allisthewave-hugo-web/public/index.json

[{"content":"We will cover many disparate topics seemingly unconnected from each other. However, the through line connecting all is the wave.\nStardust, Photons, and Waves # Allow me to explain. We are for all intents literally just stardust bound together by energy. Similar to light which we also know is energy and particulate matter, we exist as matter that moves in wave like patterns.\nYou were right about the stars, each one is a setting sun. Our love is all God’s money. Everyone is a burning sun\nWilco - Jesus, etc.\nThose concepts were explored in Star Wars Rogue One in the relationship between the protagonist and her father.\nXenogears # Further we take strong inspiration from another sci-fi masterpiece from 1997: SquareSoft and Tetsuya Takahashi San\u0026rsquo;s Xenogears.\nSpoiler alert: this comes from the ending of the game and its narrative. Bear with me as I distill this grandiose space opera, its story of generations of people, alternative histories and futures, on a road to self discovery and actualization.\nXenogears\u0026rsquo; Wave Existence # The story’s main protagonist Fei starts with a dark mysterious past and quickly encounters a war that turns his world upside down catalyzing a hidden shadow self that he’s afraid of. Being told fairly early in his quest that his destiny is to kill “god” and forced by consequences to join forces with others who are fundamentally opposed to him, he’s sent on a journey of discovery that culminates in meeting an entity called the wave existence.\nWell that escalated quickly! I put “god” in quotes because in typical grandiose space opera fashion this refers to something that is more approximately an interplanetary autonomous system that functions at times more like a weapon with god-like power that can create biological and technological creatures to serve its planetary conquering and domination goals.\nSo continue bearing with me while I explain that the wave existence is more like what we typically refer to as God - a higher power especially of a spiritual nature. It is a being comprised of energy in the form of a wave and lacks a physical presence. It isn’t portrayed as strictly the Judeo-Christian God, but rather the same role as a transcendental entity that is a universal truth. Could you aptly describe it as love itself? Certainly. Could you call it the uniting resonant energy between all living beings? For sure.\nEndless Deep, or in the Moment? # I am learning to be more in the moment and not always diving into the deep end of a conversation. But that’s my default. So it makes sense we start from here.\nEven still, all is the wave. When Fei makes contact with the wave existence we get this feeling as though he’s entered a sacred space where all people and all things converge.\nMusic is a wave # So maybe it’s too over the top or too silly. But honestly I feel it - my heart beat is a rhythm, a wave. As is yours. Music is a series of waves. Have you noticed people mentioning “vibes” instead of thoughts and prayers? We won’t cover the whole discussion about that now, simply know that vibes are vibrations which are also waves.\nLight is a wave # Light is a wave. Another game series I enjoy, Final Fantasy, has recurring themes of orphans called to be warriors of light.\nIn the Bible the apostle John talks about being children of the light.\nTopics of Interest # What other kinds of disparate topics can you look forward to reading about here:\nMusic Psychology Spirituality Christian Theology Science Science Fiction Games Humor Politics Culture Communication Relationships and Society Business Economics Sports So from every standpoint we are all the wave.\nThe wave is in all and all is the wave.\n","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-03-welcome-post/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Welcome to the Wave","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"19 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"19 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"All is the Wave 🌊","summary":"","title":"All is the Wave 🌊","type":"page"},{"content":" Lost in the Wilderness # Featured Image by Nici Keil from Pixabay\nCONTENT WARNING: There\u0026rsquo;s plenty of raw emotions and language some might find objectionable. If you cannot handle that, read no more\nThis past week we saw everything change. And nothing changed at all. The American general election came and went and the sun still rose in the morning and set in the evening the following day. We even had a beautiful weekend which my partner and I enjoyed walking through our local park.\nNevertheless, here we are. Lost in the wilderness. Americans are hurt bro, don\u0026rsquo;t ask us how we\u0026rsquo;re doing. Americans that voted by a large margin for Trump did so on purpose. They\u0026rsquo;re fuming mad because their lives are going nowhere fast. And it\u0026rsquo;s not their fault. They\u0026rsquo;re mad because they cannot afford to buy a house and the rent to live anywhere keeps getting jacked up. They\u0026rsquo;re mad because they fear lay-offs. They\u0026rsquo;re mad because grocery prices keep going up and it\u0026rsquo;s becoming impossible to afford the basic necessities. They\u0026rsquo;re mad because there aren\u0026rsquo;t jobs that are available and willing to hire and train people.They\u0026rsquo;re mad because the jobs that exist cannot pay the bills. They\u0026rsquo;re mad because the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. So they voted to say \u0026ldquo;Fuck you!\u0026rdquo; to all of it.\nI get it. We did this. I didn\u0026rsquo;t vote for that fascist prick, but the Democrats party had already abandoned America when they abandoned middle and working class and poor Americans in the 1990\u0026rsquo;s. They keep doing this nonsense where they offer the political equivalent of being watered down Republicans. Who in their right mind goes for the half-assed version when they can have the real thing?!?\nBut it just so happens the only party that was listening to the pain of Americans are also fascists. And so now we all are. And thus even the meager things that our government once provided as social safety nets and provisions to help uplift or protect the vulnerable in society will be systematically dismantled. It probably won\u0026rsquo;t happen overnight, and they are still an incompetent bunch of nincompoops. Marj Greene for instance, got re-elected but she\u0026rsquo;s not going to be more charismatic, intelligent, or informed. And she\u0026rsquo;s also a woman, which means while she jockeys for power in the new administration she still lacks a Y chromosome. And that\u0026rsquo;s enough for your bigoted dear leader to permanently discard you, or at least until you\u0026rsquo;re useful to be a tool to him again.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t know how this is going to play out but it\u0026rsquo;s going to be bad for everyone. So congrats to those who were already hurting and now have inflicted the hurt on everyone else. We may not have all united over night but we\u0026rsquo;re in this place of hurt together. Welcome to the desert.\nSo save your prayers For when we\u0026rsquo;re really gonna need \u0026rsquo;em Throw out your cares and fly Wanna go for a ride?\nIntoxicated with the madness I\u0026rsquo;m in love with my sadness Bullshit fakers, enchanted kingdoms The fashion victims chew their charcoal teeth\nI never let on That I was on a sinkin\u0026rsquo; ship I never let on that I was down\nYou blame yourself For what you can\u0026rsquo;t ignore You blame yourself for wanting more\nZero - The Smashing Pumpkins\nWe\u0026rsquo;ve been here before # We\u0026rsquo;ve been here before. Well, maybe not you and I, but our country sure has. So has the world. I\u0026rsquo;ve heard human history is a catalog of people\u0026rsquo;s misery. And thus it is.\nAdam Conover interviews journalist and historian Jamelle Bouie about how America under the next Trump administration will be different than what we are used to but actually more like what America always was.\nHello, darkness, my old friend I\u0026rsquo;ve come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence\nAnd the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, \u0026ldquo;The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sound of silence\u0026rdquo;\nThe interview there with Bouie is very helpful when you are in a sober headspace to be able to take it in. And it\u0026rsquo;s long so here\u0026rsquo;s a Too Long; Didn\u0026rsquo;t Read summary:\nTL;DR Adam Conover interviews Jamelle Bouie about the upcoming American transformation under another Trump administration: # Many of us were taught in school that things like Brown v. Board of Education are the true America, but this election and our history shows that the Civil Rights Era is over and things like electing Barrack Obama are actually the outliers. We are returning to our Nativist Racist Individualist roots. When someone tells you who they are, believe them. I need not recap all the awful things that Trump has said and promised, but I\u0026rsquo;ll highlight a few now that he will have no real checks on his power in the Supreme court, federal courts, nor congress. Instead he will have plenty of support for his agenda. Ethnic cleansing/Genocidal level of mass deportation of people deemed to be \u0026ldquo;illegal immigrants.