Ain't this a great country?

In the United States, gasoline prices are lower than they have been in many, many years. The media attributes it to lower oil prices, which seem to rise and fall in a random, not-for-any-particular-reason fashion (other than, I suppose, political maneuvering). 

For me, going to the pump and paying $1.57/gallon reminds me of my old high school and college days some 30+ years ago (hard to believe, but true) when life seemed simpler. But that is a whole different story...

When gasoline prices drop, economists expect a rise in consumer spending, assuming consumers will spend the savings they are pocketing at the pump on other things. But this time, the media is reporting that the anticipated rise in consumer spending has not happened, unlike similar years when gasoline prices were lowered.

Gee, I wonder why??

Have they not figured out that the cost of living has risen so high in recent years (while salaries seem to stagnate) that people actually may need that "extra" cash for important things like bills, taxes, mortgages, saving for emergencies, etc...? 

When you squeeze the turnip dry year after year, the "savings" from lower gasoline prices does not amount to bonus cash. It amounts to a more livable wage and an opportunity to play catch-up with all the necessities you've had to put off for lack of funds.

And here's the real kick in the butt: I remember several years ago when oil and gasoline prices first skyrocketed in this country, the cost of everything else skyrocketed too. People said, "Well, clothes are shipped on trucks. The trucks use oil and gasoline. They cost more, so we pay more for our clothes." And, "Well, airplanes use gasoline and it costs more, so we pay more for our airplane tickets." And, "Well, produce is transported on trucks. The trucks use oil and gasoline. They cost more, so we pay more for our food." 

Basically, they said the trucking companies and airlines (for example) were paying more for the oil and gasoline (fuel) used to ship the goods or fly the planes, so we had to pay more for the goods, products and services they offered. Back then, everyone's reason for the big leaps in our cost of living (without comparable leaps in salaries, mind you) were attributed to the higher prices of fuel. 

But if that were true, now that the price of fuel is low, the cost of our clothes, plane tickets, food and other goods, services and products would also be low...right? Because the cost of shipping them around on trucks and fueling airplanes is lower...?

Only we haven't seen a decrease in our cost of living that reflects the lower fuel prices today. Why not? Who is pocketing our hard earned cash...all those savings on fuel costs? And what excuse are they using to do so?

In the end, we are paying for higher fuel costs regardless of whether or not the fuel costs are actually high and despite what the pumps say.

These are the kinds of things I contemplate while sitting at my parent's kitchen table in the morning, watching the horny male ducks on the lake torment the disinterested female one. She is so sick and tired of their forceful advances that she slips into the gated pool area where they can't get to her, but where she can't enjoy her life much.

And I realize that I feel a lot like her sometimes: imprisoned by the bastards that have overrun this joint.

New Year's Evolution

 Happy New Year! You have now journeyed through another 365-day cycle of your life. How does it feel?

The new year of 2016 has potential for positive evolution. It is a number 9. Just google "numerology number 9" and read what comes up...powerful stuff. Whether you believe in that or not, the energy and opportunity are here for you to embrace your personal evolution.

Plus, January is a great time to reflect upon the trajectory of your life. Introspection is a key energetic of Winter. Here are some guiding questions to ponder:

• Overall, is my life moving forward, backward or stagnant? Celebrate the places moving forward, and also notice the places that feel backward or stagnant.

 

• What obstacles are in my way? Identify them.

 

• Which obstacle(s) do I feel ready to address? Prioritize them based on your readiness and pick one to focus on.

 

• What will it take for me to address them? Come up with steps that create a doable plan; then begin, one step at a time.

I am not talking about a "New Year's Resolution" but a New Year's Evolution.

Imagine it: you have 365 days to do anything you want with your life, something different. Take this opportunity to do it. Follow through and you will be amazed when a year from now you reflect back and see the life changes you created.

All you have to do is start.

You must get a clear vision of where you are, where you want to go, what is in your way, and how to change it. Then the fun begins.

