Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Romney
I know right abouts now you Romney people are thinking of flying the coup. Well, you'll need this domain to do it properly! I'm accepting offers: gomads@gmail.com
Friday, February 3, 2012
Safe
Ah yes, we were talking about music in much of our usual ways, as we often do in our secret language. Embedded in any such conversation are the like values of four gentlemen whom convene weekly to actually play music, and thus impose such a careful equilibrium of values upon our musical offspring. The way I see the world, all music falls somewhere between pure pop and liberated art or “experimental” music.
Pop pertains to the modern world as sexuality, and addresses many aspects of ourselves that are almost entirely biological, like our desire to stuff our faces. Motivations behind pop are sometimes unclear, but pleasing oneself by diddling the senses underlies the essence of a pop universe. Pop is derived from Popular but it means so much more than that. It can be engaged in by anyone and many expressions of pop can go entirely unnoticed by the world of culture, or by history for that matter so the popularity of it takes a back seat to its intentions.
Why does pop matter? For us we still retain certain ideas about music that date at least as far back as Ancient Greece. Music was rigidly defined as an expression of mathematics. Plato wrote quite plainly that sound required certain note proportions in order to actually be considered music. Anything not following such strict guidelines was simply not music. Everyone at least seems to have a personal criteria distinguishing music from mere sound. Music at the opposite end of the spectrum might challenge the position of that dividing line. It is possible that Pop music might be an expression of the laws of nature themselves.
We have formless music like we have chaos in our lives or destruction in nature. We often associate something of an ego-less state to such works as various compelling ideas exist about removing the composer from the composition. Outside of pop, we face the distinction between what we want vs. what we need. What we want somehow seems boring to us, it’s merely filling some hole. What we need is sometimes an undiscovered color. Life is weird and complex and that fact seeks expression. Perhaps the way I live my life is wrong and that thinking too hard about stuff is a waste of time and a downer. Our current mainstream culture would have you believe this about thinking, almost that the apocalypse is soon likely and we are deliberately celebrating our last days, so why bother? Yes, mainstream culture has all the cash and all the pyrotechnics, but does that stuff give us nourishment… is it even entertaining? Well.. yes… no... It depends.. Often the ‘pop’ element of mainstream culture is the compromising factor. The sad, emasculating, compromise.
I’m writing about this right now because the idea of “safe” music was being talked about just yesterday in my household and it got me to thinking about some stuff. Just the idea that some music is indeed “safe” and therefore doesn’t contain “risks” I think is a different criteria, one worthy of momentary consideration. The big question: Why are risks superior, in this case, to safety? To be honest, I often times like music for its sense of adventure and its foray into unknown outcomes. If music can be looked at as a form of communication then the risk is contained therein. Sometimes saying what’s on our mind is what’s really problematic.
The reason I’m writing about pop music and safe thinking is related to the fruits of a more general soul-searching I have been conducting lately. My father passed away just recently and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my life with him and how we generally interacted. I noticed throughout my life that my father seemed to enjoy ‘safe’ conversations and was sometimes set off emotionally by any subject matter that wandered out of that zone. I remember leaving home for college and experiencing my first winter in the Pacific Northwest and feeling a certain loneliness and frustration. I tried to tell my father how I was feeling and it just seemed to make him mad, like my less-than-ideal disposition represented a failure of character or something. I felt that I was merely expressing how I felt at the time and apparently those feeling were unacceptable.
I remember then, arriving at the conscious decision to keep my future conversations with him safe, and even created a rule that I would not talk to him unless I have had at least two cups of coffee beforehand. The weather became a popular topic. Later it was this TV show that my father would periodically ask me about. I’m not going to name the show. Let its name be forgotten. When we were talking about safety in music, it made me think about safety in conversation in general. I started to think about my father and how I had always wished that we could have had a more in-depth conversation about life. Because we focused so many of our discussions on safe and inoffensive topics, there’s so much about him that I will never know.
I just thought I’d take a minute to articulate something I was thinking about and, of course, because I see everything through a filter of musical thought, I had to start out that way. Music is a conversation and sometimes it’s an ugly one. I’ve had a proclivity toward the angular and atonal, myself, from time-to-time, and I don’t now think of it as an elitist going-against-the-grain activity. Sometimes I just want to hear real conversation about life- no bullshit. I just know that I’ll regret it if the opportunity passes me by
and the truth becomes lost as a result.