\u0026rdquo; Stated this way to emphasize that it does not matter if you are a citizen, or here legally, it only matters what the supreme leader thinks. Repealment of the Affordable Care Act ( This means that not only will you no longer have the ability to purchase health insurance at reasonable prices and with subsidies if qualifying, but they will likely remove the ban on \u0026ldquo;pre-existing condition\u0026rdquo; clauses which will result in hundreds of millions of Americans being unable to purchase health insurance at all due to discrimination ) Gutting of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security General rollbacks and gutting of government agencies that provide social benefits to people: welfare, education, subsidies 10% to 20% Tariff tax on all imported goods that will be passed on to regular Americans when shopping to the tune of an estimated $1,253 to $4,000 per year Mass firing/lay-offs of government civil service workers Effective National abortion and reporductive healthcare ban via the Comstock Act Ending of the Russian War in Ukraine by forcing Ukraine to cede around 20% of its territory to become a Russian controlled Demilitarized zone (DMZ) Courts will no longer be an effective way to seek to address compensations for one\u0026rsquo;s grievances The rich will get even more rich at the expense of the American taxpayers, the ruling class will extort as much money as possible from the government Racists and bigots will be even more emboldened to openly express hate-speech The court system and justices will be something we must fight against for progress for the remainder of our lives if you\u0026rsquo;re my age as a millennial. If you\u0026rsquo;re younger there\u0026rsquo;s a chance you may see real change in your twilight years of life, but you\u0026rsquo;ll also have to make sure you make it that long with the deck being stacked against you While many gains to help our climate may be far enough along to not be reversible, it\u0026rsquo;s hard to say that a Trump presidency would be anything other than a hinderance or setback to a world already wrecked by climate chaos. Masks Off # You see this is actually a masks off moment in our country. This is who we are. This revelation isn\u0026rsquo;t a surprise to many black and brown people who\u0026rsquo;ve been living with this kind of oppresion and neglect their entire lives and for centuries and generations prior. And you may have voted for the clown and didn\u0026rsquo;t realize that this will be ruining your life as well. But it will. Mark my words it will. And when it does, I\u0026rsquo;m not going to be saying I told you so. I\u0026rsquo;m fresh out of fucks to give. And I\u0026rsquo;ll have moved on then. But do take the time you need to grieve. It has been coming in and out in waves for me and seems likely to continue this way for the remainder of my time on this planet.\nSo forgive me if you feel like I\u0026rsquo;m abandoning you or neglecting you. But I cannot. I just can\u0026rsquo;t do it anymore. We\u0026rsquo;re moving into a new era where the government will provide little to no remedy for your life\u0026rsquo;s problems. And here you\u0026rsquo;ll need to chart a course on your own. This is part of the eponymous Desert Power that I\u0026rsquo;m referring to: the power gained by people that survive and then learn to thrive under oppression.\nAnd if somebody hurts you, I wanna fight But my hand\u0026rsquo;s been broken one too many times So I\u0026rsquo;ll use my voice, I\u0026rsquo;ll be so fucking rude Words, they always win, but I know I\u0026rsquo;ll lose And I\u0026rsquo;d sing a song that\u0026rsquo;d be just ours But I sang \u0026rsquo;em all to another heart\nAnd I wanna cry, I wanna learn to love But all my tears have been used up\nOn another love, another love All my tears have been used up\nDesert Power # Mild Spoiler Alert for Denis Villenuve and Frank Herbert\u0026rsquo;s Dune\nDUNE Relevant Plot Synopsis # In the far future humans have mastered new technologies that have enabled space travel. They also created computers and AI that were too smart and rebellious for their own good, then banned and destroyed all of them. In the galactic empire they still require a way to navigate while traveling through space so they train people who dedicate their minds and lives to becoming \u0026ldquo;Mentats\u0026rdquo; or human calculators. Because this is very mentally strenous many rely on performance enhancing drug like substance know as \u0026ldquo;spice\u0026rdquo; to enhance their existing brainpower.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s just one catch - there\u0026rsquo;s only one planet in the universe that is known to have spice and it\u0026rsquo;s the brutal desert planet Arrakis. There, the political faction of House Harkonnen has controlled and ruled this land with an iron fist subjugating its native people, the Fremen, to enslavement and oppression at every turn. As if the planet itself weren\u0026rsquo;t already bad enough! It\u0026rsquo;s so dry that you cannot survive in the desert for longer than a few minutes without a stillsuit, which is a sort of space suit adapted to perserve your body\u0026rsquo;s moisture. On top of that there\u0026rsquo;s these giant wyrm creatures that will pop up out of the sand and devour battalions of people whole.\nWho in their right minds would want to ever go there for any reason? Yet go there House Atriedes with Baron Leto and his son Paul they do. When the Galactic emperor decrees that the Harkonnens will no longer be allowed to setup their shop on Arrakis and Atriedes is compelled to take over. Leto is no fool, mind you, he knows full well they are going right into a trap. But he goes anyways. One, because he knows that he cannot politically turn down the emperor\u0026rsquo;s request. And two because he sees an opportunity to improve his family\u0026rsquo;s lives and legacy, even if it ends up costing many of their lives.\nLeto:\n\u0026ldquo;I need you by my side. When we get to Arrakis we will face enormous danger\u0026rdquo;\nPaul:\n\u0026ldquo;What danger? Fremen? The Desert?\u0026rdquo;\nLeto:\n\u0026ldquo;Political danger.\u0026rdquo;\nLeto: (Paraphrased) The Emperor means to start a war by giving us Arrakis and inviting the other Houses to fight us to control it. But if we tap the true power of Arrakis we could be stronger than ever.\nPaul:\n\u0026ldquo;What does that mean? Mining spice, keeping the Fremen in their place? We\u0026rsquo;d be no better than the Harkonnens!\u0026rdquo;\nLeto:\n(Paraphrased) It means forming an alliance with the native people, the Fremen, becoming one of them and learning from how they survive and thrive in such a harsh environment where everything in and on the planet would seek to kill them at each opportunity. Desert Power. We go to Arrakis to cultivate Desert Power.\nLeto:\n\u0026ldquo;A great man doesn\u0026rsquo;t seek to lead. He\u0026rsquo;s called to it. And he answers.\u0026rdquo;\nAnswering the Call # If this country, if this world seeks to destroy me, so be it. My home is not here. These are not my people. This was never my desire.\nMy home is with Jesus, and his people are my people. Cast your lot with this world if you want to. My calling is to first and foremost be loved by God, and then return that love to all his children. Just because you are wallowing in a pit of despair doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean you get to pull me in there with you. Instead, might I show you my God who found me a sinner not worthy of his love and still called me by name and said \u0026ldquo;My beloved son, I\u0026rsquo;m delighted by your presence, please come join me.\u0026rdquo; For now I am but a sojourner in this meat machine of flesh and bones, but I\u0026rsquo;m not from here and it\u0026rsquo;s not where I\u0026rsquo;m heading.\n36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”\n37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”\nMatthew 22:36-40\nStill Lost # Another thing Duke Leto Atriedes said to his son was if you aren\u0026rsquo;t feeling called and you aren\u0026rsquo;t ready you still have fulfilled the only thing I ever need you to be: my son. Likewise I feel strongly that my primary purpose in life is to be loved by my heavenly father and would love to share that joy with you. It is true joy because no man can be elected or sieze power that could ever take that away. No climate chaos can separate us from that love of our heavenly father. No amount of oppression nor suffering can erase or separate us from that love. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t matter the magnitude of the challenges before us, we cannot be separated from a loving heavenly father that always invites us in.\nThe bible, like human history is a catalog of misery. But the bible is special not for that reason. That\u0026rsquo;s just matter of fact. Instead it\u0026rsquo;s more about the stories of redemption from a God who loves us anyways no matter how broken we become. It\u0026rsquo;s the greatest love story of all time because it is a love story of all time and beyond time. God\u0026rsquo;s spirit was there in the beginning hovering amidst the chaos breathing life into all its existence. When one day the second law of thermodynamics comes to pass and we all return to the chaos of entropy, God\u0026rsquo;s spirit will remain.\nThe Road to Redemption Goes Through the Desert # Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery None but ourselves can free our minds Have no fear for atomic energy \u0026lsquo;Cause none of them can stop the time How long shall they kill our prophets While we stand aside and look? Ooh, some say it\u0026rsquo;s just a part of it We\u0026rsquo;ve got to fulfill the book\nWon\u0026rsquo;t you help to sing These songs of freedom? \u0026lsquo;Cause all I ever have Redemption songs Redemption songs Redemption songs\nRedemption Song - Bob Marley \u0026amp; The Wailers\nWhen Jesus found himself in the wilderness for 40 days and nights, he was fasting and praying. At that time the devil tempted him constantly, but Jesus knew that power was found in the wilderness. The kind of power that can only be found be trust and submission to a higher power of God the father. When finally Jesus banished the devil for good proclaiming to only worship God, angels came to tend to all of Jesus\u0026rsquo;s needs. Then something else curious happened: Jesus started his ministry.\nYou see not only had Jesus found his power, but he found his message in submitting to God\u0026rsquo;s will.\nYou may feel like I still do, lost, without someone you can trust, still hurting, but know that this too shall pass. You are not alone. God\u0026rsquo;s invitation of love is always there for you. And we have each other.\nWhen this does eventually pass will you hear your call? Will you answer? Will you emerge with purpose and Desert Power?\n","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-11-12-desert-power/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Desert Power","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/dune/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Dune","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/equity/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Equity","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/freedom/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Freedom","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/health/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Health","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/jesus/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Jesus","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/justice/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Justice","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/life/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Life","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/lifestyles/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Lifestyles","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mature-content-warning/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mature-Content-Warning","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mental-health/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mental Health","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/oppression/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Oppression","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/politics/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Politics","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/psychology/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Psychology","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/purpose/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Purpose","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/resilience/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Resilience","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":" Money is Justice # This concept has been kicking around in my head for months now. It\u0026rsquo;s simple. It says what it means and means what it says: \u0026ldquo;Money is justice.\u0026rdquo;\nMoney, get back\nI\u0026rsquo;m alright, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack\nMoney, it\u0026rsquo;s a hit\nAh, don\u0026rsquo;t give me that do-goody-good bullshit\nMoney, it\u0026rsquo;s a crime\nShare it fairly, but don\u0026rsquo;t take a slice of my pie\nMoney, so they say\nIs the root of all evil today\nMoney - Pink Floyd\nThe Love of Money or the Money of Love? # For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.\n1 Timothy 6:10\nMoney itself is not the root of all evil. It\u0026rsquo;s not really anything but a mere tool. But when you love it more than you love the people that helped you make it you might forget that your empire was built on the backs of the people you exploited. And let me tell you they\u0026rsquo;re not happy that you took advantage of them. You can pay people to tell you otherwise but it cannot erase the truth written in their hearts. I sometimes pity people who are super rich and surround themselves with yes people. They will never hear any problems with them, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean they don\u0026rsquo;t have problems. True love, loyalty and respect tell a person when they are wrong, and that person will listen. Otherwise you just have a narcisist tyrant.\nConversely, as we\u0026rsquo;ll see later, money can be used as a tool to better one\u0026rsquo;s own life (without costing another\u0026rsquo;s) and to improve others and invest in a higher cause.\nLarge corporations have all the power in the US. Why? Because they can afford better lawyers. Why? Because they have more money than individuals. Buy a politician or the whole government if you\u0026rsquo;d like. Everyone\u0026rsquo;s got a price. Citizens United in the US Supreme court made corruption legal, so the only reason you wouldn\u0026rsquo;t do it is you lack the funds to do so. Rich people get to live above the law and face no legal reprocussions or at most negligible fines.\nI\u0026rsquo;mma tell you what you told me, cash rules everything around me\nDolla Dolla Bill ya\u0026rsquo;ll\nSweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) - Wyclef Jean ft. Akon, Lil Wayne, Niia\nThe Rich Get Richer # Why does it feel like the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer? Why do people get hardened hearts, become cynical and are forced to do work we hate like the eponymous \u0026ldquo;sweetest girl\u0026rdquo; in Wyclef\u0026rsquo;s retro banger? Sure the political corruption accounts for some of it, but all lies require at least two people: one to tell the lie, but another to believe the lie. We cannot control the huxsters and charlatans that seek to decieve, swindle, distract, divide, and destroy us for their own gain. We can control our own lives and outlook.\nPerhaps it\u0026rsquo;s actually because we aren\u0026rsquo;t living like we truly understand that money is justice.\nLet\u0026rsquo;s hear some wisdom from my life\u0026rsquo;s greatest teacher Jesus and then discuss.\n19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.\n22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!\n24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.\nMatthew 6:19-24\nHere\u0026rsquo;s a great visual exploration of this teaching courtesy of The Bible Project What things you store up are where your heart is. If you trust God to sustain you instead of your own things and ability to provide you\u0026rsquo;ll find that you have your needs met in abundance and you\u0026rsquo;ll find the joy of an eternal life right now!\nJesus also talks on another occasion about how the money that we are entrusted with is important by what we do with it, rather than what it is itself. You see if you believe as I do that God created everything, what purpose does he have with money? He could literally create more out of thin air at will! But God knows that our hearts motives are exposed by what we do with money.\n14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[b] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.\n16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.