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Thursday, April 27, 2017

The Sandwich of Knowledge




The Sandwich of Knowledge

There it is. The sandwich of the Knowledge. The ever seeking and the ever stacking.
It exists within us. Within many forms in our own minds. We all have our own particular sandwich preferences. The sandwich wants to continually seek for that knowledge. The knowledge of the outside world and the knowledge of the self.

This is how you stack it. This constant seeking for knowledge means more and more layers of stuff to add to it. Never ending layers you might say. You see, the sandwich//the mind are using knowledge to modify itself. It still exists as the same form, by the accumulation of knowledge and the will to expand. It can only stay within it’s own conceptual relevancy. Get it? It still exists as a sandwich of knowledge because there will always be the restraint and restriction of the bread that exists on the top and bottom of it. The Sandwich of Knowledge wants to continually modify itself to adapt and help survive and proliferate its own existence.

Sometimes the contents of this knowledge may fall and fade away or simply be replaced with something new, fresh and decadent. Sometimes the old the remnants of the old contents will get tucked away or pushed down in order to make room for new sensory knowledge input. We can keep acquiring, but the mind will do its best to use what is best and what is most relevant for what is needed at the time.

Sometimes we see knowledge as a means to sound more “knowledgeable” in a social setting. We may pimp out that sandwich for the benefit of trying to make ourselves seem more orderly, presentable and darn right interesting. What does this do to serve us? Can we just access the different knowledgeable contents for the times that we “think” we need them? When does this concept of knowledge become more of a storage unit for memories and tidbits that tickle our own fancys?

How do you stack it?
Is your Sandwich of Knowledge a Giant Stuffed Reuben?
Or..
Is your Sandwich of Knowledge more of a basic grilled cheese?

Our mind wants to keep accumulating knowledge to prop up our “sense of selves.” We may not even be totally aware of its own workings and manipulations. We can question it all we want. We can divide ourselves from this concept of “the mind” all we want, but none of us will bring us closer to what we see as “the Truth”. Sure, we may be able to spout out facts and give out analytical answers to topics and questions, but this knowledge that we hold is all based in thought and thought is rather limiting since thought begets thought and works in cycles and patterns. This Sandwich of Knowledge may look delicious and taste wonderful, but it cannot not radically change itself to become something it is not.

So it doesn’t really matter how many toppings, layers and ingredients we add to the sandwich because it will still remain a sandwich. Do we need to change that? Can’t we just see the Sandwich of Knowledge for what it really is? What more can we really know? Do we even need to know more? What is left to know? Do we even really know?

It’s ok to say I don’t know, certainly. It’s fine to look at how the mind likes to store tidbits, facts and platitudes. It may bring the mind great comfort and satisfaction. We can separate ourselves all we want from the Knowledge Seeking Mind, but that won’t change anything. That will divide us more and more from what is actually happening and just create more conflict. Is this making sense? Just let it be. Embrace that there is only so much we can know at every waking moment. This is how we act. This is how the mind acts. We can only know what we know when we know it. It is a product of time. You cannot have knowledge without time. This is what we know and this is rather interesting.

So the mind seeks for things that is does not know and attempts to use what it already knows to adapt with the outside world and construct your own illusory sense of self. What happens when we don’t know something? Do we immediately gravitate towards things that we might know? Do we immediately gravitate to answers or solutions to the “ I don’t know” statement? If you don’t know about these questions, then that is great. Sit with it. When you see the immediate reaction to try to escape the “I don’t know” state, you will see how the mind wants to try to keep within the realm of the known and try to appease itself with answers that it may think will add to the overly stacked Sandwich of Knowledge.

“ We can only do our best with what we KNOW at the TIME.”
Constant Learning. Constant Collecting. Constant and Consistent Thought Patterns.

We can bite from the sandwich and enjoy its flavor all we want. We can look at with salivary lust. We can embrace it will total joy and hunger.  Is it about the more we know? Is it about the more we want to know? Can we ever act or see out from what we know already? Can we see without trying to analyze while being bound to compulsory thought and the past?

