And we’re all fish.

This is perhaps – oh hell – I’ll go out on a limb – this is the single most important blog post I will ever write.

No. Wait. This is the most important information that you will ever receive from another human being – thank David Foster Wallace – not me. His speech contains the most important information a consciousness could ever receive in this world. It is the basis of a life well-lived. It is the absolute bedrock requirement of understanding your life. A life that carries love, peace, fulfillment, and evolution. It is only the beginning, but it is the necessary first step.

David Foster Wallace wrote this speech and delivered it on May 21, 2005, as a commencement address at Kenyon College, a liberal arts college.

Before you get too skeptical, you must know that David is speaking a truth here that has been repeated by Eastern and Western sages since time began. But he does so in a most accessible and human way. We feel his pain as we are reminded of our own pain, how easily these simple truths are ignored and forgotten in our daily lives. The advice comes in the form of platitudes and clichés because the ideas are so important and often repeated, while ignored. They speak a profound truth that is too easily evaded. But David Foster Wallace speaks plainly and passionately.

And these truths? If we picture ourselves as fish, we must be aware of the water we swim in – our thoughts as we experience the world and bring meaning to it. Many times we are as oblivious to our thoughts, as we can imagine that fish are of the water. Yet we are surrounded by those thoughts and the meanings we attach to them. It is way too easy to ignore our inner environment and just accept our thoughts as brute facts to be simply accepted or endured – like the weather or gravity. That inner environment we make for ourselves, consciously and unconsciously, is the water we swim in. It becomes how we experience our lives.

Nothing exists until we bring that personal product of our thinking and attention, our history, our culture, our family, our shadow side, the collective unconscious, and who knows what else, meaning to it, via our thoughts. But these thoughts are a mashup – what else.

Before we can explore the source of our thoughts and actions, which are often hidden from us, we must confront and become aware of our thoughts and the meaning we bring to our experience. That is our only hope to evolve beyond those thoughts – by exploring their substance and origins. Awareness and choice come first, however.

Here is the brilliant David Foster Wallace:

This is Water Video

Here is a PDF version of the speech:

This is Water PDF

I’ll post two chunks of the speech by David Foster Wallace, that are especially important for me:

“Probably the most dangerous thing about college education, at least in my own case, is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract arguments inside my head instead of simply paying attention to what’s going on right in front of me. Paying attention to what’s going on inside me. As I’m sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head. Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal-arts cliché about “teaching you how to think” is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: “Learning how to think” really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché about “the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master.” This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth. – – – And I submit that this is what the real, no-bull- value of your liberal-arts education is supposed to be about: How to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default-setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone, day in and day out.”

 And:

“Because here’s something else that’s true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.

 Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default-settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing. And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default-settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default-setting, the “rat race” — the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.”

Metaphors are always an imperfect slice of reality and so is this one. Water is not simply a part of the external environment. You have to be aware of the water and then judge the quality of that water – you are responsible for that water. If you’re swimming in murky and depressing water, you are producing that or allowing other people to have that effect on you and your water.

So number one is awareness of your thoughts and number two – awareness that you are responsible for those thoughts.

Full disclosure. David Foster Wallace killed himself. He struggled with this, as we all do. It is common for the greatest teachers to be the most sensitive – prone to self-destruction. It does not alter the message. In fact, it can make the message and teachings more urgent and more important to be attended to.

Many a brilliant and sensitive teacher has a crisis. Some cross this chasm, as Carl Jung did. Others, like Friedrich Nietzsche, do not. Sensitive people and sensitive souls pay a high price for that quality. I believe we should honor that high price by giving our attention to their lessons and their wisdom. Our attention to these great and sensitive teachers will reward us as we keep alive their ideas and their memory. No death or life should be in vain. The more we pay attention, the greater the evolution.

We all have much to learn and who can afford to ignore some of the most powerful teachers? David Foster Wallace is one of these great teachers. I cannot urge you enough to consider his words in this video.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

As I broadcast to the ether in the manner of SETI , I have to reassure all those (still) silent extraterrestrial beings in space that I have not abandoned my efforts here.

I am very much committed to exploring the ultimate issue of the evolution of our human consciousness – perhaps even more so, if that is possible.

