AdverGaming

[avad]

I want to cry.
I knew it was coming. *sigh*
Dreamt this so many years ago...and the feeling of urgency...the questions/challenges...HOW do we use these evolving technologies and the surges of attention/energy for the GOOD of humanity, not just corporate greed?? The same technology has the power to totally change our economic system to symbiotically support areas of great need...developing countries...areas of suffering...The dream indicated that it would have to be emergent WITH the technology...the infrastructure would have to be PREDESIGNED to benefit the charitable organizations...and the launching of it would be immense, collaborative, exciting, heralding a new world possibility...of cooperation. Everyone wanting to be a part of it and to watch it grow.

And now almost 6 years later I've really done nothing (I didn't know HOW- it felt so beyond me!!) and I watch as it all happens...but with the bent we were hoping somehow to avert. the memes propogating here are 'go spend and support our corporate greed' instead of all the beautiful memes that could be reaching the masses.
"There has to be a vision...so compelling...that it thwarts the natural tendency to selfishness...rewiring the pleasure-centers of the brain to connect to benevolent action strongly...a new vision of the self...as part of a benevolent organism...."
And I made artwork with the visions. And I read. And I was inspired..linking, making common interest friends...but...
I never MOVED any of these ideas formally!. And they were shown to me as store and webportal, not painting and dinner chat.The 10% club remains a semisecret vow I've taken personally...instead of a MOVEMENT throught the business sector as it is 'supposed' to be...with cooperating businesses and a web portal to charities. Pier 10 would be a conglomerate of these businesses...in 3d immersive virtual worlds (gaming).
ugh. I feel sick. I don't know how to explain the haunting and heavy feeling of responsibility I feel for something that yes seems totally beyond me. I just want to cry. I don't know how to do this!!!!!!
I don't think I've been able to truly convey to even one person the Magnitude of what I feel relating to this...and I feel horrible and guilty and I dont' want to hear that I shouldn't I want someone to understand that there's something SO important that needs to be DONE!!!!!!!!It feels so late now. Impossible to catch up to the speed of things happening....I just don't know!

fcking sobbing crying my eyes out
sick of not being able to express
sick of myself and my avoidance and my laziness
years years years have gone by
I was made aware of our chance....and did nothing
because it seemed 'too hard, too complicated' to do
and much Much too social, collaborative.
Noooo...darlene wants to be alone and have her peace and quiet...
while everything poises on the shiftpoint
and people around the world suffer
and she's shown a diagram of how to help
a little piece of the puzzle
but it feels to difficult to express
and doesn't make lightning when she tries
so she lets it slide
deprioritized
Deprioritized?
how dare i
*screamsob*

Comments

[unluckymonkey.livejournal.com]

I'll admit I can't even go to the link. I can't even look and know something more is out there to sell to people and program them. All I have to say really is that Nothing I Too Late. No matter what there is always a chance and maybe this is your call to attention to get out there and do and achieve your goal before it feels hopelessly gone and saps all your energy. Do it now if it hurts this much to see it go away. Easy enough for me to say of course but I feel you can do the It that will make you feel accomplished. Nothing's over and It can still be accomplished. You impress the hell out of me and you have the ability to be an inspiration to others. >many crushing hugs

[avad.livejournal.com]

hon, THANK YOU. that was really beautifully put and I really felt it and needed it.
THANK YOU.
It's not too late I'm going to move forward somehow:)

[unluckymonkey.livejournal.com]

Oh so happy to hear it. Sometimes when you can't grab someone's hands and look into their eyes and try to help them with your words it can be lost in the translation. I think it's normal to feel daunted sometimes but it's best to use it instead of letting it get us.

[babayada.livejournal.com]

http://www.wilddivine.com

Video games simply are. They can be used for whatever purpose the producers want.

We all have ideas that we do not act upon for a variety of reasons. We all have our lives to live. Getting down on yourself is not cultivating the good in yourself and in the world that was in your original intention concerning this stuff, right?

