Stories and Wisdom from a Life Fully Lived

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  • Faster

    The Universe is expanding faster.

    Moore’s Law says computer chip speeds and capabilities are getting faster—doubling every two years.

    I can vouch for that and more. In my experience, as the years go by, time is definitely going by faster.

    “Change is the essence and cadence of the universe,” as I remarked in a talk many years ago, way back in the 1960s. And Seth Godin presented some cogent thoughts about this in his newsletter today as he spoke about the speed of change.

    It turns out that the biggest shift to our culture isn’t the changing speed of a computer chip. It’s what happens when we network humans together.

    Adding more people to the internet has sped up science, politics and every element of culture and everything in our life. The echos happen faster; the learning is exponential, and connected communities heat and morph ever faster. I wonder what the internet 3.0 will bring.

    Science used to be a solo endeavor. A monk with some pea plants could figure out genetics. Today, there are millions of people advancing the work of millions of people, with new updates coming all day long. The problems are dramatically more difficult, but the solutions are possible because we’ve multiplied the speed of change.

    That’s why so many people are interested in writing and actually writing today. We live in electric and exciting times. One writer inspires and triggers thoughts, feelings, emotions, and motivations in another writer/reader and more and more energy is pouring into the universe of thought and ideas. This explosion of thought energy is thrusting humankind into a literally unimaginable future—at least unimaginable for me. It is endorphin overload to think about it. It’s going in all directions at once! Which lightning bolt do I hitch a ride on?

    Ok, my wife, Lilyane, says slooow down… We must exercise some common sense. There needs to be some control. We can’t have all these crazy’s controlling the world. Responsible Citizens MUST THINK about what’s best and most responsible for the whole of humanity—the country—the planet, the world, the universe. So please…Think!

    • big
    • national, what’s best for America
    • global, best for America AND the world
    • personal, your heart, what you FEEL
    • what you can do to make a life for all mankind better

  • Dream Live

    Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.

    James Dean

  • Mental Garden

    From As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

    Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild.

    James Allen

    Act is the blossom of thought; and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

    James Allen

    Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, “Peace. Be still!”

    James Allen

  • Timeless Insight

    “An ignorant mind is precisely not a spotless, empty vessel, but one that’s filled with the clutter of irrelevant or misleading life experiences, theories, facts, intuitions, strategies, algorithms, heuristics, metaphors, and hunches that regrettably have the look and feel of useful and accurate knowledge. This clutter is an unfortunate by-product of one of our greatest strengths as a species. We are unbridled pattern recognizers and profligate theorizers. Often, our theories are good enough to get us through the day, or at least to an age when we can procreate. But our genius for creative storytelling, combined with our inability to detect our own ignorance, can sometimes lead to situations that are embarrassing, unfortunate, or downright dangerous—especially in a technologically advanced, complex democratic society that occasionally invests mistaken popular beliefs with immense destructive power.”

    — David Dunning

  • Which “I” Do We Mean?

    Which “I” Do We Mean?

    When we call ourselves “I,” which “I” do we really mean?

    There’s the first “I”—our ego, the conscious self we move through the world with, reasoning and deciding, shaping a narrative of who we are.

    But if we step into a yoga class or sit down to meditate, a second “I” appears. This one doesn’t stretch or breathe; it observes. It watches us enter downward dog; it notices the chatter between our ears. This is the witness—quiet, patient, and somehow a little above or behind the first “I.”

    Then comes a third “I,” the one that witnesses the witness. A fourth arrives in dreams, where it wanders through our sleeping landscapes, standing in for us while we rest. And then, most mysteriously, there is a fifth “I.”

    This fifth “I” is the one that writes our books, paints our canvases, launches our ventures. It doesn’t belong to the first four. It moves independently, yet it is undeniably us. This is the “I” that interests me most.

    Do I get lonely, sitting alone in a room day after day? Not at all. Because I am never alone. I am in the company of this other “me”—the one who is both myself and not myself, my lifelong companion. I have spent years seeking it, trying to prove myself worthy of it, and learning how to labor alongside it. It is muse, partner, and mirror all at once.

    And when it shows up, when it takes its place beside me, the work becomes something greater than I could have ever made alone.

  • Eternity—Infinity

    Recent deaths among family and friends always stir deep reflections in me. For example: Eternity. To me that means something like a timeline without beginning or end, or a forever NOW—infinitely forever—always, and Infinity: the same except with more focus on quantity; ie. infinitely small or large, but also without limit at either end.

    Here’s a comforting and optimistic poem. “Safely Home” that was printed in the funeral home visitation event program for my Cousin, Mary Jo Garnet. It serves its purpose, to console the bereaved, well. And it puts a spiritually poetic tone to the emotions, we who cared for her, are experiencing.