Pop pertains to the modern world as sexuality, and addresses many aspects of ourselves that are almost entirely biological, like our desire to stuff our faces. Motivations behind pop are sometimes unclear, but pleasing oneself by diddling the senses underlies the essence of a pop universe. Pop is derived from Popular but it means so much more than that. It can be engaged in by anyone and many expressions of pop can go entirely unnoticed by the world of culture, or by history for that matter so the popularity of it takes a back seat to its intentions.
Why does pop matter? For us we still retain certain ideas about music that date at least as far back as Ancient Greece. Music was rigidly defined as an expression of mathematics. Plato wrote quite plainly that sound required certain note proportions in order to actually be considered music. Anything not following such strict guidelines was simply not music. Everyone at least seems to have a personal criteria distinguishing music from mere sound. Music at the opposite end of the spectrum might challenge the position of that dividing line. It is possible that Pop music might be an expression of the laws of nature themselves.
We have formless music like we have chaos in our lives or destruction in nature. We often associate something of an ego-less state to such works as various compelling ideas exist about removing the composer from the composition. Outside of pop, we face the distinction between what we want vs. what we need. What we want somehow seems boring to us, it’s merely filling some hole. What we need is sometimes an undiscovered color. Life is weird and complex and that fact seeks expression. Perhaps the way I live my life is wrong and that thinking too hard about stuff is a waste of time and a downer. Our current mainstream culture would have you believe this about thinking, almost that the apocalypse is soon likely and we are deliberately celebrating our last days, so why bother? Yes, mainstream culture has all the cash and all the pyrotechnics, but does that stuff give us nourishment… is it even entertaining? Well.. yes… no... It depends.. Often the ‘pop’ element of mainstream culture is the compromising factor. The sad, emasculating, compromise.
I’m writing about this right now because the idea of “safe” music was being talked about just yesterday in my household and it got me to thinking about some stuff. Just the idea that some music is indeed “safe” and therefore doesn’t contain “risks” I think is a different criteria, one worthy of momentary consideration. The big question: Why are risks superior, in this case, to safety? To be honest, I often times like music for its sense of adventure and its foray into unknown outcomes. If music can be looked at as a form of communication then the risk is contained therein. Sometimes saying what’s on our mind is what’s really problematic.
The reason I’m writing about pop music and safe thinking is related to the fruits of a more general soul-searching I have been conducting lately. My father passed away just recently and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my life with him and how we generally interacted. I noticed throughout my life that my father seemed to enjoy ‘safe’ conversations and was sometimes set off emotionally by any subject matter that wandered out of that zone. I remember leaving home for college and experiencing my first winter in the Pacific Northwest and feeling a certain loneliness and frustration. I tried to tell my father how I was feeling and it just seemed to make him mad, like my less-than-ideal disposition represented a failure of character or something. I felt that I was merely expressing how I felt at the time and apparently those feeling were unacceptable.
I remember then, arriving at the conscious decision to keep my future conversations with him safe, and even created a rule that I would not talk to him unless I have had at least two cups of coffee beforehand. The weather became a popular topic. Later it was this TV show that my father would periodically ask me about. I’m not going to name the show. Let its name be forgotten. When we were talking about safety in music, it made me think about safety in conversation in general. I started to think about my father and how I had always wished that we could have had a more in-depth conversation about life. Because we focused so many of our discussions on safe and inoffensive topics, there’s so much about him that I will never know.
I just thought I’d take a minute to articulate something I was thinking about and, of course, because I see everything through a filter of musical thought, I had to start out that way. Music is a conversation and sometimes it’s an ugly one. I’ve had a proclivity toward the angular and atonal, myself, from time-to-time, and I don’t now think of it as an elitist going-against-the-grain activity. Sometimes I just want to hear real conversation about life- no bullshit. I just know that I’ll regret it if the opportunity passes me by
and the truth becomes lost as a result.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Alchemy
In a moment of fuzzy logic intervention, I realized that a lot of factors in my life are convening around an old, antiquated notion of alchemy. This all happened as it dawned on me that my name is 'Goldman', that I'm studying chemistry at the university, and that I've been long pondering the notion of transformation (the productive inward sort.)
