Tag: Personal Development

Why so many people binge watch TV?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Personal Development, Science, Spirituality
(C) Alex Max, http://www.fotosearch. com

As with all life forms on planet Earth, we humans are sentient beings. Some would say we humans are at the pinnacle of sentience on this planet. I think, in reality, the jury is still out on that. However, regardless of the relative status of sentience of our species, we all, to a greater or lesser extent, want to know what’s going on around us. Of course we use our eyes and ears to acquire information from our environment. Also we use our body’s sense of touch. And some tune into and work at interpreting the energetic fluctuations and vibrations we feel within ourselves. We sense, intuit, these vibrations. Energetic fluctuations and vibrations which are set in motion by the activities, all the activities, taking place in the world.  Some are more aware of this particular aspect of our sentience than others. But we all are touched by these energetic fluctuations and vibrations and I tend to believe that on some level, maybe deep within an area of our mind which we may seldom visit, our curiosity is piqued by these activities. Further, I tend to believe that generally we are more aware of/tuned in to the energetic ripples set in motion by/and/or occurring with other humans. It would make sense because the frequencies involved would be the ones our bodies and minds are most familiar with. Frequencies we identify with. 

Of course this ambient energetic reality of ours has some messages which are broadcast more strongly than others. The building of pressure within the Earth preceding an earthquake for example. Particularly strong sunspot activity. Thunder and lightning storms, tornadoes, hurricanes. The vibrations being sent by an animal stalking us for whatever reason are ones about which we commonly might hear someone say, I sensed something, turned around, and the animal was moving closer. Or when our child or mate is distressed in the next room. I imagine most people can offer an instance or two of when they “just knew” that something was going on and they followed that feeling. 

For most of our history we as individuals have been able to have some awareness of all of the human activities taking place within our known world. However small or large that world was in our minds at the time. We held in mystery, possibly awe, possibly fear, what may be taking place in faraway, or unseen, places. We constructed yarns, myths, tales of our imaginings of what might be going on outside of the geography or the realm of our understanding. We would sit by the campfire, or fireplace, and entertain each other with these tales. Often morals or warnings would be woven into the tales, or possibly wisdom about hunting, farming or some other aspect of daily life. We took some comfort from filling in the unknown with our own imaginings. Is this just another aspect of the adage that “Nature abhors a vacuum.”?

The fact is we do sense the activities that are taking place in the world around us. We may sense them with our eyes, our ears, our emotions, and always, consciously or below the threshold of our attentive awareness, we feel the sometimes strong and sometimes subtle energetic emanations of all of the activities taking place within our world. This includes the activities taking place among people, animal life, plant life, geologic activity, cosmic activity (sunspots, the energies from the planets, our moon, radiation surges), and manmade electromagnetic activity, such as from communications technology, to name a few. Further, because we are sentient beings, we want to know what the activity which we feel is about. What is our world telling us? Possibly it can be likened somewhat to a spider rushing to see what is pulling on the thread of it’s web, our minds want to understand what forces are pushing or pulling upon our energetic bodies. 

All that being said: Today we are misled and lied to on an ongoing basis by our government along with many industries, banks and others in positions of power about what activities they are involved with. There has never been another time of such rampant deceit in all of recorded human history. Our “mainstream” media may be wholly honest and forthcoming about what went on at the local sporting event last night, however, when it comes to the activities of governments and multi-billion dollar industries we are given pablum if not carefully tailored misinformation. There are many factors which are going together to produce this unfortunate reality. Not the least is of which is the desire of too many occupying high positions government and industry to keep us greatly misinformed or uninformed. It seems we might become nuisances if we know too much. It’s better we continue to drink beer, obsess over sports and celebrities, continue giving up increasing amounts of our worldly wealth, and let them operate behind closed doors. The way they like it. 

So we spend our days living within, being affected by, an energetic stew made up up the resonating frequencies being put in motion by the activities taking place in the world around us and we wonder…what?…why? Where can we find some answers? 

So many turn to the medium that is throwing all manner of human interactions at us, 24/7. Through various TV series and movies we can experience an infinite variety of events, interactions, intellectual and emotional actions and reactions. Sometimes what we are experiencing via the show we are watching resonates with something real inside us. We may then feel enlightened, affirmed, strengthened. It’s like finding a piece to the puzzle. This experience, repeated hundreds of times, little by little, piece by piece can begin to lead us to feel/believe that we are acquiring a larger picture of what is taking place in the real world. Sometimes we are able to learn that the picture developing in our minds from fictional tales does reasonably accurately reflect real-world activity. And sometimes it is woefully lacking.