Besides, you have your art. Do you know how many people want to create art but don't out of laziness, fear, and/or lack of ability?

[avad.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I know...but it always felt..the art was/is a way of working things through...yes it has it's own place and beauty...and it conveys something to people...and it's what I'm personally good at and must do...but I have this feeling that I'm supposed to somehow help bring this other thing into being as well...and that seemed way out of my expertise and intimidating...
anyway
the link you gave seems WONDERFUL!!!
wish I could use it right now.(with the biofeedback thingies!:)
thanks for linking to it. it IS a very hopeful example to contrast with.

[babayada.livejournal.com]

Maybe you will, maybe you won't bring this thing into being, I don't know.

It's hard to figure out what we should hold on to and what we should let go.

Is this thing yours? Is it something you've been told you should do and have internalized? Or what?

I face similar problems in my life. No matter what I do I wonder if this is pursuing my purpose in life. Trouble is, I don't know what that purpose is, or really if there is one...?

I generally settle on figuring that purpose is self-defined and that I am responding to cultural conditioning in thinking that I should have this idyllic purpose that informs of my actions.

With some things, we get in a funk and issues like these are just the straws that break the camel's back. They are just a face that a deep, turbulent energy takes when it manifests a form and pops out.

With some things, sooner or later, push comes to shove and we are forced to decide on a deep level to either pursue something fully or to completely drop it. That way we don't torture ourselves about it.

A possibility is that you work on a term using what you know to be your strengths while others are using their strengths to complement your weaknesses ... it doesn't have to be a one woman crusade.

Just some random thoughts.

[avad.livejournal.com]

I'm the crazy dream-lady remember? hehe.*serious*
I really don't know any other way to be than following my dreams. There's no question in my mind about 'if I can give it up', I really can't. I do feel wholeheartedly that it is a part of my purpose here on earth, and I have to do what I can.
I can deprioritize it for a while but then it all comes to the surface again so strongly with triggers..like today..I don't know if that's a good or bad thing but it's the way I live. I totally believe in my dreams. They have foretold events small and large. I can't explain it, but I can't help but believe it. I have plenty more reasons to believe it than I have reasons not to.
Things add up.
This one was particularly elaborate and straightforward. Instructionlike. Informative.
And about things I really had no understanding of at the time. (immersive 3d webportals back when I wouldn't even go onto a computer to try this scary thing called 'email').

It definitely wouldn't be a 'one-woman crusade'. That's actually one of the things that has created the tension and procrastination in me.
Because as an artist, my work, my projects have always been done pretty much in isolation...in a realm where I didn't need to Verbalize or Prove or Convince things to others. And then...well, it's abstract art...I can sort of let go and let people take it in at whatever level they do.
But *sigh* this other thing...is different.
In order to have it manifest...I would have to 'convince' others of its validity, to get people with the right skills to collaborate, etc. and that's something i'm not comfortable doing and I feel bad at.And I'm postponing indefinitely out of fear and my own desire to work quietly and alone and not have to EXPLAIN things that are hard to explain.
Here on this journal I can be myself pretty much.
I'm letting it out, saying things I probably wouldn't in other forums, in the 'real' world. I'm telling you here that the main reason I'm behind this idea so fully is because I had a vision in a dream that told me to and I believe it and everything I've learned since then has just reinforced its validity to me.
that's not exactly something easy to say.
And probably something I shouldn't say in order to be taken seriously in the 'business world'.
But it's true and it's me and it's exhausting to even think of trying to hide it and think of 'better ways' to get ideas across.
*sigh*

[babayada.livejournal.com]

Can you ask your dreams specific things? Like before you go to sleep say something like, "Can you show me how I can take easy steps to get this done and handle my fear?" or something like that?

Many business people are visionaries, so I don't think talking about dreams will seem too crazy, you just got to translate it into business-speak, I guess. I mean, look at Steve Jobs. He's a visionary. He talks in terms of dreams. So did Martin Luther king.