The Sandwich of Knowledge thrives on thought. This is what it knows. This is how it is built. Can we know what it is like to step out of the binding cycle of compulsory thought? The sandwich certainly likes to feed on itself. To reference itself and to make you “think” about the knowledge you already have. You knowledge will be added to in every new interaction and discovery. You will accumulate it like you accumulate bad jokes and puns. It gets stored in your memory. Memory that is conditioned from the past and processed with old experiences and thoughts. What we know can help us and what we know can send us into new territories into the “unknown”.

Can we know and live without being so constricted to what we already know?
Will we know what it means to experience the “unknown”?

I don’t know.

DG

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

I am content generator.



Hi.

I am content generator.
I am a* content generator.

I create images both satisfying and inquisitive. I disperse them like apple seeds across the digital and IRL landscape. I package them in nice digestible bites and upload them to the noise of the daily grind. That daily life of constant content. That daily attachment to compulsory thought. I contribute to the constant expression of fear, desire and doubt. I process what comes in my mind and blend it into a more coherent and inquisitive type of cerebral drink. I do this for myself and I do it for YOU.

I must be consistent. I must spread my content consistently with great discipline and vigor. Is the content directing me or am I directing the content? Do I think that my content has any specific significance? Do I think that my content is better than YOUR content?

I dare not compare, for my content is that of my mind and my conditioning. I filter through my own lenses. My sense of self conditioned by time. Conditioned by the past. Conditioned by what seems to catch my eye and hooks my brain. That deliciously decadent brain candy. That neural satiation and cerebral satisfaction. Cream of the crop, where my content floats to the top.

Maybe you will like my content. It is mine after all. I am attached to it. It is part of me, at least I think. What is your reaction?

It’s true. I may get lost in the noise. Lost in the feeds and lost in the constant scrolling of humanoids. Most of my “stuff” doesn’t see the light of day. Some of it I let it out as if it is an experimental dog thing that may or may not disturb you or poop in your yard. It’s all part of the process, trust me. All the bad stuff and all the good stuff. The bad stuff makes the good stuff look better and the good stuff makes the bad stuff look worse. I embrace that. I am ok with not doing my “best” during times of stress and duress. It makes content generating that more fun! Content generating is the like the bees knees of tragedy and the gunk between the eyes of beautiful frogs. The frogs that croak and fetch the golden ball for the princess. You know the story.

It’s the yin and yang. The light and dark. The siren’s call and the dog’s bark.
The content is ephemeral, amorphous and ever changing. The change is constant isn’t it? The change is inevitable they say. Content will be here. Old content and new content will fade. Content will be composted and redistributed. Content will exist as long as their is thought.

I am content with content. Am I content with content? I am not too sure. I shall investigate. I shall allow the content to come out. It shall please some. Some will go unnoticed. That is the nature of the game. That’s how you learn. You learn to make better content from how the older content is perceived. Maybe you learn a little bit more about yourself. Maybe you learn more about your process and how you choose to make content. We can make content within the comfort of our own home or make it with friends at a coffeehouse. So many opportunities and so many ways to make content.
How will you make content?
How will your content change?
Do you enjoy generating content?
Do you enjoy absorbing content?
Does the absorption of content make you make better content?

Some things to ponder. Some things to juggle in that head of yours. Things all around you. Images in your head. Images from the chasm of social media. Images from the passenger side of your best friend’s ride.

I am content generator.
I will keep making content with or without you. 
Am I simply a reflection of my own content?
Am I content?
Am I content?

DG

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

What Makes It CheeZy?



What makes it cheesy?

What makes something cheesy?

We all have different perceptions of what cheesy may look or feel to us. We may see something as hokey, annoyingly witty, or quite frankly “eye rolling”, but what really makes something cheesy?

Is there an unwritten spectrum of cheese? If something is more cerebral, serious and artistic, does that mean that it cannot be cheesy? Do we see being cheesy as something that is overplayed and cliche? If we assign cheesiness to a spectrum then it must mean that there are different scales of cheesy severity. One person could see a movie that seems to be formulaic, as cheesy. When we write something off as being “done before” does that necessarily make it cheesy?

One might think that something is cheesy in order to get a quick look or a laugh. By using a cheesiness strategy, one can mimic things that he or she has seen as cheesy before. It may be a way to make a quick buck or even get a few scoffs or laughs from the process. Does this demean the value of the process of the “art”? Certainly, we can have successful art that might be seen as cheesy at the same time.