Such learning via sensory led association can be enjoyable, can at times be enlightening, and can sometimes truly help us feel more connected to the world around us. However, it is a rather pitiful shadow of how a well-rounded education into the reality of life on Earth for intelligent sentient beings might more ideally take place. We should be informed on an ongoing basis by those in governmental offices and agencies who are supposed to be serving the best interests of the nation. We should be taught the truth of how our financial system, medicine, industry work in the world rather than the idealized, sanitized versions so commonly presented today. We should not have to play amateur detectives all the time: painstakingly examining the pieces of reality we can find and then trying to fit them together to try to find a more holistic picture of the real world around us. Because, bottom line, we do want and need to understand our here and now. The known truths of our world should be open before us like clear water in a mountain lake. Pure, pristine and there to benefit from for the effort we put into it. Our souls would find nourishment in such a reality. We would be able make choices in our lives which result in better results within ourselves, our families, our communities. We could make choices which result in our being revitalized and renewed. From the most humble household to the global village of humanity. 

Of course, as Sigmund Freud said “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” And not everyone is trying fervently to glean truth from the hints and resonances, planned or unplanned, taking place in the movies and television shows they watch. Sometimes it is just entertainment, or straight-forward education such as in nature shows. But there are many people in the world who are hungry for the truths being denied us by those in positions of governmental and/or industrial power. And those people are often trying to glean what may be gleaned from the scraps thrown us, the shadows, echos, and resonances of truth which occasionally show up, intentionally or unintentionally, in various television shows and movies. 

It’s time all the closed door meetings, secret reports, secret deals and “black ops” became disclosed. It’s time we, the citizens, the builders, the foundations of our communities and nation were honestly informed about the happenings, developments, inventions, and business dealings going on in our world. Only in this way can an honest, viable democracy function.

How did the United States take such a wrong turn?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Environment, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Science, Spirituality, Sustainability, War

As the song says, “War, huh, good God, y’all, what is it good for?” Something war most certainly is, is the violent introduction of some, if not all, of humankind’s most ill-conceived, lowest frequency, motivations into the spiritual/physical realm of our planet. Into our communities, into our lives.

The act of war, or acts of violence on an interpersonal level, without exception result in vibrations of dissonance reverberating within our energetic/spiritual environment. The traumas which war produces can, and too often do, resonate within generations becoming a self-perpetuating source of hatred and violence. The result is traumatized people blindly acting out of impulse to perpetuate more trauma and on and on.

How different our world would be if following the Second World War the United States had decided to “be the change we (the vast majority of people on Earth) want to see in the world.” How different the world would be if the United States had decided to model what an evolved, educated, caring nation could be instead of deciding to try to accomplish global domination via military might. How did a nation so blessed as the United States in the period after the Second World War take such a wrong turn? It isn’t what the people wanted. In 1960 we voted for a man who promised to take the path of an evolved, educated, caring nation. The early 1960’s with John F. Kennedy in the White House and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the pulpit, held so much promise for an enlightened future for humanity. Under Kennedy, foreign policy meant constructive cultural exchange. What we have seen foreign policy devolve into the past few decades is vicious attacks upon whatever nations aren’t getting into lockstep with the wealth/power/control aspirations of a coalition of a relative few of the world’s wealthiest and most politically powerful.

We, as a people in the United States and around the world, need to stop engaging in, or supporting, the madness of materialism, imperialism, competition and profiteering that has become commonplace in our world. We are, all of us, children of the Universal Divine Creative Spirit. We are all brothers and sisters in the spirit. We are all connected by the energy/spirit that we are made up of and that we live within. Sooner or later the cruelties expressed and the suffering taking place anywhere in the world are going to touch all of us.

At our core, our needs as human beings aren’t all that different. We do have differences in appearance: skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, and other physical attributes. We also have differences in the way we relate to the world. Some people are more intellectual, some more physical, some more visual, some more auditory. These differences may affect one’s values, likes and dislikes. They can affect who we seek out for companionship. All of these differences together lend each of us a certain uniqueness. And thank goodness, what a drab, boring place this Earth might be if we all were in lockstep with how we view the world, our likes and dislikes.