    Safely Home

    I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
    Oh, so happy and so bright!
    There is perfect joy and perfect beauty
    In this everlasting light.

    All the pain and grief is over,
    Every restless tossing passed;
    I am now at peace forever,
    Safely home in Heaven at last.

    Did you wonder why I so calmly
    Trod the valley of the shade?
    Oh! But Jesus’ love illumined
    Every dark and fearful glade.

    And He came Himself to meet me
    In that way so hard to tread’
    And with Jesus’ arm to lean on,
    Could I have one doubt or dread?

    Then you must not grieve so sorely,
    For I love you dearly still;
    Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
    Pray to trust our Father’s will.

    There is work still waiting for you,
    So you must not idly stand;
    Do it now, while life remains
    You shall rest in Jesus’ land.

    When that work is all completed,
    He will gently call you Home;
    Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
    Oh, the joy to see you come!

    Those words are more for the bereaved than the deceased, for no matter our belief, hope, faith or…, none of us are eager to experience this thing we’ve observed as death, the unknown. And none of us can or will escape it. Birth, life, and death, are the obvious observed cycle for all of life—plant-animal—knowledge—understanding–literally everything in the known universe.

    And here’s an interesting video presentation from a physicist that I found quite interesting that seems to offer a bridge between religion, which I left many years ago, and science, which I’m now embracing. The birth, growth, death, lifecycle has been going on for eons. I wonder sometimes, if this is really a cycle of life and death, or an infinitely eternal cycle of life moving from stage to stage or dimension to dimension through an infinite universe. Since we already live in eternity, maybe our consciousness evolves—infinitely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzZ6nHwPfi8



  • Three Books I Found Thought Provoking

    Book Reports

    2000 Mules: 189 pages. Author – Dinesh D’Souza. I don’t care if you identify as a Republican, Democrat, or Independent voter. If you identify as an American Citizen and thus are reaping the incalculable benefit of living in this incredible country, and you want to KEEP this country from becoming just another Socialist/Communist failed experiment, you absolutely need to take the time to get and read this book. 2000 Mules shines undeniable light on the glaring loopholes which have allowed a handful of extremely wealthy people to enable and perpetrate the fraud and vote manipulation that have become pervasive in our election system. I sincerely hope our own representatives in Washington have read it as well.

    Similar to the way Dr Scott Atlas’ book A Plague Upon Our House, clearly explains, with no POLITICAL SPIN, the fallacy and misinformation doled out by a controlled media on the Wuhan Flu epidemic. And how S. Fred Singer in his book Hot Talk, Cold Science pulls back the curtains and demystifies the fallacy of the current “man caused climate change” hysteria. D’ Sousa, diagrams and unmasks, one by one, how the 2020 election was absolutely swayed and manipulated. And what is probably the greater worth of D’ Sousa’s book, is the information how we ordinary citizens can help prevent this from happening in the future, and the call to action. A future, I may remind you, which has already arrived, as we have seen in the valid questions already brought forth in the 2022 midterm elections and most prominently in Arizona.

    All three of these books present arguments that are totally provable, understandable and are NOT political. All three authors took great risks to themselves in even publishing their research and work. All three authors have the unassailable credentials needed to be considered experts in these three completely separate fields of concern, to all United States Citizens. Please take some time, buy these books, take a few days off from wasting time watching some damn sports show on TV, and get educated on these absolutely critical subjects. Maybe after you’ve read them, like me, you will think: Gee isn’t it funny, we have here election fraud, a largely politicized flu epidemic, and a phony climate change narrative: All pushed by either a controlled hysterical media, rich uneducated celebrities, or Socialist politicians. Three, at first glance, seemingly unrelated events impacting our lives; yet all three events are totally connected and aimed at permanently changing and destroying our current way of life. Please, read, educate yourself, talk to your neighbors, and above all: THINK!

    Curated from The Crapper Chronicles

  • Investing

    Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

    Warren Buffett

  • Make Sure The Mountain is Worth Climbing

    Many things in life are hard. We value hard work and extra effort in our culture. BUT, just because you are giving a great effort does not mean you are working toward a great result. How are you making sure that mountain is really worth climbing?

    I’m entering the 9th decade of life on this planet and if I have any regrets about the way I’ve chosen to live out that time, it would be that most of my effort has been wasted on unimportant, unnecessary, frivolous endeavors with little or no ultimate value to myself or anyone else.

