The 99% 11|19|11

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The 99%

Gold Lining Silver Cloud

this creative life ...
Why I Support The 99%

This is a movement for equity and accountability. It’s messy and disorganized on many levels, but is a groundswell that cannot be ignored. 


Protest is a revered American tradition and it should be  respected on those grounds alone. Also noteworthy are the hundreds, if not thousands, of similar occupations and demonstrations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

In response to a friend's comment that “stealing someone's assets is just plain wrong”: it might be good to consider who’s done the thieving. This is a movement for equity and accountability. It is a
groundswell that won't be ignored. To demonstrate against injustice and for liberty is a revered American tradition and should be respected on those grounds alone. 

This is not about ‘stealing back’. It's about accountability, fairness, and putting trillions of dollars back into the economy in the form of jobs and new opportunities. To my knowledge, it has never been the case that banks have held onto their profits without moving it into the economy in the form of small business loans and grants. Never before have so many highly educated — and creative — people not been able to get jobs, contracts, or commissions and fully engage and contribute to society. We are in a situation where hundreds of thousands have no means to pay back their massive education loans.

And, let’s not forget: corporate fraud has played a huge role in this crisis.

Broadcast on Lawrence O’Donnell’s ‘The Last Word’ on November 17, 2011, several multi-millionaire owners of corporations voiced their support for increasing taxes on the very rich, and returning the tax rates to their earlier status. If this doesn’t convince congress, what will?

“Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength is sending about two dozen of its members to the Capitol on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to boost taxes on people earning at least $1 million a year. They say they have planned meetings with seven members of the deficit-cutting panel or their staffs, plus others sessions including with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and even Grover Norquist, the conservative anti-tax activist.”

Sources:

PBS  on Patriotic Millionaires For Fiscal Strength

PatrioticMillionaires for Fiscal Strength

The reality is that this movement will not be silenced. As with similar groundswells in the past, this will continue. It will adapt and it will become more organized. Wouldn’t it be wise, judicious, and, may I say it, progressive, to simply admit that this is reasonable, fair, and just, and act accordingly, oh, United States Congress?

Golden Cloud Inviolate

What if ...

this worldwide uprising against greed and corruption, and for fairness, is the long-awaited Rapture ? 

Wouldn't that be a surprise ?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Something Quite Out Of The Ordinary

 

Each year is marked by four
high points and four median
points in the calendar. 

If science and ancient wisdom are correct, these cycles are part of larger cycles, so vast as to be barely discernible by human reckoning. Although a few cultures seem to have had the capability of seeing outside of the generational.

These have struck significant chords throughout the story of humankind and which resonate in Archaeology through symbols, writings, and architecture in every culture through the ages; from the Sumerian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, Celtic, and Mesomerican: Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec; as well as the First Nations Peoples of North America, notably, the Hopi; to Taoism, the Vedas, and Zoroastrianism.

We are all familiar with Stonehenge (-henge, as in: ‘hinge’ or ‘gate’ ), the pyramids around the world, and the Medicine Wheel. What these cultures have in common, aside from their common humanity, is a foundational belief in cycles and the interconnectedness of all life, including the planets in our solar system and beyond.

Springing from this awareness of planetary cycles, came celebration and ritual, most notably on the four cardinal seasons of the year, but also mid-cycle celebrations, giving us Groundhog Day (Imbolc), May Day (Beltane), August Eve (Harvest Festival of Lughnasadh or Lammas), and Hallowe'en (Samhain). As we all know by now, these high days of the year were usurped or borrowed by the Christian tradition, helping to make conversion to the new religion less distateful to the locals.

According to a number of calendars systems and precepts from a variety of religions, there will be an energy burst from the center of the galaxy coming our way soon, which, when it reaches Earth, will ‘reset’ Earth's systems. We can either view this as a tragedy of cosmic proportions, or we can see it as an opportunity to shift our perspective.

A Fresh Start

Opening The Gate

Do-Over

Pop The Cork

The Launch

Particle Physics posits that this is a profound, multi-dimensional reality in which we reside, and The One Constant of this reality being: repetition of pattern.

What happens once, happens again ... slightly altered.

* * * * *

In 1988, I experienced a sense of profound sadness for humankind as a species. This coincided with Pakistan’s detonation of an atomic bomb. The feeling in my gut and heart in that moment was that we had turned a corner, without the option to reverse direction.

I was also, at this time, connecting deeply with my Native American heritage and was experiencing a profound connection to Earth and her cycles. This was also around the same time that Hopi Elder Thomas Banyacya, came forward once again to warn the dominant culture that it was on a path that would culminate in species destruction at the end of our current age, The Fourth World.

Now, if it was just one wise man from just one tradition we might be skeptical. But, with multiple traditions pointing to this moment in our species' history, it's not so easy to dismiss. The Vedas, Zoroastrianism, Judeo, Christian, in addition to the Maya and the Hopi, point to this time as, at the very least, a time of adjustment.

According to the Maya, we are at the end-point of a 5,125-year cycle culminating in the Galactic Alignment, when the center of our solar system is in alignment with the center of our galaxy. Whether one ascribes to a belief in the influence of cycles upon our lives, or not, this is noteworthy, even if it’s only to acknowledge a cycle that dwarfs our mere 100-year life-spans.

To my way of thinking it is beneficial to pay our respects and to be reminded that our species is not nearly as important as we tend to give credit. Cycles come and go. Civilizations rise and fall. The secret is to see it as a gift and an opportunity to be a part of creating a new cycle for humankind.

And, if it is, indeed, too late to save our current world, at least we can celebrate the new.

Now is the time to do what you were meant to do.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Thriving Artist

Sam Roloff in his studio

As someone living with chronic pain, I know how easy it is to become distracted and distanced from my own creativity due to circumstances. Fortunately, my particular bugaboos fluctuate between being mildly annoying and temporarily debilitating. 


I’m familiar enough with the process to know that pain always passes and to have some perspective when my hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders demand that I walk away from the computer for a few hours or a few days. It’s always frustrating and I have definitely been sidelined in the past, but I've been dealing with this long enough to know that eventually the pain subsides and my energy and enthusiasm will return.

Others are not so lucky, and yet they carry on, often brilliantly. Sam Roloff is one of those brilliant ‘carry-on-ers’.  Born with Diastrophic Dwarfism, which makes walking difficult and maneuvering through a world of five-to-six footers a daily test, Sam is filled with drive backed by genius. His mind is an inspired idea machine and his productivity is an affirmation of the creative spirit.

Fear Of The Circus, Sam Roloff

Underlying every physical challenge that we frail humans face is the psychology of the survivor and the question of why some succeed — and even thrive — in the face of daunting circumstances, and others succumb. 

The history of humanity is the history of the survivor. My theory: some have a higher concentration of the‘survivor gene’ than others.

I count myself as a survivor, for a number of reasons, but with glorious spells of thriving that keep me on track and working toward the next. I suspect that it’s the opposite for Sam Roloff. Thriving is his first nature. Surviving is his second.

I'm happy to announce that I will be working with Sam over the next few weeks and months to develop a project that will help children discover their inner Thriving Artist — and the joys of creative collaboration.

I see joyous — and thriving  — collaboration in my future. 

Vote for Sam Roloff on Intuit.com. Help him win a grant!