On Change + "Kale" vs. "Cow"
Some people say things never change. I disagree. Things are changing all the time, everyday. The secret is that the change needs to start with you.
I hold Gandhi’s saying, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” close to my heart. I try to live it. I’ve changed a lot over the past couple of years. I continue to try to better myself to be the best person I can be. My foundation has always been a good one; as I am a sweetheart, so maybe I had a better starting point than most. Most people don’t really want to look at themselves and see who they truly are.
To look at yourself honestly, means looking at both the good and bad. No one is perfect. Most people like to believe things without fact or logic to back it up. I have never been able to blindly accept anything. I question things constantly. As a fortune cookie I got a couple of months ago said, “Change begins with discontent.”
The truth is that most people don’t want to change. They don’t see anything wrong with themselves. Or to admit to being flawed would also be admitting to being mortal. That is something that some people can’t face because they aren’t willing to or they are afraid. To really look at yourself objectively is to sometimes see things you may not like.
I didn’t like the realization that I was causing harm to lots of innocent animals by being a carnivore. I’m the type of person who can’t kill a bug because I believed all life is sacred. I had to accept the fact I was being a hypocrite. That my beliefs and practices didn’t match. I remember saying I could never be vegan about five years ago. Somehow, I changed along the way.
I think it’s a matter of figuring out what’s important to you and pursuing that. So many people are afraid to try to live their dream because of fear of failure or something fear of success. It takes courage and fearlessness to be what you want to be.
Sometimes, I still think I’m a monster because I live in a capitalistic society. That I participate in a system that oppresses the many but I am also fighting to try to change it. Most of my work has the end goal of profits from my endeavors to go to charities and causes I believe in. It’s almost impossible to be guilt free in this world and some people don’t even want to admit they are guilty.
I remember I got someone so upset when I pointed out that they’d rather spend their money on an ipod than feed the hungry. We’re all guilty of things like that in this society. They didn’t want to hear that they were a murderer – both by neglect and association. I don’t met many people who accept the blame that the first world creates the third world, or people willing to try to change it. I want to find the others who don’t lie to themselves about reality and are strong enough to take a stand to try to fix the corrupt system.
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Onto a lighter subject, I was talking about wanting to try kale chips the other day. “Kale” and “cow” sound a lot alike. So, my dad and his wife thought the vegan was talking about wanting to eat “cow” chips – cow poop. Haha.
Today's Lesson: People don't change.
I am rather optimistic. I like to believe in the best of people. Sometimes I’m proven wrong.
I had tried to befriend a person and they just played games with me. I don’t know why. I was always forthright with my intentions but they made a mockery of me. I thought they were a person who got it. Who stood for peace and equality not cruelty. They turned out to be one of the biggest jerks I knew by doing things to laugh at me – not with me.
Bounce ahead, four or so years. I still wanted to believe the best of this person. I thought their duplicity was a result of peer pressure so maybe outside of that setting they’ll be a decent person. I don’t like to make a villain out of anyone and I try to see the best. I don’t like having negativity associated with people so I wanted to see if they had change in the past four years. My findings were conclusive that they haven’t. It’s the same old song and dance.
When I told my doctor that I thought this person would change, she laughed at me. I know I’m a completely different person than I was four years ago because I am always working on improving myself. I want to be the best I can be. Apparently, most humans don’t operate that way. They don’t change unless they have a reason to change – and even then sometimes they don’t. Most cases they get worse. I don’t get it.
I am always reading and educating myself. I try to talk to as many people as I can about anything and everything. I have a genuine desire to help the world. I have learned you can’t help the world until you help yourself first. It was a hard lesson for me because I always want to put everyone and everything else first but sometimes you got to make sure you are okay before you can make sure other people are okay. Even on airplanes, they tell you to put your air mask on first before helping others. There’s a method to this madness.
I am disappointed that there are jerks in the world. I always thought life was about living – I mean really living and not letting hatred or pettiness cloud your vision. I would like to think of the world as a big human community – like how we come together for things like Haiti. Why do we only come together in times of disaster? I think the world would be amazing if we kept the community spirit all the time.
This person is beyond my comprehension. I used to try to understand other’s perspective and points of view until I met them. I realize I can have no idea what goes on in another person’s head. It really isn’t my concern either. One of the hardest things I have is finding people who want friendship and connection. Just finding anyone who’s willing to accept love and kindness is really hard. Obviously, this person doesn’t. Not from me anyways.
It’s a hard thing for me to accept that I can’t befriend the entire world. I wish I could. It upsets me that there are people who hate me without even knowing me. That there is even hate at all. But that’s reality.
Current Myths of World Culture
All forms of civilization has it own myths. The Greeks had their gods, prophets, and heroes. The Roman’s stole theirs. How are our gods, prophets, and heroes any different?
