Handling reality is far more effective when you handle it as is.

I don't know who all reads my page, but it doesn't matter. I do know that several of you don't spend a lot of time surfing the internet, but I do and I can tell you this-- it is just filled with the lowest consciousness individuals you are likely to encounter outside of perhaps a prison. It's sad, and it makes me feel a little ill whenever I encounter it for long.

It's not just the internet where you see these things, it's all over the place, but on the internet you're likely to encounter a breeding ground for it.

Anyway, the other day I was driving in rush hour traffic (the source of a great deal of consciousness lowering experience for me) and came across this guy who did something stupid and self-centered. I don't remember exactly what happened anymore but it's not important. What I do recall is he did this stupid thing, and I started to imagine a worst-case type scenario unfolding where it escalated into road rage.

It was in that moment when I had my realization. It occured to me that, in my imagined scenario, this guy had become upset to the point of committing road rage because he was unable or unwilling to distinguish fantasy from reality.

I sat with that thought for a while, looking at it, analyzing it, spinning it around, checking it out from every angle, testing it in my mind, and I think I've come to the conclusion that it's the very same problem that I have and that perhaps everyone else has when they become upset. I'll explain.

I imagined one of the thousands of people on the road following behind me in the HOV (carpool) lane at rush hour and pushing closer and closer until they're less than a single car-length behind me, flashing their lights, sometimes honking, yelling, or gesturing until they have the chance to get past me (or simply TAKE the chance to pass me while it's been there all along) and then cutting me off, all the while endangering themselves, me, and all the other traffic around us.

What are they upset about? If you were to ask them, they would probably say they are upset that I'm driving so "slow" in front of them or because I was "in their way".

It is my contention that it is neither of these, nor is it likely anything that at least 99.9% of them are likely to give as their reason for being upset. In fact, I believe that the reason they are upset, and actually the reason almost anyone becomes upset in almost any situation, is because they are unwilling or unable to separate fantasy from reality.

What do I mean by separating fantasy from reality? Well, we often talk about the supposed negative effects that violence in music, television, movies and video games has on young, impressionable minds. The jury is still out on that one, but let's take for a moment the situation of a "normal" adult in a rather ordinary day-to-day situation becoming upset. Whether due to media influence, poor upbringing, lack of education, or whatever other possible cause, these individuals become upset over the most trivial of things because of their inability to separate their fantasy from reality. In our traffic example, the reality is that I'm driving slower than they would be, or that I'm occupying the lane in front of them and preventing them from progressing at their desired speed in that lane. The fantasy is that I should be going faster, or that I shoudl not be in their lane, or that I should be getting out of their way. They become upset when reality steps in and forces them to resolve the fact that what they believe *should be* doesn't match what actually *is*.

You see, were they dealing with reality, then they would have nothing to be upset about, because reality is that someone in front of them in the lane they're in is driving slower. Were they to accept reality then they would simply slow down and follow at a safe distance, or start looking for an opening to change lanes and pass me safely upon the realization that I'm going slower and will otherwise impede their progress. That's seeing reality as is and dealing with that reality.

Getting upset is not accepting reality as reality and instead stubbornly insisting that what they imagine should be reality *should be* reality and allowing themselves to become frustrated as their fantasy continues not to manifest itself in reality.

It's very frustrating indeed to have the universe shove into your face continually that it doesn't give a flying crap about you or what you want and is perfectly happy to just remind you at every turn that you are not a god and that life does not in any way revolve around you.

So I started looking at my own life and the kinds of situations where I tend to get upset, and it seemed to me that this holds true for me too. I become upset because I am unwilling or unable to separate my fantasy world from the real world, and it seems that I'd rather make myself upset by holding to my ridiculous belief that the way *I* think life should be working at a given moment is the way life *should* or *will* work at a given moment and constantly seeing that it doesn't and won't.

It's so funny because in looking at my life from this perspective, I began to realize just how petty and ridiculous the things I become upset over really are. They don't matter. They simply don't matter. And furthermore, if I were to just *accept* that things are as they actually are, I would immediately be in a position of power to *DO* something about them because I would be dealing with a situation as it actually *IS* instead of dealing with it as though it matched up with some imagined scenario I've created. Dealing with reality is much more effective when you deal with it as is instead of pretending or wishing it were some other way and trying to deal with it in those terms.

Does that make sense? Tell me if anything isn't clear or you just didn't get it, because I believe everyone out there can take this lesson and erase being upset from your lives once and for all. Or at least in pretty much all of those areas where you choose to apply it.

I'm alive! Work is very slow this year, I have no idea how I'll make it through the summer just yet. But I'm still working long hours. Quite a few new thoughts and ideas, but just so tired right now.