The challenge now is that I am tackling three books that are very profound and dense. I have the messy habit of reading a number of books at the same time as I hop around from idea to idea – tumbling further down the rabbit hole. Hmm… bit of a mixed bunny metaphor – my apologies.

The three books are:

1. The Ever Present Origin by Jean Gebser
2. The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist and
3. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes

I will be talking about all three books as I explore them more.

All three of the books are highly recommended. The third is much more speculative and controversial. I am not sure how much I am in agreement with Jaynes’ conclusions, but the book is a very interesting look at the possible evolution of consciousness in the past and gives some useful perspectives in considering consciousness.

The other two books are brilliant. Gebser’s in particular, presents ideas that are completely original. He has had a profound effect on a number of people, including Ken Wilber. If you are at all interested in Ken Wilber, I would urge you to go to the source, as I see it, Jean Gebser. Ken Wilber can be less than satisfying for me, but Gebser is not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in the evolution of consciousness.

In reading these books, even as far as I have, it is very clear that we have only scratched the surface in considering the complexity of human consciousness. There is an enormous amount to be considered and explored. It is also clear that we are all qualified to speculate and think on this material. We are so early in our exploration of human consciousness, that anyone could make a real contribution. Humanity has just begun the task of understanding our humanity and our individual natures. I would urge everyone and anyone to jump in to explore and consider our relationship to ourselves, to  each other and to the universe at large. Do not be intimidated.

Finally I have to credit the person who has pointed me to these books through his own writing and blogging.

Gary Lachman is a wonderful writer, and former member of Blondie (rock and roll hall of fame and all that). He was always interested in the esoteric and he has became an accomplished author and explorer in the tradition.

He characterizes himself in his blog  as: “the author of more than a dozen books on the meeting ground between consciousness, culture, and the western inner tradition“. He’s an American, now living in the UK.

He really helped to kindle my interest in all this, through his books and blog.

He too, is highly recommended as a good source of inspiration and knowledge in all of this.

I will be writing more about Gary as well.

I should also add that I have plunged back into reading, or rereading Joseph Campbell – sadly no relation, as far as I know.

Campbell was a scholar of mythology who popularized it for a modern audience. In that, he championed the importance of Carl Jung – our most important guide to the mythic realm and its importance for our lives and our enlightenment.

I am listening to a book not widely available – The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell from Audible.com. This is over five hours of interviews of Campbell by Michael Toms. It gives an excellent overview of Campbell’s thoughts on his work. Campbell comes across as a very wise, kind, and passionate uncle or grandfather. I cannot recommend this audible book too highly. I would give anything to have sat down in person with Campbell, but this conversation comes as close as possible.

I am reading Campbell’s major work – The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It is very inspiring . We are all, or should aspire to be, heroes in our own journey. As the title suggests, the hero and the journey are universal themes across all cultures and periods in history.

And I just received The Portable Jung, edited by Campbell. Jung is a daunting and towering figure in the area of the human psyche and consciousness. I am glad of any guidance in my exploring of his ideas as I pursue my own quest for knowledge and understanding of human consciousness. Campbell is himself, an excellent guide.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

Loving Vincent looks to be a beautiful animated movie made with 57,000 oil paintings in the style of Vincent Van Gogh.

As someone comments, this is certainly not the first or only real art film – hyperbole of headlines.

But it appears to be a fluid and artful movie – at least from the trailer.

For more information, you can read… where I originally came across this.

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/first-and-only-real-art-film-hand-painted-movie-loving-vincent

No Film School is an interesting and useful site on all aspects of film making. Worth checking out.

When all the stars were ready to be placed in the sky First Woman said, “I will use these to write the laws that are to govern mankind for all time. These laws cannot be written on the water as that is always changing its form, nor can they be written in the sand as the wind would soon erase them, but if they are written in the stars they can be read and remembered forever.” —FROM A NAVAJO CREATION STORY

Johnson, George (2010-10-06). Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order (Kindle Locations 82-85). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We are here to discover those laws, of science and beyond science, and in their knowing, evolve.

Changing the world? Yup. That’s my gig here. Although I am starting with myself.

A creation changes first the creator. I am learning and changing myself as I explore and write here.

So where does politics come in? To change the world, don’t we start there?

No.

Politics does not change the world. It reflects the world. Politics is the mashup of art, culture, fashion, ideas, philosophy, media, psychology, and that special sauce known only to politicians. They are welcome to it.

