Hi-Jacked By an Angry Spirit...

Do you believe in Spirits? Angry, Loving, Creative, Fun, Deadly, Life-Giving, Energizing, Depressing, etc?

I think I do.

The last few days it seemed that my body & mind were hi-jacked by an Angry Spirit. I think, as of this this a.m. it was all just an accumulation of a mountain of feelings.

Havoc.

Chaos.

Depression.

Hopelessness.

Helplessness.

Stupidities.

Idiocies.

You know, a feeling that "the center will not hold." A feeling that everything is careening out of control. 

So not me. So unlike me. But these feelings were circulating and animating me. I carried a heaviness, a dullness, a raging, aching angriness that seemed to have no bounds. 

All that has lifted. This morning, while making my morning coffee I actually said to myself: "An Angry Spirit overtook me!" I am back. Maybe it's a tentative thing? Emerging from the darkness to the light? 

Who knows? Funny. In my email inbox this morning I find this from a good friend. I am not big into Astrology. But the friend who sent this to me follows Chani Nicholas religiously, and frequently shares pearls of wisdom with me. I do enjoy the imagery, the symbols, the myths, the psychological insights. You know you find the wisdom where you can. Sometimes it comes from the strangest, most unexpected places.

A Note from Chani on this Venus Retrograde "What I’ve come to understand through this latest Venus retrograde is that all aspects of myself are restorable if I take a trip to visit them and acknowledge all they’ve tried to do to keep me from harm. All parts of myself want to be known. All my monsters really want is to be heroines. However, developing a relationship with my inner Ninshubur and God of wisdom — the Self that knows what to do when these other parts have overcome me — is key to not being consumed. Attuning ourselves to our own mysterious alchemical transformations in order to understand, grapple with, and put to use our power is a must in the land of self-development. It’s that or be so enmeshed with these inner selves, these young fearful child selves, that we’re not capable of overcoming our own obstacles (usually ourselves). This dirty work of parsing out facts from fiction is how we eventually come to offer our most valuable gifts to the collective. We don’t have to suffer for our art, but we can’t leave out the parts of ourselves that have. This work is grueling. It’s repetitive. It demands rituals, in most cases. It required a pandemic for me, maybe for you too, to do the work at this level. A once in a lifetime opportunity to put our ear to the ground of our lives and tend to all that awaits us there: meat hooks and moaning ghosts in need of a grief doula, a helper, and a God of wisdom."  - Chani Nicholas

Bye Bye Spotify!

You may think that fin belongs to a Cadillac. Nope, that's Spotify! It's crashing baby, riding that disinformation pipeline into the freaking ground! Hah! You go Neil Young - Reprise Records! 

Yes. This an easy call for me personally, for our band and our music too. Spotify is sort of a blight on the music industry, especially for artists, basically pennies for streams, just not equitable. On the one hand, you think it's cool to be on a platform that has a global reach, but on the other, you realize you give up control to a app and company that truly devalues music and the artists who create it.

We are pulling all of our music off of Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, Nils Lofgren, Joni Mitchell and many more.  It feels good to self-de-platform. Why? Spotify has chosen to let Joe Rogan's podcast spread Covid Vax Disinformation across the planet for $. 

Disgusting. Un-cool. A poor excuse of a business model, spreading disinformation, ignorance and disease. Bye, bye Spotify!

Zen is My Bag...

 

"The Japanese word for circle is enso. It is a universal expression of wholeness that lives deep in our beings. The making of a circle with one brushstroke is a calligraphic practice of bringing that wholeness forth, through the gesture of the body, into form on the page. I offer this particular enso as a symbol of all that is gathered and united within us - alive, open ended and true." - Barbara Bash, February 2018

Yes. Without effort: "Alive, open ended and true."

Also: Yin & Yang - Dark in light, light in dark. Symbols to live by...

Wisdom in a nutshell...

Bright, Shiny, Positive...

Weighty things in my head. Then the lightness. 