Why is the economy tanking? Because we think so. It's interesting, the economy works just like we think it does, except it doesn't. It works the way we think it does not because that's the way it works but because we think it does. Weird huh? So when the collective "we" thinks it's tanking, it tanks. And it tanks because of the reasons we collectively think it tanks.

That's what makes this election so important. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Policy doesn't matter. The President can't control the economy, though I'm certain that those who hold the office wish they could. Even the Fed Chief can't control the economy. He can steer it, but it's really an illusion. He can steer it because we believe he can. He tells people something so convoluted that we don't really know just what he told us, but it sounds plausible so we believe it. And it's just enough to make us believe that things will work out in a certain way, and so they do. At least that's the way it worked when Greenspan was the Fed Chief. Now we have Bernanke, he's new and Bush (my not favorite one) appointed him. He kind of had to though because he's the President and he needed to control the economy because he's the President and it looks bad if he can't. And Bernanke is a bright guy and qualified to take the reins from Greenspan. So what choice did Bush have? It was either Bernanke or put some other patsy in that nobody would credibly believe and tank the economy. So we got Bernanke. But he's new and not established and people were afraid of who'd replace Greenspan and if anyone was like me they really didn't look forward to Bush appointing Greenspan's replacement. So Bernanke has kind of a tough job. He has to come in and appear to belong as Greenspan's successor. He has to create a smooth transition from the Greenspan era, he needs to look like he's coming in and not running roughshod over the past few decades that Greenspan has overseen and kept on track quite well.

But he also has to create a new economy out of what Greenspan left, because he isn't Greenspan so Greenspan's economy can't continue. I think we're there right now. Unfortunately for Bernanke, we're also in the midst of a perfect storm, so many different things going haywire at the same moment in history. It destroys the collective "we's" faith in the system that only works because we have faith in it, and when we see these other things going haywire we use it to confirm our fears. So we have a potential collapse of a long-established and factually broken system on our hands, and the only thing of large enough scale to restore our faith in a system and make it work, is an imminent election.

It's not that the election itself will fix anything. It's also not that the new President, whoever that may be, will have anything to do with bringing back the economy. He or she can't, because the President has no control over it. What's important at this stage is that the collective "we" have our faith restored that everything will work out and everything will be ok. That's the only thing that will spur the economy and get things moving again. It's a frightening thought for a few reasons.

One, the saying "pride goeth before a fall." There's been an AWFUL lot of pride goething (my own word invention) for the past several years, and I'm afraid that we will be so self-absorbed in all these ridiculous politics of the past decade or two that we'll lose sight of what's actually necessary and important (not in a words way, in an actual physical real genuine way) and continue voting for politics and politicians. It's not going to take policy to fix what's wrong right now. It's going to take hope and faith and belief (not the right-wing, school shootings happen because we're not praying or pledging alligience to the flag in school kind) and a willingness and desire to unite again ("united we stand, divided we fall" anyone?) and work together for the common good (I'm not talking about communism or anything "weird" or "icky" here, I'm talking about looking past the end of your own nose). That's why I could support either McCain or Obama in the White House. It's got absolutely nothing to do with policy (the wrong policy can still wreak havoc, don't get me wrong here), and everything to do with a departure from the kinds of people who can't lead and don't belong in such an important office. Hillary does not belong in the White House, woman or not. In fact, if you want to see women having a chance in the White House, you can't vote for Hillary because she'll ruin any chance for another woman to get there for the next several decades. At least that's my opinion of her, you're free to have your own differing one if you like (for now?).

I forgot the other frightening thing about what I said above. But here's something else to think about. Historically, Democracies have about a 200 year life span. Ours is going on 232 years old which is quite a respectable run when you look at facts. It's not like there's a mainspring somewhere that's unwinding and once the ticker stops, it's done. We can make it last much longer. It's just that historically speaking, we don't stand much of a chance of pulling our collective heads out of our collective butts and actually doing that. Too many people are into breaking things, wrecking things, and being generally negative and destructive people because we've been taught that that's entertaining or fun. Sure, it can be. But there are limits and we're quickly reaching them. There comes a point when everyone is a court jester and there's no king left to rule. Then what? So it's time to buck up and start acting like adults and let's fix this train wreck before it happens. Then we can have some fun again.

I was going to teach you all something else. As far as voting for someone, or otherwise figuring out who to put in charge of something important and not being sure of who's actually the right person to put there. Here is an easy way to figure it out that's pretty reliable. Who are the supporters? If you want to know what kind of person you'd be putting into the White House, just look how their supporters behave. That's exactly the kind of person you'd be putting there. Here's why.

