Show Up ~ Rant

You want to know what is great about awareness? The actual moment that you know you are aware.



Awareness...it’s an odd thing that we all search for at different times of our lives…higher purpose, simply to have purpose, guidance from the divine.

But then there is an instant when we hear our inner voice, actually hear it speak, both audible and in our gut at the same time…a truth.

Next, the hard part…What do you do with a truth from yourself? Worse yet, a gut truth that will nag at you until you do the damn thing that is revealed (nagging) to you.

You say your prayers then you go to work.

Deliver whatever it is. Be present.

Show up.

P.S.
I wrote this on Facebook yesterday but I feel it needs to be preserved here.

~ I am an advocate for being pulled together for a common “purpose”, not pushed together by a common “argument”.

Man-Spa

This past Saturday I went to a man-spa for a haircut.

Man-spa is not its real name, its real name is a French word that I cannot pronounce with funny symbols above specific letters in its name. I have been to this man-spa before for other types of man-spa treatments but I am no longer secure enough in my manliness to have these other treatments done to me in a public place whose name I cannot enunciate.

Sitting in the man-spa is a very manly experience for the man who wishes to feel pretty. They offer you lattés, cappuccinos and water that comes in oddly shaped bottles that look expensive. The waiting room smells of musk and leather, I think it might be burning candles. The magazine collection is a mixture of sports, cars, and man-style fashion magazines; think Vanity Fair for men. Vanity Fair is a magazine that men and women can both read, right? Nonetheless I pick up a copy of Esquire magazine and read an article about how Robert Downy Jr. is the second best actor in America. Never did find out who number one was.

The receptionist tells me that my stylist, Jess, will be right out. Jess? An androgynous, transgendered name…that always makes me uncomfortable. Not that I care if a man or woman cuts my hair; its the not knowing of who will walk around the corner to meet me. Ok Jess is a girl, a good-looking non-confusing gender of a woman. Don’t judge me, its a man-spa, I am here for the experience.

I explain the haircut that I want to Jess. It’s a mixture of Buddhist monk meets Brad Pitt haircut in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Jess calls it a buzz cut and places a number four guard on her clippers and within ten minutes I can see the white dome of my skull.

Next, the man-spa treatments that I am secure enough to treat myself to--scalp message with a hot towel wrapped around my face. The next three minutes with Jess are blissful.

Coffee Shop

Yesterday I was waiting in a coffee shop for a photographer friend of mine. You probably think that I am the type of person who would spend time in coffee shops. I am not but I should…

Top 5 reasons why I do fit the “coffee shop” stereotype:

1) I drink coffee.
2) I like to write in public places to steal ideas.
3) I have that scruffy-beard-artist-look-thing going for me.
4) Reading books in public places makes me feel cool. Got to feed the ego.
5) I like listening to music by white men with sad lyrics while playing acoustic guitar.

Top 5 Conversations overheard in a coffee shop:

1) Two stripper Moms trying to decide on daycare for their daughters
2) 80 year old man searching for his birth parents
3) Why fried bologna sandwiches are the best; seriously this was a great conversation to eavesdrop on.
4) Anything about religion, especially why other religions are wrong.
5) Isn’t John Craig extremely good looking?

4am & a Thought

Woke up early, again, very early 4am. Coffee is extra good at 4am and the computer screen is bright at 4am, painfully bright.

Been thinking about getting a hand grinder for coffee beans. There is something about brewing a cup of coffee that appeals to me.

Finished reading “Change By Design” by Tim Brown last night. The book ended with a quote by Tom Kelly that has sparked a thought in me.

“Innovation begins with an eye.” ~ that is the photographers job; to create something new and different. A photograph starts with a thought.

For 17 years I have been working in photography and in that time I have never felt like an inclusive photographer. I am not techie, nor do I subscribe to any photo magazines and have no interest in the latest gear. For me, my passion and effort has been pulled towards the compositional aspects of art. I think of myself as “I create therefore I am”, type of artist….my ego just exploded, sorry for the mess.

Nature. I am drawn to nature as a teacher of the arts. I figure that nature has a 4.5 billion-year headstart; maybe there is something that nature can teach me.

This is my compositional process: read books and go for walks in the woods, feel philosophical about myself…good thing egos are self-regenerating; I am on my third one today. Is this the correct process for photographers? No idea but it is the correct process for me.

