Ownership

Like many of us, I struggle with the idea of ownership.  In our society the struggle is likely to be something along the lines of how to acquire and own more.  This is not my struggle.

Because of where I happen to be born my struggle is with how to own less.  As Americans most of us have more than we need, and use up most of the resources in the world.

I listened to somebody tell me how great the property was that he had just purchased.  It had lots of room and a great view.  He then told me how busy he was and that he had no time for the very things that come with owning a property.  He, thought it made more sense, economically, to pay somebody else to do that work.

We also spoke about automobiles.  He noticed the truck I had just purchased.  It is 18 years old, but in reasonably good condition and was very inexpensive.  Something another person was done with.  My friend said, "You got yourself a nice little truck there".  He then asked if he might buy it, but then went on to talk about trading in his own truck that was 5 years old for a newer one.  He talked of the "full coverage insurance" he carries on his vehicles and how much that cost.  His insurance coverage for a few months equals the purchase price of my new-used truck.

I like the things I buy to be "used" or discards.  They require less of the resources of the planet for their construction, manufacture, & transport to market.  The also most times, remove something from being piled up into a landfill.  I give them more useful time, as well as get to learn something about them by fixing any issues they might have had.  This makes me feel good and it also saves me a huge amount of money.

I do own a lot of things.  Many of the things I own were in trash heaps or headed to them.  The benefit of owning enough property to store some things on is that once I acquire them the can sit and be worked on, or be stored for use later and their is no inconvenience or cost.

For example, I like sailboats.  I own three, and about 6 other boats.  They were all either purchased used and for very little, or I built them myself.  In fact 2 of them were given to me.  These boats cost me nothing to keep.  The barn I built to house them cost me nothing to build as it was from scrap wood and materials.  I am now paying for one boat to be in slip in a marina and this is my indulgence to myself.  I am paying the off season rate and thus it is much more economically manageable for me.  I take the boat out about once a week and this is my favorite recreation.  Even though they cause me no hardship of money and they do give me great pleasure and inexpensive recreation, I don't need the number of boats that I own.

I do realize that when I have just one of something and enjoy it, I quite possible enjoy it more.

As long as ownership is not a burden on myself or the world around me by using up resources, my own, or the worlds, I see no great problem with ownership, with the understanding that ownership should be useful and not just to attempt to satisfy an unquenchable hunger to consume or gain status or identity.

Ownership should be reasonable.

Simple Living seems reasonable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB5Pun-4s8w&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Choice

We have more choices than we usually are given.
Don't let others decide how much choice you have.

Sometimes,  it's not what we choose, it is that we feel we have to choose something at all.
                 We could try to get the latest and most fuel efficient car, but, then if we buy a new car we send the message to the auto industry to keep making more cars which means more finite materials of the earth mined, more pollution from manufacturing, and getting those cars distributed around the planet.  No matter what kind of car we drive, we just need to drive less, and set up our lives so to make this possible.
                   We will often be asked if we are Republican or Democrat.  There are other political forms of thought than just those two but we have allowed the situation to limit us.

Sometimes, doing nothing, is the best thing to do.
                  Instead of paper, or plastic, why not just supply your own reusable bag?  A Prius or a Hummer?  How about neither?  How about not having a car at all?  How about not using a car if you have one already?  You could be a car collector, have them sitting in a nice garage, all waxed and polished and shiny, but never drive them, maybe even put less miles on all of your cars combined than the daily commuter who drives a new hybird car.  It's not the thing as much as it is the way we think and act.

Sometimes, we have to make choices that are not conventional, but make more sense for ourselves.
                  Ideas and movements start somewhere.  Waiting for somebody else to make a choice for us is one way of living but it means that your way of being is then chosen by somebody else and may not fit you so well.  Making choices and taking actions that are unconventional are ways of being responsible for ones self.

