Archives for April 2014

Zooming in on Zeitgeist

April 6, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I recently decided to offer my couch to weary Costa Rica travelers via the popular web site Couchsurfing.

And I just entertained my first surfer. A nice young fellow named Peter.

My goal in this is to meet interesting people and indoctrinate them into my revolution.

Well, that last part is me being a tad facetious.

But, really, Peter would make a great revolutionary misfit. He strikes me as a sort of real life Alexander Supertramp.

And he’s the one responsible for the idea of putting my voice to these blog posts. So that now you can access an audio version at the end of each post.

Hey, I’ve been told I sound a lot like Matthew McConaughey.

No ladies, I don’t look anywhere near like him…

but you can always fantasize!

Peter also turned me on to the Zeitgeist series of movies.

Now yesterday was one of those days that I laid in bed suffering from self-induced pain.

The kind that comes from a little too much Friday night fun.

But I did manage to view all three movies in the Zeitgeist series.

They are an intriguing set of flicks that can be accessed completely free on YouTube.

Now, I am not into this whole conspiracy thing. I am just too skeptical to believe that there’s some vast conspiracy behind our economic and monetary systems, or behind the tragedy of 9-11.

But the underlying premise of Zeitgeist is something to which I do readily subscribe…

and that is, that the world is fucked up.

And that the reason it’s fucked up is exactly what this (my) “revolution” is railing against…

greed and indifference.

Those are the dictators that this revolution seeks to depose.

That’s why the subtitle of my up and coming book (soon to released on Amazon), The Revolutionary Misfit Manifesto, is…

A Guide to Deposing Dictators with Impact Mindfulness.

I also will subscribe to the idea set forth by Zeitgeist that the problem is not the “system” itself…

but our way of thinking about it…of accepting it.

Why do we do that?

Because we are conditioned to.

Not as a result of some vast conspiracy, but just because “it” has gradually infiltrated our collective cerebral cortices as the default way to think.

So, in my opinion, the solution is not to change the “system”, but to change the way we think about it!

Hence this blog.

You see, I don’t really hold out much hope for a change in the system. It’s too entrenched. It’s been around too long and it would cause major disruption to life on our planet if it were tossed out tomorrow.

Not gonna hold my breath for that happening, certainly not in my life time.

But if we change the way we think, we can have a major impact on the way our lives are affected by that same system.

We can admit (can’t we?) that capitalism currently runs on greed and self-interest.

Hell, Milton Friedman even admits that it’s so.

But what if it didn’t?

What if we lived in a free market that really did seek the common good of all people?

Is that possible?

It is if we adopt the principles espoused in this blog…

those of impact mindfulness…

those that tell us to put…

impact over self interest…

and to embrace the idea that we’re all in this boat together, the idea of the so-called Big US…

and to set aside the impact blinders that blind our mind’s eye from seeing the truth.

The truth that unless we change, as Zeitgeist alludes, we, and those that come after us, are in for a not so pleasant future.

I believe that by simply changing the way we think and then act, we (the people) can take the wind out of Walmart…

and Wall Street.

We can form a more perfect Union.

We can change the world.

After all “the market” is…

us.

image credit: Corey Holms via Compfight cc

Sometimes it Takes a Flood

April 4, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

I saw Noah, the movie, last night.

Interesting.

Definitely a whole lot of “blank filling” going on there.

For instance, I’ve never read, in any translation, that Tubal-Cain ended up on the ark as a stow-away.

I also question the wardrobe department.

It just seemed that what they had the actors wearing was a little too modern…

I always pictured hides of animals draped and tied around their bodies…

not the neatly tailored and tightly fitting threads that Crowe and Connelly were styling.

And the accents in these bible-related flicks always gets me.

I really don’t believe English accents existed at that time and place in history.

But, despite those snarky complaints, the move was enjoyable.

And there seemed to be more of an ecological message to it than anything else.

And that was a fresh perspective.

I was always taught in Sunday school that Noah’s story was one of redemption.

That God was perfectly good and the world perfectly bad…so God just decided to start over…

and used Noah as his redemptive agent.