Think of all the crazy things that people are convinced to believe and do. They had to get those ideas in their heads somehow. You can do it.

I totally understand the working alone vs. working in groups thing. Do you see yourself as a leader of this project, or perhaps a part of something that's already being led and matches your vision?

There are benefits to working in groups, though, that you might not be looking at. Depending on the people, it can be better than working alone. You get to experience synergy, you don't have to do all the work, there are jokes and fun, etc.

You never know, you might find a like-minded individual who is a mouthpiece for the ideas.

[avad.livejournal.com]

I think I have to do exactly that.(ask dreams) Thanks.
I've only done that a few rare times. When it 'worked' (well, sort of I think)..I had actually hammered the question into an artwork...asking for guidance in dreams.and got a doozy.
*exhale*
Well, I should be working on a nail piece by next week (Page 7 of The Book of Hope) so it seems a good time).
Hmmmm No,I really DON'T see myself as the Leader of this project. (big sigh of relief).Actually I saw myself pretty clearly as being on a 'board' of sorts...but definitely keeping some important 'requisites' in the discussion...about predation and symbiosis,corporate responsibility and the creation of a benevolent organism..
Falling across the site I mention in the post (2 forward?) about Serendipity really seems to point the way...these are forums for just this purpose..!eek

[babayada.livejournal.com]

Well, I am currently studying game design and development in C++. So, if you have any questions about that side of things, let me know. :) I am also open to staying in touch regarding future projects and what not. I'll be graduating and looking for a job in September of this year.

Regarding the subjects that are requisite for discussion, have you ever seen Joseph Campbell's lectures in the Mythos series or in the Power of Myth programs?

[avad.livejournal.com]

definitely let's keep in touch...who knows what we'll collaborate on in the future!:)

Everything IS Everything

[eyeclectic.livejournal.com]

Eye totally understand these feelings, as it seems We share the same vision--so clear, yet so overwhelming! But this, Eye am sure, is the reason Eye was guided here! And though Eye continue to put it off, not knowing just what to say, reading this post makes me feel certain that We really need to talk~>

Positively,
JS : )

Re: Everything IS Everything

[avad.livejournal.com]

hello.:)
I'm open. (scared as always) but open.
talk to me

Re: Everything IS Everything

[eyeclectic.livejournal.com]

  "In order to have it manifest...I would have to 'convince' others of its validity, to get people with the right skills to collaborate, etc. and that's something i'm not comfortable doing and I feel bad at.And I'm postponing indefinitely out of fear and my own desire to work quietly and alone and not have to EXPLAIN things that are hard to explain." ~ avad

  As Eye continue to read and be !nspired by your posts and elaborations of others, so many things, like your quote above, seem like they were typed straight from me, in describing my own thoughts and feelings about what seems like the same dream. Eye'm just so amazed and excited to find someone else who thinks and seems driven, as Eye, by the quest of the vision, even when it does seem too much to carry!

  "A possibility is that you work on a term using what you know to be your strengths while others are using their strengths to complement your weaknesses ... it doesn't have to be a one woman crusade." ~ babayada

  Agreed! As you have an obvious strength in presenting thoughts in type, Eye seem to be better, myself, in speech, while, much like yourself, using art as a catalyst for the message.

  "We are not sep-arate but the same, Connected by Our differences." ~ JS : )

  So what may bring Us to understand and act on Our great potential? Eye am currently working on a program to hopefully answer this perplexity; and, after reading your thoughts, feel that you must surely have a place in the making of its REALity.

  "If you want to view paradise, Simply look around and view it, Anything you want to, do it, Want to change the world, There's nothing to it." "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams." ~ Willy Wonka

  Seriously moved by you and your friends, who seem to understand and !nspire Empathy and Connection in ways that are, unfortunately, still so rare, this is probably more than Eye've typed in a single LJ comment ever!