It's in our nature to become like that which we admire. This is something that's very hard to fool if it's even possible at all. It cuts right through the BS and gets straight to the heart of the matter. So what is Hillary really like? Look no futher than her staunchest supporters. What are they like? What are they REALLY like? Politicians don't know this yet, I almost hesitate to tell you this because I don't particularly want them to find out. It'll only make my own life more difficult if they do. Anyway, a politician can present a public face and become whomever he or she needs to become to win your favor. They however cannot control the public face of their supporters. Do you want a genuine person in office? Find someone whose supporters are genuine, and look at the work they actually do with their hands, not the words they say. You can't fake work, work doesn't lie. If someone believes A and not B, they aren't going to spend their time fighting A and doing B.

The second part of the above is this, and it's something powerful to use in your own lives. Do you want to become a better person? There's no secret, there's no trick to it. Admire better people. It's that simple. Not happy with the way you handle difficult people? Start admiring someone who handles them the way you'd like to. I'm not talking about paying lip service to admiring them. I mean actually admire them in your heart. You'll find yourself becoming more like them. Not happy with how motivated you are? Admire someone who has the motivation you'd like to have. Not happy with how you handle finances? Admire someone who's good at it. I bet you didn't know it was that easy did you? Think about it. Think about something you like about yourself. Where did you get it? Most likely it's from someone you admired at one time or another, because it's rare you'll come up with these things totally on your own. Think about something you don't like about yourself. Where did that come from? Most likely it's a negative trait shared by someone or someones whom you admire or have admired in your life. This is why the Bible tells you not to idolize people, because you're going to draw in their bad traits along with the good, and the more people you idolize, the more bad traits there are to draw in. It's simple math.

OK, that's my ramblings for today. Chew it up, think about it. Think about it some more. Think about what you're thinking about. Think about why you're thinking about those things. Think about where those thoughts originated. Think about everything you can, and I'm serious about that. Do it. You might find the results interesting, and at the very least you'll learn something about yourself, or you'll learn that I'm a nut job. But either way, you've gotten something out of it right? And I've charge you nothing. How about that? Spend that extra couple pennies on something worthy and make the economy work again, k?

Maybe next time I'll write more about capitalism and the coming age and revolution (I'm not talking about gun toting shoot 'em up revolution, not even ballot box revolution here so don't you conspiracy theorists go thinking it's "The Day" just yet please. And corporate groupspeak marketroids, I'm not talking about your kind of "revolution" either, but you might like what I have to say anyway actually because it means something new and promising for you to play with, a shiny new toy of sorts).

Well, sorry the updates haven't been forthcoming lately, the holidays and my birthday and work have kept me a little off-kilter. I'll try to resume my updating tomorrow. For now, there are new pictures on my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/8405833@N03/ from a photo outting I had with my friend/roommate Chris a few days after Christmas and my birthday/new years eve party gathering at the house. Go check them out and I hope you enjoy them!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2008 is the best year you've had yet!

I'm frustrated today that I'm not perfect yet. I have no expectation of being perfect, I choose to aim for perfection knowing fully that I cannot achieve it, but it's frustrating none the less.

Life is unusual in that if we are completely true to ourselves, we will not be genuinely good people at all times, and if we try to be good people at all times, we will not be completely true to ourselves. Is there a balance to be had in this? I'm of the opinion that there is not. I believe in trying to be a good person at all times, which means not being completely true to myself and that leads to an eventual breakdown where I will at some point break from being a good person and wind up doing something that I'll regret as soon as I go back to trying to be a good person. That's failure, and it's a very human trait.

I know there are those who would try to convince me that I'm not a bad person. Well, I never said I was of course. But I'm not always a good person and there's no sense denying that because none of us are. That failure is a part of growth, and without it we would never learn that we'd succeeded. That's not to say there is no success without failure, but there is no realization of success without the experience of failure.

What I mean by that is that you can set out to do something, and succeed at it on your very first try and be aware you succeeded. But you can't realize what that success is. I don't know how to describe that better except to say that when you fail at something, your awareness of success when you later succeed is greater than had you not failed at all. It's like being given a million dollars vs. earning a million dollars. If you've worked for it and put in effort to get it, you have a greater appreciation for its value, or at the least it has a greater value to you.

So essentially failure is an investment into success. When looked at in that way, you realize that you need not be afraid of failure. In fact when you look at a failure as an investment into success, you can think about how to leverage the failure to maximize your success in the future.

That's how to look at it from an economical perspective. Some people are great with money and for them that probably works. Many people aren't great with money though so that doesn't help if you fall into that camp. So how about if you look at what DOESN'T work with money and then try to not do those things with your failures.

