Change Your Day Day

Hola Everybody,
How’s everyone doing? Shit is getting real now, folks. LOL Fuck it -- whatever happens -- happens.

How to Change Your Day

 

You can’t perceive what you can’t conceive.

Read carefully because the following can change your day... 

Here’s a scientific discovery for you all to ponder: Ninety-six percent of the universe is stuff we’ve never seen. More precisely, the cosmos is 23 percent dark matter and 73 percent dark energy, both of which are invisible -- unseen and unknowable -- to us humans. All the stars, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, nebulas, and gas clouds all together make up the visible four percent.

So, where is the other 96 percent? No one knows. It’s not only concealed from humans, it’s undetectable to the instruments humans have devised, and its whereabouts can’t be predicted by any existing theories. Scientists know how much dark energy there is because they know how it affects the universe's expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery.

Knowing this, how does this change your thinking? If the vast majority of reality is invisible to you, how should you adapt to that knowledge? How certain can you be about anything? Maybe one way to adapt to this fact is that we should maintain an open mind.

Seventeenth century church authorities refused to look through Galileo’s telescope. Why bother, they scoffed? Christian dogma made it perfectly clear that moons could not possibly circle Jupiter.

But before you scientifically minded folk get too smug, consider that most of today’s scientists refuse to consider the possibility that unidentified craft might have been flying around our skies for years. It’s absurd to think that beings from other star systems could travel these vast distances, they tell us, as they look down their noses with contempt. They say there’s no valid reason to examine the evidence. It’s a ridiculous proposition. Their certainty contains a major bias: that sentient beings from other worlds can only have ships that are limited to the means of propulsion we have discovered here on Earth.

I’ll insert my patented blank stare here -> ::blank stare::

And please don't get it twisted: I'm not saying that UFOs exist, only that we shouldn't be so smug about our assumptions about their existence or lack thereof.

To the ancient Greeks, electricity was as bizarre and unfathomable as telepathy is to us today. Yet electricity existed before anyone “believed” in it. It’s just that there was no theory that proposed its existence and no means to gather evidence for it. Before electricity could “exist,” the culture had to change in order for people to be able to know where and how to look.

Today we’re aware of electricity as well as black holes, x-rays, and infrared light because we have the instruments to extend our senses. I have to question the wisdom of a mindset that assumes we have developed every sense-extending technology that will be ever be invented.

When Columbus’ ships first appeared on the horizon, First Nation people saw them as floating monsters. They didn’t have the conceptual knowledge or experience to know them for what they really were. You can’t perceive what you can’t conceive. An adult who has been blind all his life and through surgery is suddenly given the gift of sight takes a while to be able to interpret what he’s looking at. The eye alone doesn’t see. The mind and the cultural prejudices it has internalized interpret and shape what we see (and don’t see).

So what the fuck does all this have to do with your day, let alone changing it, you ask? Give me a moment and I’ll try to bring it all home for you.

Some of you may have heard of Einstein’s theory of relativity. I won’t try to explain it, but his theory changed the very way in which we perceive reality. It has influenced (and continues to do so) every sphere of science. This elegant little theory almost single-handedly changed our lives in so many ways I can’t begin to count them. One admiring journalist asked Einstein how he arrived at his theory. “How did you do it?” the journalist asked. “I ignored an axiom,” Einstein is said to have replied.

To be clear, the revolutionary scientist didn’t say he ignored an opinion or a theory, but rather he ignored an idea so well established that it was regarded as self-evident. Furthermore, he didn’t say he rebelled or fought against the axiom: He simply acted as if it weren’t there.

And that’s it in a nutshell, if you want to change your day (or even your life), you have to stay open to the realization that even the most accepted assumption can be wrong. Begin by learning the rules and then break or at least deeply question all of them. Or at the very least act as if the limitations don't exist.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization… 

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, please consider helping me out by sharing it, liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter, or even throwing me some money on GoFundMe HERE or via PayPal HERE so I can keep calling it like I see it.

Anthropology

Hola mi Gente,
It’s been a lonnnnnng two weeks, but thanks to the leadership at my organization, I’m seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sculpture: The Raven and the First Men by Bill Reid

When the missionaries first came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.
 -- Desmond Tutu, South African Bishop

When I attended university, I was in my late 30s, married, and was actually exceedingly well read. I would say, without conceit, that you will probably not meet many people that have read more than I have.