However, at our core, we are all of the same ilk. In order to be healthy, we all need clean air, clean water, nutritious food, shelter from extreme weather conditions. We all need to have other people we socialize with, share our thoughts and feelings with. We all need to love and to be loved. While we all may enjoy periods of isolation, some may say they don’t need socialization or love at all. However, that condition, if it exists at all, is rare. Abraham Maslow recognized these shared needs among people and produced his “Hierarchy of Needs” to help us all understand them, and ourselves.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Our natural way of relating to one another is copacetically. Babies and young children don’t want war. They know instinctively that it is not good for them. It’s only after we become acculturated into competition, envy, jealousy, greed, hate, essentially all the things that trauma and deprivation (also a form of trauma) nurture in the world that we as adults begin to imagine that there is gain in violence and war. When we know love, belonging, we don’t want to throw that away to go kill someone, somewhere, in order to try to achieve some ill-begotten, grandiose plan. Or more ridiculously to devote our lives to support someone else’s ill-begotten, grandiose plan.

We cannot fully develop as human beings when the higher functioning capabilities of our brains are diminished due to trauma. Do we want to keep living in a manner more suited to the beasts of the field while we live in a universe of unlimited possibilities? If so, all we need to do is build and sustain a culture of competition rather than cooperation. To keep on warring instead of working together. To keep on destroying each other rather than honoring the innate kinship of all of humanity, of all life.

It is when people are mistreated, traumatized, deprived, destitute, suffering, and/or deluded that fear, greed, callousness, and myriad other negative thoughts/feelings/and motivations arise. Competition as cultural norm breeds these all of these things and more. Within a framework of a few basic laws, within a culture of people who are thinking in terms of mutuality, trust, fairness, and compassion, the wondrous possibilities of this world are endless.

The Congressional Hearings on UAP are fraught with the same worn-out denials and obfuscations which sincere investigators into these phenomena have faced for decades.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Economics, Integrity, Politics, Science, UFOs, UAP

We need to stop giving equal time to the “flat earthers” of Ufology.  The “flat earthers” are those who directly or indirectly attempt to negate all the evidence which has been brought forward by hundreds of conscientious men and women over the past few decades.  Sometimes this negation is expressed by feigning a genuine, healthy interest in the subject and then repeating the worn-out, nihilistic mantra: “Wouldn’t it be great if we had evidence.”

Is it just me reaching this conclusion at this time? I’ve been interested in our beautiful night sky, space, UFO’s (UAP or whatever name is currently in vogue) for decades. I’ve read books and articles, watched videos and documentaries, listened to authoritative people describe their first-hand experiences with alien technology and, in a smaller number of cases, with extraterrestrial beings. A lot of the first-hand accounts come from ex-military personnel who have had distinguished careers. There are the many brave whistleblowers who risk much professionally and personally to come forward with their first-person accounts. Additionally, there are so very many people from all over the world who don’t and have never worked in a profession which would particularly lend them to encountering extraterrestrial craft or beings, yet they have. And again, taking personal and/or professional risks, they speak out.

Why?  I believe it is significantly due to an underlying realization that it matters. Having a reality-based understanding of the world we live in matters. Knowing where our tax dollars are spent matters. As the de facto financiers of so much of the effort that has gone into the investigation of the extraterrestrial phenomena, we deserve to know what our money is being spent on. Which evidently includes the acquisition of extraterrestrial technology and the subsequent research and development which has taken place. Humanity should, by all rights, be able to reap any and all benefits from this technology which stands to improve the quality of lives around the world.  Benefits which, from all reports, will improve our efforts toward a cleaner and healthier environment.

Yes, there are some people who for whatever reason offer up untrue, fabricated information or intentional misinformation. But as with any new field of natural science, with repeated exposure to the samples coming in from the field, one increases in ability to discern a fabrication from an authentic article. That being said, this task is becoming more difficult with the deployment of human built and operated gravity drive vehicles and the technological advances in the ability to create convincing illusions.  It is our great misfortune that there are unscrupulous people who already have and as long as they can continue to engage in employing such technology in their efforts to confuse the public and obfuscate reality will do so. This becomes an even more grievous assault on the citizenry when we consider that we the citizenry have footed the bill for much, if not all, of this technology. However, overcoming such heinous efforts at confusing and disorienting our understanding of the world we live in is not an insurmountable task.  A lot of people are working to counter such despicable actions with their continued efforts toward sharing the genuine knowledge that is available.  I want to add that as a mental health professional I find the efforts at confusing people about our reality to be as heinous and as dangerous an assault on our minds as is the assault upon our bodies by those who persist in polluting our environment and the products we consume.

