The Psychedelic Revolution

if assholes had wings, the world would be a fucking airport.

 

hey people new to this whole forum thing
Got a lot i need to talk about with experiences psychonauts but here aint the best place i think and cant work the PM Lol

add my msn on cheryl_03.12.07@hotmail.com

Peace Out

 

well, honestly, right now i'm just kind of exploring my options. but in the meantime i plan on creating some music and maybe attending some music festivals this summer. so not much in the present. but regardless, bonding with people over music and festivals is just learning how to love better.

 

So just rustling some more leaves eh?
Well as your exploring your options may I suggest that you give community service or volunteer work of some type a shot. You may be surprised what you can learn about yourself as a result. I sure have learned a lot.
Like I said, it may not be revolutionary, but it IS helping make a difference in the lives of others, and any real revolution has to come down to action at those small, mundane levels.

You need to take your ideals out of the clouds and bring them down to where the rubber meets the road to make a difference.

How is school going for you anyway?

 

lol, i do think that action at the small levels is important, but when all your doing is cleaning up the mess of something that isn't changing and that is creating a mess in the first place you have to consider what your contributing to. whether your help is actually helping to sustain a system which is the very cause of some of the problems you are trying to help.

 

When people are going hungry and homeless who gives a fuck about the system. Help feed and house those "suffering" first.
Sorry but I think helping people and children with REAL concerns such as EATING DAILY is a lot more important than some half-baked political agenda which is what you have been trying to espouse in this thread.

So you are ok with people going hungry and homeless because it is a symptom of the political disease as you see it and you think that my helping in the ways that I do is actually adding to the problem????

DUDE! think about what you just said!

Desos why don't you go week or two only eating once a day or every couple of days or telling your kids there is no food today and THEN come back at me with your ideas for revolution.

My point to you is it is perfectly fine to want change and to try to work towards that, in the meantime you CAN get off your butt and back up your words with action, otherwise stop the sermonizing.


I'm sorry Desos but your last remark caused me to just lose some respect for you.
You don't actually care about helping end others suffering in any real way, you just want to stand on your soapbox and tell the world how fucked up it is without doing anything to actually make a difference!

 

Thing is, it is changing. It's always changing. It may be at a slower pace then you like, and not always in the directions you desire, but it's in constant flux. And although it always -appears- to be the movers and shakers that affect such change, any real change is always the result of a groundswell. The personalities and characters that represent the groundswell get all the attention, but they are in no way responsible for the change. They just play a role, and if they didn't someone else would have. Without MLK, the civil rights movement would still have occurred. Without Hitler, Germany would still have gone militaristic at that time. The shapes and forms that the groundswell takes are in part shaped by those at the helm, but the force behind in and most of the direction is created by the little people.

All I'm saying is, sure it's great to play a big role, to be the one inspires, to be the one at the helm. It's vital those roles be played by good people with good intentions. But it's also vital that there is a groundswell to begin with. And that arises out of more and more people deciding to try to help. To be a positive influence on the world. To help their neighbors and those in need. And to inspire others to do the same.

Festivals are great, learning to connect and love and just be with people has a huge positive effect. But that can also dilute the energy of actually doing good in the world, and spiral into stagnant hedonism pretty easily. Especially as the focus slides toward the music and the drugs and the social and sexual game. And away from the merits of actually being a powerful force for change.

I agree with PB that you might be well served by balancing your actions with some volunteer activism. Maybe not food shelves. Maybe volunteer on an organic farm for a bit. I did that for a bit and it was really rewarding. The feeling that I am helping by making green, sustainable, healthy food cheaper and therefor more available to people. And it has a strong element of learning about community, a community that isn't just partying together but also working together on something they believe in. Plus, you learn valuable skills.

 

Another point that I'd like to put out there. One of the problems of the world today is that everyone is afraid. We have this yawning abyss under our feet all the time. People are afraid that if they don't keep running the treadmill that the system has put in place, they will fall into that horrible state we call poverty. The ever-present fear of that state, and the horrors it entails, serve as a goad to keep on perpetuating the system.