Alchemy, if you haven't already heard, is a practice of trying to create gold. That is the common understanding at least. With popular fiction writers such as Dan Brown, the idea that such a transformation could be less about vast riches and more realistically about a mystical process, has entered into mainstream wisdom. I cracked out on 'The Lost Symbol' at least. It was a real page turner.
So, the idea of enlightenment as gold, and the transformation from an ignorant state to one of seeing is the act of mystical alchemy. I've been toying with the idea of the crucifiction as such a transformation as well, but that's something entirely different and for another time. I will briefly mention that I've been asking believers for years what it means that "Christ died for my sins". The best explanation that I have come up with is one that I made up myself!
Additionally, I am pretty hardcore about how I approach a life in music. I am certainly not one to shy away from a lifestyle that doesn't produce financial gain and is largely an up-hill battle in every sense (but possesses the characteristics of illumination through the creation and performance of music). Music is the final piece of the puzzle for me. In short, the life of the alchemist is identical to that of a "struggling" musician insofar as a musician pursues gold in this day-and-age with little certainty that gold will ever be produced. It dawned on me that many of the alchemists of days long passed likely pondered the futility of their own work, but moved forth none-the-less.
I have always fought against the grain, and can't help it. Like my brief attempt at learning the language of Irish (one believed to be dead), I tend to pursue with passion activities that hold little value in the modern world. People keep asking me what I intend to do with Chemistry and to be honest, I really don't know. I don't know what the world will look like when I am done with my degree, I'm not even exactly sure what chemists of this day and age do with their time.
I am also well into my first year of Biology. As someone who has been long searching for some sort of spiritual structure, Biology has provided for me just that. It is quite literally the study of life. Often times when I hear people talking about life, and I hear the word uttered out loud, I get a tingling feeling that is positive. The word 'life' invokes emotion in me. Even just hearing people say that they need to 'get a life' excites me. Why is this? Well, this word that we use so frequently packs a whole lot of intensity within itself and it resonates with me. Perhaps I am at that end of the spectrum where life is the utmost in divinity. We watched a documentary about gangbangers in LA the other day and one of the interviewees said that the first step in joining the gang was to lose any value that you may have for life. This is the spectrum that I speak of and I mean to exist in it only at the other end, where life is spiritually divine. I will never understand why Christianity often requires that its flock reject science in favor of faith. Totally misguided.
Turning lead into gold is totally different than trying to polish a turd.
That being said, I have the day off today... band practice later. I think I will try and write some more hit songs that no one will ever hear. I will try to transform a blank sheet of paper into a new song that allows itself to be performed and allows a heightened conversation between performer and listener. I will try and balance literal meaning and poetic allegory and guild the whole thing with rock 'n roll escapism in the divine, unspeakable name of FUN. I'll let you know how it all turns out, believe me.
adam
Alchemy, if you haven't already heard, is a practice of trying to create gold. That is the common understanding at least. With popular fiction writers such as Dan Brown, the idea that such a transformation could be less about vast riches and more realistically about a mystical process, has entered into mainstream wisdom. I cracked out on 'The Lost Symbol' at least. It was a real page turner.
So, the idea of enlightenment as gold, and the transformation from an ignorant state to one of seeing is the act of mystical alchemy. I've been toying with the idea of the crucifiction as such a transformation as well, but that's something entirely different and for another time. I will briefly mention that I've been asking believers for years what it means that "Christ died for my sins". The best explanation that I have come up with is one that I made up myself!
Additionally, I am pretty hardcore about how I approach a life in music. I am certainly not one to shy away from a lifestyle that doesn't produce financial gain and is largely an up-hill battle in every sense (but possesses the characteristics of illumination through the creation and performance of music). Music is the final piece of the puzzle for me. In short, the life of the alchemist is identical to that of a "struggling" musician insofar as a musician pursues gold in this day-and-age with little certainty that gold will ever be produced. It dawned on me that many of the alchemists of days long passed likely pondered the futility of their own work, but moved forth none-the-less.
I have always fought against the grain, and can't help it. Like my brief attempt at learning the language of Irish (one believed to be dead), I tend to pursue with passion activities that hold little value in the modern world. People keep asking me what I intend to do with Chemistry and to be honest, I really don't know. I don't know what the world will look like when I am done with my degree, I'm not even exactly sure what chemists of this day and age do with their time.