  "Your 10% club has inspired me to do what I can (proceeds from yarn stuff to heiffer and oxfam, etc...) remember that you are making the movement grow, really." ~ lorigami

  Agreed! Thank You for sharing your thoughts of Compassionate Connection with the world! Eye'm sure, in the Connecting paths of LIFE that lead Us to where We are and will eventually be, that you have !nspired far more than you will ever know! And Eye look forward to Communicating with you more~>

  "Welcome cultural diversity and explore people of other races, colors, and creeds. Talk about and celebrate your differences. Study geography to learn about the world and its people and to promote environmental and global Connectedness. .. Everbody will suffer until We are one healing Family." ~ Patch "Gesundheit!" Adams

  To explain my spEyelling, it's something learned from Eyenstein (Albert Einstein). If you want people to remember you, always wear the same suit. In reference to Eyeclectic, Eye've been wearing this suit for so long now that just wearing the letter "I" seems strange to me, like Eye'm not fully dressed. So here Eye am, respectfully, in three piece suit, and camera.

  "Everything IS Everything, Be It!" ~ Positively, JS : )

Re: Everything IS Everything

[avad.livejournal.com]

chewing on all this slowly- thank you!:)
DO you know we actually met Patch Adams a few years ago?!! hee. He gave a lecture at the college nearby. What a character. Very inspiring.

Thanks for the explanation of the spelling...I WAS wondering but didn't ask! hehe.
I am very grateful for the friends I've made through this medium...especially when overwhelmed as I was yesterday...these noted made all the difference.
BTW I can't open large files on this computer (it's an old system on its last legs...but i'm hoping it can hold out till I can afford a new one)...
so I might be able to see what's on the disk and on the mp3 on another borrowed computer soon.
anyway, thanks for the empathetic words. I know we do have much in common in dreams and goals and visions for the future.
love
D

Re: Everything IS Everything

[eyeclectic.livejournal.com]

Glad you know of Patch! Though We have yet to meet, Eye plan to spend a weekend at Gesundheit! to get aquainted soon...

Not sure what you meant by "what's on the disk", but the mp3 is a presentation of the "Fame & Fortune (Are Not Siamese Twins)" theme of the "Empathy from the Empire" exhibit. If you can't open it, perhaps Eye could send you a CD, along with a print of "The Gift" photo you wanted?

: )

Re: Everything IS Everything

[avad.livejournal.com]

oh woops I meant on the Zipdisk format...it was something on color?? (i can't reach this post for some reason right now or I would verify).
I think I Will be able to watch it on my fiance's computer...but he needs to install something first said he...But if for some reason we can't, I'll let you know..and I would love a cd (and of course the photo which is gorgeous).

Speaking of, DO go back and visit this post and see all the amazing notes left recently by seppuku files/aka Ed. You'll love this guy!!
wow.:)

Re: Everything IS Everything

[eyeclectic.livejournal.com]

Ah, you must mean the Dream In Color pictures? Eye often attach something to emails and can usually match most any subject. Name one...

As for this post, "EUREKA!", Eye say!

: )

[sendao.livejournal.com]

Now that you've calmed down a bit, I have a lot to tell you.

First of all, don't just blame yourself, if you're going to blame someone. Blame me, too, for I have been lazy and have not moved forward much in this area either. We both do what we can, but there's nothing wrong with being human. We can only do what we can do. It's not laziness, it's ability and energy. We're not yet ready to do this. But don't worry! It will happen!

Second, it's not necessarily going to be exactly like your dream. Perhaps the manipulations you are meant to make are not in the form of this world we both want to make, but rather through your art and already -in- your art. What you have created for this world is already beautiful! You have helped to create beauty in the world, and have also helped to push back the darkness that threatens to invade.