Thankfully there are many people with a genuine, healthy interest in “UAP” who have spent countless hours pursuing this area of study.  To you who are also on this path who haven’t experienced this already, I can state with assurance that there comes a point in which the accumulated knowledge which has been brought to light by all the aforementioned contributors moves a person from curiosity to certainty. There is such an abundance of evidence, ranging from the credible to the undeniable, that for any person who wants to represent themself as a serious student of this field of knowledge, much less represent themself as an expert in the field, to engage in overlooking, or in any way stating or insinuating that such evidence does not exist reveals themself as a charlatan or worse: someone who is intentionally working to undermine the perceptions and credibility of a great many intelligent, astute, honorable people.

Just as we have stopped lending an iota of credibility to “flat earthers”, it’s time we stopped lending an iota credibility to those whose presentations directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, serve to downplay, obfuscate, or deny the realities which conscientious people have brought forward. We need to be aware that sometimes the obfuscations and denials are done by someone pretending to be an “expert” who presents how wonderful it would be if we only knew for sure that intelligent life existed in other places in the universe. Such a presentation is a de facto refutation of the accumulated knowledge and evidence that has come forward over decades. Knowledge and evidence that authoritatively speaks to the reality that contact has taken place between extraterrestrial beings and people from Earth.

Lastly, much more is known about extraterrestrial life and human contact by those involved with and jealously guarding the “black” programs.  This includes the knowledge that some highly advanced technology (relative to what is in general use) has been gained and is being employed in a covert manner.  This will continue with the technological imbalance between covert technology and what is widely known increasing. This dual reality which has been created constitutes the very reality of a relative handful of men and women acquiring the very “unwarranted influence” which President Eisenhower warned us of in his farewell address.  “We the People” need to wake up to this reality, step out of the darkness and denial, and demand full disclosure of, and inclusion in the management of, the knowledge and technologies which have been and are being acquired from contact with extraterrestrial beings.  For the sake of humanity.

Lies, Profits, and Protecting the Integrity of Our Place in the World

by kendunning, posted in Economics, Politics, Psychology

During my lifetime I have witnessed the people of the U.S. and the world be lied to frequently via “mainstream” media. Lied to by individuals and groups who occupy the positions of Governmental and industrial power. Some of the events which stand out in this regard are:

The JFK assassination.

The Gulf of Tonkin attack.

The Oklahoma City Bombing.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The origins of the COVID virus.

The safety and efficacy of the mRNA vaccines.

In all cases the stories put forward, the lies, have served clearly served the agendas of a minority of people within the military/industrial/governmental complex. All of the lies have served to increase fear, division and often hatred within the general population of the U.S. Some of the lies have promoted hatred toward the people of other countries. In at least three cases, the lies have been used to promote military action, war, against the people of other countries. All of the lies serve to demonstrate to any and all who are paying attention, that those occupying key seats of governmental/military and industrial power and influence in the U.S. are not interested in the wellbeing of the general population of the U.S. Nor are they interested in the genuine wellbeing of the people in any other country. They have their own, narrow, self-serving agendas and will lie to further them. Their lies have resulted in the suffering, maiming, and deaths of multitudes of men, women and children in other countries along with the lives of Americans.

It is the responsibility of all citizens who want to see our nation, we as a people, regain a positive, healthful quality of life to wise up to these calculated manipulations of our hearts and minds. Read, watch, listen, learn, think through, and always follow the money. With the desire and the effort to do so, we can become invulnerable to such manipulations. When being asked to hate or kill, or to be ready to die for some agenda or cause being promoted by those in political power and parroted by the “mainstream” media, ask yourself four things:

1. Are the reasons being given to promote a war real or is there evidence to reasonably believe that the reasons/events which are the basis for the call to war are being manipulated or even created by those putting forward the call to war?

2. Is it really in the best interest of myself, my family, my community to follow the direction being put forward? Why, or why not? (Or does it seem to primarily serve some other peoples’ agenda of acquisition of wealth and power?)

3. If there is a real, immediate, compelling problem, is there a better solution to the problem than that of violence, death and destruction?

World conquest 2.0 and how to resist it.

by kendunning, posted in Community, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality
Photo: Ken Dunning

The problem with the proposed U.N. gun ban is that it leaves the most ruthless criminals; the governments who routinely use armies and police as enforcers for special interest agendas, fully armed. Such special interest agendas which are being enacted and enforced which strip people, families and communities of their individual rights, freedoms and economic stability. Within this worldwide dynamic there are, in many and various places, “sub-elements” of individuals and groups who can and will use weapons to engage in their own more localized criminal activities: robbery, intimidation, assault, murder. These elements are what most people want to see disarmed. Yet these elements are those which would be the last to, if ever, turn over any weapons they possess. As the saying goes: “When guns are criminalized, only criminals will have guns.” The Second Amendment was intended to enable a well-armed citizenry to defend itself against armed assaults from either criminally authoritarian governments or smaller criminal groups. Regrettably, the threats which it is designed to address are no less present today than they were in the late 1700’s.