When you change, your life changes.

But change doesn't have to happen all at once. Take baby steps. Doable steps. Steady as a Bull steps. Steps that inspire you to keep going. Steps that will sustain you through the long haul to completion.

This time last year when I reflected back, I was disappointed in myself for something. In May, I set goals and began taking action (yep, it took me until May to begin). Now, I am more than half way to my goal and have completely embraced it. I wonder what I will see when I look back next year?

What are you ready to change in your life? What goal(s) are you ready to embrace? What will you be excited to witness in yourself and your life when you look back in 2017?

Go ahead...dream it, see it, feel it, do it. And most of all, have fun! I dare ya.

Food Fight

I was talking with friends recently at a camp out and they told me Niman Ranch was bought by another company, Natural Food Holdings. This interested me because I have come to trust meats that are associated with Niman Ranch for their quality and humanity. Having heard other stories of natural companies being "sold" to conventional ones (such as Burt's Bees sale to the Clorox Company years ago), I decided to do some research.

It turns out the turnover took place in 2006 when Natural Food Holdings took a controlling stake of Niman stock. Bill Niman left the company, disappointed at how they changed the way the cattle were handled.

In his own words: "I left Niman Ranch because it fell into the hands of conventional meat and marketing guys as opposed to ranching guys," Niman said. "You can't really ferret out how [the cattle] are being raised [now]."(from Business Insider)

This kind of event troubles me. When someone can infiltrate a company that values sustainable, humane food practices and then buy and sell their stocks in such a way as to put conventional producers at the helm, forcing out the original creator of the company, that is a scary thing for all of us. It means our food sources are at great risk of becoming monopolized by those in a position to undermine the organic, humane and sustainable practices that keep us all healthfully fed.

Be aware that all food is not healthy food. It may fill your belly, but the question is, "With what?" 

I'm not just talking about processed grains and sugars, but produce, meats, eggs and dairy products. Depending on the source, you can buy food that is organically, sustainably and humanely grown and manufactured or food that is not organic (i.e., full of GMOs and pesticide toxins), not sustainable (i.e., depletes the soils and poisons the environment), and not humane (i.e., the animals are tortured and treated worse than concentration camp prisoners). 

Many people I know choose less expensive food over food that is more expensive because it is organic, sustainable and humane. But seriously, folks, money is the least of your concerns in the long run. All food is not the same, even if it looks the same. And you are ingesting it into your body. It is meant to nourish you, but food that is poisoned with pesticides it has absorbed, or riddled with excess hormones and other drugs, or genetically modified, or vibrationally toxic to your life force energy does not nourish you. 

Again, it may fill your belly but the question is, "With what?" Toxic food causes innumerable health problems in our culture. This is not an opinion; it is a fact. 

I personally choose not to eat conventionally produced food whenever possible. I don't like how it tastes, feels or what it represents. I want nothing to do with non-sustainable, environmentally-destructive, inhumane foods. I don't want to eat a vegetable or fruit that is full of poison. I don't want to eat a piece of meat from an animal who suffered its whole life and was in distress and fear before being inhumanely murdered to produce it. 

I heard a story from a friend of mine about a hunter friend of hers who suddenly stopped hunting after doing it his whole life. When asked why, he said, "I looked down the barrel of my rifle and the buck looked back at me with fear in its eyes. I don't want to eat that fear." Exactly... 

I know such foods will eventually make me too sick to recover. Our bodies cannot detox all the shit that comes from such conventional food today, especially on top of all the other stressors it deals with - constant EMFs, chemically-saturated water, air pollution, toxic body products, and the list is endless. Yet beyond that, it's a vibrational thing. They make my body feel...heavy.

They probably make your body feel heavy too, if you pay close attention. But if you have not eaten "clean" meats regularly - meats from happy animals who are honored and treated to a good, comfortable life before being humanely slaughtered, and if you have not eaten organic produce regularly - grown without toxic chemicals, you may not recognize the difference. Subtle or not, it is significant.