Snowflakes falling this morning. I sip a coffee, feel the adrenaline rush. There is the hush of falling snow. Whiteness covers everything: streets, sidewalks, yards, parks. I must go out there a bit later this morning. Steel myself for the march thru snow, ice and cold. The Winter Slog. 

Another day. 

Keeping my head in the game. What with the extreme weather, and the still surging virus, my life has gotten quite, circumscribed. A tiny circle of existence. I fill that tiny bubble with everything I can muster: life, love, laughter, music, poetry, great literature, fabulous, healthy food. I do my best to lean to the light; keep myself bright, shiny and positive. It's the only way I know how to live.

"Everything is Holy, Even the Unholy..."

You know when we speak of "sacred texts" (see previous post), we are speaking of texts written by Human Beings. Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Torah, the Book of Mormon, the Sayings of Buddha etc. All of those "sacred works" are conjured up from the fevered brains of Human Beings. Literary works in the same category as "Moby Dick," "Catch-22", "On the Road," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "The Collected Works of William Shakespeare," "The Collected Works of William Blake," "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," the novels of Faulkner, the short stories of Hemingway, Poems by Byron, Keats & Shelley, "The Definitive Songbook of Bob Dylan," you know, etc.

It is all so obvious. But it is amazing how folks will tend to forget that everything Holy and Sacred has been written down and conjured up by very flawed, fallible, complicated, contradictory, bifurcated, tricky Human Beings. When someone starts telling you about God, and what God thinks, remember, those folks are speaking about themselves, they are projecting their inner maelstrom, revealing their deep-seated desires, hopes, fears, madnesses, worries, doubts, etc.  It is so obvious, and true.

The Transcendent Power of Human Imagination...

I was steeped in Catholicism when I was a Wee Lad. Those early formative years were gilded with lots of Bible, God, Lucifer, Jesus, Sin, Guilt, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Limbo, Communion, Confirmation, Confession, Prayer, Kneeling and Beseeching the Lord. No denying all of that had a major impact on my squishy new brain. I think it was all sort of "accidental," both my parents went to Catholic grade school too, and I think they just thought going to Catholic grade school would be good for me, it would keep me on the straight and narrow. I did learn how to read and write and found out I was terrible with numbers. Still, the best thing that came out of all that rigamarole, I learned to love reading books, which later led me in another direction.

I never quite bought the whole Religion thing. It all seemed like grand theater, definitely engaging, but also pretty implausible. One of the Nuns, dressed in her Darth Vader costume convinced me that Heaven was not for me, I was a lost, stupid, recalcitrant, sort of lazy, and dreamy kid on a fast track to Hell. I was resigned to the flames, alienated, and, I basically rejected the whole she-bang. If Heaven wasn't going to have me, I wasn't going to have Heaven. They were selling Fear and Repentance. I wasn't buying. I think now: "You go kid!" I thought Jesus got a raw deal, a pretty cool guy who got in a little too deep, and ended up being treated very badly, but that roll away the stone, rising from the dead thing seemed like a major stretch. There were better fairy tales to be told.

For years I rebelled against all that shite. And then, one day I had the realization that my Rebellion was also a blind alley. I dropped the Rebellion and Embraced the Theater. Even today I look back fondly on the Spectacle of it all; the Incense, the Pomp and Ceremony, the long robes, the Golden Tabernacle, the Communion Wafer, the Magic of the Bread & Wine, the Blood, the Cross, the Suffering, the Holy Ghost, Jesus washing the feet of Prostitutes, Walking on Water, Raising the Dead. Good stuff. The best lessons that still stick with me to this day? The Golden Rule. Also "There but for the Grace of God, go I..."  and, LOVE, HUMILITY, KINDNESS.

I would say I am free of the Dogma, no longer a pissed-off ex-Catholic. I realize now all of that Church stuff fed my IMAGINATION. I realize, of course, GOD did not create Humans, Humans created God, Devil, Heaven and Hell. Luckily, later I discovered other voices and characters that were probably even more influential than Jesus, Moses, the Virgin Mary, & the Holy Ghost, I am thinking of characters & voices like William Blake, William Shakespeare, J.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville, Jack Kerouac, Mad Magazine, Picasso, Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Sex, Drugs, R&R, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, The Beatles, The Who, the Stones, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Aleister Crowley, The Tarot, ZEN, Meditation, Dalai Lama. I filled my head with alternate takes on Life, Love, Humanity, Spirituality, Intelligence, all much more compelling and persuasive.