Yet there has been a movement within people around the world to embrace greater understanding of, and empathy toward, others. Via international tourism, this movement was rapidly picking up momentum in the past few decades. Perhaps this momentum threatened those who see authoritarian control as the system they want to see in place: with themselves as the authorities. The appearance of COVID was used to almost totally quash the increasing amount of international tourism. Tourism which was having the effect of bringing people together; which was allowing people to see first-hand the similarities and kinship innate within all people on Earth. The past few months international tourism has been opening up considerably, however, simultaneously plans are being laid among the international governmental powers-that-be to bring international tourism under an increased level of authoritarian control. A concerted attempt to bring a “vaccine passport” into being is underway among the G20 nations.

Which brings us back to the proposed U.N. gun ban. There can be no question that there exists an international elite who see themselves as the leaders of the world. Further, they want to impose their vision of the future upon the global citizenry. A vision which lacks the merit which would allow it to be globally embraced by an enlightened populace. If their vision had such merit, it would be spontaneously embraced. It would become a globally internalized behavioral guidance system which would lead to a harmonious society. But it does not, so lies, manipulation, and force are being employed in an attempt to establish the desired authoritarian system. Ultimately, as it is highly oppositional to a healthy human nature, it will fall apart. Yet we are left with the question of how much pain and suffering this attempt will cause while it is underway? It depends on several things. One of which, possibly the most significant, is how susceptible people around the world are to being convinced that participating in military, and/or police, violence against other nations and people is a good thing to do. This will largely depend upon the amount of fear the powers-that-be are able to cultivate among one person or population toward another.

What will go the farthest toward keeping us safe against this insidious attempt at bringing the general population of the world under the control of a self-serving minority, is simply not buying into the persistent rhetoric, the fear mongering. The more we stay centered in love, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, and then acting upon that love, the better chance we have of keeping the most positive aspects of our humanity alive and well.

As a species we face the need for a major transition.  Will it happen by design or default?  And if by design, whose?

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Sustainability

An article carried on the AP recently has the statement: “…the United States and Japan are expected to agree to changes in the joint defense posture this week as the two nations confront rising threats from North Korea and increasing aggressiveness from China.” These kinds of statements in the news are nothing new. It is common for news reports these days to be about the threats and violence one country, or faction within a country, are inflicting upon another. It is so common that I imagine many adults who were born in the 1990s just take it for granted that this is the inescapable way of the world. It isn’t.

I also know that gratefully there are many people in the world, people of all ages, who have a different vision for the world. One in which headlines can read something like: “A cooperative international effort has eradicated hunger in 99.5% of the world’s population and is expected to have completely eradicated it within another year.” Or “International efforts in education and health care have resulted in greatly improved educational and medical treatment options throughout the world.” Wouldn’t that be nice?

I can remember the world during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. The optimism, the dreams, the good will being expressed on the international stage. Of course, as we know, people enamored of war and violence killed President Kennedy and effectively turned that optimistic trend around to express what they knew. Toward what they envisioned as the future of the world. And now we’re experiencing their preoccupation with war and violence being expressed in the world.  The world which is our home. 

Is this any way to run a world? No, it isn’t.  Not if a healthy, thriving, worldwide population is the goal.  However, a healthy, thriving worldwide population evidently isn’t the goal of the money/power “elite” that are pulling the economic, political strings in the world.  It is apparently their desire to establish a worldwide political/economic system which is essentially a return to something more closely resembling the medieval feudal system. 

The above pyramid roughly illustrates the composition of the 21st century feudal system that is being engineered into existence.  However, it is not absolute in it’s designations.  For instance, many Presidents, Prime Ministers, and other national heads of state fall in the category of “Lords” rather than being part of the actual international ruling/governing body.  And some with a high level of a particular skill which is needed by the ruling body may find themselves at least honorary members of the “Lords”. 

The following illustration roughly provides a reference point for how the wealth, which is largely manufactured, mined or otherwise produced by the Peasants and Serfs, is ultimately currently being distributed.  The ongoing increase in automated systems which perform labor previously performed by human workers calls to question the need for as large a general population as historically been needed.