Currently, the world is living out a self-fulfilling prophecy with the end result being catastrophic destruction of our entire planet. Most of the human species seem to be living out the fantasy that Earth was intended for Man to conquer. That the Earth is Man’s property to do with as he wishes and what he wishes to all life on it. How ignorant and naive is Man to assume that creation ends with him. There are billions and billions of planets which might have life we can only dream to imagine. There might even be life in ways we can’t even conceive or perceive due to the limited wiring of our own human brain. It’s as fanciful as thinking that the universe revolves around the Earth.
However, this idea of Man verses Nature is so ingrained in our culture – most people never think to question it. We are all working together for the destruction of our planet by living life within the system we do. It’s how our society functions striving for the most modern and civilized technology at the expense of our Earth. Modern Man is not driven by the thoughts of peace, equality, and freedom but of the ideas of selfishness, money, and greed. It’s taken for granted that all men are inherently incomplete and imperfect for no one really knows how to be human and without this essential knowledge mankind is lost.
Man turns to modern Myths to help guide him – believing in the unbelievable and having imaginary friends. Myths so full of contradiction that the people can’t even agree on the ideas that are supposedly there to guide them. Breaking fundamental rules of their belief at will for personal gain. Others reject some of the myth – but maintain the belief that Man was destined to rule the Earth. Few people reject all our modern myths all together and know that manifest destiny is a dumb idea to begin with. However, for the few who see the world as it really is, there are thousands who see it as their possession. It seems like a losing battle to fight against the status quo of world destined to be a chain mall without any traces of nature while being a blazing inferno due to climate change.
I’d rather fight a losing battle than give up without a fight at all. I feel like I was never given a chance in the world to stop things from going in the direction they are going due to being born during borrowed time. People are taught to accept the world the way it is unquestionably and accept the destruction of our natural world as the cost of the modern lifestyle. The cost of indoor plumbing and heat/air does not need to be the end of life on this planet. We can make green choices to make a difference. We can choice to change the world. With each dollar we spend, we are voting for what type of world we want.
The problem is that most people don’t know that the power is in them. Another myth of our culture is that people are so caught up with media fictions that life becomes something that happens to them rather then something they make happen. People believe they are powerless with the corporate gods in control. The corporate gods are nothing without the belief of the people. How can we educate people to know that the power is with them and not with some unknown other? Things can change very fast if the people want it to change. What type of world do you want?
Treat Me For Who I Am and Not How I Look
Looks can be deceiving and you can’t judge a person by their looks. For example, who’s more threatening: a blue haired mohawked, tattoo studded jacket wearing punk rocker or a person wearing nondescript clothing and generic hair? I would say the person who’s wearing the nondescript clothing and generic hair is a greater threat than the blue haired mohawked, tattooed studded jacket wearing punk. Why? Think about it: If the blue mohawked person robbed you – they would be easy to spot and find as they are unique looking and standing out from the crowd. They might look like a threat being so loud but in reality they are harmless because if you are up to no good – you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. The generic hair and nondescript clothing person could rob you and if you tried to describe them to the cops – they just look like everyone else. There are a few exceptions when people who are loud are also violent and crazy but *usually* they are as law abiding as anyone. They dress differently to make a statement and express individuality. The punk rocker might appear to be a threat but they are really not to you as an individual.
People treat me funny because I am tattooed, pierced, and mohawked. All it is really is their fear of the unknown showing. Think about it: if I was really a danger I wouldn’t go around advertising the fact. There are a few exceptions to the rules but most of the time when someone advertises being a radical, they aren’t up to anything illegal. They might have different ideas than the mainstream and philosophies and be a threat to the status quo but they aren’t breaking any laws.
Laws are there to give people the illusion they are “safe”. Think about it: if there was a law to enforce identification cards (like they are planning in the UK) only the law abiding citizens will do it. The criminals don’t care about the law and won’t follow it or get fake IDs. It’s to give the masses, the sheep, the appearance of order in the chaos we exist in. The criminals will be criminals and do illegal things while the masses fall into line. The ID card is a stupid idea and very 1984ish because it only applies to who will follow the law to begin with.
More laws equal less freedom. Sure, common courtesy laws like not stealing or killing are nice to have to protect me from your average idiot. I am an anarchist and sometimes I am grateful for the police to protect me from stupid people. For instance, the police helped me out when I was punched in the face for being a “homosexual.” In an ideal, anarchical society, the person would behave like an anarchist and respect his fellow human beings – however, the assaulter was moronic, angry and fucked up so I need the police to protect me from people like that.
However, I am against police brutality and abuse of power. There is a difference in keeping people safe from the idiots of the world and harassing someone because they have a studded vest. One time, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time eating pizza on the steps of Search and Destroy in NYC and the police treated me like I was a criminal when all I was doing was eating pizza. It was pretty scary – they patted me down and violated my rights all because they have nothing else to do. There’s also the cops who give out traffic tickets for being a few miles over the speed limit to make their quota. Things like that are an abuse of power – laws are there to keep you safe from other human’s stupidity not be a money making tool.
That is not the case in our capitalistic society. The law system and prison system are money making tools. It’s really messed up.
The question is: How will this change? The answer: Is with you. If the people were to stop profiling and treat people for who they are and not what they look like we would have a stronger, happier society.