I am also well into my first year of Biology. As someone who has been long searching for some sort of spiritual structure, Biology has provided for me just that. It is quite literally the study of life. Often times when I hear people talking about life, and I hear the word uttered out loud, I get a tingling feeling that is positive. The word 'life' invokes emotion in me. Even just hearing people say that they need to 'get a life' excites me. Why is this? Well, this word that we use so frequently packs a whole lot of intensity within itself and it resonates with me. Perhaps I am at that end of the spectrum where life is the utmost in divinity. We watched a documentary about gangbangers in LA the other day and one of the interviewees said that the first step in joining the gang was to lose any value that you may have for life. This is the spectrum that I speak of and I mean to exist in it only at the other end, where life is spiritually divine. I will never understand why Christianity often requires that its flock reject science in favor of faith. Totally misguided.
Turning lead into gold is totally different than trying to polish a turd.
That being said, I have the day off today... band practice later. I think I will try and write some more hit songs that no one will ever hear. I will try to transform a blank sheet of paper into a new song that allows itself to be performed and allows a heightened conversation between performer and listener. I will try and balance literal meaning and poetic allegory and guild the whole thing with rock 'n roll escapism in the divine, unspeakable name of FUN. I'll let you know how it all turns out, believe me.
adam
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Break
Wow, It's winter break. It's only a break if you're in school or something. Right now, I'm in school. I don't post on here much, sorry. Additionally, I don't tell anybody about this blog so it just sits out there in cyberland. I just scooped out some mold in my plant. I don't want this blog to get moldy.
So, yes, If you're reading this it's probably because you typed in "secede from the union" into your browser. Well, sorry. If you're trying to stage a white-supremacist revolution or have finally discovered what ever sane person should already know, that politics is rotten to the core, then you might be here looking for some secessionist ideas already in place. I've only been really successful at seceding from reality so if you want advice about that, I'm your man.
Anyhow, it's breaktime for bonzo. I went unemployed for some time and sort-of lost any sense of myself in the workforce. As a result, this epiphany came to me one day and it was like an answer to some prayer I may have once made. The epiphany was actually a person that once lived on this earth, and it was through his teachings that I discovered something that I wasn't aware that I actually liked: Science. The man was Carl Sagan. I started reading some of his books because I wanted to see if he was an atheist. Now, I'm not much into anything in particular but I must say that I feel personally not in touch with atheism. It's cool if you are, really. I personally don't care for it. I am curious though as to what Theism is all about though. I thought Carl Sagan would have the answers. I believe that the answers I found in his writings were sort of written between the lines of the text. It was his passion and poetic outlook on the universe that I believe was indeed devotional and possibly religious/spiritual. I tend to acknowledge that certain people's passions can be so intense that they almost enter into a divine relationship with whatever it is that they are passionate about. With me, it's music. I keep thinking about it. Sometimes I wish it would just go away. In fact, that is what my vacation is all about. I wish to finally catch up with all my unfinished projects (many of which are music-related) and hopefully that part of my life can be way ahead of itself. I feel that my passion for this subject matter makes me ineligible for any sort of atheism. You might say I'm being too liberal with the term and I would agree. I tend to be a little flexible with certain terminology as I believe myself to be something of a post-modernist. In fact, my mentioning of post-modernism in this context is likely a liberal application of the idea. I once found myself in the middle of a debate about the definition of post-modernism and it was suggested that perhaps I was using the term a bit recklessly. Well, I just believe that we are in the equation as opposed to being somehow outside of it looking in. We are a component of our observations and calculations. If something sucks, it is because we perceive it as sucking. When reading books or the news, our perception, our participation matters. Our filtration system matters. The sanctity of meaning is suspect. I also consider myself an "impressionist" for similar reasons. In a mystical sense, it is often difficult to get to the heart of a matter so one is often left with an impression. An impression describes one's relative magnitude to some elusive truth.
Anyhow, I gave up philosophy a long time ago. I just wanted to mention that I am officially on break. Yesterday I recorded an entire song called "Riverbound". This song is part of a new series of emotional songs. I have spent a lot of time avoiding emotional songs, unless of course, we are talking about anger and/or confusion. Is confusion an emotion? It better be. Right now, I have a few of these songs in the works. They were, at first, difficult to conceive of doing but then they sort of forced their way out. There is another song called "First Love" that I wrote on one of my solo camping outings this summer. I've never done anything like that before and the writing experience was a complete and total exorcism. Right now I'm considering throwing a little vocal harmony on "Riverbound" and calling it good.