Largely by manipulations within the educational, media and entertainment systems, the King and Lords have managed to convince the general public that such an inequitable distribution of wealth is right and proper.  This is no small feat considering all the wealth has either been provided by either the natural composition of the Earth itself or the labor of the Peasants/Serfs.  Often it is a combination of these things combined. 

One inescapable problem with this system (among many) is that people tend to look enviously, lustfully upon the wealth of others.  Possibly the money/power elite behind current events believe that by consolidating world rule under one ruling body, as opposed to many fiefdoms which existed during the medieval times that they will have effectively prevented any serious challenges to their position. However, when there is such a disproportionate distribution of wealth taking place we may be certain that there are persons with resources whose egos, whose greed, will not allow them to accept such conditions.  This ensures that there will be wars, uprisings, revolutions and the like.  Which simultaneously ensures that the conditions which prevent human beings from more fully discovering their innate gifts and abilities will continue to plague humanity.  Too much stress and repeated trauma are not conducive to positive, holistic, human development.

So, do we have any options?  Yes we do if we work together.  We desperately need to largely replace competition with cooperation.  Cooperation between individuals, groups, professions, businesses, nations, and with the Earth itself.  Humankind has ample stress/challenge placed upon us simply by existing upon this Earth at all (yes, a certain amount of stress is healthy/needed.)  We do not need to be continually creating lethal amounts by our own actions.

I love the following illustration.  I’ve used it a lot in my blog articled because it sums it up so graphically.  It beautifully illustrates for us all we need to do to maximize our potential both as individuals and as a species.  To work together so beautifully will, of course, take work.  It will require that we sincerely and diligently work to overcome our prejudices, misunderstandings, relatively trivial and not so trivial differences.  Impossible?  Not at all.  If we want it, really want it, and are willing to work for it, we can have it.  Might it be hard?  Yes, at times it might be.  However, it couldn’t possibly take any more work and resources than we currently devote to violence, killing, war.  Ultimately it very well may be our only long term option as a species.  We are currently in possessions of the weaponry and delivery means to wipe ourselves from our Earthly existence.  To think such a potential exists but that some crazed authoritarian head of state or rogue military officer would never actually employ it is, I think, naive.  We very much need to curb our intolerance, judgementalism, and other ego driven constructs which separate us and pit us against one another.  We very much need to realize our interdependence, our interconnectedness and begin enjoying all blessings which lie in wait for us when we do.

(c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

Principles or Personalities?

by kendunning, posted in Community, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality

Books, magazines, radio, television, computers, they all have, to a greater or lesser extent, contributed to the phenomena of masses of people becoming enamored with a personality which they have been exposed to via that medium. In the past, in the days in which books, magazines and then radio were the primary media, authors and radio personalities might become famous, even loved, for their contributions. However, the advent of movies, television, and now computers and cell phones has exponentially increased the phenomenon of “consumers” not only liking, or loving, but idolizing the personalities whose faces and words fill these media.

In doing a computer search on the definition of “idolize”, the following definition, attributed to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. came up on “Wordnik”: “To regard with great or uncritical admiration or devotion.” The descriptor “uncritical” is the key word to why such idolization (of anyone or anything) is not something conducive to genuinely healthy individuals nor a healthy culture. I think all of us, with a few seconds of thought, can come up with the name of a personality that has been the recipient of such idolization in the past and/or the present. I would venture that very often those who are not caught up in the idolization of a particular person can plainly see the downside of such idolization. However, interestingly, even those who can plainly see the downside, the “error” if you will, of idolizing one personality may be actively involved in the idolization of another. In such cases it is a recognition of the imperfections of the object of the idolization, rather than a recognition of the pitfalls inherent in the act of idolization itself. The American practice of idolization is so pervasive, so entrenched, that within certain (many?) Christian churches the idolization of Jesus has become more important than adherence to the vital principles he taught.

Why does it matter? One very important reason is that if a person can be led to believe that it is the idolization, the worship, of a personality that is important, rather than the study and consideration of the vital principles which they proclaim, then a person can be led to violate genuinely vital principles necessary to a healthy person or culture when told to do so by the object of idolization. Or by another person or an agency which they believe represent the object of idolization.

Beware of any person or organization which holds up a personality as someone to be idolized. Both as individuals and as a culture we are much better served by having concern with the principles which enlightened and loving teachers, saints and prophets, through the ages, have brought forward. Principles such persons have endeavored to direct and encourage people to the study and understanding of.