For example, when I'm feeling frustrated because I'm not perfect yet, in essence what I'm doing is spending my failure on frustration, or even sometimes self-pity. Those things are really just escapism, kind of like having a ton of bills due and spending money to go see a movie, another kind of escapism. Instead, one could either spend their money paying their bills, or invest it into a better future; say, getting an education to get a better job. I can spend my failure instead on an education in whatever it is that I failed at so that my odds improve for a future attempt. In my example, I can spend the return (i.e. experience) on my "failure" investment (not succeeding in being "perfect" in some event) to pay for an education on "being perfect" (studying what led to my failure to determine its cause and then working out a solution to prevent it from happening if the situation were to come up again), thus bettering myself and coming back with an education in how to accomplish my goal on a future attempt.

Does that make sense?

I think somewhere down below (at least at the time of this writing?) I've mentioned that complaining doesn't change anything and things are still the same because you didn't do anything about it. Today let's talk about the difference between complaining about something and doing something about it.

A while back I realized that some things in the world around me bother me. They're various things and they bother me for various reasons. What I realized though was that I always tended to complain about them. Why? What good does that do? Did anything I complained about change? Not a one.

Well, that's maybe a little exaggeration. I did go back to my old job and spend 2.5 hours going over the things I thought were wrong there which were the reasons I decided to leave the company. But actually now that I think about it, that example kind of illustrates my point too. It was different from complaining, it was doing something about it.

If you've ever complained about something, what was the end result of complaining? How many of those things were addressed and fixed? Probably not many, especially if they were big complaints like the way people drive, or the way politics works in this country.

Here's how you do something about it instead of complaining. When you see something that's not the way you think it should be, or that you think could be better in some way, stop and think about what it is about it that's not ideal. What is it about it specifically that bothers you and why? How could it be different that would address those things? What could be done to make those differences into solutions? Do something meaningful about that.

The thing is, it's really easy to find fault in something, any idiot can do it. I'm not saying everyone who complains is an idiot, just that they're really not living up to their potential. I'm not excluding myself from that either by the way, lest you think I'm not a hypocrite (honestly, I am a hypocrite when it comes right down to it). What's not so easy is to find fault in something and then come up with a solution for it. That's just an excuse for not doing something about it though, I'll tell you why.

You don't need to have all the answers. Not having the answers doesn't mean there are no answers to have, to believe this would require believing that you're omniscient, and trust me, you're not. ;) But the reason you don't need to have all the answers, or even one answer for that matter, is that you can still DO something about it. Of course, complaining is "doing something about it" if you want to be pedantic, it's just not doing something very effective about it. So if you complain about a lot of things and find that it doesn't have any effect on a lot of things, remember that point.

The reason you don't need to have all the answers (or any answers) but you can still do something about it is because there are probably people out there who DO have the necessary answers.

Let's say that the problem I see is that when I'm sitting stuck in traffic, I don't know how to calculate pi to 100 places. I don't have the answer to that, I have no solution, nothing I know will allow me to fix that. I can sit there banging my head on my steering wheel yelling about not being able to calculate pi, complaining to anyone who will listen, or even anyone who won't. That's not going to fix the problem. But chances are that someone out in the world actually knows how to calculate pi to 100 digits.

Using my own suggestion from above, what I need to do is identify what's not ideal about the situation. What's not ideal about the situation is that I don't know how to calculate pi to 100 digits. What bothers me about that? Well, I'm sitting here stuck in traffic waiting for that yahoo 17 cars in front of me to get a move on and being able to calculate pi would occupy my mind as i while away the minutes waiting for that yahoo 17 cars in front of me to get a move on. What can I do to address that? I can be able to calculate pi to 100 digits. How can I make that into a solution? I can find out how to calculate pi to 100 digits.

What I can do instead of complaining is bring up to people that I'd like to know how to calculate pi to 100 digits. I don't need the answer to my problem to be able to do something about it. By not complaining about not being able to calculate pi to 100 digits, and simply bringing up to people I talk to that I'd like to know, I can either find out how to calculate pi to 100 digits or maybe be pointed in the right direction to someone who can teach me how.

You see, complaining doesn't illicit solutions. That's because when people complain, they're not looking for solutions. If they were, they'd ask for them. No, when people complain, what they're really looking for is a sympathetic ear, or some assurance that they're not the only one who sees the problem. It's a social activity, a way of seeking the acceptance of our peers, or a way of looking like we must be better than that person over there who's waist deep in the midst of that problem we see.

The distinction here is to get yourself not to complain about something, but to simply open up a dialog about whatever deficiency you see and why you think it should be different and perhaps how it could be different which would address whatever deficiency you see. Presenting it to people in that light is far more likely to illicit answers and solutions rather than that sympathetic ear or even more likely, having whatever you say go in one ear and right out the other.

