The Opposite of Shallow
On the way to a movie with my daughter (8 years old), I find myself in an interesting discussion. We’re listening to the soundtrack of the musical Wicked, one of her favorites having seen the show and performed a number as part of her most recent stagecraft class. She wonders why it’s funny when Elphaba, having been described as “exceedingly unusual and peculiar and all together nearly impossible to describe,” classifies her roommate Glinda as merely “Blonde.” In the best way I can, we talk about stereotypes, what they are, what they mean and why we don’t prescribe to them in our daily lives (though they can make for good literature).
Prior to leaving the house, I read a brief review of our movie, Where The Wild Things Are. In sum, it says the movie is clever, “but not very much happens.” We settle in and off it goes. An adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak book, the film shows frustrated, emotional Max charging through his house, being ignored by his sister and acting out for his mother before running out of the house, finding a boat and sailing away to the island of the wild things. Director Spike Jonze says he decided to depict the monsters as emotions. On the surface perhaps not much happens, yet we are invited to go deeper.
The film is an amazing depiction of youth. The emotions bared by tiny Max on an intimate level are echoed on a grand scale by the monsters. It is tender, telling, emotional, and scary – a meditation on the perils and joys of being a child.
We need to begin to value the joys of depth. Nothing in this world is as it seems on the surface. When exposed to art (high or low), if you consider the work to be simple and basic please remember layers of decision making were required to agree that it should appear simple and basic. There’s depth in the process, even if it isn’t in the result. Every moment, wink, piece of clothing, prop and watchband is put there on purpose.
Every public move, every political decision, most every dollar spent, every moral, ethic, establishment, premise, promise, desire and promotion – especially promotion – is multi-layered, examined, considered, tested and rendered by a team. There are 300 million people in the United States, seven trillion in the world. To move forward on any venture with an aspiration of reaching, pleasing or understanding them all is a fool’s errand. The diversity of our world is staggering. Find the niche you can serve and serve them well – aspiring for mass fame and fortune is the dream of a bygone era.
The exception that proves the rule is love. There are no facets, layers or degrees. If you believe there are, you are doing it wrong. Your relationships may vary – all the while you either love or you don’t. That’s not shallow – that’s deep.
Reason the world will end, #3
On Tuesday a school bus driver was arrested upon returning to the bus depot after driving his after-school route. Students complained to their parents that he had been swerving, driving on the wrong side of the road, stopped at a few houses more than one time and hit a mailbox. Upon noticing that he had trouble standing and getting out of the bus, authorities gave him blood-alcohol test that showed him at nearly three times the legal limit for driving intoxicated. They later found an empty bottle in his car, parked at the depot where he picked up his bus that afternoon.
Saturday’s newspaper declares “School bus driver accused of DUI may be fired soon.” Let me be clear. The words “may” and “soon” seem to indicate there may be some discussion about whether or not this guy should be let go. Maybe I’m overreacting to this specific situation. The guy is in jail and will get in trouble and justice will be served in the end. OK.
The reason this indicates the world is coming to an end is simple: When people do things that are morally, legally and socially unacceptable, a board meeting should not be required to take action about his status. If supervisors (or anybody trusted to make decisions in the world) can’t take action that is this clearly required we are all screwed. If you don’t have enough faith in the supervisor, don’t promote them to that position in the first place. Or if you need some sort of check and balance system to figure out if driving a bus full of kids while drunk is worthy of losing your job, maybe you shouldn’t be a supervisor either.
Trickle Down Economics
Times are tough … and it’s getting harder and harder to convince people to drop $4 on a cup of coffee. I get that.
But I’m a writer who’s also a stay-at-home Dad and your little coffee shop is my little safe haven; my place to go where I don’t have to pick up toys or make school lunches or make a shopping list. With all distractions wiped away, I actually get work done on your comfy leather chairs.
I admit I’ve stayed long enough to carry the scent of coffee home on my sweater or run the battery of my laptop until it is flashing red. But you said it was okay …
But you lied. Now you’re closing your stores at 10:00 PM or even, gasp, 9:00! And I’m left wandering the streets, away from the internet and lost. I miss the blissful ignorance and a DOW over 10,000. 
