believe

((((Music))))... is still my first true love and saving grace in a world gone mad. I began playing the bass guitar in junior high band when I was 14. It was just about the only real and true thing in my life at that time. I was in my first band only several months later. Every child should be gifted their first beautiful handmade African Djembe. Fill their lives with music. I had to find it on my own, but any child I’ve known that grew up in a home filled with music; was also soon filled with consciousness, intellect, love, and light. A drum is the heartbeat of the universe. Music is the absolute language of the spirit. It is the pure vibration of what is within us all. It is the only language the whole world can understand. Music unites us all, young and old. Music allows us to converse with The One. One would have to assume that President Bush was not given a drum as a youth. Too bad… for all of us. ((((Books and Writing))))... are the absolute spillings of the heart , mind, and spirit. A powerful and magical escape into the forests of some other random strangers soul. I love poetry, lyrics, fairy tales, mythology, and the stories of make believe and the stories of someone’s bizarre reality. Every little child should get their bedtime story and an elaborately decorated bookcase that gets fatter with each passing night. Always there in the corner... all these colorful binders like striped narrow little doorways to other worlds; always with a waiting open invitation for curious minds and adventurous hearts. I enjoy writing but find that it is ever evolving. “The artist must raise everything to a higher level. He is like a pump; inside him is a great pipe reaching down into the bowels of things, the deepest layers. He sucks up what was pooled beneath the surface and brings it forth into the sunlight in giant sprays.” ~Gustave Flaubert ((((Vegetarian))))... I am, and reaching for the realm of Vegan. There are so many reasons that my soap box wouldn’t be able to support me that long. There are many resources. Start at Google. I cut out red meat and pork ten years before I became vegetarian. Now vegetarian a few years or more I feel healthier and have more energy then I ever had when I practically lived on meat. My reasons are multifaceted but some key things that inspired my decision was for quality of life and not longevity. To no longer support an industry that is well known and documented for its ongoing offenses of extreme animal abuse. To no longer support an industry that has an extremely huge and negative impact on the environment worldwide. More grains and drinkable water is distributed for all the cattle in the world then towards world hunger. Go figure. Don't want to be ingesting hormones, antibiotics, and meat that was riddled with adrenaline and all the negative vibes of stress. I prefer to eat the fresh life force rather then eat a dead animal that ate the fresh life force. ((((Thoughts)))) can be like tidal waves that reach far and wide and return to us. If they are unkind, we can drown in our own arrogance. We truly become what we think about. It requires great strength to love even those who oppose you. A smile that radiates through the eyes is a smile from the heart. We are living in a world full of fear. So many people are hiding in TV land now and have lost touch with their culture and social skills. Many have become too fearful to look up and say hello anymore. Squash suspicion. Be overflowing with laughter but filled with awareness and consciousness. There is an important balance there to be embraced. Know yourself enough to understand others instead of simply judging them and filing them away because it’s easier. Love yourself first so that you can properly accept love and return it. ((((War))))… If our nations were lead by Wise Elders instead of Wealthy Leaders, there would not be a need for war. War is the art of creating submissive enemies for material gain. There is nothing of Love or true Peace that can come from hatred or war. Hatred breeds violence and violence breeds more hatred. Is there a pattern here? As a result we have become “One Nation... Under Surveillance”. The media and other special interests put out a witch hunt on President Clinton for adultery with no care for his daughter or wife… but somehow no signs of impeaching the president who claims to be a proud Christian against abortion who is responsible for the deaths of now well over 665,000 Iraqi civilians. I think it’s clear this administration has completely lost sight of that whole “We the people” concept. Thanks to those such as Gandhi and MLK for reminding us of what resides in the hearts of all of us… “Truth.” Who needs to remind us this time? Is it going to be me? Or you? ((Peace))… I want to live in a world where we put all the little children first. Where there is not one child without a loving home, daily meals and a fair and valuable education that inspires. I want less Hummers and Summer homes and more money to give hope to those without any. I want every person out there who has ever purposely harmed a child or has the intent to... to feel the absolute wrath of everything that their karma has coming. I want to laugh because the world is so full of joy... not just because it's a good escape from a world that isn't. We need more tribes... and less governments. We need more elders... and less leaders. We need less spoons and railings and more faith. More books... less television. More thought... less mind control. Be the change we want to see in the world and lead by example. ((((Grateful))))… for all you comedians who remind us daily not to lose our sense of humor and who can deliver a heaping spoonful of TRUTH that goes down like honey even when it should taste like crap… for all you musicians who remind us to keep dancing and to stay connected with what is real inside of us all… for all of you artists who keep the world colorful and can paint the reflections of their soul on a canvas… for all of you photographers and writers who capture every important and beautiful moment to remind us who we were, and who we are becoming… for all of you in the natural arts and medicines who are passionate about our health and quality of life more so then becoming rich and impersonal… all of you beautiful revolutionaries and teachers that truly are saving this planet one animal, one tree, one child, one book, one speech, one protest, one performance, one march, one movie, one new idea, one song, and one heart at a time. I'm grateful for the ability to be able to sit in silence and go deep within where the voice of the divine can best be heard. To know that I need no religion in order to recognize the voice of Truth and to know we are all ONE.