That's called doing something about it. You may not know how to solve the problem you see in front of you, but if you can identify it and communicate what's wrong to you with it and how it could be different, you can probably find someone who does know what to do about it. Then it's a simple matter of either asking that the solution be implemented or taking the answer to someone who has the ability to implement the solution.

If it doesn't change then, then the problem still exists, but it's not because there isn't a solution, it's because there's another problem in the way. Identifying that problem might be a little more difficult because it's probably going to involve some resistance on someone else's part to accept their responsibility in the matter. But it can still be identified, and you need to recognize this as a completely separate problem so that you won't complain about it but rather start looking for a solution to that problem as well.

Sure, that's could mean that fixing something takes a lot more work than it should, but that's what it takes to fix it. Don't see something as a mountain of problems, see one problem at a time and work through that, then move onto the next one. When you do things this way, it may take a while, but at some point an entire series of problems will suddenly align themselves with solutions and they'll just disappear all at once. Think how great that will feel, especially when you realize that the only reason they disappeared was because you DID something about it.

It's kind of exciting isn't it? Every single one of us has this ability within us just waiting to be tapped. Think about how great it must feel to solve problems, think about how much energy we all waste every day complaining about things when there are simple solutions to many of these problems and all they're waiting for is for you to do something about it.

That's what I did with my old work. I worked there for over 2.5 years, and much of that I had things I'd complain about. I complained and complained and complained and the problems just sat there and sat there and sat there, defiant to the bitter end. Eventually there were so many things I was complaining about that I stopped loving my job, I stopped waking up (exhausted or not) not thinking "dude, I get to go to work now!" first thing in the day. Instead I started waking up thinking "crap, i have to go to work again. ugh!" and that's not a very rewarding way to start off the day I assure you.

But finally I sat down and created a list of the things I'd been complaining about for the better part of 2.5 years, I articulated what seemed wrong to me and why, and then I was able to start seeing ways these things could be different which would eliminate those problems. Then I went in to the boss' office and sat down with him for 2.5 hours and went over those items and making suggestions and discussing them. These were no longer complaints, this became a dialog that I'd opened. And in this case, it wasn't so much a matter of not having the answers, I had several answers and I gave them to my boss. Some of them weren't really solutions for various reasons, but they were answers and the dialog was opened. This is what makes it possible for meaningful change to take place.

Now sure, I spent 2.5 hours of my time doing this and that was the cost to me and you might say that that's kind of a high cost. But put it into perspective first. I'd been complaining about many of these things for over 2 YEARS! Day in and day out, complain complain complain. How much of my time did I waste with that?! 2.5 hours PALES in comparison to that! And that doesn't even factor in the health, mental, and stress issues I created for myself as a result of these complaints and my shift in attitude as a result. I *COULD* have simply spent that time over the course of the 2.5 years as the problems arose, and the solutions could've happened that much sooner! That's the real cost to me, the cost of complaining and not doing something about it. So, 2.5 hours? Seriously?! That's absolutely nothing. And this is why I think it's so important to bring this up and share it with everyone who reads it.

So that's my entry for today. Enjoy! :)

What I wanted to do was to post one update per day. The funny thing is, the post below this one was intended to be posted yesterday and today I realized I hadn't posted it here, so I posted it today. But since that wasn't my intention, I decided it would be unfair to me to count that as today's post, so that's what happened.

I'll post about this very incident and what I mean by unfair to me since it so neatly brings itself up here.

What do I mean by being unfair to me exactly? It's my time to begin with, so how can I possibly be unfair to myself by using it in whatever way I choose?

Well, what I mean by that is that I've made myself a commitment to make these posts a regular thing. So what happens if I don't make one? The answer is nothing happens. I'll say that again because I need you to really think about that, it's very important. Nothing happens. What do I mean that "nothing happens?" I mean precisely that. NOTHING HAPPENS. And that's what's important about it.

There are no direct, obvious consequences to not posting for a day. No one is going to ground me, I'm not going to lose TV priveleges, My eyeball won't pop out of my head, I won't get hit by a bus, nothing. But that is so very NOT what I mean when I say that nothing happens, although these things are true as well.

We have to remember what my goal is here, what I've defined as my purpose in life, and that is "to change the world in a profound, meaningful and positive way." So now when you think of things in those terms, and I say that what happens if I don't post one day is that "nothing happens," you have some idea of what it means that nothing happens. And therein lies the real, hidden consequence of not following through on my commitment.

If I have set forth as my purpose in life to make a profound, meaningful and positive change in the world and nothing happens, what would that be? A catastrophic failure. If I set forth as my purpose in life to make a profound, meaningful and postive change in the world and I catastrophically fail, who is that unfair to? Me. It also happens to be unfair to those whose lives would be impacted by those changes in the world, but they would be none the wiser. I would be the wiser, I would know the difference because I would be fully aware of my intent and my failure, and as such I am the one it would be unfair to.