We may like movies from our pasts that give us a sense of nostalgia. That sense of nostalgia is tied in with the concept of “cheesiness”, is it not? It may remind us of a an awkward time from our pubscent stages of life. Think, ChumbaWumba. You know, the album TubThumper. Or even SmashMouth. If you grew up in the time of these wonderfully decadent bands, then you can see that their music might come off as being a little cheesy nowadays. Back then, your developing mind might have enjoyed it more because of the pop culture that seeped into your brain and the “cool” crowd you hung around. So if we look at it, cheesiness is inherently dependent on the passing of time. One cannot necessarily see something as cheesy unless they have had experience with what they are comparing as cheesy. You compare with memory. The memory is of the utmost necessity of facilitate the cheesiness factor.

Seems Gouda to me.

" Does it have the Resounding Cheese Factor? The potent smell of infinite potentiality?"

So when we recognize something as cheesy, we might just write it off and move forward, but if we enjoy the cheesiness of things, we get a new value from it. A new lease on life. We may start to look for things for the direct intent of seeing of cheesiness it is. Just because something is cheesy, doesn’t mean that we have to throw it away like late Jack in the Box tacos. You hear me?

Some people may see Huey Lewis and the News as cheesy, but you have to take it in context with the time it came out. It was for sure cool when it was blasted out on the air waves. Think about it. I for one, like the music of Huey Lewis. I find it compares to a fine aged cheddar. Great taste and a great texture. Really cuts to the taste buds. I think that his music is great and that when you can reminisce about the era it comes from, you can develop a new sense of appreciation.

Maybe seeing something as cheesy and shooing it away like spoiled a spoiled meat fly is a reflection of our insecurities.

Some of you may feel guilty for liking cheesy things. That is not too healthy. You need to embrace that cheese. Rub that wiz all over your biz. If you catch my drift, brieother. I swiss we could embrace the holy cheese with great courage and integrity! I mean why not?

“ One must go for Full Cheese Factor, where you go all the way, man. You just go for it and push that cheese to the limits. Pushing them cheese boundaries to unthreaded territory.”

So we see...

Cheese comes from the product of time.
We look back from memory and may see it as being cheesy because it doesn’t fit in with the culture of today. So we think it is overdone and overplayed and we point our noses towards the sky.
When we don’t judge or condemn the cheese, we can observe it. Observe and ask questions of why we are ignoring cheese. It is the refined value. That taste palette that we can expand and grow. Through the embrace of cheesiness, comes a new form of spontaneity and flexibility. You can have fun with it. Play around with it. Heat it up, mix it up and put it on some sandwiches.

“ Cheesy Plasticity forms a variety of cognitive and culturally sensitive benefits and rewards.”

Don’t let cheesiness discourage you. Don’t let it taint your sense of value.
Let that cheesiness stink. Smell it with a dainty waft. Soak it in, player.

Sure, you can have your snooty high class things you like, but you can also make a little room for that cheese in your life. A little room for you to appreciate and learn from. Think of the many opportunities that can open up if you just open up your arms to cheese. People can relate. You will attract the other cheesy peeps. The cheese can bring people together. The cheese can bring the fun.

Smell ya later.

DG

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Scent of a Musician


Scent of a Musician...
How to Attract and Feed a Musician.

Musicians.

You seem them everywhere. They live among us. In the coffee shops that you frequent and the places that you pick out various dried fruits. They take many shapes and forms. Many have a grungy aesthetic, while others blend in with nice polos and “normal” wear like the kind you would see in a Nordstrom ad. Sure, some of them smell, but there are others that may mask that post-show beer soaked daze with Calvin Klein or some type of Axe knock off nose violation.

You may encounter musicians from time to time or even see an influx of them entering into your comfortable sphere of mundane routine, but there are several things to consider when interacting with these folks. You want to make sure to have them properly fed, groomed and able to function within the community with dignity and respect. Don’t you? You also want to make sure that you attract the right musicians and deter the disaster prone ones with some helpful hints and tricks.