Make the choice that gives you the most responsibility for you life.  Waiting for somebody else or for a government to make these choices for you takes the power away from us.  We fund the government with our taxes.  We staff the government with our vote.  We support the government with our voice, but mostly our actions, and these days, mostly with what we choose to purchase and from whom we make these purchases.  By definition, we are the government.  We have the government that we have bought.  This is decided every time we open our wallet, make a charge, set up an automatic payment.

If we want to see change, then we have to make changes.
                  Sounds simple and easy, but it might be so obvious that we don't see it.  No act, or inaction, is without consequence.  To be responsible and empowered, we need to be mindful of the affects of our every choice and action.

Location, Location, Location!

 It's all about the view.

Do nothing all day, Nap, maybe read.  Drinks brought to you that make you feel "no pain".  Dinner made for you.  Get a massage (costs extra).
wear revealing clothes.
mind the concierge.
Usually only last a couple of weeks.
Save up to be able to afford.
communal sun and sea bathing.
Live all year in anticipation of it.
Try and get lucky.
Hoping it will never end.

Do nothing all day, nap maybe watch TV or read.  Get "meds" that make you feel no pain(stronger than a Mai Tai).
Dinner made for you (sometimes you don't even have to chew!).  Get a massage & a sponge bath.
wear revealing gown.
Mind the nurse.
try and get lucky (see sponge bath)
Usually only lasts a for a short time.
Put money away every week to be able to afford.
Live your whole life worried about it.
Waiting for the time it all ends.

What I am trying to figure out this:  Are resort style vacations like hospital stays, or are hospital stays like resort style vacations?

I suppose we could also consider this:

Do nothing all day.  Drinks and bongs and mind numbing shows that have you feeling no pain.
Bathing, ya right.
food delivered to your door by the Pizza guy.
live in your underwear or pj's.
usually only lasts till you have to go out and earn money to pay for cable.
Mind your parents, or if you are the parents, the landlord or the health department.
communal chips and dip.
Try and get lucky (porn channel)
waiting for the day it all ends, or a new season/episode.

And then there is this:

Nothing to do all day.  Go to gym, read. Meals made for you.
Outfits provided.  Physical activities planned for you.
Mind the boss.
The community puts money away to pay for your stay.
Medical needs provided for.
communal bathing.
Try and have sex or avoid the same.
Waiting for the day it all ends.

Which leads me to think of this:

Same thing to do each day.  Maybe read or internet surf.
meal time decided for you.  Maybe coffee provided.
The money you earn here pays for all of the above situations (vacations, medications, incarcerations).
But you have to buy your own clothes and housing (neither of which is ever adequate)
Mind the boss.
Spend all day in anticipation of leaving.
Try and have sex or avoid the same.
communal bathrooms.
Waiting for the day it all ends.

Which also makes me think of this:

Think nothing, maybe breathe or say "OM".  A spiritual state that makes you feel no pain.
 Get spiritually bathed in light.
Nourishment in the form of enlightenment.
wear loose fitting clothes.
mind your mindfulness.
Costs nothing but time and maybe some scented candles, a mat, wardrobe, time off work...
Either hoping it will never end, or that it will be a never ending state.

Which in turn leads me to this:

Do nothing.  Feel no pain. No hunger
usually nice clothes.
Somebody does your hair and make up
Save up to afford a coffin or headstone.
communal graveyards
"Getting lucky" would be going to heaven
 No body to mind, No mind.
Hope it will never come.
Lasts for ever (historically)

Some have said that life is like music, or a poem,  or a dance, that consciousness is an artful expression.

We sing the song that has been sung, recite the poem, dance the steps, 1,2,3..... think what has been thought, repeat the life of our forefathers.
or,
We make our own stories, music, poetry, & dance our own steps.

It is not so important which way we do it, but more important, to know which way we do it, and to allow for others who do it their way.

With over 7 billion here, just at this moment, there are bound to be repeats of songs, dances, poems and stories.
But,
That also means that there are as many possibilities for variation and unique invention.

Even so, what happens after the last word, step, or note is for each of us the same.  If you think it's different for you, then please, show me.