There’s A Pattern Here
The entertainment industry has long been maligned for its lack of new ideas. Broadway would seem to be the most recent sinner in this category. As ticket prices continue to soar ($145 for a straight play!?), the content has become more banal. Appealing to elite tourists who will shell out unlimited funds (so long as they know what to expect) is a good business , but often poor art. Mary Poppins, Shreck, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Tarzan, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang … well, you get the point.
And yet there is, I think, an industry with an even greater dearth of imagination, and this one has even managed to work it’s hopeless lack of creativity into its own culture. They have invented terms and coined cliches and prepared us all for the fact that everything old will be new again. Fashion week continues in New York City this week, so now is the time to point out to the commoner how “retro style” is really a euphemism for “recycled style.” It took a news story on the radio to confirm my fears that 80’s fashion was indeed making a comeback, but I was unfortunately reminded of this when shopping a few weeks ago for a pullover sweater. I walked away without making a purchase from countless retailers because I refused to buy an argyle sweater.
The 80’s are not worthy of remembering because the styles that we chose at the time are unable to be considered cool by anyone. Just like no adult can pull of crocks, no super model will look good in parachute pants, a crop-sleeved turquoise blue shirt and a super narrow neck tie with a piano key print. That’s right, and those were the really cool things. The preps were resigned to argyle and logos. The punks were stretching the limits of combat boots, baggy leather and silver chains … anything ripped would do.
I have no insights for the industry because, after all, where else can you go with pants, shirts and shoes? Besides, as Jerry Seinfeld pointed out long ago, we will all be wearing the same uniforms in the future someday. Anyone who watches science fiction movies knows that. Maybe we could all decide that clothes are really utilitarian, not something to dictate status nor art. But what would all those industry insiders do? Well, there’s always show biz.
Why Spiritual People Should Vote
Five Reasons Spiritual People Should Vote
If you’ve found this article, you are likely someone who is in tune with the energy of the universe, eager to live a full life and, perhaps sometimes confused by this world we have built around ourselves. As the author of a book about the contradictions we find in our world (and our own lives) I can understand why politics might seem like an area to avoid.
I’m not suggesting that you become mired in the emotional battle of daily political life, but I would like offer the following reasons why your vote is vital on November 4th. You may not agree with all of them, but if even one seems “on the money” then you should mark your calendar, arrange your day and be certain to enact your purpose on Election Day.
Oh, by the way, I’ll be up front about the fact that this is a partisan article. You’ll know right away that I have an opinion about who you should vote for, not just that you should vote. It’s no problem if you disagree with my choice. In fact, it might just confirm the importance of your call to vote.
1. Leadership Is About Energy, Too
Even if your spiritual path includes a sense of “isolation” from the seemingly bizarre patterns of our society and government, I suspect that you are aware of the dramatic shift in energy that has been cast over our country for the past eight years (mostly since 9/11).
Perhaps you’ve chosen not to read the newspaper or watch television or engage in community affairs. The energy that I feel has less to do with laws or policies and more to do with the fundamental principles of fear, hope, trust, joy, peace and prosperity. If God’s will for us is an evolved, enlightened approach to our world then I must admit having been “set back” by the mood that is being cast by our leadership.
If you feel that creative expression, personal imagination, community growth and just plain happiness is lacking, you should begin to look at the words, stances and energies that are emanating from our leaders. The President included the phrase, “We live in a world of fear” in his convention speech. I understand the power of words and the amazing foundation of energy that our world is constructed on (have you seen the movie “What The Bleep Do We Know?”). I don’t want to support people who can only articulate a fearful vision for our future and seem to be doing it for their ego’s gain.
2. Choice is a Vital Spiritual Principle
I live in a “red” state (really purple, I believe) and it seems that the wags have already decided that my vote isn’t going to make much difference in the national election. Just the other day a friend was expressing her frustration that the Electoral College system negates the power of the individual voter. This may be true.