    Flat Squirrel

    I’ve always been curious about many things, and possessed with an adventurous spirit. I’ve travelled the world. I’ve supported life, (often not well), with a new job on average, every 2 to 4 years. That’s about how long it takes to burn out or figure out “that mountain ain’t the one I want to climb”. Been many places. Done many things. Jack of all trades, master of none. While I’ve never formally completed higher education certification, I have taken and still take hundreds of courses and read thousands of books. I’m a lifelong learner. I have MID (Multiple Interest Disorder). I still haven’t found THE mountain I REALLY want to climb. I thought I had several times. In the end, they haven’t panned out. Time is running out. While I do enjoy security and a nice lifestyle, I still long for an all-consuming project that will produce something of significance for the world. I love this life. It could be better. I’d like to make it better for those who follow.

    Those “flat squirrels” I mentioned are the many past versions of me chasing this, that, or the other “new” trend, “opportunity”, “purpose”, or “calling”. Those squirrels are flat because of poor planning and indecision.

    Learning to THINK for YOURSELF and filter all the well intended or otherwise, BS that parents, neighbors, friends, society, culture, academia, and snake-oil salespeople throw at you is the most important mountain anyone can climb.

    I think I’ll write a book—maybe a series. I’ve been a wanna-be writer for a very long time.

  • Terms of Service Update

    Could you tell me why businesses are always updating their “terms of service”?

    I often get notices from service providers updating their terms of service. And they never mention how that benefits me. It’s all about them. Got one today from my bank. I’ve had several from others too. It’s making me wonder; do they ever consider my terms of service? They’ve never mentioned it. Makes me feel like I’m not as important to their business as they are and that I’m being manipulated somehow. If you’ve ever thought about it, you may feel that way too! Let’s start a movement: Customers, consumers, clients, and users of goods and services Customer/Vendor Terms of Service Manifesto!

    Something to think about.

  • Mindfulness Tips

    For More Successful Living

    Apply This to Any Year.

  • Why? Why? Why?

    Why do so many people from all walks of life—all races, creeds and colors — continue to promote racism? Does ANYONE not know that the mere reference to skin color is racist?

    Why do we often mention “Black owned business” and never “White owned” ones?

    Why do some promote specifically “Black” organizations and not specifically “White” ones?

    Why do Black Lives Matter without mention of ALL lives? Doesn’t anyone else matter?

    If we’re trying to remove racism from our culture; why do we continue to use language that promotes or draws attention to it?

    I believe that ALL LIVES will become equal (as far as skin color goes), when we stop linking our thinking to skin color and instead, focus on contribution, service, skill, producing something of value to all humanity.

  • Live This Day as if It Is Your LAST.

    Live this day and every day as an active participant in the present. Each morning, ask yourself what is REAL and IMPORTANT to you, and then find the courage, wisdom and willpower to live your day around your answer.

    • It’s your choice.
    • YOUR choice!
    • You are choosing right now.

    If you are choosing…

    • to complain,
    • to blame,
    • to be stuck in the past,
    • to act like a victim,
    • to feel insecure,
    • to feel anger,
    • to feel hate,
    • to be naïve,
    • to ignore your intuition,
    • to ignore good advice,
    • to give up,

    then it’s time to choose differently. Do some mental hygiene. Clean up that “stinkin thinkin”! Start “linkin your thinkin” to what you DO want instead of what you DON’T WANT. For example:

    • Choose to be present.
    • Choose to be positive.
    • Choose to forgive yourself.
    • Choose to forgive others.
    • Choose to just LET GO of your stinkin thinkin.
    • Choose to see your value.
    • Choose to see the possibilities.
    • Choose to find meaning.
    • Choose to prove you’re not a victim.
    • ‘Choose to let go of your false beliefs and stories.

    You’re not alone in your life’s journey. We’re all on the same journey. Recognizing that brings some relief to me. I hope it does for you too.

  • Connundrums

    of Socialism in The United States of America

    America is capitalist and greedy—yet half of the population is subsidized.

    Half the population is subsidized—yet they think they are victims.

    They think they are victims—yet their representatives run the government.

    Their representatives run the government—yet the poor keep getting poorer.

    The poor keep getting poorer—yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.

    They have things that people in other countries only dream about—yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

    These short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:

    They advised us NOT to judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics (and I agree), but they encourage us to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Both are serious threats to us all. What should we do?

    We often hear that Social Security is going to run out of money. But we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money. What’s interesting is the first group “worked” for their money, but the second didn’t. What’s up with that???

    They are cutting national military and local police budgets and failing miserably to uphold or enforce our laws. But they’re not stopping the flow of or payments or benefits to illegal aliens. Why? Why? Why?

    If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.

    Plato