answer

If you hear me, let me know
i have speaking on deaf ears
one day i hope to show blind eyes
what it is like to see
through my words
for now, let me know if
you can hear me
or if i have left you deaf
to my passion.

hope

Sweet tasting sunlight
flooded my senses
today for the first time
years ago i would have rejoiced
laughing, dancing, playing
splashing the puddles now dying
from hope
instead i smile
stepping over murky pools
back into a darkness
nothing can withstand hope
it floods in once more
through dusty glass panes
inescapable, inexplainable hope
the world is changing
spring to summer, summer to fall
fall to winter and again
maybing this world is worth
saving, i see hope in rays of sun
do you see hope in me?

Sustenance

Sustenance


We are destiny.
The masters of time,
Of the elements, and life
Once meant to be the closest
To the gods. We now
Look to surpass our creator
A child who looks to not
Suckle from his mother’s breast.
Instead attempting to create
His own sustenance
We know he will die
Equivalently we will die
Yet we are destiny
Destiny cannot be outrun
Yet now we run none-the-less
Truly masters of time, we chose
Our end, and the belief that we
Lack a solution
Numbs our veins
Civilization was not destiny
Nor was it meant to
Spell the end. What
Cannot sustain itself
Cannot survive. Civilization
Has destroyed itself just
As we have destroyed so
Many before us.
We must look not beyond
Our end, our civilization
Our solution is behind us.
In the dust of what
We once found
Useless. Look to those
From whom we saw no
Answer, to those
We killed with no solace
With this you will clear the
Numbness from your veins.
What is truly beyond our civilization
If buried behind us.
Now we may only see an answer.

Nothing more to Give

Leaver Story from Mel Gibson's Apocalypto
And a Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals
drew near to him and said, "We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us
for whatever you wish and you shall have it." The Man said, "I want to
have good sight." The vulture replied, "You shall have mine." The Man
said, "I want to be strong." The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like
me." Then the Man said, "I long to know the secrets of the earth." The
serpent replied, "I will show them to you." And so it went with all the
animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left.
Then the owl said to the other animals, "Now the Man knows much, he'll be
able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid." The deer said, "The Man has all
that he needs. Now his sadness will stop." But the owl replied, "No. I saw a
hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad
and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'"

Interesting correlation to what is happening now.

Visit to Earth

I was reading over my old fast writes and throught Id share the one about an alien coming to Earth and observing:

The life forms are void of life. they move without much thought, numb to their surroundings. There are problems here. Problems some are trying to fix but for the wrong reasons. their seasunds are unsound and excuses rattle my ears with every voice. What is an ozone? Ask any one here and they say it is being destroyed by gases but cannot tell you what it is. Is is not a gas? How can a gas be detroyed by more gas? How can one lifeform destroy all others and then itself? Such twisted fundamentals. They are amazing, intrequing, and utterly useless. So much capability, so little ability. I have nothing more to report for I have not seen anything with progress. Only one creature after another dying so one more can take its place as king of destruction. I fear our culture is not much different. We plan to wipe the Earth out tomorrow, just as humans wiped out the Kiwi Bird. Maybe we, the evolvd have something to learn from our primitive form. We are beyond human, what is beyond us?

Plan B

The world was made for man and man was made to rule it. Our culture was born through this simple idea marking our beginning and subsequently marking our destruction. Yet no matter how simple it is to see the flaws in our premise, we fail time and time again to escape the fate we shaped for ourselves. Why? The lack of a better story.
A person cannot truly exist without being a part of a story. Our culture chose a story to enact during the first days of our “revolution” and now as the final chapters draw near, those who fully comprehend what the end means are scrambling to jump into a new chapter book. Problem is where is one to jump into? Where is the glorious story that a new way of life will be born through? Where is the story that we can escape to? What story will be enough to save the world?
We as a culture are held captive. A few lucky souls can see the absurdity in the story our culture tells everyday. And others, the ones who follow the story religiously make it close to impossible to escape. The picture our culture painted and the web that Hitler wove both contained the same vital connection. Progression leads to advancement leading to fulfillment, leading ultimately to destruction.
So we are all a part of the same small group trying to escape the reality of a story that binds us to a world we would rather leave behind. Yet how do we leave our story in the dust? Our existence is linked to the story we choose to follow; however how will we exist if we abandon the only story we know? Easily said, we can’t. One cannot exist without a story to be in. So we need a new story. We need a story that unlike the one Hitler presented provides a means for living without sacrificing the lives of others. We may choose to live a different way, but others may chose to follow the original story and there is no way of changing that. Yet the world could be saved if we accept each story as a story, but exist in one that works for our needs. We need to exist in a story that doesn’t have destruction written between every syllable.
Ishmael presents a leaver culture and a taker culture. The taker culture is of course our culture and is therefore failing as perceived by common knowledge. This taker culture believes
there is no knowledge of the right way to live and therefore is blind to the alternative story that presents itself throughout all of nature. If there was correct way to live then how do the animals live in harmony? How does the balance of nature correct itself time and time again as it has done since the creation of the earth? The takers believe there is no right way to live yet the proof is written in the very core of the elements. It is also very possible that we are wrong about having no alternative story to escape the story of our culture. Again, these beliefs are so closely related is a shock we haven’t caught on quicker.
The right way to live is written in the world our culture cannot touch no matter how hard we work to. This very possibly is the reason we cannot control the forces of nature. How would one recon with the core principles of the right way to live? No wonder our culture’s story was doomed from the beginning. There is no possible way to change nature because there is no possible way to turn the one true way to live into the wrong way to exist. Our story told us to attempt the impossible and here we are now, looking for a new story in places it is nowhere to be found. Our search is rather futile however, not because there is no alternative story to be found but because the story we are looking for is written within the ideals of nature. The new story is written within the core principles of the right way to live.
When man chooses to follow the ways of nature and “live in the hands of the gods” as Ishmael puts it, man is choosing to follow a new story that works, a story that has worked since the beginning of mankind. I do understand there is no way our culture can digress back to the life of a nomad. In no way however does that mean that mankind is not capable of incorporating leaver fundamentals with taker technologies. To follow the ways of nature doesn’t mean to
become dependent upon nature. It simply means to follow the core principles nature presents. Be true to your territory, take only what you need to support yourself, support others in the way you would support yourself.