It is also true that my ability to choose the course of my day and no longer feel like a victim of the “system” or universe means spiritual freedom and empowerment for my everyday living. When I understand that I can manifest my own experience everyday, I create for myself wonderful outcomes. When I accept responsibility for how I respond to situations I give myself the power to live proactively and constructively.
When I step into the voting booth and make a physical action that correlates with my choice to accept or reject the principles, policy and energy that I feel damages me, I move past a place of blame and victimhood. In the great machine of politics my vote may be erased by policy or geography. I will still declare, for myself and, energetically, to all those with power, that I believe in something different and I will not choose what they are offering.
3. Policy is one thing, Morals are another
During the muted outrage over the treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Cuba, the media reported its discovery of memos circulated throughout the current Administration in which the legality of torturing prisoners was the main topic. It was important, the Administration noted, for the United States to understand if they could be brought to justice in the international community for their actions.
I want to be a citizen of a country that would never wonder if torture were legal. I want to declare that the discussion would have immediately ended with the simple, True understanding that TORTURE IS IMMORAL. I want to reject the notion that our fears or politics or even national security would mean that it becomes acceptable to demean, degrade, harm or kill another human being.
In spite of the representation of centrist, moderate conservatism that is being shown to the public, the track record and political platform is one of extreme judgment and narrow thinking. Global human rights, interpersonal freedoms, women’s rights, environmental policy, gay rights and many other personal choices are being subjugated in an attempt to legislate morality. This is not the role of the government.
Some of the basic tenants of our Constitution, among them the separation of Church and State and the rights of citizens to avoid a ubiquitous government, are being challenged by the current administration. Even if you are unaware of the individual laws and choices on which to found your vote, consider the larger picture when making your decision on November 4th.
4. You Count
In my city, an election for a seat on the City Council was won by three votes. Another by thirteen votes. The political balance of our Council is such that each race decided the “power” structure of the organization. As we know, a previous Presidential election came down, practically, to less than 500 votes in the state of Florida. Today, more than ever, every vote counts.
Spiritually, we are reminded by A Course In Miracles that God’s salvation for the world relies on each of us. We are the determinate of outcomes; we are the practitioners of God’s Will on earth; we are being called to move beyond our previous expectations and accept responsibility for the well being of others. If you decided that politics is an area suited for other people’s control, you are relinquishing your vital role. During the impeachment hearing for President Clinton, I was compelled to travel to Washington D.C. and witness the proceedings. I entered the chamber, listened and then sat in prayer. It did not matter to me what else was going on, I answered the call to bring prayer where it was needed.
Before you vote I encourage you to meditate, pray, connect and participate in your spiritual practice. If you believe that politics is too far outside the realm of Spirit to matter, then you can choose to bring spirit into the process.
5. Apathy Condones
We spiritualists strive to release judgment and love all others. We often want to believe that there is no “right or wrong.” I would offer that this viewpoint may apply to the great mystical realm of the cosmos and can serve as a first step in healing and forgiveness. And I would also say that this idea, taken to the extreme, can be a spiritual wasteland.
Rumi said, “Beyond the ideas of right and wrong there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make sense anymore.” This is an idyllic vision. I believe we are evolving toward it.
In order to reach this place, we must make choices. We must assess the options that our world has placed before us and select which one brings us peace, prosperity, love and joy. It is not a question of “right and wrong.” Instead, it is acknowledging that we must vision and hold close our desired outcomes. Then we must make conscious choices towards constructing that reality.
When we make no choice at all, we send a strong signal to the universe. It is “I don’t care!” It is “It won’t change!” It is “Do whatever you want!” Those who do want to impose their theology and ideology will be pleased to know that we are passive and uninvolved. They will construe this as acceptance of their policies and opportunity for advancing their cause. They most certainly believe they are “right” and, more often than not, they aim to cause you to make judgments, too.
When you make a statement like voting, it affirms for yourself that you have a made a choice for a certain type of future. It tells the world that you have made a choice about what kind of energy you want to guide the nation. It tells the universe that you know your worth and will exercise it in service of God’s plan for us. It tells the universe that on this day, November 2nd, you were not only connected with a higher power, but you took action as well.
