Now You See Me

So... it's been almost 23 years, apparently, on September 11, 1990, when then President George Herbert Walker Bush stood before an audience of congressmen and, actually, the whole world audience watching on TV, and he spoke about the coming "new world order". His choices of words and phrases, ripples that formed into wave after wave of events, have sent all of us spiralling toward this moment. Right. Now.

I remember this speech. I don't remember if I watched it on TV, or heard clips of it in the news, or read about it in the papers and magazines. At that time I was seventeen years old and had just graduated from high school. My path took me to Hollywood, California, where I was to begin one of the most life-altering years of my existence here on this planet, and let me just say now that I am very grateful that my path led me to there and not into Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm.

I recommend you queue the video to 6 minutes, 33 seconds. Then, at around 7 minutes... listen very closely.

As we stand on the edge of yet another war I find it important to reflect on the smallest moments.

Life consists of moment after moment, and in particular moments we perceive our experiences in a negative light. Universally, the human condition involves suffering, pain, loss, fear, and galaxies of other difficult and challenging situations. When we are in the moment and we are still moving amongst these challenging pieces to our lives, or we are reliving them from a vantage point in the future, we may find it difficult to salvage anything positive about our experiences. We might become cynical, jaded, or just numb with inability to see the light from the dark.

What I know now, however, is that all is fleeting. All is momentary. All is ephemeral and temporary. For, the moment we acknowledge the perception of our experience the experience has passed.

'And this too shall come to pass'.

And it is for this reason -- because all is fleeting -- and because we always have a choice -- that we can choose to see any experience in a positive light. For it is ALL our experience -- it is ALL of the moments -- that makes us who and what we are. It is ALL our experience that makes up the human condition.

I can't say with any certainty that I know why things happened the way they happened other than to say that things happened the way they did so that right now things would be the way they are.

Appearances can be deceptive. The way things are right now might seem to be different than what we want or desire them to be. They may seem to be unexpected and surprising. They may seem to be falling into place just right. They may seem discordant and chaotic. Things are not always as they seem.

It's an oft-quoted, simple thought. You might accuse me of stating the obvious.

Then again, sometimes we need to be reminded of oft-quoted, simple thoughts.
So, here it is again:
Things are not always as they seem.

“There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.” General Douglas MacArthur

i knew i'd find it. i've been trying to think of the exact words of that quote for awhile. there are many ways to say what you said above, but the main point is that with change comes opportunity. i like how general macarthur put that into words, because he included the reality that we sometimes feel the illusion of security when we do things the same way we have always done them. however, there is no security in that. life gives us situations, and it is what we do in those situations that determines our destinies.

another reality is that it is usually action alone that defines us in our own self-perceptions and our 'selves' in the the perceptions of others.

i've sought love and trust and respect from people, based on 'who i am' (as you put it) - based on my own perception of who i am, as a person. other peoples' opinions that have been voiced to me (directly or indirectly) about myself have colored my own self-perceptions also, and have become part of my self-perception. what i've found, in reality, is that people give love and trust and respect based on one's actions - not some illusion of who you are as a person.

life deals your cards, to put it in another way, and it doesn't matter what you've done in the past, how good or bad of a card player you are, or what kind of a history you've had as a person, the only thing that really matters is what you do with that hand - right here. right now.

you'll remember what you made of a situation. other people that were touched by the experience also will remember what you made of that situation. most people won't take the time to analyze your history - where you came from, your childhood, your younger years, your middle years. what they'll remember is that one moment where you shined (or bombed?) and they saw it happen.

you've probably heard the phrase, 'never rest on your laurels'. it means don't hold so much pride in your past achievements that you forget that you are still alive - that life hasn't stopped putting you in challenging situations and opportunities to shine and grow and develop.

life seems crazy and chaotic most of the time, but when you reach the final years of your life i think it will all make sense. you'll look back and say, now i see how i came to be where i am today. this led to that. that led to this. this allowed this to happen. that prevented this from happening. that led to this. the road is much clearer then.

i'm not that old. 36. i just know enough from my own experiences that this is what we can expect when we look back at 40, 50, 60, 70, or more years of life - if we have the ability to recall that far and are cogent enough to synthesize all that information.

i've been in a similar situation as you are in - looking forward to change - to a new job in a new place - possibly a new lifestyle. i know how it can be exciting, scary, hopeful, and sad, all at the same time.

i wish you well.

...and (*clink*)... here's to new beginnings and the possibilities for further adventures.

The American Dream

What the hell is this "American Dream"? What do people from all over the world think is this "American Dream" that I've been hearing about all of my damn life?

Does the American Dream exist, or is it really only as real as Santa Claus and The Easter Bunny, legends that really have just helped fuel our culture of consumption?

Are people merely naive when they believe that it is worthwhile to pursue the "American Dream"?

I'm an atheist. I don't believe in much of anything at all that cannot be explained through materialist methods. If it is more than an idea but it is not made up of matter, then I am very skeptical that it exists. So, for me to listen to you tell me that I need to believe in god and believe that this being is watching over us, judging us morally, and manipulating our destinies, is an exercise in open-mindedness and patience, for me. I really have to hold my breath and hope that you don't ask me if I believe what you say is true and that it has changed my way of thinking, because it most likely has not.

So, when someone comes up to you and starts bringing up this idea of the "American Dream" what do you say?

Well, here's what I say...
[More Later]