The Family Potluck

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Economics, Health, Politics, Spirituality
Image (c) AlexMax http://www.fotosearch.com

Maybe some have never experienced a large family potluck. I know many have, however, unfortunately, there are probably some who haven’t. If you’re one of them, I hope as your life proceeds you have the opportunity to do so. A large family potluck provides an excellent analogy for how world economics should operate.

First, everybody should contribute. If not in supplying the food, in helping with the set-up or the clean-up. For the most part though, in my experience, participants either individually or as a component family of the larger family group, bring some kind of food. The result can be the most wonderful, varied, delicious collection of edibles one may have ever seen. A dizzying collection of aromas, colors, textures, and finally tastes. It can be difficult knowing where to start, what to put on one’s plate. Some may pick a selective and limited menu, opting for three or four items. While the plates of others may be a microcosm of the dizzying kaleidoscope of food displayed on the serving table. Large family potlucks can be some of the most wonderful feasts, both of food and of fellowship, that one can experience. As long as everyone is considerate, no one takes an inordinate amount of food, then everyone finds themselves delightfully filled.

But what if someone decided that they were going to take all of one of the items rather than a sampling of many offerings? That would put a crimp in things. Or what if someone said that because they had supplied the dinnerware, all the other family members should pay them an exorbitant fee to participate? Maybe someone in the family invented the fork and they want two-thirds of all the food as recompense? (Maybe they should be sent to their room and told to eat their forks?) Maybe someone is an excellent pastry chef and feels that because they have contributed such excellent pies they should be first in line and allowed to fill five plates; one for now and four for later? Or, maybe the elder family members feel age should determine the serving order and if, after they eat their fill and fill a few take-home containers the younger members can fight over the scraps? Or maybe it’s the reverse and the more youthful, belligerent family members forcibly commandeer the table and to hell with everyone else?

Family potlucks should not, and I venture rarely do, require someone to be the “food police”. Oh, sometimes it may require a parent to admonish a child that, for their own good, they should not just fill up on pie. However, generally everyone recognizes the flow and the balance of the gathering and with appropriate consideration for others, things simply flow smoothly and wonderfully.

Do you see where this is going?

The infamous “rabbit hole”: created by the frequent and grievous practice of deception. Maintained by the practice of blind obedience.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Spirituality, Sustainability
Image: (c) Dazdraperma http://www.fotosearch.com

If you pay much attention at all to the reports, investigative journalism, conspiracy theories and undeniable conspiracy reality that is increasingly present in many different media these days, sooner or later you are going encounter the term “rabbit hole”. The rabbit hole is, metaphorically speaking, the long dark tunnel (of information, facts) that one must work one’s way through to penetrate the superficial, artificial, mental image of the world which certain aspects of the government, media and various other industries, do their best to assure is the one which most people of the world carry with them. Those who have dared delve into the realms of the realities which are kept hidden as well as possible from the average citizen often pay a price. I’m not referring to sinister operatives who abduct people from their homes and hide them away in some covert prison or another. Or who maybe kill them. Although those atrocities are documented to have happened to honest, caring individuals who have uncovered and revealed truths, or produced products, which certain powerful individuals did not wish to see revealed. Just ask Julian Assange about that, if you can get to him in whatever dark hole he’s being imprisoned in. You might ask Cathy O’Brien, or Dr. Jeffrey R. McDonald, except he’s locked up for life. Or Stanley Meyers, or Ted Gunderson, but they’re dead.

The list could go on and on. But that is not the price which I am focusing on in this article. The price I am referring to is the breakdown of one’s internalized worldview. A reality which can often be a far more traumatic, disorienting experience than the mere mention of it even hints at. It can leave a person isolated, paranoid, unable to function well in day-to-day life. Or it might even prove fatal if the resulting debilitation is not successfully remedied. I think some intuitively sense that digging too deep into the affairs of the world might hold unpleasant consequences and consequently they avoid doing so. They usually also avoid listening for too long to someone who has been actively digging. But there are those whose thirst for knowledge, whose need to feel informed, connected with the actual reality of what is going on around them, is so compelling that they are going to seek the truth. Period.

The fact is, it seems that for those in positions of worldly power; governmental, economic, military, or even religious power, the methods they often utilize in dealing with the general public are to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate.

