Journeys

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
Rabindranath Tagore




~Cool Meditations~

MixMasterE

My Battle With Arrogance

One of my biggest pet peeves is arrogance.

Whether by friends, family members or folks at work, this deluded, imperious strain that seems to be an all too common attribute pretty much anywhere you go, causes such a heavy vexation to my soul.

So you have money or command a large salary...So you have a Ph.D...So you have a fancy title with a spacious corner office overlooking the city....So you rub elbows with the boss and go to happy hour on Fridays with him/her....so...so what???

As vex as I often get with the arrogant, pity soon follows as I have realized that underneath the hubris lay an unimaginable emptiness & a deep, perhaps unconscious fear of exposure. I am not the judgmental type, however, when it comes to those who float around thinking that they're better than you or anyone else based on some contorted world-view, well, the gloves come off and I pretty much expose them for the pieces of dysfunctional shits that they have allowed themselves to become. Perhaps I am wrong, but I believe in righteous indignation and I will stomp on those who step to me in such a manner. Some years ago, I exposed an entire organization I worked for publicly (in a newspaper article) which embarrassed all the would-be Kings of the company. Since I used an alias, no one knew who wrote the article, but a few suspected that I was probably the one. In any case, a corporate re-organization shortly followed and things got a lot better before I resigned. My point was made.

Destroying arrogance begins with really seeing--being real. When we examine our burdensome and inflated assumptions about ourselves, gradually we begin to unmask the imposter within and soon come to the realization that, fundamentally, we are at the same level of importance as others: not higher, despite our gifts, and not lower, despite our defects - just damn ordinary! At the end of the day, folks are not going to remember you by whatever power or material possessions that you may have acquired, but by the true substance of your soul.

Be real!

OneLove~MixMasterE

Crank Dat Obama!!

Hilarious! Check the wicked footwork!

Street Prophet: Lupe Fiasco

One of the most searing, iconoclastic and original Hip Hop artists on the scene today is Chicago-born rapper, producer & song-writer Lupe Fiasco. What's different about Lupe is his conscious attempt to overturn debilitating and pernicious stereotypes that still serve as open wounds on the socio-cultural & politico-historical fabric of this nation. Like Nas, Talib Kweli and Common, he cleverly weaves complex tapestries and multi-dimensional character portrayals that take you on a journey to spheres that may be unfamiliar. Being only 26 years old makes him even more remarkable indeed.  Admittedly, some of the landscapes he etches are really dark, brooding and foreboding pieces, but he makes his point convincingly.


Check him out on the Tavis Smiley show explaining how he furtively slips his music past commercial radio's predominant format of lasciviousness:




OneLove

:::MME:::

Michael Eric Dyson on Barack, Hillary and Playa-Haters

One of my favorite public intellectuals, Michael Eric Dyson, really shines the light on contemporary realities. His opinion of Barack is spot-on.

Also check out Barack's brilliant speech again....



OneLove

The Heart Of Faith

Have a deeply meditative, beautifully enriching & spiritually compelling Easter!

A few luminous petals........

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
- Mahatama Gandhi

That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it you can't understand it. And if you do, no explanation is necessary.
- Major Kira Nerys

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
--Albert Einstein

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking
--Kahlil Gibran

This is what I believe:
That I am I.
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.
That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.
There is my creed.
-D.H Lawrence

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith is a passionate intuition.
-William Wordsworth

If the only prayer you ever say in life is "Thank you". . . that is enough.
- Meister Eckert

OneLove

~MixMasterE~

The Male Ego

I have to admit, we (men) are fucked up. Be it at home, work, playing field, you name it, we pound our chest, stamp our feet and insist on our presence in this world. Is it any wonder that the world is as it is? Arguably, it would be a different place if our egos were more balanced. In spite of this, there is hope. There are countless men who defy the false paradigms of what 'makes a man a man' taking it upon themselves to critically reflect on & analyze their place in a deeply sexist, racist, classist and alienating society.

Here are a few odes to the catastrophic force of nature, the male ego (the female ego I will deal with at a later time--I can't let you off the hook!)

Aftermath:Life After Humans

Explore an interactive world without humans here. It's an amazing projection.

OneLove

MixMasterE