So I'm stuck home today and got to catch up on some Charlie Rose. I definitely have an old man crush on him. His guest was Henry Kissinger and they were discussing the recent unrest in Egypt, a major historical event. Something in the Middle East has seem to have caught fire in the proverbial sense. Change is happening now. I started thinking about 2010 and what a transitional year it was for not only me but nearly everyone I know. People lost their jobs, got divorced, got pregnant, got married, moved in together, got cancer, graduated from college, etc. I remember at the beginning of the year watching a man on TV say "2011, welcome to the last year of life as you know it". So dramatic, but............do these 2012ers and astrologist have some understanding that we don't. I guess it doesn't matter because things will unfold on their own regardless.
Last night I was at the hospital welcoming my friend's baby into the world. My other friend was showing us some video footage on his phone of a "UFO" sighting that recently happened over the dome of the rock in the holy land. I have to admit it was freaky. After that talk of world news started and this got the new mother all upset. What type of world will her son inherent? I read somewhere that the sum of technology that was available in Word War II is the equivalent of the little chip that they now place in singing birthday cards. I know that in my life time I saw computers go from huge boxes and floppy disc to a cell phone that does everything. How will the inertia of our psyche's ancient growth pattern be felt as it adapts to this lightning speed progression in the technology we use? I also looked at this kid and thought will he ever know the simple joy of doing research in a library and coming to a "Ah Ha" moment among pile of books? Or the excitement of finding a treasure in a record store for your collection? Probably not, I don't even think young people now know what these simple pleasures are like. Their attention span and speech patterns drive me up the walls. Do you really have to use the word "like" after ever other word that comes out of your mouth? Ugh I'm getting old. On the flip side, as was discussed by Henry Kissinger and Charlie Rose the technology of today was a key factor in galvanizing the people for this seemingly "spontaneous" up rise in Egypt.
I use to view world news as a giant soap opera to keep up with but now I put it in an evolutionary context and relate it to the my tiny world. If we are seen as a giant organism with so many issues perhaps the most revolutionary thing we can do is to strengthen the cells of this organism buy fighting to make ourselves as healthy and aware as possible instead of wearing Che t-shirts while preaching to the working class. "know thyself" said the oracle at Delphi, "live as if today was the day" said Nietzsche, "love thy neighbor as you love thy self" says the Bible.
When you boil it down the only thing you can ever truly know is yourself and the more self awareness you have, the more compassion you have for all the ugly things in yourself that you want to ignore with "positive" thinking, the more you know your anatomy, the more you know your family's history, the more you pay attention and go with your personal cycles, the more in touch with your personal reality you are, the more you honor that little bit of the divine that it's inside of you, the more you will be able to see "the machine" not as a devil but as the product of the denial and ignorance in us all. Then maybe you can start making a realistic impact in this world as an informed voter, political activist, good parent, a leader, whatever you want to be even if it's on a very humble level. If we work toward this perhaps what we leave for the next generation to inherent will be just a little bit healthier. At the very least we can take the responsibility of pulling our heads out of our own ass to lighten the burden on others that have to deal with us. Yeah I know you don't want to think about this stuff, you just want a "simple" life right? Well growing in these aspects of our life gives the "simple" things in life more depth making them more satisfying and everyday living much more meaningful.
P.S. - Egypt's Mubarak gave up control today (02/11) and officially handed military power over. A pivotal moment in history. It's crazy what can happen when people take responsibility for their own lives! They actually pulled off the revolution that every new generation of young people dream about.
Revolutionary Change Playlist
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