So that's why I posted this today. Maybe it will help spark some kind of realization for you too. Have a great day, ponder on what I've said, let it sink in and make a difference to you, and enjoy!

This entry is essentially the response I had to another friend's recent blog post. I'm going to paraphrase that here because it's not mine to repost.

In the original blog post, my friend said something to the effect that when they're together with someone else alone they understand the other person. Their friend is unique, persevering and ready to conquer the world, passionate, has big dreams, seeks truth, confident, radiant, comforting, and basically someone who they adore.

But when their friend steps out into the rest of the world and it's not just the two of them, something happens to their friend. They no longer understand them, they no longer recognize them. The attributes that were so admired before seem to be wiped away by the influence of others, in short, that when their friend steps out into the world, they become afraid to continue being who they are in solitude and that the things that were admired are not there anymore, or are simply masked and not visible to admire anymore.

My reply was as follows.

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This is a great post (I say that not knowing its inspiration but then that's probably what gives it its power). You're right, it's true of everyone, even those who would say it's not. It's in our nature to try to survive life and this is one of those things that on some level we think will make survival more likely, or at least easier because we won't have to deal with all the hassles we're sure we would have if we were just who we are.

This could spark an interesting conversation, at least to me. The person in the first paragraph seems to be someone who inspires and moves you in some way. Then in the second paragraph this person seems to disappear and another takes their place. A person you don't know or recognize and thus don't understand. The truth though, I believe is something else. They are in fact the same person, the one you know and understand and who inspires and moves you as well as the one you don't recognize and don't understand.

One could see this as someone putting on a mask when venturing outside, or one could see it as two opposing sides to the same coin. I've always chosen to see it as really neither of those. I'm not sure how I would describe it exactly because I've never really tried to, but when I look at someone I see the face they put forward to the outside and I also see the face they're hiding beneath. In doing this, I recognize them both as only two parts of a greater whole.

Something I realized a few years back is that we human beings have created ourselves an elaborate framework with which to understand life, but much of that framework is a machination of our own invention. What I mean by that is that we've invented concepts to better describe and understand what we see around us. Time is one of these concepts and the thing to understand about that is that time does not exist anywhere in nature. No animal has a watch or a clock or a calendar or anything of the kind. Nothing in nature except humans live according to any schedule.

You could argue that animals by and large sleep at night and wake during the day, but some animals do the opposite. You could argue that bears hibernate in the winter and are awake the rest of the year, but other animals do not. These things which we see animals doing as part of some "schedule" have nothing at all to do with time, and have only to do with a direct reaction to nature. Were it not cold in the winter and difficult to find food, bears likely would not need to hibernate. Were it possible to hunt and capture prey the same at night as it is during the day, animals would not need to sleep or hunt at those specific "times" of the day. Human beings have created the concept of time to better understand and study and predict and respond to the natural order occuring around ourselves. There is no schedule in the universe save that which we have created in our minds.

The reason it's important to point out the above is because by recognizing that this piece of the framework by which we understand the world around us does not actually exist, we become able to think outside of that framework. To make this easier to see, think of the concept of time as merely a tool we can use when we need to work on something around us. Say we're a fisherman, in this case the concept of time is used as a tool for predicting when and where we will be able to find an abundance of fish. Another way of putting it would be to say that Rembrandt grew up doing carpentry work as a kid (I don't know artists, so bear with me here). Had he always used the tools of a carpenter and always had a hammer in one hand and a saw in the other, he would not have been able to create the artworks he is known for today. By realizing that the hammer and saw were only tools, he could set them aside and free himself to do something different.

Now having said that, we can get back to the point I was making in how I look at people and how I see their "mask" and their real face underneath as just two parts of the whole thing. When you set aside the concept of time, you can suddenly also see the beginning of someone's life, the middle of their life, and so on all the way to the end of their life as simply more parts of the greater whole. This is the way I look at people, and the way I've learned to experience them as individuals. I don't see the person before me as simply what I see in that one instant in time, but simply that instant being nothing more of the person than their eyebrow is a part of their face, and their face a part of their head, and their head a part of their body, and their body a part of their being.

If you can open yourself up to seeing and experiencing people as their whole being, you can really gain a much greater appreciation for what that being is and what it can mean to yourself, those around them, the world, and of course ultimately all of existence because once you understand that you can remove the framework and constraints of time from the way you experience a person, you can start removing all the other constraints from everything else in the universe and see that again, that individual's being is but a part of his or her environment, which is a part of the world, which is a part of the universe, which is a part of all of existence whatever that may entail.