The one stream that always flows through politics? Fear. Politics grows, maintains or manages fear. Fear is the currency of politics. Always. And then often, confrontation and anger.

I am no longer interested in the politics of government and the gun. I am interested in the politics of the spirit, psychology, and consciousness – human connection without the involvement of power or compulsion.

Governments do perform some useful functions – roads, laws to facilitate relationships (sometimes), healthcare (sometimes) etc. These are administrative and bureaucratic functions and have value.

Political leadership and power are the problems.

Most people are tired of the conventional politics that we face every day in the media. Confrontation, aggression, and criticism are the constants in all of politics. All in service of fear. There is very little that is positive or inspirational in politics.

This is crystal clear in the American presidential election. Donald Trump is the current bête noire and polarizing figure. Before him, Barrack Obama played the same role for a different group of people. I am not equating the two, but they are equally polarizing. They both inspire fear and anger in some people, and they both play to fear (and anger) in their supporters. Trump plays to the fear and anger of his supporters much more obviously though.

At one time I followed politics very closely, but I now ignore it as much as possible. I see how little relevance it has to my life and really, to the world at large. I no longer enter into any political discussions with anyone. That can only be a source of angst or disagreement – none of which can ever serve me or connections.

Last year I personally heard several Americans talking about Obama in the most negative terms possible. And this came at a time when his presidency was nearing its end. Realistically, Obama’s presidency didn’t change the country nearly as much as his supporters had hoped or his critics had feared.

And I have no doubt that if Trump wins the next election, his presidency would be more of the same. Changes yes, but for most people life would go on largely as before. I am certainly not hoping for him to win, but when your politics is based on freedom, peace and love as mine is now, there is no one available to support. The huge government machine will continue to roll along pretty much as it always has, for now. Changes and evolution will come, but from the culture and individual consciousness and not from the so-called leadership. I have no doubt that Obama was humbled by how little real power he had as president.

But you will never hear politicians speak realistically. What is the one thing that all politicians agree on? What is one thing you will hear the media telling people? You will hear from everyone in the system that you should vote. You should be engaged with politics. Follow it. Read about it. Have opinions. Play the game. Play the game where we make the rules. Please give us the power and legitimacy we crave. Please do not ignore us, is the cry of all politicians. They crave legitimacy as much as power.

All politicians, no matter what their ideology, have more in common with each other, than they do with the people they claim to serve. They all agree on the importance of centralized political power. They just squabble about how that power is to be exercised – just the details vary.

I have chosen not to play the game. I make no attempt to keep up with politics and really have no interest in it. I try not to be cynical about it and the less I know, the easier that is. I find that you really cannot engage with politics and remain positive. Politics is essentially based on conflict even when there is a general agreement. Politicians look for reasons to inject conflict into any discussion.

And of course, there is fear. Always fear. Politicians and the media are addicted to fear and they spread that to the rest of us. The world is a scary, conflict-ridden, chaotic, mess according to the media and politicians. Politicians claim that they are the only ones who can protect us and maintain our lifestyles and civilization.

Turn over your freedoms and power and we will deliver you from fear, is the essential message. Except fear can only breed more fear. The great myth of fear is that it protects. Politicians and the media may or may not admit this, but they depend upon it to maintain their place and ours.

Politicians and the media are the back wheels of the car – they don’t steer. But they can never admit that.

We are the front wheels. And it’s time to firmly take hold of our steering wheel. Everything in my blog and now in my life is designed to encourage you, empower you, and reassure you, to do just that. I’ll even beg you just to give it a try – grab your own authority. No one can take it from you. Only you can claim it as yours. Ignore politics and politicians, as they usually ignore you, except around election time.

Human consciousness, residing in each one of us, is the real source of power in the world. I am much more interested in cultivating a profound interest in, and awareness of, human consciousness.

My decision to no longer engage with politics is best illustrated (obliquely) by Mother Teresa in her quote:

“I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”

Virtually all of our politics is not “for” anything, but against something or someone. I understand people’s passion for politics, but I cannot join them in that. I travel other roads for the evolution I see and look forward to.

I am not saying not to engage with people about ideas. Share your passion and your views. It can mean walking a fine line, but if you stay away from fear and confrontation you can make your point and perhaps plant a seed in someone that leads to them considering an idea they had previously ignored. Keep the lines of communication open and free of fear and aggression.