Some musicians travel in groups or “packs” and some may be more transient and nomadic and the others. Some may have a permanent living situation where as others might gravitate between smelly couches and beer stained yoga mats that they stole from previous failed relationships. Many musicians may have a track record of being late on rent, owing money or subscribing to a type of ideological bartering system where they try to convince you that they will pay you with priceless song, killer parties and the promises of riches in the future when they finally “make it”. You want to make sure and be aware of what kind of musicians you are dealing with here, buddy.

If you see a hungry musician it is important to have some staples so that you may feed them when they acting irritable and weak. It is important to stock your fridge with low grade piss water beers that can be easily distributed to a musician. They may ask you for some resources or invite you to a show and in order to relate to these scruffy beings, you must have some type of social lubricant that will help with bonding and conflict resolution. Some musicians prefer to drink straight from the bottle or can and some may require a saucer of beer or watered down whiskey to be put out on a front porch or even in front of a coffee shop to prevent acts of nihilistic loitering.

Some musicians can get by with a small granola bar or some bread. You want to make sure to have plenty of empty carbs stocked up so that it will balance with their alcohol intake. If a grungy type of musician doesn’t have the right balance of white carbs to soak up the lukewarm beer, then they might get irritable and start complaining on how their drummer just can’t seem to keep time or get along with the bassist. You will notice the complaining and the boasting the more you interact with musicians. It is good to keep a keen eye on how much they are eating with how much they are drinking.

* Side Note: Some musicians do not drink and they prefer an IV drip of some type of espresso or a green smoothie that tastes like grass clippings, but these musicians are mostly occupied with the architecture of songs in their head and the discrete calculations of what they are going to get paid at their next gig. They might go by “Professional Musicians” and will waste no time in talking about themselves before you even try to initiate a conversation with them. They are crisp and cool and all that jazz.*

Pro Tip: Sometimes you will encounter more musicians at coffee shops and juice bars because they are using that space to formulate to mind-blowing lyrics and chord structures that will surely give them a leg up on the local and National scene.

It is important to listen or at least to pretend to listen when you meet a new musician or a musician you haven’t seen in a long time. Bear in mind that most of them might come off as standoffish or pompous, but they won’t have any trouble telling you when their next E.P. is going to be finished and how many shows they have coming up. It is up to you on how you want to handle these interactions, but here are some questions that might challenge some of these musicians and get them to think outside of their self-centered raised eyebrow framework.

How are your parents doing?
What books are you reading?
What are your thoughts on turning front lawns to fully functional gardens?
Did you have any favorite basketball players growing up?
What are your thoughts on the sect of Veganism that allows for the consumption of oysters?
How often do you exercise?

And last, but not least...

What is your day job?

Some of these questions may make a musician uncomfortable and he may revert back to their shell of “what is going on with his/her band” and others may stare blankly into space trying to figure out where he can get his or her next free beer. It is important to challenge these musicians so you can see what musicians will be the right fit for you. You may find out that you and other musicians may like the same live Barry Manilow album, or like to eat Thai on the weekends. It is important to learn that although some of these musicians may present themselves as intimidating or disgruntled, they all have hearts and something to give.

* Some musicians find it hard to take criticism even if it comes off as being somewhat constructive. If you are in doubt of how to approach criticism, just be safe by saying “ Good Show”, “ Good Job”, “ Great Set”, “ That was fun!”.

The Smells

The Scent of a Musician

Some of these musicians may have rather distinct smells that may stray away from the normal hygienic practices brought upon us by society. They may forget to buy or even put on deodorant or think that by cycling out the same 3 outfits that they will establish their own sense of self worth and image. They have to make sure that they look good on stage and in life at the same time. Some of them may bounce from laundromat to laundromat as a step in the their own creative process. It is important to not be rude and call them out on it, but to carry some emergency spray like Febreze or Axe body spray to neutralize the smell. Some musicians may be so Patchoulied’ out that it’s hard to even form a coherent thought when approaching them, but simply say “Namaste” and grab one of their handbills that they keep in their hemp purse type of a carrying thing.