Third, people may not yet be ready for the epiphany of caring for others. Many simply do not feel the pain and suffering of those who are far away - I know that it is not something I feel strongly, although I could not tell you why. Perhaps I am too wrapped up in my own life, but if you were to try to really push your ideas on me? I would balk and deny you! And I cannot explain this either, except that selfishness is self-protective.

Fourth, I'm not giving up on the dream just because some other people have already taken their own steps using this media. Are you unable to paint simply because there are other paintings out there? Remember that all we're talking about making is a way to talk to people, and to express the ideas we desire to them, hopefully with some positive reinforcement to guide them to feel the same way. (Donate $10 to charity to increase your player's chi power!)

This is still something we can do, hon. It is never too late, and yes people are hurting, but you can only do what you can do. People are hurting because we are all imperfect, not just you.

[avad.livejournal.com]

hey scott.:) feeling a little better now..went to the gym and then pizzaplace with brent..

*sigh* I know.. I really appreciate your words hon I do...but well, I guess it just hit harder with that article because in the dream, Disney was actually sortof a partner of P10....because it is such a huge force/organism...it was one of the...how to say..major fueltanks for the site. So all this that is being launched now for Disney's interests separately...was to be within the overall Pier10 system...launched as one...and working symbiotically and for more global philanthropic goals.

But getting over it......maybe it's a matter of networking/linking virtual worlds together in a near future. maybe that's it. After all P10 was/is a SearchPortal...just 3d immersive adventurestyle. so maybe it's still coming...and can transform existing platforms.
Although I find it harder to believe they'll want to change things once it's working superwell for them already and their platform is miles ahead of anything anyone else can offer and they're feeling no lack of traffic....
anyway...I'm not sure how..but i'm guessing there will have to be a way...an open-door policy of sorts that connects the virtual worlds of all 10%ers......one portal many worlds, all 10%...
remember the avatar 'surfing the web' thing I sent you ages ago...wonder what's happened with that if anything...

I need a shower. *sigh*

[avad.livejournal.com]

ok and because this is always the way this wacky universe seems to work...the treadmill I was running on stopped unexpectedly in the middle of my run...and so, annoyed I had to move to another one and start again. Someone left an esquire mag on this one and I leafed through it...and fell upon this article (http://www.omidyar.net/group/community-general/news/213/) which seems a bit appropriate.
what do you think?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Concentrate on what you can reasonably do today, or the task will always seem overwhelming. Gandhi said we have to be the change we want to see in the world. I believe it is wrought with small nudges and staying grounded in the present.

[avad.livejournal.com]

those words of ghandi's have been some of the strongest I've held onto. That's why I undertook the 10% vow myself instead of trying to go business to business. I figured I had to explore it and everything it meant in myself...and I would be part of a ripple...
But another thing I'd like to embody myself that i'm having more trouble with is the ability to work HARD and consistently for a cause I believe in. No one can say what's hard enough. I just know I'm capable of more...
I know balance...I'm not really the type to lose myself completely in a 'mission' and let everything else fall away unimportant...I believe we have to LIVE life and be awake to all the beauty in it...and breathe and love and enjoy.
But I actually think I give myself A bit too much escape though. I still lack a bit of self-discipline that is..well, necessary. THis is not a term paper. This is not a show deadline.
But it is even more important. And if I don't tell myself to get down to work and do it...no one else ever will. Do you know what I mean?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I think so. I can relate to your anger, because that's what spurred me to change the way I've approached my LJ since September, bringing unprecedented consistency to my daily writing.

I don't know balance very well, and sometimes I give myself far too much escape. I burned out of working hard a few years ago, not just career-wise -- in many aspects of being. Now I scramble hard for balance and the basic motivation to live my life. The answer must be something simpler than our society normally gives us. Perhaps we have so much greed because we all expect too much out of life. We need lessons in how to let go. I have had some and am happier for them.

On the other hand, you often cause me to wonder whether I am too cynical. I wish I had more energy, concentration and commitment. I admire your work, not the least reason being that you are willing to question and challenge yourself.

