A whole generation or two have been born and grown up not knowing what our country and our world used to be like.  Some of this is a very good thing, but there are other aspects that are not so good.  We need to remember at times what certain things were like.  For instance, most of the younger generation have never known “want”,  being without something with no chance of getting it or replacing it.  Most of the time this is fine, but on the other hand we tend to lose a perspective in our daily lives that is sometimes blurred or surreal.  This might be somewhat like thinking that money is a permanent part of our lives or that food is always obtainable and that water is always fresh and plentiful.  An expanded perspective can give us a realistic knowledge as to where and why and how these things come to us.  This could be a very healthy addition to our collective maturity.

I think that a simulation of want has happened to us in this most affluent of countries during the month of March and possibly continuing through the month of April.  This can be a learning experience for all of us as to what things “usta” be like  in the olden days: the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s.  The people who lived through those years had things, but not everything that is available to us now.  Toilet paper is now in our consciousness as a luxury item.  We no longer take it for granted.  As are the toilets themselves.  I remember when outhouses were ubiquitous and there was never any toilet paper in them.  The most pervasive item to use was a Sears Roebuck catalog.  With glossy paper.  Think about this.  And the most characteristic memory about this whole process, as with a lot of other situations was the smell.  We don’t think about unpleasant smells as being a part of our lives anymore.  But we are no longer an agricultural society.  We are the city folks.  Far removed from the barnyard and the pasture.

In an agricultural society food takes on a whole new characteristic.  Now we have the supermarket. And in some places the farmer’s market.  But both are sanitized and healthy. Everything looks good and the smells are innocuous.  In the olden days of our ancestors even as recent as the 40s and 50s this was not the case in many places.  Many people had gardens with fresh vegetables and fruits and trees and flowers.  Beehives for honey. Large pens for chickens and ducks and turkeys and guinea hens and pigeons, and hens who laid eggs regularly and lived a comfortable life until they were selected for dinner.  Then someone had to end a certain comfortable life, remove the feathers, clean and prepare the carcass and then, only then cook the meat for dinner.   Youngsters then learned early not to think of these animals as pets.  Also in this area were the hunters who would bring home squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, etc., and then expect them to be prepared for dinner.  Always a messy process.  Even if it was a catfish or trout or a bluegill.

During this month of April when we are to be sequestered for thirty days, it might be a good time to reflect on the above.  This could be a wake-up call as to what could happen in a real crisis: an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, asteroid crash, etc.  Can we actually be prepared for any eventuality?  How?  What would happen when a situation occurs that means that we really can’t get food, water, medical supplie or even…toilet paper?  How we could have prepared would be meaningless at that time.

At that point in time we are no longer “entitled.”  The entitled category gets immediately buried in reality.  Can thinking about this eventuality help our young , our millennials, and those people with totally unrealistic outlooks face reality?  Would they be ready and even able to handle the intellectual shift necessary to survive?  In a crisis individuals must act in order to survive.  No one can rely on someone being available to do things at their beck and call.

The good old days meant that life was based on reality.  Pay to play.  Participate or leave.  Think before you act.  And “Be Prepared.”  Scouts understand this and so should we. Let us use this month to prepare ourselves mentally and physically and spiritually for whatever eventuality comes at us.  And let us unite as the great nation that we “usta be” and still are. Let us all sing “God bless America” with a gusto that comes from deep down in our hearts…!

There have always been naysayers, doom-and-gloom people, always negative, nothing-ever-right: “The world is going to hell in a hand basket,” the wheel will be the downfall of civilization, the devil is in charge and we aren’t, the glass is half empty, etc.

If we had listened to these people at any stage of our development from the beginnings of civilization, there would have been no civilization or countries or societies.There was a very old cartoon in the fifties, black & white, primitive animation, that said over and over “I’m happy when I’m sad, I’m always feeling bad.”  If we had taken this as truth at the time, those of us who saw it over and over might have become the negative personalities that we see and hear even now.

Nothing is perfect, but negativity is destructive.  It stunts our growth and has the ability to rot our brains.  Negativity is an anchor that abhors progress.  It fears the striving for perfection, and the upward climb toward the betterment of anything.  Negativity is death both personally and as a society.  We have many leaders in different aspects of our own society whose outlooks are primarily negative, and we need to have the will and the strength to replace them with forward thinkers.  Left in place for too long they can do lasting damage to our way of life and our system of education, and our system of education is the foundation of our society, and any society. When negativity is in charge, nothing can be accomplished.  Nothing can move ahead. Nothing that has any value can even be initiated because negativity obstructs and inhibits and must strive to have everyone think the same way.  The more the same we are, the more negativity feels a sense of accomplishment.  Everyone and everything must be pulled down to the same common denominator.  Think for a moment of the lasting effects of such an agenda.