There are musicians from all different types of places and backgrounds. We must learn to embrace them and welcome them into our community and take in all the free CDs and albums that they hand us. They mean well and they just want their music to spread. If they tell you to listen to their music, then give it a shot. Most of them will non-chalantly or ambiguously tell you to listen to their music as if it’s “No Big Deal.” They don’t want to appear “Full of themselves”. Some of them will take it to the Nth degree. They will assertively give you a free Cd and tell you about their next few shows. There is so much variety!

The Look

Musicians have a very interesting fashion sense. You will notice a common trend of many musicians mimicking other more successful musicians as well as their “peers”. Some may be more intentional about it, while others will just constantly wear wore out thrift store finds that they find comfortable and not too “well kept” and slightly non-conforming to the general public. Many musicians will do all types of interesting things to their hair and facial hair. You will notice that many will stick to beards because it is such a drag to shave. Some will try to stylize their facial hair in order to heighten their sexual market value and attract a certain desperation present in rebellious and neglected grown wounded children. They can also use their beards to scratch when they are pondering a new chorus or even save remnants of beer particles for later when they are out and about between coffee shops and bars. Many musicians of the female variety will attempt to dye their hair in order to stand out and look different as well as to accompany the the changing strobe like retro fitted lights that seem to blind them from playing a correct open G chord on stage.
*Some like to wear shoes or some old boots and many will just wear out a pair of smelly Chuck Taylor's*

Don’t be put off by the semi-translucent self centeredness that emanates from the musician like a newly backed gluten free organic pie that just came out of the oven. It is important that they match their supposed identity with how they want to act and how they want to dress. They may think that they don’t care what they look like, but deep down they want to be noticed or at least meld in with their fellow musicians so they have an easier way of being accepted and heard. They may act as if they just threw together some hodge-podge manifestation that just happened to be placed perfectly in their colorful closet, but their fashionable choices have plenty of hidden intention.

They walk the walk and talk that talk,
Gotta match that image with all that drive,
Image. Sound. Image. Sound. Sell!

That drive and passion for the next big thing man,
The Next Big Sound, That next fragmented trend that will get a temporary niche following that will allow for the music to live on, man. Crashing on couches, sleeping on floors, they will do whatever they have to do for that Good Ol’ Jazz and Blues, The pentatonic solos belched out of a pawn shop telecaster. Playing to a room of 3 or 300. They say it’s all about the music man. Suffering is part of it. They will say this. It is all part of that process. That delicious and self masochistic status of being a musician.

Just let the music play out, Pour those frustrations and failed relationships into that ABAC song structure. You better have a hook unless you are more psychedelic. Then you need that reverbed guitar solo to take you into new heights of self centered delusion and unconscious bliss. Let it all sink in.....oh but make sure and pick up that payment at the end of the night. No matter how much, it was worth it. It was worth that journey of the music. The journey of lugging that Marshall stack in your Toyota Corolla. The journey of trying to find a place to park next to the venue. The Journey of falling asleep in the back of the van and pissing in mason jars. Think of the experiences! The People! The Free Drink Tickets!

You will get plenty of No’s, but will get plenty of yesssss’s. Live for those Yes’s. It’s about the journey not the destination they say. Just have plenty of platitudes in your neural arsenal to help you navigate the musical landscape.

All and all, musicians enrich our lives and make us appreciate the communities we live in. It is important that you continually support musicians and feed them the necessary food, appreciation and buy some merch every once in awhile. They work hard for their music, the way they look and the various jobs they will have in their lifetime. Go hug yourself one of them musicians, and have a good old rompin stompin night!

Namaste!

DG

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Are you Serious? (!)


Are you Serious?

Or

Are you serious?!

What does it mean to be “serious”? Does it imply that a person must buckle down to business and simply solve a certain problem or absolve some type of conflict without having any type of jovial or positive emotion? When we think of someone being “serious”, does our attention go towards something that is more straightforward, dull and  constricting?

If we see a businessman talking numbers on the phone, do we see him as being serious? When someone tells us to take things “seriously”, does that mean putting on a mask of seriousness and focusing our minds on a certain thought(image) or scenario?

It is quite odd. In this modern society we like to compartmentalize and segment out different states of being for some type of means to an end. If we expected or told to be serious, we are essentially trying to fragment our perception into an illusory box dead set on not being jovial or compassionate to any degree. It all relates the context at play. Do you see?