Lance Armstrong is Lance Ethicsweak

Today a news headline stated that Lance Armstrong, the professional cyclist, admits to "doping" while riding and he further stated that "Impossible to win" the Tour de France while he was competing.
Riddle me this Batman,  If nobody uses drugs while competing, and the race has a winner, then Lance's statement is just wrong.  If some use drugs but don't win then he is also wrong.
Maybe what he meant to say is that it was impossible for HIM to win it without drugs.  If that is the case, then he should not have won, and it is appropriate that he is stripped of his titles.  He is a simply a cheat.  I guess you could say that he lack the ball(s)  to accept defeat. (I just couldn't resist that)  Unfortunately he is just one person who has been singled out in a culture that values only winning.

There will always be somebody better, faster, stronger, more clever.........So why don't we just enjoy who and what and where we are being the best we can be and not worry over how we rate compared to others, all the while enjoying the achievements of those who go further and faster than ourselves, just as other people can appreciate what we achieve?

Be aware of what really matters.
Play playfully.

riding for fun, freedom & adventure

These kids in this picture below may not have uniforms, helmets, batting gloves, or an aluminum bat, but they have what most kids these days on the little league field are missing, SMILES.

Playing should be just that, play.

What's reasonable

I just pressed send on an email to a friend and I am wondering if it was a reasonable response to his communication.

Sometimes I just get on a piece of mental highway that just stretches to the horizon and I open up the throttle and let it go.

Sometimes I forget that other people don't see with my eyes, some wear glasses or are color blind, or are focused way beyond where I can see.

Sometime I forget that we each hear a different rhythm in our heads and have to dance our own dance, in our own uniquely shaped bodies.

Sometimes I forget these things, and I think I say, or write things that are hard for others to take in.

Sometimes I should just press 'delete' and then write, "have a nice day" instead.

"Have a nice Day"

Rap your head around this!

MY INSPIRATION
A BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER EARTH!
(that's his natural color)

THE DeRESPECTO RAP

The universe is perverse, 

it never goes in reverse, 

if it's down on you, break the curse

We all end up in a hearse, 

so,

Live the life you got

sweat when it's hot

chill when it's cold,

be bold,

or, 

soon you'll be to old,

so I am told,

I don't know 

because I'm young at heart

I had it from the start,

Suppose that makes me smart,

no, just lucky

Plucky,

I don't give up

I'll tell you why,

It's true, I'm not afraid to die

Louder,

I'm not afraid to live

Life to the fullest

Love to the end

With hate I'm a duelist

as a friend the truest

A father and a son

the oldest brother,

50 years young

I hope I have another,

50 years,

But if I don't

don't shed no tears

I'm still here,

up in the atmosphere

part of the world that never stops,

in the rivers and hills and all the crops,

that feed all those

who go on living,

I am the gift that keeps on giving

Born from the Sun

just a solar baby,

related to all,

from one family,

trying to make things 

the way they should be

Respect & love

Gratitude, & Compassion

it's what I wear,

the hottest in fashion

wear them with pride,

no need to hide

I laugh at this life

it's just too absurd,

crazier than any of this written word,

harder than any of the spittin' you heard,

That don't make it bad, 

that's just attitude

that don't make it sad,

If you are clued

in,

With out up there's no down

no joy with out pain,

no loss then no gain,

Some people just hate,

that's how it's got to be,

cause nothin' but love 

is comin' from me

So I'm glad that I'll die

cause that means I have lived,

right now the clocks tickin'

cause I have the time,

and you took a lickin'

by reading my rhyme

It's now part of you,

stuck in your head,

think on it at night

while you lie in your bed

What happens tomorrow,

nobody can say,

don't matter how much you pray

or they say

Make your heaven right now,

don't wait, stop the hate

be great, emulate, emancipate,

demonstrate, top rate,

deny fate,

CREATE!

Boston said "Don't Look Back"

But learn from the past
don't live in it,

The mistakes we make

just might be our last

Cause the universe is perverse,

it never goes in reverse


Word to the living!