Right now it is time for a quick hike to the gorge. Portland is only a quick few miles away from the Columbia Gorge and gorge is the prefix for gorgeous, which it most definitely is.
So, yes, If you're reading this it's probably because you typed in "secede from the union" into your browser. Well, sorry. If you're trying to stage a white-supremacist revolution or have finally discovered what ever sane person should already know, that politics is rotten to the core, then you might be here looking for some secessionist ideas already in place. I've only been really successful at seceding from reality so if you want advice about that, I'm your man.
Anyhow, it's breaktime for bonzo. I went unemployed for some time and sort-of lost any sense of myself in the workforce. As a result, this epiphany came to me one day and it was like an answer to some prayer I may have once made. The epiphany was actually a person that once lived on this earth, and it was through his teachings that I discovered something that I wasn't aware that I actually liked: Science. The man was Carl Sagan. I started reading some of his books because I wanted to see if he was an atheist. Now, I'm not much into anything in particular but I must say that I feel personally not in touch with atheism. It's cool if you are, really. I personally don't care for it. I am curious though as to what Theism is all about though. I thought Carl Sagan would have the answers. I believe that the answers I found in his writings were sort of written between the lines of the text. It was his passion and poetic outlook on the universe that I believe was indeed devotional and possibly religious/spiritual. I tend to acknowledge that certain people's passions can be so intense that they almost enter into a divine relationship with whatever it is that they are passionate about. With me, it's music. I keep thinking about it. Sometimes I wish it would just go away. In fact, that is what my vacation is all about. I wish to finally catch up with all my unfinished projects (many of which are music-related) and hopefully that part of my life can be way ahead of itself. I feel that my passion for this subject matter makes me ineligible for any sort of atheism. You might say I'm being too liberal with the term and I would agree. I tend to be a little flexible with certain terminology as I believe myself to be something of a post-modernist. In fact, my mentioning of post-modernism in this context is likely a liberal application of the idea. I once found myself in the middle of a debate about the definition of post-modernism and it was suggested that perhaps I was using the term a bit recklessly. Well, I just believe that we are in the equation as opposed to being somehow outside of it looking in. We are a component of our observations and calculations. If something sucks, it is because we perceive it as sucking. When reading books or the news, our perception, our participation matters. Our filtration system matters. The sanctity of meaning is suspect. I also consider myself an "impressionist" for similar reasons. In a mystical sense, it is often difficult to get to the heart of a matter so one is often left with an impression. An impression describes one's relative magnitude to some elusive truth.
Anyhow, I gave up philosophy a long time ago. I just wanted to mention that I am officially on break. Yesterday I recorded an entire song called "Riverbound". This song is part of a new series of emotional songs. I have spent a lot of time avoiding emotional songs, unless of course, we are talking about anger and/or confusion. Is confusion an emotion? It better be. Right now, I have a few of these songs in the works. They were, at first, difficult to conceive of doing but then they sort of forced their way out. There is another song called "First Love" that I wrote on one of my solo camping outings this summer. I've never done anything like that before and the writing experience was a complete and total exorcism. Right now I'm considering throwing a little vocal harmony on "Riverbound" and calling it good.
Right now it is time for a quick hike to the gorge. Portland is only a quick few miles away from the Columbia Gorge and gorge is the prefix for gorgeous, which it most definitely is.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Eden
Politics is (are?) silly. I used to write about political impressionisms here on this secede from the union space but I feel that my rantings were no greater than those idiotic user comments that follow each news article on the internet. I used to feel that there was a certain profile about the people that commented on news articles. They were usually very passionate and not often thoughtful. The fact that everyone has an opinion has been well documented as apparently in addition everyone has an anal orifice as well. It’s nice that everyone gets to sound off although I personally tend to think that such an overexposure to opinions has also revealed the deeply flawed American ego.
Ego is an interesting concept that I became both interested and disinterested in back during high school days. Ego is a somewhat elusive and abstract concept that falls somewhere within the domain of science and elsewhere in spirituality and self-improvement.
Charles Manson, as an example, has defined ego in song. “Old Ego is a too much thing,” he sings in sloppy verse. The Beach Boys remind us to “hang on” to our ego. Clearly, there’s been some thought in non-scientific or spiritual circles about this identity characteristic of ego.