Politics divides – always. It builds walls when we need bridges. It objectifies the “other” when we are all in this together. Ignore politics. Embrace your power.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

The mashup continues.

I have seen mental illness up close in a family member. I should say “so-called” mental illness because I am very unclear on what exactly is happening with this person. This person certainly doesn’t know or understand either.

But I can also see that no one does in our culture. The medical profession has medicated him and largely kept this person out of the hospital, but there is no peace of mind.

In this video, Phil Borges talks about the experiences of shamans who are found all through out the world in virtually every culture. These shamans are almost always people who go through a psychological or spiritual crisis – often at a young age. But their culture supports them in a way that ours does not and these people often go on to become important and respected people in their community. Their unique gifts are recognized, respected and embraced by their family, friends, and neighbors. They remain vital people. Not medicated to hide their symptoms. But given the support, often by people who faced the same challenge, these shamans evolve to understand their gifts.

We all need to recognize our gifts, but some people need more support than others. Unfortunately, our Western, scientific society holds a narrow view of human consciousness, so rebels and misfits are shunned or made to feel dysfunctional.

I am a product of that same society and I do not want to be seen in harsh judgement of it. We all mean well. The doctors and the system that have looked after my family member have done their best within the paradigm of knowledge they work with. I am only asking that we begin to consider alternatives, which are embraced by other cultures. In this multi-cultural world, with the communication channels we have,  we are being exposed to too much knowledge from other cultures and traditions that suggest that we have much to learn from those other cultures. Beyond the scientific and materialist world we inhabit (at least with our prejudices.)

Phil Borges is a documentary film maker and photographer who has traveled the world to “tell stories for social change”.

His website is at:

http://www.philborges.com/

With a blog at:

http://www.philborges.com/blog/

As I will continue to repeat on my blog here, we must all remain open to ideas and explore the possibilities in this world. Connections are imperative. What you do with the ideas and connections, is always up to you.

Phil Borges refers to another Ted Talk video by Eleanor Longden – a person who first experiences “mental illness” when she enters university.

Her inspiring and brave talk tells the story of her diagnosis of psychosis and ultimately, healing and peace.

She thanks all the people who helped her to save herself. Her painful journey was her soul’s, or her mind’s strategy for healing her previous trauma, which had been denied. The voices she heard were not a sign she was crazy, but rather her consciousness was acting rationally in order to heal her emotions and emotional trauma. Her “mental illness” was anything but.

We have so much to learn. And our evolution, peace and happiness demands it.

She has gone on to become a mental health professional, after completing her university education.

She is a hero to me and a part of this evolution of consciousness that I am here to celebrate and advocate for.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

I’m looking at the big picture in this blog and it’s hard to get started, because there are so many entry points. I have to start somewhere. I’ll go with my basic premise.

Let’s ignore a definition of consciousness right now and accept that all of us humans have one – a consciousness. And at least a vague idea that it’s what we experience as we live our lives – all that stuff that seems to go on in our head. There are theories that human consciousness is essentially an illusion or meaningless. Well, carry on with that thought if you wish, but I hold otherwise. For me, our consciousness is central to our existence, to our humanity and to everything important in life.

The field of consciousness science is a deep and murky… mashup. I’ve read some, but there are lots of different ideas out there, and lots of profound disagreements. I don’t want to get bogged down, when most people are pretty comfortable with a simple and intuitive definition, at least to start – the stuff that seems to go on in our heads throughout our life and all that flows from and through that.

At the simplest level, evolution is the idea that things change over time. I happen to think that evolution is an integral part of reality. I see life as inevitable and integral to the universe. And so is evolution to life – integral and inevitable. We’ll be exploring these ideas more in the future as we explore this big picture.

I think there’s good evidence that human consciousness has evolved just as our bodies have evolved. And our consciousness is now much more amenable to rapid evolution than our biologically based bodies. So we’re not talking about our brains evolving, which would be a slow process. Further – our consciousness is not directly attached to our brains. If it was, then evolution in consciousness would be very slow. Our human biology probably hasn’t changed much in tens of thousands of years and likely hundreds of thousands years.