I now know all that Religious Mumbo-Jumbo is pretty good imaginative mulch. It fed my mind, opened the door to Spirituality & Magic, the Transcendent Power of the Human Imagination.  I think of William Blake's great work: "The Marriage of Heaven & Hell", sort the anti-Bible, and a ripping good read, and I realize that phrase "Marriage of Heaven & Hell" is an excellent description of the Human Condition. We have conjured Gods and Demons to explain ourselves to ourselves. We are the marriage of good and evil. Angel on one shoulder, Devil on the other (like in that great Heckle & Jeckle cartoon). These are all imaginative creations that help us explain the unexplainable nature of the Universe and being alive in the midst of the crazy-ass being Human thing.

Conundrums & Clouds...

Conundrum - "an intricate problem." You know, like living.

You find yourself thinking, "I must lose myself, in order to find myself." AND THEN, I think "My self is pretty much an illusion, right?"

Right. 

We are left to wrestle with vaporous, disappearing clouds. "I only know what I don't know, you know?!" 

It seems that the most important things in our lives are invisible, they disappear under scrutiny, there is a light and dark mystery floating in the air, clouding our eyes and heads.  You aspire to "clear-seeing," and you come to the "cloud of unknowing."  

That's the way of an unclouded mind; clouds.

Getting on with It...

Monday rolls around and it's all about "getting on with it." Hopefully, you are well-rested. Hopefully, the wild, crazy-ass dreams you had last night weren't too disturbing, or dislocating, instead, maybe all that strange hubbub was a bit cleansing. Time to meet and greet the day. Time to kick into action. Time to do all that things that must be done. And, WTF, might as well try to do the doing as well as you can. Try to be perfect in thought and action. That's a a good challenge right there. No time to ask "Why?" Just rise to the challenges and tasks of the day, put your head down, put your nose to the grindstone, put one foot in front of another and get your ass moving. Maybe, if you must ask a question, since you are a questioning kind of person, maybe, instead of asking "Why," you ask, "Why not?" Leave it open-ended, and apply yourself, completely, fully to whatever you face. Face it. Yes. Sure.

A Gift of Winter...

Snowbound.  A snow day in the heartland. Socked in with a new coat of snow. Luckily, I have no appointed rounds. I can stay in, hunker down, look for indoor diversions. Magnificent. I am happy that circumstances conspired this way. It wasn't planned, it just happened. I expect a fabulous day of "goofing off," which frankly was my major in College, even if the diploma says otherwise. I imagine an inward journey today. I am ok with that, no more than ok, I am over-joyed! A gift of winter. Thank you winter.

"This Body is Not Me..."

Oh... to make "old bones," with beauty, grace, honor and love...

Thích Nhất Hạnh (/ˈtɪk ˈnjʌt ˈhʌn/; Vietnamese: [tʰǐk̟ ɲə̌t hâjŋ̟ˀ] born as Nguyễn Đình Lang and later known by the name Nguyễn Xuân Bảo;[2] 11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism.[3]

Meeting the Day...

Petty (see previous post), or not, we just have to get on with it. Life rolls on. With us, or without us. Best to put our hearts and minds to the next essential task. Maybe the task isn't essential to anyone but us, that big looming Universe is onto other things, but our own tiny essential-ness must be enough. You think, "seize the day," or "pluck the day," but often you are just really "meeting the day." The day will seize or pluck you. Best to ride the wave, and see where it takes you.  It may be a "petty sea," but, you know, damn the torpedoes of pettiness. Onward, upward, one breath at a time.

All Things Petty...