Fast food or fast solution?

So, I have been toying with an idea and want to run it by everyone.

The sustainability fair opened my eyes to a new idea. Bio-degratable products. WOW! So Ive always had an idea about how much garbage America puts out every year. The cold hard fact is that none of this garbage bio-degrates within our lifetime (and we wonder why the landfills are flowing into the ocean and our clean water reserves). Before I learned about bio-degratable products that can bio-degrate in about a year without letting off any harmfull gasses I would have said our only solution is to send the garbage to space. :)

Now I have a different plan.

America adores two things - speed on convienence. We also love something that is cheap, something that is disposable. HELLO PLASTIC! and hello the millions of pounds of garbage takign over our world. Well, in saying that we love speedy, low cost, and convienent items it is easy to say one of our favorite luxuries is fast food. This is why I want to work with/ attack the fast food industry.

Think about it... convert Wendy's into using only bio-degratable cups, silverware, to-go containers! That would reduce the amount of garbage by such a substantial amount we may actually make a difference. And then who knows who else would convert with Wendy's: Burger King, Dairy Queen, Jack in the Box, Sonic, McDonalds, Carls Jr, KFC, A&W, Taco Bell, Star Bucks....... (out of breath)

Starting to see the big picture? If we can find a way to convince the companies to change, we have found our way to help save the world.

Don't tell me it is impossible.. In Beyond Civilization, Quinn says that Ishmael and other books like it single handedly made a CEO of a carpet company convert to fully recycled materials. Imagine what a little push from a couple of supporters might do to the fast food industry.....

Ready for a solution?

All we have done lately is talk about wanting to save the world. We have even touched on how we can save the world. Yet, no action has been taken, no plan have been made. We have to come together and come up with a plan. Saving the world is going to involve creating a "tribe" where everyone's veiws are important. We cannot save the world alone, but together our new minds and new ideas just might do the trick.

I wrote earlier that I wanted a reward. That the ideas we were discussing were much to heavy to not reward ourselves with some kind of a change. Giving yourself a reward gives you all the more reason to try and create a solution. So here is my reward to you: A saved world.

Now how.. how in the world are you going to do it? Lets start a stand where we actually talk about what can be done. Lets work on forming ideas TOGETHER that just might fix what we think will be forever broken.

Last class we talked about how nothing is holding us back but ourselves. Well cut yourself loose and tell me how you plan do to something about the crisis at hand.

Trudging Towards Creativity??

Trudging, trudging through thoughts, memories, ideals. Trudging through the distingtion of right and wrong, through daily activities, through sleep and eating. We are all trudging through the murk of our lives, reluctantly blaming gravity for the weight that bears down upon us. Inevitably causing knees to buckle because "we are flawed" even physically. Not knowing that our footprings for a path, a path generations will follow, slowly and reluctantly headed where we headed once before them - though even we dont know where the path ends. We are trudging, trudging until one willing soul gets their feet wet to form a new path. A path that will rescue us from forever trudging through our culture.

I dont know about you, but I am sick of following the same path. I could never bear a life where I am a part of building a pyramid I despise. I am willing to get my feet wet, to get creative even when society frows upon my creativity.

"The trouble with him was that he was without imagination" - good news! I have an imagination and thank goodness I do because I can imagine so much more beyond civilization. I just have to wonder though, is it enough for just one person to get their feet wet and try something new? How will we, if we do decide to change the world, how will we spread it to others so that they may make the same choice? hmm.. time to get creative ;)

No One Else on Earth

Aliens vs. Gods



A conversation we had in class after a fast write sparked an interest in me about the similarities and differences between aliens and gods and how the Taker and Leavers culture views these beings entirely different.


First, to establish similiarities I can't help but notice that both beings are viewed as all powerful and all knowing. The gods have always been a symbol for complete power and influence over all human life in one way or another. Aliens too are most commonly viewed as a higher being with tecnhologies much farther advanced than our own. Both beings have the capacity to control human life, whether through religion or destruction.


Before I go on I have to shoot down one doubt that may be crossing your mind. This doubt it "This all may be true, but ALIENS dont exist" my answer to your doubt is we have no more proof that gods exist than we do aliens.


What really interests me is the views human society has on each of these beings. Leaver cultures used to fear the gods in very much the same way the Taker culture today fears aliens. Takers view the gods as "teachers" in the sense that we look to them for answers and quidance, where as we fear the power aliens would have over us, the same power we allow the gods to hold.


We have asked the gods for quidance for thousands of years and the advancement they have given us has only led to our destruction. The gods couldn't show us the right way to live yet we still continue to ask them to quide us.


Ishmael says that we need to invent our way out of our problems. We pride ourselves on our technologies but also fear the tecnhologies greater than ours. If aliens are out there and they are more advanced than us. Whose to say they dont hold the answer for how we can save our world? Why is it that human instinct is to fear the very advancement that we need inorder to survive?