I went to school not so much to learn in the traditional sense, but to become a part of a community of scholars. I didn’t attend school to get a career, or make more money, but because I wanted to engage with like-minded individuals and test what I had learned previously and in that way, learn anew. I learned many things, chief among them that learning in the context of a community is quite different from learning in isolation.

I also discovered that my notions of science, or rather, how knowledge is gathered and accepted (or not accepted) is not as logical as I had thought previously. I quickly wanted to explore the origins of knowledge (epistemology), and how culture impacted our collective concept of knowledge. It has become part of my life’s work, to research the researchers, to focus the light of my curiosity on those who study others.

It led me to a completely new field of work called cultural studies and into the realm of the philosophy of science. It started innocently enough: I was taking a class on counseling and there was a section on cross-cultural issues and I learned that how people describe their ailments have a deep connection to cultural values. I learned Western medical science wasn't so much a science as it was an art, deeply influenced by cultural mores and a body of research conducted mostly by privileged white men.

In addition, much of the research I was coming across regarding Latino/as, for example, seemed to me to be deeply flawed -- not congruent with my own experiences growing up Latino in the US. Then while working as a research assistant, I came across Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions and I discovered that the history of science wasn’t one that marched in a straight line, with newer innovations replacing older ones as they became known or discovered. Kuhn wrote about paradigm shifts in a way that demonstrated that the history of science is one of fits and starts, rather than a linear evolution.

Then I came across anthropology and in reading earlier anthropological works, I came to see clearly that culture is an inescapable equation when it comes to science. Some of this science history is sad, brutal, and tragic even. As part of a class assignment, I came across the following piece written by a Naïve American poet. See if you get its message:

Anthropology
(excerpt)
Chrystos. (1991). Dream on (1 ed.). Vancouver, BC: Press Gang Publishers.

We have been conducting an extensive footnoted annotated indexed and complicated study of the Caucasian culture hereafter to be referred to as the cauks for ease in translation.

The most important religious ritual, one central to all groups, is the mixing of feces and urine with water. This rite occurs regularly on a daily basis and seems to be a cornerstone of the culture's belief system. The urns for this purpose are commonly porcelain, of various hues, although white is the most frequently used. The very wealthy rulers have receptacles of carved onyx or malachite with gold plated fixtures. We have been unable to determine what prayers are said during this ritual because its solitary nature & the fact that the door to the prayer room is always shut.

The main function of the majority of non-city dwellers is the production of an object called a lawn. Numerous tools for the cultivation of this lawn are sold in the market places. It appears also to have a sacred character, as no activity occurs on it & keeping it short green & square is a constant activity.

The main diet of the culture is available from push-button machines or orange plastic small markets and was found by our researchers to be completely inedible. It is truly amazing what the human animal can subsist on.

Another prominent feature of the cauks is the construction of huge monuments built in clusters in the villages. These are not living quarters but are used about five days a week for a ritual involving papers which appear to be sacred, given the life or death quality with which they are handled. The papers are passed about, often with consternation and eventually cast away when the spell is complete.

The mechanisms for healing disease appear to our eyes to be woefully complex & at the same time, inadequate. People who are seriously ill are quarantined in jails of pale green or white and often used to feed machines which appear to run on human blood.

Children who are born deformed in any way are usually confined to jails built for this purpose. The elderly are also jailed, there being no value system of respect for them. Those passing through transitions are called "crazy" and also jailed. Animals from distant lands again are jailed. In fact, there is some discussion of an alternative theory of central religious belief -- that the actual spiritual purpose of the culture, is to jail as much as possible. Extensive use of fences is the key argument to this theory.

Our data is yet incomplete. We hope by 1992 to have a more comprehensive overview, at which time a traveling exhibition of artifacts (including exhumed bodies to illustrate their burial practices) will tour for the education of all. Their attitude toward all non-cauk peoples is extremely hostile & violent. Many of our researchers have been massacred & yet, in the interests of science, we persevere.

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My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

Responding to Fear

Hola mi Gente,

 Have you ever felt that someone or some thing, or some situation is just right? Have you ever followed that inner feeling? How was that?