Ego’s like something that stands in one’s way to being spiritually whole or more specifically, to be able to SEE more realistically. Ego is often viewed as a personality flaw that should be “killed”. Kill your ego. What does it mean? Become purely in the present and not elsewhere in any way. Remove your “self” from all equations. Swallow your pride. In some circles, pride is a negative characteristic, however on a more visible plane we worship pride such as “proud to be an American”. The last statement illustrates the disconnect we face in regards to our national identity and some eastern beliefs regarding the wholeness of the self.
I’m writing about this because I’ve reintegrated the idea of ego into my current meditations. I typically think it unhealthy to spend too much time on the subject of ego philosophically without the accompaniment of a disciplined practice of meditation and that sort of contemplative self-realization. I really think it’s unhealthy to become overly concerned with personality issues on the level of self-diagnosis and treatment and it can be damaging to indulge in self-correcting practices without the aid of a mentor. I liken this portion of my thoughts to the late sixties counter-culture movement insofar as it wrestled with eastern philosophy while simultaneously indulging in LSD.
It is perhaps the spiritual awakening brought about by the use of LSD that perfectly exemplifies this spiritual dilemma I am trying to describe. The LSD awakening shows a person something about themselves and the larger universe that perhaps they have never seen before and a lifetime of meditation and unglamorous self-reflection perfects it. So, the use of drugs is a somewhat misleading enlightenment in the absence of any follow-through.
What we have here in the information age is a lot of noise. I, personally, like to read and as such I find myself reading a lot of different perspectives and would conjure up the word “eclectic” to describe my interests in the cosmos of available writings. Insofar as American politics is concerned, I am constantly interested in all that it drudges up in the best and worst of us and I especially like, as of late, to read about the opposition (whatever that entails.) I’ve perhaps said in previous postings that I really like reading what artists have to say about current affairs and that it is wrong to expect them to just “shut up and play” because they are often conduits of thought and emotion in a way that politicians could never be. An interesting and thoughtful analysis is being sought by whatever means.
I have no real love for any particular political party. I have no real love for any organized religion. I am, however, both political and spiritual and as such, it sometimes feels like I am adrift at sea among my fellow people. It is a challenge to find a sense of place through staunch independence as if to be without anchor or foundation but it can and will be done.
As such, I seek honest discussion and I crave mad rantings in order to cultivate understanding from a variety of perspectives both weird and wired. Since the mainstream media offers us an abundance of hoopla, you take what you can get. There’s an underlying ego in so much communication. The worst of it is distracting and misleading and likely misdirected. How do we address issues without living entirely in our own head about them? How do we communicate with one another?
I know there’s a lot of people out there who simply want to “fix the problems of the world” whatever those are. We need to fix ourselves first, naturally. Democracy needs to rise above “mob rule” which is pretty much what it is if you set the bar really low. Any institution that speaks out against thinking, learning, or knowing needs to be red flagged. I’m not saying these organizations should be abolished, but our values need to sway toward making a thoughtful analysis of the world and of our lives. I think we need to consider some different thoughtful lifestyles. We need to acknowledge out loud how difficult it is to communicate with those whom we don’t agree with. We need to realize how our words are stumbling blocks and that they don’t represent reality all that well. We are limited beings and our restrictions encourage a certain humility.
I guess that my problem is that I care about people and I want an impossible utopia for my own life and for my world. I am privileged in so many ways to be healthy and to be able to speak openly and to have had an education (that is ongoing). I am gifted with a certain amount of fortune and good sense. I am Adam and my coordinates are thus. My own “ego” flares up frequently and sometimes it is only noticed by me and me alone, in my head. Other times, I make the argument that the music I write and perform allows for a certain celebration of the ego, an indulgence in the blues, poverty, mental disturbance, and loneliness. I remind myself that people around me are not characters in my own West Side Story. They really exist. They want health and longevity for themselves and their families just as I do.