Petty shit. As in not very serious or important shit. Trivial. Let's not go there. I mean, how much of our lives are filled to the brim with petty shit? Not great and consequential things, but little, annoying tasks and details. I refuse to do the accounting, but in the pyramid of life, all things petty unfortunately features quite prominently. Somehow we need to be here now, even in the midst of all things petty. These are the moments of our lives. Every moment counts. Even that mountain of petty piddling moments. Yikes.

Creating...

Bob Dylan said it in an interview, but I believe he was actually quoting George Bernard Shaw  (we  haven't forgotten you G.B.S.): "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

The Theme this Morning: Quality!

I am staying at a place where "everything is better." I am the Caretaker. It's not Heaven, just a really, really nice, supremely lavish home with all the amenities. It's sort of like my own place, but so much better. It reminds me that being wealthy in America really is the thing. No doubt. Great country for those who have lots of scratch to burn and good taste in the spending.

I am thinking about QUALITY this morning. I am surrounded by things of quality. Quality is a big, philosophical subject in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." That is one heady tome. I think it's about time I picked it up again and delved back in. Who knows, maybe more of it would stick this time around? I first read it when I was hitching across USA, late 70's. A backpack, $100 in my shoe, a change of clothes, tooth-brush, and Robert Pirsig's book.

From my perspective now, I think I must have been totally mad, reckless, stupid, and unknowing. Lots of angst, raging hormones, risky behavior, stoked with Kerouac and Ginsberg and Dylan and dreams of adventure and romance with the road. Amazing I didn't meet a bad end.

Robert Pirisig's "Metaphysics of Quality" - "Equating it with the Tao, Pirsig postulates that Quality is the fundamental force in the universe stimulating everything from atoms to animals to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of Quality. According to the MOQ, everything (including ideas, and matter) is a product and a result of Quality."

Right. Being one with the Tao. I get that. There have been some moments in my life where I seemed to ride, briefly, that righteous wave. Leaning into the Light. Leaning towards Quality. Riding the Tao. I think it's an ART.  There are the practical realities: reading the Classics, diving into the Fine Arts, listening the great music, playing a well-made instrument, looking for quality in everything you see, and do. Being a Creator. Being disciplined. Cultivating Quality in Heart, Spirit, Head. Looking for a magnificence in thinking, acting and being.

Now that's a worthy goal. It's easier to glimpse it here where everything is better. A hyper-reality of better-ness.

The a.m. soundtrack - The Grateful Dead's "Workingman's Dead" (1970) - an outlier, a black-sheep in the Dead's long, beautiful catalog. Probably their finest in-studio recording, most of their greatest moments were in live concert, but here, on this recording, they are truly magnificent. Great American band. Elements of Bluegrass, Country, R&R. Listen to those fabulous harmonies, listen to those wonderful guitars, acoustic and electric. QUALITY!

Guitars, Amps, Words...

Strange dream last night. 

I was talking guitars and amps with Neil Young. Man, he knows what he's doing, but he's also pretty set in his ways. Playing thru that beat-up, old Fender Twin Amp all these years. Still,  can't argue with the man or his catalog of work. 

Feeling a bit lost, empty this morning. MLK day. I have things to do, places to be. Have to keep moving. Keep my head in the game. 

Lately, it's all about staying healthy, keeping occupied; luckily I am working on some new songs, I am totally obsessed with placing the perfect words, in the perfect places and making them sound perfectly natural, effortless, seamless, and casual. 

Reading poetry lately: Shakespeare, Blake, Coleridge, Shelley, Yeats. Folks devoted to Art, Poetry, Words, Rhyme. Inspirers all. Human Beings who gave everything to writing words down on paper, creating indelible images in a reader's head. Images you can't shake, images that inspire and enlighten. The Good Work. Everything. Really.

The a.m. soundtrack - Filling the void with the glorious, amazing "Promises" (2021) - a collaboration from Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra. A long, meditative work. Astonishing. Fills you with wondrous vibrations.

Here Comes the Sun...

