Summer is a good month to take out the trash. Too many fruit flies.
I was in Hollywood a few weeks ago and there was a "bag lady" crossing the street.
There she was, pushing a shopping cart of stuff that appeared to me to be trash.
To her, it was her life. It was important stuff.
Oh, how similar we all are!
The first time I got a glimmer of the amount trash I carried around with me was when I was driving my car cross-country. What was all this STUFF that needed to be moved thousands of miles?
Would it look like trash to an outsider?
The old adage goes "one man's trash is another's man's treasure." I think we've out-evolved this concept. In fact, one man's treasure is trash.
The old magazines with the article we think we'll re-read, the clothes we never wear...
This takes on an even more harrowing scope when we see people who actually do carry around TRASH and make no apologies for it. Like bag ladies, who we deem "crazy." And the cat calls the kettle black...
I was in the passenger seat of a car a few months ago where I couldn't make contact with the floor mats under my feet. Instead, they rested on coke cans and banana peels.
It takes an extreme to see clearly sometimes.
Last month I took out the trash in my body. I fasted, I cleansed. Of course, there is still useless stuff in there that will be squeezed out eventually... and of course, we're in a perpetual state of reincorporation and rejection when it comes to toxins. But I feel a lot cleaner than before for sure.
This month I take out the trash in my emotional and psychological world.
:: Here are some intentions for July ::
1. I no longer apologize for what I have. I deserve everything that I have and more (and so do you!)
2. I am free of all clutter -- people and things.
3. I take in no delusions (diluted), only concentrates.
4. I relinquish all assumptions of lack. The universe is abundant.
5. I have faith that magical things occur when I relax and accept things as they are.
Sound good?
What are your July intentions?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael's Descent
When I was at Brown a few years ago, I was watching Conan O'Brian. He and some actor were making fun of Michael Jackson for molesting the little boys on his ranch.
It struck me that he had been molested by the media his entire life, and this was all he knew.
Also, it saddened me that not more was being said out of compassion for his struggle to stay afloat of his own persona... so much mockery. So little accountability.
I wrote this song, Michael Descending, with these thoughts in mind.
"Michael Descending"
When I was little I used to watch this Marlo Thomas video called "Free to Be You and Me." It was adorable, all about mommies who were doctors, William who had a doll, and sharing. All that good humanist stuff.
Michael Jackson sang a duet with Roberta Flack. He was an adolescent at that point. The song was "When I Grow Up." And the chorus went:
"Well I don't care if I'm pretty at all
And I don't care if I never get tall
I like what you look like
And you're nice small
And we don't have to change at all."
The irony was just too striking.
It made me so sad that someone could get so caught up in living his life for others... for fame.
And now we can see for ourselves what happens when circumstances would have us lose our inner compass.
Michael Jackson died at 50 of a broken heart. Or, as Germain Greer said in the UK's Guardian, "destroyed by his fans."
The problem isn't what we do to our celebrities.
The problem is that we have yet to recognize in ourselves. It makes the deification of external objects or people (i.e. money, celebrities, fancy hotels...) very appealing.
And a lot easier.
But look how destructive.
My wish for the planet (myself included) is that we find more joy in our own RENEWABLE light, so we have less need for externals and fireworks.
May we all be free to be.
"Michael Descending" (with explanation)
:: LYRICS ::
Michael descending,
Michael falling down a staircase
in a DuChamps dissection, in a court room, on a chair
Michael’s descending
He’s pretending he’s OK
Confused by what Roberta told him when they played
cuz she smiled when he caught the ball
singing that he wouldn’t have to change at all
*
He got down on his knees
He serviced all our entertainment needs
and he grew up by the artificial lights
to warped heights
We mock you cuz you’re not resilient
and we wonder why you changed
We never gave you room to warm up the full span of your range
Maybe if you’d caught the ball, you may not have changed at all
*
Now he collects the remnants of the childhood that he lost
pretends he’s Peter Pan
But oh the shame Captain Hook’s what you became
You pirate their innocence like they pirated your own
And no star map could ever hope to guide you home
Cuz it’s too late to drop the ball
but God knows it might have braced your fall
in love,
in light,
porteR
It struck me that he had been molested by the media his entire life, and this was all he knew.
Also, it saddened me that not more was being said out of compassion for his struggle to stay afloat of his own persona... so much mockery. So little accountability.
I wrote this song, Michael Descending, with these thoughts in mind.
"Michael Descending"
When I was little I used to watch this Marlo Thomas video called "Free to Be You and Me." It was adorable, all about mommies who were doctors, William who had a doll, and sharing. All that good humanist stuff.
Michael Jackson sang a duet with Roberta Flack. He was an adolescent at that point. The song was "When I Grow Up." And the chorus went:
"Well I don't care if I'm pretty at all
And I don't care if I never get tall
I like what you look like
And you're nice small
And we don't have to change at all."
The irony was just too striking.
It made me so sad that someone could get so caught up in living his life for others... for fame.
And now we can see for ourselves what happens when circumstances would have us lose our inner compass.
Michael Jackson died at 50 of a broken heart. Or, as Germain Greer said in the UK's Guardian, "destroyed by his fans."
The problem isn't what we do to our celebrities.