\n19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’\n21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![c]’\n22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’\n23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’\n24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’\n26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’\n28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’\nMatthew 25:14-30\nAgain here Jesus is saying that in this life we will be entrusted with money, things of some value, but all of which pale in comparison to the riches of the creator and his eternal joy. If you have little but you do little with it, what sense is there in giving you more? We must expand our concept of money, of resources and seek to increase their value through generosity.\nLifestyles of the Rich and Unscrupulous # If money can buy favor with corrupt governments and set you and your family up for all needs and desires to be met why bother to serve God first? I think Jesus actually agrees with you. But there will come a day when all your earthly treasure will be no more. It may be a hurricane that comes in and topples and washes away all your homes or businesses, it may be a pandemic or a health problem like the cancer that took Steve Jobs\u0026rsquo;s life. Eventually death, loss, will come to us all and no amount of money can protect you from that. If money is your God, then you\u0026rsquo;ll eventually find is it merciless and cruel.\nHowever, there\u0026rsquo;s really not that many people with enough money to really justify that mindset. And for those that do have that wealth, they really ought to be taxed back to a slightly more modest value. I don\u0026rsquo;t hate rich people. If you do well in life, by all means, enjoy the rewards. But it\u0026rsquo;s never really satisifying. That\u0026rsquo;s why the richest people are often the most greedy. And it comes at the grave cost of the rest of us. So I\u0026rsquo;d suggest that we make billionaires cease to exist. Don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong, leave the people alive, but simply tax wealth beyond $999,999,999 at 100%. At some point even they don\u0026rsquo;t know what to do with it. One can only buy so many yachts, ya know?\nThen take that money and put it to good use. Did you know that Gen Z has an unemployment rate that is at least twice every other age cohort? Older generations should be comfortable retiring and living their latter years in dignity instead of keeping their nose to the grindstone. The housing market is barely affordable for anyone right now. Groceries are necessary for life but many people are unable to comfortably afford enough. Layoffs are happening in all jobs and only ever do one thing well - supress wages. That\u0026rsquo;s right layoffs don\u0026rsquo;t consisently even increase value or productivity with the company.\nLitigious Recourse # While it may seem that those with lots of money are just above the law and do whatever they want at all costs, this is not totally the case. We are nothing if not a litigious people in the US. And it may actually be a way of seeking true justice. Most individual law suits do little to nothing. Corporations and rich people can afford to make you settle out of court in arbitration which allows them to hide whatever egregious deeds they do. Often the punishment or settlement comes out to be a price that is probably substantial for the alleged victims but barely a slap on the wrist for the alleged offending corporation. That\u0026rsquo;s where class action suits and repeated law suits are making a difference. When enough fees and fines pile up, it becomes a business decision, and when it becomes a business decision the corporation must decide that it\u0026rsquo;s not worth continuing their offending action, or suffer going out of business if it becomes expensive enough.\nThe Case for Reparations # There\u0026rsquo;s a lot of people that are mad about diversity and inclusion right now. I think the problem is that their demographic has been neglected or mistreated as well. So to that I say, why not actually just truly help everyone? There\u0026rsquo;s also a problem where for social minorities people have tried to increase equality. The problem is that until we treat each other as humans, fully, with all equity we are not doing justice and ultimately will fail at any unifying action. Equity is equal pay for equal work. If a woman is hired because you don\u0026rsquo;t want to afford a man\u0026rsquo;s salary, you cannot afford to hire the woman even if you find a way to get away with paying her less.\nSimilarly people of color have systemic disadvantages built-in because of the economic opportunity and wealth transferal differences between them and their white peers. If your family has multiple generations of unpaid slave labor, then barely paid share-cropping servitude, then lower paying work, you\u0026rsquo;re highly unlikely to inherit anything other than debt, grief, and anxiety. Money will never erase the dark history of slavery and exploitation of people, but it\u0026rsquo;s a start and could go a long way to providing opportunities to descendants that are alive now and still have time to live and enjoy the respect of society.\nFinal Take Away # Many of these ideas are a bit abstract and cannot be accomplished simply or easily without many people working together. So let\u0026rsquo;s focus on some things that you can start today:\nBe wise with your money. Ask for enough, know your worth, and accept nothing less. Also don\u0026rsquo;t ask for too much. Communicate boundaries and problems you have with people you trust. Equity \u0026gt; Equality. The easiest way to practice this is to ask if someone looks different, has a different culture, has different chromosomes, has a different family, has a different lifestyle are you still valuing them as a person of any other group and are you paying them the same for the same work? Put your money to work. Invest it wisely. Give generously once your needs are met. Trust in a higher power (I suggest God/Jesus, but I recognize that you may have your own different faith) Most people won\u0026rsquo;t be super rich (for example Billionaires) so don\u0026rsquo;t advocate for them. They can pay plenty of lobbyists to whine on their behalf Consider advocating a tax policy that makes it impossible for people to accumulate more than $999,999,999. Even half of that is way more money than one needs. Consider advocating for progressive taxes like America had from the 1940\u0026rsquo;s until 1980\u0026rsquo;s. Let go of trickle-down neo-liberal economics. They just don\u0026rsquo;t work. Create more education opportunities that are available to lower income people. Stop advocating for, allowing, or condoning monopolistic business practices. This includes opposing mergers and aquisitions in general, and certainly at the larger level. Honor people in transactions: pay them what they are worth and hold them accountable to their promises. Most importantly make sure that you use money as a tool that reflects your greatest value being the intangibles that make life worthwhile like your faith, your loved ones, and improving people\u0026rsquo;s lives. ","date":"5 November 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-11-05-money-is-justice/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Money is Justice","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"30 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/jungian/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Jungian","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"30 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/star_wars/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Star_wars","type":"tags"},{"content":" What You Can\u0026rsquo;t See of the Dark Side # As you may have guessed this is going to have a lot of Star Wars references. Spoilers will be limited mostly to the main series movies as all have been out in theaters and on home video for long enough for you to have watched them. There are some great lessons and take aways for all people here so I\u0026rsquo;ll link in a tl;dr for the main series if you haven\u0026rsquo;t seen (all) the movies.\nStar Wars Synopsis of Main Series or a Longer Discussion with backstory and sidestories added in\nI\u0026rsquo;ve been re-watching many of the Star Wars main series and the spin off series with my partner and thoroughly enjoying it.\nAll I want, all I want, all I want is the chance Someone with lasers and mirrors for eyes Catching radio waves of alien bands That can dance to the music and hover in the air Someone that makes me feel at home whenever Today, tomorrow, you get it forever\nIs that too much to ask? Is that too much to ask? Is that too much to ask For? I don\u0026rsquo;t know\n(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Someone I love and who loves me (Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Yeah, that and maybe the world (Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Someone that loves me the way of Star Wars\nStar Wars, Wizards and Ninja Wars Star Wars, Wizards and Ninja Wars\nStar Wars - Ryan Adams \u0026amp; The Cardinals\nGrowing up watching Star Wars the Original Series (Episodes 4-6) I had a much more simplistic view of it as the classic struggle between good and evil. The light side being good and the dark side being evil. The true brilliance in the fiction is that they\u0026rsquo;re not nearly that simple. My partner being younger than me and watching it with her brother who is a bit younger still started out with the prequels (episodes 1-3). That trilogy focuses on the journey of one young Anakin Skywalker.