And then, the morning comes and blazing, glorious, life-giving, life-affirming, dazzling, gorgeous, all encompassing sunlight blazes across the frozen landscape.Yes, a golden orb appears over the lake, bleeding light particles across the land. It is still incredibly cold, ice and snow coats everything. Still, the sunlight is undeniable. It seems to contain and engender the essence of Life. Positive, creative, exciting. No warmth from that over-powering, shining orb, but everything glows in its presence. As a Humble Pilgrim, you take what you can get. Yes, we are still in the throes of a deep-freeze, Spring is a long ways away, the pandemic is still raging, the Human Herd is stuck on lamentation and Hurly-Burly, but this Sunday morning, brilliant sunlight reigns over all. Magnificent.

Onslaught of Things...

Fresh snow here. A coat of white. The deep-freeze. Shades of gray. Dark branches reaching. Scratchy footprints, like hieroglyphics imprinted in the ice on the path. Chilly. Brittle. Hard. The day unfolds. Not welcoming. No sunshine. Dark clouds hovering. The radio tells me this and that, a jumble of syllables, broken words, pointing nowhere. Turns out the news: everything is "running rampant." The onslaught of things never, ever stops. 

Can't Avoid the Mud & Muck...

Positive: "full of hope and confidence, or giving cause for hope and confidence."

Right. Sitting on the mountaintop contemplating your navel might be a better locale in which to cultivate a positive frame of mind. Up there in the thin air, unencumbered by the madness and hurly-burly of the unkempt hordes. Maybe it's bit easier to be in a positive mode if you can avoid the mud and muck of existence; hanging with the eagles, closer to the sun, I mean, it probably helps to situate yourself in your own inner "sunny disposition" up there.

But, down here, in the "real world," encumbered with mud and muck we are. Down here with all the furious, raging, silly people, amidst all the constant "to-ing & fro-ing," all the "needing, wanting, grasping." You may ask yourself, how does a Simple, Humble Pilgrim stay positive? How to keep sunny under the dark, unrelenting onslaught of Hamlet's "slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune?"

Not sure I have a perfect formula. Often I fall under the waves of disappointment and despair. I have to swim upward with a coffee cup in hand, and fill that cup with a caffeinated elixir. Also I fill myself up with Poetry, Music, Laughter & Love. It all sounds big, high and mighty, but isn't. No these are the little things that give one a glimmer of light. Small inclinations & gestures. Tiny things to fill up a Soul & a Spirit. 

You can't take any of that stuff to the bank. It is the "stuff that dreams are made on." They don't stand up under the microscope. Ephemeral, fleeting, incandescent. Things that flash, shine, and glitter, and fill you up. Illuminate and animate a being. Wondrous. No doubt.

Very, Very Human...

Yes, there is the "doing" and then there is the "feeling," (see previous post). You like to think you can live in total alignment, Heart, Head, Spirit. That all of your actions can be good and righteous, and that you will feel happy and content in the doing. That would be an example and definition of the "Good Life." Magnificent in thought, feeling, action. Totally one. Seamless. There are times this happens, and they are the best moments in your life. No doubt. You have experienced moments like that. Maybe you are lost in a moment, enraptured in Love or a in treasured flow activity: reading a great novel, playing in a band, walking on the lakefront on a gorgeous afternoon with a loved one. Accomplishing something that defines you. Probably, I mean, you are pretty damn sure, you can't manufacture these moments, they just happen, they descend upon you, reveal themselves to you. Yes, a Revelation, an Unfolding, a Blossoming. You think (hat-tip - Thom Yorke): "Everything Perfect and in it's Right Place."

But then, often, the doing and the feeling are not aligned. Heart, Head, Spirit are all a jumble and at cross-purposes. Turns out doing things we know are "bad" feel good, and doing things we know are good can still make us feel bad. Weird. There is Worry, Guilt, Doubt, Sin, Suffering, Pain. Bad Blood. Bad Actions. We can fill our lives up with these things too. They accumulate like jet-trash, strewn around in our sacred spaces. Such a Human thing. Tricky. Complicated. Bi-furcated. A Circle of Hell. Yes. No doubt. We live there too. I mean, mostly we live in the divided, messed-up, cluster-fuck world. We do. We try our best to navigate without losing everything, but it ain't easy.