The problem is that we have yet to recognize in ourselves. It makes the deification of external objects or people (i.e. money, celebrities, fancy hotels...) very appealing.
And a lot easier.
But look how destructive.
My wish for the planet (myself included) is that we find more joy in our own RENEWABLE light, so we have less need for externals and fireworks.
May we all be free to be.
"Michael Descending" (with explanation)
:: LYRICS ::
Michael descending,
Michael falling down a staircase
in a DuChamps dissection, in a court room, on a chair
Michael’s descending
He’s pretending he’s OK
Confused by what Roberta told him when they played
cuz she smiled when he caught the ball
singing that he wouldn’t have to change at all
*
He got down on his knees
He serviced all our entertainment needs
and he grew up by the artificial lights
to warped heights
We mock you cuz you’re not resilient
and we wonder why you changed
We never gave you room to warm up the full span of your range
Maybe if you’d caught the ball, you may not have changed at all
*
Now he collects the remnants of the childhood that he lost
pretends he’s Peter Pan
But oh the shame Captain Hook’s what you became
You pirate their innocence like they pirated your own
And no star map could ever hope to guide you home
Cuz it’s too late to drop the ball
but God knows it might have braced your fall
in love,
in light,
porteR
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Hoola Hoop Effect
In February a fantastic human being made a hoola hoop for me in exchange for a CD.
A worthwhile trade if ever there was one!
I was instantly drawn to the feeling of "hooping," especially since the girl who made it showed me how to dance with it.
But I'm learning there is more to hooping than I thought.
In the Ramayana Rama draws a circle around Sita to protect her. A protective bubble.
To me the idea of "drawing a circle" or "creating a circle" around oneself is a way to invisibly demarcate their energetic field.
Those that earn their place in my circle are allowed to enter. They are allowed my attention and openness.
Those who are not worthy of entering my circle are barricaded. They cannot poke holes in my aura--my energetic field.
I have had several versions of the same person (different names, circumstances, gender, and age) gain access to my inner circle.
The time has come to be Rama.
To draw that circle.
Every time I hoop I draw that circle. And because it emanates from joy, it is all the stronger.
I am meeting so many amazing people that are invited in. But there are always those party crashers that gain entry without earning it.
No more free-loaders in my circle.
And so it is.
peace,
porteR
A worthwhile trade if ever there was one!
I was instantly drawn to the feeling of "hooping," especially since the girl who made it showed me how to dance with it.
But I'm learning there is more to hooping than I thought.
In the Ramayana Rama draws a circle around Sita to protect her. A protective bubble.
To me the idea of "drawing a circle" or "creating a circle" around oneself is a way to invisibly demarcate their energetic field.
Those that earn their place in my circle are allowed to enter. They are allowed my attention and openness.
Those who are not worthy of entering my circle are barricaded. They cannot poke holes in my aura--my energetic field.
I have had several versions of the same person (different names, circumstances, gender, and age) gain access to my inner circle.
The time has come to be Rama.
To draw that circle.
Every time I hoop I draw that circle. And because it emanates from joy, it is all the stronger.
I am meeting so many amazing people that are invited in. But there are always those party crashers that gain entry without earning it.
No more free-loaders in my circle.
And so it is.
peace,
porteR
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Twilight
Just finished watching the movie "Twilight." *She admits, in shame*
What a life to create for yourself
::
My soulmate is undead.
We can kiss, but he might want to, literally, eat me.
He wants to eat me.
::
It makes me wonder whether we are just afraid of our undead side.
That part of us that can read minds, see into the future... I think we are all this weird, but we haven't awakened to it yet. So we write stories about mythical creatures, that are really just forbidden aspects of ourselves.
As cannibalism shows us, nothing is really too gross for humans to do.
In an awakened state, we are aware of the breadth of our potential, but CHOOSE to rise above certain base urges, like eating human flesh. Nothing is really stopping us, besides the fact that it is taboo in most societal structures.
If you ask me, eating meat is base and disgusting... going to the supermarket and seeing rotting flesh behind glass cases and people in white aprons covered in blood is harrowing. But because it's acceptable in our society, no one even thinks to question it.
Tales of gore show us how far we can go towards that extreme. And we are fascinated by it.
Interesting huh?
bon appetit,
porteR
What a life to create for yourself
::
My soulmate is undead.
We can kiss, but he might want to, literally, eat me.
He wants to eat me.
::
It makes me wonder whether we are just afraid of our undead side.
That part of us that can read minds, see into the future... I think we are all this weird, but we haven't awakened to it yet. So we write stories about mythical creatures, that are really just forbidden aspects of ourselves.
As cannibalism shows us, nothing is really too gross for humans to do.
In an awakened state, we are aware of the breadth of our potential, but CHOOSE to rise above certain base urges, like eating human flesh. Nothing is really stopping us, besides the fact that it is taboo in most societal structures.
If you ask me, eating meat is base and disgusting... going to the supermarket and seeing rotting flesh behind glass cases and people in white aprons covered in blood is harrowing. But because it's acceptable in our society, no one even thinks to question it.
Tales of gore show us how far we can go towards that extreme. And we are fascinated by it.
Interesting huh?
bon appetit,
porteR
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