When we will ourselves to try to be more “serious”, we are trying to direct our attention in a very direct and perverse way. We are acting out an ideological concept. What we think as being serious is a form of discipline for the mind. The controlling and manipulation of moods and emotions. It is a pigeonholing for the illusory sense of self. We can see that being serious requires the internal action of division and discrimination. Instead of being with what is, we use seriousness as an unconscious construct to mold what should be. To attain a certain goal or mood within ourselves of a setting. Maybe we become “serious” when we see perceive others as being serious. We do our best to not avoid conflict and just choose to conform with how we see the serious faces and bodies around us. Since seriousness is built on constraint and a presence of conflict, there will always be conflict and no sense of communion or relationship.

“ So why do we take ourselves so seriously? She asked. “
“ The answer that came wasn’t very serious at all.”

Being “serious” and faking being serious are essentially the same thing. Any time you are trying to manipulate your mindset or state of “being”, you are limiting your sense of awareness and vulnerability. If you want to be more of a serious person, you just have to puff yourself up be more of “that”, but by doing that you are just creating more conflict and escaping what is. It is the illusory act of “becoming”. It is the denial of self and reinforcement of the self. It is the mind taking control and boosting up the false sense of self.

The Mind:
“ I must get this thing done or I must strip away any sense of humor, vulnerability and emotional intelligence in order to achieve a certain state or goal.”

“ I must act this way to show my power and the weight of this situation. I must focus, be assertive and be attentive with the intent of displaying my unwillingness to be swayed by your non-serious dispositions.”

See the problems?

The mind is trying its best to escape the present and use the information it has to try to get to what it “should be”.

Seriousness comes from the conditioning our mind has endured. Does this concept of seriousness have an evolutionary advantage? Did we simply evolve to become more serious in order for the survival of our species? Did seriousness as we understand it today, come from a place of fear or a place of bonding? Can we be empathetic and compassionate while holding onto a serious disposition?

We tell ourselves that in order to get that promotion at work, we must buckle down and take it very seriously. We must IDENTIFY with what we want and do our best to make that happen no matter what cost or obstruction.

We take our jobs and career seriously.
We take some of our relationships seriously.
We take our insecurities very seriously.

What does this all mean?
What does it actually mean to take things seriously?

Does seriousness stem from our childhood?
Maybe we were scolded or punished for do something bad and we associated our parent’s tone with that of seriousness. It is the mean spirited authoritarian directive that was meant to control you! We can see it now more than ever since we have blossomed into adulthood. Seriousness is an implementation to try to manipulate a situation in a certain way whether physically through body language and tone or within the mind.

If there are things that we choose, whether consciously or unconsciously to take seriously, there are things that we don’t take seriously. These may be small menial and mundane things in our life that we are not passionate about. We shoo them to the side and procrastinate. It may be things that we think are more of obligations. We might not take making our bed or doing the dishes very seriously because it doesn’t give us much value or titillates us to the right degree. So then we align this sense of benign seriousness with what we see as important. The things that will benefit us or simply the things that we think we can control. That’s what is comes down to anyway. Control. The idea that we can control our routine and mundane life through the effort and will of seriousness.

We become terse, harsh and mechanical. Seriousness is very mechanical. It requires that we limit and restrain ourselves. It requires that we look at things in a stale and direct light without observing of what is really going on. Most of the times we think we are serious and some times we stray away from that idea. We exhaust ourselves and become complacent, complicit and nihilistic. We simple do not observe how we interact with ourselves and others at times. We fall into the false mantras of, “Be This”, “Do That”, and “Keep Going”. Keep on the right track they say!

Is seriousness the absence of humor? Do we need to put on a serious mask to look at things in a certain stern and fluorescent type of lighting?

Does seriousness have a spectrum? The spectrum from serious to not serious? The spectrum from serious to funny? If there is a spectrum, then the far end of the seriousness spectrum would imply that there would be no room for humor or enthusiasm, correct? Would it be totally devoid of any compassionate emotion or altruistic tendencies? If we are not “serious” in a “serious” situation so to speak, are we not in tune with our own human nature? Is seriousness a byproduct of unconsciousness and acting from a place of fear, anxiety and desensitized transactional interactions?