Many of the chemicals in our foods settle into our soft tissues and organs where they continue to poison our bodies and cause health issues until we get them out. The nervous system is particularly vulnerable. The body cannot simply flush these toxins out of its own accord. They have to be chelated, or pulled, out using a binding agent. Mercury is such a chemical. I learned all about it when I had my old mercury fillings removed years ago at the start of my own health journey.

The way I see it, when our food system in the United States was turned into an industrialized market, everything changed. To sustain such a market, things must be done to keep production excessively high, to keep food transportable and to give it a longer than natural shelf-life. This means the conventional foods you eat are more artificial than natural. 

The body does not know what to do with them. It expends extra energy trying to sort through what it can digest for its functional benefit from the toxins and excessive chemicals that harm it. That leaves you with less energy to live by, and probably results in unnecessary sluggishness, stress and tension in your body...that is, if you are not already sick from it.

There is a bigger picture here worth paying attention to, besides just how much food costs. In the long run, pricing is the least of your worries, for there are far greater costs to eating toxic food and continuing to support the conventional, industrialized food system that perpetuates it.

Now go eat something organic and yummy. Your body will appreciate you for it.

In the name of LIFE

 A few nights ago I went to a world-wide screening of a new film called "Unity." It was...well, quite frankly, disturbing. I nearly walked out within the first 10 minutes. Instead, I covered my eyes, sat in my seat and sobbed at the suffering being shown. It was not fiction; it was life - the suffering in this life that we humans have created and that we maintain through things like war, and how we feed ourselves. It was a sort of documentary. I felt compelled to stay, though at the time I was uncertain as to why. Typically, I would have left immediately.

In hindsight I realize there was a part of me ready to bridge the gap, to change my choice of not looking to looking, to feel the reality of what humanity has created, to fully step into the realm of Oneness and to recognize that on some level, I am contributing to the horrors shown...perhaps through apathy, denial, resistance, justification, by being choosey about what I allow into my consciousness...

It took all my conviction to stay in that theater, watching the reality before me. It is one thing to read and hear about such things; it is quite another to watch their painful unfolding and feel it throughout my body as if it were happening to me. Now I know that it was happening to me. It does happen to me, because on the most intimate level of being, there is no separation. The experience, at times, was nearly unbearable and was certainly traumatic...as it should be. Only a sociopath might watch such a film and feel something other than complete disgust and deep compassion.

I presume the intent of this hard-hitting film was to shake people out of their comfort zones, to fling us out of complacency into a place where we can no longer deny the brutality we participate in every day, even if by default...and not just to other Homo Sapiens but to all creatures that share this life, this planet with us. Important questions were raised...

For instance, 

• How is it that one can condone and allow horrific stockyards for the inhumane growing and slaughtering of cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens in the United States yet scoff at how the Chinese handle dogs and cats in the same inhumane ways in their country? 
• How is it that one can justify eating sea-dwelling creatures but not land-dwelling creatures? What about sky-dwelling creatures? 
• What makes the life of a shrimp or a crab any less significant than the life of a cow or a chicken? What about a horse or a dog or a cat? A clam?
• What is it that puts the value of one living creature's life above or below the value of another living creature's life? 
  

Every creature values its life and wants to have it just as we do ours. They also have a right to have it, just as we do ours. We may believe we can speak for them, choose for them, disregard them for our own purposes but that is not ours to do. Their life is not ours to overtake. It is no more or less valuable than our own life is in the whole of creation. They do not want it taken away from them any more than we want ours taken away from us, especially without consideration and in fact, with complete disregard. Why would they? Why would we? Why would any living creature?

For many of our fellow creatures, we take their babies, their freedom and ultimately their lives. We separate them from their family, their clans, their tribes and even their homes. We use them for selfishness and greed in the name of survival, sustenance or even worse, pleasure or entertainment but this is a great lie. It is the error thinking of our ego. It is nothing more than the brutality and insanity of what I now call species slavery: exhausting labor, drudgery, bondage, one life sacrificed without regard...