I think we've created Gods and Demons to sort of explore these realms, these human quandaries, and maybe that is helpful, not sure. It is all so Human, so very, very Human.

Doing Right, Feeling Bad...

You take Spike Lee's advice and "Do the Right Thing." Doing the right thing might be the right thing, but it doesn't necessarily always feel good. That is a spiky conundrum for you, right there. You do what you think is right, and feel bad for doing it. Hah! Tricky!

The Game: Survival...

There is something elemental about living in the deep-freeze of a Midwestern Winter. Super-cold temps, ice, snow, brutal winds. Everything is hard-edged, brittle. Every step is an adventure. You are one icy catastrophe from catastrophe.You are thrown back into basic Survival Mode. It does give one a richly-earned focus and mission: make it thru the day in one piece. You must be outfitted correctly: thick gloves, heavy boots, layers and layers of fabric, a big-ass hat, a couple of masks, the medical-grade one and then a fleece one over that too. Finally, you are a hulking beast roaming the streets with just your eyes barely peeking out (can't wear your sunglasses, they fog up too easily).  The goal: keep all your fingers and toes intact, don't fall down, don't hurt yourself, make it home to a warm meal. There is an upside to this whole scenario, you are reminded that every step counts, sometimes surviving is it's own reward. Making it seems like some kind of prize. We are months from Spring, expect an icy slog ahead, but, you know, the seasons change, no doubt. Hoping to be around to see it.

Dropping the "Wants."

This Monday morning, I think of Melville's "Bartelby the Scrivener": "I would prefer not to."

I also think of Nancy Reagan's famous War on Drugs campaign: "Just Say No."

AND, I think of that popular phrase: "Less is More."

Pretty contrary to the prevailing trends alive in the Human Herd. We live in the belly of the beast of the always on, 24/7 rage machine of unbridled "needing, wanting, grasping." It's all so exhausting.

Maybe sitting quiet. Doing nothing. Living with less. Dropping the "wants" could lead to a super-chill, fruitful yield. Who knows?!

The Age of Being Gob-Smacked...

Let us declare this is the Age of Being Gob-Smacked: "overwhelmed with wonder, surprise, or shock : ASTOUNDED."

Yes, truly. The actions and beliefs of many of my fellow Human Beings astound me. Not always in a good way, although, sometimes in a good way, but lately, mostly, not in a very good way at all. What is a Humble Pilgrim supposed to say in the face of displays of extreme stupidity, selfishness, pig-headed-ness, death-wish-style idiocy? 

YIKES! That's it. Yes. I am overwhelmed with YIKES!

A Sinking Feeling...

There's that sinking feeling that the virus, Omicron variety, is ascendent. The Human Beings are tired of the virus, and living with the virus, but the virus is thriving, multiplying and sickening folks at an accelerating rate. Can't help but feel a bit deflated and defeated. We have stayed healthy around here. Vaxxed and Boosted, open to be Boosted again if need be. Also, wearing masks basically all the time, except at home. Most of the news is discouraging. The Pandemic rolls along. It's a show we've all had to watch and participate in, it's all getting so old, we thought we'd be past it by this point, but of course, if we want to grow old, we should try our best to stay safe and healthy. We are doing what we are supposed to be doing. Anyone not playing along, well, damn them to hell. Hah! 

"Their cheese has slid off their biscuits."

For awhile in College I was an English Major, and then, after being forced to read the Forsyte Saga, I changed horses and jumped into becoming a Psychology Major. I was confused and at sea in those years. But ever since I do think I see much of my own Human experience and Human History thru a psychological lens.

So, when I reflect on the January 6, 2021 Insurrection, I think of "Mass Psychosis" and "Mental Illness." Those burly, gun-toting, body-armored, super-pissed off, MAGA-hatted, Trump-Lemmings are suffering from an illness. They are not "well in the head." Let me hijack a James McBride phrase to describe their mental health: "Their cheese has slid off their biscuits."