\nAmara, my partner, has an affinity for Anakin who becomes Darth Vader and got me to look at the series in a different light - or darkness. We also watched some fascinating youtube videos discussing the story arcs of his character and that of the main series big bad antagonist Emperor Palpatine. To keep the post shorter and focused I\u0026rsquo;m sticking with Anakin/Darth Vader here.\nHow Anakin Became Darth Vader # Anakin starts out as a cute kid who is super smart with technology, piloting ships, and a potential to have great power through his attunement to the force. The force is a semi spiritual energy that permeates all creatures in the Star Wars universe. For those in tune with it they can use it to have seemingly magical powers of influence over people and powers to control the physical attributes of their worlds.\nYoung Anakin also starts off as a slave with a single mother who is also enslaved. Despite that he is remarkably loving, compassionate, and would not think twice to give you the coat off his own back. There\u0026rsquo;s a virgin birth or messiah mythology thing going on here too which is why he doesn\u0026rsquo;t have a father. But more on that later.\nThe Jedi are a quasi-religious group of light side force attuned people function as sheriffs who investigate disputes and enforce justice in the Galatic Republic. When two have crash landed on Anakin\u0026rsquo;s (Ani\u0026rsquo;s) planet we see them being resourceful but also a bit fumbling and unprepared.\nOne of the Jedi, Qui-gon concieves a plan to help fix their broken space ship that involves gambling with Ani and his mother\u0026rsquo;s owner that Ani can win a race, and the owner will free them and give the need part for repairing their ship. The owner negotiates to only freeing Ani, not his mother and agrees. Meanwhile Ani puts his life on the line in a dangerous race where most ships don\u0026rsquo;t make the finish line and sometimes their pilots dont\u0026rsquo;s either. He does end up winning after overcoming some cheating from the defending champ, but as promised his mother still remains enslaved.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s too many more ways to show how the Jedi constantly let down Ani in things that he desires or needs in his growth development and life. I think this time I see truly how the Jedi are arrogant and too attached to their hubris to not see the Machiavellian maneuvers that Palpatine makes in the Galatic Senate and in the dark training himself and apprentices in the Dark Side of the force. Meanwhile he provides the father figure that Anakin so desparately craves in his life by simply being available and easier to talk to about anything. The Jedi are rigid, inflexible and teach Ani to supress his emotions that are deemed negative.\nInto the Shadows # Here\u0026rsquo;s where we get into Jungian psychology and some more practical personal experience and advise.\nThere is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison.\nHamlet, in Shakespeare\u0026rsquo;s Hamlet\nHamlet is on to something here. He recognizes that he is twice imprisoned - once physically by another king and kingdom but twice by the imprisonment of his mind.\nThese are all very similar to what brother Malcolm X taught his followers: see during his time in prison he learned to free his mind. He also observed, compared, and contrasted the \u0026ldquo;Field Negro\u0026rdquo; to the \u0026ldquo;House Negro.\u0026rdquo; The synopsis was that the House Negro was able to enjoy a better life living as their master, learning and speaking the same language, wearing the same fine clothes, spared from most of the harder labor, eating the same food. But in the end they were still enslaved. And their master would never reciprocate their respect for their master because he didn\u0026rsquo;t see them as people that could be his equals. So their minds still enslaved both and to the master there was no difference. Instead he says free your mind, find your truth, and demand the respect for exactly who you are. There is much power in this level of self awareness. You learn to not take nonsense from anyone else whether they are intentionally trying to enslave you or unintentionally harming you.\nThe man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition.\nCarl Jung\nSimilar to what Hamlet hints at emotions are neither good nor bad. They are in a real way the language our bodies use to communicate. So when we deny, suppress, stuff down our emotions we are actually harming ourselves and eventually those around us.\nInstead of seeking to eliminate what emotions we are ashamed of or society calls negative or unworthy we should seek to be aware of them. Some self control is certainly a good thing. But we should be cognizant that we are not allowing ourselves, say anger, in a particular moment because other people are not receptive to it and work to process that feeling later in a safe time.\nThis is the basis for what Carl Jung calls Shadow Work. The idea is that you find your personal truth through all aspects of yourself even the ones that others deem unworthy, embarassing, or undesirable. Being able to live as a full person is a process that requires awareness of your shadow self and knowing when and how to integrate that into your public self.\nEmbrace The Dark Side of your Shadow # And if the band you\u0026rsquo;re in starts playing different tunes, I\u0026rsquo;ll see you on the dark side of the moon!\nBrain Damage - Pink Floyd\nFor me personally this looks like awareness of my people pleasing nature and self-denial. I\u0026rsquo;m learning that my self care is a non-negotiable. If I don\u0026rsquo;t take care of myselfyou\u0026rsquo;re either not getting my best self or I\u0026rsquo;m spending time to pay for it having to rest or being sick. I\u0026rsquo;ll be first to admit it can be hard sometimes feeling like you are letting people down to take care of yourself, but try to contextualize it. How much is that other person really worth in your life? They don\u0026rsquo;t know what you\u0026rsquo;re dealing with and thus they likely will never offer to help with many of your greatest needs. So set boundaries, say no, have conditions that look out for yourself.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll end with a joke that my partner and I have - mostly coming from the delivery of how we say. I asked do you love me? She said yes, but I love myself more. Jokingly with a face of disgust I said but I hope you love God most. I think this a really healthy hierarchy though. Your higher calling should come first, then yourself, then your partner or most important loved one. I have a strong tendency to go with myself last and that\u0026rsquo;s not helping anyone if I show up for you and I\u0026rsquo;m already burnt out.\n","date":"30 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-10-30-the-dark-side/","section":"","summary":"","title":"The Dark Side","type":"posts"},{"content":" Yutori ゆとり # No, your fight is not with them Yours is with your time here Dream your dreams, but don\u0026rsquo;t pretend Make friends with what you are Give your heart and change your mind You\u0026rsquo;re allowed to do it Because God knows it\u0026rsquo;s been done to you and Somehow you got through it\nAlive in the age of worry Smile in the age of worry Go out in the age of worry And say, \u0026ldquo;Worry, why should I care?\u0026rdquo;\nThe Age of Worry - John Mayer\nConstant Worry and Anxiety # We live in an age of constant worry and anxiety. A lot of that is the by-product of late stage capitalism, inequity, and constant exhausting crises with a lack of attention to ever fixing root causes. Most of those are external factors though and largely outside of our control as individuals. So let go of those for a minute and let\u0026rsquo;s take a journey inward.\nYutori is a Japanese lifestyle concept. To best explain it I\u0026rsquo;ll put in my own words: intentionally making space in your mind (and heart) for life to play out and be content with what happens.\nYou see Yutori offers us release from the \u0026ldquo;rat-race\u0026rdquo; of modern living: Keeping up with the Joneses, jockeying for rank and promotions, and seeking validation from other flawed people. The Japanese people have long dealt with problems of overworking even to the point of death! They call it Karoshi in these extreme cases and it should be obvious why everyone wants to avoid that. Work related stress drove too many people to suicide or to have other life threating health conditions.