a stereotype, a generation, and a young man

Dear young man,

Young man with the beer in your hand, the beer that comes in a collectable set, the kind of set that comes in thirty (what comes in sets of thirty)?

Dear young man, I am sorry, but I just don't understand.  I cannot see the point of so many drinks at once, you could come by this store again, then again, I've never quite understood, perhaps I should have asked you?

Dear young man, why is it you caught my attention?  Why is it my heart has sunk?  Do you even care what I think?

Dear young man, do I have the right to guess what you are doing with your purchase?  Should I even care?

Dear young man, are you a student or statistic?  Pretty content with life or reeling from the tension?  Somewhat found or barely understanding?  Where would you go tonight?

Is there a reason to drink alcohol at all?

Am I really Irish?

What color are your eyes?

Do you see me, right behind?

Or is there something you are trying to hide?

Are you escaping or looking to find yourself (or something else)?

What's the point?  What isn't the point?

Will you you follow your dream tonight?

Will you forgive me?

Can we grab a cup of coffee sometime?

Listen:
Moving Mountains (cover)- "can't afford this color"

Internal (from the inside out)

Seems as we move faster and faster in the world, with all the communication, media, ideas, etc. that we are forgetting a big thing.  OURSELVES.  We have many personalities, a multitude of attitudes and faces and a wellspring of things to do with our time.  Yet, we are struggling.  There are new statistics on the rise and it seems like we young people just aren't as happy as we used to be.   There are many, many reasons for this, but i believe the most prevalent one is found within the false self, or rather, as Brennan Manning refers to it, "the imposter".
  The community in which I reside has really taken on a new focus as of late.  Seems like many of my friends are not only Slowing down, but they are also facing things head on and seeking healing and truth in the process.  I have used what I have seen to take stock of things in my own life and see where I am at in terms of being true to myself and the people around me.  Scary what you uncover when you look to the past to go forward.
  It is also scary that just slowing down, (i.e. sitting down and turning off your brain for a few minutes, meditating, reading or even sharing a cup of tea) with no distractions (school work, television, music) can actually be a terrifying ordeal.  As we begin to discover our identity in society as a new age of communication and young people emerge, this may be the biggest threat to our well being and success as world changers and overall happy and fulffilled individuals and communities. 
Can you sit and reflect, without being nervous or upset?
Can you sit and tell your mind to hush, if even for a moment?
Can you sit and not be consumed by the fear of a vintage Alfred Hitchcock film?
Can you sit and be... with yourself?
  The answer to all of these questions is Yes.  Maybe not right now, but it will be a convincing yes.  With practice and letting go and slowing down.  It may be our only option.  So we are all people made for awesome and amazing things.  After all, if you can sit and rest, within the "sound of silence" or even, as one friend says, "sit in the pain", then you can see the situation for what it really is, and, in the light of revelation, darkness has no choice but to flee.  Once you understand the situation, once you see things for what they are, you can see how you have the strength to overcome, even when things speed up again.
It is only when you allow that spirit to embrace you, that you can see things with eyes of truth and make peace with whatever the "imposter" says, which is not you at all.
  If we cannot find this in an increasingly fast paced society, we may never come to realize who we are or what we are actually doing here.

"Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]."- Jesus


listen:
Damien Rice- "what if i'm wrong"

We did it!

I admit that I am a bit of a dreamer.  Some would call me an idealist.  Regardless, I choose to believe in "the better part" as it were.  That being said, something struck me recently and I just can't let it go.
Where I live in NH there is a mountain called MT Kearsarge that overlooks a better part of the area.  In addition to being home to a fire-tower and the Colby-Sawyer annual "Mountain Day" destination, it is also home to a number of hiking trails.  The longest trail, titled "Lincoln Trail", travels just under ten miles up the mountain and back to the original destination of Mt. Kearsarge.  This trail first ascends the little brother to Kearsarge, called "Black Mountain".
  Now what struck me about this situation is that Black Mountain was supposed to be purchased by a contractor and turned into condos on the side of the hill.  That would have knocked out the trail and really been an eye sore for those who live in the area or travel south on Rte 89.  So the nature conservation had to raise some money to  save Black mountain.
  Well, this story ends happily and Black mountain will remain conservation land.  I am super excited and very grateful that they were able to make this conservation possible!  However, what shocked me was the money it took to get there!
1.2 million dollars.
That's correct.
1.2 MILLION DOLLARS $1,200,000
That's a lot of money, and i do not know just where the money came from or even if it is to be paid over many years or what.
But what shocked me, besides the amount, was that a community could raise over a million dollars for a piece of land, but yet we can seldom give $20 to our church or put a five in a homeless man's cup.
The title on the flyer said, "we did it"
and
I am super pumped to keep playing in the forest on Black Mountain.
But it makes me wonder.
As if it hasn't been said enough, being the wealthiest (or at least second) wealthiest country in the world how come their is still so much poverty and pain due to problems that could simply be fixed by very small financial distributions.

Should we buy a mountain or a clean water for a village?
Should we buy a mountain or give some meals?
Should we buy a mountain or a battered w omen's shelter?
Is the world really a cruel an unfair place or are we?