Working on a post for next week: “Slow Photography Movement”. Raining outside, going to read a book by the fire.

Rant ~

To the Healthcare Protesters ~ shame, shame, shame on you…

What if healthcare was more like car insurance; 3 strikes and your out?

Let me use Rush Limp-ba as the chubby punching bag example:
Rush is fat: So Rush goes to the doctor to get heart medicine. The doctor tells him to take a pill a day, eat better and exercise.

Six months later the fatter Rush goes back to the doctor. The doctor tells him that he needs a stronger medicine (strike one).

A year passes and the Fat-R needs minor bypass surgery because he’s so overweight and doesn’t exercise. (strike two).

Recovering from surgery Fat-R discovers that he has a big appetite for prescription pain pills. He ends up in rich-man rehab, six weeks off from work while smoking cigars (strike three).

Let’s stop the abuse of healthcare with people who already have healthcare insurance. That would be the bulk of the protesters.

If a person does not care about improving their health why insure it?

If I get into three car accidents my insurance company will drop me faster that Fat-R can eat his way through a box of donuts.

I will pay more taxes ~ I want people to live ~ I care about universal health for our citizens.

If one person tells me that “sometimes people must die for capitalism to run true” I will punch you.

Rant

Things that have been on my nerves lately- Socialism…I am so tired of hearing everybody talk about the fear of being ruled by a socialist government. The bulk of our tax dollars are spent on defense…defense of keeping society safe. I like being safe. I like that I never had to fight in war. I like that I do not feel the threat of being attacked by a foreign land. Although I do not trust Australians, to quiet of a nation, watch your back.

I do not care about Socialism…because we already are, and have been, a socialist-run nation for the past fifty years…at least. We are a socialist nation who spends our collective tax dollars on going to war or preventing war or perpetuating the idea of somebody going to war. War makes people rich…ask Dick Cheney.

Dick Cheney…a man who has made his fortune in the private sector running companies who’s profits are derived from the United States being in war. No war, no profits. Now can you understand why Dick is on TV selling national security to us? He is trying to stay in business. For the past eight years he has been a media-ghost of the vice presidency. No need to talk when profits are bombing (no I did not mean booming).

People hate the term socialist and they hate the idea of government-run business. I get that I am a business man. I do not want the government telling me what and who to photograph. I hate the capitalistic business of war. I hate war. I hate that my tax dollars help to make Dick Cheney richer.

Here is the part where this rant develops into a dream…stop going to war. If we stop going to war every other decade and keep the tax structure the way it currently is we could have healthcare and education for all. That’s right. Our government tax structure could remain in tact. If taxes do not go up I bet you people will not care how our government is labeled.

I like capitalism especially when people with capital care about society.

p.s. – The opening sentence in the constitution is “We the people”, it is not I the person. I hope that those of you who wish to criticize this rant do so. Please refrain from quoting Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Glen Beck; they are entertainers not journalists, nor academics. They claim to be good Americans yet they do not claim to be good human beings.

p.s.s – If you really hate socialism what you can do as an individual is refuse social security and Medicare when you retire. I bet the drug addicted, heart patient Limbaugh will accept that gift from government.

This Stuff Can Not Be Made Up

Last night I was driving behind a mini-van on my way to the gym (of course it is always a mini-van). The driver had to come to a complete stop every time they had to use their turn signal, EVERY TIME on a two lane road.

It took me an extra 15 min to get to the gym, but no road rage at all…it was just too damn funny to get upset over.

At the gym I am swimming laps. Standing on the edge of the pool is a very large man in a tiny blue Speedo swimsuit. Yes, eye-scaring but also it was quite impressive to see how far that tiny blue Speedo fabric can stretch.

At this point I am about 15 minutes into swimming laps and the large man in the tiny blue Speedo standing on the edge of pool is starting to stretch…yoga-pose-type of stretching. I start screaming in my head “please God make it so I do not look”. My prayers were not answered. I looked and more eye-scaring images burnt into my head.

Next - large man in a tiny blue Speedo swimsuit Jr. comes out of the locker room in matching tiny blue Speedo. Now I am hearing circus music in my head. The Mini-me lad meets his Dad at the edge of the pool and they start dancing like Irish Leprechauns.

Ok – the Leprechaun part is made up but everything else happened.