And by whose authority? None of us - not one of us among the race of Homo Sapiens has the authority to say one life is more or less valuable than any other, or in essence: My life is more valuable than yours; your life is less valuable than mine. Money does not give one that authority; nor does power. Some may take it, but it is not theirs to take. Life belongs to us all, period. It was given to us all by the same loving Source. No species has a right to dominate any other. We are not the same, but we are equal.

Spiritual master S'rila Prabhupada once said, "As a state is protected by the department of law and order, so the state of the universe, of which this earth is only an insignificant fragment, is protected by the laws of nature. This material nature is one of the various potencies of God, who is the ultimate proprietor of everything that be. This earth is, therefore, the property of God, but we, the living entities, especially the so-called civilized human beings, are claiming God's property as our own under both an individual and collective false conception. If you want peace, you have to remove this false conception from your mind and from the world. This false claim of proprietorship by the human race is partly or wholly the cause of all disturbances of peace on earth." 

There are those that will argue to maintain the brutality in the name of livelihood, survival, necessity, etc. but these excuses are all lies. Many lies are used to maintain species slavery today. It does not have to be this way. We can change this tragic trajectory, but it will take a major overhaul among the lives of Homo Sapiens. 

• It means that as Homo Sapiens, we relinquish our false conception of proprietorship of the earth and its creatures back to God, by whatever name you choose to call that creative life Source and force.
• It means that as Homo Sapiens, we agree to turn away from the destructive brutalities of war and turn instead toward peace, acceptance, compassion and collaboration.
• It means we get rid of the industrialization of our food system and return to local, sustainable food systems that do not prioritize or include meats and flesh of our fellow creatures. 
• It means many livelihoods change form. 
• It means laws align with the affirmation of all life forms. 
• It means, above all, that we come to view life on this planet as one living organism of which Homo Sapiens are but a tiny part of a much larger whole comprised of many, many species...not the same, but equal....equal in terms of our right to and desire for life and freedom and peace, no matter what.

To say I cried a lot during the film is an understatement. I sobbed deeply at times, for the breaking of my heart at the brutality being witnessed, and knowing that it happens every single day across the globe on a mighty scale. I spent hours crying and meditating when I got home, saying Ho'Oponopono and doing recapitulation, feeling the pain and suffering Homo Sapiens inflict on our own species and on other species of this world seemingly without regard, as if we are separate from them, better than them. And that was the key to this film.

In realizing once and for all that there is no separation of life - that what one life suffers we all suffer - we find compassion, the kind of compassion it takes to make something different happen. 

• Only by choosing to see the brutal truth of what we have created in this world, are still creating, can we change it. The reasons we got here no longer matter; it is time for change. 
• Only by recognizing how we participate in the suffering as Homo Sapiens can we change it. 
• Only by acknowledging that everything here is sacred - animals, birds, people, plants, sea creatures - can we stop the brutality. 

What we do to ourselves and to other species is disturbing, traumatic... insane even. We shy away from responsibility for things we are not a direct part of and yet we do participate as members of the Human species, Homo Sapiens. In the film, they used the term Homo Spiritual to describe the next level of our evolution. This means we evolve past the point of believing in the (ego) illusion of separation. This means we evolve to view all life as sacred and equal. This means we evolve to coexist in balance, harmony, compassion, collaboration and egalitarianism. Homo Spiritual: humans who have evolved beyond the drives of their egos to a place of true Oneness where every living creature can thrive in life.

This is ours to rectify. This is ours to balance and harmonize because it is the species of Homo Sapiens that perpetuate it. Start now, today, somewhere, somehow, with one loving, compassionate choice. It is time. It will take every single one of us to change what we have created and continue to support, even if by choosing not to look too closely. No one is excluded from the brutality of this creation...no one...because we are this creation and this creation is us. 

Do not close your eyes or your heart any longer. It is time. Please. In the name of life...