Tuesday, September 28, 2004
The Revolution of One Has Begun!
I am pleased to announce that my first full length book has finally been published!
The title is "Revolution of One: A Simple Guide to Reclaiming Your Life and Transforming Our World." It leads the reader through a revolutionary journey focused around 10 personal practices, 8 types of community organizations, and 5 bioregional projects that have the potential to change our lives for the better. Yes, you have the power to create a better world! You can Become a Revolution of One!
For more information on Revolution of One, visit treesong.org/revolutionofone. To purchase this book online, visit lulu.com/treesong. If you live in the Carbondale/Murphysboro area though, PLEASE wait a few days and purchase it at a locally owned bookstore! This book will soon be available at Rosetta Stone Bookstore in Carbondale and New Ages Other Worlds in Murphysboro. I urge you to support the local economy by buying this and other books from locally owned bookstores!
I've got to get ready for work, so that's all for now. That's PRETTY BIG NEWS though, eh?!? If I hadn't stayed up until 3 am last night to finish this, I'd probably be dancing in the streets right about now! That will happen soon enough. In the meantime, thank you for all of your support, and let me know what you think of Revolution of One!
[Psst! You can let other treesong.org visitors know what you think too by posting your comments at treesong.org/forums.]
0 comments
The title is "Revolution of One: A Simple Guide to Reclaiming Your Life and Transforming Our World." It leads the reader through a revolutionary journey focused around 10 personal practices, 8 types of community organizations, and 5 bioregional projects that have the potential to change our lives for the better. Yes, you have the power to create a better world! You can Become a Revolution of One!
For more information on Revolution of One, visit treesong.org/revolutionofone. To purchase this book online, visit lulu.com/treesong. If you live in the Carbondale/Murphysboro area though, PLEASE wait a few days and purchase it at a locally owned bookstore! This book will soon be available at Rosetta Stone Bookstore in Carbondale and New Ages Other Worlds in Murphysboro. I urge you to support the local economy by buying this and other books from locally owned bookstores!
I've got to get ready for work, so that's all for now. That's PRETTY BIG NEWS though, eh?!? If I hadn't stayed up until 3 am last night to finish this, I'd probably be dancing in the streets right about now! That will happen soon enough. In the meantime, thank you for all of your support, and let me know what you think of Revolution of One!
[Psst! You can let other treesong.org visitors know what you think too by posting your comments at treesong.org/forums.]
0 comments
Friday, September 10, 2004
Wait 'Til Next Year
First, I would like to say a big WELCOME HOME to the Indymedia crew from Southern Illinois that headed out to cover the Republican National Convention in NYC. [Hmm... Rethuglican National Conniption?] You carried the hearts of many a Southern Illinoisan with you on your journey -- and from what I've heard and seen so far, I'd say that you did a mighty fine job in the process.
Now that you've made it home, though, I'd say that it's time for a new blog entry on another topic entirely.
On the surface, you'd think that I'd be simply giddy over the way my life's going lately. I am gainfully employed at a cooperatively-owned health food store that is giving me a good number of hours of work each week; I have a good number of friends and loved ones to share my life with; I am all but finished with my first book; and I feel like I've come such a long way in deepening my understanding of myself, my community, and my world.
And yet...
And yet, this relative outward success has only served to stir the embers of a hope that had all but perished in the frost of a moonless midnight. Maybe I'm just an insufferable ingrate who demands too much in life -- but since I very often give thanks for the gifts I've been given, I don't think that's the case. No, my "problem" is that the power of my heart to love and dream as deeply as I do apparently makes me somewhat of an alien among my own people.
Think of the movie ET, for example. Clearly, that cute little wrinkly dude had a lot of love packed into that rather unique body of his. On a good day, you could even see his heart glowing! But can you imagine what that movie would have been like if ET's funkadelic mothership had never come down and he'd been forced to live among humans for the rest of his life?
Once Elliot's mom ran out of M&M money, the poor little dude would have to go get himself a human job. In order to find some sense of fulfillment in life, he'd have to try to find humans who could understand his language of universal love [and occassional alien squeals]. You can bet he'd have a pretty hard time finding a date on Saturday night! He'd also probably try to find a way to work that healing magic of his out in the world at large, only to find that people were much more interested in watching Big Brother or Survivor. And if you think that those FBI agents and random freaks in NASA space suits are bad, just wait until Homeland Security comes knockin'! [Not to mention the bad 80s hairdos our poor extraterrestrial friend would have endured between then and now...]
