A visionary speak:

I believe our performances are akin to the endeavors of the ancient Alchemists. Our goal is to take physical lead (the body & mind, flawed and inherited), and transform it into spiritual gold. Then, ultimately, generate and infect ourselves and our supporters with the great Panacea, the elixir of life, which holds the remedy for all life’s suppressions. In laymen’s terms, we believe words matter, music is holy, and art saves (Headbangers Blog).

If I could, I would quote her entire post. Their is salvation in art. Throughout the many things that I have gone through in my life, music and art have been my constant companions. Catharsis is absolutely necessary.

I have often envied musicians and painters for the power of their media to so easily connect two souls in a way that amazes me and astounds me. This is the difference between fandom and pop culture fans.

The emotional, near religious, experience that transforms people into devoted, life-long fans. We experience something that soothes a wound or that we identify with on such a deep level.

This is also the burden that anyone who considers themselves an artist has to bare. How can your art transcend the limits of words on paper, sound, or paint on canvas, and become something that is capable of carrying an unspeakable message from soul to soul. No one can plan this, it is a byproduct of listening to ones muses and riding the leopard without been eaten by it.

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I did not post when young Larry King’s life was snuffed out by hate because I was too full of anger and hate at the causes of his murder, and I did not want to add more hate into the world.

I have been blind for tears every time I pray because unholy words from a book that I hold as sacred played a part in the slaying of this young child. Hate is all we need to know of hell.

No matter what you believe about the nature of the universe, a demon, a devil is responsible for the killing of this boy, and I am not talking about other boy who pulled the trigger. I am talking about the demon that roams our psyche that says it is ok to mock, harass, harm, and kill gay people. This devil is a poison in our national blood stream and it must be banished if we are ever going to live up to our national creed, Justice for All.

Thanks to Ellen, I have found a way through my own hate, but I still have pity. I must find a way to make pity into compassion.

See Ellen’s words here.

(thanks Lady Bunny)

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The words “Follow Your Bliss” have been overused and misused in so many different contexts that they have become cliche and trite, but the goal that they express is one that needs to be remembered.

Joseph Campbell first started using the phrase as a short hand for a much larger idea, and like all short hand the original meaning has to be brought up from time to time.

In many forms of yogic philosophy, enlightenment is achieved through Sat-cit-ānanda:

• right or perfect being: Sat (सत्)
• right or perfect consciousness: Cit (चित्)
• right or perfect bliss: Ānanda (आनंद)

According to the story that Campbell told in the Power of Myth, he did not know how to tell if his being is right or perfect, or he consciousness, but he knew where his bliss was, so he could Follow His Bliss, and hopefully stumble upon the other two.

Bliss is not pleasure. It is happiness. The basic question is: “What makes you happy?” There is something that you do that makes time fall away, makes you happy, and makes you content.

The idea behind “Follow Your Bliss” is that each of us should find that one thing that fills us with bliss and follow after it to see where it leads us. Campbell equated this activity with seeking out our destiny. Our Bliss shows us what it is we not only enjoy doing, but what we are good at.

When we follow our bliss, it is amazing how invisible hands reach out to help us along the way. This, again, is where people often over sell. Following our Bliss will not necessarily make us rich, but it will make us successful.

If we define our success as a having a lot of material goods and riches, then we will most likely fail. Success us better measured by our relationships and our ability to sustain a good quality of life.

The question is: How do we find our bliss?

What makes you happy? Do you like to read, write, build things, watch movies, play games? What ever you like to do, find a way to follow after it. Don’t be embarrassed, and don’t let yourself dwell on how you will make money at it. The goal is to have a fulfilling life.

Before we can move forward, we have to find our bliss. What makes you happy?

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Some words have too much power…

What turned the light on?

Everything became clear to me when I was thinking about my mother.  If she hears off color language it will just ruin a movie for her, or distract her entirely from what else is being said.  I thought about that when I was listening to Margaret Cho’s Self-Esteem Rant from her album Notorious C.H.O.  I listen to that track virtually everyday, they are words I need to hear… They are words my mother needs to hear too… but she can’t, because off color language has too much power over her.

Instead of listening to the content she allowed the words she empowered to upset her do just that.  That is what I was doing… I just never realized it before.

Words that crossed to the Darkside

There were certain words that every time I heard them, they meant something to me other than what they should have.

Why does it matter?

Because we think in language…  The only way we understand the universe is through language, and when we allow others to define words in ways that discriminate falsely against groups or individuals, we have allowed them the right to limit how we can think, act, and discuss that thing.

All words discriminate.  That is there function.  A chair is a chair, and a table is not a chair.  That is the proper use of language.  But when we allow marketing firms and politicians define our words for us, we have given up our right to think.

Take the word Liberal for example.  A word that the neo-cons have distorted to the point where it is almost synonymous with un-American and enemy.  Leaving politics aside for a moment, the only reason you would do something like that is to create an intellectual cheat against an opponent.  Whenever the argument is going against you, just say the person is a liberal (bringing up the artificial meaning of un-American and enemy) and you win the argument because your audience has been brainwashed.

That is why it matters what these words mean to us.  If we do not take back this most basic faculty, that we have lost to any and every tyranny that chooses to rise.

To Do List

1. Take an inventory, what do the above words mean to you?
2. Watch how language affects you, and learn to take control.
3. Help others to see the prison that words can create, and help them get out.
4. Constant Vigilance!!!

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