Silence Toasted

"You better watch out and hold on tight,                         We're headed your way like dynamite!" Something sure is, or has more likely arrived and is being felt at some level by all those with the capacity to feel. Those who cannot simply continue to follow their base impulses and carry on as though everything is as it always was, while this mysterious force that is afoot twists at a subtle level and appears to be driving some people insane. But it simply shall not be. Change is a constant and those who cling to the hope that somehow a return to "normal" is possible are likely to be left disappointed and bitter. It's all an illusion anyway.     Speaking of illusions and getting back to the title of this little missive, one of my prior jobs was as a truck drivin' delivery guy. This put me in a position to observe a lot of different things as well as learn a whole lot about what was real and what was...

Ramblings from an uneducated fool.  It has been 9 months since I last felt motivated to sit down and write anything in this space, long enough for much to transpire, more to expire, and for endless opportunities to become lost in the trap that is Earthly desire. It is also the length of time require to conceive and bring forth a human life, and for some reason the notion of birth/rebirth seems at the fore a great deal these days. It would seem that much is as it always has been, yet nothing will ever be the same again. And why would it be? What is the "normal" that people talk about? How can we hope to "go back to the way it was" if we only then wound up where we are now, wishing we were somewhere else preceding it? At a base level, when I hear talk of getting the "job situation" or "housing prices" back to "normal" it just ceases to be anything other that a repeating of some sort of mantra. Give it up, folks. There is no going back...

Greeting Brothers and Sisters, and thank you for casting your gaze upon these scribblings. I hope this moment finds you well and well-tended. Time to toast the silence again with a question for those who have pondered such things - what, exactly, is a family made of? The obvious first answer is borne of biology and then expands out to unions, but how can we move beyond these boundaries or even knock them down and allow ourselves to choose who we want to live our lives with and not be shackled by traditional definitions that often trap us in situations that we would ordinarily not willingly embrace? These questions arise due to a looming issue with a "family" member. I use quotations because by definition, this person is a part of my family but is also the type of person who I would avoid at all costs and certainly seek to shelter my children from. We are talking about a person who has spent a lifetime seeking the "easy way", and now finds herself in the position tha...

"Life's the same, I'm moving in stereo, Life's the same, except for my shoes Life's the same, you're shaking like tremolo, Life's the same, It's all inside you....." Well, that really about sums it up - thanks for dropping by! But seriously, what can be said at this point? This point of "nothing is as it was (or appeared to be) and anything goes" we have arrived at seems poised to rewrite the rules of existence and the question then becomes "what'cha gonna do about it?" I can tell you what I have been doing. Absolutely nothing. The past 6 months of winter were spent emulating a large bear or possibly a hedgehog, with only short periods of activity (mostly shoveling snow endlessly) interrupting the stasis. A sort of half-aware state that offered a great deal of reflective space and an opportunity to get dragged off on some pretty interesting paths by the ceaseless actions of that old reliable friend, the Mind. I will observe ...

Love is a lie. Passion, merely a snare. This place is a prison. Digging a tunnel with a spoon is a long process. Z

Well, it certainly is heating up "out there", no? It seems that wherever one might cast their gaze, stories of corruption, danger, potential ills, evil, and every other form of hazard is present and accounted for with the promise of more on the horizon and no end in sight. Has it always been thus, and we are simply finding more and better ways to discover and share our collective fears and heinous actions, or is there indeed a great darkness that has descended upon us and is poising itself to render us completely into the void? If one subscribes to the notion that these are, indeed, "special" times - what is to be the course of action to weather the storm or beat back whatever it is that is most certainly soon to visit your own doorstep? Despair is one option I suppose, and many seem to be adopting that attitude, but is it sustainable? How about turning the fear over to its other face - anger - and using your new found rage to power you to victory over that which is...

Whoa, 5 months like that, huh? I don't think I'm wasting my time - we'll see. Yeah, the word thing. You see, it's like this; it has been shown to me in no small or insignificant way that any attempt to substitute for the real thing will fall short, so it's all a compromise, all the time, unless it's totally real, and who wants that coming at them? I have thankfully, by grace and endless pleading, rediscovered the stream, and my place in relation to its flow, and there is no finer gift that I have received here. I have been given back my voice and my soundboard, and I can't begin to express my gratitude in any way other than to surrender to it fully. It has rendered words completely inadequate, however, so I am far less inclined to use them these days. Other methods of expression become predominant, and are less available for sharing or distribution for better or worse. depending on whether there are expectations or not. What has become real is the observin...