So, yeah... sometimes I pretty much feel like ET.
This world is so beautiful to me -- a whole new realm to explore, a living paradise that I would still call home even if some funkadelic mothership came around looking for me.
On a good day, I get all excited and envision all of the wonderful things that can happen here -- potentials for experience that are already seeds sprouting within the soils of today. We truly could live in communities, societies, and a planet that would seem incredibly utopian compared to the realities of today. Imagine it... no war, no starvation, no ecocide, no genocide, no racism, no fascism, no sexism, no homophobia, no terrorism, none of this systemic human illness that surrounds us today... and beyond all of the no's, we would create a world of freedom, cooperation, ecological wisdom, and the actualization of our greatest dreams as individuals, as communities, and as societies.
But on a bad day, I am really left to wonder... will the world ever be safe for love, or is that just a childish fantasy of mine that I should finally let go of? Even if the world IS going to be such a safe haven for the human heart, will I live to see the blessed day when that comes to pass? I do plan on living a long time, but I ain't gettin' any younger, folks... and in the meantime, I can feel the antithesis of my dreams in all aspects of my life, from the foods that I eat to the company that I keep. It's like watching a butterfly squirming in a coccoon, not realizing the transformation that awaits it. "Don't just lie there acting all defeated. Fight, damnit -- fight! If only you can break through the surface, you'll be able to fly like a rainbow-colored angel." It's a beautiful image... it evokes the very real potential there, just waiting to be actualized... but truth be told, not all butterflies make it out of the coccoon.
Will I make it? Heck, will humanity itself make it? On a good day, I'm confident that the answer is a resounding yes. On a bad day... well, let's just say that I don't believe in counting our butterflies before they metamorphosize... [Is that a word? Metamorphosize, like metamorphosis? I don't think so -- and the dictionary tells me that it's just plain "metamorphose" Holy sleepy bloggers, Batman! Sleep deprivation works wonders with one's command of the English language, eh?]
Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a preparation for my political [and spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it's been several GENERATIONS since our team won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series.
My base for facing this great question in life is much stronger than it used to be. My self-confidence is about one hundred times what it used to be, and I have more friends than I used to. But even after all of these years, I don't have the lover I've been looking for -- and as dearly as I love my friends, I don't seem to connect with most of them in the deeply personal, heartfelt, well-rounded, life-transforming way that I'm looking for.Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a preparation for my political [and spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it's been several GENERATIONS since our team won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series. Really, even though some people see me as aloof or distant, all that I really want in life is a really good, really open, downright revolutionary circle of friends to cuddle and share the journey with, whatever that journey may be. And if I can't even realize my dreams in my personal life, then what hope do I have for doing so in my community, much less my society?
Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a form of preparation for my political [and even spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it had been several GENERATIONS since our team had won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, or when the "magic number" was good, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And then, when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did, mostly through a mix of walks and errors... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series. I don't know how often we actually believed that, but at least sometimes we did still believe it -- and that was enough to keep us hoping.
So, the events of the past few weeks have increased the flow of energy in my life. But now my life kinda-sorta feels like a leg that's fallen asleep -- more energy is flowing to it now, but sometimes it all feels like pins and needles, merely pointing out the fact that I still can't walk on the blessed thing until the circulation has at least partially returned to normal.
Anyway, I could ramble on forever, but sleep awaits. Here's to the hope that my dreams tonight will provide me with further insight...
0 comments
Now that you've made it home, though, I'd say that it's time for a new blog entry on another topic entirely.
On the surface, you'd think that I'd be simply giddy over the way my life's going lately. I am gainfully employed at a cooperatively-owned health food store that is giving me a good number of hours of work each week; I have a good number of friends and loved ones to share my life with; I am all but finished with my first book; and I feel like I've come such a long way in deepening my understanding of myself, my community, and my world.
And yet...
And yet, this relative outward success has only served to stir the embers of a hope that had all but perished in the frost of a moonless midnight. Maybe I'm just an insufferable ingrate who demands too much in life -- but since I very often give thanks for the gifts I've been given, I don't think that's the case. No, my "problem" is that the power of my heart to love and dream as deeply as I do apparently makes me somewhat of an alien among my own people.
Think of the movie ET, for example. Clearly, that cute little wrinkly dude had a lot of love packed into that rather unique body of his. On a good day, you could even see his heart glowing! But can you imagine what that movie would have been like if ET's funkadelic mothership had never come down and he'd been forced to live among humans for the rest of his life?