\nAny day now, I shall be released\u0026hellip;\nI Shall Be Released - Jeff Buckley\nContentment is not settling, it is finding the life that pleases you # Here\u0026rsquo;s another great resource on the concept: Yutori - Space for Peace of Mind. Three Japanese researchers set out to measure Yutori at the beginning of this century. Yamashita-san, Yagi-san, and Furukawa-san discovered Yutori does not come from having material needs and desires but is more strongly correlated to psychological benefits like contentment. While it\u0026rsquo;s important to have a baseline of free time, a supportive environment and economic resources, they don\u0026rsquo;t grant you full Yutori. Much like money does not provide motivation to people but rather discourages those when inequitable and lacking, material resources don\u0026rsquo;t get you to high levels of Yutori, but can prevent you if you don\u0026rsquo;t have the basics covered.\nWhen realizing high contentment most people had improved other psychological factors like enjoyment, behavioral freedom, and challenge.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t care too much for money, money can\u0026rsquo;t buy me love\nCan\u0026rsquo;t Buy Me Love - The Beatles\nMaking Space and Time # Ready to give up the \u0026ldquo;rat-race,\u0026rdquo; jump off the hamster wheel, and find peace in your life? While it\u0026rsquo;s very subjective what actually makes your feel this relaxation and make time for important interruptions to your life, there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of simple little changes you can try today to bring back joy. So kiss goodbye the \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m always busy\u0026rdquo; mantra.\nYutori Tips # Take time off from having your mobile device or computer around. Turn off notifications on mobile and computing devices. Take a walk outside at a park or your neighborhood. Cut out, or cut back on social media usage. Plan extra time to travel places, especially with routine commutes. Plan \u0026ldquo;free time\u0026rdquo; in your calendar with no other agenda then use that time to contact important people, allow interruptions, or think about what\u0026rsquo;s important to you. Journal - this should be private and confidential but other than that no rules, write whatever is on your heart or mind. Meditate. If you are a person of faith or are open to it, pray. Let go of things you have no agency over. If you have an iPhone use the new homescreen customization feature to apply a tint to all apps so you have a calming color like blue instead of red, yellow, orange or other alarming colors. Set clear boundaries between work/school and your personal life and honor them. If someone else repeatedly does not respect your boundaries tell them and quit engaging with them until they demonstrate positive changes. If you are a morning person, wake up early and have some quiet time, alternatively find time in the afternoonor evening if that\u0026rsquo;s better. Read a book. Don\u0026rsquo;t overbook your schedule; plan in buffer time between meetings, tasks, events to not only be physically present but also mentally change gears and be mentally present. Be okay with saying no. If you\u0026rsquo;re not able to do something 100% you should consider whether you need to do it at all. Make time to process emotions when high impact events come up. Plan to arrive places early. That way you have time to be distracted for a few minutes to chat with people or read something. Know your \u0026ldquo;non-negotiables\u0026rdquo; and make sure your needs are met. I have several health conditions that I have to take care of daily. One of those being diabetes, means I know I need to have regular healthy meals. If an event takes place during a meal time and does not mention food that\u0026rsquo;s a hard pass. If I have to compromise my personal needs or desires and cannot give you my best self, what\u0026rsquo;s the point? If you\u0026rsquo;re an introvert get comfortable asking for introvert time by yourself. Make to-do tasks appropriately scoped and scheduled. This one is hard but I\u0026rsquo;ve learned that making everything top priority means that nothing is high priority. So instead be realistic with what you are promising and design your work to go in order of priority that\u0026rsquo;s accurately measured by needs or urgency and be okay leaving unfinished work. If it\u0026rsquo;s not still there for you when you get back, that\u0026rsquo;s a red flag that things need to change in that situation or you may look into better places to work. ","date":"21 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-10-21-yutori/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Yutori","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"1 May 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/bible/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Bible","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 May 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/christianity/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Christianity","type":"tags"},{"content":" Jolly and the Sanguine Serenity # Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins\n44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?\nMatthew 5:44-46 ESV\nThe Rain Falls on the Just and the Unjust # It seems to be one of life\u0026rsquo;s greatest mysteries. Why do good things happen to bad people, and bad things keep happening to good people?\nI\u0026rsquo;m going to speak in general stories but these are all real things that have effected people in my spheres in life, and recently.\nIn what seemed a lifetime it took to find your perfect partner you lived and loved together until they got diagnosed with a debilitating condition that eventually took its toll and with it their life. You\u0026rsquo;re a young adult happily married and your partner found out her breast cancer came back in stage 4. The world has taken its toll on your family and what was once one of you children faced with harsh mental illness has stressed everyone out past the breaking point. Your child is in elementary school doing well, but it\u0026rsquo;s after having survived cancer twice! Your young adult friend had a bright future full of promise ahead but you found out he had a heart attack and passed away. You lost a family member you always thought would be right there with you. A loved one passed away far before their time. You got a new diagnosis for a chronic and debilitating illness. Life with chronic illnesses caught up again and caused lots of stress and made it impossible to keep up with school, with work, and with life. Chronic illness closed doors of opportunity and left you with frustrating decisions of how to ration out healthcare or medicines because our America runs its healthcare worse than many 3rd world nations do. You lost your job for no reason. You lost your job for a BS reason that wasn\u0026rsquo;t your fault. You poured out your heart for your partner only to have it broken and your relationship blow up in your face.\nMeanwhile the rich get richer. The powerful retain and grab more power. The lauded get more praise and take all the conversation and attention leaving no air for the rest of us. Authoritarians get power and riches for life. Fascism is on the rise.\nWhy then do we see so many awful people doing so well while the rest of us hardworking and good people suffer?\nRest for the Weary # If never you find what you’re looking for\nCome on back to the front porch\nSay my name through the screen door\nCome on back to the front porch\nWhatever you’ve done, it doesn’t matter\n\u0026lsquo;Cause darling we\u0026rsquo;re all a little splintered and battered\nBut the light is on, what you waiting for?\nCome on back, come on back to the front porch\nFront Porch - Joy Williams\nPerhaps we are looking at it from the wrong perspective though?\nFor starters, I\u0026rsquo;m a believer that there are no such things as \u0026ldquo;good\u0026rdquo; people, and by the same token no \u0026ldquo;bad\u0026rdquo; people either. The latter I often struggle to embrace with my heart if I\u0026rsquo;m honest. I want to see justice. And it doesn\u0026rsquo;t feel to me much like justice when rich people hoard wealth and other people starve. It irks me to hear people use the term \u0026ldquo;good christian\u0026rdquo; because theologically I only see a case for all people being children of God, beloved, and called into his grace. We are all sinners, not one of us can earn our righteousness nor salvation and thank Jesus for doing the work, because we don\u0026rsquo;t have to.\nOne thing I\u0026rsquo;ve learned about Jesus\u0026rsquo;s kingdom is that it\u0026rsquo;s very much inverted. Pastor Mike at my church once said Jesus may seem to turn everything on its head, but it only looks that way because we are so used to our upside down perspective that we miss him turning things right-side up.