But lots of products of human consciousness have evolved enormously in a very short time. Art, technology, culture, marriage and human relationships, laws, and governments have all evolved in a brief time. That evolution is very real – just as real as biological evolution. In fact, these changes have been the consequences and the drivers of this evolution in consciousness that I’m talking about.

Women have much more freedom in many parts of the world than they had in the past. This is still very much a work in progress, but you have to look at the blue sky and not the clouds. And the freedom women have gained and continue to gain, frees men as well. We’re all in this together – every human being.

Compare the world of today with that of ten or twenty years ago. Gay marriage is a reality and accepted by most people. That’s a radical change – evolution – in the notion of a fundamental institution that is a bedrock of society – the concept of the family.

Religion has changed. Fewer people attend traditional churches but the New Age and spirituality has exploded. Evolution.

People are questioning traditions and institutions as never before. Everything is being questioned by more and more people.

I’m not here to cite proof or statistics. Good luck with that. Either you see my conclusions and ideas as evident or you don’t. I am not putting forth an argument. I am discussing the most important ideas for humanity.

I have my Master of Science degree in human growth and development. In my work life, I’m an orthodontist treating people with techniques that have not been proven to be superior in the literature. I consider myself a devotee of science, who is becoming very aware of it’s limitations. One of the holy grails of medical treatment is “evidence based”. My research, when I was in school for my degree, involved human trials. Studying humans scientifically is very hard because there are so many variables to account for. Look at the literature on human nutrition. If you had to wait for scientific conclusions on what you should eat, you’d starve. Knowledge and wisdom are always moving targets. You have to go with what makes sense for you – always – in everything.

There are many very good orthodontists who believe the techniques and principles I, and others use, are no better than the standard techniques. Studies, as they have so far been performed, have not been able to confirm what I have seen with my own eyes. Science has not yet confirmed my patients’ experiences. I have been blessed to learn from very wise pioneers in my work life. And this is exactly what I’m seeing in my explorations in human consciousness. Many visionaries have seen a future for humanity, which cannot be proven or predicted with science.

Science is a wonderful, but limited tool.

Science is not to be ignored, but I’m not going to be researching or citing references here for my broad, sweeping ideas. I will be citing many brilliant people here and providing lots of references for you to explore and consider for yourself.

I have another problem that’s related – the limits of knowledge in one person.

Erwin Schrodinger was a physicist who considered the philosophical aspects of science. He was a contemporary of Einstein’s and won a Nobel prize. He wrote a very interesting book – “What is Life?”. He began the book with a dilemma facing everyone now, who looks at the big picture in life.

Schrodinger wrote:

“A scientist is supposed to have a complete and thorough knowledge, at first hand, of some subjects and, therefore, is usually expected not to write on any topic of which he is not a master. This is regarded as a matter of noblesse oblige. For the present purpose I beg to renounce the noblesse, if any, and to be freed of the ensuing obligation. My excuse is as follows:

We have inherited from our forefathers the keen longing for unified, all-embracing knowledge. The very name given to the highest institutions of learning reminds us, that from antiquity and throughout many centuries the universal aspect has been the only one to be given full credit. But the spread, both in width and depth, of the multifarious branches of knowledge during the last hundred odd years has confronted us with a queer dilemma. We feel clearly that we are only now beginning to acquire reliable material for welding together the sum total of all that is known into a whole; but on the other hand, it has become next to impossible for a single mind fully to command more than a small specialized portion of it.

I can see no other escape from this dilemma (lest our true aim be lost for ever) than that some of us should venture to embark on a synthesis of facts and theories, albeit with second-hand and incomplete knowledge of some of them – and at the risk of making fools of ourselves.

So much for my apology.”

Schrodinger, Erwin; Penrose, Roger. What is Life? (Canto Classics) (Kindle Locations 153-159). Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.

For me Schrodinger is saying that ultimately the human goal of knowledge is to explain and understand the biggest picture possible. This requires an enormous breadth of knowledge, which is beginning to arrive in the world. Yet clearly, no one person can understand much more than a small area of that knowledge. So to make any progress in exploring the big picture, you have to dive in and do your best. There is no other alternative. Experts in one area can always argue with generalists, as being simplistic in their particular area of expertise. But for me, a general approach is crucial to the world and to humanity.

I approach this big picture as a generalist, with no areas of specific expertise, unless you have crooked teeth.