Everything is connected, everything is a part of the rest, all of it is together whether we like it or not. Being able to look at the world and experience life from such a point of view allows for orders of magnitude greater levels of intimacy than you could ever imagine exists without knowing this point of view.

This is something I was thinking about a few days ago regarding a conversation I had with my roommate the evening before. I came up with this after thinking about it for a while, I told him the next day and he said he wanted me to write it down for later because he wants me to have it to compare from now to later after I complete some other stuff I'm working on. Anyway, don't worry about that for right now. I'm sharing it as is because I still think it's interesting and useful and that people will enjoy it. So here below, is essentially what I said.

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Everywhere I go I can look and see problems, things that are wrong, things that should not be the way they are. Can you see those things too? I'll help you. What are some complaints you have in the course of a day? Think about driving in traffic, what about your co-workers or your boss, what about conversations you overhear at a restaurant, what about things you witness while out shopping a few days before Christmas, what about that bum on the corner, or the starving orphans in North Korea, or the killing in Iraq, or the things you hear about on the news, or things being put before Congress, or the things politicians themselves do? Yeah, I knew you saw it too even if it was different from what I saw.

Why are those things like that? Why do they happen? Why do they keep happening even after you see them? Why do they keep happening even after you started to complain about them to others to raise their awareness?

Well, believe it or not, I've found the answer to those questions and it's really obvious too.

Those things are still like that because you didn't do anything about them.

I'm not accusing you, I'm not blaming you, I'm not shouldering you with the responsibility for why they're still like that. But they're still like that simply because YOU didn't do anything about it.

Why didn't you do anything about it? Is it because you didn't think you could make any difference?

Let's think about that for a minute. You're one person. CAN you make a difference? Can you REALLY end the killing in Iraq, or keep the orphans in North Korea fed, or fix any of these other problems?

No, of course not. One person cannot fix any of these problems, not one of them! It won't do any good to try either because the problems are quite simply beyond what you can do. How can one person feed and take care of all of the starving kids in North Korea? How can one person stop all the killing in Iraq? It's stupid to think you can fix any of these problems, you'd be a fool to think so.

But let's look at what one person is. One person is one person. You say, "Well duh!" But why is one person one person? Because they're only one person. That means they're not two people, or three, or twenty etc. One person today is one person out of 6.8 billion. In fraction form that's 1/6,800,000,000, and that's a TINY faction! Do you see now why one person can't make a difference?

But can one person make a difference? Yes.

What about everything I just said up there? How can the answer be yes now? Well, that's simple. It's because one person is not one person, not in this world. In this world one person is more than one person, one person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion other people. And furthermore, EVERY person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion people.

Here's why that's important. Since one person cannot make a difference because they're only one person and it's impossible for one person to make a difference, one person only has to realize that they aren't just one person, but also one out of 6.8 billion people. When this happens, and one person DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT, something amazing happens because of everything I said above.

That one person being one of 6.8 billion people doing something about it instantly makes it possible for ANY of those one out of 6.8 billion people to do the very same thing. Is there any problem you can think of that can't be solved by 6.8 billion people doing something about it? I didn't think so.

So remember that next time you see a problem, something wrong, or something that shouldn't be the way it is. The reason something is the way it is even though you noticed it and might have even complained about it to other people is that you didn't do anything about it. Now, what are you going to do about it?

A few weekends ago I did something called the landmark forum. It's difficult to describe, but I felt it was kind of like zen-light. I gained a lot of perspective from it and learned a few new tools (really the product of that perspective) for living life well, being effective, having integrity, being true to yourself and so on. It's way more than I can explain but many of my new posts will be a product of what I got out of that.

So since the landmark thing, there's been a whirlwind of things going through my mind. Gaining a new perspective on life can be kind of like sleeping somewhere unfamiliar, having a really good long, deep sleep and then just as you wake up and open your eyes you feel a little disoriented and have to take a moment to re-orient yourself and place everything back in order in your head. Have you ever slept at someone else's place or some hotel and woken up and at that very instant just expected you were somewhere else? It's like that. You look to your left but your nightstand isn't there with your clock on it, your closet isn't on the same wall with the same door as it is at home, for some reason your suitcase is sitting there open with a pile of clothes in it etc. and then you go "Oh yeah, I'm not at home in my bedroom."

This whirlwind is similar to that, I have some new ways I can look at things and when I do, they look different. So the whirlwind is caused by taking that all in, and sometimes that new way of looking at something makes you look at something else from a different point of view too, and so on and so forth. So yeah, my brain has been pretty busy lately going over those kinds of things.

That whirlwind is taking place even now as I'm sitting here typing this out. I'm going round and round thinking about this and that, trying to come up with what I'll write but there's no conclusion, I just keep thinking.