The bright side of all of the above is that we have a choice in every instance.  We can choose dark or light, life or death, positive or negative, up or down, progress or stagnation even though the dominant thinking is the reverse.  We always have a choice.

In our present society, making a choice can become a challenge.  It may seem that at every turn we are faced with negativity.  Most of our media: newspapers, magazines, social media, chat rooms, television, movies, etc., are filled with either social negativity or a negative agenda that takes over our minds while watching or listening or reading.  So the challenge becomes sifting through these so that we don’t become infected with a negativity virus that can cloud our thinking.  This is definitely challenging. But if we are to keep some semblance of our sanity, it is a necessary challenge and definitely worth the effort.  Clear thinking involves going against the mass of information we are faced with at every turn like a salmon swimming upstream.  But the reward for a positive person is peace of mind and knowing that we are supported by other like-minded people from every age in history.

Everything that has worth involves a challenge:  Invention, innovation, creative writing, composing music, art, research of all kinds, any aspect of leadership, and anything for the betterment of society. All are challenging but not always rewarding.  There are no guarantees except self-satisfaction.  Knowing that we have done our best work in reaching our personal goals which are the challenges that we have set and achieved.  Even more satisfying is finding other like-minded individuals who are facing their own challenges or have achieved some success in their endeavors.  Positive thinking in itself has become a challenge. But we embrace it.  It is what we live for and the reason that we exist.  Conflict and resolution are the essence of the arts and of life itself.  Let us challenge ourselves daily throughout our lives.

Coins all have two sides, two aspects, a front and a back.  We accept them because of their nature and usefulness in our daily lives. We don’t question either their existence or their validity.  They just are.  There are many other things in our lives that are similar to coins.  Some of them animate and some of them inanimate.  And, again, we don’t question them.  They just are.  All of our money has a front and a back. Credit cards have a front and a back. books and magazines have a front and a back.  Cars have a front and a back.  And we accept all of these.

People are in a whole different category.  We take them at face value.  Mostly we see only a front both physically and mentally, as they see us. But when we think about this, people also have a front and a back.  A professional life and a private life.  An at-work life and an at-home life. It is normally only in family life that we see the flip side of someone or both sides.   And depending on personalities this can be a good thing or not.

When a person is a public figure we normally only see their front side. We hear their viewpoints pertaining to their work or their workplace. Nothing else is needed in order to appreciate the person’s value to society or to their accomplishments or their successes or failures. Their persona is complete and understandable as reported in any kind of medium of communications.  They are one of the inhabitants of our personal line-ups that are judged and categorized and filed in our own personal up or down lists.  Front side only.

But, we just don’t like the person. Sometimes this isn’t based on logic or factual information, but only our own viewpoint based on a personality conflict.  Most of the time this is inconsequential. We mentally file the information and go about our daily lives.  But sometimes through an incessant barrage in the media this can become an obsession, even a personal campaign to devalue the person or even actively disparage their image or personality at every opportunity.  Through a personality conflict.  This negativity, like any kind of negativity, can be destructive both personally and publicly.

We also may not like the ideas that a particular person is proposing or their improper dealings with others in their field or society in general. In a free society we have the freedom to speak our own minds, but when these ideas or distorted or mean-spirited or destructive, we have the right either to ignore this or actively set the record straight with factual information.  Personality conflict is much different from disagreement based on factual or even debatable information.  Everyone has the right to be an idiot.  Most of us, however keep this hidden on our back side. Some on the other hand just can’t resist displaying this lack of intelligence at every opportunity.

In order for personality conflicts to become extreme we must objectify the person or persons.  We must see them as an object to be despised or defiled or even destroyed.  And, at some point in this process we must begin to realize that we are wrong.  Either through inwardly thinking things through or from outside information leaking in to our thinking we must wake up to the fact that we have gone too far down the wrong path.  We have lost our moral compass.  We have lost both self respect and respect for others no matter who they are.  Any number of faith expressions can help pave the way back to normalcy and fairness and respect.  And this can lead us back to kindness in our thinking and in our dealings with others in our lives.