[avad.livejournal.com]

sounds freeekin COLD!!! are you crazy??
NO MORE COLD!!!
(hee ok that comes from being outside just a bit ago).
ANd I've stopped hitting myself, thank you.
Ran like a crazed rodent on the treadmill at the gym instead. Feel a little better.
Where's my pellet?
:)

[rokkitz.livejournal.com]

it takes all sorts of folk
to make this boat float
every individual is a hero
timing is every thing
progress isn't something to aim for
evolution is unpredictable
maybe it's a case of
forgetting
so that you can
remember
what it's like to
slide across
the edge of empathy so
keen

yeah,
maybe it's a call
but don't think
you're not
a relay beacon

it's like tlon,
all over again
one encyclopedia page
at a time(?)

[avad.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[lorigami.livejournal.com]

Your 10% club has inspired me to do what I can (proceeds from yarn stuff to heiffer and oxfam, etc...) remember that you are making the movement grow, really.
xoxo

[avad.livejournal.com]

*hug* thanks hon.
some days i feel it's all happening at a wonderful pace....but then i read an article like the one i linked to here and i feel this desperate urgency and feeling of being toooo slow.

"Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter."

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." -Darth Vader, in regards to the Death Star.

I had a conversation with a close friend of mine recently. We discussed the frustrations and the caricatured differences between the "goodguys" and "badguys."

"Sometimes I hate being the goodguys. Just once I'd like to be the badguys. The badguys get machineguns, and when they need to change something, they chop it directly up with loud rattles and flying lead. And all we, as the goodguys, have are daisies and good intientions. DAISIES! We can't do shit against machineguns, not with these daisies!"

The result of the conversation (directly, and after some marination) was that sometimes it seems like the good in the world is failing, because the bad in the world seems to make victories every day. But that is the way of the bad in the world. It takes the short and powerful route, winning as much as it can through a series of small skirmishes, all the while promoting a war campaign that is designed to shake the faith of those working on the good. "THIS IS THE WAY OF OUR WORLD. ALL MUST SUCCUMB OR BE DEFEATED IN OUR VICTORY MARCHES." Bullshit, suck my ass...

What needs to happen with the good, as I think is more true than we can believe (especially at the points where the carpet of hope is yanked out from beneath our feet), is that we need to steadily build, process and purify the good, find the cracks in it and replace, strengthen, condition, repair, and ultimately solidfy that which is good for that moment when all of the bad comes to our doorsteps, they will find that our houses are not made from straw, or sticks, or bricks and mortar, but something built from the same structure as the universe, something so strong it is un-shakeable to any force that is not equal to G-d.

Re: "Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter."

[avad.livejournal.com]

:)!i like that.
cmere you.
*goodguy hug*

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

And DAMN, do I fucking feel you when it comes to that sense of urgency. Too many times, I've lost patience with myself, feeling like I'm so far behind in my own personal evolution that I can't possibly be of any use to the world and the betterment of it, to the positive growth and evolution of humanity and society. I really do feel you, D. I feel these things every waking hour of every day of my life -no exaggeration. When I was about ten years old, my father told me "There's going to be a revolution in your lifetime, and YOU have to be the one to lead it. Our generation fucked up; our time is passed. It's all up to you." Those words wrapped themselves around my heart and mind, and I remember them all the time, and sometimes those words crushed the wind from my lungs with feelings of helplessness, feeling like the world is too big of a thing for me to move with my tiny little hands.

And it is. But it is not meant to be moved by my hands alone.

If we intend to get this ship to shore, and out of the dangers of watery graves, and storms that would rip it apart leaving no trace of how far we've come, EVERYBODY must row.

