Doesn't Remind Me

You could if you wanted to.


There's so much power in those words. They mean many things, depending on when and where they are said. We can do anything if we set our minds to it, though....the spirit is willing, the flesh may be weak. We can if we want to...make ourselves better people, be more tolerant to each other, love more, laugh more, look to the stars more, and dream more. We can do many things if we want to. When those 'wants' become perceived needs, that's when we'll act.

We want so many things that our wants have lead many of us to bankruptcy, debt management, and worse. Yet, where will it end? Where will we take responsibilty for our 'want's and rein them in?

Sure, there are things that I want...it's a normal response. When we see something shiny, no matter if it's inside of a gourd, we want to grab it and never let it go.

This post doesn't remind me of what I want.

Sweeten this bitter taste

Sometimes, I wonder. What's all the good in this thing? Why bother with all of it, what's the use? You know the questions. We all ask them from time to time, mostly when we've been confronted with some aspect of consciousness which just throws our little world a bit off kilter. But, after a few moments of despair, most of the time we all come back to our reality in our cushy little dreamworlds and plop back down on our thrones of apathy. Maybe we should ask more often, why we're here. Maybe we need to be upset more. Maybe I'm just being negative.

Anyway, it's not a bad life. We cling to our visions of what we feel our life should be, no matter what anyone tells us. We make our own paths, brick by brick with every good or bad choice. Those bricks can carry us away, or wall us in.

It's in the magic of the moment where memories meld into history. We'll remember all those passages, where we knelt to pick ourselves up one day, each forlorn breath of despair when we felt lost.

Someday, as we close our histories, the memories will return to haunt us. Will they be pleasantly welcomed....or sadly reflected? Shall all our losses return, our winnings grow cynical, and our triumphs merely failings? Or, shall the smallest of our joys grow into our greatest happinesses, enduring through all our years, fulfilling our days and nights bringing peace from our miseries.

Each brick has a price, we buy them with our choices. They are cast in the kiln of our hearts set in place with the grit within us...

Mysteries

They always say, 'When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Well, really they say a lot of things, but for right now this particular axiom is in my mind. I'd just like to say that I've been given a lot of very sour lemons, but through time and perserverance I've been able to make some very sweet lemonade.
I think that it's one of the key things which we should be able to learn from our lives, no matter what life throws at us, there is a purpose behind all of it. Whether we can't, or won't, see it in the moment. Somewhere down the line, there is a rhyme, a reason, and definitely a rhythm which life bestows upon us through the sour times.
It's funny, since I started this blog, I've become a much more reserved writer. More intent on communicating a message than an emotion, and more cautious of my reader, that's you whomever you happen to be at this moment. But, all in all, I've not changed my mode of relating to the world. I've determined over many years of trial and error that it's best to go with the flow and take what life gives you. Staying with the current and remaining rooted in the rocky undertow, has resulted in the best of outcomes for me through these years.
Who knows where I'll go, what I'll see, who I'll meet, what I'll learn....right now it's a mystery. But, Thank God for that.
We all need mystery in our lives. It gives us a reason to go on, a purpose by which to measure our existence, and a cause to die for. Without our own little mysteries, we wouldn't be much more than snails occasionally exiting our shells to leave a slimy trace behind us of where we've been.

Consumer Revoloution

Lately, I've been getting very fed up with the hit that my wallet is taking every time I decide to turn the ignition on my car.

No amount of trying to save gas by getting out of the car, or walking, or riding my bike is going ot change the fact that

we are living in a society where Big Business is lining it's pockets with the hungry stomachs of children, the tattered clothes of parents,

and the empty wallets of you and me. It's about time that we, as an oppressed population raise up and send a message to

the corporations, legislators, and tyrants which are in control of the prices of gasoline, milk, clothing, food etc. etc. etc.

Sure, people are pissed off about the prices of gas. I'd wager that everyone hears it at least once a day. A collegue or a friend mentions that they just filled up their car and it cost them so much money, they're mad about it, they feel cheated, and they feel like they're supporting someone else other than themselves. The truth of the matter is, we're captive as consumers, how can we get to our jobs, take our kids to school, or get to the grocery store to feed ourselves and our kids without purchasing gas to put in our cars? They've got us by the throat, but we just seem to be apathetic enough to just smile as they tighten the leash a bit more.

It's well past time that we do something as consumers. Over the last 10 years, we've taken massive hits to our wallets, to our jobs, and to our national image. Through wars, escalating trade deficits, and improprieties of corporations the cost of living in the US has increased dramatically. I know that the current administration in this country is responsible for a great deal of the situation which we are in, think about it, we've sat by and witnessed this administration, just recently, pass a huge energy bill that offers Big Business so many tax breaks, while they continue to reap huge profits from you and me.


Is this really a nation for the governed, or has it become a nation for the governing? We've allowed more and more taxes to be levied upon us, sat by and watched prices escalate, and escalate at a phenomenal rate, and as a populace, we've done nothing but sit idly by and allow it to happen.

How much longer is this to go on? Isn't it about time that we do something? Organize as consumers?

Where's our spirit as a nation of free men and women?