I just thought I’d take a few minutes to put some ideas down because it is very rewarding to think “out loud” so-to-speak, to test one’s ideas on paper. It is important to have ideas first-and-foremost and to put them in a proper perspective so that they are not misguided or irresponsible. I feel that we need to check ourselves at the door more frequently, step back from ourselves and take a look at what we are missing is crucial. I often feel that the ways in which my perspective is lacking leaves me vulnerable and that such an Achilles heel is a threat and a deficit. I know that a lot of people are angry and that the delicate balance of civilization can be offset easily and that anger and violence will likely follow closely behind. I’m trying to figure out ways to raise the bar as much as possible for myself and advance a sense of wisdom and joy about life. We are better than our frustrations and we can see farther than the limitations of our eyes and we can rise above our flawed intellects. Is that not the lesson of the Garden of Eden, that a negative combination of the ego and the intellect can make us corrupt in wisdom and sight? I guess there’s something good in there to think about.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Way Cool
Knowledge does not contradict faith. (It's ok to ask questions)
Faith is good. Let no ill words be spoken about it. What do you have faith in? Maybe something to meditate upon. A certain type of gravity, perhaps?
What is meditation, or *a* meditation. I will allow it to be many things. It's the answer to a question but as an answer, it leaves itself deliberately unformed (and perhaps unanswered). Meditation is also the quieting of one's self which can be very difficult and requires practice. I suppose it can also be quite like a prayer or the recitation of mantras stilling and directing the mind: An inquiry and a study.
A prayer is an invocation. Whether a prayer is "heard" or not... That's not my meditation. I seek the strength to affect positive change in my own life through something like prayer. I evoke spells through the articulation of will. I don't ask myself for things but rather, as I said, the strength for myself and others, and that perhaps the abstract winds will remember us favorably when considering our fate.
Science is a spiritual devotion and the schism between it and "religion" is what I would call conspiracy. Yes, conspiracy. UFO cover-ups, 911: An inside job, the Kennedy assassination... No, a far more sinister agenda at work, that knowledge is evil and arrogant and that it contradicts faith.
Mysticism, to me, is how we approach the singularity of God (or Truth) and how we ideally desire to absorb into IT completely and totally, but never fully can, and never fully do. Such a lifetime inquiry is the discipline of real art, absorbing, interpreting, and reacting to life. Answers represent beginnings and not endings.
God is a constant challenge of the imagination, an overwhelming sensation of purpose and meaning. Evolution is real. The imbreeding of thought is the destruction of the human soul. It would appear that in life, our own universe constantly contracts like a shadow descending on a weakening flame. Our struggle is in the keeping of this light as we fight against the entropy of total darkness that threatens our spiritual reality. Faith is how we keep waking up every morning because maybe otherwise we might choose not to.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Multiplicity
Hey folks and friends!
This is the new Secede From The Union / Succeed for the Union weblaunch 2.0 to describe it in a technostupid way. The last version of this site lay dormant for quite some time as it contemplated its own identity. What is or was secede from the union? Well, it's a non-politically affiliated blog rant that takes root in what I like to loosely call, impressionism. Politics does not actually represent even 1% of my thinking on this subject. I know there's always "secessionism" movements cropping up here and there. I hardly care. The idea of a union could imply a singularity of sorts and the act of seceding could be the act of stepping back to view oneself from afar in order to get a greater understanding or just a different perspective maybe.
The last incarnation of this blog contained writings inspired by a certain contemporary political climate, one that I felt only an "impressionist" relationship to. I agree that such charged topics as American politics are complex from all angles, but I tried to have a perspective that was entirely that of a disgruntled taxpayer, one not adequately versed in the minutiae of politics, but one demanding job performance from my elected officials. Yes, that 'we the people' are the EMPLOYERS and not the other way around. It should also be inherent in our patriotism that we be skeptical of politics at its root and should embrace a 'guilty before proven innocent' relationship to it. In any case, I live in a little bubble here in Portland, Oregon and care very little for politics these days. Sometimes the voices on the outside are the most interesting. We can't rely on CNN to tell us anything interesting.
The bottom line with these writings is that they be sort of feral and true in their analysis of whatever. Our people believe strongly in "intelligence" or "anti-intelligence" where we stand at our particular cultural coordinates. I believe that, for me, the brain is only part of our portrait. We need to understand the inadequacy of our language to get to our bigger truths and to arrive at mutual understandings that exist between us. Spoken and written language, even in their most complex and articulate manifestations, are often primitive cave scratchings of our soul and we are often left vulnerable to misunderstanding and misrepresentation through them. We are often searching for the correct words to describe ourselves or our thoughts, often times to ourselves.