But how do we get them to row? By pointing machineguns in their faces and telling them that they "Have To"? Nah man, you know that it's up to folks like us, using our tools of articulation to explain the necessity of the rowing, using what gifts were given to us who CAN translate the intangible things into bite-sized morsels for those who can't see the invisible, and through our modelling of such things as intelligence, honor, respect, growth, evolution vs. stagnation, to convince those with oars (which really is everyone on the planet) to row, and row for shore! Steadily but surely, we will make it. Even if there are those who jump ship, even if there are those who cannot make it and die, those of us who have been rowing since the earliest days will -and DO- have the strength to row for more that our occupied seat, and we bolster that strength as well as gloify it to the others who are like us, especially in front of those who would doubt or question their own strength, or waver at the fear that "this boat may never make it to dry land."

WE ARE THE ONES THAT KEEP THIS THING ALIVE.

And we MUST remember lessons like that which is written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, in the second chapter of the Hagakure:

It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same.
For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. This is the mistake of people who are attached to past generations. They have no understanding of this point.
On the other hand, people who only know the disposition of the present day and dislike the ways of the past are too lax.

Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.

[avad.livejournal.com]

unbelievably gorgeous. *sigh* THANK YOU Ed.
you really...*sigh*...your words..

it worked.:)

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

A common thing that I have seen in people who involve themselves in martial arts is that they tend to focus on the very physical aspects of it; the practice of martial arts is not merely about who can punch, kick, and block effectively enough to prevent themselves from getting beat up, but that there are philosiphies at work that are designed not just for hand-to-hand combat, but that can (and should be) applied to the war that we are all born into -the war of balance and understanding between those who seek to bring harmony to the universe, and those who seek to bring some semblance of harmony to their own lives, even at the cost of the harmony of the universe, their world, or even the lives they affect in their own plane of existance. And conversely, there are lessons handed down from the masters that may not be getting to those who do not practice (or look into martial arts), that are very applicable today because the core structure of human struggle and contention has not changed so much that the philosiphies they practiced on how to overcome struggles and contentions are not as outdated as people would believe.

And yeah, it's true, we have to make the best out of every generation. And it has been proven time and time again, that when good is tested, it will rise to the occasion and survive the onslaught of terror, destruction, war, misguided intentions, hatred. Our hands are stronger than the hands of those who fear and rush to arrange themselves comfortably in this world, at the cost of the world. They are stronger because they have withstood years and years -fuck, GENERATIONS and GENERATIONS- of being subject to the negative aspects of humanity and still, we use these hands to build, strengthen, enlighten, and evolve. No matter how many times we were pinned down and had our hands broken, we have always come back and forgiven; we have always come back and applied ourselves harder to the betterment of humanity.

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

And again, this is our legacy. Our heroes are those who have proven beyond all odds the invincible truths to the universe, and our army is found in every walk of life, pockets of people who know that there is a better world crying out to be built up from the ruins that crumble and have crumbled around us. And our calvary is truth, universal truths, that we can rely on ALWAYS. Morihei Ueshiba knew it, when he turned to the techinques of science and mathematics in the forms of nature to base Aikido from. Albert Einstein knew it when he sought to teach us that the language of the universe is written in a cryptography that is complicated, but is still a cryptography that can be broken with the ingenuity, insight, and intelligence of the human mind. Or that can can be improved significantly by the collection of human minds.

And yes...those puzzle pieces are terribly important. But the key is that no one person has 100% of the puzzle. That's the thing they don't tell you in the instructions. You're born, and at some point, you open the box, to find one or an immeasurable number of puzzle pieces, and the only instruction given is:

"Please complete the puzzle."

The pieces we hold individually might not make sense. And the picture on the box is dingy and faded and blurry, and looks like different things to different people. Only by working together with everyone and saying "These are all the pieces I have in my pocket," whether they make sense to us or not, and asking "Please show me all of the pieces you have collected up to this point in your life," are we to approach solving this thing. Even if you only have one piece that has been useless to you your entire life, and you don't even recognize that it's a piece, it might be the missing key to something that someone else has been working on.