And a major theme of my blog will be that everyone is qualified to plunge into these deep waters because we are all here to figure it out for ourselves. No one has a unique perspective, which is “true”, to the exclusion of others. We are all generalists, no matter what your education – lots, to not much. You are uniquely qualified to figure this all out because you are an expert on one thing – you. You are here, on this planet, to figure things out as best you can, for you. And I would love to help and inspire you in any way I can. It all comes down to you and your own thinking and feeling to form your own wisdom to guide you in this journey of life.

I do take issue, on one point with Schrodinger, who says “some of us should embark on a synthesis of facts and theories”. I say everyone of us should and must embark on this synthesis of facts and theories. The subject is too broad, too deep and too important to be left to the experts or the overly ambitious. We all need to confront the biggest picture possible as we face the future, which is calling to us. We all need to explore these issues in the way and to the extent that makes sense to us.

My call for everyone to join in on this exploration, speculation and synthesis, is a third theme of my blog, after connection and the evolution of consciousness. It is just as important as the first two.

To me, this exploration of the big picture is much more important than deciding who to vote for in the next election – which leads nicely to my next post. Hint – politics is the product of ideas and consciousness – not the first cause.

I’m exploring here just as I encourage all of you to do the same. Think of me as a jazz musician riffing here. Don’t ask to see the sheet music or my music education credentials. If you like my music – keep listening and join in. If you don’t? Engage me and improvise with me. Or listen to someone else.

But most importantly – make your own music! The world needs more music. And I’m interested in your music – your riffs on these themes and any others you think are relevant.

I ask for engagement and co-creation. I’m not interested in arguing. I’ve done more than enough of that in my life. Arguing builds walls. Connections are compromised and lost due to those walls. I am only interested in connections. I intend to ignore all walls and boundaries in my exploring and connecting here.

Discernment is different. We all have to look at the things that enter our life and decide if they make sense to become part of our life or not. But keeping at open mind and maintaining connections, at least on some level, is always valuable. Each individual must figure out the level of engagement they will have with anything or anyone.

Take what you can use and leave the rest. And maybe come back later.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

In my next life, I want to be a film maker. For me that would be the ultimate mashup gig – art, technology, psychology and philosophy.

This looks to be a wonderful movie exploring the lives of Blackfoot people in Montana.

From the link – “For six months two film makers followed three Blackfoot youth with a Sony EX3, capturing some of the most important moments in their lives, and some of the most cinematic vérité footage you’ve ever seen.”

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/creating-visual-poem-blackfeet-doc-filmmakers-where-god-likes-be

The movie is available on Vimeo on demand here…

I’m going to buy a copy. It looks very special. In Canada in particular, we have a lot to learn from the people who first settled this land.

I will want to watch it more than once.

http://www.counterproduction.bigcartel.com/

We’re all in the wild. It is our true place. Some see it. Some embrace it. Most deny and resist it. Make peace with it in any way you choose.

But the wild will always be there. When you are you ready, you will find it.

Or perhaps it will find you.

From the movie – “Into the Wild”

Evolution is always about into the wild.

Start your music.

More intense version

“Hard Sun”
(originally by Indio)

When I walk beside her, I am the better man
When I look to leave her, I always stagger back again
Once I built an ivory tower so I could worship from above
When I climbed down to be set free, she took me in again

[Chorus:]
There’s a big, a big hard sun
Beating on the big people
In the big hard world

When she comes to greet me, she is mercy at my feet
When I see her bitter charm, she just throws it back at me
Once I dug an early grave to find a better land
She just smiled and laughed at me and took her blues back again

[Chorus 2x]

When I go to cross that river, she is comfort by my side
When I try to understand, she just opens up her hands

[Chorus]

Once I stood to lose her when I saw what I had done
Bound down and threw away the hours of her garden and her sun
So I tried to warn her, I turned to see her weep
Forty days and forty nights and it’s still coming down on me

[Chorus 8x]

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.

A Refinement of the Mission of this Blog – a Further Welcome.

The previous welcome to this blog still holds, but I’m now ready to provide more details as I have thought about these things more.

The basic premises remain – everything and everyone is connected and something very big is coming – a major change in human consciousness. This will dwarf all other changes in human life that have come before. And it will dwarf the changes in technology that we can expect in the next few decades, big as they will be. Technology will contribute to this evolution in consciousness, but not without risks. Technology will also  serve anti-evolutionary forces. Evolution is messy. It is never, and cannot be, convenient.