There were two points to my posting this update, and the first was just to say that it's great that I have friends who are helping me keep on track and that I'm working with to continue my positive energy so that it doesn't just disappear into the void.

The second point was to share the journey. The reason for that is so that A) I can share it with whoever reads this, and B) to perhaps help guide and inspire you in your own lives. Whether you share my purpose in changing the world or not, what you'll read here is what it takes to do that.

We're all humans, we all have our little quirks and foibles and none of us has exactly the same set, so even if you do share my same vision it's not going to happen the same for you or be experienced the same by you. The value however is that regardless of the details, all the stupid human tricks and problems and setbacks I'll be having are a part of what it takes to change the world. It's a daunting and overwhelming thing to undertake but you don't accomplish something daunting or overwhelming by standing there are wondering at how daunting and overwhelming it is. You accomplish it by starting where you are.

And that's where I am. So I hope you'll enjoy what you read and maybe once in a while you'll find it interesting or helpful or insightful and it'll spur something in your own life somehow and move on from there. I think that's all I have to say about that right now. My goal is to make these posts a regular thing from now on.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!

so yesterday i was feeling a bit depressed due to work/financial situations, and today there are a million possibilities everywhere i look. i'm excited and i can't wait to get started.

i had a great discussion with my friend today, and it awoke me to a few things that i hadn't fully grasped before. one is on how interconnected everything really is. one was how everything can provide you with the tools to be applied everywhere it was never intended. my friend has a marketing degree, and i've long had a bit of a hatred of marketing because i only saw the negative over-commercialisation that it produced. but today i realize that marketing is only a set of tools, the impact of which is all in what you use them for. just as you can use a hammer to build someone a home, you can also use it to bash in their head. it has nothing at all to do with the tool itself, it has to do with the person weilding it.

my friend showed me how she was using her marketing skills as a way to break down problems in her life and how to overcome problems and help to unlock her potential. it never ever would have occured to me that this is even possible. had i not known her, i would still today hate marketing and everything it stood for. now i see how it can be very effectively applied to life's problems and the tremendous benefit that can be achieved using its lessons.

she also mentioned how she thinks this is always possible, for example if you had an engineering degree instead of a marketing degree, it would also provide you with a set of tools which could be applied to tremendous benefit in other areas in life which it wouldn't necessarily seem to apply to. it was this which made me realize how interconnected everything is, and how any education in any field is of benefit to not only the person who has that education, but potentially everyone around that person as well. it made me excited to pursue more knowledge in anything i can get.

i'm excited to learn anything i can learn, about anything i can, and to extract the tools from that knowledge and begin using it in my pursuit of changing the world. the things that i see being achieveable really are out there all around me. it's up to me to prepare myself for them.

i also became aware of how the zen meditation thing, specifically the enlightenment aspect raises one's awareness of the things around them. how to explain that? it is said that when one reaches the state of enlightenment, that that person becomes aware of everything around them, rather than being only partially aware of the things around them. this is fairly simple to achieve in moments in life, many people attain enlightenment in zen meditation (and other types as well i've no doubt), but the thing with people who dedicate their lives to this is that they are striving to achieve that enlightened state in every minute of their lives. rather than simply being enlightened while one is meditating, they remain enlightened in everything they do every day. this is what allows them to fully realize their potential in life.

that's what i saw when i was talking to my friend, the possibilities that become available to you when you are fully aware and conscious of everything around you. i'm amazed by just how huge the difference is in the world around you depending solely upon your own state of mind. the fact is that nothing in the world changed while i was talking to my friend, certainly nothing in my immediate environment, but the difference in what i saw before me is just indescribeable.

the world you see before you is not the world as it is. the world you see before you is the world as it is, filtered by the limits and constraints that you put on yourself. most people go through life imprisoned. chained, and held back from what's truly possible. and there is no conspiracy taking place here. make no mistake, you are a prisoner of yourself, a prisoner of your own mind, living in a prison of your own making. there is no reason to live this way, nothing is really holding you back from accomplishing what you want to accomplish if you simply open your eyes.

the beautiful thing about being a prisoner in your own prison is that you have full access to the blueprints of your prison, you know it inside and out, better than anyone else. and the other great thing is that you are the prison warden. you must realize that you may see guards in the prison keeping you from escaping, but you also get to be the one who can fire those guards if you choose to. the truth is that you are free to walk out of that prison at any time of your choosing, you have only to have the realization that it's possible, that you have that power, and the determination to do so to make it happen.

today, i am taking another step outside of my prison and out into the world. today i am taking another step in removing the veil from my eyes and learning to see the world as it really is. today, i am making things happen for the future.

i'll keep you posted. :)