Don’t get me started … Please!
First this article comes in my email:
Me Generation: Perpetual Adolescents
Friday, May 30, 2008Here is how our baby-boom generation solves problems:• Recently, George Bush went to Saudi Arabia to ask the ruling House of Saud to pump more oil. That request had about as much chance of success as the Democratic-led congressional effort to “sue” the Saudis in American courts for their selfish “price-gouging.” The current debate about energy in the United States has devolved into doing the same old thing — consume, don’t produce and complain — while somehow expecting different results. Congress talks endlessly about the bright future of wind, solar and new fuels, while it stops us from getting through the messy present by utilizing abundant coal, shale and tar sands; nuclear power; and oil still untapped in Alaska and off our coasts.• For the past five years, we fretted over a “housing boom” that had priced an entire generation out of the market. In response, government and lending agencies got “creative” by relaxing standards to allow shaky “first-time” buyers into the red-hot market of high-priced homes. Home-improvement TV shows proliferated on how to “flip” houses and buy “no-down-payment” properties. When the bubble inevitably burst, cries of outrage followed about how “they” (never “we”) caused a “depression” in housing. Our leaders shrieked about greedy lenders and incompetent regulators who foreclosed on us — never that the American people themselves caused much of the speculation problem, or that housing prices are finally becoming affordable again for new couples.• Over 70% of the American people, and a majority of Democratic senators, wanted to remove Saddam Hussein — overwhelming support for the administration’s war that rose even higher as a brilliant campaign finished off the Baathists in three weeks.But when a messy insurgency erupted, suddenly we heard that our victory was ruined by “their stupid occupation.”• The current Social Security system is unsustainable. But the baby boomers who gave us Botox aren’t about to up the retirement age and freeze their own cost-of-living hikes to allow the cash-strapped next generation a little help in paying for our out-of-control benefits.There is a pattern in all these dilemmas. And it is not conservative-vs.-liberal politics, but generational chaos. Those who came of age in the 1960s now hold the reins of power and influence — and we are starting to see why their values have worried almost everyone for nearly a half-century.History has seen something like them before in the “blame them” years of Demosthenes’ Athens, the self-indulgence of Julio-Claudian Rome, the “after me, the deluge” generation of late 18th-century France, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties.What are the baby boomers’ collective traits? Like all perpetual adolescents who suffer arrested development, we always want things both ways: Don’t drill or explore for more energy, but nevertheless demand ever more fuel from other suppliers.There are never bad and worse choices, but only a Never Never Land of good and even-better alternatives. Housing not only has to stay affordable for buyers, but also must appreciate in value to give instant equity to those who have just become owners. When things don’t go well, we always blame someone else. Why drill off Santa Barbara or Alaska when we can sue those terrible Saudis for not putting more oil platforms in their Persian Gulf? And why accept that the conduct of all wars is flawed and victory goes usually to those who persevere in making the needed adjustments when we can just keep pointing fingers at the official who disbanded the Iraqi army or sent too few troops after the invasion?The sense of self-importance is never far away. We “earned” our generous unsustainable Social Security benefits, so why should we have to suffer by cutting them?Sociologists have correctly diagnosed the perfect storm that created the “me” generation — sudden postwar affluence, sacrificing parents who did not wish us to suffer as they had in the Great Depression and World War II, and the rise of therapeutic education that encouraged self-indulgence.Perhaps the greatest trademark of the 1960s cohort was self-congratulation. Baby boomers alone claimed to have brought about changes in civil rights, women’s liberation and environmental awareness — as if these were not prior concerns of earlier generations.We apparently created all of our wealth rather than having inherited our roads, schools and bountiful infrastructure from someone else. And in our self-absorption, no one accepted that our notorious appetites created more problems than our supposed “caring” solved.Our present problems were not really caused by an unpopular president, a spendthrift Congress, neocon bogeymen, greedy Saudis, shifty bankers or corporate oilmen in black hats and handlebar moustaches — much less the anonymous “they.”The fault of this age, dear baby boomers, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