We are now experiencing a change in human consciousness that will remake our world. Evolution is a constant process of course, but it is not a straight line. Change never is.

I love the quote by Ernest Hemingway from The Sun Also Rises – “How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.”

That is how everything changes. No one knows how, when, and in what way humanity will change, but for me, the evidence is clear. Humanity is changing and it is happening at the individual level. Each of us are evolving in our own way. This wave, that is affecting more and more individuals, will build and bring greater changes to individuals. It will affect more individuals as the wave grows. The change is first at the level of the individual, but because we are all connected, it leads to a collective evolution. And we are all contributing to a type of energy or field that has a great bearing on individuals as well. Yet another mashup.

I think it’s clear that this evolution in our consciousness is a positive thing and it’s inevitable. It has been happening for centuries and has accelerated in the last 120 to 140 years. And now, even more so.

There is no direct proof of this evolution that I can point to, although I am certainly not the first to make this claim. Many others have discussed these ideas well before me. I will discuss many of those people in future posts. You may or may not accept this premise, but I hope that you find this blog interesting and helpful, regardless. But I also hope that you keep an open mind to consider the possibilities of this evolution in human consciousness. No one can deny that things are changing and will continue to do so.

This evolution that is taking place and accelerating now is taking place much faster than any biological evolution could ever occur. Anyone who has a child is well aware of both how subtle and how dramatic the changes are in their bodies, minds and spirits. We are primed to see and expect our children to grow and develop, yet even then, the changes can be so subtle that we are not aware of them until something dramatic brings our attention to it. The change in human consciousness will be more dramatic, yet more subtle. That makes it no less real or inevitable.

As this blog continues, I will arrive at ideas about how this evolved consciousness will manifest itself to affect humanity. My ideas will evolve as I explore these issues and we can only speculate. But I am very excited about the possibilities. I have been thinking about these things a great deal over the past three years in particular, but have really been laying the groundwork for this for my whole life. It is only recently that I have been made aware of all this, however, due to a recent and very valuable connection in my life – the most valuable connection I have ever made. Or will ever make. Such is the magic of all this.

I’ve always had the idea that much more was going on than appeared. Not in the sense of a conspiracy, but that larger things were happening that were hidden by our lack of attention, or awareness, to them. This has fueled a great curiosity in me and led me to explore these issues.

This blog is intended to explore all these issues as I come to terms with them and explore them myself. It goes without saying that I look forward to interactions with any interested reader.

I foresee that the blog posts here will have three primary themes.

Firstly, I will comment on current news or reading I come across, as they fit the idea of a mashup and one that is in service to, or relevant to the idea of the evolution of human consciousness. Connections are the major driver of this evolution and mashups are celebrations and manifestations of those connections.

A second type of post will be more directly relevant to the issue of human consciousness and its evolution. I will talk of many teachers and guides who have contributed to this knowledge and to this evolution in consciousness. I want to encourage everyone to explore these ideas on their own. I want to guide people to make their own connections with information and wisdom that is out there. And I look forward to learning from others where I too can find more wisdom. I want to connect ideas and people as I connect to more ideas and more people.

The third and most important stream of posts will address a specific group that is particularly important in this evolutionary process. I believe that I am part of this group. I believe that many of you are in this group as well. I want to help to support and inspire this group as I explore these issues. I want to do what I can to facilitate this evolution. This third stream will be more structured, as I try to establish a theme or a story, that supports these people who will help to lead this evolution.

This group of people has an identity and I will explore that more as I myself find out more. I have only recently realized that I am part of this group and its pivotal importance to humanity. This is not a secret society and if this blog resonates with you, you are likely a member too. We share certain perspectives and that should become more obvious as this blog continues. There will be more about this group to come in future blog posts here.

I want to do what I can to encourage myself and these people to help evolve their and our consciousness. I want to empower these people. I want to light the fuse, as it has been lit for me, by that connection I spoke of. This change in consciousness will be non-violent but an explosion of sorts. And this explosion will be much more obvious in hindsight than it is at the time – which is now. That is the nature of change and evolution.

We are here to change the world.

It is time.

Begin.