So, we need to step back and take a fair look. I believe that we need patience with our community and ourselves because the phenomenal world is wrought with misinterpretation and misrepresentation and we are its interpreters.
In short, I believe in pursuing the religion of 'love'. Such a spirituality implies patience and understanding. It requires faith. Love is clearly a religion unto itself and could involve a lifetime of meditation on the subject in order to maybe approximate its meaning. I am proposing what I like to call a 'mystical' meditation on the subjects of unity, multiplicity, and the spirit of revolution. Different, just like everyone else. The outer shell and the essence. Substance and meaninglessness. Rock 'n Roll and nap time.
I'm very excited to be back again with this blog. I have a couple other internet things set up as well including the podcast radio, all the music related stuff, and Drinking Zen which I plan to finish some day (the book). Writing is good therapy or rather, a good way of solidifying one's beliefs. I've said in the old blog that I believe the devil to be 'the great deceiver' as I'm sure the Bible describes him and thus all 'good' should suspect of its diabolical potential. When I talk about nonsense like critical thinking, I believe it is this accurate portrait of the Christian devil that exemplifies and possibly demands that we apply patience and skepticism to even our most cherished beliefs.
It's a beautiful day outside today.. I think I'll go for a hike in the Gorge and call it good.
This is the new Secede From The Union / Succeed for the Union weblaunch 2.0 to describe it in a technostupid way. The last version of this site lay dormant for quite some time as it contemplated its own identity. What is or was secede from the union? Well, it's a non-politically affiliated blog rant that takes root in what I like to loosely call, impressionism. Politics does not actually represent even 1% of my thinking on this subject. I know there's always "secessionism" movements cropping up here and there. I hardly care. The idea of a union could imply a singularity of sorts and the act of seceding could be the act of stepping back to view oneself from afar in order to get a greater understanding or just a different perspective maybe.
The last incarnation of this blog contained writings inspired by a certain contemporary political climate, one that I felt only an "impressionist" relationship to. I agree that such charged topics as American politics are complex from all angles, but I tried to have a perspective that was entirely that of a disgruntled taxpayer, one not adequately versed in the minutiae of politics, but one demanding job performance from my elected officials. Yes, that 'we the people' are the EMPLOYERS and not the other way around. It should also be inherent in our patriotism that we be skeptical of politics at its root and should embrace a 'guilty before proven innocent' relationship to it. In any case, I live in a little bubble here in Portland, Oregon and care very little for politics these days. Sometimes the voices on the outside are the most interesting. We can't rely on CNN to tell us anything interesting.
The bottom line with these writings is that they be sort of feral and true in their analysis of whatever. Our people believe strongly in "intelligence" or "anti-intelligence" where we stand at our particular cultural coordinates. I believe that, for me, the brain is only part of our portrait. We need to understand the inadequacy of our language to get to our bigger truths and to arrive at mutual understandings that exist between us. Spoken and written language, even in their most complex and articulate manifestations, are often primitive cave scratchings of our soul and we are often left vulnerable to misunderstanding and misrepresentation through them. We are often searching for the correct words to describe ourselves or our thoughts, often times to ourselves.
So, we need to step back and take a fair look. I believe that we need patience with our community and ourselves because the phenomenal world is wrought with misinterpretation and misrepresentation and we are its interpreters.
In short, I believe in pursuing the religion of 'love'. Such a spirituality implies patience and understanding. It requires faith. Love is clearly a religion unto itself and could involve a lifetime of meditation on the subject in order to maybe approximate its meaning. I am proposing what I like to call a 'mystical' meditation on the subjects of unity, multiplicity, and the spirit of revolution. Different, just like everyone else. The outer shell and the essence. Substance and meaninglessness. Rock 'n Roll and nap time.
I'm very excited to be back again with this blog. I have a couple other internet things set up as well including the podcast radio, all the music related stuff, and Drinking Zen which I plan to finish some day (the book). Writing is good therapy or rather, a good way of solidifying one's beliefs. I've said in the old blog that I believe the devil to be 'the great deceiver' as I'm sure the Bible describes him and thus all 'good' should suspect of its diabolical potential. When I talk about nonsense like critical thinking, I believe it is this accurate portrait of the Christian devil that exemplifies and possibly demands that we apply patience and skepticism to even our most cherished beliefs.
It's a beautiful day outside today.. I think I'll go for a hike in the Gorge and call it good.
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