\nWhatever you Face, God can Handle it # Modern Christianity often shies away from the difficult and the deep, the sad and the inexplicable. A friend of mine at church mentioned that he analyzed the word content of \u0026ldquo;contemporary christian\u0026rdquo; music and contrasted that to the Psalms, that have a lot of language of suffering, and pain. Much of modern christianity cannot be bothered to address the painful, the difficult, the misunderstood.\nEmotional Intelligence # In visiting a new church closer to where we live I heard the pastor say something that I disagreed or thought may have been a misunderstanding. He was making a joke clearly - talking about our sinful nature. It was something about if sinning doesn\u0026rsquo;t bring you joy, you\u0026rsquo;re not trying hard enough. This is where nuance and modern science can actually help. You see it\u0026rsquo;s understandable to conflate pleasure, happiness, and joy all together. Why is that? Simply put, they are separate distinct emotions that all share the same universal facial expression 😄. Contrastingly most other basic universal human emotions have their own unique universal facial expression. Take for instance sadness 😭, contempt 😏, surprise 😮, fear 😨, and disgust 🤢. In short one thing that makes joy different is that it more akin to a mood though can present as an emotion at times. By definition emotions only last a moment. By definition of joy, it is a pleasurable state that depends less on the immediate stimuli, environment, or circumstances. So joy can\u0026rsquo;t come from the very real pleasure of sin, it\u0026rsquo;s always temporary, and fleeting.\nBeing a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God\u0026rsquo;s will.\nDietrich Bonhoeffer\nTrue Joy # What is then actual joy and how do we experience it?\nBut let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.\nPsalm 5:11 NLT\nGod gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him.\nEcclesiastes 2:26 NLT\nIt is a gift from God, but it\u0026rsquo;s also a state of praise and pleasure in knowing God\u0026rsquo;s promises for us.\nSanguine (adjective) marked by eager hopefullness: confidently optimistic [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanguine](Merriam-Webster Dictionary)\nBut the bible also provides us the counter points:\nMobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine. Joy has turned to gloom. Gladness has been banished from the land.\nIsaiah 24:11\nJesus, Long Suffering Man of Sorrows # You see God does not prevent us from suffering but instead suffers along side us. A while back I think it was pastor Elliot at my church that said when you suffer for God you aren\u0026rsquo;t a sucker: you look like your savior. And it\u0026rsquo;s true. God humbled himself to become a human just like us and was willing to lay down his own life to take on our sins and die the death we should have had. But Jesus, being the life could not be held by death and resurrected to offer forgiveness and life eternal to us too.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s not that Jesus is not the happy blessings, it\u0026rsquo;s that he\u0026rsquo;s not only those things. So to forget his long suffering nature and to live in denial of our own struggles and hardships is diminishing our own lives.\nBrian: You can do whatever you want with your life, but one day you\u0026rsquo;ll know what love truly is. It\u0026rsquo;s the sour and the sweet. And I know sour, which allows me to appreciate the sweet.\nVanilla Sky - Cameron Crowe\nThe Fullness of Life is not the Absence of Pain # Likewise not acknowledging the full nature of Jesus is watering down his full power and majesty. It\u0026rsquo;s similar to what author Chimimanda Ngozi Adachie says about stereotypes reducing us to only be a fraction of who we are:\nThe problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.\nChimimanda Ngozi Adachie\nSo instead of succumbing to the inevitable pains, sorrows, and despair in life, count it all joy. It\u0026rsquo;s joyful because we get to share both the pleasures and the triumphs of life with our God and our loved ones. The same way we can share the hardships, the times of doubt, the times of apathy or ennui. Because the sweetness of life is just that much sweeter when we have been through the pains of death and depression. Acknowledge the heartache, but don\u0026rsquo;t dwell in it longer than needed. Don\u0026rsquo;t sulk or wallow. When you get through it, and you will get through it, remember what God has delivered you from and put that in actions and words that help others in need. This is the true joy of life. This is what gets us out of bed in the morning excited to start the day. Knowing it will bring struggles, setbacks, heartbreaks, and pains. But knowing that the victory on the other side is worth it. That each person is a beloved child of God, so hearing them or helping them or simply being with them is itself the prize.\nChristianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christian should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.\nDietrich Bonhoeffer\nPain is an Inevitable Truth; Beauty, Light, Life and Joy are also Inevitable Truths # Embrace who you are and where you are. Know that you won\u0026rsquo;t always be in the current circumstances. This too shall pass. Until then, know you are not alone. Even if I\u0026rsquo;m just some rando behind the keyboard of my computer, know there are people out there that care. If it\u0026rsquo;s not me, I guarantee there are people in your life.\nLearn to be jolly and find the sanguine serenity in knowing you are loved. Let it start with the truth that the creator of all is always reaching out in love to you, and is long suffering alongside each of us in all the pain we may encounter. That which you have done to the least of my children, you have done to me. This is the true meaning of joy. Embracing the pain and heartache and choosing to hold fast to the love that will not let us go.\nThere’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light\nIn the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right\nAnd it comes in black and it comes in white\nAnd I’m frightened by those that don’t see it\n[Verse 2]\nWhen nothing is owed or deserved or expected\nAnd your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected\nIf you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected\nDecide what to be and go be it\n[Chorus]\nThere was a dream and one day I could see it\nLike a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it\nAnd there was a kid with a head full of doubt\nSo I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out\nHead Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise - Avett Brothers\nRejoice in Pain, Rejoice in Pleasure # And I\u0026rsquo;ll close this epic for the ages with a bible verse that one of my dear friends suffering from an illness she may never recover from in this life had shared, because it\u0026rsquo;s the most beautiful summary of anything I\u0026rsquo;ve said so far.\n“But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.”\n‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬\n","date":"1 May 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-05-01-jolly-and-the-sanguine-serenity/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Jolly and the Sanguine Serenity","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/culture/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Culture","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/music/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Music","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/nightlife/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Nightlife","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/society/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Society","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/sports/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Sports","type":"tags"},{"content":" This Time Around # \u0026ldquo;Io\u0026rdquo; by Hellen Stellar\nAs I wrap up my thirties and still look about half my age I\u0026rsquo;m reflecting on my life. I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of things that make me feel younger this week.\nThe College Life # On Monday April 15th my partner, Amara, and I went to the NC State Wolfpack basketball celebration at the bell tower on campus. Unfortunately we didn\u0026rsquo;t win either the women\u0026rsquo;s nor the men\u0026rsquo;s tournaments but we did make it to the Final Four with some great players, teams, and just generally wonderful people. Since those tournaments were going on at the same time in different parts of the country the teams and the school wanted to get everyone together to celebrate with each other.\nAs a Wolfpack fan our teams sent a resounding message: \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rsquo;re back!