This leads us back to the fact that we all are coins with two sides, two faces.  We all have opinions.  Some of them are decent and helpful. We do not, however have the right to force our own thoughts into the thoughts of others from an undeserved platform or stage or opportunity. We do have the obligation to check our sources of information for validity.  We also have the obligation to use fairness in our interactions; respect in our lives, especially in our relations with law enforcement and government; accuracy in our assimilation of information and in passing it along to others.  We need to remember that it is possible to disagree with kindness and respect.  We need to remember that we are all humans with two sides.  We must tend to and nurture both sides.  Listen to Judy Collins as she sings her song, “Both Sides Now.”

We work until we can’t work anymore, then we think.

Many people can’t handle the process of thinking.  It is sometimes too painful.  The past contains ghosts, the future contains the spector of the unknown.  They are both trapped in the present with nowhere to go.  It seems that the only course possible is to block out the reality of our own existence.  This is the time when this blocking invites the addictions of drinks such as alcohol and anything else that will blur or even eliminate the reality of the present time.  Anything that will allow us to just remain suspended in time and space.  This can happen at any time and at any age.  Any time there is no longer any hope, no one to understand, or no one to help in any way. Rational thinking is blocked.

Then comes the ultimate thought process:  What am I doing?  Why am I here?  Where have I been and where am I going?  Have I had enough of everything since nothing makes any sense any more?  Have I exhausted all possibilities?  Is this, then, the end?  If so, why not take the leap forward into the vast unknown?  How quick and painless would this be to ultimately find lasting peace and unconditional love and rest from all of the uncertainty of life here on earth? Is there an answer for those people in this circumstance that makes enough sense, and a powerful enough case to make in order to change their thinking?  Is there anything at all that will deter anyone who is in such a downward spiral?  This is one of the most vital and important communications that we can make to another person.  A compelling reason to justify their existence.

Prayer, promises, logic, intellect, books, films, TV, radio, streaming.  None of these can penetrate as deeply as music with its myriad of styles, moods, feelings and emotions.  But, in order to reach deeply into any psyche, the text must be eliminated, for it forces us once again into the present.  Only with instrumental music can we lose our our perception of reality in the present time and begin to reach the deep recesses of our minds.  Only with instrumental music can we combat the feelings and emotions of the illogical and restore the balance of our earth and universe with its natural laws.  Instrumental music obeys these laws by the sounds of order and disorder and then re-order. Instrumental music is uncluttered with daily life and the past and the future.  It exists only in the present, only in our own space and time.  It allows us to think more clearly and more deeply.

If we could only experience this concept, it might be possible to communicate it to those who need to be rescued from the brink of their own extinction.  This, however, is a process to be learned first by ourselves and then passed on to our children who can then have the capacity to understand the process among themselves and then to pass it on to future generations.  This could possibly save our society and all people,  in contrast to the superficial “causes” and “fads” that we are inundated with by an incessant and even immoral media.  Maybe this could even change the basic thinking and reasoning for all types of media who ostensibly have no collective conscience. This could cause a freedom unknown in recorded history, honesty in the reporting and communication of events as they occur without editorializing before and after.  A media that thinks before acting.  Everyone would benefit.

We can only hope that we all actually learn to think independently and to listen instrumentally.

December means the beginning of winter, the Christmas season, and the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. Also, on top of these are Santa Claus, gift giving, and shopping to accommodate the preceding. Parties, caroling, banquets and family dinners are also prevalent.  It is a festive time of year.  But not for all.  Some are moved to introspection, or even depression by the ups and downs of the season.  Some are without homes, warmth, proper clothing, adequate food or medications.  What stands out is the obvious disparity of this particular time of the year.  On the other hand, there are shelters, soup kitchens, and many charity events and projects.  But are they enough?  Do we as individuals do as much as we can to help?  Why does this even happen in the first place?  And, to dig in more deeply, Why are we here?  And, What’s next?

If we look at an overview of our lives we can easily come to the conclusion that we are here on earth briefly.  Very briefly.  Discounting our own solar time, there is geological time and the cosmic time of the universe.  So again, Why are we here, and What’s next?  Let’s begin by attempting to answer the following three questions pertaining to our lives. 1.  Have you found your purpose?  2. Have you accomplished it?  3. Has it helped the lives of others?

Life itself is simple and basic.  All else is sham.  The only real truth is born of honesty.  You fool no one but yourself.  Our actions touch others day to day to month to year.  Do we help or do we hinder?  Do we alleviate or block?  Are we the answer or the problem? Do we leave life as we found it or are things better when we are gone?

