New Becomings

If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed. ~Terence McKenna If someone had told me that in my later adulthood I would be witnessing a separation of realities, I wouldn't have believed it, but here we are. The internet has created factions of stern believers in all sorts of ideas and ideologies, that once taken hold are difficult to diffuse. Those who have not spent time understanding their own mind/consciousness are subject to conditioning. Understanding the mind is a life-long process because it is more than what we could possibly write down or comprehend in one sitting or even in one lifetime. We cannot fully understand individual consciousness by surface dwelling with spiritual tools of the day or reading books or taking mind-altering drugs or meditating in silence... Realizing and proactively using mind/consciousness means a difficult discovery of looking at our own behaviour, its cause/effect, and self-awareness through the insight that there are ma...

Conversations and debates with people who think differently than you is difficult, especially online where tone and expression are absent. I find it important to have these conversations nonetheless because many of us live in echo-chambers and socialize with mirrors. When people live in bubbles, they can't see clearly what's outside of it, and end up believing what they see and hear is an overwhelming societal majority, when really, it's not - it's just a majority in that particular social bubble. Most people I know who are aware of this simply don't engage with those living in obvious bubbles - the problem with that is people get entrenched in the opinions of their bubble, and once people are entrenched they feel the need to enlarge that bubble, trying to convince everyone outside of it that what they think is Truth. Believing you are in sole possession of Truth is dangerous, and even more so when surrounded by those who believe the same way. Exactly one year ago, ...

  Paradigm Shift: an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way ." Rabbit Hole: used to refer to a bizarre, confusing, or nonsensical situation or environment, typically one from which it is difficult to extricate oneself. When I first watched my Grandmother read Tarot for family members, I was about 7 years old. I was fascinated by the possibility that these magical cards could tell people things that helped them see parts of their lives with some clarity. When I was a teenager, I started to feel depressed about the fact that my life would be a constant irritant of jobs I had to do until retirement at old age, and then death. That is when I decided to pick an art form to master, so at least the jobs would have some fun attached. I chose theatre arts. In University, the freedom from living at my parent's house and drug induced trips (sorry, Mum!) were more fascinating than acting classes and th...

I was running around before Christmas trying to get it all done, going to work each morning at 5am to try to kick-start my day, trying to exercise, trying to keep up our rickety old cabin to Airbnb standards, trying to keep up my own house to my own standards, trying to join causes and aid with my voice, trying to sell a product I love with a method people hate, trying to help my family with their variety of needs, trying to create, trying to relax... try try try... After New Years, I took the cabin off Airbnb, stopped cleaning my house, stopped cooking and baking, stopped exercising, was turned down as a local leader in a political organization, stopped selling the product I love, I started playing a simple video game every day for hours just to stop myself from getting up and doing laundry or dishes. I napped instead of relaxed... and then got sick.  I haven't been sick for about 4 years. We think it was Covid, though with a negative rapid test, I kept to myself and slept for day...

  Well, my latest effort at trying for something that I felt strongly enough about to make an actual effort did not work out. I've decided to drop any effort and rest for at least the winter - but, even that takes effort. And my brain tells me how lucky I am to be able to rest in the first place, so I shouldn't do it because many people don't have that luxury (kind of like "eat all the food on your plate because there are starving children in the world") . My brain also says that resting will come when I'm dead, so why bother now? There's a nag in me that thinks I should continually try to do stuff, create things, make a difference... whatever, nag. My previous efforts at trying for things I felt strongly about were at least cloaked in reasonable outcomes, lessons learned, and no regrets. It's possible that I haven't been trying very hard over the past few years, but I don't think so - I kept it together long enough, and it's not that ...

  “ Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of civilization .” Mahatma Gandhi Unity in Diversity is an old axiom, yet it still seems to escape the common sense of our politics, policies, businesses, communities and indeed our own lives. We know that first-past-the-post voting does not account for an actual majority when many people have opted for parties that end up having no say in our democracies. We know that policies are sold to the highest bidder. We know that the almighty bottom-line has become the focus and the main reason for enterprise and commerce. We see the clutching of cultures holding no space for the benefits of other cultures. We see monocultures ravaging our lands. We see racism decimating lives... What a horrible mess - this rampant and fragmented way of humanity. People thrive on disunity because people need common enemies and some sort of allegiance, but why? Perhaps because it's easier to blame something outside of oneself for th...

 The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers        ~Ralph Nader When I was a young adult, I considered that people did not need leaders to shepherd them, but inspiring voices to build up confidence and abilities to then be strong enough to lead themselves. I still believe this to be the case, yet as I've matured, I recognize that not everyone has the confidence and ability to inspire others towards their own fulfillment, and some want to support those that do - not everyone wants to be in a position of power, instead aiming for simpler lives - still others have the confidence and ability to lead, but use them for control and self-interest. How do we identify leaders with the necessary qualities that can help shape and grow our communities, our world? How can we build up our own internal libraries of information that can filter through the guises of false leadership? The traits of false leadership can be recognized through observati...