Yep. You think of "male inadequacy," impotence, pig-headed-ness, small mindedness, feelings of inferiority.  Also, PTSD, low self-esteem, various addictions, over-blown egos, delusions of grander, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, victims of abuse, lack of love in their lives. All those muscles and guns are just pathetic compensatory symbols of their simpering irrelevance and undesirableness.

Their over-blown, bad-performance-art, martial displays are just obvious & ridiculous signs of deep sickness.

Not so much, or just, a political problem, instead these folks are elaborate packages of a host of psychological problems. If we look at those "domestic terrorists" thru that lens, maybe it all makes more sense. And maybe, not only do those folks need to go to prison, but they need some major "head-shrinking." You can feel sorry for them. Yes, no doubt, many of them are very, very sick and they could use a helping hand. You can "tsk-tsk," but no need to try to remedy their political grievances. It's all madness, hurly-burly, mumbo-jumbo, white-supremacist, bullshit. It's not surprising you can't reason with those people. They aren't living in the realm of reason. They are living in an Angry-Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. They really are a sad joke. But it is a dangerous and pretty obscene joke that we need to deflate, and to grapple with.  Obviously, they are too ill to be armed. They are obsessed with guns and violence, they are the last ones you'd want to be armed, and they are armed to the teeth. There's the conundrum there. They are a threat to themselves and to others. 

What to do? Talk Therapy? Drug Therapy? Lots of hand-holding and counseling? Basket-weaving? Art therapy? Yes. Probably all of the above.

Saving Democracy. It's On Us.

Shite goes down, and then we pick up the pieces, and try to figure out what happened. You think the "truth will out," that good will prevail, that common sense and rationality will win out, but it's all pretty dicey. Human Beings are Tricky. And they want to believe what they want to believe, despite facts, evidence, what's right in front of their noses.

I throw my lot in with the Sensible Ones. Let's take a deep breath, review the scene, sift thru the wreckage,  be honest, and not afraid to see the reality of events. Drop the Fear, drop the Hate, remember that Human Beings are fallible, fungible, and squishy. 

Being a Humanist, being a Progressive, and a Democrat, you know, someone who believes in Democracy, I am one of those who can see that our country is deeply divided. The divide looks bone-deep and insurmountable. And all the things I "believe in" can be taken away, crushed, destroyed, and trampled upon. Now that's a scary prospect, indeed.

I refuse to be pulled into the vortex of conspiracy-minded madness. I refuse to fall into deep cynicism. Clear-seeing. Clear-headed-ness. Open-minded-ness. Gravity does exist. We can be smart, see the common humanity that runs thru us all. Yes, there are really pissed off and totally politically-deluded folks out there, angry and armed and clinging to a false narrative. 

But, yes, truth will out. I do think so. We need to roll up our sleeves. Do the good work. Move forward. Stay positive, work towards a better, stronger Democracy. We do out-number the deluded ones. We need to be smart, work hard, and not lose the narrative thread. Reject the Big Lie. Reject the Big Liars.

There was a dastardly, cowardly act of insurrection on January 6, 2021. We must not forget. And all the perpetrators, and their allies must be brought to Justice. Let this anniversary be a reminder, we can and must do better. It's on us.

Up for Grabs!

"Everything is up for grabs right now."

That's me this morning in conversation with my close-companion. I think it's true. Expect the unexpected. There is a heaping cavalcade of cluster-fucks around every corner.  Keep your eyes peeled, your head clear, be ready to laugh out loud at a moment's notice. "Serpentine!"

Making It...

One advantage to living in the Heartland of USA is that the weather is always changeable, and often extreme. We always have four seasons. Some seasons extend longer, or fall short, it all depends on the year, and, what with our accelerating climate catastrophe, the seasons are not always what they are cracked up to be. Sometimes it's super-hot, super cold, cloudy, humid, icy, snowy, rainy, etc. 

When pushed to the extremes, survival mode kicks in. It is a slimming down of what's important. For instance, yesterday, it was pretty damn cold over here.