Responding to Fear

Nothing in life is to be feared; it only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

-- Marie Curie

A shadow is created by blocking, deflecting, or otherwise obstructing light. Wherever fear comes into existence, it lives, grows, and remains a part of us by embedding itself between the light of creative vision and our intuition. It is the shadow, not a lack of ability, that is the biggest obstacle we face today as a global community. The shadow, as I see it, is the space between what we want and what we get. It’s the distance between who we are and who we are meant to be, with the biggest, deepest, and widest gap occurring between the present crisis and our vision.

Look around at what has so many of us mesmerized: paranoia, worry, doubt, disease. They cast a spell on almost every aspect of our lives. Fear prevents us from seeing or feeling clearly. It blocks the natural flow of our creative energy and hampers our ability to be radically innovative. We seem to be caught in a collective state of generalized anxiety that makes solutions impossible or paralyzes their implementation. When we do manage to get started, it is fear that often calls us back at the first sign of disappointment or problem. Fear, as a friend likes to say, keeps us “stuck on stupid” as in the example of the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. It stunts our growth and suffocates our awakening, causing us to repeat painful and habitual patterns of behavior and making us lose sight of our vision (or uncommon sense). In order for us to envision and create a greater society we must get past this fearful landscape.

Historically, creative people have often felt separated from their communities. It’s as if their ability to see clearly between what is and what could be serves to stigmatize them. Innovators are often ridiculed, their ideas and insights too far ahead of the curve of conventional wisdom. This isolation strikes fear within us: we fear that if we express our ideas, or rock the boat a little, or act on them, others will ridicule us. Shit, we are in the midst of an election cycle predicated on fear. The truth is that our visionary thinking is the only thing that will save us. But people are afraid to follow their own ideas. They’re sure they will be perceived as crazy, or radical, or -- gasp! -- outside of the political norm.

We are defeated not by our uniqueness, but by our fear of the unusual, the new, the strange. We live in a society obsessed by numbers and norms, with its averages, means, and medians spurring us to believe in something called “normal,” which has little to do with being real. The idea of “average” or “typical behavior” is nothing more than a mathematical conceit.

Similarly, we fear information that challenges our ingrained worldview. Most of the resistance we see today is really about killing the messenger than a defense of reason. Those frantically screaming against health care as a human right, or decrying free education, or those who have made it their business to discredit all forms of science, are protecting hidden agendas composed of fear and loathing.

We fear losing as self-doubt zeroes in on the space between our potential and insecurity. We’re not thin enough, smart enough, or committed. As a nation too many focus on what we can’t do, rather than what we’re capable of. We’re too late with too little. Such doubts and fears make us hesitate at a moment in time in which we can ill afford to hesitate. Others fear innovative ideas succeeding and taking hold because it means their worldview was wrong -- fear of success. Many fear death, or loss of control. Whatever the case, it’s fear-based living at a time of crisis.

A sure recipe for catastrophe.

The people who insist that true innovation cannot be implemented demonstrate a complacency that’s both ignorant and disempowering. Awakening to our full potential is not a spectator sport. If we’re going to respond the challenges we face, we must act and act thoughtfully with foresight. Whenever a group tries something different, there’s an initial period of turbulence. Many people, fearful of new ways, mistake the turbulence for change itself and decide they would rather go back to the “good old days.” In this way, we dismiss the world of potential and vision for a past that never existed. 

If we allow ourselves to be led by a creative vision, we will never lose. We can let go of right and wrong, winning and losing, approval and disapproval. Right now, we are on the cusp of a new world emerging and behind us an old world imploding upon itself. The only rational response to fear is to fully embrace this new world. Our potential can only be realized by working collectively. This new world has been on the cusp for a long time and it has nothing to do with some bullshit calendar and everything to do with being awake, and we have heard it speaking all our lives.

Stop the fear, motherfuckers.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

The Power of Language

Hola mi Gente,

I just found out that the Department of Justice of the United States has decided to alter its terminology for people have beenreleased from incarceration in order to ease their reintegration into society.