Even though I love Black Mountain, when given the option, I would much rather spend, or rather, distribute my "expendable" financial resource elsewhere.

listen:

Sleeping at Last "emphasis"

ordinary 2K11

There is a line from the movie Garden State where one of the guys, Mark, answers his mom's prompting by stating; "I'm ok with being unimpressive.  I sleep better."

Unimpressive.  Boring.  Lame.  Unworthy.  Second rate. Ordinary.

There is not a person in the world, not a single one, who is any of these things.

"You were a million years of work, said God and his angels, with needle and thread"- Sleeping at Last

Anyone who was created in that many years is nothing short of extraordinary!!!  In a season of new beginnings, let 2011 allow you to feel and believe you really are something, cause its true.

Listen:
Sleeping at Last- "needle and thread"

well said...SATELLITE

Listen: Satellite "ring the bells"

"We'll ring the bells that lead you home


Cause the only truth I've ever known

Is that nothing ever hurts us more than love

So circle up your best friends

And we'll celebrate the way it ends

At least we live tonight

At least we live tonight"-  Satellite- "ring the bells"



May tonight change your life..., for the better.
God has a dream!
and you're part of it.

the kingdom belongs to these...

"and I become a child when she moves my world"- Damien Rice
 
Yesterday was one of those days.  I have recently been reminded (it is hard when you no longer work with them) that child-like elements are some of the best parts of living and we should always allow for these feelings and care free elements to be in our lives.  Experiencing a beloved summer place with an amazing brother and allowing for all the memories and flood of emotion and change to arise made me feel as though I was simultaneously eleven again while also being well beyond my years.  Its kind of like making a movie of the clouds passing by and then fast forwarding it.  Life moves, yet what happens lingers. 
  Sebago lake Maine is and will continue to be one of my favorite places in all of new England.  Point Sebago campground, Frye Island, and Jordan Bay, all painting a beautiful portrait of so many youthful lessons and experiences.  I grew and learned so much there and when I sit down next week for thanksgiving dinner with my family I will share the same abundant excitement and bubbling enthusiasm as I shared with my friend who accompanied me and the girl at Subway who just wanted me to stop talking and order my sandwich.
  I am twenty-three years old.  I have graduated college and am slowly entering the "real world" and becoming an independent adult.  Life is moving.  Yet it is the places, like Sebago lake, that remind me what is important and what is worthwhile to spend my time on.  I encourage anyone to make it a point to visit a place of your childhood, maybe even with a friend or lover.  who knows, it might be just what you need, it may even change the current course of your life altogether.  Maybe the goal of growing older is not to move beyond our childhood, but to move "in" it.  To allow for the experiences, for better or worse, to move and mold us into the individuals we Hope to be and that we already are.




song:
Damien Rice- "dogs"

Permission to Love

I Love To write Love on her arms and similar organizations, like Music Saves and the One campaign.  It seems as though, although this adds good and bad aspects to charities, charity and doing good things have meshed with pop culture to raise awareness and increase the desire to do good.  Young people are always at the forefront of breakthroughs big movements regarding peace and change.  With the ease of communication, this has never been easier to voice our opinion and join up with a cause.
  However, in working with college students and other young people (and being one myself) it all comes back to Love.  "Love is all we need", go figure right.  No really.  The thing that nobody tells you, is that its hard.  Damn hard.  For some, its near impossible. 
  But as young people, we experience so very much.  This is a world of influences; peer pressures, media pressures, family pressure, significant other stress, and, of course, in the world of higher education, information overload.  Yet life seems to be a little more simple when you take a step back from it all.  These influences, although many are actually quite good, can be at best time consuming, at worst, they can absolutely rule our lives.  It is easy to get overwhelmed by it all.  It is, perhaps, even easier to just throw in the towel.  Life, love, happiness and all that.  Right.
  We become so inundated with all that's happening that we forget why it is we are actually roaming this blue and green expanse.  Bogged down by the "weight of the world".  So confused about what to think and who we actually are that are opinions and views are no longer our own.  We feel like we need to wait on others to act so we can come up with an appropriate reaction.  It's as if nothing we do seems quite right.

 Well, it is not.  The world has been turned upside down; many times over.  The economies, the environment, the disasters, the wars; the oppression.

I can confidently say, most of us have it easy in America.  Yet the hurt and affliction we experience are still present.  Sure, we don't have disease epidemics so much or guerrilla warfare in our streets, but we have are not without.  Our pain just takes on a different name.  For young people, it is depression, despair and loneliness that seem to be our biggest issues.  In a time where communication is at a surplus, we are feeling more alone than ever.  Call it what you will,we are oppressed.  The oppressed are held captive. Although we are not so much held captive (depending on how you look at it) we are still in need of an escape; we need to be freed; we need a command; its as if we need permission.

Although there is always more to the story, I believe it can all be summed up by allowing ourselves and others the permission to Love.

Tell some one you love or even somebody you barely know, Tell them its ok to love.  To them to go ahead.  It may seem strange at first, but imagine if we all felt it?  If we all knew it?  If we all lived it?