanding with hours of fun but hours of tedium. Surely something will happen to make the time go by faster. I haven’t had a good adrenaline surge in minutes. The mind wanders over to all the things that could go wrong or the consequences of things I’ve done wrong in the past and before I know it I’m no longer bored but am in full scale panic mode. At least its exciting but not really worthwhile. I’d rather contemplate word play or meditate.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

In the Red ZoneIn the Red Zone by G A Rosenberg

 

The Abyss Stares BackThe Abyss Stares Back by G A Rosenberg