In that sense Noah represented a “type” of Christ…

and a foretelling of that other redemptive story that would play out thousands of years later.

But if you stop and think, the story of Noah really does have an ecologically conservative bent.

God chose to save only one family of humans, along with a potential mom and dad of every other living species.

I mean, if the emphasis was exclusively human redemption, why not save only Noah’s brood and a few domesticated animals that they might need to get along in the new world…

No sir, God wanted it all preserved…

even snakes!

Wasn’t it one of those guys that caused all the problems to begin with??

So, isn’t there a strong message emanating from Noah’s story about God deeming the ecology of this planet somewhat important?

And wouldn’t you know it…here we go again.

What’s it gonna take…another flood?

Because the waters are rising!

You know I was thinking just the other day about the concept of righteousness.

And that’s kind of ironic coming from a guy who is anything but.

Nevertheless, it seems to me that righteousness should go hand in hand with consistency.

That is, one is either consistently righteous, or not at all.

For instance, if you believe it righteous, from a biblical standpoint, to condemn gays…

shouldn’t you also condemn divorcees just as vehemently?

And if God cares about ecology, as the Noah story seems to reflect, shouldn’t we also?

So, why then, do we have the far right, the “christian” far right, being the most staunch global warming deniers?

I just don’t get it.

It’s not consistent.

What, do they not believe that God is capable of destroying the earth…again?

Well he might not have to as we have shown ourselves to be perfectly suitable to the task.

If one is being consistent with the bible, especially the story of Noah…one would have to conclude that God is very concerned about ecology…

He does care about more than just us.

After all, he created it all didn’t he?

So why shouldn’t we care?

That seemed to be the underlying message of this flick.

And you know what…

it’s a damn good one.

I guess sometimes it takes a flood to get our attention.

image credit: trainmanchuff! via Compfight cc

Movements

April 3, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Okay, so I’ll admit my recent posts have been a bit, what…

morbidly introspective?

So much so that family members are growing alarmed.

Hey, what can I say…

I try to use my life as an example…

and sometimes a warning.

Okay let’s lighten up a bit and talk about movements.

After all, this blog is designed and intentioned to be just that…

a movement.

But other than the metaphorical kind, how about real life ways we can move…

and feel better?

I have found it to be true that lack of movement means bad stuff…like apathy, depression and lack of creativity.

When I move I just feel better.

I feel more creative.

I feel more alive.

I feel like I can take it on…

whatever “it” might turn out to be.

Here are three ways I believe we can move consistently to feel and do better in life…

1. Move the pencil…

or pen, or keyboard, or whatever your instrument might be.

I have found that a consistent, almost daily, writing habit is a very good thing for me.

There’s stuff stuck in my head and heart that just needs to get out. If not for anything else, for me to understand it better…

and perhaps for you to as well.

When I go through tough times, I have found the following exercise to be extremely helpful:

Oh and sometimes writing is best done with pen and paper…

the old fashioned way.

This is one of those times.

So, get out a pen and piece of paper and write at the top the following heading…

“What do I have going for me right now”…

or something similar.

And then just start listing all the things that are good, or even potentially good, in your life.

I did that yesterday and came up with a list of 50 things. It took me all of maybe 15 minutes to make the list.

I re-read it this morning.

And I feel much better.

Writing is a worthwhile movement…even if you can’t make a coherent sentence.

Don’t do it for anyone other than you and it doesn’t really matter.

Now if you want others to read it…perhaps it pays to spend a little time re-writing, proofing and editing.

2. Move to a quiet place…mentally…

A good while back I adopted the habit of meditation. It’s actually a very simple thing to do.

You need nothing more than a quiet place to sit, perhaps a yoga mat or cushion and anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes of time.

And you just sit there and breathe. I prefer to do it with my eyes closed.

Yes your mind will wander. That’s what they do…those pesky minds of ours.

But you just keep yanking it back to the breath…as many times as necessary (and, believe me, there will be many).

I’ve found that meditation puts me in perspective. It slows me down. It helps ease or even erase the incessant worrying.