If seriousness doesn’t necessarily have a spectrum, it is fatally dualistic? A false duality? A false dichotomy, if you will. That duality would require the ability to analyze and break it up into a binary scenario devoid of any variation or permeability. Surely, one person could see one thing more serious than the other person. If that is the case, wouldn’t seriousness essentially be arbitrary and subjective? If a person chooses to be more open and calm and less serious and stern, does that change the seriousness of the situation at hand? This seems absurd since seriousness cannot be totally or absolutely defined or necessarily warrant in productive or positive results. If you act more serious, does it make the situation more tense or less? Think on it.

If we are more open and vulnerable to the challenges and situations that come our way, do we even need to be seriousness? If we attach ourselves to this concept of seriousness, don’t we set ourselves up for missing out on the totality of the experience? Are we so desensitized and detached from our awareness that we become very dull and mechanical? It’s easy for us to get use the habit and routine of these things we see as “serious” in our lives. We feel that we MUST do them the RIGHT way. That we must not “kid around” with these important obligations. God forbid we try to enjoy these “serious” scenarios and interactions. God forbid we totally immerse ourselves in every mundane and trivial experience to figure out WHY we are doing it in the first place! Do you understand?

Seriousness seems like such a lukewarm illusion. A ghost that throttles the mind and influences our decisions. Does a squirrel get serious? A squirrel surely doesn’t know what seriousness is. He or she has had not use for it. It lives its life in the moment and is attentive to its own survival. The squirrel has no need to worry about his job, his car or his wife. The squirrel has no need to segment his perceptions and emotions to try to achieve a certain goal or resolve a specialized conflict. Alas, we are humans. This concept of seriousness arose from thought. Arose from the conditioning brought on us by society and the people that helped raise us. We have been told what to feel during these tough and trying situations. We are told to simply obey, straighten up and focus on the future that seems to generate such perverse anxiety. Stay in line and take things seriously for the times that you need to take things seriously, they tell us. Work. Play. Work. Play. Buckle Down. Get back Up. Dust yourself off. Try Again. Keep Going. Focus on the positive. Get Well Soon. Be the Best you can be.

......And all these miserable platitudes.

Yet here we are. Always worrying. Fairly dull and mechanical. Our poor conditioned little minds. What happened to the Play? The childlike playfulness and exuberant curiosity?

Yes, that’s right! The curiosity! The ability to see anew. The ability to be attentive with what is. The ability to take risks and be flexible. The patience and attention for uncertainty. The compassionate embrace of our loved ones. The willingness to totally be with the experience. To not separate, over analyze, pick apart and intellectualize. The ability to freely and openly express our enthusiasm and frustrations. To not judge, criticize and collectivize the people around us. We got so use to that didn’t we? Isn’t it such a vibrant experience? To observe the mind? To totally immerse yourself in the fluidity and impermanence of living. Yes! Living! You forgot that you were living, didn’t you? To truly live. Whatever that means! Ha! To die to each fleeting moment. To accept the uncertainty and embrace the discomfort. The promise of nothing. The false clinging to security and comfort. The errors of expectations. The welcoming of unseen opportunities.

You mess up, but you learn. You celebrate your victories. You allow for life to flow through you without trying to tame it like a shrew or writhing weasel. You trip, you make up, you embrace the flooding of emotion and the futility of passing moods. ///////

This life. Not yours. Such abundance and unpredictability. The structure of beliefs. Your thoughts. Well, more of the thoughts in your head. This dance of living. The one you call “your” life. Come off of it. Is it yours? Do you take it seriously? Does that do you any good? So serious you are! But why? Do you see the conundrum. The misery you create by holding on to so many things. The suffering you endure. Yes, you endure. Enduring certainly is not living. Can we agree on that? How much more of this “so called” life can you endure? This is what happens when you take yourself and “your life” so seriously. What a waste of energy. What a vicious perpetuation of unconsciousness.

Here it is.
Serious or not.
Spectacular or not.
Satisfactory or not.

Here it is. Here you are.
What is your reaction?
DG

Saturday, April 1, 2017