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August 2015

Radical love

"At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love."

- Che Guevara

Che

Romantic love makes each breath lighter, each smile more infectious, and each of life's burdens more effortless to carry. True love brings with it an honest faith in the possibility of never-ending happiness. It offers the refreshment of a deep well of bliss that renews us daily like the coolest water on a hottest day. Love provides the excitement of a new life filled with infinite possibilities and freedoms.   

The way we love is the way we live. Most of us have known love, but it seems we don't know how to love. We expect our lovers to prove their love as though it needs any proof at all. We so naively try to possess each other as though it were possible to put our feelings in a box. To possess is to murder love with rules, conditions, compromises, duties, and sacrifices. Remember those feelings which made love worthwhile to begin with? Those feelings are the opposite of what it feels like to be possessed. There is a better way.

To be radical is to fundamentally question even the most widely-held beliefs. To love radically is to figure out how love works for you, how love works in your relationships, and to live according to your own conclusions regardless of what anybody else does.

For me, a life without deep feelings of love is no life at all. So, in my world, there is no reason to limit or control love. I wouldn't ask anyone to apologize for having loved. I will not ask anyone to prove love through sacrifice because the noblest actions flow naturally and effortless from love, itself. I will never try to cage love because, in my experience, it does not tend to fly away if you don't drive it away.

To live a life of love, I think it is necessary to be brave enough and strong enough to hold love above any occasional feelings of insecurity, fear, and jealousy. These feelings can be discussed, dealt with, and put aside. We can let these petty emotions be fleeting so that love, itself, is not!

 


Russell Brand ending The Trews & quitting social media (makes perfect sense)

I'm not surprised by Russell Brand's decision to step away from the hamster wheel of media spin cycles. Though he is perhaps the most gifted media personality of our generation, even he cannot accomplish anything of value by taking part in the corporate propaganda machine.

What can possibly be accomplished by analyzing and arguing with pundits whose job it is to distract us and to draw us into a fictitious world where they set the agenda and they control the debate? What Russell has proven is that, even if we make the most rational, persuasive arguments in the most entertaining way, nothing can be accomplished by debating, critiquing, or pleading with an establishment that will not change.

This must have been an excruciatingly painful decision for Russell, yet he seems optimistic because he knows that he is on the path of truth. As he steps away from the hamster wheel of the corporate media and politics, in this video he also makes mention of an area where change is still possible.  

If we want revolution, it will never be enough to simply talk about truth. It will not be enough to protest or to otherwise plead with power. For real change to happen, we don't even need their permission. 

What is the change we are talking about? Aren't we talking about living differently...what we actually do, who we actually know, how we actually make a living? So, it seems to me, that the first step toward revolution is to completely ignore corporate media and to shut out today's rigged sport of politics. We need to stop complaining, stop paying attention to our corporate masters, and start living. Maybe you won't be famous or popular for it, but maybe that's kind of the point.

You can live differently now. Make a plan to leave your job by thinking about what you're good at. Start a business or become a contractor. Meet like-minded people and work together in innovative ways. Seek new relationships that allow you the space to pursue your dreams and fantasies. Open your heart and mind to real people. Love. Explore. Laugh. Stay up all night. Work together to make a living when you finally wake up. 

Let's take it further. Why not create an Internet economy that connects people more efficiently than today's corporate-controlled economy? Why not conduct transactions using our own virtual currency? We can use our skills to serve the needs of each other rather than only the needs of corporations. I have come up with the design for exactly this type of system and I wish there was a way for me to contact Russell to talk with him about it. Maybe now that he has stopped distracting himself with all of the corporate garbage, he will be able to focus his energies on real revolution. That's what I think he's talking about and I applaud this brave decision.

We don't have to wait to live the revolution. We don't have to ask anyone for permission. We don't need 1 million Facebook followers to do it. What we do need to do is change some habits, drop the fame-seeking ego, and start living. We won't fit-in and we won't be recognized for it, but in my experience it doesn't really matter when you are fully-alive and free.