This reminded me of the first time I saw the following letter before it was published. It was written by Eddie Ellis, who has passed on unfortunately, and Dr. Divine Pryor, two people with whom I had the pleasure of working with as part of the only think tank entirely composed of formerly incarcerated persons. Eventually, both men created the nonprofit organization, The Center for NuLeadership on UrbanSolutions.

The following letter sparked a flood of ideas in my own mind, as I realized that in order to create something new, you had to create a language that properly described the new paradigm. Since the publication of this letter many formerly incarcerated advocates, have successfully changed the way agencies, social scientists, politicians, and other advocates refer to us. So I am happy the DOJ has changed in its own language. Here is the “language letter” in full. You can download a PDF version for distribution here if you feel moved to do so…

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The Language Letter Campaign

An Open Letter to Our Friends on the Question of Language

When there is emotional pain, psychiatrists like me believe that we can help. But before we act we need to find some handle for the problem, some name to guide action. Once in a while, we realize that these names are inadequate for the problems we are seeing. Then we search for new names, or new ways to group old names.

– Mindy Thompson Fullilove, M.D., Root Shock, 2005

Dear Friends:

TheCenter for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions (CNUS) is a Human Justice policy, advocacy and training center founded, directed and staffed by academics and advocates who were formerly incarcerated. It is the first and only one of its kind in the United States.

One of our first initiatives is to respond to the negative public perception about our population as expressed in the language and concepts used to describe us. When we are not called mad dogs, animals, predators, offenders and other derogatory terms, we are referred to as inmates, convicts, prisoners and felons—all terms devoid of humanness which identify us as “things” rather than as people. These terms are accepted as the “official” language of the media, law enforcement, prison-industrial complex and public policy agencies. However, they are no longer acceptable for us and we are asking people to stop using them.

In an effort to assist our transition from prison to our communities as responsible citizens and to create a more positive human image of ourselves, we are asking everyone to stop using these negative terms and to simply refer to us as PEOPLE. People currently or formerly incarcerated, PEOPLE on parole, PEOPLE recently released from prison, PEOPLE in prison, PEOPLE with criminal convictions, but PEOPLE.

We habitually underestimate the power of language. The bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” In fact, all of the faith traditions recognize the power of words and, in particular, names that we are given or give ourselves. Ancient traditions considered the “naming ceremony” one of the most important rites of passage. Your name indicated not only who you were and where you belonged, but also who you could be. The worst part of repeatedly hearing your negative definition of me, is that I begin to believe it myself “for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” It follows then, that calling me inmate, convict, prisoner, felon, or offender indicates a lack of understanding of who I am, but more importantly what I can be. I can be and am much more than an “ex-con,” or an “ex-offender,” or an “ex-felon.”

The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions believes that if we can get progressive publications, organizations and individuals like you to stop using the old offensive language and simply refer to us as “people,” we will have achieved a significant step forward in our life giving struggle to be recognized as the human beings we are. We have made our mistakes, yes, but we have also paid or are paying our debts to society.

We believe we have the right to be called by a name we choose, rather than one someone else decides to use. We think that by insisting on being called “people” we reaffirm our right to be recognized as human beings, not animals, inmates, prisoners or offenders.

We also firmly believe that if we cannot persuade you to refer to us, and think of us, as people, then all our other efforts at reform and change are seriously compromised.

Accordingly, please talk with your friends and colleagues about this initiative. If you agree with our approach encourage others to join us. Use positive language in your writing, speeches, publications, web sites and literature.

When you hear people using the negative language, gently and respectfully correct them and explain why such language is hurting us. Kindly circulate this letter on your various listservs. Please see below for four easy steps to follow.

If you disagree with this initiative, please write and tell us why at the above address or e-mail us at info@centerfornuleadership.org. Perhaps, we have overlooked something. Please join us in making this campaign successful. With your help we can change public opinion, one person at a time.

Thank you so much.

In Solidarity and Love, Eddie Ellis, Founder

4 Easy Steps to Follow 

1. Be conscious of the language you use. Remember that each time you speak, you convey powerful word picture images. 
2. Stop using the terms offender, felon, prisoner, inmate and convict. 
3. Substitute the word PEOPLE for these other negative terms. 
4. Encourage your friends, family and colleagues to use positive language in their speech, writing, publications and electronic communications.

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My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…