It makes me feel better

3. Move your ass…

For years I was the typical goal-oriented gym rat. I didn’t feel exercise was really exercise unless it was a couple hours spent in an expensive gym.

Hell, I even hired a personal trainer.

That’s a lot of pressure to place on an activity that really doesn’t need to be so complicated.

Maybe that’s why so many people either loathe doing it, or don’t do it at all.

These days, when it comes to exercise, I’ve adopted a different attitude…

just move my ass.

No goals.

Other than the aim to move a bit.

I do so in a number of ways, like…

walking – I don’t run because I can’t think and run at the same time…and my walks always produce ideas…
surfing – can’t live without it…
swimming – ok, I’ll admit I do go to “a gym” for this…but, hey, I love to swim…
yoga – another super simple activity that is extremely low maintenance…
hiking – akin to walking, but always done in an extremely natural setting…it’s cleansing, as well as great movement…
biking – took this up a while back…Costa Rica is a great place to bike.

That’s how I move.

How can you move?

Keep it simple and just move.

Forget about the goals.

I believe goals are generally borne of envy.

We want what others have.

Like that perfect body, or all that gorgeous shiny stuff, or that super-charged love life.

I used to want all that too.

But these days, I just want to move.

It makes me feel much better.

And it costs a lot less.

Movements are important. They change things. They make things better.

They make us better.

So, let’s just move.

image credit: Peace Revolution 2010 via Compfight cc

Struggling

April 1, 2014 by costaricaguy 4 Comments

Have you ever had your water or electricity cut off?

Why do we have to pay for that shit anyway?

This morning feeling that all too familiar sense of struggle…

that life is just one long struggle for survival.

Ever get that sense?

It’s a struggle for most people, me included, to just find a small air pocket in your constantly sinking ship.

To suck in just one more day of life.

But what is it that I’m really struggling against?

Forces out there…

or in here?

If I pause and give that some thought, I come up with not so surprisingly self-originating answers…

such as…

Self-Loathing – which for me seems to be the root of my recurring depression and despair.

Self-Destruction – a tendency that often makes life’s struggles annoyingly arduous.

Self-Pity – a party that no ones wants to join in.

Self-ish-ness – and there is never enough to fill that hole up with satisfaction.

Self-Indulgence – as I have stated before…my Creativity Kryptonite.

Self-Centered-ness – that creates the false illusion that I am alone in this struggle.

Hmm, that’s about it.

So self somehow seems set at the senter of my struggle (with “center” miss-spelled intentionally to make me feel good about something…in this case, my relentless capacity to illiter).

At any point in time you’ll find me struggling.

To pay the goddamn bills.

With relationship issues (currently going through my 3rd separation from my current wife…yea, you heard right…3rd!).

With my tendency to self-destruct whenever I am struggling against something (which I mentioned was mostly all the time).

With this all too frequent feeling that I just don’t measure up to the person I really would prefer to be.

For instance, I feel this blog has a vital message for the world to hear, but I constantly struggle with self-doubt about my worthiness to be the person bringing that message.

And that self-doubt is reinforced by the fact that I struggle to find any one to pay attention.

Hey, just identified another source…

Self-doubt.

Yea, that’s a big one.

Sometimes I just feel like throwing in the towel.

Like Roberto Duran.

I’ve just had about enough of this shit…

I’ll say to my…self.

Then from out of nowhere…like a bolt of proverbial lightning (the best and safest kind)…

inspiration hits.

I get this feeling that even though I struggle…it’s all worth it.

It’s worth fighting against.

And that inspiration is rarely (no…never) about me.

It’s about you.

It’s about what I might be able to do or say or think that could possibly have an impact on your world.

Despite my limitations.

And defects.

And weaknesses.

And the ugliness that still exists in my life.

Something beautiful has the capacity to emerge.

That my seemingly insignificant life…

really…

isn’t.

That’s true inspiration.

And it gives me a reason to go forward…

one second-minute-hour-day more…

into the darkness of struggle…

sword drawn…

and ready to fight the good fight…

against that demon who looks an awful lot like…

me.

image credit: Josh Sommers via Compfight cc

Archives for April 2014

Connect with RM