Classic Brain Injury

I apparently started this back in February and promptly forgot about it. That about sums it all up. I am not sure if I will post here again as it will most likely end up as just another iron in a forgotten fire.

To all who struggle with this, my best to you.

Steve

Posting Of All Sorts To Test The Layout of Blogger

Test The Page Layouts

This idea came about while taking a bath one evening ( a great place for contemplation). I was contemplating things like the Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and impermanence. This flowed into interdependent origination and co-emergence. Then on to a realization on natural hierarchy and humility. Finally gently swirling around the concept of Ecology and Karma and how we as humans study all sorts of ecologies but almost always from an external perspective. One of duality as if we are separate from that which is. If none of this makes sense so far, don't worry, I will write about it more on my blog as soon as I can.

I began to think it might be useful to start a conversation about how everything within existence in the phenomenal world, seen and unseen, is a part of the ecology of everything and that we are no exception. Everything is part of an ecology. From the smallest "strings", atoms and molecules that make up everything, to the Universe itself. And to see that everything within existence, including the Universe, has a beginning, middle and an end and that we are not separate from that. Because we don't live like that. It began from the aspiration of: Peace and understanding amongst people of all religions. That has been my mantra since 1993. To live inside of that whenever I was being faced by what I then considered the greatest threat to humanity. Extreme beliefs. Because to me they all point to the same higher truths. The arguments are over concepts. However, since the moment I took my first action toward this activity I have been literally bombarded by messages, that although I had them in my awareness, I had previously been unwilling to hear and make religious debate or differences mute.

"Although the information here may be quite dire, I approach this subject with hope and love in my heart. And, even if everything gets figured out all hunky-dory we still will have done something useful. So any which way this is an exciting time! I just am saddened that it will effect several BILLION people. One of which is my 5 year old daughter who is my only real attachment in this world and is the most true form of unconditional love I have ever known. But that brightness is my inspiration."

I woke up to this about twenty years ago [well actually as a kid growing up in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes were catching on fire because of pollution. But then a crying Native American came along and everything got better, for awhile. There's no crying Native American this time]. But then I hit the snooze button. It seemed like too much to relate to. Now it is like I woke up again and have just realized that I have over slept for a really important meeting. I will openly say that this is one of those things were one says to themselves "I must be crazy". But it is being so "divinely" orchestrated that to put "I" or "me" into just doesn't fit. Also, I have been crazy before and it didn't feel like this. I used to get up everyday, if I slept at all, and go to work and work 40, 60, 80 hours a week and sometimes more! Ignoring my loved ones just to try and climb the mountain of "success". When I should have flowing down the mountain with ease and enjoyment and humility.

It is possible that we are in the midst of an enormous transition beyond what most are willing to see or except. Greed and materialism has brought us to an absolutely unsustainable way of being. Oil has past peak production and is wreaking havoc on the environment. Our economy has no real energy left to sustain itself, the actual wealth to back it up has been exceeded many times over and what real wealth there is lays in the hands of a few that I don't want controlling my life. Our soils have been depleted to the point of not being able to sustain anything with out the use of chemicals that are made from...petroleum (oil). War, famine and all out revolution is occurring. And some jack-hole has decided it's a good idea to be able to put a copy right on life!

This did not happen overnight. However, in historical terms of this planet it did! We have the length of time of this very moment to do something different. Change our minds.

Analogy: My totem is the fox so I will use that and mice as my example.
When the weather is good and there is abundant food, mice will procreate at a faster rate. This ensures the survival of the species. Fox love to eat mice. So, with more mice available the fox population will increase. Then when conditions are not so good the mouse population dies off and they don't make so many babies. This in turn causes the Fox to die off and not make so many babies because they know they won't be able to feed them. For us, it is oil and other fossil fuels. Once we harnessed the power of oil, our population sky rocketed. We were able to care more for those who would have otherwise died off. This is good! But we kept going to the point where people have to drive around all day in their Dodge Ram trucks with the 5.8 Hemi with nothing in it. So, we have gorged and gorged and created a whole society around eating oil. Well, the oil is running out. And though that is a problem, it is not the most immediate problem. We have created a society that pays for all of this with... nothing. In September 2008 the nature of things began to correct itself. Ouch! People who thought they had money didn't anymore. Those who didn't have money really didn't have any. Foreclosures and on and on. Well, that isn't done yet. The immediate collapse was delayed with bailouts and such but there is another wave of that is still to come as people are still not paying their mortgages and just waiting to walk away so, the banks really aren't lending because they don't have anything to lend because they aren't getting all of the payments on those mortgages. So, back to the analogy, we are going around eating the diseased mice and some are grabbing up the carcasses of the dead ones and saying "see it's not so bad! I'm making a killing here!" But there's no more mice being made and the ones that are there are running out. EVERYTHING IS A PART OF AN ECOLOGY! WE ARE NOT SEPARATE!

Interjection: This is getting really long but I have to insert this here. Like I said the hits just keep on coming. I just viewed a movie by Chris Smith done in 2009 featuring this guy Michael Ruppert called Collapse. It seems people want us to believe he also is a crack pot. But I found this to be the most eloquent and intelligent explanation of exactly what I am talking about. AND there is whole bunch of you out there. So, maybe I'm not so nuts. But it also seems that he has been screaming from the rooftops for at least a decade and the SUV's keep getting bigger. But this tells me how hard it is to hear this message. I lived in Boulder Colorado for cryin' out loud. It's sustainable city and I still didn't really get it until now. But there, it is a part of the culture. If your not moving toward sustainability you are a little weird. That is all.

My interests in this ad-venture is not to debate this issue. It is to help our local community to sure up it's own economy and promote a sustainable ecology along the front range and prairie lands. To promote any business that has developed a sustainable way of doing their business. It is not my intention to say that we do without. It is my intention that we do it differently...now. I suggest we step up our efforts to make sustainable business the economically viable solution and the the norm. Strengthen our communities interdependence and reduce global corporate control.

Fortunately, there are so many great people trying to make this transition happen, and have for nearly 100 years, who are running up against our current economic model. It is this that I wish to change. Through social media networking small businesses have access to many of the same tools that large corporations use.

So, it is not my intention to re-invent this wheel, but rather to use it with a different intention and motivation. I aspire to use it to ease the transition from blind consumerism to directed community building. I am not the first to do this and will certainly not be the last. But, I can live a life inline with my ethics and help others to prosper in a way that benefits the whole through cooperation, subjugating the destructive force of greed with the strength of compassion, the determination of a parent and the creativity of community.

Part of being in an interdependent ecology is that one must identify their place in it and relate to it properly. Mine, at this time, seems to be to learn as much as I can, pass what I learn on to others and support those who are doing the process of normalizing the changes that are happening.

After having put off many of these interests for years, I have decided to do this like it were my job. It's time now. After all, having stepped out of the system to be a stay at home dad it seems that my contributions aren't highly appreciated anyway.

I am looking to educate myself on many things.

Namely:
• sustainability
• renewable energy
• wind power, wind power generators, wind turbines
• solar power / PV
• green building
• fair trade / community currency
• organic products of all sorts
• quantum mechanics
• religious dialogue
• high altitude gardening
• intentional community
• anything that will be sustainable after our current economy tanks again which, again "crazy", I believe by around October of 2011 we will see even stronger indicators the shit hit the floor.

If you have articles, videos or even your ads that would help us learn more and develop a community please post here.

If you have read all of this I am amazed and thank you.