The vulnerability which many of us have is that we have allowed ourselves to internalize the system’s explanation of what’s going on in the world as absolute reality. If we could genuinely rely upon the system to be honest with us, we would not be at such a risk of finding ourselves traumatized and disoriented by the eventual emergence of reality. Unfortunately, in the U.S. and many other places that is not the case. I venture many people in the U.S. and many other countries are experiencing some degree of traumatization following coming face to face with actual reality. Some are experiencing severe symptoms resulting from it.

What can we do to protect ourselves from, or to help heal ourselves from the very real attempts to instill us with an illusory worldview and the inevitable cognitive dissonance we face as a result? To begin with, stop blindly believing in the proclamations coming from those who hold high office. The current dismal global reality is that if there is big money involved there are almost certainly big lies and deep corruption involved. We need to question, investigate, analyze, be skeptical, get grounded in grassroots level reality. Honor the basic values of truth, honesty, fairness, neighborliness. Recognize, understand, and express to the very best of our abilities, our mutuality here on this planet. If we’re not thinking “all for one and one for all” on a global level, we’re thinking “all for none and none for all”, and that is not going to serve us well.

Lies, deceit, greed, corruption are not the unavoidable way of life on planet Earth. They are what humankind through either short-sighted participation, ignorance, complacency or apathy have allowed to become widely manifest. It is important to realize that the use of such corrupt methods are not new to this century, or even this millennium. Our current world culture has seen such methods employed in the pursuit and the exercise of worldly power for millennia, possibly since the beginning of recorded history. But that does not in any way indicate that such behaviors are unavoidable or insurmountable. We, as a species, have overcome many of the challenges which, through our ignorance in whatever developmental stage we were in at the time, we have found ourselves facing. Human beings are responsible for the poisonous corruption when and where it is taking place, and we as human beings can see it stopped. It requires our will to do so and our efforts to be consciously aware and constantly endeavoring. Constantly endeavoring to refuse to participate in the thinking and practices which are undermining our nations, our communities, and our lives. And constantly endeavoring to replace such behaviors with positive, sustaining, honesty, truth and an applied understanding of our mutuality.

Through our cooperation and obedience, we are the strength of our oppressors.

Vital, thinking human beings are not meant to be turned into mindless automatons.

by kendunning, posted in Building our future., Community, Manifesting our Future, Mental Health, Personal Development, Politics, Psychology, Spirituality, Sustainability
A path in the beautiful North Cascades.

We are consigning children’s education to school systems which teach them to blindly trust and obey the people who occupy the governmental offices within our society.

For the survival of the human race, that needs to stop. Governments and the people who work within them are only beneficial to a society to the extent that their primary goals are the genuine health and well-being of the society which they serve. This necessarily means working within certain parameters. An essential quality which must be present within the parameters any and all governmental bodies operate within is truthfulness. Hand in hand with truthfulness is openness. Merely saying that the government is not going to allow it’s citizens to know what the criteria are that governmental officials are considering in their decision making does not meet those criteria. Not even close. Somewhere along the line, since the second world war, Americans allowed the Government to take the stance that America is on a permanent war footing and that the type of secrecy which was put in place during the war needed to exist on an ongoing basis. This culture of secrecy creates a fertile ground for corruption, lies, misdirection and unexplained actions. If we treat the whole world as a real or potential enemy, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I believe John F. Kennedy either intuitively or intellectually knew this. One of his primary goals was to take America out of the war-mindedness which had continued after WWII ended, and put America and the world on a course for true, sustainable, friendships and harmonious coexistence between all nations. This flew in the face of the aspirations of wealth and power hungry, militant, individuals who believed they saw a path to their desired version of the future. A path which President Kennedy firmly rejected. Having any nation, or group, especially any with predatory economic goals, act as an ongoing dominant overlord of the people of the world is not a viable, sustainable condition. It is clearly something most people in the world will loathe and reject if an attempt is made to force it upon them.

For sound mental, physical and spiritual health, people desire, need, to feel a vital, reciprocal, interaction with their environment, their world. That desire/need is an innate quality of being born into the human race. However, the connection to, the awareness of, this quality can be dulled. Through repetitive instruction from trusted adults and authority figures, a child’s attention can be redirected from this innate desire designed to support and sustain human beings throughout life, to a dependency upon the declarations of those aspiring to godlike power within the lives of others. However, this innate desire of humanity cannot be dulled indefinitely.

The first allegiance a person should learn is the allegiance to the positive human values we know work toward creating and sustaining healthy people and healthy communities: honesty, fairness, intelligence, analytical thinking, reason, compassion, ingenuity, resilience, strength, love and kindness.