So Life and it's Reasons and Goals, start shrinking. You devolve back to basics. What's important? Keeping your extremities from freezing. Also taking care with each step, lots of snow and ice to navigate. One step from catastrophe, that is the Ultimate Truth. The weather is bigger than us, tougher than us, it often challenges us.

So, yesterday, it was all about firing up, readying ourselves to meet the day. Thick hat, thick gloves, big, furry boots, layers of sweaters and a hoodie. Surviving the day. That was it. The purpose. It all sort of felt like a cleanse. A refresh of simplification. Of course, the pandemic is surging around us, but the frigid air seemed more real and relevant. But, you know, already 2022, the newest of  new years, already seems to have a theme: Make It. In One Piece.

Get it On...

Usually when Monday rolls around here we call the day: Meltdown Monday. You know, the weekend is over, holidays are over, goofing off is "retired," and it's back to a "nose to the grind-stone" mode. All the bills are due: all the menial tasks, worries, doubts, the shit you need to do,  comes to the fore. You feel like melting into a pool of tears and uncertainty. But, nope, you have to look in the mirror, face the music, and get on with it.

As someone else said, you need to pull yourself together with "spit and duct tape." Yes, as V. Lombardi would say: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." It's that kind of morning. Bitterly cold out there.  No time for slacking. Need to fortify myself with coffee and just get on with it. Damn the torpedos.

New Year, Same Motto...

Yes... New Year... same newly-minted motto:

Life, Not What You Think.

There is hope in that, and a bit of humility too. Best to keep our feet on the ground, our heads held high, our eyes wide open. The moment is Now. It's always Now. The Future is Unwritten. Hope in that too. Hope is important, essential.  But, then, don't put all your eggs in the "hope basket," just get on with it, do the next most necessary thing to the best of your abilities. And damn the torpedos. Right?!

Everything is Electricity!

Louis Wain painting.

Hah. The clock ticks away and suddenly we declare it's 2022. It is kind of a shared delusion. We all basically go along with the idea, but, really, like that old song from the band Chicago asks: "Does anyone really know what time it is?" Nah. Not really.

What did we do New Year's Eve? Pizza party! 

And we streamed movies. We watched "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" (2021) - very good acting, well-made, totally gob-smacking, super-disturbing. I have always been greatly repelled by the soul-killing, money-hustling, American Southern Tele-Evangelist phenomenon. This movie pushed all my buttons. I realize my Bullshit Detector has been on high since about 3rd Grade in a Roman Catholic School. As a Wee Lad, I was so filled up with Jesus, the Devil, the Cross, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Limbo, Sin, Guilt, the Blood, the Suffering, I have no room or tolerance for any of those cheap, totally transparent hustlers selling God and unbridled, unashamed Capitalism and Prosperity. It is amazing how my fellow Americans never tire of being hustled by the Con and Con Men and Women of all stripes. (See also MAGA!). 

The other film about an artist was sort of an antidote; totally cool and inspiring. Another movie about life, and a real-world character: "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain" (2021) - beautiful, touching, amazing, sad. An example of a human being putting the best of themselves into their art. Transforming tragedy and suffering into beauty and joy. Yes, everything is electricity! No doubt! Just ask your local mitochondria! Louis Wain was an "eccentric" man, he loved cats, and made cats and their "electrical nature" his life's work. Fabulous film. Nick Cave is in it (small cameo). I have lately been on a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds jag, so it was great to see him playing H.G. Wells. Highly recommended!

The a.m soundtrack: "World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda" (2017) - This record was a major discovery for us in 2021. Just spinning it seems like a spiritual quest. So beautiful, passionate, holy. We actually ended up purchasing a handful of Alice Coltrane cds in 2021. This one, a late career collection from "rare ashram tapes" is bold, breath-taking, powerful, life-changing. Alice Coltrane was certainly a giant in music. Her life, her art, her dedication to the spirit is a joy and an example. Great way to start the new year.  The music swells, and washes, and cleanses the soul.  "Om Shanti, Om Shanti Om..."