1. Your purpose was always waiting for you and the choices that you make along your journey should lead you to that purpose. Have you recognized yourself as fitting for the tasks presented?  Have you exercised your being in order to seek for it unceasingly?  Have you expended the energy that you were given? And did you seek and did you find with all your heart?
2. Did you accomplish your purpose when you discovered it? Did you stay with it until the end?  Did you keep at it with all of your heart and soul? Or did you give in to all of the roadblocks and impediments, negativity and criticisms that would hold you back?  Did you doggedly pursue what you knew was right in your own heart as far as you possibly could take it?
3. Did your purpose also help the lives of others? By doing what you have done through the good times and the bad, did your actions and your work make a difference in the lives of other beings who reside near you?  Looking back, were those near you helped in any way?  Did your actions cause reactions in a positive way and can you now recognize the assistance that was instrumental toward the well-being of another person and all of your contemporaries?

Speaking of the above three points, age, whether we are young or old or in-between, is not a factor.  Looks are not important spanning time.  Styles are not important in the prevalent fads of any specific period of time.  Only your inner self can direct these toward your own accomplishments and nothing corporeal should distract us.  So since we are here so briefly, for questions 1, 2, and 3, the only question left is “What is next?”

Empirically we know the answer.  We’ve known it from our birth.  Our minds are meant to return from whence they came.  The body is only an instrument to accomplish our purpose here on earth.  Our minds with all of the experiences we have gathered through our brief span of time here will eventually separate and be required to answer these three questions for admittance to eternal love and peace:

1. Did you find your purpose?
2. Did you accomplish it?
3. Did it help the lives of others?

So for the month of December with its ups and its downs, its caroling and its elegies, I wish for you the ability to answer these questions.  May the music of the universe permeate your mind and your soul.  And may you in your own finale find eternal rest and peace.  Merry Christmas…!

Maybe love is too strong a word for our daily lives. Love your neighbor, love all people, love yourself.  Maybe it’s just too difficult for our cluttered personalities, too hard of a concept to assimilate against all of the distractions we must deal with on a daily basis.  Maybe we should just start with “like.”  It’s easier to like someone or at least distinguish between like and dislike.  Both parties in any relationship or confrontation could initially know where they stand.  And it would be easier to come to terms with dislike of a person if we were able to sublimate this feeling into a gray area just before like. In other words, hide dislike and fake like.  It is at least a starting point for a relationship that would have absolutely no chance to survive otherwise.  “I dislike you” could be your inner feeling with “I like you” on the surface. Again, at least this could be a starting point toward the concept of love.

Love is a difficult concept.  We are told to love but not how or what it is or even how it is supposed to work.  There is no user manual. Our parents, teachers, ministers, etc., all tell us to love others, even unconditionally, but do they, themselves, really understand the concept of loving someone?  It is much easier to love “some-thing” like a dog or a cat or your car or house, etc., but isn’t this just a stronger “like?”  It is not always possible to distinguish between these concepts.

Maybe we should first teach like and dislike and then gradually assimilate the concepts that reside in love; go from known to unknown.  Then, if our parents, teachers, ministers, etc., understand this transition themselves, they might be able to transmit the basic concept of love by example, by actually living it. In this way we would be dealing with reality, not just words or preaching or two dimensional thinking.  Then, finally we might begin to distinguish between real love and mere sexual attraction which really muddies the waters.

Our concept of love is mostly lacking emotion and feeling which relegates it to just words with different moods.  Sexual love is a much more ubiquitous feeling that is charged with emotion and feelings of warmth and attraction to another or others.  Does this equate or even relate to loving your neighbor, pets, car, etc.?  Definitely not!  These two concepts are in two different ballparks and exist for different reasons.  So where does this leave us?

In my opinion we are all the way back to like and dislike which are easy to understand, easy to teach and easy to transmit to others.  And this makes it possible to lay the foundation and groundwork for a true understanding of love with its emotional magnetism.  This could create a whole movement about loving your neighbor and people who are different and even lead eventually to world peace.  All of these could have some accessible and realistic, useful and understandable meaning. And so all of our most popular songs which are drummed into our consciousness and even subconscious would be easier to categorize.  “All You Need is Love,” “Love is the Answer,” and many other pop songs can convey physical attraction, but maybe our society could relate to all of its members with a realistic “like” or even start with just tolerance.

By understanding the basic concepts of like and love maybe we could establish real feelings for our fellow humans and start a real and realistic movement toward a true world peace.  Maybe.  Let’s start with the basics.  Think kindness…!