You're walking around scratching your head, holding in your hand some random cog, and cross paths with this other cat, who sees it and shouts "EUREKA! That is the last cog of the machine that I've built from parts I've collected that will move us into the next phase of growth and positive evolution!"

Bam. Equation completed, or at least another step. Step by step, we must do this, and we must not loose faith. Like you told me, you have to look for those stories that validate our hopes, faiths, and the struggles that we undergo daily, yearly, generation by generation.

Marinate on this. It is proven that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line (isn't it?), but the most natural distance between two points is the way of the sprial.

Our way may seem to take a much longer, and sometimes more convoluted route, but our way is one that is backed by the cornerstones of the universe. Know that, and have faith in that truth.

of course, you knew my response would be verbose, right?

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

...as an afterthought, I wanted to say that you should call me sometime. The support system between and around glowing embers of life and it's champions needs to be strong, because the responsibility that we take on and carry is so immense, it really does threaten to crush us every time we wake up from sleep. And again, for the record, it IS something that should not be carried by one set of hands, or a few, but the many. So call any time, it doesn't matter what hour of the day:

510.798.5040

Ed.

[avad.livejournal.com]

You're walking around scratching your head, holding in your hand some random cog, and cross paths with this other cat, who sees it and shouts "EUREKA! That is the last cog of the machine that I've built from parts I've collected that will move us into the next phase of growth and positive evolution!"

yesyesYES!:)
Only I've got to figure out how to put my cog into a form I can hand over!! It still seems so difficult to express! It's like the artwork plus my brain and heart and dreamvisions. Do you have a smoosher for this purpose? I'd like it to be the size of a small cube and I'd like to make copies of the cog so that many can try it out in their machines!!.;)

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

Truth be told, I'm the fellow working on the machine...and the machine IS a smoosher. A Strange Shapes Including And Especially Cogs Smoosher to be exact.

That's what I need the cog for...

[avad.livejournal.com]

joy. so glad we found eachother.
take it take it!:)

Afterthought:

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

You know. If you lived out here, we'd be going out for slurpies instead of all this nonsense.

SLUURRR...PEEEZ.

Mmmm Hmmm.
You heard me.
That's right.
Slurpies, mane.

Let's go.

Re: Afterthought:

[avad.livejournal.com]

well I don't know where 'out here' IS.
I thought you lived in my computer!
*taptap*
slurpeeeez R COLD!!!
I just had me a hot 'Caramel Mocha Nirvana' no joke.
I mean, how can you resist a name like that with espresso in it? you can join me for one of those and we can chitchatter aways.:)

[seppuku-files.livejournal.com]

Man! I thought you knew where "out here" was, in relation to me! Out here! California's bay area! East bay! A good handful of miles across the water from San Francisco, but no less, a stone's throw away!

Man. I'd join you for a hot beverage, a cold beverage, or no beverage at all, and just conversation. I'm dead serious. If you ever come out this way, you should really hit me up. Though, I'll be honest, I might take a bit more chasing down than the average photographer after a grizzly; I'm sure I fucked off meeting up with another friend from out of town who flew into L.A. (three hundred miles south, but still close enough to consider trying to meet).

Yeah...Carmel, Mocha, and Nirvana, all used in the same name would rope me in, too. I feel you on that. See, in California, we don't REALLY know what cold is about, so it's acceptable for us to talk about Slurpies, even in the dead of winter...

[avad.livejournal.com]

AHA now I remember...that was your lil blip on my friends map!! yep all the way over therrrrre.
in the WARM.
ha to see what cold is like check out my latest post...and then I DARE you to talk to me about slurpees! ok I don't dare you. just don't do it, please.
*shiver*
actually it's way nice inside right now...I've got the sun warming me through the window and a beautiful snowscape to look out at..

Re: Afterthought:

[avad.livejournal.com]

or was it Mocha Caramel Nirvana? anyways it was the Nirvana that got me.
It seemed so....easy.:)