If we could manage to put our efforts into making that state a less horrible way to be, the urge to compete in the dog eat dog world and it's attendant urge to consume, consume, consume would lessen. And every effort we put into making the lives of the least fortunate better takes a little away from the stick the system holds over people's heads.

One of the best volunteer structures I've seen was how they ran Food not Bombs in Eugene Oregon. It wasn't just some old hippies handing out slop to the bedraggled homeless, a situation that although -very- helpful, also seems to have a patronizing and humiliating element. It was a bunch of households all around the neighborhood who all took turns doing the cooking for a communal meal. Each night, a different household cooked for everyone. And everyone was invited. The whole community would get together and eat together, and anyone who showed up got fed and was welcome. No class division between the privileged who gave out the food and the unprivileged who were receiving charity. Just folks, all getting together to eat, and share in the bounty the community had to offer. It was so beautiful.

 

Thank you, I have learned a great deal about gratitude and humility and being satisfied with what I got from my volunteer experiences.

My wife has told me that when she was growing up that one time she and her brothers were whining about how little they had compared to their friends then her mother packed up 75% of all their clothes,toys, kitchen stuff and food.

They then went on a road trip, she lived in PA at the time, to some people her mother knew who lived in the mountains of Virginia. A family of 6 living in a one room shack with dirt floors and no plumbing, etc. and gave the clothes and other items to them. They stayed a weekend, slept on the dirt, ate what was offered, and shit in a hole in the woods.

My wife and her brothers never again complained about what they didn't have and it became an annual trip for them with my wife and her brothers going around to get donations from neighbors and such. They were able to help three families by doing that every year. She was about 7-8 when they started doing that.

If little kids get it Desos, why don't you?

It ain't revolution, but it is what ending suffering is really about.

 

Little things help.
Recently one of the women in the Girl scouts in our area who oversees the troops in our area had knee surgery and couldn't stand. All these other women were all making plans to pool money to send flowers and crap like that. My wife said thats lame and organized them all to take turns cooking meals and taking them over to her family. That was a lot more helpful then flowers and cards ever would be. What astonished me was how all these other women were all like "that is such a great idea, I never would have thought of that!" friggin dipsticks!

So Desos just what great boon to society and curing it's ills will your songs and hanging out at festivals provide?

 

Well, I wouldn't be too hard on music festivals and such. I mean, it -is- a place where folks with an open heart come together and share positive intentions. And it is a space where people can connect and learn, and brings new people into the fold. It's really hard to focus on being a positive force in the world if you feel like you're doing it all alone. Who we surround ourselves with has a huge impact on us, way more then most people feel comfortable acknowledging. Especially for younger folks, before one gets as 'set in their ways'. Festivals are often a powerful space for the viral spread of positive ideas and ideals.

But at some point, you have to start implementing what you've learned. Otherwise it's all just blowing smoke.

 

My point exactly

 

Fuck learning how to love better. Action is the best teacher.
Helping other people to get clothes, food and shelter IS loving them.

Sure you may get all the warm fuzzies in the world from your music and at festivals, but that is just self serving, what good is it doing for someone starving?

Real love isn't in warm fuzzies and awesome times at festivals,
Love is a verb and is ONLY exemplified by ACTION.

 

One thing to talk or act cool, another to be cool.

 

and those who are don't need to proclaim it.

I feel like I have been soapboxing and I really am uncomforable about posting things that my myself and wife do. Not looking for any praise, I just have gotten really fed-up with empty words devoid of action to support them.

It's one thing to complain about the shit in the street, and another to pick it up.
Which one actually makes the street shit free?

 

What is love? How do you do it better? I am always much less than impressed by prescriptions that call for more love.

It seems to me love is a state of being, no one can teach you how to be who you are.

 

I feel for you dangling out in the wind like that. Whenever we start discussing our relative contributions to society, some measure of embarrassment is likely to ensue.

 

Love can be considered a state of being, the manifestation of which is through selfless service to others, In my opinion.

Maybe that is my Judeao-Christian background coming through?
But whatever, as long as the end result is a help to others.

 

Shrug. Standing up and talking about what you do for the world can also inspire others. Saying, hey look, I am doing this. And others are too. Hey, if we were all doing this think how much better the world would be. Will you join me?

 

Just for the sake of edification, what constitutes selfless service?