The Surface Aesthetic

On the eve of starting a new job, I’m once again placed at the psychological crossroads of contemplating my existence and ‘what it all means…’ I know, asking why we exist has become a bit cliché these days, and those who really dive deep into the depths of their own consciousness often become lost in the caverns of infinite thought to the extent that they wake up as forty year olds who haven’t really done anything substantial with the life they wasted away contemplating. I, for one, have decided to make a sound and substantial commitment to becoming anything but a wasted mind among wasted space. The one mantra that i’ve held close to my heart over the past few years is that life is violently short. The time and space that we spend our quiet and sometimes fruitless existence is painfully unyielding. Sure we remember certain moments of our lives and ascribe to them a posthumous  reality that was perhaps never really there to begin with. Our past is a dissection of all that we have been, just as the future rests as an open canvas, for us to sculpt and color into anything we so desire.

So why is then that we’re constantly caught in the present. In a space in time that offers little shelter from the reality of existence. The present is painful, it can tear us apart limb from limb and moments later build us up into something greater than we’ve ever been before. The present defines our existence as it dissolves it’s own. It’s here, in the present moment, that we think about what we’ve done, and moreover plan and scheme our next steps. I personally have felt more lost then found lately. Sure, the surface aesthetic is all in order, but just beneath lies an undefined self-awareness of fear and anxiety. We’re always trying to convince ourselves of what we’re supposed to be, seeking congruency with the societal standards of our present moment. However, the individuals of our humanity that have striven towards something greater than their own surface aesthetic and societal standard are in turn the ones that define what our existence as human beings is. When we look back at everything we’ve done as a species, it’s not Bob Smith the banker or David Wilson the police offer that we read about in our history books, it’s the Nelson Mandela’s and the Martin Luther King’s of our world that define us.

Indeed, it’s a revolution of the soul that we are all seeking. It’s not that we want to be something different or better than what we are that drives us, it’s the desire and passion to discover the person we truly are that creates contrast and evolution in a society. I’m not feeling lost because I don’t have a ‘dream job’ or the perfect relationship or a Harvard education, I’m feeling lost because I’m not quite sure who I am….and the thought that the truth of my own existence is resting just centimeters beneath the person I know all too well is driving me crazy. It’s a sentiment we’ve all felt, but it’s there for a reason. It’s there to let our souls thrive and prosper in a constant churning state of discovery.

I say to you all, take more road-trips, travel to the far ends of the earth, start conversations with strangers, taste foods you’ve never heard of, read Tolstoy, read Whitman, read Emerson and London, and never stop engaging your senses in the fiery blessing that is your precious and brief existence and everything it offers each and every day.

a tonal evolution

I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about the richest people in America. I think it’s amazing how the wealthiest people in the United States are starting to take steps to leave the world a better place than they found it. I was just reading about T.Boone Picken’s plan to change the way American’s fulfill their daily energy needs. He had become one of the principle leaders in advocating wind and solar power in the United States. Picken’s is currently worth about 3 billion dollars, it would be higher,but he’s already given away nearly 900 million to charity. Sure it’s easy to say, “We’ll I’d give away millions too if I still had millions in the bank,” but it’s easier said than done. How many of us would empty out a quarter of our bank accounts to make the world a better place? I would tag that number at our close to 0. We can say the same for people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who have tagged nearly 100 billion dollars of their fortunes to be given away to alleviate some of the pain in the world. Gate’s charity focuses on developing health care in the third world, while Buffet’s support of the Glide foundation has gotten thousands of homeless Americans off the streets and into the working economy. But I’d like to focus this discussion on Pickens, the reason being that he has made his entire fortune in oil. Oil executives aren’t the most ‘loved’ group of people in the mainstream media, especially as the economy slowly implodes in the United States. But people like Pickens are breaking free from the past and focusing their attention, energy, and ultimately their vast reserves of capital toward building a brighter future for the next generation of the world. Pickens’ initiative is built on sparking a revolution of wind and solar powered energy. I’m really excited to see people in position’s of power taking selfless steps in changing the world for the better. There are have always been driven, compassionate, and intelligent human beings doing what they can to give the world a brighter future. But when the truly empowered people of our generation take these steps it resonates an incredibly high level. If we all can commit to making the future brighter then there’s no way we can fail. Human beings have turned their backs on the natural world around them. They treat nature as a commodity. Everything has a value, and when it becomes invaluable, it’s tossed aside. Well nature is fighting back, and as has always been the foundational element of nature, harmony is peace. Instead of drilling into the Earth’s precious resources to feed our exponential addiction to oil and natural gas, we have to start looking upward and onward towards a future that keeps on giving. I know this is nothing new, but the second we stop thinking about the energy crisis at hand, it’s as if we’re giving up.

http://www.pickensplan.com/

the societal state

I came across this through an email this afternoon and thought it was interesting that it was written by George Carlin. I’m not sure if you’ve read it before or not, but I find myself agreeing with his overall sentiment. The fact that we, as human beings, are slowly but surely becoming more and more disconnected from one another. Why is it that we’re all so painfully conscious of the things we want from life, of the experiences and relationships that we desire….yet so often do nothing about it. Human beings have always been a species of action, of discovery and revolution. But when it comes down to it, we too often fail in rising up against the stagnant and stale state of our own everyday existence. We’re in desperate need of reviving the innate passion of existence itself we all have inside. There is, of course, still time…

Carlin’s Thoughts:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days o f two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when the technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

-George Carlin

Hello world!

Hello common people. I’m excited to say after careful consideration I’ve decided to re-launch my blog. There won’t be any specific theme or objective, instead it will exist simply as a forum for me to comment on life and the world around us. Enjoy it.