\u0026rdquo; There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to be said about how the NCAA came down with sanctions on our men\u0026rsquo;s basketball team in the late 1980\u0026rsquo;s. We will just leave it at saying that if there were any improprieties or unethical actions in our program, I\u0026rsquo;m glad they were punished, but the punishment seemed to work too well and contributed to keeping Wolfpack basketball from the notoriety and talent we had earned. Well, no more. We\u0026rsquo;re back! This season showed in many ways with both our men\u0026rsquo;s and women\u0026rsquo;s teams that we can go against all odds, do it with style, with skill, and with joy overflowing from our hearts.\nLet\u0026rsquo;s focus on one of the best examples: DJ Burns Jr. This guy is wonderful. Not only is he a large presence on the court at 6'9\u0026quot; but he is larger than life in real life because he\u0026rsquo;s always just beaming with delight. In between plays on the court he\u0026rsquo;s often smiling, laughing, dancing on the sidelines. He has an infectious joy for life that you can\u0026rsquo;t help but catch even just watching him on TV. It\u0026rsquo;s a bit like the sanguine happiness of the fictious Ted Lasso.\n\u0026ldquo;Why not us?\u0026rdquo; became our slogan on flags, banners, shirts, and chanted everywhere throughout Wolfpack nation.\nI recognize that \u0026ldquo;Why not us?\u0026rdquo; was first used by NC Central in ESPN\u0026rsquo;s docuseries The Undefeated. This phrase itself isn\u0026rsquo;t something that copyright law can cover as far as I\u0026rsquo;m aware since it\u0026rsquo;s too generic by itself. It\u0026rsquo;s why you cannot copyright a slogan like \u0026ldquo;We sell the best today\u0026rdquo; but \u0026ldquo;BestBuy\u0026rdquo; has their logo trademarked. One is just using common words, the other is using particular words/styles that are registered to only be used by the company. Anyways, I think it\u0026rsquo;s always good to respect and recognize the original source to attribute.\nBack on campus for this event I was reminded of so many wonderful times in my late teens and early twenties at college.\nWhenever I\u0026rsquo;m alone with you, you make me feel like I am young again # \u0026ldquo;Lovesong\u0026rdquo; by The Cure\nI\u0026rsquo;m incredibly grateful for my partner, and the more time I spend with her we often both wish we had known each other when we were younger.\nAnd there\u0026rsquo;s just numerous reasons that we met at the perfect time and things wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have been as great if her and I met in high school or college for instance.\nI wish I knew you when I was young We coulda got so high Now we\u0026rsquo;re here, it\u0026rsquo;s been so long Two strangers in the bright light\n\u0026ldquo;Wish I Knew You\u0026rdquo; by The Revivalists\nSo we\u0026rsquo;ll focus for now on sharing the joys of being together now. And one of those things really reminded me of the times when I was in college since I\u0026rsquo;ve moved across the county to be closer to her. While setting up my new living space I\u0026rsquo;ve got a great sit/stand desk that I\u0026rsquo;ve tried to cram into a small room with some other furniture already in there. That really takes me back to the shoebox dorm room I shared with my best friend Andrew in Sullivan hall or the apartments I stayed in. Having to Tetris(🧱) the furniture and things to make it work, years before people discovered tiny houses and the art of Marie Kondo.\nWhat\u0026rsquo;s My Age Again? # \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s my age again?\u0026rdquo; by Blink-182\nAmara and I both have had some tough times and difficult challenges in our lives. That\u0026rsquo;s why we often intentionally spend time doing things that may seem childish to some but bring a lot of joy to us. Beyond not apologizing, I\u0026rsquo;m going further to suggest you should try this too. There\u0026rsquo;s many too many discouraging, bleak things these days to always focus on those. So I\u0026rsquo;d been thinking for a while about doing Go-Karts as a fun date and just a fun activity and ended up inviting two couples of friends to join us for a birthday party at Frankie\u0026rsquo;s fun park.\nWe had a great time playing laser tag and even though our group didn\u0026rsquo;t get to stay together we all made up the top of the leaderboard on both teams.\nSo whatever brings you joy, life, curiousity, and wonder be sure to prioritize seeking it in your life. There\u0026rsquo;s plenty of time to reflect and criticize the hardships of life, but for now we\u0026rsquo;re celebrating the abounding beauty in life!\nHow do you do it? You make me want to live again.\n\u0026ldquo;How Do You Do?\u0026rdquo; by Hot Chip\n","date":"22 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-22-young-again/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Young Again","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/durham/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Durham","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/jazz/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Jazz","type":"tags"},{"content":" Missy Lane\u0026rsquo;s Assembly Room # We\u0026rsquo;ve all lost people and things to the pandemic, and one unfortunate one to go was Raleigh\u0026rsquo;s C-Grace Jazz and Speakeasy club.\nNaturally, I was elated to find out that there\u0026rsquo;s a new Jazz club in Durham, NC. My partner told me about Missy Lane\u0026rsquo;s Assembly Room and we both love jazz a lot so it was incredibly fitting that our first concert date was to a jazz show there.\nジャズを聴きます\nJya Zu Oh I kki Ki Ma Su\n(I listen to jazz.)\nOne of my \u0026ldquo;Covid hobbies\u0026rdquo; while isolating during the pandemic was to begin learning Japanese (日本語). I\u0026rsquo;ve continued and while its time is eerily conincidental it just so happened I learned those phrases and words just before going to the concert.\nThe Bad Plus # First time I heard of The Bad Plus was back around 2003/2004 in my first year at NC State for college. I know, I\u0026rsquo;m getting old, but shout out to Ed, my friend who introduced me to this band and a bunch of other great ones!\nI was really getting into learning guitar and progressive rock bands at that time. Prog rock is never far from fusion jazz, thus The Bad Plus came up as a recommendation. I enjoy their originals and their brilliant pop and rock covers in their won style. See their debut album from 2003 These are the Vistas and Smells Like Teen Spirit, Flim, and Heart of Glass for starters. Or Their original they opened their set with Everywhere You Turn.\nAccording to some other fans chatting after the show The Bad Plus did another that day and had one or two more scheduled and did completely different set lists each time, which is always amazing to me.\nTheir lineup has notably changed in the last few years when they dropped Ethan Iverson, the pianist while keeping Reid Anderson on bass and David King on drums. They\u0026rsquo;ve added in Ben Monder on guitar and Chris Speed on Saxophone.\nTheir best song by far was called Tyrone\u0026rsquo;s Flamingo and is from their upcoming album set to release later this year.\nCocktails and Atmosphere # The whole place has a very speakeasy style vibe and with that you expect some good cocktail drinks. They did not disappoint on that either. I got the Oasis which was a refreshing and flavorful gin and honeydew, lemon, and mint drink. My partner got the She was a Fairy which was a tequila drink with lemon, tea, and lavender flavor. She really enjoyed the drinks and mentioned coming back just for that.\nDURM (Durham NC) # Here\u0026rsquo;s the main area and bar at the front of the club, which I think is open to other events or as a chill co-working space during the day. In downtown Durham, this is a convenient location if you live or work in the area. It\u0026rsquo;s been a while but I still have fond memories of working at the American Tobacco campus when I was working in the video game industry for Mighty Rabbit Studios.\n","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-09-joyous-jazz/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Joyous Jazz","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/business/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Business","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/economics/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Economics","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/humor/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Humor","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/relationships/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Relationships","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/sci-fi/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Sci-Fi","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/science/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Science","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/spirituality/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Spirituality","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/videogames/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Videogames","type":"tags"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"}]