Once Elliot's mom ran out of M&M money, the poor little dude would have to go get himself a human job. In order to find some sense of fulfillment in life, he'd have to try to find humans who could understand his language of universal love [and occassional alien squeals]. You can bet he'd have a pretty hard time finding a date on Saturday night! He'd also probably try to find a way to work that healing magic of his out in the world at large, only to find that people were much more interested in watching Big Brother or Survivor. And if you think that those FBI agents and random freaks in NASA space suits are bad, just wait until Homeland Security comes knockin'! [Not to mention the bad 80s hairdos our poor extraterrestrial friend would have endured between then and now...]
So, yeah... sometimes I pretty much feel like ET.
This world is so beautiful to me -- a whole new realm to explore, a living paradise that I would still call home even if some funkadelic mothership came around looking for me.
On a good day, I get all excited and envision all of the wonderful things that can happen here -- potentials for experience that are already seeds sprouting within the soils of today. We truly could live in communities, societies, and a planet that would seem incredibly utopian compared to the realities of today. Imagine it... no war, no starvation, no ecocide, no genocide, no racism, no fascism, no sexism, no homophobia, no terrorism, none of this systemic human illness that surrounds us today... and beyond all of the no's, we would create a world of freedom, cooperation, ecological wisdom, and the actualization of our greatest dreams as individuals, as communities, and as societies.
But on a bad day, I am really left to wonder... will the world ever be safe for love, or is that just a childish fantasy of mine that I should finally let go of? Even if the world IS going to be such a safe haven for the human heart, will I live to see the blessed day when that comes to pass? I do plan on living a long time, but I ain't gettin' any younger, folks... and in the meantime, I can feel the antithesis of my dreams in all aspects of my life, from the foods that I eat to the company that I keep. It's like watching a butterfly squirming in a coccoon, not realizing the transformation that awaits it. "Don't just lie there acting all defeated. Fight, damnit -- fight! If only you can break through the surface, you'll be able to fly like a rainbow-colored angel." It's a beautiful image... it evokes the very real potential there, just waiting to be actualized... but truth be told, not all butterflies make it out of the coccoon.
Will I make it? Heck, will humanity itself make it? On a good day, I'm confident that the answer is a resounding yes. On a bad day... well, let's just say that I don't believe in counting our butterflies before they metamorphosize... [Is that a word? Metamorphosize, like metamorphosis? I don't think so -- and the dictionary tells me that it's just plain "metamorphose" Holy sleepy bloggers, Batman! Sleep deprivation works wonders with one's command of the English language, eh?]
Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a preparation for my political [and spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it's been several GENERATIONS since our team won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series.
My base for facing this great question in life is much stronger than it used to be. My self-confidence is about one hundred times what it used to be, and I have more friends than I used to. But even after all of these years, I don't have the lover I've been looking for -- and as dearly as I love my friends, I don't seem to connect with most of them in the deeply personal, heartfelt, well-rounded, life-transforming way that I'm looking for.Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a preparation for my political [and spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it's been several GENERATIONS since our team won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series. Really, even though some people see me as aloof or distant, all that I really want in life is a really good, really open, downright revolutionary circle of friends to cuddle and share the journey with, whatever that journey may be. And if I can't even realize my dreams in my personal life, then what hope do I have for doing so in my community, much less my society?
Let me put it this way. I recently told a friend of mine that being raised a Cubs fan was a form of preparation for my political [and even spiritual] life. Somehow, even though it had been several GENERATIONS since our team had won the World Series, we always kept hope alive in some form or another. When a game or two went well, or when the "magic number" was good, we would honestly get excited that they were going to make it all the way. And then, when the other team scored a good ten runs more than we did, mostly through a mix of walks and errors... well then, just wait until next year. Next year, we'll be sure to make it to the Series. I don't know how often we actually believed that, but at least sometimes we did still believe it -- and that was enough to keep us hoping.
So, the events of the past few weeks have increased the flow of energy in my life. But now my life kinda-sorta feels like a leg that's fallen asleep -- more energy is flowing to it now, but sometimes it all feels like pins and needles, merely pointing out the fact that I still can't walk on the blessed thing until the circulation has at least partially returned to normal.
Anyway, I could ramble on forever, but sleep awaits. Here's to the hope that my dreams tonight will provide me with further insight...
0 comments
